“I’m not going to ask how that works----Quentin why did you do that?” I ask, “He needs to be slowed down.”
“He makes really weird and creepy noises when he’s not fully occupied in the middle of the night, plus I was afraid if he got bored he’d start trying to do experiments on me while I slept,” Quentin says.
“I did that anyway---come on let me go,” Titus struggles.
“No, you’ll start logging into tablets and telling the president to go to war with New Russia or something—”
“I did that before lunch please---”
“No, you need to think of something constructive to do with yourself,” I say, stopping him from bolting off. “Surely there’s some library you can hack into?”
“The tablet’s browser is too slow,” Titus says, pathetically, finally twisting out of our grip by slithering out of his blouse, “I could barely have two open source documents running at once.”
“Well use mine then,” Quentin says.
“I was talking about yours,” he says, still pouting.
“Watch a film, an educational one, you can’t have watched all those free ones,” I say.
“Films are too slow reading’s quicker---let me use your glass cleaner in the next room?” he asks, hopefully, holding out his hands for it.
“No,” Quentin says, holding the bottle protectively.
“Why, what do you want to do with it?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he lies very badly.
“No, I’m with Thorne you’d build a nuclear war head just to prove you could,” Quentin says.
“That’s ridiculous, I’d need radioactive materials for that, and a simple improvised explosive device would be almost as entertaining,” Titus says.
“See? It’s saying things like that that makes them give you only a few paper towels to play with,” I say.
“I know but I’m just so bored, Tom, my brain hurts,” he says, sadly.
I am so cross with myself, I should have waited to murder Ebbel. It was so much fun and now it’s over and I’ve a whole week to wait for training and nothing to think about no good murders to plan and that was my one treat for this interim and if I’d known I’d have this whole awfully boring week I’d have waited.
“Aww, I know,” Tom says, putting her arm around my shoulders. She does know. That’s why I love her. “It’s almost dinner time anyway, we’ll finish up here, then meet you in the gym for a race after dinner, you go ahead and get your run in.” She knows I love running and I don’t eat dinner like the rest of them. meals are optional now, so I just take enough milk packets at breakfast and lunch and skip dinner.
“Are you sure?” I ask, frowning, wondering if it’s a trick.
“Yes positive,” she says.
“Please go,” Leavitt says.
“All right,” I say, “Leave the chairs though.”
“I have no idea how not to,” Leavitt says, tossing me my blouse back.
“We will, Titus just go on, you’ll feel better once you’ve had a good run and thought about how much fun we’ll have once we get to fly,” she says.
“All right,” I agree, reluctantly. It is more interesting than staying here. and I still have the three paper towels. I’m clever enough to entertain myself with those tonight.
“Thank god, that was a good idea,” I say, as Titus leaves.
“For some reason he likes running,” she says, “Did you really leave Darla in the other room straightening his mess out?”
“Yes, she’s hardly talking though, I know she’s upset about Tyrell, but she could be nice when she does talk,” I say. I’m not one to talk about not talking but I don’t take things out on other people.
“I know, I have to room with her,” I say.
“Yeah sorry---”
“No, you—you have it worse—”
“Okay yeah I probably do—oh about my roommate as much as I don’t like talking about him or acknowledging he exists when he isn’t here, I feel like I should tell you---do you know how much he loves you?” I ask, awkwardly.
“What?” she asks, looking down from trying to get glue off of the interactive board.
“We were talking last night, like guys do---okay I’ve no idea how guys talk but you know—we were talking, and I asked him or he sort of said, how much he loves you and it’s like---a lot, and I think you ought to know that he thinks he’s going to love you his whole life and die with you and explore the afterlife with you and he said as much,” I say, wincing a little.
“Oh my god, he is crazy,” she says, shaking her head.
“You don’t feel that way? I mean, not that it’s my place or that’s wrong but---I didn’t think people felt that way,” I say.
“People don’t; he’s sweet and a nutcase,” she says.
“That about sums it up, but I wanted to warn you in case he proposed marriage or something,” I explain.
“Okay, yes, thank you,” she says, with a sigh.
“Is he bothering you or do you like him?” I ask, slowly.
“Oh please don’t be asking me this because you actually like me but have this noble thing going on where you---”
“No, no, I’m not, I just genuinely thought you should be informed. I don’t like you---I don’t not like you but I don’t like you---”
“Okay yeah, good---”
“No I really don’t,” I explain.
“Okay, just, that’s all I need he’s---impossible,” she says, staring after where he went.
“But you love him anyway?” I guess.
“Kind of, yeah,” she says.
“He thinks you’re more beautiful than starlight,” I say.
“Oh he told you that? I thought that was something from him being on drugs,” she groans.
“Yes,” I say, nodding.
“He really has got it bad, I don’t know, he just gives me the creeps sometimes,” she says, shaking her head, “I don’t know if that’s me because I’m not ready for a relationship or it’s him not ready or it’s him because he’s weird---”
“Oh he’s weird, definitely, weird, I wasn’t joking about the making strange noises in the night, thing,” I laugh.
Tom and Leavitt do finally join me for a run, but they are tired and still cross with me for my unique furniture arrangement plans and refuse to race me. It isn’t really fair since I’ve been running and working out much longer than they and I still wanted to race with them. but they were just too annoyed and wouldn’t race at all with me. Tom tried to cajole Darla into joining us, but she declined.
Hot and tired, we all retire to our dorm rooms, Tom distressingly far from us in another building. Leavitt is hot but he’s a gentleman so he offers that I shower first and I’m hot and sweaty and not a gentleman so I take him up on it. The shower doesn’t work that well and the water isn’t as cold as I’d like but it gets the job done, and soon I’m snuggled in bed with my tablet, having read all the free books I can download I’ve resorted to entertaining myself with news articles which are not as educational as I’d like but they will have to do.
Above me, Leavitt curls up with his tablet, no doubt messaging his mum or something equally boring. He’s a boring person. I’m not boring. But I am bored. and I don’t want to go to sleep. I don’t like sleep. It makes everything stop and go away. but I know I have to try anyway. my brain will not function as well as I’d like without it so I must try. but just read a little bit more first...
Tom is sound asleep in the bunk above me. I don’t want to sleep. If I sleep I think of Tyrell. I think about how I never had him and I never will. How he’s locked up in that place not eating not sleeping just trapped in his own lonely mind. that’s cruel. They should just shoot him like a dog they’re treating him worse than a dog. And I can’t live with knowing he’s not living. I want to die. But not yet. not quite yet. after tonight I will die. But tonight there is one more thing I want to do. One revenge I want to take.
I check messages from Liesel but there are n
one. She’s probably had a busy day, she goes to A school next week, like the pilots, but she’s going for battle management not actual pilot school. Same ceremony and similar training, just different duties. Good, I want her far from the fighting. She messaged me all that last night, hopefully she’s bonding with her new friends in her SFSC. I lay down; I’m exhausted, they still haven’t got any new evidence as to who killed Ebbel, and now that Thorn knows my secret I’m on edge. He said he wouldn’t tell anyone, but I don’t entirely believe him, moreover he is actually crazy so he might tell somebody just because he’s crazy. My only consolation is that he’s actually crazy so nobody will probably believe him. At least we haven’t had any trouble with the cadets lately.
“Shh, wake up,” a voice whispers. A female voice. a female Darla’s voice. I knew I hated sleeping for a reason.
“What---” I begin, but she has a very large sharp combat knife pointed at my nice tender throat so I don’t continue. She’s sitting directly on top of me, her pelvis uncomfortably poking into my less than desirably muscled stomach.
“I need you tonight,” she whispers, bending her face down close to mine. She’s in her SBU bottoms but just a grey t-shirt, no bra. This is weird, I’m sincerely hoping she isn’t intending to kill me Card School of Winning Knife Fights has not had nearly enough sessions.
“Okay, let’s talk, how can I help?” I ask, her eyes are wild this is not normal.
“Lose your pants, bitch,” she says and this is when I realize I’m about to be raped. She gets up and motioning for me to follow, the knife still pressed against my throat. I stand up slowly. I really don’t know if I can overpower her for the knife, and the slightest move will slice my jugular she has her wits about her enough to have planned this well.
“Okay why don’t we just talk about this?” I ask, slowly and calmly.
I hear Darla’s voice and nearly get up, but then I see the glint of the knife and slowly lower back down. What the hell? She blames him for Tyrell’s imprisonment? I suppose so but that really doesn’t matter, she’s going to kill him certainly.
I seriously consider not starting a knife fight. In my position, that bastard Card probably would have lain there quietly and listened to me get raped. But I’m not him. I’m me. So I tighten my fist on my combat knife and jump down.
Then there’s that moron Leavitt who brings a knife to a gun fight. I would have lain there quietly and listened to him get raped then reported it like a sensible person. But oh, no, he decides to be the hero.
“PUT IT DOWN,” Darla says, angrily, holding a gun on me. I hesitate to obey, my arm is bleeding from our initial scrabble, and I am breathing heavily. Card is watching calmly.
“Okay,” I say, standing slowly and putting the knife on the ground, “Okay, Darla where’d you get the gun?” I wonder if it’s loaded.
“if that’s not loaded I’ll be dreadfully disappointed,” I say, calmly. The longer I keep her talking the more time she has to make an error I can seize upon. “Death by knife is so bloody don’t you think?”
“Oh, I’m not going to kill you, not tonight. I die tonight. Haven’t you ever wanted to make love to a dead girl?” she asks, walking up to me, gun still on Leavitt, knife on me. I would dive for it but we’re awfully close, and she might turn the gun on me.
“Not very much,” I say. Necrophilia has never been particularly appealing to me. nor has losing my virginity to anybody but Nicole Tom. Looks like that’s not going to happen oh well, life’s full of little disappointments that can be cured with a few simple beheadings.
“Don’t think about moving,” she says, to Leavitt, “There, get your belt from the desk.”
“Cool, can I ask why?” Leavitt asks, his voice is shaking though.
“Guess, pretty boy, guess, now, take your shirt and pants off,” she says, gesturing at him with the gun. He hesitates, “NOW,” she growls.
“Okay,” he says, slowly obeying.
“Set them on the floor, nice and slow,” she says, then she looks at me, “You too, now, looks like I have two fresh ones tonight.”
“You can’t do this,” Leavitt is very upset right now, he is shivering and he really doesn’t look very good naked. Most people other than Nicole Tom don’t I’m just saying but he does not.
“Shorts as well, now,” she says, looking at us both, weapons still on us.
“Really can’t we discuss this---”
“NO!”
“Got anything better Titus?” Leavitt growls, annoyed.
“Oh it’s my fault? You failed at jumping her,” I hiss.
“Shut up you two, I don’t want your mouths,” she laughs, “Card, gag Leavitt, tie him to the bunk, very well, I’ll cut you if you don’t.”
“Yes,” I say, picking up the belt and tightening it around Leavitt’s wrists. He glares at me as I do it well. It’s not so well he couldn’t get out of it if he really tried, but I’m not risking fooling her. I also stuff my old socks in his mouth at her request, well she doesn’t request them to be my old socks that’s my improvisation. But again I don’t do it so well that he wouldn’t be able to get out someday.
“You first, Card, against the other bed post, I’ll tie you myself,” she says, setting down the knife and picking up my belt with her free hand.
“No I really need to talk with you about this---” I say. last chance, choice A) lose masculinity in front of Leavitt B) sort of betray Tom by having sex with someone other than her. Ah------shit---shit---choice A. “---I need medication, I can’t perform, just let me get it from my drawer---it’ll be more pleasurable for us both.”
“Really?” she asks, staring at me intently.
“Yes, it’s a condition I’ve had since the surgery they do on us, they gave me pills,” I lie.
“You’d better not be pulling something, Card,” she says, motioning for me to go to the drawer. Sadly the only drawer is rather far away from her so my aim will be poor, however it is worth the try.
The gunshot rings out loud and cold in that tiny room, and I confess I jump nearly as much as the two of them do, but the bullet nearly grazes me so I have a reason be disturbed. Leavitt was not almost shot so his anger at me is not very justified.
“Against the bed, Card, it’s going to hurt for you now,” she says, pointing the gun directly at me, the pencil I launched at her sticking out of her left cheek. She doesn’t even pull it out.
“That was the best you could think of?” Leavitt growls. He’s spit the socks out by now.
“Well now we both know the gun is loaded,” I say, calmly, as she uses the belt to strap me to the bed post. She’s done a good job of it as well, it’ll take me at least two minutes to get out, and her less than one minute to undress, even one handed with a pencil in her face.
I confess I don’t even hear the door open this second time. I do see Tom though, standing in the doorway, combat knife in hand. I immediately avert my gaze, however, so as not to give her away. I needn’t worry, though, she reveals herself soon enough.
In a flash, the girls are on the floor, fighting for gun and knife, grunting in exertion as the gun goes off again.
I twist my hands free and dive for my shorts, just getting them before a bleeding Darla rolls on top of them, attempting to escape Tom who has Darla’s ear in her mouth. They roll again, the gun skidding under the bunks, which is probably for the best and Tom really doesn’t seem to need the gun she’s doing quite well on her own.
Both rise, bloodied and angry, eyes locked. Darla kicks and Tom catches her foot, twisting her over and slicing at the tendon between foot and leg. They fall again, screams of rage rising as they scrabble. I walk carefully around them to the closet to fetch my SBUs.
Tom cries out as Darla smashes a chair over both of them, the knife is imbedded in Darla’s shoulder buried too deep for either to pull it free in the ongoing brawl.
Tom pulls the drawer from our dresser smashing that and getting a splinter as new weapon. Both jump to their feet, then charge eac
h other headlong. Dressed now, I cross to the small bathroom to get the first aid kit. It looks like it will be needed.
They scream again as they twist, fighting now over Tom’s splinter. This fight isn’t long, however, the splinter is soon lost and Tom has Darla in a headlock, the sleeper hold. Thirty seconds more and it’s over, Darla slumps, her brain deprived of blood for far too long.
“Impeccable timing as always, Cadet Tom, are you hurt?” I ask, holding up the first aid kit helpfully. She’s rather bloodied but I don’t know whose blood it is.
“I’m cut a bit, not bad,” Tom says, taking a deep breath.
“Lovely, that’s great—thanks for joining us Nicole---COULD ONE OF YOU POSSIBLE UNTIE ME???” Leavitt is still naked chained to the bed, by the way, in case you’d lost track of him. so he’s not very happy right now.
“Yeah, thanks for the help, Titus,” Tom says, noticing that I’m fully dressed and quite composed by now.
“It looked like a one person job,” I say, stepping around Darla’s body to help Tom undo Leavitt, who springs eagerly for his clothes.
“What? We’ve all seen each other naked before,” I say, as he hurriedly puts them on.
“Yes, Titus, because this is so---so normal,” Leavitt growls, pulling on his PT clothes which are bloody from the knife/gun/splinter fight.
“Do you want to change before we go and get somebody? I’m sure we’ve a long night with IA ahead,” I offer Tom, who is surveying the mess calmly and still breathing a bit heavily from the fight. I hand her my hydration system, which she accepts.
“No, let’s just um---go and get people,” she says, shaking her head, “Going to have to explain this.”
“I can do that,” I offer.
“What---is she dead?” Leavitt asks.
“No, people live after they lose blood flow to the brain for over fifteen seconds,” I say, then clarify, “That was sarcasm our would be rapist is quite dead.”
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