CHAPTER TEN- ZAPRUDER FILM
STEELA
"Okay," Hutch says. "So, we have increased surveillance at our old hotspots and security in Yohlan square, they're bringing out more cops. Even if some of them are dumb enough to believe Saw's name is actually Shaquille O'Neal."
I shake my head. "This isn't right."
"What isn't right?" Hero asks.
"Hero, I've escaped from prison. They haven't sent out alerts to the people. They aren't setting up random identification checkpoints. Security should be a lot tighter, but it's not."
"I assume it's not because Dendup feels bad." Saw shrugs.
"Maybe to lure us into a false sense of security," Sierra suggests.
"Speculating isn't going to get us anywhere," Lux says. "Let's start with what we know for sure: Dendup pushed Steela off the cliff so he could use her in the Lazarus project."
"He healed all my injuries, and blackmailed Tandin into the plot by giving me his kidney." I reply.
"The original purpose of bringing in the Mary Sues was to break Steela, but now they're being used as this uber-creepy guard." Lux continues.
"But that's not enough to dethrone Dendup. The only illegal thing he's done in this whole bouquet is push Steela." Saw snaps. "We're beating around the bush. Go back to the beginning. Did he do anything while you were in the hospital, Steel?"
"No, wait!" Sierra blurts out. "I just thought of something. How do we know Dendup pushed you, Steela?"
I give her a look. "Because I felt his hands shove me back, and Hero saw it."
"Exactly. And if history knows anything, it's that eyewitness testimony is almost always wrong. If we were to go public with this, it would be filed under conspiracy theory before we could blink. Hero, think back to the cliff. Was there anybody with you, anybody who might have had a sightline?"
"Where are you going with this?" Lux asks.
Sierra looks at him. "So far, our only evidence is eyewitness testimony. But what if there was a record?"
"A record?" I ask. "Like a video?"
"What's every parent's biggest complaint about teenagers nowadays? Nobody can get off their phones. If we see anything even vaguely exciting, we take a picture of it," Sierra says. "If one of the rebels saw the gunship crashing toward the cliff…"
"They might have taken pictures." Lux interrupts. "There might be actual evidence against Dendup."
That's when Tandin speaks up and asks Hero to take a seat at the dinner table.
"Hero," he says, "Sometimes your mind remembers things that you don't know you remember. During questioning, it's helpful to mentally go back to the time we're asking about. Close your eyes, and go back to the foot of the cliff. It's hot, the gunships are shot down, your friends are cheering…"
Hero squeezes her eyes shut. "I've got it."
I'm half-tempted to ask the questions, but Tandin's the professional.
"Where are you?" he asks.
"Bottom of the cliff, next to Saw." She says. "We were using a boulder for cover. It was this big, orange thing."
"Pause that image, and take a look around, like a camera." Tandin says. "Besides Saw, is anyone else with you?"
Hero puts her head down. "No."
"All right. What happens next?"
"I see the gunship hit the cliff, Saw's too busy doing a victory dance to see what was happening. Dendup pushes Steela, she starts to fall, and Saw still doesn't notice anything. So I point and yell for him."
"What did you say?"
"'Look.' I said 'Look'."
"What about when Steela hits the ground?"
My stomach twists at the mention of me hitting the ground. I was knocked out almost instantly, but I remember the pain.
"I ran for her, and…hold on a minute. There was this guy, he passed me, right when I started running. He helped when we picked up Steela. He couldn't have been that far behind me."
"Did he have a camera?" Tandin asks.
Hero thinks for a second, and then moans.
"He was shoving a cell phone into his pocket!"
"He had to have been taping, there's no other good reason to have a phone out!" Lux exclaims.
"What did he look like?" Tandin demands, grabbing a datapad.
Hero opens her eyes. "Tall, average build, light brown hair with a beard. He was wearing a helmet and goggles, so I didn't see his eyes."
"Was it the same kind of helmet Dono wore?" Hutch asks. Hero nods, and Hutch jumps in his seat. "Guys. I borrowed his phone to call my uncle in the city. And I remember it was warm, like someone had been using it."
"What kind of phone was it?" Tandin asks, still scribbling down Hero's description.
"It was a newer model, black." Hutch says. "It had a red and gray striped case. The guy had to punch in his passcode for me, so it's password-protected. And the screen was cracked."
Black, newer model phones with cracked screens. Maybe it also has an audio jack, just like every other phone in the galaxy.
"Steela, Saw, Lux. Did you keep any record of your men?" Tandin asks.
"Just a book of names and contact information, in case they died." I reply. "Sierra and Hero, take your description and run it against a list of all known rebels. We have to find this guy before Dendup does."
SIERRA
The list of rebels is overwhelming. No less than a thousand names.
"This is going to take days." I say.
"Not necessarily." Hero contests, pointing in the corner. "There's a search icon. You can narrow down the options."
I thank the Force for the narrow-down feature.
Hero picks up the description Tandin wrote down. The videographer is a human, Caucasian male 20 to 25 years of age. He has light brown hair and a beard, and his skin is suntanned. He is approximately six feet tall and of average build.
The cell phone we think the video is stored on is a black phone about one generation back from the current model. It may be in a red and gray striped case, and the screen is cracked.
"Well it's a guy. So we can eliminate all the women." I reply.
"And then take out people who were killed or wounded," Hero says. "And when you're done, narrow it down to 20 to 25 year olds."
"Okay, okay." I mumble, bringing up the page.
"Can you put their pictures up?" Hero asks.
I select the picture icon, and the images pop up.
Hero's eyes pop out.
"That's him!" She cries, pointing.
"Lux!"
Lux and Steela race in. "Did you find him?"
I pull up the videographer's page. "His name is Oswald Ruby, but people call him Oz. He's a twenty three-year-old college student studying history."
"Someone like that would film history in the making," Lux muses.
"I'm looking him up in the directory," Steela calls. "When I get his address, we're going."
LUX
When Steela got Oz's address, she told Saw and I. Then we waited until Sierra went into the refresher and Hero was talking with Tandin.
And we took off like a shot.
"The girls are not going to be happy with us." Hutch says.
"Yeah, but Sierra and Hero are huge security risks." I reply. "We're not going to put the witness, the videographer, and someone who's been to jail two times in a week in the same spot. That would be like putting a bulls-eye on our backs."
"But we're bringing Steela?"
"It's the only way to convince him." Steela says, pulling her hoodie even more forward and adjusting her huge sunglasses. At least she doesn't have Hero's makeup on.
"When we get to Oz's, what's the plan?" Saw asks.
"We have to get him somewhere safe," Steela says. "And we need the video."
"Saw, check the map. Where are we going?" I ask, making a right hand turn.
Saw glowers down at his phone. I think he's still sore over not being allowed to drive or else Tandin will boil him alive.
"You were supposed to have gone left, Bonteri!"
"It's all right, we'll just go around the block." I say, making another turn.
"The important thing is that we get there before Dendup does," Steela says. "Get the tape, and get Oz out."
I read the house numbers. "This is him."
"Park around the block. Last thing we need is Dendup seeing our car, and getting Oz and Steela." Saw orders.
I park in somebody's garage, and open the door. When Steela walks out, the wind catches her hood.
"Keep your hood up, Tesla." Saw replies.
"I hate that name so much," Steela mumbles.
Saw smiles. "How about 'Tessie,' then?"
"Saw, you believe in the end of the world?"
Since this is becoming eerily similar to Sierra's and my arguments, I butt between them.
"Stop it. Do you want to be arguing when Oswald answers the door?"
Silence.
"Thought so."
I ring the doorbell.
There's some shuffling, and then a man opens the door a crack.
"Are you Oswald Ruby?" I ask.
"Yeah, can I help you?"
"Do you own a camera, by any chance?"
The door opens a little farther, and the man from the file fills the frame.
"Commanders Gerrera and Bonteri! Uh, come in." he says, stepping aside. Dear Force, we didn't know this guy from Yoda until a few minutes ago, but he recognize us right off the bat, and without Saw's soul patch. Yikes!
He stops for a second. "Um, hi?" He says to Steela. "I'm Oz."
Saw jumps in before Steela can do or say anything. "This is my sister, Tessie."
Steela's gonna serve his head on a silver tray if he says that one more time.
Okay, think Lux, think! It's not like Oz is going to give up the video if I just ask. How can I even be sure he still has it?
"Oz, what time is it?" I ask.
Oz digs into his pocket, and pulls out a cell phone. A black cell phone. With a gray and red case.
Eureka!
"Nice phone," Saw points out.
"Thanks," Oz says. "It's ten hundred hours, by the way. Is something going on?"
"Yeah," Saw says. "We need to talk to you about your phone. More specifically, your videos."
Oz shoves his phone into his pocket, reaches for something with his other hand, and suddenly I am staring at the business end of a blaster pistol.
"I knew this day would come," he mutters. "But I ain't no Abraham Zapruder. Too bad for you."
Steela clears her throat.
"Oz, do you have a video of me?"
"What?" Oz demands, swiveling his aim to her. "Who are you? Why would I have a video of you?"
Steela sighs, and flicks her hood down.
She has her sunglasses halfway off before Oz screams.
"Shut him up!" Steela orders.
Saw rushes forward, takes Oz's gun, and covers his mouth.
"Oz. Listen to me." Steela orders. "It's me, Steela Gerrera. And I'm not dead. Now, let's do this again. Do you have a video of me?"
Oz nods, and grabs his phone before punching in the passcode, tapping the screen a few times, and bringing up the video.
He presses PLAY.
The first shot is of the gunship careening into the mountain, but you can clearly see two figures: a King in a white suit, and a young woman. Steela.
In the video, Steela pushes the King down, shielding him with her body.
And then the cliff starts to crack.
"Oh, Force." Oz's voice says.
Steela and Dendup have staggered to their feet. Of the two, she is closest to safety, but Dendup has a clear shot. You can see Steela's head turning, looking for the best options.
And then Dendup raises his hands.
And shoves them into the small of her back.
He jumps onto solid ground, and the boulder falls from beneath Steela's feet. She slides down the cliff face, scrambling for some purchase.
"Oh my Force," the Oz in the video keens. "Oh my Force!"
And in the here and now: "Turn it off," Steela says. "Please, guys. I don't want to see it."
But it's too late. The speakers blast the sound of a shot, and then Oz's, Hero's, and Saw's screaming.
I pause the video. "Has anyone else seen this?" I ask.
"We need a copy on a holodisk." Saw interrupts.
"Give me the phone, Oz. Go pack a bag," Steela orders.
"Why?"
"Because you're not safe here." Steela says, grabbing the phone from him and setting down at his computer. "Lux, you have the holodisk, right?"
"Of course," I hand her the chip, and she plugs it and the phone into the modem.
"I was gonna do that." Saw mumbles.
"Why are images of a tank coming back to me?" Steela replies, rolling her eyes.
The files pop up, and Steela transfers the video to the holodisk. Making absolutely sure it's saved, she pulls the disk.
Okay, Lux. We have Steela herself. We have the witness. We have the proof. We have Tandin. What else do we need?
We need to keep Oz safe. And quiet.
Oz walks back in.
I point to him. "Go to a hotel, and check in under a fake name."
"A creative fake name." Steela interrupts, shooting both Saw and I a look.
"And whatever you do," Saw says. "Don't tell anybody about what's happened here. Just stay at the hotel and…"
"And await further instructions." I deadpan.
Oz nods, still in shock, and runs out the door.
(A/N: Hello again, and thank you to Starwarshobbitfics and Kasai1214 for your reviews. And especially to Kasai1214, for sharing her theory. It helped a lot, thank you.
Just a quick clarification for any readers who are looking at their screens wondering what Oz is talking about when he says he "ain't no Abraham Zapruder," and why I named the chapter "Zapruder Film."
The Zapruder film is the only known record of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. It is a home video shot by Abraham Zapruder, who was watching the president go by in his motorcade. Zapruder managed to capture both shots on film, and from this police were able to determine where the shots came from. While the JFK assassination is the subject of many conspiracy theories, this helps cement a little bit of the truth for everyone.
Also, Oz's name is the last names of Kennedy's (Lee Harvey Oswald) and Oswald's (Jack Ruby) killers. I am a huge history buff, so I wanted to put that in there. And I while I was planning for this story, I thought "Come on, the rebels are mostly high school and college kids…somebody had to have gotten the cliff scene on tape!"
Anyways, history rant over. Please drop a review! I'll see you all soon.)