Change Horizons: Three Novellas (6 page)

“The current’s getting worse,” Ciel gasped.

“I think so too.” Gemma coughed as water gushed over her face. “Just keep going. Drag yourself along the rope if you need to.”

“I…my arms are giving out, Gemma.” Ciel suddenly disappeared under the surface.

Gemma stared at the loop securing Ciel to the rope. “Ciel!” She backed up, tugging at the loop. Suddenly Ciel’s head was above the water again.

“H’rea—”

“Dea’savh. I know.” Gemma was relieved that Ciel was well enough to curse in Gantharian. “Hold on to the rope. Got a good grip?”

Ciel nodded.

“Good. Use your other hand and hold on to my harness. I can’t pull us both along, but use your legs and kick. That way we’ll swim together and use our bulk to fight the water.”

“All right.” Ciel looked pale and her blue-toned lips were dark blue from the cold.

“Remember, you have to help me.”

“Understood.”

Gemma clenched her teeth and began swimming. She felt a push from behind, propelling her through the water. This was working. Every time Gemma kicked her feet and used her arms to make strong and steady strokes, she could tell Ciel used her legs to help push them forward.

Just as they were a little more than halfway across the river, something hit Gemma’s right leg mid-thigh. Numbness rather than pain made it impossible to move it at first.

“What’s wrong?” Ciel gasped behind her. “I felt something. A thud.”

“My leg. Something…hit my leg.”

“Keep using the other one and your arm. We’re heading toward calmer water.”

Gemma struggled to comply, but the numbness was changing into an overwhelming dull ache, making it harder. Still, Ciel had to have dug deep for extra energy as she kicked them ahead. Gemma gasped for air and did her best. She counted silently the strokes, thinking,
just ten more, just ten more after that
. Her throat ached from the spray of the water. The only upside to its high level of salt was that it made it marginally easier to stay afloat.

“Look. Just a little longer,” Ciel said. “Don’t give up on me, Gemma.”

“Never.” Appalled at how badly her teeth chattered, Gemma shoved her arms through the water, feeling the taste of blood in her mouth. She didn’t even want to think about having to do this again when going back to the hovercraft.

Suddenly other arms wrapped around her. A deep voice told her she was safe. “Tacrosty?”

“For stars and skies, ma’am, we were worried about you.” The seasoned young man sounded upset as he dragged her up onto the riverbank. “The water seems to be calming down again, at least to the level where it was when Vollenby and I went over. Not sure what happened when you and Dr. O’Diarda were crossing. It just went crazy.”

“Crazy describes it well,” Gemma said, her vocal cords hurting. “I need water.”

“Of course. Here you go, ma’am.” A bottle was pressed to her lips and she forced herself to drink slowly. “Ciel?” she managed after a while.

“Here.” A hand landed on Gemma’s shoulder. “Now we need to see what happened to your leg. We also need to get warm. It’s still raining.”

“We’re putting up smaller habitats over by the clearing. I started a few of the portable heaters. The fires aren’t quite cutting it.” Tacrosty simply removed Gemma’s backpack and carried her, despite her objections.

“I can walk.”

“I’m sure you can, but I can’t risk you damaging yourself any more. We need your expertise once we reach the displaced individuals. Besides, Dr. O’Diarda is shooting daggers at me with her eyes, so I know what’s best for me. You’re not walking yet.”

Gemma tried to look over at Ciel, but she was behind Tacrosty. “Scared of her, are you, Sergeant?” she muttered.

“If you’d seen how she glared at me before I lifted you, you’d know why, ma’am.” He smiled sheepishly. “Here we are. This is your habitat. Yours and Dr. O’Diarda’s.” He placed Gemma on a small cot. “I’ll be down by the bank overseeing and helping the troops.”

Gemma stopped him. Looking up into his kind eyes, she placed a hand on his arm. “Thank you.”

“Get tended to, Commander.” Looking a little flustered he nodded at them both and left the small habitat.

Glancing around them, Gemma saw this wasn’t the very smallest of the habitats. It had room for two inflatable cots as well as storage for their gear. When they reached the people in need, it would also be able to house the portable laboratory equipment.

“Commander? Dr. O’Diarda? Here’s your gear.” Vollenby and a male private placed their backpacks just inside the opening.

“Thank you.” Ciel nodded briefly and closed the opening after they left. “Now we have to get out of the wet clothes and look at your leg.” Ciel pushed off her dripping undergarments. Pale and trembling she stood there dressed only in a semi-transparent camisole and briefs. She shivered as she glanced at Gemma. “Your turn.”

Ciel was colder than she could remember ever being. Her teeth had even stopped clattering as her jaw felt rigid and so tight that she found speaking difficult. Looking down at the more slender Gemma, she knew she had to be even worse off.

“I need to quickly check you for leeches and look at your leg. Here, this blanket is one of those fancy thermo things, right?” Ciel began pulling off Gemma’s undergarments. “Let’s get this one off and then you can wrap the blanket around you.”

“Thank you.” Gemma tried to cooperate, but it was clear that she was in no condition to. “It hurts to be this cold,” she whispered huskily.

“Yes, it does.” Ciel refused to give in to the shivers. “This one too. The less wet stuff you have on your skin, the better.” She took off Gemma’s camisole. “You’re not supposed to be the blue one.” Her attempt at joking made Gemma smile tremulously.

“True. I do look a little better in pink.”

“We’ll have you pink in no time.” Ciel’s heart nearly broke at the sight of the formidable commander looking so small and fatigued. “You’ll be back bossing us around and saving lives before you know it.”

The ghostly smile made Ciel push to work faster at Gemma’s clothes. Once she’d pulled off everything, she ran her hands all over the chilled skin. “You seem to be leech-free.” She pulled the thermo blanket around Gemma and pressed a sensor. She found she could use different settings, one actually named Hypothermia Therapy. Pressing the sensor, she could tell that the heat was instantaneous. “Ah. Nice.”

“Oh, stars, yes.” Gemma closed her eyes briefly.

“Now the leg.” Ciel tugged her backpack close. “You haven’t broken the skin, but the pulsations in your right foot aren’t as palpable as in your left. I think you have compartment syndrome in your right thigh.”

“Damn.” Gemma looked at her leg. “I should be able to open the fascia with a derma fuser using the opposite setting. That doesn’t help with the accumulated blood, though.”

“What would you do if it was my leg?” Ciel carefully felt the bruised and swollen thigh.

“I’d sedate you, use a laser-scalpel, and open it up to drain. Old and proven method.”

“Old and proven sounds good. Any of your medical staff present that can perform such surgery?”

“They’re internalists mainly. You would do just as good a job.” She tilted her head, looking exhausted. “Please, Ciel. I trust you.”

“Can we do it with local anesthesia?”

“It won’t be fun, but yes. I think we can.”

“I’ll get set up. I have some herbs that will make it endurable for you.”

Gemma raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Don’t give me that look. They’re not narcotics.” Ciel shook her head. “Honestly, Gemma. You’d think I was a bujjadin.”

“I don’t think that. What’s a bujjadin?”

“A person marketing illegal substances.”

“Ah. No, then. I definitely don’t think that.”

Ciel had used their banter to prepare herself. “I need to wear something warmer than this so I don’t tremble and sever an artery.” She pushed off her wet underwear and looked hesitantly at Gemma. “Are you feeling all right enough to check me for leeches?”

“Sure.” Gemma made a twirling movement with a finger before she took another tight grip of the thermo blanket. “Spin.”

Turning under Gemma’s scrutiny, Ciel was relieved when Gemma shook her head.

“I don’t see any.”

“Good.” Ciel donned a set of comfortable undergarments. She then pulled out a few small bags of herbs, which she put in a bowl and ground to a fine powder with a small pestle. She mixed it with water and gave the mug to Gemma. “Drink it slowly. If you gulp it, it can make you nauseous.”

Gemma complied, sipping the herbal drink slowly. Soon her facial muscles relaxed and she tipped her head back. “Oh. This is a nice buzz.”

“It’s temporary. Once your system is saturated, you’ll feel a certain numbness, but you’ll be less dizzy and…just calm and soothed.”

“Calm and soothed. Sounds nice.”

Ciel smiled at Gemma’s blissful expression. “I bet it does.” She could understand the high that came with the sudden absence of pain. She opened Gemma’s backpack and looked for the small case she had seen that contained the derma fuser and bone knitter. Frowning at the alien markings on the cases, she grabbed one that looked like it was of the right size.

“Yes. That’s it. But don’t grab the bone knitter by mistake. That might irreparably damage my veins.”

“I do know the difference between the instruments.” Ciel pursed her lips. “Now, it’s the setting that I’ll need your help with.”

“No problem. The laser-scalpels…in a blue container with red markings. See them?”

“I do.” Ciel glanced into Gemma’s pack and pulled out the case.

“They’ll hum alive when you grip them. They’re self-sterilizing, so you can just go ahead and use them.”

“Very well.” The method was actually the same, even if the tools were as different from Ciel’s low-tech instruments as it was possible. She gently prodded the hard mass on Gemma’s leg. “Will I need to wash your skin?”

“No. The laser-scalpel takes care of any contamination. Just do it.” Her lips pale now, Gemma closed her eyes.

“I trust the derma fuser will help fix any potential mistakes?” Ciel’s attempt at another joke fell flat to the ground. “All right. Here we go.” She grabbed a scalpel that indeed did hum into working order once she held it correctly. Gently, she pressed the tip against Gemma’s skin. The blade took on a higher tone and pierced the skin. Making the incision about two centimeters, she stopped to check Gemma’s expression.

“Go on.” Gemma looked pale but composed.

Ciel carefully cut through the tissue until a dark, shiny bulging surface came into view. Cutting into it, she was prepared to mop up any blood, but she was unprepared for how dramatic dark-red blood would seem to her. Gemma relaxed marginally as she relieved the pressure against the muscular tissue, though, which reassured her she’d done the right thing.

“Now, make sure the clots are out. Use regular water that you’ve placed in the portable sterilizer. That one there, strapped to the side of my bag. Then…the derma fuser.”

“All right.” Ciel took a bottle of water and placed it in a small cylindrical container. It opened on its own after about ten seconds. She flushed the incision four times before she was convinced it was clean of clots. “What setting for the derma fuser?”

“Lowest for the muscle fascia. Middle setting for the subcutaneous layers, and then…” Gemma slumped sideways.

“Gemma!” Ciel pressed her fingertips to Gemma’s neck. A rapid, slightly weak pulse fluttered beneath her touch. “Just hold on. Almost done.” Working as fast as she could, Ciel closed the fascia and then the layers above it. She ran the derma fuser at the highest setting at the top and made sure Gemma wouldn’t get an unnecessary scar. When she was done, she took what she usually considered a ridiculous item from Gemma’s backpack, the cleansing wand, and ran it over both of them. This was not just to feel clean, as great as that was, but also to ensure that no tiny leeches hid so deep in folds and orifices that they were impossible to spot at a glance. It was a nice side effect of these wands that they killed parasitic life forms that size and smaller, unless they were well inside the person. It also had the ability to dry hair, which in this case was crucial for Gemma to get warm faster.

Once she’d cleaned both of them, Ciel grabbed another thermo-blanket and wrapped it around Gemma, then lowered her onto one of the cots. She was shivering so badly herself now, she knew they needed the shared body heat. Careful not to push Gemma off the cot, Ciel slid in next to her. It was bliss to be under the blankets. Gemma was still cold, but not as bad as when they came out of the water. Ciel tried to disregard the fact that Gemma was naked against her, which of course was futile. She just didn’t have the heart to haul Gemma up into sitting position and remove the warm blankets to dress her in sleepwear. Gemma needed rest. They both did.

Gemma murmured and tried to move.

“Shh. Lie still or we’ll both fall off this thing. We need to stay warm. Just relax. Once we’re warm again, I’ll make more soup for us.”

“Soup. Yes.” Gemma reached back and grabbed Ciel’s left arm and tugged it around her. “Better.”

Ciel held her breath for a moment. She had lost count of how many people she’d helped save one way or another, but one thing she did know. Nobody had gotten to her like Gemma had, and nobody had certainly made her lose her breath in a life-and-death situation by their mere presence. “Just rest,” she whispered, and held Gemma closer. Ciel inhaled the sweet scene that had to be all Gemma, as the wand neutralized anything with perfume or other scents.

It had been years since she’d been in the same bed as someone else, let alone held them like this.
And it never felt like this anyway.
Feeling protective, and her whole body humming from the closeness of the beautiful, sometimes infuriating, woman in her arms, Ciel knew she was in big trouble. This mission would end in a week or two, and Gemma would move on with her next assignment. Why this felt like the ultimate loss after everything Ciel had been through the last twenty-five years, she had no idea. Or maybe she did, and that was why she was torn between never wanting to let go and backing off instantly.

As keeping Gemma warm and safe was her top priority right now, she’d stay here. Even if it ended up breaking her heart, nothing would stop her from holding Gemma tight and reveling in the fact that she had stopped shivering.

*

Gemma sat up on the side of the cot, the blanket getting stuck in something and falling off her shoulders. Rubbing her arms to ward off the cool air in the habitat, she realized she was naked.

“What the—?”

“You were out cold. You needed to sleep.” Ciel’s husky voice behind her made Gemma turn around so fast she nearly toppled off the cot. “Careful,” Ciel said, and took hold of Gemma’s arm, steadying her.

“Thanks. Um. Yeah. Oh, the surgery.” Gemma managed to get one of the blankets around herself and then examined her leg. There was a faint line on her thigh, but that was it. She felt no more than a vague tenderness, which was a relief. “What time is it?”

“Very early morning. We don’t have to get up yet. If you sleep one more hour, you’ll be doing much better once we break camp. We’re only two hours from the pass.”

“I should really…oh, all right. If you’re going to look at me like that,” Gemma said grumpily. “Stars and skies, has anyone ever said that you take too much advantage of those blue eyes of yours?” Realizing what she’d just said, Gemma knew she was blushing. She lay down hastily, her back still against Ciel. To her amazement, Ciel wrapped her arm around her waist.

“Just so you won’t kill yourself now that I had to use SC technology to fix you. Do you have any idea how hard that was?”

“Using the technology or the procedure?”

“Both.” Ciel cleared her throat. “I was afraid of inadvertently damaging your leg. I didn’t want to give you a scar either.”

“Gods of Gantharat, you’re not telling me you worried about a scar?” Gemma was agitated now and managed to turn around with Ciel’s help. “A scar?”

“You’ve got such soft, perfect skin. A scar would be…wrong.”

“I have plenty of scars.” Gemma tried to see what was behind the opaque blue in Ciel’s eyes.

“That may be, but I haven’t caused them. I may sound silly, but I don’t want to…hurt you.”

“Ciel?” Gemma’s heart was thundering so fast now that she was feeling it hit her ribs from inside. “What do you mean?”

“Your well-being matters.” Ciel shifted, tucking Gemma in under her chin. “Go back to sleep. We both need to.”

Gemma knew this would be impossible as thoughts tumbled in her mind. Why was her well-being important to Ciel? And why did this thought create an emotional as well as a physical response to such a degree that Gemma felt sweat break on her forehead and at the small of her back? She snuck an arm around Ciel’s waist, telling herself she needed the support on the small cot. In fact, it was a lovely feeling to hold on to the soft, curvaceous body next to her. Ciel really was stunning. Feminine, but tough and strong at the same time.
So not my type.
Gemma had to fight not to snort in self-deprecating mirth. Type? She had no type. When would she have had time to find anyone during the last decade, let alone look for a
type
?

Startled at how well their very different body types fit together on the narrow cot, she closed her eyes, thinking she would just rest for fifteen minutes. She should have known she’d fall asleep within five.