Despite Rally's unwillingness to explain just why they moved so much, as had already been noted, the girls were aware that there was a danger they were avoiding. Given that they had to avoid PsyCorps anyway, that was pretty obvious, though it seemed there was more than just that.
It was also obvious that Rally didn't believe they were being actively hunted, because they hadn't changed their names ever, though Rally had warned of the possibility two years ago.
One, among many, of the reasons that it was obvious they were trying to avoid attention, was what had become a Vincent family home christianing tradition: reviewing the exits and escape plans.
"Okay," Rally said, unfurling a plan layout of their new home's sector and level along with an overall blueprint. "Becky got these blueprints for us last year, and 'Auntie May' did a light recon for us on her vacation a couple months ago. There's a maintenance shaft behind...that wall."
She pointed toward the back of the quarters and the two girls looked in the direction toward the blank wall.
"We're going to make a door," she said and then turned to look toward a new piece of furniture, a tall set of shelves. "And fix that to it to keep it hidden."
"I'm doing the cutting, right?" Shanti asked, raising her hand.
"Right, Kitten," Rally said. "Vivi, you can tell if the tunnel is clear?"
"Sort of..." she said shrugging. "It's a place, not a thing. Everything is faded."
"Here or not here is fine, Vivi," Rally said encouragingly.
She traced her finger along the plans of the station, marking the maintenance shaft.
"There's a pass to the next level here," Rally said. "We're level 8. If we have to bug out, we want level 18. There's a public comm station there that's hidden behind a few squats and never used anymore. Becky's sent us her most recent contact info, that should be secure. She says the longest its taken for her to arrange passage out of here is five hours. She already has our emergency money set aside."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of tiny cylinders.
"We've got the same old phone cams," Rally said.
Vivian nodded, recognizing the items. An old friend of Rally's named Roy had had those rigged up with a signal that operated on an unused bandwidth and sent out scrambled image that anybody without one of their modified cells would take as mere background static. They shouldn't even have been a blip on most scans.
"So we'll have eyes on the corridors and lifts around us by end of the day," Rally continued. "And on the shaft as soon as we can get the back door made and hidden."
Rally looked up and moved her head between the two girls.
"Any questions?" she asked.
"Is there a school here?" Vivi asked. "I didn't see many kids around."
"There're a few kids," Rally said. "But not many of any one race, so...it's going to be a tutor, girls."
"What?" Vivi asked. "No school? It's bad enough I keep having to leave behind friends. You're saying there's going to be nobody here?"
"But, no school, just a tutor," Shanti said happily.
"If we're lucky," Rally said. "We're only going to be here a couple of years, then it's somewhere with a college."
"Why do we need college?" Shanti asked. "You didn't go to college."
"I apprenticed with my father," Rally said, in the weary tone of voice that said she'd explained this before. "That's equivalent really. And then I went to the military, so I spent just as much time and effort."
"Can't we apprentice to you then?" Shanti asked.
"Aren't we already?" Vivi asked.
"Yes, but do either of you want to make a career of either gunsmithing or this stuff?" Rally asked.
"Err, not really," Shanti said, blushing.
"Not my first choice," Vivi snorted as she unwrapped a stick of gum.
"College," their foster mother said firmly.
"College," both girls agreed.
"It'll be a correspondance course if we have to," Rally noted as she rolled up the plans and straightened up. "Well, anything you want to do before today, now that all the normal stuff is settled in?"
"How about some sodas for the fridge?" Vivi asked.
"Wasn't there an arcade in...Red Sector, I think?" Shanti asked.
"Can you play a game without burning it?" Vivi asked.
"I can," Shanti said, her cheerful expression turning into a pouting frown.
"Sounds good," Rally said, turning to eye Vivi and her tight t-shirt. "And then new clothes."
"It's not any tighter than stuff I've seen you wear," Vivi muttered.
"When something shrinks in the laundry," Rally grumbled under her breath.
*****
Shanti leaned forward over the game machine, strafing and shooting as her holographic figure came across zombie after zombie and the occasional weird mutant creature. The sleeves of her blouse and jacket were rolled up and her feet were in a sturdy stance, impressive given the heels of her shoes, under her long skirt. The green fabric swayed one way or another as she continued her game.
The few kids in the small arcade had started to gather around her as she killed monster after monster and the game announced her streaks.
"Headshot, 30 kill streak, 40 kill streak, headshot, headshot, 41 kill streak," the computer was saying.
Vivian looked over at her twin sister and shook her head. Who was she kidding telling Rally she wasn't interested in doing this stuff all her life?
She was such a momma's girl.
The short-haired girl turned away from watching her sister and to the issue of shopping for some new clothes. They didn't have much selection, but that was nothing new. She'd picked up a few t-shirts and some new jeans, but just some comfortable stuff, nothing all that inspiring.
And then she saw it.
A jacket, just like the leather one Rally used on stakeouts or anything she thought might turn into a shooting event. It was black and sleek and tough looking. And it was just the right size. She narrowed her eyes and looked either direction before grabbing it and pointedly not looking at the price.
"100 killing streak, 121 killing streak," the computer continued. "Texas! Texas! Texas! Texas! Texas!"
Several people looked around in confusion as the voiceover that was supposed to be keeping score started just repeating the same word over and over again.
"Heh, I guess I broke it..." she said embarrassed before turning back to the game.
The computer was still repeating the word "Texas" anytime she did something comment worthy. Which, given she hadn't broken streak yet, was pretty much anytime she fired. It was a somewhat annoying thing, kill too much too fast and the game started yelling "Texas" at you, and no explanation for it. Shanti always wondered who'd programmed that in.
As she reached the end of the level, she sighed and wished that her real life shooting scores came even half-way as good as her virtual scores. While waiting for the game to load the next level, and ignoring the fact that the word "Texas" repeated over and over instead of the next story segment, she glanced over to where her sister was shopping.
Didn't she own any dresses? And she kept her hair so short. Really, it was silly how much of a momma's girl her twin was sometimes.
Rally was watching them from a cafe where a few packs of water and sports drinks stood next to a small selection soda three-liters as she watched her kids.
Shanti was, as usual, eagerly shooting things in the video game arcade. That was kind of worrisome. It seemed to Rally that the girl only ever took an interest in things that involved guns or war. As ever, she tried to think of a way to broaden the girl's interests and vigorously missed her Cobra, sitting in storage in a garage somewhere in Chicago.
Glancing over toward Vivi she grimaced a moment at Vivi's selections. The girl was getting old enough that she'd have to talk to her about how to dress appropriately as a woman. Maybe look into some teenagers' sports jackets and woman's business fashions. Something a bit more than just t-shirts, jeans and leather jackets.
She shook her head and wondered just why kids fixated on things like that.
Then the overhead security alarms started blaring.
"Red alert, red alert," came the call. "All station personel to battle stations. Residents report to nearest shelters."
Rally stood up and looked toward her girls as they turned to face her. She gestured sharply and they quickly finished their business to catch up to her. Looking toward the monitors, she watched the image of a Minbari cruiser hovering sinisterly in open space.
"What the hell is going on?" she wondered.
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(Posted Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:04)
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