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Even the best surgeons had failures, from biological anomalies to unforeseen complications and dire fates.

No one walked through a surgical career without loss.

Yet Issa Elaris had none.

It didn’t sit right, and Ki’Remi hated things that didn’t hit perfectly.

He caught up to her as she and the four-person med crew loaded Zera onto the cruiser’s rear deck in a hover chair.

Ki’Remi joined them, giving Issa a curt nod and the rest a slight upturn of his lips.

They clapped him on his back.

They were acquainted, off the back of previous medical missions they served on together. From numerous mercy flights and emergency airlifts before the Perseus, all across Pegasi.

Lieutenant Caz ‘Klash’ Vallen was their light cruiser pilot, a tall, rangy, red-headed Rhesian with a ruddy, freckled face.

The man was, at times, reckless, too cocky for his good.

Nonetheless, the bastard could fly through a collapsing war zone with his eyes closed and still land a bird in one piece.

‘Gotta start this baby up.’

He jogged past them and took the stars to the bridge two at a time to warm up the engines.

The lead evacuation paramedic was Vek ‘Bear’ Drayen, an Edenite specializing in heavy extraction and defensive support.

He was a walking fortress with a bad temper and a worse sense of humor. However, when the bullets flew, he’d carry your sorry ass out of the fire, no questions asked.

Galician Medic Juno ‘Ghost’ Takisia was a triage Specialist and Combat EMT.

The woman was dark as night, stunning, silent as death, fast as hell, and hella precise.

Her partner was Riva ‘Steel’ Karros, a bio-stabilization and AI-assisted half-human and part-machine from Falasia.

Fully unshakable, Riva never flinched, hesitated, and sure as Hades never let anyone die on her watch.

Zera was still groggy from surgery, but she gave him a broad smile from her reclined hover chair. ‘Sante, doctor.’

He nodded and returned the grin with a quirk on his lips. ‘You were all drama in theater, young woman. Continue this way, and you’ll win a galactic acting award.’

His teasing rumble set her off, and she laughed as he checked her vitals, his eyes flicking over the data streams on the chair’s display.

Stable. Healing. Heart-wall intact.

Whatever magic Elaris had woven over it was holding, though his skepticism still ran high.

‘Sable, we’re lifting off.’

At the husky intone, he gritted his teeth and sliced his eyes to Issa’s, raking them over her face.

‘Sante,’ he growled.

He turned to the medic team, arms crossed. ‘Listen up. We’re in and out, no detours, no heroics. We drop, deliver Zera, assess the situation, and return to the Perseus Prime withoutany unnecessary complications. Allorian terrain is unstable, the warring tribes are unpredictable, and we don’t know who else is watching. Klash, keep us light and fast. Ghost, Steel, Bear, you know the drill. If things go sideways, we extract and dust off. Issa, you ensure Zera is stable and watch her vitals while I monitor her heart. Move out.’

‘Ay captain,’ Issa called out.

He sucked his teeth, turned from her, and strode into the outer deck, pushing Zera’s hover bed confront of him.