Chapter 12:
Escape

	The garage was buzzing with activity. There were people running 
around, clipboards/guns/flashlights in hand, all probably worried about the 
escapee. "Tobias!" Sven called over to him. Tobias saw him and ran over.
	"What's up?"
	"Besides the escapee? We're kinda curious about why your video was 
turned down."
	"We?"
	"Well....me."
	"It's not important now Sven. We have more important matter at hand."
	"You're right. Come with me." He led him over to an spear shaped bike. 
"This is your jet bike. It is an airborn assault vehicle, armed with a wide 
array of weapon systems."
	"Like?"
	"Well, from what the techs who designed this told me, it is armed with 
an electro-shock cannon, a high velocity vulcan cannon, a miniature EMP 
cannon, and a high power b-plasma cannon."
	"A high powered what?"
	"B-plasma cannon. It's a variation of the plasma cannon. The 
b-cannon's fire effects the bio-rythms of all infantry, causing an agonizing 
death." 
	He frowned. "And you people use it?"
	"It's barely legal. We use it for high profile executions."
	"Well, when I get back, I want that thing removed from this bike. I 
will not have anything that causes an agonizing death on anything I fly."
	He nodded. "I will have it done." He handed him a small card. "This 
contains your mission profile. Slide it into the slit on the bike and watch 
the monitor."
	"Okay." He took the card. "Is it possible to interface with the bike."
	"Of course."
	He nodded and got onto the bike. He linked up to the bike and hit the 
ignition. "Wish me luck." He started to rise into the air. The ceiling 
pulled away so he could get out.
	"Don't forget Tobias! You owe me an explination when you get back! I 
wanna know why you turned that screen off!"
	"That's easy," he called back. "I took your advice."
	"Advice? What advice?"
	" 'I'll remember that if I lose control.' Remember?" The bike cleared 
the ceiling and took off.

	He slipped the mission card in. A small screen that was sitting on the 
hub of the jetbike lit up, displaying the statistics of the mission. The 
escaped prisoner was a cheetah-like creature, and obviously very quick. 
"This makes my life easier," he muttered, not pleased with what he had to 
do. "Oh well." He pushed a button on his headset. "Sven, come in."
	"Sven here," he got as a response. "What do you need?"
	"Where's the prisoner supposed to be going?"
	"Due north, towards a damaged section of wall."
	He cursed. "Get some soldiers in that area. Stun gear only. No lethal 
means are to be used. I'll scout ahead and try to subdue the prisoner." He 
turned the bike around and headed to the wall.

	Finding a prisoner in a big city is like trying to find a needle in a 
barn full of hay. Tobias scoured everywhere he could think a prisoner would 
want to hide. He came up only with a new way to arrange cuss words. There 
was only one other place where the prisoner would be. And since he was a 
cheetah, Tobias had little time before he had to go over the plains. He 
floored the gas, heading for the crack in the wall the prisoner should have 
been heading to.

	The hole was well guarded. Sven had gotten there way before he did. 
But did they get there in time? "Scanner," Tobias commanded. His scanner 
popped out. His bike's screen turned on as well. "Scan field area, maximum 
distance." The screen lit up, the very edge of the scan revealing a highway, 
but no prisoner. He flipped a switch. "Sven, the prisoner is still in the 
confines of the city."
	"Okay," Sven said. "Setting out patrols."
	"All right. I'll start a border patrol." He flipped the switch again. 
"Scan the border of the city." Suddenly, the screen lit up again, a red blip 
sitting nearby. He looked over and saw the prisoner, who was scaling the 
wall. He flew his jet over, hitting the control for the electro-shock 
cannon. "Freeze!" he shouted.
	The cheetah looked at him. "Back off Pack scumbag. I'm going back 
home." He continued to climb.
	Tobias punched a combination of buttons and the cannon discharged, 
striking the wall just above the prisoner. "The next shot won't miss. I 
don't wish to harm you. Just surrender and you won't be punished."
	"Never!"
	"Then I have no choice." He pushed a button. The cannon discharged and 
hit the prisoner in the back.
	"Damn you!" He lost his grip and fell from the wall. Tobias caught him 
on the tip of the jetbike. He flipped a switch.
	"Escapee captured. Returning home."
	"Good work Tobias," Sven said. "Return him to the brig and come back 
to the hanger. We need to discuss what we were talking about before you 
left."

	"So what do you want to know?" Tobias asked. The bike was being 
altered, so he and Sven were walking back to his building.
	"You said something about 'losing' it. I remembered when I told you 
that just as you left. Now I want to know, did you....?"
	"Yes Sven," he said with a coolness to his voice. "I did."
	"Whoa.....I was only joking!"
	"Don't worry Sven. I don't plan on doing that much after this."
	"But why? I understand what the motives are, but why did you go for 
it?"
	"Sven, do you know how many women I've had before Samantha?"
	"I don't know."
	He stopped. "Take a guess."
	"Uh. I don't know, twenty?"
	"I wish!"
	"Okay.....ten?"
	"No....try again."
	"Five?!"
	"None." Sven stepped back in shock. "Sven, before tonight, I was a 
virgin. I never knew what it was like. And she said she wanted to do it so 
badly." He sighed. "I'm ashamed that I lost all control. But then again, it 
was good...."
	"Tobias!" He put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand. Please, don't 
go into the details."
	He nodded. "Sorry Sven."
	"No problem. Get back to bed. I'm sure Samantha's waiting patiently."
	"All right." He started into the building. "Promise not to tell 
Kaitlyn. I'd like to keep my head on my shoulders."
	Sven laughed. "Your secret is safe."
	"If she asks to bust down our door tomorrow, tell her that we asked 
not to be disturbed because of this incident. Okay?"
	"I will. Good night Tobias."

	The room was dark when he came back in. Figuring she went to sleep, 
he slipped out of everything but his boxers, crawled under the sheets, and 
got comfortable for the night's sleep. "Tobias?" Samantha asked. "That you?"
	"No, it's Sven," he joked.
	She hugged him. "I was waiting for you." She felt around and found his 
boxers. "Mind taking that off?"
	"Done." He put the shorts by the side of the bed.
	"You want to go again?"
	"It wouldn't hurt, but I'm not sure if I want to."
	"C'mon...." She kissed him.
	He smiled. "I'm a little tired from hunting fugitives. I don't think 
I've got the stamina to go at it."
	She sighed. "Oh, all right. It can wait for tomorrow night." She 
rolled over. He smiled and pulled her closer. He dragged his fingers down 
her belly. She cooed in delight. "Tobias, I thought you said you weren't 
going to do this?"
	"I said I wasn't gonna have sex with ya. I didn't say I'd do anything 
at all." He kissed the back of her neck. "I want you to be in as happy as 
possible. Even if that means I do some things you'd never dream of doing."
	"O-oh?"
	"Don't be nervous Samantha. I'm not going to hurt you."
	"I'm n-not nervous."
	"Oh, than what is it?"
	"It feels good when you do that." He smiled and kissed her. She kissed 
back. "That feels good too."
	He smiled. "I know. It should." She snuggled deeply into his arms. "I 
wish that there wasn't a war going on now."
	"I know the feeling. But what's one to do?" She sighed. "Just try your 
best and help us in any way you can. This confilict will come to an end 
soon."
	"Hopefully."

	The early morning sun peeked through the windows, shining in on the 
young couple. It embrased them in it's warm grasp. A finch landed on their 
windowsill and started to sing it's song, bringing them both out of 
hibernation. They struggled to cling onto the blissful sleep that held them, 
but slowly their eyes opened and met. "Good morning lovely," Tobias 
whispered.
	"Good morning sexy," Samantha replied.
	"Sleep well?"
	"Of course. You?"
	"Definitely."
	She pulled herself closer to him. "Thank you for a wonderful night 
last night."
	He chuckled. "You're more than welcome."
	There was a knock at the door. "Tobias! Samantha! You up yet?"
	"What should we tell her?"
	"Let her be. I told Sven to tell her to leave us alone."
	"But it sounds like she didn't go to Sven."
	"Not yet anyway. You know how she is when we're in a locked room 
together." Samantha giggled. "Shh...act like you're asleep."
	"Tobias! You better not be touching her!" They remained silent, trying 
to act like they were asleep. "Tobias! Open this door right now or I'm going 
to go talk to Sven!"
	"Let her go," he whispered to Samantha. "I dare her."
	"Last call." She stomped off after they ignored her.
	"Think she'll go to Sven?"
	"I wouldn't worry about it. He's got his orders."

****************************************************************************

	Sven was busy processing the recaptured prisoner's papers when Kaitlyn 
burst in on him. "I'm sorry to interrupt your work sir," she started. "But I 
need you to check-"
	"No Kaitlyn, I'm not going to check in on Tobias."
	She blinked. "But....but why sir?"
	"First off, I'm incredibly busy. It would take too much time for me to 
do. And he also asked me last night to leave him alone. The manhunt really 
took a lot out of him."
	"But he's in there with Samantha."
	"Yeah. So what's the problem?"
	"I don't trust him alone with her."
	He stopped working. "Kaitlyn, do you really want to see what they're 
doing?"
	"Very much."
	"Then come over to this side. I'll hack into their room." 
	She smiled. "Thank you sir." She went over to his side. He pushed a 
few buttons and his computer screen lit up. They both saw Samantha and 
Tobias in bed, cuddling with each other.
	"Now, I ask you this. Does that look like they're doing it?"
	"N-no..."
	"Does it look like they're planning on doing it?"
	"No...."
	"Does it look like they finished doing it?"
	"It doesn't. But I-"
	"Then why don't you trust him? He's perfectly honest Kaitlyn. He would 
never do anything without permission." She failed to answer him. "Kaitlyn, 
you're being paranoid. We've know Tobias for at least a month now. He isn't 
going to do anything to risk harming us in any way. He wouldn't allow 
himself to do that." He chuckled. "I wouldn't allow him to do that!"
	She sighed. "I guess you're right." She looked at the two. "Perhaps I 
was being a bit nosey."
	"Kaitlyn. Is there something wrong?"
	"Hmm? No, why do you say that?"
	"You've been up on them since this whole room sharing thing fell 
through. Care to explain?" She shook her head. "I understand. If you ever 
need to talk, I'm here for you."
	"Thank you sir." She bowed politely and left.

****************************************************************************

	The sun played on their faces, though their eyes remained locked in a 
sort of battle neither side wanted to win. He could see the gentleness that 
radiated off of her, especially out of those eyes of hers. Those big, green 
pools seemed to slink into his soul and warm his very spirit. He didn't want 
it any other way.

	On the other hand, she could see the pure devotion on his face. Her 
blissful feeling was from his soft demenor, rather, the dumb look on his 
face, that seemed to flow out over her. It blanketed her in his protective 
nature, his humble attitude towards her only adding to the utter 
delightfulness. She brought her hand to his cheek, resting it lightly so as 
not to discomfort him. "Tobias?" she asked, a sort of quiver in her voice.
	He took her hand in his, keeping it by his cheek. "Yes?" His voice 
was as soft as hers.
	She blushed. "I want to know something."
	"What would that be, my dear?"
	"Will you stay with us? You know, after this is all over?"
	He smiled. "I thought we went over this already." She smiled rested 
her head on his shoulder. "Oh, all right. I am too devoted to your people. I 
have all that I could hope for on this planet. I have your love. I don't 
need to leave." He caressed her cheek. "I would never abandon you or any of 
the others."
	She smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're so caring. Compassionate, 
dare I say. There has to be some sort of driving force behind it."
 	"I'm driven by the spirit. My soul is at peace now. My spirit need not 
worry anymore." He started to rub her back. "My heart has never been whole. 
My life has never had any meaning. I've always dreamed of an escape from my 
problems. I always wished I would find a group that would accept me for what 
I am and enjoy my presence. I always hoped I would find someone as sweet as 
you." He closed his eyes. "Samantha, you are the one thing in the universe 
that I wouldn't give up for anything."
	"You mean it, my love?"
	"I would rather die today than to give you up and live forever."
	She smiled and nuzzled his neck. "That is so sweet." She draped an arm 
over his chest. "Let's stay here today. I don't want to get out of bed."
	He smiled. "Well, if you don't want to get out of bed, then we don't 
get out of bed. Just the two of us. Together. I will treat you like a queen, 
and you...."
	"....I will treat you like a king." He smiled and gave her a tender 
kiss.

****************************************************************************

	"So what's going on?" Vu and Shivana were busy in the lab. Shivana had 
called Vu in to show him something that she deemed "a breakthrough."
	"I thing I figured out how we got here," she told him. "Here, look at 
this." She turned his attention to a computer screen. "We all fell through 
the same hole, right?"
	"Yeah."
	"Well, I think that we caused these fissures to open."
	He chuckled. "Yeah. Right Shivana."
	"I'm serious Vu! Here, let's look at the idea from yet another view." 
She tapped in some data and brought up a bio screen for Tobias. "Tobias was 
always under a large degree of stress, right?" Vu nodded. She tapped 
something in. A small orb formed near the center of the diagram. "Well, it 
appears the stess seems to manifest itself as energy. When he went off 
and....landed in the hospital, the energy started to flux." She tapped in 
some more information. The orb flattened and started to flow through the 
diagram. "He could've accessed it at any time."
	"Okay. But that doesn't explain how he accessed it."
	"It does, actually. The stress was well displaced throughout his body. 
So there was no central manifestation in it. If I'm not mistaken..." She 
added some more data to the computer. The flowing started to become brighter 
and brighter. Suddenly, it all shot down into the "feet" of the diagram and 
exited from there. "The stress of regular life built up and breeched. It 
opened the portal and he fell through."
	"That makes sense. But how does that explain what happened to us?"
	"I read in one of these interesting book they have about this subject 
that this phenomena is rare, but it does leave a lasting impression. It 
doesn't really disappear. It just roams the fabrics of space until someone 
else triggers it."
	"So?"
	"It makes mention of the stress induced tears. It states that if 
someone happens to be strongly thinking of the creator of the breech, the 
other end of the breech, or is equally stressed as it's creator, it'll suck 
that person up, landing them somewhere remotely close to the initial 
person."
	"Okay....so that means...."
	"I was thinking of him when I got sucked up. Saw his picture in a 
newspaper, thought of him, and fell. What about you?"
	"Um....we disappeared on final's week. I guess that coulda generated 
enough stress. But that doesn't explain one thing."
	"What's that?"
	"Why has nobody else fallen through the hole? I'm sure there are other 
people who generate enough stress to trigger it."
	"That's what has me! I don't know! Maybe it only allows certain people 
to go through?"
	He shrugged. "You gonna tell Tobias about this?"
	"I was thinking that. But I'm sure we should give it to Sven first. He 
probably would like to know why we three are here." Vu nodded his agreement. 
"I'll get the report ready. I need you to do me a favor."
	"What?"
	"Search their databases for psychic or psychokenetic imbalances. I 
think we're dealing with something far worse than just stress." Vu winced at 
these words and went off to do what he was told. "Maybe we can get away from 
it."