Xander crumpled to the floor, bleeding from the shot Sareen had fired into his stomach. Yulia went bouncing out of his arms. A horrified silence fell over the hallway. Suzan had fallen on her knees beside her brother, sobbing, and Sareen leveled the gun at the girl's head. "This was my deal, Weni," she snapped to Xander. "Your lives and Veerna's in exchange for my freedom."

"S-Sareen!" Don said, his voice rising in pitch. "I ... why?"

Sareen's fierce expression didn't change. "I would have done anything for the chance to kill Veerna," she spat. "Even kill those on the side of the Federation. They've blinded themselves to the evil that is Veerna."

"The evil that is me?" Veerna laughed. "I'm not the one shooting random security officers! Does it ever occur to you that you and I are very similar? I'm a space pirate who kills people, and you're a Federation officer who kills people."

"We are nothing alike," Sareen snarled, goaded into a response.

"Aren't we?" Veerna arched her eyebrows. "Then why are you shooting people like the mass murderer that I am?"

Veerna's bravado was faked. She had no idea how far she could push her cousin, but somehow, she couldn't let Sareen kill Xander and Suzan. It just seemed wrong, and from a space pirate, that was saying something. Saree growled in a low voice, seeming to be barely in control. "I have my reasons. You are wanted, dead or alive, and they are simply collateral damage."

"Collateral damage?" Suzan's voice broke as she raised it in frustration. "You shot my brother! He's dying!"

Melody went to kneel down beside the groaning Xander, but Sareen's threatening weapon stopped her. "Leave him, Doctor Chase," she ordered. "You're not involved with this."

Melody froze, halfway kneeling and halfway not. "I can't just leave him there," she protested, her lip trembling. Her hand was resting on the medical bag at her hip. "Please, Commander. I'm a doctor."

"I said, leave him." The weapon was fully leveled at Melody, the threat more than just spoken now. "I'll kill you if I must, Doctor Chase. I'd prefer not to, because then I'd have to kill Chris as well."

"Don't touch my sister!" Melody yelled, lunging unexpectedly at Sareen. The commander didn't see the move coming and was unable to stop Melody from scratching at her face. For a moment, the two fought, Sareen dropping the gun in the process. Suzan covered her brother, kicking the gun away.

Don could do nothing but watch in horror as Sareen's hands wrapped around Melody's neck. The doctor cried out in choked surprise, her neck snapping back and forth, choking, gagging, coughing. As much as he wanted to help, he wasn't trained in the arts of fighting. The only ones who could fight were currently bleeding on the floor or ... where was Veerna?

Bam. Sareen suddenly fell to the floor, senseless. Melody staggered back, wheezing. Don caught her by the shoulders and found himself embracing her, the doctor's arms wrapped around his neck. "Melody," he said. "Melody, get ahold of yourself. Please!" Veerna lowered her boot, which she'd used to strike him over the back of the head.

"Xander, hold on!" He became aware of Suzan's hysterical sobs as she wrapped her arms around her brother. "Please!"

Quickly, Don disentangled himself from Melody's embrace and knelt down beside the Wenis. Xander's face was an ashen grey, blood oozing from his stomach. He had his hand pressed against the wound, red staining his fingers. "I-is it bad, Doctor Collego?" he asked, only half-joking by using Don's title.

Don forced a smile, knowing he'd see through the façade. "You'll be fine, Xan."

"I know you know you're lying," Xander gasped out, trying to smile as well. "I can always see. Don't you know?"

Don said nothing. There was no point, since Xander would know. To his surprise, Melody shouldered him aside, sitting down beside them. The young doctor opened her medical bag and started digging through it. She handed Xander a piece of leather. "Stick that in your teeth," she ordered. "It'll keep you from biting your tongue."

"Biting my tongue?" Xander looked horrified.

"Do as I say," Melody ordered aloofly. There was no sign of the previously panicking girl she had been. "I need you to do as I say, Xander, or you will die. We lack the medical equipment a high tech ship would have in the infirmary, but I can keep you from bleeding out until we get to an escape ship and out of here. Here, Suzan, hold his arms down. Don, his legs. Veerna, keep an eye out for any slavers trying to come and sneak up on us. We've made a lot of noise."

To Don's immense surprise, Veerna did as she was told. She scooped up Sareen's fallen weapon before dealing her cousin a swift kick to the back of the head. Don grimaced. "Was that really necessary?" he asked.

Veerna gave a savage grin. "Of course," she said. "And it was immensely satisfying, too."

Deciding that it was useless trying to reason with the insane Voldinian, Don turned away from her. He knelt down beside Xander, holding down the security officer's legs. Xander looked terrified, but he said nothing. Suzan put all her weight down on her brother's arms, forcing him against the ground.

Melody procured a strange tool. Don cringed, recognizing it as a crude version of the heat technique to seal wounds. The one commonly found in infirmaries was bigger and worked faster. The handheld type was only used in emergencies, and if Melody planned to use it now, she thought Xander was very near death.

Xander obviously recognized the tool, because his already-ashen turned even paler. "Is this really safe?" he questioned with wide eyes.

Melody was focused, undoing the jacket of his uniform. "It doesn't have to be safe. It just has to work," she explained. That didn't seem to put him at ease, and he continued staring at her. She shoved the leather between his teeth, ignoring his muffled protests.

With a skill Don hadn't seen her demonstrate before, the doctor slid open Xander's shirt with a knife, moving the pieces aside to get to his abdomen. She glanced up only once, her face blanching momentarily at the red blood against his white skin. Then she seemed to steel herself and pressed the heat sealer against his stomach.

Immediately, the air was alive with his strangled and muffled cries. Don smelled seared flesh and gagged. That was nothing compared to Veerna; her already white complexion went even paler and she sank back against the wall. All the while, Melody kept the sealer pressed against his wound. It seemed to last for ages until she finally pulled away.

Xander had lost consciousness. Gently, Melody cleaned the blood from his torso with more additions from her med bag. She touched his forehead. "We need to get him in a ship," she said. "I've gotten him out of danger, but if he doesn't get to a real infirmary in twenty-four hours, my work will have been for nothing."

Since Don was the only conscious male of the group, he hefted Xander into his arms. The burly security officer was almost too much for him to carry, but somehow, he managed to lug him into the landing bay and on the ship of Veerna's choosing. Once they had gotten him comfortable in the passengers' section of the small ship, Suzan and Veerna went into the cockpit while Don stayed with Melody.

The doctor was currently wrapping Xander in a bundle of blankets. She glanced up at Don and gave him the tiniest hint of a smile. "Your friend is safe," she told him.

"But Chris isn't," Don said.

Melody's face darkened. "That cruel Sareen," she snapped. "I hope Rulon sells her into slavery for what she's done!"

Don said nothing. He slumped down beside the only bed in the ship, staring at the floor. Melody looked at him curiously. "What?" she asked.

He glanced up at her with a bitter smile. "I used to love her, you know. And she used to return those feelings. But she blinded herself with rage against Veerna, and we fell out over how to deal with Veerna when I became the pirate's psychologist. Sareen didn't think she deserved a psychologist. She thought the only thing Veerna deserved was a swift bullet to the head. I disagreed. I don't know the full measure of what she's been through, but I know that whatever tore the two of them apart affected both of their minds. There's a reason Veerna has a soft spot for children."

Then he went out of the ship and grabbed the still-unconscious Yulia. Suzan had warned him about her toxic skin, and he hefted her very careful. Thankfully, she wasn't nearly as heavy as Xander. Still, Don hesitated, looking down at the prone form of Sareen. The second kick from Veerna had ensured she stayed unconscious. "Why did you have to choose this path?" he asked softly before returning to the ship.

It was only after he'd laid Yulia in a corner of the ship that Melody dared to approach him again. "You like Veerna, don't you?" she said bluntly.

Don glanced at her and shrugged. "Well enough. We have a professional relationship." Mostly, he added to himself.

"I think you're fooling yourself, and Sareen knew it too," Melody said. "You love Veerna, and that's why you didn't want her to die. Your relationship has far transcended the professional, Doctor Collego, and even a regular doctor like me can see that."

Don said nothing. How could he convince the girl? She was obviously dead-set on her idea of his romance with Veerna. He was saved from having to try and explain by Veerna and Suzan's return from the cockpit. Veerna still had Sareen's pistol at her hip, and she claimed Don's rifle. "I'm going to get Captain Chase back," she said bluntly.

Melody jumped to her feet. "You are?" she cried, tears of gratitude shining in her eyes.

Veerna shot her a disgusted look. "Don't try and make me look like a hero," she snapped. "I'm not getting her back because I want to. We need a skilled pilot to get us the heck out of here, and she's the only one of us who's good enough. I'm good, but she's the best."

Melody shrugged, not one to be put off. "You're still getting her back."

Veerna sighed. "I'll be back soon."

"I'm coming with you." The words spilled out of Don's lips before he could stop them.

The space pirate looked at him, her eyebrows shooting up. "Why?" she said.

"I—I want to make sure Chris is safe," he stammered. He was one of the few privy to the secret of Chris's identity. He had met her once after she had shot her first victim and had needed therapy.

Still, Veerna didn't look like she bought it. To his surprise, she didn't protest and simply dug into her belt, handing him Sareen's gun. "Alright, Donny," she said. "Let's go get this wayward captain back."

10