Once again Goose shot up the disclaimer saying I don't own any Galaxy Ranger characters. Takes place after Tangled Web. Just a little musing by Goose about Commander Walsh once he learns the truth.
One Goose's Value
Ever hear the expression 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'? That's certainly true in my case. The more my life changes, it's still weird and screwed up.
Not that being a Supertrooper and a Galaxy Ranger is the best way to have any kind of normal life but still I think I get more than my share of weirdness than anyone else.
I used to be considered property by the Board of Leaders. Nothing more than a genetic experiment barely salvaged from a failed military program. Granted a very expensive experiment but still…
Do you know how much money it cost to create me? Fifteen million dollars give or take a few cents. More than half of that covers the cost of the expensive genetic splicing equipment, lab equipment, test tubes, power generators and experimental pre natal growth chambers. Five million was set aside for providing, screening and sequencing my DNA. The rest went to the salaries of Max Sawyer, Owen Nagata, Commander Walsh and a few other scientists that worked on the program.
Then again since I now know the truth about where at least a good chunk of my genetic material came from I have to wonder if Walsh pocketed even more than his share of the money. It's a possibility considering he fled with a good amount of BETA's budget when he went AWOL. Maybe he thought by donating his own DNA he'd save a million or two and skim the rest for some private bank account.
Trust me, I'm not the only one around here who's considered that scenario. Our new commander's already got a few accountants trying to back check records during that time.
If Commander Walsh is ever caught and goes to trial for embezzlement and fraud (among a dozen other things) guess who's going to be Exhibit A?
I was also the most expensive Supertrooper ever made. Most of the others only cost from between nine to twelve million dollars each. Great, just what I need. Another reason for Kilbane and the others to hate my guts.
Doc made some joke about me being more valuable than the six million dollar man by nine million dollars. I don't know who that guy is but it seems to me whoever made him was on some kind of low budget.
The point is I was considered valuable even after the Supertrooper Project got scrapped. Still the Board of Leaders never trusted me and kept me on a short leash in order to control me. They thought by making me a bounty hunter and forcing me to hunt the escaped Supertroopers down they could make sure I would never go after them.
I thought I could use my so called value as a bargaining chip. I turned my slavery into a weapon against my enemies. Up until the end the Board of Leaders never suspected that I was secretly going after them one by one, collecting evidence to send them to jail. I thought with patience, planning and luck I could get my freedom.
Both our plans went straight to hell. Thanks to Commander Walsh.
This is a man I have known my entire life. A man I thought I knew. A man who helped design and train me since before I was born to be the ultimate super soldier. A man who taught me honor and the value of life.
The man who turned out to be my father. Well one of them anyway.
And because of that little genetic link my life has gone from one form of slavery to another.
I was once the last Supertrooper from Wolf Den, the sole sane survivor. The most advanced genetic weapon with the most adaptive bio-defenses ever created in a laboratory. A man who could out shoot, out fight and did the most dangerous and dirty jobs when no one else could.
I'm still that and more. I'm no longer property. I've become something much more valuable.
I'm a prize. Walsh's secret son who exposed and took down the Black Rose Society that had control of Earth's government and helped start a civil war that destroyed their power forever.
I'm also a powerful bargaining chip. Not only am I going to be used against Walsh when and if he's found, I am going to be paraded in front of all kinds of alien diplomats every chance they get. I'm some kind of symbol of how Earth has changed.
Yeah right.
I'm even more trapped now than I was before. At least when I was considered expendable I didn't have to worry as much about being watched.
Now there are damn camera crews as well as ambassadors watching every freaking move I make. I've already noticed that I'm not sent out on as many missions as I was before.
I'm not a fool. Commander Cain and the new Board of Leaders wants to keep an eye on me. Cain isn't half as stupid as most of the Board of Leaders were. He won't underestimate me.
Walsh's blood made me a prisoner of BETA even more than my advanced bio-defenses ever could. And that makes me so mad sometimes I could scream.
But there's another reason my life isn't my own.
I never understood what it meant to have a family before. The concept of having parents and siblings was alien to me. And now…Now I have more relatives than I know what to do with.
And they care about me. They actually love me for who I am, not what I am. That's a new experience for me. And I like it.
My new family needs me. They need my strength and guidance in order to become strong. They need me to teach them what I've learned about being human in order to adapt and survive.
Oddly enough I learned a lot of that from Commander Walsh.
As angry as I am at him for getting me into this mess…I want him back. I remember things. There are so many instances where he shaped and molded my life.
A long time ago when I was very young, I remember getting very sick. I was so afraid I was going to die. I was lying in an isolation chamber, scared and alone.
Then he came. He opened my isolation chamber and held my hand. He spoke to me. Telling me to be a brave little trooper and to be strong.
"You're stronger than this Shane," He said. "You're going to beat this. Hear me, Trooper? That's right. That's a good boy. I know I can count on you."
He made me feel so safe. So protected. He gave me the strength to get better.
For a long time I thought I dreamed that. But I know now it was him.
But why did he do it?
Did he do it because he cared about me? That he felt sorry for me? Did he have second thoughts about turning his own flesh and blood into a weapon? Or did he just not want to lose his most valuable Supertrooper? Did he hold anyone else's hand or did he just hold mine?
I don't know. That's another question added to the dozens I have to ask him once I find him.
But whatever his intentions, he molded me into the man I am today.
And I will never run away from my new family. They need me too much. I can't do what he did. No matter how tempting it is.
The funny thing is, it isn't that tempting. When I look at those kids, at Darkstar and her baby. At Stingray who's regained some sanity (He never really had much to begin with.). At Cheyenne and Billy. At Zachery and Doc and Niko and everyone else I've met…
I'd gladly trade my freedom for theirs in a heartbeat.
And I think Commander Walsh would understand that. And he'd be proud of me for it.
I just wish I knew for sure.
But I know one thing. No matter what…I'm not worthless.