A TRUE PAWN ... OR MAYBE NOT
By
Catherine Bailey
Timeline: Before Pilot
Author's E-Mail: cb11324@www.cedarnet.org
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Hi, all! Consider this A.j.'s fault--when I read her challenge I wasn't going to do it. But of course it stuck in my head, and, well, this is the result. Anyway, it's my first piece of fanfiction, so cut me some slack ;) I thought Yale deserved more than just a few parts in some stories (Isn't this enough to become a Yale's Yentas?) Oh, & the weird name is 'cuz I always wanted a pseudonym. Anyway, this is pre-G889-- & now onto the story ............
A TRUE PAWN ... OR MAYBE NOT
By Catherine Bailey
He walked through the door to the administrator's office at Winchester Academy, expecting the worst. Since he had started receiving Council funding for his postgraduate studies this past year, he and the administration had disagreed often. The administrators who embraced the Council ethics despised his seeming double standard in accepting the Council's funding while openly opposing them. He couldn't help it; Council funding was the only available resource, but he objected to the unjust and sometimes painful methods of the Council. Finally, the tension between himself and the administration had escalated into this latest confrontation, and unfortunately, this latest punishment.
He looked at the stern, imposing man sitting beyond the large, elaborate wooden desk. These desks were few and far between, and cost more than ten times his education. Once again he wondered at the extravagant nature of the Academy Head.
"Well, Brayden Croix, we meet again." He nodded at his name, not surprised at the venom in the Head of Admin's voice.
"I'm sorry to inform you that the Council will no longer fund your education, due to your recent opinions and your relationship with the administrators at this Academy."
Brayden merely nodded again at the words the clipped voice pronounced. He had been expecting this, ever since his opinions had so directly clashed with the administrators. He turned around and walked back through the door, intending to never see that place again.
Brayden was packing up the last of his possessions when someone knocked at the door of his living quarters. He turned around with a questioning face and saw his girlfriend come through the door. As she walked in, she saw the mess he had created.
"Brayden, what's this? Why are you packing? And what about our date?" He merely shrugged and replied, "Don't worry, Amalthea. The Head of Admin just managed to get my funding pulled, that's all."
Amalthea sunk down to where he was sitting on the floor and took his hands in hers. "That's all? Oh, Brayden, I'm so sorry. I know how much this meant to you. What are you going to do now?"
"I really don't know."
The despair in his voice almost broke Amalthea's heart. She hoped that he would soon find something to be hopeful about, he sounded so depressed. "Come on. We have a date to keep."
Brayden stood alone in the hallway, looking at the door to the living quarters that were so familiar to him. Finally he sighed and, submitting his hand to the side panel by the door, entered his home.
"Brayden, I'm so glad you're home! What's the special occasion?" His mother came out of a side room and came up to hug him.
"Hi, Mom. Uh, is it ok if I stay here for a while?" Brayden asked. "Sure, hon, you know you're always welcome here. But what's wrong?" She asked with concern, carefully searching his face as he replied.
Brayden took a deep breath. "Mom, I've enlisted in the Elite Services." "Brayden, how could you? You know that the Elite Services are completely under the control of the Council! Don't you care anything for your own opinions or morals?"
"Mom, I had to. My funding got pulled and I really need the money from the E.S.to continue my studies." Brayden rifled his hands through his hair. "Believe me, Mom, I've tried everything else. I had nowhere else to go."
"Sweetie, I understand. I just want you to be careful, and _don't_ let the Council control you. Please."
"Mom, I promise I will _never_ be the Council's pawn."
Brayden found himself once again hesitating in front of the door of the administrator's office. Steeling himself for what was to come, Brayden walked through the open doorway. Upon entering the room, the extravagant desk was the first thing he saw, then he noticed the man standing with his back to the door, staring out of the window onto the Station courtyard.
"Why have you come back? You were dismissed from this Academy because your funding was rescinded, and the Council will not reconsider its decision."
"Sir, I know that. However, I am now enlisted in the Elite Services, and that will pay for continuing my education. I'm here to ask that I be reinstated into the Academy and be allowed to finish my studies."
"Why should I do this for you? What gives you the right to expect me to grant your plea?"
"Sir, I have no right to expect that. But there is no reason to not accept my enrollment, now that I have the means to pay for my postgraduate studies."
The Head of Admin thought for a moment, and finding no faults with Brayden's argument, nodded his head. "Alright, you may continue at Winchester Academy. But beware, the first wrong step and I _promise_ that you will never see the Academy again."
Brayden let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you. I will be more circumspect in expressing my opinions and will not disgrace Winchester Academy again." With that, Brayden left the room with a lighter step. He hadn't been sure that he would be accepted again, but now everything was going to be fine.
After joining the Elite Services, Brayden had advanced quickly through the levels to become one of the top officers. His athletic prowess, incredible self-discipline and quick thinking made him the perfect candidate for the most sensitive and secretive operations. However, more and more he felt like a tool of the Council. He was not allowed to see Amalthea, so finally, regretfully, they had broken it off so that at least she could form another relationship. Brayden was restricted to the Station One's Military Sector, and was never allowed to leave the sector. Any communication with anyone by gear was monitored and personal contact with anyone besides military personnel was forbidden. Brayden became more frustrated each day with the Council's control and restrictions.
However, he couldn't deny the privileges that came with these restrictions. When he wasn't completing the Council's important missions, he was able to continue his studies at a much faster pace. The Academy Building in the military sector of Station One was much nicer than the actual Winchester Academy located on Station Two. In fact, one of the reasons that he was advancing so quickly up the military ladder was because his studies was progressing so quickly. That was the reason he found himself in the present situation.
Brayden found himself standing in the briefing room while receiving instructions for his latest mission. He looked around at his two companions that were to join him on this delicate operation. As the officer stood in front detailing only the needed information, Brayden found it difficult to concentrate. His mind kept wandering to the what he had just learned from the conversation before the officer had entered.
"Did you know that the Council has started "eliminating" the rebel scientists who either refuse to show the Council their progress and development or design experiments outside of the Council's specified guidelines?" Alan said.
"Who did you hear that from? I just heard that they've begun shipping out the scientists who refuse to cooperate with the Council." Paul was always trying to compete with Alan as to who got the most accurate and recent information regarding their positions or the Council's actions.
"Well, whatever they are doing, they obviously don't want us to know about it, _or_ talk about it." Brayden whispered as their briefing officer came around the corner.
As they had settled into the chairs, the officer stood at front. "This is an especially secret mission. You will be required to exterminate dangerous criminals, and if any word of this is told to anyone else, remember, the penalty is death." As he continued, Brayden thought of the rumors he had heard and wondered if there was any connection, and then came back to the present long enough to get the last of the information and be dismissed by the officer.
Brayden was staring nervously at his companion, watching his face as they went over their plan once more. Their original plan had to be changed because the third member of the team had suddenly disappeared. Word among his peers was that Alan had talked and the Council had given him The Punishment. Now, only Paul and Brayden were left to complete this, and Brayden did not trust Paul very much. It was obvious that Paul was the Council's complete tool, and that he was only concerned with his reputation and placement on the Council's military ladder. Brayden regretted that Alan had ever talked and left him here, standing in front of an abandoned complex, about to trust his life to the Council's puppet.
"Got your gear on? Ok, I'll make one last check with the Council rep and then we'll proceed as planned." Paul finished speaking, and changed his viewpoint from Brayden to the gear on his head. He looked back at Brayden. "Ok, we're set. Ready?"
Brayden nodded, and clutching their weapons in front of them, they submitted the Council's code and overrode the door's lock. Running through the halls as silently as possible, Paul and Brayden went straight to where the Council had said the offenders were hiding. Reaching the specified door, they each backed up to one side, and taking a moment's breath, burst through the open doorway.
Going through a small hallway and turning a corner, they discovered the renegade scientists on the opposite side of the room. Motioning them together with his firepower, Paul smiled and reached for the trigger. Brayden was startled that he knew these people; they were once respected scientists, now fallen from the Council's graces. He realized that he could not live with himself if he knew that he had let these people die, so he made a split-second decision. Turning his gun on Paul, he pulled the trigger.
As Paul fell, Brayden saw the gear on his head flash in the light. Brayden remembered his own gear and fixed it on Visual. Taking a deep breath, he spoke to the Council rep. "It's all clear. The mission is completed."
Shutting off the gear entirely, Brayden answered the questions in the scientists' eyes. "You must leave _now_."Brayden watched as they filed out and disappeared, hoping that he hadn't just ruined his life. Exiting the building, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and then he fell to the ground. The only thing to be seen in the darkness of the night was the blinking red light on his gear signaling the use of Council's monitoring device.
Brayden awoke to a bright light in his eyes. As he tried to look around him, he saw nothing but the light and felt only the metal hardness of the table beneath him. From a distance he heard some words being spoken. He focused on them, trying to distinguish the sounds.
"There isn't going to be a court martial, Croix. Ever heard of the Yale program?"
A sense of foreboding and dread filled Brayden as he heard this. As he slipped away again to unconsciousness, he tried to remember what he had heard. Had that man said "Yale program?"
-The End-
So it's a little over the length limit. So sue me ;) Here's a challenge for y'all: "Sinope," "Amalthea," & "Maud'dib" aren't just from my imagination-- who can figure out where they come from (Sinope & Amalthea are actually closely related)?
***Also, please send all comments to cb11324@cedarnet.org
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.