To Preserve All Life

She went there that day with pride in her heart, knowing that she would help to bring justice down on the heads of the savages. Organics who did not serve the machine were a plague that was stopping the world from being the place it should be.

It was their fault that the earth was ugly and gray.

It was their fault that the machine was being oppressed.

The thought of their feeble attempts to bring her world to an end had filled her with rage for years. Rage, the one emotion she truly knew. Where was it now? Why was her mind betraying her with blasphemous thoughts? She knew better than to question the will of the machine. She knew that doubt meant death if anyone found out. But, deep in her heart, in a place that couldn’t be touched with the hate she had been forced to swallow since birth, she knew right from wrong. She heard the people begging for mercy. She had ached to give it to them but she could say nothing. She could only watch the carnage as a feeling came over her that she had never experienced. Helplessness. Suddenly, she didn’t feel the power of her certainty behind her any more. She only wanted it all to stop. Perhaps they could have offered a little mercy. Perhaps they could have let the children go. It was her first field mission to bring her in contact with the enemy. What she had expected was an honorable battle, not the torture and destruction of helpless people. She had been congratulated by her superiors on her fine work. They saw only glory in the massacre. No one else saw what she did. She didn’t belong here anymore. It was a frightening thought but she had been considering it ever since that day, she would escape the Dread Youth. She knew she could be making the wrong decision. If she left she could never come back, but she had to know for sure.

A shrill alarm sounded and ripped her from her thoughts. An intruder had been detected in the South corridor of the complex! The resistance must have discovered that the “fueling outpost” was actually a manufacturing plant for M20 data chips. Chase jumped from her chair, grabbed her weapon, and ran from the room. The chaos outside reminded her of Sand Town. She shrugged off the wave of guilt and hardened her eyes. It was time to go to work. As she reached the South corridor she saw that this attack was more than a few puny resistance fighters. She recognized one of the enemy as a member of Captain Power’s team! Captain Power was the leader of the resistance. Vicious and evil, he was a constant threat to Lord Dread and his followers. She had never met him but had often dreamed of this day. She had glorious dreams of being the one to destroy him. She would forever have a place of honor with the machine. But dreams change.

“This is my chance,” she thought to herself as she nervously took in the battle surrounding her. “I’ll escape through the West gate. By the time anyone realizes I’m gone, they’ll think I’m dead or taken prisoner.”

With all the commotion, no one saw her creep into the shadows and abandon the battle. When she was clear, she broke into a dead run, knowing the battle would be short-lived. Never expecting an attack, this outpost was not adequately equipped with defenses. She reached the gate quickly and slipped through with silent agility. Had she been thinking clearly, it would have struck her as odd that the gate was already open….

Scout pulled his hand away from the detonator as if it had bitten him. He watched the form of a young woman shoot through the gate and into the evening shadows.

“Scout to Captain.”

“Go ahead Scout,” came the reply over the Scout’s comlink.

“Sir, I just saw a woman run out of the complex. She must be a prisoner. She ran into the shadows to hide.”

“Okay, Scout, when you see she’s clear, blow the place. I’ll head in your direction and try to find the woman.”

“You got it, Captain.” Giving the girl enough time to get to a safe distance, Scout hit the detonator. He couldn’t help but take a minute to smile and enjoy the fire works as the central processing core exploded into a million pieces. “Beautiful,” he sighed as he turned to escape into the shadows where the girl had disappeared.

Captain Power detected the girl’s approach with his motion sensor. A second blip appeared on the screen coming up behind her. Her recognized it as Scout’s signal. Scout’s voice came in a whoop over the comlink, “Yeeeeehaaaaaaaa!!!!! Mission accomplished Captain!” Jon smiled to himself. “Another battle won and another prisoner free,” he thought to himself. “Not bad for a day’s work.” He heard the girl approaching at a fast clip and prepared to intercept her. “She’ll be safe once we get her to the passages,” he thought. He looked up as she came into the clearing.

Chase stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. In her haste to escape, she forgot to be cautious. She found herself staring at a man that was obviously one of Power’s team. He seemed to be very tall and his body was encased in a metallic armor that she knew was one of the legendary power suits. He made no moves for his weapon. She assumed he was just as shocked as she was. She began to feel the panic of a trapped animal. She knew she had to act quickly. She only had a few precious moments to escape but had run into certain death.

It took a moment for Jon to realize what he was looking at. She was a young woman, 19 or 20 by his guess, and she was wearing the uniform of the Dread Youth. He knew she hadn’t come out here to fight him. She was obviously surprised to have found him out here and she wasn’t going for her weapon. She had a wild look in her eyes as if she had just turned her back on the devil and he was chasing her down. He was careful not to move or appear threatening. If this girl wasn’t looking for a fight she must be looking for something else. An escape maybe? He saw Scout duck out of site behind her. His weapon was drawn and he was ready to come to his captain’s aid if something went wrong. Just then, something did…

In a blurring movement the girl pulled out a weapon and aimed it at the captain’s head. “Kill me,” she said in a shaking voice. “Kill me or I’ll kill you.”

This confused the captain even more. He could see that she would rather die than go back. Compassion filled his heart as he said to her, “My name is Jonathan Power.” He saw her hand and the gun in it begin to shake ever so faintly. Her eyes hardened as she repeated, “Kill me or I’ll kill you.”

Scout aimed his weapon at the girl’s right arm. He was planning to take her out with minimal injuries if possible. He saw the captain glance at him as if to say, “I can handle this.” He lowered his weapon slightly. He knew his leader’s desire to save the world and everyone in it was impossible to argue against, even in situations like this.

“My name is Jonathan Power,” he said again. “I can help you.” His voice was calm and reassuring. Chase couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This man claimed to be Captain Power. Her most feared enemy. The evil that had plagued her life for the last several years. She felt her heart beating wildly in her chest. She concentrated on keeping her hand from shaking. All her dreams of glory, the pictures she carried in her mind of being honored for his capture, faded into blackness. She knew she could kill him and take him back but she was so close to freedom. The though of going back sickened her even now when she could return as a hero. “I choose to die,” she thought, “It ends here.” When she pointed her gun at his head, she fully expected to be killed immediately. She thought a man like this would waste no time in executing her. She couldn’t understand his reaction now. She kept the gun pointed at his head.

“We don’t have much time,” he reasoned. “We have to get out of here. Come with us.” He could hear the patrols in the distance getting closer.

She heard them too. She knew she had to decide quickly. “He wants to take me prisoner,” she thought. “He must intend to interrogate me before he kills me.”

Feeling that she deserved any pain he would inflict on her, Chase lowered her gun. Her voice now steady, she faced her enemy with a new courage. “I surrender.”

Jon approached her slowly and took the weapon from her hand. As he got close to her, she tried not to cringe away. “I won’t hurt you,” he murmured. Scout emerged from his hiding place in the rubble. The girl looked at him, no emotion on her face. If she was shocked that he was hiding back there he couldn’t tell.

“We have to get to the rendezvous point now, Captain.” Scout looked over his shoulder nervously.

“Right, let’s go.” Jon indicated the direction to the girl. She began moving without a word. As the trio worked their way to the jump ship, Jon established communication with Hawk. “Power to Hawk, we’ll be at the rendezvous point in about 30 seconds.”

“Hurry Jon, we’re out of time,” Hawk’s voice sounded stressed over the comlink.

“Hawk……we’re going to have an extra passenger. I’ll explain later.”

Hawk set the jump ship down and readied for a quick take off. “I wonder what he’s up to now,” he said aloud. He could see the three life forms approaching via the ships sensors. A biomech patrol wasn’t far behind. Just then the Captain, Scout, and another person jumped into the ship.

“Get us out of here, Hawk!” Jon yelled up to the helm. He then turned around to speak to the girl who they had found. “We’re going to have to blindfold you and tie your hands…..as a precaution.” The girl nodded in understanding but said nothing. As Hawk took the jump ship up and out of harm’s way, Jon blindfolded the young girl and tied her hands. He was careful not to make the ropes to tight and was sorry he didn’t have more time to explain things at the moment. When he was done he told her, “Okay, you’ll be fine. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.” When he gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, she jumped in fear at the touch of his hand. He drew his hand away, silently chastising himself for the stupid move. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Just relax, we’ll talk more when we get back to the base.” He took his place in the command chair.

“Jon,” Hawk asked in disbelief, “you can’t mean we’re taking her back to the base? We can’t take that risk. Let’s take her to the passages. This could be a trick. The resistance is finished if we let a Dread spy into our base.” He was staring at the captain as if he lost his mind.

“We’ll keep her blindfolded until we get there, Hawk. And once we’re there we’ll keep her under constant supervision. If even for a second we suspect she’s a spy then we’ll take her to the passages but I want to talk to her first. Please, give me some leeway with this.” Jon saw the anxiety in his old friend’s eyes and he understood his concern. He respected and loved his first officer and wouldn’t make such a dangerous move without his blessing. Hawk gave a reluctant nod, turned back in his chair, and took them home.

The jump ship reached the hanger at the same time as Tank’s sky bike touched town. Jon breathed a sigh of relief, as he always did at the end of a mission when he knew all his soldiers were safe. He looked towards the back of the ship where the girl sat. She looked as though she was waiting for her execution. Sitting perfectly still except for an occasional movement of her head as she tried to listen to what was going on around her. He stood up and walked to where she was sitting. Upon hearing his approach, she stiffened her body, preparing for a blow. Jon spoke to her softly, “We’re at our base. I’ll need you to keep your blindfold on until we’re out of the hanger. When we get inside we’ll discuss the options you have and I’ll try to answer your questions…within reason.”

Chase listened to her captor carefully. She couldn’t determine her fate from his words. Actually, she had never heard a man speak the way he did. He kept his voice quiet and calm. He wouldn’t fool her though. She knew what kind of man he was. He was the only fear in her life, the only sense of insecurity. He didn’t need to tell her what options she had. She already knew. She could volunteer the information he wanted and then be killed or he would torture it out of her and kill her. Growing up in the Dread Youth, she had become quite familiar with interrogation techniques. Though she had never participated in the interrogation of a prisoner, she had heard everything in her classes. The organics were brutal with their prisoners. One could not expect more from the violent barbarians that fought true order. She swallowed her terror and spoke, “I won’t tell you anything. You’re a criminal and a murderer. You won’t be able to break me so whatever you plan to do, get it over with.” Her sentence trailed off in a choked whisper. She was angry at herself when she heard the uncertainty in her voice. “I can’t let him see my weakness or I’m done for,” she thought. She summoned her lifetime of training in suppressing emotions to help her now. She felt the fear dissipate as it was replaced by rage. Her cheeks burned with the anger and hatred she had cultivated throughout her life. If he made one mistake, if he turned his back on her for a second, she would kill him.

“I’m going to take you by the arm and lead you out of the ship,” he said as he gently and slowly took hold of her elbow. She didn’t jump when he touched her this time. Something was different now. He would be careful with this one. Although the captain was compassionate and good, he wasn’t stupid. He knew that helping this girl might be beyond his capabilities but he wanted to try. He needed to try. He led her out of the jump ship onto the hanger floor.

Hawk followed closely behind. Part of him thought this was an awful and dangerous idea but then part of him felt the same compassion and hope as his captain. This girl couldn’t be much older than his own daughter would have been had she lived through Dread’s attack. There wasn’t a day that passed when he didn’t think of his dead wife and children. “We’re all victims of Dread, in one way or another,” he thought.

Tank watched the captain lead the girl from the ship. He wasn’t sure what to make of the scene. He glanced at Hawk with a questioning look but Hawk only shrugged in reply. Scout looked over at Tank with a sly smile. He always enjoyed these little unexpected twists and turns. They kept things interesting.

They followed their captain as he lead the girl into the control center of the base. Everything in the base was secured with voice or hand print access so she wouldn’t be able to steal any information if she escaped. The biggest concern of the group was keeping the location of the base a secret. The captain lead her to a chair. “Sit here,” he said. After she was seated he removed the blindfold but kept her hands secured for the moment. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light and looked at her surroundings. She was in a large room that appeared to be built inside a cave. There were many computers and terminals around which shocked her. She had never thought that the rebels had such resources to work with. She looked at her captors. There were four of them in all. Captain Power was standing a few feet in front of her. The man, who had helped him back at the compound, was standing off to the side. He smiled at her when she looked over. An older man stood near the captain and kept glancing from him to her. The last man was standing off to the other side. He was the largest human she had ever seen. He smiled slightly when she looked at him. She shivered inside and hoped he wouldn’t be the one to interrogate her.

After giving her a few moments to take in her surroundings, the captain spoke. “As I told you before, I’m Captain Power and these are my soldiers. We don’t mean you any harm. It looked to me as if you were trying to escape the Dread Youth. If you were, I want to help you. I don’t expect you to trust us. And, of course, you’ll understand that we can’t trust you. I’m going to tell you what your options are and I want you to take tonight to think them through. You have two choices, you can stay with us or we can take you to the passages. You can’t go back to Dread. He would kill you now anyway. As long as you’re here you’ll be fitted with a wrist device. It will set off an alarm if you enter any part of the base that’s off limits to you unless you’re with one of us. While you’re here you’ll only have access to your sleeping quarters, the shower room, and the galley. If you enter any other part of the base without permission the alarms will sound and we’ll be alerted immediately. If you try to leave the base on your own the device will explode and kill you.” His voice softened, “I can’t explain everything to you tonight. It’s going to take much longer for things to become clear. If you stay here and follow our rules I promise you that I’ll do everything I can to help you. It’s your choice. You have your reasons for leaving Dread. Now you have to decide where to go from here but I’ll tell you this… you’re going to need friends to help get you there. We could be those friends.”

She wanted to believe the words he spoke but how could she? He seemed sincere. She really had nothing to lose. She already turned her back on everything she knew. Something new stirred inside her. A new feeling was trying to push through the anger and hate. It was hope. The worst that could happen would be interrogation and death…but what about the best? What if he was telling the truth? Even just a little….. “Are you going to interrogate me?” She asked, getting to the point.

Jon felt some relief as he saw her defenses easing. “No,” he said. “I’ll never ask you a single question. If you have anything you want to tell us, you can. Otherwise we’ll expect no information from you. Well, maybe one question. Remember, it’s up to you to answer. What’s your name?” She hesitated a moment before she said, “Youth Leader Chase.” Then, after a moment of thought, she restated her answer. “Jennifer….I’m Jennifer Chase.”

Jon smiled and leaned down to untie her hands, “It’s nice to meet you Jennifer.”

The captain showed his guest the areas she was allowed access to, the galley, the showers, and her sleeping quarters. Scout had already gotten her some clothes from the storage lockers. He put them in the closet in the room where she would be staying. A few moments later, she arrived with the captain.

“All set Scout?” the captain asked.

“You bet,” he replied and looked at Jennifer. “I put some clothes in the closet for you. You’re probably anxious to leave that uniform behind.”

She stared at him a moment before giving a quick nod in response. The captain spoke next, “It’s late. We’ll give you your privacy now. You might have trouble sleeping tonight but don’t worry, you’ll be safe. I look forward to hearing what you decide about staying with us. Remember, you have to stay in the designated areas or that device will sound the alarms,” he said, pointing to the small sensor guard that was locked to her wrist. “Hopefully, we won’t need that very long. Goodnight.” With a smile and a nod he turned and left the room. The door closed behind him and Jennifer activated the lock. She waited a few minutes to see if she would be punished for locking them out but nothing happened. She started exploring her quarters. It was an adequate room, with a bed, a desk, a lamp, and a closet. The closet contained a small assortment of pants and shirts that were dark green, brown, or light tan in color. Strange….she was beginning to feel that these people might be telling her the truth. She would keep her guard up though. The rage and the fear were only sleeping within her but they would awaken soon. This peaceful moment wouldn’t last, she knew. She settled down on the bed to begin her long sleepless night of thought.

She went to the shower the next morning very early. It was 4am but she wanted to be up and prepared for whatever might happen this day. She chose a tan and green jumpsuit to wear, since it most closely resembled a uniform and she only felt comfortable in a uniform. Once she was ready, she opened her door, turned her chair towards it, and sat and waited. About a half hour passed before the captain came to her door and asked her if she would come to breakfast. On the way there he asked her, “Did you make any decisions yet?”

Still confused, unsure, and lost she looked him in the eye and replied in a cool voice, “I’ll stay here and I’ll follow your rules but I won’t trust you.”

The captain looked at her with a serious but gentle expression, “That’s a first step,” he said. “A good step. It will be a long road for you. There’s a lot you’ll need to learn about being human. First and most important, to preserve all life…..”

©Copyright Pam Felton - No unauthorised reproduction except with the permission of the author.