CHAPTER TWO

Mitch woke up early the next morning and stretched. It took him a moment to remember where he was, but he smiled when he did. He'd have to find a way to chat with Jon for awhile soon and get caught up.

He got up and headed down the hallway. He noticed that his sister's room was empty, which surprised him. She was up already? That never happened. Then again, it wasn't often he was up so early either. Both of them loved their sleep.

He went to the control room and stopped at the door. There was Katie, sitting and talking with Scout and Tank, looking as if she had always been there.

Scout sensed Mitch's presence and looked in his direction. "Mornin', Mitch! Want some coffee?"

Mitch entered the room and smiled. "I'd love some." Scout started to get up, but Mitch stopped him. He saw the coffee maker and cups. "I got it. It's fine. What are you guys doing?"

"They're showing me the most recent information they've received about Dread. I admit, it's gibberish to me, but fascinating at the same time." Katie replied. "These plans...it kind of makes me wonder if..."

"If what?" Tank asked.

Mitch knew what his sister was thinking. "You forget. We knew him before he was Lord Dread. Sure we were kids, but still. Lyman Taggart wasn't like this...he wasn't Lord Dread. So what really happened to change him? And is he the one who's really in charge, or is it someone...or something...else calling all the shots and using him as a pawn?"

"We've wondered that as well." Jon answered, walking into the room with Hawk and Pilot. They were carrying trays of breakfast for everyone.

"My understanding is, he is." Pilot said. "At least that's what we were always told and led to believe. However, for all his dedication to the machine...he's not really one himself, is he? He's only part machine."

"By all counts that means he's imperfect, unlike the machines he claims to dedicate himself to." Hawk said.

"And if even a little bit of the old Lyman Taggart is still somewhere in his consciousness..." Mitch said. "Then there's actually a good chance he's really not the one calling all the shots, he just thinks he is."

"Then whoever is calling the shots is damned good at it...and damned good at making Dread think he's the one doing it." Katie said.

"Overmind." Hawk said quietly.

"Huh?" Mitch asked. "Who's that?"

"He's a computer that my dad and Taggart made." Jon admitted. "He's in Volcania with Dread. He's smart and powerful. If anyone could do what we're talking about, it's probably him. And Dread probably has no idea that he's anything more than a guide."

"So...it might not be enough to stop Dread..." Katie said. "We have to stop this Overmind thing too, in order to win this war."

"Yup." Hawk replied.

"Great. And how do we suppose we're going to do that?"

Jon sighed. "We don't know yet."

The next few days passed uneventfully. Katie showed Pilot the stealth mode on the ship she and Mitch had brought down from Canada, and then Pilot and Scout spent most of their time trying to figure out a way to rig one on their own ship. It would certainly make things easier.

Mitch and Katie explored the Power Base, and learned more about the team, the Power Suits and what had been going on in the past fifteen years. It wasn't pretty.

They also each spent some time with their dad and with Jon. Katie got her chance to talk to Jon late one night when she passed through the control room on the way to get a drink of water.

Jon was sitting at the main computer with his feet up on the desk. He was looking at a stack of papers but had one eye on the monitors.

"Do you guys take turns staying up all night or what?" Katie asked.

He looked at her. "Not all night. We take it in shifts so we all get rest, too. Your dad will be relieving me in a couple of hours. How come you're up?"

"Thirsty." Katie admitted. "I'll be back." She went to the kitchen, poured them each a glass of water and rejoined him.

"Oh, thanks." Jon said, taking his glass from her.

She sat down in the chair by him. "So...what'cha doing?"

"Reading a report and keeping an eye on things in case there are any attacks during the night that need our attention."

"That sounds thrilling." Katie deadpanned.

"Oh it is. Believe me." Jon replied sarcastically. "Mitch told me going to flight school was your idea...?"

"Does that surprise you?"

"Nope. You always thought it was the coolest thing ever that your dad could fly ships. I remember when we were really little...I think you were only about five...you said you wanted to do what he did when you grew up."

"Yeah well. Little girls idolize their fathers. Or they're supposed to. Or something. I don't know." Katie laughed. "I just knew it was something I wanted to do. I was thinking of flying for an airline or something, not coming down here to see if my services could help fight Dread."

"Yeah that part was all on Mitch..." Jon said.

"Yeah. While I had dreams of making a living flying in Canada in peace, he had dreams of being a fighter pilot. Go figure." Katie grinned.

"I'm glad you both came down." Jon said. "I know it's done wonders for Hawk to know you're not dead, and frankly, I'm glad to learn it too. We both missed you a lot."

"We missed you too. We feel like we belong here...with you guys." Katie said. "I just wish we'd been able to come back under different circumstances. Like, peace."

"Yeah."

The friends were silent for a moment, each lost in thought. Katie decided then to ask him a question that was nagging at her.

"Jon...be honest. Do you guys need our help here? Or would we be of better use elsewhere?"

The question, put so bluntly, startled Jon. He knew it shouldn't. But he wasn't used to conversing with the twenty-eight year-old Katie. The thirteen year old Katie he had known would never have asked such a thing.

Then again, she wouldn't have needed to. Times had changed. And they had grown up.

"I've been trying to figure that out since you guys got here." He finally replied. "The answer is...I don't know right now. Do we, as a team, need more pilots? No. We have Pilot, and your dad if there comes a situation when Pilot can't fly the Jumpship. However..."

"You don't want to ask us to leave, even if our services would be better used halfway across the country." Katie finished.

"It would break his heart. I can't do it." Jon said quietly. "He was there for me during both of our darkest times, and he just got some light back. I won't...I can't..."

"You want to know what I think?"

Jon looked at her. "Of course."

"You'll have to ask him, but I think he'd want us to be where we would be the most useful towards the cause. Whether it's here or somewhere else. I don't think he'd like it, but what part of any of this should we be liking? We have to do what's the best for the resistance, for humanity. To hell with what we want or what makes us happiest."

"Wow." Jon said softly.

"I bet Mitch didn't say that."

"No. He didn't. But it's also not the type of thing he'd say."

"True." Katie laughed. Then she grew serious again. "My guess is, he'd like to go fly for a group somewhere else. He's glad to be here, but wants to be more on the front lines, and if you don't need him to fly for you..."

"I won't stop him if he wants to do that. But I would recommend he speak with your dad about it first before making any decisions." Jon said. "And I recommend the same to you, if you feel the same way."

Katie sighed. "Thing is...I don't. Now that I'm here, I feel like I'm home. I don't want to leave. At least not anytime soon. I just don't know what I could do around here to be useful, both to you and to the resistance."

"Well maybe we can figure something out." Jon said. "You've only been here for a few days. Let's wait and see what we can come up with."

Katie got up. "Sounds okay to me. I'm going to bed. Have fun with your report and your computer."

"Doubt it." Jon laughed. "Night."

An hour and a half later, Hawk walked into the command center. "Anything going on?"

Jon looked up. "Nope. At least not on the war front. Katie was here to keep me company for a bit. We had an...interesting...talk."

"Oh?"

"She wants to be useful." Jon said. "Hell, so does Mitch. But..."

Hawk sighed. "Mitch wants to go."

"He told you?"

"Yeah, tonight. He wants to go to one of the outposts and do supply runs or anything..."

"What do you think of that?" Jon watched his friend closely.

"I don't like it. But I can't deny that it's a good idea. Jackson lost a pilot recently." Hawk replied. "I wouldn't have a problem if he went there. Jackson knows I'd kick his ass..."

Jon laughed. "I'd be right behind you. After getting them back after fifteen years of thinking they were dead...yeah."

"What else did Katie say?"

"She doesn't want to leave. But she doesn't know what she can do here to be useful."

"I don't want her to leave." Hawk said. "I think I can handle Mitch leaving, but not her...The question is, do we have room for her on the team?"

"If we can figure out what she can do, we will discuss that as a team. It's not a decision you and I can or should make without consulting with the others."

"Right." Hawk nodded. "So...we need to figure out if there's a place for her. And if not, maybe...the Passages? Somewhere she could be useful but safer?"

Jon nodded in return. "Agreed. Hey...what did she go to school for, did she say? I know they finished their schooling and did some work, but Mitch never said what they actually took at school prior to going to flight school."

Hawk thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. She didn't tell me. That might be a good place to start."

A few days later, they were getting ready to send Mitch to Jackson's team as their new pilot. He was planning on taking the Canadian ship he and Katie had flown down.

"I don't know how I feel about this..." Katie said as she watched her brother pack his things up. "We haven't been here that long..."

"I know." Mitch said. "But Jon and Dad said that this Jackson guy really needs a new pilot, and I want to be that pilot."

Katie nodded. "Yeah...you'll keep in touch, right?"

"If I don't, Dad will never forgive me." Mitch laughed. "That was one of his stipulations. I have to keep in touch and don't do anything stupid that will get me killed."

"I agree with those stipulations." Katie grinned. "We didn't come all this way to get ourselves killed. At least not after only a couple of weeks."

Mitch paused and looked at his little sister. "Any idea what you're going to do?"

"No. I don't want to leave here, that much I know, but I don't know if I can be useful to the team here. They certainly don't need me to be a pilot..."

"Well you can be a backup to the backup in that. But you do have training they don't have...have you told them that?"

"Not yet. I was thinking we should get you situated first." Katie replied. It was true. Prior to deciding to follow her dream and go to flight school to become a pilot, Katie had been trained as a medic. And a medic was something the Power Team did not have.

"I hope they let you join the team." Mitch said. "I bet one of those suits would look cool on you."

"Initial activation is dangerous as hell." Katie reminded him.

"So? You're a Masterson. If Dad can hack it, so can you."

"It almost killed Dad." Another reminder from the conversations they had been having with Hawk since they returned.

"True...but you'd be fine."

"I'm glad you have such confidence in me." Katie said. She paused and then said softly, "I know you'll do great as a pilot for that Jackson guy. You were always better at it than me."

"Thanks."

A few hours later, after dark, Mitch left the Power Base and headed out into the unknown to meet up with Andy Jackson.

"I'm not going to be able to relax until he's safe with Jackson." Hawk commented as they all went back to the command center.

"Me neither." Jon and Katie both replied in unison. Then they laughed.

Pilot, Scout and Tank headed off to bed. Because of Mitch leaving, Hawk had volunteered to take the first watch that night, and Jon and Katie wanted to keep him company for a little while anyway.

They sat around the computer in silence for a few minutes, but Jon finally broke the quiet with a question.

"Hey, Katie...we were wondering something." He began.

"What's that?" Katie asked.

"Well, Mitch said you guys went to school, then got jobs for awhile before going to flight school. What did you do?"

"I'm a medic. I can't do open heart surgery or anything major, but can handle most everything else. Well, maybe I could do the major things, if someone could walk me through it. I've never tried." She replied.

Hawk and Jon looked at each other. A medic? The whole team could do rudimentary stuff, but none of them had ever had any real training in the area. Here's where Katie could be a useful addition to the team. They both realized it at once.

"And yet you're wondering how you could be useful..." Jon teased. "Are you kidding me?"

Katie laughed. "I remembered after I left that night, but didn't want to come back down and bug you. Just been waiting for the right time...and I wanted to get Mitch taken care of first, since he was leaving and as far as I figured, I wasn't, at least not yet."

"We need a medic." Hawk told his daughter. "We can do very basic things on the fly, but..."

"Nothing like what I'm trained to do." Katie finished.

"Exactly." Jon confirmed. "We need to discuss this with the others."

"Of course." Katie hoped that the team would decide to ask her to join them officially, but knew her services could be useful elsewhere if they didn't. She had wanted to be a pilot, but was starting to realize that in this crazy war, her medical training would probably be a better fit.