Long View - Zelde M'Tana Part 3

"Well, it's timed," the other said. "So you can't stay in there too long and keep everybody waiting. The water goes off, you have to come out."

A little later the lights brightened; not long after, the 29.chowdown bell rang. The women ahead of Zelde left the line and moved to get their rations. She thought about it, and stayed; when the one in the spray-bath came out, Zelde took her place and washed clean. Then she went to the rations shelf; one packet was still there, and Tillya stood with a hand on it.

"Zelde-I was afraid you wouldn't get anything to eat."

"Turk's enforcers don't wait around, right?" Zelde laughed. "Thanks, Tillya. I missed a lot of meals and lived through it, but thanks anyway." She opened the packet. Breakfast was pretty much like dinner-color and flavor a little different, but not enough to make a real change. Zelde ate fast, then dumped the empty packet.

She turned to go-where?-back to the bunk, maybe, because where else did she have? But a group blocked her way, and Tillya's. Looking from one to another of them, Zelde paused.

In front was Cleta Parrin. Behind her, two other women-one was young and fattish, blonde and red-faced. Older, the second one-a pale coffee color, and skinny but with muscles showing; Zelde decided she was the one to watch. And at the side stood Turk Kestler-the one to talk to.

Looking straight at Turk, Zelde nodded. "Morning. I know Cleta Parrin here.

She a friend of yours or something?"

Turk shook her head. "Don't get smart so early in the morning. I've got nothing against you, Zelde, but Cleta has a complaint. We have to talk about it. I-"

Zelde cut in. "Let's hear what she got to say-herself." Like always-watch out for that in-the-middle s.h.i.t, was all! She stared at Parrin and the woman couldn't seem to break loose from it. "Well? Say your say!"

Parrin licked her lips. "You-" She turned to Kestler. "This one-I just asked Tillya, like you know we do, and this one beat me up for it. Are you going to let her get away with that?"

Turk looked at Zelde. "Is that how it was?"

What choice? "No."

"Then how was it?"

No good at this. "Said, Parrin did, Tillya had to go with her. Said, me, stay out of it, none of my business." Zelde frowned, and motioned toward Cleta Parrin. "Had a grab 30.on my shoulder, leaning." Looking at Turk now, she kept her face straight-no grin.

"Tillya, she'd gave me half her bunk, said she didn't want to go with Parrin. So I took care of it-that's all."

Turk looked from Zelde to Tillya and then to Cleta. "Zelde, she says you hurt her."

"Where's the marks, Parrin? / hurt you, you'll show it!"

Before Cleta Parrin could talk, Tillya said, "Cleta, you've kept me slaved and scared for a month, you and your two wolf b.i.t.c.hes with you. But now Zelde's with me, and I'm done with you."

Beside Parrin the fat woman chuckled. "A real tiger, aren't you, Tillya? Maybe Zelde isn't with you forever-you think of that?"

Tillya went pale. Zelde reached and touched Turk Kes-tler's hand. "You heard that! You need any more answers?" Then, to the fat woman but looking at Parrin too: "You want to try something, I'm here right now. Turk? You got rules or anything?"

"Stop it!" Kestler got her voice down from a shout. "Cleta, your complaint's dismissed. I don't know what all you've been up to, but whatever it was, you just- now stopped. You and your bunch lay off these two. Now, Zelde-don't you take any license to run a feud, either. You hear?"

It was all a mess. Zelde looked around the group. "Anybody leaves me alone, I leave them, too. They don't, I don't. All right?"

For a moment, Turk Kestler stood silent. Then she said, "In the situation we're stuck with, I guess I have to settle for that."

Parrin and her sidekicks didn't try anything more; after a while, Zelde quit worrying about them. The days went all the same; she settled into enjoying the occasional gentle love of Tillya Ormetir and hearing from the girl about the ways of UET's world that Zelde had never known. The day the ship lifted, Zelde first knew about it because after standing in line quite a time, she got cut short on her spray- bath. A little later there was a lot of noise and vibration, and the floor felt funny-like pushing up or dropping away, only not really. Then, when it steadied, she was no- 31.where as heavy as before. Turk said that was s.p.a.ceships for you, so why worry?

s.p.a.ce wasn't so different. The worst thing, just as before, was having to stand in line for everything-to eat, to get clean, to s.h.i.t. The next worse thing was there wasn't ever anything to do, except eat and sleep and the next best thing to s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g.

A lot of the women sat around and talked about how it was to live outside of Welfare. At first Zelde was interested, but they all seemed to be bragging how good they'd had it-trying to top each others' stories-and after a while she decided they were mostly lying. Even if they weren't, none of it was real to her.

Except the stuff about UET; to that, Zelde listened close. United Energy and Transport hadn't always run North America, she learned; Turk even remembered before the "conglomerates"-whatever those were-bid for the job of governing. "And until UET got in," Turk said, "it wasn't really so bad. But once they had s.p.a.ce travel. . . ." She shook her head. "Too much power there. n.o.body else had a chance again, so UET got all its own way."

"Well, you have to admit they earned it." Zelde squinted over at the smallish woman, sitting back in a dim corner, who said that. The woman always stayed on the edges of things, seemed like, and had one hand or the other up to her face a lot.

Hiding something? A big scar, maybe? Zelde couldn't see her very well, but got the impression her face was lopsided. "Any group who could get the human race off Earth-" the woman began, but then Turk cut in.

"Bull p.o.o.p! Maybe you believe that UET invented star drive about the same time they invented Total Welfare, but the Underground knows better." Snorting, Turk waved the other to quiet. "UET stole it, is what."

"Who from?" Now Zelde was really curious. "I mean-"

"Aliens," Turk said. "Nonhumans, and from G.o.d only knows where. UET's Committee troops went to meet them where they landed, and killed them. Then UET copied their ship; it took 'em a year or so."

"You don't know that." The hideyhole woman again.

Turk laughed. "I know UET's nervous enough to maintain a fleet of ships on a fortress planet-Stronghold, it's called-in the opposite direction from any other explora- 32.tion they've made." The woman said nothing as Turk nodded. "Think about it."

Every day after dinner now, Turk sat and held meeting. You didn't have to join in if you didn't want to-but Zelde figured if anything was happening or going to happen, that was where to hear about it.

One day, first thing, a skinny woman stood up. "When this girl-" She pointed at Zelde. "-when she spilled it that we're being shipped to Iron Hat, not Farmer's Dell, you said you'd see about it-for us to wait and you'd report. Well, you haven't done it."

Turk shrugged. "I've pa.s.sed word by the guards every chance I get, that we want to talk to somebody with some authority. They keep stalling."

"And that's all they'll do!" The woman had bulgy eyes with reddened lids; she squinted to left and right, then said, "Well, if you won't do anything, we will! I-"

"Who's we?" Turk kept her voice flat. "Our committee-I'm chairing it. There's six of us. We've made up a pet.i.tion, and-" "Let's see it."

"See it? There's nothing here to write on; you know that. But I can tell it to you."

She took a deep breath. "First, we demand that the officers of this ship meet with us and consider our grievances. Second, we insist that-"

Turk clapped her hands together once, loud; she stood. The woman stopped talking, and Turk said, "You demand; you insist. Next, I suppose you threaten. You d.a.m.ned fool-what do you think I've been trying to do? Get somebody to listen to us, that's what. And if I do-that's if, not when-you'll keep your big mouth shut. Because I don't know if anybody can do us any good-but if there is, it's the captain. And our only chance is to get him to want to help. We won't do that by putting his back up.

You hear me?"

"But I only-we wanted to-"

"Sure. But there simply isn't any way you can help." Turk looked around; her gaze fixed on Zelde. "What the h.e.l.l are you grinning at?"

Zelde hadn't known she was smiling; she stopped it. "I- just at her, Turk-talking silly, like you said. That's all."

33.Turk glared. "On Iron Hat I bet you'll laugh right out loud." She turned away.

"Meeting's over."

Zelde went to her. "Hey, I'm sorry-didn't mean nothing. It's only, the way she-you know."

Turk's face relaxed. She put a hand to Zelde's head, fingertips around the back and palm over the ear, and squeezed gently. "Sure. A kid your age-if you can't see the funny side, what the h.e.l.l? Maybe I just wish 1 could find something to grin about."

"Well-"Zelde thought. "You're out of Welfare now, anyway. That's something."

Kestler looked at her. 'That's right-you were never in a Center, were you? What do you think they're like?"

Zelde frowned. "Like in cages, right? They push you around-go here, go there!

Send you out in work gangs, only you don't get paid. Can't call your soul your own, is what they say. Welfare-that's what really scared me!"

Turk's shoulders moved; she breathed in snorts and her face went red. Then her laughter bellowed. Finally, wiping her eyes, she said, "You can't believe how I needed to do that! Look, kid-you know what you said, that's so funny?"

Zelde shook her head.

"Welfare's everything you said it is, and more. It's legalized slavery, with UET as the slaveowners. I was in it for over ten years, so I should know. The only thing is, Zelde-what we have right here is worse!"

After love and before sleep, Tillya explained. '"There's dining rooms where you sit down to eat-three meals a day, and the food's better, sometimes. Seat toilets.

Showers every day you go out to work, and once a week, anyway. There's a gymnasium, you can exercise or play games-a room where you can watch Tri-V in your free time. And you wear jumpsuits, not naked like this."

She patted Zelde's hand. "But it's still h.e.l.l, in Welfare- it really is h.e.l.l, all the same."

One day the guard called in a message. Turk went to the outer door to hear it; Zelde followed and listened. "After dinner tomorrow, everybody get in your bunks and hang on. It's turnover coming up-and the skipper's in a hurry about it, so the move could get rough. You got it?"

34.Turk said yes, and asked again about meeting with the captain or with someone who could speak for him. The guard answered, "I haven't heard anything. We pa.s.s your word up, Kestler, every time-but that's all we can do."

Back in the main area, Turk repeated the announcement. Zelde asked what turnover was, and Turk said, "Most of the trip we're speeding up, pushing. Then they swing ship to point backward, and the rest of the way we slow down."

Well, that made sense. But what stuck in Zelde's mind was that whatever Iron Hat would be like, she was close to getting there.

In the middle of that night the bunk lurched and Zelde hit the floor. Dazed, not awake much, she rolled over and saw the lights go bright and then fail completely.

Green spots danced against blackness-the deck moved under her-she reached and found a stanchion to hold onto as she got to her feet. What the h.e.l.l?

Somebody b.u.mped into her. Now people cried out; someone screamed. Zelde shook her head, blinking; she couldn't see anything, and didn't know which way she was facing.

Turk's voice, shouting: "Everybody stay put and hang onto something!"

Zelde said, "This-is it the turnover thing?"

Turk again. "I don't know-it shouldn't be, not yet. All of you shut up now, so we can listen."

Everything moved again, jerking. All Zelde heard was the ship creaking under strain, then something like a shout, but so far away she couldn't tell for sure.

The lights came on again-dim, for nighttime. Turk came past, heading for the door; without thinking, Zelde followed. Turk beat against the closed peephole. "You, outside! What's happening?"

No answer; she shouted it again. After a time the tiny peephole opened. "Pipe it down in there! We've got trouble enough!" The ship made a jarring plunge; Zelde barely kept her balance.

Turk cursed. "If the drive's freaking, we don't have a chance here-we're right next to it. For G.o.d's sake, let us out!"

35."It's not-" Then the man's voice came again, but not talking into the peephole.

"You-get back-I'll-" Zelde heard gunfire, then a scream and a thud. Turk peered out but shook her head; she turned and saw Zelde.

"They're fighting out there. What . . . ?"

At the peephole, part of a face showed. A woman's voice said, "It's mutiny-Escape!

Parnell's leading us." The voice rang; Zelde heard no fear in it. "It's touch and go-we may lose-but if any of you want to bet your lives along with ours, come on out!"

The door opened. Before Turk could move, Zelde gave a war whoop and dashed past her-but Turk came right behind.

The woman outside was the same guard who had first let Zelde into the hold; now she wore a green armband. Zelde grinned at her and reached to pick up the dead man's gun. While she was checking it, Turk grabbed her arm. "Do you know how to use that thing?"

"A little. I have, a few times."

"Better let me take it. I got halfway through s.p.a.ce Guards training before I figured out who I'd be supposed to shoot." Zelde hesitated, then handed the gun over. The dead man's knife was still sheathed; she took that instead.

Others came out now-about half the naked women. Turk took a quick count, then turned to the woman guard. "There's three ways upship, right?" At the other's nod, she said, "Then we split into three squads-and up our chances, maybe." In a hurry, she divided the group and set one of her "enforcers," Marty Cogan, to take the first squad. The other enforcer hadn't come out. "All right-I'll take you-bunch there myself. But who the h.e.l.l-"

"Me!" said Zelde. "Let me, Turk! I've done this stuff."

Turk looked doubtful. Someone said, "She's good enough for me." Surprised, Zelde saw it was Cleta Parrin.

"But-"

"Sure," said Parrin. "We haven't liked each other-but here we're on the same side, and you sound like you know what you're doing. And you've got the guts for it."

Turk Kestler nodded. "AH right. One thing first." She touched the gun the guard held. "If you're not coming with us, this is. All right?"

36."Of course I'm corning. Why do you think-"

"Okay, okay. You go with Marty, there." She a.s.signed routes-her own group up the main central pa.s.sages, Cogans to climb the bypa.s.s from drive level to Control, and Zelde's to take the emergency ladders between inner and outer hulls. "Mainly you block them, keep them clear, so n.o.body gets past you to catch us from behind. If you make it all the way, though-" She turned to the guard. ''I imagine the fighting's mostly around Control?"

"Between the galley and there, I expect. We've got the Drive-they can't blow it, or threaten to."

"But we could." Turk looked thoughtful, then shrugged. "All right-let's move out.

And remember-green armbands are on our side." Her group went one way along the corridor, Cogan's the other. Zelde followed the latter for a few meters; then Cogan gestured to a side-turning and nodded. Zelde started toward it; then, behind her, she heard the sound of running feet. She glanced back and saw Tillya, face contorted and tearstreaked. The girl ran to Zelde and clutched her arm.

Zelde looked, and shook her head. "No, Tillya. You go back. This-you don't belong in it."

"But I can't-I've got to be with you. Don't you see?"

Zelde gripped one thin shoulder. "You can't take care of yourself where we're going-and I got no time for it." She gave a gentle shake. "I want you safe. So get your a.s.s back where it don't get burned off-you hear me?"

Crying, but not making noise at it, Tillya let go her hold. Zelde kissed the girl's cheek, and turned away to lead her group toward the emergency route.

Up through the first few levels she didn't see anybody. Behind her the others were noisier than she liked, but-she decided-not bad for beginners.