Chapter 20 It's not his fault
Mia felt herself unjacked and looked around. Hannah had unjacked her and hurried over with the rest of the crew that were huddled around Lewis. Captain Jackson looked over at her and said," What happened? "Mia saw everyone turn to look at her and answered, "I was talking with Agent Smith and Lewis came through the door. He grabbed me and tried to get me to leave with him and then he started shooting. Agent Smith thought Lewis was going to hurt me and grabbed his gun. He. He was going to kill him but I made him stop." She looked at Lewis and asked, "Is he going to be alright?" Hannah moved away from Lewis and answered, "He's pretty banged up. I can feel a couple of cracked ribs and it looks like his wind pipe was almost crushed. I'd say if it were a minute more, we wouldn't be standing around talking about his condition." Mia closed her eyes and hung her head. She heard Captain Jackson turn towards the crew and say, "Where did he get the hacker program? If I found out any of this crew gave it to him, you will be out of here so God damn fast, your ass will have to catch up with you! Got it? Mia, come with me!"
Mia knew it was coming and followed him to his quarters. He opened the door and motioned for her to go in. She took the chair as he walked over and sat at his desk. She heard him sigh and say, "Mia, what happened? I want all of it. You're telling me that this Agent thought Lewis was going to hurt you? And then when the Agent attacked Lewis, you made him stop? " Mia sat forward and covered her eyes. When she thought about it, none of it seemed to make any sense. She shook her head and said," Lewis came in the door and took us both by surprise. I guess Agent Smith never thought anyone would be that stupid. I got to him first but he grabbed me and started yelling that I was leaving with him. He started shooting and then Smith just rushed him. I was knocked to the floor and the next thing I knew, he had Lewis against the wall and was strangling him. I got between him and Lewis and made him stop. I then checked to see if Lewis was still breathing and asked Agent Smith to give me longer than 5 minutes to get to an exit. He agreed." Mia looked at Captain Jackson and said, "Captain, he really did think that Lewis was going to hurt me." She looked over at him and she could tell he thought there was more to the story. He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Mia, how did you stop him from killing Lewis?" Mia felt her heart in her ears as she said, "I made him look at me by grabbing his face. He was so focused on Lewis, it was almost like he forgot I was even there. I begged him to let him go - for me. The next thing I knew, he dropped him. I was then able to make sure Lewis was still alive. Captain, I know this sounds strange but I know he thought he was only protecting me. It... It wasn't his fault." She sighed and sat back. Captain Jackson shook his head and said, "Mia, we'll both have to send reports in on this. I don't know what the counsel is going to think about this now that someone's been injured. If it were up to me, you'd never met with this Agent in the first place." Mia nodded her head but didn't say anything. She could tell the conversation was done when he turned towards some papers and said, "You might want to get that report done ASAP and I'll send mine out with yours." Mia shook her head yes and said she would have in within the hour. She ignored the curious looks she got as she passed crew members and hurried to the privacy of quarters.
Once there, she was grateful that room mate was busy else where. She crammed her fits into her eyes and tried to make some sense of what just happened. They all were acting like it was Smith's fault. She wanted to scream at them - Lewis shouldn't have been so stupid to come there in the first place! Smith was only doing his job! Had he told them no one else would be safe there - only her!? She growled in frustration. She then thought of the cell phone and how she never got around to telling Smith about. She groaned out loud - he would think she had betrayed him. The more she thought about it, the uglier it became. She reached for her data pad and started the report. The sooner she got it done, the better off she would feel. At least that was the idea.
She took her report to the Captain an hour later. He read it with her standing there and never made a sound as he read. When he finished, he said, "Alright, I'll send this out now. I'll let you know when I hear anything. We're returning to Zion as Lewis needs better medical treatment than we can give him." Mia didn't know what to say so she didn't say anything. When he dismissed her, she headed to the medical bay. Lewis lay on a wide table with various wires and monitors hooked up to him. They were healing his ribs and trying to restore his crushed windpipe. Mia saw that no one else was around as she walked up to the table. She leaned over and looked at Lewis and closed her eyes when she saw the purple swelling on his neck. She could even see the out line of Smith's hand where his fingers wrapped around his throat. She opened her eyes and whispered, "Lewis, what were you thinking? He would have killed you. I had to make him stop - I had to make him let you go. I had to do what I did." Mia reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes and whispered, "Lewis, I'm sorry." She then turned and headed back to her quarters. She had never noticed Hannah sitting on the top step that led up to the upper deck.
Mia was at her post as the ship headed back towards Zion when the warning sirens went off. There was a large group of sentinels in the tunnels ahead. She heard Hannah yell, "They've spotted us" Captain Jackson answered back," Can we take them out? How many are there?" Hannah answered back," At least a dozen, I say we run for it! Here they come! Shit! They got a lock on us!" The sentinels swarmed towards the ship as the Prometheus turned to try and out run them. Mia could hear the sound of phase cannons trying to give them enough time to get away as she tried to get an exact count on the number of them out there. The sound of the cannon suddenly stopped and she heard Hannah say," They've stopped follow us. They just quit! "She looked up at the captain and shook her head in shock. Captain Jackson looked at his own readouts and said, "They've gone back the way they came. Let's get the Hell out of here." Mia forced her eyes to focus on her instrument panel and prayed that no one questioned their good fortune with the sentinels. She knew without a doubt that it was because of Smith's command, that the sentinels had left them alone. She took a quick look around; everyone was smiling and thinking they were just lucky. Mia knew better. Later that night, Mia sat reading in her favourite place when she heard someone come through the door. She looked up to see Captain Jackson standing there in the doorway. She smiled at him but felt her stomach knot when he didn't return the smile. He looked at her and said, "Mia, please tell me you and that Agent didn't have anything to do with what happened with the sentinels today. It was only after they got a lock in our ship did they suddenly decide not to attack us. Mia swallowed hard and couldn't meet his eyes. She heard him swear and say, "Mia, you gave him your ship name? What the Hell were you thinking? If something really pisses him off, he knows what exact ship to go after to get to you. "Mia stood up and went over to him and said, "Captain, he said he would keep the sentinels from attacking us. If he could do it, it would be safer for us not only when I was in the Matrix but all the time. I thought it was a risk worth taking." Captain Jackson scowled at her and said, "Mia it wasn't your call to make. I understand why you did it but what's going to happen the next time we run into sentinels and they once again leave us alone. Mia, the crew is going to know you and that Agent had something to do with it. And after this whole mess with Lewis, I'm not sure how they're going to take it." Mia looked away and shook her head. She was tired of all of this being everyone's fault but Lewis' and she knew better than to state the obvious. She only answered, "I guess we'll wait and see what happens and deal with it when it does. Captain Jackson shook his head and walked away. He knew it was Lewis' own fault and Mia did have a right to be angry. But no one in their right mind would side with a machine - even if it was right. He wondered again if the whole idea of meeting with that damn Agent was such a great idea. He sighed out loud and wondered just how involved Mia was with Agent Smith and vice a versa. If she had been able to stop this Agent from killing someone, he wondered just what else was really was going on.
Mia felt herself unjacked and looked around. Hannah had unjacked her and hurried over with the rest of the crew that were huddled around Lewis. Captain Jackson looked over at her and said," What happened? "Mia saw everyone turn to look at her and answered, "I was talking with Agent Smith and Lewis came through the door. He grabbed me and tried to get me to leave with him and then he started shooting. Agent Smith thought Lewis was going to hurt me and grabbed his gun. He. He was going to kill him but I made him stop." She looked at Lewis and asked, "Is he going to be alright?" Hannah moved away from Lewis and answered, "He's pretty banged up. I can feel a couple of cracked ribs and it looks like his wind pipe was almost crushed. I'd say if it were a minute more, we wouldn't be standing around talking about his condition." Mia closed her eyes and hung her head. She heard Captain Jackson turn towards the crew and say, "Where did he get the hacker program? If I found out any of this crew gave it to him, you will be out of here so God damn fast, your ass will have to catch up with you! Got it? Mia, come with me!"
Mia knew it was coming and followed him to his quarters. He opened the door and motioned for her to go in. She took the chair as he walked over and sat at his desk. She heard him sigh and say, "Mia, what happened? I want all of it. You're telling me that this Agent thought Lewis was going to hurt you? And then when the Agent attacked Lewis, you made him stop? " Mia sat forward and covered her eyes. When she thought about it, none of it seemed to make any sense. She shook her head and said," Lewis came in the door and took us both by surprise. I guess Agent Smith never thought anyone would be that stupid. I got to him first but he grabbed me and started yelling that I was leaving with him. He started shooting and then Smith just rushed him. I was knocked to the floor and the next thing I knew, he had Lewis against the wall and was strangling him. I got between him and Lewis and made him stop. I then checked to see if Lewis was still breathing and asked Agent Smith to give me longer than 5 minutes to get to an exit. He agreed." Mia looked at Captain Jackson and said, "Captain, he really did think that Lewis was going to hurt me." She looked over at him and she could tell he thought there was more to the story. He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Mia, how did you stop him from killing Lewis?" Mia felt her heart in her ears as she said, "I made him look at me by grabbing his face. He was so focused on Lewis, it was almost like he forgot I was even there. I begged him to let him go - for me. The next thing I knew, he dropped him. I was then able to make sure Lewis was still alive. Captain, I know this sounds strange but I know he thought he was only protecting me. It... It wasn't his fault." She sighed and sat back. Captain Jackson shook his head and said, "Mia, we'll both have to send reports in on this. I don't know what the counsel is going to think about this now that someone's been injured. If it were up to me, you'd never met with this Agent in the first place." Mia nodded her head but didn't say anything. She could tell the conversation was done when he turned towards some papers and said, "You might want to get that report done ASAP and I'll send mine out with yours." Mia shook her head yes and said she would have in within the hour. She ignored the curious looks she got as she passed crew members and hurried to the privacy of quarters.
Once there, she was grateful that room mate was busy else where. She crammed her fits into her eyes and tried to make some sense of what just happened. They all were acting like it was Smith's fault. She wanted to scream at them - Lewis shouldn't have been so stupid to come there in the first place! Smith was only doing his job! Had he told them no one else would be safe there - only her!? She growled in frustration. She then thought of the cell phone and how she never got around to telling Smith about. She groaned out loud - he would think she had betrayed him. The more she thought about it, the uglier it became. She reached for her data pad and started the report. The sooner she got it done, the better off she would feel. At least that was the idea.
She took her report to the Captain an hour later. He read it with her standing there and never made a sound as he read. When he finished, he said, "Alright, I'll send this out now. I'll let you know when I hear anything. We're returning to Zion as Lewis needs better medical treatment than we can give him." Mia didn't know what to say so she didn't say anything. When he dismissed her, she headed to the medical bay. Lewis lay on a wide table with various wires and monitors hooked up to him. They were healing his ribs and trying to restore his crushed windpipe. Mia saw that no one else was around as she walked up to the table. She leaned over and looked at Lewis and closed her eyes when she saw the purple swelling on his neck. She could even see the out line of Smith's hand where his fingers wrapped around his throat. She opened her eyes and whispered, "Lewis, what were you thinking? He would have killed you. I had to make him stop - I had to make him let you go. I had to do what I did." Mia reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes and whispered, "Lewis, I'm sorry." She then turned and headed back to her quarters. She had never noticed Hannah sitting on the top step that led up to the upper deck.
Mia was at her post as the ship headed back towards Zion when the warning sirens went off. There was a large group of sentinels in the tunnels ahead. She heard Hannah yell, "They've spotted us" Captain Jackson answered back," Can we take them out? How many are there?" Hannah answered back," At least a dozen, I say we run for it! Here they come! Shit! They got a lock on us!" The sentinels swarmed towards the ship as the Prometheus turned to try and out run them. Mia could hear the sound of phase cannons trying to give them enough time to get away as she tried to get an exact count on the number of them out there. The sound of the cannon suddenly stopped and she heard Hannah say," They've stopped follow us. They just quit! "She looked up at the captain and shook her head in shock. Captain Jackson looked at his own readouts and said, "They've gone back the way they came. Let's get the Hell out of here." Mia forced her eyes to focus on her instrument panel and prayed that no one questioned their good fortune with the sentinels. She knew without a doubt that it was because of Smith's command, that the sentinels had left them alone. She took a quick look around; everyone was smiling and thinking they were just lucky. Mia knew better. Later that night, Mia sat reading in her favourite place when she heard someone come through the door. She looked up to see Captain Jackson standing there in the doorway. She smiled at him but felt her stomach knot when he didn't return the smile. He looked at her and said, "Mia, please tell me you and that Agent didn't have anything to do with what happened with the sentinels today. It was only after they got a lock in our ship did they suddenly decide not to attack us. Mia swallowed hard and couldn't meet his eyes. She heard him swear and say, "Mia, you gave him your ship name? What the Hell were you thinking? If something really pisses him off, he knows what exact ship to go after to get to you. "Mia stood up and went over to him and said, "Captain, he said he would keep the sentinels from attacking us. If he could do it, it would be safer for us not only when I was in the Matrix but all the time. I thought it was a risk worth taking." Captain Jackson scowled at her and said, "Mia it wasn't your call to make. I understand why you did it but what's going to happen the next time we run into sentinels and they once again leave us alone. Mia, the crew is going to know you and that Agent had something to do with it. And after this whole mess with Lewis, I'm not sure how they're going to take it." Mia looked away and shook her head. She was tired of all of this being everyone's fault but Lewis' and she knew better than to state the obvious. She only answered, "I guess we'll wait and see what happens and deal with it when it does. Captain Jackson shook his head and walked away. He knew it was Lewis' own fault and Mia did have a right to be angry. But no one in their right mind would side with a machine - even if it was right. He wondered again if the whole idea of meeting with that damn Agent was such a great idea. He sighed out loud and wondered just how involved Mia was with Agent Smith and vice a versa. If she had been able to stop this Agent from killing someone, he wondered just what else was really was going on.