Protector of Men Ch 97

*I do not own "O captain, my captain". It is by Walt Whitman.

O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! Heart! Heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

****

"I have to go!" Shade shouted, strapping himself into a fourth chair, "Plug me in!" He was frenzied, and his voice broke at the end of his shout. Kesia was startled by his ferocity quickly retreating into submissiveness.

"Shade," Kesia started, her eyes red, "I can't, it's too much…"

"If Trim can stay in, I'm going in!" he continued, his voice becoming even louder. "I'm not letting them die! They need us, Kesia, they need me!"

Kesia's lip trembled, but she was resolute. She pulled herself out of the operator's station and helped Shade with his final straps. She looked briefly to the abandoned cockpit, but looked away quickly. It wouldn't matter if the sentinels came – if Zandra was dead, they were as good as dead anyway.

"Hurry," he said, leaning his head back. Kesia nodded; she abandoned all grace and shoved the needle into Shade, hurrying back to her station to execute. He winced from the pain, but it was only present for a moment.

Kesia looked around the ship once he was gone. It was quiet.

The world slowed down as Zandra went for Cover. She knew what to do, because she had done it before; she had seen it before. Each agent would be starting to fire soon, and Trim would continue to think he was winning. She was at Cover now, picking him up off the ground, hoping to get him out.

But something was wrong. Zandra noticed with dismay that things were not moving as slowly as she expected, and looked up to see a smile on each of the agents' faces as they continued to fire.

Oh no, oh no…

Out! Faster, out! She told herself, shutting her eyes from exertion, Out! Now!

Zandra screamed and it was over.

"Get away," Trim screamed at the agents, "Get the fuck away!"

Reluctantly, obediently, they did so.

Trim wasn't surprised to see what he did. And though he was set in his decision, equal parts of him held both contempt and pain. His part was over; this was it.

"God fucking damn. It's over."

The agents looked to him silently. Trim stood motionless, staring at the ground in front of him. It was over. All coherent thought seemed to evade him; the same words repeated in his mind like a relentless taunt. It's over. Trim put the gun to his own head and sighed. Emotion was gone; he was empty.

"At least I'll get to kill someone," he muttered, and pulled the trigger. Kesia screamed as his blood spattered through the Libertas.

The agents left their hosts simultaneously.

When Zandra opened her eyes again she was a world away from the agents. She was outside a skyscraper, on the sidewalk. The streets were empty. For a moment she had forgotten that she was carrying Cover, but soon remembered it with horror.

"Cover, Captain," she said quietly, putting him down. His eyes were closed and he did not answer. Zandra laughed nervously.

"Come on," she said, looking him over-

"Oh, god."

Holes in his shirt displayed what Zandra feared the most. Red blotches stained the fabric of his shirt, spreading in bloody circles across his body.

"Oh, god," Zandra repeated at a whisper, scanning Cover multiple times – to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. Cover's fists were clenched, his eyes still shut.

Back in the Libertas, Kesia had lost all hope. She sat at her console; sometimes sobbing into her hands, others taking quick glances at the coding before wailing again. She had tried to save him; she had done CPR, she had bandaged his wounds, and even shocked his heart, but to no avail. Her cries echoed through the tunnels of the real.

"Oh, captain," Zandra said, willing herself not to believe it. She dared not to check his pulse, fearing that if she did, it would make it irreversible. As long as she didn't think it, it couldn't be true, right?

Blood was beginning to dry on his clothing; long ago had it stopped flowing from his injured body. She took his hand pleadingly, but dropped it instantly. There was nothing there but cold. Cold, and death.

Cover was dead. Irreversibly dead.

She was crying again; without blinking tears began to fall. She kneeled on the ground next to his fallen body, rocking and shaking, uncertain. Her guide was gone; she was alone.

She wasn't where he thought she was, and it worried him. Trim's body lay crumpled in the street; a useless gun rest next to his limp arm. Shade was alone, and it worried him.

"Zandra?" he called out weakly, looking around. The street was empty.

He never knew what hit him.

Zandra regained consciousness of the situation after a few minutes and jumped back from Cover's fallen body. Her captain was gone, but she was still in danger. And the virus… and Trim…

She pulled out her phone and dialed for Kesia, who answered with stifled cries.

"What do we do?" Zandra asked with humility. Kesia didn't know.

"Shade's in there," she was able to answer, "Get him, get him…"

Her heart began to pound again at the mention of his voice. Instantly she closed the phone, and was gone.

Cover might have been proud to see how they acted in his wake. Perhaps it had been a mistake for him to go in, but he didn't regard it as so. If Shade had gone in, it would have been him – and even Cover could see what a bond that he and Zandra shared. What had to happen, happened, as he saw it. He was ready to die for the cause; he was the only one ready to die for it. He had completed his job: Zandra's education was complete, Shade's training was finished, and Kesia's experience had been augmented. Each of them gained something from him that they could not have found without him and though he was gone, he would remain with them for much longer. Cover wasn't just another casualty. He had made a difference, and would live on.

A/N – bad Trim! Look what he did :(. Oh, no! What happened to Shade?

Alocin – well, I kind of misled you on purpose. You had it right a long time ago… but I didn't just wanna TELL you guys…

Vez – Oh yeah, I've exploded Smiths before. It was fun… but it still scares me! Have you done all the hacking stuff? That was the most gratifying for me, even if I did cheat a little…