Commander Hunter walked into Fury’s sickbay to inquire about the condition of the wounded from the attack on her landing party. She checked her medical officer’s reports and stopped by each bed to offer encouragement.

Having the captain and task force commander in the room was often enough to get nearly unconscious people to try and sit up or look up at least. Jayce considered this her least favorite responsibility. The only thing that made it bearable was the raw courage she saw in the faces of her crewmates. Even wounded, she could see in their eyes how urgently they wanted to serve and how much they wanted to make her proud of them. It was difficult for the commander to maintain her composure, but she did it anyway, because her crewmates needed her.

Many officers looked upon command as a burden, but one thing the Hunter clan had instilled in its most famous twins was honor, and both Jason and Jayce had accepted the notion early in their careers that leading men and women in any endeavor was an honorable thing, be it in war or during peace. The one true fulfillment of their commissions as Skywatch officers was to do their duty. They knew their leadership gave those who served with them hope, and that was always enough.

Hunter stopped at the bedside of the station corporal she had dressed down before the attack. He was still unconscious. His face was covered with bandages, leaving only enough room for the medical sensors and the oxygen mechanism that was keeping him alive. He had already undergone two surgeries. His prospects were fair, but his injuries were causing him to suddenly start bleeding internally at unexpected intervals.

Echo was at his bedside. She hadn’t been able to help him on the station, and Jayce knew that was troubling for the little mini-bot. Although she was quite capable, there were some medical realities that prevented Echo from fulfilling the mission she thought she had. Jayce had programmed her to heal the sick. Echo took those instructions seriously. So seriously, in fact, that she had long ago exceeded her initial design. The only problem was this caused her to experience the mini-bot version of depression when she found she wasn’t able to perform miracles.

The evidence that Echo was completely engrossed in her concern for her patient was that she didn’t acknowledge Jayce at all. Her only outward appearance of awareness was the soft alert tone she played at 60-second intervals.

Echo had been at Corporal Andrew Benning’s bedside, playing soothing music for him very quietly and monitoring his vital signs for almost a full day. Jayce knew that within a half-second of any problem, there would be a fleet-wide alert to come to the corporal’s aid.

The only thing capable of getting the little ambulance to leave the corporal’s side would be a direct order from the commander herself. Jayce had seen her mini-bot brave massed weapons fire on many occasions to rescue the injured. Echo certainly wasn’t going to surrender her post willingly.

The commander also knew an order to stand down would break Echo’s little robot heart. So even though she had been shot three times during the battle and urgently needed repairs, Jayce let her stay in sickbay anyway.

Hunter put her hand on Benning’s bandaged forehead and closed her eyes for a few moments.

She affixed a purple heart to his pillow and quietly saw herself out.