Meeting Katherine

Part IV

She was so angry with him she wanted to hit him. "Why are you saying this? Is this some kind of a joke?"

Actor calmly said "It's the truth, Katherine. I have lived and worked with a man who is a Guardian for almost a year. We are friends."

The look of anger on Katherine's face was clear for all to see. She said sarcastically, "And you work together, play together and have long philosophical conversations… Stop it now, Actor or I'm leaving. God why are you doing this? I know about Guardians. I know that the average intelligence scores are too low for them to do little more than say yes or no. They aren't capable of carrying on a conversation, let alone holding a job, without a handler to tell them what to do. They have to have handlers because they can't function on their own. As hard as their lives are under G-CAT guardianship, it is still a much better life than being institutionalized, where they'd be warehoused. Actor, why?"

Actor took her hands "Until the Guardian was given to my team. I believed exactly as you. Over the months we have worked together he has shown us that everything we've been told about Guardians is a lie. G-CAT lies to enslave and torture normal people whose only problem or crime is that their senses are enhanced. Life in an institution would be better; at least there they would still have a name and be considered human beings. Do you know that G-CAT personnel refer to them as it? Not he but it like one would refer to an animal. Even people on the outside have asked how our dog is. On the back of their uniforms it actually says Property of G-CAT. It's sickening. They are no different from you or I and we would act the same way if we were forced to take the damn drug they force them to take. Look around you. Any Guardian not taking the drug or wearing the collar could walk around the park and no one would ever know."

Katherine said, "I'm a psychiatrist I would know."

Actor asked, "Would you? Then look around. My friend is here. Find him." Actor challenged her knowing that Chief was listening to every word from afar, he was also doing this to reinforce the idea in Chief's mind that no one could tell he was a Guardian, not even a so-called expert.

Katherine stunned, "You brought him here without his handler. Actor they could say you kidnapped him and didn't have control of him. They could throw you in jail for life."

"They could say I stole him. Remember he is considered to be property, an animal, not a human being. You steal things. You kidnap people. I assure you he would never hurt anyone unless he was threatened, besides the man who holds the dubious title of handler arranged this. He is one of the friends that wants to help. Now you said you'd know a Guardian if you saw one. So find him."

She looked at him with disgust "This is ridiculous but…Alright." She began to scan around the park looking for the Guardian.

Actor had seen Chief standing at a food stand appearing to wait for an order and to see if she would recognize him as a Guardian. Actor calmed himself as best he could. He couldn't let Chief see or sense his doubt. He knew if somehow she was able to pick Chief out he would run, terrified that everyone could recognize him as a Guardian.

Katherine took her time and then she pointed to a young man sitting under a nearby tree holding a letter in his hand. "Next time you try this show your Guardian how to pretend to read a letter, if indeed he is a Guardian."

Actor looked up at where she was pointing and saw a thin, dark-haired young man holding what looked to be a letter up to the sun. "Nice try, but no. Would you like to try again?"

Katherine "No I didn't come here to play idiotic games with you or be treated like a fool. I'm leaving."

Before she could get up there was a man standing in front of them holding a cup of tea. Katherine looked up when she heard him ask quietly "Ma'am?" She had seen him at the stand and she guessed he had seen how upset she was and had come over to see if she was alright.

She looked up into concerned, dark, sad eyes and said, "I'm alright. I just had some bad news. I'm leaving now. Thank you for your concern." She explained.

As she gathered her things to leave she heard the stranger say, "Actor is telling you the truth. I am a Guardian." She looked up and froze watching as he turned down the high collar of his sweater to show her the telltale marks that years of wearing the too tight Guardian training collar had left on his neck.

She shook her head "No. No. I don't know why you're doing this. It's some sick game."

"Please ma'am I don't blame you for not wanting to help me but don't be mad at Actor. He really meant well." She looked up at the young man in front of her. He was shorter than Actor by a few inches, healthy looking and well-built. Then she really looked into those dark brown eyes, filled with so much pain they made her want to touch his hand and promise to make the pain go away. Long ago she had seen eyes filled with pain like his and she had no doubt in her mind that his man was a Guardian.

Actor said softly "Katherine this is my friend, Chief. Chief this is my friend, Dr. Katherine Blaine."

Katherine began to regain some of her composure "Please sit down Chief because I don't think I could stand up now even if there was an air raid."

As Chief sat down he handed the cup of tea to her. "You're upset. You should drink some. It will help you feel better."

"Thank you." She took a sip of the warm liquid and closed her eyes. When she opened them she found them both staring at her with deep concern on their faces.

Then for some reason she felt compelled to tell them her story. A story she had never been able to tell anyone. And she began:

"I was sixteen and on my way home from school when I saw police cars in front of my house. When I got up to the house I saw a Guardian with a black collar kneeling on the ground and another man in a suit holding his leash. Then my aunt ran up to me and told me a man had taken my younger sister. She was just nine years old. She was the fourth little girl who had been taken in three weeks. They had found the first little girl's mutilated body a few days before in a garbage can. Terri, my little sister had been playing in the backyard while our mother was making dinner. Mom looked out the window just in time to see a man carrying Terri away.

All the time my aunt was telling me what had happened, I kept staring at the Guardian and somehow I knew…I knew he would find her. He would bring her home. Then he looked up at me and nodded as if somehow he had heard my thoughts. It was just for a second and I know Guardians can't read minds but I will always believe I heard him, in my mind, promising to find and save her." Katherine stopped for a moment lost in the memory of that terrible day.

"He did, you know. In less than an hour he had found her and he found her before that bastard hurt her. The Guardian had saved my sister but everyone was thanking the Handler as if he had found her all by himself. I wanted to shout out to everyone that the Handler didn't do anything. The Guardian had saved her but I knew no one would listen. So I whispered thank you, I know you're the real hero to him and he looked up at me in surprise, then smiled just for a second and dropped his head down. I looked around but no one had seen. They were all too busy laughing and drinking and patting themselves on the back. I heard them telling the Handler what a hero he was. All the time the real hero was silently kneeling on the cold wet ground.

Katherine's voice was flat and she had a far away look on her face as she remembered the rest of her story. "No one thought to get him something to drink or eat so I ran into the house to get him something and I was carrying it out when I saw the Handler take a step back and stumble against the Guardian. He got angry and grabbed the Guardian's collar dragging him to his feet and the Guardian started choking from the collar being pulled too tight. Then the Handler backhanded him and the Guardian fell hitting his head against a rock. The Handler didn't notice or he just didn't care because he started kicking him, he didn't see the blood flowing into the grass but...I did. Finally, he stopped and knelt to check the Guardian's pulse. He stood up; I can still hear him as if he were right here, he said damn, now I've got to get another one. Sorry about the mess folks, I'll have our meat wagon come and clean it up right away. He called the real hero, my hero, it. Then I heard everyone telling the handler not to worry that accidents happen."

"I couldn't move. I just stood their staring at the Guardian lying on the ground. Then the Handler came by me and saw the drink and food on the little tray I had and said what a thoughtful young lady I was to bring him something to eat and drink. I wanted to scream at him and tell him that it wasn't for him… but I just stood there."

"Later when no one was looking I went over to the Guardian, I think I was hoping that somehow he was just asleep. I touched him and he was so cold all I could think of was to get him a blanket from my bed. I didn't want him to be cold and alone. A little while later a truck came and the men rolled his body into my blanket and took him away. It was stupid really but I remember thinking now he'll be warm wherever they take him. He won't have to lie on the cold ground anymore."

Tears were falling down her face as she continued, "I was afraid to leave the house alone after that. I made my mother walk me to school when we took Terri to her school. Everyone kept telling me that it was OK because the G-CAT Handler had found the monster that took my sister and killed the other little girls and the monster was going to be executed and never be able to hurt anyone again. I couldn't tell them that I wasn't afraid of that monster, I was afraid of the other monster, the monster that beat to death, the Guardian, the real hero, and that I was afraid of all our friends and neighbors that let him do it."

She looked at Chief and touched his face. "I thought that when I was old enough I could go to work for G-CAT and find away to help Guardians. I wanted to make sure Guardians never had to suffer like my Guardian had but when I found out what they did at the Institute…How everyone there was expected to treat Guardians. What Trainers and Handlers were taught to do…expected to do …I couldn't. I couldn't help any of them. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She wept openly now and Actor watched as Chief moved close to her gently putting his arms around her, tucked her under his chin as if she were a hurt child and began talking to her softly telling her that he understood and so did the other Guardian. Saying any words he could think of to give her comfort while she was lost in her pain.

Actor sat their quietly amazed at Chief's capacity for kindness and compassion. After all the years of torture, humiliation and degradation he was still capable of reaching out to ease another's suffering. Chief was perhaps the only one that could truly help Katherine begin to heal the deep open wound she had been carrying all these years, by the very nature of what he was and the type of man that he was.