CHAPTER THREE
The next morning, while Katie was still asleep, Jon called a team meeting, to discuss what he and Hawk had learned the night before.
Tank, Scout and Pilot looked at the other two men expectantly. They were curious, especially since meetings didn't usually get called first thing in the morning unless it was really important.
"Is there new developments about Dread?" Scout asked.
"No." Jon shook his head. "We wanted to talk to you about Katie."
"What about her?" Tank wondered. "She's a great girl. We like having her here." Scout and Pilot nodded their agreement with that statement.
"So do I." Jon grinned. "And I'm pretty sure no one's happier than Hawk that she's here."
"True." Hawk confirmed. "The question we have, though, is, do you think there's a place for her on the team?"
The others were silent for a moment, thinking. Finally, Pilot said,
"We don't need another person to fly ships...if there's ever a time that I can't, Hawk can. Or you could, Captain."
Jon nodded. "We were thinking that. It's true that we don't need another pilot."
"Can she do anything else, though?" Scout asked.
"We remembered that Mitch had said the first day they were here that they had both finished schooling, then worked for a bit before going to flight school." Hawk replied. "So last night we asked her what she went to school for. And her answer made us think she may have a spot on the team after all. If you three agree with us, that is."
"What is she trained as?" Tank asked.
"A medic." Jon said. "Pretty much the only thing she doesn't have experience doing is major surgeries. She says she could probably do them if she had someone to walk her through them, though. She can definitely do more than any of us are trained to do."
"We could use a medic." Pilot said. "It would be useful if one of us got hurt in battle."
"Yes." Hawk agreed. "We'd probably have to train her in combat, if we wanted her to come on missions, but her medical training would be most useful. And useful is something she wants to be. She came here to help fight the war, just like Mitch did."
"It would be nice to see what the sixth Power Suit looks like...and does..." Scout grinned.
"Shall we vote on it?" Jon asked. The team nodded. He continued. "So the question put to the team is, should we ask Katie to join us as our sixth member, and more importantly, as our medic?" He turned to Hawk.
"Yes." Hawk said. "I hope you didn't expect me to say anything else?"
"Nope." Jon laughed. He nodded at Tank.
"Yes."
"Scout?" Jon asked.
"Yes." Scout voted.
Finally, Jon turned to Pilot, who smiled before he could even say her name. "Yes." she said.
Jon smiled back. "And I vote yes as well. It's unanimous, as votes like this one should be."
That afternoon, Jon called another meeting, and this time invited Katie to join them. He knocked on her door.
"Hey."
"What's up?" Katie asked him.
"We're about to have a meeting, and I was wondering if you'd join us?"
Katie was surprised. "Sure...but aren't team meetings for the team...?"
"Yeah, but this one concerns you. C'mon."
"All right." Katie got up and walked with him down to the control room.
"We aren't going to beat around the bush." Jon said. "Hawk?"
Hawk nodded and addressed his daughter. "Jon and I were talking last night after you went to bed, and we discussed our thinking with the rest of the team this morning. We all agreed on what we felt was the best for the future of the team."
"Okay..." Katie said. She had a feeling she knew what they were going to ask, and it was hard to keep from grinning.
"Would you join our team in your capacity as a medic, and occasional extra back-up pilot?" Jon asked. They decided he should do the official asking, since he was the Captain.
Now, Katie smiled. "Yes." She said, without hesitation.
"Woohoo!" Scout cheered. Katie laughed. That man was a real piece of work.
"I just have one question. Well, technically two, but they're related." Jon asked. "I assume your flight training was with the Canadian military...?"
Katie nodded. "Yes. Didn't you notice the uniform I was wearing when I got here?"
"Not really, I was too busy being shocked that you and Mitch were alive." Jon admitted. "So my other question is, what was...or is...your rank in the military?"
"Fair enough." Katie replied. "And in the eyes of the military, I am Private Katherine Masterson, but let me make it clear right now, the only person ever allowed to call me Katherine is him...and only if he's mad at me." She pointed to her dad.
"Not even me?" Jon joked.
"No! You weren't allowed when we were kids, and you aren't allowed now, unless it's in some kind of ceremony or promotion or something." Katie said firmly.
"Since we're talking about names..." Hawk said. "What should we call you? I mean besides Katie, of course."
Katie laughed. "The four of you each have a nickname that reflects your job on the team, or how your Power Suit enables you. You're called Hawk because your suit enables you to fly. Pilot's called Pilot because she flies the ship. Me? I'm a medic. I'll answer to that. Just don't call me doctor. I don't have my Phd."
"That works." Jon said. "Now...your Power Suit. You want to power on now? Later? It's up to you. Things have been pretty quiet on the Dread front the last while."
"Which means he's up to no good." Katie reminded him. "You know that better than I do. But...can I do it after supper? I admit I'm a little nervous."
"Sure."
The team understood her hesitation and nervousness regarding her Power Suit. There was a chance the activation of the suit could kill her, although it obviously hadn't happened to them.
That night after supper, Jon handed Katie the blue suit they all wore under their uniforms. It was the basis for her Power Suit and none of them knew what it was going look like or how would aid Katie's abilities as a medic.
Katie took the suit to her room and put it on. She stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself.
"Wow. Blue spandex? Really, Stuart? Well, whatever works, I guess!" she said to her reflection. She made a note to ask Mentor if he knew why the suits had been made the way they had. She took a deep breath, let it out and walked out of her room, to rejoin the rest of the team in the command center.
"On a scale of one to ten, my anxiety is currently hovering around 9.5." Katie joked as she entered the room.
"You don't have to do this..." Hawk reminded his daughter.
"Yes I do." Katie replied instantly. "The last thing you guys need is your freakin' medic out there in the field without any kind of armor or protection. I'd end up getting my ass handed to me and wind up being absolutely no use to you at all. But the idea that this could kill me is kind of unnerving, you know?"
"We all went through it. We know exactly how you feel." Scout said. "Well, except maybe Tank. He's never been afraid of anything."
"This is true." Tank chuckled. "But it still was a little unnerving for me as well."
"That didn't help." Katie laughed. "But thanks for trying. I'm just going to go ahead and do it because the more we talk about it, the less likely I am to do it tonight, and the longer it gets put off, the worse it'll be."
She stepped onto the machine and put her hands where Jon had told her to. She took another deep breath and let it out, not saying a word.
"Whenever you're ready." Jon prompted quietly.
Katie grinned. "I don't think I'm ever going to be ready for this." She replied. "If tonight is the night that this kills someone...that would be me...I love you all and hope that you kick Dread's butt and end this war." She paused and looked at her father. "Dad?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"It would probably be better for you to not watch this. Just in case."
"Good point." Hawk nodded. He walked around to the other side of the console so he couldn't see Katie on the machine. Once he was done, Katie took another breath.
"Well...here goes nothing." She said, and closed her eyes. "Power on."
Powerful currents flooded through her body as her Power Suit activated for the first time and conformed itself to her body and her abilities. It was over in a matter of seconds, and the blue spandex suit was now equipped with armor, weapons and a helmet. Katie removed her hands from the machine and stood there, still not opening her eyes.
"Katie?" Hawk asked, coming back around.
Katie opened her eyes and blinked in surprise. She hadn't even realized there was a helmet on her head and a visor covering her eyes until she did so. "Whoa."
"You okay?" Pilot asked her.
Katie quickly assessed herself. "Yup. Little freaked out, but yeah. It's safe to say I'm okay." She reached up to touch the helmet and accidentally hit one of the buttons on the right hand side of it, activating part of the suits functions. Suddenly she was looking at team as if she was looking at their x-rays. "Oh man, now that is cool."
"What?" Tank asked.
"Well I guess I just hit a button..." She hit it again and they went back to normal. One more time showed her x-rays again. "Nice! Okay, so when I hit this button, it's like I'm looking at full body x-rays of you guys. So if we're out in battle or something, and something happens, I can quickly check for broken bones without having to physically check. I wonder...let me try something. Stay there." She got off the machine and backed away from them until she was as far as she could get in the room. Still saw x-rays.
"What are you trying to figure out?" Jon asked.
"How far away I can be and still use this function. This room isn't big enough." Katie replied. She hit the button again. "I'll have to figure it out later. That's kind of important information."
"I wonder what else the suit will enable you to do...?" Hawk was curious.
"I don't know." Katie said. "Maybe not a whole lot more. I mean, I'm a medic. I'm not sure how much help the suit can be, other than to provide me with some protection when I'm trying to do my job." She powered down the suit and grinned. "Well. Six out of six people have successfully activated a Power Suit and not died. I'd say your dad did good, Jon."
"Yeah, he sure did."
That night, as Katie was getting ready for bed, she saw Pilot go past her room and called out to her.
"Pilot!"
The younger woman stopped and poked her head into Katie's room. "Yeah?"
"Come in here for a minute, would you?" Katie asked.
"Sure." Pilot entered the room and sat down on the chair. "What's up?"
Katie was thoughtful. "I've been thinking, and I wanted to tell you I think it took a lot of guts for you to tell me about your past when you barely knew me and didn't know how I'd react. I'm not sure I would have been able to do that, if I was in your position."
Pilot blushed awkwardly and looked down for a moment before she spoke in response. "I can tell the guys anything." She began. "And Hawk is like a father to me...he's probably helped me the most since they found me than anyone else. I took a risk that you would be like him."
Katie nodded. "Yeah...I'm stubborn like him anyway!" she laughed. Then she got serious again. "But, something else I've been thinking about...do you think there are others? I mean, kids in Volcania who have found out the truth but who haven't found a way to leave yet?"
Pilot sighed. "I know of at least one...her name is Erin. I know she knows, at least partially, because I'm the one who told her."
"Really?" Katie was intrigued.
"Yeah. A few weeks ago, we needed to get a vaccine to stop an epidemic from wiping out what's left of the people out here. The only place the vaccine could be found was in Volcania. So I put on my old uniform and snuck in and stole the vaccine. While I was there, I ran into Erin, and had a bit of a fight with her. I won...and I told her some things while I was doing what I needed to do. As I was leaving, she got herself untied and followed me. She had the opportunity to kill me...which would have made her a hero to them, as I'm a traitor to their cause...but she didn't. I'd like to think that she's remembering what I told her and that maybe someday she'll find a way to get out."
"You think she's told anyone else?"
Pilot shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging behind her. "No. Too risky. If she told the wrong person, it would go back to Dread faster than you could imagine and she'd be killed."
"Yeah...that makes sense." Katie sighed.
"You're...?"
"I'm thinking you can't be the only one. And neither can she. People aren't stupid, and Dread isn't really a machine. Others had to have seen the things that made you realize what Dread has been saying is wrong, even if they choose to stay and pretend they didn't."
Pilot shrugged. "People aren't stupid, no, but fear can be hard to overcome. It took me quite awhile after learning the truth to actually put a plan together and pull it off. And I was completely terrified that I'd be found out. I know what happens when a person gets digitized, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, except maybe for Dread himself, but he'd probably enjoy it."
"Maybe, maybe not." Katie chuckled. "I'm kind of wondering if we're not in over our heads..."
"If we are, we fight the good fight and go down guns blazing." Hawk interrupted from the doorway. Neither of the girls had known he was there, but he had been listening for a couple of moments.
Both girls looked at him, startled. He laughed, and leaned on the doorjamb. "We're doing a good thing...the right thing. No matter what happens, we can be proud of ourselves for that."
"Yeah." Katie agreed.
Hawk looked at his daughter. "You should stop talking and get some sleep. You're relieving Tank in a few hours, remember."
"Yeah, you're right." Katie nodded. They had decided earlier that there was no reason why she shouldn't start taking her turn on the night watch immediately, and was taking second shift that very night. "Good night, you guys."
Pilot followed Hawk out of the room. "Night." Both said, as they left.
Five hours later, at exactly 2 am, Katie groggily made her way into the control room, where Tank was sitting. She blinked a few times and grumbled. "I think I'd prefer first shift over second..."
"Yup." Tank nodded. "Coffee helps."
"I don't drink coffee, you know that." Katie reminded him. It had been quite the discussion in the first day she and Mitch were there, when the team found out that Katie didn't drink coffee.
"You'll start." Tank chuckled. He stood up and stretched.
"Quiet so far?"
"Yeah. It usually is. There's only a few nights that something actually happens."
"With my luck..." Katie grinned. "Tonight will be one of those nights."
Tank shrugged. "Doubt it. Have a good night."
"You too, Tank." Katie replied, plopping herself down in the chair he recently vacated.
Fifteen minutes later, Katie was trying coffee. She poured herself a cup, put in some milk and sugar and tried it. "Blech! How on earth do people drink this stuff?" she asked no one in particular.
Mentor heard her and appeared on his screen. "I believe it is what they call an acquired taste."
Katie laughed. "Well it's a taste this girl won't be acquiring any time soon. But how on earth am I going to stay awake?"
"When Pilot first started, she used the time to ask me things...to learn the things she didn't know. Which was, well, everything, more or less." Mentor told her. "The others will talk to me occasionally, or read, or play some music."
"Music doesn't wake everybody else up?"
"No."
"Hmm. I may have to look into that." Katie looked at Mentor thoughtfully. "It's so weird..."
"That I resemble Dr. Power?"
"Yeah. How often did Dad and Jon slip and call you the wrong thing?"
Mentor smiled. "Frequently. But Dr. Power knew that would happen. He made me in his image so that they would never be without him, on a certain level. And now that applies to you, as well."
Katie nodded. "Yeah, I guess it does." She sighed and focused on the monitors again. "Please let this night be uneventful..." she whispered.
