Prompt: 023 Devious

Character: David

David hit the last of the buttons and the clock flashed that he was officially off shift. He couldn't get out of the station and onto the streets fast enough. He just wanted to get as far away from his desk and all the paperwork as he could.

There had been an incident earlier in the day, a bomb left in a small coffee shop. There was no time or reason behind the target, it was just a locally owned coffee shop. Well there hadn't seemed to be a motive until they found out that several leaders of Kholo's government were going to make a stop there on their campaign. Though that wasn't for several weeks and there was no reason that they would put it there this early. There had been theories and random guesses in motive but still nothing concrete.

This was how it always went. A bomb was found or went off, a ship was attacked, or someone was taken hostage. The police would investigate but they just didn't have the resources or manpower to handle a proper investigation.

As a result the rebels were making a mess of people's lives, destroying families in senseless violence. They had requested help from the UNSC but they didn't have the soldiers to cover every colony and Kholo was unfortunate enough to not be big enough for it to be helped.

David watched the people outside the station, wondering how many we're rebels with the arrogance to walk along the side of people who were suffering because some group wanted to complain and had no problem killing innocents. It wasn't like they were doing any good. Were they all so blind that they couldn't see that they were just driven by greed or did they know and didn't care?

He turned, heading down the street the same way he walked every day. He lived close enough that getting a car was never really a thought. He liked the walk home anyway, it was a way to feel more in touch with the people. He walked with them, could hear bits of conversation. A woman who was worried about how she was going to get her daughter a good education, a man who was trying to calm his crying wife, assuring her that their child was I a better place, and a teenager worried about a friend who might be on drugs. These were the problems of the common people, not the things he rebels claimed.

Really Earth didn't take that much from Kholo and the only reason Earth didn't give more aid was an old bid the politicians had made to appease the rebels and had cut off some programs from Earth claiming it would make them more independent. It hadn't worked any way. The rebels wanted complete separation from Earth but the state of the people showed that cutting themselves off some from Earth had only proved that they needed Earth to survive.

David stopped, something he never did on his walk home. His gaze turned to two young adult who were arguing. "Come on, they need all the troops they can get and I get a signing bonus for bringing a friend. You know Jackson needs the credits for the treatment."

"No way, man. I'm not throwing my life away for Earth when we should be fighting right here," the other man argued back. David moved toward them and the second man scowled as he came close. "What do you want?"

"First I'd like to correct something. The UNSC would be fighting here to stop the rebellion and return the medical and financial aid if not for the rebels. Second, are you talking about the UNSC?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to convince my friend here to sign up with me," the first man explained.

"How would you know why Earth abandoned us?" The second man cut in.

"They didn't abandon us, we told them we didn't want their help so they backed off. You can't expect them to come running to our rescue and not remember we turned out back on their help. We wanted independence and we got it, and more bombs and death because we let the rebels get their way. Your friend is right, they need everyone they can get, then they could help more colonies. Rather than standing here and placing the blame why not join up and help your friend?" David knew it wasn't really his place to lecture a random stranger but he was tired of the way people pretended to be helpless. They allowed the rebels to do this, let them be ignored even when meeting in a public place.

"Screw you man, you don't know me." The second man flipped David off and stomped away.

"Sorry about him. He never got past his rebellious teenage years," the first man apologized.

"Well he should be careful. He's the kind of guy the rebels pray on. Don't want to see him dead because he lets his anger get the better of him." David decided to shift the topic to what had originally brought him to talk to the men. "So you're going to join the UNSC?"

"Yeah, nothing else I can do. Not good in school, no really great skills, and my family needs the money," the man explained. "You going to join?"

"I'm already a cop," David stated. The man looked disappointed, probably hoping he could get David to work with him so he could get the bonus. "So is Jackson your brother?"

"Yeah, got some bad burns during an attack. If he can't get some treatment they say his right side will be hindered, maybe even useless." The man looked away from David and let out a long sigh. "But I suppose I'm just happy they he's alive, thanks to the officers like you."

"Which attack?" David asked.

"The bomb that went off at power plant," the man answered.

"I remember that one. Me and my partner Mike responded to it. Place was on fire, lot of injure, even more dead." David frowned as the memory of the charred bodies and people crying out for help surfaced in his mind. He remembered all the children. Mike had snapped right to action, having years of service already and knowing the drill. David had just followed his lead, helped those that were still alive, trying to stall fires long enough for the fire department to come. He remembered the investigation afterwards which had come to such a grim conclusion. The fire suppression system was tampered with and with how many kids had been there it was impossible to believe the rebels didn't know. " I'm guessing that your brother was with the class on a field trip." The man nodded. "That was an awful day. So now you're joining up." David tried to push down the memory but he could still hear Mike shouting orders at him. He shook his head and didn't even think before speaking. "I'll join up."

"What? But you're a cop. You're already doing your part. If this is about my brother I can just try to find someone outside the recruitment center to sign up with me," the man said.

"No, isn't not because of him." David realized he didn't have good arguments or reasons to join that he'd thought over for months. He didn't usually make snap decisions like this and it was unnerving for him to have no crafted argument. "We can't do our part, to many limitations. The UNSC is the only way to get it under control." David searched a bit for the right words but it was had to do it on the fly. "My reasons not important. I want to join."

"Whatever you say, officer. You can follow me to the recruitment office." The man turned and David followed him. He wasn't sure why he'd made this choice, maybe he'd made it some time ago and just hadn't realized it, but he was going to commit now. These people needed to be protected, and he knew the UNSC was the only force that could stop the rebels.