chapter 2

“That’s some stray followed you home, eh Up?”

“Pretty little thing, I’d say, once she’s cleaned up. A real muñeca.” Chortles followed him down the hallway, but Up didn’t look back. He’d deal with those idiots later. He knocked on the Commander’s door, still not sure exactly how or why he’d gotten himself into this situation.

“Enter.”

Commander Li was seated at her desk, looking solemnly at a glass of scotch.

“Lieutenant,” she said. “At ease.” Indicating for him to take a seat, she reached to pour a second glass. “Bad scene down there. Lost some good men today.”

“Yes, sir,” Up said. They’d been his men. Not the first he’d lost, and not the last he would. The harsh reality of war.

“Another Lieutenant without a team. I guess that means I’ll be returning you to the Academy for reassignment,” the Commander sighed. “I’ll be sorry to see you go, Up. You’ve been a good leader to those Rangers.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“And as such an exemplary soldier, I am sure you are well aware that starships armed for battle are not in the habit of taking refugees on board on a whim?” Up had taken a sip of the scotch, and coughed. “Yes, sir, I am aware of that.”

“So please, enlighten me, Lieutenant. What in the galaxy caused you to bring that young lady on board my ship?”

Because she damned well wouldn’t let me do otherwise was what he wanted to say, but that wasn’t quite right.

“There was nowhere else for her to go, sir. Her entire village was destroyed. There are still robots on the ground, and no bunkers for miles.” He saw the girl again, swinging defiantly from that tree branch amidst the smouldering ruins of her life. “She would have died.”

The Commander didn’t respond, but raised an eyebrow and Up knew exactly what she was thinking – why should that matter to him? He'd laughed at death a thousand times over and had just lost seven good men. Who cared about some Mexican girl who could scream like a banshee in the face of certain death? He set the glass down on the desk, a little harder than he’d meant to.

“Permission to speak freely, sir.”

The Commander waved her hand.

“What’s the harm in it? We’ll be back at the Academy within a couple of weeks and I can’t see her being much trouble. Clearly she doesn't eat much.”

“And what shall we do with her when we get to the Academy?”

“The refugee centre will set her up with something, give her a roof over her head at least. There’s nothing for her here, and we’re halfway to the next station anyway. We can’t just kick her off the ship now.”

Commander Li looked unimpressed. “As was surely your plan, Lieutenant.” She sighed. “I guess that’s settled, then. You’d better go collect her from sickbay.”

Up stood, then paused. “What – why? Shouldn’t she stay there?”

“The medics tell me she’s not seriously hurt. The beds there are full of our own men, and we’ve just established that you’re down a few bunkmates, aren’t you? You brought the girl on board, Lieutenant. She’s your responsibility until we get to the Academy.” She stood up, too, and gestured at the door. “Congratulations, Up. You get to keep your pet after all.”

He saluted, and walked out of her office. Snide bitch, he thought. Reassignment was fine with him.

The girl was sitting, legs curled up around her, in one of sickbay's metal chairs while medics bustled back and forth between Rangers suffering varying degrees of injury. She’d been cleaned up and her wounds tended to, and someone had scrounged up an old ensign’s uniform for her to wear.