Deserter: New Life-Chapter One-Savior

“Rain. Ranger number 1081983-DLS, you are under arrest by order of The Company. You need to give up your weapons and come with me,” James stated, trying to sound confident in the face of this woman who hadn’t looked half so dangerous in her picture. Her green eyes blazed defiantly at him and she looked ready to spring. He felt a strange fear enter his mind and strange images flashed in his mind.

“I don’t think so, pal. The three of us are going to board that ship, and we’re going to kill you first. We all owe you a little something from the last time we met. Don’t we, guys?” Rain finished, addressing Brand and Ven Wolf.

Brand bared his teeth at James and edged a bit closer. He was as tall as James and in a lot better shape, despite his youth.

“Rain! Hey, wait up! I need to ask you something!” It was Sam, and with him came distraction. In the next few seconds, everything exploded.

James dove forward, tackling Brand who had turned slightly towards Sam. His gun flew from his hand and he fell hard beneath James’ much heavier weight.

“Brand!” Ven screamed his name, diving towards the two men locked in a killer’s embrace on the dirt.

Rain turned on Sam. “Get the hell out of here, Sam!”

Sam hesitated, staring at the scene unfolding before him. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

“I said LEAVE! Now beat it!” Rain didn’t wait to see if he followed her directions and turned to the three people twisting on the ground.

~~~

Sam watched in stunned silence as Rain turned into a lethal ball of energy. The boy, Brand, was fending off a man much heavier and older than him with amazing finesse. Sam had never seen a kid handle himself like that before. Rain dived into the melee just as Brand scrambled out, leaving his sister fighting James from when she’d jumped in.

Rain was grabbing a handful of the man’s hair in her fist and pulling his head back. Ven slashed with her blade at his face but missed when he slammed a vicious fist into her face. Ven cried out and Rain fell off the man’s back to the ground.

More rolling ensued and then Rain was pinned on her stomach beneath the man and Ven, but Brand rushed over and grabbed her arm, tugging her out, then they both turned on Ven and the man. There was a sudden scream and then Ven went limp beneath the man, but Sam couldn’t see any blood and there wasn’t a gunshot.

Brand cried out his sister’s name and rushed forward towards her but the man tackled him. Sam watched as unbelievable rage flashed in Rain’s face and she dived in. Then there was a gunshot, and Rain was laying on the ground, holding her stomach with one hand. The bullet must have passed all the way through because Sam could see blood pooling beneath her to dye the dirt crimson.

When Brand dived at James, James turned and slammed the pistol butt into the boy’s head, dropping him to the ground.

Sam saw Rain’s mouth move but couldn’t hear what she said as the man stepped away from her. Sam recognized the clothes and haircut as Ranger and understood. Rain was a fugitive or an escaped convict. Either way, she was dying now. There was to much blood on the ground. Sam took a step closer, but no one had noticed him yet, least of all the Ranger.

There was a choked sound that sounded akin to a laugh and blood spurted from Rain’s lips before the Ranger grabbed a handful of her hair and began to drag her towards his ship. Tears were glistening wetly on her cheeks and her mouth moved again, getting her a vicious shake that brought a rough cry from her lips, and more blood.

Suddenly, Sam couldn’t take any more. Whatever Rain had done, she didn’t deserve this. To be dragged off, half dead if not dead already, to some Company butt lick’s ship. Sam had seen the good in her, the way she warmed to Brand.

His fingers tightened convulsively around the revolver Rain had left behind on accident, in the examining room where he’d patched up her back. Half the reason he’d come out here.

Sam stepped forward, clasping the black weapon in his hand and leveled it at the Ranger. “Stop right there, pal,” he ground out from beneath his clenched teeth.

The Ranger stopped and turned, still grasping a handful of Rain’s hair in his fist. His eyes widened slight as he found himself staring at the business end of a forty-five millimeter, cocked and loaded. He dropped Rain’s limp head to the dirt and she spurted more blood from her pale lips.

The tinge of panic edged in on Sam as he saw the trail of blood Rain’s wound had left on the dirt. She was still sputtering though, that meant she wasn’t dead... yet. Her skin was deathly white, a stark contrast to her black hair and clothes. “Step away from her,” he ordered the Ranger. The man stepped away, sneering contemptuously as Sam.

Sam crept forward and checked Rain’s pulse. Faint, very faint, but there. It thumped erratically beneath his fingertips and he knew she didn’t have long before she slipped away. Sam knew Rain might be to far gone to save already. He wrapped an arm around her chest beneath her shoulder and pulled her upright, holding her limp against his chest. Moving swiftly so as not to drop her, he slid down her body, wrapped the same arm around her the back of her knees and pulled her over his shoulder. He could feel the blood seeping through the shoulder of his shirt from the hole in her stomach and backed away from the man, who looked ready to spring.

Knowing the man would haul Ven and Brand on board his ship before Sam could come back to save them, too, he conceded that they were lost. Triage, he decided. Doctors did it in the field all the time. This was field enough for Sam and he back peddled to the hospital, not turning his back on the Ranger until he slipped in the door.

As he ran down the halls to the nearest bank of mend chambers, Sam heard the powering up of engines and knew the Ranger had taken off, taking Ven and Brand with him, and Sam wondered who his real prey had been. The sister/brother duo, or Rain. He didn’t have time to think, though, and rushed her to a mend chamber, praying that there was enough time. He set it on its highest setting and punched in the settings for a serious injury with likely internal injuries before slamming his palm into the start button.

Sam sighed as the tube descended over Rain’s still form and collapsed into a chair. He didn’t understand the compunction to save Rain and he didn’t question it, leaving the self-exploring sequence for later. Later was always good, so he sat there and slept, praying for the best and not knowing why.

***

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