Chains of Freedom

by Selina Rosen

  Whitey smiled. As long as David stayed out of the running, he could make RJ love him. It was all a matter of time. He decided to sleep. He was going to need his strength.

  RJ walked through the dark streets of Alsterase. Most places were still open, and she stopped many times for a drink. The night air was cool, but even shoeless RJ was not uncomfortable. The only weapon she had with her was her chain. It was wrapped around her right shoulder and rested on her left hip. It now had a small fortune in coins wrapped around its links, and she looked at them as she walked along.

  She had never been so confused in all her life. She didn't even try to bring reason to her random thoughts. She just let them bounce around in her head. Occasionally, they ran headlong into each other, and caused even more chaos.

  This seemed like a good thing to do. The last thing she wanted to do was think real, solid thoughts about sex, J-6, kissing David, or trying to screw Whitey. She surely didn't want to give any thought to having been turned down by not one, but two men in one night! She didn't want to think about how wonderful it had felt to be held, or how awful it was to be pushed away. Life sucks, she thought, and kicked a can so hard it went out of sight.

  David had pushed her away. That had hurt worse than any injury she had ever suffered. She'd never known defeat. People said it was a humbling feeling, but it just pissed RJ off.

  She was horny. She admitted this. So what? Why shouldn't she be? She was a sixty-four-year-old virgin. She shuddered at the thought.

  Still, it was probably a good thing that they had both turned her down. After all, just because J-6 had done it, didn't mean that she could.

  She saw a man who caught her eye and started to follow him. He was a total stranger. She could sleep with him. If she crushed him to death as Poley had so eloquently put it, who cared? But only seconds after she'd started to follow him, her pace slowed. It just didn't sound like much fun, doing it with a perfect stranger. Especially if there was a good chance that he might also say no. She'd had enough rejection for one night.

  She would have gone home then, if it weren't for the fact that she'd made such a total ass of herself. She walked around till about ten o'clock the next morning. Then, realizing that she had to go home sometime, she started back. Maybe they'd all be out.

  They weren't. Whitey was still there. For a moment, she thought about turning around and leaving.

  "Your brother said you'd come back here, then took off with the others to go look for you." Whitey smiled. "I figured your brother would know you best." He knew damn good and well there was no way that Poley was her brother, but he would play along.

  "I'm sorry about last night," she said sheepishly. Then her frustration reared its ugly head, and she screamed. "And drop dead!"

  Whitey smiled. "I love you, too, RJ."

  She threw herself down face first on the bed. "God, my head feels like jelly."

  She rolled over and looked at him. She felt the love radiating from him, and she wanted it. Without a word, he lay down beside her.

  She didn't really know who started it. If she kissed him, or he her. But she was in his arms, and it felt good. It felt right.

  Whitey had never wanted anything the way he wanted her. It had never been so personal. He had never loved anyone else. They exchanged caresses and kisses. Clothes were discarded like old rags. He wanted her; he needed her. She was everything he had dreamed that she would be, and in a few minutes she would be his. Then she hurt him. Nothing terrible, and he tried to ignore it, till it reached the point that he couldn't. He'd hoped that she'd realize what she was doing and stop, but she wasn't.

  "RJ," he swallowed hard. "RJ, you're hurting me."

  She recoiled from him like he was hot.

  He reached out and moved the strands of hair away from her face. "Don't stop," he kissed her gently on the lips. "Just be more careful."

  She looked at him with wide eyes. He knew. Damn him, he knew what she was. She sat up.

  He got up on one elbow and looked up at her, unafraid.

  "How long have you known?" she asked gently. She was having trouble grasping the fact that he knew what she was, and yet he still loved her. Still wanted to show his love this way.

  "I had my suspicions from the first." He ran his fingertip over her lips. "I'd never had any one whip me, not even a hybrid. Then when David tried to take the Pronuses for a headache . . ." He shrugged.

  "And you don't care?" she asked in disbelief.

  He shrugged and smiled. "I don't care." He moved to kiss her on the lips, and she jumped up and went to the window. She stared down at the streets below. He moved up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her.

  "I can't . . ."

  "You can, RJ. If you just will," Whitey said. "Damn it, RJ, I don't want anyone else. There hasn't been anyone else since the night you gave me the laser."

  RJ was only a little surprised by his announcement. "Whitey, if you know what I am, you must realize that there is a very good chance that you might not live through our mating. I thought I could contain myself, but obviously I can't."

  "I'm willing to take the risk." He kissed the back of her neck.

  "Well, I'm not." She moved away from him, and started to get dressed. "I'm not willing to risk killing you so that I can get my rocks off."

  "Damn you, RJ." He put his pants back on, feeling far too vulnerable without them. "I know you won't hurt me."

  "I already have," she said sadly, looking at the bruise already welling up on his arm. She walked over to him and took his hand gently. She looked up into his eyes. "You know that I know how you feel about me, and you know that I don't feel that same way about you. I wish I did, but I don't, and for us to lie to each other would be pretty pointless. But I do care about you, Whitey. I can twist a two-inch piece of steel in half with my bare hands. If I lose control, even for a moment . . ."

  Whitey swallowed hard. "You will love me, RJ."

  "I'm sorry." And she was.

  He took her in his arms, and they held each other.

  "Just don't say no, RJ," Whitey whispered. "Don't say we'll never be together, because I can't live believing that's true. Don't shut me out, because, whether you admit it or not, you need me as much as I need you." He laughed nervously. "Would you listen to me? I sound like some love struck third class farm worker." All traces of humor left his voice. "But I mean it, RJ. All of it."

  She knew he did.

  What did he mean, she needed him? Needed him for what? Then she realized how good it felt to be held by him. To know he loved her. The unselfish thing would have been to wish that he didn't love her. Instead, she was glad he did. She pushed away from him, knowing that her convictions would wane if she didn't put some distance between them.

  Just then, David and the others returned. "Thank God, you're all right!" David exclaimed.

  "Why wouldn't I be?" RJ said coolly, and started trolling the room for food. She found half of a peanut butter sandwich under a dirty shirt and started to eat it. "Poley, go get me something to eat. I'm starving to death."

  Poley nodded and left.

  "So, RJ. Find what you were looking for?" Alexi asked sarcastically.

  "Cool it, Alexi," David warned.

  RJ took a final bite of the sandwich, and threw the crust—which was hard enough to do damage to normal teeth—out the window.

  "Alexi, is my . . . for lack of a better word . . . sex life any of your concern?"

  "No," Alexi said with a smug grin. "It's mostly David's."

  RJ hid her embarrassment by starting to search the room for food again. She pretended not to have heard Alexi's answer.

  Alexi wasn't pleased at all. "Actually, now that I think about it, I guess it's everyone's concern."

  RJ knew what he meant, and she still chose to ignore him. She knew that he was trying to get a rise out of her, and she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction . . . At least not until he made her mad enough so that she could feel good about killing him. Not that she would fee
l bad now.

  Whitey didn't feel the same way about it, however. His wound was too new and too deep. "Shut the fuck up." He spat at Alexi across the room.

  "Oh, that's right," Alexi laughed. "She tried to screw you, too."

  That was too much. Whitey had all this pent-up energy, and frustration. Killing Alexi was a perfect way of relieving himself of both. He ran at Alexi, and pounded him into the plasterboard wall with his shoulder. The old plasterboard broke, and clouds of dust filled the air. You could just barely make out Whitey pounding on Alexi's face. RJ continued to hunt for something to eat.

  David tried to pull Whitey off, but soon realized he could accomplish nothing alone. Levits quietly snuck out the door, and Mickey scrambled up on the bed and started jumping up and down screaming encouragement at Whitey. Not that he needed any.

  "RJ!" David screamed as he hung on Whitey's back. There was no response from RJ. She'd given up on her quest for food and was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. "RJ, for God's sake!" he screamed.

  RJ walked from the bathroom, still brushing her teeth."What?" she asked, through a mouthful of toothpaste, as if she were really put out.

  "What?" David screamed in disbelief. "He's killing Alexi! Do you think you might give me a hand?"

  She clapped, and went back into the bathroom.

  "That's not funny, RJ!" David screamed.

  Whitey took a break from beating Alexi just long enough to throw David off his back. David landed at RJ's feet as she stepped out of the bathroom. "Would you help?" David begged.

  David didn't care that Alexi had insulted her, and RJ certainly didn't care whether Whitey killed Alexi or not.

  She looked at Alexi. The only thing that was holding him up were the blows which pounded continuously into his head. He'd be dead soon. If he wasn't already. David didn't want him dead. It was time to strike a deal.

  "If I make him stop, do you promise never to mention what happened last night?"

  David didn't have to think about that offer. It was what he wanted anyway. "No problem."

  RJ walked over to Whitey, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Let him go," she whispered gently.

  Whitey let go of Alexi, and he fell with a sick thump to the floor. Before Whitey could change his mind, David grabbed Alexi and pulled him into the bathroom. Mickey followed. He helped David put him into the tub. David started filling it with cold water. He took a damp rag, and started cleaning up what was left of Alexi's face.

  Alexi coughed. He came to a bit, and immediately spit blood and two teeth from his mouth.

  "Well, you've done it this time, Alexi. It wasn't enough that RJ hated your guts. You weren't happy till you made an enemy of Whitey Baldor," David said.

  "I don't like you, either," Mickey said, and seeing that Alexi was going to live after all, stomped out of the room.

  "You saved me," Alexi said, in a thankful, if somewhat battered voice.

  "Actually, RJ did," David said.

  "RJ?" Alexi couldn't fathom that. Even in his current state, he was aware that this sounded all wrong.

  "It surprised the hell outta me, too." David cleaned Alexi's wounds. He hoped that the cold water would keep him coherent. Some of these wounds needed stitches, and he only knew one person who could do that. He went to get RJ, and found her with Baldor's tongue down her throat. Now would not be a good time to ask her to stitch up Alexi's head, if there really was a good time for that.

  Mickey lay in the middle of the bed, watching the couple and obviously getting his jollies, David gave him a dirty look, and motioned with his head towards the door. Mickey just grinned and shook his head no.

  David sighed; he was surrounded by animals.

  The fat manager waddled into the apartment. "OK, where is it?" he demanded.

  RJ pushed Whitey away. "What?" she demanded not bothering to straighten her clothes. "You could have knocked."

  "The door was open," he said. "Don't try to change the subject. Where's the body?"

  "There is no body," David assured him. The blood dripping from the rag he held in his hand didn't add credibility to his words.

  "Mind if I look around?" the manager asked skeptically.

  "Be my guest," RJ said with a shrug.

  He waddled into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he waddled out. "That man's almost dead."

  "Almost only counts in explosives," RJ said with a sweet smile.

  "If he dies . . ."

  "You'll be the first to know," RJ assured him.

  "There's a charge for stiffs, you know."

  "Really? I wasn't aware of that." RJ looked at Whitey. "You're going to have to take better care of your toys."

  "There's a rule. You'll find it in your lease." He cleared his throat and recited. "All sex acts involving more than one person must be conducted with the door closed."

  He looked at Mickey. "Want to get the door?" Then he looked expectantly at Whitey and RJ.

  "Get the hell out of here, or there really will be a stiff in our room," Whitey spat.

  He made a face and left.

  Whitey watched as RJ moved swiftly away from him. But putting distance between them wasn't going to work forever; it was just a matter of time now, and time was the one thing Whitey had plenty of.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jessica paced back and forth like a caged animal. It had been several weeks since RJ had raided the supply train full of communicators. The train where RJ had come up against trained Elites and a GSH and had destroyed them all. They had found Jack's box at the scene—proof that RJ knew what Jessica had done and that it wouldn't work again.

  Jessica was right back at square one. No clues, no edge, flying blind. She had no idea where or when RJ would show up. Jessica was unaccustomed to being helpless. It was a feeling she promised herself she was not going to get used to.

  Theoretically, she and RJ should be identical, but they weren't. RJ embraced chaos, while Jessica worked to preserve the Reliance, the pinnacle of order.

  Jessica sat at her desk, and once more studied the autopsy report. RJ had beaten the GSH nearly to death, and then slit its throat. It had been no more trouble to her than anything else they had thrown at her. This upset Jessica more than anything to date, because she wasn't so sure that she could live through a hand-to-hand encounter with a GSH.

  Jessica had no doubt that RJ planned to build an army. Yet there was no such activity visible, much less activity on the scale that would be necessary to carry off such a coup.

  Jessica didn't understand what motivated RJ. The reports indicated that she had refused to participate in a cleansing exercise, but she had no trouble killing Jack and all his guards in cold blood just to cover the stealing of his box. In Jessica's mind, the two things seemed to contradict one another.

  RJ was a genuine threat to the Reliance—at least the Reliance here on Earth. Even if that fat idiot Jago didn't think so. His opinion didn't change the facts, no matter how much he might wish the problem away. Her meeting with the self-important Blob of Sector 11-N had been nothing more or less than a humongous joke.

  "Come now, Senator," Jago had laughed, his blubber rippling like a hippo doing a hula. "Grant you this RJ person has been a dreadful nuisance, but to suggest that she can be any more that a trivial hindrance?" He laughed again. "Why, it's absolutely absurd!"

  Jessica gritted her teeth. If he admitted RJ was a real threat, then he would have to inform the World Commissioner. So when you boiled it all down, Jago refused to do anything drastic to get rid of RJ because to do that was to acknowledge that RJ was a real threat. He didn't want to admit that RJ was a real threat because he didn't want to have to tell his big brother that he couldn't handle his sector and its problems.

  "We need more GSHs. The only one who can sanction their manufacture is the World Commissioner," Jessica reminded him.

  Jago managed to look thoughtful for all of two seconds before he waved a hand dismissively and declared. "No, we have plenty of GSHs in Zone 2-A. There is no se
nse in overkill . . .

  Jessica lost it then. "Overkill? Over kill is what we've got right now! Over four hundred men, including Governor Bristol, several troops of Elites and at least one GSH have been killed to date. Not to mention whole shipments of arms and supplies and caravans of vehicles destroyed or stolen. This is just RJ! Can you imagine what will happen if she succeeds in building an army?"

  Red faced, his jowls rippling with anger, Jago levered himself upright and cut her off. "Do you have any idea who you are talking to?" he replied shrilly.