The Beginning of the Long March to Freedom

Exiting from the secluded space with the Captain, Ken suddenly feels much better about the future of this endeavor. He has a new ally near him that will be able to offer assitance and counsel whenever he might require it. He also is with someone that understands the care that must be taken in concealing his identity. Suddenly, Ken realizes that he still doesn't know the Captain's name.

"Excuse me, Captain?"

The Captain turns and sees the look of uncertainty again upon Ken's face. He steps back over to Ken, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know your name," Ken says reservedly.

"Oh, did I forget? I do that sometimes," the Captain says jovially. He reaches out to shake Ken's hand again, "I'm Captain Paul Redding. Welcome aboard Doctor. We're happy to have you," the Captain says normally for all to hear.

Ken gets the idea and takes his hand firmly, "Thank you, sir."

"You can introduce yourself to the others later. Please see Ms. Lui for any supplies you still need," he says as he turns off to take care of ships business.

Just then, the beautiful girl that lead him to the ship steps up to him, "Welcome aboard, Doc. It'll be good to have a decent medic aboard." She smiles widely at him, clearly she is a flirty sort of lady.

"Well, let's go have a look at the supplies you have and see what else I might need. Shall we?" he motions to her to lead the way as he is not sure where he should be going.

She leads him through the ship, up one deck and down a narrow hallway to a small room at the end. It has enough room for the single operating table that can become a chair. There is sufficient light above the table and some storage around the rest of the room. He begins making an inspection of the supplies, telling Ms. Lui of anything he wants to be added. She is diligently taking notes for him. After about half an hour, he has completed his survey and is satisfied with the supplies she will be getting for him.

"Thank you for getting these supplies for me," he says as she goes to leave.

"Oh, don't worry about it. This is my job. I really don't mind. It's fun to meet new people and try to haggle them down on price," she says. Turning to leave, she smiles the same smile again at him before she heads back down the hall.

For several moments, Ken just sits in the chair and rests his eyes. His mind still reeling from all of the changes in his life these last few months. He figures he should find where he is staying and get his stuff together there. Leaving the infirmary, he heads back towards the cargo area hoping to find another member of the crew that could help him. He finds no one and rests upon a crate waiting for someone to return.

The First Job

As he awakens from the night, he finds himself in the room he has occupied these last several weeks. The same cabin in the lower decks of the ship, which was his salvation. In these past few weeks, Ken has kept mostly to himself. After his long incarceration, it seems natural to him. He has missed several of the group meals, enough that someone has checked on him more than a few times. He has found that he likes to move about the ship at night. The darkness and quiet as everyone sleeps makes him most comfortable. Throughout the journey, he has had a few conversations with various members of the crew. However, he knows little of any of them. As the journey comes to an end, he knows little of the place in which he is about to find himself.

The ship is shaking slightly as they fall from orbit into the atmosphere. Ken, resting in his room, pulls out the capture of Jessica and watches it again. He has found that he watches her every few days. Wishing she could have come with him, he puts the capture back in his pocket. When the ship has landed and is settled, he and the other passengers disembark from the transport.

Ken is not five steps from the ship when someone approaches from the side. "John?" questions the new person.

Thankfully, everyone on the ship knew him as "John." He was able to respond quickly enough to not arouse suspicion. "Yes?" he answers, inquisitively.

"Hello, I am Desiree. I was sent to find you." She pulls herself closer to him and whispers in his ear, "We need you to board another ship. The alliance might find you here." She back away from him, a smile spreading across her face.

"Ok, fine. Lead the way," he says as she heads off in the direction of the docks. Following her, he asks the question boggling his mind, "Where are we, anyway?"

She looks back at him with an inquisitive eye, "You don't know?"

"No, I've never been off the central planets. I know little of the outer worlds."

"Well, we are on Boros, here. It's a good place, but crawling with Alliance. The moon Ares is one of their major shipyards. But, it's a busy place and easy to get about if we don't waste our time. Please hurry, we are almost to the ship."

They move swiftly through the crowd, Ken having no trouble following the woman he does not know. He figures to himself that she must be with the Independents. How else would she know the alias he is using? The Alliance would presumably only know his real name and refer to him as such. He clenches his jaw, hoping he is not being led astray by this pretty face.

Approaching another ship, she turns towards it. This one is much larger than the Firefly he just left. It is also quite a lot less attractive. There are oddly shaped pieces coming off the hull at strange angles. The ship almost looks as though a smaller ship flew through a debris field at high speed and all of these pieces stuck onto the ship.

He follows Desiree up the gantry into the ship. She heads directly to a man inside the cargo space of the ship. She calls out to him, "Captain."

The man turns to face the person calling to him. Ken gets a good look as they approach. He is larger than Ken, but not out of shape. At a glance, Ken would say the Captain is in his late 40's and has had a good life, but not perfect. There is evidence of a few scars on his face, but none large. His bearing is confident but comfortable. The Captain does not appear to be out to intimidate those he encounters, though he could if he wanted.

"Hello, Ms. Lui. Is this the man you were telling me about?" the Captain asks.

"Yes, this is John Obielson. He has just arrived, ready to interview," she says as she looks to Ken with an apologetic face.

The Captain reaches a hand out to Ken, "Nice to meet you John. If you'll come with me, we'll get this show on the road."

Ken takes his hand, "Thank you Captain."

The Captain heads towards the rear of the cargo hold, Ken following. As they approach the wall, Ken sees a hatch directly in their path of travel. As they reach the hatch, the Captain opens it and motions to Ken to go through, "Please, this way." After they have stepped through, the Captain seals the door. "Please take a seat," he says, pointing to some crates and taking to some other crates. Ken takes a seat, trying to compose himself for this unexpected situation.

The Captain smiles as he begins, "Hello Ken, glad you made it here alright."

Fear spreads across his body as this man refers to him by his true name. His worst fear is about to be realized. This man must be Alliance. He is in the middle of the next thought when the Captain breaks up his thoughts with a laugh.

"Do not worry, Ken. I am not Alliance. I am an Independent. And, one that it was felt needed to be told your true identity. So, try not to worry. Everything is fine. We felt that it would be easier to hide you if you weren't just a passenger on several ships. People do not typically take more than two ships to reach a destination. And, we are too far from your destination to go directly there. So, you will be working for me as a medic until we reach the final destination," the Captain says, waiting for Ken's reaction.

Ken sits for a moment, processing this new information. He senses no deception from the Captain. "Ok, if that is what it takes, I will do it. But, I do not have any supplies or equipment."

"Don't you worry yourself on that. We may not be the 'Almighty Alliance', but we have our means. Desiree there procures medical supplies and other equipment. She is oddly good at her job. We already have an infirmary. She was able to get a decent medical bag and a good supply of standard medicines and equipment for you," says the Captain, smiling again. "So, ready to get back out there and get away from the Purplebellies?"

"Yes, let's do this," says Ken, getting up from his seat.

Beginning of a Journey

Standing in the cargo hold of the ship, Ken stares at the door. Beyond that door lies the only woman he ever loved. And, now, all he has of her is a pouch in his hand and the capture he has in his pocket. His eyes begin to tear up just as he is startled by a noise behind him. He turns to see Mike Chen moving some boxes around.

"Are you alright, John?" Mike asked him.

For a quick moment again, he is startled to be called John. This is something he needs to get accustomed to quickly. "Yes, I'm fine. Where am I staying?"

Mike looks startled himself for a moment, realizing he never got the chance to show John around the ship. "Sorry 'bout that. Let me give you the tour." Mike motions towards the gantry leading to the top of the ship. "Come this way and we'll take care of that right off."

Ken follows Mike up the gantry and finds that they are just in front of the galley. Mike points Ken into the galley and follows him in. "Here we have the galley. We have standard protein in all of the colors of the rainbow. You're welcome to this space anytime. Forward," Mike points toward the bridge, "we have the bridge. It is off limits to passengers. And aft," Mike starts walking to the back of the galley, "we have the engine room, also off limits. And, here to the left, we have the path to the passenger rooms." Mike heads down the steps, Ken following.

"Over to the right, here," Mike points right, "we have secondary cargo storage. If you have anything there, or in the main cargo hold, please call one of the crew. We prefer that we know who is rumaging around the cargo. And over here to the left," Mike points left, "we have the passenger rooms. We have two other passengers joining us. But, please help yourself to any of the open rooms. If you have any questions, I'll be in the main bay for a while yet. If you're hungry, help yourself to some food. Breakfast will be in about seven hours." Mike turns and heads to the cargo bay.

Ken moves on towards the rooms and finds the second room on the left open. He slides the door shut behind him and and lays down on the bed. As he settles himself on the matress, he realizes there is something in his hand. Lifting his hand, he sees the pouch that Jessica gave him. Instantly, it reminds him of the capture in his pocket. Just as he reaches towards his pocket, the ship starts to shake terribly as it lifts off the ground. Grateful that he is in the bed, Ken resists the urge to get sick as this ship is horribly shaky. After several minutes, the shaking dies off as they must be in open space and headed to their destination.

Having forgotten once again there was something in his hand, Ken raises his hand again and sees the pouch. And, again, he reaches for the capture in his pocket, successfully this time. He pulls it out and slides it open. There on the paper-thin screen, he sees Jessica's smiling face. He can't help but smile as she begins to speak.

"Hello, Ken. I'm sorry that I won't have time to say any of this to you in person. But, necessity is driving our lives at this point. It has taken us so long to organize this. The Alliance has been watching all of us much more carefully since they put you in that cell. A few of us have been sympathizers for the Independants for some time now, including me. I hope you'll forgive me for not telling you. I knew you were for the Alliance and I was afraid. But, now that you have seen first hand what we all suspected, I feel I must tell you this now. Unfortunately, I cannot leave the planet with you. Hopefully, when the war is over, they will relax their scrutiny of us and we will be able to go where we wish.

I will try to find a way to get away from here and get somewhere we can be together. I fear that might be some long time down the road. I do hope you won't forget about me." She looks off the side of the capture, someone apparently talking to her. "Oh, yes, can't forget about that, can we?" She looks back at Ken, "I should tell you where you are going and the plan from there. You are headed to Independant territory. They have agreed to take you in for as long as they are able. The ship you are on is headed to Hera. They have a base there near Serenity Valley. From there, they will take you somewhere else. We do not know where. In the event that they question me or the rest of us, we will not know how to find you."

"I guess that just leaves your identity. As I hope to have told you before you board the ship, your identity comes from my brother-in-law. He was a good man and would be proud to have helped you in this way. And, in case I forgot to tell you, I was able to move much of your money into an account under his name. So, you shouldn't have any trouble getting around and staying ahead of the Alliance."

She starts to cry as she begins talking again, "Ken, I want you to know something. I want you to know that I love you. I have never been able to tell you. I was afraid I'd let slip my affiliation with the Independants and either have you not love me or put you in danger. I just hope it is not too late to be telling you. I sincerely hope that we can be together in the future. Look for me always, Ken, for I will be looking for you."

The capture goes blank and Ken stares at it for several moments before turning off the light and falling asleep for the night.

One Final Goodbye

Ken and Jessica rush down to the street and quickly enter the new vehicle. Once inside, Ken notes there is another man aside from the driver. This man is sitting in the rear compartment with them. He is clean shaven and relatively young. This new man also seems to know what is going on with Ken. Just when Ken gets settled into his seat, the vehicle starts moving and the stranger begins talking, "Hello John, I'm Mike Chen."

Ken is almost startled by being called "John" by this stranger. He almost forgot that it was his new name. He nods curtly to Mike saying, "Hello."

Mike turns to Jessica, "We seem to be just on schedule. Things appear to be moving smoothly, Jessica."

She smiles, "Good, as long as this last leg goes as planned, we should be free and clear."

This trip is considerably shorter to Ken. He is not sure how much has to do with actual distance travelled. His stay with Jessica in her hideout allowed him time to regain himself and regain his composure. The appear to be approaching one of the smaller spaceports in the city. Their current path takes them towards a small ship near the edge of the landing field.

The vehicle stops near the loading dock of the small ship, an early Firefly class from Ken's recollection. However, Ken was never very good at identifying ships. He, Mike Chen, and Jessica emerge from the vehicle. Mike moves on towards the ship and starts talking with a man standing in the cargo hold. Jessica pulls out the small pouch of items she showed Ken during their brief respite.

Mike calls from the ship, "We're ready to go as soon as you board, John. But, please make it quick before the Alliance figures out what might be going on here."

Ken turns to Jessica who has stepped close to him. She hands him the pouch. Expecting her hand to fall away, Ken notices that she is holding his hand and the pouch. He looks up at her and sees tears forming in her eyes. He reaches his free hand up and wipes them from her cheeks. "Will you be ok?" Ken asks.

She reaches her other hand around Ken's waist and pulls him to her. He puts his arms around her and they embrace for a long moment. When they finally release each other, she looks at him as she says, "I will miss you Ken, always." Just then, he puts his hand on her cheek softly. She reaches up to him, pulling him down to her. They kiss, pouring the emotions they have never shared into their caress. In this moment, they finally realize how much they have meant to each other all of these years.

Just then, a yell from across the way, "John! Let's get a move on here!" The yell startles the both of them, breaking their embrace.

Flustered, Ken tries to stammer out something but the words will not come. He wants to ask her to come with him. She sees the look in his eyes and knows what he is trying to say, she answers him without hearing the question, "I cannot Ken. I have to stay here to be sure you get away. And, I don't know where they are going to be taking you." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a capture. She hands it to Ken. "Don't look at it now. But, it's something for you to remember me."

He puts it in his shirt pocket to keep it close to his heart. "I could never forget you, Jessica."

"You had better go. They're going to leave soon. I will try to find you, Ken," she almost yells as the engines of the ship start.

He grabs her for one last hug before heading off to the ship, "I will always look for you, Jessica!"

He boards the ship and sees her waving to him. He waves back just before the doors close him from her. And for the first time, he finds himself truly alone in the verse.

Evasion

Ken has started to relax some as their vehicle moves through the streets of Lu'Weng. He remembers the first time he came to Shinon and to this city. He was coming to start learning at the medical academy. The city is a beautiful city with hot springs everywhere. In those first years, he spent a lot of time sitting at one of the springs near the campus thinking of the future. Never did any of his dreams resemble the situation he currently found himself.

After what seemed to Ken to be days, they stopped in front of an elaborate, tall building. Jessica steps out of the vehicle and beckons for Ken to follow. After he exits, the door is closed and they speed off into the distance. Jessica turns to enter the building and seeing that Ken isn't moving turns back to him.

"What's wrong, Ken?" she asks, a worried look on her face.

He breaths deeply for the first time since they pulled him out of his cell. He looks back at her, "I'm fine. For the first time in a while, I feel good." He smiles, looking at the building, "Where are we now?"

She starts to lead them into the building speaking back at Ken, "This is my new place. I moved here just a few weeks ago. This was the only way I could plan this. We won't be here long. Someone else will be here in a bit to pick us up." They have been moving through the building as she speaks, approaching a door on the left side of the hall. "Here we are," she says as she opens the door.

They step into a sparsely decorated space. There seems to be only the essentials needed to live and keep up the appearance of normalcy in the outside world. She offers him the one cushy chair to sit. He shakes his head in denial, "No, I cannot. I might not get up it's been so long since I've seen something that comfortable."

"Ok, how about something to eat, then? I know you haven't had any good meals these last two years," she says.

His eyes bug out of his head. "Two Years!?! Has it been that long?"

"Yes, Ken, it has. I'm sorry that it took me so long," she says looking saddened for the first time tonight.

Figuring he would need the consoling, he is shocked to see her face, "Don't worry about me." He moves to give her a reassuring hug, "I did not realize that much time had passed. I had only the meals they gave me to tell time. And, I know they didn't always feed me on time. I'm glad that you came." He holds her as tightly as he can manage.

"Thank you," she says as she wipes away the few tears that had formed. "Let me get you something to eat."

He lets her go and watches her disappear into the next room. A moment later, she returns with a small plate of sandwiches and a pitcher of water with two glasses. The sit in silence as they eat. When they finish, Jessica gets up and goes into another room, coming back with a box.

"These are some things you will need to get out of here. We had to create a new identity for you. Luckily, fortune can shine and dim in the same moment. If you'll look at the ident card, you'll find your new name and some important information," she says.

He looks over the ident card for a moment when he comes across the name, "Who is John Obielson?" He sees a look of saddness come over her again.

She considers his question and feels it would be better if he knew the truth. "John was my brother-in-law. He married my sister, Kay, and they were happy together. He was a wonderful man and we became close friends." She starts to cry but continues with her story, "He was in an accident and died a few months ago. He survived in the hospital for three weeks before he passed. I went to see him when I could. On my last visit, near the end, he talked to me alone. He knew about you and how much you mean to me. He said that if it would help get you out, that I could use anything he had access to obtain. And, much as it pains me, he also said that I could use his identity to help get you out. He felt it was the least he could do to help someone that meant so much to me. It was also his contacts that helped organize your escape and your travel off this world to somewhere safe." She looses all control and falls completely into tears.

He grabs hold of her again, trying to make her feel better. But, he knew that he could not. He knew how hard it was to give him the ident card and relive John's death. Despite all of those things, he held her anyway in the hopes that it might help. After a few minutes, she starts to calm down and regain her composure.

She looks at the time, "Oh my, we have to hurry. There are a few more things you need to know before we go. I was able to transfer much of your money away during the trial using the access card you gave me. I was able to put it into a new account under John's name. So, you should have access to it. I had to use some of it to pay people to help, I hope you don't mind. I can pay you back if you like."

He smiles broadly at this statement, "Are you kidding? You just helped me to freedom. And, now you tell me that I have means to maybe survive. And, you're worried about having taken some part of my money to get me out. That is just the silliest thing I've ever heard."

She smiles half-heartedly at him and continues, "We are going to get you off world as soon as the next group comes. We are going to a spaceport and you have been booked passage to Ezra. It is a decent kind of planet and relatively neutral in the war. The rest of it you can read as we travel and figure out as you go along." She gets up from the chair and looks outside the window. She turns to Ken, "They are here, are you ready to go?"

"I am as ready as I am going to be. Let's go," he says as they leave her apartment.

Incarceration

Several months have gone by since that fateful day that led Ken to his current situation. For more days than he has been able to keep a record, Ken has been left alone in this small, dark room. His meals have been handed to him on a plate that is passed through a small slot at the bottom of the door. He gets two meals a day. This has been his only contact with the outside world. For Ken, he has lost track of whether it is ever day or night. He has also lost all meaning of time. For, on some occasions, he has not been fed for two days. But, since his only method of determining time is the meals he is fed, he never knew how much time had passed.

His time alone has also allowed him to think on many things. In particular, he has thought considerably about the war. He has wondered if it is necessary. He has also wondered if it was the Independants that started the conflict. The propaganda he last heard told that the Independants started fighting for no reason. And, at the time, he believed what he heard even though he had seen some evidence to the contrary. But, the government was always there to help people and he believed in government. However, since his incarceration, he has had a new outlook.

No truly just government would allow him to be imprisoned for following his conscience as he did. And, if they did not come to his aid, it is very likely that they could have started the war as the Independants say. What he could not figure out in his time here, was what the government did that started the war. On this subject, he would think. Sometimes, he would think on it for days at a time, trying to see it from every angle. However he mulled it over, he still could not find the reason.

______________________________________________

Months later still, Ken continues his routine of eating when they give him food, sleeping when he needs it, and thinking the rest of the time. Things are progressing much as they always do for him when he starts hearing strange noises from outside his door. Having not listened much to the noises around him, he is having trouble discerning what he is hearing.

After several minutes, he can tell that the something making the noise is touching his door. It sounds of a high pitched, but quiet whine. The noise gets louder as his ear rests on the door when the pitch changes slightly. The change startles him and he runs to the other side of the cell.

His reaction was timed just right as a small piece of the door, just above where his ear was pressed to it, falls inward and what looks like a drill follows it through the newly formed hole. The drill leaves the hole in the door and a bright light shines through it, searching the cell. The light moves away and then a shadow closes the hole. Ken cannot tell what has blocked the hole again.

Then he hears a voice, "He looks to be ok."

Another voice, a woman, responds, "Ok, open the door."

The door opens and a flood of light comes into the room. Ken is blinded for an instant before he can cover his eyes with his sleeve. He has not seen so much light since he was locked in the cell. Suddenly, he feels strong arms grab him under each arm. He tries to struggle but is quite weak. He is again blinded by the light as they pick him up off the ground. The hands holding him keep him restrained as another hand, much softer, takes his cheek.

She speaks softly to him, "It's ok Ken. It's Jessica. You are going to be fine. We are going to get you out of here."

Her soft voice, missing from his life, calms him right down. He tries to open his eyes to find that they have turned off their flashlights, which allows him to see. When he fully opens his eyes, her beautiful face sits in front of him with the most glorious smile he has ever seen. He looks into her eyes and sees a pain and joy he has never seen before.

The moment is short lived as her face turns suddenly serious. "Come on, we have to get you out of here." She turns to the men holding Ken, "Let's go. We are on the clock."

They move swiftly through corridors that seem to Ken to have been from another life. He remembers them, but only vaguely. He has lost track of where they are going when suddenly he feels a rush of wind. When he opens his eyes again, he finds that they are outside the building and that there is a vehicle there apparently waiting for them. Jessica opens the door as the men get Ken into the car before entering themselves. Jessica follows them and closes the door. The vehicle starts to move very quickly. But, Ken knows that they are at a military facility and they would never let him out.

He hears some loud clicks and looks over to them. He sees a new compartment in the car that should not be there. Jessica looks to him, "Get in Ken. You'll only have to be in there for a little while. I'm sorry it's cramped after what you've been through. But, it's the only way we can get you outside the gates."

Ken looks at her for a moment, wondering now if she is telling the truth. He is about to protest when she smiles at him again. He can see in her eyes that she means him no harm. He quietly moves into the very small space as they lock it above him. From this space under the car, he can feel every bump in the road as they move along. After a few minutes, he can feel the vehicle slowing and then coming to stop. He cannot hear anything that is happening outside. The vehicle is still for what feels like a long time to Ken before it starts moving again.

After a few more minutes, the hatch to his new cell is opened. He looks out to see Jessica's smiling face again. A hand from one of the men reaches in to help Ken out of the space. As he is climbing out, he asks, "How long were we stopped?"

One of the men answers in a kindly voice, "Just two or three minutes, about the norm for a gate checkpoint."

Sitting in the seat again Ken says, "Wow, it felt a lot longer down here."

Jessica puts a hand on his arm saying, "I'm sorry about that."

Ken puts his free hand on top of hers, smiling for the first time that he can remember. "It's ok, I understand. Thank you." He suddenly thinks of the General. "Where are we going? You won't be able to hide me from Him long."

She puts her free hand on his cheek again, "Don't worry about it, Ken. Everything has been taken care of for us. You will be safe."

Internal Debate

He spends much of the rest of the day thinking over the problem sitting before him. A little after midday, Jessica comes in with a tray of food from the commissary. She leaves it on the side table, firmly grasps his shoulder for a moment, turns and leaves. He smiles curtly when she grasped his shoulder and let her leave without a word.

As the end of the day approaches, he becomes concerned with the General's reaction. Ken could never participate in that project, and he won't. But, he is aware of the General's wrath when things do not go his way.

Promptly at closing time for the day, there is a forceful knock at the door. Raising his head, Ken calls in whomever is at the door. Though, before the door opens, he is reasonably sure of who is there. The door is thrust open with great urgency only to be faced with General Caraway filling the frame.

"What is your answer?" bellows the General.

Ken stands up, faces the General, and answers with a voice that has no ambiguity, "No, sir. I will not participate in your project."

The General becomes angry faster than most can take in a breath. He turns and dashes out the door, moving with purpose. Ken is just about to breath a sign of relief when the General makes a motion with his hand. Following that gesture, four armed guards rush into the room and place handcuffs on Ken's arms and legs. They pick him up, one at each arm and one at each leg, and haul him through the complex.

Many people are still leaving their work and starting to head home as Ken is displayed throughout the corridors. The faces of the others as they pass says everything Ken needed to know about them. Most have horrified looks, wondering what he could have done to deserve this. A great many others are smiling, though Ken is unsure as to why. After several minutes, he is taken past Jessica's lab. She is standing at the door with the strangest look on her face. It is neither joy, nor horror. Her face contained a message. A simple message, saying only that "I will help you."

He had only a few more moments to ponder her face before the General was before him again. His anger, if possible, even stronger than before.

"How dare you defy my wishes! You are alive only because I have let you! I hope you enjoy your new accomodations!" the General yells at Ken.

With that last remark, the door behind the General opened and the guards carried him through. It was not long before Ken could hear sounds in the dark corridor. Another moment later, he heard the creak of a metal door opening. The guards stopped at the open door and threw him into the cell, closing the door behind him.

The Great Project

He sits back in his chair for a moment and tries to collect himself to tell her the story of the morning. He rubs his hands over his face vigorously as if to bring the blood back into his head. Looking at his hands, he takes a deep breath and begins to tell the tale.

"Well, he approached me in my lab and told me to come straight to his office. He wouldn't even let me finish the analysis that I had started. Had I resisted anymore, I think he would have had the guards he brought drag me to his office; so, I followed him and arrived shortly after he did. When I went in, he had the strangest look on his face. Sort of a mix between having something unpleasant on his mind and something pleasurable. Only, I could not know then that the unpleasantness was that he wasn't sure I'd accept what he was offering."

He takes a moment to collect himself again and take another breath before continuing. "Then, Jessi, then he handed me a paper showing me the most grotesque thing I have ever seen. You know that I have always been for Unification; but after seeing this, I don't think I can ever support the Alliance again. It was the most horrible thing to be asked to do."

Jessica Ziyi looks him in the eye almost jumping out of her seat to hear, "What was it?"

He looks deep into her eyes, forgetting again just how he can be lost in them. She has been his friend for many years and occasionally his confidant in times of need, such as this one. He realized now that he was at the moment of truth that it was easier than he thought it would be to tell her.

"The Alliance, and General Caraway, asked me to create a biogenic weapon."

Jessi gasped at hearing this. For doctors, there can be no greater insult than to ask them to do harm unto others.

"They didn't," she said, not completely believing her own words.

"They did."

"What did you say?"

"I told the General no. He then insisted that I think it over. I have until the end of the day to decide. I am afraid that if I don't go along with this, I will be in great peril."

Only now could she see the fear in his eyes and hear it in his voice. He looked at her and began crying softly, "I won't do it, no matter what they do to me."

She comes over to him and holds him for a time. She does not wish to leave his side. But, she must for if she is away from her work for too long, someone will notice, "I have to go. They will miss me soon."

He understands her dilemma and her need to leave, "Go ahead. We can talk later, I hope."

A Friendly Face

He sits in his chair by his desk and puts his head in his hands. After the incident with the General, he is not sure what the future holds for him. There is simply no way he can participate in that project. He sits in his chair, face in his hands, and tries to find a way out of this conundrum. After a while, he falls asleep on the desk, still entraped by the thoughts that plague his mind.

Deep in sleep, he does not notice that someone has entered his office is standing right behind him until she shakes his shoulders a bit. Startled, he almost falls out of his chair before collecting himself. He turns around to find one of the most beautiful women he has ever known standing in front of him. Even though he has seen her many times before, he always seems to need to take a moment to remember exactly what she looks like. The way her auburn hair falls over her shoulders and how her brown eyes can just take hours away from him. He has always found it hard not to smile when she is near. And, without fail, a smile broadens on his face despite all that has happened to him today.

"Good to see you can still smile," she says as she smiles back at him. A smile that can make men melt in an instant.

"I don't know why I am smiling. I really have nothing to smile about anymore."

She looks concerned for a moment before carefully responding to him, "I heard that you had a verbal dustup with the General."

"Yes, the guay toh guay nown has it in his head that I'm going to do this new project of his and I simply cannot do something like that," his anger growing as he thinks more about it.

"Before you go mental on me, tell me what he asked you to do."

"You really don't want to hear this, trust me," he says knowing that she will insist anyway and that he really should tell someone just to get some of the burden off his shoulders.

She knows that he's expecting her to ask about it again. But, she is curious and concerned all at once, "What did he ask?"

He pauses for a moment, considering fighting her on this one. The project is so repulsive to him that he doesn't want to talk about it. Yet, he needs to talk about it to not be the only person on his side of the argument, "Ok, well, where to begin?"




Translations:

guay toh guay nown - conniving or scheming person, literally: "ghost head and ghost brain"

.....Becomes a Not Normal Day

Ken has been working on this drug for the past several months. And, finally, he seems to be getting close to finding the solution he needs to make it work. As he continues his research and analysis of the last test, a large, muscular man walks in from the hall. The way the other scientists react, one can tell that this is an important man. Ken, entranced by his research, doesn't notice the man until he speaks to Ken.

"Dr. Spencer," rumbles the man.

Taken by surprise, Ken almost falls off the stool he is sitting upon as he spins to face the man.

"Gen....Ge.....General Caraway. I'm sorry, I did not hear you come in," Ken stammers out.

The General looks Ken over very carefully before responding, "I noticed. Will you please come to my office?"

"Yes, sir. Just as soon as I finish this analysis."

"No," says the General in a no nonsense sort of manner. "You will report now."

"Yes, I will be there," he says, unsure of why the urgency. Usually, the General would allow Ken to finish an analysis before insisting he be in the office. But, there was something in the General's features that made Ken think that this time is not the time to test his patience.

As the general leaves, Ken gives quick instructions to his lab staff to finish the analysis he had started. He then quickly leaves the lab headed towards the General's office. He finds when he turns the corner at the hall intersection towards the General's office that there are a large number of troops on guard duty near the door. While it is not unusual to see soldiers in the facility, it is quite unusual to find them guarding inside the building.

When he gets to the door, one of the soldiers knocks on the door and announces Ken's presence. The General waves Ken into the room and the guard closes the door. For a few moments, the General is concentrating heavily upon his cortex terminal. He then looks up to Ken and offers him a seat opposite him but out of view of the terminal.

"Dr. Spencer, I have called you in here on a matter of Alliance security. There is a project that must be completed as quickly as possible and I have volunteered you. Given how swiftly you conquered that strain of Talos Flu that the troops on Shadow a few months back, I think you'll do well for this project."

Ken is intrigued. Thus far, the projects have all been for the betterment of the troops and have been excellent challenges for his skills. "What sort of project is this, General?"

The General hands over a piece of paper to Ken. The heading reads "Top Secret". And the sub heading causes Ken to check a second time to be sure he read it correctly. He looks up at the General, "I cannot participate in this project, sir."

At those words, the General suddenly turned red and quite angry. Despite this change in mood, the General's words were measured and spoken clearly, "What was that, Mister?"

"I cannot participate in this project, sir. It goes against my oath as a doctor and humanitarian."

"You did not join the military to be a humanitarian."

"No, sir, I did not. But, I did join the military to help people. And, this....this 'project' helps no one."

The General was becoming quite irate at Ken's blatant refusal to head this project, "Doctor, you will do this project or you will suffer the consequences. I will give you until the end of the day to decide the way you should. Now, Leave!"

Taken aback by the anger in the General's voice, Ken is unsure what he should do. For a moment, he endures the stare of the General before he gets out of the chair and makes his way back into the hall. He saunters slowly back to his office next to his lab where he can think about what has just happened to him.