Chapter Twenty: The Word of a Soldier
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Kina's eyes slowly re-opened. Her memory was a bit hazy, but she could remember having a discourse with a pair of humans. After that, she drew a total blank.

"Mmm…where am I?"

The room she was in was Spartan in design, with four gray metal walls surrounding her. There was a window, maybe the size of Kina's face, set above her eye level in one of the walls. Kina slowly sat up on the mattress she was lying down on.

"What is going on here?" She stood up with a frown on her face. "All right, I enjoy practical jokes as much as the next girl, but only when I pull them!" She thought for a bit. "Let's see…I was at work…and then those two guys showed up…oh, now I remember! They were intruders, and I chased after them. Then, I ran into that armor, and…oh, God…!" Her face turned pale. "They kidnapped me!!"

She rushed over to the small window. "Hey! Is anyone out there?!" She hit the wall a couple of times with the palm of her hand. "Hello?!" She now started to panic, and hit the wall with the bottom of her fist. "Hey, come on! Please!!" Tears began welling up in her eyes. "This really sucks!!"

"…I guess our cargo's awake…"

Back at the base, Tommy was talking to Aivea. John was also there.

"She had an…accident yesterday. Nothing incredibly serious, but the foreman made her pay for it by assigning her janitor work," said the Zentraedi woman. "It's happened before, and I always call her when it's over to make sure she got home okay. She…didn't answer the phone. I figured she had gotten really wiped out and fell asleep really quick. Then, she didn't show up today, and…"

"…You knew for certain something was wrong," finished Tommy. "I wish I knew anything more about it."

Aivea sighed. "I'm really worried about her. Say, you don't think that…it had something to do with the bombs that got set around the base, do you?"

Tommy gave this some thought before responding. "It IS possible. She was working late at night…that would've been the best time for the bombers to try anything."

"Yeah, it's pretty much the first rule of covert ops: do it at night," said John.

"Good point," she said with a frown, "but I don't see how they could've gotten her."

Tommy rubbed his chin. "…How?"

"Hmm?"

"How they could have done it. Wait…they would've had a plan in case something went wrong, right?"

John nodded his head. "Probably. Not much, maybe one or two variable fighters or powered armors."

Aivea cocked her head, and then gasped. "Are you guys saying that…maybe she ran into the backup?"

Tommy gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to say it, ma'am, but yes."

"I doubt they would've KILLED her, though," added John. Both Tommy and Aivea looked at him with cocked eyebrows. "Allow me to explain. It's messy enough cleaning up after whacking a human. It's even worse for a Zentraedi. I seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt that they would've had that kind of time on their hands."

Aivea brightened. "I think I get it. They would've knocked her out somehow…but how do you knock out someone our size?"

John smirked. "U.N. Spacy missiles can be fitted with sleeping gas warheads instead of explosives."

Tommy nodded. "They're pretty cheap as well, so they could have gotten a hold of plenty."

John stood up. "I'd better get going. I'll catch you later, Tommy. Nice to meet you, Miss Aiena."

"You too," she said with a smile. John left. Tommy looked down at the ground.

"Those pieces of…" he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just…I wish I could've done something to prevent it."

"I understand. I know that you and Kina were…ARE past the friendship stage." Tommy could only give her a wistful smile. "I hope she's okay…"

"I'm going to bring her back."

Aivea looked at him. "What?"

"I said, I'll get her back. I don't know how yet, but I'm going to do it."

Aivea's eyes shone. "You mean it?"

Tommy sighed, then put on his best military-style attitude. "Yes. On my word as a U.N. Spacy officer, I will find her."

Aivea chuckled a little. "Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better. I know you're just saying that, but…"

"No, I'm serious. I don't have a clue how yet, but I WILL find her."

Aivea looked at him. "You really are serious. Wow…now I know what Kina saw in you. You really believe you can pull it off?"

"If I look hard enough, I'll find a way. It's just a matter of time…and perhaps luck…"

Somewhere in the Sweetwater asteroid belt…

"WHAT?! The fuses were all screwed up?! How could our men BE that idiotic!?"

"It would seem, sir, that all of them somehow got conflicting information as to how long to set their timers. Only one bomb went off at the correct time."

"Hell's bells…remind me to kick the crap out of whoever was put in charge of that. They made us look like fools! What about the woman who was taken prisoner?"

"Just arriving now, sir."

In her room, Kina was sitting on the mattress, pouting.

"This is so stupid! I can't believe I let myself get stuck like this!" Her stomach began to growl. "Aw…and I'm hungry, too! Why me…?"

Suddenly, a rectangular part of one of the walls slid open, revealing a doorway. Two Zentraedi men in Hammerhead leather jackets entered.

"All right, come with us."

Kina looked at them. "Who are you people? Why did you kidnap me?"

"Because killing you would've been too messy. Now move, lady!"

Kina crossed her arms and turned up her nose. "No way, Jose! Not if you're going to be mean to me!"

One of the men sighed. "All right, we'll play it the hard way." They stepped out of the door, and a VF-4 Lightning III in Soldier mode walked in, with a gun pod in hand.

Kina gulped. "Uh…come on, is that really necessary? Look, I'll just stay in here the whole time, not bothering anybody! How does that sound?"

The pilot of the Lightning spoke over the internal loudspeaker. "No, YOU look. Either you move right now, or I shoot you in the head. How does that sound?"

Kina sweatdropped, and her face lost all its color. "Um…really, really violent?"

"MOVE!!" Kina didn't need further prodding. The guards led her through a series of corridors before reaching a large cellblock. They opened one of the doors, and ushered her in. The room was a lot better than the one she had been in previously in terms of space, but it was still quite Spartan.

"You're not really going to keep me here, are you?" she whined. "It's not fair!"

"Oh, put a sock in it!" The guards closed the door and locked it.

"You don't have to be so mean! What did I ever do to you?!"

The guard gave her a snide smirk. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, sweetie. Have fun." With that, the guards left.

"Wait!! You can't leave me in here! This isn't fair; I wanna go home!!!" She started to cry. "Come back, please! WAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Meanwhile, back at the base, Tommy and John were in the locker room.

"Hey, Tommy?"

"Yeah?"

"I never got to say this. I'm sorry, man. About Kina."

Tommy chuckled. "Don't be. I'm going to find her."

"Oh, that's good-what the hell did you just say?"

"I promised Aivea that I would bring her back."

John stared at him for a couple of seconds, then suddenly reached out and hit Tommy on the back of the head.

"OW! What the hell was that for?!"

"For being dumb enough to make a promise like that! What were you thinking?! I know you care about the poor girl, but come ON!!"

Tommy scowled. "I'm going to do it. I just have to find a way!"

John looked Tommy dead in the eyes. "That's enough. Listen to me. First, we don't even KNOW the exact location of the Hammerhead base, assuming that they took her there! Second, do you really think that we could get a mission to rescue her sent through the Commander? Granted, it could go through, but I doubt he'd be willing to risk pilots for one civilian!"

Tommy glared. "Then I'll go alone!"

"That's the third thing! If you just went without authorization, your career would be history! I can NOT let you do that to yourself, even if it is for the sake of another!"

"I don't care, damn it! I love her, and I'm going to save her!"

John groaned. "You're not going anywhere, do you get me?! I mean this as your best friend AND as your superior officer: Do the right thing and forget about it! Do you read me, Ensign?!"

Tommy scowled and looked down. He then slowly met John's eyes again. "…Loud and clear, sir."

John's expression softened. "That's better. Look, I'm not trying to say that I don't think Kina deserves to be rescued. I'm saying that you have to be realistic!"

"…I know. I'm sorry, John." Tommy managed a small chuckle. "I guess I did get a little carried away."

"No need to apologize. You're an honorable man, and any honorable man would want to come to the rescue of his lady. But it's impossible in this case, Tommy. I'm sorry, but it is." John extended his hand. "Still buds?"

"Always, man." Tommy shook John's hand.

"Good. Let's get going, we're going to be late for the briefing again."

At the Hammerhead headquarters, Kina was sitting down on the bed of her cell.

"This is such a disaster… Tommy, you've got to come and save me. You've got to…because you're the only one who can…!"