“I got here by merit like the rest of you.” She waved her hand toward the small group of men clustered near the central column. “So unless some of y’all are particularly inclined toward hog-tying ‘girls,’ I feel equally entitled to tag along.”
12 Hours Earlier
“I’m strongly urging you to reconsider,” Clyde Jackson said thinly. His bulk loomed imposingly over the smaller form of Constance Beckett.
“Happy to oblige, Mr. Jackson,” Constance said, contorting her voice into an unnaturally dripping sweetness. She put a finger to her chin and kicked at the moss-like floor in front of the elevator column with a copper-booted toe. “What do you think, Abner? Should I stay here and tend to the children instead?”
Abner Wade, who was hovering nearby, immediately turned beet red. He tugged uncomfortably at the metallic collar of the Martian pressure suit beneath his coveralls. “Well, shucks, I—that is, uh…” He stammered.
Constance straightened her back and lifted her chin, staring defiantly up at Jackson. “That settles it. I’m goin’.”
Rico Esteves, who was standing near the open door of the elevator, hitched his rucksack higher on his broad shoulder. “I am confident, Miss Beckett, that in spite of his gruff manner, Mr. Jackson is only trying to express concern.”
The veteran explorer nodded once in agreement, keeping his eyes locked on Constance. “We’ve got no idea what’s waiting for us down there. It may be no place for a…”
“A woman?” Constance offered helpfully.
“A girl,” Jackson growled.
“I’m a colonist, same as you,” Constance rebutted, dropping the tone of sarcasm from her voice. “Nobody carried me in. I got here by merit like the rest of you.” She waved her hand toward the small group of men clustered near the central column. “So unless some of y’all are particularly inclined toward hog-tying ‘girls,’ I feel equally entitled to tag along.”
Jackson clenched his sideburned jaw and took a step back. “Have it your way, Beckett. You’d better just keep up, is all.” He emphasized his disgust by spitting on the floor at their feet. The drops of spittle quickly disappeared into the spongy surface.
“Don’t you worry about that,” Constance said. Truth be told, ever since her encounter with the grove, she had felt a growing restless energy. She had forced herself to respect Lamont’s wishes and had resisted the urge to join the others there, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. She had begun to feel that her skin was crawling. Constance was sure of one thing: If she didn’t physically remove herself from the garden soon, she would be back under that arched canopy before she knew what she was doing.
She looks a bit like Alice/Arizona
I think that Constance may be partially filling the same role in the PoP version.