Somewhere someone turned on a siren; she had never heard anything like it before, but she knew it meant trouble for her. Knew that the sound was alerting more guards that she had escaped. She had to find a place to hide, and she had to find it quick. But the ship was not like the forest around her home, and hiding places were few and far between. She saw an open door and ran into a room filled with bunks. The ceiling was made of tiles, and Janad realized on examination that some of these opened. She saw one that looked loose, jumped up shoving it through easily. She hung onto the edge only a moment before she pulled herself up into the space and closed the tile. Just in time – a troop of guards ran past below her.
The space was small, only about two feet tall and four feet wide. The length of it was filled with service cables and junction boxes, and was so long she couldn't make out the end. To make matter worse, the tiles were made of some flimsy material that wouldn't support her weight, so she was forced to straddle the tiles and crouch on the thin metal braces the tiles set in to keep from falling through the ceiling. It certainly wasn't the most comfortable hiding place she had ever found. It was small, and the dust made her head hurt, but it would have to do till she could find something bigger.
She smiled as she looked at her surroundings. It wasn't the forests she was used to, but it was a forest of sorts. As long as she kept her wits about her she could stay alive. Maybe she could even get back to her planet and try to tell the others what was really happening. Of course she wasn't sure how they were going to stop the Reliance.
Within a few days she knew the guards' patterns, and she could get around the ship with little or no problem. She couldn't read their language, but there were pictures beside the words that were easily read. Not too hard to figure out which areas were restricted or dangerous. No problem finding bathrooms or the kitchen. She sneaked food, went to the bathroom whenever she needed, and she was only nearly caught once. Janad was actually enjoying herself; in a strange way this was the most exciting time of her life.
Then one day there was a lot of noise followed by some jerking that almost knocked her off her perch in the service area. Then the ship was still. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew they had stopped.
She watched from a hole she had drilled in a tile with a piece of wire as first her people and then the Reliance personnel left the ship. Hours later, having heard no further signs of life, she was sure that she was alone. She came out of hiding slowly and carefully and started to check out the ship, fearing a trap. With any luck they'd take this ship back to her planet with her stowed away on board. She'd sneak off the ship into the vanishing box, and once on the surface of her planet she would warn her people of the Reliance's plan.
Of course the real problem was that her people already knew about the Reliance's plans and were more than willing to go along with them because the priests had convinced them that they were performing the will of their God. Which of course they were because this is what he had said he wanted them to do. Janad wasn't at all sure that their God was really any sort of god at all. Of course she couldn't tell her people this, or they'd rise up and kill her as a blasphemer. Perhaps she was naive to think she could save her people. Perhaps she had better worry only about getting off this damn ship and back on her own planet. Perhaps she had better make saving her
own
ass the priority.
She found food and water, and had an entire ship to explore. It truly seemed that all she had to do was play the waiting game, and then the metal rolling things appeared. She saw one coming from the end of the hall and ducked into cover just in the nick of time.
She wasn't really sure what it was, but she gathered from its movements that it was, like herself, a hunter. It was box shaped and rolled on wheels. It also had metal arms and hands that looked more like claws. She had no doubt it could do some real damage if it got a hold of you.
Her village, in fact her whole planet, was primitive in many respects, but they'd all seen the space ships, and they'd seen the Reliance equipment. She knew what a machine was. She didn't know how it worked, but she knew what it was.
This one was a hunter that didn't need to sleep or eat. It was much harder to get around the metal rolling things than it had been to sneak around the Reliance soldiers.
The soldiers had given up even looking for her after a few hours, apparently deciding that as long as she wasn't doing any harm, hunting for her was simply more trouble than it was worth.
Not so the metal rolling things. They were hateful and relentless. She became convinced that they somehow knew she was on the ship and looked for her constantly.
It had ceased to be fun.
She lost track of time because she got very little sleep. What sleep she did get was filled with horrible nightmares. She was fortunate that the clumsy metal boxes, like most machines, made noise when they moved. It was the only warning she got. In her efforts to stay out of the claws of her metal demons she went all over the ship. She even tried to get off, but the doors would not open, and when she punched the buttons the metal things immediately came to where she was, and she was running for her life yet again.
She began to believe that she would never leave the ship. At least not alive.
"Have you gone completely ape shit!" Levits screamed at RJ. "We have everything we need right here. We are living in a free land. The country is just now getting on its feet. Things have just started to calm down, to be normal, relaxing. Now you want to go gallivanting across the universe on some freaking suicide mission!"
"It's not a suicide mission, and I'm not asking any of you to go with me," RJ said as she calmly looked at her immaculately groomed finger nails for any sign of dirt. She was apparently indifferent to Levits' screaming, of course Levites talked in a scream most of the time so it made a certain sense that she had become anesthetized to it. "In fact, it's an in-and-out sort of thing. After all, we have a common enemy."
"Going to the Argys and asking for their help in over-throwing the Reliance is complete and utter lunacy. These aliens hate humans. They kill humans with wanton abandon. You can't trust the Argy." Levits punctuated his words by pounding his fist into his palm.
RJ coughed loudly.
Levits gave her a curious look and then blushed. "I wasn't talking about you, RJ. You're not one of them."
"Technically, I'm as much one of
them
as I am one of
you
," RJ said.
"Damn it, RJ, you know what I mean," Levits said hotly.
"Say whatever you like about the Argy, but they hate the Reliance as much if not more than we do. That makes us logical allies," RJ said.
"What if they don't see it that way?" Mickey asked.
"Then I'll persuade them," RJ said with a crooked grin.
"Wait a minute!" Something she had just said dawned on Levits. "You're planning to do this alone? Without us?"
"Well duh! I thought I made that clear. However I won't be entirely alone; I'm taking Poley," RJ said.
"No!" Levits jumped to his feet and glared down at her. "Absolutely freaking NOT." He threw his arms around in wide arcs as if warding off her inconceivably stupid idea. "Your plan has just gone from stupid to bat-shit crazy."
RJ looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Strange, I don't remember asking your permission," she said coolly.
"Because you're a bitch!" Levits exclaimed.
"That's so mature. Isn't that mature?" RJ asked Topaz.
Topaz just shrugged. He certainly wasn't going to argue with her, but he for one had no intention of staying here if RJ and Poley were leaving.
Topaz knew it wasn't easy to be RJ. He also knew that at least part of her reason for wanting to take this particular course of action had very little to do with strategy and everything to do with getting away from the place which harbored so many painful memories for her. RJ didn't do anything small. A normal person might have moved to the next town; RJ wanted to go to another galaxy.
Levits was the most vocal of the group, not that RJ listened to him any better. Because Levits knew RJ was mostly ignoring him, he had reverted to screaming at the top of his lungs, as was his habit.
"Damn it, RJ! Would you listen to reason? You can't leave the planet right now; it's too soon. You can't do this with just tin pants, and none of the rest of us want to go."
"I want to go," Topaz said. "I think it'd be great fun."
Levits glared at him. "Shut the fuck up, old man!" he snarled out. Then he turned back to RJ. "This is just freaking insane! Ever since Whitey died and you damn near did, you don't seem to give a shit whether you live or die. This is just freaking bullshit! God damn it, RJ! Are you listening to me?" His face was now as red as the shirt he was wearing.
For answer RJ looked with great interest at the carving Poley had just handed her. Poley had taken to finding pieces of driftwood along the shore and carving them into geometric shapes. It wasn't very artistic, but considering what he was it was quite an accomplishment.
"Now that is an excellent job. Would you look at that, boys? A perfect cube!" RJ said admiringly.
Poley grinned as broadly as his genetically engineered sister, at least as pleased with her as she was with her robotic brother.
Levits anger hit the boiling point. "God damn you, RJ, you bitch freak!"
The silence that followed was almost tangible with everyone holding their breath waiting to see what RJ would do. RJ didn't really mind being called a bitch, but everyone knew she didn't like to be called a freak, which was a derogatory term for a GSH. This was of course exactly why Levits had said it. Although it was clear by the look on his face that he wished he hadn't said it now.
"You know what I think you need?" RJ asked.
"No, what?" Levits asked with a lump in his throat.
"I big wet kiss." RJ stood up and moved towards him.
He backed away from her. "Now damn it, RJ
. . .
Damn it, I'm trying to have a serious discussion with you, and
. . .
"
"Shut up and kiss me," RJ said.
"Leaving our base, going across the universe on a suicide mission. . . I can't let you do that alone, RJ! It's just crazy
. . .
"
RJ pinned him against the wall and kissed him. He tried to push her away, which of course he couldn't do till she wanted him to. Everyone was laughing.
"Now damn it, RJ, this isn't funny."
"Everyone else seems to think it is. If you're going to call me a bitch freak, you had better by God give me one hell of a kiss," RJ ordered.
Levits smiled in spite of himself. "You really are a bitch," he laughed.
"And you're really a bastard; so kiss me," RJ said. She moved her hips against him seductively.
He kissed her. They kissed long enough to make everyone else uncomfortable before they parted.
Topaz saw the look in Levits' eyes and the bulge in his pants, and knew at least one of them hadn't been playing.
"So since we're all in agreement, I see no need to postpone my little trip. I say Poley and I leave a week from tomorrow." She turned and left.
Levits turned to look at the others. "Damn it all. Do you realize what she wants to do? She's talking about leaving Mickey in charge here, taking Poley and riding off to Argy to try to con the aliens into helping us kick the Reliance's ass. She's not happy to rid the zone of the Reliance, she's not even happy to kick them off the planet. She wants to kick them out of the universe and that
. . .
It's crazy; it can't be done."
"Well, she's not leaving me here I can tell you that right now. But RJ's never wrong. If she thinks we should try to get the Argy on our side, I say that's what we do," David said.
"David
. . .
if she told us we should launch torpedoes from our butts you'd agree with her. If she just has to fight, then let us pick the next zone and take it on," Levits said. "Going into space
. . .
It's just crazy."
"I agree
. . .
I say no," Mickey said authoritatively. "RJ can't leave. Not now, not ever."
"My sister will do what she wants," Poley said, not looking up from the new carving he was working on. "None of you will be able to stop her."
"He's freaking right." Levits started pacing the room like a caged animal. "If she wants to go, then she's going, and there's no stopping her. Shit!"
"I understand why Mickey is so against RJ's plan," Topaz said. "Because of Mickey's position here he doesn't have the option of leaving. He doesn't want to lose his friends." Topaz fixed Levits with a stare. "I don't understand you, Levits
. . .
What's really bothering you?"
Levits stared daggers back at Topaz. "Don't try your pop psychology shit on me, old man. She wants to go, I say let her go. I'm staying right here. Rest of you saps hell-bent on joining her on her suicide mission go right ahead." His words sounded every bit like the crap that they were. They all knew that he'd swear he wasn't going right up till the last minute and then bitching all the way be the first to follow RJ where ever RJ was going, and the fact that they all knew he was just blowing, pissed him off royally. He turned and stomped out of the room.