ARKEN

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Recker was growing impatient as the plane touched down at O'Hare International Airport. He was done with the mission, done with these people, done with everything. All he wanted to do was go home to his family, take them in his arms and hold them tight. The damage they did everywhere they went, only now was he starting to see it. They were dragging some poor soul back to the underground where he would be forced into that machine until it sapped him of the last of his life.

Recker sat across from Munn, strapped into the seat by his legs and torso, with his arms bound together at the wrists, extra accommodation in tightness had to be made to not damage his broken arm further. He watched Recker silently, only occasionally glancing away before staring at him again. It was starting to make Recker uncomfortable, "Why are you staring?"

"It's not like I have much else to do. I'm literally stuck in my seat."

"Well, you'll get to stretch your legs in a few minutes."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Are you going to still ask it even if I say no?"

"Yeah."

"Then go ahead."

"I'm appreciative for what you did back in Ireland, but I'd like to know, how come you seem to be the only guy around here with a conscience of any kind?"

"Who says I have a conscience?"

"You agreed to let Janine and Caoimhe go when the others wanted to take Janine back as well."

"Doesn't mean I have a conscience; I was more concerned with keeping you from spilling your blood all over the floor. Letting a harmless Class I go to make that happen seemed like more than a fair trade."

"Did you agree with your partner's decision to blow an innocent woman's brains out to make a point?"

Recker glanced over the back of his seat to see Sternson coming down the aisle. He turned back to Munn and unbuckled his seatbelt, "Enough questions for now."

They freed Munn from his seat, but kept him in bondage despite the fact he had no chance of fighting free of them. A car was waiting for them off the runway. Recker got into the passenger seat and Sternson climbed into the back with Munn.

A faceless HDF officer drove them away, congratulating them on a job well done. "Good work on reacquiring the target, Sirs." Recker gave a resigned nod and turned to look out the window. It was morning now, at least, and the sun rising in the sky.

It took them thirty minutes to get back to the HDF building. The guard out front already had the gate open when they pulled up. "Kerzing wants the two of you to bring the subject downstairs to the labs for Doctor Hammond right away."

"Is it necessary for us both to go?" Recker asked.

"I'm just repeating what the man said. If you got a problem, take it up with Kerzing...Sir."

They drove through and the driver parked. They escorted Munn inside. "What's the problem, Recker? You don't want to be there to share the glory for capturing him?" Sternson asked.

"Why would I? We only captured him because he got away in the first place, that was on us. We're not claiming any glory, we're earning back a small shred of good will, a drop in the bucket compared to whatever we had before."

They took the main elevator down to the labs and walked Munn through the hall. Along the way, everyone who noticed stopped and clapped and congratulated. Sternson was smiling and even bowed his head at one point. Goddamned fool.