Gunny Hancock was well on the way to having a whole new lower left arm. I was happy for him, at least. D'dnah was doing well, too, as were all three baby Broccolets.

Everyone was doing great, apparently . . . except for Joy.

Damn it, and she'd been worried about me when I'd shipped out!

Yeah, I was feeling thoroughly sorry for myself. Survivor guilt, I guess. Why had she been killed, and not me?

For that matter, why had they been able to bring Kirchner back, but not Joy?

That was a disgustingly unworthy thought . . . but I savored it anyway. It hurt. Damn it, I wanted to hurt. . . .

"How's the hero?" Gina Lloyd asked.

I was in my old quarters on board the Clymer. I'd not been aware of the door opening; maybe she'd used an override. But now she was there, wearing civilian clothes . . . though her garment appeared to be more light than anything else, a shimmering, rainbow sheath of radiance hugging her form.

"What do you want?" I asked. Okay, I was being less than welcoming, probably even less than civilized . . . but I really didn't want to see anyone right now.

"Doob and McKean and Chief Garner and a few others are headed down-El," she told me, ignoring my poor manners. "We're celebrating!"

"Celebrating what?"

She shrugged, the movement doing delightful things to the light hugging her skin. "Getting back from Abyssworld? That new treaty with the Gucks? A formal long-term mutual-assistance protocol with the Deep? I'll bet that makes your dad happy!"

"I suppose." I'd shot off a file to him while we were still inbound, with as many details as I was allowed to share. The military would be looking for civilian corporations to follow up our contact with the Deep. General Nanodynamics stood to make a lot of money with the work out there . . . especially when full communication was established with the Deep and it began to share with us everything it had been thinking about for the past billion years.

There was also talk of using Gdel encoding with the Medusae at Europa.

"Damn it, Elliot, you've made a real difference on this voyage."

"I suppose. But Joy . . ."

"You couldn't have helped her, even if you'd been there with her, okay? And she knew the risks when she raised her hand and swore in as a Marine."

"But I'm alive, and Joy . . . the real Joy, the Joy I knew . . . she's-"

"Fuck you, Carlyle!" The profanity on her lips startled me. "Get a grip, okay?"

"What . . . ?"

"You lost your friend. I'm sorry about that, I really am! But you have other friends who love you and care for you and want to help! Damn it, you've pulled off the coup of the century and saved all of our lives in the bargain, and we're going to celebrate with you if it kills you! You hear me?"

I knew what she was doing, of course-trying to shock me out of the doldrums. Maybe distract me from myself. Maybe even remind me that life was still worth living.

I didn't want to be jollied along, no . . . but she wasn't jollying me. She was metaphorically giving me a swift, hard kick in the ass.

I sighed. "Okay, okay. Let put on some civvies."

She watched while I dissolved my utilities and then slapped on a conservative black skinsuit. I wondered what Doob would say about his girlfriend watching me dress, then decided it didn't matter. He . . . they . . . we were friends, with a bond forged in blood.

"Ready?" she said. She reached out, grabbed my hand, and yanked me toward the door. "You've been healing so many other people, E-Car, it's about time you had some for yourself! Let's go!"

I went. And . . . she was right.

I felt myself starting to heal.

About the Author.

IAN DOUGLAS, one of the many pseudonyms for writer William H. Keith, is the New York Times bestselling author of the popular military SF series The Heritage Trilogy, The Legacy Trilogy, The Inheritance Trilogy, and the ongoing Star Carrier series. A former naval corpsman, he lives in Pennsylvania.

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By Ian Douglas.

Star Corpsman.

BLOODSTAR.

ABYSS DEEP.

Star Carrier EARTH STRIKE.

CENTER OF GRAVITY.

SINGULARITY.

DEEP SPACE.

The Galactic Marines Saga.

The Heritage Trilogy.

SEMPER MARS.

LUNA MARINE.

EUROPA STRIKE.

The Legacy Trilogy.

STAR CORPS.

BATTLESPACE.

STAR MARINES.

The Inheritance Trilogy.

STAR STRIKE.

GALACTIC CORPS.

SEMPER HUMAN.

end.