My eyes burned from the fumes as I climbed through the opening. “Remy, where are you?” He didn’t answer. No one did.
Backing out, I hacked out half a lung before being able to look around. Where was everyone? “Team Three, report!” My voice cracked as I shouted into my comm.
Schaeffer’s voice responded in my ear. “What’s the condition of the team?”
“They’re gone. The shuttle’s empty.” I moved clear of it, searching the ground. There were a lot of footprints, but also blood. “There’s injuries.” Blood trailed towards the trees. “They must have gone into the forest for cover. Get up here as soon as it’s clear.”
I saw our sister shuttle appear over the trees, but there was no time to wait. I followed the trail into the trees, five meters, ten, deep enough the shuttles were barely visible, then the blood trail ended. No soldiers. Now real panic surged. “Remy, where are you?”
After screaming his name until my throat hurt, there was a rustling behind me. I turned to give orders to the soldiers Schaeffer sent after me. Instead a female Parredet dropped to the lowest branch, extending her arm to me. “Reee…meee.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
My mind formed terrible images, fed by silence, fed by Batista’s fear. She was terrified. So was I. Why didn’t they answer? How bad were they injured? I hailed them several times and was near screaming when someone finally answered. “This is Ops Base. We got locals dropping in with wounded… confirmation, Team Three. We have Team Three.”
“Ops Base, this is Col. Kazan. Give me a status. Who’s wounded, how bad?”
“Colonel, you’ll have to wait. We just got them and need to do triage before we can tell you anything.” There was a pause. “We’re aware your husband is part of the team. Give us a chance to stabilize the situation. Hold…”
“Shara, it’s Lizzy. I’m here. I’ll take care of Remy. The Parredet are going out again to get more wounded from the camp.”
“Okay, Lizzy.” Hearing her voice calmed me a little. “I should be there in a few minutes. Tell him I’m coming.”
“Will do, gotta go!”
Lizzy terminated her end. The Parredet carrying me let out a strange sound, maybe trying to comfort me. Maybe because I was crying into her shoulder. I bit back the rest of my tears, holding my breath.
She moved gracefully, quickly, I heard the camp before seeing it, voices shouted out orders, engines fired up for departure. My friend swung down to lower branches. With a practiced grasp of my arm and twist of her body, she deposited me on the edge of the clearing.
I was already running to where at least a dozen soldiers were laid out on the ground, people hovering about them. For as tiny as she was, Lizzy was easy to find in the chaos. She knelt next to a man covered with an emergency blanket. It had to be Remy. I wove my way through the medics and support personnel, pushing someone out of my way.
Lizzy’s eyes were dark when she looked up and saw me. She jumped to her feet and rushed for me. “Shara… I’m sorry… He’s bad, real bad.”
“Let go!” I jerked free of her hands and in a few more steps saw Remy. Burns covered his exposed head and shoulders, making him unrecognizable, but I knew it was him. I dropped to my knees. “Remy, I’m here.”
His hand twitched. Gently I slipped my fingers into his and they tightened. He knew I was with him. “You’re going to be alright. We just need to get you onboard.” He didn’t respond. “Remy, I promise.”
He squeezed my hand again, but it wasn’t a response. It was in pain. I could feel it radiating from him. “Medic! I need a medic over here.”
Lizzy slipped up on Remy’s other side, not holding back her tears. “Honey, they’ve already done all they can. He was just waiting for you.”
“No! Don’t say that. Medics!” I screamed, but they didn’t even look up from their other patients. “Medics…”
“Shara, you only have a few more minutes…”
“Noooo…” I screamed at her, at Remy, at the sky. The spinning of the coin in my head was quick, landing with force on Batista. I clutched at Remy’s hand. “You can’t leave me! Don’t leave. Fight!”
I was answered by keening from all around us, then a rush of Parredet. Yinet was with them, grabbing Lizzy and pulling her away from Remy, setting her aside and reaching for me.
More gently, but firmly, she peeled my hand from Remy’s, pulling me to my feet and away as several males surrounded Remy. They removed the blanket. Only then could I see how burnt and broken his body was. It was horrible, but I couldn’t look away.
Lizzy came to my side, her face turned to my shoulder. “What are they doing?”
“I don’t know.”
One of the males poured a liquid into Remy’s mouth, tilting his head back so involuntary reactions made him swallow. One of our medics finally pushed up next to me. “What are they doing to him? He can’t be handled.”
I had no idea what was happening, but I sensed something in Remy relax. I looked at Yinet and she gave me a slow head bob. A nod. “It doesn’t matter does it? You’ve already written him off for dead.” I couldn’t help sounding harsh. “If they can help him, I don’t care what they do.”
The medic didn’t argue, or leave. He knelt down, watching as the males unwrapped large leaves, spreading them out on the ground like a blanket. Over those they laid down a second layer of a different leaf, broad, but filmy looking.
The trees above rustled again as another Parredet arrived. An old female. She joined the males, handing them flasks and chirping out orders. They started pouring a thick gel onto the top leaves, while she went to crouch over Remy.
Her cheek almost touched his lips. She gave a soft chirp and moved on down his body, speaking to the
