Dahl was wary as he approached the outskirts of the walled town. K'rill sometimes lay in wait for travellers who let their guard down too soon. But not wanting to give his nature away to the men in the guard towers just yet, he brandished a short sword rather than readying flame for any would-be attackers, and kept a sharp eye on his surroundings. Whether there were no K'rill around this day or it was his readiness to fight in proximity to the town, there was no attack.

When he reached the gate, it was just opening to admit him.

"Thank you," he said to the men as he passed.

"Any K'rill?" one man asked.

"A few less than there were yesterday," Dahl replied, leaving the man grinning behind him.

"What did you say?" Nahil asked, not understanding the strange language.

"He asked if I'd seen any K'rill," Dahl replied.

"What language is that?"

"Kebakaw."^*

"Will you teach me?" Nahil asked.

Dahl was slightly surprised that the youth still wanted his company. "We'll see," he replied, heading for the center of town.

When they got there, he unstrapped himself from the travois.

"Where is this?" Nahil inquired.

"The medcen," Dahl told him. When the youth still looked perplexed, he clarified. "The medical center. They can heal your leg faster." Dahl picked the boy up and carried him inside.

"What have we here, then?" an attendant inquired. She was a handsome woman of about forty-five, solidly built, with dark, short hair.

"Rescued him from the K'rill. Mostly a few cuts and a broken leg," Dahl told her.

"He can pay?" she asked.

"Castaway," Dahl replied. "The cuts can heal on their own; they're shallow, and there doesn't seem to be any poison."

"A proper cast? Eight credits," the woman replied. "Regen is twenty-nine."

Dahl cursed quietly at the price of the regeneration. That was almost a quarter of what he had. "I've started the process, so he shouldn't need a full regen," Dahl told her, hoping for a reduction of the price.

The woman looked at Dahl sharply. "You're a Healer?" she inquired.

"I can do a few things," he admitted.

"We could use a Healer, here," the woman told him.

"I'm also a pyrokinetic," Dahl informed her.

The woman studied him, and then her lips firmed. "To what degree?" she questioned.

Dahl shrugged. "I've been called a fire mage."

The woman's eyes widened. "Is it under control?" she inquired.

"Firmly."

"Then I could still use your help," she said.

"Is there a problem?" Nahil asked.

"No, I don't think so," Dahl told him in lingua galactica.

"I apologize," the attendant told Nahil, also in lingua galactica. "Let's get you to a bed."

So saying, she led Dahl to a room, where he gently set Nahil down on the bed there.

"What's going on?" Nahil asked.

"They want a Healer," Dahl told him.

"Who are you?" the woman asked Nahil.

"Nahil Mahriss," Nahil answered. "And you?"

Dahl looked at her curiously, as well.

"Marie Noel," the woman replied, looking the question at Dahl.

"Dahl D'riss," Dahl replied. "Now: the price?"

"If you agree to work here, none," Marie replied.

"And the pay?" Dahl wanted to know.

"Three hundred credits per month."

"That's not much, for Healer work," Dahl remarked.

"That includes a house and meals," Marie told him.

Dahl nodded thoughtfully. That was a better deal - and a lot safer than taking odd jobs, most of which meant killing K'rill. "You'll want to know more about me," he stated.

The woman nodded. "Any formal training?" she asked.

"No. I know how to make a few medicines, but other than that, just a couple of years learning from Karsn Peel."

Marie's expression became more respectful. "You know Karsn Peel?"

"Knew. The K'rill got him a few months ago."

The woman's face fell. In a stony voice, she inquired, "Those K'rill?"

"That tribe no longer exists," Dahl told her, to her great satisfaction.

It had taken him over a month of hit and run raids, picking off the groups who went out hunting or foraging, and avoiding the large parties sent out to hunt for their killers, but finally the numbers were low enough that he could send in fire and lava to finish off the remainder. It had sickened him to hear the screams of the young as they died, but they would have grown up to seek revenge if he had left them alive. And who would have been left to keep the animals from them? Better a swift death than being being picked off by predators or starving to death.

Nevertheless, he had nightmares about the whole thing until after he rescued Nahil. That situation had eased his conscience about what he'd done to revenge his friend and teacher somewhat. Still, he thought it would have to be extraordinary circumstances for him to be able to do something like that again. He still had no compunctions about killing adult K'rill as and when necessary, as they had cast themselves in the róle of enemy. But the young? Not if he could help it.

"What medicines can you make?" Marie inquired, leaving the other subject behind. Karsn Peel had been a great healer and naturist, exploring native plant life to create medicines which could be used to heal humans. He would be missed, but his death had been avenged, and her concern was for the living.

"Analgesics, both topical and internal, a broad spectrum anti-toxin, an antibiotic that can treat most infections, a muscle relaxant, and a few others," Dahl replied.

"Anything for calming the mind?" Marie asked.

"I'm afraid not," Dahl replied. The one concoction Karsn had come up with worked well, but had a delayed reaction that sent the patient into convulsions. They were short-lived and mild, but Karsn had deemed it unacceptable.

"Well, even the few medicines you've mentioned would be a boon," the woman remarked. "I don't see anyone better coming along, but let's put it on a trial basis anyway, just in case you decide you don't like the job."

Dahl nodded, allowing the fiction to stand, although he knew the trial period was was more likely to give this woman an out, if she decided the minuses of working with a pyrokinetic outweighed the pluses.

"I'll give you a list of the plants and other materials needed to make the medicines later," Dahl told her. "But we still have a young man with a broken leg that needs tending to."

"You can't heal him?" she inquired.

"I've done what I can, but a regen would speed up the process."

"Why?"

Dahl looked at the woman, feeling completely lost. She had to already know how a regen would shorten healing time. "Why what?" he asked.

"Why the haste?" she asked. "How long will it take with what you've done?"

"A couple of weeks."

"Then you've already cut the healing time by a factor of three, so why—"

"Excuse me?" Nahil interrupted. When he had their attention, Nahil looked the woman in the eye and asked, "Have you ever had a broken leg?"

Marie frowned at the question. "No."

"It hurts!" the teen said. "If there's a way to shorten how long it's going to hurt, I want it!"

Then looking at Dahl, Nahil added, "I'm hungry, too. Breakfast was a long time ago."

With an amused grin, Dahl said, "Well, aren't you the pushy little thing, now?"

Nahil blushed, but he didn't back down. "Well? It was!" he insisted.

"Yes, it was," Dahl tolerantly admitted, "but if you ate now, you'd be throwing it up after the regen."

The teen frowned. "Why? Regeneration shouldn't do that."

"The older machines do, and that's all we have, on Far Station. We can't afford to buy the new ones," Marie explained.

"They'd have to be almost a hundred years old!" Nahil protested.

Marie shrugged. "They still work," she stated.

Nahil frowned. "Well, if that's all you have, let's get it over with," he said. "Please." he belatedly added.