8.i. Tragedy
Shadow and Maria waited in one of the side chambers in the sickbay area. Following the broadcast instructions, they had left Professor Gerald's wing and gone to the medical area to await evacuation with the other patients who required special treatment. Since Maria did not live in the medical center, they had been sent to wait in one of the private consultation rooms. Shadow "paced", two long skating glides from one wall to the opposite, then two more back to his starting point. Something about this evacuation did not seem right.
Maria sat on the couch, with a Heal Unit lying next to her; her last one, perhaps, since they could not be generated on Earth. Shadow suspected that much of her interest in the evacuation broadcast was forced, as she tried to avoid thinking about her probable fate once they arrived on Earth. He had been assured that they would have special quarters prepared for her, and he knew that her immune system was currently working normally, but he knew also - and knew that she knew - that after this last Heal Unit was used the toxins would erode her white cell function and render her completely vulnerable within a very few weeks. At the moment, though, she appeared intent on the evacuation news being shown on the colony screens.
"Shadow?" He stopped his frustrated back-and-forth glide and looked at the girl. Maria was frowning at the screen. "Look at this - do you notice anything...odd?"
The black and red hedgehog turned to regard the current clip. His brows drew together as he frowned. "Why are they re-running part of the evacuation?"
"They aren't - well, they say they aren't. That's supposed to be Section G-8."
"Those people live in B-section, near the Loop, and we saw them evacuated over an hour ago." Shadow felt his heart rate start to speed up. Something was very wrong, he knew it. He just had no idea what, or what to do about it.
"That's what I thought," Maria agreed, "but I wanted to see if you thought so too. What do you think it means?"
Shadow caught the tremor in her voice, and moved to sit next to her on the couch. "Probably nothing," he lied reassuringly. Someone got the video feeds mixed up perhaps." He placed a hand lightly on top of hers. "Have they said anything more about why we're being evacuated?"
"N-no." Maria pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, bracing her heels on the edge of the cushions. "Just the same 'Nothing to worry about, just a precaution' stuff they've been saying all along. If there's really nothing to worry about, why do we have to go?"
"I don't know," Shadow admitted. "But if there's really nothing wrong, maybe they won't actually take us down to Earth. Maybe that's why sickbay and the research wing are being left until last, in case they can fix the problem and not have to interrupt the experiments or risk the patients that need to be here." He didn't believe a word of it himself, and whether Maria did or not he couldn't tell. They both regarded the screen on the wall opposite, where the first shuttles were shown disembarking their passengers on Earth.
"Hey! There's Mokie!" Maria exclaimed. "But, his parents are researchers, they're supposed to still be here."
"They evacuated the school first," Shadow reminded her. "His parents probably are still here–" He broke off, listening. There, an odd sound - and a loud scream that made Maria jump.
"Shadow! What–"
"Stay there," he ordered, moving to the doorway and looking out. Seeing nothing he glided silently up the hall and peeked around the corner into the doctors' lounge. A soldier stood there, over two bodies lying on the floor. As Shadow watched, one of the men on the floor stirred, and the soldier fired again, his gun producing the odd muffled sound that had puzzled the hedgehog the first time.
Shadow ducked back before he was seen. Mind racing, he skated back to Maria and grabbing a hand pulled her off the couch. "Don't make a sound," he warned her. Then they exited as quietly as possible through the empty waiting room, away from the lounge and the victims within.
Once out in the main halls, Shadow cut off his skates and started to run. The skates were quieter and faster, but Maria could not run so fast, nor so quietly and leaving her behind was not an option. Shadow still wasn't sure what was going on, but there was an escape pod in the Professor's lab and if people in GUN uniforms were shooting doctors he intended to take Maria and get out. As they pounded down the corridor as fast as the girl could go, they heard other guns firing - not all muffled - and screams.
At the first scream Maria tried to hesitate, but Shadow clung to her hand and pulled her on. The second scream, after a round of gunshots, seemed to spur her to greater speed - but she was unused to the effort and even a cheetah's best would have seemed too slow to Shadow at this point. They turned into the research area and almost tripped over a body lying in the hall in a puddle of blood. Maria whimpered, but kept running; Shadow squeezed her hand in helpless sympathy. They were nearly at the observation room when everything went wrong.
Shadow was pulling Maria on as fast as she could go, hearing nothing now over their own breathing and the pounding of their feet on the floor and his heart in his ears when - "Stop!" a voice rang out behind them.
Shadow glanced back at Maria panting desperately behind him, looked beyond her to see a quartet of soldiers in the doorway. Then, the girl stumbled. Her hand pulled free of Shadow's grip. He skidded to a stop and looked back again to see her hesitate, looking back, then start towards him again; the lead soldier raised his gun... and fired.
"Maria!" She stumbled forward as if shoved, raised one hand to her other arm - then reached towards him desperately as she started running again. He grabbed the now-bloody hand she extended and dragged her after him, ducking into the lab, spinning back to hit the door's lock pad as she ran for the controls to the capsule.
"Shadow, get in!" she ordered, "I'll just set it for launch..." The fingers of one hand flew over the keys but she leaned against the control unit for support. He could see the blood on her other arm - and realized they'd left the Heal Unit back in sickbay. No time now...he opened the door to the capsule and turned back towards the girl.
"Open this door!" came from the hall, followed by a gunshot, a second shot - and the door flew open. The soldier stood in the doorway, gun raised. "Miss, get away from that panel! NOW!"
Shadow couldn't move. He stood there in the doorway of the capsule feeling like his heart was lodged in his throat. Maria stopped her tapping. Placing her good hand flat on the console, she slowly stood up straight, glancing sideways at the soldiers as if afraid to look at them directly. She swayed slightly as she shifted a glance to Shadow...then grabbed the release lever and pulled it as she sprang for the capsule.
For Shadow time all but stopped. His own voice rang in his ears " Maarriiaa!" The gun fired, he saw the girl spin in a full circle, a spray of blood from somewhere, he flinched back, just momentarily - but it was long enough. Suddenly time sprang into motion again - the capsule slammed shut as the lab's secondary door dropped from the ceiling; intended to keep air from escaping the ARK when the capsule was launched, it also shut the soldiers out. Shadow, suddenly trapped in the capsule, pounded his fists futilely against the clear walls. He could see Maria, lying face-down on the floor. Slowly, she lifted her head, propping an elbow under herself, "Shadow..."
"What? Maria..."
She shook her head slightly, gasping for breath. "Shadow...I beg of you... Please, do it for me...for a better future..."
"Maria!" He had to get out, he had to get the door open to help her!
"...for all the people who live on that planet..." Her voice was fading, but her eyes burned brighter than he could ever remember seeing them - this was that important to her, "...give them a chance to be happy. Let them live for their dreams. Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason that you were brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog." Her head drooped slightly, the arm supporting her trembled.
Shadow was standing still now, both hands flat against the capsule wall. "I will, Maria. I promise you, I'll help them. I–" his voice broke, he knew he could do nothing now, but he had to make her believe this much, "I promise. I love you." The capsule shifted and dropped, down through the floor; he thought he saw Maria collapsing again as he was ejected from the ARK. He collapsed himself, huddling on the floor of the escape pod, sobbing for the first time in his life. She was gone, dead, murdered by the soldiers, but WHY?! He didn't know, he wasn't sure he cared - all that mattered was the fact that he had been supposed to take care of her and he hadn't. He'd been trapped in the capsule for flinching back when he should have gone forward; he should had sent her into the capsule while he set the controls; he should have...he should have done SOMETHING to save her, or prevent her getting shot. He had failed. He was the Ultimate Life-form but he had failed to protect his sister. But he would keep his promise to her. He could do that much at least.
Curled up in a ball, he didn't notice the restraining field activating, preventing him from moving. Preoccupied with shock and grief, he barely noticed odd odor as the capsule released its sleeping gas. The pod could bring up to three people down alive safely, but not comfortably, so all passengers would make the descent asleep in the restraining fields. Unfortunately for Shadow, although the gas induced sleep, it did not prevent nightmares.
