{"id":447,"date":"2024-06-01T02:25:29","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T06:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/?p=447"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:48:59","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:48:59","slug":"identity-theft-chapter-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/identity-theft-chapter-34\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changeling Game, Chapter 34"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntt {\nfont: .857em menlo, monaco, consolas, monospace;\nmargin: auto;\n}\nh2 {\ntext-align: center;\n}\nh2.chapterhead {\nmargin-bottom: 2em;\ntext-align: center;\n}\n  .nowrap {\n    text-indent: 0;\n    display: inline-block;\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><b>Title:<\/b> The Changeling Game <small>(Formerly <i>Identity Theft<\/i>)<\/small><br \/>\n<b>Author:<\/b> Ardath Rekha<br \/>\n<b>Chapter:<\/b> 34\/?<br \/>\n<b>Fandom:<\/b> TCOR AU<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> M<br \/>\n<b>Warnings:<\/b> Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language<br \/>\n<b>Category:<\/b> Gen<br \/>\n<b>Pairing:<\/b> None<br \/>\n<b>Summary:<\/b> Jack and Kyra are offered sanctuary&#8230; but is it truly safe, given the forces pursuing them?<br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer:<\/b> The characters and events of <i>Pitch Black,<\/i> <i>The Chronicles of Riddick,<\/i> and <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> are not mine, but belong to Universal Studios.  I just <i>wish<\/i> I were in charge of their fates.  No money is being made off of this.  I\u2019m writing strictly for love of the story.<br \/>\n<b>Feedback:<\/b> Absolutely, the more the better!  Shred me, whip me, beat me, make me feel grammatical! I post \u201crough,\u201d so I can always use the help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6a8e743179b5f0003824567' value='6a8e743179b5f0003824567'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6a8e743179b5f0003824567' value='Long post is long. Click to read the story.'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-6a8e743179b5f0003824567' value='Hide the story again.'><button id='bg-showmore-action-6a8e743179b5f0003824567' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-green-button  '   style=\" color:#D9ECFB;\">Long post is long. Click to read the story.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6a8e743179b5f0003824567' ><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"chapterhead\">34.<br \/>\n<u>An Inward-Facing Fortress<\/u><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow\u2019d you do it?\u201d Cedric asked Kyra, studying the smashed window.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra looked over at him. The shots Ewan had given her had finally taken effect, and she no longer seemed to be in any pain but seemed extremely drowsy.  Ewan, done treating her internal injuries, was closing up the gory slash in her skin. \u201cClimbed out the west window in the bedroom. There\u2019s a ledge outside. Went as fast I could \u2019til I got to the fire escape\u2026 out that window\u2026 \u2019n gave it a good, hard donkey kick\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She started to lift her legs as if she was going to try to demonstrate, but hissed sharply as pain returned with the movement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cStay still, Dihya,\u201d Ewan admonished, resting one gloved hand on her midriff. The other held the forceps he was using to suture her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cFuck, sorry,\u201d Kyra muttered, grimacing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt was locked?\u201d Cedric frowned when Kyra nodded. \u201cSo how did the mercenary get in?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHe had one of these,\u201d Jack said, taking the Master Key out of her pocket and holding it out to him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Cedric took it and looked it over. \u201cEven possessing one of these on Tangiers Prime is a felony. I suggest you let it join him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Damn. She\u2019d kind of wanted to keep it. Taking it back, she sighed, shifted it to Elsewhere, and let it fall. She caught Cedric watching her with a suppressed look of wonder on his face.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I guess it does look just like magic,<\/i> she thought, <i>and not an accident of quantum physics.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">While Ewan had continued to work on treating and closing Kyra\u2019s wound, Takama had joined Safiyya and Lalla in efficiently packing up their possessions in the apartment, using their clothing, bedding, and the pillows and blankets they\u2019d decorated with to cushion anything even slightly fragile. Cedric, meanwhile, had been diligently wiping down surfaces to remove all possible fingerprints. They were all wearing gloves from Ewan\u2019s kit, but had told Jack that she was to stay still and watch over Sebby and Kyra, not help. They were almost finished when two men appeared in the apartment\u2019s open doorway.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sebby crawled onto the top of the couch back and hissed at them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt is all right, Sebby,\u201d Takama said to him. \u201cThese are my cousins. <i>Ait uxam,<\/i> Sebby. Family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack remembered seeing them at the memorial and at the meal afterward. One of them had told everyone a story about Tomlin learning to drive that had almost made mint tea come out of her nose. They were wheeling in a gurney, one designed to roll up and down flights of stairs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cPerfect\u2026 timing,\u201d Ewan said as he tied off a stitch. \u201cThree more and I\u2019ll be done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis should be everything,\u201d Takama said a few minutes later, emerging from the kitchen area with the small quantity of food they\u2019d had\u2014including more olives for Sebby\u2014in a bag.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Now, <i>there<\/i> was a completely non-horrible idea\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTakama? Give an olive to Sebby, please.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The moment Takama offered him the olive, Jack could see the change in Sebby\u2019s posture. She was now one of his best friends. Jack had Cedric, Safiyya, and Lalla offer him olives as well, which he happily devoured while Ewan finished his work. The two cousins\u2014Izil and Usadden\u2014offered him one each too, marveling at him in Tamazight. Each received a thank you, of a sort, from Sebby, who stroked his antennae along their ungloved hands and wrists.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Petting them or learning their scents?<\/i> Jack wondered. \u201cNow he\u2019ll think of you as <i>ait uxam<\/i>, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">While Izil and Usadden carefully lifted Kyra onto the gurney, Ewan pulled off his bloody gloves and washed his hands before accepting an olive from Jack to feed Sebby.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019ve heard of offering olive <i>branches<\/i> before,\u201d he murmured softly as the contented crustacean stroked his hand, \u201cbut this is new.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cPretty much everything is with him,\u201d Jack admitted. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know until tonight that he has a stinger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI wondered why you were so alarmed when he got upset. How strong is his venom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cStrong enough to paralyze a hundred-kilo man in a matter of seconds,\u201d Jack told him, feeling a little nervous. What if they refused to let Sebby into their home?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIs that what killed the mercenary?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNo,\u201d Jack said, and found that she couldn\u2019t meet Ewan\u2019s eyes, couldn\u2019t even look at his face. \u201cHe was still breathing when\u2014\u201d She took a deep breath. \u201cWhen I\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ewan\u2019s hand touched her cheek and he tilted her head up, making her meet his gentle gaze. His eyes were exactly the same shade of green as his brother\u2019s. \u201cWhen you did what you had to do, to save your life and Dihya\u2019s.\u201d His voice became kindly chiding. \u201cI <i>do<\/i> understand war. The only thing that outrages me is that you and your sister have been forced onto the front lines of battle so young. <i>That<\/i> is the real crime here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>You don\u2019t know how young,<\/i> Jack thought miserably. Kyra had been twelve when the New Christy Massacre took place, and thirteen when she had finally captured and killed Red Roger, the same age Jack was now\u2026 and <i>she<\/i> had three notches on her belt now, too. Did she really have any innocence left to lose?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ewan pulled her into a gentle hug. For a long moment they stayed still, Jack resting her head on his chest, breathing in the scent of him\u2014so very nice after the reek of the filthy merc\u2014and listening to his heartbeat, letting it calm her. No one had held her like this since before her father left for Furya. Possibly, no one had <i>ever<\/i> held her like this.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou two coming?\u201d Cedric called to them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack didn\u2019t want to let go. She wanted to just stay just like this, rest like this, for a while longer. Reluctantly, she pulled back and looked up at Ewan, meeting understanding and concern in his gaze. His fingertips gently brushed her forehead. \u201cYou\u2019re bruised. Did he hit you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She\u2019d forgotten all about that for a moment, forgotten why her head hurt. \u201cI hit him in the face with my head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">That startled a soft laugh out of him. \u201cYou are quite ferocious. When we get back to the house, please let me look at it. Now that Dihya is stable, I want to make sure you are, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">He kept his arm around her, the way his brother had, as they followed the others down the stairs. She could see Sebby below them, perched protectively on Kyra\u2019s chest as Izil and Usadden maneuvered the gurney around a landing. The others were all carrying bags, including Ewan\u2019s repacked field kit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMy tablet\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cRight here,\u201d Ewan chuckled, offering it to her. Then he took a familiar, cheap \u201cburner\u201d comm out of his pocket and held it up. \u201cWhose comm is this? It was on the table beside your tablet, but I thought Takama already packed yours and Dihya\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe merc\u2019s. I need to get it to another part of town before I isomorph it into Elsewhere. So nobody comes <i>here<\/i> looking for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s a good thought. May I handle that for you? I know someone who can make sure it goes on a long, wild journey before it disappears forever. No trips to other universes needed.\u201d Ewan smiled down at her. \u201cAlthough I would really love to visit Elsewhere sometime, if I may.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYes, thank you.\u201d Jack looked around; as yet, no water was rising into the building. \u201cWhat time is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ewan glanced at his chrono. \u201cA little after eighteen p.m. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTide\u2019s moving in. When we get to the ground level, though, I need to check something in Elsewhere. Do you have a flashlight?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOf course.\u201d He took it out of his pocket and offered it to her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2026 don\u2019t want you to come with me on <i>this<\/i> trip over to Elsewhere.\u201d Jack told him, feeling suddenly awkward.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAh\u2026 yes. I understand.\u201d He didn\u2019t specify <i>what<\/i> he understood, maybe recognizing that she didn\u2019t want to talk about her need to make sure she\u2019d successfully committed another murder, and to conceal her gruesome handiwork from him. \u201cAs I said earlier, though, you bear <i>no<\/i> shame for any of what happened tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I do, though. I do\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The waters of Elsewhere were lapping at the lower end of the street, a few blocks away, when they finally emerged from the building. Izil and Usadden had covered Kyra with a white sheet and were wheeling her toward, of all things, a Medical Examiner\u2019s truck. Jack\u2019s heart lurched for a second.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s all right, Tislilel,\u201d Ewan murmured, sensing her distress. \u201cThis was the plan. Anyone on the outside will only know that someone must have died in the building and been taken out. They will seem to drop her off at a funeral home, where another of our cousins is waiting to bring her back to the house in a laundry service truck. Takama is going to ride with her the whole way. She\u2019ll be fine.\u201d He kissed the top of her head, removing his arm from around her. \u201cGo take care of your problem while we load the bags in Lalla\u2019s van.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">As Jack walked back toward the apartment building\u2019s outer wall, she found herself wishing that Ewan\u2019s arm was still around her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">If Riddick had left her with a family like this, she thought as she isomorphed over into Elsewhere and continued forward on the sand, she never would have even considered cutting her wrists.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was a moonless night in Elsewhere; all three moons, no longer near each other in the sky, were somewhere on the other side of the world. Ewan\u2019s flashlight illuminated dried sand, desiccated seaweed, smooth rocks, and small tidepools, terrain she remembered from the previous week. That had been a dark night, too; everyone had been using their comms to light their way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Frank Vedder, aka Justin Cowell, aka Blaine Mason was sprawled on the rocky ground, his body thoroughly broken by his twenty-meter fall. His head had smashed against a large rock, painting it scarlet. Small crustaceans, like but unlike Sebby, had found the body and begun to feast.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>He died fast,<\/i> a voice from her past rumbled softly in her head, <i>and if we have any choice about it, that\u2019s the way we should all go out\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She would no more cry for this\u2026 <i>sicko<\/i>\u2026 than she would have for Johns\u2014and in spite of what Riddick had seemed to believe at the time, the tears she\u2019d almost shed had not been for the merc who had wanted to serve her up as a Judas goat\u2014but part of her still wanted to curl up and cry at the thought of what she had become on this journey and the innocent girl who had been lost along the way. She wanted to cry because, as with Johns, she was <i>glad<\/i> the man was dead, and part of her hated herself for that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The Master Key, which she had been tempted to retrieve, had smashed to pieces against another rock. <i>Like I needed to add another felony to the long list\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Taking the surveillance photo of herself and Kyra back out of her pocket\u2014she wasn\u2019t sure why she\u2019d initially kept it, but it needed to cease to exist\u2014she dropped it onto the sand and turned back, retracing her steps until they vanished and she was back outside of the building, before isomorphing back into U1.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cBaraka,\u201d<\/i> Ewan said as she reappeared. \u201cI was told, and I believed, but it\u2019s still an amazing thing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019m still learning how to do it the best way,\u201d Jack admitted, offering him his flashlight back. \u201cSlow or fast transitions, I mean. It\u2019s kind of frustrating. Nobody\u2019s exactly written a <i>manual<\/i> about how Threshold Syndrome works even though they really <i>ought<\/i> to have by now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAssuming that the Quintessa Corporation was willing to allow that knowledge to circulate, that is,\u201d Ewan said, quirking an eyebrow at her. \u201cLet\u2019s get you back to the house. I asked my sister to prepare a room for you and Dihya while we collected you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The Medical Examiner\u2019s truck had already departed, Jack noticed. Cedric was loading the last of the bags into the back of what she assumed was Lalla\u2019s van, gesturing them over to him. \u201cLet\u2019s get you home, Tislilel. We have some security tricks in store for anyone who tries to invade <i>our<\/i> house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Soon she was sitting between Cedric and Ewan as Lalla drove them back to the extraordinary mansion she\u2019d only left a few hours before. They made one detour along the way, so that Ewan could hand off the merc\u2019s comm to a man who looked like a pirate riding a motorcycle. A while later, they turned onto the tree-lined avenue they\u2019d walked on, earlier that very day, on their way to and from the church. A massive, high-walled edifice with a familiar gate set in it appeared on the left. There were, she realized, no windows on the outer walls, no sign that it was a house at all. When she and Kyra had originally passed it in the processional, she\u2019d assumed it was a warehouse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis is true,\u201d Cedric said when she asked him about it. \u201cThe house\u2019s windows look inward only, although we often go up on the roof if we wish to watch what\u2019s happening outside with our own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cRoof access? That could be\u2014\u201d Jack stopped herself. This family knew how to take care of itself better than she did. Didn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDangerous? Perhaps,\u201d Cedric said, grinning. \u201cBurglars have tried to come in from the roof, but it\u2019s more difficult than it seems. Only one has ever made it inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat happened to him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNothing good,\u201d Safiyya said. \u201cYou and Dihya will be safe, we promise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>It\u2019s not me I\u2019m worried about,<\/i> Jack realized. Riddick was a big enough payday to make any merc willing to go to war against a family, even a wealthy and apparently powerful one. As long as people believed he was the one who had sprung her and Kyra from the hospital, anyone they associated with would be fair game in a merc\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Could she really bring that kind of havoc down on this family?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ewan, she realized, was studying her face intently. She hoped she wasn\u2019t showing far too much of what she was feeling\u2026 in <i>any<\/i> direction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSorry,\u201d she made herself say, giving him an apologetic smile. \u201cI think I\u2019m just a little paranoid right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cUnderstandably,\u201d he said, putting his arm around her again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Another, larger gate opened beside the van, leading down into a huge, private garage below ground level. Elsewhere\u2019s waters completely filled it. Jack let Ewan help her out of the van and escort her into the house for a second time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It had never occurred to her until now that the comfortable shabbiness of the Rif might be a <i>front.<\/i> She still wasn\u2019t sure what the truth was. But her favorite food cart vendor had turned out to be a sociology professor on sabbatical, whose real job seemed to be gathering intel for the Imazighen\u2014intel that had brought Tomlin to her and Kyra\u2019s doorstep\u2014and teaching foreigners to respect their ways. And, at Takama\u2019s word, an entire community had stepped up to smuggle almost two hundred refugees out into the mountains in a single night.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Maybe she should trust that they were stronger than they had seemed, more powerful than they had seemed\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026but still vulnerable. Tomlin had died because she\u2019d given him just enough help, just enough knowledge, to start a fight with the Quintessa Corporation, but not enough to win it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She wasn\u2019t sure anyone <i>could<\/i> win a fight against them. Without their Isomorph Drives, regardless of what secrets they were keeping about them, there would be no Star Jumping, no faster-than-light space travel. And without that\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cthe end of the Federacy as we knew it\u2026\u201d<\/i> That was what Tomlin had told his younger brother. Was the truth he\u2019d discovered powerful enough to actually <i>do<\/i> that? To bring real-time contact between the star systems to an <i>end?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">If it was, no wonder the Corporation was willing to kill hundreds and destroy an economy to keep it secret, and to keep their position one where no other power, not even the Federacy itself, could threaten them with reprisals for any atrocious act they chose to commit. And if they ever suspected the secrets, and the <i>people<\/i>, that the Tomlin-Meziane family was harboring\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026This large and beautiful fortress would be erased from the board altogether.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Could <i>anything<\/i> defend this family against the monstrous forces, human and possibly otherwise, hunting for her and Kyra? Especially if those different forces ever realized they were all seeking the same two\u2014in the words of one now-dead merc\u2014little girls?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She would have to talk to Kyra about it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ewan had been steering her through the house the whole time she had been lost in thought\u2014and there was a whole lot of house!\u2014and up three flights of stairs. The lights in the tastefully decorated corridor he led her down were dim and most of the doors were closed. It reminded Jack a little of a fancy hotel from an old Earth vid. The doors were only on one side of the corridor; was the other side one of the exterior walls?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">One door was open, soft light spilling into the hallway, and Jack could hear voices coming from it. Takama\u2019s voice was among them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cRest now, Dihya,\u201d she was saying as Ewan led Jack in. \u201cYour sister will be here soon\u2014ah! Here she is now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">A large, ornately carved bedframe dominated the room. The bed itself looked soft and luxurious. Kyra was settled on its right side, propped up by large pillows in a position Jack remembered from one of her grandmother\u2019s hospital stays. Sebby, who had been resting on a pillow next to her, scuttled across the bed and leapt down, racing to Jack and climbing up onto her shoulder, antennae frisking her face.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat an extraordinary creature,\u201d she heard either Izil or Usadden say as she stroked his carapace with her fingers. \u201cSo devoted. Aside from olives, what does it eat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cCockroaches, mostly\u2026 any that were dumb enough to come into our place,\u201d Jack told him. \u201cAnd bugs that flew in after the west windows got broken. He can\u2019t fly, but he sure tried to, to catch them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She wondered when, exactly, Sebby had learned to crawl across the ceiling to launch his attack on the merc. Maybe he\u2019d figured it out so that he could ambush the large moths that had begun coming in at night. She and Kyra had begun finding colorful wing fragments on the foot of their bed and the floor at the end of each night cycle.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWell, he isn\u2019t going to find those here, I\u2019m afraid,\u201d the cousin\u2014Izil, she realized\u2014continued. \u201cI will stop by a pet supply shop and bring back some possibilities for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThank you.\u201d Jack took Kyra\u2019s hand. \u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra\u2019s smile was a little loopy. \u201cUsadden gave me the <i>good stuff,\u201d<\/i> she said, a slight slur to her words. \u201cGonna sleep now\u2026 now I know <i>you\u2019re<\/i> okay\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cShe won\u2019t be in any pain,\u201d Usadden murmured. \u201cNot for many hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAre you a doctor?\u201d Jack found herself asking him. The Meziane family seemed to be huge, and highly accomplished.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">He nodded. \u201cI really am a medical examiner. Generally, none of my \u2018patients\u2019 require medication, but I have kept my license to practice on the living up to date, so I can also be called upon for search-and-rescue and triage in crises like the one we all suffered last week. And for situations such as this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack suddenly wondered just how often this family found itself embroiled in intrigue.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIf either of you need anything,\u201d Takama gestured at a small device on the low table next to Kyra\u2019s head. \u201cSomeone is always awake in our house and will answer. Once Zdan has made sure you do not have a concussion, Tislilel, try to sleep as well. Good night, girls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She shepherded Izil and Usadden out of the room, the three talking softly in Tamazight as they went.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNow,\u201d Ewan said, reaching into his field bag again, \u201clet\u2019s make sure of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">He led her over to a chair and made her sit down, kneeling in front of her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou\u2019re a pilot <i>and<\/i> a medic?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">His grin was rueful. \u201cPilot in training. I worked for the UMA while I was at University. I think Usadden hoped I\u2019d become a doctor, too, but\u2026 flying won. Especially now.\u201d He swallowed, the grief showing in his eyes again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>His brother was his hero,<\/i> Jack thought as he shone his penlight into her eyes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cPupils are responsive, that\u2019s a good start\u2026\u201d For the next several minutes, he took her through a series of tests, some physical and some mental, before nodding in satisfaction. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have an impressive bruise on your forehead for a while, and probably a headache, which I\u2019ll give you some meds for, but there are no signs of a concussion.\u201d His smile emerged; as with his older brother, it transformed him from handsome to dazzling. \u201cWhich is very good because I imagine you\u2019re quite tired by now. I don\u2019t have to make you stay awake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack was about to object that she was perfectly awake when a yawn broke through, surprising her. \u201cI think that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d she admitted, laughing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">His brotherly good night kiss left her cheek tingling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>He\u2019s nine years older than I am,<\/i> she scolded herself as she showered, Sebby splashing at her feet. <i>What I want is never going to happen.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Why did she have to develop feelings for such unattainable men? First Riddick, then Tomlin, and now Ewan\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Feeling a little refreshed from the shower but still sleepy, she climbed into huge bed, moving her pillow to the middle so she\u2019d be close to Kyra, and drifted off.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>They<\/i> were waiting for her, agitated, demanding to know what was wrong with \u201cthe other larva\u201d and what had happened to both of them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>If I show you in three-shapes, will you understand?<\/i> she asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>We will understand.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack conjured up her memories, recreating the apartment in her mind. Her asleep on the couch, Kyra\u2014the other larva, she told them\u2014sleeping in the next room, and the hideous, foul-smelling mercenary sneaking in through their door, climbing on top of her and threatening her with a knife. She recreated the battle that had followed, showing them Kyra coming to her rescue and being wounded, and then Sebby rescuing them both. At first she wasn\u2019t sure if they were seeing any of it, until they began to ask questions about what she had showed them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">So <i>many<\/i> questions\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cJack? Jack, wake up\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She opened her eyes, blinking at the unfamiliar surroundings in the darkness. Kyra was shaking her arm, looking pained and anxious.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cKyra? Are you okay? I thought the meds\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThey won\u2019t let me sleep, Jack.\u201d Her sister had the same look of panic in her eyes that she\u2019d had the morning before they broke out of the hospital, when Red Roger had come back to her in her dreams. \u201cThey keep asking all these questions\u2026 I can\u2019t get them to let me sleep\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack sat up, concerned. \u201cYou want me to tell them to knock it off?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra nodded, her lip trembling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She closed her eyes, focusing on <i>them.<\/i> Somehow, she was starting to be able to feel them even when she was awake. <i>The other larva is <b>wounded!<\/b><\/i> she scolded them. <i>You must stop asking her questions! I\u2019ll tell you when she is well enough for you to talk to her again. Until then, you can talk to me. Just to me.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She wasn\u2019t sure, but she thought she felt some kind of reluctant assent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think I got through to them,\u201d she told Kyra.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThanks\u2026 but\u2026 I don\u2019t want to go back to sleep yet. Can you talk to me? Help me stay awake for a while?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAbsolutely. What do you want to talk about?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2026 I don\u2019t\u2026\u201d Kyra\u2019s eyes were filling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She needed an anchor, Jack realized, something to pull her away from her own thoughts and the darkness waiting for both of them. The way she\u2019d needed one that final day at the hospital, when she was drawing Red Roger on the wall\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Of course.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack had promised to tell her the true story about Riddick. Originally, it should have happened that very night, but the escape had preempted it and they hadn\u2019t circled back to it since. Now, she decided, it was time. She would give Kyra something to imagine that was almost completely disconnected from the current moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOnce there was a girl,\u201d she began, \u201cwho was unhappy at home and decided she was going to run away. Her mother was getting remarried to a real asshole, and she wanted to go live with her father. But he was hundreds of light years away on a military base, and nobody was going to just let her go to him. So one day, she cut off her hair, put on her cousin Rob\u2019s outgrown clothes, changed her name to Jack B. Badd, and set off after him\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She could feel <i>them<\/i> listening, too.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: The Changeling Game (Formerly Identity Theft) Author: Ardath Rekha Chapter: 34\/? Fandom: TCOR AU Rating: M Warnings: Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language Category: Gen ","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"\u201cThe Changeling Game\u201d chapter 34 by Ardath Rekha","bgseo_description":"Jack and Kyra are offered sanctuary... but is it truly safe, given the forces after them?","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fan-fiction","category-the-changeling-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1190,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions\/1190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}