The Council meeting was packed. Even more people had heard about the case, and there wasn't a seat to be had in the house. Jennifer sat with the others in the first few rows. Mark sat on one side of her, keeping an eye on the crowd – especially Stanton, sitting near the front on the opposite side of the room - and Kelly on the other, holding her hand.
"It's getting pretty crowded in here," Jennifer murmured.
"Hey – you've got a lot of people supporting you," Kelly said simply, squeezing her hand for about the tenth time already that evening.
"They're not all here for that," Jennifer said, smiling a little despite her nervousness.
"No. Some of them are just nosy," Mark agreed. "But – here are a few more who we can chalk up to the 'supporting you' category," he said, surprise and pride in his voice. "Look there."
Jennifer looked over her shoulder to see Tim marching down the aisle, shepherding Mary and the girls along ahead of him. Mary was clinging to each girl's hand like a lifeline, but they all smiled when they saw her. Jennifer rose and made her way back to them, hugging them all in turn. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Fighting for you," Sarah said simply. "You told me that it could be done, but not like the Resistance is fighting Dread. So we decided that we were going to fight your way instead of hiding."
At her daughter's simple declaration, Mary's face turned rosy. "Jennifer…I'm sorry. I'm sorry we weren't here Monday. I was just scared…still am, truth be told," she admitted. Tim smiled and laid a hand on his wife's shoulder for support. "But if a certain eight-year-old can see things as clearly as she does…well, the girls have been helping me see a lot."
"Mary, don't. I know you just want what's best for the girls," Jennifer tried to reassure her.
"We know that, too," Katherine said. Then she smiled at Jennifer – a real, genuine smile. "We just had to convince Mother that we needed to be able to fight, too. Just in our own way."
Jennifer wrapped an arm around each girl's shoulder and hugged them tightly. "You know, there's a part of me that wants to keep you safe and sound out on the farm, away from all the prying eyes, too."
"Yes, but why should we live here if we're not safe here?" Katherine asked simply.
"I think that's a wonderful question, young lady." Jennifer turned once again to see Councilwoman Chambers behind her. "I'm sorry, Corporal Chase. I really don't make it a habit of lurking behind people and eavesdropping. But I did want to greet our guests. Tim, it's good to see you again."
Jennifer turned and looked at Tim in surprise. "You've met?"
"I knew the Councilwoman from before the Metal Wars. We went to college together. I just hadn't gotten around to calling on her since we've gotten here. When you mentioned her yesterday, I decided to go and re-introduce myself."
"We had a very productive conversation, I think," Chambers said, smiling. "Everyone is ready? Katherine, Sarah?" The girls both nodded.
Jennifer's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about, Ms. Chambers?"
"I think it's time to take your seats now," she said simply.
Jennifer turned to Tim and Mary. "Someone needs to tell me what's going on," she demanded. She had a terrible feeling that they had something planned – something that would risk exposing the girls' past.
"Jennifer," Mary said softly, placing a hand on her arm, "everything is going to be ok. Now, go sit down. Let's get this done so we can go back and have a victory party."
Jennifer felt a little helpless, but she maneuvered her way back to the front of the room as the rest of the Council filed in. Kelly and Mark looked at her, taking in her worried expression. "What's wrong, Pip?" Mark asked in a whisper.
"I don't know yet," she confessed, "but –"
"This special meeting of the Governing Council of Eden II will now come to order," the chairman announced into his microphone. Immediately, everyone in the room fell silent. "Thank you. This meeting was called specifically to address the petition of Corporal Jennifer Chase to leave Eden, and return to the Resistance group that she has fought with for the past several years." The case was summarized quickly for anyone who didn't know its history.
"We are now ready to render our decision. I ask that each Council Member publicly state his or her vote for the record –"
"Excuse me, Mr. Chairperson," Councilwoman Chambers interrupted. "I was approached this afternoon by people that have asked to speak on Corporal Chase's behalf before we cast our final votes. I ask that they be allowed to speak before the final vote is recorded."
"Councilwoman Chambers, this is not our policy –"
"No, it's not, Mr. Chairperson," Chambers agreed. "However, I think we would all agree that this is not a typical case. We're talking about a woman's life and freedom here. I would like to know that we have all reviewed all the available evidence that we can before rendering our decision." Several heads along the table nodded their assent. The chairman stared at them, then closed his eyes briefly. "Very well. It would not do for us to overlook relevant testimony. I take it that the testimony is relevant, Councilwoman Chambers?"
"I certainly believe it is. I would not be asking for the Council's time if I didn't." She looked out at the crowd. "Mr. Schultz? Would you and your family please come forward?"
"No!" Jennifer moaned, closing her eyes. "They shouldn't be doing this – the girls will be targets now, too!" She watched, panic rising in her, as all four of her friends stood and approached the podium and the microphone.
"Shhhh…" Kelly soothed her, rubbing her arm. "Listen."
"Thank you, Councilwoman Chambers." Tim spoke first. "My family and I appreciate the chance to speak tonight. You see, Corporal Chase has become a very important friend of ours lately. We're fairly new live on a farm outside of town, and we hadn't sent the girls into school in town yet. We…wanted to keep them with us for a while. I saw Corporal Chase in town one day with Colonel Tucker. I asked her to bring Jennifer out to meet us. She did, and Jennifer has almost become a part of our family now. She's helped us a lot – my girls are going to miss her terribly when she finally gets clearance to leave. But we'll always be grateful to her, because she understands my girls here better than anyone else could.
"See, Mary and I have been alone for a long time. We lost our children near the beginning of the war. About two years ago, we were scavenging for supplies in an abandoned settlement we'd run across. We heard something as we went, and we found Katherine and Sarah here. It took some time, but we gained their trust, took them in, and they've been ours ever since. But it's been rough." He glanced at Katherine, who nodded, and he stepped back so that she could take the microphone.
"Before my parents found us, Sarah and I were on board a Dread Youth transport to our new assignments." There was some noise in the crowd at this, and Jennifer looked quickly at Stanton to judge his reaction. The look on his face as he stared at the girls made her blood boil. Kelly squeezed her hand even tighter, trying to keep her attention focused on Katherine and her family. "There was an attack, and most of us were unarmed. We were the only survivors. I managed to hide, and so did Sarah. We stuck together because our training told us there was safety in numbers. We didn't go far because we were certain that, when the transport was missed, a new one would be dispatched for us. But when Mother and Father found us, we'd realized that no one cared enough to come back for us. That's when we started to realize what Dread really taught. We were very, very angry at first. We had never even been outside of Volcania before, and knew nothing about the outside world but the lies we'd been taught by Dread. It took us a while to be able to trust anyone, even my parents, who cared for us from the beginning. It's been difficult. Our parents have been very patient with us, and they've helped us learn everything we can. I think they knew that we needed to talk to someone with a similar experience. But none of us really believed we'd get that chance. We didn't know there was anyone like us until we met Jennifer.
"She understands what we've been feeling. Mother and Father do the best they can, but it's hard when you haven't done it yourself. What Dread did to us is wrong. What he's doing now to the other children in the Youth, what he's done to the planet – it's all wrong. He took us when we were very small – neither of us remember what our lives were like before Volcania. We only remember the Youth. Jennifer told us that she doesn't have any definite memories of that time, either. And she was just like us when she first escaped. The Power team took her in, cared about her, and helped her realize she was human, after all. She decided to fight with them, and she has been fighting Dread ever since. She fought them outside with her team, and she has been fighting still here in Eden as she helps us. Yet you think she's a threat. She never asked to be taken by Dread. Neither did we. If we were taken when we were so young that we don't remember, how can we be judged for what the Youth have done?"
The crowd chuckled as Sarah elbowed her sister in the side, letting Katherine know that she wanted her turn. Katherine closed her eyes to help her keep her temper, and backed up so that Sarah could have the microphone. Tim barely held back a smile while adjusting it to Sarah's much smaller height.
"Katherine and I are still learning," Sarah began in her confident little voice. "We're learning even more because we've met Jennifer. But we haven't really been free here. We don't go to school with other kids, and we almost never go into town. Because if you'll judge Jennifer, you'll judge us. That's why my parents didn't want to send us to school or go into town. They heard what you did to her. You don't trust her because of things she couldn't control. You put a tracking device on her because you were afraid. You thought that if she left, she'd say something to someone on the outside, even though she's proven that she wants to go out there to fight Dread, not help him. What's to keep you from doing that to us? None of us who know the truth now could ever want to help Dread again. But you think because we look like we do, we will go running back to him.
"I asked Jennifer yesterday why she didn't just fight her way out of here. We met resistance cells from time to time on the outside. I know she would know how to do it. But do you know what she told me? She said that, while it would get her back to where she wanted to be, it would be proving to you guys that she wasn't trustworthy. She didn't say it, but I know that she was thinking about what would happen to the rest of us – those of us who have managed to get away from Dread. I don't know how many of us there are. But eventually, when this war ends, there will be a lot of us out there. What will happen to us then? I think she won't run away to be where she wants to be – and she really does want to be there - because she's afraid of what that will mean for us. How could someone who is supposed to be so bad that you have to track her movements think like that? How can you believe that someone as good as she is could possibly betray us here? I think maybe you need to think about that." Mary's hand on her shoulder stopped Sarah from launching into a full-fledged tirade, but it was a struggle for her.
"What we're trying to say," continued Mary, her voice soft but steady, "is that we believe in Jennifer Chase more than we believe in just about anyone else. She is an amazing person, even more so when you consider what she has been through. Despite how you have treated her, she's remained here, in part, to make sure that no one else has to face what she's been dealt by people who are too afraid to look closely.
"To be honest, I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to risk the chance that you'd do to my family what you've done to this young woman. But my husband and my daughters helped me to see that hiding won't help anyone in the long run. If we really want a future where our girls can be the human beings they were meant to be, not what Dread's twisted vision was for them, it has to start here. You have to really see, not just hide behind fears of what might be. Be half as brave as these three have been," she said, wrapping her arms around her girls and turning to smile at Jennifer, "and realize when you've made a mistake."
"Thank you," Sarah said firmly into the silence that followed her mother's plea.
The entire room laughed as the spunky little girl and her family returned to their seats, stopping to hug an emotional Jennifer as they passed. Mark continued his observation of the Council as everyone got settled back down. He didn't want to say anything to get Pip's hopes up, but he very much liked what he was seeing.
"Excuse me. I'd like a chance to address the Council as well."
A hushed murmur rolled across the crowd. William Stanton had risen from his seat and was approaching the podium without even bothering to wait for permission. Mark saw Shawn and Sam both trying to hold Vi down in her seat, anger written all over her face. He also noticed that there were many other ugly looks directed at Stanton, and they were not all from Jennifer's friends. This could go two ways…but he hoped he had a good enough feel for the crowd that his hunch was right.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Council, you've heard many pretty words in the past few days. First, from Corporal Chase herself, all about how sad her story is, and how she's worked for years to repay the debt she herself admits that she owes to society. She insists that she wants to return to the outside to fight for us. But can anyone really guarantee that? The training and conditioning that Dread puts his troops through is complete and absolute. No one has ever fought it – no one has ever truly left him.
"I'm not asking you to imprison Corporal Chase. All I want is for her to stay where she is – which is a place that all people, including the Schultz family, admit is pretty close to perfect. After all, we saved her life. All we're asking in return is for her to commit to protecting our way of life."
"Some of us, William, believe that she can do that even outside Eden," Chambers interrupted him.
"Why should we believe her?"
"She's given us no reason not to," The Councilman on Chambers' left said firmly.
"That little girl had a point," another Councilman agreed. "Do we want to set this type of precedent? Is this what Eden means – you can come here, but you have to fit our mold of the perfect citizen?"
"Oh, please," Stanton scoffed. "Has she taken you in, as well?" The look on his face went from disbelief to outright rage as he looked at each of the Council members and saw what Mark had been seeing all evening. He pointed at Jennifer as he continued, his finger shaking in his rage. "No matter how much she denies it, that seed is always going to be inside her – the one that believes the litanies and the speeches and will eventually emerge. And when she betrays us all, and this place we've created is destroyed, what is it going to matter to that little girl who has your heads turned? What about the children you love – the ones who haven't been soiled by Dread? What world will they have left to live in?"
"William." Chambers' voice was hard now. "You are out of line."
"I'm out of line? What about you?" Stanton's body language was radiating fury now. "You're the ones who are jeopardizing everything we've worked for, everything we've built –"
"Is that why you had us followed?" Every head turned as Sarah Schultz stood indignantly in her seat, Katherine and Mary trying to pull her down again. "The tracking device wasn't enough?"
"Yes, William, let's talk about the incident yesterday."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Stanton spat.
"I think you do. You see, I ran into Corporal Chase and her young friends in the library yesterday, and you can imagine my surprise when I realized that their actions were being watched very closely. I believe the people I saw followed her all the way back to her place of residence, and continued to follow her as she went about the business of helping a friend plan a wedding today."
The chairman frowned. "Corporal Chase? Is this true?"
Jennifer rose in her seat. "I know that two men followed the girls and I home last night. I was able to find the same two men everywhere I visited this morning. We went to at least four different merchants. I can't believe it's a coincidence." She took a deep breath and looked at Stanton, who had turned to listen to her, in the eye. "When they got too close to us, I purposefully headed to an area where I knew a law enforcement officer was stationed."
"Too close to you?"
"They'd been following us all morning, and they were progressively getting closer. I was afraid for my friend's safety, but she wouldn't leave me. I didn't feel like I had a choice. I was fairly certain that tonight's vote would not go well if I tried to defend us, even though I was fairly sure I could…convince them to leave us alone."
Mark looked at Kelly behind Jennifer's back. "What?" he whispered furiously.
"You were gone on your run, and you didn't get back until just before the meeting. We didn't have time to tell you," Kelly insisted.
"I think you could have found a way to fill me in, Kell."
Meanwhile, Chambers continued her questioning. "Mr. Stanton?"
"I told you, I have no idea –"
"I saw them, William," Chambers said firmly. "I recognized them as… gentlemen…that you have hired to do some work for you before."
At that, the voices that had been whispering in the chamber began to grow louder, and more unhappy. "Order, please," the chairman called. "Mr. Stanton, is this true?"
"You were going to set her free!" the elderly man bellowed. "I saw your faces on Monday – you were going to let her go, destroy everything we've worked for! All the people that live here should be thanking me for saving their lives. We named this place correctly – it is a paradise. It won't be once she's done! It will be as empty and wasted as the rest of this godforsaken planet, and you're going to let it happen! This filth will surrender us all – you and your children will be digitized, and all our hopes and dreams will be done!"
An uneasy silence had filled the room. It was as if everyone was mesmerized by the man that was currently coming unglued before their eyes. His eyes flashed and his cheeks were red. His hands shook as they punctuated his rant. He had gone, in less than an hour, from a somewhat respected member of the community to someone that did not seem to have full possession of his faculties. Several assistants had approached him and tried to convince him to take his seat, but he pushed them away. "Why can't you see it? Why would you put your trust in someone who has been tainted by that madman? All of them – even that little one will eventually betray us! How was she allowed in here? Why didn't someone realize – look at her! She's one of them!"
"Mr. Stanton, that is enough," the chairman said firmly. "Please return to
your seat or you will be removed." When security personnel surrounded him, his jaw clamped shut, but his anger was still palpable as he finally turned his back on the Council.
"We've heard enough testimony now…I think it's time for us to vote." The chairman cleared his throat as Stanton moved stiffly to his seat. "I ask my fellow Council members: should Corporal Chase be allowed to come and go as she please, without being monitored, and should she be allowed to leave Eden and return to her Resistance group? All those in favor, please raise your hands."
Jennifer's eyes widened as she counted five hands – all but three of the Council members. Her smile started small, but grew to cover her entire face as she heard the chairman say, "Very well then. By a majority vote, all restrictions against Corporal Chase are hereby removed. Corporal, I hope you'll accept our apologies. I'm afraid it took someone like you and your friends to help us to see what we were becoming. I think we all need to re-examine some of our policies, and really think about what we want Eden to be in the future.
"Now, you're free to go at your leisure. If you'll remain where you are for just a moment, an officer will come and remove your tracking device."
Jennifer's emotions were threatening to get the best of her as the officer officially removed the hated tracker. She turned to face her friends and was immediately engulfed in one set of arms after another.
"You did it, Jen! You did it!" Kelly laughed as she hugged her hard. "You made them listen to you!"
"We knew you had it in you," Sam smiled.
"We showed them, didn't we, Jennifer?" Sarah's face appeared above all the others, hoisted up in her father's arms. "You were right – sometimes you have to fight them their way."
Jennifer reached out and took Sarah from Tim. She hugged her hard, and then put her down and put her other arm around Katherine. "I have never seen two young ladies as brave as you were tonight. You risked an awful lot to come here and speak for me."
"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't?" Katherine said with a quiet smile. Her mother squeezed her hand, tears shining in her eyes.
"Now…we celebrate!" Vi whooped. "Everyone back to my place. Lottie has quite a spread planned for us!"
Everyone gathered their things and headed for the door, but Jennifer stopped Mark and Kelly. "Mark, I'm sorry. I never would have gone anywhere today if I knew I was putting Kelly in danger. And we really didn't mean to blindside you – I honestly didn't even know that Chambers knew about what happened this morning. There just wasn't time to tell you - "
"I know, Pip." He ushered both women towards the door. But he squeezed Kelly's hand tight, and didn't let go. "Apparently, I can't leave you two alone for a second."
They laughed and talked as they headed out into the night, more energetic and excited than any of them had been in a while. It was a lively walk back to Vi's. But as they neared the front door, Jennifer lingered at the back of the crowd, then sat down on the porch steps. Kelly turned and sent her a questioning look. "I'm ok…just need a minute." Her friend smiled, and turned back around, leaning into Mark as she walked.
Jennifer smiled as she watched them. She was so thankful that she'd be here for their wedding. And honestly, if this whole mess hadn't happened, she wouldn't have been. Silver linings, she thought to herself, remembering when Tank had first explained the concept to her. There really were silver linings to almost every situation.
She took a deep, calming breath. Summer was in full swing, and she could smell Vi's garden from where she was sitting. She rose from the step and walked into the yard, looking up at the night sky. She wondered if Jon was doing the same thing, or if he even could from wherever the new base was at. Was he wondering how she was doing this evening? She wished with all her heart that she could contact him now and let him know that it was over, that she would really be coming home after the wedding. She knew he was thinking of her now, and she wanted him to share in her friends' excitement.
"You think you've won, don't you, Corporal?"
She turned to see William Stanton emerge from the shadows. He was flanked by two men, and they all advanced on her. Jennifer knew her friends were nearby in the house, but she remained quiet as the trio approached. She would keep her friends out of this. It wasn't going to be pretty, and she didn't want them involved.
"I don't think you're welcome here right now, Mr. Stanton…" she began.
He cut her off. "I really don't care if I'm welcome or not, Corporal. I'm not finished with you yet."
"I just wanted the chance to go home, Mr. Stanton. That's what I'm going to be able to do now – go out and fight for this place, and for everyone out there that deserves to be able to live in peace as well."
"You stupid girl! You really think I believe your lies? I'm not fooled, Chase. I know what's in your heart. And I'm not going to allow you to jeopardize everything I've worked for here. You'll stay here in Eden, or you'll stay silent."
"No, I won't." The men flanking Stanton had begun to advance on her, but she stood straight and still.
"Jennifer?" Mark must've noticed what was going on, and his voice approached from behind her. Jennifer winced. She didn't want any of them involved in this.
"Mark, stay back."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Tim's voice answered. Jennifer could hear them coming down the porch steps. Why couldn't they just stay back?
"You should listen to your friend, fool," Stanton sneered. "It would be better for everyone if she just went away."
"Mark?" Jennifer sighed when she heard Vi's voice. She must have followed Mark and Tim outside when they'd come out to check on her. So much for keeping them all out of this. "If everyone would just go back inside, I'll be ok. This is between me and Mr. Stanton," she said calmly.
"Vi, call law enforcement. You have a few trespassers," Tim said calmly. Vi immediately turned and hurried back into the house. She knew she needed the authorities here to see what was happening, or she'd have bodily removed Stanton herself.
"Please, just go back inside," Jennifer begged Tim and Mark when she didn't hear them follow Vi, not moving her gaze from Stanton and his companions. "I can handle this."
"Yes, I'm sure she'd rather you just go back inside while my friends here take care of her and her mouth. Unless you'd rather us take care of the other two pieces of Dread's filth inside that house." At Stanton's words, the two men advanced on Jennifer with unexpected speed. Mark and Tim both rushed forward…only to stop short as they watched Jennifer take first one man, then the other down almost effortlessly. Their jaws dropped as she attacked, first jamming her elbow into the closest one's face, dropping him backwards. The second man managed to get in a shot at her while she was taking care of his companion, catching her across the chin. But she responded by grabbing his hand when he came in for another strike. She shifted her weight, catching him off guard and tossing him down onto the yard. Both of them staggered to their feet, but watched her warily as she took an aggressive stance.
"Come on, boys. You're not afraid of me, are you?" she taunted them. There was a part of her that was relieved to have a chance to fight.
"Get her! She's half your size!" Stanton screamed.
The law enforcement officers running down the street toward them almost didn't register with the people on the porch as they watched the two thugs approach Jennifer a second time. This time she grabbed one by the arm and twisted it behind him, then jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. He sunk to the ground with a groan, and didn't get up. The second man slowed after seeing his companion stopped, trying to find a weak spot in her defense. He hesitated too long – Jennifer simply stepped in and laid him flat with a punch to the face.
She looked up at the stunned officers as they reached the yard. "Hi. I think you might want to arrest them now," she said, slightly breathless.
Mark and Tim's laughter rang out across the night. Stanton was still staring at the two on the ground as he was led away from the house.
"That's our girl!" Vi crowed.
"That was…amazing!" Tim and Mark rushed down the stairs to help her up into the porch light. "How in the world did you learn how to do that?"
"I've told you…I got pretty good marks in hand-to-hand combat in the Youth," Jennifer said simply. "They got one in on me, though," she complained, rubbing her jaw where the second man had made contact. Kelly, Vi, and Megan were standing in the doorway, and she paused as she reached the door. "Ok…how much of that did you see?"
"Enough to know you weren't kidding when you said you could've handled yourself this morning," Kelly said, grinning. "You kicked some serious butt."
"Thanks…I think," Jennifer grinned back.
"Now, let's get you inside and get some ice on that," Vi insisted. "Besides, the girls are going mad in there – they knew something was going on, but Mary kept them away from the windows. They just need to see that you're alright."
At the mention of the girls, Jennifer turned to Tim and Mark. "You heard him, didn't you – what he said about the girls? We need to make sure the Council knows what he said. I'll feel better knowing he's locked up so that he can't touch the girls when I leave here."
"We'll all head down tomorrow and make statements. I don't think we'll have to worry much about Philip Stanton anymore," Tim said, laying a reassuring hand on her arm.
"It won't be the end of it, Tim," Jennifer said. Her eyes were full of emotion. "What you and the girls did tonight was amazing and brave and I won't ever be able to thank you enough for it. But that vote tonight was close. Stanton isn't the only one who feels this way. He just had enough power for it to get really ugly. There will be other people, and they'll judge the girls for their history instead of who they are now."
"Jennifer, that would have been the case whenever we sent them to school, or when they left us to live on their own. We can't protect them forever, as much as we'd like to. But by standing up to people like Stanton, and letting the girls tell their story, maybe we can change a few of their minds." He squeezed her arm, then turned towards the house again. "Now, I'm looking forward to the delicious looking cake that Lottie was setting on the table when we heard voices out here. I say we head in and get some before the girls get to it," he said, offering her his arm with a smile. "But I have to agree with Vi… ice first."
"Ice first," Jennifer agreed ruefully, taking his arm. "I might not know exactly what I'm doing as a maid of honor, but I'm pretty sure that having a black and blue jaw isn't something that most brides are looking for." She stopped and looked at Mark, who was still standing on the lawn, just staring at her. "You coming, Mark?"
Mark stared for another minute or two, then just whistled. "Remind me never to make you mad, Pip." He shook his head, then started up the porch steps and offered her his arm, as well. "Come on – I hear really good food calling my name."
Kelly laughed from her spot on the porch. "You've got him, Jennifer. Changing the subject is the telltale sign that he knows he's beat."
Jennifer smiled as she walked through the door with her friends. She could hear the girls arguing with Mary, and headed that direction once Vi had handed her an ice pack. Once Katherine and Sarah were calmed down (Sarah noticeably upset that she hadn't been allowed to see Jennifer "in action,"), the celebration started in earnest.
And though she thoroughly enjoyed the time with her friends – which extended late into the night – she was thankful, at the end of it, to be at her desk in her room upstairs with her stationary.
Dear Jon,
I'm coming home! I'll be there son! Can you believe it? It's really happening. And, I just might have finally proven to Mark that I'm not quite helpless, either…
L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L
In the Power Base's control room, Jon put down the reader he'd been studying for the past twenty minutes and stood up to stretch. He and the others were all in the command center, hoping to hear Mentor announce that there was a transmission coming through on Freedom Two's frequency. He'd been there since well before sunrise, unable to sleep. Scout had joined him about an hour later, and Matt and Tank had entered the room before the clock hit what would normally be an early time for rising, even for them. They'd been trying to keep themselves busy with various odds-and-ends projects for the last two hours.
Matt watched Jon scrub his face with his hands. "So, what's Dread been up to in quadrant seven lately?"
"What?" Jon asked, confused.
"That report you've been staring blankly at. Were you actually able to absorb any of it?"
The younger man shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "No, not really."
Scout put down the communicator he had been tinkering with. "Have any of us been really paying attention to what we've been doing?"
Tank put the book that he had been reading down. "I can tell you exactly what this book is about," he said.
"Because you've read it about a dozen times – at least three of them with Jennifer," Matt reminded him with a smile. "I noticed what you were reading as soon as you came in."
"I thought maybe it would bring us some luck," Tank said with a grin.
"Do you really think it could happen? Do you think that they'll finally let her be?" Scout asked the room at large.
"If she hasn't been there long enough by now for them to get to know her, to really understand what she's made of, and what kind of person she is…"
"The problem is, the ones that are making the decisions don't know her," Jon pointed out.
"Jon, you could hear it in Mark's voice. He thought she'd done it- convinced them to see reason. You know if there's anyone who can do that, it's her." Matt felt a little better when he saw a trace of a smile crack Jon's face. "How many times has she done it to us?"
"I don't know, but I could do with some of that logical reasoning right now," Scout smiled.
"I think we all could –"
"Captain, I'm receiving a signal on Freedom Two's frequency."
All four men dropped what they were doing at Mentor's announcement and crowded the computer terminal. "Put it through, Mentor."
"This is Freedom Two with a message for a friend. Your wait is over. Repeat – your wait is over."
The shout that went up in the control room echoed throughout the arctic base. Jon stood there grinning while the others thumped him on the back. "See, Jon – what'd I tell you? Mark knew what he was talking about!" Matt's grin was wider than it had been in a long time. "Now all we have to do is get her back here. This place needs a bit of a feminine touch."
"Time to get her birthday presents dusted off," Scout said, rubbing his hands together.
"Time to look the jumpship over and make sure it's in tiptop shape. You know that one of the first things she'll want to do is inspect that thing," Matt laughed.
"The big question is if it's time for the Captain to get packed or not," Tank pointed out.
"He's got a point, Captain," Matt said slyly. "Have you decided to take Mark up on his offer or not?"