Protector of Men Ch 19
It was night. Zandra was laying uncomfortably on her bed, trying to find a position where her back didn't ache, but so far it proved useless. Shade sat on the ground across from her, his hands resting on his knees. Both wanted to really talk, but neither knew how to open up to the other.
Zandra shifted again. "My back hurts still."
"It wasn't a bad hit though, the bullet went through mostly skin."
Zandra whispered a laugh. "You mean my fascia…?"
"Well, no, I mean, you-"
Zandra laughed louder, "It's okay, I was only kidding."
"Right."
They were both quiet for a moment.
"So what's with this oracle thing?" Zandra waited a moment before responding, remembering not to reveal much.
"I'm not sure, all I know is that she was going to contact us."
"You just heard it from the informant?"
"Yeah."
"That seems pretty fast."
"I know." The same thought had run through Zandra's mind, as well. Why had Cover mentioned it so early? Surely he would have thought that Zandra had been through enough, thought that throwing out her contact would have been too much… but maybe he thought she could handle it.
"I think Cover is going to get us backup for the jack-in," Shade continued, "I heard him talking to the Calling."
"The Calling?"
"Yeah."
And they continued to talk for another hour, still closed from each other, still uncomfortable with the unusual tension between them. Zandra's replies soon became more slurred and uncommon, more simplistic as the night grew into morning. Shade took his cue and left with a quiet 'goodnight'. Zandra woke up the next morning feeling better, but not completely. Her back was still painful, even though the pain was duller than before. She walked stiffly out of her room and wandered over to Cover.
"Are we going in today?"
"How do you feel?"
"Pretty good," she said as honestly as she could. Cover looked at her intensely.
"I'll get Alias to look at you."
They both walked over to the mess room, where Alias was eating. Cover asked for a moment, and she joined them in a journey to the med bay. From there, Alias gave Zandra a thorough looking-over, one that was quick, but a little painful. Zandra tried not to wince as she poked at the wound in her back.
"Well," she started, "It looks like it's healing well, but I'd give it another day,"
Zandra gave her a pleading look, but Alias was looking at Cover, not her.
"Okay," Cover replied, "we'll go in tomorrow."
It was an excruciatingly long day, but Zandra got through it alive. She woke up the next morning extra early, hoping that maybe if they all got ready sooner, they'd be able to get in earlier. She didn't know whether she was excited or nervous, but every time Zandra thought about the upcoming meeting, a rush of adrenaline shot through her system. It was probably both – Zandra wanted to see what this oracle would say, but was worried that if he or she was good, they would know of Neo. And she didn't want to lose her informant before getting anywhere. After all, they were fighting a war.
She was on the main deck with Kesia, and they were discussing the course of events that would take place in the next few hours.
"The Mayflower gave us a location to look for this Oracle-"
"Why aren't they coming with us then?" Zandra's mind went to Stephen – she wanted to see him again, to talk with him…
"They were still understaffed," came Kesia's quick reply. Zandra was quiet.
"Anyway, there should be someone waiting for you at the location."
"Am I going alone?"
"No, no, there will be others with you, I think the whole crew of the Calling is coming along this time," she paused, before adding, "We don't want to make another mistake."
Another mistake? Zandra's jack-in was considered a mistake now? She was a little offended by the comment, but hoped that Kesia didn't mean what she said.
Cover walked in.
"Ready?"
"Sure am,"
"Kesia, has the Calling contacted you yet?"
"About twenty minutes ago, they said whenever you're ready,"
"Good then. Where are Shade and Alias?"
Zandra piped up, "I think they're in the mess room."
"Kesia, call them up."
"Okay," she replied, pulling on her headset and punching a button on the huge panel in front of her. "Alias and Shade, come up to the main deck when you're ready to go,"
"Good," Cover repeated. "There should be seven of us there – you, me, Alias, Shade, Isa, Pasiphae, and Wrought, the Calling's captain. We will go with you to the location, but the Mayflower relayed to us that they specifically said for you to go alone after that."
"Okay."
Cover continued to look at her.
"I can do that," she assured, her gaze steady.
"Alright then."
Shade and Alias came up and promptly sat in the chairs, ready to go. Zandra's heart fell as she watched Trim help to strap them all in. She smiled sympathetically, but he didn't even look at her. Soon they were all strapped in and ready to go.
"Have you told the Calling we are ready?" asked Cover from his chair.
"They're ready to go as well," she replied.
"Alright, load us up then," he replied. Trim went to Cover first, and in minutes they were in the matrix again, all crowded around another phone. Funny, even in realizing the lie of the matrix, their lives still revolved around the phone. Zandra would never get away from it.
"We're in," came Cover's announcement. He promptly closed his phone and gestured for them to go out the door of the large and empty room they were in.
They all stopped short as they registered a thumping noise from the floor above them.
