She supposed ithadbeen a stupid idea, now that she considered it.
What was she going to say to Dane if he remembered?
Maybe he wouldn't? He'd seemed pretty out of it.
"You did not think Reuel's plan had merit?" Seth asked after a little while.
Danika glanced at him in surprise, thought about it, and finally shrugged. "What he has worked out seems sound enough and he's impressive. I'm guessing he can pull off just about anything he sets his mind to."
"That does not sound as if you agree," Niles said after apparently turning what she's said over in his head for a few minutes.
Danika frowned, thinking back over what she'd said and finally grinned. "I guess not."
"There is some fault in his logic?"
Danika considered that and finally shook her head and then shrugged. "I'm not sure that I agree with him about those guys that went back to the base at Slaughter Ridge to rescue the women. I think he underestimated the government and they would've figured it out anyway. Maybe not as soon, but they're going to scour Xeno-12 when they get back to account for everything and I don't think they'd simply write off the number of missing cyborgs. They're damned relentless about accounting for everything that costs them money."
"Then youdoagree that there was no fault in his logic in determining the necessity of leaving Xeno-12 as soon as possible to avoid a confrontation with the Confederacy?"
"I'm not disagreeing with any part of his plan. He's a lot smarter than I am and I'm sure he's considered every angle--everything hecanconsider. There are too many unknowns in this situation to figure it all out, though.
"A running battle/retreat is all he can do as far as I can see. And he can't plan on a place to go until he's had time to find one.
"I don't even disagree that he dismissed the possibility of settling the situation in court. I don't think either the government or the company would ever let it get to court.
"It's just ... They have a long reach--the government. The company, for that matter. A really long reach. It's a big universe and there are bound to be a hell of a lot of undiscovered planets, but it could be a long, long time before they find one where they'll have a chance to settle like Reuel's talking about. And in the mean time, everybody is on the run. Reuel and his army will make the biggest target. Not that I think they won't be dedicated in hunting down everybody they don't account for on Xeno-12, but ... Well, scattering would make a smaller target."
Seth frowned. "That will also make the individuals more vulnerable," he said slowly. "You are thinking about returning to your home world?"
Surprise flickered through Danika. "Oh hell no! If they come looking for me, that'll be the first place they look. It would endanger my family. No way would my father justletthem haul me off like they did before and they wouldn't stop at just knocking him out like they did then either.
"No, I'm in the same situation you guys are. Nowhere to go. And don't get me wrong, I completely agree with the plan to rescue as many people on Xeno-12 as we can. The cavalry might arrive in time to rescue a lot of the soldiers marooned there without supplies--I hope to hell they do--but that's just going to be a nail in the coffin for the cyborgs still there. I was just thinking about the possibility of staying here when they leave--all of us. I mean, the more people we rescue the less likely that we'll all manage to get off of this planet anyway. Reuel would have to capture afleetof ships to get everybody out of here. It might not come down to achoiceof whether to stay or go. And it isn't a bad place. I've seen a lot worse."
She felt her face redden when Seth and Niles merely stared at her, uncomfortable that she couldn't figure out what was going through their minds.
"If you stay, I will stay," Niles said after a brief pause.
Seth glared at him. "We will all stay."
"Oh man! Don't do that! If you guys don't think it's a good idea, let's just stick with Reuel. I don't want it to be my fault if they catch up to us. Anyway, Reuel hasn't been wrong so far and he's kept us alive. It was probably a stupid idea."
* * * *
Niles studied Seth speculatively, wondering if he asked the question that had been plaguing him if Seth would answer or start another fight. He had not been in a very good mood, to Niles' thinking, since he had pleasured Danika and that seemed more than a little illogical to him.
He would not have been surprised if Seth had wanted to talk about the experience, if he had been joyous, or merely content that he had finally assuaged both his curiosity and the urges that had come with the awakening. Any or all of those things, to his way of thinking, would have been logical.
The brooding violence was not reasonable at all. The ease with which he lost his temper, the desire to pound on anything and anyone over the slightest thing, was not.
It made him wonder if the mere act of doing it had overset the hairline balance between sanity and insanity that it seemed they had all been skating since the awakening, when emotion won out over reason far more often than it should have.
It made him wonder if he was wrong to connect the incident to Seth's foul humor.
Mayhap he was onlythinkingthat incident was the root of the problem due to his own difficulties?
He knew that he was not the only one that was beginning to have severe concerns regarding his sanity since the change had awoken the throbbing bastard in his britches, however. He knew that he was not alone in finding it nigh impossible, most of the time, to think of anything else due to the near constant ache from the swelling. Not that the pain was unbearable, but it was damned hard to ignore when it never really went away.
Despite the urges that told him what he needed to do to assuage the pain, though, he was beginning to think it might be just as well that he had not had the chance to sex Danika. He was as certain as he needed to be thatshehad enjoyed it--according to his data her reaction confirmed that much--and it seemed to have made her far less tense and far more cheerful, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect on Seth.
