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PROLOGUE I just sat there. I was too terrified even to move let alone do
anything useful. I found myself feeling thankful that I was locked in a room,
far from the erupting battles. I was only thirteen then, and had lived a sheltered, sometimes disillusioned,
life. In the middle of the Android Revolution, what use would I be? I’ve
often wondered, now that the time has long passed, what I would have done if
I had not been in the ‘safety’ of that room. I was waiting for Father and tell me everything would be all
right. I thought he was invincible. He was the commander of the Elysium this
great ship- the Hendrix line had been for many years. I loved that man,
despite how I hated his views on the Android slavery. I was waiting in the room where he told me to wait when Colonel
Tanno burst in. He grabbed my arm, and dragged me along with him. "How
dare you treat me this way!" I cried indignantly. "My father won’t
stand for this!" "Commander Hendrix is dead," he responded.
"Without our leader, this whole situation’s going to hell!" I
stopped, shocked beyond comprehension. Father, dead? It had to be a mistake,
had to be. The colonel was dragging me along the Elysium’s dark, narrow,
high-ceilinged maintenance tunnels when we came across a mesh door set into
one of the walls. We stopped about fifty meters back from the door. Terror
flooded my veins as we waited for the scout to return with whether friend or
foe lay behind the door. It was Androids, the scout told us. The leaders, no
less. This small party of soldiers was not equipped to deal with the
leading Androids, so we started devising ways to get around them. I surprised
the group by telling them of a small secret passage that led from the Hendrix
quarters to the engine room, with several side passages alone the way. We
were about one hundred meters from one of these. It was never to be spoken
of, and used only by my family and only in times of great emergency. I
figured that this qualified of enough of an emergency that I could allow
others to know of it. I was leading the way to the entrance when, suddenly and
uncontrollably, I sneezed. Everyone froze, praying that even with their
enhanced hearing, the Androids missed the sound. With their lightning fast
speed, we could never outrun Androids. We prayed that we would be lucky. Luck was not on our side. The Androids came pouring out of the door, led by a tall, dark
skinned male. Colonel Tanno pushed my behind him. "Try to save yourself,
Julie," he whispered. I started to back up slowly, but was spotted by
the lead Android. He stared my straight in the eye; I held his gaze, mesmerized. I
had no fear of him, even though I was terrified of the others. I stopped,
still holding his eyes. He looked away, finally, but it was too late for me to flee now.
"Drop your weapons," he commanded. "I am Jason Brooks, leader
of this revolt." He motioned, and his men surrounded us. "Take them
to the cells and lock them up. Careful with that one," he said pointing
to me. "She may be valuable," he then added, almost as an afterthought. ~~~~~~~ CHAPTER ONE: Seven Years Later Bethany and I were working in the laundry room. "I hate
this," she whispered quietly. "Yeah, me too," I whispered back. This was a complaint
that had been echoed throughout the ship since the Androids won their
revolution For seven years, every human had been subjected to what the
Androids had for countless centuries; slavery. Bethany rolled her eyes. "Don’t lie to me, Julie," she
said. "You always thought the Android slavery was wrong. Now you
probably think that this," she gestured angrily to the other workers,
"is fair!" I didn’t respond. Bethany was right about my ideas. Those
opinions were the one thing no one ever understood about me. Bethany had been
my best friend from infancy, yet she still could not understand. I had given
up trying to explain my opinions to anybody. I looked over at Bethany, as she was scrubbing the heck out of a
stained shirt. I smiled tentatively at her, and she grinned back. "Just
don’t tell anyone, especially now. Promise me, Jul." "Promise," I answered. We went back to working silently
for a few minutes. "Julie," Bethany said, her voice barely a whisper,
"you’re being watched." I turned to look up at the catwalk above the
laundry room. Sure enough, an Android was staring down, looking directly at
me. I shifted my position to get a better look without my observer noticing
he was also being watched. I gasped in shock. "It’s him," I breathed. "Jason
Brooks." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bethany tremble. She was
petrified, but I was curious. Why would Brooks be watching me? I stood up out of my crouch, and started walking towards the
stairs leading to the catwalk. "Julie, stop!" Bethany cried.
"You’ll get a beating!" I completely ignored her. |