A TRUE PUPPET

by Charles Mento

Time Frame: three weeks after crashing for one part
Day 100 for another part

"Three weeks after crashing on this planet, which I hated, past tense, hated. Three weeks and we are still travelling across the planet. Although I've heard some of adults talking about our food and water stocks getting dangerously low and the heat getting worse each day in this desert, I've found some cool places to play and avoid all their rules."

Ten year old True Danziger roamed among the hard, carved natural passages of stone. Carved by the wind and floods and volcanic activity that had hit this second Earth in its past forming. She found a small crack as the two sides of two larger stone hills almost met; on one side was a sheer wall straight up, to her left, on the other was a lower and smaller mini-cliff. This she could climb up if she wanted to since it was almost level with her shoulder. To True, nothing was insurmountable. For now, she was content to walk along the sandy ground between the two, wondering where that would lead.

As she went on, the two almost met, close enough to touch. The path became even more narrow but the most astonishing thing was on the left side, the rock ledges became more separate. They were, in fact, gigantic boulders piled on top each other, any which way, meeting to form weird shapes and forms.

True rounded a turning corner and saw the fairly level ledge on the left side get somewhat higher but the boulders started to seem smaller. As she rounded this turn, the first turn she came to, a voice cut into her.

"HELLO."

A voice she knew well. She looked up, her legs turning to stone as the fear grew inside her. Reminders of a betrayal on both their parts.

"HELLO," he only said it once but to True it seemed as if he said it over and over, "PUPPET. NICE TO SEE YOUR SMILING FACE AGAIN..."

The large man stood above on the new ledge, behind him two large boulders leaning against each other.

"...PUPPET...MY LITTLE PUPPET..."

This man had lied to her, fooled her, almost killed her father, all of them, tortured the peaceful Terrians, killed many of the aliens, and probably was responsible for the death of Commander Roderick. The long brownish-black hair, braided in spots, hung to the sides of the wild, wide orbs that passed for eyes. Eyes with no soul beyond them. Cold. She could see that now.

He wore the same clothes she had last seen him in...when she stopped him...and the Terrians pulled him beneath the second Earth. Now, the girl could see right through him...his intention clear. He meant to molest her and then kill her...slowly....

"MY LITTLE PUPPET....PUPPET...HOW ARE YOU...!!!"

******************

True screamed. Just once. Long and loud. Her mouth seemed forever open. Stuck in this position. She wanted to shout his name out as a warning to the others...to her father...whom Gaal would inevitably try to kill...but she couldn't bring herself to say the name....she only stand there and continue that same scream...

True sat up screaming in her bed. In the bio-dome, safe from the cold outside, safe from HIM. Her scream sounded out and her dad, John Danziger, jumped from his bed, a few feet away in one of the cozy cubicles in the old bio-dome, used by renegade scientists who-knows-how-many-years-ago. "True?" He ran to her bedside, ignoring the early morning glow against the bright walls of the cushion-like bio-dome, and sat down next to her own jumping-up form. "True-girl, you're okay."

He hugged her sideways, close to him, she crying. "Of coarse, I am. Always. Always okay."

"It was just a dream," the sandy dark haired blonde man, rough and rugged faced said evenly and calmly, "We all have em'---nightmares are just dreams, True."

True broke the embrace but sat closer, "Why do they do it?"

"True," John smiled warmly, "Not all dreams come from the Terrians."

"I think they're trying to teach me something. Or maybe..."

John had to follow his daughter's gaze, one he knew well. She diverted her eyesight from him and he moved ahead of her eyes to catch up with it.

"Maybe what...?"

"Maybe they want revenge for me helping..."

"True, baby, Terrians don't usually want revenge..."

"They were going to kill Yale..."

"But they didn't..."

"Why are you sticking up for em? Usually you..."

"I'm just saying I don't think...look we all have had bad dreams. I don't think...well, listen, we all have good ones, too."

He took her chin in his hand and moved her gaze to his. True, not able to avoid his kind stare, looked. As soon as she did, she smiled. "There you go.

Now you know that's true."

True smiled, "Yeah, I 'pose so."

John sat there with her, holding her for a long time before she fell back asleep. When he was sure, she was asleep, he tried to swallow his own reassurances.

*******************

YALE: "Day 100-we remain at the bio-dome and while it is still winter and very cold, I felt the children should come to terms with the outside world. The warmer clothes provided by the various, more friendly Penal Colonists and trading with Grendlers, provides us with the chance to take in a lesson outdoors but first, I had another task to take on."

*****************

Yale, a human with prosthetic enhancements, moved out of the double doors of the bio-dome. He moved toward John Danziger, who was realigning the ATV car. John was carrying a large solar battery, moving it out of the way of where he would be working, just having removed it from the vehicle. "John, have a moment...?"

"Not really, Yale, but what's up?"

"True looks like she has been...for the whole night..."

"She's been having bad dreams..."

Yale nodded, "Ahhh...ones that obviously have deeply disturbed her."

"You've noticed that, too," John was still holding the heavy battery and involved with True's well being, he hardly felt the weight. "I think..." he stared at Yale with concern and a seeming call for help, "...they're about Gaal...."

"Has she said anything to you to make you think that?"

"No, but, ahh, forget it, maybe I'm imagining that..."

"No, John, you are her father," Yale put a hand on his friend's shoulder. John stared at it. The hand lead to his robotic, cyborg arm, but this man was anything but cold steel. "...you know her best...if you think these dreams are about...then they may very well be. Do you want me to talk to her?"

"Yale, you've proven yourself as a great teacher more than once with the kids. If you'd like to try, well, go ahead. True knows that the very name of that madman brings red to my temples," he finally lowered the battery.

Yale watched, nodding in understanding. He always seems to be thinking, John studied him. He thinks before he acts---I kind of like that. I wish I could be like that, John mused.

"Thank you, John," Yale smiled, "I will see what, if anything I can do. If she doesn't want to, I won't prod her to tell me anything."

"If she doesn't want to...you won't be able to."

Yale laughed, "True."

John laughed at that and Yale eyed him mischievously as he moved away from him and Zero came to help the mechanic. John turned to Yale's direction, "And hey, Yale, thanks."

In response Yale raised his gloved hand. He's a good sort, Yale thought, even if he can't always express himself the way he wants to. He does all right, Yale pondered. John greeted Zero with his usual contempt for the robot, who as usual didn't notice. He stared after Yale, worry filling his eyes.

***************

True was running through the bio-dome, "Hey, Uly, where did you go now?"

"In here," he chimed, ever joyful. "We haven't looked in here. Oh boy, look at this! Oh boy!"

True ran into one of the smaller cubicles and found the smaller, nearly nine year old boy leaning down into a small cabinet. "What...what could be down there? Hey, do you hear me? What are you...?"

Uly emerged with a pathetic, cobwebbed thing. True couldn't think of a better word for it. She didn't know what it was. Besides old. "Isn't it great!"

Yale came in, "Hey, you two, time for some lessons."

Uly sprang up, shoving the messy looking thing up at Yale, who was examining True's expression and red eyed tiredness. Yale recoiled to take in the thing Uly shoved up at him. Uly, in his sing song voice, with his slightly reddish brown curls, jumped up, happy as a lark. "Look at this, Yale! Isn't it great! Oh wow!"

Yale examined the thing now, "Hey it is. Where did you find..."

True pointed, "In there..."

"There's a few things in there....but this is wonderful...I've never...it's so cool...so cool..." Uly pulled Yale's arm down, "Yale, one thing..."

"Yes, child..." Yale's gaze left True for a moment.

Uly went on, "...just what is it?"

Yale laughed, "Uly, you never cease to amaze me."

True brought her attention to it, not seeing anything else in the cabinet that was as exciting. Dishes, plates, forks. Boring. "I think it's some kind of toy."

Yale smiled at her, "Very good, True," he said with unforced fervor. Learning and teaching were synonyms to him. He was excited by the kids when they were learning. "She's right, it is a toy."

Uly in a good natured joke, stuck his tongue out at her and got the same back. Uly hopped, "Hey, I bet it was Mary's...you know that Terrian raised girl!"

"Possibly, Uly, or some other child that may have been here with these scientists or maybe someone else that stayed here."

"It sure is old," True blew at it even though Uly held it. Dust and dirt flew off of it.

Uly blinked and looked at it with a renewed joy, "Hey, it looks like a girl."

Yale took it from him, "Why, I think it's a puppet."

The hair on the back of True's neck stood on end. She tensed, hoping they wouldn't notice. She bristled and a lump began to form in her throat.

"What? What's a puppet?"

"Uly, why don't you go and look that up in your dictionary comp," Yale told him.

"Ohhh, it's easier when you just tell me...us," Uly whined.

Yale almost rubbed noses with him as he leaned over to him, "I know."

"Lazy, do what he says," True said. When he ran out, True leaned forward, not to get to the definition first, but to seriously know. She couldn't wait for Uly to return. "Yale, what IS a puppet?"

Yale studied her. "Why?"

"Oh, I just want to know. I can't wait until baby brings..."

"HERE IT IS, I GOT IT!" Uly was back as quick as a flash. True rolled her eyes. True made a grab for the comp dictionary but Uly held it at arm's length and read, "A small figure of a person, animal, et....et...et...setera or whatever, that is animated by the hand....?" Uly was confused. True boiled, secretly.

Yale took Uly's hand and put it inside the puppet, "Like this." As he did, True, non-aggressively, took the small TV-like comp dictionary from Uly.

Uly screwed up his mouth, "Yuck. It's dirty. But cool, now I can make it do what I want."

"That's the idea, boy," Yale said, "Entertainers used to put on shows by making these do what they wanted and they'd get money for it or something they wanted in return for making the puppets move."

True read the rest of the entry. "A marionette."

Yale heard her, "Oh, that's the other type of puppet...you see, those, the marionettes could be moved from above by strings."

"Strings?" True asked as Uly wore out the novelty of the puppet by playing with it all over the room.

"Attached to the puppet. The strings could be pulled to make the puppet do what the controller wanted."

True felt sick, "Oh." That's what monster called her.

Uly stopped at Yale's side, "Hey, it looks kinda like True."

Although he said it without malice or provocation, True was not pleased.

"Hey, it looks like your dirty face, not mine."

I'm going to go show mom."

As Uly ran out, Yale called to him, "Hurry back, lessons going to start for you soon."

True looked at the rest of the entry. There was a third definition. This one she read to herself. ONE WHO SLAVISHLY--that means slave---IS SUBJECT TO THE WILL OF ANOTHER; A TOOL. IN A PUPPET STATE, NOT ABLE TO MOVE ON ITS OWN.

Well, that monster. How dare he!? He called her puppet out of affection she thought, out of loyalty and appreciation of her. She was his slave, his tool. Subjected to his will. Doing what he wanted, unable to move on her own.

She sought refuge from the rules of the adults she was with to go to him...and he was worse. He had no rules but himself. He made her unable to move on her own. In the end, however, he didn't get one over on her. In the end, she saved the Terrians, not Uly, not her father. She.

It was only a few seconds since she completed reading the comp.

Yale was staring at her. "What's wrong, True?" He thought it was Uly, "True, he...he didn't mean to be mean or nasty with what he said. He honestly thought it looked like you."

True smiled, "It doesn't though, does it."

"No," Yale laughed, "You'll have to forgive Uly sometimes. Sometimes, he says things he doesn't realize may hurt us. You see, he hasn't had much by way of mingling with other children--you are really the first non-Syndrome child he has ever had the good fortune to play with."

True smiled wider, "Thanks Yale. I'm not mad at Uly. I am beginning to understand what you said about him. He's not so bad." And you, dear teacher are a good man, True thought. He could be trusted. Right under her nose was one who she could confide in and befriend. How awfully wrong she was to trust that Gaal. This one would keep her secrets if she wanted him to, needed him to.

Suddenly she looked better to Yale. Yale went for it. "True, is that all? I mean is anything else bothering you?"

True took one last look at the entry on PUPPET and handed it to Yale, "Not any more. It's just that I'm not going to be anyone's puppet again."

Yale nodded to her in understanding, "That's good."

"...No one's going to pull my strings any more..." True walked out, "I'll be ready for the lesson in a second."

Yale smiled to himself and then talked to himself, in such a quiet way that no one else could hear him. "True, dear, you've just had one."

=30=