BLUE GENDER

"Children of the Blue"

8. Old Wounds

The convoy headed north on Route 59 under an overcast afternoon.

In the lead was an open-air Humvee driven by an armored soldier with Amick in the passenger's seat. Yuji and Marlene were in the second row and behind them, standing in the cargo area and holding on to the roll bar, were two more soldiers.

The Apache chopper flew low over the Humvee as an escort. Behind the lead car was an armor shrike carrier truck followed by two old style covered army troop transports.

They sped along the deserted road. Only rusted relics, a few of the chilling Blue-created "human dumplings", and assorted debris provided any proof that the northern Houston suburbs had long ago been teeming with life.

The convoy swooped toward an auxiliary gate at Houston Intercontinental Airport. Two soldiers with truck-mounted heavy weapons stood sentry. They opened the gate and the parade of vehicles raced onto the tarmac of the primary runways en route to the main terminal buildings.

Yuji and Marlene, still licking the wounds to both their bodies and egos, where in awe of what they saw gathered on the airport grounds: Tents of various sizes scattered about; campfires surrounded by people, some actually cooking over the flames; vehicles being repaired; several armor shrikes being cleaned or tuned; and some larger tents that looked like mess halls, medical facilities, and sleeping quarters.

It was a city—a mobile city.

The residents were as diverse as the structures. There were plenty of soldiers both on and off duty but also elderly people and young children as well as teenagers. Furthermore, they seemed to represent every conceivable ethnic background. There were at least a couple hundred of the people in all, if not more.

Marlene saw a mother playing with her two infant daughters. Yuji watched as a pilot ran a systems check on a shrike while conversing with a technician. There was also a group of children sitting around an older lady who appeared to be reading to them from a book—it looked as if it were a school class.

And as the convoy swooped past, each of those people took note.

The soldiers pumped their fists in the air and cheered "Amick!"

The children waved, the mothers smiled, old folks and teenagers clapped.

The convoy kept moving.

As they approached the main building the Apache banked hard and headed for a heliport while the two troop transports—with the rest of Marlene and Yuji's team inside—headed toward a hanger in front of which were parked several air ships in neat orderly rows.

The Humvee halted at a well-guarded terminal entrance and the occupants got out, herding Yuji and Marlene inside behind Amick. They climbed a stairwell and entered a large room that had been converted into some sort of a command post.

Soldiers and technicians watched monitors and peered over maps. Until, that is, Amick, her guards, and their two prisoners walked in.

The group in the command center included a distinguished-looking gentleman with white hair wearing green fatigues with a Colonel's emblem on his collar as well as a striking young red haired woman in black mecha armor. These two were Hendar's officers.

"It appears our information was accurate," Amick announced to the soldiers.

Marlene Angel interrupted: "Where is my son?"

Amick turned and addressed her: "I don't know."

"What? You said this meeting was no coincidence," Marlene protested. "Now where is my son?!"

Amick smiled, just a little.

"We just arrived here a few days ago," the Colonel told Marlene. It sounded as if he had a trace of what would've been called, decades ago, a 'British' accent.

"And when we surveyed the supply depot," Amick continued. "We found a wounded man who had been part of a mercenary group. Apparently he fell out of favor with his leader, was shot and left behind to die."

The red head spat: "Something about stealing food or something."

"When he learned who I was, he wanted to join our group, so he told me that none other than Yuji Kaido—the infamous sleeper—would be arriving at that depot any day," Amick enjoyed explaining.

"Wh-what?" Marlene was astounded.

Yuji was staring at his hands while he clasped them tightly. He offered: "They knew we were coming…yes…they knew it."

"I suppose so," Amick shrugged him off. "Of course I was certain that you—" she looked at Marlene—"would be coming, too. So we waited."

Yuji grunted: "And who is 'we'?"

Amick waved her arms about at the gathered soldiers.

"Who are we?" she asked the air.

The red headed shrike pilot answered: "We're Hell's Orphans."

"Orphans of Second Earth," Amick added. "The survivors of the disaster you, 2-8-0-5, helped create—you and that treacherous Seno Miyagi."

The Colonel explained: "We move from place to place, finding the resources we need, finding more and more survivors who are tired of living in the shadows."

"And we stomp the Blue anywhere we find them," the red head added.

Yuji chuckled strangely and remarked: "Like locusts."

"Like human beings," Amick corrected.

She told them: "You and Miyagi and the others on Second Earth may have forgotten the cause for which I had dedicated my life, but I did not. The moment I landed I began rebuilding and fighting for man's rightful place on this planet."

Amick strolled around the command center. Her followers looked at her with respect and admiration as she spoke.

"Some were bandits before, but I've turned them into a disciplined army. Some were hopeless and lived each day waiting for the Blue or disease or starvation to take them and I protected them and fed them with food and hope. And some came from Second Earth as it shattered into pieces."

The Colonel finished for her: "We are nomads just like the ancient tribes. But we have two thousand years of knowledge to draw on."

"We are Hell's Orphans," Amick Hendar repeated. "And we are the hope of man."

Yuji was sweating and his eyes were red—he was missing the Double Edge and the withdraw was starting to effect him more visibly. He began to laugh at Amick's words.

"Orphans? That's right—orphans from the planet that didn't want you."

Marlene asked: "What happened on Second Earth? Do you know? We only heard rumors."

Amick closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

She told them: "Miyagi was such a fool. He thought he could build paradise in those floating tombs. He thought that what made life difficult on Second Earth was the fighting and the dead comrades. What his arrogant mind didn't understand is that it was the fighting—the missions, the plans, the sacrifice—that made life bearable on Second Earth."

The Colonel continued: "When Miyagi gave up on trying to recapture the Earth he took away the only goals and purpose the people had. Things began to fall apart, starting with discipline."

"At first people liked having the chance to rest and be safe," the red head went on. "Then they started to get restless. Orders were disobeyed. Small disagreements turned into fights. Fights turned into riots."

Amick finished: "Then, one day, one of those fights escalated into pure anarchy on the military station. From what we've heard, Miyagi was gunned down and then a massive firefight in the hanger area ignited a shuttle fuel tank. That created a chain reaction of explosions which breached hull integrity and destroyed the station.

"That left only the Training Facility in Earth's orbit and it could not last on its own. It was abandoned and the survivors came planet side. I do not know what happened to the crew of the resource ship circling the moon."

Marlene bowed her head remembering that, for most of her life, Second Earth had been her home. But Amick did not let up.

"You helped Miyagi overthrow the council. You bear a share of the responsibility for what happened."

Marlene defended: "The council went too far. They were allowing the sleepers' b-cells to become fully activated. It was too dangerous. You saw what Tony Frost did to the medical station. Eventually all the sleepers would've went that way. It was too dangerous."

Amick smiled wryly: "Of course. Too dangerous. You did it all to save us from the sleepers and to save the sleepers from themselves. So you can imagine my surprise when the first time I see you after all these years and there is Yuji, piloting a Double Edge with his b-cells being activated."

Marlene stumbled then tried to answer: "We're trying to get our son back… and Yuji was dying…putting him in the Double Edge was the only way to save him…"

Amick broke in: "Enough! So it's worth the risk when it's a cause important to you, but it is too dangerous when the cause is humanity? You are a fool. You allowed your feelings for the Sample to over ride your training, your discipline, nothing else.

"That's why you helped Miyagi then, and that's why you put the sleeper in Double Edge again now. You proved that you were never the soldier some of us once thought you were."

Amick didn't know it, but Marlene took some small ounce of satisfaction in that observation.

Yuji, however, was laughing. He seemed to only be paying attention to parts of the conversation.

"No, Amick Hendar, you are the fool."

The guards watching Yuji raised their rifles to give him a good butt in the head but Amick held her hand in a "stop" gesture.

They relaxed.

"And then there's you, the sleeper," Amick spoke. "What will you do now without your Double Edge? It is destroyed, you know. How will you fight the Blue now?"

"That's why you're a fool," Yuji started. "And it's why you're so mad. Why you hate Marlene so much and why you can't let go."

"We are fighting a war," she insisted.

"No. No you're not," Yuji lectured her. "That's the problem, isn't it? That's why you want revenge on Marlene. Look around you. The war is over. The Blue have left. Their purpose in nature is done and they have left. Sure, a few here and there because the species is now a part of the ecosystem.

"But there is no war, and that's what bothers you. You'd rather die fighting than the fate you have now.

"You didn't beat the Blue with guns and shrikes and nuclear weapons. You couldn't beat them. There was no military solution. Instead, when their purpose on this Earth was complete, the Blue…simply…went away.

"No glorious victory. Not even the dignity of complete defeat. All your efforts were wasted and ineffective. The Blue left when they were done, not a moment sooner. You were irrelevant. All your efforts a waste of time."

Amick gritted her teeth but held her composure.

"Please," Marlene cut in. "Do you know where our son is? Do you know where they took him? That's all I care about now. We wouldn't have left our village behind; we wouldn't be out here bothering anyone if they hadn't taken our son away. He's the only reason…he's the only reason I have for living…please."

Amick Hendar pointed at Marlene then pointed at the ground. In response, the guard behind Marlene grabbed her shoulders and forced her into a kneeling position.

Amick then motioned for the other guard to push Yuji further away, which he did.

"What are you doing!?" Yuji growled but Marlene knew well enough. She kneeled on the floor and waited.

Hendar produced an automatic pistol from her rear-mounted holster. She walked closer to Marlene.

"Wait. Listen, Amick," Marlene hurried. "I'll do whatever you want. Do you want me to beg for mercy? Do you want me to cry? Do you want me to admit to being wrong? I'll do it. I'll do all of it. I'll die however you want. But promise me that you'll let Yuji go to search for our child. That's the only thing that's important anymore. That's all that matters."

Amick said: "I've waited a long time for this, code number 2-8-0-5. Now I will have my revenge for your treachery against the high council. In their name and in their memory, I pass judgement on you as a traitor. The sentence is death. Do you have any last words?"

Amick cocked the slide on the automatic pistol.

Yuji cried out and stepped forward. His reward was a butt from a rifle in his gut and another on the back of his head. He fell to the ground, conscious but immobilized.

He reached toward her but she was too far away.

The condemned prisoner offered her last words with a glaring stare into the eyes of her executioner.

"My name is Marlene Angel."

The cold steel of the gun pressed against the victim's forehead.

Amick Hendar pulled the trigger.

NEXT FACTOR:

9. Purge

Amick: "Now that I have had my revenge I can tell you the truth…the truth is that I had nothing to do with the taking of your child…if you want to find the truth you'll have to go home…you'll have to go home to Second Earth."