It didn’t take long for everyone else to notice that the security officers had their guns drawn and pointed. A few of the Martian women released the officers they were fighting from their grasp and raised their hands in the air above their heads. Soon, everyone followed along with the crowd and they lifted their hands up as a sign of surrender. Wendy lifted her hands up. She looked over at me and her eyes were filled with terror. I glanced over to my left. A young Martian woman in a baby blue dress with white polka dots was still on the ground hovering over an unconscious security officer. She kept one hand in a fist while the other was clutching on to the officer’s uniform. Large droplets of purple blood fell from her nose and onto the collar of her dress. One of the three officers noticed that this young woman was the only one in the crowd who was refusing to give in and comply to their request to stop fighting. “Put your hands up where I can see them!” the officer yelled.
The young woman unclenched her fist and she wiped away the blood that was trickling down from her nose. She ended up leaving a small streak from her nose to her cheek. “No,” she said in a low growl while keeping her eyes on the officer who had his ray gun drawn. The officer took three steps forward. The Martian women that were around him stepped aside and made a clear path for him.
“Put your hands up now!” The young woman tilted her head back. The blood from her nose dripped down the right side of her face and over the roof of her lips. She pressed her lips together and she began to clear her throat. When the officer was just a few inches away from her, the young woman threw herself forward and released a mixture of blood and spit from her mouth. The slimy concoction landed directly onto the officer’s boot. The young Martian woman felt proud of herself. She smiled up at the officer, who had his finger directly on the trigger of his ray gun. In one quick motion, the officer tilted the gun toward the right side of the woman’s face and he pulled the trigger. A gray zigzaggy bolt of lightning shot out from the tip of the ray gun, grazing the side of the Martian woman’s face.
I, along with everyone else in the crowd, gasped in awe at what just happened. Someone near me screamed out the name Ymir. Was that the name of the young woman who was now lying flat on her back with her half-opened eyes fixed on the ceiling? The officer turned around in a circle with his hand still on the trigger. Nobody moved. A strange, eerie silence had filled the room.
“Everyone, keep your hands up where we can see them and get back in line!” I looked down at the young woman who had been shot. She had a long oval-shaped gash that started at the end of her forehead and disappeared into her straight orange hair. A young Martian girl who was maybe fifteen years old knelt down in front of the older Martian woman who had been shot.
“Why did you shoot my sister!” she cried out after brushing the sleeve of her yellow dress across Ymir’s open wound. The officer just stood there with his mouth gaping open and his hand, trembling at this point, loosely wrapped around the handle of his ray gun. The young lady who was in front of Ymir latched onto the security officer’s pants leg and pulled him forward. His other leg flew up into the air and he fell over onto his side. The other officers stationed in the back of the crowd hesitated; they kept their unsteady hands on their firearms. The officer tried to use his gun again, but the young Martian girl in the yellow day dress had climbed onto the security officer. She grabbed hold of the officer’s wrist and pried the gun from out of his fingers. Some of the officers in the crowd tried to rescue their comrade, but the Martian women pushed the officers back and, just like that, the subdued crowd transformed back to its previous chaotic state, with fists flying in every direction.
I looked up at Wendy. “Let’s get out of here!” There were a few women pushing through the crowd and toward the open space in the back. The officers who were standing near the rear of the building held their ray guns up and pointed them directly at the oncoming crowd of Martian women. I definitely didn’t want to be standing here once those guards started firing their ray guns all over the place. But we couldn’t go backward; the crowd was way too thick and there were too many security officers standing in front of the blue tarp with their ray guns drawn. I glanced over to my left; four Martian women were pressing up against the side of the wall with their shoulders. They must have been trying to take this side wall down just like the one in the back. A couple of women dashed past Wendy and me; they didn’t make it very far. One of the security officers standing in the back shot one of the women in the knee. The group of women huddled around their friend who had been shot. I grabbed Wendy by the hand and pulled her over to the left side of building. Two of the Martian women stopped what they were doing the moment they laid eyes on me.
“It’s okay. She’s not like them. She’s my friend,” Wendy stated with as much sincerity as possible. I could tell by the confused look on their faces that they didn’t believe Wendy. Actions speak louder than words, so I began to press on the metal sheet with all of my might. Wendy soon followed suit and, between the two of us, we were able to produce a small crack at the bottom in between this sheet of metal and the one to the left of us. Once the four Martian women saw the small speck of light, they joined the two of us and began to push against the heavy sheet of metal. With the six of us working together, it didn’t take long for the sheet to come unhinged from both sides and to fall over.
The four Martian women who helped us take the wall down took off like wild bolts of lightning. The security officers near the front entrance shot at them, but they missed. It just occurred to me that if I were seen running away with Wendy, then that was it; my cover would be blown. How in the world could I explain such suspicious activity without sounding one hundred percent guilty? I couldn’t. But things here had literally fallen apart and I didn’t want to leave Wendy behind. What if she got shot like that woman Ymir? I couldn’t leave her here. I took Wendy by the hand and I yanked her forward. If my cover was blown, then so be it. I’d just have to find another way to snoop around without it. As soon as we stepped out into the open, I looked back at Wendy. She had her hand over the top of her right knee. Was she going to be able to keep up with me as we ran? As I returned my attention back to what was in front of me, I locked eyes with a security officer, a young lady with auburn hair. The officer looked incredibly bewildered. She lowered her ray gun for a moment and I could tell she was searching my eyes for an answer, trying to figure out why one of her co-workers was running away with a Martian woman. From out of the corner of my eye, I watched her as she shook her head, lifted her ray gun, and aimed it directly at Wendy’s leg. Everything was happening so fast, there was no time to slow down and warn Wendy. The best thing I could do was to keep moving forward and pray that she didn’t get hit. About two seconds later, the officer’s ray gun went off. I could see the silver bolt of lightning zipping directly toward me and Wendy. I braced myself for the inevitable scream that was going to come from out of her mouth, but I heard nothing. At first, I thought that the blast miraculously missed both of us, but once I had brought my left foot down, that was when I felt it, this small trickle of blood that was traveling down my ankle, this hot pain that was spreading underneath my skin. I’d been shot. I didn’t care. In fact, I didn’t even cry. The adrenaline that was pumping through my body propelled me toward the tight empty corridor that was in front of me. Another bolt of silver lightning whizzed past us and struck the edge of the corridor that we were taking refuge in.
“I need to catch my breath,” Wendy said with her hand over her chest. My eyes darted down toward my left ankle. The blast had torn through my flesh and left a small wound. Looking down at it made the throbbing pain even worse, so I clicked both of my heels together. Maybe if I ignored the pain, it wouldn’t be so bad. I looked back at the metallic house. More Martian women were pouring from out of the opening that we’d made, carefully dodging the silver blasts of light that were flying toward them as they ran for safety. Running near the edge of the crowd with both of their arms up over their heads were Kari and Hati. To be honest, I had no idea where either of them were headed, but going with them was probably the best course of action for me and Wendy. I didn’t know where we could hide out down here and it was not like anyone would take us in; well, Wendy maybe because she was a Martian, but I knew as soon as people laid eyes on me with my security uniform, they would turn me away or possibly both of us. I leaned out of the entrance to the alleyway. “Kari, Hati, over here!” I waved my hands in their direction. I was taking a huge risk by doing this. I knew I could get shot again, but I didn’t care. Kari was the first one to see me. I prayed with all of my might that she would decide to come my way along with Hati. I was desperate and I needed both of them for shelter, but I knew that deep down they had no real reason to trust me and every reason to ignore me. I didn’t know why, maybe it was the look of complete desperation that was on my face, or because I had called out their names, but Kari and Hati came racing toward the alleyway. Kari placed her hand on my shoulders.
“Come with me. We can hide at my house.” Kari led the way while Hati held up the rear of our group. I tried my best to hide my injury as we shuffled down the various dark corridors and stepped over pieces of metallic debris and garbage. By keeping my left leg slightly bent and by only applying pressure on the tip of my left foot, I was able to keep the pain in my ankle at bay. The four of us came to a stop in front of a medium-sized metallic house with a thick door that had three locks on the front. Kari reached down into her dress pocket and she pulled out a set of keys. After twisting each key into their respective locks, she pulled the heavy door open. After we were inside, Kari locked the door behind us and she flipped a light switch next to the door.
“Please have a seat.” Kari patted her hand on an orange couch that matched her well-put-together living room. I never would have guessed that a beautiful room with an orange furniture set, bright yellow end tables with frilly white crochet dollies, and a short cabinet with a music disc player sitting on top of it would be hiding behind this gray metal building. Kari truly had a talent for interior decorating. I started to hobble over to her comfy-looking couch, but when I looked down, I saw that she had a bright white throw rug underneath it and the last thing I wanted to do was drip blood on it, so I decided to rest my hand on the arm of chair and I kept my bleeding left foot tucked behind my right one.
“I’ll get something to drink. I hope everyone likes lemonade.” Wendy and Hati both had a seat while Kari disappeared into the kitchen. The only sounds that could be heard were that of Kari clinking the clear glasses onto her kitchen table. This had to be the most awkward situation I’d ever been in. I was in a Martian woman’s house wearing a stolen security uniform with Wendy, and my ankle was bleeding. I figured since no one was willing to say anything, I would go ahead and break the ice, but Hati beat me to it.
“What’s the matter, human? You scared you might catch something if you sit on Kari’s couch?” Oh God, now the awkwardness was getting worse. Wendy’s tired eyes flew open. She turned her head around so quickly in Hati’s direction that I thought it might fall off her neck.
“Excuse me. What did you say?” Wendy snarled. Kari stopped pouring the lemonade into the glasses she set out. I couldn’t let this misunderstanding go on any longer. If I did, Wendy might end up saying something to Hati and it was possible that we could get kicked out. I let go of the couch and I jumped over to the opposite side of the room where the floor was made out of metal, then I slipped my white heel off my foot and I turned my ankle that was still bleeding toward everyone. “I didn’t want to drip blood onto the couch or the rug. That’s why I didn’t sit down.”
“Cosmo!” Wendy shrieked as she ran toward me.
“Hold on; I have a first aid kit somewhere,” Kari stammered.
“How did this happen?” Wendy asked in a frantic tone. She took me by the hand and guided me over to a little orange chair that was in front of Kari’s kitchen table. Kari rushed over with a tiny first aid kit. Wendy pulled out some white gauze and a spray bottle that smelled like alcohol.
“One of the security officers was aiming for your leg as we were running away but she ended hitting me instead,” I told Wendy.
Wendy sprayed my ankle twice with alcohol. I winced a bit, then she wrapped the thin white gauze around my ankle. “Cosmic Callisto Caprica. What in the name of the blessed Goddess have you been doing! Where did you get this crazy getup from?” I sucked my bottom lip in and I let my top lip hang out over top of it. Wendy pinched the side of my leg and I let out a little yelp. “I want answers, Miss Caprica.”
I couldn’t believe that I was eighteen years old and she still pinched me on my leg like I was a six-year-old kid. As Kari passed out the glasses of lemonade along with a glass bowl that was filled with this white candy, I unwrapped one of the pieces of candy and dropped it onto my tongue. It was a delicious creamy white chocolate candy with just a little bit of coconut in the center. I stashed two more of them into my pocket for later. Then I told them about how Wendy was taken away, how I snuck onto the security room floor, viewed the camera footage, found Anthe, and came here to rescue Wendy and talk to both Kari and Hati.
Hati took a sip of her lemonade. “Okay, so basically, all they have is some footage of a Martian woman going into the smoke. You can’t see her face. All you can see is that she’s a Martian. Do you see her stealing or running away with the rings?” I shook my head no. “The most information you can get is that she’s a female, a Martian, she has a long ponytail, and she’s on the slender side. She’s also wearing an orange uniform.”
Hati slapped her hands on her knees. “Then what’s the point in hauling all of us women together if all they need to do is gather up the girls who do janitorial work? I work in the laundry department. What’s the point in harassing me and asking me a bunch of dumb questions?” Hati rubbed the cool glass over her forehead. “To be honest, I could care less about Princess Rhea.”
“Hati, you don’t mean that. We’re her people. The princess loves us!” Kari commented.
Hati jumped up from her seat; her nose was scrunched up and her forehead was covered in wrinkles. “Why should I care about her! What has the royal family ever done for little people like me! She calls herself helping out her fellow Martians by doing what? Showing off some old jewelry? How is that supposed to help me or any of us here on this ship! We can’t even go upstairs and sit down at one of the restaurants to eat! Oh, we can clean up and we can serve the food, but we can’t eat there!” Hati covered her hands with her eyes. Her glass of lemonade fell to the floor and, in that moment, the only sound that could be heard was Hati quietly crying to herself.
A tiny lump jumped up into my throat, but I pushed it back down to where it came from. The corners of my eyes started to burn and I could feel the tears coming, but I didn’t have time for tears right now. I slipped my foot back into my shoes. “You may not like the princess and I understand that, but I need your help so I can clear Mimas’s name.”
Hati dragged her palm across her face. “It makes no sense that Mimas is being set aside as a prime target, even though she wasn’t on the security room floor at the time of the robbery.” All three women had their eyes directly on me. “I can prove that Mimas was at home during the robbery, but I need to get into her house.”
Wendy pushed her lower lip up and shook her head. “I think you’ve played detective enough for one day, Miss Caprica. Your father placed you in my care and I have to put my foot down. You need to stay out of this and let the authorities do their job.”
I snapped my head around in Wendy’s direction. “I’m not playing. I’m serious about solving this mystery. Someone has to.”
Wendy looked me in the eyes and said, “You’re right; this is a serious situation. Just look at your ankle.”
I could feel myself becoming flustered, so I turned my attention toward Hati. “Anthe told me that this morning, at 8 a.m., a package arrived at her house. The mailman placed a stamp on this receipt before giving it to Mimas to sign off on it. Mimas has a copy of that receipt and I have a hunch that the stamp has the date and time on it and that Mimas signed off on the receipt to say that she received the package. If I can find that receipt, that would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mimas was at home and they would have to let her go!”
Kari squealed gleefully with her hands pressed together.
“Okay, you have a hunch that’s based off of the word of a little girl. How old is this child anyway?” Wendy asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Seven or maybe eight. I don’t know. But I do know that no one else is looking out for Mimas and if things keep going the way they are now, she’s going to be arrested and sent to jail for committing a crime against the royal family. Her life and her daughter’s life will be over!”
Wendy looked away from me. “I know and I understand that you want to do this, but I have to look out for you. I can’t let you place yourself in danger. For all we know, Anthe might have missed a detail in her story and your hunch could be wrong.”
I shrugged my shoulder. “It’s true. I could be wrong and Anthe might have left out a detail, but I could be right and I’ll never know if I sit here and argue with you about how dangerous it is for me to go and find out for myself.” I jumped up from my seat so fast that my chair fell over and I hobbled toward the door.
Wendy got up from her seat, but to my surprise, Kari held her back. “Mimas’s house is not far from here. When you step out the door, take a left at the end of this row of metal houses, make a right, and Mimas’s house should be at the far end. Her house is surrounded by fake plastic flowers.”
I grinned at Kari. “Thank you!” I said as I unlocked the door in front of me.
“Cosmo, wait!” Wendy hollered out.
I kept my back to Wendy. “Don’t worry about me, Wendy. I’ll be careful.” I didn’t give her a chance to respond to what I said because as soon as the word “careful” left my mouth, I was out of Kari’s house and I had closed the door behind me. I stood there for two seconds. I let out a short breath of air. There was no turning back now; I made my decision and I had to stand by it.