Published May 25, 2018

Takes place sometime before "Escape from Beta Traz."

"Give a Little More Than You Take"


He who gains intelligence is his own best friend; he who keeps understanding will be successful. ~ Proverbs 19:8, New American Bible


By now Matt should have known to stay on his toes, to avoid being caught off guard by unexpected events. And yet, weeks and months in the monotonous prison system, without Shiro or his father to encourage him, had dulled his mind and body. So when the big moment he had been hoping and praying for finally came, it took him completely by surprise.

He was almost too shocked to react, except to shield his face from the dust and debris thrown up by the explosions. Some part of his brain wondered how the explosives worked, what materials could destroy the Galra infrastructure that seemed so impenetrable to the prisoners. Most of them were trying to either hide or run, though neither action was very efficacious: there was nowhere to hide, and running might put them in greater danger.

Then there were new people, neither Galra nor sentries, rushing through the chaos. Their features were hidden by masks and scarves, but judging from their builds, they did not seem to be of any species Matt had learned to recognize. One of them stopped long enough to pull his arm, trying to get him to stand and run. "Come on," a voice he thought might be female urged him.

"What are you doing?" It was all Matt could think to say as he tried to keep up.

Her answer was impatient. "I'm giving you the chance to escape. You don't want to stay here, do you?"

He understood that it was a rhetorical question, but his mind still had difficulty believing that this was really happening. Or maybe it was his heart that was incredulous. Matt's mind raced through his options in a matter of seconds. His father would want him to escape when he had the chance, but Matt didn't want to leave without him and Shiro. On the other hand, Matt had no idea if they were in this facility or at another far away. What if he was abandoning them without even knowing it? What would his parents want him to do? Different aphorisms came into his mind, some contradicting each other. Beggars can't be choosers. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. He didn't know who these people were, and he didn't know whether it mattered.

This was the only opportunity that had presented itself in months. He would be an idiot not to take it. He might have a better chance of finding his father and friend from the outside.

Another explosion created a new exit. Matt squinted and coughed as they ran through it. He tried to cover his mouth to avoid inhaling more dust and smoke. The alien with the feather-like ears held onto his right arm and pulled him along after her. Matt didn't like this blind dependence, didn't like not knowing what was going on, but he knew there was no going back.

There was a ship waiting, confirming what Matt had suspected: the masked aliens had broken in, and were helping prisoners break out. Matt boarded, fighting back his many questions, saving them for when they were a safe distance from the prison. He was one of only a handful of prisoners on this vehicle.

Both before and during the takeoff, explosions shook the vehicle, and the prisoners had no way of knowing if it was from the intruders' work or the Galra's. It was a different kind of helplessness than merely being trapped in poor living conditions. This was worse, not knowing what was going on or what you could or should be doing, having to trust someone else—complete strangers—to ensure your survival.

Finally, they were flying steadily, without any sounds of fighting outside. The aliens who had broken into the prison removed their masks and finally introduced themselves.

"My name is Te-osh," the one who had led Matt out said.

"I'm Matt." It had been some time since he spoke his own name, though he reminded himself of it whenever he heard his prisoner number called.

As bags of water and food rations were passed around, the escapees started to ask the questions they had been saving. Matt directed his questions to Te-osh.

"Why did you take us?" It couldn't have been purely because it was a charitable thing to do. Even if their intentions were good, they couldn't break out every wrongly imprisoned inmate in the Galra Empire.

"You were going to be reassigned to a more specialized prison, which means you must have skills or knowledge that the Galra would have considered useful. So we're depriving them of whatever it is you might have given them."

Matt bristled at this, not liking the way they talked about them like they were commodities, or the assumption that he would have helped the enemy. "I wouldn't have given—"

"You never know until you're already under torture."

No, but he would have tried, for Shiro's sake, for Earth's sake. Matt let it go, though, supposing he should be grateful that he had been spared so far from finding out whether he had that degree of strength or courage.

"So … there are people working against the Galra? Like, an organized opposition? Or an insurrection?"

"Of course. You didn't think everyone under Galra rule supported them, did you?"

Matt shrugged. "I didn't know the Galra existed until I was captured. All I know about them is what I learned in prison."

Another rebel explained, "Zarkon has ruled for ten thousand years. In that time, he's never stopped expanding the Empire. There have always been small groups of people who tried to fight back, to defend their home planets or undermine his subjugation. Most of them didn't last long; they were either crushed completely, or gave up, or died out. We're just a cell, but there are other cells out there. We've only recently started to combine forces and work together."

Matt glanced around at the ragtag rebels and ragged prisoners. "So … what happens to us now?" Had the rebels rescued them with the intent of recruiting them? That debt could be used as leverage.

"We're going to stop at our base first. After that, you can stay and work with us, or we can drop you off someplace where you can find transportation to wherever you want to go. The only tricky thing will be staying below the radar."

Matt thought this over. He reasoned that he would have to stay with the rebels for a little while, because at present he did not know his way around the universe well enough to find his way home on his own. But even if he learned enough to be a competent intergalactic traveler, would it be safe for him, now that he was a fugitive? "I'm not really important to them. I don't think they'd bother searching for me."

"That may be, but you're in the Galra prison system's records, so if you bump into the wrong person, they can look you up and find out who you are."

The journey to the rebel base was shorter than Matt and his fellow escapees expected. Exiting the shuttle, stepping into the fresh air of an actual planet, impressed upon Matt the reality of his situation: for the first time in months, he was free.

He may not be able to go wherever he wanted, but he could obtain the means. He could choose his own path, pursue his own goals. Now that he was no longer confined to a cell or a schedule, he could begin to learn about the universe, going beyond Earth's limited knowledge.

The rebels had a supply of clothes for the newcomers to choose from. Matt had not had the luxury of choosing his own outfit for so long, the experience hit him with almost overwhelming emotions. Putting on new clothes almost felt like becoming a new person, a stranger with an uncertain future. He would have to discover who this person was.

After cleaning up, Matt approached Te-osh and her companions and told them his decision. "I can't go back home, at least not yet. I don't want to lead the Galra there, and my—my crewmates are still imprisoned somewhere, unless they found a way to escape. I need to find them. And I'd like to help you guys, too. Is there anything I can do?"

Te-osh smiled with surprising warmth. "You tell us. What are your skills?"

Matt was not sure where to begin. He had not undergone a job interview in years, and the last interview he could remember was when he was applying to the Galaxy Garrison. "Um … I was trained as a communications specialist. But I'm also a scientist. I worked in my home planet's military."

"What did you say was your home planet?"

"It's called Earth. At least, that's what we call it. I don't know what name it has out here."

Te-osh gestured for him to approach a screen and something that resembled a keyboard. "I assume you know the layout of celestial bodies in your galaxy?"

"Of course."

"You can input constellations and run a search for them."

The most basic constellation Matt could think of, the first once he had learned as a kid, was the Big Dipper. He dragged the stars in the approximate positions and entered the arrangement into the database's search engine. It yielded multiple results, but Matt was able to pick out the one he had grown up seeing in the night sky.

"This is it," he said, pulling up a holographic map. "This is our galaxy. We call it the Milky Way. And inside, our solar system. Nine planets surrounding a star, our sun. Earth is the third closest planet to the sun." Matt almost felt as though he were explaining it to a child, just as he had when Katie was little. He had wanted to be her teacher, and had been jealous when she caught up to him so quickly. Now he had far surpassed her in knowledge, at a more terrible cost than he could have imagined. He felt nostalgic as he zoomed in on a holographic image of Earth.

Te-osh came over to him and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sure you'll return someday."

Matt did not tell her that he was not sure he wanted to go back until he found Shiro or Sam. Of course he still had his mother and sister to go home to, but he was not sure he could face them without bringing his father home, or the Garrison without their superstar pilot.

Te-osh kept an eye on Matt as much as she was able. It was nice, he reflected, to have someone do that for him again. It had been a while since he was with anyone who remotely cared about him, let alone bothered to take care of him. He did not know exactly how their ages compared, so he could not tell if her feelings and actions toward him were exactly motherly.

He wondered if this was what it felt like to have an older sibling. He was used to being the elder of a pair, showing the younger how to do the things he had done first. During the Kerberos mission, Shiro had been like a brother, but they were so close in age and had such different roles that Shiro's seniority did not influence their relationship much. The few times Matt had tried to treat him like the superior officer he technically was, Shiro had disarmed him with warmth and humor, and gently insisted on being treated like an equal, a friend. Of course, Matt still looked up to him as an example to follow. Matt wanted to emulate Shiro's bravery and selflessness, and working with the rebels gave him an opportunity to do so.


Music: "Give a Little More Than You Take" from Joseph, King of Dreams