From last time:
The door to her office slid open and Jen Mai appeared again. “What is it?” she asked. “Have you found them?”
“Not yet, ma’am. But we have reason to believe that expeditionary forces have been sent in a rescue mission.”
Rae Et frowned. This situation had been foreseen and it could have proved a significant difficulty, but she was determined to turn it into an advantage. “Did you acquire those uniforms?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jen Mai replied.
“Tell your men it’s time to get dressed. Oh, and Jen Mai, how attached are you to the village of Breksin?”
********
New stuff:
“Sir, here!” one of Ching’s soldiers at the head of the column called out. Ching made his way forward through the ranks to see what his soldiers had discovered.
The wreckage of the ship.
Ching raced down the steep slope toward the ship. Breathless, he stepped through the door into the cabin. He peered around. The interior was deserted. Several soldiers followed him into the ship. “They are alive,” Ching said quietly.
“Sir, the weapons and medical equipment are missing,” a soldier called out.
“One of the stretchers is gone,” another announced.
Ching scanned the ship, searching for any clues that would help him find her. He already knew that they had all survived the crash, but judging from the damage done to the rocks outside the ship, it had been a very rough landing. At least some of them were injured, likely one of them seriously. He looked down at the floor of the ship. Small spots of blood had been smeared on the metal flooring. Ching made his way to the control deck. He knew Zara. If they had had any advanced warning of the danger, she would have gone straight to the controls. She was one of the best pilots on all of New Krypton, if there was danger, she would want to do something to help and to protect her crew.
The control deck had sustained serious damage during the crash. He searched the mangled deck, but there was little information to gather from the destroyed circuitry and controls. He looked at the pilot and co-pilot’s seats. He touched the back of the almost shattered pilot’s seat and held up his fingers, sticky with nearly dried blood. The pilot’s restraints had been cut away with a knife, which probably meant that he or she had to be assisted from this seat. If he had to venture a guess, he would assume that it was the pilot who was taken out on the stretcher.
Ching looked up at his crew, likewise gathering whatever information they could from the ship. “Let’s go,” he said simply. Outside the ship, Ching looked around, surveying the terrain. Zara, knowing that members of her crew were injured and unwilling to further jeopardize them, would have removed them from this immediate danger zone. There was no guarantee that the first to arrive at this scene would have been her own forces and not those of Nor’s. She would have chosen a path that could be traversed by her small crew, probably all wounded and encumbered by a comrade on a stretcher.
To the south lay the valley and total exposure, as well as potentially hostile forces. To the north and the east were mountains too difficult to pass even by those in good health. That left the west, and a steep, but not impossible mountain pass. It would have provided them some protection against Nor’s forces, if they were sent to find her. Unfortunately, everything she could do to protect herself from Nor would make it that much more difficult for Ching to find her, as well.
Ching turned to his communications officer. “Redirect all flights to this region. Have forces deploy to search in concentric circles, working their way out from this point. We’ll head west.”
“Aye, sir,” the officer replied.
********
Zara struggled to keep her eyes open on her shift on watch. The pain in her side had been steadily growing worse and it hurt to breathe. She leaned heavily against the rock wall of the cave and peered out into the darkness. Deep inside the cave, away from the entrance, Sen tended to Commander Rin’s injuries and kept watch over him. Rin’s condition had worsened as the night wore on. Zara knew that he would not last long without medical attention.
The sound of footsteps outside the cave drew her attention. She felt her heart rate increase. With trepidation, she silently stood up, biting back the pain that came from moving. Zara crept toward the mouth of the cave, her weapon at the ready. She strained her ears to make out the voices in the distance.
“…no prisoners…shoot to kill…”
Any lingering doubts about the identities of the approaching parties were laid to rest. Certain the sound of her heart thundering was audible, Zara took a deep, silent breath and quietly retreated into the cave. She moved cautiously, desperately hoping to avoid making a sound. After what seemed like an eternity, she reached her sleeping soldiers and quietly roused them. The four mostly able-bodied members of her crew joined her in quietly approaching the mouth of the cave.
Their eyes were accustomed to the lack of light, but in the darkness it was still difficult to make out their would-be attackers. Zara could see seven of them all together but knew that if a firefight were to ensue, more would come quickly. Voss signaled to her silently. He was suggesting that he and Cor, the only two who had not suffered any significant injuries, leave the cave to draw fire elsewhere. Zara scanned the terrain, her focus settling on the narrow pass at the top of the path. From the high ground, the pass would be easy to defend, only one or two people could move through it at a time. The plan was dangerous, but their options were extremely limited. At her assent, the two soldiers slipped quietly away toward the pass.
********
Ching stopped dead in his tracks. He held up a hand, signaling his troops to be silent. “Did you hear that?” he asked his lieutenant.
“What, sir?” The young lieutenant looked around cautiously.
The sound of rifle fire, unmistakable, and much louder than before, pierced the air. With a wave of his hand, Ching ordered his soldiers forward toward the sound of the fire. “Call in for medical evacuation, then scatter to raid positions,” he told his lieutenant. “But do not charge until you receive the order.”
“Aye, sir,” the junior officer replied.
Ching swiftly ran in front of his forces and toward the firefight. Maintaining his cover, he scanned the area, trying to determine where friend and foe had taken up positions. He counted a few dozen rebel troops, disorganized in their attack on several locations. The mouth of a narrow pass seemed to be the place of the fiercest fighting, but there was also fire being exchanged near the mouth of a cave. The cave was the easiest place to defend the wounded. It was likely that a few of the able bodied had taken position at the pass to draw fire, which meant those in the cave needed the most help. He quietly relayed the information to his lieutenant and the waiting forces before taking position behind the rebels to draw the fire of those attacking the cave.
Ching settled behind the protection of a large rock, took aim, and fired.
He caught the rebels by surprise and succeeded in his plan to draw their fire. The rebels fell into confusion, firing wildly in his general direction.
********
Zara cautiously looked out from behind the rock wall where she’d taken position. The steady, vicious fire that had been directed toward the cave’s entrance had suddenly been diverted. She wondered if Cor or Voss had moved to divert fire yet again. Emboldened she craned her neck to see where the rebels were aiming. The pre dawn sky lit up by laser rifle fire, she was able to make out a solitary figure, racing nimbly from one position to the next as he brought a daring, brash assault on the rebel forces.
One hand fell unconsciously to her side, where the pain now throbbed mercilessly. She struggled to remain standing on leaden legs, but her eyes were fixed on that figure, whose movements could not have been more familiar to her.
She would have known him anywhere.
For the briefest of moments, the pain and the fatigue seemed to simply evaporate. She breathed his name in a silent whisper.
A blast of laser rifle fire reminded her that she was still far from safe. She retreated once again to a more protected position behind the protruding rock wall and prepared to return fire. She could no longer see Ching and fear and worry gnawed at her, but it would do neither of them any good if she simply sat watching him, too disoriented to fight.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Sen, by far the youngest of her crew. He cursed softly as his weapon malfunctioned. Zara jerked her head to the side to look at the corporal before turning quickly back toward the rebel position. She realized with horror that Sen was unconsciously leaning away from his protected position, probably seeking the tiny bit of light in the darkness that would help him see well enough to repair his weapon.
She looked down at their attackers. With horror, she noticed a rebel soldier creep forward and take careful aim. Her focus turned once more to Sen. He must have been completely visible to the rebels.
“Sen!” she called out as she lunged at his position. Zara felt the muscles and tendons and tissues in her side tear and scream in agony, seemingly ripped up by the sudden forceful motion. Sen looked up at her in confusion. She collided with him, knocking them both to the ground as a loud crack overhead followed by the tumbling of rocks and dust from the place just behind where Sen had been standing informed them of how close the shot had truly been.
Zara felt the white hot flames of agony consume her, radiating outward from her side. She struggled to draw in slow breaths, each tiny movement causing excruciating pain to flare up. With gritted teeth, she screwed her eyes shut, aware of nothing but the pain.
********
Within moments, as per his orders, Ching’s own forces arrived, not from behind him, but attacking from either side, effectively surrounding the rebels. The ensuing firefight was vicious, but brief.
Lacking any options for retreat and having lost command of the high ground, the rebels surrendered to Ching’s troops.
“Lay down your weapons!” Ching barked at the rebels. He signaled his lieutenant. “Round them up carefully.” With that brief command, he raced toward the mouth of the cave. Two of Zara’s crew had emerged from behind the pass once the fighting had ceased. Both were heavily wounded. Ching ran to the cave, calling out her name.
“Zara!”
He ran into the darkened cave, searching frantically. “Zara!” he called again. He stopped dead. Ensign Rul and a young enlisted man stood over the figures of two people lying on the floor of the cave.
“Commander,” Rul called to him. “They’re both wounded badly.”
Ching ran to Zara. He knelt beside her. “Zara,” he whispered breathlessly, his heart sinking. He swallowed roughly around the boulder that had formed in his throat. She turned her head slightly to face him, her eyes fluttering open.
“You came,” she whispered.
Ching merely nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. He wanted to take her hand in his, to tell her that nothing in the world could keep him from going to her when she needed him. He wanted to promise her that he would never again fail to protect her, that he would never let her come to any harm. But he couldn’t. He knew that.
He stood up and stepped back, looking for the first time at the wounded commander who lay on the stretcher next to Zara. Ching retrieved his communicator and gave a simple, emotionless order. “I need medical evacuation now. Two seriously wounded.”
********
Rae Et stood outside her compound, the fierce gusts of wind swirling about her seemed to have no impact on her unflappable demeanor. Her expression, as always, was stern and inscrutable. She turned her eyes upward as a ship gently descended to the landing pad.
The ship’s doors opened as soon as it had landed. Jen Mai strode out confidently.
“How did it go?” she asked almost disinterestedly.
Jen Mai smiled with self satisfaction. “Field commanders report that it has been burned to the ground.”
“Good,” Rae Et replied before turning to walk back inside. Jen Mai hurried to follow. “Brief Nor,” Rae Et continued without bothering to look at her subordinate. “He will need to make a statement about these unfortunate events.”
“Of course, ma’am,” Jen Mai replied. “Is there anything else?”
“Yes, I’m beginning to hear word of fighting in the mountains near where Zara’s ship was last spotted. I want to know what is happening there and why our commanders have not kept us informed.”
“Very well, ma’am, I’ll see to it at once.”
“Do that,” Rae Et concluded dismissively with a curt nod.
********
Ching stood back in a corner of the small medical transport ship, watching anxiously as the medics worked. “Will she be all right?” he asked, craning his neck to get a glimpse of her.
“We’re doing everything we can, sir,” one of the medics said without looking up.
Moments stretched into infinity as the medical crew did their work. Ching didn’t understand their jargon or what was happening and the frustration was tearing at him. He fidgeted slightly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He was trapped in the confines of this ship, without room to pace as he worried. He tried to maintain an outward calm, directing his energies toward being still and silent. He wondered for the hundredth time how much longer it would take to get back to the main colony. Outside, dawn had broken; signaling the end to what may have been the worst day of his life.
He shook his head. Had it really been just a day? The agony, the fear, and panic that came with her disappearance, the desperation of his search, and the anguish of finding her so terribly wounded all jumbled together. At once, it felt like years had passed since he’d first learned of the loss of her ship, and yet, he was still feeling all the terror and confusion at this very moment, his mind having not had the necessary time to process all that had happened.
********
Clark stood up as the ship approached the docking bay. He’d been sitting in silence with Zara’s parents for the last hour, anxiety among the small group growing. They waited now with bated breath as the ship gently descended and docked. Immediately, the cargo door of the ship slid open and the crew rushed out with their two patients. The waiting medical personnel met them and a terse, staccato exchange, well beyond Clark’s understanding, took place.
“Make way,” the lead medic called out as they headed toward the medical facilities. Clark and Zara’s parents reluctantly stood aside. The look of grief on Mieren’s face was evident as she watched her daughter, unconscious, wheeled away from her.
They tried to follow, but were stopped by a pair of guards. “Ma’am, sirs, we cannot let you go with them,” one of the guards said gently.
Ching exited the ship last. His eyes trained steadily on the group of medics rushing away from him. He gave no sign that he noticed any of the other people gathered at the docking bay. He walked slowly toward them, seeming to look past them. Ching shook his head slightly before finally looking at the people around him.
“Ching, what happened?” Clark asked.
“You can’t see the blood,” Ching muttered.
“Ching?” Tek Ra tried to get the younger man’s attention.
Ching turned to Tek Ra, his eyes still vacant. “She was bleeding internally. She kept fighting, anyway. They think they stopped the bleeding.”
“Oh my,” Mieren gasped. Tears formed in her eyes. Tek Ra tightened his arm around her shoulder.
*******
Lois sat bolt upright and looked around in confusion. In the darkness, she could see Jonathan, looking at least as startled as she felt. She glanced down and realized that she must have fallen asleep at the kitchen table.
“I should have known better than to think I could sneak in here without waking you up,” Jonathan said good naturedly. “Sorry about that.” He flicked on the kitchen lights.
“Oh, it’s all right,” Lois replied. “I didn’t really mean to fall asleep here, anyway.”
“Can I interest you in some tea?” Jonathan asked as he poured water into the tea kettle.
“Sure,” Lois replied. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“Nah,” Jonathan said. “I still don’t get how city folk can stand all this noise.”
“I guess when you grow up with it, you just get used to it.”
Jonathan placed two mugs of tea on the kitchen table and pulled out a chair to sit down. He picked up one of the open books in front of Lois. “Catching up on your reading?” he asked as he looked at the book’s cover: “What to Name Your Baby.”
“I figured I can’t really put it off any longer,” Lois replied quietly before taking a sip of her tea. She stared intently at the dark liquid in her mug.
“Well, the little guy will be here soon,” Jonathan said in agreement. He turned back to the page she’d had open, somewhere in the S’s.
“Part of me is still holding out hope that Clark gets back before the baby is born. That he’s on his way right now and he’ll get here just in the nick of time. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? But another part of me worries that he won’t be here. And it knows that I can’t just keep waiting and hoping.”
“The baby needs a name,” Jonathan said simply.
“But this name is going to be with him his whole life. It’s going to be who he is. What if I pick something the other kids will make fun of? What if he grows up resenting me for it? What if…” She let out an agitated sigh before finally whispering aloud what she was truly afraid of. “What if I pick a name that Clark hates? What if I name our son something he never would have picked in a million years?” She’d been worried for weeks now that she was not only doing alone yet another thing they should have done together, but that she was taking away something monumental from him, too. He was supposed to share this decision with her, and unlike the color they picked for the nursery, this was something permanent. She was blowing the whole thing out of proportion, she knew, but she suddenly couldn’t think of a more important decision that she’d have to make.
Jonathan smiled and placed a hand on top of hers. “You won’t,” he assured her. “You’ll pick out a great name and whatever it is, Clark will love it. And remember, you have plenty of people who are more than happy to give suggestions,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Lois smiled tremulously, thankful for her father-in-law’s gentle, constant support. “Was picking Clark’s name easy?”
Jonathan smiled, the expression on his face distant, as though he was remembering something fondly. “It was. I gather Martha told you about how her family reacted to our getting engaged?”
“She mentioned you telling your future mother-in-law to stuff a sock in it.”
Jonathan laughed heartily. “I did,” he admitted. “And she told me, not long after, that she was looking forward to becoming a Kent, and not being a Clark any more.”
Lois nodded, though without really understanding. She didn’t exactly have the best relationship with her parents, but she was still attached to her name. She had always known that she would keep it, no matter what.
“Well, I told her that I did have the Clarks to thank for one thing: her,” Jonathan continued. “In that way, they had to be all right by me. When we found Clark, we already had a long list of names we had thought about for when we finally had a baby. But I said we should name him after both of our families. Martha agreed. We’d made peace with her folks by then and the name just seemed to fit him.” He took another sip of his tea.
Lois smiled, unsurprised that there was so much thought and history behind Clark’s name. It had been a way for his parents to welcome him into their family. It was a silent promise that no matter where he was from, no matter how he had found his way into their lives, he was a part of both of them and he always would be.
“Anyway, it’s getting late,” he said as he stood up to take his mug to the sink and rinse it out. “Let us know if we can be of any help with the name hunt.”
“I will,” Lois promised.
********
Ching wearily drew himself up to attention as Clark approached. Dark circles had formed under his eyes and despite his perfect posture, he seemed weighted down with worry and fear.
“At ease, Ching,” Clark counseled as he approached.
Ching merely nodded and allowed his body to relax. He wore his weariness like a mantle of lead, his shoulders drooping under its considerable bulk.
Clark stopped beside the door where Ching stood guard. Inside, the recovery room had been prepared for the First Minister and was awaiting her arrival.
“She is due out of surgery any moment now, sir,” Ching said.
Clark nodded. “You haven’t slept in days, you should get some rest.”
“I cannot leave, sir,” Ching replied resolutely.
“I will personally come and wake you when she wakes up.”
Ching sighed. “Sir, please,” he said earnestly.
“They won’t let you see her when she’s brought out of surgery,” Clark said quietly.
Ching looked downward. “I know,” he said.
For a long moment, neither said a word. Clark’s eyes wandered as he looked down the long corridors in either direction, part of a seemingly endless, sterile maze that made up the hospital complex. He finally broke the silence. “I want you to take tomorrow off.”
Ching looked up, his eyes meeting Clark’s, a confused expression settling upon his features. “Have I angered you, sir?”
“No, of course not,” Clark replied. “I just think you could use some rest.”
“Sir, I cannot begin to apologize for my failures. Whatever malfunctioned in the ship, I should have caught it before hand, I should have found her before this happened, I shou…”
“Ching,” Clark interrupted forcefully. “You’ve done nothing wrong. You saved Zara’s life. I won’t belittle your feelings for her by telling you that you did your job well. You did everything humanly possible to protect her. I know that you won’t get a moment’s rest tonight because you’re going to stand obstinately outside this door until you know she’s all right. So take the day off.”
Ching gave him a somewhat startled look. “Aye, sir,” he said at last.
“Good,” Clark replied crisply.
