seaQuest m hai ngo ge.
A feeling of deep inner peace for all my reviewers: Whosyourdaddy, KatKnits00, hepatica, ano, Teresa, Fiona, TeacherTam, Mar, pari106 and sara. I could just hug all you guys!
Ghosts
Chapter 12
Lucas was getting bored of reciting his name. He didn't even have a rank and serial number to go with it. He was also getting bored of Rebecca's soulful look. Who the hell does she think she's fooling? he thought bitterly. She was giving him one now.
"Your friend has already told us which confederation the two of you are from," she said, gently. "All you have to do is confirm it and all this will be over."
Lucas stared back at her, unflinching. You'll have to do better than that, he thought grimly. Didn't I tell you I'm a genius? Oh, I guess I didn't tell you anything. Hah!
The blow caught him on the side of the jaw, snapping his head round. He spat blood onto the floor, and then turned his head back to stare at Rebecca one more. He could tell she didn't like it; it seemed to unsettle her. He allowed himself a grim, inward smile. Their interrogation technique really was a little rough around the edges. They seemed to think that punching him was going to persuade him to spill the beans. They're obviously not used to it, he thought. But sooner or later they're going to transfer you to a proper jail where they know how to do this torture stuff. Unless you get out of here first. Time to make a plan.
Braithwaite sat up when the outer door opened. Rebecca walked in first, followed by the two beefy men. They were dragging Wolenczak between them – he seemed to be unconscious, or at least unable to walk. His head was hanging down so that Braithwaite couldn't see his face, but the older man turned his head away in pity anyway. It seemed he himself had got off lightly, he thought, rubbing his bruised jaw.
The men flung Wolenczak onto the lower bunk and then left the cell. Rebecca stayed behind for a moment, watching Braithwaite with those mournful eyes.
"Are you hungry?" she asked. Braithwaite didn't answer. "We have a very good chef on the base. He could make you anything you want."
Braithwaite snorted inwardly. Amateur. After a couple more minutes of the silent treatment, the woman gave up and left. Once he was sure she was gone, Braithwaite scrambled down from the top bunk and leant over Wolenczak. The boy was curled up on the bed facing him. His eyes were shut and his face was pretty banged-up. Braithwaite shook him gently.
"Commander. Wolenczak. You OK?"
One of the young man's blue eyes snapped open briefly. Braithwaite was surprised to see it looked totally clear and alert. "I'm fine," Wolenczak muttered. "But make it look like I'm not."
Braithwaite frowned, confused, but was game enough. He shook the boy's shoulder harder. "Come on, Wolenczak, don't you die on me," he said loudly. "Come back. Come on!"
After a couple of minutes of similar admonishments, Braithwaite stood up straight and covered his face in his hands for a moment, doing his best despairing look. Then he climbed back up to his bed and sat, looking despondent. He heard Wolenczak shift position.
After a moment a whisper came up from the lower bunk. "Lie down facing the wall."
Braithwaite obeyed, then said, "Why?"
"That way they can't see that we're having a conversation."
"How do you know they can't hear us?" Braithwaite asked in a low voice.
"Because they still think we're on the same side," came the answer. Braithwaite digested this for a moment.
"I trust you have a plan, Commander," he said finally.
"Don't I always?"
After Lucas had finished explaining his plan to Braithwaite, there was silence for a short time. He could almost see his former captain frowning speculatively. Then came the question, as it always did:
"Great plan. Will it work?"
Lucas sighed. "It's all I got," he said. It seemed to him that none of his plans had been working very well in recent months, but he didn't point this out to Braithwaite.
There was silence for a while longer, and Lucas thought that Braithwaite must have gone to sleep. Then, suddenly, his voice came down from the top bunk once more.
"So, you gonna tell me about it?"
"About what?"
"About why you changed sides."
Lucas sighed again. How could he explain this to Braithwaite? The man had been fighting for the Free Nations since the war started. He was incredibly loyal. And his ideas about the war and the enemy were very different from what Lucas' had become. Still, he owed it to him to at least try and explain.
"I didn't change sides," he said slowly, trying to think his way through it all. "I just stopped believing in the rights and wrongs of it all."
Braithwaite was silent for a moment, digesting that. He had always been a man who liked to chew things over before giving his verdict.
"Why fight for the UEO instead of the Free Nations, then?" he asked finally. "Why not just stop fighting all together?"
Lucas closed his eyes. That hadn't been the response he had been expecting. "How can I?" he asked, his voice close to a whisper. "What else could I do?"
Braithwaite snorted. "Come on, Lucas," he said. "You've got smarts. You could do anything you want."
"As a Free Nations citizen? All I could do would be sit back and watch my home get parcelled up by rival confederations."
"So you just thought you'd help them finish the job?" Braithwaite's voice was angry now, though still quiet.
Lucas didn't know how to explain what he had done. Sometimes he wasn't even sure himself why it had all happened, so how was he going to explain it to someone else? "Captain, you know, the Free Nations is never going to win this war," he said quietly. "And to be honest, I'm not sure it would be a good thing if it did. I don't care about the governments any more, none of them are fit to run a children's play, let alone rule millions of people's lives. I want to fight for us, for all of us who are stuck in this shitty war because of someone else's ambition. If the best way I can do that is by fighting with the UEO, so be it." It sounded like a good explanation, but Lucas felt somehow that it was lame. Totally lame.
Braithwaite felt so too. "So that's it, is it? That's your big reason?"
"What else is there to say? I did what I thought was right."
There was a pause, then Braithwaite sighed audibly. "I guess that's all any of us can do."
It was still the middle of the night when Braithwaite was awakened by the sound of the outer door opening. The lights came on and he blinked, then suddenly remembered Wolenczak's plan. He groaned loudly and sat up, breathing hard. He wiped the back of his hand across his bruised cheek in an exhausted gesture, and turned to look at Rebecca. She smiled.
"Good morning. How are we feeling?"
Braithwaite shook his head wearily, grimacing in pain. His head drooped between his shoulder blades.
"More inclined to tell us who sent you?" Rebecca asked brightly. At that Braithwaite gave her his best glare. Her mouth twitched.
"Fair enough. I have a surprise for you today."
She nodded at the open doorway and the two goons from the day before entered. The cell door was unlocked, as before, and the first man crossed to the lower bunk and reached in.
"Come on sunshine," he said. "Time to get up." He dragged Wolenczak out like a rag doll and shook him. Wolenczak's eyes opened, and Braithwaite saw they were filled with fear and confusion. He groaned, and tried to stand, but stumbled and collapsed against his captor. His face was a picture of agony. He really does have an expressive face, Braithwaite thought clinically.
Now it was Braithwaite's turn. The other man pulled him down from the bed and grabbed his elbows as on the day before. Braithwaite stumbled and almost fell, grunting. The man laughed.
"Pair of girls this morning, aren't we? Not so tough now, huh?" He shoved his gun into the small of Braithwaite's back, and forced him to move.
Braithwaite followed Rebecca down the corridor. Behind him he could here Wolenczak's dragging steps, punctuated with groans. Finally, the guard seemed to lose patience.
"Shut up, will ya," he said angrily, and there was the sound of something hard hitting something soft, followed by a sharp cry from Wolenczak that was quickly cut off. A moment later the guard's voice came again. "Um, Dwight? I think we've got a problem."
Rebecca turned sharply. Braithwaite managed to sneak a look behind him. The guard was trying to support an obviously unconscious Wolenczak. The woman sighed, exasperated.
"Well, you'll just have to carry him," she snapped. "And next time, don't hit them so hard when you need them to walk."
"I hardly touched him," the guard muttered, but he hoisted the young man into his arms. The procession continued their march.
Finally, they entered a large room. Several computers were lined up against one wall, and a shelf full of scientific equipment stood next to them. The room was filled with work benches covered in the detritus of what looked to be hundreds of experiments. In the corner was an odd-looking white cubicle.
Braithwaite stopped, shoulders sagging, and stared at Rebecca with a weary expression. The woman smiled kindly.
"We know what you have stolen," she said, as if talking to a child. "We don't know where you've hidden it, but it doesn't matter. We have copies. Everyone in your confederation will get the chance to experience this technology first hand before long, but we thought you might want a sneak preview." She turned, and turned on one of the computers. She inserted an unlabelled data disk into the drive, and a string of chemical formulae appeared on the screen.
"This substance is so powerful that one drop in a room this size would be enough to kill a hundred grown men," she said sweetly. "Unfortunately, the death is agonising. The flesh literally melts. It takes some time. Amazing how inventive scientists can be, don't you think?"
Braithwaite just stared at her. He was getting a bad feeling about this. Rebecca nodded at the guard who was carrying Wolenczak, and he began to move towards the white cubicle in the corner of the room.
"We set up this area to test it," the woman continued. "I think we can safely say it works, but there's no harm in checking again." Braithwaite concentrated on looking as tired as he could. He kept one eye on the guard at the cubicle. He had shifted so he was only holding Wolenczak with one hand, using the other to open the cubicle door.
So, Braithwaite thought. This is it.
And it was.
A feeling of deep inner peace for all my reviewers: Whosyourdaddy, KatKnits00, hepatica, ano, Teresa, Fiona, TeacherTam, Mar, pari106 and sara. I could just hug all you guys!
Ghosts
Chapter 12
Lucas was getting bored of reciting his name. He didn't even have a rank and serial number to go with it. He was also getting bored of Rebecca's soulful look. Who the hell does she think she's fooling? he thought bitterly. She was giving him one now.
"Your friend has already told us which confederation the two of you are from," she said, gently. "All you have to do is confirm it and all this will be over."
Lucas stared back at her, unflinching. You'll have to do better than that, he thought grimly. Didn't I tell you I'm a genius? Oh, I guess I didn't tell you anything. Hah!
The blow caught him on the side of the jaw, snapping his head round. He spat blood onto the floor, and then turned his head back to stare at Rebecca one more. He could tell she didn't like it; it seemed to unsettle her. He allowed himself a grim, inward smile. Their interrogation technique really was a little rough around the edges. They seemed to think that punching him was going to persuade him to spill the beans. They're obviously not used to it, he thought. But sooner or later they're going to transfer you to a proper jail where they know how to do this torture stuff. Unless you get out of here first. Time to make a plan.
Braithwaite sat up when the outer door opened. Rebecca walked in first, followed by the two beefy men. They were dragging Wolenczak between them – he seemed to be unconscious, or at least unable to walk. His head was hanging down so that Braithwaite couldn't see his face, but the older man turned his head away in pity anyway. It seemed he himself had got off lightly, he thought, rubbing his bruised jaw.
The men flung Wolenczak onto the lower bunk and then left the cell. Rebecca stayed behind for a moment, watching Braithwaite with those mournful eyes.
"Are you hungry?" she asked. Braithwaite didn't answer. "We have a very good chef on the base. He could make you anything you want."
Braithwaite snorted inwardly. Amateur. After a couple more minutes of the silent treatment, the woman gave up and left. Once he was sure she was gone, Braithwaite scrambled down from the top bunk and leant over Wolenczak. The boy was curled up on the bed facing him. His eyes were shut and his face was pretty banged-up. Braithwaite shook him gently.
"Commander. Wolenczak. You OK?"
One of the young man's blue eyes snapped open briefly. Braithwaite was surprised to see it looked totally clear and alert. "I'm fine," Wolenczak muttered. "But make it look like I'm not."
Braithwaite frowned, confused, but was game enough. He shook the boy's shoulder harder. "Come on, Wolenczak, don't you die on me," he said loudly. "Come back. Come on!"
After a couple of minutes of similar admonishments, Braithwaite stood up straight and covered his face in his hands for a moment, doing his best despairing look. Then he climbed back up to his bed and sat, looking despondent. He heard Wolenczak shift position.
After a moment a whisper came up from the lower bunk. "Lie down facing the wall."
Braithwaite obeyed, then said, "Why?"
"That way they can't see that we're having a conversation."
"How do you know they can't hear us?" Braithwaite asked in a low voice.
"Because they still think we're on the same side," came the answer. Braithwaite digested this for a moment.
"I trust you have a plan, Commander," he said finally.
"Don't I always?"
After Lucas had finished explaining his plan to Braithwaite, there was silence for a short time. He could almost see his former captain frowning speculatively. Then came the question, as it always did:
"Great plan. Will it work?"
Lucas sighed. "It's all I got," he said. It seemed to him that none of his plans had been working very well in recent months, but he didn't point this out to Braithwaite.
There was silence for a while longer, and Lucas thought that Braithwaite must have gone to sleep. Then, suddenly, his voice came down from the top bunk once more.
"So, you gonna tell me about it?"
"About what?"
"About why you changed sides."
Lucas sighed again. How could he explain this to Braithwaite? The man had been fighting for the Free Nations since the war started. He was incredibly loyal. And his ideas about the war and the enemy were very different from what Lucas' had become. Still, he owed it to him to at least try and explain.
"I didn't change sides," he said slowly, trying to think his way through it all. "I just stopped believing in the rights and wrongs of it all."
Braithwaite was silent for a moment, digesting that. He had always been a man who liked to chew things over before giving his verdict.
"Why fight for the UEO instead of the Free Nations, then?" he asked finally. "Why not just stop fighting all together?"
Lucas closed his eyes. That hadn't been the response he had been expecting. "How can I?" he asked, his voice close to a whisper. "What else could I do?"
Braithwaite snorted. "Come on, Lucas," he said. "You've got smarts. You could do anything you want."
"As a Free Nations citizen? All I could do would be sit back and watch my home get parcelled up by rival confederations."
"So you just thought you'd help them finish the job?" Braithwaite's voice was angry now, though still quiet.
Lucas didn't know how to explain what he had done. Sometimes he wasn't even sure himself why it had all happened, so how was he going to explain it to someone else? "Captain, you know, the Free Nations is never going to win this war," he said quietly. "And to be honest, I'm not sure it would be a good thing if it did. I don't care about the governments any more, none of them are fit to run a children's play, let alone rule millions of people's lives. I want to fight for us, for all of us who are stuck in this shitty war because of someone else's ambition. If the best way I can do that is by fighting with the UEO, so be it." It sounded like a good explanation, but Lucas felt somehow that it was lame. Totally lame.
Braithwaite felt so too. "So that's it, is it? That's your big reason?"
"What else is there to say? I did what I thought was right."
There was a pause, then Braithwaite sighed audibly. "I guess that's all any of us can do."
It was still the middle of the night when Braithwaite was awakened by the sound of the outer door opening. The lights came on and he blinked, then suddenly remembered Wolenczak's plan. He groaned loudly and sat up, breathing hard. He wiped the back of his hand across his bruised cheek in an exhausted gesture, and turned to look at Rebecca. She smiled.
"Good morning. How are we feeling?"
Braithwaite shook his head wearily, grimacing in pain. His head drooped between his shoulder blades.
"More inclined to tell us who sent you?" Rebecca asked brightly. At that Braithwaite gave her his best glare. Her mouth twitched.
"Fair enough. I have a surprise for you today."
She nodded at the open doorway and the two goons from the day before entered. The cell door was unlocked, as before, and the first man crossed to the lower bunk and reached in.
"Come on sunshine," he said. "Time to get up." He dragged Wolenczak out like a rag doll and shook him. Wolenczak's eyes opened, and Braithwaite saw they were filled with fear and confusion. He groaned, and tried to stand, but stumbled and collapsed against his captor. His face was a picture of agony. He really does have an expressive face, Braithwaite thought clinically.
Now it was Braithwaite's turn. The other man pulled him down from the bed and grabbed his elbows as on the day before. Braithwaite stumbled and almost fell, grunting. The man laughed.
"Pair of girls this morning, aren't we? Not so tough now, huh?" He shoved his gun into the small of Braithwaite's back, and forced him to move.
Braithwaite followed Rebecca down the corridor. Behind him he could here Wolenczak's dragging steps, punctuated with groans. Finally, the guard seemed to lose patience.
"Shut up, will ya," he said angrily, and there was the sound of something hard hitting something soft, followed by a sharp cry from Wolenczak that was quickly cut off. A moment later the guard's voice came again. "Um, Dwight? I think we've got a problem."
Rebecca turned sharply. Braithwaite managed to sneak a look behind him. The guard was trying to support an obviously unconscious Wolenczak. The woman sighed, exasperated.
"Well, you'll just have to carry him," she snapped. "And next time, don't hit them so hard when you need them to walk."
"I hardly touched him," the guard muttered, but he hoisted the young man into his arms. The procession continued their march.
Finally, they entered a large room. Several computers were lined up against one wall, and a shelf full of scientific equipment stood next to them. The room was filled with work benches covered in the detritus of what looked to be hundreds of experiments. In the corner was an odd-looking white cubicle.
Braithwaite stopped, shoulders sagging, and stared at Rebecca with a weary expression. The woman smiled kindly.
"We know what you have stolen," she said, as if talking to a child. "We don't know where you've hidden it, but it doesn't matter. We have copies. Everyone in your confederation will get the chance to experience this technology first hand before long, but we thought you might want a sneak preview." She turned, and turned on one of the computers. She inserted an unlabelled data disk into the drive, and a string of chemical formulae appeared on the screen.
"This substance is so powerful that one drop in a room this size would be enough to kill a hundred grown men," she said sweetly. "Unfortunately, the death is agonising. The flesh literally melts. It takes some time. Amazing how inventive scientists can be, don't you think?"
Braithwaite just stared at her. He was getting a bad feeling about this. Rebecca nodded at the guard who was carrying Wolenczak, and he began to move towards the white cubicle in the corner of the room.
"We set up this area to test it," the woman continued. "I think we can safely say it works, but there's no harm in checking again." Braithwaite concentrated on looking as tired as he could. He kept one eye on the guard at the cubicle. He had shifted so he was only holding Wolenczak with one hand, using the other to open the cubicle door.
So, Braithwaite thought. This is it.
And it was.