"No reason?" Kyle leaned back again and folded his arms over his chest in a defiant manner. "What happened to Stan was no reason then? It's okay that those fuckers run around and rape guys left and right, but it's not right for us to bite back?"
"Us?" Mike arched both wiry eyebrows. "I don't see any us in this, Kyle. You put the idea in his head and you're smart enough to know that Dunc isn't that smart. He's a killer, no doubt, but he's also a good guy most of the time, no question there. But if you plant something like that in his head, you set him off. He's like a fucking time bomb."
"So, you're telling me that those four fuckheads, who went after Stan, raped him, beat him, and were going to do it again until it killed him, should have a fair trial?" Kyle couldn't hide his anger at this point. If he had expected anyone to understand why he had asked for Dunc's help, then it would have been Mike. Apparently, he had read the older man wrongly, which was a first for him.
To his immediate surprise, Mike neither responded nor looked angry. As it were, he didn't look anything. He just sat there and eyed Kyle. Then he took another sip of his coffee, his expression turning a little thoughtful. "I have no issues with that they're dead, Kyle. If you had talked to me about this, I would have arranged for their departure myself. What I have an issue with is that you incited Dunc to do the deed, which in my book is a very bad thing to do. Dunc has to be kept as levelheaded as possible. He has a tendency to go off the deep end if he's left unsupervised and that's not good news for anyone." Mike's tone was reasonable and when he met Kyle's eyes again, Kyle realized that his first impression had stayed true. There was no question that Mike was one of the good guys.
"Oh," he muttered and made a face. "I didn't know he had issues."
That made Mike smirk. "Oh, he has issues. Up the wazoo. Why else do you think he's here?" he countered. "Just ... don't ask him to take out anyone else. If you need help with that, you let me know."
"So ... the incident with Frank ... that wasn't inciting him to kill someone?" Kyle asked innocently.
Mike narrowed his eyes a bit. "Frank was a completely different deal," he said, his tone a little clipped now. "Besides, I was there to stop him from taking it any further." There was a hint of a warning in Mike's voice, which made Kyle reconsider any snappy replies to that one.
"Fair enough," he agreed and let it slide. There was no reason to upset the other man. "So ... Dunc took care of those four, I suppose?"
Mike nodded. "Yup, they're ancient history; which means that dome 2 is pretty much empty now. There is that little cluster down at the other end ... if you can talk about ends when something is round." He smirked and shook his head at his own thoughts. "But those you don't have to worry about."
"What cluster?" Kyle asked and leaned forward.
"Well, there's Jack and Andy, obviously. Whether they're staying in dome 2 is a good question. I wouldn't want to; too much space, too many risks, too little backup. But they're not the only ones. Down, near the airlock, there's an ... enclave of people. They came in together and they've stuck together since they arrived. I have no idea who they are or what they did to land themselves in LPC. They're not talking to anyone and nobody is asking." Mike rubbed the back of his neck, sent a brief look upward and sighed. "It's about time for another feast, by the way. Tonight, we're letting the cows out to graze. Tomorrow, we'll have meat again. You ready for that?"
"Well, it tastes great. I'm just not too keen on the side-effects," Kyle admitted, glancing into his mug and realizing he'd emptied it. He got up to get a refill, then sat back down, leaned back and eyed Mike for a moment.
"From what I know, the side-effects are very subdued after the first time, apart from the fatigue that follows in the wake of eating the meat," Mike said. "I wouldn't worry about it."
Kyle raised his mug, silently toasting the other man. "I won't then," he promised with a smile. "Anything else I can do for you on this fine day?" His mood was rising. Dome 2 was safe to traverse, which meant he could get on with his plans without interruption.
"That's about it," Mike said.
"Okay then. From now on, I'll make sure to come to you if I have any problems that need to be dealt with," Kyle promised with an easy smile.
"Good. I just wanted to make sure this was only a misunderstanding. We do give others the benefit of the doubt, but ..." Mike rose, his mug in one hand, and gave Kyle an unambiguous look. "We do have a reputation and we didn't get it for being lenient."
Kyle nodded. "Message received loud and clear," he said. "Don't worry. There won't be a repeat performance."
Mike took his leave of him and Kyle just sat there and watched him walk away. Essentially, he assumed he should be worried or even scared, but he was neither. It was his understanding that they had agreed with each other and Kyle had no intention of aggravating the situation. 'I'm not suicidal after all,' he thought. A brief frown crawled over his brow when he recalled the swift measuring out of justice he had witnessed here. Pete the Albino had felt their wrath and Kyle had no doubt that Mike's thinly veiled threat would end in a similar situation for him if he didn't abide by the rules.
His attention shifted to Daniel, still happily planting saplings with Stella, and he couldn't help the vague concern. Despite his presently relaxed demeanor, Kyle knew that Daniel was tense as a bow most of the time. The kid was waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the next sicko to take a stab at him, and Kyle figured that now was as good a time as any to let him in on his plans. His intention to share his plans with Daniel a few days ago had fallen through, and he hadn't tried to since because he hadn't known what Dunc had been up to. Now that he knew, though, it changed matters.
***
Forward movement is life
Daniel was deeply engrossed in conversation with Stella when Kyle finally decided to get moving, and he briefly hung back to listen to some of it. It turned out that they were talking about the growths out there, and what some of the plants were, and how they were considered useful even if they weren't directly edible.
Kyle cleared his throat, attracting both their attention. "Dan, could I have word?" he asked and gave Stella lopsided smirk.
She narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms over her chest. Daniel glanced at Stella and then shrugged. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"
"Let's go grab a cup of coffee," Kyle suggested. He didn't want to directly say that this was none of Stella's business. He had priorities, and he was going to keep his trap shut until he knew for sure that his evolving plan would pan out the way he wanted it to. Until then, he preferred to involve as few as possible.
Again Daniel glanced at Stella and Kyle couldn't help wondering about the kid. At times it seemed like he wasn't capable of making decisions on his own. "Uh ... sure," he said hesitantly. "Do you mind, Stella?"
"No, kiddo. Go on," Stella countered, her eyes locked on Kyle. She knew he was plotting something, and Kyle wouldn't be surprised if she had an idea of what it was.
He gave her a nod in appreciation that she didn't start butting in, and then led the way back to the mess tent - as he had dubbed it - and grabbed another mug of coffee for himself and a fresh one for Daniel. "Sit," he suggested, nodding at the nearest table.
Daniel settled down and accepted the mug, wrapping both hands around it, and then eyed Kyle expectantly. "Is this about what you mentioned a few days ago?" he asked.
Kyle eased down on the chair across from him and copied his stance. "Yeah, it is," he agreed readily. "Now, what I'm going to tell you has to stay between us for now. Can I count on that?"
'The plot thickens', he thought when Daniel stared at him, tightlipped and tense. "Yeah, sure," he agreed readily; obviously both eager and apprehensive about Kyle's next words.
"Okay." Kyle tapped the table surface with his fingers for a moment while he considered the best way of relaying what he had in mind. But, as always, straight forward would serve him best. "The thing is ... the Albino, Pete," he said, to which
Daniel nodded mutely, "he's the guy who got me into this mess. He was a dealer, a drug-dealer, and since they're pretty hard to come by and ... well, I was stupid enough to think I could trust him; when he got in over his head, I took the blame. I assumed that my father would get me off the hook, but since he didn't and Pete didn't step forward ... I ended up here. Now, obviously, that's ancient history. But ... the fact that Pete turned up here made me think he has repeated his offense. Turns out, though, that he hasn't; he was caught for the crime I was sentenced for, which in my book means that the law knows I'm innocent. Question is just ... if they know I'm innocent, why hasn't anyone come up here to pick me up?" He arched both brows suggestively.
Daniel continued to stare at him, lips slightly parted, a frown furrowing his brow. "Because nobody gets out of here," he finally said when Kyle didn't continue.
Kyle pointed a finger at him and nodded. "Exactly. So ... that got me thinking. There's got to be a com-station around here somewhere. I found it too, but the damned thing doesn't work. So, I need a tech-head to help me fix it. This is where Bark comes in," he plowed on.
"What do you want with a com-station?" Daniel asked quietly. "If nobody gets out of here, how's that gonna help?"
"See, that's where my dear old dad comes in. The old fuck dropped me like a hot potato at the trial, but when I think about it I can sort of understand that too. If I were in his shoes, I think I would have given up on me long ago." He took a sip of the coffee and smacked his lips. "Damned good brew," he muttered, then looked up again to face Daniel. "If I can get that fucking station to work, I can get in touch with my father; presumably. If I can get in touch with him, chances are I can convince him to stage a rescue mission. The man has more money than shit, after all, and I am his only heir."
"A ... rescue mission?" Daniel sounded a little perplexed, like he didn't know how to respond to that. "But ... isn't it fact that once you're in LPC, you're not getting out unless you take a spacewalk?"
Kyle knew that rumor and he had also heard that the way the airlocks were built made it damned near impossible to hook anything airtight up to them, but he wasn't about to bury the chance of escape in hearsay. "I've heard that too," he agreed readily. "But - and here's the sweet spot in all of this - I don't believe it. I don't think that this place was originally a prison. I think they just reactivated it when some fuckhead figured out that this would be a great place to stash lifers. So ... my motivation here should be fairly clear. If I can get in touch with my father, I can set the ball rolling. Whether it stays on track or falls through unexpected holes halfway through ... well, only time will tell. But I'm optimistic. I think there's a way out of here and if anyone can find it, it's my dad. He has the resources to employ the people who can make it happen."
Daniel leaned back on his chair and stared at nothing for a moment. Then he grimaced and grabbed his mug, but didn't drink from it. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked and the look in his eyes reminded Kyle of a wounded animal.
"Because, kiddo, if I'm getting out of here," he said quietly, "then so are you."
***
Help wanted
Dome 2 seemed even more like a ghost town than the first time he walked through it, but Kyle was in no mood to let the atmosphere of the dome get to him. But it felt sinister, colder than before, dead somehow, and it took some doing to push it out of his mind for now.
Daniel followed him, obviously stunned into silence. He hadn't said a word since Kyle had revealed that he intended to take the younger man with him when he left - and Kyle was too much of an optimist to even consider that this might not go according to plan.
The only sounds were their footsteps while they wove their way through passages mimicking streets on their way to the tunnel that would take them into dome 1. Stan was certain that Bark was hiding out in dome 1 and Kyle needed Daniel to help him find the guy, because Bark knew Daniel better than he knew Kyle.
"Pretty awesome if this all pans out, don't you think?" he asked and glanced back at Daniel. All of a sudden, the guy looked younger than his years. It made Kyle wonder what was going through his head right now; probably something along the lines of 'don't believe, don't believe, don't believe'.
"I guess," he said after a moment and just kept on walking.
"I would have thought the idea of getting out of here would do more for you than this," Kyle said, not sure he was interpreting Daniel's reaction correctly. He seemed subdued, almost depressed, which wasn't in standing with how he saw the kid.
Daniel came to a stop, his shoulders hunched, his head down a bit. "What if it doesn't work?" he finally asked. Obviously, the guy needed to overcome some barriers before he could speak his mind. "What if your father doesn't want to help?"
Kyle stopped too, and turned back to face him. "Well, then I'm royally screwed," he admitted with a light shrug. "Thing is ... my dad may be a lot of things, but unfair ... that's not one of them. He's strict, he's prissy, he's tighter than a chicken's asshole, but I think I know him well enough to recognize that if someone takes his toys away from him, he doesn't get angry, he gets even."
Apparently, his wording didn't help Daniel's understanding much. "What does that mean?" he asked, still frowning lightly.
"That means that he'll do anything he can to get me out of here. Mainly because he hates it when others tell him no," Kyle said. "Look, I know there are a lot of ifs in this equation that still need to be dealt with. Like can we find Bark? And when or if we find him, will he want to help? And if he can help, can he actually get the fucking thing to work again? And if he can get it to work, can I actually use it to get in touch with my dad? If I do get in touch with my dad, will he want to help?" He paused with a smirk on his lips. "The upside of being an optimist here is that I'm clearly going to say yes to all of these things. And I'm ..." he pursed his lips "... ninety-nine point nine percent certain that things will work out. How they work out I don't know. And I don't really care. All I care about is getting from point A to B without too many problems."
Daniel stared at him for a moment longer. "What makes you think that your dad would be okay with me tagging along?" he finally asked.
So that was the main issue for Daniel, Kyle thought. The kid was worried, that if this all panned out, Whitmore Sr. wasn't going to spring a kid he didn't know from a prison that was deemed escape proof. "Because I'm not going to give him the choice," Kyle said firmly. "Hell, if I can get around to it, I'll try to get everybody out of here. But if he can only manage a few, you're definitely on that list."
He couldn't recall ever having seen someone closer to tears without actually spilling them than Daniel was right now. He struggled against the emotions now very evident in his expression. "Why?" he finally managed, his voice thick with unshed tears.
"Because you got a rotten deal here, kid, and you don't deserve it," Kyle countered with a smile. "Come on, dude. Let's go find Bark and get this ball rolling. Despite all the fucking pollution down there, I'd rather be on Earth than here." He grabbed Daniel's shoulder and couldn't help but wonder if anybody had ever given this guy a helping hand. Judging by Daniel's reaction, he doubted it.
***
Dome 1
Finding Bark turned out to be easy enough. Daniel tracked him down after searching for half an hour. By that time, the kid had himself under control again and Kyle was thankful for that. No matter how much he might like to deny it, Daniel being emotional got to him on a level he was unfamiliar with. It had raised a considerable lump in his throat, but it had also steeled his determination to get them both out of this hellhole.
Kyle trailed over to the com-station and found it intact, which was the first step up the ladder. When Daniel turned up with a somewhat reluctant Bark in tow, Kyle realized that in order to get the other man on board with this, he would have to promise him a seat on the escape-express as well. Well, so far he'd only aimed at getting Daniel out of here. One more would hardly make a difference.
"You
told him what this is about?" he asked Daniel, who grimaced and shook his head.
"No, just that you wanted to talk to him," Daniel countered and glanced at Bark, who stood next to him and eyed Kyle as if he expected him to blow up any second now.
"Stan said you got out before the going got tough," Kyle said and eyed Bark the same way for a moment; not that he actually expected the guy to blow up. But Bark kinda looked like he'd been roughed up a few days ago.
Bark snorted. "Yeah, well, Stan sees what he wants to see, doesn't he?" he countered, his voice gravelly. "What do you want from me? I'm not feeling too good here," he added, inclining his chin toward Kyle in a half-nod.
"You don't look too good either," Kyle confirmed. "You can relax. Those fuckheads are history. The gardeners took them out. Stan's become a resident member of dome 3. So have the boys and I," he added.
Bark glanced at Daniel and shrugged. "Doesn't matter. There's always another shithead waiting in line," he growled and fixed Kyle with a chilly stare. "How about you tell me what you want so I can get back to bed?"
Kyle stepped aside and waved at the com-station door, still half hidden behind the pile of junk. "There's a defective com-station in there. You're a tech-head. I figured you could find a way to fix it," he suggested.
Bark stared at the door for a moment with a bland expression. "You did, did you?" he asked, his tone less than enthusiastic. "I don't have any tools, man. How am I supposed to fix something without tools?"
It was getting more and more evident to Kyle that not only was Bark mysterious, he was also super pessimistic. "Could you at least take a look at it?" he asked, trying hard not to let his exasperation shine through.
Bark huffed, but then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Who are you hoping to reach? From what I know, this system connects to the Penal Administration and nowhere else."
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