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Chapter Sixteen

They took the target completely by surprise, and in thirty minutes the more than eighty men who had manned the installation lay dead. The New Alliance had taken very few casualties. Their dead and wounded were carried out in one of three top-of-the-line helicopters they claimed as part of their plunder.

The attack was so clean and so well executed that they were back in Alsterase swilling down beer and crowing over their victory before the Reliance was even aware it had been hit.

"What did she get this time?" Jessica asked in a hiss.

"Three WH-11 helicopters, seven antiaircraft lasers, 2000 laser sidearms, 300 gross of power packs, 4000 B-Q-56 land mines, 600 cases of K-rations, forty thousand square feet of urban camo-netting . . ."

"In other words, everything." She tried to calm herself. "In broad daylight, Right!"

"It would appear that way, Senator." Right worked on not flinching.

"How many men did she have with her?"

"Footprint analysis shows five, but . . ."

"Five!" Jessica screamed. "Five men couldn't have driven the trucks necessary . . ."

"If you will allow me to finish, Senator . . . We had five confirmed Elite-type boot prints. All other footprints on site were normal second-class issue. But, if you remember, RJ stole a load of boots . . ."

"Fine, Right." She stood up slowly. "I want the area cordoned off. I want roadblocks. I want big guns to blast her ass away. But I won't have it!" Jessica lost it. "By now, she's sitting around soaking up beer and laughing. And do you know who she's laughing at, Right? ME!" Her eyes grew large and fanatical. "She's laughing at me! And do you know why she's laughing at me, Right?" She twisted her head around on her neck at an odd angle, resembling a bird of prey eyeing its victim. Not a shred of sanity evident. "I'll tell you why. Because I am ridiculous, that's why." She raised a fist and brought it down on her desk, smashing it in two.

Right looked at the broken oak desk in disbelief for a moment, then he shook as realization filtered into his brain. Fear replaced surprise as Jessica's blue eyes bored through him.

"The real problem, Right," she said punctuating her words by hitting her palm with her fist, "is that you can't fight yourself." Then giving him a contemptuous look she added, "You only think you know what I am, Right." Jessica spoke slowly, succinctly and quietly, but Right had never been more terrified. "You're only close." Without warning she jumped over the remains of her desk, grabbed him by his collar and lifted him out of his chair with ease. "Don't ever pretend to know what I am, Right. Because whatever you guess, you will be wrong." She did that odd thing with her head again, and Right knew just how a rabbit felt. "I am much more than you can ever hope to guess, and not at all sanctioned by the Reliance." She visibly struggled to calm down. Then she set Right down in his chair with precision and carefully straightened his collar. "The only thing you need to know," she whispered in his ear as she finished straightening his collar, "is that RJ and I are the same, and that if you tell anyone what I am, I'll kill you first." As she said "kill" she gently wrapped her hand around Right's throat. She held that pose for a moment that seemed like an eternity to Right. The she released him and stood up briskly. "You may go." She waved her hand dismissively towards the door.

Right couldn't get out of the room fast enough. As he practically ran down the hall away from her office he looked at his hands. They were shaking. He had underestimated Jessica Kirk. Not just because of what she was, but because of what she had become. She was obsessed. She didn't give a damn about the Reliance anymore. It was simply a pawn in the game she was playing with RJ. It had gone far beyond wanting retribution for the death of her lover. Jack Bristol was a hundred years ago, and had very little to do with what was driving Jessica now.

She couldn't win. She kept playing the game, doing everything right, and RJ kept winning. That was what was really bothering Jessica, the fact that she was losing. If she didn't get a piece of RJ soon, her brain was going to snap like a twig. If she was what he thought she was, God help them all when it did. Right felt trapped. He couldn't go crawling back to Jago now. He was stuck. Stuck with Jessica Kirk and RJ.

 

They sat around a table at the Golden Arches, celebrating their latest victory. All around them they could hear stories of the battle being told. Some of the stories were true, some were highly embellished, and some were out-and-out lies. It was the stuff of which legends are made.

David sat on one side of RJ, Whitey on the other.

"Oh! I almost forgot." She pulled a coin from her pocket and wrapped it around a link of the chain.

The inner circle looked on, cheering approvingly. All except Alexi that is. He had watched her do this every time they won a battle. It never seemed to occur to anyone else that she shouldn't be able to do that. Alexi had seen hybrids before. Hell, he had fought beside them. None of them had been as strong as this single feat proved RJ was.

RJ wasn't just a hybrid. There was something else. He had become even more convinced of this since Poley's arrival. The dude just wasn't normal. He didn't talk much, and when he did, he was always deadpan serious. He didn't sweat. He didn't use his hands when standing up from a sitting position. The list of weirdnesses just went on and on. Whatever Poley was, he was not human. Probably didn't even have any human origins. Since he was RJ's brother, there was a good chance that she didn't either.

Alexi took a good, long, hard look at RJ. He found himself doing that more and more these days. He didn't seem to be able to help himself. In spite of his utter contempt for RJ, he found himself almost uncontrollably aroused by her. He would like to have her out of the way. He would also like to hump her till his brains fell out. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop fantasizing about her. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd bedded a woman and didn't pretend that she was RJ.

There was something very sensual in the way that RJ moved. Something in the shape of her mouth that seemed to promise pleasure. Her eyes shone with superior intellect and savage energy, a strange combination, and one Alexi found distractingly alluring. There was something uniquely feminine about RJ. Something that couldn't be hidden with guns or chains or even the fact that she could snap a grown man like a twig.

Sometimes, when he was so close to her that he could smell her, sweet and salty and pressing all the right buttons, he would have to remind himself that she was the enemy. RJ was all that stood between him and his goal of power. With RJ out of the way he had no doubt that the position of warlord of the New Alliance would fall to him.

If Alexi hated RJ, he hated Whitey Baldor even more. Hated him, in fact, more than he had ever hated anyone in his life. Not so much because Whitey had beaten him senseless, but because he had RJ. He knew that Whitey did to RJ all the things he only dreamed of doing. He hated Whitey a little more every time he saw him touch her. Sometimes he thought Whitey did it just to taunt him.

As if to give fuel to his thoughts, he looked over and Whitey was running his filthy hands all over her. Damn him, Alexi thought. Why can't he keep his fucking hands to himself? I could handle it if he just wouldn't touch her. If she were my woman . . . His thoughts trailed off. He hated RJ, didn't he? And even if he didn't, she hated him. But his mind wouldn't let the thought go. If she were my woman I wouldn't give a damn about power. I would hold her and make love to her, and that would be all the power I would need. To feel her legs wrapped around my waist. To feel her hips thrust longingly towards mine. Pulling me in and spitting me out. To hear her cry out for more and be able to give it to her. For that I would gladly give up any dreams of conquest and follow her blindly. Just like that great giant oaf does. He had hated RJ long before he realized that he loved her. By then, she hated him so much that it didn't matter. No matter what he did, he could never win her love, so his hatred grew and festered. A strong hate nurtured in the putrid remains of thwarted love and sexual frustration. You've got a secret, you platinum blonde bitch. I'm going to find out what it is and use it to take your ass down.

RJ had been talking to David, but her head suddenly jerked up, and to his dismay, she was searching him out. She didn't know what he was thinking, but she could feel the hate and defiance in him as sharply as a knife.

"If you have something to say, Alexi, why don't you just say it?" she spat icily at him.

Alexi got quickly to his feet, glaring unblinkingly at RJ. "Stay out of my head." He stomped away from the table. From the corner of his eye, he could see RJ pulling Whitey back into his seat. Alexi sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. "Damned freak," he mumbled. His eyes grew large, and he turned around quickly in his seat. He looked at RJ, and then quickly looked away. That's it! That's the answer! She's a freak! He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. If he could prove this to the masses, no one would follow her into battle—or anywhere else for that matter. But how to expose her . . . ? He could turn right now and fire a laser blast at her head. But then if he was wrong, she would be dead, and seconds later so would he. He would have to be damn sure that his theory was correct before he executed any plan.

 

"I wish you and Alexi could get along," David said in a pleading tone.

"When are you going to realize that he doesn't want to get along with me?" RJ asked in disbelief.

"You're paranoid," David accused.

"And you're naïve," RJ countered. "Alexi hates me, and he has only contempt for you and everyone else."

"Alexi is my friend," David said angrily.

"Alexi has no friends. He cares only for power," RJ said simply.

"Are you saying I'm a lousy judge of character? I think you're my friend; am I wrong about that, too?"

"I'm your friend," she said, answering his anger with calm. "I didn't say you were a lousy judge of character. You're wrong about Alexi, but then he is a very clever deceiver."

David couldn't remember the last time he had been this angry with RJ. "Alexi is my friend!"

"Only as long as you're useful to him," RJ said, still refusing to get angry.

"You need me, too, RJ. Am I to believe that you wouldn't be my friend if you didn't need me?" David all but hollered.

"Need you? What the hell are you talking about?" RJ was more than a little confused.

"You need me to be your mouthpiece . . ."

RJ was grinning one of those God-damned smug-assed grins of hers, and David sputtered to a stop. "What?" he demanded.

"I need someone, David. It doesn't particularly have to be you." She wasn't about to let him get away with this little bout of ego.

"Then get someone else." David got to his feet and stormed out of the bar.

RJ went after him.

"Let him go!"

But she didn't listen to Whitey. She went after David.

"David!"

He ignored her. He didn't even slow down.

"David, I'm sorry!" Although she wasn't quite sure what she was sorry about.

David stopped and turned to face her. His arms were crossed over his chest, his mouth was set in an unforgiving frown.

"Let's not fight over Alexi," she said as she caught up to him.

"This isn't about Alexi anymore. You said that what I do isn't important."

"I never said that!" RJ said in disbelief. "All I said was that someone else could do it. That doesn't mean it's unimportant. We've already discussed the fact that I couldn't do it."

"Thank you very much, RJ." He turned and started off again.

RJ watched him walk away. She didn't want to fight with David. The point to be made wasn't all that important. She swallowed her pride with a sigh.

"You're right, David. I'm sorry. You're very good at what you do. The people listen to you." She carefully left out the fact that the people would listen to anyone who said what they wanted to hear. But who was she to burst his bubble? Let him have a bloated opinion of his own worth. Who could it hurt? "Excuse me for being insensitive. But, as we all know, insensitivity is something I take pride in, and the reason why you are the mouthpiece of the New Alliance instead of me."

"I accept your apology," David said grudgingly.

"Then let's get back to the bar." She put an arm around his shoulders, and they headed back to the Golden Arches.

 

In the weeks that followed they used their ill-gotten gains to further fortify Alsterase. A minefield was laid in the area surrounding the city. The antiaircraft guns and helicopters were placed on some of the higher roofs in the central part of Alsterase and hidden expertly by suburban camo-netting. Laser sidearms were passed out like candy to the citizens of Alsterase until no man, woman, or child over thirteen was left unarmed. The rest of the haul, including one antiaircraft gun, was taken to the island.

With Alsterase fortified they were ready to begin.

Topaz stood between RJ and Poley and smiled a private sort of smile. He waited with all of Alsterase for David to start his speech. Topaz felt his hands shaking and stuck them in his pockets. He was nervous. He had no idea why, but he was. There was that sickness he felt in his stomach whenever he thought that maybe things weren't going to come off the way he had planned. He swallowed hard and told himself he was being stupid.

David jumped up on the hood of the old car, held up his hands, and all was silent. "We have learned to live together, we have learned to fight together. It is time to put our knowledge to work. It is time for us to march forth and take what is rightfully ours, to destroy the forces of oppression. We must free our brothers, so that they may join us in our great battle. Finally, the time has come, to implement my plan."

RJ moved restlessly beside Topaz.

"You heard him right," Topaz whispered, "he said his plan. Power corrupts."

RJ looked from Topaz to David then smiled. "Not David," she said in a reassuring tone.

"It is time to make the Reliance bow to our will. To break them as they have broken us. Our cause is righteous. We shall not fail. We will leave Alsterase as many small units, but will return a great force once more. A force which will have made a horrible scar on the face of the Reliance. For some day, I shall stand before the Council of Twelve and I will say, 'Let my people go,' and they will have to listen. They will have to listen to me!"

"Power corrupts," Topaz said again, and RJ frowned.

"Are you ready to fight for freedom?" David screamed.

"YES!" the crowd roared.

"Then prepare for battle! Prepare to be victorious!"

RJ, taking her cue, joined him on the car hood and the crowd went wild.

Topaz smiled and patted Poley on the back. "They listen to David, but it's RJ who owns their hearts."

She had no pretty words for them, but she had their trust and their respect. She motioned for silence, and they complied. "You all know what is expected of you. Remember that timing is everything. Let nothing detain you. If you are delayed, scrap your mission and return to base. If you reach your destination late all you will succeed in doing is getting yourselves killed. Good luck." She jumped down, and the crowd applauded wildly.

 

They looked for a place to stay through curfew. They managed to find a place far enough off the road to make a fire safely.

Poley never left the vehicle. He stayed at his terminal. It was linked not only to the communicators of every other unit, but to the super computer, Marge.

RJ stared into the flames, finding them relaxingly hypnotic.

"Can you believe that Levits?" Sandra asked with a laugh, and it was only then that RJ realized that she was sitting beside her. Not that she minded. She trusted Sandra. In a strange way she trusted Sandra more than she trusted anyone else.

"He certainly has a very active imagination," RJ said with a chuckle. She looked at Sandra, who was staring into the fire. Something was obviously bothering her. "He certainly thinks a lot of you."

"I know," Sandra said, as if the words were dragged from her.

"Is that a problem?" RJ asked.

"He's OK . . ." Sandra looked up from the fire and her eyes landed fleetingly on David, who stood a few feet away talking to Mickey.

RJ didn't have to be empathic to know what the look on Sandra's face meant. "Oh, no." RJ groaned as if in pain. "Not David, Sandy."

Sandra looked at RJ and saw remembered pain. "You? Were you . . ."

"No, we weren't," RJ smiled, "but it wasn't my fault."

"Did you love him?" Sandra asked.

RJ shrugged. "I don't really know now, but at one time I was sure. I certainly thought I did."

Sandra laughed."That doesn't make any sense."

RJ smiled and shrugged then got serious. "Don't set your sights on David, Sandy."

"Why not?"

"Because David is an idiot. At least he is when it comes to women. Remember, always remember, that he is a work unit, not a soldier. They have very primitive needs and desires. David, God help him, wants a woman he has to take care of. You know, a bimbo."

They both laughed.

"On the other hand, Levits likes his women to be able to take care of themselves."

Sandra looked at David. Who knew him better than RJ? Nobody. But it didn't change the way she felt. "I've still gotta give it a try."

Just then Mickey, who walked up and sat next to RJ, joined them. "Be there in morning?" he asked.

"Be there in evening," RJ mocked.

Mickey just smiled broadly.

Sandra doubted there was anything that RJ could have said that the little man would have taken offense at. In Mickey's eyes, RJ was a god to be obeyed and worshipped.

Whitey and Levits returned from a 'walk in the woods.' Whitey sat down behind RJ wrapping his arms tightly around her.

Across the fire Alexi frowned deeply.

Whitey untucked RJ's shirt, then he started to rub his hands on her bare stomach. He kissed her neck. RJ suddenly turned to face him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back in a way that promised that soon she would give him all he'd ever desired.

Alexi got to his feet and stomped into the woods.

"What's with him?" Sandra asked.

"Who knows with Alexi?" Levits shrugged and sat down close to Sandra.

"I don't like him," Mickey stated matter-of-factly.

"Something tells me that that's not why he left," Levits laughed. "Maybe he just needs to be alone."

Suddenly, RJ was pulling Whitey towards the woods opposite the point where Alexi had disappeared. Whitey was trying to be discreet, but RJ was past the point of caring.

The others contained their laughter until the couple was out of sight. Then they all started laughing at once. "Did you see who had the hot pants tonight?" Levits laughed. "First time I ever saw her show her true Argy colors . . . except for that time she tried to have her way with you in the middle of the floor," Levits said as David walked up to join them at the fire.

David's face grew flushed with remembered passion and embarrassment.

"They say they can crush a human lover to death with the force of their orgasm," Levits said then laughed. "What a way to go."

"Whitey's a lucky man," Mickey said, taking offense at the way they were talking about RJ.

"I don't know," David said thoughtfully. "It couldn't be easy to love RJ. I imagine she's a wonderful lover, but being in love with her . . . That's a different story all together."

"Why do you say that?" Sandra asked.

"Because RJ's a legend—bigger than life. What man wants to live in the shadow of a woman?" David said.

"Work units," Levits mumbled, looking at Sandra who smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

"What?" David asked.

Levits looked at Sandra, and they both started laughing.

"What?!" David demanded.

 

Alexi wouldn't have found any of it funny. He looked up at the full moon. Hateful bitch! She'd done that on purpose. Like twisting a knife after your victim is dead. But her time was coming. All he had to do was prove to everyone that she was a freak. Of course, he first had to prove it to himself. He was almost sure that she was, but he still lacked any hard evidence.

Sooner or later she'd slip up, he'd catch her, and then he'd bring her to her knees. Then he could claim her as his own. Make her love him . . . But somewhere in his mind he knew that was only a dream. He was never going to hold her. It was all madness. Desire was madness.

He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he knew it would change nothing.

He's been walking rapidly, blindly circling the camp. Suddenly he heard something in the brush, and his soldier's training took over. He stopped dead, crouched low, and drew his knife, listening intently for a repetition of the sound. When he was sure of the direction, he crept silently toward the source of the disturbance.

He saw them silhouetted in the moonlight. Two unclothed bodies twisted together on the forest floor. Hungry mouths locked together, probing, searching. Their bodies moving together rhythmically. Rushing to fulfill each other's desires. Hands running carelessly over bare flesh. Her cries of ecstasy were carried on the night breezes to Alexi's tortured ears.

He knew that he should look away. Leave.

But he couldn't.

As much as he hated to see Whitey touch her, he couldn't make himself leave. This was it. This was as close as he was ever going to get to making love to her. In his mind he became Whitey. It was Alexi's hand that searched out her breast and held it tightly. It was his name that she called out. His hips that her hands rested on, his tongue that probed the sweet softness of her willing mouth. It was his swollen cock that filled her.

Alexi felt his hands undoing his pants, and told himself to stop, but he didn't. It was to meet him that her hips thrust upwards, then pulled back only to repeat the process. Faster and faster, harder and harder until they were both consumed. Willing slaves to their lovemaking. When she came, it was for him. It was he who was bathed in the juices of her ecstasy. When it happened again a few minutes later, that was for him as well. When he ejaculated, his sperm filled her, and damn if she didn't come again!

Alexi came to himself as if waking from a dream, and saw the couple on the forest floor. They held each other tightly, bathed in the afterglow of their love. Becoming all too aware of his hand, he looked at the pool on the ground in front of him, and felt shame. He quickly did up his pants. He wanted to run. To get as far away from here as fast as he could. He wanted to leave his shame here on the ground, but he was suddenly terrified of detection. If he stood still, he probably wouldn't be noticed.

He looked at her again in spite of himself, then quickly looked away from the rapture on her face. He hadn't done that. For her, the only person in the world right now was Whitey Baldor. He couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but he was sure that it was the sort of thing that could make a strong man puke.

The guilt he felt at what he'd done quickly turned into anger. He had never been a pervert before. She had driven him to this. Is this what he had been saved for? He had been the only survivor of that life-consuming fire, and what for? So that he could hide in the woods and beat off while he watched Whitey Baldor screw the only woman he'd ever loved?

Why was she doing this to him? Didn't she know how he felt? Why didn't she care?

He stared at her. It was her fault. God, how he hated her! He hated her almost as much as he hated himself. Bitch freak!

Her head jerked up as if he had yelled it out loud. Alexi took a deep breath and frantically thought of nothing. For a second he had forgotten what she was.

"What's wrong?" Whitey asked.

"I don't know. I felt . . . something."

"I bet you did," Whitey said with a stupid grin.

RJ laughed, and Alexi allowed himself to breathe again.

Knowing what he'd done was bad enough. He couldn't stand to be caught. For one thing, Whitey would probably kill him. He was going to have to control his thoughts. One more mental outburst like that one, and he was going to cue RJ to his presence for sure.

He watched with relief as they started to dress, but he didn't start to move till he knew they were almost back to camp.

When he was sure it was safe, he left that spot as quickly as possible. His self-esteem was spilled upon the ground. He could deal with his shattered pride. He could deal with his guilt. He could even deal with his very mixed emotions towards RJ. What he couldn't deal with was how good it had felt, and he knew that if the opportunity were to present itself again, he would do the same damn thing.

 

The morning air was crisp and fresh. The one good thing the Reliance had done—quite by accident—was to save the Earth from death by pollution. The Reliance had turned the Earth into a huge farming community, concerned only with the production of organic materials. Clean air and water were a natural by-product of nearly five hundred years of agrarian living and a relatively small population.

To say the group was wired would have been an understatement. Till now, they had only slapped the Reliance in the face. Today, they were going to pull down its pants, slap it on its bare ass, and bite its dick. After today, there would be no going back. The Reliance wouldn't be able to ignore them anymore.

They broke up into three groups. RJ, Poley and David made up the first group. Whitey, Levits and Mickey were the second group. Alexi and Sandra brought up the rear.

They sat in position waiting for the signal—a signal which would be heard by every one of their units across Zone 2-A.

"Come on!" David whispered impatiently to RJ.

"Shh!" RJ ordered.

"What the hell are we waiting for?" David demanded. He was starting to lose his cool.

"For you to calm down a little," RJ said with a smile.

David tensed a moment, then grinned and relaxed, shaking his head.

"That was a direct hit," he chuckled.

"Are you calming down now?" RJ asked.

"Yes," David answered, pushing her playfully. "Can we go now?"

"Are you calm yet?" RJ asked, still grinning.

"Yes," he said, hanging on to calm with grim determination.

"Then let's dance!" She raised the communicator to her lips.

"Now."

One word, spoken slowly and calmly, and the war began.

 

As soon as the first report came in, Jessica knew where RJ was going to get her army, and she felt a chill go up her spine at the simplistic genius of it.

Jessica was sitting in her office with Right when her secretary came running in with the report.

"Prison break in installation 7-G!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Jessica bolted out of her chair and started pacing the floor.

Right looked at her warily. Lately, Jessica had taken to drastic and irrational bouts of ill temper. Whatever she might be, he knew one thing—she was more than capable of killing him and probably half of Capitol before they could stop her.

"Quit cringing, Right," Jessica ordered angrily. She started out of the room. "Well, are you coming?"

Right followed reluctantly. There was a computer in her office; there was no need to go anywhere to get all the information that she would need.

"I should have known. Where else would a rabble-rouser find such ready followers?"

Right finally understood what was going on. "Among other malcontents." He added, "Among the prison population . . . But surely, one prison . . . ."

"Oh, I doubt very seriously that we are talking about one prison," Jessica answered.

As if to prove her right, another messenger met them in the hall before they could get to the war room.

"Senator, there's been another prison break. Installation 6-H."

Before they made it to their destination, they had been stopped a dozen times. Jessica got on the command link immediately.

"All units, this is Senator Kirk speaking. Move at once towards the correctional installation in your immediate area. Kill all non-military personnel. Repeat, all non-military personnel." After a few moments, she added. "You are also to kill anyone in Reliance military issue who does not immediately and satisfactorily identify themselves. Repeat, kill anyone who appears to be suspect."

"That should stop them," Right said, gleefully.

One of the men running one of the stations called his superior over. After a hurried consultation, he called Jessica over.

"Senator, there seems to be a problem."

Jessica walked over, looked at the screen and scowled. "What does that mean?" she asked with a hiss.

"Someone is scrambling our signal," he answered, unable to hide his cringing. "It's going to take us a while to descramble it."

"Then I suggest that you get on it, dunderhead!" Jessica thundered.

It took only fifteen minutes to clear the lines, and Jessica's message went out, but she knew it was too late. By the first rays of the morning sun, RJ would have her army.

 

There were two guards at the front gate. Neither one knew what hit him. RJ grabbed one and killed him instantly with a quick twist of his head. Simultaneously, David grabbed the other and drew a knife across his throat. As the blood gushed, strangling the man's death scream, David pulled him out of sight behind a bush, oblivious to the blood that covered his shirt, pants, and hands. It had been a long time since he had killed his first man. The guilt he'd felt then was a dim memory. The smell of fresh blood no longer sickened him. It was part of the game. He heard a voice in the back of his head saying, How can you expect to win a war if you don't kill the enemy?

RJ had disposed of the other body. Poley joined them, and they opened the gates and hurried in.

Whitey, Levits, and Mickey came in on the west side of the complex, just moments before RJ, David and Poley. They cut a hole in the fence and stealthily made their way towards the guards' barracks. As they started placing the plastic explosives, Mickey saw a sleepy man stumble from the guardhouse. He flattened himself against the ground and drew his laser. If the guy took one more step, he was going to see Whitey. If he shot the guard, that might blow everything. He crossed his fingers and hoped the guard wasn't the only one who would hear him.

"Psst, Whitey!" he hissed in a loud whisper. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he saw the guard turn away from Whitey's position. Problem was that now he was headed straight for Mickey. He held his breath. A few more steps and the guy would be standing on his head. Where the hell is Whitey? Maybe he hadn't heard him. Maybe this was where it all ended. His pitiful little life. He held his breath, buried his face in his arms, and tried to wish himself even smaller.

Then he heard that wonderful sound, the sound he'd learned to associate with Whitey's fist making violent contact with someone's skull. He looked up just in time to see the guy pitch onto the ground beside him. He looked up at Whitey's grinning face.

"What took you so long, you big asshole?"

Sandra and Alexi went over the wall. They moved towards the huddled group of prisoners sleeping on the ground in the open. As Sandra started to leave cover and move on, Alexi grabbed her arm. She looked back at him in irritation. He pointed to the guard tower—it still held two men. Sandra took a deep breath.

"Thanks."

"We'll have to wait our turn," Alexi said with a smile. "No matter what RJ says, I'm really not such a bad guy. Don't dislike me just because your girlfriend does."

Sandra smiled broadly.

"What's funny?" He was perturbed because he thought she was laughing at him.

"It's just that I never thought of RJ as a girlfriend. I mean a girlfriend is someone you share makeup and fashion tips and go shopping with. Not someone you plan the overthrow of the Reliance with. You know, someone you share clothes with, not sidearms."

Alexi nodded his understanding. "Get ready; there she goes."

Sandra looked at the guard tower. RJ was on the move.

 

David and Poley stood at the base of the tower and kept watch as RJ climbed. David occasionally turned to look at RJ. It never ceased to amaze him how she could move. She didn't take the stairs. She went up the framework as quickly and as quietly as if she did it every day. David saw her removing the chain as she moved. Not because it was necessary; she was going to use the chain because it was more personal, because she liked to use the chain. David cringed. Beautiful and deadly. A confusing combination. She moved with such grace, but she moved like that because she was going to kill someone. David saw her go over the rail and steeled himself for the sound he would hear as the chain met flesh. It was an awful sound. Like someone hitting a soaking-blanket-wrapped gong with a dead cat. A dull, hollow and yet ringing, splashing sound which defied a proper description, and put a lump in David's throat no matter how many times he heard it.

This time, he was spared having to hear it. Sandra saw RJ enter the tower and opened fire. Alexi followed suit, and they ran up on the five startled guards, screaming, automatic weapons blazing. Taking his cue, Whitey pushed a button, and the barracks went up.

One guard turned to face the intruder in the tower.

"Say goodbye," she said with a satanic smile. The chain snaked out and hit him in the head. Disappointingly, the sound of it was lost in the automatic weapon fire from below. The second guard fired his projectile rifle at RJ. The shot hit her in the chest, barely rocking her backwards. She looked up at him and smiled. His face crumbled into a mask of hopeless despair. He knew that the thing that confronted him wasn't human. He screamed in terror and froze. He saw the chain coming for him. The end of it closed on his head in nightmarish slow motion, and he couldn't move. There was no pain. He saw pieces of his skull and brain explode out of his head as he fell to the floor. His body bounced as if made of rubber, then lay still. He couldn't move. His one remaining eye stared up at his assassin. A woman. A beautiful woman, not much more than a girl. In what was left of his brain, he smiled. Better to be killed by a beautiful woman than an ugly man. His left leg jerked, then lay lifeless like the rest of his body. The body was dead, but the man remembered a warm spring day, a field covered with wild flowers, and a pretty dark-haired girl's touch. He smiled once more, then died.

RJ looked down at the lifeless husk as she wrapped the bloody chain around her waist. She had felt the man's parting emotions. He hadn't been a bad man; he'd just been on the wrong side. She walked over and closed his eye.

"I'm sorry. Better luck next life."

Below her the gunfire had stopped, and the only sounds were those made by the milling, confused prisoners. They were free, but didn't know what to do with their freedom.

RJ started down the tower stairs and saw that the inner circle was intact and uninjured. Unfortunately, that included Alexi. She stopped three steps from the bottom.

"You prisoners, gather round," she ordered.

The two-hundred-plus men and women were used to taking orders, and they gathered around as they were told.

"The guards are dead. We are the New Alliance. We are dedicated to fighting the Reliance and its oppressive rule. In return for your freedom, we ask that you join us in our struggle. If there is any man or woman here who does not wish to join us, step forward now."

A man stepped out of the crowd. RJ lifted the plasma blaster she was carrying and blasted the guy in the head. He flew back several feet and landed with a thud on the ground. She brought her hand with the weapon in it back to her side.

"Anyone else?"

There was some mumbling and shuffling, but no one stepped forward.

"Good," RJ said with her sweetest smile. "Then we may begin." As RJ moved forward, she nodded to Alexi and Sandra who went to get the buses.

"Was that really necessary?" David asked hotly as he approached RJ.

"These people are prisoners, David. Most of them are innocent victims of the Reliance, that's true. But not all of them are victims of the system like you and Sandra. Some of them are cold-blooded killers. We don't need an uncontrolled mob on our hands. The next few hours are vital. We will either pull this off or fail miserably, and it will all be determined by how fast we can move and whether or not they can take orders. Right now, if you were them, would you do anything to cross me?"

"No, but . . . RJ what if the poor slob was stepping forward to ask if he could use the rest room?"

"I guess I saved him the trip, then," RJ said with a smile.

David threw up his hands and walked away.

 

 

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Framed