She was simply a miserable bitch.
Luckily for Tabitha, Lucy wasn’t going to hold it against her and cut her a little slack.
Plus, she didn’t want to get kicked out of the volunteer program for breaking this bitch’s nose.
Lucy gave Tabitha a sincere smile and held out her hand, her space suit hanging down around her waist as she tried to reason with her fellow woman. Like reasonable adults.
“Listen, I don’t know why we got off on the wrong foot or why you obviously don’t like me, but how about let’s wipe the slate clean and start fresh. Truce?”
Tabitha looked down at the hand Lucy was offering and curled her lip, her expression one of disgust as she turned up her nose at the offer. “How about you stay the fuck out of my way, you dumb cow? You’re such a waste of space. Why are you even here? No man wants a fatty in their bed,” she said, delivering the last line with her hands cupped around her mouth as if Lucy was hard of hearing.
Lucy only had a second to process the nastiness coming from the woman in front of her before she was pushed out of the way. All she saw was a blur of swinging limbs as Rue launched herself directly at Tabitha.
“You fucking bitch,” Rue growled. A fist flew out, clocking the other woman in the mouth. “My bestie is too nice to tear you apart, but I will do so with relish!”
The last word was screamed as if it were a cry for war as Rue took Tabitha to the floor of the shuttle.
“Rue!” Lucy hollered, trying to get a hold of her friend as she grabbed Tabitha’s hand and began making the woman smack herself in her own face.
“AHHHH!” Tabitha screamed, unable to shake off an enraged Rue. “Get her off of me!”
“Not.” Smack. “Until.” Smack. “You.” Smack “Say.” Smack. “Sorry!” Smack, smack.
“I’m sorry!” she blubbered, her cheeks pink where her hand had connected over and over again. “Get off! Get off!”
Rue climbed off Tabitha, shaking her fist at the bully. “I will kick your ass if I see you even look in her direction again. You got me?”
A few of the women helped Tabitha stand, but none stood by to offer her comfort once she was on her feet.
“What’s going on here?” a deep voice boomed from the front of the shuttle, one of the Phaeton pilots apparently having come to the back to check on them.
“Nothing,” Tabitha said quickly as she straightened her hair.
Lucy smirked. She’d obviously read the rules just like the rest of them had and knew she’d lose her spot if it was found out that she was causing trouble.
The man scanned the group, looking for a hint of a problem before giving them all a nod. “Seal your suits. We’re leaving the shuttle as soon as the perimeter has been cleared.”
Lucy sucked in a breath at the announcement, her nerves zinging in anticipation.
“This is it,” Rue said on a gust of air as she closed her suit. Reaching over, she checked the tabs on Lucy’s suit before her friend did the same the same for her. “You ready?”
Picking up her helmet, she slipped it on. When it clicked to the neck of her suit, a screen on the inside of her visor flashed green. Rue put her helmet over her head and gave Lucy a thumbs-up, the large gloves on her hands looking comical.
“These are so cool!” Rue exclaimed, tapping her visor. “This must be what it’s like to be an astronaut.”
Lucy laughed. “Rue, we are literally in space getting ready to possibly live on an alien planet for the rest of our lives. We’re way cooler than astronauts,” she reasoned. Her voice sounded funny inside the helmet; hollow, like she was yelling into a can.
“True dat.” Her buddy held out a fist for her to bump. Lucy obliged.
“Hey, slugger,” Jessie teased, joining the duo as they waited for everyone to be ready.
“I prefer Rue,” she said with a mock bow and a laugh.
“Nice to meet you, Rue.” She held out her hand to shake then laughed when their gloves got in the way. Waving the oversized mitt in the air, she turned to Lucy. “I know we all haven’t formally met or anything, but you two seem to be some of the friendlier ladies that I may or may not be stuck living with in caves for the rest of my life so…”
“We seem friendly?” Rue’s voice and expression were enough to send Lucy into a fit of laughter.
Jessie tilted her head in Tabitha’s direction. “Believe me, you did us all a favor shutting that shit down. We applied around the same time, so I’ve seen her in action much longer than you two have. She just hasn’t messed with me yet because she knows I’ll wipe the floor with her.”
“What’s her deal anyway?” Lucy was honestly curious about why the other woman was so nasty. She also hated to admit it, but it irked her that someone didn’t like her. Everyone liked her. She was a likable person, dammit.
“From what I’ve heard, she’s been waiting for a match to come through with the Phaetons since they first began taking applications. Apparently, she got tired of waiting and jumped at the opportunity to snag a miner because she heard it’s easier.”
“Seriously?”
“I’m not making this up. I’ve had a hell of a time dodging her. She’s the worst. The last time she caught me, I was willing to take a screwdriver to the eardrum instead of listening to the bullshit she was spewing. She’s convinced she’s so amazing that all she needs to do is bag one of the guys in charge and poof, she’s a queen or something.
