Chapter 6
Just as Terry had entered the Council room to bring her report, the second door opened. She stood a little straighter, only to realize that it was a wasted effort since nobody came into the room. But with the door open, Terry could hear the conversation going on in the other room. She soon realized that the door had been opened by someone that wanted to enter the room she was in, but then turned around to disagree with something that was said in the other room. For a disagreement could clearly be heard. Eric was talking the loudest. Almost, but not quite yet, shouting. Terry had never heard him like that. Normally he was always so frightfully composed.
"And I say that the time has come now," a different Council member said. From the voice, Terry guessed it to be Sandra Hill. "We went along long enough with this farce, now the time has come for us to act."
Terry was amazed by the fact that Sandra dared to talk to Eric like that; she had never heard anyone address Eric even remotely like that.
"And I say that we should wait a little longer," Eric disagreed. "We have the people here so far, they made the weapons we needed to defeat the Bundar. Maybe we can get them to willingly start the preparations. We just have to come up with a good story and have Joanne Rock sell it to them."
"Give me one good reason why. The Bundar are no longer a threat and we can now do what we want, how we want."
"True, the Bundar are out of the picture," Eric agreed. "But we shouldn't forget that Earth is the most densely populated planet we've ever landed on. We are only 300 million. We have to have safeguards in place to ensure that we can control them before we actually start to exploit them. Remember the last time? The problems we had? And that was only a little more than half the size of this population."
"You have a point," Sandra agreed. "But you also know that I'm not a patient person. How much time are we talking about?"
"Making the preparations, starting things without the majority of people knowing it..." Eric said thoughtfully. "One year. Give me twelve months from today and then we can show this planet who they really should have feared all along."
Hearing that last sentence, Terry gasped before she could stop herself. A sudden silence in the other room indicated that she had been heard, and moments later the Council entered the room that Terry was standing in.
"Well," Eric said calmly as he sat down in his chair. "We weren't planning on you knowing this just yet, but what's done is done. So now to come to the point. We have known for a couple of years now that you have feelings for that woman. The question is simple; are you going to help us control her, or are you going to disobey orders for a second, and last, time?"
Tears came to Terry's eyes. She knew that her wonderful life was over now. Her hopes, her dreams, all had ended. All replaced by the knowledge that from now on she would have to start manipulating the woman she loved, manipulate her into destroying her own planet.
Eric didn't need an answer; the look in Terry's eyes told him enough. "Good. Now go to your own quarters; not Joanne Rock's quarters, and wait there for our next orders. We have a few more decisions to make."
Terry turned and left the room. Because of the situation, not a single one of them wondered about how Terry could have overheard them. About why a door that normally always closed automatically had suddenly stayed open.
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As she walked through the corridors, Terry tried to wrap her mind around the situation. 'They are going to destroy my planet. They are going to destroy my home. All those people I met, the friends I made, gone. And Jo, the woman I love more than life itself for five years now, I have to start manipulating her. Lying, deceiving, hurting. But, the Council orders it, so what can I do about it? I have to follow their orders.'
She looked up when she reached the quarters, only to realize that she wasn't standing in front of her own quarters, but in front of Joanne's. 'Wait a minute. My planet, my home, my friends. And Jo, the woman I sure as hell love more than this damn ship. Why should I have to listen to them anyway? What are they going to do if I don't listen? Kill me? They'll be killing my soul anyway if I have to do that to Jo. No, I won't do this. We have to get out of here.'
Decision made, Terry opened the door and stepped into a new part of her life.
Minutes later Joanne knew of the true plans of the Council, and she promptly got sick to the stomach knowing how big a part she had played in handing the world to them.
"I don't belong here anymore," Terry said as she took Joanne's hands in her own. "I'm leaving with you. This ship isn't my home; you are."
Joanne smiled, despite the situation. "You know, as your partner I should do the good thing and remind you that you'll be leaving your life behind for good; no coming back."
"But then you would be wrong. I'm not leaving this life behind. I left this life behind five years ago; I just didn't realize that until now. You are my life. Out there is my life. Earth is my life. And I'll fight to my death to protect my life."
"Then the first thing we need to do is get out of here. You said that they sent you to your quarters to wait for orders there; what if they already decided on your next orders and tried to contact you? We need to get going; now."
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Joanne's 'what if' had turned out to be true and at that very moment Eric was speaking to Jeff and Pam. "You know what we are planning. We decided that we needed time for perparation, but unfortunately Terry heard us talk about the plan and right now she isn't in her quarters, where I ordered her to be. I'm afraid that the time has come for us to rid ourselves of Terry. She cannot be allowed to leave the ship; take care of it. If you find her together with Joanne Rock, it is safe to assume that she told her about the situation, in that case, take care of them both."
Pam merely nodded her head to indicate that she understood her orders, but Jeff didn't feel that comfortable with having to kill Terry. After all that had happened, there was still a part of him that felt for the woman he once dated. "Couldn't we place Terry under confinement instead? I can take care of her; she would never leave this ship again. I..."
"Don't you ever dare to question my orders again!" Eric shouted. "Now get out of here and kill them before I change my mind and add you to the list."
Jeff knew when to shut up and smartly did so, even though he still hated that he would have to kill Terry. 'But,' he thought, 'If the Council orders it. I have to follow the Council's orders.'
He had been following Pam while he had been thinking, but now he took position at her side. He wanted to ask her what she thought of the whole situation, but one look at that face told him enough; it was clear to see that she was looking forward to a good killing. Especially because now she got to finally kill the person she hated so much because she had disobeyed the Council's orders.
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When the door closed behind Pam and Jeff, the queen entered the Council room. "I really hate the fact that my last born is going to get killed now," the queen said, as she sat down in her chair. She looked at Eric and waited until she had eye contact.
"Lucky for us the Bundar are taken care of and we can afford to lose Terry now, but it was definitely not what I was planning. Despite all, you carry a big part of the blame for this. I would be really careful from now on, otherwise Pam might come and pay you a visit one of these days."
Eric thought that he had more play room than he really had and therefore said a little too arrogantly, "You know you can't get rid of me. At the moment there's no leader good enough to take my place."
The queen stayed calm and composed despite the clear challenge, and just from that fact alone, Eric realized that he had just screwed up to the extreme.
"Oh, I didn't just mean that I would just send Pam to kill you. For over two thousand years now I have been playing with the thought of naming a short living into the council to see how that would turn out. It's just that I never found the right person, until now."
The queen leaned a little closer, making Eric lean back in pure reflex. "Pam is not one, but ten times better than you. She is the perfect person to replace you. That remark just now was your last mistake, Eric. Heed my words, the fun and games are over. This is truly your last warning. One more mistake and you will 'pass away in your sleep' just like the former A1 did, and Pam will take your place, just like she took his place."
The queen snarled at Eric before getting up and leaving.
Eric let his head drop into his hands and wondered how he could have ever messed up like that.
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Terry and Joanne were hopeful. The people they came across didn't even look at them twice. With a little luck they really would be able to get out. Once outside they could take one of the scout ships and get away as quickly as possible. But as they started to move a little faster a door suddenly opened halfway down the corridor they were in, and Pam and Jeff stepped into the corridor and blocked their way.
"It seems that the council isn't too pleased with you," Jeff said, and Terry automatically took a step back since she knew what his stupid line had to mean.
"You know, Terry, this could all have been prevented. If you had only stayed with me, none of this would ever have happened."
As Jeff was talking, Terry was estimating their chances of getting past the two. But she knew that it was hopeless. If it had only been Jeff, then Terry and Joanne might have been able to manage with the strength of desperation. But it wasn't just Jeff; there was also that bitch Pam Scott. The A1, trained to the level where the redhead would be able to sweep the floor with forty of Terry's level, thanks to the fact that she would be able to use the limited width of the corridor to her advantage. No, Terry knew for sure that they would be dead within minutes.
"Come with us," Jeff continued, "And I promise you we will make this quick and painless."
"You know what your Council is planning with our planet?" Joanne asked Pam, but especially Jeff.
"Of course we know what the plans for 'your' planet are. But it never has been 'our' planet. Not Pam's, not mine, and also not Terry's."
"The fact that you weren't born on it doesn't mean Earth can't be home. Home is where you make it," Joanne pointed out.
Jeff had enough of it. He despised the fact that Joanne acted like Terry belonged on the planet. Terry belonged on the ship, even if she was going to die there. He stepped closer to take care of Joanne, but was surprised when Pam took hold of his arm.
"Let them be, Jeff. If you want to live to see another day, you let them be."
Jeff looked at her with clear surprise in his eyes. But as surprised as he was, Terry was even more surprised. She had never expected this from the bitch she loved to hate. Joanne too was surprised, and she noted in the back of her mind that this was actually the first time she had heard the redhead talk in English.
"I think you just went insane," Jeff said in disbelief. "I'll tell the Council that you wanted to let them go. Now let go of me, or I'll also tell them that you wanted to help them."
"Your choice," Pam said, and her voice had the tone of resignation one got when they had just made a clear, and life altering, choice, and knew that now they had to live with it for the rest of their life. When Jeff took a step closer to Terry and Joanne, Pam suddenly hit him in the neck and he immediately slumped to the floor.
Terry looked at Jeff for a moment with her mouth hanging open, but finally she looked at Pam and asked the question she already knew the answer to. "Is, is he unconscious?"
"No."
"Dead?" She asked amazed.
"What do you think?"
"But why?"
Pam hesitated for a moment before starting to explain. "As long as I can remember I dreamed of a home. Not these ships; a real home on a real planet. A house with a back yard where I can sit on the porch at night just... breathing in life. Now we found such a place, her planet."
Pam looked at Joanne for a moment before looking back at Terry. "And on top of that, after initial difficulties they have proven welcoming; accepting us with open arms. Sure, we're still called 'off-worlders,' but that's more like how one would define a race. We're 'off-worlders' just like here on Earth others are called Asian, black, white."
"You sure didn't seem like you cared about the place before," Terry pointed out.
"Of course I didn't, I couldn't afford to be seen liking the place. You don't get promoted to A1 and stay there for long if you like the other place better than what is supposed to be your home."
"So why are you helping us now?"
"Because, despite being the A1, I only heard about the real plans for this planet not so long ago, and ever since then I've been wondering what I can do about it. As soon as the Council ordered us to kill you both I knew what I needed to do. I need to get you out of here. There's still hope. Little hope, but hope nevertheless. You need to contact the Resistance, tell them the plan, stop this."
Terry heard herself say something she never thought she would say. "Come with us."
Pam smiled, the first time Terry or Joanne ever saw her smile. "Me? No, I did my thing. And despite it all, I am still the A1; I will accept my punishment with head held high. One of the big advantages of being the A1 is that you can mess up once or twice and get away with it."
"Mess up, yes," Terry agreed. "But this isn't messing up. This is helping the enemy. The Council will know that they can never trust you again and will act accordingly. You know as well as I that your punishment will be nothing but a slow and painful death."
"That might be, but that's my problem. Besides, what does it matter? I'm of no use to you once you're off this ship."
"That's where you are wrong," Joanne spoke up. "I know the numbers of the Resistance, and I know that even with the best weapons they managed to get their hands on, they don't stand a chance against your people; the well oiled fighting machine the leaders have created over the centuries. No, if we want to have a chance, we need to throw some sand into that well oiled machine. And that sand will have to come from the higher levels of your society. The leaders created a smart system. As long as they control the black troops, they control the police, who control the army, who control the workers. But as good as that system is, it's also their weak spot, if we do it right. What we need are sabotage and desertion. People like you and Terry that always dreamed of a real home and realize that Earth is offering that real home. If we manage to get enough people to feel this way, especially the people that normally have to control the others, then the Council will lose all of its control in one go."
"And what does this have to do with me?" Pam asked.
"More than you seem to understand. A lot of people will need a push, so to speak. For all your lives you've been taught to think a certain way, now something is needed to rattle people up a bit and make them realize that there are other options. Who better than an A1? People will start to wonder, when even the A1 chooses the other side, maybe, there really is more going on than the Council is telling us. Maybe there are other options."
"She's right," Terry agreed. "Besides, just like me you've now made a clear choice. A choice that's going to change your life. Pam, all you can do here is die. If you come with us there might be so much more to your life, please don't waste your life like this. Please come with us."
Pam looked at them for a moment before looking down at the dead Jeff. Despite what she had said before, she had no illusions; she knew that she couldn't talk herself out of killing a leader so that the people the Council actually wanted dead could escape. She sighed, and made the last step in her choice.
"Alright, but we need to get going now, they know where we are, and as soon as you two start to move, and Jeff doesn't, they'll know that something is wrong."
"How do they know where we are?" Joanne asked, even though something inside her was telling her the answer.
"Guess," Pam merely said as she patted Joanne on her chest, at the place where the implant was located. "But we're in luck, they are quite weak and they don't work in the secret corridors. And once we're outside the ship, we can ignore the things. Come on, you two carry him with us for a moment."
This last was said as Pam moved down the corridor a few steps before stopping at a part of the wall that had no marking to show that there was anything of interest there.
"What secret corridors?" Terry asked as she lifted Jeff's upper body, while a very reluctant Joanne took his feet.
"These secret corridors," Pam pushed on three different places on the wall and suddenly an unmarked door opened.
"How did you know that?" Terry asked in wonder as she and Joanne carried Jeff's body inside the corridor behind the door.
"That's one of the advantages of becoming the A1, you get told all kinds of interesting stuff. Besides me only the Council knows of these secret corridors. You can put him down by the way. That's also why we are safe here for the moment. I mean, the Council would never think of looking in these. After all, why would they? Only they and the A1 know that they exist, and it's not like the A1 will switch sides, right?"
This last was said while looking at Joanne with a grin.
Terry had noted the grin and was amazed at the total transformation. She knew from herself that you didn't show your true self while outside your quarters, but she had never expected that there was a deeper level to Pam Scott. 'I think that I could really learn to like this new Pam. She should laugh more; it fits her well. '
Pam led them through a maze of corridors, stating that she had a better plan than trying to look for a ship outside, and finally they emerged into one of the hangars of the ship.
"Hey, wait a minute, why don't we take one of the scout ships?" Terry asked as Pam led them past two of the scout ships to where one of the escape pods, as the small ships were called, was located.
"Because they don't work. For the last couple of days none of the scout ships work anymore. Why do you think that you were picked up by an Earth helicopter?"
"What?" Terry asked amazed. "But that's impossible. Not a single one of them has ever broken down, and now all of them don't work anymore?"
"Not all of them, most of them. Even I haven't been told the reason, which means, I guess, that even the Council doesn't know for sure. But my guess is that there has to be something in Earth's atmosphere that the ships engines don't like, and it corroded the engines. Maybe the high level of oxygen? We used the scout ships a lot during the war. Everything else still works, but the engines just don't start. My guess is bolstered by the fact that the few scout ships that were in space for recon, to make sure that there wasn't a second wave of the Bundar, are all still working fine."
"And the Council wants to initiate their plans for Earth while they don't even have the scout ships?" Terry asked amazed.
"Ladies we don't have time for this, please talk while walking," Joanne interrupted. "We're out of the secret corridors now so our position can be picked up again."
"Right," Pam agreed as she walked a little further and started to open the door of a small ship. "The council is confident that the ships have just shut down while the metal repairs itself. It's not common knowledge, but it has happened before. Just that normally it's only one ship or so that got damaged and it's something that's easy to hide by simply not using the ship for some time. It's normal; a complex machine that's made from, to use the new name, Sentient Metal, never works while it's repairing itself. The Council is sure that by the time they're finished with Earth, the ships will work again. For now the problem of getting around is solved by using Earth vehicles. Planes, helicopters, cars; more than enough choice."
They entered the small ship which only had room for four, and Joanne could see why it was called an escape pod. Compared to the size of, and room in, a scout ship this small ship was cramped and uncomfortable. It was truly something you would only take if you needed to escape.
'How fitting that we're using it now,' Joanne couldn't help but notice.
"Where to?" Pam asked, her hands hovering above the control panel.
"My home," Joanne said right away. "Seeing that I'm useless to them now, they'll probably search it for some extra info. I have papers there I really don't want them to find."
"What kind of papers?" Pam asked.
Joanne hesitated for a moment.
'Is this a trap?' she wondered. 'Was Jeff sacrificed to make me trust her so that I would give up all my information?'
But then she realized that it didn't matter. They would search her house anyway and find the papers regardless. 'In fact, this is a good test. Now they'll find the papers anyway, but if Pam is just pretending and really just wants information, she can't afford to let us get away with the info. So, nothing to lose really, but a lot to gain.'
Out loud she said, "I have a list there with names of people I suspect are in the Resistance, or have ties to it. Eric seems to think that I know as little about the Resistance as he does; practically nothing, but that's not true. Over the years I managed to set up a list of 200 names of people I know for sure are part of the Resistance, and another 500 that I have a strong feeling of that they're in it."
"And you left something like that lying around your own home?" Pam asked as she looked at Joanne in disbelief.
"Hey, wait a minute here. Until not so long ago I had no reason to hide it. You were the good guys; here to save the world, and all that. Why would I need to hide a list of people? Until now that list was just a little info to keep tabs on the Resistance; nothing more than keeping up-to-date with a group I was, and still am, interested in."
"Hmm, I guess you have a point," Pam relented. "That's our first stop then."
As they sped through the air, Joanne was relieved that apparently Pam really was choosing their side. And yet, there was something that kept bugging Joanne. She only knew Pam as that person that followed orders no matter what. What if she was doing that right now? Preventing the others from getting the list of names would fit very well into following orders if the order had been to gain the trust of the Resistance and infiltrate them. No, Joanne couldn't help but wonder at the sudden change of heart of Pam Scott.
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Because of the high speed of the escape pod they reached their home within half an hour. But despite the speed they were still too late; there was already a car in front of the house. They didn't even think for a moment of just leaving; that list was too important to leave behind. They got out and entered the house to see four men of the black troops searching it. Their eyes got wider when they saw their A1 in the company of the traitors. Suddenly the Council's order to kill everyone that was with Terry made sense. They looked at each other for a second and then all four of them stormed at Pam; knowing that their only slight hope was to overpower her.
Their hope was for naught. Pam didn't have any trouble with taking them out; she normally got more exercise in her daily training. It must have been less than thirty seconds before all four of them lay motionless on the floor. But before Joanne could ask if they were only unconscious or if they were dead, another person came down the stairs. Even before she had reached the bottom and could look into the room, the woman had said that she had 'got it'. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs she looked at the scene in front of her for a moment before finally looking at Pam and merely saying her name.
"Pam."
"Hello, sister dear. It's been a couple of years since I saw you last. I see that you're moving up. Your own team? Not bad. Not bad at all."
Pam's sister looked at Terry and Joanne for a moment before looking back at her sister. "Pam, is it really true? When the Council contacted me and gave me my orders, they told me that your vision had clouded, and that I should keep that in mind if I were to see you again. My translation of that; you switched sides. Did you?"
"I guess I did," Pam said thoughtfully. "Or better said, I picked the side I felt I could believe in."
"You're just confused. Why don't you come back? The council assured me that they understood that you just need a little guidance, and that your punishment would be light."
"Did they now? And tell me, do you also happen to believe that?"
"No. No I don't," Pam's sister was forced to admit. "So."
"So," Pam repeated.
"It's us against each other then. That sure explains why they contacted me. If there's one person that might tempt you into coming back, or at least holding back, it might be your sister."
"To bad that they didn't bother to find out just how close, or not, we are."
Pam's sister smiled. "Yeah, they might have planned differently if they knew how much I hate your guts."
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual," Pam said, returning the smile. "You know, there is another option. You could come with us; join the Resistance."
"I really wish I could. But unlike you I believe in my people, and I will follow a Council's order no matter what. I can't go with you; you know what would happen if I did."
"Then give me the list and I'll walk out of here."
"I also can't do that. I can't just let you go. You know that. Besides, it's of no use; I already read the list, and you know my memory."
A hopeless expression crossed Pam's face. "No. Damn it, why did you go and do that for?"
"Because, as I said, my translation of what the Council told me was that you switched sides, and as much as I hate you, which I really, really, do. I just can't stop loving you as well. I knew that there would be one thing, one pressure point they could use to get to you; me. I'm just helping you in the only way I can, by removing the pressure point."
"You always were a stupid piece of shit," Pam said as she stepped closer and placed her hands on her sister's shoulders.
"And you always were an asshole. I hated every damn minute of my life that I had to spend in your presence."
"I know you did," Pam agreed.
Knowing where this was going, Joanne spoke up. "Wait, there is another option. We can take her along against her will."
"No we can't," Pam disagreed. "I'll tell you what would happen. She would reluctantly come around to our point, getting more and more convinced, and once we bring her into the Resistance, she would work from the inside to destroy it, just like I know you're wondering if I'm going to do. The only difference is, I know me, and you'll just have to trust me. But I also know my sister, and I know for a fact that we can't trust her. If you don't believe me; ask her."
"She's right," Pam's sister agreed. "You know that we're willing to give our lives in fulfilling an order. I would deceive you and I would bring down the Resistance, or die trying. I think that it's best for all of us if we just skipped to that last part."
Pam moved her hands until she was holding her sister's head in the right way to end her life with nothing more than a quick snap. Pam closed her eyes when she realized that she couldn't bring herself to do it. These weren't orders she was disobeying, this wasn't taking a side in a conflict. This was her sister's life in her hands; literally.
"Do it sis," Pam's sister said softly. "You know that I can't start a new life; but you can. You have a chance now that I'll never have, regardless of how this Resistance thing turns out. You know I just don't have it in me to give up all I believe in. You do. You have a chance for a new life. Live that life, and make it so wonderful, so full of happiness, that there's enough happiness for the both of us."
Joanne was amazed by what she saw. The whole concept of life and death that Terry's people had was simply beyond Joanne's understanding. Here was a woman begging to get killed because she didn't really want the life she had, but at the same time also didn't want to give it up. Joanne wanted to say something, anything, but she was at a total loss for words that could change a single thing about the situation.
"I love you," Pam's sister said softly, in goodbye.
"You were a pain in the ass for all my life, but, damn it, I love you to death." Pam placed a soft kiss on her sister's forehead and then with a snap, it was done and Joanne was treated to a whole new, and literal, meaning of the saying 'love you to death.'
Without saying a word, Pam lifted her sister's body off the floor and carefully laid her down on the couch. There she kneeled and placed a last kiss on her sister's forehead.
"Thank you for your gift. I promise that I will do what I can to live your happiness."
A moment later Pam stood up, and very deliberately turned away from her sister's body.
"Do you, um, just want to leave her like this?" Joanne asked hesitantly.
"Yes. That's what she wanted. She belongs there. She will get her wish. They will find her and she will get the death ceremony of someone that died in the process of performing her duty. She will get a parade and a reminder on the wall; 'gave her life while serving her people'. More she couldn't wish for."
Joanne's doubt was gone now. Even though they weren't with the Resistance yet, Pam already was part of it. But more worrying was that Joanne also noted that now that the redhead's sister was dead, Pam didn't seem concerned by the fact that she had just killed her own sister. The last thing Joanne wanted was for the Resistance to exploit that; she didn't want Pam to become the Resistance's assassin. Even though Pam seemed perfect for that role, just how long would it be before Pam would wonder if there really was that much difference between people that wanted her to kill people, and the new people that want her to kill people.
Joanne softly put a hand on a shoulder of the redhead. "Pam, you aren't on the ship now. You are amongst friends here; it's alright to show your emotions."
"There are no emotions to show," Pam said calmly. "You need to understand, she was my old life, and I will always be thankful to her for helping me put my old life behind me. Now I will go on with my new life, and there will hopefully come a day in the future where my life is perfect. And then, and only then, I will let her back into my heart so that her soul can be happy together with me. But for now... we have to get going."
"Alright," Joanne said, still not fully understanding what Pam was saying, but taking Terry's silence as a sign that she agreed with the redhead. "But before we go, let's take a few things with us. That list wasn't the only thing I don't want them to have, though it definitely was the most important one. Also, let's not forget that we need some clothes; you two need to get out of these uniforms. Come on, between Terry and me, I'm sure that we have some things that fit you."
Ten minutes later they were on the road in Joanne's car and Terry asked, "So where to now? Just where does one go to join the Resistance?"
"I have no idea," Joanne was forced to admit. "I always managed to convince the Council that it was best to leave the Resistance alone, so as to keep their numbers down. I have a few contacts in the Resistance, but I never asked them questions like that so that they would actually stay contacts of mine."
"Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away, why would leaving the Resistance alone keep their numbers down?" Pam asked.
"That's true, but the Resistance never really was a problem... not counting the occasional arms robbery. I knew that they weren't crazed lunatics, as the war with the Bundar showed. The Resistance kept quiet during that and some of their members even helped in the war. So I wasn't really ignoring a problem, it was more that I didn't see a problem. As for what ignoring them has to do with numbers... As I explained to Eric once, if we had targeted the Resistance, all those other people that weren't really happy with you would have had a place to go. As long as we left the Resistance alone those other people were just a few voices speaking up, and being ignored by the rest. But give them a focus, a place to go to, and suddenly those individual voices become an army."
"Which brings us back to how to contact these people if you don't know where they are," Pam pointed out.
Joanne grinned. "Ah, but I said that I didn't know where the Resistance was, I never said that I didn't know where some of its members are."
"Time to go visit Victor?" Terry asked.
"Time to go visit Victor," Joanne agreed.
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"Look, that's the person we need to see," Joanne said, as she pointed to a pair of legs that were sticking out from under a car. The legs started to move as Victor got out from under it.
"Joanne, good to see you again, it's been some time. Still joining Terry on her runs huh? Terry, how are you, handsome?"
"I'm good," Terry said, smiling at the nickname Victor had given her the very first time they met.
"Victor, how's your wife, and where is she, at home?" Joanne asked.
"She's fine. Actually, she's up north with the family. She got a little nervous when suddenly so many of the off-worlders started to show up here, so I suggested that she go visit her mom for a while."
"What do you mean, so many of the off-worlders?" Joanne wondered.
"You mean you don't know? Man, handsome here must have kept you on the road for too long. The off-worlders built a small camp about ten miles out of town, close to old Jon's place. Talk in town is that it's a transition camp. As you know, the war with the Bundar is over, but there are still Bundar brought in that have been found; part of the ground forces that tried to get away."
"I know," Joanne agreed. "Word is that the off-worlders guess it will be some months yet before the last Bundar are found."
"Right, well, that transition camp is where they are being brought so that from there those single individuals can be put on a bigger transport and moved to large camps."
'What would that be good for?' Joanne wondered knowing only too well that individuals could easily be brought to the prison camps without it having to happen in larger transports. After having thought about it for a moment she told the others what was on her mind, wanting to know what they thought about it.
"That's what I thought as well," Victor agreed. "I have a theory, but I don't share it with many others because people will think that I've gone insane."
"Well, share," Joanne urged, "I promise that I won't think that you're going insane; after all I've known you long enough to know that this isn't possible. You're already insane; you can't 'go' insane anymore."
Victor grinned at Joanne's old joke. "Well, see, I personally know the location of four of those transition camps, and I know that there are a lot more than that being created. The interesting part is, all four camps that I know of just 'happen' to be at a point of interest. The camp over at old Jon's place is pretty much right above that abandoned gold mine."
"A gold mine that's been shut down because they were at a level too deep to safely exploit; not because there wasn't any gold left." Joanne explained for the benefit of Terry and Pam.
"Right," Victor agreed. "And the other camps are also interestingly located. Here's my theory. What if those transition camps aren't that transitional at all? Just build the camps now, under the guise of it being small prison camps, and then if you turn around and start exploiting the mine, you suddenly have this nice camp built with strong fences and armed guards. Very convenient, isn't it?"
"It is," Joanne agreed, and a look at Terry and Pam told her that all three of them thought that Victor's guess was spot on.
"Right, and my guess has been solidified with the new order the off-worlders around here have gotten."
"What do you mean?" Joanne asked again.
"Well, you know how it was here in town. Once the initial scare was over, we had no problem with the off-worlders being here. Once you get used to the idea, knowing that they aren't from Earth is kinda like knowing that someone isn't from America but from a different country. You know, the standard 'oh, you're from Germany you say? So what's the weather like there? Hey let me hear you talk in your language.' That kind of thing. In fact, when we had our midsummer barbeque, they pitched in and I have to admit that we had a lot of fun together. But now, those black troops are taking more and more authority, discouraging the rest of the off-worlders from taking part in daily life with us. Their actions become more obvious with every passing day; they've even started to patrol the town. Oh, not officially, but just 'strolling' through town, you know? We only have two of them in town, but those guys have started to act more and more like they own it. Whenever there's a group of people talking they join in, and bring down the mood; effectively breaking up the group. Even worse, if they see one of the off-worlders talking to one of us; there they even directly ask if they don't have anything better to do."
"Are you sure they are black troops?" Pam asked. "Are they wearing their black uniforms?"
"They started doing that only yesterday, as a matter of fact. But we knew before then that they were black troops. It's so easy to spot one of the black troops, there's just something in the way they move; I could recognize one of them a mile away, with my eyes closed."
Victor extended his hand before adding, "But forgive me my rudeness; I'm Victor Cook; an old friend of Joanne's and good friend of Terry."
"And I'm Pam Scott," Pam said as she returned the handshake. "Black troop member; A1 to be precise."
With hearing that, Victor backed up a little in shock, which made him step on some of the tools he had been using on the car he had been working on. He lost his balance as the tools rolled from under his feet, making him fall back and hit his head on the bumper of a second car.
Joanne quickly checked Victor out, and when she was sure that he only had the wind knocked out of him and his ego bruised more than his head, she looked at Pam who was looking back at them with a little grin. "God, you have a wicked sense of humor."
"Hey, he practically begged me to do that; mister 'I would recognize a black troop member a mile away.' He apparently sure didn't spot me for one."
"But you aren't a black troop member, not anymore," Terry pointed out.
Pam's grin disappeared, but only seconds later a much broader grin came back. "That's true. I'm just me now."
"So, any idea why you don't know about orders that black troop members have gotten that you don't know about, at a time when you were still fully trusted by the Council?" Joanne wondered.
Pam shrugged. "Not much of a secret really. The A1 might be the general commander of the black troops, but I was still only one person. Lower level orders are often given by A2's to A10's. My task was more one of checking what they do and give the general orders that were my translation of the general orders of the Council. It's also not unheard of for Council members to give direct orders to an A2 or A3. Eventually I would hear of them because those people would hand their reports to me, but there is... was... a gap of a couple of days."
"So, you could say that there might have been orders given in the last week or so that you don't know about because the task wasn't done yet and therefore you didn't see any final or even initial report," Terry surmised.
"True," Pam had to admit. "But I really don't think there will be many. Take this actually. It's pretty obvious why I didn't hear about these orders. Clearly the Council has certain plans for Earth. Plans that they've already had worked out for years. I'm sure that they have a whole stack of orders ready to be handed out when their time comes."
As Pam explained this, Joanne had crouched besides the man now sitting on the floor. "Victor, we have a lot to tell you, and probably very little time, so bare with me while I tell you a story stranger than fiction. But just to show you how serious I am, let me start by pointing out that I know that you're a member of the Resistance."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
"You sure weren't lying when you said that this is stranger than fiction," Victor said some time later. By then the conversation had moved from the garage to the office, and they were sitting around the desk instead of on the garage floor.
"If it wasn't for the small fact that you know some things you can only know if your story is true, I would have been laughing my ass off by now. Terry, you're really one of the off-worlders?"
"I'm afraid so, Victor. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, I hope you understand the circumstances."
"I do. And you, Joanne. You were their go-between and you never told me."
"And you were part of the Resistance, and never told me," Joanne defended. "Despite you not knowing that I had any contact with the off-worlders at all, so there was no reason not to tell me. Until a few minutes ago you still thought that the only reason you didn't see me a lot in the last couple of years was because I spent my free time driving around with Terry. Guess we all have secrets we don't share with others. Not because we don't trust those others with it, but because we don't want to trouble them and their lives with it."
"Guess you got a point," Victor agreed. "So. That brings us to the big issue. I have someone from their army here, their go-between, and even their A1, and you're asking me to tell you how to contact the Resistance. Give me one good reason why I should do that."
"To save the world; how's that for a reason?" Joanne countered. "Look, I know that there's no real proof I can give you, nothing that can show that we're telling the truth. Hell, as Pam knows, even I myself have been wondering if we can trust her."
"It would be stupid for you not to," Pam added.
"Right," Joanne continued. "But keep this in mind, Victor, we could also have come here and not told you what we've been doing these last few years, and instead spin you a nice story about wanting to join the Resistance. Your friendship with me would have made you trust me, and by extension Terry and Pam, and you would have told us where to find the active group of the Resistance. We don't want to do that; we want honesty. Because of that I told you the truth, and now I hope that our friendship is enough for you to indeed trust me when I say 'trust me'. Trust me, Victor, if we want to save the world, we need to get to the Resistance."
Victor thought about it for a moment before finally nodding his head in agreement. "Alright, I'll bring you to the Resistance."
"No," Joanne disagreed. "You can tell us where to find them but you need to stay here. You're safe here, they don't know that you're a Resistance member, and they aren't looking for you."
"Ah, but Jo; I don't want to be safe. Well, I want to be 'safe' in the knowledge that I'm doing everything to keep my home secure."
"But think about Clarence," Joanne insisted.
"Oh, but I am thinking of my most wonderful wife. Do you really think she would let me sit back and watch the show while Earth is being destroyed? No, I'm coming with you. Besides, at the main camp of the Resistance it's great living also. It's nice there, Clarence loves it."
"Alright," Joanne relented.
As this back and forth was going on, Pam was amazed by what she saw. 'The Council so underestimates these people. They see that they can't agree on the smallest things while we're willing to give our lives to follow an order... normally... and because of that the Council thinks they are weak, easy, beneath them. The Council is so wrong. Yes these people can be all of that, but they're also capable of putting their differences aside and unite to fight the common enemy. Two people that hate each other so much that they want to kill each other, those people will still unite to fight the third person who wants to take both their lands. We have the system, we have people like me. But they, they have people like Joanne and Victor. The council is so wrong to underestimate their true power. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Joanne had said it before, told them, warned them. But all the Council sees are arguing people.'
Suddenly Pam's focus went to Victor as he got up and took the map of the state off the wall. That map had been a helpful tool for him countless times when someone called with car trouble, and now it would be a helpful tool again.
"Just in case we get separated or, um, something happens. You have to know where to go. See this mountain range here? See that small valley between these two mountains? It's beautiful there. A nice lake fed with water from the mountains. A rich business man set up a mountain resort there years ago, selling rustic vacations to city people. It almost made him go broke because he didn't realize that city people only liked rustic as long as there's a Wall-Mart within 15 minutes drive from there. The Resistance took over the resort; bought it for a token price from the guy that by now just wanted to get rid of the damn thing. They fixed up the two story huts there, and that's been the Resistance head quarters every since."
"That's damn obvious," Pam noted.
"If it's so obvious, why didn't we ever get a single visit from your people?" Victor asked with a grin.
"That's something they don't know yet," Joanne said. "As powerful as that human machine is that they created on those ships over the centuries, they are totally novice in regards to some things, like the famous saying 'hiding in the open'. And the best part of it, is that the Council is so damn sure of themselves, that they don't bother to learn the lessons."
"I'm not following," Terry now said, and Pam nodded her head in agreement to indicate that she also didn't see what Joanne meant.
"It's really simple. It's a vacation resort, still officially running, still officially mentioned in all the books. All is in order, taxes are paid... I assume?"
A quick look at Victor assured that she was on the right track. "So it's only normal to have people there. You can go by for an inspection and you'll find nothing out of the ordinary. I'm sure that any special equipment is well hidden. You can fly over it with a plane or even a chopper, and all you'll see is some people relaxing and enjoying the wonderful things that nature has to offer."
"That's why it's the main camp," Victor added. "Not all of the Resistance is there. In fact, looking at numbers it's only a small part."
"But the first thing you do when creating an affective Resistance," Joanne took over again, "Is break them up into smaller parts. That way if one part is exposed and rolled up, the rest continues to thrive. You always make sure that you have perfect communications so that actions can be well orchestrated. But only a handful of people knows where all parts of the Resistance are located."
"Right," Victor agreed. "Now, the important part is that we approach over the back road, it's a small exit off this road right here. It's the first sign for the Resistance. The back road is a ten minute drive over bumpy paths, so nobody would take it by first choice. Because of that, it's the only road to take; anyone approaching over the main road will be considered trouble."
"Shoot first and ask questions later?" Joanne asked.
"Not exactly. After all, that wouldn't really go well with the 'sure, you can check the place' approach. But yeah, you could kinda say..."
Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of several cars stopping in front of the garage. Victor walked to the window and looked out while Joanne folded up the map and put it in the back pocket of her jeans.
"It's a bunch of black troops. How did they get here so fast? More to the point, how did they know they had to look for you here in the first place?"
Pam thought about that for a moment and there was only one answer that came to her mind. "The Council must have been lying even to me all this time about the strength of the tracking devices. I wonder why though; they had already told me about them before we even reached Earth."
"Tracking devices?" Victor asked as he moved away from the window.
"Implanted under the skin; every one of us has one. I've always been told that they're only used to know where certain people are on the ships. You know, are they really where they were told to be, did they really not go to a part of the ships they weren't allowed because of some punishment; stuff like that. It seems that they're stronger than that though, otherwise they should never have been able to find us."
"Wonderful," Victor said, though he managed to say the word like it was a curse word. "Well, the first thing we should do once we get out of here is get rid of the damn things."
"But to do so, we do, indeed, first have to get out of here," Joanne noted. "You got any ideas? That garage door won't stop them for long you know."
"Yeah I got an idea alright," Victor said as he locked the office door and moved over to a filing cabinet. He pushed against the picture frame above it and the cabinet moved to the side to reveal a small door behind it. It was only about three feet by three feet. Not big, but more than enough to crawl through.
"Hey, I said I didn't trust them, I never said that I didn't like some of the things they brought," Victor grinned as the door of Sentient Metal 'melted' away to reveal a hidden corridor.
A rattle behind them indicated that the black troops had reached the door and were trying to open it.
"Ladies first," Victor said as he shooed them on. Just as Victor was bending down to crawl through the opening, a loud bang was heard and Victor slumped to the floor. Apparently the black troops had decided to forgo trying to open the door and had simply shot through the glass; hitting Victor in his back.
Joanne pulled Victor inside and once the sensors noticed that there was nothing blocking the way the door closed again.
"Push that button there," Victor said with difficulty.
Terry reacted immediately and hit the big button that reminded her of an emergency stop button.
"T, that just set off a small explosion that destroyed the access panel," Victor said with difficulty. "It seems that my contribution in the battle wasn't a long one. Pity, it would have been a fight I would have loved to fight."
"And you will, you're coming with us," Joanne said as she kneeled at Victor's side.
Victor smiled weakly. "Who are you trying to fool? Me or yourself? You know that I'm dead. Even without those morons out there I would die before I could reach any help that wouldn't report a gunshot wound. No, you need to go on without me."
"He's right," Pam agreed. "If we try to take him with us it will be the end of us all. I know he's your friend, Joanne, and believe me, I don't want to leave him behind either, but we have to."
"Huh, who would have thought; I agree with the A1," Victor tried to joke. It was plain to hear that talking was becoming more and more difficult for him. "Get out of here, but promise me that you'll make sure that Clarence is alright. Tell her... tell her, she was the last thing on my mind when I died."
"I will," Joanne said with tears in her eyes, bowing to the inevitable.
"Good, now go. Make sure that they don't find you again; Bruce will be able to help you. That,"
He stopped to cough. He wiped at his mouth when he felt wetness, only to see blood on his fingers when he moved them away again.
"That explains why I'm not bleeding that much outwardly." Then he focused back on what he had been saying before. "That door will probably hold them for an hour or so. At the end of this corridor you'll find a garage with a car waiting. You know where to go, get going."
For a moment Joanne thought about trying to take him with them despite the words, but she could see that Victor was in a lot of pain and that it would only mean extra suffering for her friend who was beyond saving, regardless.
Joanne stood up and looked down on her old friend. "It wasn't supposed to end this way. I still owe you so much, and still need to pay you back for all that you did for me."
"Come on, we need to go," Terry said, as she took hold of Joanne's arm and softly started to pull her down the corridor.
"I'll be along in a moment," Pam said, as she knelt beside Victor. "I'll end his suffering."
Victor nodded his head in understanding of what she meant, and in thanks, but then he spoke to Joanne one more time. "Hey Jo, if you really want to pay me back, take care of those assholes that are trying to destroy my home. I don't mind the off-worlders in general; they're alright all in all. But you know what I always said; if someone tries to steal from me..."
"You'll kick their ass," Joanne finished with a weak smile. Remembering the numerous times Victor had told her that in their lives. "I promise you. They will get an ass kicking the size of which this world has never seen."
With a last look at her friend, Joanne finally allowed Terry to lead her down the corridor.
Pam sat against the wall and leaned Victor against her. She placed a kiss on top of his head before whispering softly, "Thank you for showing me what to fight for."
"Tell me, honestly. I can't tell anyone else anyway, but I need to know before I die. Are you for real?"
Pam understood the strangely worded question only too well. "Oh yeah. I'm for real alright."
A firm push close to Victor's heart was followed by a second one at the base of his neck.
"No more pain," he noted.
"I blocked the pain, but it also means that you'll be dead in three minutes. Don't try talking anymore; it will only get harder with every passing moment. Instead listen. Let me tell you about my dreams."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
When Pam joined them at the car a few minutes later, Terry was amazed to see the red eyes of a person that had just cried.
"It's over," the redhead merely said, all of them knowing what she meant.
Silent tears ran down Joanne's face, and Terry realized that now it was her time to take charge. "Jo, Victor said that we had to go to some guy named Bruce. Where is he? Who is he?"
"Bruce is one of my friends. We know each other from back in college. Victor is... was... right. Bruce is the person to see." Joanne moved to the driver's side, only to be stopped by Terry.
"No, I drive, you give directions. Bruce?"
Joanne nodded her head in agreement and after the name prompt continued to explain. "Bruce was 'the' wiz kid back in college. His father didn't like that though, and urged Bruce to go into medicine, even going so far as to bribe Bruce by offering him a brand new Corvette. Bruce took the bribe and started to study medicine, figuring that he could always go back to electronics if he didn't like medicine, and keep the car to boot because he at least tried. But as things turned out, he loved medicine even more than electronics and he's now head of the plastic surgery department in his hospital; the youngest they ever had. We're in luck, he lives 200 miles away, and the town is pretty close to the route we need to take anyway to get to the Resistance. We need to get on the interstate, going north. I'll open the garage door."
"Alright," Terry agreed as she started the car. A moment later they drove out of the garage, and almost straight into a car that was filled with black troops.
"Shit," Terry exclaimed before she lifted her hand and smiled, giving all the expression of a driver apologizing for not looking where she was driving. The car with black troops drove on, only to stop a little further down the road in front of Victor's garage.
"Go, go, go," Pam urged on. "Good thing that I was in the back."
"Truer words were never spoken," Joanne agreed. "It's interesting, you took my idea of not appearing in the open on Earth, though you were the A1. So every single one of your people will know you and recognize you at first sight. Yet you would be hard pressed to find a person here on Earth that knows you. I wonder though why they aren't following us instead of just stopping there. By now they should know that we're not in there."
"Should they?" Pam asked. "Remember, even I wasn't told the truth about those tracking devices. I sincerely doubt that the Council will suddenly start handing out scanners for the devices. I think it's more that the Council is in contact with them, telling them to go 'there'. That means that they're following us from the ship. I guess that we have to be in a place for a while before they can hone in on us."
"I hope that you're right because we need these things removed by Bruce, and I don't want the death of another friend on my conscience."
Terry put her hand on Joanne's leg and squeezed it softly. "His death is not on your conscience. He made the choice to help us; knowing full well what he was getting in to. Why do you think he showed us where to go on the map?"
"If we hadn't gone there in the first place, he would still be alive now," Joanne objected.
"And then what? We would more than likely have been captured long before we could contact the Resistance so that we could try and save the world he loved so much. I know that this will sound harsh because it's nothing but normal to feel responsible in a situation like this, but the fact remains that it was all Victor's choice. He could have thrown us out when we told him that we were on the run. If he had done that he would still be alive. He could have entered that secret door first, if he had done that he would still be alive, and one of us would now be dead. He made choices, and because of them he is now dead. But you mustn't forget the big choice he made; he choose to fight for what he believed in; and so must we now. For him, for his wife, for Pam's sister, and for us."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Four hours later Joanne rang Bruce's doorbell, and a minute later the door was opened by a man that despite his profession looked more like he was ready to take his surfboard and head out onto the water. He grinned and gave Joanne a tight hug before offering Terry and Pam a hand.
"Hey Bruce, you got everything ready?"
"Yep, come on in, I'll tell my girlfriend that we are good to go and then we can get going."
Inside the house, another minute was spent to exchange greetings with Bruce's girlfriend and then they moved on to the back of the house where there was a big ambulance waiting.
"Where to?" Bruce's girlfriend asked as she got into the driver's seat.
"Doesn't matter, just make sure that you keep moving, and also make sure that the circle isn't too small," Pam said.
"Alright, I'll just drive up the freeway for a while."
"That'll do," Joanne agreed as the rest of them moved into the back of the ambulance. Noting that the space was a bit cramped, Pam moved through the opening into the cab and took the passenger seat.
"Well, now that we're on the move, like you asked when you called, mind telling me what's going on and why you asked me to have things ready for a small operation?"
Joanne gave Bruce the short version of the story, including what happened to Victor; their mutual friend.
"Right," a grim faced Bruce said ten minutes later. "Well, an ambulance sure isn't my preferred place to do minor surgery, but under the circumstances I agree that it's probably the best solution. Why don't you go first? Strip your upper body and lay down on the bed."
A moment later expert hands were examining the little bump and Joanne was glad to see Bruce give a short nod and a small smile.
"Shouldn't be a problem. Local anesthetics and a grabber. Shouldn't take me more than five minutes each. Basically I'll be poking you with a big needle with a tool inside."
"You work with children a lot?" Terry asked amused.
"Actually, yes, I do," Bruce said before giving her a wink. "But actually before you off-worlders got here and showed us what Sci-Fi was really like, I was a huge fan of Star Trek; I loved the Borg."
Bruce applied the local anesthetic and they waited for a moment for it to kick in. "Do you need help? I would like to do my thing in this; I could come with you."
Joanne shook her head a little. "Right now we don't have any plans beyond getting to the Resistance. I think it would be best if you kept doing your normal thing for now. But I'll keep the offer in mind. Maybe we'll need a good doctor later on. Depending on how things go I'll contact you and we will send some people to come and get you, including all the instruments and medicine you can get your hands on. But for now, just stay and help the people that still need the help of a good doctor in daily life."
"All right, I'll be waiting for that call. Now to get down to business."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
"Let me destroy those damn things," Terry said some time later, but Joanne shook her head.
"No, I think I have a better idea." Addressing Bruce's girlfriend, Joanne asked. "Say, isn't there a greyhound bus stop around here?"
"Sure is," the girlfriend said with a grin, realizing what Joanne had in mind.
Thirty minutes later they looked on as the third Greyhound with a little tracking device onboard started to move away. "So where are you off to now?"
"Bruce," Joanne started.
"Forget I asked," Bruce said, lifting his hands. "We'll drop you off at your car and after that I'll be waiting for that phone call."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Joanne and Terry took turns driving and when they reached their destination, Pam noted, "Looks like fun, that driving. I'll have to learn that."
Terry looked at Pam and smiled. She could hardly believe how much the woman had changed. This new person was entertained by the smallest of things. Still lethal and capable of performing ruthless deeds, yes, but besides that there was this person that was enjoying every minute as if it was the first in her life. And, Terry guessed, in a way it was. Pam Scott had been existing on the ship, living from day to day, only knowing one thing; she had to be the best. Now though, Pam was experiencing life for the first time. Realizing how much fun the smallest things could be.
God, the woman almost reached a state of ecstasy when they had stopped earlier for something to eat and Pam had experienced her first ever ice-cream; proclaiming that triple chocolate with maple syrup was even better than sex. This had sent both Terry and Joanne into fits of laughter, before assuring Pam that if she thought that, then she hadn't experienced the good kind of sex yet.
Terry had to admit, the Pam Scott she had known on the ship, she would have loved to kill several times over. Proverbially speaking of course since Terry wasn't into killing, and also wouldn't have been able to even touch Pam without getting killed by the lethal woman. But this new Pam Scott was a woman that Terry was starting to love, as a friend, more and more with every passing minute.
They took the back road that Victor had indicated, and fifteen minutes later their way was blocked by a fallen tree. "Hmm, sure looks very conveniently 'accidentally' dropped across the road by a storm, don't you agree?" Joanne noted.
The other two could only agree at the assessment. "Well, let's do the expected thing then and get out."
They got out and started to walk up the road, but mere minutes later, two people dressed in a guard's uniform stepped onto the road, both of them having their hands very clearly visible on their holstered guns. "This is private property, nobody is allowed through here."
Pam had to smile a little when she saw just how self-assured the two guards were, because of the simple reason that their hands were resting on their guns. She wondered if they would still look so self-assured if they had known that the redhead they were looking at could wipe the floor with them long before they would be able to pull those guns.
Joanne knew that the beginning would be the most difficult part, and thought that the best solution would be to have these 'guards' lead them to the people in charge. "Victor Cook told us where to find you. He gave us a message that we need to give to your leaders, personally. It's extremely important."
"If Victor sent you, you would know that we don't have 'leaders'; the off-worlders have those. We have commanders."
'And guards that can be tricked into revealing things way too easily,' Pam thought with disapproval. 'With that one line they would have proved two things if we were working for the Council. First that, yes, this is a place where some of the Resistance can be found. Second yes, Victor was a part of the Resistance. They don't know yet that he was dead, but they could just have ended his life if he was still alive and we weren't what we truly are.'
"Leaders, commanders, both are people in charge. The fact remains that I have a message to bring, and it's one I have to bring personally."
"We'll see about that," the woman said after she and the second guard had whispered to each other for a few seconds. "Start walking; any wrong move and we'll shoot."
Pam merely rolled her eyes at that. Terry saw this and with a little grin did the same to show her agreement.
They walked for about fifteen minutes. Joanne couldn't help but notice the beautiful nature paths and all round beautiful scenery. Then the camp finally came into sight. Victor hadn't been kidding when he had said that they were acting like they were just another resort. The two story huts were made of logs, but still gave the impression of being sturdier than many a brick house. Everything was well maintained and there were even golf carts to transport the so-called camp guests around the park, over roads that were so well maintained that they looked like new. They even had a small souvenir/gift shop and a small food store in place. Joanne realized that if this place had been for real, and if there weren't more important things to take care of, she would actually have loved to spend a little vacation here.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Continued...