The Banshees were almost back to their cliffside dwelling deep in the underground city of Kurnugi. Lee Carter was still helping Matthew Cross walk; the man had taken quite a beating from the Breen soldier he'd been fighting. He had lost a lot of blood from all the cuts and contusions on his head and seemed to be drifting in and out of delirium. She was beginning to seriously worry about him, but wasn't looking forward to lugging him up the thousand narrow steps that wound their way up the cavern wall to their domicile.
She motioned with her head for Sam to come over and help her. Sam slipped her shoulder under Cross' other arm, and together she and Carter practically carried him along.
They were in the massive residential cavern now and had almost reached the bottom of the winding stair that led up to their dwelling. Carter was beginning to think that they'd actually make it without anything else bad happening, but her hopes were dashed to smithereens when a hulking shadow detached itself from the pervading gloom of a dark alleyway.
She recognized the brute's face instantly, and was the one face she least wanted to see again in this dismal place.
"Get out of our way, Nergal," she said. "We don't have time to play your stupid game right now; we've got a hurt man here."
Predictably, Nergal ignored Carter's implied threat, and instead stomped forward another few steps on legs like tree trunks. "You and I have unfinished business," he rumbled. "Ereshkigal kept me from killing you the last time, but no one will save you this time." He took another thunderous step forward.
"Come, woman. I will spread your entrails all over the walls."
Carter sighed. She really didn't have time for this. Cross was slumping heavily against her, and it was clear he wouldn't stay conscious much longer. They had to get him to a place where he could lie down and find some help for him.
Max stepped around Carter and Cross and glared at Nergal. "You want to fight?" she snarled. "You might find me more of a challenge, caveman!" Her hands were clenched in fists and her teeth bared.
"No, Max," ordered Carter. "Not now. Later. I promise." She adjusted her hold on Cross so she could turn around and look at Dexter, who was bringing up the rear with Alex. "Let me have that, Ensign," she said, indicating the object clutched in the young man's hand. He handed it to her without comment.
Carter swung back around to face Nergal, brought up the Breen disruptor and shot him point-blank.
Nergal snarled and convulsed spasmodically, and succumbed to the weapon's neural paralyzing effects. His muscles all relaxed simultaneously, and he toppled forward like a felled redwood, landing square on his nose. He twitched a few times, then lay still.
Max cringed at the impact. "That's gotta hurt falling on your nose like that," she commented unsympathetically.
"Max," said Carter. "Take Sam and go find Ereshkigal. Tell her Cross needs medical attention. Dex and Alex will help me get him up to our place. Here, take this." She tossed the Breen disruptor to Max. "Hurry."
"Right."
Sam relinquished her place at Cross' side to Dexter and together with Max hurried off. Carter and the two young Banshees began the long, arduous climb up the winding stairs.
It had taken them nearly twenty minutes and a couple of close calls where they'd come close to slipping off the narrow switchbacks leading up the towering cavern wall, but Carter, Dex and Alex had finally managed to drag Matthew Cross through the door of their dwelling and deposit him on one of the cots in the back room. They collapsed on the floor beside him, exhausted.
"I could use some water," groaned Dexter.
"That's how this whole mess got started in the first place," replied Alex.
Carter forced herself back to her feet and stepped over to Cross. His eyes were closed, his breathing was shallow, and his skin pale and clammy. One of the cuts on his face just below the left temple was red and swollen.
"He's got an infection on one of his cuts. There must be some really nasty alien microbes around here that really like humans. He looks like he's gone into shock. One of the rocks blasted free by that Breen's wild disruptor shot during the fight must have given him a concussion." said Carter, clearly worried. "I wish we hadn't lost Jo. She was the medic. I simply don't have the training to deal with this."
"What's taking Max and Sam so long?" said Alex. She stood. "Come on, Dex. Let's go see if we can spot them." Dexter rose and followed her out, leaving Carter alone with Matthew Cross.
"Don't you die, Cross," she whispered. "I don't want to lose you too."
She lay a rough blanket over his feebly twitching form and pulled one of the room's brazier over next to the cot for a little extra warmth, but there was little else she could do. They didn't even have any water handy with which to clean his wounds. She needed to get some. Where? The neighbors were sure to have water. She doubted they'd open their doors for her and give her any, but she was prepared to kick the doors in and take it if need be.
After one last look at Cross to make sure he was all right for the time being, she left the room.
Matthew Cross spun in a weightless, dizzying world of mad colors and sounds. He understood none of what he saw and heard, had no idea where he was or what was happening. He felt like he was falling. He felt hot and cold at the same time. There was a distant pain in his head, throbbing rhythmically. There was no way of telling how long he fell through this nightmare realm, but it lasted forever.
Then the colors faded and receded into the distance, replaced by smothering cocoon of darkness and silence. He didn't know which he liked worse.
There was a face before him. Worried eyes framed by tousled, short brown hair. Was it Commander Carter? Was she was whispering something to him? He couldn't hear.
Her face wavered and altered, and the dreamscape shifted again. Another face regarded him with kindly eyes. Whose were they? He thought maybe they belonged to the young street urchin they had befriended, Enki.
"Do not be afraid," the youth intoned tranquilly, and his words had an instant calming effect on Cross. "You will be all right."
Cross watched as the dreamland Enki reached out and placed his hand over Cross' heart. There was a moment of intense warmth and a rosy glow that spread until it covered his entire vision. Suddenly his pain was gone, and he was no longer falling through the nightmare. He took a deep breath and fell asleep.
The door to Cross' room burst open and in rushed Max dragging a very perturbed-looking Ereshkigal behind her. Carter and the others were close behind.
"He's in here," said Max. "He's in pretty bad shape. You're probably the only one who can help him."
Ereshkigal scowled and wrenched her arm free of Max's grip. "Let go of me, girl!" she demanded. She made a big production of straightening her robes and cloak, and when she was finally done, looked down at the cot and its sleeping occupant.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded angrily. " Why have you dragged me all the way here?"
"What are you talking about?" replied Carter, but when she got a look at Cross, she froze. "What the--? What happened here?"
Matthew Cross lay peacefully sleeping on the crude cot. He was no longer shivering, his skin was a healthy shade of pink, and there wasn't a scratch on his face.
"This is impossible!" said Carter. "Cross was near death not ten minutes ago!"
Ereshkigal scowled and groused in annoyance at having been hauled up a thousand stairs for absolutely no reason, but Carter could see the fear and suspicion in her eyes behind the cantankerous front she was putting up. "This has been known to happen before, on very rare occasions," she explained. "We have no explanation, but if your friend was as close to death as you claim, then you can thank your gods he has been healed."
With that, she gathered her robes about her and swept past Alex and Dexter out the door and was gone.
Carter was still dumbstruck at Matthew Cross' miraculous recovery, and it was no less than a miracle, but she was glad. As she looked on, Cross' eyes fluttered open and his eyes found hers. Puzzlement creased his forehead, and he said, "What's going on? What are you all looking at me for?"
"You almost died," answered Carter. "I was... We were worried."
"You were worried about me, huh?" replied Cross with the barest hint of upturned lip. Carter had learned to read that expression as mischievous.
"Yeah, well... I was just worried we'd have to break in a new captain," she said and smiled.
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