Chapter 7.
"No . . ." Halo sat up, drenched in cold sweat. She looked around at the walls from her corner where she had fallen asleep. "No . . ." she whispered. "No, it's not true. Tima . . . is gone." She was recalling the Duke's words from her dream. "Unless . . . She was repaired."
One spark of hope in her mind: What if Tima had been repaired already? If her memory bank had been revived then so had her entire mind, right? If those parts had been fixed, then she was 'alive', in a manner of speaking.
Halo stood from her corner and walked to the door, where she whispered through the space where a window had obviously once been, "Hey, you, where's Rath?"
"What's it to you?" snapped the guard.
"Look, buddy, I'm his prisoner, I give him information, he needs me. I think I should have a right to know where my abductor is and what he's doing!"
"He went to talk to some guy about an hour ago, he's still gone. I dunno when he'll be back."
Halo sighed and turned, dragging her feet all the way to the chair in the middle of the room. She plopped herself down and placed her head in her hands. "Damn it . . ." she swore. "Jack . . ."
"Well, that didn't help much."
"You'd be surprised, Aid. Now we know for sure that he's trying to repair that robot."
"Excuse me, Lieutenant," Aid said sarcastically.
"We just need to find it and give it to the General."
"That won't be a problem. We already know where it is, we've got Mice in his tower, and everyone else thinks we're on their side."
"Except Anne. Speaking of which, where is she?" Aid stopped.
"Well . . . Um, you see, that's the thing with pots, they don't keep you out for long."
"What are you saying?" Rath raised an eyebrow at his partner. "You mean to tell me you don't know where she is?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Don't kill me!" Aid dove quickly into the hall to his left.
"Aid, you screw-up! Is that all you ever do?! God, you can't do a damn thing right!"
"Well if I had hit her with anything else she would have died! Then we'd really get dumped."
"You boys, honestly," came a sly female voice. Rath turned as Aid gazed over his shoulder. There stood a slender, blonde woman watching the two men before her. "Don't you two ever stop arguing?"
"Melissa!" Rath hugged her loosely.
"Heh heh heh," she chuckled. "I see you boys missed me." Aid grunted. "Oh, come on, you're not still sore at me, are you? I figured you woulda got over that by now."
"Yeah, well . . ." Aid walked past the two and continued down the corridor. Behind him, Melissa and Rath continued their conversation.
"So, Rath-baby, what's new with you?" They began to walk as well and Rath replied,
"Nothin' much, just helping out the General. Highly sensitive case concerning the Zigguraut, it is."
"Yeah, I heard about you becoming Lieutenant and all about a year ago. Of course, most of the news that passes through there is about a month late, being on third-floor duty. Anyway, I just had a conference with the General, the board, committee, and council about the Zigguraut. Wanna hear?"
"Ti . . . ma . . . Tima."
Aid looked through the small window and into the dark room.
"She's still here, right?" he said, direction his question to the shorter guard standing next to him.
"Yes, sir, Major."
"Open the door." The guard did as he was told and Aid entered. Halo was sitting in the chair, her eyes moving back and forth over the ceiling. "Halo?"
"Huh?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was counting the bricks on the ceiling."
"There aren't any bricks up there to see."
"There aren't? Oh, darn, I lost count. Gotta start back over . . ." Aid grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to her feet. She gave a loud laugh, forcing Aid to drop her back into her seat. "No wonder you keep it dark around here. Looking up and seeing people staring down at you through the glass can make a girl go nuts."
Aid chuckled and lifted her up again, leading her out of the room. When they were a safe distance away from the tower that she had obviously been held captive in, Halo spoke up. "Where are we going?"
"Well, we weren't exactly expecting you, and there aren't enough locks to hold the new incoming prisoners. Gotta move you somewhere else."
"Huh . . ." Halo went along with Aid until they were safely in the alley behind the tower. "And . . . Where is Rath?"
"With . . . With Melissa." Aid had a thoroughly disgusted look on his face.
"What, are you jealous or something?"
"Jealous of what? Melissa's just a lying, conniving little bi-" Aid jerked his head suddenly to the left. A loud sound, like a gun or a really big firecracker, had gone off somewhere in that direction. Halo took this opportunity to run, so she wrenched her arm free of his grasp and took off. Aid yelled and began following her.
"My na-name is-is-is . . . Ti-ma . . . Tima."
Halo stopped dead. Aid came up behind her and grabbed her, cursing her for running. She paid no attention to him. She had inadvertently began running to the Zigguraut and its remains now lay before her. But this wasn't why Halo Kane stopped. No, it was much different. She had heard it . . . Her calling, like Her introduction . . . She fell to her knees, clasping her hands tightly over her ears.
"Make it go away!" she screamed. "Just shut up!" Her eyes burned with tears, her knees stung with the fresh scratches she had acquired. Aid stood above her, watching. He bent down on one knee, a hand on her shoulder, and looked into her face. Her eyes were closed tightly, the clear tears streaming freely down her cheeks.
A small clicking sound was heard behind him and he turned his head to look in the direction they had come from. Anne stood there, pointing a hand gun.
"Get your hands off her," she ordered. Aid got to his feet and faced her. "I shot at you earlier, I must have bad aim. Let's find out." Anne pulled the trigger and fired. Aid kept a straight and solemn face but walked toward her. He took the gun out of her hands and looked in the chamber.
"One bullet and you weren't even aiming at me. Anne, of all people, you should know that I've been shot at too many times to be afraid of one single bullet." Aid place the gun back in her hand and Anne grinned. "And I know you shoot better than that. You hit a trash can three feet away from my arm!"
"Yeah, okay, you've got me, but where in hell is Jack?"
"None of your business." Aid turned to look back at Halo. "Look at her . . ."
"Yeah, and to think you guys believe she's guilty."
"It doesn't matter to me. Yeah, I believe she's guilty, but she's innocent until it's proven."
"Then what are you doing with her?" Anne asked.
"Davies. He wants a word with her and held captive until he gets back, but I dunno . . . She's freakin' out and I dunno why."
"You wouldn't understand it unless you know she's innocent, which I do."
"Care to explain?"
"Not my story to tell. All I can say is that she went through hell in that tower and deserves better than what she's been given . . . or not given. Just . . . whatever you do, don't lock her up. Keep a personal eye on her, but don't force her into some average cell. She's too vulnerable and way too smart to try and escape." With that, Anne began to walk away back into the alley. Aid continued to look at Halo and let her cry everything out.
"My n-n-na-name is-i-is T-t-t-i-ma-ma. Ti- ma. Tima-a-a.
Author's Notes: IT'S ALIVE! . . . . . . . . . . Isn't Rath mean?