'Oh my, that's a lot of injuries.' 

The head medic smiled at Regan over her clipboard. She reminded Regan of one of those little bobble head dolls that insufferable people put on the dashboards of their cars. The name tag on her chest said 'Cesca' in swirling, cursive script that was so decorative as to be almost illegible. There was a gold star stuck next to it. 

'She's had an eventful life,' said Sarafina. 

Regan stood in her underwear with her arms outstretched as the medic squatted down to examine the bandaged wound across her stomach. She gave it an experimental prod that made her flinch. 

Regan glared down at her. 'Here's a medical tip: stop that.' 

'Did that hurt?' 

'Are you serious?' 

'They saved my most interesting candidate for last. I thought all of the medical exams were over.' 

'There were special circumstances.' 

Cesca moved up to Regan's broken fingers and examined the tight wrappings. 'So it would seem. This is good work, Sarafina,' 

Sarafina smiled. She lay behind Regan on the examination bed, spinning a lollipop between her fingers. There was a large glass jar of them on a grey metal desk in the corner of the room. 

'Is there a reason why she gets to be here?' said Regan, motioning to Sarafina with her head. 

'Moral support?' said Sarafina. 

Cesca shrugged. 'As a medic, she's entitled to sit in on examinations.' 

There was something crisp and antiseptic about Cesca, as if she'd been poured out of a plastic mold. Her platinum blonde hair fell in perfect ringlets around a face that was almost eerie in its symmetry. She wore a spotless white dress and lab coat that looked like they could light up a darkened room. 

She flipped some pages on the clipboard and made a note on the check list at the bottom. 

'Show me your back,' she said. 

Regan turned around. 

'Sarafina tells me you helped her and Forester out of some difficulty.' 

Regan looked at Sarafina, lying on the bed. Sarafina pretended not to notice. 'Is that what they called it?' 

'Was everyone okay?' 

Regan caught the inflection in Cesca's voice that hinted at enough subtext to fill a substantial library. 

'Eva doesn't remember anything and Forester's healing up well,' said Sarafina. 

Regan shrugged. 'It's lucky for him that stupidity isn't always terminal.' 

Cesca put a thoughtful finger on her lips. 'He should probably come by to get a check-up.' 

'For what? Hurt feelings?' 

There was a moment of awkward silence that Cesca filled by placing a stethoscope on Regan's back. She listened for a moment, then straightened up and cleared her throat. 

'Your body's a wreck, but you seem functional,' she said. 'I'm going to give you a pass on your medical.' 

Sarafina gave a small cheer. 

Regan picked up a loose fitting hospital gown from the end of the examination bed and slipped it over her head. 'What now?' 

'You can collect your clothes from downstairs and go,' said Cesca. 'This part of your assessment is over.' 

Sarafina slipped off the bed and started to follow Regan to the door. 

'One thing though,' said Cesca. 

Regan paused with her hand on the handle. 

'You wouldn't happen to have a craft would you?' 

Regan gave her a penetrating look. 'Why would you say that?' 

'Just ignore me,' Cesca smiled. 'It's just idle curiosity.' 

Regan pushed the door open. 'You should let it stay that way.' 

Cesca's smile didn't leave her face as she watched them go.  

Sarafina waited until the door closed behind them until she spoke. 'What was that all about.' 

'Nothing.' 

'It didn't sound like nothing.' 

'Isn't there someone with a runny nose you could be wiping?' 

Sarafina held up her hands as if to indicate that she wasn't going to push the topic any further. She hurried to keep up with Regan as she stalked down the corridor towards a set of elevators. Medics jumped to get out of her way like dust motes ahead of a breeze. Regan punched the down button as if it had personally offended her. 

In the elevator, Sarafina leaned against the wall with her arms folded. She hummed tunelessly as the ancient box shuddered and groaned down the two floors to ground level. As the doors opened, Regan noticed her lean out and take a quick left-right look before she stepped out. 

'What are you worried about?' 

'I'm not worried as such. Cautious maybe. We shouldn't hang around here too long.' 

She led Regan down a corridor with windows on one wall that let in shafts of the hot afternoon sun. There were medical gurneys lined up along the wall as if the infirmary was preparing for a natural disaster. 

Sarafina's strides sped up until she was trotting down the corridor. The light material of her summer dress billowed and played across the shafts of sunlight. 

'Medic Sarafina!' 

The voice echoed off the walls of the corridor. It chased them down and pinned Sarafina's feet to the floor. 

Regan turned. There was a girl in jeans striding quickly to catch up with them. She was clutching a piece of paper in one hand and swinging her arms angrily with every step. She was pretty, in a diminutive, blonde kind of way, but she put Regan in mind of a small yappy dog, the type that people find intolerable and are bought by intolerable people. 

'How is she so fast?' said Sarafina quietly. She looked at Regan. 'Let me deal with this.' 

Sarafina's face broke into a manic smile as she turned like an automaton to face the girl approaching them. 

'Squadron leader Bennet,' she said in a voice that could have sweetened seawater. 'Is there a problem?' 

'Cut the idiotic pleasantries,' Bennet waved the piece of paper like she was brandishing a club. Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily, as if she'd sprinted all the way to the infirmary from another building. 'Two minutes ago, I received a message telling me that the candidate my squad was sponsoring had cleared her medical exam. I called command to find out when I had authorised this mysterious candidate. Do you know what their response was?' 

Sarafina closed her eyes as if she was going through an unpleasant ordeal and was simply planning to endure until it was over. 'I can't imagine, ma'am.' 

'They told me that you were the one who put the request forward. I find this strange, since I don't remember anyone relieving me of command.' 

'There were special circumstances, ma'am.' 

'Is this her?' the look that Bennet gave Regan could have ignited paper. 'What's so special about you that Sarafina felt it appropriate to go over my head?' 

Regan gave Bennet a slow look that took in everything from the toes of her shoes to the tips of her hair. 

'I do all sorts of tricks,' she said ominously. 'Would you like to see one?' 

'I'd like to know who the hell you are. You turn up out of nowhere, and suddenly we're moving heaven and earth to get you into the trials.' 

Sarafina raised a hand as if she was volunteering an answer in school. 'It's not quite like that--' 

'I'm not talking to you,' Bennet cut her off. 'In Cesca's report, it says evidence of a craft. What craft?' 

'You doctor friend needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.' 

Bennet seemed to vibrate with anger, and the pink flush in her cheeks deepened. 'If you want a snowball's chance in hell of getting into the trials, you're going to want to answer my question.' 

Sarafina cleared her throat quietly, and deliberately placed a hand on each of their shoulders. 'Ashcroft has already authorised Regan to take part in the trials.' 

Bennet pointed at Regan. 'If my squad is sponsoring her application, she'd better hope I'm well disposed towards her. I'm not going to ask you again.' 

Regan looked at the finger Bennet was waving in her face coldly. Bennet withdrew it and folded her arms. Regan's expression didn't change. 

'There are infectious parasites living in the digestive tracts of livestock whose good opinion I care about more than yours.' 

'Can we please just leave it for now?' said Sarafina. There was a desperate, pleading note to her voice. 

Bennet rammed her hands into her pockets. 'Medic Sarafina, we are going to have a conversation about this later that will not be pleasant for either of us.' 

'I'll look forward to it, ma'am.' 

Bennet's shoes squeaked on the floor as she turned her back on them and walked away. Regan watched her go with the expression of a cat that had just encountered a particularly aggressive mouse. 

'Please don't judge her from this one encounter,' said Sarafina. 'Being a squad leader isn't easy.' 

'Is she going to be a problem?' 

'It's hard to say. She has trouble letting things go.'

Regan's expression was calculating as she watched Bennet's retreating back.