Series/Universe: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
Disclaimers: M7 characters belong to Trilogy, et al. Jonathan Power, his team, Lord Dread, and all other Captain Power characters belong to Landmark Entertainment. Original characters are all mine ... don't mind if you borrow them, just ask first, give them back intact and give credit where credit is due.
Warnings: The usual ... violence, language, and references to ugliness. Oh yeah, and the original characters. Can't forget them.
Spoilers: both seasons of M7 and the one season of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
"I'm sorry, Daddy."
Jonathan Power looked at the slender young girl tucked against his side. They had been hiding here for three nights, and this was the first time Aislinn had spoken since they had to abandon the base. For the second time in his life, Jonathan Power had to watch as a legacy from his father was destroyed ... but this time, no one he loved was trapped inside. They were all together, even if they were on the run.
"None of this is your fault, angel," he told his thirteen year old daughter. Aislinn Hope Power. Aislinn, which meant 'dream or vision.' She was his hope, come to life. And any time the old depression, the nearly suicidal rage, returned, Aislinn was there. It frightened him, when he thought about it. It was his job to take care of her, not the other way around. And yet, with each passing year, it seemed as if she was taking care of him, more than he was taking care of her.
"Listen to your dad, Aislinn. You didn't create this situation, you didn't make it worse," Matt said, putting in his two cents. The only child of Dr. Stuart Gordon Power looked over at the former major over the top of his daughter's head, then looked at Robert Baker and Michael Ellis. They were both asleep. Good. It was time someone got some sleep around here. Neither Jon nor Aislinn had been able to relax since the explosion.
Aislinn didn't speak, simply snuggled closer to her father, who rested his cheek against her hair. There was a long silence, then Matt asked, "You think the teams got our location?" Jon returned his attention to his oldest friend. Funny ... he couldn't remember a time when Matt wasn't there, taking care of him. He had taken care of Jon, after the death of Jon's father. God, it had been such a long time ago now.
He took care of Jon in those months between Jennifer's death, and the day they found the two orphans ... a Dread Youth not yet into her teens, and a raggedy boy of the same age. Adriana and Vin. Jon wondered if she knew that her older brother was very much alive. He had tried to find out the truth, in those months before Vin and Adriana left, knowing how Dread lied, but the information he sought didn't fall into his hands until years later.
He hoped Avery Wilmington's two betrayed children had found each other again. He hoped they were together. If they weren't now, they soon would be. It hadn't been that hard to find out what Adriana's last name was. Scout overheard her tell Vin about her brother's 'death,' and Tank was in the room several times a night, when Adriana had nightmares. And the name she cried out was always the same. 'Bucklin.'
It was a rather unusual name, and Jon asked Mentor to run the name through his databanks, cross referencing it with 'Adriana,' another unusual name. Mentor informed him that his records showed Avery Wilmington, Taggart's chief architect, had two children. Bucklin, who was born in 2114, and Adriana, who was born in 2125. They knew about the vid which Overunit Wilson showed to the twelve year old girl before her escape, just as they knew that Avery Wilmington died in the confrontation with his son.
But they didn't know about Buck's fate, even though the confrontation took place two years earlier, two years before his first meeting with Vin and Adriana. Jon had only to remember his own father's death, nearly thirty years earlier, in a confrontation with Lyman Taggart. He knew there was a good chance the young man didn't survive the encounter, especially if they were in Volcania. And yet ... Adriana was told the confrontation had just happened before her escape. If they lied to her about one thing ...
It was all too likely they lied about something else, and if there was any way Jon could bring about that reunion, he would do so. Unfortunately, by the time he had the information he needed, Adriana and Vin had disappeared. Now, Jon brought about the reunion he wanted so desperately, though not in the way he wanted to. He knew Adriana was part of the Valkyrie Team. He knew quite a lot about the Valkyries.
He just wished he knew how long it would take them to decode the coordinates which Jon sent them in his transmission. He knew about the code which Athena created, to warn the Larabee Team and the Valkyries if Dread ever went after Aislinn. She had been his father's technician, after all. And, she told him that she had ties to people in both team, just as he did. It took him a long time to figure out what she meant by that.
"Daddy? Do you think Mr. Larabee and Miss Travis will come for us?" Aislinn asked in a tiny voice. Jon looked at her ... she had Athena's eyes. What did he give this daughter of his? What had she inherited from him? Matt always laughed when he asked that, telling him that she had the Power stubbornness and the Power honesty. Stubborn and honest. And Tank always added, 'in that case, Tanner should be a Power, too.' While he loved both children, Vin was always Tank's favorite ... if only because of their common heritage at Babylon Five. Oh, by the time Vin was born, Tank was long gone ... but that made no difference. They were born in the same place, and in a strange sort of way, that made them family.
But, his team was his family, just as Aislinn was. Just as those two long-ago children were his family ... and yes, they still were. They always would be. And that was why he looked at Aislinn, answering in a gentle but firm voice, "They'll come for us, angel." Jon rarely made promises, because in their uncertain and far too violent world, it was nearly impossible for him to keep those promises.
With each passing year, too, it became more and more difficult to keep the promise he made to his father. Because with each passing year, a promise to a dead man, who would have killed to protect his child, became less important than keeping a child alive. There were times, in his dreams, when he could have sworn he heard his father telling him, 'it's all right, Jon. Promises to the living are far more important.'
But that fourteen year old boy who watched his father die, all those years ago, remained within his heart. And just as Julia Tanner's final words to her son continued to echo in that boy's heart for so many years, Jon's promise to his father was a brand on his soul. As if hearing his thoughts, Matt said softly, "You know, I always thought there was something to what Tank said, about Vin being related to you."
Jon smiled. In truth, he supposed he could have been Vin's father. Vin was born when Jon was seventeen, so it would have been something of a stretch ... but not an impossibility. However, he never knew Julia Tanner. Which wasn't to say, he wouldn't have been proud to claim Vin as his own child ... oh, he would have been very proud to say 'yes, I'm Vin Tanner's father.' But that wasn't the case.
And to do such a thing would have put Vin's life in the same danger Aislinn was in now. It was bad enough, that his little girl was having to grow up the way she was ... but Vin had other problems. He had been forced to survive by becoming a bounty hunter before he even reached his teens. Jon shook his head, not realizing that his own thoughts mirrored Chris Larabee's on the subject. Not that it would have really surprised him, if he had known such a thing.
So, at least in that respect, things turned out the way they were meant to. Jon had been very glad to hear that Vin was with the Larabee Team ... with the Magnificent Seven. And very concerned when he learned that the inseparable pair had been separated ... concern which gave way to fury when Matt told him that Adriana was in a Dread prison camp. Jon blackmailed Will Richmond into moving the liberation of the camp forward.
He should have felt some shame, at using underhanded tactics ... but it was hard to feel guilty. Especially when dealing with a man who allowed his w ife to believe for almost two years that he was dead. What really angered Jon was the fact Richmond was only a deep cover operative for the first six months after his supposed death. And then he had the gall to be angry when his lonely young 'widow' found someone else.
Yet more proof that Vin Tanner should have been related to Jon. The Resistance commander (he hated the term hero ... he wasn't a hero, dammit) was once like that. A long time ago. Before Athena, before Jennifer. A long time ago.
Besides, being related to one person in the Larabee Team was quite enough. It always made Jon smile, to hear them called 'The Magnificent Seven.' And he wondered if, since receiving that signal and the message, Chris had told Vin that he was Jonathan Power's cousin. Oh, Jon wished he could have been there to see that exchange! Jon just smiled and leaned his head back against the wall. Yes, that would have been a lot of fun.
There was a very good reason no one knew that Chris Larabee was Jonathan Power's cousin ... his mother had sworn him to secrecy. No one, not even Buck, knew the truth ... that Pegeen Larabee and Rachel Power were sisters. Two sisters, who had married vastly different men. And most of the time, Chris didn't allow himself to think about his cousin, whom he really didn't know very well.
But as they flew toward the Valkyrie base, Chris wondered what would happen if he did tell his team the truth. Even if Jon hadn't taken care of Vin, all those years ago, and Adriana, Chris would have helped the Resistance leader protect his child. In the first place, Chris had lost his child, and he had no desire to see someone else endure that pain. In the second place, Aislinn Hope Power was family. And family stuck by each other.
He was reminded of that as he glanced at the quiet young woman now manipulating the controls of their vessel. JD had insisted that they needed a name for the thing ... the Power Team had the Jump Ship, after all. Vin quietly pointed out to the kid that they didn't have the resources the Power Team had. Which didn't deter the boy at all, until Vin also reminded him that one of the greatest weapons the Larabee Unit had in its arsenal was its lack of notoriety.
Chris said now, noticing the obvious resentment JD held for their temporary pilot, "You think there might be some tagalong overunits who might try to target us." It was a statement, not a question, and the dark head bobbed once. Chris continued, "Do whatever you have to." This time, Adriana turned her head to smile at him, her dark eyes dancing with laughter. Not for the first time, he wondered how she had been the second in command for the Valkyries all this time, and he had never even known it.
True enough, he knew that Mary had a second in command ... that she went by varying names in the Resistance. Some called her Renegade, others called her Hellcat, and still others called her Hecate. The first two, he could figure out on his own ... the third ... the third would require some explanation. As if hearing his thoughts, Josiah asked, "So ... tell us how you came by the name of Hecate?" Trust Josiah ... especially given his own interest in varying faiths. He would have picked up immediately that Hecate was a goddess.
"Not much to tell, Mr. Sanchez. You know, don't you, that Hecate was the goddess of witchcraft in Greek mythology? Well, before I got put into the camp run by Overunit Quince and his mother, I kinda pulled a disappearing act while helping to evacuate some noncoms," Adriana explained. JD's look turned from resentful to confused, and Chris mouthed, 'noncombatants.' Adriana continued, "Some of the children thought I was a witch."
She shrugged her shoulders with a rueful grin, and Vin added softly, "The thin' she's forgettin' to tell ya is all the times she'd sneak up behind somebody and give 'im a good scare. That little kid weren't the first one who thought she was a witch." Adriana stuck her tongue out at him, reminding Chris of the child she was once upon a time. Vin just smirked at her, his eyes twinkling, then scowled as Buck whapped him in the back of his head.
"Quit that!" the older brother scolded. Vin exchanged a second look with Adriana, and Chris fought back a grin, realizing that the pair would enact their revenge on him later. Buck continued, growing serious again, "So ... just what have you been doin' the last thirteen years, DeeDee? I know you thought I was dead, but what exactly were you doing while you were fighting Dread in your own way?"
"Now that," Adriana sighed, "is a very long story. A little bit of everything, I guess you could say. I worked as an operative in Tech City, before the first Mindsinger was killed. Jon Power told her that if an operative with the code name of Hellcat ever contacted her, that she could trust me. They had done business in the past, and Mindsinger trusted him about as much as anyone can trust anyone else these days."
She was, of course, referring to Locke, who had betrayed the Power Team years earlier and brought about the death of Jennifer Chase. Josiah said softly, "I've always wondered what happened to that traitor. The last rumor I heard was a Resistance unit who had dealings with the Power Team in the past, only without the 'do not kill' rule, got their hands on Locke. Had you heard anything about that?"
Adriana responded with a feral grin over her shoulder, answering, "Yeah, actually, I did. I was there when they ... interrogated him." Her smile broadened, until her eyes took on an evil glint. Chris swallowed hard, rattled by this new part of his young surrogate sister. He knew she was in the Dread Youth, and he knew she escaped at age twelve, along with Mary. But what he never really thought about was the way those four years changed her.
The way, for that matter, the war had changed her, the way life had changed her. Chris was seeing her now as an adult, rather than a larger version of the eight year old child he remembered and loved. The things she survived, in and out of the Dread Youth, had created within her a darkness. Maybe that wasn't the right way of putting it, as all people had dark sides, but most people hadn't survived the Dread Youth after eight years of love.
Chris once asked Josiah, curious to know what Adriana would be like, what could happen to a child who had been raised with love upon being placed in that hellhole. He remembered something he heard once about the Dread Youth.
There was no love in that institution, not even toward the children. Children were taught to suppress their feelings, to suppress their humanity. Except when it came to reveling in the pain and suffering of the organics whom they 'cleansed.' Both Chris and Josiah had seen this happen ... had seen overunits gloating over what they had done. They knew about the massacre at Sandtown. Chris had heard about it. Josiah had been there.
And he had seen what many missed ... the look of horror on the face of the Youth Leader serving as the aide de camp to the overunit. The sight of a young girl being forced to see that her entire life, up to that moment, was nothing more than a pack of lies. Josiah had wanted to reach out to that child, who only a moment before performed her duty with conviction, but he had children under his care ... children whom he had to get to safety.
Josiah explained things to Chris this way. When the children of the Dread Youth finally learned the truth, as Jennifer Chase and Mary had done, the rage often overwhelmed them. Chris didn't know what had saved Mary from completely spinning out of control. And given what he learned from Josiah, would that make things easier or harder for Adriana? The eight years she had with her two mothers and two brothers before her father finally succeeded in taking her?
That, Josiah admitted, could go either way. She could have shattered from the change in environment ... or she could have drawn strength in remembering there was something better out there. Chris had always chosen to believe that Adriana found strength in her memories. But now, seeing the hatred in her eyes as she spoke of Locke, Chris wasn't so sure. The Adriana he remembered was still there ... but the darkness was also there.
As if, a voice seethed inside his mind, you can say anything different? After you lost Sarah and Adam, if you had Fowler in your grasp, you would have tortured him, done anything to him. Whether to get information or just to make him hurt as badly as you were hurting. You know it's true, so how dare you judge that girl for whatever she's done? Chris knew that his conscience was right ... he knew that. But it was one thing for him to give way to his own dark side ... he hated that his little sister would find her own.
Wasn't that why they were fighting this war? So children could grow up in peace? So Billy would know what it was like to grow up without having to hide? True, Billy was just a child, and Adriana was a grown woman ... but she was his little sister, and always would be. It wasn't right for her, to have to make sacrifices of her own soul. Thirty years ago, Stuart Gordon Power had chosen to sacrifice himself, to spare his son further conflict ... he had failed.
He had failed, so why should his nephew by marriage succeed where he failed? Adriana said quietly, as if hearing what Chris was thinking, "Yes, I was there when Locke was interrogated, and yes, it was ugly. It was strange, actually. I knew I should have compassion for him ... because he was still a human being. But I felt none. At that moment, he was everything I hated, everything which had almost shattered me into a million pieces while I was in the Dread Youth. He was my father, he was Dread, he was Overunit Wilson."
"Overunit Wilson's the one who told her that Bucklin was dead," Vin observed quietly. Both Chris and Adriana looked at him, and the second in command added softly, "Weren't that hard to figger out, Drina. Ya cried out in yer sleep. Wouldn't surprise me one bit, if Jon figgered out who ya was, 'specially if he asked Mentor to cross-reference yer name with Bucklin's. Then he spent all the time we was at his base, tryin' to find out what he could." Chris just looked at his friend in amazement. While he didn't know his cousin that well, Chris did know Jon well enough to realize Vin was one hundred percent right.
Another silence fell in the cockpit, and Chris felt the vessel shift a little. Adriana said, "I'm starting to take a pass around the entrance to our base. That'll give me time to do a sweep of the perimeter, make sure I got all of the wannabes off our trail. Not that I think we have any, Chris ... using this generic shuttle was a stroke of genius. The Jump Ship is wayyy too ... obvious? Noticeable? Something like that."
JD glowered at her, but she pretended not to notice, and Chris resolved to have a talk with the boy. Later. For now, there was one more question to be asked and answered. Chris was well aware of his reputation as a man who tolerated no insult or assault on one of his men. But there was one thing that worried him ... was he considered unreasonable as well? Chris asked softly, "How well do you know Charlotte Richmond?"
"I know her," came the response. The girl could be just as to-the-point as Chris himself. Adriana turned to look at Chris, adding, "I know what happened before I joined the team. She told me. And she was one of the first adults to let down her guard with me, even knowing that I was Dread Youth. I trust her with my life. Mary trusts her with Billy's life. Does that tell you what you need to know?" Chris nodded. It told him exactly what he needed to know.
Now what was that all about? Buck had a strange feeling that he was only getting half of the conversation, listening to his oldest friend and his baby sister ... and he wasn't even sure which half he was getting. With that last question, it sounded as if Chris was testing Adriana ... and judging by his old friend's expression, she had passed that test. With flying colors, as they used to say. The question remained ... what was the test?
Buck shook his head ... then winced in pain as they descended into the mouth of a tunnel. Darkness fell around them at the same time, and Adriana said apologetically, "I'm sorry about the noise, but we found that it helps keep people's eyes closed while they're entering the main tunnel. It's a security measure, since there are so many different tunnels around here. That's the other reason Mary wanted me to come with you. It'll only last a few minutes, until we're clear." Buck had closed his eyes reflexively, so the security measure had worked.
And blessedly, only moments later, the godawful noise had ended. Adriana was slowing the craft and easing her down onto a platform. The platform gave a sudden lurch, and Buck realized that the platform was actually an elevator. They were descending even further into the base now and Buck asked softly, "What is this place?" It was half ... something, and half military installation. And Buck couldn't figure out what that something was.
"This part is a relic from an old military installation. The entire base compound covers the military installation itself, plus some surrounding area. The original base was started when a renegade Dread engineer discovered an abandoned home with a storm shelter. She realized there was a military base nearby ... at least, that's been our guess all this time ... and started tunneling toward it. Something happened ... she died ... or had to run ... I've never heard that part of the story. Anyhow, the tunneling continued until the base was reached," Adriana answered.
She paused, sitting back, and continued, "This was where Billy was born. Over the years, Stephen and Orrin Travis moved things from the base to the underground. They called it Passages II, because it's big enough. You know, of course, that military installations were small, self-contained cities? Their own supermarkets, their own department stores, their own schools and libraries, their own theatres and churches and hospitals and the usual things you need for a town. Well, everything was moved below the surface."
"Which is why it is called Passages II ... because of all the people who could live in an underground city, safe from Dread. Hell, if ya really wanted to, ya could end up making this the ultimate headquarters for the Resistance, with all the room y'all have here," Nathan said softly. Adriana bobbed her head in acknowledgment, and Nathan asked the most logical question next, "How far are we under the surface?"
"I'm not really sure. Far enough underground that Dread would have one helluva time getting to us, even if he figured out where we were. Even so, we've been wary about suggesting such a thing. If you'll remember, the last time a joint Resistance command was suggested, it turned out to be a trap by Overunit Christine Laramie, and we don't want to go through that again," Adriana answered, referring to the first Voice of the Resistance, who was discovered to be a spy only months before Jennifer Chase's death.
Buck could hardly argue with that. And, looking around, it seemed the others agreed. Especially not with a former Dread Overunit present. Adriana continued, "Anyhow, we got most of our equipment from a woman whose son was stolen by the Dreadheads." She gave a little laugh, shaking her head as she added, "The woman is a total and complete fraud. She makes this big show of looking out for number one, but I swear, every time we've been in a situation, Maude's been the first one on the scene."
"Maude? Did you say 'Maude,' Renegade?" Ezra asked and Adriana glanced over her shoulder, nodding as she did so. Buck glanced between his sister and his friend, wondering what was going on inside Ezra's head. They knew little of his background ... he had left the Bio-Dread Empire some five years earlier, for reasons no one fully knew. After several moments, Ezra asked slowly, "What do you know about her?"
"Well ... she's in her fifties. Very beautiful, even dressed in fatigues. She and Mary have a running joke that in the Old West, Maude would have been a con artist. She is now, she runs cons on the Bio-Dread Empire. Apparently, her son was stolen about ... oh, I guess twenty years ago, while he was in his early teens. Maude ran a con on a Dread official, and he responded by taking her son and putting him in the Dread Youth," Adriana replied.
She was silent for several moments, then added, "I asked Maude once if that was why she does what she does. She said it's part of it. But Maude loves beauty. And the Bio-Dread Empire has made this world ugly, something I don't think will ever be forgiven. Sometimes, especially after I first joined the team, she would tell me stories about what the world was like, before. Funny. She had no reason in the world to trust me, after what happened with her son, and yet she defended me to anyone who tried to tear me down."
Adriana shook her head, saying softly, "I don't fully understand her. I don't understand why she never tried to get her son back ... why she never tried to rescue him. But ... I know she loves him. Never stopped. And, she's saved my life a few times. So, I don't ask her." There was another long silence, then a thump as they settled on the floor of the base, and Adriana said, "Give it about five minutes while it cools down, then we'll meet the others in the control room."
"Do y'all use the underground hospital for refugees, when y'all come across them?" Nathan asked, returning the conversation to the previous topic. Adriana nodded, and Nathan asked hopefully, "D'ya think I could take a look? Ain't seen a proper hospital since the beginnin' of the war." Adriana turned more fully in the chair and smiled at him, her dark eyes filled with humor and understanding.
"As long as you don't mind Charlotte puttering around, muttering under her breath about all the new ways people can find to hurt themselves and each other, I don't see a problem. I think Charlotte might even appreciate the company, especially from another medic," came the response from Buck's younger sister. She leaned forward and said, "Okay, the doors are opening, so the ship has sufficiently cooled for us to leave."
The hatch was opened, and one by one, they disembarked. Adriana said, leading the way to the gigantic doors now opening, "We haven't had any rescue missions until today. While we were in-flight, I downloaded the information from your ship regarding Jonathan Power's whereabouts." Everyone stopped and looked at her. Adriana asked, frowning, "What? I didn't take anything about your ship, just downloaded the message which you received."
"That message was broadcast across the spectrum, Renegade, you received the same message we did," Ezra answered. Adriana shook her head slowly, and Ezra asked, "No? How can you be sure? As I said, the message was broadcast across the spectrum, there's no way we received a different message." Adriana sighed deeply and Buck realized that some things hadn't changed within his sister, including her facial expressions.
Like the facial expression she wore now ... the same expression she always wore when trying to explain something to him, or Chris.
"No ... we did get different messages. We both got the rendezvous point, but one of us got Jon's location. The trouble is, until we merge the two recordings, we don't know who got it. That's why I downloaded your message while we were in-flight. Don't ask me to explain it, but that's the way it works. Athena and Terry set it up," Adriana replied. With that explained, she set out once more for the main control room, leading Buck to wonder what came next.
Ezra Standish's world had been turned upside down so many times today, he had lost track of which direction he was going. He kept his eyes on the back of the slim young woman trotting ahead of him. She had turned his world upside down, first with her revelation about his mother, then with her assertion that the two teams received two different recordings. He didn't know how that was possible, and he was at the top of his classes while in the Dread Youth.
He had been stolen by the Bio-Dread Empire when he was thirteen? Overunit Casteel had lied to him? It shouldn't have surprised him, after all the other lies. But Casteel had been so convincing, telling him that his mother turned him over to the Bio-Dread Empire, because she saw the truth. And thirteen year old Ezra Standish had no reason not to listen to the overunit, because his mother had turned him over to so many uncles and aunts over the years.
And it hadn't been so bad, in the beginning. Stability to his unstable life. A roof over his head, food ... and it wasn't as if he needed love. He had taught himself to not need love. This was just another con, only this time, the Bio-Dread Empire was running the con. And for the next fifteen years, that was enough. He had talked himself into not seeing the brutality ... the ugliness of his new life, even after the first time he went out as a Youth Leader.
All that changed five years earlier. Five years earlier, he witnessed the wholesale slaughter of an entire village. Men ... women ... children. And if there was one thing which Ezra Standish could never abide, it was children being physically harmed. And, like Jennifer Chase before him, Ezra finally saw his life disintegrate into a lie. He rescued as many children as he could from the inferno of that village, and began a new life.
Many in the Resistance called him 'Gambler,' because he loved taking risks, thoroughly enjoyed walking that fine line between his old life and his new. And then he met Chris Larabee, and his life changed again. Ezra heard some of the rumors about his leader ... about how he was a drunken monster, who regularly beat members of his team (the funniest rumor was the number of times he had supposedly beaten up Ezra. Please. Ezra truly hoped he wasn't that pathetic), how he thought he was the only person who had lost someone in this godforsaken war.
Oh yes, and then there was the rumor that he was a humorless bastard.
Sometimes, it amused him to add fuel to the fire ... especially if the Larabee Team, the Magnificent Seven, was dealing with a more ... recalcitrant ... Resistance team. Usually a group of children with no respect for anyone or anything. Ezra rather enjoyed putting the fear of Larabee into them, and Chris was always amused by his efforts. Mind you, the man hadn't trusted him at first, but ... given the times ... and Ezra's own behavior at time ... he had reason.
And despite Ezra's own whining at times, the former Overunit knew that Chris had always treated him fairly. On the other hand, Ezra was still coming to an understanding with Nathan. Nathan. Ezra glanced around and found the Seven's healer/medic. The big man was looking around with the wide-eyed expression of a child in a candy store. Nathan had no reason to trust him, either. Especially not after seeing his mother digitized, so many years earlier.
It was very easy to judge Nathan for that. Ezra had heard resentful whispers in the Passages, after arguments between himself and Nathan, about how Nathan should get over it. Get over it. Get over seeing your mother digitized and stored, at the age of seven. Get over the atrocities committed by Dread Overunits and Underunits, over the last thirty years. No, Ezra hadn't committed all of those atrocities, but he had pretended not to see too many of them.
It had taken time for him to understand that, time and many conversations with Josiah. The former Passages psych tech had taught him to look at things from Nathan's point of view. Something else which turned Ezra's world upside down, as he had never really learned how to look at someone else's point of view. Too much of his early life had been spent just trying to survive. So, when he did learn ...
They never told you it was easier to learn such things as a child. As an adult, you had so many years of looking out for number one. And now, the girl leading them into the very bowels of the earth was telling him that his mother pretending to look out for number one, but really didn't. Because, of course, that was who aided the Valkyries. Maude Standish, his mother, whom he hadn't seen in twenty years.
It would have been very easy to dismiss the perspective of Adriana Wilmington, were it not for one thing. Her own time in hell, her own time in the Bio-Dread Empire. She saw that particular truth, saw those lies, and it would be very difficult to con her. Was it possible then, that Ezra was the one conned by his own mother, and this girl, who barely knew her, saw the truth? How could that be?
Twenty years had passed, he knew. Twenty years was a long time, could be an eternity. Adriana continued, her voice very soft, as if she heard him, "Maude didn't always use to be like this. From what Charlotte tells me, she and Mary had a few dozen run-ins. Mary agreed to help her once ... guess a few Resistance units figured Maude had snowed her." Adriana turned, an impish grin lighting her face, and added, "Maude was the one being snowed."
Come again? Ezra could have sworn Adriana just said that his mother was snowed by Mary Travis. But his own impression of Mary was of an often blunt straightshooter, incapable of subterfuge. How, then, could she snow one of the best con artists in the country?
The second in command of the Valkyries continued, giggling a little, "Mary had figured out what Maude was up to, and turned the tables. Evidently, in those early days, Maude figured Mary was stupid, so it never even crossed her mind that she was being snowed. And when she figured it out ... " Adriana allowed her voice to trail off, that evil grin firmly in place. Ezra could just imagine. His mother hadn't been conned often, but when she was, Maude was rarely angry.
"So what happened?" Buck asked, walking ahead to put his arm around his sister's shoulders. He drew her in tight against his body, before physically lifting her from the ground. The young woman giggled, and Buck set her on her feet once more, grinning broadly. Ezra swallowed hard at the obvious affection between brother and sister. From what he heard, until today, Adriana had believed her brother dead.
"Maude was shocked at first, until Charlotte reminded her that Mary had a small son, and needed to be sneaky at times. Then, Maude started trying to get Mary to develop her 'God-given talents.' That woman would not quit. The funny thing is, I think once she realized that Mary could only trick her because of Maude's own arrogance, Maude backed off. After that ... well, by the time I came on board, she didn't wear her mask with us," Adriana explained.
Her mask? What was she talking about? Ezra wasn't the only one who didn't understand, for young JD, who really didn't have much use for this new sister of his mentor, asked with some confusion, "What do you mean, she didn't wear her mask? What are you talking about?" Ezra did know what she was talking about, but for some reason, never associated it with his mother. He had used a mask for years, both in and out of the Bio-Dread Empire.
"She ... in order to be a good con artist, you have to either convince yourself, or others, that you're for real. Dread's done that ... he's hiding behind his belief that he's doing the right thing. That's his mask. Before he turned completely turned to the machine, Dread was still struggling with the last vestiges of humanity. Or, more appropriately, the parts of him which was still good. That's what made him so convincing," Adriana replied.
She paused as she and her brother reached a door. She tapped in her security code. Ezra watched her carefully, but much to his chagrin, he couldn't tell what she had typed in. The doors heaved open, and Adriana continued as they started down another corridor, "Maude wears another mask, the kind of mask a woman uses to protect herself. I know, because I've worn masks myself ... both in and out of the Dread Youth."
"She means, she wears a mask, so nobody knows what she's thinkin.' She was real good at it, when I first met her. She developed it, 'cause she had to. Dread Youth ain't a nice place to be, JD," Vin said softly. No, he was certainly right about that. And now that Vin put it that way, Ezra realized the tracker's old friend wore the exact same kind of mask Ezra himself wore. Only better developed.
In part, because she was a woman. Anyone vulnerable in this time was an automatic target for the predators of the world, and many marauders assumed women were vulnerable. Weak. In order to properly protect herself, a woman had to make them believe otherwise.
"I still don't see what she means about wearing a mask, 'cause she's a woman. That don't make no sense," JD said. Ezra would have rolled his eyes, but it was at that point they finally entered the main control room of the Valkyrie base. And JD gasped, "Holy ... moly." While hardly the dignified response Ezra would have used, he couldn't argue with the boy's estimation of their current surroundings.
It was, not to put too fine a point on it, huge. Ezra remembered pictures from when he was a child, pictures dating back before the war. Of huge cathedrals in New York City, with spires that reached into the sky. Now, those same cathedrals sheltered pockets of human survivors, including some Resistance units, under the ground. But the ceiling of the control room was at least as high as any of those cathedrals.
And the equipment! How did they manage to get their hands on the latest technologies, technologies which Dread didn't have ... which not even Mindsinger had? His mother? Somehow, Ezra doubted it. His mind spinning as he tried to take in what she said, Ezra looked at Adriana, trying to figure out which question he should ask first. She had stopped in the middle of the room, opened her arms, and said, "Welcome to our base. Welcome to Valhalla."
Valhalla. Josiah Sanchez shook his head with a smile. What else would the team known as the Valkyries have called their base of operations? And yet, none of the five women used the names of the Norse goddesses ... or any of the Greek, Roman, or various Celtic goddesses. Well, except for Adriana, but Josiah was quickly coming to the conclusion that she was a bit unusual all around.
Mary went by 'Gemini,' because of her supposed resemblance to Jennifer Chase. Charlotte Richmond was 'Croix,' French for 'cross,' and an indirect reference to the Red Cross. In recent years, the Red Cross operated primarily out of the Passages, though they didn't use that name any more. They didn't use any name. It was less dangerous that way. So long as Dread thought they weren't a threat, they could get more accomplished.
Terry Greer went by 'Vox,' which was Latin for 'voice.' What else would you expect a communications specialist to call herself, especially when 'Scout' was already taken? And young Nora was 'Sprite,' because that was far more flattering than 'Nymph.' And that was exactly what the young girl reminded most people of, a young water sprite. At least, those old enough to remember the ancient legends.
Josiah looked around, taking note of the high, arching ceilings. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to make this look like the inside of a chapel, or a sanctuary of some kind. In the center of the room was a console, not unlike the console at their own base. Charlotte Richmond was working at one of the stations, her face grim as she read over something. Terry Greer sat at another, fingers flying over her keyboard.
She looked up as Adriana tossed her the diskette which held Jonathan Power's message to them, and caught it easily. The communications specialist said, rising to her feet and popping in the diskette at the same time, "Mary and Nora are securing the prisoners as we speak. Charlotte had a message from Will when we got back, which is why Mary is seeing to the prisoners instead of her. You know how she gets in these moods."
Adriana's face darkened and she asked softly, "This message from her estranged husband, does it have to do with our current objective?" Terry bobbed her head once, and Adriana swore softly in a long-dead language. She looked back at Terry, then said, "All right. I'll calm down Charlotte, you take them around. Bucklin ... ?" The young woman turned to face her brother, who responded by scooping her into his arms and holding her tightly.
"You do what you gotta, DeeDee. See you in the briefing?" Buck asked. Adriana nodded, a smile brightening her face, and the siblings embraced each other. Buck set her on her feet once more, and Josiah noted the way she was blinking back tears. It occurred to the former psych that Valkyrie Two (yet another name for the various Valkyries, using their rank within the team) was torn between her loyalty to her friend and her love for her brother.
Adriana proved him right when she sighed, "We never seem to have enough time, do we? I'll see exactly what's going on with Charlotte, then I'll catch up with you." Buck nodded and bent down to kiss her forehead, then slapped her on the backside as she turned to walk away. She swung back around to face him with a mock growl, and mouthed something to Vin which Josiah couldn't quite make out.
Josiah looked at his young compatriot, who nodded, then made a shooing gesture. Adriana headed over to the station where Charlotte worked and sat down beside her friend, putting her arm around the other young woman's shoulders. Charlotte initially resisted the contact, then turned in her chair and buried her face against Adriana's shoulder. Josiah looked away then, not wanting to intrude on Charlotte's private grief.
Terry made that a little more difficult, growling, "When I get my hands on that sack of shit, I'll kill him myself. Oh, it's not enough that he pops in and out of Charlotte's life, and makes her life a living hell during those weeks, no, he has to go and tell her that there's a chance their daughter is still alive." Josiah looked at the incensed woman as she marched ahead of them. Terry muttered under her breath, "That's a load of bullshit, and he knows it."
"Why? What exactly happened?" Chris asked. None of them were ever told exactly what happened with the Richmond family. They just knew that Allison, Charlotte's little girl, had been killed in an explosion. The medic believed her husband was also killed in that explosion. She remembered little of the event. Just a brilliant white flash ... pushing her daughter to the ground and covering Allison with her own body ... and then nothing.
That, right there, told Josiah there was a strong possibility Allison might have survived. Charlotte had covered her daughter's head and body, shielding her from the explosion. Why, then, would the mother survive and the child die?
When Charlotte awoke in the Passages, several days had passed. She was told Will and Allison both died in the explosion, which devastated the already shaken woman. Mary Travis found her struggling to put her life back together, by helping others in the Passages, and asked her to join the new team Mary was putting together. The Valkyries. For the next eighteen months, Charlotte found her new purpose in life, and even allowed herself to start feeling again.
While most of the Seven would have categorized Vin and Charlotte's time together as a one-night stand, Josiah had seen things they didn't. They might have had one night together, but even though they ultimately didn't belong together, Josiah could see each cared deeply for the other. Not even Charlotte returning to Will, when they found he was still alive, could convince Josiah that she hadn't cared for Vin.
When she returned to Will, she made both the right and wrong decision. She was right, seeing that she wasn't the right woman for Vin. But Will Richmond, the husband and father, had died in the explosion which killed their little girl. There was nothing of that man left. Not that Charlotte would have believed any of them. She hadn't believed Mary, when her friend and commander warned her. Will was back.
But Josiah had seen the same thing Mary saw. And while there was a part of him which was angry with Charlotte, for Vin ... another part couldn't judge her. And in the end, Charlotte was punished for her mistake, when she realized that in a manner of speaking, her husband really did die with their daughter. There was no love left in Will Richmond. Only rage. Only hate. And he had no qualms about using his wife's remaining love for him to accomplish his goals.
The question, then, was ... would he even use their late daughter, if Allison was indeed dead, to accomplish his objective this time? Josiah looked again at Charlotte, still weeping in Adriana's arms. He remembered the last time they encountered Will Richmond, when he was squaring off against the marauder Dickie O'Shea. Oh yes ... he was quite capable of using Charlotte's survivor guilt to accomplish whatever it was this time. The question then became ... was Allison still alive? If so ... where had she been the last two years? The answer was far too obvious, and Josiah didn't like it one bit.
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