Guy and I were stuck at the bottom of the bay, a single antipersonnel Hornet wandering towards us, the Hullborer shoving its way through the main bay hatch ready to spawn an entire swarm of the things any second. We were both going to die horribly, and yet he kept sending mental images of me holding his hand.

Not the time, Romeo!

He reached out and ran one finger along the line of my jaw. I flung his other hand away, my gaze never leaving the incoming Hornet. He took that as an excuse to put one palm on either side of my face and pull my gaze down to his own. No matter how much I knew I ought to, I couldn't push away and keep my eyes on the enemy. One glance down and I would be lost in his eyes, useless.

If not now, when?

I had to give Guy points for persistence. Of course, I took more away for timing. Just yesterday he'd turned down his promotion to Senior, which left me as his Captain. Now, in the middle of a firefight, he hit on me, which as his Captain I could do nothing about. Of course, if we got poisoned or dissolved by antipersonnel Hornets, no one would know or care if we'd spent our last moments necking.

Get out of my head and look for an open alcove, Guy!

I pulled my head away and scanned my side of the bay, but no openings presented themselves. A hideous echoing buzz filtered down from above, drawing my gaze back up to the Hullborer's tongue. The Hornets were nearly free, the first few already detaching themselves to drop towards where Guy and I stood staring at the unforgiving walls.

Spotted one.

I swore right then if we lived through this, I would find a way to smack the smug out of Guy's head. We had seconds left to live and he still sent me sappy imagery. I had no time for romance. The Hullborer's tongue pointed straight at our position, letting me see the stinging, acidic swarm of death awaiting me.

A huge metal hand clamped down over the tip of the 'Borer's tongue. Light warped and bent through multiple layers of curved force fields, but I could still make out the armor's other hand squeezing the swarm of Hornets back toward the Helborer's beak. Guy's hand slipped out of mine, the greasy slickness of a force field the last thing I felt before he shot into the bay above me.

"Tiamat, one unarmored Marine and one Armored unit currently engaging hostiles in the main bay. Please respond." The Hornet jinked around Guy and kept buzzing toward me. I did the only sane thing I could do; I turned and ran. A half dozen meters away the smoldering remains of Harkness' cook fire still smoked. I dashed toward it, hoping against hope I'd get there before the Hornet caught me.

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Duck and roll!

When a telepath tells you to duck and roll in the middle of a firefight, you damn well duck and roll. I leapt forward, diving toward the panic inducing flames. The buzz of a diving Hornet blasted past me, and I grabbed at the base of the cooking tray. I nearly wrenched my arm out of the socket trying to lift the thing, managed to get both hands on the wide tray...

I leapt away, swearing and clutching at my burned palms. I knew I'd seen Harkness reach into the fire with his bare hands, but I'd forgotten his implants. My essie would fix it, but only after the heat wore off. For now I'd just added another problem for it to deal with. I scanned the floor, looking for the Hornet that had been following me. I saw it picking itself up, scanning around to see where I'd gone.

Dive left!

I dove to my left, frantically trying to avoid falling debris. A tingling line of ice cut across my left calf, followed a moment later by searing, screaming pain. I tried to pull myself forward, but it was all I could do to curl my legs up, my fingers wincing away from the steaming acid still soaking through my workout pants. I squirmed, pushing the fabric down and away, all thoughts of modesty gone in my attempt to get rid of the vile stuff still burning me.

I tossed the wrecked fabric away from me, not caring where it landed so long as it wasn't on me. I curled into a ball, hoping another dollop of superheated acid didn't fall from the fight above. I wasn't sure I could do anything about it if one did.

"Dustie, please move at least two meters to your left." Tiamat's calm, quiet voice was a balm. I untucked my legs and rolled three times until I wound up facing the ceiling, spent.

I recognized the heavy grey and white armor angrily butchering the Hullborer above me. Quick hadn't run away, he'd run to his alcove. He'd already yanked the 'Sect's tongue out and tied the ends off, trapping two bulges full of antipersonnel Hornets inside. Now he held the beak open with his feet and reached into its maw, his huge, armored gauntlets pulling its innards out one handful at a time. An inside out Hullborer wouldn't be hurting anyone, so long as none of the Hornets got out.

Guy put paid to the few that escaped Quick's wrath. He darted about in the air between the hatch and the floor, slapping Hornets as he passed them. They tumbled away, wings damaged by the force of his strike. Disoriented but still able to smell a human nearby, they exploded in midair, bursts of acid burning up before they reached the floor. I'd never heard of anyone killing Hornets that way before, probably because it was completely flaming insane.

I was injured but out of immediate danger. Of course, right about then my body ran out of endorphins, and the extent of my injuries came crashing home. I curled back into a ball and whimpered.

"Tiamat?"

"Yes, Dustie." Her voice reassured me. If she had time to talk to me, she had time to take care of the rest of her duties.

I still had duties to perform. "Is everything secure?" I whimpered.

"Yes, Dustie."

"Oh, good. Captain's taking over?"

"She's awake and aware of the situation."

That covered everything I might be responsible for. "Oh, good. I'm gonna pass out now."