Part 6: Problems       "Oh my head" moaned Nara. It was the first time she had ever gotten drunk. All things considered, she handled it well. All she had by way of a hangover was a headache. She sat up in bed. She was still in her uniform and the sheets had not been pulled back. How she had gotten from the bar on Chaos back to her personal quarters was something she only vaguely remembered. She remembered catching the last shuttle back, with her new friend, they sort of hung onto each other for support. What was his name again? thought Nara, Oh yeah, Sterling. She turned her head from the window and noted that she wasn't alone in bed. "Oh my God!" whispered Nara. Next to her lay Sterling, who was just beginning to wake up. He moaned slightly and sat up on the edge of the bed, his feet hanging over the side. He looked around a moment, "Oh my. Where am I?" He turned to see Nara and saw his shock paralleled in her face. "What happened here last night, Nara?" he asked calmly. Nara shook her head, "Nothing. I mean it had to be nothing, right? We are still wearing our uniforms." "Um right, of course." noted Sterling. "I/You should go." they said simultaneously. Sterling stood up, they exchanged uncertain glances and then Sterling left. Nara sat on the edge of her bed. She leaned over to pick up floppy and spoke to him, "Well, I can already tell this is going to be one hell of a day." * * *       Sean Napier made the painful journey back into consciousness. His ribs hurt and he felt a stinging pain that told him his face had a few small cuts. Probably from when the canopy was shattered. he thought. He got to his feet and immediately noticed he was in a prison cell. Outside the cell stood two Neo guards. When they noticed he was up, one immediately left to tell his superiors. The cell had two bunk beds, a small table, and a toilet. Eve! Sean looked about him. On the floor in the opposite corner he saw Eve Hanley. He rushed over to her. Her face was bruised and she had a gash in her forehead. Sean sat her against the wall and torn off part of his flight suit and made a bandage for her wound. As he finished wrapping her head she started to wake up. "Eve can you hear me?" he asked. "Where are we?" she asked wearily. He could have lied to her, but what was the point? "I don't know. Look you hit the ground hard when you crashed so try not to move. Where do you hurt?" Eve experimentally moved each of her limbs. When she got to her left arm she hissed in pain as she tried to move it. Sean took a look at it, "Looks like you broke it, two places at least. We better put it in a sling and split that wrist." "Great, more good news" Eve said dryly. Sean noted the bunk beds in the cell. He reached for the sheets off one and fashioned a sling out of it. He broke apart their only table with the intent of using at least part of one of the table legs as a split. Sean sat down next to Eve, "Okay, splinting your wrist may hurt. Brace yourself." Eve gritted her teeth and hardened her stare, "Just do it!" * * *       "Bronski went back to earth, said he wanted to spend time with Eve. I figure he also wants someone to take care of him. He denies it of course. What do you think Maggs?" Silence. Alec tightened his grip a little on her hand. Maggie lay in a hospital bed wearing nothing but the usual hospital gown. She had an I.V. going into one arm and Alec held the other. "You look good today. Those little cuts and bruises? I can't even see them anymore. Yup, your going to be good as new in no time at all. Maybe when you get out of here we could go down to Earth again, spend some more time together. That will be fun, huh?" Silence. "Hey, you'll never believe this. Nara and Rita went down to a bar on Chaos last night. Can you picture Nara in a bar? Rita told me she managed to loosen up. She was talking with some guy she met and even had a few drinks, and I'm not talking ice water either. I wish I was there to see that." Silence. "I wish you were there to see that." He gently kissed the back of her hand and placed it on the bed. Alec rose to leave, "I'll see you tomorrow Maggie, same time as always." * * *       "Well, if it isn't my esteemed commanding officer. How did you sleep, not alone I trust?" Rita winked playfully at Nara. Nara put her breakfast down and sat at Rita's table. "How much do you know?" asked Nara as she rubbed her temples. "I saw you have quite a few drinks with your new friend. Frankly, I was amazed either of you could stand up after that. You stuck together the whole night. I noticed you were playing a game or two with him too." said Rita. "What games?" asked Nara skeptically. "Tonsil hockey for one, need I go on?" explained Rita. Nara shook her head and took a slip of her coffee. "Well, anyway, the two of you swapped spit the whole shuttle ride home. When we got to the hanger, you and he disappeared. Care to fill me in on what happened next, or should I just guess?" Rita smiled devilishly. Nara put down her coffee, "He left this morning." "Did he now?" said Rita with a cock of the eyebrow. "You want to hear this or not?" questioned Nara, clearly a little irritated. Rita nodded her head. "He left this morning. I remember most of what you said happened. But nothing else happened, he just stayed overnight. Now can we just drop it? I'm not very proud of this and I'll probably never see him again." Nara took another swig of coffee. Satisfied, Rita began to thumb through some paper work. She stopped on a particular piece, "What was that guy's name again?" "Sterling, why?" asked Nara. "See for yourself." Rita handed her a slip of paper, a transfer notice. It had four names written on it. Nara looked it over and noted the last name on the list, Exotrooper Sterling. "Aw no." * * *       Eve's face finally seemed to relax. The splinting of her arm hurt, but under the circumstances she got off light by way of injuries. "Are you sure there is nothing else that hurts?" asked Sean. "Positive." Eve assured him, "I haven't got pain anywhere else. At least nothing this severe. Cuts and bruises by the feel of it." "We are relieved. You are after all, no good to us dead." They looked to see that the other guard had returned with Typhonus, Livia, Draconis, and another figure in the background. "What do you want from us." asked Sean. "We want information" answered Livia. "You will give it to us or die" added Draconis. "And if we give it to you, you'll kill us anyway" noted Eve. "Not necessarily, if you prove useful enough you could remain alive for some time. What is that worn out saying you humans are so fond of? Oh yes, 'Where there is life, there is hope'. I tell you now terran, if you don't help us, you will have no hope at all." said Typhonus. "I have to side with Eve on this one," said Sean, "you'll get nothing from us." "How unfortunate." noted Livia. She motioned to the guards behind her. They brought their weapons to bear. "Stop." said the figure in the shadows. He stepped forward and Sean recognized him instantly, "Phaeton!" Livia turned to face him, "They are of no use to us, why let them live?" Phaeton looked from her to the cell and back again, "Perhaps they will, when asked in the proper manner. It could be that they find your approach too intimidating, Livia. Leave us, I wish to speak with them alone." "But sir, these people are dangerous, I must object!" stated Typhonus. "Then we have something in common, now if you please." He pointed to the door. "As you wish." answered Livia. She led the other Neos out of the room, leaving Phaeton, Sean, and Eve alone. Sean walked over to his cell bars and glared at him. "I should have let you die when I had the chance." he muttered. "I would be interested to hear about that." said Phaeton. "But you were there, in a way, right?" questioned Eve as she got off the floor and walked over to Sean. Phaeton stood face to face with Sean and Eve. "The reason I wanted to speak to you alone was to find out..." "You'll find nothing out from us!" hissed Sean. "You're not listening!" said Phaeton, "I'm not interested in your military plans!" Sean put a puzzled expression on his face, "Then what are you interested in?" Phaeton leaned in close so that only the three of them could hear, "I need to know who I am." * * *       "And this, for the lack of a better term, is the enemy. The only one ever captured alive." stated Dr. Martin. The class from the academy peeked curiously through the cell bars and force field at Shanita. She had been moved to a location on earth a short while ago. That was when she was put on display for the exofleet academy. As Dr. Martin droned on and on about his theories into her race's social structure, language, and such, Shanita sat curled into a ball on her bed. She looked at the panel of faces probing every aspect of her alien appearance. "Any questions?" asked Dr. Martin. A single hand went up in the back of the room. "Ah yes, Cadet Takagi isn't it?" Kaz nodded his head, "I was wondering how you would like it if I stuck you in a cage and paraded you around for everyone to see." Dr. Martin started to look a bit flustered, "Look young man, this is in the interest of scientific inquiry, and of importance in your officer's training, so I suggest you be a little less judgmental about our methods." "Or what? You're gonna stick me in a cage too?" The cadets laughed at Kaz's remark, Shanita herself let out a chuckle but quickly stiffled it. She brought her head up, intent on getting a better look at Kaz. Dr. Martin was not amused. "Cadet Takagi, I will be having a long talk with Commandant Butler about your conduct, and anyone else who feels the need to crack such jokes." The room fell silent. Dr. Martin went to the door, "That will conclude today's lecture, you are all dismissed." One by one they filtered out of the room. Shanita got off her bed and walked over to the bars, watching them go. Kaz lagged behind and looked at Shanita. There was no malice or judgment in it, he just looked at her, like a person rather than a specimen. "This is that portion of the class where you leave." noted Dr. Martin from the doorway. Kaz realized he was the only one left in the room. He took one last look at Shanita, "Sorry I couldn't be of more help." As he walked away he heard a response, "You were more help than most." * * *       Stan, Sue and Mack were walking to hanger five when Sterling came running up behind them. "Well, look what the cat dragged in." said Sue. "I was not dragged anywhere, by any animal." replied Sterling, somewhat confused. "I beg to differ, I can think of a certain blond that was leading you around last night." said Mack as he elbowed Sterling. Sterling shock his head and walked past them. They followed. "What no stories to tell?" asked Stan. "Nothing happened, so there is nothing to tell." noted Sterling. "Oh come on," said Sue, "You took off with this girl last night and we didn't see you again until now. That's a whole lot of nothing to account for, something must have happened." Sterling shot her a glance and Sue fell silent. Mack and Stan continued to badger him until they reached the hanger. As the came through the door, they noted a number of work crews still fixing the damage that had been done to it previously. Suddenly someone caught Mack's eye. He looked at Sterling, "Isn't that the girl you were with last night?" Sterling looked ahead and saw Nara talking with someone, "Aw no."       Sue walked up to Nara and Rita, "Excuse me, are either one of you Lt. Burns or Sargent Torres?" "Right on both counts," said Rita. "I'm Lt. Nara Burns and this is Sargent Rita Torres. What can we do for you?" asked Nara. Worthington snapped a salute and handed her paper work to Nara as the others came in behind her. "Lt. Susan Worthington reporting for duty, ma'am." "Sargent, handle the paper work please." Rita stepped forward and took Worthington's papers. She then went and retrieved similar documents from Erikson, Remes, and Sterling. "All right people, get in line" shouted Torres. The group wasted no time following orders. Nara stole a quick glance at Sterling, he looked nervous. Glad I'm not the only one thought Nara. "Lets do a quick check of names: Worthington?" "Yes Sargent!" "Remes?" "Yes Sargent!" "Erikson?" "Yes Sargent!" "Sterling?" "Yes Sargent!" Torres looked up at him for a moment, as if to make sure she had properly connected the name and face. It made Sterling decidedly uncomfortable. "Well that's everyone, Lieutenant?" Nara stepped forward, "Welcome to Able Squad. I'm Lt. Burns, your new commanding officer. This is Sargent Torres. You've been trained to be here and know what's expected of you. So I won't bother reiterating it. I'll just say that when either I or Sargent Torres give you an order, we expect it to be followed. This squad has a lot of history attached to it. As such, you will find yourselves on the front lines more often than not. If you can't handle that or following orders then I suggest you leave now." Nara said nothing for a bit than continued, "Well, since you are all still here, its time for your physical evaluations. Sargent, they're all yours." As Nara walked away, Rita grinned viscously. "Let's see what you newbies have got." * * *       "Is this some kind of joke?" asked Eve. "I find nothing humorous about this situation." replied Phaeton. "You really expect us to believe that you don't know who you are?" asked Sean skeptically. "Cloning duplicates the genetic structure of an individual, not the memories." countered Phaeton. "I was put into storage before they could be encoded in to my cerebral cortex." "So you want us to tell you what you missed so you can revert to type?" replied Sean. "No, I'm not sure who I am. I've heard what Livia said about Phaeton. She painted him as a great hero. But there are two sides to every story, I want to hear yours." "You referred to yourself in the third person, does that mean you don't consider yourself to be Phaeton." asked Eve. "I'm not the same being as the one you knew. I don't have the same experiences he did, but then again I am genetically identical to him. I am just not certain." he replied. "Your not buying any of this are you?" asked Sean. "I'm inclined to." said Eve. "Are you nuts?" asked Sean. "No, just the opposite." stated Eve, "Psychologists have debated throughout history what makes a being what he is. Nature versus nurture, and all that. This Phaeton hasn't been oppressed, was never a slave. He has no reason to hate us." "He doesn't need a reason" said Sean dryly. "I'm afraid he does, Sean. There is no gene for hate, he has to learn it like everyone else. I say we give him a chance." Sean shook his head in disbelief. He looked at Phaeton. His face was pleading, his eyes soft, he put out his hand. "Please help me." he said. Sean couldn't believe what he was about to say, "What have we got to lose." * * *       Avery Butler heard a knock at his office door. "Come in!" he barked. Kaz Takagi stepped into the room and saluted Butler. "At ease Takagi, have a seat." Butler said as he motioned to one of two chairs in front of his desk. "You wanted to see me sir?" asked Kaz. "I've been reviewing your record. You've scored very well in all your studies. Your instructors all give you high marks on your evaluations. Aside from your conduct today, you're looked upon as a model cadet." explained Butler. "Thank you sir." said Kaz. "Its good that you got your act together, but I really should not let what you did today go unpunished. However, I am inclined not to reprimand you because I happen to believe in what you said. As of one hour ago, Dr. Martin lost all interest in reprimanding you too. It seems you were the first person to ever get the alien to talk. Since her capture, she hasn't uttered a single syllable. Now they have a whole recorded sentence to prove she can speak English. Dr. Martin has requested your aid in getting her to cooperate. In exchange, he's willing to stop parading classes in front of her. I want to make it clear that you don't have to do this and your involvement is strictly voluntary." Kaz listened intently, when Butler finished he stood. "I won't let you down sir." he said. "Take us back a few months and I would be hard pressed to believe you." noted Butler "Good luck with it, Takagi" Kaz saluted and started to leave, "Oh and Takagi, don't antagonize Martin. I really don't like listening to him whine." * * *       Rita loved physical evaluations. It was the one time when she was allowed to be as rough on the troops as she wanted. They were good and that pleased Rita since they would have to watch her back in a fight. She ran them through every endurance test she could think of. While she was busy writing their results, they took the opportunity to relax. Erikson and Worthington sat slumped on the floor, gasping for air. Remes crouched near them, faring not much better. Their laps around the hanger had them run the equivalent of 10 miles, and that was just the last of many tiring tests. The only one who wasn't dead on his feet was Sterling. He stood, arms crossed, next to Remes. He wasn't even breathing hard. Got to admit, Sterling is in unbelievable shape. Way to pick'em, Nara. thought Rita. "All right, break times over, line it up!" shouted Rita. Sterling snapped to, the others dragged themselves over to Torres. As Erikson trudged into position, Lt. Burns entered the hanger. She stood next to Torres, "So how'd they do, Sargent?" "Average, with one notable exception." Rita eyed Sterling for a moment then continued, "I think they'll do fine." Burns nodded her head, "Okay then, one more test and your done." Three of four faces dropped. "If you can wake yourself up in time for role tomorrow your in." Remes and Worthington laughed while Erikson continued to get as much air as possible into his lungs. Sterling had no viable reaction to the joke. Burns smiled, "Your all dismissed." She turned to talk with Torres and the four of them began to leave the hanger. Remes leaned on Sterling for support, "Man, don't you ever get tired?" "Of course, it just takes more than what Sargent Torres can put us through." said Sterling. Erikson finally slowed his breathing enough to talk, "I still can't believe you fooled around with your C.O." "First of all, I didn't know she was my C.O. Second of all, we did not fool around." "Un huh, yeah sure. I saw you two on the shuttle ride back. You were lip-locked all the way, that definitely counts as fooling around." added Worthington. As they reached the door, they could hear Lt. Burns' voice. "Trooper Sterling, a moment of your time if you please." Sterling turned to see her waiting for him by the poker table with Torres. "Speak of the devil" said Erikson. "I guess we'll see you sometime tomorrow then" joked Remes. "Shut up, both of you." snapped Sterling as he walked toward Nara and Rita. "Is there something wrong, ma'am?" he asked. "We need to talk, about last night, and about what I read in your file." * * *       "Phaeton was a monster." said Phaeton. "Well not at first, but fate sort of twisted him that way." explained Eve. "That does not make me feel any better" replied Phaeton. "Look, the way I see it, you don't have to be him. You are your own person now. You said yourself you don't feel like you are him." said Sean. "I said I wasn't sure who I was." corrected Phaeton. "That's a start." Eve lifted a foot off the ground and pulled on her heel. The boot heel slid back to reveal a small transmitter concealed inside. Eve removed the transmitter and closed her heel. She handed it to Phaeton. "If your serious about being your own Neo, then activate this outside the base." "Eve, that's our only way out of this!" hissed Sean. "It will send a better signal from outside the base, and it gives this Phaeton the chance he is looking for." stated Eve. Phaeton said nothing, he pocketed the transmitter and walked away. He took a moment to have one last look at Sean and Eve, uncertainty was obvious in his eyes. He then left the room. "Think it will work?" asked Sean "I really don't know. But in his eyes, he is our last hope. If he is sincere, then he will do something. If he was just playing, well then he thinks we have no more tricks up our sleeve." answered Eve. "Right" said Sean. He lifted his left foot, pulled on his heel, activated the transmitter inside and sealed it again. "Think that will reach Marsala and the rest?" asked Eve. "I'm not sure. The Neos don't think we have anything like that this. But then again, they aren't stupid either. There may or may not be a jamming field covering this whole base." Sean shrugged his shoulders and had a seat on the bottom bunk. Eve had a seat next to him. "I hate uncertainty" she said. "You and me both, Eve." On to Part 7