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Hidden: Chapter 15

Puppet Strings

"What's the matter, commander?" Captain Norman stood up and walked over to corgi. "Don't you recognize your old friend?" He stroked one of his many chins and smiled at me. "I suppose that it has been a few weeks. A lot can happen in a few weeks." I still stood where I was, gun aimed at a guard, but I wasn't paying attention to that. I was focused on the corgi.

That voice... It was Crane's voice and yet something, other than the obvious physical appearance, was wrong. The Crane I knew would never purposely aim a gun at me, he was loyal and my friend. I had worked with him for years and had considered him a brother.

"Come on cap." Crane's voice broke my thoughts. It was definitely his voice, but the tone was off, distant if such a word was appropriate. "Aren't you going to say hello? It's been so long." I didn't say anything, didn't move, and did nothing and that made Crane frown. He didn't show teeth or growl, he just looked disappointed in me.

The admiral slowly stood up next to me, using the chair to help him up. I heard his knees pop and him waver a bit. I held out a hand, which he graciously took. I had to tear my eyes away for a moment to make sure the admiral was steady.

When he was sure of himself, the admiral spoke sternly, his attention on Captain Norman. "This is treason. When I don't show up to the conference, there will be hell."

"There will be hell, but not in the way you are thinking." He produced a small hollo projector from his pocket and set it on the table. It flickered a bit and then a news broadcast come to view. A reporter was standing in front of the NATO headquarters in Brussels. At the bottom was a large "NEWS ALERT" scrolling slowly from the left to the right. The news reporter was worried and appeared rushed. Her auburn hair was in tangles and she wore a wrinkled business suit. Around her was a crowd of other reporters from hundreds of different companies, all talking over each other. They were in a small press room with chairs that were going unused and at the head of the room was a podium that was packed with recording devices.

"We are standing here in front of NATO headquarters in Brussels where the Secretary General of NATO is preparing a major announcement relating to the series of nuclear devices that have been set off over the past few hours in military bases across the solar system." She spoke frantically and the camera was shaky. I stared at the projection is disbelief along with Admiral Cornway. Captain Norman was still smiling, holding back laughter and Crane didn't pay any of it any attention, he was still watching me.

The camera shifted despite a protest of the reporter and focused on a man who stepped into the room followed by a throng of security personnel. Unlike many other times where an official was about to make a speech, the security around, who I presumed to be the Secretary General, was armored and held rather large guns, not in suits with small side arms. They were serious about keeping the man safe. The man stepped in front of the podium and cleared his throat causing the entire room to go silent.

"Citizens under the protection of NATO. Today has seen many truly horrific attacks as weapons of mass destruction of released upon us." He stopped and brushed his arm across his forehead. "The nature of the attack is clear, to cripple NATO by targeting not only military installations, but to eliminate NATO high command. It is confirmed that as much of 75% of all high ranking NATO officials are unaccounted for." There was an audible gasp from the reporter and they pressed forward a bit. The guards, didn't raise their weapons but they physically inserted themselves between the reporters and the secretary general. The man ignored them and continued. "Details are still coming in as I speak, but I assure you that NATO will..."

A gun shot echoed through the room. The camera jerked around, looking for the source of the noise. One of the guards, which was off camera yelled, "Clear the room." After that, hell did break lose. Another gun shot rang out and everyone began to scream and panic. People began to rush towards the exit at the back of the room. Those who fell over were trampled. The cameraman, who had been trying to get away stopped for a second and zoomed in on a man who was in the middle of the rush, but not moving towards the exit. He stood there with a small device in his hand, a look of determination on his face and a gun in the other.

The reporter's hand came into view as he yelled, "gun, that man has a gun." He quickly stopped when the man quickly raised the gun and shot at the cameraman. The view fell to the ground when the camera was dropped. It was impossible to tell if the cameraman was shot. The noise however did get the attention of the guards on the other side of the room. Even though there were still innocents in the room, the guards began shooting at the man who held his ground and looked at the device in his hand. Bullets were hitting him, the small red sprays and how he jerked around were sickening since it didn't faze him in the slightest. He pressed a button on the device and there was a flash before the connection was lost.

Captain Norman retrieved the projector and put it back in his pocket.

"What the hell was that" Admiral Cornway said in a low voice and glared at Captain Norman. "What did you do?" He took a step forward, but I held him back. He was too weak to brake my hold, but he tried anyways. "What did you do?" He repeated, but was yelling and trying to get away from me so he could get at the captain.

"I didn't do anything." He pointed at the admiral, who stopped struggling, but still looked as if he wanted to continue. "My employers merely instructed me to capture you and your pet and ensure the dog gets to them. Anything else they do, is of no concern to me." He shrugged his shoulders. The disinterest of the captain re-enraged the admiral. I on the other hand was still too shocked from everything. It was too much to take in so fast. I learn that Crane is still alive, but is working against me, NATO military is all but gone and now we were prisoners to whoever Captain Norman worked for. I wanted to be mad, but I was still afraid of what would happen if I lost it.

"Take the admiral away, but leave the dog." Captain Norman was talking to one of the guards. Two of them came over and grabbed the admiral. I growled and they backed off a bit. "Don't worry, the admiral will come to no harm... at the moment." Norman looked at me when he added the last part and motioned for the guards to try again. This time I didn't growl or resist as the admiral was led out of the room. He looked back at me with worry etched on his old face before he left my view. I was now without allies here. There were still three guards, Crane and the captain with me. I wouldn't be able to overpower them.

"Sit down cap." Crane said, pointing at the chair with his gun. "You look tired." I felt tired. At least my tail wasn't tucked, it just hung behind me limp. I moved over to the chair and sat down. Crane and Norman joined me, but at the chairs on the other side of the table. The guards took up positions behind me, ready to act if I tried anything. I wasn't.

"Why, Crane?" I had so many questions going through my mind, but this one seemed the simplest and one that I had to know the answer to. The Crane I knew, had been fun loving and always a good man. I wasn't sure who this corgi was, he sounded like Crane, but I couldn't bring myself to believe it really was.

"Why?" He repeated slowly as if unsure about how to answer. He opened his mouth as if to answer, but Captain Norman cut in before he could speak more.

"Why is none of your concern commander." He chimed using a hand to push Crane a bit out of the way. Crane didn't protest at all. He closed his mouth and allowed his chair to be pushed slightly askew. He didn't correct the chair when he stopped moving and was facing slightly to the left. Norman left him there and continued. "You will learn soon enough, I guarantee you that, but not now. All you need to know is that if you cooperate, the admiral stays alive." I lowered my ears and nodded my head, avoiding his eyes. I had lost too many friends and wasn't about to lose another.

"Good." He said getting up again from the chair. For a fat man, he had a lot of energy. I was half expecting him to just drop dead any second from a heart attack. I wanted to see him dead, I knew that he wasn't directly responsible for what happened on the new broadcast, but he was here and an easy scapegoat. Crane walked over to me and slapped me on the back. An easy scapegoat indeed. The thought filled my head, pushing out the earlier threat on the admiral's life.

'He's right there." A voice came up in my head. It was my own, but so angry and filled with hate. 'Look at your friend Crane.' I looked up and saw how Crane was still sitting in his slightly skewed chair, his face just a blank slate, looking at nothing in general. He looked empty. 'He's not right and I bet the fat man is responsible. Kill him and get some revenge. They need you alive, you can do it.' The voice continued to hound me.

Captain Norman patted me one more time and made a move to pet me. It was one thing to hold me hostage, but to treat me as a mere dog was too far. The memory of the man at the prison came to mind. My mind clouded over, any reason left in it that was holding me back faded. All of the stress of the day, which had been leaking out of me slowly come out in a torrent. Poof, the voice in my head became me.

All I heard was screaming everything was red. I saw some form struggling under me as I swiped at it and bit at it over and over again. Everything seemed so clear, the smells, the sounds the blood that was painting the walls. Crane was still in his chair, he made no move. I didn't even notice the guards trying to pull me off, I paid them no attention. With some sort of cross between a yell and a snarl, I bit down on the man beneath me. The screaming had stopped and the form wasn't struggling and yet I continued to go at it. It felt so right to just give in to the animal that I had worked so hard to keep down.

Just as quick as it started, it was over. I looked down at what was at one point, a man. It was more just a torso, the arms and head were either gone or just unrecognizable. I hadn't disemboweled him, concentrating on the upper chest since there was more than enough of him to keep me busy. The pool of blood was seeping and staining the ground, the walls were painted with a combination of red blood and white fat. Just like the bridge. I then shifted my gaze at my paws. They were red, the fur pressed down by the blood and bits of flesh stuck in the nails. I felt the blood dripping from my mouth and my taste buds were assaulted with the flavor of iron. The guards had given up trying to stop me when the Captain died under my brutal assault. They were on the other side of the room with Crane, who still sat there staring off into distant space.

My mind finally cleared, the bloodlust and adrenaline fading. I then realized none of that even happened. I was still sitting in the chair and Captain Norman with his hand on my head. He was looking down at me, no sign that I had even laid a single claw on him. I had come so close to doing what I had just day dreamed about. I almost wanted to just lose it, to give in and go on some sort of autopilot. It would have been simpler that way, but it wasn't the best thing to do.

"Commander, is something wrong?" Captain Norman took his hand off my head and stepped in front of me.

"Nothing" I said as normally as I could. There was a bit of a waver in my voice, but it wasn't heard. "Nothing is wrong." I replayed the image of me tearing him apart, his screaming, his blood, Crane sitting in the chair like a puppet with no strings.