Encompassing Reality by Richard Lord Read Free Book Online

don’t ever want to go back there.  It’s why I don’t help on the raids.  I’m perfectly happy building nicer quarters here, for everyone and helping James out with the systems.  But I didn’t say no.”  She paused and then her face got more serious, as if that was possible.  “I’ll go if you can think of a quick way for me to take myself out if we are captured.”
    “We’re not going to get captured and you don’t have to die if we do.  I’d get us out.”  Phillip waved the back of his hand at the air between them.
    “I’m serious.”  Venetia said, sternly.
    “I know.  That’s what is troubling.  I’d rather not take you if it’s that upsetting to you.  I understand.  I really do.”  Phillip looked off at the wall opposite of him.
    “I know you understand.  I look at your face every time you come back here from visiting her.  None of us even knows why she is so important to you that you risk yourself daily to see her and watch what they are doing to her.”  Venetia leans slightly towards him, over the table.
    “I can’t explain.  I suppose it…I just can’t explain, I don’t fully understand so how could I explain it to someone else?”  Phillip answers.
    James interrupts.  “We all understand about as well as you do.  We understand how lucky we are to have gotten out, thanks to you.  Not enough of us did.  That’s why we are working so hard on this and we all use things we learned in life to work towards a way to end what goes on in there.”  James looks at Venetia.
    “I said, I’d go.  I just want a fail safe!”  Venetia raised her voice at James in her response.  Then she pushed her chair out and left the room.  James started to get up, but Phillip grabbed his hand.
    “Let her go.  Give it time.  We have time.”  Then he held his hand out and swept the room, “Anyone?  Anything else to add?”
    No one said anything so he concluded, “Okay, well everyone’s working on something.  I am curious how sand could be used.  Right now I’m tired, so I’m going to hit my bunk.”

CHAPTER 7
    “I felt like I had been freed even though I never knew I was in a cage.”  -- from the Book of Tomorrow
    As the fire died down she woke up because of the cold and moved over towards him.  She laid down and put her body in the same position with his as she had the night before.  She stared out at the new world.  Then she heard him moaning in his sleep.  Wanting that to end, she decided the best cure was to go to sleep again, herself.
    When the sun rose she unwrapped herself from him and began her day as she had the day before.
    He woke up and as he got up, he looked over at her.  Again squatting.  He reached up to his face and wiped the sleep from it but kept moving both hands back to tug at his own hair.  “Why do you insist on peeing in every spot we find that we can make a camp out of?”
    “Why do you moan when you sleep?”  She asked in return, standing to re-button her trousers.  “Do you have bad dreams or something?”
    “No, you do.  More like bad girl dreams.  Not the kind that are easy on me trying to be a decent gentleman in reaction to.”  He said as he again realized this camp was lost.  He turned away to relieve himself.
    “What do you mean by that?”  She asked.
    “A gentleman is hard to define.  I’ll think about the definition of that and get back to you.”  He said.
    “I meant about my dreams.”  She noted.
    “Even harder to explain.  I’ll think about that too, since clearly today is a walking day again.”  He turned and pointed at the puddle she had left.  She pointed at his face as it went red with frustration.  “I wouldn’t have, if you hadn’t already!”  Then he saw her shrug at him and he walked over and picked up the pack.
    “Do you have a wife or a girlfriend?”  She inquired.
    “Not an easy thing to answer.  I suppose my mistress is what most people call fear.”  He answered.
    She looked at