Eagle X, Mission 15: The Singapore Incident

Part 10: Kent

"Thank you, Mr. Duffy," Sergeant Maldonado took the dough ball and glass of water.

Kent smiled and pushed his cart over to the next table.

The survivors were rationing the kiosk resources in anticipation of being lost in space. The sergeant had insisted it was a necessary precaution to the chagrin of the civilian passengers. Kent wasn't surprised David was at the forefront of the descentors. The man was doing a good job of installing himself as a leader among the survivors. Thanks to his efforts, the survivors were broken into two camps: Sergeant Maldonado, with the soldiers and most of the non-human passengers, and David Powers, with everyone else who didn't agree with the way the sergeant handled things.

At Sergeant Maldonado's request Kent and the other volunteers fed David's people first. They'd had their pick of food, and took more than their share. Kent and the Raiel, Nhoni, tried to stop them, but barring violence there was nothing they could do. After the civilians ate, there wasn't much left for the soldiers. Kent shook off the negative thoughts of David filling his head. The man's selfishness was staggering.

"Yeah, so we swept the lower levels and found some dead vat boys before the ship security cut us off," said a man with a long mane of rainbow streaked hair. "Took one of their cool maintenance jumpsuits, but no food and no more survivors."

"Don't call them that, it's insulting," Spider mumbled as he stared at a datapad. A dark mood had overtaken him since he and the others returned from their failed mission to retake the helm.

"You some kind of clone lover?"

"You some kind of bigot?"

"That's ridiculous. My brother employs lots of clones for his factory cleaning crew."

"Oh, I thought you were going to tell me you could be a bigot because you have a clone friend," Spider remarked.

Scott chuckled and the colorful haired man jumped to his feet. The thin woman with the prosthetic arm stepped in his way, and jabbed a metal finger in his chest.

"Sit down, Benji," she said.

"I'm not a specist, Ivory."

"And I don't miss my good hand." More people laughed. "Just sit. I don't want to watch Spider kick your ass."

"Kick my ass?"

"Yeah."

"Enough of this, people." Sergeant Maldonado slammed his hands on the table. "They killed the clones, smashed a bunch of constructs, and locked us out of the command deck. They have us pinned down and at their mercy. We should be coming up with ideas, not squabbling."

Kent agreed. He walked his cart over to the line of constructs where Nhoni waited. Both carts were nearly empty. He unwrapped the dough ball he'd stashed in his jacket pocket and tore it in two. He thanked Nhoni for her help and gave her the larger of the two halves. She patted him on the head and assured him she'd eaten more than enough to last a few days. She sipped her water and returned to the central hall. Kent looked at the dough ball, but, despite his hunger, didn't eat it.

"Is everything okay, passenger. Your expression has turned grave," Asuka-15 asked. "Is the stress of the current situation becoming overwhelming?"

"What? No, not at all," he lied.

He was overwhelmed. The Movement put all of its trust into Kent Duffy, and, now that the time had come for him to put his mark on history, he was wracked with doubt.

"I'm okay. How are you?"

"My status has not changed in the last six hours. I am fine. Your concern is greatly appreciated."