by Selina Rosen
"What?" David asked from the doorway.
"Damn!" RJ cursed under her breath. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy being morbidly depressed?" She turned to face him and forced a smile. He smiled back.
"The girl's awake now," David said as he walked in the open door. Since the attack on Alsterase, RJ had developed a phobia about sleeping in a room with the door closed and now couldn't sleep unless the door was open. Although it was pretty obvious from the looks of the bed that RJ hadn't done any sleeping. It was just as obvious from the look on her face that she had only been about half kidding about her mood. "You all right, RJ?"
"PMS," RJ explained as she walked across the room, pushed around him and started down the hall towards the bridge. "Get the girl and meet me on the bridge."
"All right." David hurried to catch up with her. He didn't say anything. He just raced along beside her till he reached the girl's door. David knocked before walking in. The girl was sitting on the bed. She gave him a curious look. "RJ wants to talk to you now."
"Is she your leader?" Janad asked standing up.
"Yes," David said without hesitation.
"She's very strong. What is she?" Janad asked.
David laughed. "That's a good question. I'm not sure how to explain what RJ is. For one thing she's a GSH. Do you know what that is?"
"No," Janad answered as she followed him down the hall towards the bridge.
"It's a genetically superior humanoid . . ." It was obvious by the look on her face that she still didn't have a clue. They turned a corner and walked onto the bridge.
"David . . . this girl broke your nose. The jury's still out on whether she's a hostile or not," RJ said, then added abruptly, "she doesn't need to know what I am. I just need to know what she is."
Janad looked around the room. There was another man with them this time, a tall thin black-haired man with dark brown eyes and a scruff of beard. He wore black pants and a short-sleeved black shirt. There was a weapon hanging at his hip in a holster the end of which was tied to his leg. In his eyes she saw pain and anger, much the same as in the eyes of the one they called RJ. He stood behind the chair RJ sat in, and the strange stiff man stood at her right side. Janad almost smiled. The woman looked every bit like royalty surrounded by her court.
Janad didn't think she had ever seen five stranger people in her life.
"You'll get more flies with honey than you will with shit, RJ," Topaz said in a near whisper.
"Who said I wanted any flies?" RJ frowned deeply, and Janad got the impression that the only time she smiled was when she was beating someone senseless or killing them.
David stood behind Janad as if to block her exit, which did nothing to put her at ease. However she didn't fear him. He seemed to her like a man who had been broken and was devoid of spirit. He moved like a child who had broken the rules and been spanked, with his shoulders pointed down and forward, his head low, hardly ever making eye contact. He was someone who needed protection, not someone you needed protection from.
Topaz was leaning against the wall looking out at the stars. He seemed to be the only one of them who was normal.
"So, let's start this with a simple question," RJ said. "What are you doing on this ship?"
Janad saw no reason to lie. On the contrary she had the feeling that they were more likely to help her in her quest if they knew just what was going on.
"The Reliance is buying my people from our greedy King to use as shock troops to fight something they call the Rebellion on a planet called Earth."
"That's what I thought," RJ said looking troubled and triumphant at the same time if that was possible or made any sense at all.
"One of the guards mentioned you by name," Janad said.
RJ seemed to ignore this information. "So how come you didn't get off loaded?"
"I didn't want to go. I caused trouble so they chained me to the wall. I got them to let me go to use the bathroom and then I got away. I hid mostly up there." She pointed at the ceiling. "I hoped to get back to my planet to try to tell my people what the Reliance is doing. Not that it will help. My people do whatever the priests tell them to do."
RJ rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Do we call Mickey now?" the tall man standing behind RJ asked.
"Wait a minute," RJ said impatiently. She looked back at Janad. "Do you know how many of your people have been sent to Earth?"
"Most of the warriors in our village except the old and the young. Many villages have been completely emptied in the same way. Thousands of my people have already been moved to your planet."
"Can they all fight like you?" RJ asked.
"I told you they took all the warriors."
"Just because a man is a soldier doesn't mean he can fight. Have they seen action?"
"Action?" Janad knew the word but didn't know what RJ was asking.
"Have they fought?" Topaz asked.
Janad nodded excitedly. "Yes, because of the wars," Janad answered.
"The wars? Wars with who?" RJ asked.
"The other villages. The Priests say that the gods want us to fight because blood cleanses the land. So one village fights another, and at the end of thirty days whoever has the most people wins and they get new clothes," Janad explained.
RJ sighed and rubbed her hands down her face.
"What?" Topaz asked of the look on RJ's face.
"Don't you see, Topaz? It's nothing more than a fancy way to do a cleaning assignment. Obviously they have a population problem. The priests find the areas that have the worst problem – a drought in a certain area causes a crop failure, bugs eat the crop, not enough vegetation causes a lack of animals to hunt – etcetera. 'The gods' call a war, many people are killed so there is no famine, and the people think that the gods have saved them because they fought. It's the same damn thing the Reliance does, only unfortunately for us, this little cleansing exercise helps survival of the fittest. Whoever is stronger and smarter in battle lives to reproduce, and everyone else dies. So what they have just shipped to our planet to be trained to fight us are a people who are genetically superior and experienced in battle."
"So do I call Mickey now?" the one they called Levits asked again.
"Yes, and tell him I'll tell him what to do when I know more," RJ said.
Levits turned and started punching buttons on the console.
RJ turned to Janad. "So, Janad, tell me – what do your gods look like?"
* * *
By the end of the first day the boat was taking on water. Haldeed rowed it over to the shore and they unpacked feeling wet, tired and more than a little sun burned.
Haldeed pulled the boat into the reeds with them and worked on fixing it while Taleed stomped down a big enough area to set up camp. "We should have brought hats."
Haldeed nodded in agreement as he wove new reeds into the leaks.
"And more food," Taleed said. Again Haldeed nodded. "On the up side we've been gone six times as long as ever before."
Haldeed signed, It is hard to get excited when your belly is empty and the sun has baked your skin into blisters.
Taleed sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'm kind of useless, aren't I? You do all the work – all the rowing. I'm no good for anything."
Haldeed signed, You're good at thinking, why don't you think of something?
"You're right, I will." Taleed started to pace back and forth. After a few minutes he jumped up and down startling Haldeed. "Sorry . . . But I've got it, Haldeed! You can weave us hats like you did the paddle, only leave a hole in the middle for our heads to go through then our faces will be blocked from the sun."
Fine for my face but what about my belly? Haldeed signed.
Taleed paced some more then started jumping up and down again, this time Haldeed was prepared for it. "I've got it! We could trap some colimaçon; the river is filthy with them. We just make a cone out of reeds, put a worm in the bottom of it, have a string on the cone, and when a colimaçon gets inside we pull it out.
Maybe I can think of a way to watch the trap while you make hats. That would be useful!"
Haldeed nodded. As soon as he finished the repair on the boat, he went to work on the colimaçon trap. He tied the string from the trap to Taleed's big toe as instructed.
A few minutes later Taleed pulled the trap out of the water. Inside was a five-inch round mollusk. Haldeed dumped it on the ground and killed it by breaking its shell with a rock. Taleed caught six before they quit catching them. Haldeed made a fire and cleaned the colimaçon cutting it's guts out and scraping the shell away. They weren't very complicated animals, and were mostly flesh, so they roasted them on sticks and had quite a feast. As they roasted their feast, they caught some of the oil off the colimaçon in a small jar. When it cooled to a jell-like consistency they rubbed it on their sun burned skin.
They fell asleep that night with their sunburn eased and their bellies full. They were getting used to life on the river.
* * *
At the palace Taheed stormed around in a foul mood. "What do you mean you have not found him?" he screamed at Toulan, Captain of the King's royal Army. "How far could they have gotten on foot? You've been looking for them for days. Are you telling me that the whole of the King's army is unable to find a missing handless youth and his mute servant? They are young and inexperienced, and this time they did not even take the royal vehicle; they are on foot! You find him. Find Taleed before the priests realize that he's missing. Find him before the people find out and we all lose face."
"Sire . . . he was not abducted. He has run away again, and no one would dare to find you at fault. Not even the priests, for you are infallible," Toulan said.
Taheed launched himself onto his throne and turned to glare at the big man. "Then you shouldn't think me harsh when I tell you that if you do not bring the prince home safely, and soon, I shall have your head removed from your shoulders by way of pulling. Now get out of my sight!"
* * *
They had been talking, and so neither of them had noticed that the water was moving faster. By the time they did it was too late; they were caught up in the current. Taleed quickly turned around so that he could see where they were going. He didn't like what he saw; it looked like . . . Yes, it was! They were about to go over some falls.
"Jump, Haldeed, jump!" Taleed screamed and turned the boat over in his hurry to get out.
"Haldeed! Haldeed!" Taleed screamed. He went down but quickly kicked his way to the surface. Before he had a chance to remember that he couldn't swim, he was doing it. He realized that at least in this instance the fake hands were actually of use. Cupped as they were with the wires inside they actually helped him to pull through the water. He made it to shore with less effort than he would have thought and hauled himself out of the water. There was no time for him to celebrate his newfound skill, though. Haldeed was missing.
"Haldeed! Haldeed!" Taleed screamed into the waves. But he saw nothing. No trace of his lifelong friend. He scurried down the hill to the bottom of the falls. They weren't that tall maybe only a ten-foot drop. "Haldeed! Haldeed!" Then he saw the body bobbing on the water. He dove in without delay, and with his new found ability swam over to Haldeed. He rolled him onto his back and took hold of his shirt collar with his teeth. Then he started kicking and splashing his way to the shore. When he reached shallow water, he hooked his arms under Haldeed's and pulled him out. It was then that he realized to his horror that Haldeed wasn't breathing. He thought quick; perhaps if he breathed his own air into Haldeed it would help. He knelt beside his friend and breathed into his mouth once, twice, three times. On the third time Haldeed spit out water, coughed and started to breath.
Haldeed sat up slowly and looked at Taleed. What happened?
"I learned to swim!" Taleed said excitedly.
* * *
"You want me to do what?" Mickey asked. He looked at Diana to see if she understood, but she shrugged – just as confused as he was.
"I want you to get John Henry, take his prostheses off of him and paint him brown," RJ repeated with obvious impatience.
Mickey shrugged and wrote it down. "All right go on," Mickey said.
"After he's brown all over, fit him with a silver jump suit. Meanwhile, I want you to find where they're training the Beta 4 humanoids. This shouldn't be too hard for Marge. Tell her they're calling them 'livestock.' No doubt they realize that we can tap into any of their communications and have made sure that no red flags would pop up.
"Next, I want you to have our people sneak John Henry in to the Beta 4 training facility. If he's painted brown and wearing his prostheses, it shouldn't be too hard to make the guards think he's one of the Beta 4 humanoids. He'll have the silver jump suit under his clothes, and when night comes and the guards aren't in sight, he's to take off his prostheses and his outer clothing, leaving him clothed only in the jump suit. Make sure he knows not to let the Beta 4 humanoids see him do this. Then he should go to the Beta 4's, being careful not to be caught by the guards, and he should say this to them, My children the time has come to fight. You must cleanse the Earth with the blood of the Reliance people. Rise up and smite your oppressor. If he says this exactly – or at least close enough, they will listen to him and do exactly as he says, so you have to make sure that nothing happens to him until they have successfully joined with our people in Zone 2-A."
"Are you alright, RJ?" Mickey asked looking at the list he held in his hands.
"It sounds crazy, but it's a good sound plan, Mickey. So just do it," RJ ordered.
"Okay, RJ," Mickey said. "If you say so."
"Alright, tell me what you're supposed to do."
"Take a handless man, paint him brown, put him in a silver jump suit. Sneak him into the camp where they are training the Beta 4 humanoids, and have him tell them that they have to cleanse the earth with the blood of the Reliance. Don't worry; I wrote it all down," Mickey said.
"You have a super computer, and you wrote it down!" RJ laughed.
Mickey looked at Diana and shrugged, then said more to her than to RJ, "It helps me remember."
"And a super computer can't?" RJ asked.
Mickey smiled in spite of himself. "Is that all RJ?"
"No. One more thing," RJ said. "Tell John Henry try to sound like a god."
"Is this a joke, RJ?" Mickey asked.
"Would I call you across the vastness of space to play a joke on you?" RJ replied.
Mickey thought about it for a moment. "Yes, I think you would."
"Well, I'm not. Now just do it. Believe me, you want these people on your side."
Chapter Six
Smoke and flames and screams. Levits found himself on the bridge of the ship screaming into the com-link. "Abandon ship! Abandon ship!"
What the hell had happened? He had been farting around when he should have been on the bridge. He had thought they were safe; he hadn't realized they were in any danger until they'd been hit. They'd spit back a long stream of return fire on the alien ship, but it was too little too late. One of the hits had caused a fire, and that fire was running through the ship unchecked because for some reason the extinguishing system wasn't working. He got hit full in the face with the smell of burning flesh and when he rounded the corner he stepped on the corpse of one of his friends.
It was all over now, they were all going to die, and it was his fault. His fault because he had been lax. His fault because he hadn't given the order to evacuate till it was too late, and his fault that he didn't go down with the ship.
Levits woke up screaming and was glad to see RJ sitting on the bed beside him. She must have shaken him awake. He drew a deep, shuddering breath and let it out. "What are you doing here?" he asked when his mind cleared. "Is something wrong with the ship? Who's at the helm?"
"Relax. Nothing's wrong with the ship, and Poley is at the helm," RJ said. She rubbed a hand down his shoulder. "Everyone's asleep. I felt your distress. Must have been one hell of a dream."
"You wouldn't understand," Levits said.<
br />
"No, of course not. That's why I was awake when everyone else was asleep. I have my own horrors, Levits."
"Yes, but nothing that has ever happened . . . None of it has been your fault," Levits said as he sat up in bed.
RJ laughed, although definitely not amused. "I wish I could convince myself of that. Everyone has their what if's, Levits. What if I'd done that instead of this, or this instead of that? If only I'd paid more attention, if only I'd gone forward instead of backwards. If I'd been faster, smarter, more alert. If only the fucking bedroom door hadn't been closed. If only I hadn't let David leave," RJ said. "I'm sure whatever you think you have done was no more your fault."
He nodded. She really did understand.