In Praetor

Chapter 9

"Rise!" Zulu almost cried out in a strangled voice as she practically lunged off her Hover-Cycle the moment she pulled up to Rise's cabin. Fully alert to everything, she fought the urge to just rush in. Taking in a deep breathe to calm herself, eyes closed, she let it out slowly. Opening her eyes, Zulu returned to an emotionless state of mind. "Let's get this done." 

Upon changing the settings of her sunglasses to infrared, she scanned the area for heat signatures. The readings came up negative for human bodies. Zulu carefully entered the cabin, plasma pistol in hand. The place was a mess and smelled of tobacco, smoke, and gunpowder. 

"Tch, damn rats. Don't they realize their smoking habits leave a trail behind?" Zulu looked through the rooms, noting nothing appeared to be missing and not at all surprised to find all her belongings in the places she had hidden them. "Of course they don't check the most obvious places." 

Standing in front of the basement door, Zulu's hand hovered hesitantly over the doorknob. Turning the knob, the door silently swung open. Instantly the smell of chemicals hidden by a mixture of odors hit her full force. Making her way down the stairs, she at first saw an ordinary basement upon reaching the bottom. Reaching to the side of the stairwell, her fingers brushed over a hidden scanner, causing the basement to suddenly change. 

"Holograph," Zulu smirked, a bit impressed. She knew as soon as she saw all the scientific equipment that this was some sort of laboratory. There was a cryogenic chamber and numerous other devices to suggest freezing experiments had taken place there. For reasons Zulu didn't understand, the scent of Rise eased her mind, allowing her to keep from freaking out at all that she saw. A filing cabinet beside a counter doubling as a touch screen computer caught her attention, and she went over to it. Lightly touching the counter top screen, she watched as it lit up and a hand scanner appeared. Tentatively, she placed her hand on the screen and watched as it scanned her hand. The computer beeped and a holographic image of Rise's face appeared. 

"Hello Zulu, if you're watching this, then that means I've been taken by the military. I knew this would happen eventually, so I made this video for you. I took your finger and hand prints from different things in order to input them into the system down here so you could access this." 

"Of course you did," Zulu growled, giving the recorded hologram an irritated look. 

"Er, as you can see, this is pre-recorded, but also responds to how you react. That was the reaction I most expected, so I'm glad I chose that as the main input." 

"What other reaction did you expect?" 

"Anyways, let me tell you what you need to know." 

"Don't ignore my question!" 

"I'm not, this recording just doesn't have the ability to answer everything. I put up a holograph protection so that no person besides the two of us could view my lab and the contents of this computer. If you feel any need to look into my research, there are files both in the filing cabinet and the system memory of this computer." 

"Gee, you're so generous... I think I'll have a nice long chat with you once I return you home." 

"Of course you will... Ah, also, I had the feeling that my captors wouldn't take the time to do a thorough search once they found me, so even though the upstairs is trashed, they probably missed my weapons stash. Knowing you, you probably already figured out where it is, but just in case I'll tell you it's in the kitchen. And no, it has nothing to do with me enjoying cooking. My time in there has only increased because you seem to believe military rations count as actual food." 

"Cooking takes too much time." 

"Says the one arguing with a hologram." 

"Damnit Rise!" 

"Hey, I'm merely stating the truth." 

"I swear, if your captors don't kill you, I will. And if they do, I'll bring you back to life and kill you myself." 

"First off, that's just cruel, and secondly, it's not humanly possible to bring someone back from the dead." 

"Do I look human to you?" 

"Completely." 

"... That part of my life is over, whatever humanity I once had is gone." 

"What you are doesn't matter, you're still you. Be cautious Zulu, I don't want you taking unnecessary risks just because I've been captured. Follow the tracking device I have on me, but if it's too late to save me, leave me and protect my research. I believe in and trust you, Zulu, and I'll be waiting." 

"Wait!" Zulu reached out as the holographic image flickered and disappeared. She dropped her hand to her side, fingers balling into a fist. A turmoil of emotions bubbled deep inside her as the realization of failing her job slapped her in the face. Eyes blurred, they stung as a hot wetness welled up inside them. A confused sound came from her throat as she rubbed her eyes. "Tears? That's not possible... I haven't cried since my time in that hell called Hades' Military Penitentiary. There's no way I would cry in this situation. I don't even like the guy..." 

Zulu took a gulp of air and let it out slowly, not letting her thoughts drift onto the topic of emotional connections. Flipping through the files on Rise's computer with her fingers, she noticed a folder with her name on it. Opening it, her body froze when she saw the contents. For a moment, it was as if her heart stopped. He had done the one thing she hoped he never would. Rise had connected her to the prison experiments and found out about her past. He'd dug deep, reading the detailed notes of those horrendous doctors and scientists. He had researched the Hades' Military Penitentiary Super Soldier Program and uncovered its darkest secrets. Zulu finally understood, the reason the military was after Rise and why he had become so emotionally unstable. Finding out about the illegal and sickening experiments must have done a number on him, especially upon realizing that she had such a chilling past. Even if he hadn't read her files specifically, he'd still have at least a vague understanding of what had happened. Or maybe not? Either way, it didn't matter. 

Zulu punched the wall in front of her and holstered her plasma pistol. Eyes burning with a furious rage, she locked the computer and turned the basement's holographic protection back on. Marching up the stairs, she gathered up weapons, using a hidden switch to reveal Rise's kitchen arsenal storage. Taking anything she could stash on or in her Hover-Cycle, Zulu set out fully loaded and ready for battle.