"Jenny what's the status on the third sled?" I asked into my commlink.

The AI responded, "It touched down towards the west end of the town, the raiders have engaged the local militia."

As if to punctuate her words I heard the sound of gunfire from among the buildings to the north. We couldn't see anyone from where Sarah and I were crouched by the bow of the ship, we had shipping containers and prefab structures in the way.

My girlfriend looked to me and asked, "What do you think? Maybe we should just wait till Rebecca gets back?"

I frowned as I glanced around again. It only took me another second to make my decision, then I grabbed my medkit from where I'd left it earlier. I straightened up as I told Sarah, "Cover me. I'm going to check on Cam, then see if there's other wounded."

"You got it boss," she responded.

With that I took off at a run, carbine in my right hand and medkit in my left. Sarah followed about ten paces behind me with her shotgun at ready, and the two of us raced east along the row of containers. As we got to the loader I could see a few holes in the left side of it. Then around the other side I found what I was afraid of.

The town's mechanic was sprawled on the ground, and there was a lot of blood pooled around him.

I dropped to my knees at his side, I set my carbine down to my right and opened up the medkit on the ground to my left. Meanwhile Sarah took up a guard position a couple meters away, where she could use the side of the loader for cover while keeping watch with her shotgun raised.

"He's alive," I stated as I gave Cam a trauma shot and pulled out my med-scanner. As his vitals came up on the small screen I added, "But he's in rough shape."

Sarah didn't respond, her attention was on the town and the sound of gunfire.

It took me another couple minutes to stabilize all Cam's injuries, and the whole time I was working on him I could hear shooting from the buildings north and west of us. I stayed focused on my patient though, and trusted Sarah to keep us safe.

Cam had been hit four times and all four went straight through, so I had eight holes to patch. Two were serious, one in his chest and the other in the gut. The third was in his left leg, the last his right arm. There was also internal bleeding, so before I could apply wound sealant I had to use the cauterizing probe.

Once the bleeding was finally stopped I gave him another dose of the trauma shot, then started packing up my medkit again. "He should be stable for now but he needs serious medical care."

With a sigh I added, "I hate to say it but Jenny's pod is probably his best bet, otherwise I'll do what I can for him after we get him somewhere safe. I get the feeling there's no actual hospitals around here."

"Can we carry him back to the ship?" Sarah asked. "Or are we moving on and looking for other wounded?"

I slung my medkit over my shoulder and picked up my rifle, "He can't be moved without a stretcher. Let's keep going."

Sarah followed as I dashed from the relative cover of the loader and containers, across about twenty meters of clear ground before reaching the buildings. The gunfire was more sporadic and it was definitely further west of us. Along with the shooting we also heard the occasional shouts, men swearing or calling out to each other.

The two of us moved along the east side of one of the buildings until we reached the corner, then I took a quick peek around to check the main street.

"Shit," I whispered as I ducked back. "The raiders' sled is at the far end of town, there's a handful of them back there using it for cover. It looks like the locals have them pinned down there, there's at least two casualties on the ground. And I think one of them might be Jace."

My girlfriend asked, "Is it safe to get to him?"

"Probably not," I sighed. "But I'm going anyways."

Sarah gave me a worried look, "I already know you're a bad-ass Amanda, you don't have to keep trying to prove it."

"Not a bad-ass this time," I replied in a nervous tease, "I've still got my pants on."

Before I could lose my nerve I turned and ran, carbine in one hand and medkit in the other. I weaved a bit just in case, as I quickly closed the distance between me and the nearest wounded man. Jace was a little further away but he'd have to wait.

I dropped to my knees next to the injured militia man and got to work. I didn't know his name but I knew he was one of the locals. It only took a few moments to determine he'd been hit with an HVP round in the left shoulder. The wound wasn't life-threatening but his collar bone was fractured and he was in a lot of pain.

Sarah appeared next to me as I was working. She positioned herself between me and the fighting as she sank to one knee and raised her weapon in readiness while I administered a trauma-shot and an extra dose of painkiller. Then I used wound sealant to stop the bleeding, before closing up my medkit again.

"On to the next one," I told Sarah.

I scooped up my carbine and took off in a little dash over to Jace, with Sarah right behind me. Like before she took up a protective position, covering me while she kept an eye on the fighting. And that wasn't off in the distance anymore, we could see raiders and locals exchanging shots only twenty or thirty meters away. Except they were all in cover, while me and Sarah were out in the open in the middle of the street.

The mayor's son was conscious but in pain. As I started checking him he stated through gritted teeth, "Get to cover! I'll be ok!"

I ignored him as I worked. He'd taken an HDLI hit to his right thigh. Luckily the bone was intact, but the bullet shredded some of the muscle when it broke up. It was also bleeding pretty badly, which was my main concern.

He'd have to wait till later for me to get the bullet fragments out, for now I gave him the same treatment as the other guy. Trauma shot, painkiller, wound sealant.

I was just finishing up when we all heard a roar overhead. I ducked then glanced up, and felt a wave of relief when I saw the Demeter's fighter swoop past. It came around and landed a little further west, on the far side of the raiders and their grav-sled.

Then Rebecca emerged, carbine in hand. She was using the armoured fighter as cover as she calmly started picking off the remaining raiders.

That sent the last of them running, as they were suddenly taking hits from both sides. Finn and two more militia let out some excited yells and whoops as they chased after the fleeing attackers, and to my immense relief the fighting pretty much ended shortly after that.

I looked to Sarah and asked, "Can you head back to the ship and grab a stretcher? We should still have the grav-assist stretcher from the Hammersmith on board somewhere. Then get over to where we left Cam. I'll meet you there in a few minutes, after I've checked for any other wounded."

"Ok cutie," she replied as she slung the shotgun over her shoulder. Before she took off at a run she added, "Be careful."

"You too!" I replied as I packed up my medkit.

My carbine ended up over my shoulder while I checked for any other wounded, and soon found one more. Finn had taken a bullet to the upper arm, but he kept fighting. He stayed quiet as I patched him up and gave him a shot, then when I was done he thanked me.

By that point Rebecca and two other local men had finished up, the guys approached to talk with Finn while my strong amazonian girlfriend wanted to speak with me. I ended up following her as she headed back to where she landed the fighter while we talked.

"You were taking a hell of a risk Amanda," the boss stated. "I saw you and Sarah out in the open when I came by overhead."

I replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "There were wounded out there, I had to help them."

"How about you, are you ok?" I added as I looked her up and down. Then my focus shifted past her to the fighter, and I lowered my voice as I asked "The nano-tech ampules are still secure right?"

She nodded, "I'm fine. The fighter's secure, so is the cargo."

That was a relief. "I'm glad. Now that the fighting's over I have two patients who need me. Jace has some bullet fragments in his leg, and Cam... I need to talk to Jenny. I think she's the best option for him."

Rebecca shook her head, "You know Jenny's not going to be happy about that. It breaks both the rules she -"

The boss was cut off as Mrs. Wheeler shouted at us from twenty meters away, "Hey! I wanna word with you Becky!"

The older woman was marching towards us with a scowl on her face. I couldn't tell if she was angry at my girlfriend or upset about Jace getting wounded, or if she had something entirely different on her mind.

"Go tend to your patients Amanda," Rebecca sighed. "I'll find out what's got her uptight."

"Good luck," I replied softly, then turned and set off at a run back to where we left Cam next to the damaged loader.

I got there in time to meet both Sarah and Jenny. Apparently the AI already knew what I wanted, I figured Sarah told her while she was retrieving the stretcher.

She addressed me in an apologetic tone as I kneeled next to the unconscious mechanic to check his vitals, "You know after we helped Tamsin I said I didn't want to put any more men through what Rebecca had to endure Amanda. And prior to that I said I would limit my services to members of the Demeter's crew. Even if we don't know for certain that Cam falls into the first group, he is certainly not part of the second."

"I know," I replied. "But I'm asking anyways Jenny. He's a good person, out of everyone I've met here so far he's the only one I like. And more than that, it's my fault he got hurt. I should have warned him sooner. I forgot, and he was caught out in the open."

As I talked I motioned for Sarah to come and help. We positioned the stretcher next to the unconscious man, then carefully manoeuvred him onto it.

"You can't know for certain that he would have listened had you warned him sooner," Jenny pointed out. "He may have ignored an earlier warning just like he ignored the late one."

I sighed as I gently strapped my patient in, "You might be right Jenny, but we'll never know. What we do know is I screwed up and now he's badly wounded. If you won't help then his best chance is a properly equipped hospital. And considering it might take us ten or fifteen days to get him to one, he's going to be on board for all that time regardless."

When the patient was secure I motioned to Sarah. Between the grav-assist and our enhanced strength it was nothing to pick up the stretcher. We started heading back to the Demeter with Jenny walking alongside.

"Where are we going to put him?" Sarah asked.

I glanced at the android then replied, "If we can't use Jenny's Re/Gen pod we'll take him up to the mess. I'll have to use the dining table to work on him, then after I've done all I can to repair the internal damage we'll use the starboard crew cabin as an infirmary."

Jenny sighed as the three of us headed up the ramp and into the ship. As we moved through to the secondary hold she finally relented, "Very well. We'll put him in my Re/Gen pod so I can consult with him. I'll waive the requirement about being part of our crew, but I will not break my second rule. If in my judgement he'll be unable to adapt or adjust to a feminine body without my help I won't even make the offer."

"Thank you Jenny," I replied, and I knew she could hear the relief and gratitude in my voice. "That's all I wanted."

We stopped just inside the secondary hold and set the stretcher down, then we carefully removed Cam's glasses, boots, and belt. I also checked that we weren't putting him in there with any valuables or keepsakes. He had some tools in his pockets and a tarnished silver locket hanging from a cord around his neck. All that came off, then Sarah and I gently placed him inside the pod.

I tapped the button to seal the door, then carefully put our patient's things on the nearest shelf as I commented "We need to get a locker or something down here. Somewhere next to the pod where we can keep some spare clothes, and a place to put a patient's things when we're doing this."

"I'll see about that when we get a chance," Sarah smiled.

As we waited I pulled the carbine from my shoulder and unloaded it before setting it and the spare magazines on the shelf next to the boxes of ammunition. Then I went back to check the indicator panel on the end of Jenny's pod.

It still read 'Patient Briefing' which left me worried things weren't going well. And the pink fringe in Jenny's hair meant she was in autonomous mode, so she wasn't connected to her main self and likely wouldn't know what was going on in there anymore than we did.

I couldn't help asking though, "Do you know what's happening? Is Cam compatible, or...?"

The android hesitated, then grimaced. "They're talkative. More so even than Sarah. They're extremely excited about the experience, fascinated by my existence, and asking endless questions."

"They?" Sarah asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jenny nodded, "They didn't have the words to describe themself until we started to talk, but it seems like Cam may be non-binary. According to them, they weren't comfortable identifying as a man but hadn't realized not being one was an option."

"That doesn't mean they'll be comfortable as a woman instead, but..." her voice trailed off as the indicator switched to 'Processing', along with an eight and a half hour countdown.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that. Then I picked up the stretcher and said, "Let's go get Jace. I need to get the bullet fragments out of his leg."

"Why don't you and Jenny take care of that?" Sarah suggested as she put her shotgun and the box of shells on the shelf where I'd left the carbine. "I'm going to grab my toolkit and go have a look at the loader. We've still got two containers to unload, and without a working loader it's not going to be much fun."

Jenny agreed and I nodded, "Ok Sarah, good thinking. Stay safe."

"You too," she responded. Then she headed for the workshop while me and Jenny set out again with the stretcher.

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