I know it took me a while, I had... stuff to do. Yeah, that's it, stuff. Lots of stuff to do. Anyway, it's finally done. I just wanted to get it right. So here it is--Irony, part 4.
Radu crawled wearily through seemingly endless tunnels. He and Irony had been traveling without interruption for hours.
Unable to take the silence any longer, Radu finally asked, "I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what the plan is? Unless that's a secret too." The words came out more caustic than he'd intended them, but he was getting sick of being kept in the dark (literally).
"No more secrets, Radu. Not if I can help it." He couldn't see Irony's expression from his position behind her, but she sounded sincere. "I will tell you what we're going to do. In an hour or two, you and I will reach the room where all the mining supplies are stored..." She detailed the plan for him, her soft voice echoing back through the tunnel as his disbelief grew.
"Do you--" he questioned. "I mean... can we seriously pull this off?"
"You'd better hope so."
He thought on the mission for a moment, then asked, "How
much time do we have?"
"It all depends. If no one notices that we're not with the mining party (and the others will do the best they can to insure this), then we have until Shank finished his torture plans for you or wants something from me. At the least, we have perhaps...four hours left."
Things grew silent after this, Radu considering his options and Irony... well, who knew what she was thinking about.
After a time, he began to notice how small the tunnel was, and how dark, despite the small flashlight that brightened the way. Andromedan eyes were not made for darkness, and he could see very little. It was at this point he began to think that a conversation would be nice, or anything to distract him from his growing claustrophobia. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything to say. He wracked his brain, but nothing came. He was certain that there were a million questions he wanted to ask her, but he couldn't think of a single one.
Luckily, he didn't have to; Irony began it for him. "Is it true... what you said about the war being over?" She said it with a forced casualness, feigning indifference though the truth was of utmost importance to her.
"Yeah, it's true. Why would I lie?"
"Maybe you're a traitor, working for the Stardogs against your own people. That's what I assumed to begin with."
"I... am not... a traitor." He pronounced the words carefully. "I am a Stardog cadet, and the Andromedan Council sent me to the Academy in the first place, so you have no right to be calling me a traitor."
Ignoring the implication, she returned coldly, "Well I'm sorry, I guess there are hundreds of Andromedans at your precious Academy, rubbing noses with the all-mighty Stardogs, heroes of the galaxy."
"No, actually," he replied, the fiery anger within him suddenly growing cold. "Just me. I'm kind of an experiment. Or I was supposed to be, 'till I got stuck out here."
"Why you?"
Radu hesitated, unsure of whether he wanted to tell her
something so personal. However, his refusal to answer might end the conversation, and going back to that endless silence was not a pleasant prospective.
He sighed. "I was... different. I didn't really fit in on New Andromeda. They thought it would be a good opportunity for..." He trailed off, hearing a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Yes, she was laughing, he was sure of it now. "What's so funny?" he asked indignantly.
"Oh," she gasped. "It's just that besides my kin here, I've never met another Andromedan before. I mean, all of us were sent here because we were weird, because we didn't give up like everyone else. And now, hundreds of light years away from every other Andromedan in the galaxy, I meet you. And you... you're just as odd as the rest of us!"
As the humor of the situation struck him as well, he added, "It is kind of... ironic."
She chuckled at that. "Quite so."
Seeing the opportunity to solve something else that had
bothered him, he asked, "That's not your real name, is it? Irony?"
"No, it isn't." She was silent for a moment. Just as Radu began to think that she would not answer, she spoke suddenly, "My name is Brin."
"Well, Brin," he said hesitantly, "It's... It's nice to meet you." He wasn't sure why he said that, but it felt right at that moment. It seemed as if he was just meeting her, for she was a very different person than he'd imagined.
Then another thought occurred to him, and he asked, "Why all the secrecy? Why do you hide behind a mask and a fake name?"
"I thought things would be easier if I was respected. C'mon Radu, look at me. I'm just a girl-child in most people's eyes. Do I look like someone you'd respect, someone you'd fear?"
"Well...," he said, forming a picture of her in his mind's eye. One might take her slim features for delicate, not realizing that wiry muscles lay beneath them, the long chestnut-colored hair she'd pulled up into a tail as a sign of vanity. She was right, there would be those who would count her age and gender against her.
There was no mistaking the look in her eyes, however. One glance into those haunted portals and you knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that she was a force to be reckoned with.
Taking his silence as an answer, she retorted, "You see!" Then he heard her close her eyes for a moment, and she sighed, "Besides... it gives me a sort of... shield. Like I become another person when I put on that mask. I can stop being Brin, scared little Andromedan slave, and become Irony who... who isn't really afraid of anything. It's... hard to explain."
She said nothing else, lost in her own thoughts, but he didn't mind. It gave him the opportunity to think-- about the plan, about the Christa, and especially about Brin.
He wasn't sure what to feel anymore. The closest he could come to describing it was... confused. A few days ago, he'd hated her with a passion. Irony had been a cold-hearted murderer, an evil being, the destroyer of all Radu had held dear.
But he found himself forced to correct that opinion. Brin hadn't killed his friends, she'd even taken steps to prevent it from happening. She had gotten him and the crew into trouble, but that was nothing new; they were always in trouble. She had a logical reason for all she had done, and a cause that he considered worth fighting for.
Strangely enough, ever since he had learned Brin's true identity, Radu had felt a creeping admiration for her. She was so very strong, a survivor in the truest sense, very different from any Andromedan he had ever met. She seemed the kind of person who could stare death in the face and laugh. She'd be a powerful ally to have, and he should be able to look beyond his own lingering hostility and accept that.
And yet... and yet, he could not. He had hated her so much, so powerfully, that he could not simply stop once the reason ceased to exist. Such an emotion could not be turned on and off like a lightglobe. Besides, she had put the crew in danger. And... she had worked for the Spung, whatever her reasons. It wouldn't be a good idea to trust her immediately.
At least, that's the way he rationalized it to himself. Truth was, he just couldn't force himself to forgive her.
And so he was caught between animosity and admiration for this strange stranger who was Irony and Brin, both at the same time and yet neither.
They came to a steep rockface, a deposit that had been too dense to drill through with the primitive tools the prisoners had managed to steal. It was incredibly sheer, suddenly climbing up at a right angle to the floor and taller than Radu himself.
He quickly cupped his hands into a makeshift step, and without a word, Brin put one foot into it and pushed herself up. Reaching the top edge, she hauled herself up, turned and snaked down a hand. He took it and she pulled him up as well.
As he rested there for a moment, he said incredulously, "You crawled through these tunnels by yourself?"
"Who said I was by myself?" she retorted.
He waited curiously for elaboration, but she offered none. She merely took a map pad from her pocket and examined it. "We're nearly there," she informed him quietly.
She replaced the map and shifted her weight to her hands and knees. Assuming he would follow, she renewed her crawl.
"How did you manage to build these tunnels, anyway?" he
questioned, curiously. He continued after her as she spoke.
"We hoarded mining supplies, and worked during our sleep cycle for a long, long time. This reaches as far as the supply room. After that, we're on our own."
"What do mean, 'on our own'?"
"We'll have to use the main tunnels, which means we run the risk of getting caught. As long as we're careful, I think we can pull it off."
"You 'think'!?! Well, that's comforting."
"I'm glad you ag--" She stopped suddenly, bumping into a hard, smooth wall, signifying the end of the tunnel. "We're here," she mentioned unnecessarily.
Brin felt along the wall for releases, then pressed them and lifted the smooth plate outward. She then set it carefully on the ground and climbed out.
She was already searching the room by the time he'd pulled himself out. It was a large, square chamber, from what he could see in the illumination of the small flashlight. The walls were made of cut rock just like the rest of the compound, and were lined with shelves.
Brin gravitated towards these, shining the light into each one before moving on.
In the darkness, Radu could see nothing away from the
brightness, so he followed close behind her.
She inspected several closely, but each time moved on, deciding that what she sought was not there. Coming upon another
large cube, she began rummaging around inside, then swore and
moved on. After several more cursory examinations, she moved to a sealed container. She pressed the release button, but it didn't open. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was locked, a code necessary for admission.
Radu merely watched from behind her as Brin reached into a leg pocket and withdrew a small device. She clicked it into place over the code-pad and waited for several moments as it hummed.
"Is there anything you don't carry around with you?" Radu laughed incredulously.
"Not much." As she spoke, the device emitted a beeping sound. She made a satisfied noise and put it back in her pocket. That done, she easily opened the container.
"Works every time!" she said as she rummaged through it. She stopped suddenly, smiled and lifted an object out of the box.
As Radu gazed upon the portable explosive, an expression of Harlan's came to mind.
"Bingo."
They began placing the explosives at key places around the asteroid. It was no easy task, carrying packs full of them all over the place, and it was a long walk in between each destination. Luckily, they ran into few Spung, and the ones they did meet were loud enough to give plenty of advanced warning.
It would have taken longer, Brin informed him, if there weren't some still in place from the first time she'd attempted this.
"And what happened then?" he asked.
"I got caught," she freely admitted.
"You're filling me with overwhelming confidence," he said, rolling his eyes. "How did you manage to keep them from finding out about the explosives?"
"We...I was more than halfway done when I heard them coming. I ditched the stuff before they got there."
"That's when you started... uh... you started..."
"Yes," she said curtly.
She said nothing else, so they continued to walk along in
silence. They were now traveling in tunnels tall enough to stand in and broad enough that he no longer had to stay behind her.
"How long has it been since we left?" he asked finally.
"We've been gone five hours."
"So I guess they don't know we're gone."
She didn't answer, and he began to worry. "What if--"
Tired and already aggravated, her temper suddenly snapped. She cut him off. "Don't you ever do anything but ask questions?"
His own temper flared. "If you'd stop being so secretive and actually tell me everything, then I wouldn't have to ask!"
"Everything? All right then--two plus two is four, birds fly, there are thirty-two letters in the Andromedan alphabet, the Narn homeworld is--"
"Shhh!" Radu broke in suddenly, holding a hand up to quiet her. "You hear that?"
She immediately grew silent, listening. Her eyes suddenly grew wide as she realized what she heard. "This way!" she said, seizing his forearm and veering off into a side tunnel.
Spung warriors followed close behind.
Brin ran through the much smaller tunnel at an almost frantic pace. She still gripped his arm, pulling him behind her as if she was afraid he would stop.
She had turned off the flashlight, so they ran in complete darkness, but she never once stumbled. He fervently hoped she knew the way.
As they went around a corner, Radu realized that the corridor was gradually growing brighter. There was light ahead, and an end to this tunnel.
He listened for the warriors and found them still doggedly following.
With the increased light, Brin sped up, and he had no choice but to increase his pace as well. They turned another corner and rushed through an opening into a wide cavern.
Radu stared at the sight before him. The space was immense, the ceiling reaching up far above his head, and the ground..." He made the mistake of looking below him. Aside from the small shelf the two were standing on, there was nothing but a long drop down to a small lake of water. He jumped backward in surprise.
"The reservoir," Brin informed him. "Purifies water for the entire asteroid."
At that moment the Spung decided to make their appearance. They bolted out of the tunnel, their weapons charged and ready.
Brin reached for his arm again and took off running, seemingly oblivious to the drop, mere inches away. As soon as the warriors realized that they were escaping, they started firing. Dodging bolts of electricity, they made their way across the cavern.
She cursed. "There's no cover here!" There was nothing to hide behind, and they couldn't evade the shots forever.
They managed to get halfway across the cavern before another problem reared its ugly head. Out of the opposite tunnel sped another group of Spung. They were equally well armed and didn't look any friendlier.
Radu looked from right to left. They seemed stuck between the proverbial 'rock and a hard place'. But there had to be a way out, there just had to be!
Brin turned to look him in the eye. "Can you swim?"
He nodded.
"Then jump!" She turned as she spoke, then launched herself off the edge.
Radu leapt with her, then fell, down and down and down, the wind whipping past his face as he plummeted. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for a landing.
He hit the water hard, the impact stealing the air from his lungs as the momentum carried him down. He fought his way to the surface, gasping for air and trying to get the hair out of his face. He looked up to see the Spung still on the ledge, high above. Taking a deep breath, he dove back down.
Underwater, Radu swam to the wall directly below them, not daring to risk a breath of air until he felt the rough surface of the rockface. He came up, blocked from view because of the angle of their vision.
Looking around for Brin, he could see nothing but the surging water. He breathed and dove, opening his eyes to search for her, but again he saw nothing. He allowed himself to sink deeper and swam closer to where they'd landed. He was beginning to grow frantic, thinking perhaps that he'd never find her, when a dark shape caught his eye. Though his air was running out, he swam closer. It was her, plummeting like a stone down into the darkness.
He swam after her, using his own dense mass to his advantage. His lungs screaming for air, he stretched his arms as far as they would go, yet it was still not enough. She was just out of reach. He kicked his feet and flailed his arms, attempting to catch an arm, a foot, anything. He finally caught a handful of auburn hair, pulling it with all his strength,
bringing her close to him. He linked an arm around her waist and
twisted so that his head faced the surface, then began clawing his way back up. The situation desperate, he had no time to think of the difficulty in bringing both himself and an equally dense person to the surface, deprived of oxygen and stars bursting before his eyes.
He finally burst through the surface to gasp at the precious oxygen he needed so much. Then, coming to his senses, he dove back under and swam to the wall.
He pulled Brin up next to him, holding her face out of the water since she couldn't do it herself. She was unconscious... he hoped. He listened carefully, but could not hear a breath escape her lips. Trying to remember his life-saving lessons, he breathed air into her lungs. Seeing no response, he repeated the motion, then pulled back to watch
hopefully. She was motionless, eyes closed and lips blue, but suddenly she jerked and choked, coughing the water from her lungs. Panicking, she writhed and twisted, not comprehending the fact that she was safe.
He held on tightly, whispering that she was okay, she was safe, nothing to worry about, though he didn't believe in his own words. She calmed down slowly, clinging to his shoulder for dear life.
"You can't swim, can you?" he asked rhetorically, when she had regained her composure.
"We didn't have much choice up there," she answered, still gasping for air. "I figured I'd learn." She looked up at him. "You could have gotten yourself killed! Why did you come after me?" She seemed caught between anger at him for risking his life and amazement that he had.
"You would have died! Of course I came after you!" He thought a moment, then added, "Besides... you do have the Christa."
Her face hardened, and he immediately regretted his last words. Truthfully, it hadn't even occurred to him not to save her. He hadn't taken the time to weigh the pros and cons before diving after her, it was simply his nature.
Having discovered his what must be his true motive however, she was able to harden her heart once again. "Take it." She pulled it from her breast pocket and handed it to him. "Go ahead, take it. The box is waterproof, if that's what you're worried about."
He accepted it wordlessly, slipping it into his own front pocket.
"I owe you my life."
"That's... that's not necessary... our people don't owe debts to one another."
"Well, I do. And I always pay my debts." She turned her
attention back to their situation. "C'mon, let's find a way out of here."
There was a small pumping station positioned on the wall to the right of them, which connected with the rest of the tunnels. With a great deal of effort, they managed to reach it. It was currently unoccupied, a good thing considering neither of them were up to a battle at the moment.
Brin crawled up the short rock cliff that rose up out of the water and collapsed, wet and shivering, to the ground in front of the station, coughing uncontrollably. Radu pulled himself up next to her, just as wet and nearly as weak. He allowed himself a moment to simply lie there and enjoy being on solid ground, but soon realized that they had more pressing business.
"We have to get out of here," he told her, hoping they both still could.
She brought her coughing under control, attempting to breath normally. When she could finally speak, she said, "You're right. They'll be looking for us now." She pushed herself to her feet.
He followed her example, asking, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." The answer brooked no argument. "What about your ribs?"
It took him a moment to remember what she was talking about. Then it struck him--the fight on the Christa, the subsequent damage to his ribs. It seemed an eternity ago, though in reality it had only been a few days.
"They're-- they're fine."
"Then let's get moving."
They started walking, and Brin again took the lead. Radu stopped momentarily to ring the water from his hair, then followed.
"Do you know where we are?" he asked.
"More or less."
"How many charges do we have left to plant?"
"Not too many. Another hour or so." By some miracle, they'd both kept ahold of the backpacks they'd been carrying. They had only to set the final charges and they could get out of this wretched place.
An hour later, Radu listened nervously for approaching
footsteps, as Brin set a charge, then coded it to her remote control.
She motioned to him that she was done, then slipped forward silently. He moved after her, checking the explosive as he went past. They strode through the halls soundlessly, watching for Spung as they went.
They had been able to avoid all the warriors they'd encountered, and Radu began to think that things might work out after all.
He told her as much. She turned to look at him appraisingly. "Perhaps," she replied. "But I've learned never to count on anything."
"You sound like Bova," he muttered.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Bova?"
"A... a friend of mine, back on the Christa. He's kind of... fatalistic. He thinks the whole cosmos is out to get him."
"An outlook I can respect. Sometimes it is."
"You really believe that?"
She nodded. "It's a dangerous universe, from what I've seen."
"And what have you seen?"
Brin returned his gaze for a moment, then looked down. "You don't really want to know."
"Why do you keep doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Whenever I ask you about yourself, you give me some vague answer or change the subject altogether. What are you hiding?"
"I'm not hiding anything! I told you, no more secrets! I just... I..." She sighed. "Fine. My mother was a rebel. She was pregnant when she was captured, and I was hatched on the transport. I was the only hatchling ever born to these people, so they couldn't just mix me up with all the other eggs. I knew who my mother was." She held her head high, but still would not meet his gaze. "And I am proud to have known her." She snuck a look at him out of the corner of her eye, waiting nervously for him to say something.
"What what was she like? Your mother, I mean."
Looking up in surprise, she answered, "Maya was... she was brave. And strong. She never let anything scare her, not even the Spung. But she was more than that, she was kind and beautiful and she took care of me..." she trailed off, then said simply, "She was the best person I've ever known."
"What happened to her?"
Brin increased her pace, silent for several moments. "This escape was her idea. Maya knew that we couldn't just escape, we had to blow up the asteroid so that no one would come after us. It nearly worked, but they discovered us before we could finish. Shank had her killed for her crime."
"I'm sorry," he said honestly.
"So am I. If I had been stronger or older, braver..."
"You can't blame yourself. There's nothing you could have done."
"You don't know that." She paused, then swiftly changed the subject. "You see, I've kept nothing from you. My past is what it is."
"I'm sorry," he said again. "It's only that there's so much you didn't tell me before... I didn't think..."
"It's all right. You have every right not to trust me." Though he had the feeling that Brin wanted him to admit that he did trust her, he merely nodded. Perhaps he did, but he couldn't be sure, not yet.
"Well," she said again, "I've been doing all the talking. I don't suppose you could tell me something?"
"What do you want to know?"
"Hmm." That was a good question. "How did a bunch of Stardog cadets get way out here?"
"It's kind of a long story."
"We've got time."
So he told her the tale. She didn't interrupt, saving her questions until the end. When he finally did finish however, she showered him a flood of questions, about his friends, the Christa, the UPP, and a variety of other topics. He answered with all the patience he possessed. The questions were peculiar, often about things that were common knowledge, but he reminded himself that she'd been away from home for a very long time.
Finally, she seemed out of questions, and a long silence ensued. He shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to say. "Uh, so... where are we now?" was the best he could come up with.
"An old part of the mines. I think we're nearly..." She trailed off. "Do you hear something?"
He was about to respond that he didn't, when he too detected the noise, like a weapon powering up. "It sounds like--"
"Radu!" she shouted, pushing him suddenly to the left, an
instant ahead of a laser blast. She herself dodged to the right,
concealed behind a rock cleft. The shots continued without pause, randomly firing in all directions.
As Radu stood, he realized that there was nothing to hide
behind on his side. Taking a risk, he flung himself across the tunnel to shield himself behind the same outcropping.
"Where is it coming from?" he gasped, once there.
"I don't know, I can't see anyone!" Pulling several pieces from various pockets, she hastily assembled them into a small hand-blaster. She began firing back to the source of the shots, pulling back every time she sensed a blast heading her way.
The odd thing was that, even once she began firing back, the blasts continued to be erratic, not focused on them. In fact, as Radu watched more carefully, they actually seemed to follow a pattern. It was as if their opponent had no idea that they were even there. It made no sense!
"Wait a minute..." he murmured, an idea forming in his mind.
Brin shot a questioning look at him as she returned fire.
"It's not real!"
"What do you mean? It looks real enough to me!"
"No, that's not what I meant. Look, the blasts aren't focused! I don't think there's anyone behind them."
Understanding dawned in her eyes.
"I think I can stop it," he said, thinking fast. "Cover me."
Radu dropped to crawl forward on his hands and knees. Most of the blasts struck higher, at chest level, so he went low. Inching forward, he sought the source. As he found it, he grinned. He'd been right, it was an automated blaster set on a small podium, cleverly disguised as a rock. Reaching up, he twisted the barrel closed. The blasts stopped as abruptly as they'd started, and he sank to the floor in relief.
Brin ran from her hiding place as soon as the firing ended. She stooped beside him, commenting quickly, "Good job." Then, shifting her gaze to the passage behind them, she said, "We've gotta hurry. They know where we are, that thing was set up for our benefit."
The Spung must have realized that they would hear anyone
trying to sneak up on them. An automated rifle was not only silent, but would have been very deadly.
He nodded swiftly and stood. They took several paces forward, simultaneously breaking into a run. Both suddenly jerked back, abruptly thrown to the ground, accompanied by a faint 'bzztt' sound.
Radu managed to raise his head off the floor, his thoughts racing. As he saw a faint orange sheen, he groaned. A force field! The whole thing had been a setup, designed to distract them from the true threat.
His entire body felt numb, but the feeling lessened with every passing moment. Soon he was able to stand, looking furtively around him. There was another shimmering wall behind them. He saw no one, but that could change at any moment. Glancing down at Brin, he found her rising as well.
"We're trapped, aren't we?"
He didn't answer, sensing a rhetorical question.
Besides, they had another thing to worry about. A sinking feeling in his stomach, he heard the ominous sound of approaching Spung feet.
You can return to the Fanfic page or the Homepage without reading the rest of the story, but if you do, you're a terrible human being (just kidding).
8/26/98