Ch 136
The teams cleared the field and a platform was set up with a band coming onto center field. The band and the members got ready, then another man ran out on the field and talked to them. Right after that, Joan in her uniform minus helmet and shoulder pads ran out and leaped up onto the stage. She scooped up the mike off the stand and said something to the band.
"Joan's singing?" Allison asked blankly.
Delilah chuckled and said, "This should be good."
The band began to play Joan did start singing in a strong voice and skipping back and forth on the stage.
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na
I guess I just lost my husband
I don't know where he went
So I'm gonna drink my money
I'm not gonna pay his rent
I got a brand new attitude
And I'm gonna wear it tonight
I wanna get in trouble
I wanna start a fight
Na-na-na-na, na-na, na
I wanna start a fight
Na-na-na-na, na-na, na
I wanna start a fight!
Joan then pumped her fist with the last words then flung her arm around.
So, so what?
I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't need you
And guess what?
I'm having more fun
And now that we're done
I'm gonna show you tonight
I'm alright
I'm just fine
And you're a tool
.
So, so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't want you tonight
.
Uh, check my flow, uh
The waiter just took my table
And gave it to Jessica Simps, shit
I guess I'll go sit with drum boy
At least he'll know how to hit
.
What if this song's on the radio?
Then somebody's gonna die
I wanna get in trouble
My ex will start a fight
Na-na-na-na, na-na, na
He's gonna start a fight
Na-na-na-na, na-na, na
We're all gonna get in a fight!
.
So, so what?
I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't need you
And guess what?
I'm having more fun
And now that we're done
I'm gonna show you tonight
I'm alright
I'm just fine
And you're a tool
.
So, so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't want you tonight
.
You weren't there
You never were
You want it all
But that's not fair
I gave you life
I gave my all
You weren't there
You let me fall
.
So, so what?
I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't need you
And guess what?
I'm having more fun
And now that we're done
I'm gonna show you tonight
I'm alright (I'm alright)
I'm just fine (I'm just fine)
And you're a tool
.
So, so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't want you tonight (I don't want you tonight)
No no, no no
I don't want you tonight
You weren't there
I'm gonna show you tonight (I'm gonna show you tonight)
I'm alright (I'm alright)
I'm just fine
And you're a tool
.
So, so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't want you tonight (I don't want you tonight)
Woo-hoo
Ba-da-da-da, da-da!
There was a roar of applause at the end of the song, here and there, people stood up to applaud. Joan waved to the crowds then called out, "Thank you! At least I didn't suck!" This brought laughter into the cheering.
When the noise died down, Joan said, "There is one Pink song I thing everyone should listen to." She nodded to the band. This song was a little slower in tempo.
Made a wrong turn, once or twice
Dug my way out, blood and fire
Bad decisions, that's alright
Welcome to my silly life
.
Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood
Miss "No way, it's all good", it didn't slow me down
Mistaken, always second guessing, underestimated
Look, I'm still around
.
Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever ever feel
Like you're less than fuckin' perfect
Pretty pretty please,
if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing
You're fuckin' perfect to me!
.
You're so mean, when you talk about yourself you were wrong
Change the voices in your head, make them like you instead
So complicated, look how big, you'll make it
Filled with so much hatred, such a tired game
.
It's enough!
I've done all I can think of
Chased down all my demons,
I've seen you do the same
.
Oh, pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than fuckin' perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing
You're fuckin' perfect to me!
.
The whole world's scared, so I swallow the fear
The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer
So cool and limed and we try, try, try
But we try too hard and its a waste of my time
.
Done looking for the critics 'cause there everywhere
They don't like my jeans, they don't get my hair
Exchange ourselves and we do it all the time
Why do we do that, why do I do that?
Why do I do that?
.
Oh, pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than fuckin' perfect
.
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing
You're fuckin' perfect to me!
You're perfect, you're perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing
You're fuckin' perfect to me
During this hearty round of applause, Malinara, Jo, Hanna and Dina has noted Joan's impassioned voice as if pleading for everyone not to be ashamed about being who they were. They knew who they were, Roberts slaves, and they were not going to try to pretend otherwise. It was like Joan was reinforcing that to them.
Joan did one more Pink song, 'Burn it down'. Again she sung like a pro and received huge applause.
At the end of the songs, Joan waved to the crowds and belted out a "Thank you very much! Now I gotta get ready for the second half!" She put the mike down and jumped off the stage to run into the tunnel, followed by applause.
On the monitors Joan appeared in a hallway with one of the commentators. The man asked, "Joan, you went out there and did the halftime show ... fantastic. Where did you learn to sing like that?"
Joan shrugged. "I did some in high school, and helped my family give free concerts for charity and our town. I can sing, yeah, but you should hear my Mom Delilah play the guitar, she really wails on it! Sonya can play the drums, guitar and keyboard, and watching Momma Cameron dance ballet is awesome! We can all sing too."
"So your whole family has a background in music?"
"We do, and other things as well. It's like my mom's T-shirts that read Thing One and Thing Two." She then sang, "Thing two and thing one, we can do anything, anything, anything under the sun!"
The man chuckled. "I'm beginning to believe that! So instead of a music career, why did you choose to play football?"
"It's fun," Joan replied with a shrug, "And I can play it with my boyfriend here in the NFL and my sister in the women's league too!"
"Yes, you play for the Austin Acoustics also. Being on two football teams, that must keep you very busy."
"It does," Joan said. "But it is a bunch of fun. I still get time to be home and swim with my mermaid tail and spend some time with Allie Gator. My boyfriend calls me the energizer bunny."
"Do you have any plans for children?" he asked.
"In the future, sure. Not right away." Joan then turned to look behind her and said, "I really gotta go. Enjoy the game!" The camera watched her run off.
.
Joan had figured on spending the second half sitting on the bench, but Dennis got hit hard in the last part of the third quarter and had to be helped off the field. That put Joan back on the field.
Atlanta had yet to get a touchdown, and Dallas was up to 49 points. Coach Emerson explained to Joan that it was an unwritten rule not to get 50 points or more spread over the other team. "Go easy on them." he said.
Joan frowned. "Easy, how?"
"There's only a minute thirty left in this quarter. Do only short runs, kneel, just finish the quarter without getting any points if you can," he explained.
"That is kinda contrary to how we play, isn't it?" she asked.
"Just this once, run out the clock," he told her.
"It's like you're asking be to throw the game," Joan said sternly.
"No, just don't make the end zone for a minute thirty," he said firmly.
"Hokay, fine," Joan said and marched out onto the field. Going out, she noticed they had 60 yards to go. If anything, she thought this would make the Atlanta team feel worse.
Joan did a run play and bulled her way through the line. Since she was in clear field and made 25 yards, she skidded to a top, took a knee and planted the ball down.
The announcer cried, "Why did she stop? She was in open field, no one around her!"
Joan got set for another run play. This time she ran behind the line then avoided the defense who got through the line. She let them chase her around the field, then dodged into the remains of the line, went another 20 yards, stopped knelt and planted the ball.
The announcer sounded frantic. "She did it again! Past any possible defenders who could get close to her and she just stopped! Is Connor just playing with these guys? You can see the Atlanta coach's face. He looks very unhappy!"
Joan checked the clock. She had to fart around for another 40 seconds. She took a little longer in the huddle, then went for a pass play, shotgun formation. On the hike, she got the ball and ran back to the 50 yard line. As the defense chased her, she cocked back and took aim and threw hard. It was perfect, her fast throw nailed the crossbar of the goal post dead center before the ball bounced high in the air. She heard the TONG of the post ring from where she stood.
Walking back to the line of scrimmage, she eyed the coach. He wasn't looking happy either. Her first second down ever. 27 seconds left on the clock. Another long huddle took her down to 18 seconds left on the clock. She made another run play. Again she got the ball and ran to one side, then the other, getting the Atlanta defenders to chase her. She broke through the line with 6 seconds to go and stopped right in front of the goal line, knelt and planted the ball with one second left on the clock.
"What the FUCK are you doing?" her tight end, Pete, asked.
Loudly, so the Atlanta coach coming over could hear her as well as the rest of her team mates, "Coach said don't get another touch down this quarter. I only did what he said to do!"
"One fucking step and we could have had another touchdown!" Her right center yelled.
"Yeah, that's why I was fucking around here, Coach said don't get one!" Joan yelled back at him.
"Is that suppose to make us feel better or something?" the Atlanta coach screamed.
Joan pointed to their bench, "Go talk to our coach, I only did what he said to do!"
The third quarter was over. The Atlanta coach stomped over to talk to Coach Emerson.
Their conversation was shown on the monitor, and with the loud voices over microphones, everyone in the stadium heard it.
"I will say one thing," the announcer said, "It's a good thing that pass went high. That ball was traveling! By a rough estimate as it passed over the yard markers, it was flying at least a hundred miles an hour! I've never heard a goal post ring like that before! I'd say she wasn't happy with what the Dallas coach told her to do."
At the very beginning of the fourth quarter, Coach Emerson called a time out. He was looking frustrated. Eyeing Joan, he said, "You made a mockery out of this game!"
"Me?" Joan asked in surprise. Flinging arms she loudly announced. "Who was it that gave me that stupid order? Our guys are mad at me, the fans aren't happy and even the Atlanta coach was mad. It's your fault, not mine! Our job as offense is to get that ball into the end zone and make touchdowns! If ANYONE has made a mockery of us, it's YOU!"
"You couldn't be a little more subtle than that?" Coach Emerson asked.
Firmly, Joan said, "I don't do subtle, that's not my job."
"I told you to take a knee!" he shouted.
"I did, short runs and took a knee, three times! You didn't specify where, so I picked the places." Joan shouted back at him.
"I can have you replaced," he warned.
"Do it! Kendra had been begging me to go play with Seattle!" Joan barked back.
The team manager came down and whispered in Coach Emerson's ear. He then told Joan, "You keep making your touchdowns, I don't ever want to see that again."
"Thank you!" Joan said with a sigh of relief.
At the start of the 4th quarter, Dallas had the ball on the Atlanta one yard line. Hike, touchdown.
In the 4th, Atlanta did make one big play. Short pass to a well blocked receiver, they made a 32 yard run just getting past the 50 yard line and into Dallas territory. Struggling on, they finally made the end zone for a touchdown. Their kicker missed the extra point.
56 to 6, it was a 50 point spread. Coach Emerson only told Joan to go out and do her best.
Atlanta did their best to try and stop her. The first play, a pass, their safeties were on her receivers so Joan was forced to do a run. Outrunning a linebacker and leaping another one and Joan made it past the line. The one safety came to intercept her. Joan charged straight at him, then dodged at the last second. He grabbed at her and missed. Joan made the end zone. Touchdown.
Dallas won the game hands down but the media buzz wasn't on their victory. Coach Emerson was swamped with reporters why he instructed Joan not to make a touchdown at the end of the third. Joan was praised for her halftime show and when asked about making the goal post ring, she admitted that was on purpose. She had aimed right at the center of the crossbar.
.
After the game, Bob and Joan met their family. In the hugs and greetings, Bob got hugged by all four girls, as did Joan.
"Thank you for understanding us," Jo said meekly as she hugged Joan.
"Any time," Joan replied, not sure what she was talking about.
"Your coach made a terrible decision," Cameron told Joan. "Embarrassing him was a good call on your part. If he was worried about the point spread, waiting until it was 49 to zero before saying anything was a little too late."
"Really," Delilah agreed. "Talk about terrible timing."
Duncan called, "Guys! the bus is coming, we're next to load up!"
"Yeah, we gotta go," Allison said, then gave Bob another hug and a kiss, then hugged Joan. "If you guys get a break, let me know."
Again all four girl hugged Joan, then Bob, giving him a kiss on the lips.
Joan and Bob stayed there to wave everyone goodbye until the bus left. Walking back in, Joan looked back then said, "I'm surprised they didn't try to stay."
Bob eyed her. "Who?"
"Your four slaves," she said evenly.
"They aren't slaves any more," Bob said with a huff. "Eventually they will learn that."
Joan let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Apparently you weren't watching their faces very well. Bob, the were eyeing you, if me or Allison wasn't there, they would have been all over you. I don't think any of them have any plans to go anywhere."
"Eventually they will wander off," Bob said in a huff.
"Doubt it. I also don't think there is anything you can do to drive them off either," Joan said in a serious tone. "We may well be stuck with them."
"Hey, I'll think of something," Bob replied.
"Before the Spring?" Joan asked.
"Why the spring?"
"That's when the Austin season starts," Joan told him. "Allie and I will be going to our Acoustics team, and you will be in the house with them."
Bob cast her a surprised look. "Oh yeah," he said and swallowed nervously. "Maybe just all of us move out?"
"And leave our house to them?" Joan asked, raising up an eyebrow. "Our house is just getting to be how we like it. I'm not giving our house up! How do you know they won't follow us?"
"Then what do we do? I'm beginning to think letting them come back with us was a big mistake," Bob said with a huff.
Joan shook her head. "Bob, I am proud of you for saving their lives. It's just how they are that's really irritating the hell out of me."
"Yeah, I'm very sorry about that. Whatever happens, I don't want to lose you over them," Bob said firmly. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."
Joan elbowed him. "I don't want to lose you either. I know it's not like you went out to find more girlfriends. You didn't ask them to be with you. You've done your best to discourage them. The thing is even with the abuse Hanna suffered, she didn't leave her former master. That tells me when she says keep her or kill her, she's quite serious about that. Malinara told me that also."
Bob put an arm around her and pulled her close. "Can we forget about them tonight for a while? You know, just focus on us?"
Joan grinned. "Let's forget about them for a few days," she said, casting him a grin.
"Done!" he beamed back.
Joan had agreed, but deep down she had a strong feeling she'd have to kill them or end up sharing. That could go one way or the other.
.
Getting back to their apartment, Joan checked on the crock-pot dinner. It was done and hot. She then stripped down and joined Bob in the shower. The horizontal silver bars in the shower weren't for the disabled. They were so after they cleaned up each other on the outside, she could lock her arms in place lifting herself up a bit, wrap her legs around Bob and they could kiss while he did his best to clean out her insides. After the first round of sex in the shower, they got dried off and put robes on. Out to the kitchen to grab a couple bowls of food, they retired to the couch to eat, lounge, pet and play as the TV news sounded in the background. Joan's breasts felt a bit heavy so Bob relished in draining them for her.
After the bowls were empty, they got a little more serious with the sex. Joan sat on Bob who laid in the floor. She really like it like this, Bob could last longer too and he loved the view. They were getting hot and heavy and a knock sounded on the door.
Bob gathered his voice and yelled, "Come back in a half hour!" By the blue glow in her eyes, Joan was getting ready to peak. He gripped both breasts, she clasped her ands over his wrists and leaned into him. Her glowing blue eyes open just a slit as she panted heavily. Not long after she shuddered and let out a long coo. She then collapsed on him. He turned them over pounded her to get his second orgasm. Feeling weak afterward, they kissed a few more deep, longing kisses, laying there enjoying their mating.
Holding each other, Joan sleepily asked, "Think that was one of the slave girls?"
"I sincerely hope not," he replied.
If it wasn't one of the four, they did need to get something on besides robes. Reluctantly, they got up. Joan put a low cut nightgown on, Bob went with a pair of shorts under his robe. Bob got them drinks while they waited to see if whoever it was came back. He'd no more than handed Joan hers when another knock came at the door.
Already up, Bob answered the door. He was thinking other players, the coach or maybe a neighbor. Two men in military style short haircuts and medium blue suits were on the other side.
"Is Joan Connor here?" the taller man asked.
"Excuse me, you are?" Bob prodded.
"Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Davis from NASA. We're here to speak with Joan Connor."
Bob eyed them. What the hell did NASA want with Joan? He called onside, "Joan, there's two guys from NASA who want to see you."
Joan came out, arms crossed over her chest. Here eyes were still glowing light blue. She frowned slightly. "What you want with me?"
Mr. Reynolds pulled out a card and handed it to her. "Please, it is very important you come here tomorrow morning. We are sorry for the short notice, but it is vital you do so."
Joan looked at the card. "Why?"
"I'm sorry but right now, we can't tell you," Mr. Davis said. "We wouldn't ask except you are needed."
Bob and Joan exchanged a look. Bob shook his head. "We have no reason to trust you guys," he told the men.
Joan held the card back out to them. "We'll think about it," she said flatly.
Mr. Davis touched his collar and said, "Activate."
The blinding flash of light blinded Bob for a moment. "What the hell?" he complained. Both men were gone. He then noticed Joan wasn't beside him any more. She was gone too. "Joan!" he called. Where did she go?
.
Joan was disoriented briefly. When her senses cleared, she was in a small cell looking room. The two men in front of her no longer wore suits, but some kind of spacy looking overalls. Metallic looking walls, ceiling and floor. This sure wasn't her apartment building. "Where am I?" she asked in a hard tone.
"It is a vital..." Davis, or whoever he was, stopped speaking when she rushed forward and grabbed both men by the throats and slammed them into the back wall.
"Where am I?" she asked in a growl as her eyes reddened.
Reynolds squeaked out, "Before you kill us! there is a vital mission we need you to do!"
Joan noted his hair had shifted. She shook him, the blonde wig fell off. His hair was white. "Who are you and where am I? Last chance!" Joan barked.
"We're in the receiving chamber or our teleportation machine!" Reynolds cried with a wince. "The exit is behind you, we have many violent ones here, we need you to stop them!"
"They are taking over the ship, we can't stop them!" Davis cried.
"So, you kidnap me to do your dirty work?" Joan asked. Behind her a door opened up. A laugh sounded. Joan turned to look.
A man with slicked back white hair looked in and grinned at them. "These weaklings brought me a present? Oh how kind, get her clothes off and let me get a good look at her," he said with a sadistic grin.
Joan threw Reynolds into him hard. The both flew away to tumble to the floor. The slick haired man moved to struggle up. Joan punched him hard, driving him down and out. She grabbed Reynolds and pulled him upright. "Get me back home, or I break every bone in your body!" she said in a malevolent growl.
"We can't get you home!" Reynolds pleaded. "Not until we regain control of the ship."
"Please, listen," Davis begged, "We used the return beam. That finished the cycle and brought us back. We can't use the transporter again unless we can get to the control room and begin another activation sequence. To do that, we need to remove the violent ones from control."
Joan glared at him. "So you being me here in the middle of the friggin night in my robe and nightgown to take your ship over for you."
Davis winced. "Essentially ... yes, as can't do it."
"You got me here, didn't you? Then get me home!" Joan said sternly.
"The control power for the teleportation grid is controlled in the main control room, we can't do anything until it's turned on there," Davis explained.
A rough voice asked, "What's going on in there?"
Not in a good mood, Joan ran to the end of the short hallway. Another man holding a knife appeared. Joan leaped up and kicked him square in the chest. He folded and flew backwards to slam into some kind of controls on a desk sized panel. His head left a dent as he fell to the floor. Joan strode out to see another man in the room. This one also had a foot ling knife. He raised it up.
"On your knees or I'll cut you!" he warned in a sneer.
Joan walked over to him, "Then cut me," she challenged.
He took a stab at her. Joan grabbed his knife hand, pulled it past her then rammed her forehead into his. He recoiled and fell limp. She took his knife.
Looking at the ones laid out on the floor, Joan wondered, "Any of them still alive?" The first knife man lying against the console was dead, so was the man she'd just caved the skull in on. Reynolds was looking scared and limped. The first one she'd punched still had a heartbeat. Davis just stood in shock.
"You're all Atlantians, aren't you?" Joan asked.
"We are. we didn't want to bother you, but we do need control of our ship back," Reynolds offered.
Joan raised and eyebrow. "Bother me? BOTHER ME? You KIDNAPPED ME!" She then pointed the knife at him. "The only reason I will do ANYTHING is so I can get back home where I belong, GOT THAT?"
Both men nodded.
"And if I even think you're going to try another dirty trick, YOU will be the next one lying on the floor dead, got THAT?"
Both men nodded.
Joan looked at the controls. "What will it take to turn this thing on?"
"Authorization from command." Davis said. "It's on the Captain's panel up in the control room."
Joan looked at the panel. She couldn't read any of the glyphs, but she did note most of them were dark. She eyed Davis. "Lead me to this control room."
The two men led Joan out into a futuristic hallway that looked metal and had lights on the upper corners of the ceiling. Passing an open area, Joan noted a few men in chairs at tables and a couple women on their knees beside them. One man looked out as she passed by.
"Hey!"
Joan stopped as the man came running out. He grabbed her robe and opened it. "I'll take..."
POW
Before he could finish his statement, Joan punched him square on the cheek, dropping him flat. The man fell in front of the door. Inside other men laughed.
"Asshole," Joan grumbled. She turned and walked on, fixing her robe back in place. The men in front of her only eyed her before moving on.
The hallway came to an open area with rooms to the sides. On one side, a couple men had several women lined up. One ordered, "Strip, now!" to the women. Joan detoured towards them as the women began taking their ragged clothes off.
"Order me to do that!" Joan asked in a challenge.
Both men turned towards her. The closest man moved to grab her to push her in line. She grabbed his wrist and the elbow. As she pulled on the wrist she pushed hard on his elbow. It snapped as he wailed out a scream and fell. Seeing this, the other pulled a knife and said, "For that you DIE!"
Joan caught his arm, kicked him in the groin, then took his knife hand and rammed it into his solar plexus.
"No, you die," she said in a grating tone. She forced his hand to turn the knife up, then twisted and yanked the knife out.
"You BITCH!" the one on the floor wailed as he tried to get up. She jumped over and stabbed him in the back deep, which drove him back to the floor. She yanked the knife out and eyed the women. "Get dressed," she said. They quickly did so. To the pair of her gaping kidnappers, she said, "Move!"
They kept going. The women fled back the way Joan had come.
"You're killing them," Davis said weakly.
"What did you expect?" Joan asked. "Guess what's gonna happen to you if you don't get me home."
"I didn't know she'd be so brutal," Reynolds whispered.
"I didn't think it would be this bad," Davis agreed.
"Quit your whining and get me to this control room," Joan stated.
They went a short ways further and Joan head running feet coming up behind her. This time it was three men holding pistols. They closed and slowed.
"Put the knife down, NOW!" one man roared.
"Davis, Reynolds on the floor" Joan barked then spun and ran at the gunmen. All three fired, then Joan stabbed the middle one deep in the chest and pushed him into the one on the right. The one on the left she kicked in the groin, slashed his throat then dove on the one on the right and stabbed him deep in the neck.
Her chest armor had stopped the bullets but she still had holes in her skin. Looking down at herself, her nice robe had holes in it and blood splashed on from the men she'd opened up the throats on. She took two pistols and pocketed them. Seeing Davis and Reynolds lying on the floor and staring at her, she said, "It's over, get up and let's go."
"You ... you're shot, and your not dead!" Reynolds said in a gasp.
"Up, or you just might be!" Joan growled.
They stumbled up and kept going.
Joan had been having such a nice night before these two had come to their door. Now she was in a strange place with the assholes who kidnapped her, her chest hurt from getting shot and her nightgown and her robe were ruined. She was NOT a happy camper!
More running feet were coming from in front. Great. Seeing they were passing an alcove, Joan slipped into it and pulled both pistols. Right after that, she heard voices.
"Where's that murdering bitch?"
"We... don't know, she was right behind us," Davis said.
"Are you hiding her?"
"No!" Reynolds cried. "She must have gone down another hallway!"
"Come on Men!"
Joan stayed still until the men were running by. One saw her, so she started shooting. Six men, four were down before they could turn to shoot. The last two gut their guns up, but she got head shots on them first. She exchanged her pistols for another pair that hadn't been fired yet then walked up to her pair of kidnappers.
"They would have killed us!" Davis cried.
Joan put a gun right on his forehead. "What makes you think I won't? Move."
Davis and Reynolds kept walking, looking a little scared.
They came to a lift. Joan got on the back in a corner and had the two men stand in front of the front the lift. She felt it rise and stop. She squatted down low. Both men hurried out, two other men with machine guns pushed them farther away and stepped up to the door. Plenty of time for her to get an aim on their heads. She shot both guns at once. The men dell dead. Joan then bend low and checked around. No one else here. She pocketed the pistols and took the machine guns.
"Keep going," she intoned.
They walked a short ways to another door. Both men stopped.
"We go in there, they will kill us," Reynolds said and swallowed fearfully.
"Is that the control room?" Joan asked.
"It is, they had to have heard the shots," he explained.
"What is the shape of the room?" Joan asked.
Semi-circular, the flat wall is on the back side, here."
"There's around eight men in there, and I'm sure they're aimed at the door." Davis said.
"They are also sure to have hostages they won't mind killing," Reynolds added.
Joan moved up beside the door. "Too bad for the hostages. Walk. The second the door opens drop to the floor."
"But..."
"Do it" Joan snapped and aimed a machine gun at them.
"We're gonna die," Davis said in a choke.
"Maybe, if you don't dive in fast enough, or waste any more of my time. GO!" Joan snapped.
They moved up to the front of the door, it opened, they dove in. There were a couple shots that flew through the doorway.
"Where is she!"
"Get up and tell us where she is!" another rough voice said.
Joan stepped out and opened up on three men she saw coming, turning into the doorway she saw a couple more and mowed them down. One last one was standing with a wide-eyed woman in front of him, his gun pointed at her head.
"Drop them or she dies!" the man snapped.
Joan walked towards him and dropped the machine guns. He grinned and aimed at her, She pulled her pistols and quickly squatted down to shoot an exposed knee as he shot over her head.
The man wailed in pain. Joan shot him in both shoulders then turned to Davis and Reynolds on the floor. "Get that thing turned on," she said in a growl.
The woman still standing in shock blurted out, "you ... you..."
"I what?" Joan asked in a hard tone as she aimed at her.
"Please kill all of them!" the woman cried.
"Killing isn't right," another woman said who was still sitting beside a chair.
"I got it, the teleporter is active!" Davis cried.
"Good, teleport me home," Joan replied.
Reynolds winced and said, "We can only return you to where we landed."
"Where is that?"
"Outside that town, it was called Driftwood." Davis said meekly.
"Good enough, do it," Joan told him.
"You, ah, have to stand on the the base circle, There," Davis said pointing out a glass looking circle on the floor.
Joan went over to it.
"Wait!" the woman cried and ran after Joan. "What do we do when you leave? We can't protect ourselves against them!"
Joan put her pistols down by the sitting woman . "There's guns lying all around the place. Pick them up and use them. Non violence is preferable, but unless you show those animals you won't be messed with, you become their slaves. Fight for yourselves or not, it's up to you now." Joan then stepped up on the glass.
Joan then disappeared in a flash of light.