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Onyx floated peacefully in a bright fog. Was she dead? She felt no pain, no anger, no guilt. She felt nothing. She heard a voice, strangely familiar, distant but distinct.
“Come back, child, come back. You still have much to do.”
She felt herself move toward the voice, away from the light. Slowly, ever so slowly, sensation returned. She opened her eyes and screamed.
She passed out.
She awoke, this time without feeling like her entire body was on fire. She looked around. She lay on a cot in a small gray room. A desk with a small screen was the only other obvious furniture. She raised an arm, which was covered in bandages. Her other one was bare. She looked under the covers to see her body, nude where it wasn't covered in bandages. There wasn't much skin showing. She looked up as Hubert entered the room, holding a small bowl.
“Ah, excellent, you're awake. About time. Drink this.”
He sat on a chair next to her bed and put the bowl to her lips. She drank. Hubert fed her the broth a little at a time, letting her catch her breath between sips. When she finished, he stood and left the room. Minutes later, Hubert returned with Jake close behind.
“Damn girl,” said a smiling Jake, “you gave us quite a fright. It would've been quite boring without you around.”
"Where...where are we? What time is it”
"It's ten o'clock in the morning. You've been out for almost a week. As to where we are, well..”
"How is she?” said a voice.
Sarge entered the room. He avoided looking at her. He looked much older than she remembered. Hubert took his arm and left the room.
“We're on the Greyhawk, my dear. Hope you don't mind. We needed to get off planet in a bit of a hurry and they offered us a quick getaway.”
"It doesn't matter.” was all she said.
Sometime later, she stood alone in the observation bubble of the Greyhawk, dressed in a loose fitting ship suit, wrapped in a blanket. Sarge came in and stood beside her.
“Hubert says you refuse to eat.”
"I had the bastard in my sights.”
"Yes, you did. You came running in from nowhere and started shooting. Thanks to you, people are dead. Slate died saving your butt.”
"And where were you, old man? I didn't see you anywhere."
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