Redemption: installment 7

(i must remind what readers i have... :P...that this is all rough. everything i post to this story is the first draft. so...it will be better later. but this is what i've got so far. :) check my other Redemption posts for the early parts of the story)

Curled under a blanket later that night, Joanne sat up watching her sleeping “comrades”. Immediately after she returned from the council hearing, Tene, Jabari and Rosemary had bombarded her with questions, which she shrugged off saying she was tired and needed to sleep. This was partially true, she had had little sleep before the council meeting, and the haunting feeling of sadness that had been eating away at her since seeing the images of Earth was draining her of energy. Now, everyone else was resting in the cool calm of the room which was illuminated by a soft, blue light from overhead. Strange shadows played across the floor and walls as the sleepers stirred, but Joanne’s eyes remained fixed on a blank piece of wall that was unaffected by the light, a black patch amongst the fading blues and grays. A scuffing noise to her right shocked her out of her trance and she jumped as something rubbed against her lightly. Joanne’s eyes slowly adjusted to the change in light, and she sighed with relief when she saw Chinue’s timid figure beside her. Joanne smiled faintly, the girl couldn’t have been more than thirteen or fourteen, she must have been frightened beyond all belief, and not being able to communicate with anyone-
“Are they sleeping?” Joanne’s mouth hung open in disbelief as Chinue gazed at the others warily. She turned her wide eyes back to Joanne’s. “I don’t want them to hear us,” she whispered.
Joanne closed her mouth, and stared at the girl, not knowing quite what to say. “Will you speak to me?” Chinue asked, pushing herself a bit closer to Joanne.
“Um, sure, I guess,” Joanne said; only realizing how rude that sounded after the words had escaped her lips. “I mean, of course, I just didn’t realize you spoke English!”
Chinue held a finger up to her lips and peered about the room again. She looked intently at Joanne and whispered, “The others cannot know,” Joanne nodded. She frowned in confusion and searched the girl’s eyes. “What is it?”
Chinue’s deep brown, almost black, eyes peered back at her from skin the color of charcoal, darker than Joanne’s chocolate brown pigment. “They want to destroy Earth, no?” Joanne nodded, wondering how much this quiet girl knew that she wasn’t sharing with anyone else. The girl’s face contorted into a strange grimace, her eyebrows furrowed, nose crinkled and mouth pulled tightly into a straight line. Joanne could suddenly see the girl crouched in the African plain, a spear in one hand, and look of concentration on her face as she watched her unsuspecting prey. The tiny girl no doubt had a strength and fierceness in her. Her voice was low and quiet as she explained to Joanne, “They cannot destroy Earth. I do not wish to speak to them, they are strange, unfeeling creatures, but you must stop them.”
“Why me?” Joanne knew the answer before she asked the question.
“They will only talk to us, and only you can give them what they need to stop.” Joanne didn’t understand the second part. Only she could give them what they needed to stop the destruction of Earth? How could that be? What did she have to offer but the color of her skin to these strange beings? Chinue recognized the confusion in her eyes. “I would have them destroy the earth, if not for my people left behind.” Her big eyes grew sad and weary. Joanna wondered how long she had been on the Myantide ship. “We are a peaceful people, and there are not many of us in my tribe. It’s the white man these creatures fear, the death and evil in the white man’s lives that they want to destroy.” Joanne felt a bit put out by her use of the term “white man” for Western culture. Were there not people of every race creating violence and “evil”? Then she realized, to Chinue, to her people, Joanne and every other Westerner was the same. “White man” referred to every American, European, or Western-minded culture, every man, woman, boy or girl who lived and acted in ways they and the Myantides termed “evil”. Chinue studied her face for a few minutes before continuing. “You must find something to save my people. I would have the rest of the world destroyed if I could only save my tribe and our way of life, but even that is an evil thought on its own.” Her sad eyes poured deep into Joanne, searching her eyes in return for some signal that she understood and would help.
Joanne hesitated. She did not enjoy being grouped together with the “white man” this girl despised so much, but she hated to admit that she was, besides race, no different from any other American. She had a decent home, electricity, complained about gas prices, wasted resources and paid little attention to the world around her, while Chinue and others like her struggled day-to-day to find food and shelter. “Ok,” she finally said. “I’ll do my best to find something to save your people, and mine,” she added, looking over the sleeping forms in the dark.
Chinue nodded her solemn thanks, and slipped away into the shadows. Joanne leaned against the wall, her eyelids drooped lazily and she drifted into sleep, hoping she could redeem the “white man” and herself in the girl’s eyes as well as save the entire planet.