This time they didn't have far to go. Vera wasn't surprised about that. From what she had learned already about the children she knew that Taylor had been sent out to gather food. Vanna and Thor had been on lookout near the lair, just in case Taylor would bring trouble back home. Their real lair was far enough away to not be stumbled upon by any villain, but not so far away that it would take the children a very long walk.
As a matter of fact the way turned out of the forests and towards the mountains, but it ended all of a sudden. Behind several bushes, having grown all naturally this way, Vanna and Thor pushed a big metal sheet out of the way and uncovered an opening in the rock. A cave, hardly big enough for the children, and it led inside the mountain.Taylor couldn't wait and already crawled inside before anyone else could say anything to it. Vera glanced at the dark hole in the rock, hesitating until Vanna gave her a little attentive push.
"You'll have to take off your bag, otherwise you won't fit in there" she pointed out the obvious. Vera nodded, took her backpack off and pushed it into the whole before crwaling in right behind it. It was kind of adventurous to do so, and although she had never felt something like claustrophobia, she did feel tightened by her surroundings in an uncomfortable way. Ahead of her she could see a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel - it wasn't as long as she had feared. Taylor seemed to have gotten through already since Vera could hear some excited voices of which she hadn't heard one before.
And then she was through. The tunnel ended in a big spacy cave that left enough headroom for all the children to stand up straight. Several of those light spheres Taylor had already used were brightening up the place, shining on sleeping bags, improvised furniture and several decorating objects the children had put up. In the middle of the cave there was some sort of table built up, with improvised foot stools and cushions spreaded around it. Towards the cave walls the children had put up their sleep area out of sleeping bags and blankets. One corner of the cave had some cavity in the wall that was used as a shelf - Vera could see the last remains of their food supply, consisting of empty cans and other containers.
Her observations were apruptly interrupted by a medium sized shaggy shadow jumping her with a bark and nearly pushing her over. She was stunned to no end. It was the dog she had seen before! It seemed to recognize her, too, happily waggling its tail while its tongue tried to connect with her face. "Butter! Heel!" came a sharp order from Vanna who had climbed into the tunnel shortly after Vera. The dog obeyed at once and went over to Vanna, but its tail kept waggling and it continued to look at Vera over and over again.
"He's usually not like that towards strangers" Vanna stated confused. "Is it possible that you have met before?"
Vera nodded. "It is possible, yes. It did root me up shortly after I crashed here."
"Crashed?" Taylor had reappeared from one of the corners of the cave, accompanied by a little girl. The face, the light fair hair and the size of her were almost identical to Taylor's. But in contrast to Taylor's bright, enterprising expression the girl seemed to be awfully shy. Had the boy allowed her to do so she would probably have hidden behind him. That ought to be this Jenny Taylor had mentioned before.
Also Thor had finally arrived in the cave. "What's that talk about having crashed?"
Vera looked around in the cave. "It's a long story" she then said abrasively. "And you haven't told me yours yet."
"We don't want to" Thor stated with his arms crossed before his chest. A pathetic attempt at appearing strong and intimidating for Vera - an attempt that in her opinion he shouldn't have bothered with in the first place.
"I have brought you something to eat" she strictly reminded him. "And you have attacked me. It's about time..."
"Excuse me!" Taylor interrupted her. "But could you give Jenny something, too?"
Vera looked at the little girl that even seemed to shrink further under her gaze, and nodded with a sigh. "I'm sorry" she said. "I completely forgot. Hello Jenny! I am Vera." Saying this she handed her a ration pack that she had pulled out of the backpack. Without a word, but with a little shy smile Jenny took it and immediately started eating.
Thor leaned back towards the cave wall, still having his arms crossed. "So, let's hear it. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
He took himself as leader of this little group, that much was obvious even to Vera. But he seemed to base that on the single fact that he was taller than anybody else here. Vera didn't buy his act, and apparently she wasn't the only one. It was Vanna again who opposed him by running towards him and hitting him over his chest with her open hand. "You're acting like a douche!" she flared at him. "She's our guest, and she has helped us. If she wants to tell her story, we will let her. And if she wants to hear our story, we will tell her."
"Are you crazy?" Thor's eyes widened, and he didn't take this rebuke sitting down. "We don't know anything about her. She could be anyone, sent by the gouvernment to spy on us, so they can catch us again."
"You're acting like we were dangerous criminals" Vera countered sharply. "Don't make yourself bigger than you actually are!"
Slowly but surely Vera understood the situation. She cleared her throat. "Ahem... I do get that you are all runaways. You don't have to worry about me telling on you to the gouvernment. I have been in your spot before."
She had attempted to sound as friendly and soothing as possible when she said that. But judging by Thor's gloom face her attempt had backfired badly. "So you have, haven't you?" he replied with biting sarcasm.
Vanna made some soothing gestures towards the two squabblers. "It's not that simple, really" she explained. "Maybe you want to sit down first. Thor, why don't you take a look outside, see if anybody has followed us?" She glanced at him expectingly. Thor stared back. After a short moment Vera noticed that there was something else in Vanna's look - that she was measuring her willpower with Thor's. Until the boy gave in and crawled back into the tunnel.
On Vanna's invitation Vera took a seat at the improvised table. She handed her backpack over to Taylor so that he and Jenny could help themselves to it. The dog that had been standing next to Vanna the whole time received a slight slap and also followed the backpack. Vanna took a seat facing her. She appeared serious and a little sad. "Jenny and Taylor are twins, as you might have noticed. Their parents got killed in the last Comm war, and they had been dropped with an uncle who doesn't love them or care for them in any way. It became so bad that they ran away from their home. I found them and brought them with me to Thor, so we can look after each other."
"What about you?" Vera asked then. "And this Thor guy, what's his story?"
Vanna smiled faintily. "Unlike Taylor and Jenny he is not as lucky as to have any living relatives remaining. He was brought onto this planet by a mercenary unit and put into an institute for Independent Education. They teach you everything you have to know for your future life, but apart from that it's like a prison."
Vera remembered having heard of it. Igor had more than once threatened her with this institute and had even taken her to it on a family trip just to intimidate her. Not that it had achieved anything - she knew that Helen would never allow to her being sent there. Especially since there was no reason for it. The institute was built for children who had no one else to turn to. It cared for and protected orphans and prepared them for their adult life, like Vanna had described it. But with all these laws on Geshtachius Prime that were supposed to protect the children it felt like everything was forbidden inside the institute. Calling it a prison was a fitting description. The children there weren't treated badly in any way, not at all. But the possibility of having fun and enjoyment around there or being free was nipped from the bud.
"He has escaped" Vanna told. "He made his way to this place, taking all the supplies he could carry. He told me that he had stowawayed on a shuttle headed north and then kept on hiking. But somehow I don't believe it."
Vera shook her head. "Neither do I. After all I have heard there is nothing but unsettled countryside north of Coock City. There is no reason to send shuttles that way."
"Coock City?" Vanna gazed at her surprised. "I come from Gorddrum, that's way further to the south. I joined up with Taylor and Jenny in Pellysteyr when I had run away."
"Why did you run away?" Vera asked. "Don't you have any parents either?"
Vanna didn't answer at once. As she was looking around for the other two children and the dog a little tear twinkled in the corner of her eye. "Just my mum. She has been having a hard time since my dad was killed in a mercenary attack. She told me that she couldn't provide for me and for Butter, so I would have to let Butter go. I couldn't do that. So I ran."
Vera stared at her aghast. That was horrible! Not only that she had lost her father that way. But that she ran away from her mother... "How could you do this?" she uttered. "Your mother will be worried sick about you!"
Vanna looked back at her, and tears were shooting from her eyes. "I know..." Her voice shook, and her lower lip trembled. Then she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!" She dropped her head into her arms on the table and cried heartbreakingly. The other children that were going through Vera's supplies glanced over to them in confusion. Butter the dog came over to them and petted Vanna with his nose to comfort her. But Vanna wouldn't be comforted - she wept and wept.
And Vera could see
perfectly why. Especially when it came to her mind how easily she could
have been in her place in this situation. After all that had happened
those past few years in her family - the endless seeming missions of her
father that made her wonder whether she would see him alive again; the
almost excessive care her mother had given her in nearly every situation
of her life which now showed her how much Helen lived in fear of losing
a member of her family. At times her parents were such a pain in the
neck, and she would be the last person in this universe to deny that.
But had she been in Vanna's place - no father anymore, and her mother
having no one but herself - had she ran away at this point, than she
would have deserved no less than eternal damnation for it.
But it didn't mean that she wouldn't have done it nevertheless. She was very well aware that she had a tendency to act stupidly, like any child her age. Her escape attempt to Aquatica two years ago was valid proof of that. It had appeared to her as such a good idea back then, maybe as the only right thing to do, but she had not wasted any concern on the consequences. Only much later after she had taken some time to reflect on that it had become clear to her how stupid and egoistic her behaviour had actually been. One thing had to be said for Igor: His reaction to take her with him to the academy had been brilliant. Not only did that keep her from trying such a stunt ever again, but it also kept her occupied with something that made her feel useful and needed. Those two years at the academy in which she had participated in training missions and had earned her own money had completely turned her life around.
The dog kept carefully petting its owner with his nose. Vera observed him thoughtfully. She could also see why Vanna had made her decision. Her mother had put her up for a cruel choice. It was terrible what Vanna had done to her. But would Vera had chosen so differently in her situation? Had it been her dog - and she had only known it for a few minutes before it had run away - would she have given it up without a fight?
Her eyes became watery. But the sad thoughts in her head were not to blame this time. Because her nose started to tingle as well, her breath started to make these rattling sounds again. Then a loud sneeze discharged from her nose. Then a second one. And a third one. Damn it! she thought by herself. Not this again! But it did answer her questions. She would have decided against the dog - because she would have had no other choice.
The sneezes also gained the attention of Taylor and Jenny. And Butter reacted like he had done so in the wild already - backing off and keeping a safe distance. Taylor examined her with his eyes wide open. "Don't say that you're allergic!"
Vera nodded, unable to say anything because of the sneezes coming in short frequencies. The tears had started to run down her face as well. So she didn't take much notice of someone stepping up to her and putting something small into her hand. Through the veil of tears she could vaguely recognize Jenny's face, still looking shyly, but also expectingly at her.
"You need to take this" Taylor called out from the background. "It helps." Vera wiped the tears out of her eyes and saw that she was holding a small pill in her hand. She looked at Taylor and Jenny sceptically, but Jenny's silent encouraging nod did ease her sceptism a little. After one last brief moment of hesitation she took the pill and swallowed it. A few seconds later her eyes stopped shedding tears.
"What...?" One last sneeze came out of her nose, then even the tingling stopped. Her breath went normally again. Butter approached her cautiously with his tail waggling, watching her closely with his big brown dog eyes. "What was that?" Vera asked astonished.
Taylor grinned. "One of Jenny's dog pills. Our uncle has this big guard dog, and she can't get any close to him, so the doctor prescribed her these pills. One of them lasts for at least two weeks."
It was amazing. Butter who apparently know of that pill's effect finally came close and put his fore-paws upon Vera's lap. Vera finally dared to really touch him, stroking his bushy fur enthusiastically. "I thought..." she started but was interrupted by Butter's tongue licking across her face again. "I thought there was no medication against dog allergy."
"Why shouldn't there be?" Vanna sniffed a little and wiped the tears from her face, but seemed to have gotten a grip of her again. "If there is truth to the old stories that mankind has spread all over the galaxy and settled on countless planets, then why shouldn't someone have been smart enough to invent something like that?"
Vera's thought exactly. She turned from Butter to the children, her face darkened. "I think my parents have been lying to me all along..."
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