Shaking her head , Jolleen shuddered at the thought of going to bed with him almost making her sick. She patted the pouch with the weapon making her feel whole and unafraid again. Thanking Mark for giving her life back but glad he was not there with her at that moment to confuse her even more. She was supposed to meet Marks Mother later for another stupid therapy session before she went to bed and maybe she would ask her about her problem with Mark. Maybe the doctor she would understand it. That was if she could get enough nerve to talk about it to his mother. At least the attempted rape… No! Out right Rape. Was not so traumatizing now a few hours after the last session with Mark’s mother. Why they insisted that she had several sessions with the ships Shrink before going to bed was beyond her understanding. Looking down at the bracelet she wore to make sure she did not sleep until Marks mother approved, was simply ship’s policy after any traumatic occurrence according to the Doctor. Which actually was just fine with her as she did not really think she would ever sleep again.
Patting her pocket she smiled again and yawned . Well maybe with a damn good alarm and a big lock on her bedroom door. Well maybe her parent’s cabin hatch since the bedrooms did not have locks. Though Marks mother had said something about getting a lock for her bedroom if she decided she wanted one. Taking a breath she yawned again shaking her head . Maybe she would let them put a lock on the door after all. Jolleen patted the new converted torch in her pouch again and smiled as she yawned yet again. Turning she went to break up the water fight the cleaning job had degenerated into as screams of delight with the sound of splashing water echoing from the clubhouse end of the container. At least this was a clean mess.
--------------------------
Mark and Kay ran up to the Chines restaurant bursting through the wide open hatch. It was the same one he had been in with Dian when Chet and his goons had attacked him behind her back . Suddenly making Mark hesitate as he caught his breath from the run. Looking out the open cargo hatch and the rows of star transports lit up in the distance got his mind off his problems.
“Out of breath that quickly love. You are going to have to start running with me in the mornings to get you into shape.”
In school they always had calisthenics in the morning to get everyone woken up and the blood going, making learning easier, but he was now, way too busy in the mornings to work out or run after breakfast but even then he should not have ran out of breath that fast. Hoping it was just after effects of his stay in the Sickbay. Looking at her for a few seconds noticing how well buil t d Kay she was, he turned and spotted his parents right away and started for them. He could see that they had not waited for them to his relief.
Sitting down Mark swallowed at his mother’s disapproving glance stare . Taking a deep breath. “Sorry we took so long but we have spent the last 45 45 minutes in the Clubhouse with Jolleen and the gang. It took me that long to put together a couple of laser pistols while Kay pitched in and helped Jolleen and the others to clean up the mess from this aaa. Shit! I can’t remember if that was this morning or last night. I guess I was worse off than I thought.”
Looking down puzzled. “Aaa anyway Jolleen is a lot happier with the mess cleaned up and a weapon. I think someone would have to pry it from her cold dead hands to get it from her the way she was acting when I gave it to her.” His mother smiling with approval now she knew they had not spent a lot of time in his cabin as well as knowing that the crutch of a t he weapon would go a long way to easing Jolleen ’ s pain and apprehension since she evidentially wanted one . The feeling of having control over her life again would do wonders. Though she would have to spend some time emphasizing her responsibilities for carrying a weapon. More than glad as well to find out for sure that Mark had not taken Kays offers of gratitude.
But then she knew that nothing had happened as soon as she saw the two of them since they would have been acting a lot differently if they had copulated. Either entwined or at each other’s throats or most likely even worse, Kay acting like a subservient dog trying to keep her master happy, afraid of displeasing him as so many long term abused rape victims did in any following relation if they entered one to soon without enough of the proper therapy. While they had waited for them to get to the restaurant , back she had been going over Kay’s file after having to go through the Captain to get to the files Kay’s father had managed to get the ship’s court to seal. She did not like what she had been reading.
Mark smiled sheepishly. “I see you guys have finished. You don’t have to wait around for us to eat. For some reason I am starving.” Hoping the feeling in his gut was hunger and not something else since he had ea ten only an hour before. Turning to Kay. “Aaa, how about you? Aaa. You can get something to go if you have something or place you need to be. I didn’t mean to put you to work back at the Club. Sorry.”
Smiling. “I am the one that volunteered remember. You didn’t put me to work anyplace.” Looking out the windows cut into the side overlooking the open hold hatch down at the menu . “Now this is a nice place overlooking the hold with the pits outside the hatch and a nice breeze filling the hold with fresh air as well as good company I can finally relax around. I am starving too and not a damn place elsewhere I would rather be.” Looking at Mark’s parents. “I must apologize for acting a little strange up on the Messdeck, sometimes I get a bit paranoid. Please forgive me, I am still getting used to being out on my own without a babysitter.”
Mark’s mother smiled over at Kay. “Don’t think a second about it. Not everyone has to deal with what you have been through. You two go ahead and order and if you don’t mind, we will stay and visit while you eat. We were not really looking forward to a night trying to figure out what programs this planet has that are worth watching anyway.”
They spent the next half hour with small talk and then as Mark’s parents joined them for desert. His mother asked Kay. “Now tell me what did you take from the Club after you finished helping clean up all the blood and gore?” Deliberately being crude.
“MOM? What kind of Question is that?”
His mother ignored him as she waited for the answer. Staring at Kay without blinking.
Suddenly getting a scarred look on her face as she looked down bighting her lip. Glancing at her purse and then the exit.
“You need not worry, we will not punish you for taking whatever it was. What you chose, will tell me volumes about the real you. The you that I need to help get past all the abuse. Mark won’t hate or think less of you, he knows how hurt you are but we need to know.”
Bighting her lip she looked up at Mark like a scarred rabbit as she looked down at her purse. “I… I was going to take a cute little stuffed pink toy animal… but then I saw the knife hidden under the broken sim, with blood still on it that must have been used to rape Jolleen with , so I took it instead.” She took the knife out and placed it in the middle of the table. “I am sorry.” Tears streaming down her face as she t r ied to look anyplace but the blood stained knife. .
“Very good.” Mark’s mother smiled at Kay. “Now tell me why you changed your mind and picked the knife? The other knife you had was long and thin. A fish skinning knife your father probably used for fishing on the many water worlds we visit. Even the steak knife was small and easy to hide. This is a military butcher knife, damn hard to use without practice let alone hide trying to steel it. Mark has several knives in his workshop you had to have seen when you entered that would have fit what you preferred better. Why take this one?”
Looking up at Mark’s mother as Mark and his father looked on surprised. “I was going to take one of those when we left along with the toy for helping . B b ut if Jolleen found the bloody knife, it would terrorize her for weeks bringing back memories she was trying to forget.” Getting a determined look. “Believe me , I’ve been through it. All the blood and gore had her concentrating on her attackers paying for her pain with their lives which is better than withdrawing into herself, wishing she could die. One look at the knife before the bad memo
ries had time to fade would bring all the bad memories of the attack crashing down, flooding out the good memory’s maybe forever and maybe driving her into that deep hole she could never climb back out of. Believe me please. I have seen too many of my fathers victims do just that dis . If I could keep her from seeing the knife maybe I would spar her all that pain.” Shrugging her shoulders. “Then when we were in the shop right next to the knives Jolleen jerked Mark’s pants down and I forgot all about aaa , anything else.” She started licking her lips for a few seconds b efore dragging her mind back to the present . “Or I would have taken the other knife as well which you are right, is a much easier to hide even if it is not as good a weapon. As for the toy? I was starting to feel like family with the gang and didn’t really want the toy anymore. ” The fact that she had only wanted the toy in the first place to make her feel in control, escaped her but not Mark’s mother.
Mark’s mother looked at Mark after hearing about his pants. “Jerked your pants down?”
“Jolleen was just putting the magnetic backing plate down my pants to hold the gun holster.” Mark pleaded in explanation. Realizing it sounded bad no matter how he said it as he stood up and showed them the holster and torch weapon hanging in the pocket on off the front side of his thigh. Then sitting back down.
“Very good Kay.” His mother turned back to Kay. “Ah, you can keep the knife if it makes you feel more comfortable. Go ahead and put it away.”
“Aaa Mrs. Collins, I would rather not. I like Jolleen and I really don’t want to have a knife that hurt her. Please take it. I will buy something more suitable for my needs tomorrow.”
Mark’s father started to take it only to have Kay suddenly grab it with his hand only a few inches away from it. “Maybe I will just keep it until I get something more suitable.”
Mark chuckled as he pulled a small cylinder out of his other thigh pocket. “Aa, if I may.” Mark held the half inch diameter 6 inch long cylinder up into the air and squeezed it with his hand around it for a couple of second s and a thin tubular beam of light rose up out of the top some 12 inches. The 1/8th inch tube of light sparking and sizzling in the air. Mark picked up a set of chop sticks and held them up into the beam only to have the end s of the sticks fall off. The beam cutting the chopsticks in half. “I found this in a flea market years ago but could never figure out what it was for. It is too blunt for cutting anything with since it takes too big a chunk out of anything it cuts which by the way is anything I have tried it on, even solid steel. It does not drill a hole worth shit either since any movement at all makes the hole oblong making it worthless unless you just want to cut something up. It is fairly safe since it won’t turn on in the first place if it is pointed at anything or unless you do something rather complicated I will go into later. It will also shut off if you lose your grip or stop holding it tight enough.”
Mark holding it above the table, let go and the beam disappeared before it started falling.
Picking it back up and starting to hand it to Kay, Mark stopped. “Listen, I don’t want to fuck you…No, I do… No, I mean… B b ut I…I mean. I like you and I want to be your friend and someday…” Already turning beet red Mark turned and handed it to his mother. “You give it to her Mom. This isn’t illegal I think and she can use it or I mean hold it without turning it on or anyone knowing what it is let alone being threatened by it unless they do attack her. Though I think it is Imperial tech and probably worth a lot of money now that I think about it even though I didn’t pay much for it in the flea market.” Suddenly wondering if he really wanted to get rid of it but realizing it was too late now after already offering it to her. But then he really didn’t have a use for it… Except to maybe protect himself as a second standby weapon or even a first weapon without having to carry a pistol around. Why had he not thought of that before?
Lo oking at the small tube Mark frowned as he sighed. What the heck. He would just probably cut his own hand off with it anyway if he did try to use it for a weapon. At least it sounded like Kay had some training with knives by what she had said in the clubhouse. Mark resigned himself to getting rid of the little piece of Empire tech worth a good million credits though he didn’t know it was worth that much and Mickey never did tell him.
His mother took it , looked it over then thinking for a few seconds befo re she then handed it over the table to Kay. “This is a gift with no strings attached. Normal people do not expect or demand favors in return for gifts. The gentleman on the Mess deck is a good example but it was thoughtful and polite not to take it since it was their last one. Remember that polite people do not take the last of anything if they have already had one or if someone else needs it.” Holding onto the cylinder as Kay grabbed it. “Mark saved your life because you needed help at the time and we are helping now because you still do. And we will continue to help you as long as you try your best, stay polite and respectful and never lie to us. We will never ask anything else from you including sex or money or any other favors from you in any way. Though you will be expected to do certain things and chores everyone has to do to live and take care of themselves and loved ones. Never anything we would not do ourselves.” Mark’s mother l L et ting go of the cylinder as Kay continued to hold it over the table for a while until her hand slowly lowered to the table top.
Mark took a deep breath still not sure he was doing the right thing . H alf afraid she was going to cut her own hand off with it. “Ok try turning it on. The beam will always come out the flat end and not the rounded end. There is also several rings around the top you have to squeeze hard before it will turn on but won’t turn on if your fingers are over or get to o close to the top . Which does get hot after a few seconds. ”
It took her several minutes to get the beam to appear out of the end of the cylinder after starting to get frustrated. The second time was a little easier the fifth time she had no problem getting it to turn on. Cutting up several chop sticks into little pieces.
“It seems to have some kind of bio activation lock on it so the more you use it the easier it will turn on and respond to you . So you should practice with it in private regularly.”
Mickey spoke into Mark’s ears. “Mark, the light saber has a lock on it to prevent anyone but its owner from using. The blade can also be lengthened to several feet or shortened to a fraction of an inch. ”
Not having a clue that the little tube could do wh at Mickey had said, Mark swallowed. “Aaa. I just found out Kay , that you have what is called a light saber and its blade can be extended out to several feet or even shortened. It also has a bio lock to keep anyone else from using it.” Taking a deep br eath Mark decided he really didn’t want her having it after all. Trying to be diplomatic Mark continued. “Have you had any training in using long knives? You said something in the shop about needing a lot of practice to use a knife properly.” Taking a breath as he looked at her holding the lightsaber above the table. “Maybe we need to look for a more suitable weapon for you.”
Kay suddenly pulled the tube to her chest as the beam went out , covering it with her hands between her breasts as she looked at Mark with several strange not very polite expressions crossing her face before she bit her lower lip and smiled at Mark. “Don’t worry love. I have a black belt in fencing and staff fighting. I promise not to cut my leg off and having something that no one else can use is a big relief to me and should be to you as well lo ve.” Taking a deep breath she looked down as she slowly let it all out then held the tube out to Mark. “But if it is a problem , it is yours if you want it back. I don’t know why you gave it to me in the first place unless you forgot and just remembered ”
“Well sometimes I am a bit slow thinking things through.” Mark grimaced as his mind raced. “Damn. You said you have training so you must know how to use it safely and you haven’t killed anyone with the knife you have been carrying around for years , so I guess you have the sense when not to use it.” Taking a deep breath. “No. You go ahead and keep it and I will lock it so only you
can ever use it again since you seemed to like that idea . ” Mark , with Mickey’s help , showed her how to lengthen the blade an d shorten it up again as well as get around the lock that kept it from harming anyo ne. T he n had her grip it for several minutes as Mickey programmed it to her bois so no one else could ever use it. That is except for Mark who without knowing had played with it long enough that his bio’s were already in it.
Kay finely carefully placed the cylinder into her purse and then slid the big knife across the table. Clutching the purse to her breast with both hands smiling from ear to ear as she stared at Mark. Tears running down her face.
“Now Kay.” Mark’s mother said getting Kay ’ s attention. “Your other psychologists think you are a hopeless crazy basket case after the short time you were with each of them. But I think after reading their files, that you were acting out because your father was forcing you to see them go . Probably While telling you that if you told them about anything illegal or detrimental like him raping you, he would kill them and you.” Sitting back watching her reactions telling her she had hit the ball into orbit. “Starting tomorrow morning you are going to start seeing me a couple times a day for a while until we can iron out a few things in your mind. But this has to be voluntary with the knowledge that your father can no longer hurt you or me.”
Mark’s mother took a breath and seemed to relax as she sat back and smiled at Kay. “Now, one other thing is that you will now need to pick a job. Your father has been keeping you in school to make sure he could control you. The first step in getting you out from under him is a job making you completely independent. You can take your time but the full time, extended schooling stops now. The classes he had you in where mostly worthless anyway. The Captain would like to put you into the Cadet program that will give you a taste of most of the jobs around the ship until you pick one. You are a bit old but it is a start.”
Trampship Wars 2 Page 22