Emergence (Eden's Root Trilogy) (42 page)

On some level, it
helped her shaking legs to focus on something else besides the fact that her best friend had nearly died…and was still pretty fragile, if she were honest. She’d given as much blood as the doctors would allow, but otherwise, she felt helpless. There was no feeling she abhorred more. She rocked Luke endlessly, trying to burn away the nervous energy still zinging through her.

She
’d thought that once the last shot was fired she’d relax, but it didn’t turn out that way. Instead she was still on DEFCON 1 in her subconscious. Every loud sound or unexpected movement at her periphery made her jump. Her adrenaline pumped on and off in exhausting waves, draining away and then resurging, like aftershocks. Not that it helped being in the makeshift hospital.

Army members with varying amounts of precious morphine in them moaned as they lay on their blankets, many missing limbs.
Some cried out for attention or assistance, and Army volunteers rushed to them, holding their hands and pressing cloths to their feverish brows.

Or Truther volunteers
, she thought, watching them from beneath her eyelashes. Of course it was the right thing to do. She knew that they needed all of the medics they could get to help the wounded, regardless of what side they’d been on
. After war we all have to go back to being civil, right?

She tried to force herself to believe her own rhetoric, but
with Sean still hovering on the razor’s edge, she couldn’t stop the lingering pulse of her hatred. It was like a dying animal that still twitches and kicks, even after its spirit leaves its eyes. She worked to avoid interacting with them. She wondered if she would ever be able to relax around a former Truther again.

Then she
spied Jack, the leader of Lakeland, among the wounded. Her heart bucked on a new surge of adrenaline. Apparently her body’s supply was endless. His chest was wrapped in a heavy bandage, dark with blood. By contrast, he was practically translucent, as if his entire body’s blood supply had sucked into the bandage. A thin blond man was fussing over him when Jack opened his eyes. She exhaled.
He was alive.

“
Fi! Good to see you.” His eyes pinched, the closest thing he could manage to a smile. “Fine doctor I make, huh? Getting myself clobbered instead of patching people up. Thank goodness my partner here was smart enough to avoid getting shot.” He nodded to his busy nursemaid.

“What happened, Jack?
” She knelt beside him, tucking Luke up into her arms. “You didn’t fight, did you?”

“Nope, just took some shrapnel while I was
trying to stop one of our guys from bleeding out.”

“Oh, Jack.
You always have to be the guy in the E.R., huh?” One of the things she’d admired most about Jack when she’d met him was that he’d always chosen the hardest and most heart-wrenching medical jobs. She reached out to squeeze his hand and he startled, noticing Luke’s head peeking from her sling.

“What’s this
?” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Or I guess the question is…who’s this, Fi?”

“This
,” she’d said proudly, pulling at the sling so Jack could see, “is Luke David Grey. Born the day we found that Eden had been ransacked. A little premature, but luckily, he’s healthy.”

“Glad to hear it.
” Jack laid back, exhausted, his chest heaving just from the effort of raising his head. “After you all left, Trill told me about the pregnancy. I’d been so caught up in other things that I hadn’t noticed. Strike two for the good doctor, I guess.”

“Now, now, Jack,” his
caretaker said. “You’re supposed to be getting some rest.”

Jack grabbed the man’s hand and pressed
it to his lips. “All right, Eli. You’re right. As usual.”

Fi startled and Asher coughed.
Oh. That’s what Jack meant by partner.
“I’m so glad that you’re going to be ok, Jack. Lakeland needs you.”

“Yes, it does,”
Eli agreed.

They said their g
oodbyes and slipped outside to take a break.

“So
are you going to make fun of me, Fi?”

It was a relief to hear s
ome playfulness in Asher’s voice. Some people…
Well, pre-Famine people
, she thought. They would have found humor at a time like this kinda sick. They wouldn’t understand the way it could center you, that one moment that floats above the others, reminding you that when they choose too, people can float above themselves too.

And honestly, it was
always in the worst of times that her husband’s humor pulled her through. She slipped her arm around his waist. “What? Just because you freaked out when we were in Lakeland thinking Jack was into me, and it turns out that he could’ve had more interest in you?”

Asher sighed.
“Aaaaaaaand there it is.”

“Oh, I’m going to make fun of you
, Ash, don’t worry.”

“Fi, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” General
Zelinski approached with a man in black fatigues. “Staff Sargent Rasmussen, this is Fionnuala Grey. Mrs. Grey, this is Staff Sargent Rasmussen, our sniper.”

Fi’s eyes widened as she took his hand.
Except for the moment when she’d first seen Asher, she’d never been so intimidated in her life. Rasmussen saluted and gave her a kind smile, the white teeth gleaming through the remnants of grease still on his face. She awkwardly attempted a salute in return, and he and the General bit back chuckles.

“Sorry,” she said, blushing.
“It felt like I should salute you. I mean, the Army told me all about your role in this siege. They said you took out eight of the cliff guards before anyone even knew a thing.”

Rasmussen
nodded. “Guilty as charged.”

“Wow
,” she breathed. Asher squeezed her shoulders and began to massage them. She wiggled gratefully
. God, she’d missed him.

“It wasn’t as hard as some other assignments I’ve had,” Rasmussen added.
“It was only two hundred meters. I’ve heard that you hit a target dead center at fifty with your handgun.”

“What?”
Fi blinked.
How did he…

Trill materia
lized from behind the General. “I couldn’t let these fancy Army types go without knowing your skills, girl.”

Fi dropped her head.

“Look at her blush! Just like the pink little redhead she is,” Trill crowed.

“Yo
u don’t have to rub it in,” Fi protested, reaching to pinch Trill, who danced away. It was then she noticed the sling and bloodstained bandages around Trill’s arm and neck. Fi reached out. “Are you all right?”

“I‘m fine, girl,” she scoffed, pushing
Fi’s hand away. “A little tree shrapnel and a broken forearm. No biggie.” Her eyes shifted to the “morgue” behind them. “I’m lucky.”

Fi’s cradled her son. Trill was right.
She was lucky. Fi shook her head. “I wish I could have done more.”

“I could teach you, you know.”
Rasmussen spoke up, catching Fi’s attention again.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that if you ever wanted to come spend some time at Diaspora, I’d love to show you how to develop your sniper skills.”

Fi’s heart picked up.
Wow.
That sounded…totally awesome. She could just picture herself practicing laying flat on the ground, holding her breath, setting her aim, learning to shoot things that were so far away they were hard to even SEE. That would be so badass. She bounced on her toes. Luke gurgled and she stopped, rooted once more.

“Sorry, Rasmussen.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the offer, but this battle was my last. I’m officially retiring.” She turned as a strange sound erupted from Asher. It sounded like he’d swallowed a sneeze in progress or something.

“Oh, well.”
Rasmussen grinned. “Maybe your son will be interested one day.”

She laughed, e
xcited at the thought. Though some part of her hoped he would never have to be a warrior, with his genes, it seemed unlikely that he’d avoid that fate. “Maybe he will,” she said. “Or maybe my future daughter will. I assume the offer would be open to either?”

“
Of course, Mrs. Grey. Of course.”

The General and Rasmussen moved on to continue tacklin
g the responsibilities that come with victory in battle. Fi was relieved that Kiara and Luke’s wellbeing were her only real assignments at this point. Asher pulled her into an embrace. “Hey,” she said, looking up curiously. “What was that about?”

“What was what about?”

She laughed and swatted his chest. “You know. Before. When you snorted or something.”

“Oh,
that
. Honestly, Fi, it took everything in me not to crack up.”

“Why?”

“Because the struggle was written all over your face. I saw it. You really wanted to go to sniper school, didn’t you?”

“Was it that obvious?”

He tilted his head, silent,
the corners of his mouth twitching.

“Ok,
Ash. Yeah, for a split second I really did want to go to sniper school.” She leaned into him, adjusting Luke to fit in the space between. “Were you mad that I even thought about it?”

“How could I be mad?
That fire is what makes me love you, Fi. You’re the girl who wants to go to sniper school…all five foot two of you. You may be a mom, you may be a wife, you may even settle down…sort of.”

H
e smiled and reached into his pocket and drew out something on a red silk cord. Her hand flew to
her mouth, shaking.
It had been so long.
He slid her wedding ring off the cord, the sapphire glinting as he took her hand and slipped it onto her finger. She closed her eyes as the icy circlet of gold laid claim to her once more. She held her breath, her eyes still closed, as Asher drew the silk cord with his lucky coin around her neck. The tiny, nearly imperceptible weight settled against her throat and she sighed. Her eyes fluttered open just as her husband leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. “Don’t ever let anything put out that fire.”

It felt so good to be close to him again that she actually ached.
She thought of when they’d stood like this the first time…in the beginning, when two fires met and something new was forged. She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him to her. When his lips met hers, her blood ignited, the heat coursing through her – an unbearable spike of current. In the midst of the smoking ruin, they were alone in the world.
They’d done it. They’d survived.

The burn of her love and fear and relief all rose in her chest until she broke away, gasping.
“Don’t worry, baby. Nothing can put out Dragon Fire.”

------------ Fi --------------

She wasn’t ready for the goodbyes to come so soon. They’d been on a mission for so long…so long, when she included the summer Seed...or Seeds…or pretty much her whole freaking life since the world fell apart. And now everyone was disappearing on the breeze before she had a chance to hold them close, to catch up and make their life’s details her own: their families, their homesteads, their histories, their joys, their sorrows. It was only one morning since the siege and they were already whispering away in steady stream, disappearing into the waves of forest fog.

It would be a long journey back to their homes for most of the Army.
With the rations and supplies they’d taken from Camp Truth, they wouldn’t have to worry about survival any longer, but they were weary and battered and ready to rest. For most it would take weeks if not months to reach their destinations.

Fi waited anxiously by the Jeeps
as a sleeping Sean was settled into the back of one. They’d managed to recover the Jeeps the Truthers had stolen from Eden and had added several from Diaspora as well. These were being set up to carry the critically injured patients back to the colony hospitals as quickly as possible. Even on back-up power, Eden was better prepared to save lives than the battle hospital.

Sara squeezed in beside Sean
first and then Fi wound herself carefully onto the other side, shifting Luke past Sean’s IV bag where it hung from the roll cage. Asher took the front seat with Kiara on his lap. She’d offered to walk back with the rest of Sean’s family, but Asher had insisted. That night he’d whispered in Fi’s ear, “It almost killed me too, you know.”

Fi ha
d snuggled into him, warmed and saddened at the same time. He was so tough. He never showed her his deepest fears, including how worried he’d been about Kiara. Regardless, she was glad that he’d insisted on bringing her because Fi didn’t want to let Kiara out of her sight yet either.

The Jeep rocked as their two guards, both Diaspora Seals, boarded.
One would be their driver and one their gunner. Later, Fi would remember being amazed at the resolution in the gunner’s face. The highway leg of their trip was twenty hours and yet he stood stock still the entire time, cemented in his two inches of space, his eyes locked on the horizon.
That,
she thought,
was a soldier
. She was just an animal that refused to go down.