It was strange to the sensibilities of any honest Marine. The dark polished stock certainly felt natural to anyone who had ever picked up a rifle. It was heavy but, had a good feel in the arms. The only thing that looked, felt, and seemed unnatural to Pete, was the trigger. Now, you had hard pulling triggers and you had hair ones but, it seemed to be the same on this world with one major difference. That being the finger, or rather not finger, that was doing the pushing rather than the squeezing. The trigger sat on the right-handed side, high on the stock, and was made to be depressed by the thumb. It worked a very simple spring and hammer mechanism.

Unlike the one that Pete had examined back in the desert, and the Assur shotguns for that matter, this one was not a muzzleloader. It was loaded from a trap door at the rear of the barrel. Unlike breechloaders, from back home, it did not use a self contained cartridge. With the trap door lifted there was a seat for the slug and a small metal tube in the bottom of the chamber where you poured a measured dose of powder. Then you just closed the breech which then cocked the hammer and that set the trigger to its ready position.

Pete raised the weapon to his shoulder. To his front was a fruit tree. The fruit, the very same kind they first met in the desert, grew down long vines. The fruit itself was connected end-to-end explaining the two stems. They actually grew ten to twenty fruits per vine which draped down all around the tree. Pete placed the front sight on one of the fruit about five up on a vine. He lined the rear sight, actually a notch in the hammer itself, with the front. Pete let out half a breath, and then gently pushed down on the trigger with his thumb. There was an unexpected delay before the hammer fell. Thrown by the unexpected delay the shot went off its mark as a huge cloud gray and grungy smoke filled the air around the barrel.

Lang caught himself laughing. "Marine! Good Shot! Hah!"

Pete handed the rifle back to the alien. He was a little agitated with both Lang and his weapon, "You didn't say anything about the delay. What in god's name is that for?"

"So your thumb push not throw off shot. Only best weapon have this," Lang's English was crude but getting better with each passing day. He picked it up far quicker than anyone had learned Zeat. That was good for Pete since he still was far from fluent in the native language. Even going to the classes with the tutor had not helped. Pete simply hated classrooms. He learned better in just doing.

The Alien had room to laugh at the moment. He had hit one of the smallest fruits on the tree with one try, severing the vine, and dropping all the fruit below the point of impact. Not to let an alien, or anybody else, get one up on the Corps, Pete picked up his M-16. "Oh yeah Lang. Watch this."

Pete aimed at the tree. He stopped for a second, "Not good weapon. Used weapon. Old weapon." Pete took aim at the bottom of a vine. He fired and the fruit burst. His second shot came less than a second later and produced another hit. There was a rapid pace of shots after that. Pete was sure one shot missed but with the splattering of fruits and rapid fire Lang did not have a chance to notice. When Pete had shot an entire vine down, fruit by fruit, he looked and smiled at Lang, "Do that with your weapon."

Jack, Red and Joey were standing behind them. Jack clapped his hands, very slowly, and with a great delay between the claps, "Fine waste of ammo Marine."

Pete smiled and took a bow, "Thank you."

Dee had stopped on the edge of the clearing until the shooting was over. She nudged Pam when it looked safe enough to be standing on the same planet with the guys. Even with all of the weapons slung, Dee stopped at a good distance away, "Hey Jack?"

The girl’s faces looked rather serious. When they asked Jack to come with them he did so without a moments hesitation. They wound up back at the camp in Pam's lab. Jack found himself looking over some print outs, "It's all Greek to me. What the hell does this mean?"

Pam had been pacing. When invited to speak she wasted no time in pulling up a chair facing Jack, "Understand Jack, this isn't my field. I'm a patch 'em up and send 'em on kind of Doc. God, I really need Mike right now but, I'm reasonably certain of what we found. These are the results of some of the tests that I did on Finny. Urine and blood mainly but, when I saw those readings, I put some of them under the microscope. We were looking at to high of a mag to see what it was we were looking for."

"You mean this is about DNA?" asked Jack.

"No, nothing to do with that. You remember when I told you I couldn't find microorganisms on this planet. Well we found them. I was just looking in the wrong way and at the wrong places. You see we found a substance in her urine that I couldn't identify. Neither could my computer. Turns out, it's what I will loosely call bacteria. It is a single celled organism and probably fills the same niche like bacteria on Earth."

Jack smiled, "Well that's great, so?"

"No," finally Dee spoke, "that's not good. What we found in her urine was actually the remains, dead bac.. or whatever. Not so in her sweat glands."

Pam filled in the holes, "Well actually there was dead bacteria there but not like the ones in her urine. You see the body disposes of all kinds of stuff by those two methods. You know what your white blood cells kill? Your immune system? Only with her, she's losing this stuff only from one source, which means the body is killing it another way."

Dee turned his head now, "I asked Gary some time ago to inquire from our host, about plagues, colds, flu's all that kind of stuff. Gary couldn't get the message across because Lang had no concept of what he was talking about. Jack do you realize that these people don't get sick. They've never had a plague and infection is very rare. Mostly just in the worst of wounds that break a significant amount of skin."

Before Pam could spin him in his chair, Jack tossed up his hands, "bottom line. I'm not a biologist here."

"The bottom line," said Pam solemnly, "is that we found that Finny's appendix is responsible. At least I think. I’d need to do another test or two. It’s like this organ that we thought, at best, performed a minor function is actually a part of their immune system. It specifically filters down, or out, dangerous microorganisms specific to this world."

Jack gave it some thought, "So in that respect, they are different from us?"

Pam looked to Dee, "He doesn't get it. No Jack, this is a major problem here. If our appendix isn't doing the same thing, then we're in big trouble."

Dee added, "Jack this whole planet could be as poisonous as cyanide to us."

Pam finished, "Only slower. We could all be dying right now and not even know it for a few more months. Maybe even years but, we just don't feel it yet. I've already gotten samples from me and Dee. I'm running them now to see what our appendices are up to. I want to test everybody though. I also want to run some more on Finny."

"Yeah," Jack could not say no. He thought about it for a second. What exactly did this mean to everybody? The first thought was, "everybody that came with us had their appendix didn't they?"

"As far as I know," replied Pam, "but we better ask anyway."

"So what exactly is this war about anyway?" asked Pete.

Lang thought over the question. "The ones in... in... East, they get like that. Smelly people, they no good, anything. Like cause trouble."

Was it war rhetoric? Pete supposed it probably was. Obviously Red did too. The newsman was used to such talk and was chuckling at hearing it on another world. Red almost broke out into full-blown laughter after a minute or two. He managed another question instead, "So what trouble was it this time?"

"They so no good, they get women do man work. Assur raid Zeat and Dottish and Gisium. Sell women east cause even women no good."

"Make any sense out of that Pete?" asked Red.

Unlike his companion, Pete had seen the Assur meat markets close up. He was certainly glad to see none of them in Zeat. Pete also saw how harsh the punishment was for selling women that were not in the same race. In Ninvey, they had lined several Assur up against the wall and shot them for violating that crime. If the labor and breeding problem was bad in the Raed lands, and much of what Lang said indicated this, it would certainly stand to reason that those people would pay for better stock.

Better stock seemed to be what was here on the western side of this continent. Zeat's would be very good for that matter. As Pete had learned when he inquired about meat markets in town, the Zeat's did not actually sell their women. Not even to each other. They traded between themselves, and gave away daughters as payments to other Zeats, but that was it. They even seemed to keep their mothers and take good care of them. This was nowhere else to be seen on this world or, at least, in any parts where Pete had been. In fact, most of these people did not even know who their mothers were. They were separated soon after being weaned.

The standard over most the planet was that males were sent off to schools and females were most often sold to professional flesh peddlers. Any education the females got were usually from these slave salesmen called Bothi. Most boys would enter schools at a later age than would be considered normal on Earth, usually around puberty. These schools each specialized in a certain skill or trade. That was, of course, if they received any education at all. Most did not.

It seemed brutal to Pete but, people here, even the women, thought it was just fine. "So they are messing with the gene pool huh? Lot of illegal women going east then?"

Lang did not seem to understand. He had to think about it first, "Lot's of women go east. How you say, you make a killing. Price high out there, good stock."

"That's sick," Red couldn't hold it in any longer.

What was about to escape Pete's lips stopped. He forgot all about what he was thinking at the moment. It had been staring him in the face all along! He had traveled in the wrong direction. Pete slapped Red in the arm, "hold down the fort!"

As the Marine ran off Red exchanged confused glances with Joey. Lang asked the question on all of their minds, "What with him up?"

"You mean what's up with him," replied Red. "Repeat after me Lang. Hell if I know."

_____________________

The city was actually far from what Julia would have called civilized. For Tish, it was only slightly less modern than what she was accustomed. It was certainly enough so to excite her by being here. She had lived on a farm most of her life. Any trip to a population center was an adventure to her. She had been to two such places before this. She spoke of wonders that to Julia seemed like squalor. While this town of Falon was not the best to Tish it was at least civilized to her. It was a breath of fresh, if not smelly, air from the desolate wilderness.

The one complaint that Julia no longer had was that of a roof over her head. She had that now and an even fairly comfortable bed to sleep in. The three-story house they were staying in was actually one of the better-kept structures in town. It was filled with women but fewer than it could probably hold. They got to bathe daily and that was something that Julia really missed. She and Tish had a bunk bed on the top floor which was only half filled at the moment. They were given chores to do as were all the women in this place. Judging from the wide range of tasks, to choose from, Julia felt lucky with her job. She and Tish did the shopping and helped prepare food.

There was also a great deal of freedom for Julia here. She was surprised. She could walk right out of the building anytime she pleased, except at night. Judging from the miserable inhabitants, of this place, Julia had no desire to go out after dark anyway. There were no guards here or bars on the windows. Once Julia got her work done everyone else pretty much left her alone.

There was one exception of course. There was always one. The girl in charge here was actually half Julia's age. She could be a little bossy but, Julia found out that standing up to her put the little idiot in her place. It took a couple of times but the girl finally got the message and left Julia alone. It was obvious the kid was boiling beneath the surface but Julia could live with that.

It was far from what Julia would have considered a prison except for the basement of course. Julia went down there once to put away some supplies. There were wrist and ankle chains run along the walls. There was a rusty old iron cage hanging from a beam. There were also several large wooden gadgets sitting on the floor and Julia was afraid to venture a guess as to what they had been used for. The stuff looked rusty and unused for a great long while. It was still a sobering reminder of how much trouble she was in.

On her time off, such as now, she and Tish roamed the city. The majority of its inhabitants looked like a cross between a Chinese and a Hindu. They had dark skin rather than the yellowish hue, but still had slightly slanted eyes. Their hair was not just dark as was the case with Asians and Hindus. There were blondes and browns as well. They were a strange looking people to Julia’s eyes.

The buildings were nothing to write home about so Julia mostly ignored them. She found herself paying attention mostly to the plants that were growing here and there. The city boasted several parks and although they were not well kept they did have a variety of shrubs and trees. Julia liked going over every one of them in careful detail. She had found some paper and a piece of charcoal. She started drawing and taking notes of the local flora. It was somehow a link with normalcy. While doing it she almost forgot what was happening to her. It made Julia feel as if she were still in control and doing what she was sent here for.

Tish found her friends habit of going over every plant they encountered quite annoying. Indeed, the girl had a wild streak in her. It seemed that Tish liked to see exactly how much trouble she could get into and then back out of. It was the girl's lot in life to tempt fate. As they were walking to the park on the far side of town they passed one of the city gates. There was a wall around the entire city and the six portals were always guarded by a host of soldiers in different colored uniforms.

"Merry Can, let's see if we can get other side gate." Tish was picking up English very quickly. Julia was not doing so badly with Dottish but they talked in the Earth language, mostly to keep their conversations private.

Julia stopped in the street. She counted the number of guards and found ten in all. It seemed a might excessive seeing as how they did very little. Julia was going to relate the number to her friend. Then Julia remembered that Tish didn't even know numbers in her own language. "I think I'll pass on that Tish. You said that the Bothi told us we couldn't leave the city. I don't want to find out what happens if we do. Not now anyway."

"You old maid Merry Can. Bothi need girl no mark on skin. I think Bothi do nothing."

That much was true. So far the Bothi had taken very good care of all the women he owned. The reason was obvious, money. Julia actually became tempted for a moment. If she could pass that gate rather easily then just maybe she could somehow find her way back to her friends.

After giving it some more thought Julia once again reached the same conclusion as before. Getting out of the gate would be the least of her worries. She had no idea where her friends were. Even if she did have that bit of information Julia still would not have a clue as to which direction would take her there. If she even knew all of that the trip itself seemed impossible. A woman alone on the roads of this world was nothing more than a target.

"No, we go to park. I do not want to find out."

The center of the park was quite decorative for Falon. It was lined with colonnades that formed a semi circle around a cobblestone walk and platform. Flowerbeds were planted just outside the colonnades and there were benches just beyond that. Julia was sketching each type of flower she found, bush by bush. She had no color so she wrote the color by name instead. As they approached the park center on this day something unusual was going on.

There was a crowd gathered in and around the colonnades. One of the things that had surprised Julia about being in her first alien town was how free the women seemed. She was judging this on her experiences so far. The brutality that she had seen displayed toward her sex only made her feel as if this place were nothing but Hell. The feelings of that night with the Assur never left her. The helpless feeling made her cringe even now. The memories of those little creatures as they charged her, fangs drawn, ready to rip into her flesh, still haunted her. Even worse was the fact that her only help was from the whip of her tormentors. The entire exercise had gotten the point across to Julia only too well.

None of that kind of thing happened here or not that Julia had seen anyway. The crowd here was composed of men and women. Indeed, this seemed a little odd to the Earth woman but, it should not have been. Women traveled in the city just as freely as she did. The park crowd was laughing and cheering as if they were all equals. It gave Julia a feeling of normalcy even if that feeling was really just an illusion. Julia knew this, of course, but sometimes, illusions had their proper place. It helped her maintain some semblance of sanity.

"Let's go see what it is?" Julia was excited, "Maybe it's a street show or something."

Tish was hesitant. The live dangerously attitude, that she normally had, seemed to be hiding now. "I… we maybe should go plant now."

Julia stopped, "What's wrong Tish?"

"No wrong." Tish seemed unusually quiet. "I get bad feeling is all. I hear story bout Raed."

Julia had not. She had heard what little Tish new about this area of the planet but, that sounded mostly like fairy tales of boogey men. Julia pulled her along. They worked their way slowly through the crowd till they could see what was happening. At this point Julia lost even her illusions of safety. She gasped at the sight of the demonstration before her.

They wore those black shirts just like Joe and Lang had back in the desert. The uniforms looked far more worn and ragged than the ones Julia remembered. They had no boots or helmets either. There were six men in all. One man was in a green coat instead of black but, he was as chained as the rest, neck to neck, with their hands tied behind them. Julia watched the first one as he was unshackled from the rest by men dressed like those at the city gates. They were not really wearing uniforms but they had red sashes from shoulder to waist that identified their authority. These city guards pulled the screaming man to a block of wood. Another guard stood by it with a long sword in his hands.

Julia gasped, "they're going to cut his head off!"

They did not. They ripped his pants and his genitals were shoved up on the block. The sword came down hard and buried itself deep in the wood. The man lurched back and was allowed to fall to the cobblestones. He rolled and screamed and was still alive when the next victim was brought forward. Julia felt faint. She cupped her hand over her mouth and fled towards the back of the crowd.

Stopping in a clump of trees Julia steadied herself with one hand on the largest trunk she could find. The contents of her stomach emptied. She fell to her knees after the last heave. Julia was breathing heavy and still felt faint. She heard someone walking up behind her. It was just Tish and Julia asked her without looking up, "Why did they do that?"

"Prisoners," Tish used her own language now. She did not know enough English to explain. "Imperial Soldiers make war on Raed here in the north. They capture some but kill many others in fighting."

Julia rolled back and rested her back on the tree. From the sound of the crowd the event was still going on. She dug her fingers in the dirt every time they cheered. Julia closed her eyes and tilted her head back. She breathed deeply until some of the cold she felt went away. "I want to go home. I want to go home."

Another fantasy that Julia sometimes had flooded into her conscious mind. She thought of Joey, of Pete, the three of them living together in a little house somewhere back in Texas. Joey would be going to the prom. Pete would be standing with his arm around her on the porch and waiting to meet Joey’s date. They would be taking pictures of the moments. All of that had been robbed from her and her son. She vowed that one day it would happen. That was if she ever made it home, if Pete would forgive her, for cheating on him.

At the time it did not seem that way. They were not married after all. They were even split up. Julia had turned to Gary for advice. She found him charming and she had felt alone. Julia had always felt some undesirable urge for acceptance, for attention, and affection. She knew it was bad but she could not help it. It was how she felt! So many times in the past, just like with Joey's father, Julia had mistaken it for love.

The one time in her life that she thought she was actually finding love, she blew it. Maybe this was her punishment. If she had just gone back to Pete none of this would have happened. Yet at the time Julia was afraid. She had vowed never to let a man dominate her again. Going back to Pete would have given him a power over her. That was what she told Gary. He was just so comforting to be around at that time. Julia found herself playing to old habits. She had been the one to kiss him first. She was afraid to let him take control. So it was with Pete as well.

"A willow," said Julia quietly as she slowly opened her eyes. The leaves and the bark of the limbs above her was that of a willow tree. "Wonder how you got here mister Willow."

"What Willow?" asked Tish?

Julia pulled herself up. "Not that important. Let's go back to our place and do something else today."

Tish was in complete agreement. They took the main trail out of the park. Just as they reached the exit they passed an elephant pulling a large flat bed wagon. It had many city guards around it and was heading right toward the colonnade. Julia stopped when she saw its cargo. There were about twenty women, all nude, and bound to the poles of the wagon. They were crying and pleading. Tish grabbed Julia by the arm and squeezed. She pointed to one of the women on the platform and specifically to a scar on the woman’s breast.

Tish explained, "burn, she run away from home. They burn her so all know. Merry Can, I think you right about gate now. I no want idea too."

_____________________

Gina always fidgeted while sitting on exam tables. She had been terrified of doctors since she was a little girl growing up in Atlanta. Her father was a jeweler, and a fairly successful one at that. That meant the Fujitsu's had very good health insurance and Gina's old man was a stickler for routine check ups. When Gina had turned eighteen she moved to Seattle with an aunt so she could be on her own and out from under her father’s strict eye. It had been that grunge phase of hers that sent her to the Northwest. After moving she had not seen a doctor until she joined the Air Force.

"Well Pam?"

Pam was busy, "Do you mind please?"

"I can't help it, all right? You know after all that scare with our appendixes and stuff. I mean I start having to puke everyday and I'm really worried. I'm not going to die am I?"

"Hush!" Pam commanded. She took the pipette and squirted just a dab of its contents on the paper. Quickly the reagents started to turn part of the paper blue. Pam had ruled out a reaction to local microorganisms early this morning. Their appendixes, while nowhere near as active as Finny's, were doing a lot more here than they would have back home.

Some, like Red's, was not working much at all but at least it was doing something. Pam would watch him closely from now on but, he seemed fine. Gina's appendix, however, was kicking harder than anybody else's. Gina’s was pumping out almost to the point in which Finny’s was. Gina was a spike on the graph that Pam had made from their tests. As the reagents did their job on the little test Pam began to think she knew why.

Gina quickly saw that Pam knew something, "I'm not sick am I? You can give me some pills can't you?"

"A little too late for the pills now kiddo. I'm afraid this ailment is coming whether we like it or not."

Gina bit her lip. Pam walked up to her with a very stern face. She broke into a grin, "Girl, you're pregnant."

"Huh?"

Pam showed her the test, "I need to do some blood work and find out how far along. I'm guessing only a month at best. So, tell me about... well I mean. Hell, I didn't think Saiid had it in him."

Gina‘s shocked expression had not changed, "Huh?"

"Mornin’ Pete," said Jack as he sat down with his breakfast that was fresh off the fire. It was some of the local stuff which was basically a stew with some root plants and local vegetables. Jack would have preferred some good scrambled eggs only there didn't seem to be any eggs on this planet.

It was much cooler now. Pete was even in his jacket. Jack thought about moving the fold up tables back in the main tent now. He would probably have to eventually but, Jack enjoyed the early morning air too much. It seemed a lot fresher on this world than Earth and that only amplified his enjoyment of it. Jack was going to put off relocating indoors as long as he could.

Pete was drinking coffee. He planned on enjoying it while he could. The supply would not last forever but, then, Pete did not plan on sticking around that long anyway, that is, if Jack came around to seeing his way of thinking, "you think about it yet?"

"Pete," Jack had been avoiding this for days, "No. There I said it. Now I'm going to eat my breakfast."

There was no answer. Pete just sat there staring off into space like he had been when Jack walked up. He sipped at his coffee and looked into the trees. Jack couldn't get past that. He dropped his spoon back down in the stew, "You're not thinking about doing something stupid are you?"

"I joined the Corps, didn't I?"

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Red and Saiid exchanged glances. They took their breakfast and moved over to the other table. Jack just lowered his head, "You are not going AWOL on me Marine."

"Then I quit. You can have my commission. I'll even write it up and everything for you. Make it official."

"Damn it Pete! You can't do that. You don't want to do that. What the hell you got besides the corps. Same as me, not a damn thing. Let me tell you. I tried that road once. It wasn't pleasant. I mean sure it looked easy but, that was the problem. Nothing to it, no challenge, no meaning, no anything."

Dee sat her bowl down and then slid in next to Jack. "Please you two. You are scaring those of us who are still sane."

"Morning Dee," was all Pete had to say. He went back to drinking his coffee.

Jack went right back at it, "Now I let you run off once. Look what happened? We sent that letter to Vitosk, and we still haven't heard from him. You know he might have thought it was fun to go off sight seeing. Never thought about, maybe, we needed him. Have you given any thought to that Pete? You know somebody besides yourself."

Dee placed her hand on Jack’s shoulder, "Uh Jack, you are coming down just a little too hard here. Let's try and be rational about this."

"No hell I'm not. He's a Marine and he should know better."

"Was," said Pete. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a letter. He handed it over to Jack. "When you didn't get right back to me. I figured you might say no. So here you go Colonel Francis John Kelly. This is the resignation letter of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Samuel Winston Junior. I even had it notarized for you."

"What?!" replied Jack, "where did you find a..."

Red spoke up from the other table, "Don't look at me Jack. I thought I was safe from getting pestered coming to another planet and all."

Dee looked back over her shoulder giving the man the strangest look, "You brought a stamp and pad with you?"

"I got my library and American Express card too." Red responded with a boy scout hand signal. Saiid and Harry busted out laughing at Red's admission.

Jack was not amused. He turned back to Pete who was still calmly sipping his coffee. Jack looked down at the letter lying on the table, "I don't have to take that you know."

"Fine then Jack. You don't accept my resignation. Well when we get home in ten years, assuming we ever do, Court Martial me and send my ass to Leavenworth." With that said, Pete was finished. He stood up, tossed out the rest of his coffee, and walked off towards the lake.

Dee let out a sigh and started on her stew, "Well you handled that real well Jack."

For some reason, Jack had lost his appetite. "I can't have him running off every time he thinks he knows where Julia is. She's dead Dee. Julia was killed in the desert. If there is any mercy in this world she is a lot better off than..." Dee drove the heel of her boot right into his toes. She stared just over Jacks shoulder. It took Jack a minute to catch on since he was to busy cringing in pain. When he looked back, Joey was standing there, next to Finny, about to get a bowl for breakfast. Jack coughed, "Uh Joey..."

"It's all right Mister Jack,” said the boy rather unemotionally. “Where did Pete walk off too?"

"Uh," Dee took a breath, "I think he walked off down toward the lake sweetie."

Joey gave his bowl back to Finny. The boy walked into the trees down in the direction of the lake. Dee developed a scowl on her face, "You're just so sensitive sometimes Jack. It's really touching."

"What else am I supposed to do? You know I am responsible for you people’s safety. How am I supposed to do that if everybody keeps running off all the time?"

Dee rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't say that it's exactly been an epidemic. I mean did you ever think that just maybe Julia might be alive. Maybe, somewhere, right now, just praying that we'll show up and rescue her. Ever put yourself in those shoes? You know what Julia could be feeling, or maybe, what Joey is feeling? Even what Pete is going through? He's a man in love."

Jack raised his finger at that, "That's no excuse." Jack took his spoon again. He talked a bit more gently now, "Looks more like a man with an obsession to me."

"Well Jack," Dee did not feel like finishing her meal. She stood up, "love is sometimes just that. I guess I just keep forgetting though. You don't know what that is."

After Dee stormed off, Jack saw all eyes on him. The trio at the other table all exchanged glances with each other. They then peered back at Jack and in unison gave him a, "Whooooooaaaaa!!!!"

"Aw shut up!"

_____________________

Stepping out of the stair well, Julia saw him. The Bothi was in the dorm and standing next to the nightstand that she and Tish shared. He was holding her sketches and notes in his hand. The little twit girl who was the straw boss around this place was standing right next to him. She had a smug look on her face. Julia's heart sank. She thought about those poor girls on the way to being mutilated in the park. She thought about sneaking out before they noticed her. Running for the city gates would at least give her a chance.

The girl in charge saw her though. She pointed at Julia immediately. There was no love lost between them after all. Julia put one foot behind the other and realized this was her last chance to turn and run. The Bothi's voice was enough to quell the urge. Julia remembered the devices in the basement of this very building.

He spoke Dottish but not so quick that Julia couldn’t understand. The language was obviously foreign to him as well, "You are the one they call Merry Can?"

"Julia, my name is Julia. Merry Can is what Tish calls me. She has problems with my name."

He gave that some thought, "Tish, Tish... ah you mean the girl who sleeps above you here. No matter, You drew these and wrote these words here?"

Was there any point in lying? "Yes, they are mine."

The Bothi laid them back in the drawer they came from, "They are quite nice really. You have a talent. I say though, exactly what language is that you write in? I've never quite seen the likes of it."

"Merry Can is what Tish calls it."

He gave it no more thought. "None the matter, come with me Julia. I have a job for you to do."

The building smelled worse than the city itself. Once inside, Julia found out exactly why. It was filled wall to wall with the dying and mutilated. The gun shot wounds, stumps for limbs, deep and long gashes, all created a high concentration of rotting and bleeding human flesh. It mixed with the odors of other more commonly excreted bodily fluids. The smell then joined forces with the sounds of moaning and screaming men. When you added the sights of misery and pain this place was intolerable and overpowering.

Most of the bandages here were soaked with blood and in desperate need of change. Injured who could not care for themselves were obvious since no one else was caring for them either. Too many of them went with no attention of any kind. Their screams only stopped when they begged. The only silent men here were those who had already died and were yet to be discovered as such.

In the back rooms of the building there were even more horrific screams. As the Bothi talked with another man, Julia watched the door to those back rooms. A severed foot came flying out as someone tossed it aside. What was this place? Was it some kind of hospital or a torture chamber? Why was she here?

The Bothi finished speaking with the man. He took Julia by the arm, "This is Master Brisily, Julia. He is in charge of this," it was a word Julia did not understand, "Now I want to make it clear that I did not sell you to him. I am only letting you work here to help the war effort. You can talk to the Master if you confine it only to your work. His Dottish is quite good so you shall have little in the way of problems."

"Excuse me Master Bothi," Julia bowed her head as she spoke. "I do not understand this place."

"They care for the sick Julia. For those who are injured in the war. I shall be back to pick you up at dark." With a tip of his hat to Brisily, the Bothi was gone.

_____________________

The rock skipped across the water. Joey watched it go almost to the other side of the pond. He tried his hand at it. His rock did not fair so well. Pete, sitting next to the boy, said, "See if you can find one that's a little bit flatter kiddo."

"Pete?"

"Yeah Joey?"

"Is what Mister Red been saying really true? You plan on leaving?"

Pete was not looking forward to this moment. He was not only going into a war but, he was going as a soldier. Joey could not come on this trip. It was too risky. So much so that Pete was not willing to risk anyone's life but his own. He realized that it was a long shot. He had to try anyway. He couldn't rest until he had at least done that much.

The silence was all that Joey needed, "Pete, I don't want you to go away like Mom."

"You want her back don't you? It's our best shot."

Joey hung his head low, "I remember what Mister Vitosk said in our room that day. You remember don't you? I think I knew then Pete."

A tear began to glisten in the boy’s eye. "I know she's never coming back. I don't want to lose both of you. Pete, you're the best friend I ever had."

Pete smiled at him. That meant more to him than the day the Marine Corps handed him his wings and commission. "Thanks Joey. You don't know how much that means to me. It makes me realize that I have to try even harder now. I'm not going to abandon your Mom out there. You two are the best friends I ever had."

"What if..."

Pete raised his finger to Joey's lips, "I'm coming back. You forget, I've been through a war already. Before you were even born. The second one's always easier than the first." It was a lie but it sounded good.

_____________________

The man began shaking violently as Julia pulled the bandage back. He screamed louder than the black shirt that day in the park. The blood had soaked his bandage thoroughly and then dried. It was sticking to the very wound! Julia could not believe how neglected these patients were. Hadn't these people ever heard of infection! She tried to pull some more of the bandage back. The man began thrashing his arms at this point. He was starting to get violent so Julia backed off in defeat.

Brisily came by. He had his leather apron on. That meant he had just come from hacking off another limb. There were more of these amputations now. For the last three days Julia could hear guns sounding in the distance. They were those giant thunder like booms that she had not heard since first arriving in this accursed land. Then she had no idea what the sounds were. Now she could even see the direct effects of those sounds and it was far more than she had ever really wanted to know.

Brisily stopped. He listened for a moment. Nothing could be heard over the screams of his patients. "I would certainly like to know how it goes up there Julia."

A patient called out, "We stopped the bastards cold!"

It was not what Brisily had in mind. He was seriously wondering about the number of casualties he could be expecting. There seemed to be a stream of wagons coming in and out of the city at the moment. Leaving were food, ammunition, and guns while all that was coming back now were mangled bodies like those that were spilling out of the hospital doors.

"Master Brisily, do you not have medicine for their pain?”

"What is this medicine you keep talking about?" Brisily was tired. He only asked out of reflex, and a hope she would shut up about it.

"You put it in your mouth and swallow it. It makes the pain easier. Makes it less."

That sounded great to Brisily. But miracles and magic were not the works of reality. Just pop something in your mouth and poof you're all better? That fell into the category of too good to be true. "I'm afraid not my dear."

Julia looked back down at the man she had just tried to change the bandage on. He was just now settling down but obviously still in great pain. "Even a stupid bottle of aspirin would help right now. Aspirin! Oh my god in the park! Master Brisily, may I be excused for an hour or so?"

He shook his head, "No, I need you right now. The Bothi said you were intelligent and a good worker. It's not good form to make a liar out of your present Master Girl. Do you wish a beating?"

Julia forgot her place which was really not hers to start with. She spoke to him in such a way that she would have any jackass at Texas A&M. "I'm not goofing off! I can make something that'll help these poor men who are suffering! I don't have to do that. Tell you the truth, since I've been on this stinking planet I've been treated so badly I can't think of why I should give it to you. If that's the way you want to be well fuck you and let 'em suffer! Maybe it'll do them some good to see how the other half lives!"

Almost all the noise in the ward had stopped. Brisily was looking at her in shock, completely stunned. Julia all of a sudden shrank. She over did it just a little too much. Yet she had been waiting for so long to tell somebody off. To be looked down on by these primitives, by a man whose education was pale in comparison to her own, that he might as well be a third grader for what he really knew, was too much to take indefinitely. Yet that was reality for her right now. She still didn't apologize, or beg. If it was torture for this then she might as well get her money's worth.

"Very well Julia," said Brisily. He honestly did not know what to say. No woman had ever spoken to him like that. In fact, he had never even heard any woman speak like that period. This was not even considering that he did not understand the mottled language escaping her lips. Just the tone was bad enough. Yet if she felt that strongly about all of this was there really any harm? What was the harm in seeing this medicine thing? "Go ahead. You had best be back here before the sun reaches quarter sky though."

"Thanks," Julia dropped the master. She ran out the door and headed for the Willow tree. If that was what it really was then she might just be able to show these people up for the ignorant savages they were.