Protector Ch 55
Cover stormed up to the man operating the upload, his eyes on fire. Kesia could tell that already the man was afraid and probably now regretting his group's hasty decision. He smiled a fretful apology as he pushed himself away from the console.
"Do you really want to be the first to be thrown in prison?" Cover demanded, leaning over the seated man as threateningly as he could. The man was silent, and allowed Kesia to politely push her way to the console and take control. Cover rolled the occupied chair closer to him to allow her more room. Shade and Kemp stood by Zandra.
"I'm sure you'll make history there," he continued, "But unless you have a death wish, I think it'd be a good idea to stop this little game."
"Shutting down?" Kesia asked Cover, craning her neck around the quailing man so that she could determine his response. He nodded once forcefully, then turned his attention back to the man.
"What are you trying to prove this time?" he asked. He didn't have to repeat himself.
"Some people," the man started, "Some people weren't believing this new 'one' thing." Purgatory felt a ripple of animosity wash through each of them in succession, yet they held their tongues.
"So you thought you'd prove us liars and get a nice sum for it in the process?"
- "There- there was a viable market," he stumbled, "We-"
"They're coming out," Kesia announced. Cover suddenly turned his attention away from the man.
"Shade, take Zandra," he commanded, then turning to Kemp. "Please get Trim," he asked in a masked voice, "And see if you two can start maintenance on the ship for departure."
Zandra suddenly gasped awake and fumbled behind her for the needle in a blind frenzy. Shade, a little startled, quickly pulled it out for her and bent to lift her up. Angrily she jerked his hand away and pulled herself up out of her chair and to the woman's, who was still attached through the needle to her own seat. The man was getting up slowly, having been freed by Kemp. Kemp was silent and watched as the man silently slunk away and into the darkness around the many training areas. Zandra stood next to the woman, and kneeled so that her face was next to hers. Anger still pulsed through her veins, causing her to be reckless and hateful.
"Next time you test a theory," she whispered sweetly, "Make sure you don't fuck yourself over in the process."
The woman twisted maniacally in her seat, attempting to get at Zandra, but it was no use. Triumphantly Zandra strode back over to Shade, who accompanied her away and back to their room. Everyone was a little shocked by her performance. Kesia quickly undid the woman's needle and recoiled as she threw herself out of her chair. Cover stood in front of her, his arms crossed.
"What do you want, Cover," she asked, rubbing the back of her head. She was still in pain – Zandra had significantly injured her in the upload, enough to override the pain barrier.
"What the hell do you think you were doing?" he asked, shaking his head. "Disproving our point for the paper?"
"Look," she said, licking blood from her teeth, "There was a large group of people who wanted us to do this," she explained. "I didn't do it to piss you off."
"Well you did," he replied coldly, "You betrayed us… She trusted you," he spat. The woman looked away.
"After all she's been through with your crew," he whispered, turning his head away from the abomination.
"You don't know half of it," the woman retorted. Cover's eyes darted back to hers, alighted on fire once again.
"Right. I don't know," he allowed, turning around. "Kesia, come."
And Kesia obeyed, following Cover out of the training area like a dog his angry owner. Cover did not say a word as he walked off, and left Echo sitting alone. Colombus would hear about this.
Shade was trying to ignore Zandra's increasingly loud sniffles, but it was hard to. He wanted to comfort her, longed to, but knew that if he tried, he'd only be pushed further away. So instead they continued walking to his room in silence, the quietness intermittently interrupted by a sniffle. Soon enough they had arrived at his room and he unlocked the door quickly, ushering her in before he got in himself.
What do I do? He thought after locking the door, should I offer her something? She had been so strong, so defiant earlier.. was everything just a feint, a mask to hide her insecurities? Shade was perplexed.
"Ah," he started, "Juice?"
Zandra looked up at him, exposing her tear streamed face, her puffy eyes and red nose. Shade felt an intense pang of guilt, for not being there for her… for not helping more…
And she promptly ran to him, bursting into tears. Shade accepted her wailing emotional self willingly, letting his arms cover her in an act of caring. This time she accepted, merely wailing harder into his chest. And there they remained for many minutes.
"She's from the Mayflower?" Kesia asked, trying to keep up with Cover's quick pace. Cover looked at Kesia and quickly nodded. She sighed loudly. After all they had been through…
"We're going to see Colombus," he told her after a few minutes, "She'll need to know about this."
Kesia nodded silently and continued her walking behind Cover. It was going to be a long end of the day; full of dark conversations, of apologetic explanations… perhaps they'd be leaving for broadcast depth sooner than expected. Kesia hoped so. Zion held too much trauma.
Zandra had slowly quieted over the past few minutes to a hiccup every few seconds, an intermittent convulsion that let Shade know she was still there. Shade stood still yet - almost afraid of the situation he was in. Finally Zandra was completely quiet, and he reluctantly pulled himself away from her to see if she was alright. Zandra looked deeply into his eyes, another tear falling down her soaked face. Shade's shirt was a mess of tears, but he didn't mind. Zandra sighed and looked down, staying silent. She still continued to hiccup, and her body convulsed every few seconds from an uncontrollable spasm that was quickly turning painful. Shade could tell that she was physically tired – her body swayed on the spot as if a wind were pushing her from side to side.
"Let's get you in bed," he soothed, taking her shoulders in his arms and leading her to the bedroom. Zandra allowed herself to be led away and into his abode. Too much had happened that day for her to care. Echo had betrayed her, had blamed her for Stephen's death. Did they not understand what had happened to her once Stephen was killed? Right in front of her face. Echo had reopened a wound that was just beginning to heal, hacked away at Zandra's sanity to the point that she had broken. All her strength had momentarily vanished, exposing a side of Zandra to Shade that he never could have imagined even existed.
He lay her down in his bed as smoothly as he could, and Zandra didn't make any gesture of recognition as he moved to leave the room. He had already resigned himself to sleep on the floor outside his bedroom, seeing that he didn't own a couch. Luckily, he was tired as well, and got to sleep fairly easily. Unfortunately, he woke up only a few hours later.
"My dear," she cooed, smoothing his straight hair back from his face, "Why do you worry so much. You have nothing to worry about here."
He was silent, turning his head away from hers. The woman was quiet for a second, recognizing his unspoken response. Her eyes narrowed.
"You can't not enjoy it here," she said, bringing his chin back to face her, "There is everything a person could want."
"Not everything," he replied monotone. The woman looked away and made a face.
"I do not understand," she explained, getting up, "You were so different before. Now you are silent."
He said nothing again, and the woman left after another long pause. She stopped for a moment before stepping out the door, looking into his eyes. It was that moment that he was thankful for his sunglasses. She then closed the door behind her with a quiet clink, her small dress swishing with each step she took. Zandra could only look on as the man got up from the side of his bed and went over to the curtained window.
"Why are you hiding?" she asked, but elicited no response. The man pulled back the curtain slowly, a sliver of light invading the darkened room.
"Why are you hiding?" she repeated, coming closer to him. Again, he paid no heed to her presence, and opened the curtain further. His concentration was suddenly broken by an intruder, and he turned to meet the person now in his room.
"Just checking," the man hissed, closing the door again with a smirk. The man sighed, somewhat owing to the fact that he was not yet used to the strange man. Men. Programs. Whatever they were. Zandra was startled by the intruder's appearance, but he was gone before she could stare longer. She turned back to the man."Where are we?" she asked, giving up on her previous question. But it had no effect, and he continued to look out the window. Mountains.
Shade rushed into the bedroom, having been woken from his uncomfortable sleep by Zandra's mumbled shouts.
"Zandra, Zandra," he whispered, taking her arms gently. It was no use. She still slept, still shouted incoherent words to an invisible person.
