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  “I told the guys you’d want to know about the kids right off. Trust you to nearly die and then wake up more concerned about someone other than yourself. To answer your question, they’re going to be fine. Now, how are you feeling? I hate to tell you this, but you look like shit.”

  Despite her light words, Ciara could see the worry in her friend’s eyes. “Let’s see how good you look after you have a building fall on you,” she retorted. Her chest ached, but the stabbing pains were gone. The doctor had fixed her up, just like he’d promised.

  “I’m sorry about the clinic. I know what it meant to you,” Alayna murmured, and gave Ciara’s hand a quick squeeze before turning to snag a cup of water off a nearby tray and offering it to her. “Thirsty?”

  Ciara nodded and managed a quick smile she didn’t really feel. After Alayna had helped her sit up a little, she took several careful sips of water through a straw, then settled back into the bed. “I’ll rebuild the clinic. What else am I going to do, take up knitting?”

  “For now? Maybe you should stick with knitting. Your doctor said you’re going to need stay here for a week or two before he’ll release you, then you’re going to need to take it easy for a while.”

  “Two weeks?” Ciara wanted to yell, but the best she could muster was an angry wheeze. “No way. I need to get back to Black Springs and help the others rebuild.”

  “Ciara…I’ve seen the vids. The team headed out the moment they knew Black Spring was hit. They’ve already looked over what’s left, and it isn’t much. The seed storage, the hydroponics bays, it’s all gone. The survivors have already been offered materials and land if they’ll relocate to Fort Saken. This place is booming, and we need more farmers to feed everyone without relying on shipments from the cities.”

  “They won’t all agree to move. Some of them will stay, and they’ll need a clinic and someone to run it. I need to be out there.”

  Alayna frowned at her. “You’re going to stay here and get better, even if I have to tie you to the fucking med-bed. Don’t be stupid, Ciara. You would never let one of your patients leave until you were sure they were one-hundred-percent. Do you really think Vance is going to be any different?”

  “Vance? You mean the doctor with the sexy voice?” Ciara regretted her words the second they were out of her mouth. She was going to blame the drugs for this.

  Alayna’s eyes widened. “Sexy voice, huh? What the hell meds do they have you on to make you let that slip? You barely look twice at most guys.”

  “Most of them aren’t worth looking at once. And I didn’t really see him, I just remember his voice.”

  A soft knock on the door and a familiar voice entered their conversation, the low, sexy timbre sending a tiny thrill down Ciara’s spine. “Miss Fanning? I’m Dr. Sterling. It’s good to see you awake.”

  Both women snapped their heads up to look at the new arrival, and Ciara got her first real look at the man who saved her life. His eyes were light brown and kind. The rest of him…holy nova. He had dark brown hair and a dark-skinned complexion that somehow seemed to enhance the classic lines of his face. Like every elite soldier in the Alliance, the doctor had been physically enhanced. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall, and the standard black and steel-gray uniform he wore beneath his white coat showed off every cut and line of his well-muscled body.

  “Hey there.” She managed a weak wave in the doctor’s direction. “I’m awake. Please tell me that means I can go home soon.”

  “It’s a good start, but you’re not ready to head out quite yet. You need time to heal, and maybe think about acquiring a few things, like clothes. That med-center issued gown you’re wearing isn’t going to cut it outside these walls.”

  Ciara started to laugh, only to stop with a wince of pain. “Ow. I guess I’m not cleared for laughter yet, huh?”

  He was at her side in an instant, subtly laying a hand on her shoulder so he could take a quick scan of her body. “On a scale of one to ten, how badly did it hurt? Sharp pain or more of an ache?”

  “It was about a four. Aches only, no stabbing pain at all. My body was simply reminding me I had a building collapse on me not long ago, and I should try and take it easy for a while.” She shot him a hopeful look. “I should be good to go in a day or so, though, right?”

  Vance’s quick scan confirmed there was nothing to be concerned about, but he didn’t like seeing any of his patients hurting. Ciara had been through more than enough trauma and pain already. What she needed now was to take care of herself and rest until she was fully healed. Somehow, he didn’t think she was the type to do that.

  He shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re going to need more than a few days. Three more days of total bed rest and then I’ll assess again. You need to give yourself time to heal. You had broken ribs and a hole in your lung. Even with a top notch surgeon and the healing accelerants I gave you, you’re not going to be back to one-hundred-percent right away.”

  He lowered his voice in sympathy as he reminded her of her situation. “Besides, as I understand it, you don’t have anywhere else to go at the moment. Stay here, regain your strength, and take the time to plan what you intend to do next.”

  Ciara’s pretty features folded into a frown, and she crossed her arms over her chest to add emphasis to her next words. “Please. I can’t sit around here for days or weeks. I need to get back to my clinic and see what can be salvaged from the wreckage. There are people out there who depend on me to take care of them, and I can’t do that from this bed.”

  Vance cocked a brow and crossed his arms over his own chest, deliberately mimicking her actions. Stubborn patients were part of his job, and he knew how to handle this one. “You can’t help anyone if you’re dead, so you will stay in bed until I tell you you’re cleared to leave it. And later, when you’re feeling better, you and I are going to have a chat about practicing medicine without a license…and what it might take to get this clinic of yours restocked.”

  “I…but…You’re going to help me?” She stammered, clearly thrown off by his offer.

  Vance nodded, fighting the urge to grin at her confusion. She was a fascinating woman, so small and delicate, yet doing hard work in a harsh land.

  “If you stay in bed and let your body heal, then yes, I’ll help you. Consider it a bribe for good behavior.”

  Alayna snorted with laughter. “I think he’s got you figured out already, Ciara. Are there operating instructions written on her ribcage or something, Vance?”

  “I don’t need instructions to know that doctors…or those who act in that capacity, make the worst patients. I’m simply giving Ciara a reason to follow my directions,” he said with an easy shrug.

  “If you’re really going to help me restock and replace what I lost, then I’ll behave.” Ciara shot Alayna a dirty look. “Since I lost my best source for new equipment when she let herself get caught and branded by a couple of bossy ‘leets.”

  “I didn’t hear that. I couldn’t have heard what you said, because as far as I am officially aware, Alayna Grekov-Nielson, our local Alliance Liaison to the rebels, was never a thief.” Off the record, of course, he knew all about it. But this wasn’t the place to be bringing up the past. Fort Saken wasn’t just a spot on a map. It was a chance at a clean slate, for all of them.

  “I preferred to call myself a freelance acquisition specialist,” Alayna chimed in, and Ciara laughed and then winced in discomfort.

  “Stop making me laugh, damn it!”

  Vance threw up his hands and started backing out of the room. “And that’s my cue to leave. Alayna, your bonded threatened to feed Annie nothing but sugar and junk food and then buy her a houseful of noise-making toys if I ever mentioned your past. I can’t risk it. I’ll send someone to check on your dressings and pain meds in a bit, Ciara. Rest up, I’ll be back to see you tomorrow and see how you’re healing. Now, I’m off to check up on my other two patients. If you’re up for it, I’ll send them ov
er to visit you tomorrow.”

  Vance turned to go, and Ciara sat up a little, causing several alarms to chirp and squawk. She ignored them, and Vance held his tongue, hoping she didn’t try to move any further and undo all the work he’d done during her surgery. Her wounds were healing, but if she pushed too hard, she’d wind up setting her recovery back for days.

  She gave him a genuine smile. “Before you go, I wanted to say thank you. I owe you my life and the lives of those boys. Their father lost enough today. I’d really like to see them once I’ve had a chance to sleep a little more.”

  “I was doing my job, but you are very welcome. I’ll let the boys know they can visit when all three of you are up for it. Take care of yourself, Ciara.”

  Once the hot doctor was gone Ciara let herself fall back on the bed with a tired groan. Even that slight exertion had drained her.

  “I’m going to let the guys know you’re awake, but before I take off, you should know the earthquake didn’t hit Black Springs today. It happened two days ago. You were out for a long time.”

  “So, salvage is already underway. Do I own anything? Or is it all gone?”

  Alayna laid her hand on Ciara’s for a brief moment before pulling away with a soft smile. “It’s all gone. I’m sorry. I’m going to go and let you rest. I’ll see you in a little while. You had me worried. I don’t have a lot of friends, and I’d like to keep the ones I have alive and well.”

  “You’re going soft, girl. Next thing you know, you’ll actually be hugging people. Go find those big lugs who claimed you and tell them I’m not dead yet.”

  Alayna rolled her eyes. “They won’t admit it, but they were worried about you, too. Now get some sleep, or I’ll tell Vance you think he has a sexy voice.”

  She let her eyes close and settled herself into the soft comfort of her pillow. “Like he’d care what some busted up renegade medic thinks of his voice or any other part of him. Besides, he said he has a kid, Annie, right? So he’s a happily bonded man.”

  There was a silence, and for a moment Ciara thought Alayna had already gone. “He and his partner, Dane, are raising their daughter alone. Their chosen died.”

  “Damn. That’s terrible. Was it recent?” Ciara asked, feeling a pang of sympathy for her doctor.

  “Not really. Two years ago. They’re friends with my guys. Good friends. Annie’s my goddaughter. When you’re better, I’ll introduce you. She’s a great little girl.”

  “When I’m better, I’m going back out there. You know that’s where I belong,” Ciara said.

  “I know you prefer to live out there, but things are changing. I’m hoping you might consider staying here and helping me speed it along. I could use your help,” Alayna said.

  Stay here, in Alliance territory? The thought made Ciara’s head throb. “We’ll talk later. I’m officially playing the ‘a building fell on me’ card to get out of this conversation for now.”

  “Fair enough. See you in a few hours.”

  Ciara didn’t hear Alayna leave, but that wasn’t a surprise. The girl had the reflexes of a cat and rarely made any noise when she walked, a side effect of the enhancements she’d been forcibly given when the Alliance had discovered she was a fertile female. The human race had won the Alien Wars, but the battles had left a dark legacy. Not only had the entire surface of the planet been altered and scarred by war, but the Zyphir had brought a pathogen with them, one that rendered most human women infertile.

  In the power vacuum following the war, change had come to Earth. The United Federation Command Alliance ruled the planet, and their rules were sacrosanct. First among those was the protection of fertile females. To harm a woman with the scroll tattoo on her face was to invite a death sentence. After all, the Alliance couldn’t rebuild the population without them.

  Ciara wasn’t fertile, and her family had considered that an unforgivable failing. Instead of living in the shadow of their rejection, Ciara had left home. She went looking for a way to make a difference in the world. She wanted to help people, and she found a way to do it. She took care of the ones who lived on the fringes of society. They needed her and in return they gave her a sense of purpose.

  Out there in the badlands she had value. That was something that had been missing from her life before she left home. Alayna might want her to stay, but Ciara couldn’t see where she would fit in.

  This wasn’t her place anymore.

  ***

  CHAPTER THREE

  Alliance Director of Supply and Transport Dane Foster jogged down the halls of the med-center, muttering half-formed oaths as he checked every room and closet. “I should never have taught her how to play hide-and-seek. Every time I look away, she’s gone. How the stars can someone so tiny move so damned fast? Annie, sweet pea, where are you hiding? We’re going to be late for lunch with Daddy Vance. Now isn’t the time to play. Now is the time to eat.”

  He checked his wrist-unit and groaned. “Correction. We’re already late for lunch. Come on, kiddo, give your dad a break and tell me where you’re hiding.”

  A nurse laughed softly, then quickly tapped her fist over her heart in salute as she noticed Dane’s rank. “Sir, I believe you’ll find your daughter in that room there.” She pointed down the hall a few feet. “I overhead giggling in there a few seconds ago.”

  “Thank you!”

  Dane loped down the hall until he was standing outside the indicated doorway. Sure enough, he could hear Annie chatting away to someone, her words punctuated with giggles and a soft slapping sound. He rapped his knuckles on the door, and it swung inward a few inches, revealing his daughter seated cross-legged on a med-bed. She was playing some sort of clapping game with the room’s other occupant, a slender woman with sun-streaked red hair curling down around her shoulders, wearing a green, med-center-issue gown that hung too large on her smaller frame.

  “Uh, hi. I think my daughter might have invaded your room. Sorry about that.”

  The woman turned to look at him, and he noticed her face and jaw were dark with half-healed bruises.

  “Hi. I figured someone would be along for her pretty quick. Annie, is this your father?”

  Annie looked up at Dane, her brown eyes sparking with mischief, and waved. “Hi, Daddy. Dis is See-ar-ah.” She struggled to pronounce the woman’s name. “She my new friend.”

  “Uh huh. What did we tell you about going off and making new friends on your own, kiddo?” he asked.

  His two-and-a-half-year-old shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t ’member.”

  “Of course you don’t. You only remember the things you want to. We’re late for lunch with Daddy Vance, so it’s time to say bye to Ciara.” He glanced up at Ciara and found her grinning in amusement. “Thanks for watching out for her. She thinks strangers are just friends she hasn’t introduced herself to yet.”

  “It was my pleasure. She was a delightful change of pace from the abject boredom I’m experiencing.” Ciara tucked a stray curl behind her ear and then waved at Annie. “Bye, Annie. No more running off on your dad, okay?”

  Annie gave her a heartwarming grin and waved back. “’Kay, See-ar-ah.”

  Ciara glanced over at the man as he scooped Annie into his arms. He had to be Vance’s partner, Dane. Alayna had mentioned him several times now, during her daily visits. Dane was one of Alayna’s friends, and Annie was Alayna’s goddaughter. In the last two days, Alayna had started talking about her friends and connections in Fort Saken, partly to pass the time, and partly because she was trying to convince Ciara to stay in town and join Alayna’s new cause—building trust between the Alliance and the local rebels who lived in the badlands.

  Ciara was far from being convinced to stay, yet. But if more of the men turned out to look like Dane and Vance, she might add that to the ‘plus’ column. Dane had jet-black hair cut to regulation length, and his uniform was perfectly crisp and clean. Unlike some of the elites she’d known before she’d moved to the badlands, he wasn�
�t arrogant or domineering. If anything, he’d been rather charming, and clearly devoted to his little girl. Annie looked more like Vance, though, right down to their dark skin, shared eye color, and the way she smiled. She was likely the doctor’s biological child, but that didn’t seem to matter to Dane the way it did to some fathers.

  “Thanks again for looking out for Annie. And uh… I hope whatever brought you here, you don’t have to stay too long.” Dane lowered his voice, his eyes lightening to a shade of blue that reminded her of a summer sky. “I’m not a fan of these places, and I’m betting you aren’t either.”

  Ciara laughed. “I only like them when I’m the one in charge. Being a patient is no fun at all. As for how long I’m stuck here, that’s up to Dr. Sterling—Vance. When you’re having lunch with him, can you remind him I’m still waiting to have that talk about helping me rebuild my clinic? Stars, right now, I’d even take the lecture he threatened me with. It’s been two days since I woke up. I’m bored out of my head sitting around here with nothing to do but watch vids and count the ceiling tiles.”

  Dane’s blue eyes widened slightly. “You’re the woman they brought in after the earthquake hit? Alayna’s friend? Shi—stars, this isn’t exactly the way I planned on meeting you. Alayna wanted to have us all over for dinner one night once you made your escape from this place.”

  “What’s shistars?” Annie asked, her innocent question sending Ciara into a fit of giggles as Dane groaned.

  “It means Daddy Dane almost forgot the rule about not swearing around small ears. Now, forget you heard that, okay?” He turned his attention back to Ciara. “I need to get this young lady her lunch, but we can come back and visit afterward if you’d like. In fact, I think I can smuggle something back for you. After a few days of eating the stuff they serve the patients, I bet you’d kill for real food.”