A Soldier's Secret

Part 25

I knew there were voices. Lots of voices, everywhere. The cat inside of me screamed to wake up, to run, to hide. Kelish's screams, from before and after, rang through me. Cold swept through my bones, a long, lingering throb.

Error was present, oddly enough. Her voice was everywhere, laced through old memories and new ones. Rex and Sonic appeared multiple times, once as large cats, the others as another face in the fire at the gorge.

Danger and Furn were nowhere. I suppose I didn't know them that well. 

The song was there, the snippets of lyrics. Blond curls came with the song and a pair of warm brown eyes. Red hair, a deep crimson colour, was there too, with a pair of green eyes like mine. Like Danger's. With a soft whoosh, everything zoomed out.

It was Danger and a blond woman, who had the same curls. 

Holding a child with blond hair and vibrant green eyes. Me.

But why would Danger be present during my infancy? Who was this blond woman, who held me like a mother?

It blinked, gone, in the flash of an eye. Replaced by the gorge.

The screams of everyone who died were louder

Fry

Toon and Loon

Kirk

Hotshot

Tracyn

Kevin

Kelish 

Benny

But Benny didn't scream

His eyes bore into my skull, and I woke up

Partially

My eyes were open

But I was in the blackness of space

My ears worked

My eyes did not

It was sudden, but with a flash of searing pain, my eyes opened. Everything was sharp, and the light stung. It was the barracks, and I was alone. My left eye stung and I knew why the darkness had lingered.

How the heck did I get here?

I know for a fact that being unconscious is not an excuse to skip a med bay visit. It guarantees it.

A purring sound made me jump. Snowball was asleep on me, purring a storm. "Aren't you in trouble?" I murmured, then scratched his head.

"You've been in a trance. Not you" Snowball said "Smelled like a jungle. Not you"

"Well Snowball, I'm like you" I said, and tried to summon the feeling, the cat. I managed a pair of feline eyes, and Snowball made a sound.

"Welcome to the family" He purred "Sonic will like having a new sibling"

"Hmm," I said "I'd better go talk to someone"

"You have. Like I said, you've been in some sort of trance" Snowball murmured "Well, you've been up and about"

"Helpful" I added, then sat up, holding the cat in my arms. "I'd better get you back to Rex" Snowball purred and buried himself deeper in my grip.

I wandered and said hi to someone. Rex was nowhere to be found until I reached a storage room, where Snowball leapt up from my arms and crawled in. I shrugged and walked away. Snowball does what he wants. I wandered right back into my bed and sat with one knee to my chest, the other swinging by the floor, my head tilted back.

I sorted memories of my capture, searching for something to work with. Being in the blue thing, Kelish, waking up in the cell, finding the device that shocked me... I sat up and felt the back of my neck. It was still there, still able to hurt me. I'm screwed, and I need to get this out. I wondered if Furn would help me out. Then I wondered if Furn would even talk to me after my fake switching of sides. I still need to get it out, though. I got up and wandered over to the med bay. I shivered 

"This will be the only time I seek out the med bay on purpose" I mumbled, and picked up the pace. When I reached it, I heard snippets of conversation 

"I failed as a-" Someone started

"Not as bad as-" Someone else said. I walked in, and they looked at me. It was Danger, Cody, and Furn. Danger looked pretty badly off, but that was my fault.

"I need your help" I nodded to Furn

"With what?" He crossed his arms

"This thing" I showed him the device "Kelish used it to shock General Skywalker and me. Can you get it out?"

"Sit down," He said, and I picked a chair. I waited as he examined it "Its-It's freaking fused to your nervous system!" He said, "It takes hours to do this!"

"Can you get it out or not-" It began to burn, and I felt the tingle of electricity down my spine. Then, with a jerk, the current picked up. I trembled, feeling the current bolt through me, four, or five times. With a shout, the device burned harder, and I felt the hardest current yet jolt through me. I stifled screams as the jolts grew harder and harder until I could see the blue jumps of electricity crackling on my skin. I fell from the chair, the current flowing out my arms and into the floor. Furn grabbed my shoulders, and the current stopped. I held my head as Furn started shouting at someone. Every noise was a blur as I sorted through my scrambled thoughts.

Fact one, My name is Cedar

Fact two, I hate Kelish

Fact three, I need to murder someone

Fact four, I need this chip out

Fact five, I want baked goods super badly

Fact six, I am super hungry

Okay, everything's sorted. First, chip out. Furn was doing something, and I didn't know what until he turned to me

"Cedar, you're going to have to take your helmet off. I need a better view of this if I'm going to do it." He said. Sonic had said that Furn knew about me, and I had to trust him.

My hands shook as I pulled my helmet off. It had been nearly a year since I'd done this. When my hair fell free, Furn let out a tiny, muffled gasp

"Do it," I said, and I placed my helmet on my knees, my arms suddenly weak. "Get this thing out of me"