Ayan glanced to the bag then back. “If we can get him to good medical facilities in the next ten days, very good. What I'm more worried about is the fallout that could come from us saving him and not all the others that have died in this. Each of us only have enough ready medication to save one person that far gone, but that doesn't mean that Yves and his people won't start asking questions.”
Their conversation was interrupted as the main hatch to the brown and red ship dropped open and soldiers started emerging with their hands held high. The heat waves radiating from the interior of the ship were plainly visible even through the tiny slit in the improvised main barricade.
Yves and his group were on them in seconds, tying their wrists behind them with thin plastic restraints and guiding them straight up the ramp.
When Yves arrived behind the barrier and looked at the captives that had been rounded up in a seated circle he chuckled to himself. “Start strapping these idiots to the outside of the barricade. It'll give their friends something to think about when they try to break through,” he ordered his men.
Ayan marched towards him, crossing the thirty meters that separated them in a hurry. Oz, who was leading a few of his people back from the landing platform carrying the first load of salvaged supplies and equipment put his bundle down and did the same.
“Is that the kind of fighting we want to do here?” Ayan asked loudly. “Human shields?”
Yves spun on his heel and laughed at her. “These are soldiers, they knew what they were getting into.”
“I agree with Ayan; if we're going to take prisoners we have to treat them like prisoners, obey the conventions of war set down by our commands, whether they're here or not.” Oz added.
“Conventions of war? Where the hell do you think you are? I may have let you people take charge for a little while, but I still call the shots and I didn't sign anything saying that we should treat these fanatics like anything but the human waste they are.”
“How we treat captives in war time is one of the determining factors of how easy we heal after the fighting is over. You're not going to put these people in harm's way,” Ayan argued.
“Healing? I just want to survive!” Yves grabbed the nearest captive and dragged her to her feet, she stared at him angrily. “What are you, West Keeper or Regent?”
“I'm both, and when I'm killed here I'll join my brothers and sisters in the Eternal Garden.”
“Leave her alone!” Oz ordered.
Yves ignored him; “Do you take prisoners?”
“We kill anyone who won't convert. They're impure, a waste of life, contaminants,” replied the captive defiantly.
“Her beliefs don't make her less human or less worthy of basic respect.”
Yves threw the bound captive towards one of the nearby law enforcement androids. “Lash her to the outer barrier, make sure she can't get away. When you're done do the same with the rest.”
“You can't agree with this, respect for human life is built into you,” Ayan objected, turning to Ariel.
She smiled mechanically and nodded; “but our success here has largely been thanks to us working with this man so we will defer to his judgement. I'd advise you not to counter his orders.”
Oz scanned the crowd of hundreds of rebels, androids and other bots that had come to gather quietly around and watch the exchange. “All right, let's continue to strip those ships of anything we can use,” Oz said in a conclusive tone.
Ayan's eyes met the pleading gaze of one of the captives, his desperate expression nearly brought her to tears. She looked away and joined Oz as he stalked back down the embarkation ramp without saying a word.
Recharging
The Pilot's Den was abnormally empty. Instead of being surrounded by the loud, competitive atmosphere, Price and Laura were enveloped in relative subdued quiet. The bartender quietly served them food from the materializer behind him; Agameg took the rice, baby carrots and grilled chicken while Laura took two bowls of stew.
“Two?” Agameg asked quietly. He had really just met her, but after running into her while going to see the Samson for himself, she asked to follow him to the lower deck pub for something to eat. He knew he'd find Ashley there too, Stephanie had asked him to check on her on his way back up.
“One for Ashley, just in case.”
“Ah, I should have thought of that.”
They started looking around for the young pilot as they slowly walked away from the bar. “Don't worry, we're all…” Laura stopped mid sentence as she spotted Ashley in a nearby booth, her legs curled up to her chest, head resting on her knees and her long straight black hair hanging over her tall combat boots. “… tired,” she finished as she nodded in the sleeping woman's direction.
“Oh my,” was all Agameg said as they quietly walked over and slid into the bench across from Ashley and sat side by side.
They watched her for a moment, not touching their food. She seemed small somehow, her shoulders rising and falling in the slow, regular breathing pattern of sleep. Her knee high armoured combat boots, something she wore out of stylish preference than practical need, looked too large for her. She was squeezed snugly against the wall of the booth, sitting with her knees folded up so tightly that she only took up the inner half of the seat.
“She's really sleeping,” Laura whispered.
“Deeply it seems.”
“I couldn't do that, not when I know there are people around.”
“She grew up with no personal space, I doubt it bothers her. She was saying that her quarters were too quiet.”
“Has this ever happened before?”
“Not that I've known,” Agameg shrugged slightly. “What do you think we should do?”
“We can't leave her like this,” Laura said as she quietly got out of her seat and moved to the other side of the booth. She gently put her hand on Ashley's; “Hi Ashley, it's Laura and Agameg,” her tone was that of someone speaking to a small, easily spooked animal.
Ashley's eyes opened reluctantly and Laura gently moved her hair to the side for her. She stared at the older woman for a moment before straightening up. “Sorry, dosed off after finishing my report.”
“It's okay, Stephanie sent Agameg to check on you and I thought I'd tag along.”
Agameg raised a hand in a mild hello. “Are you okay Ash?”
“Hi Aggie, I'm fine. Haven't had a nap like that in a while.”
Laura moved back to her seat beside Agameg and pushed her second bowl of stew across the table to Ashley. “Thought you'd be hungry.”
“Ohm'gosh I'm famished,” Ashley said as she turned the steaming contents of the bowl, it was thick, brown and had chunks of various tuber vegetables and textured tofu. “Never tried this kind.”
“It's the field harvest stew, one of my favourites since coming aboard,” Laura replied as she watched Ashley take her first spoonful and just enjoy it with her eyes closed.
“Num,” she sighed as she finished chewing.
“So you finished your after action report already?”
“Yup. Didn't take me long, I read Alice's instructions before the Samson left, recorded everything so I just had to highlight the important bits and summarize. Still, it's different. On the Samson we just did what we were s'posed to and told Captain what happened after.”
“Have you ever done military service Ashley?” Laura asked as she scooped her first spoonful.
“Nope. Captain took me in and taught me how to fly. From there I just heard snips and bits from lots of ex- military crew and Captain talking so I understand most of the lingo. That's where you're from right? The military I mean.”
“Actually I'm a trained field engineer. I got pulled into service after getting caught running simulations on a closed network with Jonas.”
“Oh, so you kinda got sucked in.”
