Jenny was too busy running for her life to be afraid. She knew, of course, about the tunnels. Most people who lived Below knew about the creatures that lived there. The Terrra-rats that could kill and eat a human being in a matter of seconds, depending on how large the swarm was.

Whatever was behind them, if they were worse than the rats, then she would take the tunnels.

Besides, Jessica seemed to know what she was doing.

Not for the first time since she had met Jessica aboard that slave ship masquerading as a bride ship, Jenny found herself wishing that she could be more like the other woman.

When Marik and his brothers had taken the ship, it had been Jessica and several others who had fought back, clawing and kicking and punching, but it had been clear that it was Jessica who had the most combat skills even then. As for herself? Well, she had cowered in a corner, praying that this would not be the end of her life. That she would somehow manage to make it back to her home planet and find Ben.

As they reached the entrance to the tunnel and then went down, it hit her that that dream had come true.

She was back. Now what she had to do was find Ben.

Those thoughts drifted apart as they carefully made their way over a series of upper bridges made of rotting rope and rusting steel. Every step could be the last one that she took, and she knew that. The rats were below, their long teeth flashing in the dimness and their stinking bodies slunk low toward the trash-strewn floors.

Some piles of garbage were so high that the rats could scamper up the sides of it, and they did, climbing those piles as if they were hills that they were used to strolling. Marik hissed in a breath and yanked her forward just as one particularly vicious and brave Terra rat launched itself off the top of a pile. Talon drew his weapon and blasted it.

A thick and disgusting stink filled the air. The rat fell backward, quite dead. It landed on the floor, and its fellows ran to it. The sound of their feasting on the dead thing made her stomach churn.

What had happened in her absence? Everything, obviously. War had come, and open rebellion had begun. The rebellion had been between those who lived Below and those who lived above ground, but that rebellion had ended when the Federation traitors and the parasitic race known as the Gorlites had come streaking out of the skies, intent on destroying the planet and the humans upon it so that the parasitic race could take it over.

Everything was ruined and wrecked. Her heart ached at the sight of so much destruction. She had never seen the above ground, but from what she always heard, it was beautiful.

Maybe it had been then, but it was nothing but devastation now.

Marik’s words to her aboard the ship came back to her. Maybe it could be beautiful again once things healed.

That thought gave her hope and a slight sense of courage as she raced across yet another rickety and dangerous rope bridge slung high above the trash piles and the rats. The rats continued to stalk them, and those who were carrying the chest were in the greatest danger simply because they were weighed down so heavily. Her heart pounded and thumped with every step, and she knew that she was not the only one who was afraid.

They made a sharp turn and came up against the closed vault door. Jessica beat on it and then tried to open it.

Jessica looked at them all with worry on her face. “The codes no longer work. The power outages have probably done that.”

Marik strode forward. “Let me try.”

They all stood there, their eyes trained on both Marik and the rats below. The sound of their teeth gnashing together and snapping, their low, squealing cries made the hair on the back of Jenny’s neck stand up, and she shivered. What if they were trapped there now? They had Rovers behind them and rats below them.

It was a fate she did not want to consider and thankfully did not have to. Marik said, “I think I can do this.”

He put his hands on the spokes of the turning mechanism and then he pulled. His massive body strength was evident as he strained and tugged. Talon joined him. Jenny could see that the door was trying to open but that it was still not willing to do so. Unwilling to stand there and do nothing while death came for her, she raced in. Her body nestled in close to Marik’s and the heat of his body and the straining muscles moving against her flesh made sweat and heat run all through her nerve endings.

She tamped that down. Her fingers found the spoke on the turning mechanism and she tugged downward. Marik did as well, and Talon, on the other side, pushed forward. Jessica also came in to assist. They strained and pulled and just when it seemed that everything was lost, the door issued a low and awful screech that made shivers run up and down Jenny’s back. It came open, and they dashed inside.

Talon managed to reset the lock and Jenny watched as he did so. “What if we need to get back out?”

Marik shook his head. “I guess that’s something we’ll have to worry about then.”

Jessica said, “We will get out another way.”

The corridors were silent and hushed. They walked along them quietly, none of them willing to disturb that silence that had fallen in the empty space. Jenny stared at him, confused. It was clear that once there had been people there. There were empty spaces outlined against walls, proof that something had once rested there.

She asked, “What is this place?”

Jessica said, “At one time it was the heart of the rebellion. It was the headquarters.”

Jessica’s mouth went flat as she spoke and Jenny glanced over at her. It was clear that was not something that she wanted to speak about, and it was equally clear that she knew that from personal experience. Had Jessica helped to take down the rebellion?

Jessica led them to the echoing silence of the corridors, passed a small central section where all the corridors ran in together to form a sort of hub. Jessica paused for a minute, sighed heavily, and then moved forward. Jenny did not know what it was about that space that had caused Jessica to seem so downhearted; at that moment she didn’t have enough curiosity to ask, but she filed that away for later.

The corridor began to tilt upward. It was a steep climb. They came to another door closed with yet another of those tight airlock systems. That time, however, the door was open. Jenny stood back, her nerves tightening as Marik, Talon, and Jessica went first with their weapons drawn at the ready. They formed a new formation around those carrying the chest of supplies and crept forward and upward, every step taken slow and uncertain.

Eventually, they reached the door, but it was just a regular door. Jessica opened it, and again she, Marik, and Talon went through it with their weapons drawn and ready. Jenny’s whole body tensed, as she stood there waiting for either the heavy rattle of weapon fire or the signal that all was clear.

Soft whistles sounded. All clear then. She made her way through the door and then stood, staring and open-mouthed in wonder at the house that she stood in.

Jessica said, “It just figures that of everything that was wrecked and ruined, this monstrosity would remain.”

It was clear that the place had been looted. Some furniture remained, but it was smashed and broken. There was a smell, a rich coppery stink that made her eyes water. The railings on the staircase had been broken and the chandeliers that hung above, ancient and the source of much pride—although Jenny had no way of knowing that—had been shattered. As she looked up at that fragmented and broken thing, she had no way of knowing what had looked like before, but at that moment she thought that it was surely one of the most beautiful things that she had ever seen.

Talon said, “We need to rest, and we need to regroup.”

They ranged out into the room that they stood in, a large and rectangular space that looked like it had once been used as a sort of living room. Marik put his back against the wall and slid down it, his hands dangling limply between his knees. Jenny’s heart went out to him, and she walked over to where he sat and took a seat beside him. She said, “You were very brave today.”

He said, “So were you.”

Her laugh was incredulous. “Me? Oh no. I was just too busy trying not to die to be scared for a while there.”

His shoulder met hers. The light touch rocketed through her body. More heat flushed through her system. She slid away from him just a little bit. He said, “Courage is not being without fear; it’s doing things even though you’re afraid.”

She turned her head to survey his profile. He was tired, and it showed. The trip and the things that they had seen along the way had worn him down. Her heart ached for him. He was a good and decent being. He craved peace and joy. Life.

Nothing that she had seen on the surface of Old Earth had made her think of any of those things.

Talon began taking out refresher bottles. They were small, no more than three inches high. He passed them out one to each person. Next, he pulled out packets of a type of protein and carbohydrate bar and passed those out as well. The refresher bottles were clever. They were no taller than her thumb, but that was deceptive.

As soon as she popped the tab on its side, the refresher bottle began to expand in both length and width. The liquid inside it had been atomized and compressed. Bubbles formed and she could hear a lot of gurgling inside the bottle.

She watched, fascinated, as the clear drinkable liquid filled the entire bottle. She opened it and guzzled it down. She recapped the bottle and leaned her head against the wall. Talon came back around, taking the refresher bottles and stowing them away in his pack. Marik’s hand came out and rested on her shoulder. More heat filled her body, and her heart let out a slow pound while her brain screamed out a warning that she was not supposed to feel that way for Marik.

She was there. She was home. She was supposed to be looking for Ben, not huddling in this house next to Marik while he touched her just enough to make her body and mind and heart want to betray the man who truly loved her.

Talon said, “It’s less than three hundred yards now to the hospital. We can make it. If the Rovers didn’t take the tunnels, they would not have come this far. There are too many guards and so forth along the way. Too many people willing to keep peace and order and use weapons to do it.”

Marik braced himself against the wall and pushed himself up. His hand came out, and she looked at it then up at his face. Instead of taking his hand, she pushed herself up off the floor much in the same way that he had. She thought she saw a small flash of hurt on his face, but if it had been there, it had fled as quickly as they had come up and she could no longer see it.

Maybe she had imagined it.

They started off slowly, going out the door and to the right, and then forming up again so that the chests of precious cargo would be safe, or at least as safe as they could be. The hospital was indeed not far, and they managed to get across the distance without any other true danger.

Jenny’s heart nearly exploded with grief when she stepped into that hospital. Humans, hundreds upon hundreds of them, all in various states of injury, lay or sat on the floor. That there were not enough beds for all of the wounded was obvious. That there weren’t enough people to attend to them came home to her as a young girl, clinging to the arm of an injured woman who must’ve been her mother, began screaming for help. Tears ran down her face, and nobody went to her side.

Jenny went. She broke right out of the party that she had traveled there with and ran to the young girl. She knelt on the floor. “Let me see if I can help her.”

The girl, who could’ve only been about eight or nine years old, nodded her head. Her face wore the same shocked expression that the woman who confronted them in the alley had worn. Jenny draped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug and squeeze. “It shall be okay. I promise you, we will do all that we can.”

The little girl gave her a look that said she didn’t believe her. As soon as Jenny opened the torn sides of the tunic the woman wore, she found she didn’t believe it either.

The wound was not only terrible: it was infected. She’d probably been injured days before. She looked at the little girl, “How long has she been here?”

The little girl scrubbed her fists against her eyes. “We got here last night. But nobody’s come to help her. There are so many people here. Nobody has time for us. I think it’s because we’re from Below.”

Jenny shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s that there are too few healers and too many sick. Listen, what’s your name?”

The little girl’s hands dropped away from her eyes. “Melinda.”

Jenny managed a smile. “Melinda, can you possibly help me here?”

Marik’s voice spoke from above her. “We need fresh water. We need to clean that wound as best we can and give her the medication that would help her heal.”

She looked up at him. Tears sparkled on her eyelashes. This was so much worse than anything she ever could have imagined, and she was not sure she had the courage to go on. Her head nodded up and down.

Melinda stood, obviously wanting to help the woman who must be her mother. “There’s no water.”

Marik said, “I have a refresher bottle here.” His eyes searched the little girl’s face and figure. His voice dropped even lower. “Tell me, Melinda, how long has it been since you had something to eat or drink?”

Melinda’s little shoulders lifted and dropped. Her eyes went back to her mother. “I don’t know. Can you please just help my mom? I am not hungry anyway. I don’t need anything to drink. Please just help her. She’s probably really hungry and thirsty.”

Jenny knew that the woman was neither hungry nor thirsty. She was deeply unconscious and beyond that. She said, “Give me a refresher bottle, Marik.”

He nodded, stood, walked away. He came back holding two bottles and several protein bars. He said to Melinda, “Listen, I need you to be a very big help to me now. I need you to sit down and drink at least half of this bottle. Then I need you to eat at least half of this bar. I need you to be strong because in a little while I’m going to require you to help me with your mother. If you have no strength, you can’t help me. Do you understand?”

Jenny knew what he was doing. She was hungry, and she was thirsty, but she was far too worried about her mother to take the food or the water at the moment. He was giving her a reason to take it. He was giving her purpose.

Melinda nodded and reached out her grubby hands. Marik opened the bottle for her, and she gasped in wonder as it expanded and filled.

Jenny asked her to step away, to go to another corner of the wall, and she went. When Jenny looked over again, she was already halfway through the bottle and more than halfway through the protein bar.

Her gaze went around the room. Many of the crew members were distributing food and other refresher bottles. The refresher bottles refilled themselves. It was a neat little trick of technology, and one that was far more advanced than anything she had ever seen on Old Earth. Talon made it very clear to each person that he gave the bottle to that he must have the bottles back if they were going to have water again and every single person drank deeply then handed the bottles back.

Marik said, “Jenny. I need you to focus.”

She took a deep breath. She had been paying attention to everything else because the sight of that wound; missing flesh and encrusted blood, infection and violent streaks of a purple-red that had spread away from the wound, told her that there was very little that they could do. She did not want to fail here and now.

Marik said, “We must do all we can with what we have. Hand me the cutter.”

Jenny took a deep breath. Marik began cutting, and he had no sooner laid the cutter against the swollen and red flesh than the infection began to pour out. She blotted it as quickly as she could on cloths to keep it from spreading into the room. Marik poured water over the wound to help try to flush it out. The woman began to toss and turn, her stupor being broken by the pain that was lancing through her body now.

Marik said, “I taught you to stitch. Can you do it now?”

She stared down at the abraded glistening flesh before her. It was one thing to stitch a small and not very deep cut that only required one or two stitches and entirely another to stitch that huge and gaping wound. She quailed. Her courage failed her. Her lips trembled. Her head shook back and forth.

Marik’s hands reached across the woman’s body. His fingers took hers.

His voice made her lift her head and her eyes locked on his. He said, “Jenny, here are the tools. They are in your hand. Stitch her well.” She had just told him that she could not do it! Why was he pushing her to do what she could not do?

She looked back down at the wound. “I don’t know where to stitch. I don’t know how much harm I might cause her.”

Marik said, “Yes, you do. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and just see it in your mind. When you have, when you’ve seen the path that you must take to stitch her well, then you take that path. Open your eyes and stitch her.”

What was he talking about? Jenny drew a deep breath. Her eyes closed. There was nothing there but darkness. A slow ache started between her temples and then, all of a sudden, something, something very much like a memory, flared into life.

She could see the wound even though her eyes were closed. She could see her hand stitching, folding skin together and muscle as well. She watched, fascinated for she didn’t know how long until the stitching was done.

Her eyes flew open and went down to where the woman lay. She was actually surprised to see that the wound was still open, still shedding water and bits of infection and dead skin away from it as Marik continued to wash the wound with not just water now, but a healing solution that he had mixed from powder and the refresher bottle’s water.

Marik said, “You can do this. Do it, Jenny.”

She held up the tools. She took a deep breath. Her brain insisted that she could do this; that she knew exactly how to do it because she had seen it done already. She bent low and began stitch.