As the planet became large enough to fill the windows, the ladies of Joanna's squad suited up and prepared to kill anyone stupid enough to get in their way to finding Collins. They didn't like it, but they were soldiers on a mission- sometimes you have to do things you don't like because they are nessecary. Whether or not it would actually be nessecary however fell to Joanna, still outside of her armor and waitng patiently at the comm station for the planet's reply to their hail.
Not even 5 minutes before her and her squad have to make planetfall and possibly kill a lot of people, a tone sounds through the cabin. The planetary government finally answered- the next moments would betray without the bloodshed would happen or not. The woman who appeared on the screen was older, probably mid-50's, with regal posture that suggested great beauty in her youth but those days were gone.
"This is Lady President Sorin of Alcore-5, are you still with us Sargent."
"And waiting ma'am. I'm under orders to take Henry Collins to Luna."
"Then we may have a bit of a problem."
"HumanGov may interpret such a problem as an act of aggression against it. Are you saying you refuse to comply?"
Sorin sighs, looks ashamed, and recollecting herself looks back to Joanna.
"Maybe if you had got here 3 days ago, but now I just want the situation over with."
"You're going to have to explain."
"When we discovered Collins was class blue, I admit we did a very stupid thing. We had no intentions of turning him over when you arrived and took him, against his will, to the penthouse suite in the most expensive hotel on our planet. The hope was that we could coax him into breeding any woman we put in their with him but a prison with expensive cavior is still a prison and Collins refused to co-operate."
"Understandable."
"We see that now, this is all our fault. Please, three days ago Collins got his hands on a gun and took hostages. He just wants to leave, but now our whole planet knows he's a class blue. Sargent, he hasn't hurt anyone but we think he hasn't slept in three days or eaten since yesterday. With every passing moment. . ."
"I understand, but he leaves with us."
"Thank you."
"Can you patch me through to him? And send schematics of the hotel?"
"Yes, anything. Good Luck, Sargent."
The next moments are intense, as data is received and the hotel commlines buzz for what seems to be an eternity. Finally, he answers. Henry Collins appears on the view screen in crystal clarity. The man's race was indeterminable, but something about his eyes spoke volumes. For a moment Joanna wonders would it would be like to stare into those eyes if in the same room and when he's had his rest, but Joanna the soldier snaps out of it. In the background she sees three women are against the wall with their mouths gagged and their hands tied behind their backs, but otherwise they seem unharmed. Scared, but otherwise no worse for wear.
"Yeah, this is Collins- who are you?"
"Sargent Joanna Green of the Persephone. We understand you want to get off the planet."
"That's right, you know what the crazy bitches did to me?"
"I do Mr. Collins, we call it kidnapping and attampted gang rape." she says, adding the last bit for some sympathy.
"Damn right! I didn't want to do this- hell, I love fucking- but I decide when goddammit! I may be the horniest fucker on the planet but I'm a human being, not a sex toy."
"I agree with you completely, I just don't want anyone to die because of this."
"Neither do I, but these women crawl through the air vents to get me. The air vents! I want off this rock now, and I want my own room. If I want to sleep with someone on the way I'll let them know- none of this 'breeding schedule', 'stimulated sperm production' crap."
"You don't want a bunch of military bitches gangraping you when you're trying to sleep."
"Exactly. Fuck, I'm tired. Can you land on the hotel?"
Joanna looks backward among the crew, Lt. Kowkoski the engineer giving the hotel schemitcs a quick looking over and giving a thunbs up.
"That shouldn't be a problem."
Collins considers it, and it looks like a weight just falls off his shoulders.
"Alright, the hostages will be put on the elevator the moment you touch down and I'll leave the gun in the hotel room. Just, be quick."
-----------------------------
Collins had fallen asleep almost the moment he got on the shuttle, sleeping through the entire trip to the Persephone and didn't even notice being moved into guest quarters. Her commander told her she was in charge of him, and would probably be the only member of the crew he trusted. Joanna wasn't sure how she felt about that but as long as he stayed asleep and the others left him alone she didn't really need to think about it. He had slept for almost 24 hours solid but the internal sensors have just informed her that he's awake and now is in the shower. Time to make a descision. |