‘Do we have munitions now?’ asked Rawne.
‘We’ve got lights, a food drop and a medical trailer for Curth,’ said Kolea. ‘No ammo train yet.’
‘I’ll get onto it,’ said Hark.
‘We’ve made repeated calls, Viktor,’ said Kolea.
‘They haven’t heard from me yet, Gol,’ Hark said in a soft but dangerous tone. ‘I’ll get onto it.’
As Hark stalked away, Rawne looked around at the area. He could hear rain beating on the roof of the medicae unit and the plastek awning, and water gurgling down the broken chutes and water pipes of the ancient buildings.
‘Did we–’ he began.
‘I’ve got perimeter guards and sweep patrols, yes,’ said Kolea. ‘They won’t get at us again.’
‘I thought this was a safe city,’ said Ludd.
Kolea looked at him.
‘Apparently, this is common here,’ he said. ‘The main front lines are porous. Insurgent cells are getting into the habitation and safe zones.’
Rawne nodded.
‘Gaunt?’ he asked.
‘Still up at staff,’ said Kolea. ‘We’re deciding who gets to talk to him when he gets back.’
Rawne narrowed his eyes quizzically.
Kolea jerked his head towards the medicae unit.
‘Probably you, Eli,’ he said.
‘Why?’
‘He hates you anyway,’ said Kolea.
Rawne sniffed and walked up to the door of the medicae unit. Ludd shot a puzzled look at Kolea, then followed. He stopped short when he saw Felyx standing with Dalin beside the entrance.
‘What are you doing here?’ Ludd asked.
‘They won’t let me see her,’ said Felyx.
‘He’s fine,’ said Dalin. ‘Let him be.’
‘Don’t tell me what to do, trooper,’ said Ludd. He looked at Felyx again.
‘They won’t let you see who?’ he asked.
Rawne stepped into the cramped medicae unit. Kolding was suturing the face wound of a Munitorum driver. Curth was slotting instruments into an autoclave. She looked up as Rawne entered, her face cold and drawn, then jerked her head towards the nearest of the gurneys racked up in the back-bay of the unit.
Rawne crossed to it, and lifted the end of the sheet.
‘Feth,’ he said.
‘Gone before I got there,’ said Curth.
‘Who else?’ asked Rawne.
‘List’s on the side there,’ said Curth.
There was a thump in the doorway as Criid entered. She handed a set of medical clippers to Curth.
‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘I don’t imagine she took it well,’ said Curth.
‘Yoncy’s hair will grow back, Ana,’ said Criid.
‘You used the salve?’
‘Yep. You’ll be using those clippers a lot in the next few days,’ said Criid.
‘I’ll do a full inspect,’ said Curth. ‘I’ve ordered powders from the depot so we can treat all bedding. Lice should be easier to control here than on the ship.’
Criid noticed Rawne. He was lowering the sheet.
‘She was brave,’ said Criid. ‘Went right for them, defending. Defending the boy, more than anything. Taking out a threat to him. And the regiment, but he was the point. She was fast. Trained for intense close protection. Of course, she knew feth-all about street fighting. And in that red suit…’
‘I’ll talk to Gaunt,’ said Rawne.
‘No, I’ll do it,’ said Criid. ‘I was with her at the end.’
‘I’ll do it,’ said Curth. ‘It’s the chief medicae’s job.’
They both looked at her.
‘I’ll do it,’ said Rawne, more firmly.
‘Sir?’
Rawne glanced around. Ludd was in the doorway.
‘Felyx… that is to say, Trooper Chass, he wants to see the body.’
‘There’ll be time for that later,’ said Curth.
‘She was like a mother to him,’ said Criid quietly. ‘I mean, probably more of a mother than his actual mother. Even if she was a psycho b–’
‘Stow that, captain,’ said Rawne. He looked at Curth. The medicae took a thoughtful breath, then nodded.
Rawne beckoned Ludd. Ludd brought Felyx up the steps into the trailer. Dalin hovered behind them in the doorway.
Felyx looked especially small and slender, more like a child than ever, Rawne thought. He went across to the gurney where Rawne was standing.
‘You don’t have to look,’ said Curth.
‘He does,’ said Rawne.
‘He probably does, Ana,’ said Criid.
‘You fething soldiers,’ murmured Curth. ‘You think horror inoculates against horror.’
‘It’s called closure, Ana,’ said Criid.
‘If you ask me, there’s far too much of that in the world,’ said Curth.
Rawne reached out to lift the edge of the sheet again, but Felyx got there first. Rawne withdrew his hand as Felyx raised the hem of the bloodstained cover.
He stared for a moment at the face staring back up from the cart.
He said something.
‘What?’ asked Rawne.
Felyx cleared his throat and repeated it.
‘Did she suffer?’
‘No,’ said Criid.
‘She was protecting you,’ said Rawne. ‘That was her job. Her training. Her life.’
‘She died protecting me?’ asked Felyx.
‘Yes.’
‘That doesn’t make it any better,’ said Felyx.
‘It was going to happen eventually,’ said Rawne.
‘Oh, for feth’s sake, Eli!’ Curth snorted.
‘He’s right,’ said Kolding, from the far side of the trailer. ‘A lifeward’s life belongs to the one he or she wards. They put themselves in the line of danger.’
‘There are ways of doing that…’ Criid began.
‘What does that mean?’ asked Felyx, glancing at her sharply.
‘Nothing,’ said Criid.
‘Tell me what you meant,’ said Felyx.
Criid shrugged.
‘Your lifeward excelled at close protection. I mean, she was hard-wired trained for it. Sneak attacks, assassinations. In the environment of a court, or a palace, or an up-spire residence, she was built to excel. But she was no soldier. A warzone like this is a very different place. You don’t run in, heedless and headlong. You don’t rely on speed and reaction alone. You don’t wear red and make yourself a target.’
Felyx’s lip trembled slightly.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Criid. ‘She was brave.’
‘She’ll need a funeral,’ said Felyx.
‘They’ll all get funerals,’ said Curth. She reached for a data-slate on her crowded workstation. ‘The Munitorum has issued interment permits, and assigned spaces in… Eastern Hill Cemetery Two.’
‘No,’ said Felyx. ‘A formal funeral. With a templum service and a proper ecclesiarch to say the litany, not that idiot chaplain of ours. I won’t have her laid to rest in some mass war grave zone.’
‘Is there something wrong with a military funeral?’ asked Rawne.
‘Or our fething ayatani?’ muttered Criid.
‘Felyx,’ said Ludd, ‘the Astra Militarum provides for all who fall in its service. The services are simple but very honourable. There is a dispensation allowance from the Munitorum–’
‘A private service,’ said Felyx. ‘A private funeral. I have… I have access to funds. Through any counting house here on Urdesh, I can transfer sums from my family holdings. From House Chass. She will have a proper funeral.’
‘She died with us,’ said Rawne. ‘She served with us. She’ll be set in the ground with us, in our custom.’
‘As has been pointed out, major,’ said Felyx, his eyes bright, ‘she was not a soldier. She will be buried as I deem fit.’
Rawne seemed to be about to reply, but stopped as Criid gently caught his arm and shook her head.