With the danger suspended, and since he assumed that Stan knew none of these guys, Kyle pushed forward and offered the downed man his hand. "Sorry I'm late," he said.
For a long moment Stan just stared at him, but then took his hand and allowed Kyle to help him back to his feet. "Thanks," he muttered, then glanced around at Mike and his linebackers. "All of you."
"No problem," Dunc said with a smile on his lips. "Scum like that deserves nothing better than being pulverized."
Mike nodded once. "We've made our point. Let's go home," he said, turned and walked away.
Kyle supported Stan all the way back to the clearing in dome 3. Daniel came to meet them, all worried and nauseous-looking. "Jeez, Stan. You look like crap," he said quietly.
Stan gave him a tight smile in return. "I look better than you did half a year ago," he countered evenly, which earned him a queasy look of discomfort from Daniel.
"Let's get you settled, Stanley." Stella stepped up to them, her eyes on Stan alone. "I told you this would happen sooner or later."
"Yeah, and I didn't believe you," he agreed and then sighed deeply. "If there's one thing I can't stand hearing, Stella, it's an I-told-you-so."
That made her chuckle. She took his other arm and pulled it over her shoulder. "You need some TLC, sweetie," she said and gave Kyle a look he had no trouble understanding.
He released his hold on Stan and watched them walk away. "Didn't know Stan knew her," he muttered mostly to himself.
"Me either," Daniel said. "Man, he looks like crap."
"You've said that already," Kyle reminded him. "We got to him before they could do anything other than kick him around," he added.
Daniel watched the two disappear up the path to the tents for a moment longer and then shuddered slightly, his shoulders rising a bit. "I know a rape-victim when I see one," he said quietly and went back to the plants.
Kyle watched his receding back before deciding he needed to follow the kid and get things out in the open. "Dan," he said and grabbed Daniel's shoulder when he caught up to him.
Apparently the touch set something off, because Daniel shrugged out of his grasp immediately and sidestepped away from him, his shoulders tensing, and his posture tight. "Don't ..." He stopped himself and sent Kyle a furtive glance, suddenly aware of his reaction. "Sorry. I ..."
"No need," Kyle assured him. "I get it. Can't say I've been there, but I get it, okay?"
Lips pressed together into a thin line, Daniel nodded curtly.
"So, talk to me," Kyle suggested. "It's not like there are any secrets here."
For a long few seconds, it seemed like Daniel would refuse to say anything. Then he forcibly lowered his shoulders and shook out his hands. "I'll never be safe here," he finally said. "Seeing Stan like that, knowing what he's been through ... I can't do this, Kyle. I can't live here. I'm a total mess most of the time."
Kyle eyed him closely, not sure he liked where this was going. "So ... what? You're gonna take a spacewalk?" he asked, lending his tone enough hard edges to bring his point across while keeping it down to a level where he wouldn't sound outright angry.
Even so, his tone made Daniel flinch and look away. He considered it, took a few breaths to steady himself and then glanced sideways at Kyle. "The thought has crossed my mind," he admitted.
On a dramatic exhale, Kyle briefly looked away to compose himself. This was what he didn't want to happen. Despite the fact that he didn't know Daniel that well, he had grown attached to the kid and knowing that he was having suicidal tendencies ... well, it didn't sit well with Kyle. He needed to give Daniel something to hold on to, a ray of hope in this desolate place. "Well ... that's just great," he muttered under his breath, then gave Daniel a narrowed look. "I'm on to something here. So ... what do you say you hold off on killing yourself for a bit longer and work with me on this one?"
Daniel just stared at him. "On to something?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"
"You know ... at first, I thought ..." He trailed off and glanced behind him, then sent a sweeping look out over the clearing. "Where's Pete?" he asked.
"Who?" Daniel followed his line of sight, but obviously saw nothing of interest.
"The Albino. The guy I came in with before," Kyle said, hard pressed to keep the irritation out of his voice. Sometimes he thought people played dumb just for the hell of it.
"Oh, him. I don't know. He didn't really talk to anyone, just kinda ... sauntered off," Daniel said. "Why?"
Kyle considered it for a moment, but then pursed his lips. "Never mind. As I was saying ... at first I thought I was here to stay, so I wanted to find out as much as I could about this place. It's a the-more-you-know-the-safer-you-are kinda deal," he said. "But ... with Pete's arrival, things have changed. I need to find a way to get in touch with Earth. Do you know anyone around here who might be able to fix a com-station?"
And again Daniel just stared at him for a bit. Then he blinked rapidly and focused on a point past Kyle's shoulder. Apparently, this was how he thought about things, by staring into space. A frown furrowed his brow. "Bark," he said. "He's the only tech-head I know. But ... I haven't actually seen him do anything in that direction. He just mentioned he used to be a com-technician at some point."
"A com-technician," Kyle said, snapping his fingers. "That's exactly what I need. And now comes the big issue. Where the hell is Bark?"
Daniel shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "But ... maybe Stan does."
Kyle nodded. "Yeah, just what I was thinking." He raked all ten fingers through his hair, smoothing it back against his skull. "Might be a good idea to give him some space right now, huh?"
"Or not." Stella's voice cut him off in mid-thought. "Stanley asked to see you. Guess he wants to thank you again," she added and gave him a scrutinizing look. "What are you up to, Kyle Whitmore?"
He arched an eyebrow at her. "Up to? What do you mean? I'm just having a conversation with Danny here," he said and looked her straight in the eyes.
Stella smirked, a lop-sided kind of smirk that made it clear that she knew he was up to no good. "Whatever. Go see Stanley. He's in the big tent you and Daniel are staying in."
He nodded once and gave Daniel a brief look. The younger man just stared back, but then gave an almost imperceptible nod. He got the point. Don't talk about this. Not even to Stella. "Don't look so down, Dan. I'll be right back," he said with a grin. Daniel rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the planting table.
Kyle neither could nor would pass up on the opportunity of asking Stan about Bark's whereabouts. Whether the other man knew was, of course, a different matter. He hurried along the path to the tent area and stepped into the big tent, finding Stan on the cot furthest from the entrance. He looked like he was asleep, but when Kyle stepped in, he raised his head in a hurry, the brief panic in his eyes almost overwhelming in intensity. Then he relaxed again and let his head drop back down on the pillow. "Oh, it's you," he said needlessly.
"Yeah. Stella mentioned you wanted to talk to me," Kyle countered and stepped closer.
"Yeah. I just wanted to thank you for bringing in the cavalry. I wasn't much looking forward to spending another night being ass-raped by those goons." He sounded tired and looked the part too. "So, thanks."
"No sweat," Kyle said and settled down on the edge of his own cot. "Are you gonna be okay?"
For some reason this caused Stan to snort a halfhearted laugh. "Am I going to be okay?" he countered and briefly eyed Kyle. "It's not the first time this has happened, man. Won't be the last time either," he said. "I'm gay. It kinda comes with the territory that homophobic assholes like them live out their secret closet-lives via brutality and force. The thing is, they don't realize that I'm way better at taking it than someone like Daniel because the guy's not gay and he's been taught by his probably very straight and very biased parents that taking it up the ass is more demeaning to a man than for a woman to be raped."
Kyle was not easy to shock, never really had been as far as he remembered, but Stan was skirting along the edge right now for what he thought was proper. It almost made him smirk, but he didn't want the other man to misunderstand him right now. "There's nothing I hate more than people who don't respect other people's rights," he said. "The way I see it, rape is rape, no matter who's at the receiving end of it. And rape is never okay."
Stan eyed him closely, maybe searching for the ridicule or sarcasm, but then smiled again. "You got that right," he agreed and pushed himself up on his elbows. "Anyway ... thanks. You've saved me from having to sit on a damned pillow for the next two weeks."
He didn't want to point out the obvious, namely that this could have ended in Stan's premature demise, and he didn't really think he needed to either. The harsh reality of this situation wasn't lost on Stan. That much was clear. "You're welcome," Kyle said and rose again. "Oh ... while we're at it. I saw Andy and he mentioned Jack. But do you have any idea where Bark is?"
Stan pursed his lips. "I think he withdrew to dome 1. The guy is smarter than me. He got out while he could," he said. "I haven't been able to get to either tunnel without running into those bastards. It took me too long to realize they meant business."
Kyle nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I can see how that might be difficult. But at least you don't need to worry about those fucks anymore." He almost felt like slapping himself the moment the words were out of his mouth.
Fortunately, Stan was able to see the humor in the situation and he chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I do like fucks, but not those particular ones."
"You'll be fine," Kyle said, grinning. "I'll just see if I can locate Bark. I need his help for something," he added.
"Good luck," Stan countered. "Hope you don't mind if I don't join you. I think I'll catch up on a little sleep right now."
Kyle left the tent again and headed back to the clearing. He wasn't entirely sure of how much of his plan he should reveal to Daniel, but he knew he needed to keep the guy afloat on something other than the eternal threat of being raped if he wasn't careful.
***
The plan takes shape
It took some plotting and planning that he hadn't really considered at first; the biggest issue right now being the remaining four in dome 2. They had seen him and they were likely to take whatever resentments they had out on him if he ran into them again. And having to cross through dome 2 to get to dome 1 ... well, that would generally mean he was in danger for however long it took him reach the other end.
"Fuck," he muttered and pushed the mug of the still heavenly-tasting coffee away from him. He started tracing scratches on the table's surface with the tip of one finger while he tried to plan out every step of what lay ahead.
"You look a might lost in thought there."
He looked up and met the sparkling eyes of Dunc, the hammer-fisted one. He smirked at the nickname and wondered if Dunc would appreciate it or find it offensive. "Yeah, got stuff on my mind," he said.
Dunc pulled out a chair and settled down on it, an apple in one hand and a mug of steaming brew in the other. "What's on your mind? Anything I can help you with? Anyone who needs a beating?"
Kyle eyed him closely for a moment and assumed that Dunc had ended up in prison because he liked to hammer others into the ground. "Actually, now that you mention it," he said. "Those four remaining in dome 2. I kinda get the feeling that trying to go through there might not be in my best interest right now. And I really need to get to dome 1. There's someone I need to find."
The expression on Dunc's face neared rapture. The hectic blush, the dilated pupils, and the way he chomped down on his lower lip, were all signs Kyle could use in his own favor. "Say the word and I'll be happy to escort you."
Kyle considered the offer, but not seriously. "You know ... it would be so much better if ... say ... they weren't there at all. You think that's ... doable?"
If he'd given the guy a gift-wrapped puppy with a pardon attached to its collar, Dunc couldn't have looked happier. "Well ... Mike does discourage random violence," he mused and scrubbed a hand over his lips in contemplation. "But, of course, they started it by whaling on Stanley, didn't they?"
"They sure did," Kyle agreed casually. "And it would make it easier for the rest of us to be able to pass through there whenever we want to. Of course ... there would probably be someone else in line to take over where they left off, right?"
"Oh, the rest of Mr. Shanghai's rapers are all ... history," Dunc said with an almost dreamy look in his eyes. "Too bad we couldn't get a hold of that fat fuck and feed him to the loonies before he died. I would have loved to see how much the loonies could have gotten out of Mr. Shanghai's bulging body. He could have sustained them for a year at least."
"That fat, huh?" Kyle asked and sipped his coffee.
"Fat?" Dunc arched both brows. "Hell no. Well ... okay, maybe he was a bit obese, but he was huge; tall, broad as a barn door, and clever as hell. You gotta look far and wide for a man of his intellect. Problem was, he was also a sick fuck on top of it. He got thrown in the slammer for taking his jollies out on little boys back home. Can you imagine that? Big guy like that? Rumor has it, he killed one kid."
Kyle grimaced. "What a nice guy," he growled sarcastically and then took notice of something else Dunc had said. "You use the loonies to dispose of dead bodies?" he asked and leaned forward.
Dunc focused on him and pursed his lips, obviously contemplating if he'd said too much. Then one corner of his lips rose a little. "There's no other way to dispose of them unless you wanna open an airlock. And I sure as hell don't want to," he agreed.
Kyle frowned. "How come? Aren't they ... secure?" It seemed that Dunc was a cornucopia of information and was more than willing to share with the right amount of prompting.
"Some of them are. Some are defective, so the inner doors don't close completely when the outer doors are triggered and that always causes a mess. Some of the old-timers choose that way out. That's one of the reasons for that dome 2 is so empty. People got scared because the airlock there doesn't work right. Whoever opened it last nearly cleared out dome 2. All the connecting tunnels shut down for the duration. It caused a bit of a panic," Dunc said.
A bit of a panic? That sounded like the understatement of the year if people were being sucked out of open airlocks because someone couldn't take it anymore. "When was that?" Kyle asked with restrained curiosity.
"Who knows?" Dunc countered with a shrug. "Four-five years ago. Nobody's really wanted to live there until the Lost Boys settled down there. They thought they were safe from Mr. Shanghai and his goons."
"Which obviously they weren't," Kyle speculated. "But the big guy's gone and you say that leaves only those four?"
"Well ... Frank was one of them. I don't recognize the four others, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. Mr. Shanghai had a lot of followers while he was running this joint," Dunc explained. "When he took his dirt nap, courtesy of Garry the Whale ... well, some of them took shelter in dome 1. It's easy to vanish among those feeble-minded patsies. Since we here in dome 3 have a rep that keeps us pretty much safe, some of them snuck through here during sleeping hours and made the mistake of seeking refuge in dome 5. Not the best place to go if you're stupid and mean. The loonies don't appreciate visitors all that much. They tend to munch on them, if you catch my drift."
Kyle did. "So, you think this Frank guy and those four others have been in dome 1 all this time?"
"No way to say," Dunc said and took a hefty bite of the apple before pointing the fruit at Kyle. "It's more than likely that they stayed in dome 2 and just kept out of the way because the moron twins used to be Mr. Shanghai's right hand guys. When you took out those two meat heads, you opened the door for them. Good thing you got the kids out of there. The moron twins weren't the brightest stars in the heavens, but they liked repeat performances. That generally means they didn't kill their prey ... normally. Frank, on the other hand ..
. he liked it rough and bloody. I've been dying to take him out for a while." He smirked. "I owe you thanks for giving me that opportunity."
"You're welcome," Kyle said, but wasn't sure he meant it. In his experience, people like Dunc got dangerous when they got what they wanted. But, like always, Kyle saw an opportunity of making his own life easier and that pushed aside any concerns he might have. "So ... any time you might see an opportunity of ... making sure those four don't get in the way anymore, I'd be much obliged."
Dunc continued smirking. "Consider it done," he said and rose again, then paused. "You may wanna keep certain people out of the loop, though; for instance Stella and Mike. I don't know why, but they insist on doing this the nice way."
Kyle eyed him. "It's a way of trying to hold on to civilization, I guess. And my lips are sealed; won't breathe a word of this to anyone." He crossed his heart with one finger. "Cross my heart and all that jazz."
The big guy continued smirking when he turned around and walked away and Kyle had no doubt that the four potential troublemakers would meet their maker sooner rather than later.
With a sigh, he leaned back on his chair and folded his hands behind his head. For a while he stared up at the canopy, lost in the moment. It was at times like these that he stopped thinking and took in the healing that not worrying offered.
A sudden commotion ripped him rudely out of his thoughtless contemplation of the whiteness of the canopy above him. Something was going on across the compound where the path to the tents was.
He let his hands drop and watched a group of people, all agitated, move into the clearing. Stella abandoned her saplings and strode over there, closely followed by Daniel who seemed to have adopted her as his new best friend. Or maybe Stella was the mother he'd never had; one who actually gave a crap about him and didn't only think of what the neighbors might say.
The group parted and Kyle realized to his immediate surprise that he hadn't given Pete a second thought. And there he was, in the middle of the group, being restrained and looking agitated. Curious as well as vaguely concerned, Kyle rose and strolled over there too. Whatever trouble Pete had gotten into, Kyle felt a niggling responsibility since he was the one who'd brought the Albino to the gardeners.
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