ne's own life objectively is difficult,* Corina agreed.
*I believe I would find it difficult to think of my life as having more
value than another person's.*

*Or a group's,* Medart said, speech now echoing telepathy. *You learn
eventually, but it is hard, especially at first. We've all made at
least one bad call, usually going in when we should've sent someone.
That hasn't been fatal so far, and doesn't even always mean getting
hurt--but Steve Tarlac's first solo mission came within an hour or so
of being his last.*

*I believe I have heard about that incident,* Corina sent, *but would
you mind refreshing my memory?*

*It got made into a holoshow, so I'd be surprised if you hadn't--but
okay, why not? He got captured by a group of rebels--a lot smaller
scale than this rebellion, just one system--who beat him with a whip
they'd soaked in a particularly nasty poison. He'd refused a comm
implant for reasons he never explained, so I can't argue them, but it
meant he couldn't call for help. If it hadn't been for a young camper
who rescued him, and one of the rebels who decided to call the Marines
when a Ranger got hurt, he'd have died of stingweed poisoning. The
rebel was killed by his former colleagues before Marines could get to
him to protect him, but the youngster earned a Life Dukedom.*

*I believe I do remember,* Corina sent. Medart's voice had kept
getting softer, and by the time he finished, he was using only
telepathy. The redirection was successful, the new pathway now
established. Still, Corina hoped he would not realize it right away,
would instead remain intent on the conversation for at least a few
minutes more to strengthen the new pattern. *The young man was David
Scanlon, was he not? And he cared for Ranger Tarlac in a cave, was in
the middle of a gun battle with the rebels when the Marines arrived. I
have wondered if that part was the holo director's dramatic license, or
if it actually happened that way.*

*That was how it happened,* Medart assured her. *Scanlon wasn't about
to give up, either, according to the Marines' testimony. He insisted
that one of them come into the cave to prove @'s identity before he'd
give up his blaster--and when he did, he only had one half-exhausted
powerpack, and a knife for a backup. That was one brave and determined
young man.*

*I must agree. Ranger Tarlac was most fortunate he and the unusual
rebel were in the area.*

*Right, but the Traiti'll tell