Daniel didn't tell Susanne and Jonathon that he was their father. I tried
to persuade him that he should, but all he said was that they would be
ashamed. The doctors were pleased with Daniel's progress, but they were
worried about psychological shock. The story he gave was that someone had
jumped him and stole his car. We were glad when the doctors said he was in
no condition to talk to the police, as we weren't sure the story would hold
when asked for licence plate number and things like that.
Still, he was too quiet for my liking. He answered when I asked him things, but he wasn't interested in carrying on a conversation. He spent most of the time staring into space, lost in his own thoughts. I gave up trying to talk to him in the end, hoping that his mind would begin to heal as his body was already doing. It felt like all I had left was hope.
When Carter showed up three days later, we were told by the doctors that Daniel would only need another couple of days in the hospital before he could be released. We decided to shorten that time on our own.
Carter bought clothes at one of the local shops and brought them into Daniel's room. He got changed after the nurse had made her final check of the patient, while I waited for him in the waiting room. No one would have guessed from the way he walked that there was anything wrong with him, I suppose the hospital staff thought he was a late visitor. The visiting hours were long over, but the staff allowed people to visit those brought in at these times, just as they had let us visit Daniel.
Carter was waiting in a car outside with the kids. I wondered where she had got the car, but decided I didn't want to know. I just hoped it wasn't illegal, as we wanted to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.
"What now?" I asked, as we drove down a highway, heading as far as possible from the hospital. We didn't want to leave a trail behind us.
"We go on hiding," Daniel muttered.
"The NID will never stop hunting us," Susanne said.
"We should tell someone," Jonathon said, "what they're doing is illegal."
I explained that we couldn't, because doing so would mean exposing something that must not be exposed, for the good of the world. Carter agreed with me. The three adults in that car knew the importance of keeping that secret, at whatever cost to ourselves.
"We don't need to say how the NID got the technology to alter Jonathon and me," Susanne said, "just that they did. We could send the story to the newspapers. Once everyone knows the truth about the NID they'll be investigated and will have to stop hunting us. We won't have to hide any more."
"People won't understand about the two of you," Carter said, "they might even be frightened of you."
"I'd rather have people frightened of me than hunting me," Susanne said.
"And I would do anything not to have to go back to that base," Jonathon added. He had been very quiet, as obvious outsider in our group. I don't think I realised until then just how much reason he had to hate the NID. His whole life had been a nightmare because of them.
We decided in the end that we would each write out our section of the story, and then send it to every newspaper we could find in the hopes of one of them printing it. If necessary doctors could inspect Susanne and Jonathon for proof. It was probably the only way we would ever escape the NID.
When we stopped that night in a motel Susanne found some paper and began writing the beginning of the story. "The sooner we get started," she said, "the sooner we can stop hiding."
She wrote for hours until she fell asleep at the table. Carter carried her to one of the beds and we settled down for the night, the three adults mounting a guard. We were being as cautious as we ever while we still worked for the Air Force.
During my watch Daniel got up and went outside. I let him, thinking that he just wanted to go for a walk and think about things. Everything had been so hectic that none of us really had time to ponder the events. Sitting there on my watch I first turned my thoughts to the future. If I'd known what would happen in the very near future, I would have run after Daniel as fast as possible.
In the morning Daniel still hadn't returned and I began to worry. I left Carter and the kids and went outside to look for him. It didn't take me long to find him, and when I did it took all my military training not to scream. I felt physically sick. But then who wouldn't, seeing a friend lying on the ground, a hole through his skull and a mess of blood and brains spilled on the ground around him.
My mind became a void, filled with a single question. Why?
The answer lay by his side in the form of a pile of paper. His part of the story. Reading it later I understood why he had killed himself. He thought he had betrayed his friends and family. Perhaps it would have been more merciful if I'd left him in that NID base.
We left the motel before anyone could find Daniel's body. Carter and I had to worry about keeping the kids alive more than worrying about our dead friend's body. The state would give him a burial, and we could mourn him just as well without being there to watch it. We just had to ensure that the future of the children he cared so much about was secured. This story is our hope that one day we won't have to hide. Susanne, Carter and Daniel have all written their parts now. It's up to me to finish it off. So here it is.
Still, he was too quiet for my liking. He answered when I asked him things, but he wasn't interested in carrying on a conversation. He spent most of the time staring into space, lost in his own thoughts. I gave up trying to talk to him in the end, hoping that his mind would begin to heal as his body was already doing. It felt like all I had left was hope.
When Carter showed up three days later, we were told by the doctors that Daniel would only need another couple of days in the hospital before he could be released. We decided to shorten that time on our own.
Carter bought clothes at one of the local shops and brought them into Daniel's room. He got changed after the nurse had made her final check of the patient, while I waited for him in the waiting room. No one would have guessed from the way he walked that there was anything wrong with him, I suppose the hospital staff thought he was a late visitor. The visiting hours were long over, but the staff allowed people to visit those brought in at these times, just as they had let us visit Daniel.
Carter was waiting in a car outside with the kids. I wondered where she had got the car, but decided I didn't want to know. I just hoped it wasn't illegal, as we wanted to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.
"What now?" I asked, as we drove down a highway, heading as far as possible from the hospital. We didn't want to leave a trail behind us.
"We go on hiding," Daniel muttered.
"The NID will never stop hunting us," Susanne said.
"We should tell someone," Jonathon said, "what they're doing is illegal."
I explained that we couldn't, because doing so would mean exposing something that must not be exposed, for the good of the world. Carter agreed with me. The three adults in that car knew the importance of keeping that secret, at whatever cost to ourselves.
"We don't need to say how the NID got the technology to alter Jonathon and me," Susanne said, "just that they did. We could send the story to the newspapers. Once everyone knows the truth about the NID they'll be investigated and will have to stop hunting us. We won't have to hide any more."
"People won't understand about the two of you," Carter said, "they might even be frightened of you."
"I'd rather have people frightened of me than hunting me," Susanne said.
"And I would do anything not to have to go back to that base," Jonathon added. He had been very quiet, as obvious outsider in our group. I don't think I realised until then just how much reason he had to hate the NID. His whole life had been a nightmare because of them.
We decided in the end that we would each write out our section of the story, and then send it to every newspaper we could find in the hopes of one of them printing it. If necessary doctors could inspect Susanne and Jonathon for proof. It was probably the only way we would ever escape the NID.
When we stopped that night in a motel Susanne found some paper and began writing the beginning of the story. "The sooner we get started," she said, "the sooner we can stop hiding."
She wrote for hours until she fell asleep at the table. Carter carried her to one of the beds and we settled down for the night, the three adults mounting a guard. We were being as cautious as we ever while we still worked for the Air Force.
During my watch Daniel got up and went outside. I let him, thinking that he just wanted to go for a walk and think about things. Everything had been so hectic that none of us really had time to ponder the events. Sitting there on my watch I first turned my thoughts to the future. If I'd known what would happen in the very near future, I would have run after Daniel as fast as possible.
In the morning Daniel still hadn't returned and I began to worry. I left Carter and the kids and went outside to look for him. It didn't take me long to find him, and when I did it took all my military training not to scream. I felt physically sick. But then who wouldn't, seeing a friend lying on the ground, a hole through his skull and a mess of blood and brains spilled on the ground around him.
My mind became a void, filled with a single question. Why?
The answer lay by his side in the form of a pile of paper. His part of the story. Reading it later I understood why he had killed himself. He thought he had betrayed his friends and family. Perhaps it would have been more merciful if I'd left him in that NID base.
We left the motel before anyone could find Daniel's body. Carter and I had to worry about keeping the kids alive more than worrying about our dead friend's body. The state would give him a burial, and we could mourn him just as well without being there to watch it. We just had to ensure that the future of the children he cared so much about was secured. This story is our hope that one day we won't have to hide. Susanne, Carter and Daniel have all written their parts now. It's up to me to finish it off. So here it is.