The General put away his gun and started out. “Come on, we can’t let her find his remains alone.” They went after Snow before they had finished watching the news follow Bark’s descent to earth.
The news reporters were following the speck, hoping to see where it landed. They weren’t sure if it was the hero, or if it was the enemy coming back. Though, they could tell that it was not falling like something set on attack, but like something that was dead. Then, the speck simply vanished mid-air.
The reporter on the news suddenly spoke up. “Wait, did we lose it?”
The camera man following the speck answered, “No, it just disappeared. I thought I saw something up there for a second, but now it’s gone.”
The reporter returned to the camera and said, “People of Knoxville, do not return to your homes until the all clear has been signaled. The enemy might still be out there, we have no confirmed body yet. I repeat….”
A shuttle flew through the air, following its sensors. It passed over the destroyed parts of I-40, Neyland Stadium, and Henley Street Bridge. The town was a ghost town. No one was on the streets, and cars were abandoned where they were evacuated from the danger zone.
“I have him,” The General announced from the co-pilot’s seat, with Spark piloting. The General would not allow Snow to sit up here where she could see.
Snow gulped. “How do you know?”
The General took in a slow breath and said, “I tracked his collar. It might be…well…”
Snow closed her eyes and nodded. “It might be only part of him left. I know. Just take us there.”
Spark did not want to look out of the window. If he had to see what could possibly be the remains of a close friend, it would be too hard. He had trained for this situation, yet he was not prepared.
“What the hell!?” The General sat forward and even stood up slightly from his seat, looking down at the ground.
Snow immediately asked, “What? What is it?”
“It can’t be.” The General was already unbuckling his belt before Spark had the ship set down on the street.
“Please tell me, what is it?” Snow was unable to process anything but sorrow right now.
“Come on, you are permitted.” The General hit the door button and pushed it open when it wouldn't move fast enough for him.
The General, Spark, and Snow all came out of the shuttle to something they had not expected to see. Bark was laying on the ground, in one piece, with his head in Toshi Sensei’s lap.
Snow came running over to them. “Oh, my God, Bark! Are you okay!?” She fell to her knees beside him and put her hand on his chest.
Toshi put her hand on Snow’s and smiled. “He is breathing.”
Snow broke into tears again, putting her head down on Bark’s chest. He was certainly breathing, though it was shallow. His right hand was mangled and bloody, his legs looked like he had been attacked by a weed whacker, and it was obvious that his bones were broken in places. His fur was burnt, in some places the hair was gone and only blackened skin was showing through. But, he was breathing.
The General stood there with the most flabbergasted frown on his face. “Toshi, how did…when did you…what did you…you were…weren’t you just…” It was a rare occasion, The General at a loss for words.
Toshi calmly looked at The General and said, “No time for questions. We must get him to the infirmary at once. He is not well.”
Spark ran into the shuttle and retrieved the emergency stretcher. He and The General gingerly placed Bark on it and carried him back to the shuttle, returning to the station with the hero.
***
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say that I am proud of Knoxville. In the past two weeks since the attack, the citizens of this fine city have proven that southern hospitality is not lost here,” Mayor Travis announced on the news. “The City of Knoxville owes much to the men and women of the UCH, especially their commander general, Instructor Spark, and students Snow and Bark. These brave men and women put themselves in harm’s way to save us from a menace that set his sights on destroying our beloved city. I will personally award each of them the key to the city in an upcoming ceremony. Now, I will take questions.”
The report returned to the news desk at Channel 10. “That was Mayor Travis earlier this morning at Ayers Hall. Now, in further news, Torren Wild has been apprehended by the World Alliance and will face their courts as a terrorist. It has been made clear that the entire situation was orchestrated by Mr. Wild without any accomplices. We have been unable to get in touch with Dr. Ogle about this incident, but a spokesman for him has stated that the doctor is willing to testify against Wild for stealing his technology and using it for acts of terror. On to the rebuilding. The army corps of engineers has successfully cleared away most of the debris from Interstate 40. Soon, a large team of workers will come in and get the highway back in working order. Neyland Stadium and Henley Street Bridge will also –”
Snow turned off the little television next to Bark’s bed in the infirmary. She pushed away the swing arm that held the television and small personal computer and looked down at Bark. He had been laying there ever since they returned to the station with him two weeks ago.
He had bandages on his chest, legs, hands, and face. There were tubes running into him to supply him with medicine and other necessary fluids. The fur on his body was growing back quickly under the influence of a special ointment that Josiah had created for Bark. He was doing much better, save the fact that he had not woken up yet.
“Ms. Snow.” Dr. Ogle entered with the help of the security bot that carried his head box around.
Snow looked over to him, her eyes a little misty. “Oh, I didn’t see you come in.”
“I was in the back, working out some calculations for the stasis chamber that will house me.”
Snow nodded. “Oh, that’s right. You're going into stasis until Dr. Stone can clone a new body for you.”
“Yeah. It isn’t ideal, but then again, at least I won’t die.” He smiled and then looked down at Bark. “I sure hope this works.”
Snow nodded. “Me too. Oh, why did he have to be so stupid?”
Just then The General and Toshi came into the infirmary. The General answered her “Because if he hadn’t been so stupid, most of Knoxville would be dead right now, along with you and me.”
Toshi came around to the other side of Bark and took up his other hand. “Say what you will, general, but he put himself in too much danger.”
The General gave Toshi a funny look. “I'm still trying to figure out how you got down to the planet, and saved him from that massive freefall.”
Toshi flashed one of her famous smiles and responded, “The talented hawk hides his claws.”
Josiah pushed through the crowd. “Uh, can we make a little room?” He was fighting to get to the patient.
The General and Dr. Ogle’s bot moved back, but Snow and Toshi remained at Bark’s side. Josiah put a hand on Toshi’s shoulder and guided her to stand back a little so he could do what he came here to do.
Everyone became terribly silent while they watched. Dr. Stone administered a drug to Bark so he would wake up. It wasn’t a sure thing; if Bark was brain-dead, then this would do nothing. It took a few minutes for the drug to disperse through his system, and everyone waited with bated breath.
Snow was anxious. She leaned over and looked into his face and watched him breathe. Would he wake? Was he dead? She was so scared right now that her own breath was about to stop. Suddenly, she saw something. His eyes shifted under the lids. His breathing got a little stronger and his mouth slowly moved. He gulped the dryness down his throat and then his eyes weakly opened.
The world was blurry, and Bark really wanted to go back to sleep. But, he could make out shapes. Someone was standing over him, there was a light above him, and there was another person sitting beside him. She had a glorious halo of golden light surrounding her head. Was he dead? W
as this heaven? Her hand was cold against his.
His collar said, “Snow?”
She leaned in and nodded. “Yes. Yes, it’s me.”
“Did you die too,” he asked, not sure how she got here.
Snow laughed and then wiped a tear off of her cheek. “No, and you aren’t dead either.”
Then the deeper voice of Josiah came through. “You're lucky to be alive. We weren’t sure if you would pull through.”
“Doctor…” He barely moved in the bed. “Oooh, wow, I hurt all over.”
Josiah nodded. “You should. You nearly got yourself killed.”
Bark blinked a few times and the world cleared up. He saw that the golden halo was the beautiful blonde hair around Snow’s head, and that the heavenly light was nothing more than the light over his bed. Dr. Stone stood next to him with Toshi.
“What happened? I can remember falling a long way down, there was this terrible explosion and…I don’t remember anything else.” He turned his head to see The General.
The General glared at him, though he was honestly happy to see him survive. “You stole a shuttle, attacked a powerful enemy, and nearly got yourself killed. You broke about six dozen rules, most of which could mean serious punishment. But…”
“But?” Bark was frowning.
"But, young man, you saved us all…again. Your stupid actions were foolish and headstrong, but they were not without merit. So, you're not going to prison. In fact, the Mayor of Knoxville wants to give you an award.”
Bark weakly smiled. “An award?”
The General leaned in a little. “Yup. As for the UCH, my present to you will be thirty days of maintenance duty.”
Bark looked at everyone and then frowned harder. “I still don’t remember a lot. I can recall being very angry, and…wanting to …uh…die.” He was afraid to say that with Snow next to him.
Snow gasped. “You wanted to die? Why?”
Bark closed his eyes. “It’s complicated. I'm not even sure if I can explain it now. My head feels clearer somehow.”
Josiah spoke to everyone. “We can all talk about this later. I think he needs his rest.”
Snow leaned over and kissed Bark before walking out with The General. As they left the room, Snow could be heard nagging The General about the fact that the first thing he did was punish Bark. Dr. Ogle’s bot walked off, heading back to his work. Josiah waited while Toshi came over and took up Bark’s hand.
“Inu-chan, do not do this again. Come to me, or Snow, or The General when you are so afraid or angry. This will not happen again, not while you have more important things to worry about.” She silently placed a small box in his hand and then left.
Josiah smiled and pulled on the curtain. “Get some rest. I'll be back to check on you in a little while.”
Bark smiled. “Thanks.” He waited until the curtain was pulled around his bed and then he opened his hand. He found the box with the ring in it that he had bought to propose to Snow.
***
Torren Wild, dressed in a blue UCH prison jumpsuit, lay on his bed waiting for midday meal. He was in a holding cell on the station not unlike the one that Dr. Ogle spent one night in.
“Why did you do it?” Dr. Ogle’s voice caught his attention.
Torren didn’t sit up. He just turned is head to the side. “What do you care?”
Dr. Ogle glared at him. “What do I care? You stole my body and armor, destroyed parts of Knoxville, killed innocent people, put several of the UCH heroes in the infirmary, and tried to place the blame on me. You better believe I care! I just want to know why.”
“I really thought you were better than those stupid professors. I came to you in hopes that you would keep me from being expelled. Instead, you threw me under the bus.”
Dr. Ogle, though angry, was beginning to understand. “You wanted me to protect you from what you did wrong? There is a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism and I adhere to that. It wasn’t personal, it is just part of the job. That doesn’t mean that you could go off and do what you did.”
Torren sat up. “You don’t know what happened to me. I left Tennessee and tried to apply to other colleges. They all rejected me. They would show me that file and tell me that I was not allowed in because of some stupid papers I copied. Those papers weren’t even in my field, just the ridiculous gen-ed crap: history, politics, art. I was… I am a scientist. I never plagiarized the work in my field. I never plagiarized anything in your class. But, that didn’t matter. I couldn’t even get into an online college with that hanging around my neck. It wasn’t fair.”
Dr. Ogle scowled at him. “But killing innocent people is fair?”
Torren shook his head. “I never intended for it to get so out of control. I just wanted to punish you. I set the armor to destroy UT and then attack Knoxville, all the while blaming you. When the news and police called for your arrest, I would’ve turned it off. But the stupid UCH had to get involved and it got out of hand.”
Dr. Ogle shook his head. “Everything gets out of hand with you. You start with a simple idea, but when it gets out of hand, you just let it go crazy hoping that the ends will justify the means. It was the same with your copied work. You stole one paper, and then another, and just kept it going, hoping to make it work in the end. If you had just come to me after the first time you realized that you couldn’t do the work, I would’ve helped. But, you let it get out of control. Now look where you are. Facing terrorist charges and murder charges. You will be lucky if they don’t serve you the death penalty.”
Torren gritted his teeth and sneered at William. “I just wanted to punish you. I wanted revenge.”
“Tell me, was it worth it?”
Chapter 16: A Much Better Tomorrow
Bark was set up in his bed, the back having been raised for him to lay comfortably while he recovered. He had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, which included hours of reading and some paperwork to finish. Snow had come in every day to bring him more work, and to sit with him. Toshi Sensei was there often as well. She would bring him homemade food and talk to him about wisdom and trust. Bark was quiet – not mute, but quiet. He wasn’t sure about what had happened to him before, and why he had been so foolish. Dr. Stone promised to explain that to him later. Well, later had come and Bark was sitting face-to-face with his doctor.
Josiah pulled a chair over and sat next to Bark. He had with him a computer tablet with the scientific details of what he wanted to tell him. “So, Bark, how are you feeling?”
Bark cleared his throat and his vocal processor replied, “Okay, I guess.”
“Good, then the pain medicine is working.” Dr. Stone made a note on his computer.
Bark looked at Josiah and asked, “Why did you want to wait so long before talking to me?”
Josiah looked up. “Well, I wanted to be sure before I told you anything. It’s about your mutations.”
Bark became visibly nervous. He had feared this conversation for a long time. “How bad is it?”
“I have good news and I have bad news.”
“Tell me the bad news first.”
Josiah hated to do that, but it was Bark’s wish. “With the mutations setting in, your system has changed to be very different from a human. I cannot repair your voice box, or even graft an artificial or cloned one on. It appears that your voice is forever lost. We might find a way to implant a biotic voice box with a larger emotional range and tone quality, but it will never truly be yours.”
Bark had not expected that to be the bad news. He looked at Josiah and asked, “Then, what’s the good news?”
Josiah looked at his tablet, then showed Bark something that he didn’t quite understand. It was a DNA chain simulation, only it was much more complex than a standard human’s. “It appears that your DNA has changed, but for the better. The mutations gave you an even higher tolerance for energy weapons, radiation, and healing. You are highly resistant to viruses, infections, or just about
any illness. But, most importantly, they have stopped. The mutations are completed and finished. As far as I can tell, you cannot mutate any further.”
Bark was more than pleased with that report, but he had to ask, “Those dog soldiers I met in Korea. They were like me, except further along and mindless. How come I am not like them?”
Josiah smiled. “My best guess is that they were more than mutated. They had other changes added to the mix. You didn’t receive all of the changes in the primary encounter.” He could see that this wasn’t making a lot of sense to Bark, so he simplified it. “It’s like making a cake without eggs. No matter how long you stick it in the oven and bake it, the eggs won’t suddenly appear. They have to be added. Whoever was mutating you initially did not finish adding all the components before you broke free. In Korea, the scientist must have added that into the mixture when he created the other mutants. You did not receive that at all. Thus, you can never reach the state those soldiers were in.”
Bark smiled. “Then I won’t act like a dog anymore? I won’t start being so irrational?”
“Hopefully. I have tracked dangerously high levels of adrenaline, testosterone, and melatonin in your system.” Josiah showed him a chart with the stats on it.
Bark frowned while looking at the chart. “How are they dangerous? I thought all of those were natural to the body.”
Josiah nodded. “Yes, they are. And they are needed to make sure that the body does what it is supposed to do. But, when your body was undergoing the mutation process and dealing with the energy beams, it suddenly flooded your system with these chemicals, and in high amounts they can have a major impact to your whole system. Melatonin will cause hallucinations, adrenaline will lower your pain reception, and testosterone will cause your logic and common sense to be warped.”
Bark had an “ah-ha” look on his face. “The nightmares, the visions of me as a beast in the mirror, the fear of losing Snow…everything.”
Josiah nodded. “Those were all part of the hormones. You had a part of you that was always afraid of turning into one of those soldiers. You're afraid of losing the woman you love. And you have a courageous heart. Pump a ton of excess hormones into the mix and all of these emotions take a whole new role in your mind. Of course, it didn’t help that your nervousness about proposing to Snow hyped up your hormones to begin with.”
Descent Into Madness Page 13
