Scene 24

Factory Compound of General Ricos

Just before Secuaz could pull the trigger, a shadow moved behind him and something came down on his head. His finger still pulled, but the blow knocked his aim off and the bullet buried itself in the ground several feet from me.

Secuaz slumped to the ground and I could see who had hit him. It was an unassuming woman who stood there holding a club fashioned from a board. I recognized her from the ship as the woman known as ladygriffin.

“Thank you,” I told her as I moved to get the pistol away from Secuaz. I quickly turned to Livingston to help him. He was losing a lot of blood so I tore off some of my shirt to bandage his wound.

“How are you holding up?” I asked him.

“It hurts!” he said as I applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

I heard a small thump behind me and turned to see what it was. Ladygriffin had dropped the club and was staring at the Lieutenant. Her skin had gone pale and her eyes were wide open.

“Is … is he …. dead?” she asked tentatively.

I knew what was happening. This was the first time she had ever had to use violence against someone. The shock of what she had done was hitting her.

“Easy Julie,” I said. “He’s not dead. He will be unconscious for a long time and will probably have an incredible headache for a long time. If you hadn’t hit him, I would be dead now. Now, I need you to come over here and help me. Livingston has been shot and I need your help to get him out of here.”

She looked at Livingston as if seeing him for the first time. It took a moment for comprehension to set in, but she seemed to snap out her spell and moved to help me.

Together we helped Livingston to his feet and supported him as we started to move away.