Darcy turned to Stephenie and raised her eyebrows. Stephenie shrugged in reply, and together they went down the line to get their lunch rations. Darcy tried not to roll her eyes as more fruits and nuts were deposited onto her tray. Damn, what she would do for a good piece of medium rare steak right now. She simply was not built for the vegan lifestyle. Not, of course, that there was anything wrong with it. It just simply wasn’t for her.
At first, the two best friends headed for their usual table, but the sound of arguments arose and drew them nearer to the table in the center, where everyone was gathered around.
“We cannot waste more fuel!” Someone shouted excitedly, slamming their fist on the table in front of them. There was a series of cheers that followed.
Darcy recognized Ee-rah sitting at the center table. He looked beyond stressed. In fact, Darcy was sure some of his usually blue hair had turned slightly gray. Stephenie hadn’t been exaggerating when she said he was under A LOT of pressure lately.
“And what is the other option, then?” A green Toxhocan countered. “Wait until we get home to wake them up and surprise them?”
So THAT’S what this meeting was about then.
Darcy stood up, ignoring Stephenie’s plea for her to sit back down and let it go.
“That’s not an option at all,” Darcy said, raising her voice above the chaos that was ensuing from the last statement.
Everyone turned to look over their shoulders to see who had spoken. When they saw it was Darcy, half of them rolled their eyes, the other half huffed in annoyance, and they turned their back on her once more.
Okay, that pissed her off. She was not going to be ignored! And for what? Being a human, being a FEMALE? She refused to be silent in this. She had a voice, damn it, and by God, she was going to use it.
“HELLO?” She yelled, forcing everyone’s attention to her once more. “These are living, sentient beings! HUMAN BEINGS! Like Stephenie and me! They deserve to have a CHOICE in what happens to them.” What did they not understand about that? They were acting like these women were just objects, little toys with no thoughts and feelings, or opinions of their own.
A-rec was suddenly at her side, appearing as if out of nowhere among the crowd. He gently grabbed her arm. “Not now, Darcy,” he mumbled so low that only she could hear.
“What, so I don’t get a say?” She demanded, rounding now on A-rec. “Am I not also living on this God forsaken ship?”
“Of course you are,” A-rec said softly, willing her with his eyes and gentle touch to quiet down. “But this is slightly different… I’m afraid you and Stephenie don’t hold much of a say in this situation.” He looked like he regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.
Darcy would not have been surprised if she started steaming at the ears. “And why is that?” She demanded, raising her voice even louder. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, but she was focused solely on the monster beside her.
“It’s too personal a situation,” A-rec responded. He was no longer trying to keep his voice low. The whole of the cafeteria heard him raising his voice at her.
“Why?” Darcy snapped, yanking her arm out of his grasp. She ignored the hurt that filled her chest. He didn’t owe her anything, least of all loyalty. They weren’t TOGETHER. It didn’t matter if he stood against her on this. “Is it because I’m a human? Is it because I’m a WOMAN?”
“Yes,” A-rec said simply, as if that were obvious.
“Excuse me?” Darcy sputtered. While she knew that was most likely the case, she didn’t expect him to just…well, spit it out like that! As if it were a perfectly normal thing to say.
“Darcy, don’t…” Stephenie said carefully, stepping up beside her best friend.
Darcy turned on Stephenie then. “And you!” She cried, unable to stop herself. “Are you seriously okay with being told that you and I don’t have a say in something like this because we’re WOMEN?”
“It’s not like that,” Stephenie replied. “They’re not like human men. This isn’t because they think we’re lesser than or whatever. It’s because they want to PROTECT us-”
“Do you realize how stupid, Serena Joy, you sound right now? What kind of Handmaid’s Tale Gatorade did you drink?”
“It’s a different culture-!” Stephenie tried, but Darcy interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.
“WOW!” Darcy said, turning to meet the eyes of every Toxhocan in the room. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”
“Darcy, don’t…”
But it was too late. The advice that Darcy had given Stephenie in the library was bubbling to the surface, along with the anger and frustration of being ignored. She hadn’t done this since she was a child. It certainly would never work back home with other humans, but here? Here was another story.
Darcy let out the largest, toddler sized scream she could muster. She felt stupid even doing it. But if the way the Toxhocan jumped to their feet and covered their ears meant anything, she finally had their attention.
She grabbed an empty chair sitting at one of the tables nearest to her and threw it on the ground as hard as she could. “THIS IS NOT OKAY!” She cried before she let out another ear piercing scream. “You cannot just take these women to your planet and tell them that this is their new life- especially when you have the means of taking them back home!” She stomped her foot and opened her mouth to let out another ear piercing scream. “It’s your fault they’re trapped here in the first place! We can be a little uncomfortable for a bit if it means they get to return home.”
“Uncomfortable?” An orange Toxhocan shouted back. He rose from his seat, towering above her. “Weeks without food are ‘uncomfortable’? Have you lost your mind, human? We could DIE.”
