"Is that true?" she asks the injured man, unsmiling. "We walk out of here, you'll count yourself lucky and not call the local security on us? Or come after us yourself with a few more friends?"

He nods frantically.

Jenny tugged on her arm, still looking worried. "Look, he agrees! Let's just go."

She looks closely at Jenny's face for a second, then sighs. And smiles again.

And bends down again to pat the man's shoulder. "Tell the nice girl thank you," she murmurs to him; he gabbles something that might have the word thank in there somewhere.

Still very low, still smiling: "I'll remember your face. Security comes after us, I'll know who sent them."

At last she rises to her feet, and turns to Jenny. "Shall we?"

The frown remained on Jenny's lips even after Cavilo's attention returned to her. This made her uncomfortable for some reason, very comfortable.

"Yeah," she said, uncertainty in her voice. " Yeah, let's go."

Cavilo moves up alongside her, lowering her voice again.

"Hon, you were a soldier." There's faint reproach in her tone. "How did you manage?"

Jenny's eyes narrowed in frustration. She didn't get it, did she? That life was important. That you could be more than what you were born to be - all those lessons her father had imparted to her on Messaline.

"I'm still a soldier. Just a soldier that knows better now."

Edited 2009-10-07 06:07 pm (UTC)

They've left the deserted corridor, and are heading down the concourse the way they came.

"Right now, the question is whether that one we left back there is more scared of us or more angry. I'm betting on more scared, but you need to realize that it's our lives we're betting on it."

"If he tried something, we could handle it," Jenny stated firmly. "Two against one. He's learned his lesson. Dad would disapprove if we did anything more."

A short silence.

"That's very important to you, isn't it." Quiet, and understanding.

Jenny nods. "Yeah, it is."

"Mm."

Her tone's too mild -- warm, even -- for the question to sound pointed. "Where is your dad these days?"

Not that Jenny would notice in the first place. She likes talking about her father, likes it a lot.

"Travelling, I think," she responds, faltering slightly. "He doesn't know I'm still alive. At least... it's a little complicated. I've seen him twice in Milliways, but he's from further in the future than me."

"Ah," she says, in a comforting tone. "Well. Maybe someday he'll come back, and you can tell him about it."

Jenny smiled softly. "I hope so."

"After all, he's only been gone for ... how long?"

"It's not his fault," Jenny answered stubbornly. "He doesn't know I'm still alive."

"But you still care a lot about what he would think if did know."

Her tone's too gentle for that to sound like a criticism.

"Because he's my father."

It made sense, didn't it? But the look on Jenny's face seemed to indicate she wasn't too certain of that herself.

She sighs. It sounds ... disappointed.

"If you say so."

Jenny frowns, confused by that hint of disappointment. "What?"

She shakes her head. "Never mind, hon."

Jenny watches Cavilo from the corner of her mind, hesitant and confused. "Maybe it's time to go back to the ship."

"That's probably a good idea."

She glances up and down the corridor.

"First, though -- do you see a restroom anywhere?"

Jenny gave Cavilo yet another perplexed glance. "Why? There's one on the ship."

"Sure," she says easily, "but why use up our water if we don't have to? Besides," and her tone goes a little more firm, "sweet as your ship is, the restroom's a little cramped, and I'd like to take advantage of a bigger facility while we can."