Out Of Orbit

Chapter 18

JARRYD

Jarryd forced himself to refocus but the librarian had been droning on for what seemed like hours. And Victoria and Michael couldn't seem to help themselves from asking questions. How much did they really need to know about the history of Dysantyll anyway?

"Exactly how much do you think they need to know about Dysantene history?"

Kendon Rai's question echoed his own thoughts.

"If they're interested I see no reason not to explain..."

"Enough!" Kendon Rai interrupted sharply. "This is a waste of time! What is needed is military precision and strategy, not stories."

"Legends are important as well..." Haimeer started weakly, his ears quivering violently.

"Stories don't change the present situation. We need to focus on the future, not the past."

The military commander muscled his way past Haimeer, glaring at the room as he went. The door slammed behind him. Haimeer nervously shuffled together his papers, made a mumbled apology and hurried out the other door.

Jarryd exchanged looks with the others. Michael simply shrugged and moved to join Brian browsing some bookshelves.

"He reminds me a bit of you, Jarryd," Victoria commented.

"Who? Haimeer?" Jarryd asked, shocked.

"No! Kendon Rai."

Jarryd frowned and opened his mouth to argue. But stopped himself. Maybe he was a little like Kendon Rai. He certainly agreed with a lot of what he'd had to say. Focus on the future, not the past. Strategy and planning is more important than reading a bunch of old stories...Instead of admitting the sliver of truth in the statement, Jarryd simply replied, "I'm not that pushy."

"You are with Rebecca."

"What?!"

"You're a little mean to her sometimes."

"I'm just trying to look after her!"

Victoria tilted her head to one side and studied him.

"Who said you had to?"

"Well, who else is going to, Victoria? We're stuck on an alien planet with no hope of escape being thrown into the middle of a war!"

"You know, I think she's actually dealing with the whole thing a lot better than you are."

Jarryd's jaw dropped.

"What are you talking about? I'm handling this fine!"

"Has anyone ever told you you're not the most adaptable person in the world?"

Jarryd frowned. Victoria leant back in her chair, rocking back and forth.

"The thing about Rebecca is, she's made the most of the situation we're in. While the rest of us have been developing our abilities, she's been getting to know the people here. They like her. They care about her," Victoria paused, then continued, "I don't know if you've noticed but to everyone else we're the aliens. If anything, they should be suspicious of us. But Rebecca's managed to earn their trust. And in the long run I think that might be the smartest thing we can do."

Her chair fell back into place and she looked at him, waiting for a response. Jarryd wasn't quite sure what to say. Victoria was right. He'd never thought about looking at the situation from the perspective of the aliens. If aliens had crash landed on Earth...Jarryd grimaced. They definitely wouldn't have been treated very well. No-one here had even mentioned dissections. Suddenly, all his arguments with Rebecca made a lot more sense.

"And that's why she hates me so much."

"She doesn't hate you."

Jarryd raised an eyebrow.

"Ok...maybe sometimes she gets a little annoyed at you."

"A little?"

"Well...you insult her friends."

"The aliens."

Victoria sat up straighter and pointed a finger at him.

"You see? Calling them the aliens is a little insulting. We're all aliens to someone. Every time you tell Rebecca the 'aliens'" she made air quotes around the word, "are dangerous, you're insulting them. And she likes them. She might be quick to cry, but she's not slow to stick up for her friends."

Jarryd bit the inside of his cheek, considering the information.

"Fine," he finally said.

"Fine, what?"

"Fine, I'll give them a chance. I won't...insult them anymore," Jarryd replied, grudgingly. Victoria gave him a broad grin.

"At least, not in front of Rebecca," he added softly to himself as she got up to join Brian and Michael.