Chains of Freedom

by Selina Rosen

  They returned to the hotel in broad daylight. It had been a long night of hunting, killing, and disposing of bodies. They were all tired. David followed Whitey and RJ into the room, and Whitey gave him an odd look. It took David's tired brain several seconds to realize the significance of that glance. This was no longer his room. He lived next door.

  But this had been his room. Back in the beginning, when it had been just him and RJ. That seemed ages ago, now. The rebellion was growing, and that was good, but . . . Well, he had to share RJ with more and more people. There was less and less time for them.

  "Something wrong, David?" RJ asked as she started to unroll her chain from her torso.

  David looked at RJ and suddenly felt a great loss. "No . . . I just . . . Guess I'm more tired than I thought. Good night . . . ah, good morning." He shrugged, at a loss for once, and RJ laughed.

  "Good night, David," she said dismissively.

  David left, closing the door behind him.

  In his own room he felt truly alone for the first time. More alone than he'd felt at any time since meeting RJ. He lay down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He felt chilled by the thought of the deaths they had dealt just that night. Had it all become this easy? When had he stopped seeing them as people and started seeing them as targets? People had become problems that could only be dealt with one way.

  He felt guilty and afraid. He longed for the security he had felt sleeping in a room full of people. More important, he longed for the security and the warmth he had shared sleeping with RJ, knowing that there was nothing expected. They had spent hours just talking. Their days had been filled with idle chatter. Now they rarely got a moment alone. RJ had Whitey now, and Poley. She didn't really need him anymore. But he realized with an aching in his heart that he still needed her.

  The women came and they went, and he needed none of them for any longer than it took to satisfy his dick. But RJ was different. She was the only person he had shared any real closeness with since the loss of his father. She had become his family.

  They were building an army, which is what he wanted. An army to fight the Reliance. But in the process he was losing RJ.

  The noise from the next room became impossible to ignore. He had chosen the room next to RJ's so that he could stay close to her. At times like this, he wished he hadn't. Apparently RJ came if the wind blew, and when she did, she didn't care who knew it. David was sure that there were people on the outer worlds who heard her. Therefore, it was ludicrous for him to even try to pretend that he didn't know what was going on next door.

  It was all Whitey Baldor's fault. Everything had been just fine till he came along. He had ruined everything. David snarled at the ceiling. So much for her crushing him to death. He seemed as healthy as ever. Oh, admittedly, Whitey had the occasional bruise, but nothing more serious than that.

  David wondered if RJ loved Whitey. He knew Whitey loved her. But he wasn't sure that she loved him back. She acted much the same way towards Whitey as she always had. He continued to hang all over her, she more or less ignored him and went on with whatever she was doing. But sometimes she would reach out and take his hand, or return his kiss. Sometimes she would look at him and smile for no apparent reason. She might love him. It was hard to say with RJ.

  It had been Whitey that had saved her life at Topaz's. Oh, David had helped, but it had been Whitey's idea, and Whitey's strength that had opened the door and freed her hands. Maybe she felt grateful to him.

  A loud, ecstatic moan emanated from the room next door. David grimaced. Such gratitude was extravagant in his opinion. David was aware of being flushed at the thought of what was going on next door.

  The idea hit him from out of the blue, and did nothing for his morale. RJ had come to him. She had wrapped herself around him and showed him just a tenth of what she was showing Whitey right now. He could have been the man sharing her warmth, drinking in her passion. He could have been the man running his hands over her warm, tan, flawless flesh. He could have kept her all to himself.

  But that wouldn't have been right. You didn't have sex with someone just so you could keep that person to yourself. Why the hell not? I've slept with women just because I liked the way they smelled.

  David had thought that making love to her would drive a wedge between them. But so had Whitey Baldor.

  He put it out of his mind. He had done the right thing. Whatever else one might say about Whitey, he loved RJ. There was never any doubt about that. David smiled. Besides which, RJ probably would have killed him. What were bruises on Whitey would have translated to broken bones on David.

  No matter how illogical or selfish, David still missed his friend. He didn't understand why everything had to change. Why couldn't it be like it had been in the beginning? The way he knew it could never be again.

  Except for Sandra, none of the new recruits were even told about the island, much less taken there. Usually, when the members of the original party went to the island, they all went. This time, it was just David and RJ. Why she chose to do this, David had no idea. But he was glad to have the time alone with her. It was dark, of course, and the hologram rose out of the ocean to meet them.

  "Hello, ugly," David waved. He'd become accustomed to this ghostly form and would have thought there was something amiss if it had failed to appear.

  After their third visit to the island, Topaz had taken David to a private room away from the others and had Marge show him some old film clips. Ancient forms of government and the history of the same unfolded before him. The names were odd, and sometimes the language made it hard to follow, but he got the gist of it.

  He watched as the history of his ancestors flowed onto the screen. He learned that Zone 2-A had once been the country called America. He learned that history almost always repeats itself. That if rebels aren't careful, they could wind up bringing to power the same, or sometimes worse, form of oppressors that what they had just overthrown.

  Topaz came in periodically to check on him. He answered any questions David had, subtly planting his own ideas in David's head. David wasn't so blind that he didn't see what Topaz was doing, but what the man said made sense, so David listened carefully.

  It was obvious that Topaz favored a quasi-democratic form of government with mild doses of socialism thrown in.

  ". . . so you see, RJ. In America, anyone could grow up and be President. There was this man named Lincoln. He came from a very poor background, but he went on to become one of their most famous men. Imagine it, RJ! People picked their own mates, their own careers, chose where to live, and how many kids to have. They even picked their own leaders. When Lincoln was President, there was a big war, and America split in two. After the war, they joined back. Lincoln said," David cleared his throat, 'We are highly resolved that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation shall have a new breath of freedom.'"

  "Very pretty," RJ said vaguely as she steered the boat.

  "Don't you get it, RJ? America is Zone 2-A. Americans have always fought for their freedom. It has to be more than coincidence that the fight against the Reliance, the fight for freedom, has started here." He spoke with fervor and conviction.

  "Maybe," RJ said noncommittally. She had more on her mind at the moment. Among other things, she wondered whether she should have brought David with her. She had to do something. Something she didn't want anyone to know about. If she was going to bring anyone, she should have brought Poley. But she hadn't spent any time with David recently, and she sort of missed their talks. Of course she was really too preoccupied to be good company.

  "Don't you find it intriguing?" David asked in a hurt voice. He finally had RJ alone, and it was as if she were a million miles away. She didn't answer him. She just stared out at the island, even though it could barely be seen through the dark and fog.

  "RJ, are you listening to me?"

  "Not really," she said truthfully.

  "What?" he said in hurt disbelief.

  "Sorry, David. My
mind . . . I think I love Whitey," she lied. She couldn't believe she had lied so easily to him. She'd tried to lie to Whitey a dozen times with no success. Yet it was so easy to lie to David.

  David laughed and shook his head. "Well, that would explain why you're so distracted." He hid his anger. He finally had RJ alone, and all she could do was think about Whitey Baldor.

  "He deserves better that some half-breed Argy bitch . . ."

  "Isn't he a half-breed, too?" David snapped his fingers. It all seemed too obvious now. "I know what RJ stands for!"

  RJ gave him a disbelieving look, but said nothing.

  "Well . . . don't you want to hear it?"

  "If you're right, and I seriously doubt it, then I already know." She sighed.

  "Argy—RJ," David said.

  She shook her head. "They sound nothing alike."

  A horrible thought came to David. "Whitey knows, doesn't he?"

  "Well, of course he does," she said matter-of-factly. Then added with immense satisfaction, "He guessed."

  "If Whitey guessed, it must be pretty obvious," David said, thoughtfully.

  "David, they don't make men Elites unless they have a very high IQ. Whitey is not just another pretty face." She docked the boat and jumped onto the pier. As she tied the boat off, she continued. "Besides, Whitey's made love to me. Any man who is my lover would know what RJ stood for." There, that ought to confuse him for all eternity. She started off down the pier with David right behind her.

  "I don't get it. Extremely loud is EL, not RJ," David said and laughed. "Come on, RJ . . ."

  "Forget it, David. It's a secret. You hate that, I know, but that's what it is." She turned around and grinned a triumphant grin, before taking off down the walkway. He deserved to squirm.

  RJ looked around. Topaz was off with David showing him some more films and trying to indoctrinate him. It was just she and Marge.

  "Marge?"

  "Yes, RJ?"

  "Patch me through to Senator Kirk's private terminal at Capitol. Make sure that no one else can intercept it."

  "As you wish, RJ. Do you wish to have visual?"

  RJ thought only for a moment. "Yes."

  Jessica paced her room. She did that a lot these nights. It beat lying in bed staring at the ceiling.

  "Pick up on line one," the computer announced.

  Jessica almost jumped out of her skin. "Who is it?" she asked hotly.

  "It's RJ."

  Jessica heard her own voice call back and she froze in horror. Then she moved slowly to her terminal. She knew what she would find there, but she still sat down in her chair with a thud when she saw the screen. RJ smiled back broadly.

  "So, Poley was right. You are smaller than I am," RJ said smugly.

  "You . . ." Jessica spat, and started pushing buttons.

  "You're wasting time. Do you really think I would be doing this if you could trace this call?"

  "Not really, but one must hold onto one's dreams." Jessica took her hands off the terminal. "So, what do you want?"

  "Join me, J-6. Together we would be irresistible," RJ pleaded.

  Jessica laughed. "Are you mad?"

  "I don't know. Are we?" RJ asked with a twisted smile.

  "I am not the same as you," Jessica hissed.

  RJ leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest, letting her elbows rest on her chain. "Quite right. Poley tells me I am superior in every way. Come join us."

  "You killed Jack . . . He was my lover. You blew him into so many tiny pieces that . . . Now you want me to join you!"

  "One little mistake . . ."

  "You killed my lover!" Jessica stormed.

  "He can't disapprove then, can he?" RJ stormed back.

  "You've made my life empty and meaningless . . ."

  "I killed an unscrupulous man who sent me to slaughter children," RJ defended. "I'm sorry that you loved him. I'm not sorry that I killed him. He deserved the death he received. Many people did not deserve the deaths he dealt them."

  "Jack Bristol was a good man. Villages must be cleansed . . ."

  "You know that is trash," RJ hissed.

  "You can't win, RJ!" Jessica screamed. "You can't wipe out the Reliance. You are nothing but a thorn in our side . . ."

  RJ fixed her with a stare that made Jessica's blood run cold.

  "I will win, J-6. I know I will. I have calculated that I shall. If you do not join me, then sooner or later, I will have to kill you. That would be sad."

  Jessica managed a laugh. "You won't find me so easy to kill." Jessica noticed the jerking of RJ's arm. Something which she was obviously trying to conceal by crossing her arms the way she was. "I am perfect. It would seem that you have a deformity."

  RJ just smiled more broadly.

  That really made Jessica's blood boil. If someone had said something like that to her, she would have been furious. But RJ just sat there with an impudent grin on her face. "Look at you. Beat the Reliance! I bet it's been weeks since you combed your hair properly, and what is that getup you're wearing? What, for instance, does that stupid chain represent?"

  J-6 was almost hysterical. RJ liked that. "Death to my enemies," RJ answered with a smile.

  Jessica swallowed hard. She pulled her wits in about her. "I am Senator of Zone 2-A. I can summon . . ."

  "America," RJ corrected.

  "What?" If RJ was trying to confuse her, she was doing a good job.

  "America. Zone 2-A used to be called America. When we take over, we plan to reinstate all the old place names."

  This time, Jessica laughed without any effort. "You can't win, RJ. A grubby rebel with a chain and a fistful of dreams cannot topple a galactic empire."

  RJ's eyes gleamed fanatically. "Quite right, dear sister. But vengeful gods can, and do at will."

  Jessica smiled broadly and shook her head. "You talk of fairy stories. Who is this vengeful god of yours, RJ? How is your god going to save you from the mighty hands of the Reliance?"

  The smile left RJ's face. She leaned forward in her chair, resting her weight on the arms of it. "You are looking at a god, J-6. We should not exist, and yet we do. We are capable of great good or great evil. I don't believe that Father created us to be tools for the Reliance's hands. I don't think it was his wish that we should grow up and be good little Reliance lackeys. If it was, he could have easily altered our brains. He didn't. He left us free to choose. He left it up to us." RJ leaned back in her chair, and the feverish intensity left her voice. "Can't you see? The Reliance is wrong. Its practices are evil. It uses people, then tosses them out. There is no joy or purpose to their lives. The Reliance serves itself. Even you must answer to a fat idiot named Jago, and he to the World Commissioner, and he to the Council of Five, and they to the Council of Twelve. Everything that our father gave us, the Reliance reaches to take away."

  Jessica didn't care spit about RJ's pretty speech. Only one thing intrigued her. "Why do you call Stewart Father?" Jessica asked curiously.

  RJ knew then that J-6 would never join her. "Because he is," she paused. "And because he prefers that I do so."

  "A father raises a child; he helps it develop. He doesn't spit it into a petri dish and be done with it," Jessica said.

  "I don't know about you, but Stewart did raise me. Stewart is my father, in all meanings of the word. I love him, and he loves me."

  If Jessica had hated RJ before, she hated her doubly now. She smiled hatefully. "I guess you haven't heard, then."

  "Heard what?"

  "Your father is dead."

  "You lie!" RJ screamed hotly.

  "He shot himself in the head. I was there; I saw it." Jessica enjoyed seeing the distraught look on RJ's face. "He did it to protect you. It was really quite touching."

  RJ looked at her. Her eyes were cold; her mouth curled into a snarl. "Thank you, J-6. Now I shall not only kill you, but I shall enjoy doing it!" She closed the transmission.

  "Marge, is there an autopsy report on . . ."

  "She
wasn't lying, RJ," Topaz said in a gentle voice.

  RJ turned to face him. She didn't have it in her to be mad at him. "How long have you been there?"

  "I already knew who and what you were." A tear came to his eye. "I knew your father. I was very fond of him."

  RJ felt a strange tightness in her chest. When she spoke, her voice sounded funny. "He was a very intelligent man." She stood up. "I need to go home now. He used to say that you could never really trust a human. I would remind him that he was one." She smiled. 'My point exactly,' he'd say. He used to say that a lot." She started out of the room. "My point exactly."