“Make a fist,” I said, as I disinfected the skin on Williams’s inner elbow. A large vein bulged from his forearm. I removed the safety cap on the needle. “This will hurt, don’t let anyone tell you different.”
Williams frowned, and I grew queasy as I pressed the needle into his smooth, unbroken flesh.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
As a trickle of blood entered the applicator, I pulled away. “I don't feel so good.” I wanted to vomit.
Merck glared at me. “Sarek, this is unacceptable.”
“I’m sorry.” I staggered a few steps, dropped the needle and slid down the wall, resting my head between my knees.
From across the room came a deep, familiar voice. “What is going on here?”
Tyren.
He had returned. Safe.
“Lance Corporal Merck?” he said.
“Sir. We're in the middle of a training drill,” Merck said after saluting. “Private Sarek is being uncooperative. I don't believe she possesses the stamina to be a medic.”
“You must be mistaken. Sarek is one of our up-and-coming recruits. She’s excused from today’s drill.”
Merck’s mouth dropped. “Sir? The exercise is required for next-level assignments.”
“Are you questioning my orders?” Tyren glared at him.
Merck reddened. “N-no, sir.”
“Sarek, with me.” Tyren left the room.
I struggled to my feet, still dizzy, but able to walk. As I passed Merck, I snuck a glance, and he narrowed his eyes.
“Hey,” Williams blurted from the clinic bed. “You fixed my ankle!”
“Huh?” asked Merck.
Williams pushed himself off the bed and flexed his right foot. “While you were focused on this dumb fake injury, she fixed my sprain. I thought I’d need X-rays and a cast, but…”
I raised a finger to my lips behind Merck’s back. “I’m glad it helped, but I’ve gotta run.” Before backing out of the room, I winked at Williams.
I raced to catch up with Tyren outside the hospital. The fresh air washed away the thought of needles, blood, and sickness.
“I’ve been checking up on you,” he said as we strode across the quad.
“You mean from the cameras that record us constantly?”
He did a double take, and I flashed a grin. Shaking his head, he said, “Merck is not happy with you.”
“He's an asshole.”
“Regardless, he's your superior and the one person who can pass or fail you.”
I stared straight ahead and matched his long gait.
“The good news is that other supervisors have noted your calm manner and the fact that your patients seem to do remarkably well under your care.” He halted, facing me.
“I also heard you volunteer for weapon systems training, defensive maneuvers, and land nav. Those aren’t approved courses for medics.”
A lump formed in my throat. Disappointing Tyren was the last thing I wanted. “I’m sorry, I—”
“I want to know why,” he interrupted. “Not excuses. Why do you want combat training?”
His heavy gaze seemed as though it would drill into me, and I hesitated. “If I'm out on the battlefield, I want training like the other soldiers. What if something bad happened to them, and they needed help? If I can defend my squad, maybe we can survive.”
“Most medics don't want to learn sophisticated assault tactics.” A smile threatened his stern features. “But you're not like most medics, are you?” He turned, walking slower this time.
I supposed he was right. Jenna and the others wanted to be doctors. “Merck wants to flunk me because I hate needles, and I like combat training.”
Tyren sighed. “Merck is old school. In past wars, there were international diplomatic rules governing warfare. Medics weren’t always trained to fight. They had to know their way around a gun, just in case, but… Ida, the rules have changed. The Heavies don't follow the old rules. They don't distinguish between soldier and medic.”
My footsteps grew heavier with each step as my mind turned over his words. The rules have changed.
“I don't care for Merck’s opinion,” he continued. “You have something special. I heard what that soldier said about his ankle. I don’t know how you did it, but hear this—” He lowered his voice and glanced behind him. “I won't reveal your… ability to anyone else.”
A knot tightened inside my stomach. He knew. Somehow, despite being careful to hide it, he had figured out my secret.
We reached the barracks, and he faced me. “I won't sugarcoat what's happening out there. It’s dangerous, deadly, and scary. We're fighting a species we don't even understand. I'm deploying in two days’ time, and I want you at my side.”
I stared at my boots, not believing his words. Why would someone as powerful as Tyren need an untrained medic? “But I haven’t graduated—”
“Like I said, we live by new rules. You’ll come with me, serve in my squad.”
I waited, barely able to breathe.
“Your first mission, Ida. If you think you're ready.”
Krakow, Poland
How can someone ever be ready for war? I wondered as I sat inside the military air cruiser. Across from me, Tyren waited. My eyes traveled to his hands—the edges of his fingernails were red. Picked raw. So he worried, too.
I peered down the row of soldiers whom he had introduced me to the night before. They were all at least a year or two older than me, but different—hardened.
Tyren wouldn’t tell me what had happened to his last medic. The others stole glances but looked away, like they didn’t want to get to know me.
That's fine by me, I thought. I wasn’t here to make friends. My mission was to follow Tyren’s orders. Survive and help my fellow troops.
Only, helping people meant keeping a big secret. If others found me out, I’d end up a lab rat in another medical lab. I couldn’t imagine a worse place on Earth. I'd rather be here, battling the Heavies.
“Krakow,” Tyren told us. “Town population was 800,000, but most have left—traveling as refugees—looking for safer places away from the fighting. The Vistula river runs through the middle and has several bridges. We’re approaching the city center from
