Part of me wanted to tell her that I’d be happy to guard her body. But it was a corny line, and I was too embarrassed to actually say the words. What would she think? Could she even be interested if I wasn’t a boy? Did I really like her like that, or was this just my stupid hormones messing with my head?
No, better to keep my mouth shut. It was a dumb idea, anyway. Bodyguards are supposed to be intimidating, and I was anything but. Just an innocent little girl, as far as anyone could tell. The dangerous stuff was all carefully hidden on the inside.
“I guess it’s going to be a while, then,” I said.
“I’ve got a plan,” she confided. “When I turn twenty and get out of here I’m going to have all my certificates lined up for a career in network security. That pays pretty well on Felicity, since none of Gaia’s daughters want to work with computers. I’ll have access to the datanet too, so I can research other colonies in my spare time. I’ll be off this rock before I turn thirty, as long as I keep my head down and don’t attract attention.”
“If you say so, Dika. Well, I’d better get cleaned up before breakfast.”
“I’ll say. You’ve got blood all over your face. Wait here, and I’ll bring you a towel.”
She slipped off the branch and scrambled back down the trunk before I could reply. I watched her go with a sad smile.
I was pretty sure her plan was just wishful thinking. Being raised by an orphanage wasn’t free, and the matrons made sure to give us plenty of guilt tripping about how important it was to pay off our debt certificates once we left. But I noticed that no one ever quoted any numbers, and debt peonage was another of those lovely ideas I had to learn about from my database because it was never mentioned in class. Not to mention that Felicity uses dynamic taxation instead of a static rate system. I’d be amazed if they ever let her work her way out of debt.
I had my own plan. It was a lot more dangerous than hers, especially since there were so many things I couldn’t prepare for in advance. The orphanage didn’t even have a datanet connection, and the matrons did their best to keep us ignorant about so many things. But I couldn’t stay here forever, so I’d just have to make it work somehow.
A surprised squawk from the window drew my attention. Voices, when the rest of the dorm should barely be stirring. I focused my hearing, filtering out the sounds of the forest so I could make out what was happening in our room.
“You’re going to be in so much trouble!”
It was Kovy, from the room next to ours. That wasn’t good. She was a beautiful girl, a curvy redhead with a winning smile and a talent for making people like her. But she was more dangerous than anyone seemed to realize, and she’d been sniffing around Dika lately.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Dika said nervously.
“A good girl always tells the matrons when someone has been bad.”
Another voice, smooth and calculating. Kovy’s roommate and favorite minion, Ulin. The smug bitch was always making trouble. She was a tall, athletic brunette with a basic Amazon package, and while the Adjustment we’d all been through insured there was no real fighting in the dorms that didn’t keep her from taking advantage of her superior strength.
“I’ll owe you a favor,” Dika offered.
“Oh, you’re going to do more than that,” Ulin purred. “Breaking curfew isn’t so bad, but climbing around outside the housetree like some kind of heathen? They’ll send you to Adjustment, and that’s if they don’t figure out whatever you were doing out there with that roommate of yours.”
“P-please, Ulin!” Dika begged.
“You’re asking a lot from us,” Kovy said. “I’d go that far for a friend, maybe, but you said you didn’t want to be one of my friends. Maybe you’ve reconsidered?”
“I… it’s not you, Kovy. I just don’t like girls that way.”
“What are you talking about, Dika?”
Kovy sounded genuinely puzzled at that. I guess even a finely tuned social predator like her wasn’t immune to Adjustment.
“I bet she just wants us to talk her into it,” Ulin said. “She’s so shy, I’m not sure she’s ever played with anyone. Or maybe she’s afraid of the freak finding out.”
I gritted my teeth. A freak, was I? She’d better watch her step, or I might show her just how freakish I was. But no, the matrons were death on anything that even hinted of violence. Dika was always better than me with words. It was probably better to let her handle this.
“Aw, is that it? Don’t worry, Dika. If she’s giving you trouble I can get Matron Gisel to deal with her. But if it’s the other thing, well, that can be fun sometimes. Ulin?”
There was a surprised squeak, and the thump of a chair being knocked over.
“Ulin!” Dika shouted. “Let me ga ha hooo…”
That was weird. I frowned, leaning over the side of the branch to try to hear what was happening.
“Ssshhh, pet,” Kovy crooned softly. “Isn’t this nice? Yes, you can struggle if you like, but no shouting.”
“S-stop it,” Dika whimpered. “Oh! Oh, goddess. Please. Please please please…”
“What’s that, Dika? Please turn it up? Well, if you insist.”
I’d heard enough. A growl burst from my throat, and I pitched myself off the branch.
The wind rushed past my face as I fell towards the ground, sixty meters below. This was going to hurt if I messed up. One second. Two.
My hand snapped out to grip the window sill in passing. For a normal girl that would have been a hopeless gesture, but my fingers latched onto the thick mass of living wood with a burst of inhuman strength. I jerked to a stop, the force rattling the bones in my arm. They were just diamond whiskers embedded in a growth matrix, way more fragile than they’d be when I was fully grown. But even so, stopping my puny thirty-eight kilos was barely a strain.
I flung myself up through the window, tucking into a ball momentarily to clear the narrow opening, and landed on my feet in the middle of the room.
“Leave her alone!”
The scene I found was exactly what I’d been afraid of. Ulin was standing behind Dika, effortlessly holding her arms pinning behind her back. Dika squirmed uselessly in her grip, unable to consider using her claws as the weapons they were meant to be. And Kovy…
Kovy had neurostims in her fingers. One of her hands rested lightly on the side on Dika’s head, projecting a finely tuned field that scrambled my roommate’s thoughts and did who knew what to her feelings. The other was on Dika’s thigh, teasingly working its way up towards her panties.
I saw red.
The next thing I knew Ulin was on the floor, crying and babbling apologies while I held her arm twisted behind her with just slightly less pressure than it would take to break it. Kovy was huddled in the corner screaming hysterically, and there were hurried footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Hands off my roommate, bitches,” I growled. “She’s not interested in pushy suckups.”
“Oh Gaia, mercy, please don’t kill me Alice,” Ulin sobbed.
The door flew open. I looked up to find Matron Wensa staring at me in horror, and had a split second to remember the blood on my face.
“Security!” She screamed. “Emergency response, now!”