Page 30 of Black Star

No one was paying any of them any attention, so Phoebe took a quick look at everyone around her. Some of the patients had burns as severe -- or worse -- than the first man she’d looked at, but most were minor burns, cuts, and bumps. Phoebe then pilfered every cabinet and drawer she found for bandages and basins. This ship seemed to have plenty of water, thankfully, so treating the burns was relatively easy.

Caring for these men wasn’t the burden she had felt back on the station. She had only been with them a day, but already she got the impression they embraced her as one of their own. As she started her rounds, treating them as best she could, they thanked her. With hopeful looks when she passed, hoping for a little relief, maybe just a kind smile, they all looked at her like she was someone important. She didn’t see the insulting or suggestive looks she often did from men on the station. These men expected she knew what to do and would take care of them. Even more, she didn’t want to let them down.

By the time the unit staff returned from their critical patient, Phoebe had done all she could. Many of the wounded would require more than she was capable of giving, but she had eased their pain and gotten to know all of them in the process.

“Will she make it?” Phoebe was as anxious about the one person in the group she didn’t know as she was about the men she now considered friends.

“I honestly don’t know,” the doctor stated frankly. “Time will tell. She’s strong, and fighting hard.” He glanced in the direction of his patient. “With rest and strength of will, she’s got a good chance.”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for the hospitality, doctor, but how soon can we return to theBlack Star? They only have one physician on board and no staff. I’m sure they could use any help they can get. These men are roughly half his crew. I’m sure he needs them.”

The man glanced around the room once, did a double take and walked to one of the men from theBlack Star. After examining the wound Phoebe had dressed, he asked, “Is there anyone who still needs attention?”

“Well --” she cleared her throat, “-- Josiah has some pretty bad burns. He’s comfortable, but he’ll need something more than my pitiful efforts. Cain has a pretty deep gash on his right thigh. It’s bandaged and the bleeding’s stopped, but it will need to be sealed. I think Evan has a broken wrist, but the rest aren’t so bad. They can tell you more about what they need than I can.”

“Don’t let her fool you, Doc.” Cain, who was sitting next to where Phoebe was standing, clapped her on the back hard enough to make her stagger forward. “She’s had experience with patching people up.”

“It definitely looks like it.” Doc made a quick examination of every man in the room. “As much as I’d love to let you get back to your ship, I can’t.” Everyone in the room protested at once. Doc held up his hand for silence. “I’m sorry! There’s nothing we can do. There’s a carrier ship just out of hyperspace in the sector. Captain Anjoom has given orders for closed quarters. No off duty personnel is to be roaming the ship. We all have to stay put for safety reasons.”

Outrage spread across the men. Some of them jumped up from their beds and would have advanced on the poor doctor if Phoebe hadn’t stepped smoothly in between them.

“Just wait,” she hissed at Josiah. The tall, lean redhead backed down, but not willingly. “Just wait, Josiah.”

“The captain needs us, Phoebe. He’s running on less than a skeleton crew.”

“I know, but the doctor can’t countermand an order from his own captain.” She needed to keep them calm if her plan was going to work.

“So what do you suggest we do? Leave Captain Singh to defend himself?”

Phoebe grabbed his face in her hands and made him look her in the eye. “Yes, Josiah. That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

There was silence while Phoebe willed the young man to trust her. She hadn’t survived the wrath of the Hand of God by being stupid. You tell the powers that be what they want to hear, then you do what you have to. Fortunately, the doctor onSword Breakerwasn’t a member of the Hand.

“Good.” The old doctor clapped his hands together. “I’ll get back to my patient. Just stay put, and as soon as the crisis is over, I’m sure the captain will see to it you’re returned to your ship with all possible speed.”

It was obvious the doctor wasn’t interested in staying around to confront anyone. When he left to go back to his patient, Phoebe let Josiah go and went to a computer display. A graphic of the ship’s interior was displayed prominently, most likely for ease of movement in the case of an emergency.

“Look.” Phoebe pointed at the image. “The shuttle bay is only a few hundred meters away. It shouldn’t take long to get there.”

“I just looked out the door, Phoebe.” Evan jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “There aren’t many people out there, but I seriously doubt they’re going to let us just roam around the ship at will.”

“Who said anything about going out the door?” Phoebe raised an eyebrow and grinned.

* * *

It only took them ten minutes of crawling through the ventilation and maintenance crawl spaces, but it was six minutes too long for Phoebe. Unfortunately, those shafts weren’t made for solidly built, reallybigsoldiers, especially with each dragging a suit through the shafts. There was more pushing and shoving from the men in the ducts than feeding time in a herd full of starvedyassats. More than one of the men got stuck, but everyone managed to make it.

Phoebe crouched behind a crate in the main hangar area, assessing their options. They weren’t good.

“Somehow, I doubt we’d make it to the shuttle and manage to take off before anyone notices it missing,” one of the older men -- Lammet -- observed. “Besides, with all the fighting going on, I’m not so sure a shuttle is a good idea. We’d be blown to bits.”

“True,” Phoebe agreed absently. She was thinking. The shuttle was definitely out of the question. “But, what if we didn’t take the shuttle?”

Eight pairs of eyes looked at her with a combination of disbelief, dread, and that you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look only men could produce.

* * *

Laser fire streaked through space at horrifying intensity and concentration. Explosions flashed on all three ships engaged in the battle as lasers bounced off deflector shields, but no sound reached Phoebe’s ears inside the airtight helmet. It was like watching a film with the sound switched off.

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