The Cyber Age

Chapter 17: The Mothership

Braden was in immense pain.
His entire body hurt, from his broken ribs to the several volts of electricity he held. He couldn't hold it any longer.
Braden released the electricity into the Washington streets, sending a loud buzzing noise through them.
Braden collapsed as the his wounds pained him. His broken ribs ached immensely, and he wasn't sure he could walk anyway, due to his back.
Braden found it hard to breath; his ribs put force on his lungs.
"Braden!" Yelled the muffled sound of Kendall's voice. "Braden!" She yelled again. Braden could barely hear her over the intense noise of the mothership.
Braden felt himself being dragged away, by who he assumed was Kendall, and maybe Tristan and Brent as well.
Braden had almost lost all consciousness, when he felt himself being propped up onto a table.
He heard voices, mostly muffled due to his pain, but frequently audible to his ears. "--can't let Tim get away--" said a voice who he assumed was Jared. "--he okay?--" Said Kendall.
"--should only take a second--" said Jared. "Braden?!" Jared yelled in Braden's face, making sure he'd get through to him. Braden let out a groan of acknowledgment. "This will only hurt for a second." Said Jared.
Right then, Braden felt a pounding of force onto his ribs.
Braden let out an agonized scream.
He could feel his ribs snap back into place. The excruciating, sharp pain came, and slowly, all of his pain left.
"Kendall, stay here with him. Don't hesitate to let him leave when he wakes up. Tim's on the move. If we don't get him now, we may never get him. Tristan and Brent are coming with me, to the ship." Said Jared.
Braden's vision was slowly clearing up, and he saw Kendall do a light nod of acknowledgement.
Braden heard the door slam.
"Braden?" Kendall whispered into his ear. "Yes?" Braden groaned. "Remember that conversation we had last night, y'know, when we watched Captain America, and fell asleep in the middle of it?" Kendall asked. "Yeah. What about it?" Braden replied.
"Well, there was one thing I didn't have the courage to ask." Said Kendall.
"Ok. Ask me." Said Braden.
Kendall hesitated. Then she said,
"Was there anyone back in '16 who you loved?" Kendall asked.
Braden wasn't expecting that question.
For him, this was an extremely sensitive topic. But he was almost certain that he could talk about this with Kendall.
"Not truly." Braden answered.
"I mean, there's my parents. I had a natural love for them. But they were terrible. Mom was awful to Tristan. She never let him do anything that wasn't remotely school related. And dad was never, ever home. He was the CEO of Walmart. We were really rich. But his work took him all over America. Sometimes even out of America. I mean, if my dad cared, he'd have been face to face with me more than seven times in sixteen years. And if my mom cared, than she would have treated me and Tristan equally. She wouldn't have pampered me like I was an over-grown cat. So to answer your question, no.
No." Said Braden.
Kendall's eyes welled up with tears. "Me neither." Was all she could choke out, at whisper volume.
Kendall wiped her eyes, and cleared her throat. "Um, do you feel any better?" Asked Kendall. "Yeah. I guess I can try to stand." Said Braden.
Braden grunted as Kendall pulled him off of the stretcher he was on.
Braden didn't even have a clue where he was.
Kendall grabbed him by the arm.
"Come on." She said.
"Where are we?" Braden asked.
"The police department." Said Kendall, as she led him out of the building that was halfway standing, due to RuPERT's fall.
Braden watched in horror as he saw what laid before his eyes.
Out of the mothership, came thousands of tiny ships.

The tiny ships were probably about the size of a king-sized bed. Braden looked to the sky, as he watched a ship fly right down towards them.
Then, he got an idea.
"Braden?!" Kendall yelled in anxiety.
"Braden, let's run!" She repeated.
The ship was probably within fifty feet by now. "Braden!!" Kendall screamed, as the ship got extremely close.
With perfect timing, Braden sucked the electricity out of the ship, as it was only ten feet away.
The ship dropped, and hit the ground with a loud bang.
"Come on." Said Braden.
Kendall's eyes stood wide in shock at the preceding scene. "I said come on!" Braden repeated, as he gave the ship a hard kick, opening the door to the ship.
Kendall walked toward the ship, and got in next to Braden.
"Let's do this." Said Braden, as he released the electricity he had stolen back into the ship, resurrecting it.

"Good plan." Said Kendall in a shocked voice. "Why thank you, kind lady." Said Braden, as he pressed a button in the ship. Immediately, a steering wheel popped out in front of Braden, and he heard a loud rumble. Braden had started the engine. Braden put his foot down on the gas pedal with force, and steered the ship back up to the mothership. Kendall watched the other ships, still emerging from the mothership. It was a scary sight; all that power in one persons hands.
"What about you, Kendall?" Braden said in a hushed voice. Kendall's eyes welled up with tears. "No. I didn't have anyone to love." Kendall replied. Braden looked at her sadly. "I guess we aren't so different at all, huh."

After about ten minutes, they got to the same level as the mothership. "We're here." Said Braden. Kendall opened her eyes. She must've fallen asleep on the flight up. Braden landed on a landing pad where al of the other ships were launched.
Braden opened the ship's door.
"Jared gave me this to communicate with him." Said Kendall, showing Braden a walkie-talkie. They both got out of the ship. The room they were in was huge. Braden motioned for Kendall to walk in the direction of the nearest exit. While she walked, Kendall stared fixedly at the walkie-talkie screen.
"Ok. He said he'd be on this channel." Said Kendall.
Kendall held down the talk button.
"Hello?" She said into the device.
No one answered.
"Um, Jared? Hello?" She repeated.
Then, a voice came through.
"Your friend, Jared, is not available." Said a very familiar voice.
Timothy.
"Better come get him, though." Said Tim.
"He seems very lonely."