Chains of Freedom (10 page)

"You got this thing about my nuts, don't you, lady?" Whitey withdrew his pistol, wiping the sweat from his brow as she took her weapon away from his privates.

"Could I get a beer!" she yelled. She was quickly brought one. The usual bar noise started up again. The moment of tension was over. She sipped at the beer.

"What do you want from me?" Whitey asked again with venom.

"I think it's fair to say that we got off on the wrong foot," RJ said.

"Your foot, my balls," Whitey said harshly.

"Knee," RJ corrected with a smile.

"Your brains for my nuts is looking better and better," Whitey hissed. "You made me look like a fool in front of the whole bar."

"You
did
start it," RJ reminded him gently.

"You stole my truck," Whitey continued.

"I
borrowed
your truck. For which I am willing to pay you," she said with a crooked grin. Now she had Whitey's full attention. "Is there somewhere we could go?"

Whitey was game. The owner, a personal friend (well, maybe not a personal friend, but someone who believed that Whitey could shove him into a beer bottle, butt first) had an apartment in the back of the bar. Whitey wasted no time in dragging RJ—under the watchful eyes of all the patrons of the Golden Arches—into the back room and shutting and locking the door.

"OK, baby," he took off his shoes and flopped down on the bed."I'm ready to be paid."

"Fine." RJ reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a laser pistol. She tossed the pistol onto the bed beside him.

"What's this shit?" He picked up the weapon. He wanted the woman, not a damned laser. Then he noticed the design. He stood up. "This is the new laser Z-2-11!"

"Z-27," RJ corrected.

"Where did you get it?" Whitey asked.

"I stole it—God! Men ask stupid questions."

"It's very nice, but not exactly what I had in mind," he smiled."Let's call this laser the first installment." He reached out and touched the side of her face. It felt good, but she pulled away before he could get any further.

"Let's call it payment in full," she stated firmly.

"Does it have any trade-in value?" he asked hopefully.

RJ laughed."Think of it this way. Sex lasts only a few minutes, but a good laser side arm is forever."

"You only say that because you haven't been with me," he bragged. He knew from the look on her face that he wasn't going to talk her into anything. He didn't understand any of this. "Why?" He held up the laser. "I mean, you had already gotten away with it."

"My friend and I have decided to take on the Reliance. Having done this, the last thing we need are more enemies."

"You know, we could do wonderful things for each other," he said with a sigh.

RJ laughed. "I'd better go."

"No! Wait a minute," he jumped in front of the door. "If you walk out now, they'll know we didn't do it. I have a reputation to protect."

RJ smiled.

"If you could maybe make a little noise?"

She grinned and nodded.

"Thanks."

She groaned. "Like that?"

"A little louder. I don't think they can hear you." He went over and started bouncing on the bed. "So, tell me more about this suicide rebellion of yours."

"Are you interested?" she asked.

"It depends on what the membership package includes," he said with a smile.

She groaned again.

"Oh, that's much better; that does credit to our race."

She gave him a look.

"Sorry, is it supposed to be a secret? It's obvious to anyone with half a brain, but hey, my lips are sealed. You know, taking on the Reliance isn't like beating up a bunch of drunks in a bar. No one can beat the Reliance." A statement of fact with undertones of bitterness.

"You've done a very good job removing the mark," RJ said.

"Don't get any ideas, lady. I wasn't a political prisoner," Whitey informed her.

"And I'm no lady," RJ said.

"Then why are we faking it?" Whitey asked with a broad smile.

Why indeed,
RJ asked herself, but she knew why. Want, need and desire, were old enemies of hers, and the hardest to fight. Still, she managed an answer.

"You don't have to be political to hate the Reliance. You don't need to be political to fight them." As she finished she let out another long moan.

"Say yes," Whitey prompted.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"Say 'yes.' Scream it ecstatically," he begged.

"For the life of me, I don't know why I'm doing this," she said, and then said "yes" just in the way he had requested.

"Beautiful," Whitey said with a sly smile. "Before you try to win me over to your cause, I think you ought to know that I was sent to prison for killing my wife."

RJ looked at the way he jumped up and down on the bed. "No doubt you fucked her to death," she guessed.

Whitey laughed. "No, I just hated her guts. The damned Reliance demanded I marry her. I hated that cunt. So, one day she burned dinner, or some damned thing, and I planted a hatchet in her brain." He had hoped to shock her.

"Hey, a man can only be expected to take just so much," she said. "Well, that's the last moan you're going to get out of me."

"Too bad, I was just starting to enjoy this." He quit bouncing, and put on his boots. He picked up the laser and stood up."Keep this hidden?" he questioned.

"That would be best, yes," she said.

He walked over to her and messed up her hair. When she started to protest, Whitey commented, "You have to look authentic." He looked at the chain. On impulse he grabbed one of the loops and dragged her against him. He kissed her on the mouth quickly, then released her. "Now you look like you've just been kissed."

Her protest died unspoken. She groaned. "I like you. You're incorrigible."

Whitey nodded and reluctantly opened the door. He held it for her as she walked out, then he followed. When he caught up to her, he put an arm over her shoulders. She put her arm around his waist, and he walked with her out of the bar.

She stopped just in front of the door. "Whitey," she protested, "how far does this charade have to go?"

"I was hoping it could go back to my place," he said with a roguish grin.

"I think we've gone far enough," she said.

"Not for me."

"You're pushing it," she hissed.

"Well, at least kiss me goodnight. For them, not for me."

"For them, not for me," she said.

He took her in his arms and kissed her. He didn't find her all that unwilling. It was a good three minutes before she even attempted to push him away.

"Whitey," she protested. "Whitey!" she said more urgently.

"What, what?" he asked angrily. "You like it, I like it. Let's go back to my place . . ."

"I hardly know you," she said quickly.

"So that never stopped anyone," he said."At least not here in Alsterase."

"I kicked you in the balls," she reminded him.

"I forgive you," he said with a shrug.

"Then I'll do it again," she said with a sly smile.

He took a step away from her.

"OK. All right."

She started to walk away.

"Wait a minute." He caught up to her.

She looked at him suspiciously.

"I just want to know your name, then I'll leave you alone."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I'm a sensitive guy. I like to know the names of women I'm going to have explicit sexual fantasies about."

"RJ. My name is RJ." She left.

As promised, Whitey didn't follow. He watched her till he could see her no more, and it was only then that he realized what she had said. RJ! She said she was RJ. He decided right then that if she was
that
RJ, he would follow her. Of course, at that point if she had been Dogaretha, the Death Whore of Valgares, he would have followed her.

RJ sat down in the restaurant, ordering for herself and something for David. She smiled when she thought about Whitey Baldor. He'd be a good ally if he could ever get his head out of his pants long enough. The food was good, and after her own cooking, she ate it with pure delight.

She saw the man walk in, and watched the waitress walk over to him. The waitress made the mistake of looking up at RJ, giving them away.

No doubt, the man had been looking for her.

She remembered seeing the waitress leave earlier. It had only been for a few seconds, so RJ hadn't though too much of it. Apparently she'd been gone long enough to contact this man. As RJ watched she saw the man give the girl money. A lot more than he'd have to pay for the cup of coffee he bought. She ate her dinner as if she didn't know she was being watched. When she finished, she paid, picked up the sack for David, and left. As expected, the man followed. No doubt hoping she would lead him to her friend. She turned a sharp corner, her shadow following quickly.

He saw nothing. The alley was a dead end. Then he heard something behind him.

The shape that separated itself from the shadows was obviously female. She held a weapon.

He moved to draw his own.

"Oh, I wouldn't," she said coolly. She walked over and took his weapon from inside his jacket. "So, why follow me?"

"I don't know what you mean." No doubt he thought that he could bluff his way out.

"Then I'll tell you." She pulled up his sleeve and ripped the communicator off his arm. This time she checked to be sure it was off.

"It's just a watch," the man said.

RJ crushed the communicator in her fist and let the pieces fall to the ground. "And I'm just a girl. Come on, man. You can't kid a kidder." She smiled at him, her white teeth shining in the darkness of the alley.

"What are you going to do to me?" The man had gone from cocky to terrified in a few short seconds.

"That depends on what you tell me." She rubbed his chin with her laser. "Why were you looking for me?"

"You and your friend killed a GSH. The Reliance wants to know how," he answered.

"Nothing about the Elite and the secondary on the pier?" she asked curiously. The man's eyes got big. "Oh, so you didn't know who did that. People in Alsterase are pretty tight lipped. Still, I guess blowing a GSH through a wall and making it go splat all over the ground is the sort of thing people tend to talk about." She paused to laugh at him. "So, did you find out what you needed to know?" She laughed again.

"A bitch freak," the man mumbled it, but RJ still heard him.

He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have said that at all. She grabbed the man by his collar and lifted him off the ground. "I can't help what I am," she hissed. "You
chose
to be a Reliance spy." She holstered her weapon and dug the wallet out of her pocket. She carefully replaced the wallet after extracting one small pill. She held her palm flat and showed the pill to the man.

He pulled his head back.

"Do you know what this is?"

He didn't answer.

"Do you?" She hissed the words with venom, and shook him till his teeth rattled.

"It's Pronuses," the man answered with a gulp.

"Do you know what happens to a normal human when he takes Pronuses?"

He knew. He tried to squirm free, kicking her in the process. It was a futile attempt, it didn't even phase her.

"Interesting statistic on Pronuses. Did you know that the suicide rate is incredibly high among Reliance spies? Guess the job gets them down. You'll never guess what they use almost exclusively." She held out the pill. "Pronuses."

"They'll never believe I committed suicide," the frantic man whined."I've got no reason to kill myself."

"Oh, that's lame, desperate and lame. The Reliance doesn't give a damn about you or anyone else. Do you really believe that they know whether you're a candidate for suicide or not? Do you really believe that they care?" She shoved the pill in his mouth, past his closed teeth, and down in his throat. By the time she let him go he was dead.

She picked up David's dinner from where she had set it on the ground and marched back to the restaurant. The waitress was obviously surprised to see her back so soon, or at all for that matter. Reliance spies usually killed the people they were spying on as soon as they found out what they needed to know. It was just tidier that way. RJ ordered a cup of coffee. When the waitress brought it, RJ grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip.