Ruby moved Mawri and Rori back to their blankets.

“I need you two to stay here so we can help Sammie, okay?”

The two girls nodded, their eyes wide. Ruby hoped the commotion wouldn’t draw any more attention.

She made her way over to Sammie and Charles.

“The girls okay?” Sammie asked between moans, as she tried to fight the urge to scream from the pain.

“They’re fine, I’m worried about you,” Ruby said as she pulled the material free from Sammie’s wound. The shot had hit her on her lower belly. She hoped it had just grazed her and not gone through. She was saddened to see a large hole in her abdomen.

Ruby pointed at Charles and directed him. “I need you to keep pressure right here. Can you do that?”

“Of course,” Charles said. Sammie went in and out of consciousness from the pain.

“We are going to have to seal the wound and hope she isn’t bleeding internally. We can cauterize it with the laser gun. It’s going to hurt. But if we don’t seal the wound, she will die from blood loss quickly,” Ruby said as she wiped the hair out of her face.

Charles had a pained expression and nodded, “Do what you have to do, I can’t lose her.”

“Okay. We have to get this done fast and get her moved somewhere safe. We really need to get out of here. Take off your belt, she will need to bite down on it,” Ruby said to Charles.

Charles nodded and began to undo the belt. Ruby examined the laser gun, making sure it was set to stun. It would be just strong enough to seal her wound, but not strong enough to burn all the way through. Charles handed his belt to Ruby and kneeled down next to Sammie, taking her hand into his to comfort her. Ruby doubled his belt and placed it in Sammie’s mouth.

“Sammie, I’m going to have to cauterize this. Or you will bleed to death. It doesn’t look like there is any internal bleeding. But we need to get you into a body scanner. Are you ready?” Ruby said to Sammie, then took her hand and squeezed it.

“This is going to hurt, prepare yourself,” Ruby said as she let go of her hand, placed the silver laser against her abdomen and squeezed the trigger. Sammie screamed and bit hard into the belt. The smell of burning flesh wafted up and assaulted Ruby’s nose.

“I need you to help turn her over so I can seal the other side,” Ruby said to Charles, knowing there had to be an exit wound. Charles let go of Sammie’s hand and helped roll her over. Ruby pressed the end of the silver laser against her back and pulled the trigger. She moved the light up her back until the open wound was sealed with freshly burned skin. The exit wound was much larger than the entry wound. By the time Ruby was done sealing her wound Sammie had passed out from the pain. Ruby looked over her back and double checked everything was sealed.

“She should be good. Now we need to get her out of here,” Ruby said as she put the laser away.

“I’ll go get find a ship so we can get her out of here,” Charles said.

“No, you should stay here with Sammie. She can’t wake up without you here. She could easily go into shock, so you need to keep her warm, and watch for bleeding. We’ll know within the next twenty-four hours if she has internal bleeding or not.

Ruby rushed away from them to go find a ship. They had planned to all go together, but now things had changed. She needed to get a ship and get back to them fast.

She ran through the woods until she arrived at what looked like a scavenger yard. It was funny how certain things brought back memories. She and Sca had been looking for a part for Baston on a strange planet in just such a scavenger yard. The difference was those ships had been protected by worgles.

A worgle was as tall as her waist with teeth the size of her fingers. They had skin like a furry rug, and it was soft. Some had them as pets on the planet. The owner of the scavenger yard had them as guards. They were not a friendly creature and her dad had the bite marks to prove it. This scavenger yard seemed to be worgle free.

A large fence surrounded the yard but she didn’t see any signs of life. Ruby stuck her fingers in the fence and started to climb up and over the other side. She ran behind a large grey ship that had obviously been in some kind of collision. There was no front end.

She moved on looking for something in one piece. She saw an older ship in the corner, it looked like the one she’d left on Manta Ray. She wondered if it was possible it would actually work.

She slid into the pilot’s chair and started the process of starting the ship. At first, nothing happened when she pressed the buttons, but slowly it started to power up. The display lit up as the engine roared to life. She almost cried with relief, they were going to escape!

Ruby pulled the handles back, the ground started to get further away. She pressed the ship up and over the ridge, and looked for a clear landing spot. It was a pure miracle she was able to find a ship that worked. The thought crossed her mind that she’d probably stolen the owner’s personal ship, but she couldn’t worry about that. Their lives, especially Sammie’s, depended on getting off the planet.

Ruby landed the ship next to the tree line, only a few yards shy of the others.

“I’ll get the girls,” Ruby called out as she ran out of the ship. “Get Sammie.” She ordered Charles.

Charles picked up his wife and walked her onto the ship while Ruby picked both girls up. She grabbed the blankets. “We’re getting out of here girls!”

The two cheered and she carried them onto the ship just as more Hallaw spotted them and started running their way.

She hurried. The Hallaw were shooting at them as the ship door closed. She tossed the blankets to Charles to cover Sammie and jumped into her seat.

“Buckle in girls,” she yelled as they lifted into the air. The Hallaw continued to shoot but Ruby was on the fast track from their planet and happily broke through the atmosphere, into space.

Once they were a good distance she leveled the ship and leaned back in her chair. Sammie moaned from the back and Ruby’s heart went out to her.

“There has to be something on this ship we could use to help her with the pain. Look for a vial of medicine or alcohol. Maybe in the cabinet over there,” Ruby said as she pointed to a cabinet on the side of the ship.

“There’s something marked kill the pain in here.”

“That’s it? Let me see.” Ruby held her hand out. The bottle’s label had worn off. Inside there were pills of an unknown origin. “Look for something else. They might make it worse not knowing what they are.”

Ruby set the ship on auto-pilot and went looking for ration packs. The girls hadn’t had water or food in a long time and she wanted to make sure they didn’t get dehydrated. She found some water and gave it to Rori. “Drink this sweetie then make sure the little one gets some, okay?”

“This one says oxycodone. It’s in vials for injection,” Charles said.

“Yes. Give her half a vial.”

Charles pulled out the pre-stocked shots and administered one to his wife’s arm. After a couple of seconds, she slipped into a restless sleep. It was all they could ask for. Ruby set a course for the closest planet. It was called Tomlin. She could only hope it was friendly. According to the navigation system, they could be there within the day. She hoped Sammie would be able to rest until then.

“In four hours you can give her the other half.”