Broken & Hunted

by Charissa Dufour

  Jack and Tilly were sitting at the kitchen table. They turned and gave her a bright smile each. She did her best to return the expression as she slipped into Oden’s sweatshirt and padded into the kitchen.

  “Want some coffee?” Jack asked as he climbed to his feet.

  Bit nodded, trying her best to ignore the fact Jack wasn’t wearing a shirt. It wasn’t the first time she had seen a man without a shirt on, but few were as impressive as Jack. He was trim and muscled—an attractive balance. Bit averted her gaze, a blush rising to her cheeks when she spotted Tilly giving her an all-too-wise grin.

  “I guess I should start making breakfast,” Tilly said as she hoisted herself off her chair.

  Within a few short minutes, the kitchen was full of bodies, smells, and noises. Bit slid into a safe corner and watched as Lexi and Debby inserted themselves into the proceedings, Debby telling Tilly how to make her eggs fluffier and Lexi complaining about not being allowed to drink the rich espresso. Jack ducked back into his room and retrieved a shirt, much to Bit’s relief.

  Calen finally appeared, complaining of the noise. He snagged a cup of coffee and took up a position beside Bit, watching the madness in the kitchen from a safe distance.

  “Sleep okay?” he asked as he brought the cup up to his lips.

  “Sure.”

  “Liar.”

  Bit frowned. She hadn’t thought Calen was looking at her. “It hurts to lay down. Broken ribs and all. But I’ll live. Not my first rodeo.”

  Calen grunted a quick laugh. “We’ll see if Debby has something to give you for the pain.”

  “Oh, no. I don’t want to bother her.”

  Calen glanced down at her, giving her a long look. He opened his mouth, as though to argue before going back to his coffee. At last he gave her a nod and dropped the subject. Bit let out a sigh of relief.

  During their long trip, she hadn’t had the chance to get to know Calen. His night shift had made it difficult, even impossible, but he was proving a staunch ally and discerning force. She gave him a genuine smile before taking another sip of the strong coffee.

  In short order the whole family was fed, dressed, and ready for the day of celebration. Bit asked what they were celebrating, Debby laughed, and Tilly explained: it was the day humans first arrived on Mars to build a permanent settlement.

  Bit reappeared in the living room, dressed in the green cargo pants and long-sleeve black t-shirt given to her by Lexi, along with a pair of heavy-duty black boots and a crimson crew jacket minus the rank bars across the shoulders.

  “Jack got one for me last winter, thinking I would do my high school internship with the company. I got a better one at a hotel instead. Never even wore it. You keep it,” Lexi explained when Bit tried to refuse the generous gift.

  Bit felt like a whole new woman as she emerged from Lexi’s room in her new outfit, crew coat included. The group hovered in the living room, gathering their supplies for the day. Jack wore a backpack, filled with snacks and drinks, and Calen carried one with extra sweatshirts and a blanket.

  “Umm, Jack,” began Bit in a whisper, “would it be okay if I just stayed behind?”

  An unexplainable fear clouded her mind since the night before. What if I do something else that makes him angry?

  “What? Why don’t you want to go?”

  “I… uh?” Bit hesitated, unable to give her true explanation.

  Jack glanced up at Tilly, the two exchanging some hidden message. Her captain gently gripped Bit’s shoulder.

  “I really think you should come along. There’s lots of good food to eat and fun shows to watch. You’ll enjoy this,” he said gently.

  “Oh, yes, you have to come,” exclaimed Debby, suddenly taking an interest in their conversation. “We all are going, right?”

  Everyone else chimed in, agreeing that they were going.

  “See,” said Jack softly, “you’ll like this.”

  Bit didn’t respond, but silently fell in line as they shuffled out of the condo, Tilly locking up after them. They took the elevator to the ground level and made their way to the train platform. Bit tried to leave as much space between herself and Debby as possible. Calen slowed his pace to match hers, taking her hand and winding it through his arm. Even in the padded boots, her feet hurt from the pounding they had taken the night before.

  “You sure about the painkillers?” Calen asked in a quiet voice.

  Bit thought back to what Blaine had said about revealing secrets on pain meds and shook her head. “I’ll be okay. Are we going to be walking a lot?”

  “Once we get to the park, where the festival is happening, you and I can find a bench and just hang.”

  Bit nodded, liking the sound of that.

  They rode the light-rail train, the swaying car causing Bit more pain. She tried not to think about Jack refusing her request or her overwhelming need to be alone. They rode the train for more than thirty minutes, the scenery transforming before her eyes.

  While the buildings continued to rise into the sky, they no longer looked like a hodge-podge mess of metal—added onto until the original building was unrecognizable. The new buildings were sleek silver goddesses, shooting up into the sky as though they could reach the stars and reflect the beauty of the night sky in their metal panels. Enormous balconies were dotted green with more plant life, but Bit suspected they were not crowded with tomato plants as she had seen in her mad dash.

  Mixed in among the skyscrapers rose cylindrical-shaped glass buildings, their insides bursting with layers upon layers of green, yellow, and dark blues. At one of the stops, Bit got a close look at one of the strange buildings. One layer was comprised of an enormous wheat field, another layer house a giant fish tank with some sort of plant growing on the surface of the water. The layer above that housed a field of some plant she didn’t recognize. Climbing up the center of the enormous cylinder was massive pipe, from which long arms extended on each layer, spraying a fine mist of water. Bit gaped at the building until the train pulled away, dragging her away from the amazing sight.

  “Impressive isn’t it?” asked Calen.

  Bit turned to him, a blush burning her cheeks as she realized the pilot had been watching her the whole time. She nodded.

  “Mars has some traditional farms and some pretty enormous ranches out toward Brighton, but Tifton is such an enormous city we can’t rely on shipping all our food in from rural areas. We have to grow something within our boarders.”

  “How many buildings do you have like this?”

  Calen shrugged. “Don’t know. I’d guess upward of a couple thousand or more.”

  The train moved on and they eventually reached their destination. Bit tried to hide her grimace as she climbed to her feet. They filed out of the train and down the steps of the elevated platform, leading directly down into an enormous park, already filled with people. Thanks to her short stature, Bit could see little other than the backs of those directly in front of her. She caught glimpses of tents rising above the heads of the crowd and enormous trees shading patches of the park.

  Over the murmur of the mob, she heard music being played in various portions of the park, a tune wafting from one corner or another, mixing and clashing as they wandered further into the mass. Rich smells accosted her nose—burned meat, sweet desserts, and stale beer. While the smells reminded her of Johannesburg, the crowds made her tense. Thus far, she had gotten separated from their group each time they entered a crowd since leaving the ship.

  As if he realized her fear, Calen took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She smiled at him, appreciating his foresight.

  They wandered on into the crowd with the others, taking in the sights and the sounds of the festival. Men on hover-stilts strolled by, blowing fire from their mouths or juggling china tea cups. Groups danced under the trees, their bellies bare to the world, revealing intricate tattoos that changed with their twirling. Elevated over the meandering crowd walked a man on a tiny rope, a flaming sword slashing through
the air as he worked his way across the rope.

  Their group stopped at one amphitheater to watch an assembly of clowns tumble, fumbling their way into a tiny cage made of bamboo. In the end they fit seven full-grown men in a box Bit would have thought wouldn’t have held two. She would have laughed with the others had the cage not reminded her of a similar cage back on earth—one she had spent any number of nights in.

  Thankfully they left the clowns behind to find two men playing historical Earth instruments. Bit and Calen sidled up to a sign declaring their instruments to be acoustic guitars, grandfathers to the present day guitars without any need for electronic connections.

  Bit smiled, enjoying the gentler sounds emanating from the wooden contraptions.

  “Is that the great Captain Jack Macleef I see?” a voice said from behind their little group.

  Bit turned to see an exquisite woman eyeing Jack. Her Asian features were strangely offset with a tall, slim body, hard muscle turning her into a force to be reckoned with. Her long black hair draped over her shoulders, half hiding her features. She wore no makeup, not needing any to make her more attractive. A cream colored sweater hung off one shoulder, leaving the other bare. Tight brown leather trousers were tucked into sturdy boots.

  Jack stiffened at the woman’s approach, slowly turning. “Katrina Krelski… just the woman I wanted to see.”

  “Oooo,” purred Katrina, “such a charmer. How do you keep him to yourself, Debby?”

  “Shut up, Katrina,” Debby snapped.

  Bit averted her eyes, afraid Debby would turn her anger on her.

  “Am I interrupting?” came another voice.

  Bit nearly groaned. Can’t I catch a break?

  She turned her eyes on Blaine, completely forgetting her fingers twined were with Calen’s. The connection wasn’t missed by the new comer. Blaine glared down at their hands as he slipped his short-range comm. into his back pocket, his blue eyes darkening as he worked to control his emotions. Bit watched his herculean effort, his hurt and his need to give her space warring within him.

  “Got a problem?” Calen asked, egging him on.

  Bit rolled her eyes, her own anger flaring up, directed solely at Calen.

  Blaine’s eyes jerked up to Calen’s face, the battle lost. “Yeah I do,” he said as he reached out, taking Bit’s other hand.

  Suddenly, Bit’s anger was equally divided between the two.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me! I’m done! You hear me?” she demanded, glaring first at one and then the other.

  She jerked her hands free of their grasps, her knuckles cracking from their tight grips. Her ribs hurt as her elbows slammed into her body but she ignored the pain and stomped over to where Lexi stood.

  “I am no one’s property. Okay, well technically I am, but that’s not the point. I am not in a relationship with anyone, nor do I want to be. But all of you seem to have forgotten that. I have told you that I am not interested, but you all ignore what I say, acting like you know better. So here’s the deal, I’m off limits. Jack already told you that, but now here it from my own lips: I’m not available.”

  “Bit…” began Blaine, acting as though she hadn’t just given him the greatest speech of her life.

  “No. Shut up. You clearly are hearing impaired. So let me get it through your thick skulls. Any of you touch me again, without my expressed permission, and I will use the skills you taught me to shove it so far up your collective asses that you will be tasting the toenail polish I’ve borrowed from Lexi.”

  The group descended into silence.

  “Oh, I like her,” chuckled the new woman from the back of the group.

  Bit turned to look at Jack, suddenly afraid she’d overstepped her boundaries. To her amazement, a look of perfect pride was spread across his face. Slowly, the group began to move again, the new woman falling into step with Jack. Tilly grabbed Blaine and Calen, propelling them ahead of her.

  To Bit’s astonishment, she spotted Oden on the sidelines, grinning at her. He silently clapped his hands together a few times before turning and walking away. Before she could catch her breath Lexi grabbed her arm and guided her after the group.

  “That was brilliant. ‘Collective asses!’ Ha! I’m gonna have to remember that. I’ve never seen Calen look so embarrassed in his life.”

  Bit let out a long breath, suddenly feeling shaky, as though she’d drunk five shots of espresso. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

  “You did exactly what you needed to.”

  “Do you think Jack’s angry at me?”

  “Why would he be angry at you?”

  “They all outrank me on the ship, and I just yelled at them.”

  Lexi let out a huff of annoyance. “Bit, if they are pushing themselves on you, even after Jack and you told them to back off, then you had to say something. Besides, it’s layover time. During layovers the ranks are kinda ignored. I’ve seen Oden tell Calen off time and again during layovers and, technically speaking, Calen outranks Oden. You’re totes fine!”

  “Totes?”

  “Yeah. Totally.”

  Bit filed the strange word away to consider later. “Still. I don’t even have a rank yet.”

  Lexi waved aside Bit’s concern. “Trust me. I saw Jack’s face after your little outburst. It took all his effort not to run up and hug you, which, of course, would be exactly the opposite of what you just said you wanted. He was as proud as a brand new father.”

  Father? Bit didn’t like the sound of that, either.

  Chapter Eight

  Bit watched their growing group from the sidelines, enjoying the sugary concoction Jack had purchased for her. An hour after her outburst, Oden had returned to the group, nearly ignoring her completely. While Blaine and Calen glanced at her often enough, neither of them went near her due to Lexi’s poisonous glare and Tilly’s busy intervention. Bit didn’t mind the freedom, though a small voice worried her staunch defenders were going a little overboard. She didn’t want to be an outcast when they all returned to the ship.

  She pushed her worries to the back of her mind. Today she was young and alive and Lexi’s friend. She was surrounded by people who would keep her safe from her stalker, and the pirates were no longer a worry. Yes, she would be happy. Bit smiled at the young girl as she tilted her head to bite into the chocolate cake pop, shaped to look like a dragon.

  The group moved forward, multiple conversations shifted through the group as they approached the next attraction. The smooth lawn of the enormous park dipped down into a large crater. At the center of the crater, a flat platform had been erected, on which a show involved performing animal and dancers proceeded. The audience stood on the incline of the crater, watching in awed silence as the music blared over the speakers.

  Within a few minutes, the song came to a complete stop and the animals and humans froze in place. As though on cue, a nearby voice rang out over the silence of the mob:

  “No Embryo modification!” the voice cried before a volley of red liquid rained down on their group.

  Bit gasped as the red sludge hit her in the shoulder, nearly knocking her off her feet. She stumbled forward, her arm pressing against her broken ribs on its own accord. Once she found her footing, she turned and began scanning the crowd. She quickly spotted the offenders—a group of people toting buckets and running through the crowd, occasionally knocking people out of their path. Like her, Blaine and Jack were eyeing their attackers, knowing full well they were out of their reach. Bit turned to look at the others.

  The red paint, mixed with garbage juice by the smell, had hit most of their group, most of it striking Debby. Bit stifled a chuckle as she eyed the nurse. She couldn’t let the other woman see how much she enjoyed the look of paint and garbage dripping down her face and chest.

  “What was that about?” Tilly asked as she wiped sludge off her hip.

  Of the group, Tilly and Lexi had gotten off the easiest.

  “Some eco groups aren’t thrilled with Mars Ge
netics Consortium’s cargo. They can’t go after the giant company itself, so they’ve decided to make an example out of us,” explained Jack as he cleared paint from his forehead before it could drip into his eyes.

  “What did I tell you about getting involved with these genetics corporations? They’re ruining Mars.”

  “Mom,” snapped Jack. “They’re also what made it possible for us to have trees on this planet. Besides, what did I tell you about being a freighter?”

  “We’re not paid to have political opinions,” chanted the various members of his crew.

  Bit hid her own grin as she worked to wipe paint off her new jacket.

  Tilly threw up her hands in a huff. “Fine. Ignore your civil duty.”

  “My duty is to keep this company running so that these men and women have a job. That’s my duty.”

  Jack and Tilly glared at each other, completely unaware of the growing audience, or the authorities working their way toward the mob covered in red. Calen cleared his throat before resorting to jabbing an elbow into his brother’s ribs.

  “What?” Jack snapped, finally tearing his eyes away from his mother.

  The captain’s gaze shifted out of their small group to the peace officer who had stopped a few feet short of their macabre scene.

  “What happened here?” asked the highest-ranking peace officer.

  “Just a little protesting against the cargo my freighter transported into the port yesterday,” Jack said, fishing out his identification card.

  He wiped it clean of any paint residue and handed it over to the officer, who held it under his hand-held scanner.

  “Captain Jack Macleef?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And what did you transport into port?”

  “Genetically modified embryos for Mars Genetics Consortium,” Jack replied.

  “And the greeners don’t like it, eh?” snorted one of the other officers.

  Jack nodded.

  The first officer handed Jack his ID. “Did you get a look at their faces?”

  “No, sir. Did any of you?” Jack glanced back at the red-splattered group.