101(Final Track: Dare you to move- Switchfoot)
Ancela looked up at Tawny, noting the blue tint of her lips. He looked at the monitors. His own heart stopped in agony as he saw that hers wasn't beating. He reached over and turned off the machinery, there was no need for it anymore.
In his cell, Mal felt Tawny's life leave and he slid to the floor, head against the Plexiglas wall that had once separated from him for her as he cried.
As for Ancela, he stood there at Tawny's bedside, searching for some way to comfort himself but none came. He'd killed his own daughter and he was already considering the death of his remaining child.
He took Tawny's cold hand in his, the first time he touched her since she was an infant, and let his free hand brush her cheek gently. "I'm sorry," he whispered, softly.
He went to the door and closed it, he had a duty to perform and a body to prepare even though the guilt raged through him and his heart hurt like it had never hurt but once before. But this time he had something he could do. This time, he could protect his daughter. And maybe she could be brought back. Just maybe. . .
He ran to the Infirmary, typed an order into the command station, and went to where O'cana was resting. She'd been given a good chance at a full recovery. There was a 35% chance that she'd have to have her vocal chords operated on but otherwise she'd be fine. Ancela stared down at her, frustration and disgust adding to his rage. O'cana had been kept in an induced coma, till she was healed. She had no idea that Tawny was lying dead.
How could O'cana torture her sister? How could she willingly hate a girl who'd never done anything to her? What made her so different from Tawny? When had O'cana found out about her step-siblings? To kill Teal. . . O'cana was cut from a different cloth than her siblings and it was a rougher, coarser, and flawed cloth that would hold little but hatred.
Was it his fault? Was it because he left that her hatred had literally killed her siblings?
He ground his teeth together as he came to a decision. He would do something that was treason but would take O'cana out of the way. And may save Tawny.
He walked over to the control panel that monitored O'cana, and typed in a command.
A question popped up: COMMENCE WITH CRYOGENIC SEQUENCE?
He glanced over at the woman lying on the bed. He pressed a button. Confirm.
CRYOGENIC SEQUENCE BEGINNING. LENGTH OF CRYOGENIC SEQUENCE?
One month, Ancela typed in and then watched as the hover-bed opened up hidden panels and they joined together to form a cylindrical container. Within moments, O'cana was frozen.
He nodded once and returned to Tawny's room, went to the control panel, turned it back on, and typed in the same command.
It hadn't been long, maybe a minute, and there was a chance that Tawny's brain was still alive. He watched as the cylindrical tube wrapped around Tawny and she became a Popsicle. He placed his hand on the plexiglass panel that let him see inside.
"I will send you back," he said softly, "back to Japan. They can bring you back. And do something about O'cana."
There wasn't much more he could do, now. Not for his daughters. What happened to them was their decision.
But as for the Allied States of America, they would need a leader now that O'cana had 'died'. Her disappearance would be enough for him to take over. He knew what he was doing, his life had been spent working through the System. A high ranking position had opened up and he was eligible.
So maybe some good had come out of the situation.
Maybe.
He would ensure that Tawny was given full credit for taking down O'cana and that O'cana was shown as the monster he knew her as. He had plans and now he could get them done. Triff would stay. For now.
As would Mal. They were both part of the Resistance and Ancela had a feeling he could use them on his side in the days to come.
"If they can't bring you back," Ancela told the icebound Tawny, "then I won't forgive myself. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see you grow. I got pictures of you and Teal as you grew up. If there is one thing I could do, I would go back and keep you both. Forgive a foolish man for his mistakes."
He waited for a response that wasn't going to come. They'd never really talked before. That was a bitter realization and his guilt didn't lessen. At least this way he could make up for some of his past mistakes.
Yet, as he walked away from the room, he heard a voice that was barely above a whisper and his heart recognized it instantly though he'd only heard her voice from the Holographic Television.
Mal also heard the same voice in his mind as he mourned on his own next to an empty cell.
I am here.
Author's Note:
Thank you so much for reading! Sorry for the wait on the last three chapters. I appreciate the feedback you have given me, it has helped me to push myself to be better at what I do.
One last questionnaire for you guys.
1: What do you think will happen to Tawny and O'cana?
2: What would you like to see happen in the next book?
3: Favorite part so far?
Keep an eye out for the next book, I'll try to have it up and online soon!
Thanks for making this book one of my favorites to write.
Ink