Running Toward Home

by M B Panichi

  Shaine held up her hands. “Sorry. Relax, okay. Look, I just want to understand what’s going on. And, honestly, I’d like to know what I’m going to be dealing with when we have communications back and the colony decides to ask about you.”

  Friday scowled. “They’re freaks, okay? I don’t belong there. I don’t believe in their bizarre religious shit, and I never will. They think I’m dangerous because I think for myself and I want to learn and I’m not afraid to say it. Every drawing I’ve done, they’ve destroyed. They say art is heresy. At least, my art is. I tried to get into an apprentice program for mechanics or computer diagnostics. They won’t let me because girls aren’t supposed to do that. They don’t want people with brains, especially women. They want zombies they can control who will believe all their crap.”

  Morgan asked quietly, “What do they do about people they can’t control?”

  Friday’s intensity went inward for a moment and she swallowed. “They have a lot of ways to try to make you toe the line,” she said flatly, and, after a beat added almost inaudibly, “Sometimes you just let them think they’ve won.”

  Shaine frowned, but said nothing.

  Morgan laid a hand on Friday’s arm. “We won’t send you back there,” she said firmly. She flashed a glance up at Shaine, who nodded. Morgan smiled at her. Shaine returned the smile, but wasn’t certain they could keep the girl with them legally. If the kid was a minor the decision could be taken out of their hands. She changed the subject.

  “Okay, next thing,” Shaine said. “We need to find quarters for our new friend here. I’m not sure what the status on free space is, so let me find out what’s available.” She pushed up from the table. “You two finish up here. Morgan, will you run Friday by the infirmary, just to make sure she’s okay after that crash?”

  “I’m fine! I don’t need—”

  “Humor me, okay? It’ll make me feel better to know for sure that you’re not injured. The doc should probably check your radiation levels, anyway.”

  Friday narrowed her eyes at Shaine, who simply smiled and strode away. As she walked, she overheard their next exchange and chuckled to herself.

  “Your girlfriend can be a bitch,” Friday observed.

  “She just takes charge. Don’t worry about it.”

  Friday snorted. “You’re whipped.”

  “Finish your dinner and we can go meet the doc.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Shaine strode down the corridor from the cafeteria toward the small underground ops center. She keyed her com as she walked. “Garren?”

  “Ayah. What’s up?”

  “Are you in the control room?”

  “I am.”

  “Good. I’m on my way. We need to talk.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Shaine pulled up a chair in front of the desk in Garren’s tiny office and straddled it, leaning her arms on the back. “I think we need to anticipate some trouble with the Temple over our young runaway.”

  Garren leaned back in his chair and frowned. “Do tell.”

  “I just have a bad feeling. She absolutely does not want to go back there. I think there’s more going on than just a kid who’s not happy. I’m having Morgan take her to see the doc. I told Friday I wanted to make sure her radiation levels were okay, but Lei will do a full scan. I want to know everything I can.”

  “Do you think they’re going to come after her?”

  “I’m not sure. I think they’re more likely to try to create a big stink out of it, make it all public. I don’t think they want her back, but I think they’ll use her to cause trouble for us.”

  Garren ran a hand through his long black hair. “As soon as we get coms back, I’ll let legal know what might be coming our way.”

  “Good. I just don’t want to get caught unawares. Morgan isn’t going to let anyone mess with this kid. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in protective mode before. It’s kinda cute.”

  Garren chuckled. “Messing with Morgan is not on my to-do list.”

  Shaine sighed and stood. “I’d better go find them. We need to figure out where Friday’s going to stay.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  “Thanks, Garren. You’re all heart.”

  Shaine found Morgan pacing in the corridor outside the temporary infirmary. “How’s it going?”

  Morgan shrugged. “Okay I guess. She’s been in with Lei for about fifteen minutes. You figured out where Friday’s gonna stay?”

  Shaine made a face. “Space is pretty tight. No singles, and I don’t want her in with everyone else. I can put her in with Del, but not sure I feel comfortable with that.”

  Morgan said, “No telling what Del might teach her. Probably end up drunk and learning how to throw a dagger. She could probably bunk in with us, though, couldn’t she? We can grab an extra cot. It’d be crowded, but—”

  Shaine sighed. She knew it was the obvious answer, but it sure as hell wasn’t her first choice. “Crowded?” she repeated. A glance told her they were alone in the hallway and she stepped in front of Morgan, easily picking her up and trapping her against the wall. Morgan grinned, wrapping her legs around Shaine’s waist, her arms around her neck. Shaine leaned into her, playfully nibbling at Morgan’s neck. “You realize there’s not going to be any of this with a roommate, hmmmm?”

  Morgan groaned softly, twisting her fingers in Shaine’s hair, pulling Shaine’s mouth to her own. Lips parted, Shaine explored Morgan’s mouth, kissing her deeply. Shaine felt the heat pooling between her legs. Morgan ground against her. A flood of need shut down everything but the taste of Morgan’s mouth and the heat of Morgan’s center against her abdomen.

  A throat cleared, rather sharply. “Are you two about done?”

  Shaine groaned, sighing as she rested her forehead against Morgan’s. “Damn.”

  Morgan unhooked her legs from Shaine’s waist and found her footing. “Shit.”

  Dr. Nguyen raised a thin brow. “You could at least find a room,” she commented, only barely managing to hide her grin.

  Shaine felt her face flush. “Actually, that’s kinda what started it,” she muttered.

  Morgan snickered. “So, what’s the word, Lei? Is Friday okay?”

  Lei waggled her hand. “Yes and no. I’m glad you’re both here.”

  Morgan frowned. Shaine wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the rest.

  “I wish we had a more private place to talk, but there isn’t consulting space down here. I ran a full diagnostic scan. Her radiation levels are fine. She didn’t get any exposure.” She pushed her hands into her pockets and frowned. “Let’s be clear. Friday has not admitted to, confirmed or denied what I’m going to say. I can only attest to what I see. I can suggest what the causes might be, but I am only speculating. Are we clear with that?” Lei looked seriously at both women, who nodded. Morgan’s expression darkened and she leaned against the wall, staying close to Shaine.

  Lei said, “She’s got bruises and welts up and down her back, some new, some older. The scan showed three cracked ribs. They’re healed now, but she was probably injured within the last year or so. From a forensics point of view, the welts were likely from a cane or even a whip. She’s also been concussed at least twice. Now, the hard part.” She paused, taking a breath. “I think she’s been raped. There’s suspicious bruising and some internal scarring. Friday denied it when I asked if she was injured or attacked either at the colony or previous to being there. But I wanted you to know what I found.”

  Shaine blew out a long breath.

  Morgan paled and swallowed, crossing her arms over her stomach. “Those fucking sons of bitches,” she whispered. Her expression was stricken. “Shaine, we have to help her.”

  “We will.”

  Morgan put a hand on Shaine’s arm. Shaine could feel Morgan’s hand shaking even through the fabric of her tunic. Morgan pleaded, “You can’t send her back there. Promise me, Shaine.”

  Shaine looked at her partner. “Take a deep breat
h, babe. She’s not going anywhere. But we’re going to need to know where we stand legally on this.”

  Anger flashed across Morgan’s face. “Fuck that. When did you get all politically correct?”

  Shaine shook her head ruefully. “When I decided to take on this position.” She took Morgan’s hands and held them. “Just trust me on this.”

  Morgan swallowed. “And you need to trust me.” She pushed up the left sleeve of her shirt, turning the bared inside of her arm toward Shaine. “Have you ever wondered why this happened?”

  Shaine nodded slowly, tracing with one finger the line of tiny, raised vertical scars that tracked from the inside of Morgan’s wrist halfway up her forearm. Perfectly spaced lines about two centimeters long, probably a hundred of them, which stopped just before the artery at her wrist.

  Morgan said quietly, “I was in a really fucked-up relationship. I was seventeen. She was teaching me to fight so I could compete in the freestyle competition, but everything got out of hand. She said she wanted to toughen me up, and she’d follow the beatings with all this doting attention, and I wanted so badly to be the fighter she wanted me to be. I thought I loved her and I thought I needed her. I thought I deserved the beatings because I wasn’t good enough. And it just escalated. I was taking painkillers like crazy, so I could function. I lost more than a year, all hopped up on painkillers, chasing them with hard liquor and swimming into a spiral of blackness. The night I did this, I’d promised Charri I’d go home, but I didn’t. I went back to Christie’s. When I got there, she was with another woman. I was furious. She challenged me to fight for her. She beat the crap out of me, raped me until I bled, then laughed at me while I laid there, barely conscious, and she fucked her girlfriend in front of me before they both walked out. I don’t remember how I got home. I was lucky because I passed out from the drugs and alcohol before I could finish what I started. Another five or ten minutes, and I’d have bled out. As it was, Charri and my dad found me facedown at my kitchen table in a pool of blood.”

  “Damn, Morgan.”

  She shrugged. “It was a long time ago. But at least I have an idea what Friday might be going through, if what Lei suspects is true. We need to help her, Shaine. What she needs right now are friends and people she can trust. She needs to feel safe.”

  Dr. Nguyen nodded. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Morgan. But you’re right. You, more than any of us, are most likely to be able to help Friday.”

  Morgan nodded.

  Shaine put an arm around Morgan’s narrow shoulders. She was so out of her depth here. Physical pain and loss, those were things she knew. Friends dying in the line of duty she understood. For a moment it hurt that she hadn’t known this huge piece of Morgan’s past. Why hadn’t Morgan told her? Maybe because it still hurt, she thought. She hoped they might have time to talk about it later. For now, though, they needed to deal with the situation at hand.

  She asked, “What do we do? We don’t want to tell her what we’ve talked about here, do we?”

  Morgan shook her head. “No. She’d see it as betrayal. She needs friends and protectors right now, and that’s what we’ll be.”

  * * *

  Shaine watched Morgan and Friday. After only a day, the two were acting like siblings and Morgan had taken on the role of the protective older sister. They had retreated to a corner of the ops center, sitting side by side at an empty work table, heads bent over a comp pad on the table between them. Friday was showing something to Morgan. Shaine assumed that it had something to do with the 3D art and virtual game worlds Friday created. The lanky blond teen spoke animatedly and Morgan nodded, interested and attentive, occasionally asking questions.

  Shaine worried about their options for keeping Friday safe. The girl hadn’t mentioned her treatment at the colony, other than that they wouldn’t let her think for herself or learn anything useful. Friday said she was tired of everyone around her telling her she was wrong or evil or doomed to hell. She had no friends, trusted nobody and had run away out of pure and simple desperation.

  Shaine had no intention of returning Friday to the colony, though she wasn’t sure how she was going to pull that off. On the upside, Friday was seventeen years old, eighteen in a few months when the issue would be moot. Unfortunately, the radiation storm wasn’t going to last that long, so she’d have to figure something else out.

  With communications down because of the solar storm, she wasn’t able to get word to the colony that Friday had been found. Nor could she contact Earth or Moon Base for any weather updates. She didn’t like being so cut off.

  She scanned the security monitors. The hardwired outside cameras showed steady, if somewhat static-laden signals, though there wasn’t much to see through the fury of the sandstorm that had been blowing for a day. The scientists had set up radiation monitors as well. The external radiation was off the charts. The internal monitors in the above-ground bio-dome showed some uptick in radiation, but nothing damaging or worrisome. The radiation levels underground remained normal.

  It was maddening not knowing how long the storm would last. All they could do was monitor the radiation and weather and wait it out. She wished she were better at being patient.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  It took another five days before Ahmed, Shaine and Garren decided, after lengthy discussion with their scientists, that it was safe to release everyone from the underground radiation shelter. By that time, tensions were running high. They’d broken up a dozen fights between bored personnel and the holding cells were full. Everyone had cabin fever and even though they were only moving back to the small temporary dome, there was at least room to breathe. Construction and maintenance work resumed. Everyone had something to do. They had communications and net connections again so there was news from Earth and Moon Base.

  Shaine’s first task was to contact the Unified Martian Temple of God colony to let them know that Friday was safe at the mining site. She was surprised nobody from the colony had called to check on her. She wondered if their communications were still down. She shook her head and queried for the correct com code to the Unified Martian Temple of God colony.

  Morgan walked up behind her. “Hey, Shaine. You going to call the colony?”

  “Yeah. Was just about to.”

  “Fri’s freaking out, worried about having to go back.”

  Shaine sighed. “I’m not sending her back. I told her that. I take it she doesn’t want to talk to anyone there?”

  Morgan jammed her hands into her pockets and leaned against the edge of the counter beside Shaine’s monitor. “She says they can all go straight to hell.”

  “I think they’re already there.”

  Morgan grinned. “You mind if I listen in?”

  “No, I was hoping you would.” Glancing at the number on her pad, Shaine punched the calling code into her com board. It took a couple of tries to get the call through, and when it did, the image on the screen was static-filled and scratchy. Shaine squinted at the fuzzy image of a thin-faced woman wearing a dark scarf over her hair. “Good morning. I’m Shaine Wendt, Head of Security at the Mann-Maru construction-site. I wanted to let you know that we rescued your runaway before the storm. Friday is here, and is safe and well.”

  The woman on screen gaped at her. “You! My God, she’s with YOU?”

  Shaine blinked and did a double take with her mouth half open.

  Morgan looked from one to the other, seeing recognition in both sets of eyes, though with very different reactions.

  Shaine shook off her surprise. A cold, businesslike mask fell over her sharp features. “Hello, Flower.”

  “I want to talk to Friday,” the woman demanded.

  Shaine considered for several seconds before replying, “Friday’s not with me right now. She didn’t want to speak to anyone at the colony. In fact, she didn’t even want me to let anyone there know she was alive.” She fixed an icy gaze on the other woman. “Why would she feel that way?” she asked.

  �
�I don’t know. I want to see my sister. She needs some sense talked into her. When will you be returning her?”

  Sister? What the fuck? Shaine sensed Morgan stiffen and glanced her way with a tiny shake of her head. She said to Flower, “It may be a while. The radiation is still too high to travel safely.” That was a boldfaced lie, but she didn’t care.

  Flower looked frustrated, then angry. “I’ll be in touch,” she said and killed the connection.

  Shaine sat shaking her head at the blanked screen. “Damn.”

  Morgan frowned. “Who the fuck was that?”

  Shaine rubbed her hands over her face. “My past, haunting me. An ex, actually, who fucked me up for a long time.”

  Morgan cocked her head. “Didn’t look much like your type,” she commented dryly. “I mean, Flower? Jesus. Who’d name their kid Flower?”

  “Apparently the same people who’d name their other kid Friday.” Shaine let her head fall back against the headrest. “Aw, hell, Morg. This is gonna get ugly.”

  Morgan shrugged. “Might. So, tell me how you knew this person?”

  “Ummm, first, can we go and talk to Garren? I want legal in on this mess sooner than later.”

  Morgan gave her a raised brow. “That bad, huh?”

  Shaine grinned and patted her on the butt. “Nope, not that bad, really. I just wanna make sure that I have my ducks in a row before the shit starts hitting the fan.”

  “Whatever the fuck that means,” Morgan muttered.

  Shaine laughed and grabbed Morgan’s hand, pulling her along toward Garren’s office.

  Garren looked up from what he was reading when they walked into the tiny space. He smiled. “To what do I owe this visit?” he asked.

  Shaine smiled. “Just wanting to brighten your day with my presence,” she said. “Have you gotten a message through to legal?”

  “I did. Jahn said I’d hear back in a day or two.”