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Place:
Wolf Den Military Base
Time: 2084-07-29
Age: 1643453-BDC
Gooseman, Shane – 17 y.a.d.
Person:
J. Walsh
The
fuse is set and checked once more
Then left beside a back
street door
And in the cold grey light
Someone sees a
shadow run through the night and out of sight
He
sucked air through his teeth as the medics moved the heavy piece
of ceiling that had trapped his legs under it. He'd sent the boy
on to protect Negata... and had lied about his condition. He'd
been wounded before. He knew that something in his knee had given
way. The other bruises that he'd suffered weren't
important.
One of the medics cut
open the cloth of his trousers above the boot to get a direct
skin contact for his scanner. "Sir, please keep still. I'll
get the needed data to treat you quickly..." Heavily armored
MPs passed them. Their leader ordered two of his soldiers to stay
with the colonel and the medics, who seemed relieved at their
presence.
He wasn't, knowing far
better than they the abilities of their possible opponents.
And... Damnation! What was happening with the boy? "Soldier.
What are your unit's orders?"
"Sir."
The MP remained on guard as he answered. "To secure the
base, sir."
"You
brought CHUs for
the escaped troopers?"
"Sir,
our unit is ordered to freeze all troopers found alive,
sir."
He was on his feet
long before the medics even realized his intention to do so.
"Follow me."
"Sir,
we are–"
"I am
still the commander of this base. Follow me!"
"Colonel,
your knee–" one of the medics began.
"Has
to wait!" he snapped, grinding his teeth at the searing
pain.
They
hide inside a smoke filled room
To hear at last the blast of
doom
And so the deed is done
They listen to the final
countdown
Begun...three...two...one
"Freeze
him like the others."
He
heard the order when he limped into the lab hall. "Countermand
that order," he snapped before any of the armed MPs could
enter Negata's small personal lab office. "Where's Professor
Negata?"
"Here, sir.
They've frozen him."
"And
why the Hell aren't you taking care of him?" he barked at
the MP leader.
"We've got
to secure the area before I can send the medics in. The one in
there has to be frozen before–"
"Not
him!" he snapped.
"Senator
Wheiner ordered us to freeze all of those found alive, sir."
The MP leader stood his ground.
"Without
him, it's likely none of us would be still alive. I'm commander
of this base, not Wheiner! I'm going to take care of this one
myself. You two," he almost growled at the two medics who'd
tried to treat his knee in the corridor, "take care of Dr.
Negata."
"But
that–"
"Now!!"
He limped into the room in front of them, angrily pushing the CHU
towards the door.
Madness
It's
a kind of madness that turns good men bad
And we're
helpless
Caught up in the madness of a world gone mad
The
trooper in question sat on the floor next to Negata's desk,
leaning his back against it as he awaited the incoming troops
with elbows lying on his knees, hands motionless and relaxed.
Walsh ground his teeth at the heavily armored soldiers securing
the small room. He ignored them. "Gooseman, get
up."
The boy didn't react.
He heard the orders outside, Joseph sighed
inwardly.
Too many had died
today. Too many had not.
He just
hoped there wasn't one more casualty than there seemed to
be.
"Nobody's going to
freeze you, Gooseman. I promise." Walsh leaned his weight
against the desk, relieving his injured leg, and looked down at
the blond shock not far away from his thigh. Gooseman didn't look
up. "There are already too many broken things at Wolf Den
Base," Walsh told Shane sadly, "I won't allow any more
smashing."
"Sir?"
Joseph
sighed. "Get up and come with me. And don't argue about it."
The
roar of fire rings out on high
And flames light up the black
night sky
A child screams out in fear
A hopeless cry for
help but no one is near enough to hear
A
CHU lid clicked shut with the characteristic hiss of thermal
sealing as they crossed the main lab room. And for a moment he
saw the eyes of the boy flicker, revealing for a second something
normally hidden deep inside him.
He's
afraid. – Damn. He's got a right to be.
Joseph
had no illusions. This command was dead. The order was little
more than a formality, likely no more than an hour away, and then
Eric would place his order again and–
"Why
did you stay?" he asked after the second pair of doors had
closed behind them. He didn't expect an answer, let alone an
honest answer, but maybe the boy was too far beyond his
boundaries already.
"A long
time ago someone told me that running away is no solution. I
don't know why, but I believe him."
"Do
you know who that was?"
"No,
sir." After a moment, the boy added faintly, "The
memory is very strange. I'm not even sure it's real."
Walsh
stopped in his tracks at that. Gods, he didn't know that a simple
sentence could hurt that much. The boy turned round for him.
"Sir?"
"This way,
Gooseman." He turned on his heels with a grim determination.
"Someone has something to learn about me!"
As
walls collapse and timbers flare
The smell of death hangs in
the air
When help at last arrives
They try to fight the
flames but nothing survives of all those lives
"Sir,
I shouldn't be here." The boy raised his head as they
approached the only external ventilation grille in the barracks
system. "There's a surveillance camera."
Walsh
frowned. The external surveillance system was camouflaged by
holographic shields. "You can see it?"
"No,
sir. I hear it." Goose nodded towards the wall opposite the
ventilation grille. "Electronics hum."
Joseph's
thoughts raced. Humming electronics... The external systems were
independent from the labs. Damnation! They were still working! He
straightened suddenly – and ground his teeth at the sudden
pain rushing through his knee. Ignoring it, he aimed his control
stick at the wall and pressed the deactivation key. The
camouflage field hiding it collapsed, and the camera behind it
stopped recording. "Gooseman. Forget about the restricted
access. Get me that recording crystal."
"Aye,
sir."
Something splintered
beneath Walsh's boots. Looking down at the gravel, he saw the
shards of a test tube there. Could it be–? He crouched down
and white-hot pain shot through his injured knee. Shit! He
wouldn't get up again without help. But that wasn't important
now.
Walsh searched his pockets,
finally found one of the little plastic bags used for samples,
and collected the shards carefully without touching them. Then he
sealed it.
"Gooseman, help
me up. Time for me to visit a medic."
And
it's madness – every time a victim dies
There is madness
– burning in a blind man's eyes
And it's madness –
hidden in the hate and pain
There is madness – burning
in a wild man's brain
And
it's madness – every time the bullets start
There is
madness – burning in a poor man's heart
And it's madness
– something that we can't control
There is madness –
burning in a madman's soul
"I
couldn't skip the opportunity to bring this personally, Walsh."
Wheiner waved something carrying the official BWL emblem as he
got out of the government glider. "Even if it meant coming
out here for a second time today. Now this project is finally
closed!" He gave a sign to the waiting MPs. "Freeze
that–"
Walsh,
awaiting Wheiner at the landing field, cut in in a threateningly
calm voice.
"Senator, we
have something to talk about first."
Madness
Joseph
watched the furious, red-faced senator climb back into his glider
and take off. His leg throbbed slightly. The strong local
anaesthetics had left his knee almost numb. He ground his teeth
thinking of it. Even with modern medical replacement
possibilities, tendon matters involving the articular capsule
were problematic. The medics had urged him to see a doctor soon.
They'd told him he'd been damn reckless – and that his knee
would likely remain sensitive because of it.
Anyway.
In his pocket he turned the keycard to the armored military
glider between his fingers.
He'd
been in more than one battle. And like this one, he'd been
scratched afterwards.
But he
hadn't lost!
"Take your
spacesac, Gooseman." He ordered the waiting ST. "We're
leaving, too."
END |