June 14, 2278. 1900 hours
New Greater Commonwealth of Chicago
Sky level
They thought I was asleep.
?Who is he?? It was authoritative and in control.
?He?s the kid of the Mafia boss. You know, the one who got killed by the rocket? I don?t know how this kid survived the blast.?
?What did you take him for??
?Look at these statistics. He has more potential than a Space Navy SEAL. ?What should we do with him, sir??
?Train him. Train him to be the best killer in the Galaxy, and completely loyal to us.?
In my small, compact, concrete cell, I turned over and tried to go to sleep.
I don?t ask for forgiveness for the things I?ve done. I don?t want amnesty. I?m perfectly fine on the outer edge of our Galaxial Communion. I just want you to know why I did what I did; why I was the most wanted man in space. It started with the beginning, just like everything else?
?You don?t have the right to remain silent,? the man in Military fatigues told me. ?You don?t have any rights! You?re lucky I don?t beat the daylights out of you right now for not standing up when I walked in the door!?
I took the hint and stood up. Even though I was six at the time, I knew that doing anything, including nothing, might make him angry. I also knew my father was dead, thanks to the new and improved EDA, Earth Defense Agency. They claimed they were simply the new police. I figured them for the new Gestapo.
?Listen to me when I talk to you, maggot! You?re nothing to me. You got that??
Of course I did. But I didn?t say anything. So he hit me, hard.
?Answer me when I talk to you, maggot! I spit on you, your father??
Ten years of that. It turned me into a killer. That?s all I learned. You don?t spend ten years in boot camp and then become a priest. I know now this wasn?t legal, but who was I to ask? And, isolated and alone, I never had a friend. Or a girlfriend. Heh, I remember when I killed one of my combat instructors. That?s the first time I met my rescuer, and captor, Colonel Contai. Full military officer outfit. He looked at me, then the corpse, then at me again. I stood there ready to accept what punishment he gave me. My eyes, lifeless. And he smiled proudly, like his son had just hit a home run at Grav-ball.
I never killed another instructor.
I didn?t like the Colonel. I hated him and his establishment. That was his flaw, I guess. They never made me loyal.
So how did I escape them, you wonder? I was on the? maybe hundredth mission. I didn?t care about time. There was mission, and not mission, and that was all I knew, or cared about. So, I went from Earth to an outer colony, one out past Alpha Centauri. That may be the nearest star, but humans didn?t live on pre-made planets. Rather we made them using strong gravitational fields to pull in hundreds of asteroids and planetoids. They became one planet where we wanted it. Alpha Centauri was only the second farthest star we had reached. I was out there to assassinate a planetary governor who had? disillusioned certain factions of the military about Colonel Contai?s group of illegal Special Ops.
But as soon as I got off the ship, I knew something had gone wrong. So I hid in the bathroom of the reception room. Then I watched as one of my own teammates blew up the ship and the room that I was supposed to be based in, as well as several taxis and vehicular requisition centers, and about half of the spaceport. This was a threat to me personally, so I killed him. But not before getting information from him. His orders came directly from Colonel Contai, who had finally figured out who had set the bomb in his house? too bad it failed.
I considered this my termination of working for the Colonel. My turn; my move. But this was not as easy at it sounded. I was used to working for the Colonel. To become entirely disloyal? it was like entering a new realm.
I had to fight down the urge to go crazy. I honestly doubted there was anyone on that planet who could have survived fighting me, but that didn?t make it okay to kill innocents. I didn?t care much for life. Never have. But the innocents had nothing to do with the Colonel. So I traveled all the way back to Earth. I decided to become a normal person to get there. This meant taking a civilian transport, which took five times as long to get to Earth as the usual military ones provided by the Colonel. So, I spent time with the people. In particular I remember a young girl who seemed to look up to me. I didn?t kid myself about these people; they didn?t know what I was or what I could do. But something else happened. Those innocents, I envied them. They had families, friends, lives outside of combat. And that little girl, she was so happy just to spend time with me. Her family seemed happy to let her.
By the time I was back on Earth, I don?t think I could have killed any of them.
Earth. The Colonel. His military base before me. I had a bomb (pre-set before he had tried to kill me,) a silenced pistol, and enough ammo to kill everyone in the base three times over. I began to work this like my usual missions. But I changed a few necessary parts, because I figured the Colonel knew most of what I had been taught. I only killed those who were necessary for my survival and success. I didn?t leave ?messages? in front of cameras for him to find. And I didn?t set off the bomb right away. I waited until I had almost reached the Colonel?s position. (It?s hard to not know where he is when you?ve tapped into the camera systems.) Then I set off the bomb to cause utter chaos. The Colonel would think my attack had just begun, rather than almost ended. Obligingly, he ran out the door? right to me.
?Hello Colonel,? I said quietly.
The Colonel stopped. He knew what had happened now. But he couldn?t do anything about it.
Before I could get to the business of finishing what he had started, his guards came in behind me. I didn?t give them time to fight back, but the Colonel tried to fight me while my back was turned to him. I noticed and killed his last guard while knocking the Colonel to the ground with a bloody nose and what was likely a broken tibia.
?Go on,? the Colonel said. ?Finish it. Kill me, your only benefactor in this galaxy.?
I looked down at him. ?No,? I said finally. ?I don?t need to kill you. Your life is already forfeit. How many people are going to listen to a man who can?t even keep his own soldiers in line? They?re going to lock you away for life. I?ll make sure of it with all this info I?ve got on your illicit activities. Good bye, Colonel.?
I didn?t look back.
Truth was, I couldn?t kill the Colonel. He had no defense; he couldn?t fight, just like those people on the ship. Maybe I should?ve. He got out of jail within one year and led a rebellion against the Galaxial Communion. Failed miserably, too.
The next morning, I turned myself over to the EDA. At first they thought I was crazy. Then I gave each person their address and three closest relatives. Then they were scared. The EDA asked society in general what they wanted to do with me. I wasn?t killed for my crimes. I think the populace was afraid I might go on a rampage if I was sentenced to death. That?s why I?m in exile, until the populace can find reason to use a semi-compassionate killer. But they were too afraid to kill me, for fear of me.
I was tired, and I no longer cared.
