Title: Sojourn: Part 3 – Cyber
Author: JadeHeart
Located/Archived: If anyone would like it, please ask me first!
Creation Date: 1994
Fandom: Blakes 7
Rating: M
Timeline: A few years after the end of the TV series.
Original Characters: Kitra and Griffen are mine.
Summary: Fate brings the players from the past to gather again.
Disclaimer: I do not own the idea/outline/characters of Blake's 7, this belongs to the original creators, nor am I making any profits from this.
Chapter 1
"That can't be her!" Tarrant said, staring at the bent figure below them. He remembered Soolin with her proud erect stature, her long blonde hair always neatly groomed. The figure they were watching was dressed in dirty rags, hair in a tangled, bedraggled mess. He couldn't tell for certain if this was Soolin.
"So what do we do?" whispered Vila.
Tarrant ducked back down and leant against the rock to think. He and Vila had landed on the planet whilst Kitra flew a diversion for them. It had appeared to work and the Federation base was not alerted to their presence. The drop ship was small enough to have possibly escaped detection. If not, the planet would have been crawling with Federation troops by now.
The reason that it was Vila with him and not Kitra is that both of them knew Soolin; Kitra did not. What little Tarrant had heard of this planet from Orac, and what little he had seen since, landing made him want to leave all the more quickly.
"No matter what you see down there," Kitra had said just before they departed. "No matter what is happening, don't get involved. We can't win a fight here. Just find out if Soolin is down there, get her and get out."
That had been two days ago. Federation movement had increased since their arrival in response to 'Pegasus's' unexpected appearance but so far they had escaped detection. And thanks to a little device that Orac and Griffen had cooked up between them the drop ship was in automatic orbit until they sent the appropriate recall signal. That at least gave them the comforting knowledge that their escape route was safe for the time being.
In the past two days they had slowly and carefully travelled towards the main complex as pinpointed by Orac. This was a prison planet, but whereas Vila simply sat and broiled on Sutara, here it was also a slave camp. The prisoners were expected to do everything for the Federation troopers stationed on this planet. And as the minority of the prisoners were females it was clear enough what other duties they had to perform.
The prisoners were provided with nothing. The Federation would discard any unwanted items outside of their protected dome, letting the planet's inhabitants fight over these remnants, the stronger getting the lion's share.
Over the years, there had developed a loose variety of cultures. The prisoners were scattered all over the planet; some having reverted to complete barbarianism, others simply preferred to live as far from the Federation base and survive on their own.
The main group had used the Federation's rejected parts to build a ramshackle complex where the mass of humanity gathered. The people were dressed in rags, fed on scraps, were wracked with disease, and death was a frequent visitor. The dead were simply dragged outside and a little away from the shelters, and left to rot. This didn't help with the hygiene.
Tarrant was under no misapprehension that if they were seen either by the Federation or the prisoners, he and Vila would be killed. So the past two days had been very tense to avoid such an occurrence.
There was one close call as they were nearing the complex when they were surprised by three prisoners. The ensuing fight found the prisoners dead and Tarrant and Vila stripped the bodies of their outer garments. Rubbing some dirt on their faces and hands and keeping hunched inside their clothes, they had so far managed to escape any further detection. Although they were careful to give a wide berth to any other people they saw.
The complex was really only walls and ceiling, enough to keep the worst of the elements from the inhabitants. They still slept on the ground, or the lucky ones slept inside containers, or anything else they could utilise. Everyone ate from a common pot that seemed to hold a form of soup. That was the only time that there seemed to be a truce amongst the prisoners. They would not deprive each other of this meagre fare, but anything, and anyone, else was fair game.
They had managed to infiltrate themselves amongst the prisoners at the last meal queue and had attempted to search each face without seeming to. They could not see Soolin for all their looking but continued to move amongst the people. Orac was certain that she had been sent here, but perhaps she had died. Tarrant hoped not. Then they had had a stroke of luck.
Vila had stopped to help a woman who had fallen nearby. She was wracked with a shuddering cough, and had little strength left. Propping her in a corner Vila had tried to make her as comfortable as he could. This simple act of kindness had touched her.
"You're new, aren't you?" she had whispered to Vila.
"Uhmmm...well, yes," Vila had replied a little uncertainly.
"Thought so," she said, before doubling over with another fit of coughing. Vila did his best to support her through it. When it had stopped she leant back weakly. "What did you do?"
"Uhmm, I'm a thief."
"Must have been a good one to end up here. Steal the President's ship or something?"
"Something like that."
She peered up at Tarrant standing in the shadows. "What about him?" she asked, jerking her chin up. Sweat beaded her forehead and her hand felt burning hot in Vila's.
"Oh, he's got a big mouth." Vila replied airily. He heard Tarrant's feet shuffle but he could not retaliate.
"Big boy," the woman said, coughing again. "Need someone to watch your back in this place." She tried to change position to get more comfortable. "Harder for a woman, of course."
"Why?"
She looked at Vila in veiled amusement. "You are an innocent one, aren't you? The troopers take their pick. They're not that fussy, not after they've been stationed here a while. As long as they're female and not diseased, they use them. Most don't even come back. They're pretty rough. Some of us are tougher though. You'd think they'd get tired of the same ones but as that's all they can get they take it. Sick bastards!" She began coughing again and when she leant back afterwards a thin trickle of darkness ran from the corner of her mouth.
"Is that why there're not many women around?" Tarrant asked, glancing down. "Have the troopers taken them all?"
"Only took a couple. All they could grab at the time. I was sleeping so they didn't see me. Lucky for me. Too weak at the moment. Would have probably killed me!" she laughed weakly as though something amused her.
"Did you know the ones they took? Were they friends of yours?"
"No-one's got friends in this place," The woman replied. "Wish I did have." Vila didn't think she was going to speak again when she continued. "Guess I could call one of them a friend, she helped me sometimes. Hardly said two words most of the time but she still helped. More than what most do. The troopers take her all the time. Don't know why she didn't take to the mountains. It might have been worth the risk. She's not as pretty as she was when she arrived, but that doesn't worry them. She's still got a good figure and they're only after the body. One time she's not going to come back though. Maybe this time is it. Yeah, I guess I'll miss Soolin."
Vila couldn't help but look up quickly at Tarrant to see his reaction. The woman knew Soolin, she was here. Tarrant was just as startled to hear this news and knelt down at Vila's side.
"Are you saying Soolin was one of those taken by the Federation?"
The woman nodded weakly. Vila could feel her body beginning to shake. "She won't last much longer here. Like me. Been here too long. Can't fight anymore. She won't last much longer. Seen it before. You can tell by the eyes. She'll be better off dead." Another fit of coughing struck her.
"We've got to try and find her!" Vila whispered to Tarrant.
"We will. We've got to know more!"
Vila turned back to the woman and leant forward to ask a question but jerked backwards in shock. Vacant eyes stared back at him and a steady stream of blood ran from mouth and nose. The woman was dead.
Tarrant reached out cautiously and checked the neck for a pulse. He shook his head, confirming what they had both known.
"Now what do we do?" Vila asked.
"We'll have to wait." he glanced at the dead woman. "She said that Soolin had been taken by the troopers, and that this is a common occurrence. We'll wait for her to be released."
"What if she isn't?" Vila put in. "She also said that not all of them do come back. And she seemed to think that Soolin wasn't going to be around much longer."
"She was only guessing," Tarrant stated, dismissing it.
Vila stubbornly refused to ignore the warning. "She would know. I've seen it before. People just decide to give up. Once they do, they just die. You can't stop them. We've got to get Soolin away from here fast."
"We don't know where she is, Vila! We've got no way of getting into the base or finding her in there! If we try we'll only endanger our chances of getting away. All of us. We know she's here so we're not going to leave without her. Unless we have proof there's no point in staying."
"Well, we can't stay here."
Tarrant looked around then pointed. "We'll climb up there. If she comes back she'll have to eat sometime so the main area is where she'll come. We've got a good view from there."
That had been a number of hours ago and Tarrant had been close to giving up. As he thought about it he wondered just how long it would be before Soolin was returned. It may be days. He wasn't sure if Vila and he could remain undetected and unharmed for that long.
A hunched figure limped over to the common pot, fumbling with a bowl. The wind caused some of the complex's panels to grate and the person looked up. For one moment the face was fully lit. Vila gasped. Beneath the grime, despite the gaunt features, it was Soolin. He grabbed Tarrant's arm and nodded. Tarrant merely stared in disbelief. The figure below turned its attentions back to its meal and shambled away.
"We've got to get down there!" Vila hissed.
"Hold on!" Tarrant said, grabbing him before he could move. "Let's think about this first."
"What's there to think about?"
"How to get to her and leave here without being followed and getting to a safe place to call the drop ship down."
"Oh,"
"And we're still not 100 certain that is Soolin."
"'Course it is!" Vila said indignantly. "I recognise her!"
"All right. Come on, we'll try and talk to her."
They scrambled down from their perch and followed after Soolin. There was little light to see by once they were away from the centre. Huddled ragged figures crouched in the shadows. He and Vila attempted to look at each they passed, hoping not to draw attention to themselves.
Vila tugged on his sleeve and motioned with his head. To their right, a figure leant against the wall, a bowl of food resting on its knees. Tarrant raised an eyebrow in question and Vila nodded. He was certain that it was Soolin. They moved over to the person. It didn't pause in eating, nor did it look up.
Vila crouched down. "Soolin?" The spoon hesitated half way to the mouth before continuing.
"Soolin," Tarrant said reaching out and halting the spoon before it could be filled again. He could feel the bones through the skin on her hand, there was little flesh left. Slowly the head rose and blue eyes looked out at them, dulled and glazed; eyes that had seen too much and didn't care any more. "Soolin, it's me, Tarrant. Vila's here too. We've come to help you."
"Go away," came the mumbled reply before the eyes dropped again.
Tarrant and Vila looked at each other in surprise. This was not the reaction they had expected to receive to their rescue. They moved a little away from her and she continued her interrupted meal.
"Perhaps she's drugged?" Vila said. "You know, when she was taken by the guards."
Tarrant shrugged, "Could be. I don't know. How are we going to get her out of here if she doesn't want to come?"
"We're not leaving her here!" Vila said firmly.
"No, but she's got to co-operate with us."
They returned to Soolin's side. "Soolin," Tarrant said. "We want to get you out of here."
"Why?"
"We've been looking for you. We're not going to leave you in this place. So come on. We've got to make a move now."
"Leave me."
"No. You can't expect us to walk away after seeing you like this, living in this hell-hole. Come with us."
Tarrant put a hand under her elbow and lifted her to her feet. She
didn't protest or fight him, nor did she assist. Even through the rags Tarrant could feel her bones jutting out. He began to guide her along, prodding her to keep her going. She shuffled along between them, head down.
They made their way outside the complex, looking around them to be certain they were not being followed. The darkness would provide them some cover; it was too risky for them to use the torches they had brought with them. They would only serve to attract unwanted attention. Now both Tarrant and Vila had to take an elbow each to guide Soolin across the uneven ground. She had still made no effort to speak to them.
"How far are we going to go?" Vila asked, a little breathless.
"Just far enough away from the base where there's room for the ship to land." Tarrant replied.
"Good. At least we won't have to walk for another two days."
"I'll give the signal to the ship now. It will keep tracking us until we stop so we'll be able to put some more distance between us and the Federation." and so saying he reached for his pocket and keyed in the recall code.
After another couple of hours, Tarrant halted, looking around. "This is far enough. We'll wait for the ship."
Soolin immediately slumped to the ground in a huddled position. They didn't have long to wait before they heard the faint sound of engines and could see the outline of the drop ship descending a short distance from them.
Then, above the noise, a shout reached them. Whirling Tarrant saw a group of five ragged figures bearing down upon them at a run. He pulled out his gun and fired, dropping one but the others kept coming.
"Run!" he shouted at Vila, hauling Soolin to her feet. "Run!" he said again, pushing her in the direction of the descending ship.
She merely stood there, head down, uncaring. Tarrant was almost tempted to leave her, but instead picked her up in his arms and started after Vila. She weighed absolutely nothing and he managed to keep ahead of their pursuers. Vila had the ramp down and as Tarrant staggered up he fired his gun at their attackers before closing the ramp behind them.
Tarrant deposited Soolin on a seat leaving Vila to strap her in whilst he flung himself into the pilot's chair and set the automatic lift off program already in place. He and Vila just had time to secure themselves before the ship took off. They were away and safe before the Federation had time to arrange a pursuit.
"Tarrant?" Kitra's voice came over the communications.
"Kit! Are we glad to hear you!" Vila said happily.
"Everything okay?"
"We found her," Tarrant replied, glancing back at their silent partner, "Though it may be too late."
"Why?"
"You'll see."
"All right. Griffen's sending you our co-ordinates. Rendezvous in 25 minutes."
"See you then."
They spoke little during the trip. Vila was relaxing with his ever present bottle of wine he had managed to secrete on board. Tarrant concentrated on flying, watching for any signs of pursuit. Soolin remained silent.
Once they were safely back in the hold of 'Pegasus', Kitra and Griffen were there to greet them. She gave both of them a hug of welcome and then turned to Soolin. Her eyes ran over the slumped figure before them and without a word beckoned them to follow her, Vila leading Soolin.
Once in the lounge, Kitra poured drinks all round, placing one before Soolin where she had been seated. "Any troubles?"
"Not much. The Federation knew there was a ship that landed but I don't think they would have any idea what for."
"She's not going to be missed?"
"The Federation wouldn't even know how many prisoners were on that planet. They're scattered everywhere, and they die at an astonishing rate. There's no process in place for collecting the dead bodies and marking the files as deceased. They're just left to rot."
"Rather lax."
"I don't think the guards there are too interested in protocol." Tarrant said with a grimace.
"Soolin?" Kitra said, sitting opposite her. "I'm Kitra. I've been working with Tarrant and Vila. You're quite safe here."
"What does it matter?" Soolin mumbled, hunching further into her rags.
"The Federation can't reach you here. They probably don't even have any idea that you've escaped."
Soolin raised her head and peered through the strands of hair coving her face. "You should have left me."
"Why?" Kitra asked, looking at her intently. "Why would you want to stay there?"
"It's where I belong."
"Of course, it's not!" Vila put in, shocked. "You belong with us. We've been looking for you, to try and help you."
"Help me? You could have helped me by leaving me to die!"
Vila gaped at this statement. Kitra merely continued to study Soolin closely. "Why? Why do you want to die?"
"What did the Federation do to you?" Vila asked concernedly.
"They did this!" Soolin spat, thrusting her right arm at Vila's face, showing the wrist ending in nothing. Her right hand was gone. Her gun hand.
Now, Vila could understand some of her apathy - why she had given up. The Federation took the only thing that she considered her own - her skill with a gun. Without that, she had nothing. The maimed arm dropped back to her side, hidden by the rags and she returned to silence.
Vila looked over at Tarrant, at a loss as to what to say or do. Tarrant shrugged. Maybe they should have left Soolin on the planet. Left her to die. She was all but dead now. She was crippled and abused. What did she have to look forward to in life from now on? What could they offer her? They couldn't take away the years she had spent on the prison world. They couldn't give back what the Federation had taken from her. They couldn't take away her emotional pain. Maybe she would have been better off dead.
"Vila, can you go and talk with Orac? Ask him if he's looking into anything else now that Soolin's been found. Tarrant, can you and Griffen do a check on the drop ship? Double check that the automatic recall system is still functioning correctly after this test run."
Tarrant opened his mouth to say something but caught Kitra's eye as she motioned them both out of the room.
Once they had left Kitra returned her attention to Soolin. Through her empathy she could feel Soolin's roiling emotions. The self loathing and disgust, the pain, the anger, the hate. All negative emotions that served to drain the life from her until now all she wanted to do was die.
Kitra had felt death wishes before, and Soolin had a death wish. But she was so buried in her own apathy she couldn't actively seek her death or she would have suicided long before now. All she could do was sit and wait for death to claim her. Kitra had to find someway to use those negative emotions and turn them to her advantage.
She stood up and returned to the bar for another drink. "So, that planet must have been a great place to be since you didn't want to leave it."
An almost silent bark of laughter escaped Soolin's lips. Good, thought Kitra. She's relaxing now she's away from that place. There might still be something there to work with.
"Well, you must have been having a wonderful time as you were so keen to stay. Were the 'attentions' of the guards that entrancing?"
A shudder went through Soolin and Kitra felt a wave of hatred wash from her.
"From what I was told by Tarrant and Vila you didn't really have any attention from men whilst on the Scorpio. Didn't have the time. Or I guess no-one took an interest. I suppose, if you're desperate enough, any attention is better than none."
Kitra knew she was being cruel but she needed to spark something in Soolin. The anger kept building in Soolin but it still wasn't enough.
"You must have done a good job. They were pleased enough with you to keep coming back for more. They were probably glad to find someone so eager and willing. Someone who would do anything for them."
Soolin sprang from her seat, spinning to face Kitra. Her face was contorted with hatred, eyes wide, teeth gritted and lips pulled back in a snarl. Her whole body was shaking in contained rage. Now, Kitra thought, now to turn that anger and focus it!
"Are you angry, Soolin? Angry at me? Whatever for? Am I wrong? Did you fight? Did you want to kill them? Are you angry enough to kill?"
Kitra walked across the room, feeling Soolin's burning eyes upon her and turned to face her.
"Why don't you fight? Why didn't you fight them? Why don't you fight me? We can give you another chance. A chance to even the score. Don't you want that?"
Soolin spun around and leant on the bar, still shaking.
"Are you really willing to just lay down and die because they say so?" Kitra asked her.
"What can I do!" Soolin spat at her, her voice hoarse with rage.
"Fight."
"With what?" she swept the cup from the bench with her crippled arm. "I can't hold a gun! Don't mock me!"
"So you're not even going to try and consider other possibilities. Are you willing to just accept what they've done to you and let them continue to kick you just for their pleasure?"
"I can't do anything!"
"Have you even tried!"
"What's the point?"
"The difference between being alive or dead!" Kitra said pointedly. "Do you want to make them pay for what they've done?" Kitra moved closer to her, walking behind as she spoke. "Isn't there a spark of hate left, of anger at them for crippling you, for not having the decency to kill you cleanly? Anger at them, knowing they've done this deliberately. So they could break your spirit, so they can mock you with your helplessness. Because they believe you are helpless without your hand. They don't consider you a threat now. They don't think you can do them any harm. Don't you want to hurt them, don't you want to prove them wrong?" Kitra came round to face Soolin, looking her in the eye. "Doesn't revenge burn in your soul?"
"Yes, I want to make them pay but I can't do anything except die and ruin their pleasure! They've taken everything from me!"
"Wrong," Kitra said, shaking her head. "They have only taken some things from you. They haven't taken your life. They made that mistake. Now it is up to you to decide if that life is worth anything. Whilst you are still living, you can do anything. You just need to find the opportunity."
Soolin looked at her, and Kitra sensed a faint change in the resonance of her anger. Instead of a roiling mass of emotions, the anger was becoming sharper, more focused. Yes, Kitra thought. Now we can work together!
"How much is revenge worth to you?" Kitra asked intently.
Soolin paused for a moment before answering, "Everything! Give me the chance and I'll take them out or die trying!"
"That won't be necessary. Suicide runs weren't what I had in mind."
"Then what?" Soolin asked, glaring at her.
Kitra shrugged. "We'll think of something. We have the advantage of time being on our side. We can plan and devise our own methods of revenge."
Soolin turned away from her again. "What do you know of revenge?" she said bitterly.
Kitra gripped Soolin's upper arm tightly, forcing her to look at her. "I know everything about revenge!" she said, dropping her voice to a tense whisper. "Don't ever think I don't! You seek revenge for yourself. I seek it for my people! I know the bitter sweet taste of revenge all too well! And I learnt long ago to bide my time till the right moment." She stared at Soolin for a moment more and then released her, moving back to the sofa to sit.
Soolin followed suit. "You did that all deliberately." she said, referring to the moments just passed.
Kitra looked up at her. "Of course,"
"Why?" Soolin demanded.
"I wanted to see if there was anything left of the Soolin Vila had told me about."
"And?" Soolin said with a raised eyebrow.
"That Soolin wouldn't have given in. That was the Soolin that survived after her family was killed and then hunted down the men responsible. That Soolin can fight back."
"I'm not of much use now." she put in with a bitter shrug. "I only had the one skill."
Kitra shook her head. "Wrong attitude," she said. "You have more skills than you know. You can pilot a ship, you've still got a good brain, and more often than not that is of more use than a gun. And you can learn to use your left hand instead."
Soolin held her left hand up. It had been badly mistreated by the Federation also - they too had considered the possibility of her developing the same skill with the other hand but had decided that the psychological and emotional trauma would prevent that happening so had not removed that hand as well. So after breaking it and leaving her with the pain of it mending, they had left it alone.
Now Soolin could see the possibility there also, after all these years. When she looked back up at Kitra, a change was already taking place. Her back straightened, shoulders firming, her face hardening and eyes showing more calm and coherent thought than had been there for many years. "So we'll have the chance to get back at them?" she asked.
"Oh, yes," Kitra assured her. "Plenty of times. Not necessarily in a satisfyingly bloodthirsty manner. I'm not interested in suicide missions. Or glory runs. But in ways that hurt them all the same. Undermine them, sabotage them, trouble them, annoy them. Have them chasing their own shadows, drive them insane trying to catch us. And gradually, may be, we can start to do more. That suit you?"
Soolin nodded with a half smile, the first she had shown. "For starters, yes." She glanced down at herself. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as she took note of her condition. "Is there some place I can clean up? A change of clothes perhaps?"
"Of course. Griffen, will you show the way?"