Homebound

by Lydia Hope

  The guard stomped off to do as he was told.

  “Prison is such a harsh place, Gemma,” Dr. Delano began, contemplating his soiled loafers.

  “I know,” she wheezed. “Believe me.”

  “You don’t want to stay here.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  Even moving her eyes hurt, but she shifted them to look at OO as she spoke. He was openly staring at her, and an evil speculative light shone from behind the lens of his glasses.

  “Simon knows what it’s like behind bars,” Dr. Delano continued, “and he would hate to see you here. You’ve been a bad girl, causing a ruckus at the docks, but we both know this petty offense is hardly worth a prison sentence. But here you are.”

  He paused, gauging Gemma’s reaction to his words. She had none to offer, too busy fighting another attack of nausea.

  “If Simon comes for you, he’ll put himself at risk to be shot and killed. You can spare him a reckless death,” Dr. Delano finished meaningfully.

  Still, Gemma said nothing, but a cold feeling enveloped her.

  Simon would come for her.

  The idea of putting him in danger twisted her stomach into knots. She hated herself for her ineptitude, for botching the liquid nitrogen operation, for allowing them to capture her. Her stupid foot. She was nothing but a useless cripple.

  In utter misery, she stretched out on her bed and fixed her eyes on the ceiling.

  “Tell me where he is, Gemma, and I will make things happen to let you go free. Simon will be safe at my lab. I promise not to kill him.” Dr. Delano’s tone was beguiling.

  “You assume, doctor,” It felt perversely nice to utter the words Simon liked to say, “that I’ve seen Simon since he escaped from the prison. He might be half-way to his native planet by now.”

  “Lying is a punishable sin, Gemma. We’ve had a sighting. He and you, together. My informants are very reliable.”

  Gemma wanted to go to sleep, and stay asleep for a long time.

  “Go to hell.”

  “Why do you protect him?” He sounded genuinely puzzled. “He’s an alien, a dangerous, murderous freak. Come on, tell me where to find him and end this nightmare. I’ll even treat your head. Deal?”

  “Leave Simon alone and go fuck yourself.”

  There was a short but deep silence.

  “I see,” Dr. Delano said dryly and turned to OO. “She won’t tell. She has feelings for the Rix.”

  “Feelings?” OO sounded puzzled. “For an alien?”

  “Yes. Aliens do mate, you know,” Dr. Delano enlightened him.

  “Are you saying she’s been sleeping with the alien?” Now OO sounded horrified. Gemma would have laughed if her head weren’t hurting so bad.

  Dr. Delano looked down at her and cocked his head to one side.

  “An interesting question,” he murmured. “Have you tried, dear? I’m afraid Simon left you disappointed. Rix males aren’t exactly built for pleasure.”

  She made the mistake of looking at his smirking face. Their eyes connected. She schooled her expression into a mask of contempt but was powerless to stop the blush from spreading across her cheeks. And he noticed.

  An amazed expression crossed his features before his face hardened. “So the bastard can screw.”

  Gemma sneered back, “You know nothing about Rix, and you never will. Doctor.”

  “Yes, I will,” he smoothly countered. “He’ll come for you, and I’ll get him.” He turned on his heels. “Lock her up. Oh, and overseer? She won’t be needing any treatment, after all.”

  OO nodded and preceded Dr. Delano out of her cell, seemingly in a rush to get away from her contaminated body. Now that he’d learned about her intimacy with Simon, she was as safe from his advances as if she were in the final stages of leprosy. Safer even. Alien spoils.

  Oh, the irony.

  Gemma didn’t mean to fall back asleep, but her body had other ideas. She drifted off almost immediately after her visitors had left, and didn’t resurface until the morning siren announced the beginning of a new day. The lights came on and flickered twice before stabilizing.

  Gemma lay in her cot, lucid, and listened to the sounds of the cell block. The headache, though still pounding, subsided enough that she could form a coherent thought.

  It took only a few minutes for her to discern that she wasn’t on the women’s ward, as she’d originally assumed, but on the third floor, with the aliens. She looked up, above the cot, and saw that the small window high in the wall was boarded up.

  She was in cell 35.

  Dr. Delano had a sick sense of humor.

  A sad little smile tugged at Gemma’s lips as she raised her hand and touched the wall. If he wanted to intimidate her by putting her in Simon’s old cell, he understood nothing about either of them.

  Instead of cowering, she drew comfort from these walls. She felt connected to the cell’s previous occupant as if he were here, watching over her.

  She wondered what he was doing at this moment. Had he found the thermos? She fervently hoped so. Her operation had been a bust, except she did get liquid nitrogen.

  She wanted Simon to use it, to get his ass off into space without her, if this was how cards fell. On Earth, Simon would always be the prey, precisely for his strength and resilience. He would always be seen as a threat, and as a result, always in danger of being eliminated.

  Gemma heard other inmates stir inside their cells. The door down the corridor opened with a familiar clang when the helpers arrived to perform their duties. Gemma didn't get up.

  “What have we here?” an unfamiliar voice said from outside her cell.

  Turning her head like it was a vessel full of a precious liquid, she saw two helpers standing next to her door, looking in. She didn’t recognize the tall man in a janitorial overcoat.

  Next to him was Ruby.

  The man was peering inside in confusion. “Either they ran out of space on the second floor, or someone was very drunk when they placed her in here. She’s a woman. And looks human to me.”

  “Good lord…” Ruby said quietly.

  “You know her?”

  “I’ve never seen her in my life,” Ruby answered tersely. “Stop your gawking, Sam, it ain’t a zoo. Let’s go finish the roll call.”

  “Do you think she’s here by mistake?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Why is she here?”

  “That’s not our business. Keep moving.”

  They left Gemma’s door, but she could hear Sam’s bewildered questions until the pair turned the corner.

  The morning proceeded as it usually did, and the warm water arrived in place of breakfast. Gemma was very thirsty. Hungry, too, but she was more afraid of dehydration.

  She rolled off the cot and limped to the door holding on to the walls to get her share. She curled her fingers around the bars where they were slightly bent to keep herself upright, noting how much higher Simon’s grip had been.

  Ruby and the new guy, Sam, approached her with a bucket of water. Ruby scooped it up with a tin cup, the action painfully familiar to Gemma.

  “Here,” Ruby gave her hers. She cast a glance at Sam, and, because he was inspecting Gemma with great interest, said nothing more.

  Gemma let go of the bars and accepted the water. Her hand didn’t shake, which she took for a positive sign. The headache still raged, but she no longer saw haloes.

  “Thank you,” she said hoarsely.

  “Hey, do you know why you’re here?” Sam asked her, deadpan.

  “Sam,” Ruby snapped at him, “You aren’t supposed to engage with the prisoners. If you can’t remember the rules, you can’t work here.”

  He immediately looked alarmed. “Yes, Ms. Ruby, I remember. But a real strange case, seeing this woman in here with the aliens.”

  But Ruby had already moved on, and he had no choice but to follow.

  Gemma shuffled back to her cot where she sat and drank her water in small slow sips. Her stomach hel
d, and she felt better.

  After the helpers escorted the prisoners down for their yard time, Ruby came back.

  “You aren’t allowed to go, I got the instructions from OO himself. Which is a good thing, you shouldn’t be out with the lot of them. How are you holding up?” Ruby’s creased face expressed genuine concern.

  “I’m hanging in there, Ruby.”

  “See that you do. See that you do…” She gave a quick look around. “What do they want you for? My goodness, you, of all people.”

  Gemma gave her a wan smile. “Long story. Mainly, they want Simon. Dr. Delano wants Simon.”

  “Is Dr. Delano that hoity-toity character whose ass our OO was ardently kissing yesterday?”

  “I’m guessing that’s him.”

  Ruby shook her head. “I heard what happened when your Simon bulldozed his way outta here. Arlo… well, so long to him. But when you didn’t show up the next day, I was out of my mind with worry. I had no way of contacting you.”

  “I’m sorry Ruby.” She wished she could give the older woman a hug. “OO fired me, and my aunt threw me out of the house. It’s all in the past.” There was no point in sharing with Ruby the details of her time on the streets. “Now, you have to be careful. OO will fire you too if he knows you’ve been kind to me.”

  “Don’t you worry about me, girl.”

  “How’s Cricket?”

  Ruby’s face fell. “Same. Stays home. Coughs a lot. What can I do? She won’t ever get better in the City.”

  “I wish I could help, I do.”

  Ruby gave a rusty laugh. “That’s our girl Gemma. Locked up and looking like she’s been put through the wringer, still worrying about the old biddy and her invalid daughter.”

  “You are no old biddy, Ruby. I hope your daughter will turn out alright.”

  “Why don’t you worry about yourself for a change?”

  “Maybe because I can’t help myself. I can’t help anybody.” Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes and ran down. “I am so damn helpless, Ruby. You’ve been right all along, I can’t make it in this city. I should've died on The Islands with my parents.”

  “Hush! Don’t ever say that.” Ruby pressed her face to the bars. “You have a heart of gold, and it touches everyone you meet. You inspire people to be better. Your friendship means the world to me.”

  “Thank you, Ruby.”

  Their hands linked briefly for a firm squeeze of reassurance.

  “You’d saved Simon from dying in here. Did the two of you meet on the outside?” Ruby asked.

  “Yes, we did meet.” Gemma wiped away the tears.

  “I hope that alien can appreciate the precious treasure that you are.”

  “Oh, Ruby, it’s such a disaster. Now that I’m here, Dr. Delano will use me as bait to catch him. I’m afraid Simon will do something reckless.”

  Ruby threw her a loaded look. “Simon? He ain't reckless.”

  Chapter 29

  Gemma refused to go along with Ruby’s plan. She eyed a helper’s overcoat Ruby had thrown at her between the bars like it was a poisonous snake.

  “You will lose your job.”

  “We’ll see,” her friend evaded.

  “Worse, they will prosecute you for aiding and abetting, and you’ll end up sharing this cell with me.”

  “That they won’t. I’m a nobody worth the hassle. Will you hurry up and dress?”

  “No.”

  Frustrated and impatient, Ruby tapped her foot. “Dress up, I said. Ain’t that much time left.”

  “Keep your voice down,” Gemma hissed, knowing every inmate within earshot was listening. And some, like Tarai, had hearing like bats.

  “I am to take you downstairs, and now. He’ll be waiting.”

  Gemma scrambled off the cot. Her head spun but she managed to keep herself upright. “Who will be waiting?”

  “Got your attention, did it. Simon. Your exotic pet with long white hair and big black eyes. Remember him?”

  Gemma pressed her body to the bars, so intent was she on what Ruby was saying. He wouldn't be so careless as to come here. Unlike her, Simon had common sense in spades. Ruby was jerking her chain, trying to get her moving.

  “You aren’t funny.”

  “I wasn’t going to be. Get dressed and let’s go.”

  Still, Gemma didn’t believe her. “Wait, have you seen Simon? Talked to him?”

  “Yes. Last night on my way home he ambushed me. Gave me a fright of my life, if you want the truth.” Her face wrinkled in memory. “He’s terrifying, Gemma. Especially in the dark.”

  Yep, sounded like Simon. “He can’t come here! God, Ruby, guards are everywhere. If they don’t kill him, Dr. Delano’s men will capture him. He’s in mortal danger! I can’t go. I can’t jeopardize him.”

  “He knows, honey. He won’t come unprepared.”

  “How? What can he possibly prepare?”

  Ruby placed her hand on the onyx scanner unlocking the barred door to her cell.

  “That I don’t know. But we have to get out now. There’s no way to call it off. Simon asked me to tell you that if you resist.”

  Without looking if Gemma was going to comply, Ruby turned and marched away. Only then Gemma noticed her holding another overcoat.

  Galvanized by a mere thought that Simon might be near, scared that she was going to make matters worse by following Ruby’s plan, she shrugged on the gray starchy overcoat and stepped out.

  Farther down the corridor, she heard a scanner beep and saw Ruby unlocking another cell door. A murmur of voices, one distinctly Ruby’s, reached her ears, but she couldn't discern the words or see who Ruby was talking to.

  Prisoners in nearby cells were starting to make noise. Their escape plan had reached wider circulation.

  “Hey, how come you’re taking them out? Take me out, too!” somebody cried out to Ruby.

  “Guess you aren’t special enough,” came her flippant reply.

  “I want to go! Please, helper, take me out of here!” another accented voice implored.

  Ruby didn’t reply. She approached Gemma with the Sakka from cell 28 in tow. The Sakka was in the process of buttoning his gray janitorial overcoat without looking at Gemma. A hat followed, concealing as much of his features as possible to pass for a human.

  Gemma gave Ruby a questioning look, to which the older woman shrugged. “Simon wanted him along.”

  “The Sakka alien?”

  “Mayhap you don’t clean well enough,” Ruby said on her way to the door.

  Too frazzled to contemplate the meaning of the Sakka’s company, Gemma followed Ruby to the stairs. The heavy door closed behind them, abruptly cutting off the howling and shouting of desperate voices begging to be taken away from this place. Promising to do anything in return.

  They descended on silent feet.

  But as they were nearing the ground floor, the racket of a massive commotion swelled louder and louder from the door that led to the lobby. Ruby cracked it open and jerked back as the uproar of warfare blasted through the crack.

  The lobby was a battlefield. Smoke swirled around in abundance, obscuring furtive movements of the guards who ran around in short bursts, jumping over the bodies of their fallen comrades, crouching behind the few available corners. Laser guns zapped without respite and seemingly without aim, hitting walls and doors, and splintering the lockers and the crude counter where helpers used to receive their stun guns every morning.

  Marigold crouched low behind a steel column, coughing in her hands. Janitorial buckets were scattered on the floor and sheets were smoldering inside the supply closet.

  A hulking black sweeper was parked smack in the middle of the lobby, giving off an acrid smell of burning oil and hot metal. Its magnetic field appeared to be turned off, and behind it, Gemma caught a glimpse of the night visible through the jagged opening that used to be the entrance door.

  “Holy Mother of Jesus…” Ruby’s hoarse whisper barely reached Gemma’s ears over the noise. “I thin
k Simon’s already here.”

  “Whatever makes you think so?” Gemma murmured rhetorically knowing Ruby wouldn’t hear her.

  The three of them hovered at the door in indecision.

  “We should go back and pretend we never left our cells, helper.” The Sakka was wringing his slender hands, its childish face scrunched in profound fear. “Your plan is bad. We should wait for another time.”

  He turned to go but Ruby’s hand grabbed his coat and stopped him in his tracks.

  “You stay with us.”

  At this moment, the door leading to OO’s office splintered off its hinges, and Simon emerged like a specter of doom. Gemma had a half-second in which to take in his tall form clad in some body-hugging suit that showcased the width of his shoulders. His strongly-molded veiny arms were cradling a weapon the size of a small cannon.

  In a blink of an eye, he traced away from OO’s office sending his white braid flying in a graceful arc, and disappearing behind the sweeper just as more gunfire erupted, targeting the spot where he’d stood a second ago, incinerating the remnants of the office door.

  Instinctively, Gemma shrunk back.

  The sweeper moved then, its gears grinding, its chassis groaning under its weight. Like a giant steampunk snail straight out of a mad scientist’s nightmare, it chugged rhythmically as its multiple tiny wheels hidden under the armored belly propelled it across the lobby with the speed of an arthritic man on a walker. The guards peppered it with shots, but their handguns couldn't make a dent in the sweeper’s reinforced body.

  The sweeper turned as it went, chauffeured with purpose, and by the time it reached the doorway where Gemma, Ruby, and the Sakka were plastered against the wall, its solid side was facing them, offering protection from the lasers.

  Simon came around, pouring fire at the guards to provide them with cover. He didn’t look at Gemma, but he didn’t have to. His complex eyes enabled him to keep the entire lobby in his field of vision without so much as turning his head. His battle eyes. One of his many advantages over humans that had Dr. Delano’s undies twisted in a wad.

  Simon’s eyes were glowing with dark fire, telling Gemma that his body was firing on all cylinders.