Chains of Freedom

by Selina Rosen

  "RJ," David shook his head in disbelief. "Aren't you carrying all this a bit . . ."

  "Actually, David," she addressed him with the same disbelieving tone he had used on her, "I'm being rather lenient. As you know, this is a restricted area, as is any area containing more than two members of the inner circle. I trust you will remember that in the future and not bring strangers into our midst." Her voice clearly showed her displeasure.

  "RJ . . ."

  "She has exactly five seconds to leave this room."

  "Fine!" David left with her, slamming the door behind him.

  "Don't like it," Mickey said.

  "You just said a mouthful, my friend." RJ got up and started to pace back and forth. After several moments, she stopped.

  "Sandra, Levits, make a run of the city. Make sure everyone knows this girl's restrictions, and that they have orders to kill her if she breaks them."

  "Poley, Mickey, get over to the island, make a composite drawing and see what Marge can come up with on her."

  They each indicated that they heard and understood, and then just stood there. "Go! Now!" They practically ran into each other getting out the door.

  "What do you want me to do?" Whitey asked.

  RJ looked at him and smiled slyly. "Well, I'm very tense."

  Jessica had been dancing on air for weeks. David Grant was dead, and now she and RJ were closer to being even.

  RJ had killed her lover, and now Jessica's army had killed RJ's lover.

  The death of the people's "leader" had stopped the weekly transmissions, and it had left them disheartened, sucking all the wind out of their sails. Their raids met with defeat after defeat. This had all worked together to make Jessica a very happy little dictator. Till today. Till she looked at the information concerning the Reliance's latest 'victory' and noticed a pattern.

  "That bitch!" Jessica screamed and slung something large and glass against the far wall. Right ducked just in time.

  "What's wrong, Jessy?" Right asked in confusion.

  "She's losing on purpose!" Jessica ranted. She stood up and started pacing back and forth behind her desk.

  "That's nonsense, Jessica. You're being paranoid," Right laughed at her suspicions. "Really, Jessy. Listen to yourself."

  "This morning . . ." She walked over and turned the computer screen so that Right could see it. "This morning, they tried to destroy an alcohol plant. We lost seventy-three men, but we were able to drive them back."

  Right started to interject, but Jessica held up her hand. "We were able to drive them back only after they had blown up two of the three stills on site. We found the bodies of thirty Rebels. So, you tell me who lost." She punched some buttons on her keyboard and new data filled the screen. Right read it quickly, his eyebrows raised slightly. "They're all the same." She started punching buttons and screens of data scrolled in front of him too fast for a mere mortal to read. "They appear to have lost every single one of these battles, but in every case they either accomplished their objective or did so much damage that they may as well have been victorious. Then they got away."

  "But why . . ."

  "Isn't that obvious, Right? If it looks like we're winning, the World Commissioner will send the extra troops back where they belong. She's trying to make us overconfident." Jessica sat down and shook her head. "I tell you, Right. At times, I feel that I will never beat her."

  Just then, her call button lit up. She pushed the button. "Yes?"

  "Parker and another to see you, Senator."

  Jessica smiled broadly. She looked at Right. "And sometimes I know I will."

  She pressed the button in front of her. "Send them in. Send them in at once."

  #

  Jessica walked around and around the mammoth of a man looking him over admiringly. "Is he . . . is he as I said he should be?"

  "Yes, I think you will be very pleased." Parker didn't like this. He didn't like any of it.

  "His only loyalty is to me?"

  "That is correct." Parker liked it less and less. He shouldn't have done it.

  "Kill Parker," Jessica ordered the GSH. The monster didn't hesitate, he immediately threw a punch into Parker's throat that killed him instantly but made very little mess.

  "Very good." Jessica clapped happily, and sat down at her desk. "Very nice. Right, have this mess cleared away, will you?"

  "What excuse will you give for killing Parker?" Right asked in stunned disbelief.

  "Well, you see, I learned that he was working with the Rebels," she pushed a button and phony files from Parker's lab filled the screen. Files showing that he had diverted research funds into personal accounts, where the money had then apparently vanished. She must have been working on this for weeks. She had planned to kill Parker all along. "When I called him on it he tried to grab my weapon and I had to kill him. I'll file the report after lunch. Now please call someone to clear this mess away. Better yet, carry it out when you leave."

  Right didn't like being asked to do menial tasks. "Have a cleaner . . ."

  "I asked you to do it, Right," Jessica hissed, looking with meaning at the GSH.

  Right grabbed the body by the feet and started to drag it out of the room. He grumbled as he went out the door. He started to tell Jessica what he thought of this whole thing, but thought better of it. The GSH made him strangely uncomfortable. Right knew it was stupid, but he felt that the thing was evil.

  Jessica waited until the door was closed and Right was gone before she spoke to her new toy again. "I'm going to call you Zark. Do you like that name?"

  "Anything you choose will be fine." He smiled at her, and suddenly it hit her. This thing loved her. Parker had taken the easy way out, and just made the thing love her. He moved towards her.

  "You are everything to me. I have waited so long to be with you."

  "Ah, Zark . . . I think we should," she backed away, "talk about this . . ."

  "I wouldn't hurt you," he promised.

  "Hurt me?" she whispered the words as a smile curled across her face. She locked the door.

  She had worn the GSH out. It was obvious from the look on his face that he hadn't planned on that.

  She laughed at him. "Parker didn't know that about me, Zark. And no one else must. Do you understand?"

  "Of course." He was very young, and didn't have much to talk about. Fortunately Jessica didn't need him to be able to hold up his end of a conversation.

  She laughed out loud. The GSH cocked his head and gave her a curious look. She smiled broadly. "I have finally found a man who is a match for me. Correction. I have built a man who is a match for me. You and I will do great things together. We'll begin by killing RJ."

  Kirsty had kept David at bay for weeks. She told him horror stories about being gang-raped by a troop of Elites who had been passing through the small farming town where she'd been raised.

  They were all fabrications, of course, but they kept David sleeping on the floor while she slept on his bed. She would cry, and he would hold her, and promise not to pressure her into anything she didn't want to do.

  RJ had never really understood David. Kirsty did. David wanted a weak and helpless woman, and Kirsty didn't mind being waited on hand and foot. As a Reliance soldier, she had been expected to do anything asked of her, no matter what the task.

  Now, all she had to do was say the magic words "I can't," or recite the incantation "I don't know how," or call upon her god: "Oh, David!"

  She liked this lifestyle. She liked it a lot. The dumber she acted, the more David liked her. The more dependent she became on him, the more he catered to her. Everyone else had always expected her to make an effort, to use her body, her brain, or her talent. It was strange to see a man who seemed to gain his manhood by choosing a partner that he would have to take care of.

  Kirsty had no doubt that he had chosen her. David loved her, and the more she put him off, the more he desired her as well.

  Oh, Kirsty knew how to play the game. She also knew when it was time t
o put her ass on the table.

  David shook his head, and smiled. "There they go again." He indicated the common wall that separated their room from RJ's.

  "They seem to do that a lot," Kirsty said, shyly turning her face away.

  "Yes, they do," David answered, trying to keep the frustration from his voice.

  Kirsty sneaked a quick peek at the fly of David's pants. Yes, he had an erection again. He did most of the time these days. She sat down on the bed, tracing the pattern on the blanket with her finger. "I'm sorry if I'm hurting you, David."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You know, because I haven't wanted to . . . well, you know."

  "It's OK, Kirsty," he lied as he gritted his teeth. "I don't mind, really. Whenever you're ready . . ."

  "I'm ready now, David," she said huskily.

  David didn't waste any time getting to the bed.

  "I love you, David," she breathed as he took her in his arms.

  "Oh, Kirsty, I love you with all my heart and soul."

  The sad part was that he was sincere. But, what goes around, comes around. While it meant the world to him, it didn't mean a damn thing to her.

  Kirsty didn't know where they had all gone. All she knew was that they weren't here.

  Even the ever-persistent, ever-watching Poley was missing.

  Obisco was the nearest town with a base. She "acquired" a car, used one of the Rebels' stolen Elite uniforms and ID, and had no trouble at all getting in. Once in, her next hurdle was to get the General in charge to take her seriously. Now she was waiting in a room alone, waiting for some big shot to show up.

  Nothing had prepared Right for what he had seen only two days before. He had thought he was satisfying her, that they had something together, but after he caught her with Zark . . . Well, he knew he had been kidding himself. She was done with him. He didn't even understand why she was taking him with her today instead of Zark the wonder toy.

  For that matter, he didn't understand why she didn't just send him, and then she could stay in Capitol with the Genetically Superior Stud.

  Right was sure it was just another dead end, another farm unit looking to upgrade her lot in life. But lately, Jessica had been seeing to each reported sighting herself.

  Why, Right didn't even dare to guess.

  "She's through the door there," a man indicated. Jessica and Right nodded and moved towards it.

  Kirsty was counting her money. Giving herself titles, and then throwing them out for better ones. She was counting on going through a lot of red tape. She was counting on doing a little time for going AWOL, but as soon as they realized that she was telling the truth, she'd get nothing but money and promotion.

  There was one thing that she hadn't counted on.

  The door opened, and RJ walked in.

  Kirsty's face went white. She bolted from the chair and looked for a door, a window, any means of escape.

  "Why are you acting like this?" Jessica asked, as she closed the door securely.

  "Because you're going to kill me," Kirsty realized it was futile to try to escape. She sat back down in the chair heavily.

  Jessica smiled then. "Who do you think I am?"

  "Come on, RJ. Kill me and get it over with," Kirsty almost pleaded.

  Jessica laughed in delight. "My God, Right! She really has seen RJ!"

  "You've spent too much time in the sun, Jessy," Right said.

  Kirsty took a closer look. This was not RJ. This woman was smaller, and her arm didn't jerk.

  "Let me explain . . ." and Jessica did, leaving out just enough so that they knew very little more than they had before. "So, tell me all about RJ. Tell me where to find her."

  "She's in Alsterase . . ."

  Jessica shook her head in disbelief. "Reverse logic," she hissed.

  "There's more. David Grant is not dead. It was all staged."

  "That can be fixed very easily," Jessica hissed. "Tell me more. Tell it all to me."

  "First, I want . . ."

  "Whatever you ask for, you will have, and more if it brings me RJ's head on a platter," Jessica promised. "Have you seen a man called Poley?"

  "Yes. He follows me everywhere. They're all gone tonight, and that's the only reason I was able to sneak out."

  "My revenge will be complete!" Jessica said in a whisper. "Go on, tell me more."

  When Jessica had heard all that Kirsty had to tell her, it took her only seconds to find the weak link in the chain.

  "Here is what you will do . . ." Jessica gave her instructions that even an idiot could follow. Kirsty wasn't an idiot, and she had the proper motivation. She wouldn't have any trouble.

  It was late when they returned from the island. When David got to his room, he couldn't find Kirsty. He left and went looking for her without any luck. He was worried, and he wanted to alert the troops to go out and look for her. But with all the restrictions on her . . . well, he just couldn't risk it.

  He tossed and turned in bed for a couple of hours, and then went out looking for her again. He came back to the room, and she was still gone. Now he was really worried. Maybe something terrible had happened to her. He had just decided to go wake up RJ when Kirsty came dragging in.

  "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded in an angry whisper.

  Kirsty was startled. She hadn't expected him to even be awake, much less dressed and ready for action.

  "I'm sorry, David. I . . . it's so silly . . ."

  "Where the hell were you?" David hissed.

  "Don't be angry," Kirsty said, on the brink of tears. "I went down to the beach. I lay down in the sand, and I . . . I fell asleep. When I woke up it was dark. I'm sorry." She turned on the tears.

  David strode to her and held her in his arms. "I'm sorry, baby. I was just so worried. Please don't ever scare me like that again."

  "I'm sorry, I won't let it happen again." Kirsty promised with a sob. "It was so scary waking up on that big ol' beach all alone."

  "It's OK, baby. You're safe now."

  It didn't occur to him that there was no sand anywhere on her or her clothes. He didn't even notice the bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. He loved her, and he was just glad to have her safely home.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Kirsty watched the activity in the streets with great interest. Rubble was being shifted and stacked. The barricades were being strengthened, and their numbers doubled. Kirsty wondered why.

  So did Whitey.

  He walked up behind RJ, who was supervising the building of yet another barricade. He put his hand on her shoulder, and for a minute he thought she was going to jump out of her skin. She calmed as soon as she saw it was him, and she even managed a smile, but it was obvious that she was troubled.

  "What are you so worried about?" Whitey asked, rubbing her shoulders.

  "I don't know, baby." She looked off into the distance at nothing. "I've got a bad feeling. Like someone twisting a knife in my gut. I've had this feeling a couple of times before, and I've been in this game too long not to trust my instincts." She looked at the newly constructed wall of rubble. "Of course, I have been wrong a couple of times, but, hey, you can never have too many barricades."

  David walked into the room and threw his jacket down on the bed. "God damn RJ!" he yelled, throwing himself after the jacket.

  "What's wrong?" Kirsty asked, turning away from the window.

  "We've got a unit under fire, and RJ won't send in the necessary manpower to save them. She says it's too big a risk. So she's just going to keep moving rocks around the city, barricading us off from her paranoia, while hundreds of people die."

  "It's a good thing that we have you." Kirsty moved to sit on the bed. "I don't trust RJ. I mean, she doesn't seem to give a damn about people in general, and everyone knows it. Do you know what the people call you?"

  "No. What?" He smiled. Just being close to her made him feel better.

  "They call you RJ's conscience. Face it. Without you, she doesn't have one." She lay down
next to him, and started to rub his chest. "It doesn't seem fair. You give all the speeches and do all the work. You bring all the people together, and then RJ makes you pretend to be dead, and she gets all the glory."

  For a second, David thought about that. It wasn't something he hadn't thought before. Then he shook his head. He laughed and moved to kiss her forehead. "It's all just part of the plan, Kirsty. Soon I'll be right back in front of the viewscreen. When the time is right. If you think about it, it's really just the opposite. RJ does all the real work, and I get all the credit."