Protector of Men Ch 6

Zandra immediately went over to the reclined chairs to help Kesia unstrap everyone. Luckily for her, Shade was assisted by Kesia. Zandra went to help Cover, who then undid the bonds that held in Alias.

"What happened back there?" Zandra asked her captain. He shook his head, still breathing rapidly, but answered fairly quickly.

"Right when the Mayflower was about to get this kid out, an agent traced our location and came." He gestured towards Alias, who blushed - "Alias here saw him and alerted the rest of us."

Shade then piped in, almost shocking Zandra because he was speaking (however indirectly,) to her.

"We all just hauled until we got across the street."

"He was really close; we just barely made it."

That was Alias.

Cover sighed loudly. "I think," he started, "We will have to change how we think of agents."

Both Alias and Shade nodded vigorously. Zandra was glad now that she hadn't gone in with them - what would she have done if she met the agent first? She hadn't been taught what to do when an agent approached. As Cover had said, the agents, strangely enough, didn't do much to the unplugged. Until now.

Cover gestured towards Shade and Alias, who was now twirling her long hair.

"It might be a good idea to get some rest for now," he said, "It's been a tough day."

Both of them nodded again and left for their bunks. Zandra decided to leave them alone, and besides - she wasn't sure if Shade would speak to her again. Leave it for now, she thought to herself.

Cover remained standing where he was, and it took Zandra a moment to realize that he was waiting to address her. She felt her ears begin to burn.

"Zandra, I think we need to do some more training," he started. She looked up pleadingly, no more!

"I know it has been a lot," he continued, reading her expression, "But if the agents are going to start fighting, you need to be prepared." She nodded slowly in agreement.

"It will be hard."

Zandra nodded again.

It was now Cover who nodded, glad that Zandra would accept more training. She had done more than any other crewmember, but in his mind, none of the rest had as much potential as she. After all, he thought to himself, she did realize the matrix on her own. Potentially, Zandra was the most powerful person on the ship. All she had to do was unlock her frustration, her anger - everything that was holding her back.

This training would be crucial to her if she went back into the matrix. Cover remembered how Zandra had been only the second person to be tracked by an agent - and if she went back in now, there was no doubt in his mind that they would instantly track her down. Perhaps because she was so influential, he figured. Either way, she had to learn what it would be like to confront an agent.

He led Zandra to the mess hall. He motioned for her to sit, and after she did, he joined her. They were sitting opposite each other, Cover with his hands clasped together, as if he were about to explain something. Hers gripped the bottom of her seat, anticipating his next move.

"Zandra, this is the most important training you will ever do."

"Agent training,"

"Yes. You will need to focus as much as you can or else you won't be able to assist on missions."

"Why would that be?" Zandra suddenly realized how rude that must have sounded…

Cover sighed again.

"Agents never took an interest in us until you came along," he explained, "And I would guess that they would target you first if you went back in."

Zandra was quiet.

"You have to be prepared," He said, a little loud. Zandra stared in stony agreement.

"When would you be ready to start?" he asked, getting back up from the table.

"As soon as possible," she replied.

"Good, tomorrow then?"

"Great."

Zandra then followed Cover out of the room, where they parted ways for a while.

She decided to go to bed then - it was already evening, and she had nothing better to do. In addition, she would be starting a new training program the next day that she would have to 'really focus on'. As she walked by a corridor, she saw Shade and Alias talking. Both of the brunettes, of course. They were the two crewmembers that Zandra had wanted to get to know most of all – they were confident, knew their way around… but the connection was never made. They stopped abruptly when she walked by, and Zandra continued on. There was nothing to say to them right now. She went to her bunk and sat, staring at the wall in silence.

Shade and Alias looked at each other once Zandra had left the room.

"It's too bad she couldn't come," said Shade.

"Yeah but she had to stay behind."

"I know, it just seemed like she would have liked to see..."

"You know what that could have done to her?"

"Yeah, yeah," Shade said, exasperated. "I guess she's dealt with a lot lately."

"Seriously. We'll give it time."

"Did you hear Cover though?" Shade asked, eyes wide, "I hear she's doing agent training tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Alias was a little bit surprised, "That's pretty early."

"Tell me about it, but she'll need it."

"Especially now that they're active..."

"That's a development I was hoping to avoid."

"Really."

They continued to talk quietly in the hallway. In her room, Zandra was now lying in her bed, trying to get to sleep. She knew that she would have a rigorous training the next day, but could not sleep for the screaming thoughts in her head.

Why me? She wondered, why take an interest in me? Sure she had found existence of the matrix just by astronomy, by looking at the sky, but why would they attack her if she went back in? And why would Cover even want me back in if I am a danger to the others? It didn't matter now, she had to sleep. Do they know that I'm with Cover? Could agents find out who belonged to what ship? She hoped not. It was time to rest now, time to forget all of her musings. It was time to sleep.