"Jenny what's the status on the third sled?" I asked into my commlink.
The AI responded, "It touched down towards the west end of the town, the raiders have engaged the local militia."
As if to punctuate her words I heard the sound of gunfire from among the buildings to the north. We couldn't see anyone from where Sarah and I were crouched by the bow of the ship, we had shipping containers and prefab structures in the way.
My girlfriend looked to and asked, "What do you think? Maybe we should just wait till Rebecca gets back?"
I frowned as I glanced around again. It only took another second to make my decision, then I grabbed my dkit from where I'd left it earlier. I straightened up as I told Sarah, "Cover . I'm going to check on Cam, then see if there's other wounded."
"You got it boss," she responded.
With that I took off at a run, carbine in my right hand and dkit in my left. Sarah followed about ten paces behind with her shotgun at ready, and the two of us raced east along the row of containers. As we got to the loader I could see a few holes in the left side of it. Then around the other side I found what I was afraid of.
The town's chanic was sprawled on the ground, and there was a lot of blood pooled around him.
I dropped to my knees at his side, I set my carbine down to my right and opened up the dkit on the ground to my left. anwhile Sarah took up a guard position a couple ters away, where she could use the side of the loader for cover while keeping watch with her shotgun raised.
"He's alive," I stated as I gave Cam a trauma shot and pulled out my d-scanner. As his vitals ca up on the small screen I added, "But he's in rough shape."
Sarah didn't respond, her attention was on the town and the sound of gunfire.
It took another couple minutes to stabilize all Cam's injuries, and the whole ti I was working on him I could hear shooting from the buildings north and west of us. I stayed focused on my patient though, and trusted Sarah to keep us safe.
Cam had been hit four tis and all four went straight through, so I had eight holes to patch. Two were serious, one in his chest and the other in the gut. The third was in his left leg, the last his right arm. There was also internal bleeding, so before I could apply wound sealant I had to use the cauterizing probe.
Once the bleeding was finally stopped I gave him another dose of the trauma shot, then started packing up my dkit again. "He should be stable for now but he needs serious dical care."
With a sigh I added, "I hate to say it but Jenny's pod is probably his best bet, otherwise I'll do what I can for him after we get him sowhere safe. I get the feeling there's no actual hospitals around here."
"Can we carry him back to the ship?" Sarah asked. "Or are we moving on and looking for other wounded?"
I slung my dkit over my shoulder and picked up my rifle, "He can't be moved without a stretcher. Let's keep going."
Sarah followed as I dashed from the relative cover of the loader and containers, across about twenty ters of clear ground before reaching the buildings. The gunfire was more sporadic and it was definitely further west of us. Along with the shooting we also heard the occasional shouts, n swearing or calling out to each other.
The two of us moved along the east side of one of the buildings until we reached the corner, then I took a quick peek around to check the main street.
"Shit," I whispered as I ducked back. "The raiders' sled is at the far end of town, there's a handful of them back there using it for cover. It looks like the locals have them pinned down there, there's at least two casualties on the ground. And I think one of them might be Jace."
My girlfriend asked, "Is it safe to get to him?"
"Probably not," I sighed. "But I'm going anyways."
Sarah gave a worried look, "I already know you're a bad-ass Amanda, you don't have to keep trying to prove it."
"Not a bad-ass this ti," I replied in a nervous tease, "I've still got my pants on."
Before I could lose my nerve I turned and ran, carbine in one hand and dkit in the other. I weaved a bit just in case, as I quickly closed the distance between and the nearest wounded man. Jace was a little further away but he'd have to wait.
I dropped to my knees next to the injured militia man and got to work. I didn't know his na but I knew he was one of the locals. It only took a few monts to determine he'd been hit with an HVP round in the left shoulder. The wound wasn't life-threatening but his collar bone was fractured and he was in a lot of pain.
Sarah appeared next to as I was working. She positioned herself between and the fighting as she sank to one knee and raised her weapon in readiness while I administered a trauma-shot and an extra dose of painkiller. Then I used wound sealant to stop the bleeding, before closing up my dkit again.
"On to the next one," I told Sarah.
I scooped up my carbine and took off in a little dash over to Jace, with Sarah right behind . Like before she took up a protective position, covering while she kept an eye on the fighting. And that wasn't off in the distance anymore, we could see raiders and locals exchanging shots only twenty or thirty ters away. Except they were all in cover, while and Sarah were out in the open in the middle of the street.
The mayor's son was conscious but in pain. As I started checking him he stated through gritted teeth, "Get to cover! I'll be ok!"
I ignored him as I worked. He'd taken an HDLI hit to his right thigh. Luckily the bone was intact, but the bullet shredded so of the muscle when it broke up. It was also bleeding pretty badly, which was my main concern.
He'd have to wait till later for to get the bullet fragnts out, for now I gave him the sa treatnt as the other guy. Trauma shot, painkiller, wound sealant.
I was just finishing up when we all heard a roar overhead. I ducked then glanced up, and felt a wave of relief when I saw the Deter's fighter swoop past. It ca around and landed a little further west, on the far side of the raiders and their grav-sled.
Then Rebecca erged, carbine in hand. She was using the armoured fighter as cover as she calmly started picking off the remaining raiders.
That sent the last of them running, as they were suddenly taking hits from both sides. Finn and two more militia let out so excited yells and whoops as they chased after the fleeing attackers, and to my imnse relief the fighting pretty much ended shortly after that.
I looked to Sarah and asked, "Can you head back to the ship and grab a stretcher? We should still have the grav-assist stretcher from the Hamrsmith on board sowhere. Then get over to where we left Cam. I'll et you there in a few minutes, after I've checked for any other wounded."
"Ok cutie," she replied as she slung the shotgun over her shoulder. Before she took off at a run she added, "Be careful."
"You too!" I replied as I packed up my dkit.
My carbine ended up over my shoulder while I checked for any other wounded, and soon found one more. Finn had taken a bullet to the upper arm, but he kept fighting. He stayed quiet as I patched him up and gave him a shot, then when I was done he thanked .
By that point Rebecca and two other local n had finished up, the guys approached to talk with Finn while my strong amazonian girlfriend wanted to speak with . I ended up following her as she headed back to where she landed the fighter while we talked.
"You were taking a hell of a risk Amanda," the boss stated. "I saw you and Sarah out in the open when I ca by overhead."
I replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "There were wounded out there, I had to help them."
"How about you, are you ok?" I added as I looked her up and down. Then my focus shifted past her to the fighter, and I lowered my voice as I asked "The nano-tech ampules are still secure right?"
She nodded, "I'm fine. The fighter's secure, so is the cargo."
That was a relief. "I'm glad. Now that the fighting's over I have two patients who need . Jace has so bullet fragnts in his leg, and Cam... I need to talk to Jenny. I think she's the best option for him."
Rebecca shook her head, "You know Jenny's not going to be happy about that. It breaks both the rules she -"
The boss was cut off as Mrs. Wheeler shouted at us from twenty ters away, "Hey! I wanna word with you Becky!"
The older woman was marching towards us with a scowl on her face. I couldn't tell if she was angry at my girlfriend or upset about Jace getting wounded, or if she had sothing entirely different on her mind.
"Go tend to your patients Amanda," Rebecca sighed. "I'll find out what's got her uptight."
"Good luck," I replied softly, then turned and set off at a run back to where we left Cam next to the damaged loader.
I got there in ti to et both Sarah and Jenny. Apparently the AI already knew what I wanted, I figured Sarah told her while she was retrieving the stretcher.
She addressed in an apologetic tone as I kneeled next to the unconscious chanic to check his vitals, "You know after we helped Tamsin I said I didn't want to put any more n through what Rebecca had to endure Amanda. And prior to that I said I would limit my services to mbers of the Deter's crew. Even if we don't know for certain that Cam falls into the first group, he is certainly not part of the second."
"I know," I replied. "But I'm asking anyways Jenny. He's a good person, out of everyone I've t here so far he's the only one I like. And more than that, it's my fault he got hurt. I should have warned him sooner. I forgot, and he was caught out in the open."
As I talked I motioned for Sarah to co and help. We positioned the stretcher next to the unconscious man, then carefully manoeuvred him onto it.
"You can't know for certain that he would have listened had you warned him sooner," Jenny pointed out. "He may have ignored an earlier warning just like he ignored the late one."
I sighed as I gently strapped my patient in, "You might be right Jenny, but we'll never know. What we do know is I screwed up and now he's badly wounded. If you won't help then his best chance is a properly equipped hospital. And considering it might take us ten or fifteen days to get him to one, he's going to be on board for all that ti regardless."
When the patient was secure I motioned to Sarah. Between the grav-assist and our enhanced strength it was nothing to pick up the stretcher. We started heading back to the Deter with Jenny walking alongside.
"Where are we going to put him?" Sarah asked.
I glanced at the android then replied, "If we can't use Jenny's Re/Gen pod we'll take him up to the ss. I'll have to use the dining table to work on him, then after I've done all I can to repair the internal damage we'll use the starboard crew cabin as an infirmary."
Jenny sighed as the three of us headed up the ramp and into the ship. As we moved through to the secondary hold she finally relented, "Very well. We'll put him in my Re/Gen pod so I can consult with him. I'll waive the requirent about being part of our crew, but I will not break my second rule. If in my judgent he'll be unable to adapt or adjust to a feminine body without my help I won't even make the offer."
"Thank you Jenny," I replied, and I knew she could hear the relief and gratitude in my voice. "That's all I wanted."
We stopped just inside the secondary hold and set the stretcher down, then we carefully removed Cam's glasses, boots, and belt. I also checked that we weren't putting him in there with any valuables or keepsakes. He had so tools in his pockets and a tarnished silver locket hanging from a cord around his neck. All that ca off, then Sarah and I gently placed him inside the pod.
I tapped the button to seal the door, then carefully put our patient's things on the nearest shelf as I comnted "We need to get a locker or sothing down here. Sowhere next to the pod where we can keep so spare clothes, and a place to put a patient's things when we're doing this."
"I'll see about that when we get a chance," Sarah smiled.
As we waited I pulled the carbine from my shoulder and unloaded it before setting it and the spare magazines on the shelf next to the boxes of ammunition. Then I went back to check the indicator panel on the end of Jenny's pod.
It still read 'Patient Briefing' which left worried things weren't going well. And the pink fringe in Jenny's hair ant she was in autonomous mode, so she wasn't connected to her main self and likely wouldn't know what was going on in there anymore than we did.
I couldn't help asking though, "Do you know what's happening? Is Cam compatible, or...?"
The android hesitated, then grimaced. "They're talkative. More so even than Sarah. They're extrely excited about the experience, fascinated by my existence, and asking endless questions."
"They?" Sarah asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jenny nodded, "They didn't have the words to describe themself until we started to talk, but it seems like Cam may be non-binary. According to them, they weren't comfortable identifying as a man but hadn't realized not being one was an option."
"That doesn't an they'll be comfortable as a woman instead, but..." her voice trailed off as the indicator switched to 'Processing', along with an eight and a half hour countdown.
I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that. Then I picked up the stretcher and said, "Let's go get Jace. I need to get the bullet fragnts out of his leg."
"Why don't you and Jenny take care of that?" Sarah suggested as she put her shotgun and the box of shells on the shelf where I'd left the carbine. "I'm going to grab my toolkit and go have a look at the loader. We've still got two containers to unload, and without a working loader it's not going to be much fun."
Jenny agreed and I nodded, "Ok Sarah, good thinking. Stay safe."
"You too," she responded. Then she headed for the workshop while and Jenny set out again with the stretcher.
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