Rescued

"Layin' in bed ain't my idea of excitin'", I sighed, "But Doc's orders. Speakin' of... Docs... JJ's been, well, not handlin' things good. She's been like a gorram light switch. Her moods and memory's been all over the map. Another strange situation involovin' Mindo. Got to talk to that one," I looked up at the ceiling in the small tower room, "Then that 'liance marhal showed up. He's been goin' on 'bout how the 'liance is tryin' to make the indies go to ground. He's been tryn' to get info on Duncan too. I wanted to say somethin', but Brooke motioned for me to stay quiet."

Lookin' to the window, I spotted an eagle flyin', ridin' the thermals, "Brooke's another one tryin' to keep me out of trouble. OK, so maybe I say and do things that do just that. Someone's got to put a foot down. Do somethin' 'bout the gorram guh se the 'liance is pullin' of late," I ran a hand across my chin, feeling I was needin' a shave about now. I sighed, "Anyway, I flew Cursa to Splintered Rock. He was meetin' up with Brooke there. Seems Brazen was there. She wasn't too friendly 'bout the whole business about the comin' war. She thinks she'll be able to hide between the factions. Not likely to happen. She was scared from what Cursa noticed. Fear can make people do things they don't normally do. Least from what I seen."

I could feel the ache from the bullet wounds, tryin' to get comfortable enough, "Cursa'd told her to donate his stuff what was still on her ship before she left the bar. Then Dylan, Brooke's friend, made a right strange offer to me. He offered to heal me of some of my pain. How the hell he knew my shoulder was still hurtin' and the phantom pain's I was havin' in my left foot, I don't want to know. I took him up on it. Can't afford to be laid up any more. Got too much to do." I was thinkin' a lot 'bout goin' back to Blackburne. Dealin' with the memories, and the ghosts hauntin' me 'bout somethin'. Could be the whole 'Controlled Chaos' data device I got. It's time people knew the story 'bout that."

I looked back at the not too familiar room seein' the pics on the wall, "Dylan had me sit, put a hand on my shoulder. For a minute there, felt like I been shot all over again. The pain shot through me fresh. Then the pain eased up, and a small piece of bone come out. Said the nerve damage was taken care of. He couldn't do much for the toe. Sort of grateful he didn't try to fix that.... If the phamtom pain is anythin' close to the real thing I think I can avoid it. But I wasn't goin' to tell JJ 'bout it. I been wantin' to get that toe implant done to maybe stop the pain. But with JJ not actin' right I think I'll have to wait."

"Took Brooke, Cursa and Dylan back to Mac's. Needed to talk, get some plannin' done. We're runnin' out of time, supplies and money. We need both. Brooke agreed we need to be workin' togather on it. Yeah, teamin' up is 'bout what we need to do. Cooperatin' might be the only way to protect our backs now." Took a careful deep breath, felt' the sutures pull a little. Took a moment for the discomfort to subside before goin' on, "Showed Brooke, Dylan, and Cursa a safe haven they could go to on Mac's. Someplace where JJ showed us to go to relax. White Willow. I think they needed the step away from everythin', at least for the night. Said it'd be a good place to talk without anyone listenin' in too."

I shifted again, not wantin' to be lyin' there, "A few days ago Mindo showed up. I was tempted to shoot, him but remembered we needed him to help Immy....Lily said he could help JJ too. Don't know how. He wouldn't give any answers, then he up and run off again. I'm real tempted to shoot him in the foot to slow him down some. It's more polite then shootin' him in, say, the head. Not bein' able to run so good right now, I left him to run back into the hills. Went back to Raivenn, waitin' on Lily and Kash. Was going to check on a salvage job. That's when things went real wrong. Someone come on board.... I could smell the cigar smoke. That's 'bout as far as I got. Next thing I remember, I was in some facility.. a room....but most of it was flashes..."

I shook my head, frustrated by the lapses in my memory, "Too many strange lapses with getting hurt of late. I think I need to get me some full body armor," I stopped for a moment tryin' to get comfortable, feelin' the sutures pull again, "I woke up hearin' Lily's voice. She'd tapped into the comm where I was at. Told me the capn' was comin'. Said for me to wait and they'd be there. Sure enough, some feller showed up to take me out of the room, then they had an alert of some sort. So he stuck me back in the gorram room, lockin' the door behind him. Bout that time I heard A ship outside the walls. Didn't know I was in a sky platform station til I was able to get to the landin' deck. She told me to grab the explosives hidden under the bed... Yeah, she hid stuff in all the rooms there durin' a recon, most like. I used the one there to blow out the door. Had my ears ringin' and my eyes achin' for a bit too. Was able to get to the landin' area where Lily was waitin in her fighter. She helped my climb in, cause I was about spent on strength."

"She said Duncan was there. He was causin' a distraction while Lily broke me out. Said Duncan took the fellers out who took me. I owe him, Immy, Kash, Gallagher and Lily for gettin' my sorry backside out of there. I can't remember much of the ride to Hale's, was sleepin' most of the trip. She got me to the little church they got there. Cursa and Ember showed up to help. Cursa got the bullet out of my right thigh, but the one in my side needed more medical care. That's when Lily went for a stretcher. Took me to the old town...." I looked back out the window seein' a few clouds roll by, "I guess they got the other bullet by the way I'm feelin'. Woke up in here this mornin'. I feel bad Lily had to give up her bed for me, carin' for me while I recoop. And yeah, I'm goin' to get me some real good body armor when I can move around. Better bruised then holed again. "