Chains of Freedom (45 page)

She'd done everything possible to reach a position of high standing. She'd tried sleeping her way up the ranks. Hell, she'd even tried working hard. Every attempt at getting ahead had failed miserably. She was tired of waiting for the things she wanted.

So she went AWOL.

She knew where she was going, and why. She was going to Alsterase, the city of the damned. She'd heard stories of it from spies who had worked there, and it sounded marvelous. All she had dreamed of could be purchased there for as little as her 'services' for a night.

She had no doubt that she would become the most sought after whore in Alsterase. She'd dyed her hair, but that didn't change what she was. She smiled; finally she was going to have it all.

She could see the city just ahead of her now. She was home free. She had made it all the way here without being harassed by either the Reliance or the Rebels, and she felt quite lucky.

The barricade was so well hidden she almost didn't see it. She screeched to a halt, two well-armed men stepped out of hiding, and she knew she had crowed too soon. Considering the fact that she was AWOL and driving a stolen vehicle, she had believed that she'd rather see Rebels than Reliance. She now realized that at least with the Reliance she knew what to expect. Obviously the Rebels had taken over Alsterase, and it was just as obvious that the reason why the Reliance didn't know this was that no one left Alsterase alone.

"Halt!" one man ordered unnecessarily.

"I'm halted," Kirsty said shakily.

"Get out of the vehicle, slowly."

"No problem." Kirsty opened her door carefully, keeping her hands in sight at all times, and slowly got out of the vehicle.

One man rushed forward. He pushed her against the car roughly and started to search her. "She's clean," he told his partner.

Kirsty mentally patted herself on the back for leaving her weapon in the vehicle.

"What do you want here?" the man demanded. The second man started searching her vehicle. Kirsty held her breath.

"I . . . I was a farm worker . . . I couldn't take it anymore. I tried to get a group together to fight the Reliance. To help the Rebellion. They caught me, and I had to run." This she knew was very close to their dead hero's story. Kirsty was no man's fool; she turned on the tears. "I can't believe you guys are going to treat me the same way. I didn't even hope to find you. I was just looking for a place to hide."

"Look here!" The man searching the car held up a laser sidearm.

"It's not mine!" Kirsty gasped. "I stole this car when I ran."

"What do you think?" the one asked the other, obviously skeptical. Before the second had a chance to answer, she increased the intensity of her tears by half, and started to sob loudly.

"I'm not wanted anywhere! Why don't you go ahead and kill me? Get it over with!" she cried hysterically.

"Now, now, what's all this?" A third man had arrived. She heard the authority in his voice. She dried her eyes and looked at the newcomer. She damn near fell over with shock.

David Grant was alive.

David Grant was alive and well and living in Alsterase.

She really
was
going to get everything she had ever wanted, and she wasn't going to have to stay in some backwater slum to get it.

They were sitting around in RJ and Whitey's room playing bottle caps. The entire game consisted of trying to throw bottle caps into a cup.

"That's it." Whitey reached over and took all RJ's bottle caps away from her. "You can't play anymore."

"Why not?" RJ asked with mock sorrow.

"Because you never miss," Levits said as his shot hit the cup, bounced off the rim and landed on the floor.

"Poley can't play either," Mickey said from his perch atop the coffee table.

"Oh, I see," Poley said with a pout. "If you're good at the game, you can't play." He stomped over and lay down beside RJ on the bed.

RJ stroked his dark hair lovingly.

"Let him play," she ordered.

"I don't want to play," Poley pouted. Poley was becoming more and more humanized. Because of this, he was starting to resent being treated differently.

"You can play, Poley," Mickey said. "Just kidding."

"No." Poley was adamant.

"Quit being such a baby," Sandra said in disbelief. "Come and play with us, Poley."

"Ah, leave him alone," Whitey smiled. "Now that RJ and Poley have quit, I'm winning!"

Just then David walked in with a girl and upset Whitey's shot. Sandra won the game and started cheering for herself, doing a happy little dance all around the room as she did so.

They had to be the strangest group Kirsty had ever seen. But it was the woman lying in the middle of the bed that captured all Kirsty's attention. The woman just lay there and sort of oozed charisma out over the room. She was stunningly beautiful, and a half-breed like herself. Her clothing, like that of most of the others, was scant. Only a leather loincloth and a black tank top. Then there was the chain. It was wrapped around her waist and was decorated with coins. It had a feeling all its own, as if it were as alive and vital as the woman who wore it.

Kirsty didn't have to ask; she knew. This was RJ, the reigning Queen of the New Alliance.

"She is not one of us," Poley announced.

RJ nodded. She got up from the bed and adjusted her scant clothing. She nodded her head. "Sandra."

Before Kirsty knew what was happening, the redheaded woman planted her against the wall and searched her, thoroughly.

"For God's sake!" David protested.

"She's clean," Sandra announced.

Kirsty started to cry again just for good measure. David Grant seemed impressed by this dramatic show of fear, and she was going to play it for all it was worth.

RJ wasn't impressed. She circled Kirsty, looking her over as if she were a bug she wanted to crush. Then Kirsty felt the pressure on her mind. A pressure she had only felt on two other occasions. She was able to keep RJ out . . . just barely.

"Where did you get her?" RJ demanded.

"She just came in. She's running from the Reliance. I don't think . . ."

"That's right, you don't," RJ said hotly. "She could be a spy or worse."

Poley got off the bed and adjusted his clothing as was his habit. "Is she a hybrid?" Poley asked.

"Yes, and well shielded," RJ answered.

Kirsty was liking this less and less. RJ knew what she was. She didn't know what to do now. She had the feeling that if she did the wrong thing she would end up dead. Just when her whole life was about to come together, too. She threw her arms around David's neck, and started to cry even louder. "What are they talking about? I'm so tired . . . What are they saying about me?"

"She can't be unaware of what she is," Sandra accused. The way she clung to David was enough to make Sandra hate her on sight.

"She's dyed her hair," Levits agreed. Of course, Levits would have agreed with Sandra if she had suggested that they all dive out the window buck naked.

"What's that got to do with anything?" David asked harshly.

"If she isn't aware of what she is, there would be no reason to try and hide it." RJ scratched her chin. This was a real problem. Usually, she could count on her empathic abilities to give her some insight when she was checking out new people. But this girl had that same ability, and she was purposely using it to keep RJ out.

The problem was that she couldn't hold that against her, because she herself was well shielded, and would have done the same thing. She was sure the girl not only knew what she was, but had more than likely been a Reliance soldier. Her size would have kept her from going very high up in the ranks; she was only about five-four and petite, but they would have utilized her in some other way. The Reliance didn't believe in wasting a hybrid's talents.

"What was your rank?" RJ rapped out.

"I don't know what you mean. I . . . I was a class-two farm worker. I helped in the kitchens, processing sugar beets." Kirsty moved her head off David's shoulder and dried her eyes. Much to her dismay, RJ caught her gaze and held it.

"You're full of shit," RJ said, matter-of-factly, and lay back down on the bed.

"I'm telling the truth." Kirsty looked with big, innocent eyes at David. "Why would I lie?"

There were a lot of reasons that RJ could think of, but only about half of them were treacherous. In the girl's position, RJ herself would probably have lied. But this was not a reason to trust her. Something about the girl troubled RJ. Made her uncomfortable. If she were truly sincere, she could be a real asset. If she wasn't . . . she could be big trouble. The safest thing to do would be to kill her, but RJ knew she would never slip that one by David—or the others, for that matter. It did seem an awful waste if the girl were sincere. RJ thought for a moment. She scratched her chin again, and got comfortable on the bed.

"I don't believe your story for a minute, and I don't trust you. Still, killing you outright seems a little premature. Sooo . . ." She took a long breath. "You will stay out of restricted areas. You will not leave the city. You will not carry, or even pick up, a weapon. The same goes for a communicator of any shape or form. Failure to comply will lead to your immediate termination. Do you understand?" RJ looked at her nails, but still saw Kirsty nod her head. "I said, do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" Kirsty said loudly.

"That was a rather military response to authority," Sandra whispered to Levits who nodded his head in agreement.

"RJ," David shook his head in disbelief. "Aren't you carrying all this a bit . . ."

"Actually, David," she addressed him with the same disbelieving tone he had used on her, "I'm being rather lenient. As you know, this is a restricted area, as is any area containing more than two members of the inner circle. I trust you will remember that in the future and not bring strangers into our midst." Her voice clearly showed her displeasure.

"RJ . . ."

"She has exactly five seconds to leave this room."

"Fine!" David left with her, slamming the door behind him.

"Don't like it," Mickey said.

"You just said a mouthful, my friend." RJ got up and started to pace back and forth. After several moments, she stopped.

"Sandra, Levits, make a run of the city. Make sure everyone knows this girl's restrictions, and that they have orders to kill her if she breaks them."

"Poley, Mickey, get over to the island, make a composite drawing and see what Marge can come up with on her."

They each indicated that they heard and understood, and then just stood there. "Go! Now!" They practically ran into each other getting out the door.

"What do you want me to do?" Whitey asked.

RJ looked at him and smiled slyly. "Well, I'm very tense."

Jessica had been dancing on air for weeks. David Grant was dead, and now she and RJ were closer to being even.

RJ had killed her lover, and now Jessica's army had killed RJ's lover.

The death of the people's "leader" had stopped the weekly transmissions, and it had left them disheartened, sucking all the wind out of their sails. Their raids met with defeat after defeat. This had all worked together to make Jessica a very happy little dictator. Till today. Till she looked at the information concerning the Reliance's latest 'victory' and noticed a pattern.

"That bitch!" Jessica screamed and slung something large and glass against the far wall. Right ducked just in time.

"What's wrong, Jessy?" Right asked in confusion.

"She's losing on purpose!" Jessica ranted. She stood up and started pacing back and forth behind her desk.

"That's nonsense, Jessica. You're being paranoid," Right laughed at her suspicions. "Really, Jessy. Listen to yourself."

"This morning . . ." She walked over and turned the computer screen so that Right could see it. "This morning, they tried to destroy an alcohol plant. We lost seventy-three men, but we were able to drive them back."

Right started to interject, but Jessica held up her hand. "We were able to drive them back only after they had blown up two of the three stills on site. We found the bodies of thirty Rebels. So, you tell me who lost." She punched some buttons on her keyboard and new data filled the screen. Right read it quickly, his eyebrows raised slightly. "They're all the same." She started punching buttons and screens of data scrolled in front of him too fast for a mere mortal to read. "They appear to have lost every single one of these battles, but in every case they either accomplished their objective or did so much damage that they may as well have been victorious. Then they got away."

"But why . . ."

"Isn't that obvious, Right? If it looks like we're winning, the World Commissioner will send the extra troops back where they belong. She's trying to make us overconfident." Jessica sat down and shook her head. "I tell you, Right. At times, I feel that I will never beat her."