Chapter 4:
"Mentor, pull up the datafile on Dr. Lyman Taggart, aka 'Lord Dread.'" Captain Power said, referring to the group's artificially intelligent super computer. It was still weird to the team to see Mentor appear above the main console of the jump ship. His home used to be at the "Power Base" but it was destroyed by Lord Dread's troops. At the cost of Jennifer "Pilot" Chase's life, Mentor and the spare power suits were able to survive, giving Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future a fighting chance against Dread. Once again, Jonathan Power's gut went cold at the thought of Jennifer's death.
Mentor's avatar appeared at Power's vocal command. He resembled Captain Power's father; indeed, the computer program was the brainchild of Dr. Stuart Gordon Power so it was appropriate that Mentor should look like him. "Processing Captain" came the reply from the computer. "Files retrieved. What sort of information are you looking for?"
"History on Dr. Lyman Taggart if you please, or more specifically, genealogical data." Replied Power.
Hawk suddenly realized what was going on and looked at his friend with concern. "John, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?"
"And what exactly am I thinking Hawk?"
"That you're going to find and kill Lord Dread's descendants so that Dread can never be born. I am right aren't I? Please tell me I'm wrong John. In the name of God, please tell me I'm wrong."
The others looked at the conversation with a mixture of curiosity and dread but they stayed silent. Tank and Scout were each too lost in their own thoughts on this development to properly field a suggestion…yet. Meanwhile, the expression on Power's face mimicked a statue. Tank realized that he would never want to play poker against him with that kind of face.
"John, we're not monsters. Think about what you're suggesting! You're talking about killing someone for something he hasn't even done yet! It would be one thing if we went back right before Taggart became Lord Dread, maybe I could justify this but this…"
Power turned to his friend, his expression changed from impassivity to a mixture of sadness, weariness and anger. "Hawk, how many lives would we be saving if we eliminated this…." He pointed to the holo image of the Taggart family tree or more specifically, a single name. "This Peter Taggart. If we do this, the war will have never happened Hawk! If Dread never existed, your son would still be alive!" He turned to Scout and gripped him by the shoulder. "Your mom would still be alive, you would have never had to live running from burnt out building from burnt out building, hiding from bio dreads!" At that, Scout cast his eyes down to the deck in deep thought in remembrance of his lost family.
He turned to Tank with that same passion. "Tank, you grew up in that hell hole Babylon Five, thanks to Lord Dread. How many people have you loved and lost because of that maniac?" Tank started to say something but stopped himself. He had to admit, his leader put forth a compelling argument.
"If Dread never existed, he could've never linked himself to Overmind and corrupted it with his greed. How many millions of people would still be alive if Dread never existed? Jennifer would still be here…." The coldness in his gut turned into an ice age. He slammed his fist against the console making it jump slightly. "Hawk, you say we're not monsters. We have a chance, right here, right now to put things right and save millions of people in the process. If we neglect this chance, if we let humanity suffer to take some sort of 'high road,' doesn't that make us monsters? Tell me that you could live with yourself if you had the chance to save your son and you didn't take it. I can't Hawk. I guarantee I'll have nightmares for the rest of my life and probably eat my own gun if I didn't take this risk here and now."
His pleading eyes looked over every face of his team. He could see the wheels turning in their heads, considering his words. It was all true; each man had lived through their own personal hell because of the Metal Wars. Each had lost somebody close to them and to say that they wouldn't risk anything to make that right, they would be lying to themselves.
"But murder John? Worse, retroactive murder from two-hundred years in the past? It…it just doesn't sit right with me." Hawk said slowly.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Tank chimed in, surprising the group. Usually he had a witty pun to keep the group loose, made even funnier by his thick accent. This time, he was all seriousness, no doubt remembering his painful time in Babylon Five which made him a monster of a man and a force to be feared. "If one has to die to save millions of innocent people, I know which side I fall on." He said with such resolve that his voice might as well been made of steel.
Meanwhile, Scout nursed his own pain. Not only did he miss his family, he also missed Pilot as well for he like Captain Power, was in love with her. Because he knew that she loved Power, his love was unrequited and silent. He'd do anything to bring her back to life, even if it meant that he'd never meet her, anything. "I agree with Tank. Too many have suffered because of this war, a war that we're losing by the way. If there's a way to end it, quick, final if not clean, I think it's worth the risk." He said.
Finally, all eyes fell onto Hawk. He too wallowed in his pain. Out of all of them, he was the oldest and as such the veteran of the group though all of them had seen enough war and death to last them a thousand lifetimes. He remembered his son and how much he loved him and how quick and brutally he died. He remembered Captain Power's father who was his best friend and how Stuart Power lost his life at the hands of Lord Dread and how he was too late to prevent that. Too much pain and death, he thought to himself. After a long pause he said, "I'm in, let's do this" feeling empty.
There was no rejoicing in the cockpit of the jumpship over their unanimous decision, no joy that the war would be ending soon, merely a silent resolve that none wished to speak about. Captain Power nodded and placed a gentle hand on his friends' shoulders in thanks. "Prep the jumpship and plot a course using maps circa 1996 for Angel Grove. We leave at nightfall as to lower our visibility, our screens should protect us from any detection systems this century might have." He said, all business, the snap of command back in his voice.
"How are we going to find this guy sir?" Scout asked.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it Scout. For now, let's get ready to get out of here." Power replied. This is for you Jennifer, I love you so much, he thought to himself as he made preparations to leave.