McQueen sat quietly at Meg's bed in the ICU. She had come out of the ER hours ago and the doctors had told him that they had to wait. He had stubbornly refused to leave her alone and had watched Meg's pale face and the tubes which entered her nostrils. One could almost miss the slight heaving of her chest if it were not for the beeps of the life-supporting machine, telling him that she was still breathing.
For the first time in his life he really felt scared. Megan was his godchild, the closest he would ever get to have a child of his own besides perhaps the Cards and the thought of loosing her made him sick to the stomach.
He watched the young woman in front of him and closed his eyes for a moment. After he had escaped the POW it was Megan who had been there for him. Back then with her unconditional love and her childlike naivety she had soothed his troubled thoughts and now he wished he could help her just like she had helped him ten years ago.
The Colonel turned when he heard the door open. Cooper slowly came in and nodded towards the Colonel. The young Marine had been here before, together with the five-eight and the RAF pilots. The Colonel suspected that the young IV had more than a mutual interest in Meg from what he had been able to detect earlier on the flightdeck. He had to smile at that. He knew that Megan had a liking for lost causes like himself and Cooper.
"How is she?" Hawkes asked in a hushed voice.
"She's coming around ..." McQueen answered, his eyes never leaving Meg's face. "She had been low on oxygen and one piece of her helmet got stuck in her temple but they assured me there hadn't been any damage to her brain ... The doctor's told me that she also has a concussion and will feel a bit dizzy once she wakes up."
Cooper stared at the bandaged figure on the bed and watched the appliances.
"What about Urquhart?" he suddenly asked.
"Cdre. Ross is questioning Urquhart and what we have received from SPACECOM, this was not the only case of friendly fire in his record."
Hawkes nodded and stepped closer. He was afraid to see Meg so pale and the rage he had felt when the medics had first wheeled her to the ER came back in a rush. He couldn't understand why he felt so strongly, but thinking of Urquhart right now, made him angry. McQueen must have sensed it for he turned and stood up.
"I want you to stay with her while I speak to Ross," he said but when Cooper wanted to interrupt, he held out his hand.
"I want you to stay clear off Urquhart, do you understand, Hawkes? I don't want to attend your court martial because you killed that son of a bitch!"
"Sir," Cooper answered angrily. "What Urquhart did was deliberate ..."
"I don't want you to deliberately kill another Lieutenant, it would put you on the same level with Urquhart! Anger is a killer, Cooper. It destroys everything it touches including the one it's feeding on!" With these words he left.
Cooper paced the floor slowly, listening to the beeps of the LSM. He felt confused and at a loss. From the moment he had seen her he had felt strangely drawn to this woman and it seemed that he had found a kindred spirit although she was a natural born. The last time he had felt like this, it was at his first arrival at Loxley Marine Corps Space Aviator Base when he had met Shane and McQueen.
The young Marine sat down on the chair beside Meg's bed and took her hand. It was ice-cold and he cupped it with his hands, warming it with his breath by doing so, coming very close to the posture of a man deeply absorbed in a prayer.
Boss, I don't want to die ...
You will not die, Woolfe! WOOLFE? Don't leave me! Do you hear me? DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!
Meg woke up from the haunting nightmare. When she felt someone taking her hand, she tried to fight the sedatives and when she managed to turn her head, she groaned as pain shot through the base of her skull.
"Chambers?" Cooper asked and looked expectantly into her face, searching for any signs that she could hear him.
She heard the blurred voice and willed her eyes to open. After she had focused her sight, she could see that Hawkes sat hunched over by her side. For a moment she had thought it was James Woolfe sitting there but then she realised that the image had only been a reminder of her nightmare. She closed her eyes.
"I'll get McQueen, ok.?" Cooper inquired and raised to his feet but he was surprised when Meg held on to his hand with surprising strength.
"Tell me ... tell me what happened!" Chambers demanded, her voice barely audible.
"You got hit by friendly fire ..." Cooper replied, not sure what he should tell her.
"Urquhart?" Meg asked and Cooper nodded, trying to avoid her eyes. "The Colonel just left to be present at the interrogation, I guess he had to calm down first. He waited while you were in ER ..."
Closing her eyes again she fell back into a restful sleep.
The next day both squadrons visited Chambers but she was still suffering from disorientation. When the Wild Cards left her only Cooper trailed behind. Meg smiled at him and ushered him closer to her.
"Parsons told me you saved my life ..." She whispered and raised her hand to put it doggedly into Cooper's.
The young Marine lowered his lids and tried to pry his hand away from her. After their romantic encounter on the flightdeck there hadn't been enough time to make sense to a lot of things, especially to his troubled emotions concerning her.
The young woman sensed the turmoil of his thoughts and smiled sadly. When she had been a child she had always watched her father cringing away from her mother's and her own touch, not sure how to react. But over the years her father had learned to be gentle and no-one would suspect him now that he had lived for more than twenty years without the proverbial human touch. With McQueen it had been the same, but when Meg had been a small child, she and her brothers had relentlessly demanded cuddles from him until he had grudgingly submitted.
Slowly, she sat up, ignoring the seething headache gushing through her skull. Cooper helped her rearranging the pillows behind her bandaged head.
"I'd better go now, the doctor said that we're only allowed a few mikes," Cooper said and stood up. But Meg held on to his hand and drew him nearer. She did not know why she did what she did, perhaps she wanted to reassure herself that she was still alive. But then again it seemed natural that she should turn to Cooper for comfort. Almost all of her life the persons closest to her had been In-Vitroes.
"Thank you ..." she whispered.
"What for?" Cooper creased his brow.
"For rescuing me. I could have died out there if you hadn't coached me so well the other day ..."
"Coached you?" Cooper asked. "We were kissing ..." he broke off when she smiled shyly at him.
"Uh, for that I give you my special thanks!" she replied and drew him down to her. "This is for showing me how to get used to the Hammerhead," she put a soft kiss onto his cheek. "And this is for the kissing ..." she broke off when Cooper put his lips gently onto her mouth. She didn't resist. She knew she should but his lips were too comforting to end it.
It was a slow but passionate kiss, very different from the one they had exchanged earlier and yet it forged an even closer and stronger bond between them. After a while Cooper drew away and putting his head against her forehead, he inhaled deeply.
This woman made him feel all hot and bothered, he thought and he didn't know if he could restrain himself any longer. He brushed his lips over her mouth again, then smiled apologetically.
"Sorry that I didn'a ask ya first ..." he murmured and left the room.
McQueen passed him on the corridor. From the embarrassed look on the Marine's face he immediately knew that something was going on between him and Meg and for a moment he was intend to put a stop to it right away. But then again it was none of his business what the Marines did when they were off duty.
They aren't even my kids, the Colonel thought but he shook his head. Hawkes and Chambers were the closest he would ever get to have children of his own.
Although troubled by these thoughts, the Colonel was relieved to see his godchild sitting up in bed and when he stepped to her side, she even greeted him with a dodgy smile.
"I guess I can't reprimand Hawkes for ruining his Hammerhead after he has saved your life," he announced and Meg lowered her lids.
"Uh, uh, no, you can't ..." she answered flustered. "He's a good pilot and he reminds me of you and father ..." McQueen hid a smile and petted her hand awkwardly.
"And I know how concerned you are with the well-being of us tanks," he said and sat down beside her.
"You like him very much, don't you?" Meg suddenly asked, turning McQueen into confusion.
"He is a good Marine ..." he began but when he saw his niece's stern look he smiled.
"Yes, I like him because he reminds me of myself when I was his age but with the help of his friends and me he will become a good man and no-one will accuse him of being a lazy tank because they see that he had made good ..." The Colonel cleared his throat in an embarrassed way. Those words were more than he was ready to admit, but Meg had a way to pry even the most hidden secrets from him. Megan on the other hand was not relieved by his words.
What would you think if you knew that I'm beginning to like him very much, she thought and rubbed her temple underneath her bandage absent mindedly. God, she didn't need that right now but she had liked kissing him, liked the way her body had fit against his. She was so deeply engrossed in her troubled thoughts that she almost missed McQueen's question.
"So, tell me, Meg, can I report to your father that you'll return in one piece?"
"Yes," she nodded and grimaced as her head hurt once more. "I think so anyway ..." She was relieved that her uncle had given her the opportunity to change the subject.
"Did Urquhart tell you why he did that?"
"No, but he didn't have to ..." McQueen replied. "SPACECOM informed us that he was on bail because on his last assignment he was reprimanded for friendly fire on one of his junior officers. As far as we know he hates In-Vitroes because his father left his family for another woman, a tank."
Meg studied her hands intently and thought about his words.
"I want to talk to him ..."
"Negative, Meg, he is already on his way back to Earth and he'll await to be court martialed there. The RAF strike command has already set a date for the hearing ..."
<"I see ..." Meg said and McQueen watched her.
Suddenly, she burst into tears and McQueen took her into his arms. He had always admired his friend's determination to live like a normal human being, founding a family and raising children but he had also known that especially the children of In-Vitroes suffered from this situation. Being unaware of the discrimination, the children of In-Vitroes had to learn it the hard way how the society of natural born humans worked. McQueen wondered for the umpteenth time what would have become of his children if he and his divorced wife had ever had any.
During the next two weeks when Chambers recovered fully and was about to resume her assignment together with her squadron, the RAF pilots had teamed up with the Wild Cards. The Colonel had been surprised that the British pilots had assimilated so soon after Urquhart had been transported away but he was relieved that his niece would have no more troubles with her squad. During Meg's reconvalescence Firth had spent long hours talking to his Flight Lieutenant and they had agreed that they let bygones be bygones. Even Cooper had turned up once or twice between OPs but he had kept a distance towards her, always making sure that he turned up at Meg's bed with either Shane or Paul when the Colonel was present. Despite the distraction of both squadrons, Meg had had too much time on her hands which she idled away in day-dreaming. For the first time in almost four months she felt at ease, only now and then having nightmares about her old squadron.
The Wild Cards had organised a small 'welcome home' party for Chambers and Firth was elected to lure the unsuspecting victim to the bar.
"Con, I'm not feeling up to a game of table soccer," Chambers said and paused in the corridor.
"Oh, come on, Meg," Firth said and nudged her along. "After you spent this whole week in bed you should shake them lazy bones."
Chambers looked at her comrade in surprise.
"THEM lazy bones?" she asked with a laugh. "I think it's time we should leave for our home-soil before you turn into a Yank completely!"
"I'm just blending in ..." Firth replied with a shrug of his shoulders. The young Flight Lieutenant shook her head but nevertheless she let herself be led to the bar. The 'Tun was dark and seemed to be closed.
"Are you sure they're open tonight?" she asked.
"Yes, Flight Lieutenant, definitely!" Firth replied. With a mocking bow he led her inside. Suddenly, the lights were switched on, almost blinding Firth and Chambers. Both squadrons and some officers off duty this evening came forward and greeted the new arrivals.
"You should have seen your face!" Paul said and shoved a drink into Chambers' hand.
"Yes, I must have looked pretty daft!" Meg retorted and grimaced. Sometimes, she still suffered from headaches but tonight she was determined not to let anything ruin her good mood.
"I have almost expected everyone yelling SURPRIZE at me when we came in!" she said and took a sip of the drink. "Ugh, what's this stuff?" she asked perplexed and Paul winked at her.
"The Colonel told us you were not allowed to drink any alcohol, so we mixed some non-alcoholic drink ourselves!"
"I just hope you did not mix your socks in it!" Meg retorted.
McQueen had come over to her, carrying a real toffee-cereal bar in his open palm.
"This is my treat for you, Meg."
"Yeah, Meg, we couldn't organise a chocolate cake," Susan Parsons said and licked her lips.
"It wouldn't have survived anywhere near Sue," Petey Mullen said and nudged Parsons.
Seeing her squadron so cheerful and companionable saddened Meg. Not that she envied them, she was quite glad that the squad had formed a gung-ho at last. But she knew that anytime in an Op they could be killed.
Her glance caught Shane who had witnessed the scene and both women exchanged a long look. They were both honchos, ready to lead their comrades into battle and to obvious death and without words they understood each other and their dilemma.
Megan shivered and tried to shrug off these thoughts. She took another sip of her drink and swallowed.
The stuff gets better the more I drink from it, she told herself and saluted towards Nathan who had come over to stand by her side.
"Back in the furball again!" he commented, watching Parsons, Wang, 'Phousse and Firth playing table soccer.
"Yes, and I will enjoy every minute of it," Meg replied. "Lord, those passed weeks were boring. Every time I wanted to get up one of those nurses almost bound me to the bed ..."
"Poor you!" Nathan said sarcastically and both laughed. Being in the infirmary wasn't the worst place of spending a war, they both knew that.
"West?" Megan asked tentatively. When the Marine turned to watch her with a questioning look, she blushed.
"Uh, do you know if Cooper's seeing someone? You know, anyone special?" she mumbled and Nathan almost spilled his drink but his face remained unmoved by her question.
"You mean special as in girl-friend?" West asked teasingly and Meg laughed embarrassed.
"Yes, one could say that!" she retorted. The young Marine grinned and scratched his jaw with the neck of his beer-bottle.
"Mmh, let's see. Despite his frequent visits to the VR-cade, he was seen visiting a very good-looking broad in the infirmary ..." he yelped in surprise when Meg nudged him hard.
"O.k., ok., Chambers, no need to pull ranks!" He laughed but sobered instantly and watched her for some moments. "Coop is hook, line and sinker if you haven't already noticed, Meg."
Meg closed her eyes as pain engulfed her. West couldn't know that he had used exactly the same words Anne Thurston had told her some time back about James Woolfe, the big, childlike tank in her squad. But it still hurt. She fingered Woolfe's signet ring on her middle finger nervously.
I can't go through with this again, she thought. Not now where my feelings are different. She had had felt motherly towards Woolfe but her feelings for Hawkes had nothing to do with being maternal. Far from that, during her days in the infirmary she had constantly thought about the kisses they had shared.
When Meg didn't react to his words immediately, Nathan's jaws set firmly.
If she was trying to fool around with Cooper he was going to make sure that she exactly knew that she would pay for it.
"Coop is my friend, Chambers, if you'll hurt him, we'll get even!"
Meg stared at him open-mouthed.
"I couldn't hurt Cooper ..." she whispered softly. "He has already been hurt too often and I know how it is to dumped because you are a tank ..."
Nathan lowered his lids and nodded.
"I just wanted to make sure. I'm sorry," he said and looked down at Meg.
"It's all right, I understand and I'm glad that you're a good friend to him ..." she looked over where Cooper was standing. He and Vansen were listening to Mullen who talked energetically, waving his arms. Nathan let it rest at this. He somehow knew that she spoke the truth and he followed her gaze.
"What the hell is he doin'?" Nathan asked interested. Chambers laughed out loud and they walked over to them.
"Believe me, you don't want to know it. He's probably showing them his newest stage-act," she broke off and both watched as Mullen staggered backwards, clutching his chest as if mortally wounded. While Shane had the decency to turn her back on Mullen to hide her smile, Cooper just stared at him open-mouthed.
"You dying or what?" he asked which sent Vansen over the brink. Nathan had never seen her so hilariously funny and when he touched her arm, she just kept on laughing.
"Christ, Nathan. Coop's killing me ..." she gasped.
"Why me?" Cooper asked. "He started it," pointing an accusing finger at Mullen.
"You should've seen your face, Coop," Shane said, still shaking from her laughter. "I'll never forget that!"
Cooper shrugged his shoulders and was about to turn around, when he saw Meg standing beside him.
"Hi," he said and greeted her with a shy smile, blushing deeply. Gesturing with the empty beer-bottle to the bar he asked: "Care for another one?"
Shane stared after the two of them, then looked at Nathan questioningly.
"Don't ask, Shane!" Nathan said and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess Hawkes has finally lost his heart!"
Chapter Six
The happy mood was over as soon as the Marines and the RAF pilots were briefed the next morning to be assigned to yet another Op.
During Meg's time in the infirmary, the jets of the nine-eight had arrived and the pilots had exchanged a lot of data about the jets. Especially Wang had spent a lot of time with Mullen, discussing minor and major problems concerning the HUD and LIDAR of the British jets.
As Mullen and Wang entered the O-room they were arguing about some detail in the technical manuals and Vanessa exchanged a glance with Shane.
"Do you think they'd ever get tired of studying these graphs?" she asked and Shane shook her head.
"Don't bet on it!" she answered and took a seat between Vanessa and Cooper.
During the briefing in which Ross informed them that their mission was of prior authority and compartmentalised, Shane wondered if there was ever an assignment which was not considered a code red.
As if the pilots would sit down to a nice comfy talk with the Chigs, she thought and smiled at the irony of it.
She pulled herself together again, as she noticed her mind drifting off and listened intently to the Commodore's remarks.
The Wild Cards had been assigned to a ground Op with the nine-eight as airborne support. They had to secure yet another hill on Nox and several squadrons were assigned to it. Shane mused about this but she was not really worried for she knew that Chambers' crew would not let them down and she could count on each of her Marines as well.
But if Coop starts complaining again, I'll gonna throttle him, she thought and grinned at that.
The preparations for the Op were quickly over and done with. After so many months in combat the Marines knew what they were doing and when they picked up their gear each one of them knew that they were ready for battle. As always McQueen had accompanied them to the flightdeck, receiving their salute before they boarded the ISSCV. As usual he had told them to look alive as soon they would encounter a Chig and all of them were determined to heed his words.
Back down on Nox the Wild Cards found themselves in the midst of a hairy-assed furball fight. Each of them remembering the words of their drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Bougus. The squadrons had to dig trenches and duck whenever the Chig bombers strafed the area and the natural darkness of the planet made it difficult to recognise either friend and foe around mount MS-7990. Every half hour the five-eight had to establish a com-channel to all the joining squads in the vicinity to make sure that they were not killed by friendly fire.
Paul switched to yet another com-channel to give the 58th position and groaned when he received only the statical over the headphones.
"Vansen, can't raise the three-four over the radio," he stated matter of factly, being beyond sympathy for the erased squadrons after three long, unnerving days on Nox.
Vansen nodded and raised the binocs to her eyes again. Making a mental note that she would kick the asses of Fleet-Com later, she searched the area for any enemy movement. Right now, everything seemed calm and quiet, but during their sojourn on the planet she had discovered that this was just the sign of the beginning of another attack.
"I thought we'd strafe the whole area, sending in the nine-eight and the thirty-two," Cooper said.
He was standing some yards away from Shane and the others, scanning the area through his NVGs. As usual, he had taken point, the most dangerous position of the whole squad. Only an experienced sniper could take such a place to reassure the safety of the squad.
Yeah, either a sniper or a madman, point's always a good place to die! Cooper thought, lifting his M-590. But he knew that the Cards relied on him. They trusted him.
"Let's move on," Shane said and came over to Cooper. "The nearest gun-nest is about 500 to the west. We should be able to bait them if we split up," she gave her friends a cursory once over.
"Any volunteers?" she asked, her voice devoid of any emotion. Splitting up was always a dangerous move for a squadron, especially if two of them would bait the Chigs away from their nests.
"Count me in," West said and stepped forward.
"Yup, me too," Hawkes nodded. If West wanted to risk his neck he wanted to make sure that he didn't get it broken along the way.
After Shane had briefed the two Marines the squad split up. Watching the rest of the Wild Cards advance onto the gun-nest in a wide circle, West checked his ammo-strips. After they had made sure that the Cards were safely on their way, West and Hawkes quickly ran for cover across a wide expanse of underbrush.
Immediately they were sought out as fitting targets and they had to dodge the bullets from the snipers.
"Hey, you needin' practice?" Cooper yelled at the Chigs. West pushed him forward as another volley of shots surrounded them.
"You mad, or what?" Nathan asked through clenched teeth, as they threw themselves unto the hard ground behind a small boulder. "You could get us killed!"
"For crying out loud, West, you think I'm dumb?" Coop retorted, scanning the area through the TS of his weapon.
"Gotcha!" he said as a lone Chig came into his sight of vision. "Should we give 'em a calling card?"
"Definitely, my mom always told me to be polite!" Nathan replied and adjusted the TS to the target. Slowly, his finger touched the trigger of his M-590 when he noticed a movement at the edge of his vision. When he turned towards it, he gasped. A Chig patrol was coming straight towards them, only a few yards away from their hide-out.
"Shit!" Nathan exclaimed but Hawkes had already raised his rifle and fired.
"We've to get outta here!" he shouted and they both fell into a run. The area rose to a steep rise and soon both Marines were out of breath.
Shane scanned the area again, watching the Chigs who were patrolling in front of the gun-nest. <
"I don't understand!" she said. "By now Hawkes and West should have taken them out!"
Damphousse crept up beside her and raised the binocs to her eyes.
"I count seven Chigs patrolling," she said breathlessly. "What's Cooper doin'?"
She broke off when they heard sniper fire. Through the binocs she could see that another Chig patrol was advancing to a couple of hills on the east. Paul had joined them at their look-out and he could just make out West and Hawkes chasing like rabbits across another strip of rocky terrain.
"They're retreating further away from us!" he yelled and cocked his gun at the nearest Chig following the Marines.
Suddenly the radio came to life and Wang yanked the earphones onto his head angrily.
"SPACECOM, five-eight reporting in," he announced and strained his ears to receive the message, switching the button to 'all hear'.
"Five-eight, here Queensix," he heard the voice of the Colonel. "Abort Op immediately, repeat: abort Op immediately!"
Shane snatched the radio away from Wang.
"Negative, Queensix. Two officers in combat sit. They need immediate back up!"
"Negative, Wild Cards. Retreat to EVAC point immediately. Extraction on 1805 hours. Queensix out!"
Shane sighed and checked her watch. If they started out to the EVAC site immediately they could make it just in time. When she looked up, Vanessa and Paul were staring at her.
"We can't leave West and Hawkes alone up there!" Paul exclaimed.
"You heard McQueen, we have to move out now!" Shane said and took off her NVGs wearily. "I hate this as much as you ..."
"Shane ..." 'Phousse said pleadingly but the determined look on Shane's face made her shiver.
"Try to raise them over their coms," Vansen said matter of factly and after Paul had established a secure channel, she took a deep breath.
"Jack and King, do you hear?"
"Copy, Queen of Diamonds, loud and clear," Cooper announced.
Shane closed her eyes for a moment.
"Retreat to EVAC site. Repeat: extract at 1805!"
"Good joke there, Shane," Cooper laughed. "And howda ya think we should make it? We're kinda busy right now!"
The Marines could hear gun-fire in the background and Paul groaned.
"Negative, Jack of Spades. Extraction at 1805!" Shane replied, bracing herself for the yelling she was about to hear over the com.
There was a long pause before Nathan's voice was heard.
"Copy, Queen of Diamonds ..." Nathan said slowly. "Awaiting new orders on seven-seven-four."
"Affirmative. Seven-seven-four," Shane replied. "Semper Fi and look alive!"
"Semper Fi," Nathan answered, clearing his throat.
"Shane?" That was Cooper's voice.
"Yeah, Coop?" Vansen asked.
"Tell ... uh, tell Chambers ... tell her I'll be seeing her!"
"Yes, I will, Coop," Shane replied. "Semper Fi!"
"Yeah. Semper Fi, do or die..."
Shane closed her eyes. Ever since she had gotten their orders the knot in her stomach had grown and she felt extremely sick. The Marine Corps didn't leave their Marines behind, and yet this was exactly what she was doing. She was about to leave two friends, her best-friends.
Tyrus Cassius McQueen sat at his desk and tried to concentrate on Achilles' return to the battle field. Usually, reading Homer's 'Iliad' calmed his troubled thoughts but tonight it didn't help. Ever since Fleet-Com had ordered them to retreat he had a hell of a headache which had only increased when the ISSCV had landed on the Saratoga and the Marines had filed out slowly. He had been waiting for them on the mid-deck but when they had seen him, they had just brushed past without as so much as a nod.
Wearily, he rubbed his eyes and stood up. He paced the floor of his quarters restlessly when he heard a knock on the hatch. Before he could ask who was there the hatch was pushed open and crashed into the metal wall of his quarters. Chambers stood in the doorway, clutching her fists at her sides. She entered with a determined step and only paused a few inches in front of her CO.
"How could you do this?" she demanded angrily, suppressing the urge to claw her nails into his face.
"Fleet-Com ordered us to leave ..." McQueen started lamely but Megan shook her head and cut in:
"To hell with Fleet-Com! You know as well as I do that those two Marines are going to die down there if we don't do something ... "
"Ross and I have already made plans, Meg. We will assemble a rescue team as soon as Fleet-Com gives their ok. ..." he stated wearily.
"Hah, Fleet-Com gives a shit about rescuing the Marines. I was on Acheron, I have seen how quickly Fleet-Com makes decisions, Uncle Mac. When they finally decided to rescue the seven-two, three of us were dead ..." Meg closed her eyes for a moment, forcing back the memories of that incident. The seven-two had been assigned to a transport-mission on the fringes of the battle. An easy task they had thought but the Chigs had changed their attack-plans and the pilots had found themselves in the very first wave of attacks. They had to make a crash-landing on one of the in-numerous moons in the Procyon sector. For five days the pilots had had to keep in hiding, always aware that one false move could mean their deaths.
She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to remember the frightened look of James Woolfe, after he had received a shot to his stomach, clutching at what had remained of his guts. The dying had taken long and all Meg could do was holding James in her arms and listening to him as he told her that he was too young to die, that he wanted to have more than ten years of hurt and pain.
Big strong Woolfe ... She had been his mother, his friend and as he was about to take his last breath she had also been his lover.
She licked her lips and she could still feel the metallic, salty taste of his blood on them. When he had asked her to kiss him she had obliged, kissing the bloodied lips of the dying man. Back then, Meg had lost her innocence about the war. Seeing her fellow crew-men die and not able to do anything about it, had left a deep, soaring pain inside of her.
McQueen watched his godchild's agony. To see her like that touched something deep inside of him. He had been in the same hell in which she was right now.
"Meg," he pleaded and touched her shoulders. "Trust me, we'll get West and Hawkes out of there no matter what ..."
"Aye, it just stands to question if they return dead or alive ..." Chamber replied wearily and turned away.
Next: Continuing Chapters
Previous: Last Chapters