Chapter 14: Decisions
I pulled the needle from Isaiah's neck and he sat up, his nose was bleeding slightly, he wiped his arm across his face.
"Man I almost didn't think I would make it out of there," said Isaiah. Tarra walked over and stood next to him.
"Are you ok, your bleeding?" she asked. Isaiah looked up at Tarra and then stood up.
"Yeah I'll be fine the bleeding will stop on its own soon." Isaiah looked at me. "I told him what you want he will be ready for when you call him." I smiled at him.
"Good work Isaiah, you have done well." I walked toward the door.
"Come on Dan we have to find a new place to broadcast from we have been in one spot too long." Dan followed me out the door with Tarra and Isaiah shortly behind. "Parker keep an eye on Colin."
We got to the bridge and took our chairs with Dan and I piloting, Isaiah on holographic and Tarra in the seat behind Dan watching the proximity alarm. Dan lifted the ship into the air slowly and we took off.
"Brandan I think we should head back to Zion for a recharge we only have enough power left to do the EMP one more time without using up the whole energy reserve," said Tarra.
"We'll be heading back once we get Colin back we should be fine for now don't worry." I went back to navigating the ship.
Back inside the matrix Colin was just starting on his way home. He began to wonder why the men that attacked Isaiah didn't bother with him at all, once Isaiah ran they followed him even though he threw one of them off the bridge. Colin continued his walk home, back the way he came. He had concluded that the people that attacked Isaiah were the reason he felt he was being watched. The stuff that Isaiah told him . . . free him from this reality? What other reality is there? Colin decided that he would run the rest of the way home and broke into a run. After about an hour of walking Colin was home and walked into his drive way and up the steps and into his house. His parents are long asleep and the house is completely dark, he walked into his room his computer screen was flashing black and green. He sat down infront of it and looked into it. He hit the monitor switch and it was off he got up and went to bed falling asleep quickly. That night he dreamed that he was on an operating table having the muscle in his arm repaired because he had severely damaged it in a Judo Tournament . . .
Back on the ship I was sitting in the operator’s chair watching Colin in the code, everyone else had gone to sleep and the ship was completely dark to save on power. I watched as he tossed and turned in the midst of what was called a dream inside the matrix. They were bugging him I could tell and I was expecting it, they weren't just about to let him go knowing that we were after him. Getting him out was going to be extremely difficult if we weren't careful, this was going to take a lot of skill and planning. Suddenly I got a call from somewhere with in the matrix. I could hear the ringing inside the headset, I clicked the answer button on the keyboard.
"This is the Navras who is this?" The voice on the other end was one that I had never heard before.
"I bring you word from the Oracle you must come at once?"
"Ok!"
The Oracle till now was someone whom I had heard much about but never seen. I buzzed Parkers room and he arrived shortly as I was getting my chair ready for broadcast.
"What is it Captain?" he asked sitting in his chair and placing the headset on his head.
"The Oracle has contacted me for some reason," I said as I sat down, "It sounds urgent. I have never dealt with her before, strangely." Parker walked over to me and I laid my head back, he slid in the needle.
"Alright Captain. Go get'em?"
I loaded into the construct program and grabbed my gun.
"Send me to China Town, the coordinates are there already."
The program loaded and I was inside a small abandoned building, I walked out of the building and into an alley-way. I looked to the other end of the alley to see the crowded streets of China Town, I walked out into the streets and began to walk to the place I knew to go to. I walked through the crowd and passed by several of the small shops a lot of them were just normal shops others had skinned animals hanging in the window. I came to the building that I assumed I was to find the Oracle in. It was a medium sized Dojo I walked in and there was an Asian man inside sitting and sipping his tea at the back end of the Dojo. I stepped inside the door and closed it behind me I walked over to him and he looked up at me.
"Are you the Oracle?" He stood up and placed his hand one over the other resting infront of him.
"I am Seraph, guardian of the oracle, and I will take you too her, but first I must apologize?" he said in a strong Asian accent. I looked at him strangely.
"Apologize for what?"
"For this." Seraph jumped in the air seemingly in slow motion and kicked at me. I did a back flip away from the attack and took up a fighting stance. I jumped into action and attacked him with a chop and a fist combo then finished it with a kick, he successfully blocked most of my attacks. He began to attack back at me quickly almost seemingly matching me in strength and speed. I blocked his attacks and jumped into the air doing a powerful kick attack sending him into the air. He landed on his feet and stopped putting up his hand.
"Enough, you do not truly know someone until you fight them. Come with me."
Seraph walked over to the back door of the dojo and slid in a key." The door opened into a vast hallway of doors. "These doors lead all over the matrix," said Seraph. He walked over to one of the doors and opened it for me. "Remember the Oracle knows all, listen to her." I nodded to him and walked through the door and it led me to a park out house I was standing just outside it and I looked around. I seen nothing but some old women on a bench. She seen me and waved me over to her. I walked hastefully over to her.
"Do you know where the Oracle is?" I asked, blindly.
"Have a seat I am the Oracle." I hesitantly sat down.
"What is it you are here to tell me?" The Oracle smiled at me and nodded looking out at the nearby birds.
"I have brought you here to tell you that in the near future you will be faced with a choice. The choice you make will either save a member of your crew Brandan, or you will have to watch one of them die."
"How do you know this? I am not going to watch one of my crew die?"
"I know because I must know."
"Is there any way for me to avoid this situation?"
"No, once things have been set in motion there is no way for them to be set back."
I shook my head not wanting to believe what she was saying. I slowly stood up I was well ready to leave.
"Is that all ma'am, please forgive the way I am acting but this choice you speak of will not be an easy one, and it is definitely not easy to hear about." The Oracle smiled gently at me.
"I know Brandan, I understand your anger about this, it is the hardest choice that you will ever have to make as a captain. But for now that is all I have to tell you, you can leave through the Cathedral whenever you are ready." I bowed to the Oracle and walked toward the cathedral she pointed to. I walked in and there was a hard-line in plain view, it was ringing. I walked over and picked up.
I opened my eyes and sat up not saying anything.
"What did the Oracle say to you Captain?" asked Parker.
"Nothing that I can discuss with any of you at this time."
I stood up out of my seat and went to my sleeping quarters I sat on the bed and laid back with my eyes closed, thinking of what my next move should be. We still needed to get Colin out and into training, my mind asked with the thought of all the decisions I was going to have to make. . .
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