At age 18, Jannisett had become everything her clan hoped she'd be. Tall at 5'7"and built like a dancer, she was large enough (compared to most of the population) and so beautifully proportioned that her exceptional strength produced no discord of symmetry or musculature that revealed itself to the observer. She was stunningly beautiful - even taking into account that her skin was Wedgewood blue and her wavy hair, moonlight-white. A perfect example of what clan Marr was expected to produce: a deadly piece of living art. She had been trained to protect her Malik with her life, kill or love at his command, and tell him always the absolute truth. As she also proved exceptionally intelligent and meticulous, it wasn't long before Killian had her additionally trained in the minute of security skills required (so he believed) to protect a man with his level of paranoia. (The other corporate masters would have been outraged at this breech of the slave/Owner information barrier.) In most ways he preferred to keep her at body-guard alertness rather than warming his bed-chamber. He liked beauty around him at all times and had a distinct preference for females occupying any job with which he had to personally interact.....

Of course, Security Training included awareness of the potential of takeover by rival Maliks. That was one reason Killian had wanted bodyguards trained for and owned by himself and no other. This being the case, Jannisett lived at the pinnacle of her profession and with a well-being far above that of the general population of her people. The Maliks enjoy Core-level technology and a sybaritic lifestyle; the common slaves exist at an almost medieval level. Slave indoctrination emphasises the notion that a slave exists to work and that service includes absolute and immediate response to a Malik's command. Only a slave's personal Malik should be able to countermand a command given by another Malik; occassionally the indoctrination required by an individual Malik included auto-countermands to given outside orders.

Slave indoctrination also involves the repression and control of emotion and the limiting of individual social ties amongst the natives. However, pride in being part of a given clan is fostered as is competition amongst the clans to achieve the highest levels of quality and productivity.

Jannisett, in the course of duty, has had the 'luck' to be present at several sessions involving the terminal discipline of fellow slaves. Killian really enjoyed man hunts; he was also keen on torture-to-death as instructive discipline. So Jannisett, perforce, saw many slaves, including more than a few with whom she was acquainted and 3-5 she actually cared for, 'disposed of' in these manners.

Then a second pleasant factor entered her life. One day the head of Killian's Security introduced Jannisett to Marak of Clan Krinn. (a clan specializing in various sciences, at some distance from Clan Marr), formerly property of Malik Makkin. His indoctrination and clan badges were in perfect order, so Jannisett felt no twinge of the unusual as, more and more often, his duties brought him to her with questions about security. And eventually other things. She found his competence, his well-knit form, his grey eyes and bronzed skin and hair, pleasing. There was something more, too, something that made her feel - different, more an individual than an Malik's well-designed tool. Something - she would not have recognized the word 'friendship' - grew between them as they worked together. She did recognize that she was attracted to him in a way she had never felt for her Malik.

Thus it was she came to him when she found herself in emotional tumult - one she did not understand but that was more than fear. She had seen 7-year-old Jinan for the first time in three months and had been shocked to note that the child was still the same height she'd been the last time they'd been together; by rights, she should have been a couple of inches taller. Taking some liberty with her security standing, she had asked for the latest data on Jinan. Her "little sister" had been sold to Malik Korak - a man notorious even amongst the cruel and jaded masters as a sadistic pedophile! Something snapped in her training and, had Marak been what he was supposed to be, she would have been seriously disciplined or terminated after her bout of ranting. But Marak quieted her down and revealed himself: a Ranger working undercover to gather information about the illegal activities of IEE. Activities such as gene pool manipulation and wholesale slavery. His name was Glendower Grey.

Under his direction, she tried to re-rig the security systems so that he could reach what he called "systems control" so that he could re-route the sale of the child. It's entirely possible that he was able to trash some of the system data concerning his activities and, perhaps, even some of the files on Jannisett. "Let's go, Janni-girl." He grinned, "They've had a malfunction just past the Tass Reserve and had to dump their fuel cells. Too bad about that. But we've got to get there before Korak does."

Jannisett's security clearance got them out of the compound. After that, Grey led the way, through the warrens out to one of the hunting preserves. He had left her for a few moments to scout ahead when an orange-skinned slave walked quietly into the clearing. "Asim Marr," he said, "we had no word of a Hunt today. Why..?" Jannisett turned slowly to face the forester, trying to work out something to say. "Ah, Hada Nolt, we...." Suddenly a command rang out, "What is the delay!" Both slaves reacted, turning and bowing slightly to await discipline, although some part of Jannisett's brain told her she knew that voice. Grey. Speaking like an Malik. "Stop chittering, Janni Marr, and attend!" The security slave reacted immediately to the command, knowing that the Nolt would in just a moment wonder why he'd felt no zot and, possibly, raise an alarm.

As the two raced to his hidden escape pod to go get Jinan, Grey turned to Janni, "I've been waiting for this for a long time." He pressed a few buttons. Then, as the door slowly opened he scooped Jannisett up into his arms. Uncertain as to the wisdom of this delay when they were both in danger, the bodyguard struggled momentarily. Then something realigned itself as she melted into the very [ahem] friendly kiss. When he put her back down, it was inside the pod. He said, "I can't promise you much, not even that we will survive rescuing your sister, but I promise that I intend to save her and get back to finishing that kiss...at least if you want to."

"I - want?" she stuttered, un-nerved by the suggestion that he would not Command. He gave her a brief smile and then busied himself at the pod controls. "I - want?" she whispered.

Jannisett watched in wonder, first Grey's activities at the controls, then the flash of scenery as they sped towards the transport co-ordinates. As he set the vehicle down, the ranger said, "We'll try the Malik ploy again. I'll get them to turn your little sister over to me, you back me up. Jannisett found it disturbing how automatically she reacted to the change in timbre of his voice as he issued commands to the transport slaves. It seemed impossible that the Slave Marak Krinn and Malik Grey could be one and the same. But Jinan was released to them.

Perhaps the transport had been monitored. Perhaps Killian or Korak security had detected the hacker. Perhaps Korak simply used the zot as a precaution anytime a situation was unusual. Jannisett would never know. They stepped out of the transport, several of the transport slave following as she assured them that the records of the sales stoppage were indeed in effect. Then a lash curled around Jannisett's mind and she almost screamed in agony. Others did as the various transport slaves behind her doubled over in torment and Jinan slumped at her feet. Grey shouted, "Run, Janni-girl! Take Jin and run!" as he launched himself at the Malik fingering the pain controls.

Through pain-hazed eyes, Jannisett picked up the child and saw Grey hit the Owner a terrific blow, knocking him back onto the blade of one of his own body guards. She screamed out a warning as the other bodyguard sliced into the ranger's side. He rolled away as she lurched into action, knocking aside the guard and lifting up Grey as well. They ran. Just as they reached the safety of the brush, Jannisett heard an oath and the bitter crack of a sonic blaster. Grey staggered against her. She pushed him and Jinan at the door of the escape pod. "Protect," she shot at the child, realizing that her own allegiance had changed. Then she turned to face the on-coming guards.

There was a slight whine behind her and Grey's voice said hoarsely, "In, Janni-girl, now!" She whirled and leaped, landing in the pod. With a roar, they were off. Grey had voice-activated the pre-set emergency lift-off command. As the door slid closed, he slumped into unconsciousness. Trained as a paramedic in case her Owner suffered any sort of accident, the bodyguard examined her rescuer and determined that, in addition to the sword laceration, he had (she guessed) suffered intensive internal damage from the sonic blast bolt. She searched the pod carefully. The medical kit aboard was marked with a symbol used even by EEI. She found the necessary drugs.

Grey was dying. Having no advanced medical equipment, she could not prevent the gradual shut down of his vital systems. However, she could make him comfortable, relieve the pain, and be attentive as he regained consciousness. She did not know if he knew he was dying; she could not tell him so. His mind, she knew, would stay clear up to nearly the moment of death, if she could keep his pain levels down.

She could make no sense of the scenes outside the pod viewports. The closest she could come were views of some of the search-and-rescue security Sims she had trained with. Views of landscapes from a great distance. She set Jinan to observing while she tended their rescuer.

"Quite a fight, Janni-girl," Grey smiled at her. "I'd never seen you in action before. But that freezing up before hand..." he shook his head. "We'll have to work on that. It won't do if you're going to be all you can be, my girl. I want that for you."
"Malik, I..." she started.
"No, Janni. I'm just Grey, a ranger, glad that you'll never be owned again, if I can help it." He started to cough.
"Please rest, M- Ranger Grey. I am sorry that I did not react properly in time to the change in ownership. This," she gestured to the bandages neatly hiding his surface wounds, "is my fault and I must accept discipline."
"No, my girl, no. I did what I set out to do. I got you out and someday we'll shut those @#$!* so-called Maliks down. I promise you."

When the pod auto-docked with his shadowed ship, he told her how to move from one to the other. She brought him into the larger structure. Together, she and Jinan made him comfortable. He continued over the next couple hours, sometimes resting, sometimes talking, telling her a little about life as a ranger of which she understood almost nothing, explaining some about the facilities she could use on the ship, discovering that she could not read, and, eventually, softly telling her a little about what he'd thought when he'd first seen her. "Moonstruck, my beauty...." His eyes closed and in a moment or so, his breathing ceased.

Jannisett felt strange - it was as though a piece of art that she'd barely had time to glance at had just been shattered and more that she couldn't describe - as she looked at the ranger's body. Then, in a melodious chant, she sang the brief Dirge of Passing. Jinan chimed in. Then they started investigating. He had not mentioned a Recycler in this place he called a "ship". He had said that she must not open the "airlock" again until that, she eyed a quiescent light, turned green and the "all clear" sounded. Whatever that meant. But any child knew that one could not keep a body around until it became fertilizer for the farms all on its own. That Was Not Done. But she also knew that, if something had to wait to be recycled, as she had seen done for Malik Killian's pet haytham, it could be put in cold storage. Ranger Grey had told her to get ice from the re- refr- cold box, for his drink. If she took everything out of the cold box and was careful with his body, she could, she thought, preserve him so. She could, she did.

She did not know how long it would be before the "all clear" sounded. She set a routine for Jinan and herself, practising katas, preparing nourishment - being careful to use the foodstuffs she'd removed from the cold box so that they would not become unnecessary fertilizer as well, listening to the thing he had called "Bach" when he had wanted to rest. She did not think "Bach" was very restful, but its intricacies caused her to listen carefully to try to understand why Ranger Grey had enjoyed it so. And she set herself to explore the "ship" trying to identify all those things that her training in mechanical and electronic security made understandable. Most of the technology she found baffling and she was careful not to touch anything that the ranger had not identified for her or that she could not be sure was security-related. But she started to teach Jinan some of what she knew about the things she could identify. And she discovered that - in the three months that the younger girl's training had shifted to Korak's taste, Jinan had learned to dance and to "play" something called "Go." So she allowed Jinan to teach her some of those skills. She rather liked the dancing, but thought that the two-person form would work rather better if the two were closer to the same height. Sometimes, when they had completed their regime, she would tell Jinan about Grey's goals: the destruction of the Maliks and the freedom of their people. The mental exercise of conceptualizing such goals was more challenging than any Security Sim she had ever practised.

They had finished cleaning up after a meal when a new light -- not the "all clear" -- flashed amber. For a moment, Jannisett could only stare at it. Then they were struck with a violent sense of disorientation. She collapsed. When she awoke the amber light was gone. She looked around carefully; she didn't think she had touched anything as she fell, but she couldn't be sure. Jinan seemed to be waking up too. But -- the chronometer had been reset: it read a year earlier than it should. She hope, very much, that they hadn't fallen against any control more important than a chronometer.

The trip took weeks. Finally the "all clear" green light showed and a pleasant sort of beeping sounded. Jannisett noticed that she felt a little "off"; something about her weight or balance wasn't quite right. Jinan stumbled and looked at her in bewilderment. The older girl wondered if only doing katas and "dance" had been insufficient to keep their skills at a reasonable level. She'd never felt this way before. She'd have to increase the program once she got out of the "ship" and to Ranger Grey's "friends". She studied the airlock. She was confident she could open it, in time, but - not having been able to practise aforetime - she started her planned short-circuit slowly and methodically. To her surprise, the door slid open before she had completed the connection. Someone had opened it from the outside. As she whispered to Jinan, "Protect!" she moved into the doorway, assuming a martial stance even as she did so.

On the ramp stood a figure from some unkempt dream: it had hair over its entire head and drifting over shoulders and chest, not properly tied back as her own mane was. Only its piercing eyes and beak-like nose protruded from the untidy thatch. And it was wrinkled, face and hands, like a dried tamr, only a spoiled brown rather than an appetizing golden. "Well, ah, what have we here?" it - he said. "Where is Glen?"
Warily she answered, "Ranger Grey is in the cold box."
"When did Grey have a stasis tank installed? Who are you and what happened?" He started to move towards her. The bodyguard blocked the doorway. Eyeing her stance, he backed away a step.
A warning colouring her tone, Jannisett said, "This 'ship' is the property of Ranger Grey. Have you authorization to enter?"
The man held out his hands in a gesture of openness. "Lady, I am Grey's Uncle Sam. He only sets his ship to come here when he's in trouble. I want to help."
She recognized the relationship title. Her tone held regret, "Ranger Grey can no longer be troubled. As you are of his House, I am most sorry to have to tell you that he is dead. I had to put his body in the cold box."
His tone held a note of warning, "Tell me what happened. Where are you from? Who are you?"
"I am Jannisett of Clan Marr." She realized that she must try not to use that phrase anymore; Clan Marr would no longer acknowledge her or Jinan; they were dead slaves to Home. "I am from Home. M- Ranger Grey saved my sister. We were opposed and he took the brunt of the attack. He liberated us and brought us here. I do not know why he did so."
She stood aside as he said, "Never mind, it will be quicker if I check his computer."
He entered and she watched carefully as he started to use one of the pieces of equipment that she had been careful not to touch. It produced light and changing patterns upon one of the "ship's" surfaces. She watched carefully so that she could try to do the same sometime in the future.

It took a while for her to understand that the others at the "ranch" were servants like her; Sam and Annie treated all as they treated themselves. Moreover, it took a great deal of time to figure out where Jannisett herself might fit in. Sam quickly requested that she not stand night guard outside his bedroom door. And Jannisett soon saw that Annie was the only concubine Sam ever had in his room. That puzzled her a little. "Wife" was not a familiar word to her. Around the house she performed any task she was shown how to do - just as shown. If Annie set the knife down at a slight angle from the plate, every knife Jannisett placed was at that exact angle. The kitchen girl, Cookie, told Annie that Jannisett was "spooky."

Sam Shepphard, a retired Ranger, sometimes trained proteges. After he had gotten the entire story of her time with Grey, he invited Jannisett to come work with his students. Sam found that only if he told her to fight, would she do anything but sidestep her opponents. She would dodge and retreat, but she would only attack on command. That first day, Sam had said, "Josh, I'd like you to show me what Janni can do, why don't ya?" The blue-skinned girl could not know it, but Josh was the most senior of Sam's current group of trainees. Sam wanted to make sure that no one actually injured the delicate-appearing girl. "Go on girl, get in there," Sam kindly gestured Jannisett onto the sparring mat.
Quietly she stood on the mat, observing the well-muscled young man who gradually circled her. He feinted. She dodged, with a minimum expenditure of energy. He feinted again and she stepped back, keeping herself between her opponent and Sam. At the third apparent feint (he may well have been attacking but, again, she side-stepped), Josh said, "What's wrong with you, girl? I'm not going to hurt you. Come on. Attack me!" Almost as fast as the words could be heard, he was on the floor clutching his arm as she pulled back for a fatal jab to his throat. "Stop!" Sam's shout rang out. Jannisett froze, her attention not leaving her opponent but every muscle held in position. "Nay, girl, pull back. Yes, that's right, come here."
Dropping out of her martial pose, Jannisett went back to the position on the sidelines, while Sam and one of the other young men examined Josh. "Broken, my god," Sam muttered. "It could'a been worse." As Josh was taken away for treatment, the elderly ranger eyed his new charge with new insight..... This was not going well.

Jannisett quickly learned (to the damage of said students) that these opponents were "soft" and it didn't take long before Sam stepped in. "Janni, you fight to kill. That is not what we train for. If we intend to kill, we use a gun."

Jannisett had never seen large animals, but displayed no fear when asked to hold a horse for one of the workmen to shoe. And she quietly imitated the patting and stroking motions the other stablehands used with horses. Soon they had her riding the great beasts, not well, but adequately. Cows, however, she viewed as too dangerous to allow others near. "I could trip one by throwing myself in front of it, but, once it had crushed me, you would have no protection. It should be avoided."

Her abyssal ignorance of the existence of a universe outside of "Home" and her illiteracy Sam and Annie counteracted by enrolling Jannisett in "night adult education classes" under Teacher Katie. The blue-skinned girl was as diligent at scholastic tasks as at anything else Sam asked of her. She worked through the grade-school lessons; being highly intelligent and needing very little sleep, she progressed with commendable rapidity. Amongst other things, she learned of planets and that this one was "Far Ranch West." Jinan was already attending school with other ranch children. The two girls sometimes did their homework together and talked about the strange things they'd seen people do that day. Annie encouraged such discussions, else the two never would have dared.

"Every body needs something to do, little lady." Sam decided that, during the day, her dexterity and meticulousness could find employment in the local textile mill. Jannisett - used to physical activity and the mental stimulation of Security exercises - lasted for almost 3 months. Then, due to pent up frustration and a malfunctioning machine, she disassembled said machine (rather drastically, to the shock and - it must be admitted - enjoyment of her fellow factory workers.) She rescued a finished length of cloth from the mangled mechanism and, drawing it with unconscious drama about herself, declared that even a Malik did not deserve such a malicious product. As it happened, a buyer for one of the Couturiers in the nearby city was visiting the factory at that very moment. The striking picture made by the blue-skinned beauty and the midnight blue cloth made such an impression that she ended up describing the scene to her own superior.

Someone must have contacted Sam and Annie thereafter, for Annie came to Jannisett. "There are things, dear, that my Sam is not comfortable talking with you about..." The older woman went on to describe how the men around the farm all found Jannisett attractive and how there were various career opportunities in which she could capitalize on her appearance. Annie recommended that the girl avoid such things as vid-studios and holo-pics as that might plaster her image in places where her former Malik might recognizer her. On the other hand, there was certainly the possibility of a local career as a model.

After mulling Annie's advice over, recognizing that it came from a female and was, therefore, not necessarily an order, Jannisett took the possibility to Sam who grinned and said, "Any career, little lady, as long as you don't take your clothes off." The former bodyguard considered this puzzle, recognizing that it meant, at least, that she should not pursue a career as a courtesan (although Annie had told her that prostitution was a legal profession), not that she really wanted to. It would be too much like trying to find a new Malik, and the feeling that she had for Grey that she still didn't quite understand - and her observations of Sam and Annie, indicated that she was not required to give herself to a new Malik -- yet.

Thus Annie introduced her to another model who lived in the city. Becca was a tall girl with pink skin and golden hair that was sometimes tinted with rainbow lights. Becca (and perhaps the Designer-Director) had some connection to Annie - Jannisett didn't understand quite what; clans did not seem to work the way she thought they did here -and seemed happy to "show her the ropes." Arrangements were made for Jannisett to room with Becca. Over the next two months Jannisett settled into the work of making clothing look good by the way she moved and held herself - as well as exploring the city with Becca and other models as guides. Becca would occasionally set up a girls-night-out which allowed the blue-skinned girl even more opportunity to observe how normal humans behaved.

Becca was a romance novel junkie and "made" Janniset read quite a few. As Jannisett's reading skills were still not at her apparent age level, more often the two would listen to book recs or watch romance vids. This gave the foreigner a rather different view of relations between men and women than she had heretofore known between Maliks and slaves. This view still - these were commercial entertainment romances, after all - may not have been completely "normal" but Jannisett certainly thought it more pleasant than what she had known. Once in a while such a romance would make her think of Grey again with something close to regret as well as sadness. (Sam and Annie actually actively discouraged dating, with probable cause and cautionary wisdom.)

Shortly after Jannisett started her "city job", Sam left, disappearing without having time to even say goodbye to the ranch hands, Jannisett, or even Annie. For the next 2 months, when Jannisett would ask about him, Annie would just shake her head and look away into the distance. The bodyguard was pretty sure that wherever Sam had gone, he was doing something that made Annie very nervous and a bit sad. Then, 3 weeks before the Designer's "Day-and-Night" launch, Annie said she had to go look into a few things offworld and left her blue-skinned wards in the custodianship of Roxie Bryce (the wife of the head wrangler/foreman).

Jannisett's training took over. When the blue-skinned bodyguard stopped, not even panting, there were three bodies that would (probably) never rise again. Becca reached the door and stepped outside. The Designer saw her tear-streaked face and, excusing himself, came to see what was wrong. His assessment was quick and grim. "Here," he pressed a transport pass into the warrior's hand. "There's too much money here." He gestured to the dead. "We can't afford the defense. They will take you apart. Go. Get back to Mr. Shepphard as quickly as possible. He will know what to do with you. Now! Go." Obeying the order, Jannisett quit the scene, quit the city, and returned to the ranch.

Sam and Annie were gone (as were, in fact, all other Rangers on the planet). The man who had taught her to ride, Foreman Lee Bryce and his wife Roxie, listened to her story with worried expressions. "Miss, I can't send you to Sam. But he said that you were to be looked after and kept low. I understand what he meant now. We're Sam's people and we'll see to it." Roxie said, "No, Lee. We've got to get her off planet. They'll come for her. You know they will. Sam'd be none too pleased to have a witch-burning in his own backyard. It'll be all we can do to protect Jinan when the wanted posters go up."

Jannisett sniffled. The air of this land had always been too dry and her head rarely felt as clear as it had before she had arrived on the "ship." Certainly burning anything would not improve this place. Sam was, of course, correct. She would follow what orders his "foreman" would have for her.

She took up her place with her back to a structural column near the ship dock egress. She'd arrived near here and it had grown familiar over the last 30 days. The Security officer nodded slightly to her when he made his rounds. He had tried to tell her she could not practise her trade here, and she had told him she would not. A couple of local servants had offered some interesting propositions, but she had, politely - Roxie would have approved -- told them that she was on business. The Security officer had not asked after her profession after that, she noticed. The port seemed largely unused; there did not seem to be but one Security officer.

Over the weeks, she had reduced her nutrient consumption to minimal levels in order to save coins to pay for passage on a ship leaving. Although she practised her katas in the hours when the spaceport was least occupied, she knew that her performance peaks were slipping. Watching people and listening to the interactions around her took her mind off that worry. Not that worry was effective; her previous life had taught her to live as much as possible in the here and now. But nutrients were going to become a problem soon.

There'd been rather a lot of activity when the new ship arrived. A handful of new people had trickled out while a great many of the local servants busied themselves in the vicinity. The Security officer apparently had three colleagues for such occurrences. This ship - like the one she had arrived on - seemed to need a great many servants. Not like Ranger Grey's ship. For a moment she caught herself wondering how the kiss would have "continued" had he lived. But she brushed the thought away; again, it was something she could never know and so she would not let it worry her.

One of the new people stopped to talk to her once. He was rather tall and dressed formlessly. She thought he might be relatively young and wondered if his people found him attractive, with his close-cropped hair and somewhat battered and subtle colouration. It was hard to know. The things he said meant, she gathered, that he though she was attractive and he would like her to come with him "for a good time." Jannisett was curious but, as Roxie had told her to "lay low" until she got on another out-bound ship, she wasn't sure that going with the ship man would be obeying her orders. She had turned him down. She intended to keep an eye on his ship.

A day or two later, a new-ship woman stopped to talk to her. Jannisett thought she was probably pretty: quite short with pale skin and brown hair. The bodyguard wondered if those were the colours of her Clan or just her own. One could not tell out here away from Home. Jannisett did find the reflection of herself in the woman's goggles a bit disconcerting. Somehow -- Jannisett had been careful to avoid obligations and so found herself puzzled as to why -- the woman, Jamie McFarlane, insisted on buying lunch. "How should I work for this lunch?" "There is nothing to pay. It is my gift." "Gift?" "It is my pleasure to see you enjoy the food." Slowly, "I - can - give pleasure." It was a statement of fact. The other urged, "Eat." "What other things give you pleasure, Jamie McFarlane?" The other hesitated and then said, "Let's talk about that some other time." Satisfied that talking "some other time" would be sufficient payment, Jannisett proceeded to make the first real meal she'd had in - well, she was not counting.

Jamie McFarlane continued to ask questions. What was Jannisett doing? "Waiting for a ship to leave." Where did she want to go. "Out. I should find Sam." Where and who was Sam? "I do not know. His name is Sam Shepphard. From Far Ranch West." Was he at Far Ranch West? "No and I must not go back there. Roxie said so." Who is Roxie? "The con - wife of Foreman Lee." Why should you do what they tell you to? "They are Sam's people. He and Annie told me to."

Jamie McFarlane paid for the food using one of the coins Jannisett had been told was large in value. That too was puzzling; food usually did not cost so much. The questions continued. Do you have fare for passage? Jannisett pulled out her remaining money and proffered it. Jamie McFarlane's face indicated some concern. Then she seemed to come to some decision. "We will make do," she said. Jannisett asked, "What must we make to do? I can work. Sam said, 'Everyone should keep busy' so I have learned to work at a 'job'." "What sort of job?" "The best job was when I modeled for the Director." Jamie McFarlane asked the Director's name but did not seem to recognize it when Jannisett gave it. She did, however, seem a little grimmer than she had been (considering the sorts of vids that a Director was most likely to feature this beauty in). The little woman started guiding the blue-skinned girl towards the ship area.

[GM insert: The way your martial dodge usable on others works is you make a to hit roll vs the 'object' (ie Jamie) and then the 2 of you do the martial dodge dance for a while, while you work closer to the targets. Then bad things happened to bad people...]

She took down another then spotted new-ship man take a blast to the head. Taking out a fourth attacker on the way, she slid into a crouch next to the prone body. The downed man's head had an impressive wound, already partially cauterized by the blast. Acting quickly, she pressed the partially detached scalp into exact position to control the bleeding and promote healing, while ripping free a length of fabric to use as a makeshift bandage. The man would need drugs and stitches very soon, she mused as she lifted his body.

Jamie McFarlane's voice snapped through her reverie, "On to the ship! Hurry!" For a moment Jannisett marveled that the woman's voice could hold the tone of command of a Malik. But she was aboard before the thought had fully formed. The door slid shut behind her.

"Jannisett Marr" copyright 2004 S.Knowles & M.Kennedy. The contents of this site are copyright 2004 Sheryl A. Knowles unless otherwise specified. All rights reserved.