Chapter 19:
Oasis

	"Where the hell are we?" Lone Wolf demanded.
	"I don't know," Hack said. His fingers flew over the buttons, trying 
to boot up some sort of program to locate them. One of the screens clicked 
on, revealing a map. "Co-ordinates.....21:48:25."
	He quirked a brow. "Okay....can you locate the nearest Pack 
installation?"
	He tapped away. "Um....gimme a second...ah, here we go!" He put a 
finger to the screen. "The closest installation is..." He fell silent.
	"Is what?"
	"At 09:12:03." Everyone quieted down. "We are in the middle of Raider 
territory."
	"Shit." He slammed the control panel. "What are we gonna do now?"
	"Lone Wolf!" Swift cried out. "I'm losing her!" He got up and went to 
Swift. He placed his hands on Samanta's chest and concentrated. They both 
glowed an eerie green. "Lone Wolf, what are you doing?"
	"I'm going to sustain her until we can find some help. Remove the chip 
from my headset."
	"What?!"
	"Just do it. Don't worry." She hesitated before pulling the chip out. 
His body flashed, reverting back to his more human form. Both he and 
Samantha were still glowing green.
	"Tobias, are you all right?"
	"I'm fine. Crash, help Hack find somewhere we can go to get help."
	Crash hopped into the cockpit. "Okay."
	"Where's there to go Crash?" Hack asked. "We're stuck in the middle of 
nowhere."
	"You forget, my friend." Crash's fingers danced across the controls. 
The map zoomed out and altered. A big, green area was outlined near one of 
the cities. "We have spies in this area."
	"That's right. They'll have medical facilities!"
	"Well, don't just sit there!" Tobias cried out. "Set a course! Tell 
them we're coming! Do something! We have to save Samantha." Hack cracked 
away at the controls, send a coded message, and plotted the course.

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

	"You lost them?!" Larcris cried. "How can you lose Lone Wolf and his 
guard detail Sven?!" Sven had gotten back to Tak Norath and was getting a 
tongue lashing from Larcris. "I can't believe it Sven!" He leaned back in 
his chair. "And now our champion is in the hands of the enemy, along with a 
few of our servicemen and women."
	"I'm truly sorry, sir. I will stop at nothing to see that they all 
return safely."
	"They better. Otherwise, it's your head."
	The screen on his desk began to flicker. "Larcris," a voice said. "We 
just recieved a coded message from deep inside Raider turf."
	They both looked at each other. "Is it decoded?"
	"Yes sir."
	"Then let me see it."
	The screen turned to static. It took a little while before Hack's face 
appeared. "...ny Pack bases recieving this mess.....is Hack of garrison 1A 
of research bas....We just escaped from Rai....amp. Lone Wolf is all right, 
as well.....lse. Samantha is badly.....till alive.....spy base in sector 
f....all from there. Repeat, we're fine except for Saman...." The message 
ended.
	"That's all that we were able to decode."
	"Can you get a location on where that came from?"
	"Um.....sector four, I think."
	"Do we have any spy bases in the area?"
	"We have one. Spy base Oasis."
	"Send them a message. Tell them what we heard. They should be arriving 
in a stolen underground transport."
	"Aye sir." The screen turned off.
	"With luck, they'll be able to save Samantha."

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

	The transport moved on for some time, making a path through the tough 
dirt, in search of hope. Tobias remained with Samantha the enitre time, 
using some force unknown to anybody (including himself) to keep her alive. 
However, it was causing him to grow weak. "You can't keep this up forever," 
Swift told him. "You'll have to stop."
	"I can't....she'll die."
	"That's a risk we're gonna have to take. You can't-"
	"I'll die before she does. I will waste myself away."
	"No, you can't."
	"This is the first person that has ever shown me what it's like to be. 
You know what she's done for me Swift." He shuddered from a wave of 
weakness. "I don't want to lose her. She means everything to me." He leaned 
over and kissed Samantha's cheek. "Please, dearest. Don't leave me."
	"Haha!" Crash cried out. "Everyone brace." The transport suddenly 
jumped and landed roughly. "We've found the tunnel to our spy base."
	"Which way?"
	"Just ahead."
	"Hit the gas. Let's move!" He looked at Samantha. "Ya hear that, 
beautiful? We're gonna get some help for you." He took a deep breath. "I'm 
growing weaker. We'd better get there soon."

	The transport eventually came to the light at the end of the tunnel. 
"Tobias," Crash said. "We're here!" He got response. "Tobias?" He turned 
around. Tobias could barely hold himself up. "Oh shit! Hack, open the door 
now." Hack didn't waste time. Crash rushed out and found a whole platoon of 
guards standing their, rifles drawn. Instinctively, he raised his hands. 
"Don't shoot! We're on your side."
	"Identify yourself," one of the guards said.
	"Crash, guard at research base G0032501."
	"That's in the middle of Tak Norath. What are you doing all the way 
out here?!"
	"I'll explain later. We've got two people in there that need medical 
attention. One's badly wounded, the other's trying to keep her alive, but 
he'll faint soon and we may lose both." The guards looked at each other. He 
became pissed. "SAVE THEIR LIVES IDIOTS!" A few guards pushed by him and got 
Tobias and Samantha. They quickly brought them to a small hospital.

	After talking themselves out of brig time (that took at least an 
hour), Crash and the others went in search of their fallen comrads. "I 
forgot how big we made our spy bases," Crash said as they leaned on the 
railing on their floor. "I can't fathom why the make make 'em so big."
	"We do this to make sure we can generate our own supplies," Kaitlyn 
explained. "Remember?" She pointed over to one of the large, glass double 
doors down below. "That'd be near a small farm or something." The entire 
base was, indeed, huge. They were on the 6th floor, and had a clean view of 
the temporary vehicle storage down below. They saw, among other things, 
transports, bikes, and other such goodies stolen from the Raiders. The 
transport they used was being repainted in the Pack's colors. Above that 
were all sorts of levels, containing living quarters (yes, even the guards 
had living quarters instead of barracks), laboratories, storage areas, 
meeting halls, and so on. "We're not going to find him today."
	"Find who?" A guard had approached him.
	"The two that were here with us when we arrived."
	"Oh, the chosen one and his friend?"
	"Um....yeah, that about covers it."
	The guard pointed across the way one floor up. "They're in the medbay 
near there."
	"How are they doing?" Kaitlyn asked.
	"Why don't you-"
	"Because I want to know now so I don't break down crying in there."
	"Oh....they're doing fine."
	She smiled. "Thank goodness." Her voice was weak. "Come on, let's go 
see them and smother them with love."

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

	Vu and Shivana were in Sven's office, discussing the recent turn of 
events, when the phone rang. He pushed a button, putting it on speaker. 
"This is Sven. What do you need?"
	"Brother," a voice responded.
	"Law?"
	"Who?" Vu asked.
	"Sven, who else is there?"
	"Eh, Law, please meet Vu and Shivana. They're humans, just like the 
chosen one. Vu, Shivana, you're hearing my brother, Lawrence."
	"Ah, so that explains the nickname."
	"Yeah," Law said. "But I call on a business call."
	"I figured as much," Sven responded. "What's up?"
	"We just recieved a Raider transport here. Do you know what was 
inside?" Sven didn't answer. He was hoping he knew what was in there. 
"Crash, Psycho, Swift, Kaitlyn, Bomber, Wrench, and Hack send their hellos."
	"What about Samantha and Tobias?"
	"They....weren't concious when they arrived."
	"What?! Please tell me they're both okay." Shivana held onto Vu.
	"Tobias is fine. He was just a little drained from keeping Samantha 
alive."
	"WHAT?!"
	"When Samantha got here, she was savagely beaten. Blood, bruises, 
broken bones, the whole nine yards."
	"Oh shit." He leaned back in his chair. "Is she alive?"
	"We managed to save her, thank god."
	"Indeed. You would have a lot of trouble with Tobias if she died."
	"I kinda figured that much out. We've got problems with him anyway."
	"What's he doing?"
	"Right now? He's holding Samantha's hand, crying his eyes out, and 
swearing revenge on every living Raider. He's got a fire in his eyes. Sven, 
what should we do?"
	"Has he approached you yet?"
	"No."
	"When he does, contact me. I want to talk to him."
	"Very well. Good luck to you brother."
	"Good luck? Why?"
	"After losing the chosen one and apparently some of our now most 
valuable soldiers and technicians, Larcris is gonna have your ass on a 
silver plater."
	He laughed. "Too late. You want pictures?"
	"No thanks. Take care of yourself Sven." The phone hung up.

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

	They found Tobias sitting along side Samantha's bed, holding her hand, 
face worn from tears. Samantha was asleep, but alive. Kaitlyn nearly burst 
into tears. Swift shook her head and turned away. Crash was the only one 
brave enough to approach. "How is she?"
	Slowly, Tobias looked up. He looked horrible. "They've stabilized her, 
mended all of her bones, and closed all of the wounds."
	"And the scar across her face?"
	"It's a scar no more." He reached over and caressed her cheek softly. 
She smiled a little, though very weakly. "I'm so sorry beautiful."
	"It's okay man. It wasn't your fault." He set a hand on his shoulder. 
"We'll get Isthus back."
	He winced at those words and looked at him. A hand shot out, grabbed 
his collar, and pulled him face to face with Tobias. "I never, ever want to 
hear that name mentioned again," he growled. "Understand me?"
	"S-s-shit....sorry m-man..." Tobias released his grip on his collar 
and he got back up. "I'm sorry man."
	"It's okay Crash." He looked at Samantha again. "Rest well, beautiful. 
I'll be back tomorrow." He got up. "Let's go. I need something to eat."

	The table at which they ate was silent. Tobias made no attempt to talk 
with anyone. There was food, and he ate, musing as he did. Nobody wanted to 
interrupt him. They all didn't want to know what he would do to them if they 
did. "4:46," Crash said, looking at a wall clock. "It's official. I'm scared 
shitless."
	"Don't even joke like that," Kaitlyn said.
	"Why? Cause it's true?"
	She nodded. "I'm scared for him, not for us." She poked at some of the 
food on her plate. "I know he loves her, but not this much." Swift winced. 
She looked at her. "What's wrong?"
	"Hmm?" She looked up. "Oh, nothing."
	"I find that hard to believe," Bomber said. "Your carefree spirit has 
drifted away since this happened. And you're the kind to laugh at our Tobias 
and Samantha jokes when we were back at base. But you never laughed at 
them."
	"I didn't find them funny."
	"Even so, you'd humor us and laugh anyway."
	"I...I'm sorry."
	"I think you know something."
	Tobias looked up. "She's got nothing to hide." They all looked at him. 
"I'm the one hiding it."
	"Well," Kaitlyn said. "What are you hiding?"
	"Only Swift, Samantha, and any other mind readers out there will know 
what I'm hiding." He lowered his head and went back to musing.
	Crash looked at her. "I don't know what's bothering him. Can you-?"
	"I'm on top of it." She shut her eyes and pierced his mind.

	Flames leapt up at her as she entered. She hopped back in order to 
avoid it and bumped into something. Figuring it was Tobias, she turned 
around. Instead, she found Isthus. She cowered away as he looked at her. He 
raised a massive hand ready to strike her. Suddenly, he winced and fell 
over. His back was torn out. Tobias was standing there, two strips of flesh 
and bone in his hands. "Swift, what are you doing here?"
	"I...I..." She backed up slowly, scared for her life. The flames died 
down.
	"Swift, are you okay?"
	"N-no!"
	He sat down. All of the chaos died down. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to 
keep calm."
	"By tearing an imaginary Isthus apart?"
	"Hmm...I don't know. Let me have Isthus beat the one you love to the 
brink of death and you tell me what happens." He lowered his head.
	She went over to him. "You're hurt."
	"No shit."
	She hugged him. "I'm sorry."
	" 'You will never know how much she means to you until she's almost 
lost.' Swift, do you understand what I'm saying?" She didn't respond, 
instead letting go and pulling back. "You came close to breaking and telling 
them what you know."
	"You should tell them."
	"Kaitlyn will kill me. No jokin'."
	"So? Do it anyway. Or else I'll give her the information myself."
	"Fine. Do that. She won't believe me." The flames started up again.
	"Tobias, stop it."
	"Why should I? My true love is laying in a hospital bed, clinging to 
life, all because of that thing......that asshole!" At those words, the 
flames flared up. "Isthus will die by my hands. I will tear his throat out 
and choke him with it." The imaginary Isthus healed and got back up. Tobias 
looked at it, rushed at him, grabbed the flesh near it's neck, and pulled, 
tearing big sheets away. The image staggared and fell. "I will kill you 
Isthus." He kicked it's head.
	"Tobias, you're scaring me!" He didn't stop. She fell to her knees. 
"Tobias, please stop. I don't want you to be like this." He didn't listen to 
her. "Tobias!" She started to cry.
	He stopped at looked at her. "Why are you crying?" His voice was weak. 
"You haven't seen anybody you truly love hurt.
	"Yes I have."
	"Who? Family? Old boyfriend?"
	"You." Everything died down and turned black.
	"What?"
	"Tobias, we all care for you with all our hearts. I won't be the first 
lady to confess that it's love."
	He fell to his knees. "Swift."
	"I don't want to see you like this." She disappeared.
	"Swift...."

	She snapped back into reality, took one look at Tobias, and started to 
cry. Crash quickly took her into his arms and tried to comfort her. Tobias 
couldn't see her like this, so he got up and left. Kaitlyn got up and went 
after him. All remaining eyes leveled on Swift. "Calm down Swift," Crash 
told her.
	"He's hurt."
	"What?"
	"Crash, he's really hurt. I saw flames. He was tearing an imaginary 
Isthus apart. He had no remorse. He was acting like a demon."
	"Shh....it's okay. He cares for Samantha this much?"
	"Crash." She sat up. "I am going to show you, and only you, something. 
You must swear not to share it with anybody else. If you do, I will kill 
you."
	"I understand. I will." 
	She put her fingers up to his temples. "This may sting a little." She 
concentrated.....

	Kaitlyn approached him. He was leaning over the railing, looking four 
floors down. "Tobias?" He didn't respond. She walked right up next to him. 
"Tobias?" He didn't respond. She took his hand. "Tobias?"
	He looked up at her. He had tears flowing grom his eyes. "Kaitlyn...."
	"I'm here for you." She hugged him.
	"I'm sorry."
	"It's okay. Just tell me what's wrong."
	"I cannot. You'll kill me if I do."
	"No I won't."
	"I can't tell you what's wrong. You won't believe me. Swift should 
tell you and I should confirm it."
	"She's in there bawling."
	"She saw my dark fantasy. She saw me totally mutilating Isthus. She 
saw the pure rage flowing through me." He held on tightly. "I'm sorry."
	"Shh..." She held him like a mother would do to her baby. "It's okay." 
Swift came out and approached the two. "What is it Swift?"
	"Tobias. Crash now knows."
	He looked at her. "I'm sorry, Swift."
	"Apology accepted."
	"Swift, I need you to do something." She nodded. "Give Kaitlyn what I 
gave you."
	"What?! No, she'll hurt you."
	"Please. It doesn't matter anymore."
	"Are you sure?" He nodded. "I don't want to, but if you do....Kaitlyn, 
let him go." She did. He backed away a little bit. Swift set her fingers on 
Kaitlyn's temples. "This'll sting a little bit." Kaitlyn winced and held 
onto the railing to keep herself balanced.
	"Wh-what was that?"
	"You've got new knowledge. Look it over." Kaitlyn closed her eyes. No 
sooner than that, they clicked open and leveled on Tobias. He sighed and 
fell to his knees. He couldn't look her in the face. "Kaitlyn, don't kill 
him."
	"I'm not." She approached him. "Is that why you've been like this? 
Because you two went behind my back and...did it?" He nodded slowly. 
"But....she asked you to, didn't she?" He nodded again. "Look at me." He 
shook his head. She got down to his level. "Look at me." He refused. "Then 
you're going to make this harder than it is." She took him by the chin and 
forced him to look at her. His eyes were red from the tears. "I told you not 
to have sex with her, didn't I?" He nodded. "But you went and did it 
anyway."
	"Don't remind me."
	"But you went and did it anyway."
	"Yes," he squeaked.
	"But I didn't know. I told you about why I've been paranoid about it." 
He nodded. "Tobias..." She kissed him. "You're forgiven. You love Samantha 
too much. It's okay." She hugged him. "So long as you keep using protection, 
I won't kill you."
	"No. Go ahead. Kill me." Shocked at what he just said, she looked at 
him. "Go ahead Kaitlyn. Kill me. Give whatever Samantha needs from my body. 
I don't care anymore."
	"No....I'm not...."
	"Please." He took her hand and put it to his throat. "Do it."
	She wrenched her hand away. "Stop it. You're needed."
	"But I don't want to. I just want to see Samantha happy. She's 
definately not happy now." He lowered his head.
	"Tobias," Swift said. "She'll get better. You need to help her do 
that." He whimpered. "Sleep on it tonight."
	"I'm not going to be able to sleep."
	"Then you will spend the night with Kaitlyn. She'll be more than happy 
to put you up, right?" Kaitlyn nodded slowly. "You're surrounded by friends 
here. We'll help you and Samantha. Don't worry yourself to death." He 
nodded slowly. "Kaitlyn, take him to the quarters you were granted. Let him 
rest."
	"Yes ma'am." She helped him up and led him away.

	The quarters were smaller than what they'd been living in at the base 
back home, but it was still comfortable. Kaitlyn sat him down on the bed. 
He didn't bother to say thank you and fell back on the bed. Kaitlyn shook 
her head and got up. "Tobias, you're scaring us. Please snap out of it."
	"I can't. I don't want to."
	"Please." She took his hands. "If not for me, if not for us, do it for 
yourself. Do it for Samantha. Do it for whoever you want. But please, snap 
out of this." 
	He sat up. "Kaitlyn, you wouldn't understand what it's like to be me. 
If you did, you'd understand why it has to be like this."
	"Please. Tell me why. I want to know."
	"I do it to become stronger. You saw me when Isthus put the gun to 
Samantha's head. I became wild. Death followed in my wake." He hugged her. 
"My rage is my strength."
	"That's bad. You shouldn't do that. It hurts the soul."
	"My soul.....is being kept by Samantha."
	"What?"
	"I cannot hold my soul, so to speak. But when I'm with Samantha, or if 
I know she's there for me, I know that it's safe and won't be harmed." She 
shook her head. "I know you can't understand it. But that's the way I work." 
He got up and started to pace. "Visiting hours have passed. I need something 
to do or I'm going to go mad."
	"Well...um...." She stretched. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."
	"I need to do something, anything."
	She smirked. "How about you make love to me?"
	He blinked. "Anything that wouldn't compromise my loyalty to Sammy."
	"Oh, darn!" She stomped playfully on the ground.
	"What time is it?"
	"Um..." She looked at a nearby clock. "Uh....5:13, I think."
	"Good. It'll give me enough time to cook." He looked around. "There's 
no stove."
	"Of course. We don't have that luxury in spy bases."
	"You mean I gotta go and fight the cooks off?" She nodded. He sighed. 
"Well, I'll go see if they've got full battle armor ready."
	She laughed. "You'll do no such thing. You are going to stay right 
here and we are going to talk. Tomorrow we will get up, we will go to 
Samantha, and she will be all better."
	"Is that a promise?"
	"Um...no..."
	"Then I am going down there and I will do battle with the head chef." 
He started for the door. "I just hope they have some month old bread sticks. 
Those make great projectiles."
	"Please. You're gonna stay here, okay?"
	"Fine." He sat back down on the bed. "What do we talk about?"
	"Well, for starters, when you were with Samantha...."
	"Kaitlyn...."
	"I wasn't gonna nag ya. I just want to know if it was good."

	Tobias got up the next morning. He had falled asleep in a chair, his 
feet rested on a table for support, definately against Kaitlyn's strong 
protests. He went over to Kaitlyn, who was strangling her pillow, and sat 
down on the bed. He ran a finger down her arm. "I'm sorry Kaitlyn," he 
whispered. "I don't want any of you to go through this." He heaved a sigh, 
which promptly woke Kaitlyn up. She stretched, rubbed her eyes, and looked 
up at him. "Good morning Kaity."
	"Good morning nutsy," she joked. "Did you sleep?"
	"Amazingly yes."
	She smiled and sat up. "That's good." She stretched, allowing him to 
see most of her mid section, as well as the markings. He slowly reaches over 
and touched them. She looked at him curiously as he caressed her side. "Is 
something wrong?"
	"Hmm?" He looked up at her, blushed, and pulled his hand away. "No. I 
was just thinking of something."
	"Oh? What was that?"
	"I was wondering about those marks on your body."
	"I always do that."
	"I've seen them before. Where, I can't remember."
	She took his hand. "I want to know what these are, Tobias. The stupid 
doctors can't explain them. My family can't either. I need someone special 
to help me."
	He nodded. "That's what I will do then."
	A guard burst into the room. "Tobias?" He stood up. "Samantha's awake. 
She's demanding your presence."
	"Well, I refuse to turn her down. Lead the way guard."

	Samantha was sitting up in bed, hugging her knees, as he entered. She 
didn't notice him as he approached. She just sat there, rocking back and 
forth. There were no tubes or needles or wires attached to her. "Tobias," 
she called out weakly. "Tobias."
	"Samantha?" he replied, taking her hand. She shot a look at him like 
he were committing murder. But as soon as she saw who it was, her expression 
softened. "What do you need, love?"
	She hugged him. "I've got it," she cried. "I thought I lost you."
	He hugged back. "I thought I lost you. You were the one bruised and 
near death." He kissed her cheek. "How do you feel?"
	"A lot better than what I was like in that awful Raider prison."
	"Good." He kissed her hands. "Good. I'm glad."
	"Well, what do we do now?"
	He looked into her eyes. "When you're fully healed, I'm getting us a 
place to stay until we can get back home."
	"Where are we?"
	"Some Pack spy base. Oasis, I think it's called."
	"Okay. That's good, we're safe. So what do we do until we get back?"
	"I'm going to hunt Isthus down and blow a hole in his head the size of 
his ego."
	She hugged him. "Please, don't. I won't want you to get hurt."
	"I won't. Isthus will. I want him to die by my hands."
	"Stop it Tobias. You know you'll get him. Stop being a worry wart." He 
let out a small wimper. She shook her head and looked at the doctor. "How 
am I doin'?"
	"You're back to normal. You can go whenever you want."
	"Thank you." She smiled and kissed Alex's cheek. "Time to go hunt down 
our temp home lover. We can talk there."
	"Okay." He helped her out of the bed and made sure she was steady. 
"Ready?"
	She nodded and took a step forward. She decided to humor him, let out 
a cry, and fell into his arms. "Oooh..."
	"Are you all right?"
	"Yeah. My legs are a little weak though." 
	He sat her on the bed. "I can carry you if you want."
	"No, I couldn't."
	He didn't listen and hoisted her into the air. She giggled as he did 
and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I really don't mind, my dear." She 
smiled and gave him a kiss.

	The guard led them to their new living arrangements. It was definately 
not as spacious as their home back in Pack territory, but it was good 
enough. He walked her in like she was his bride, set her on the bed, and 
then sat down next to her. The bed was queen sized, so Samantha patted next 
to her. "No," he told her. "I shouldn't."
	"C'mon." She tugged his arm. "I haven't had anyone to cuddle with in a 
while." She sat up and hugged him. "I'm sure you've been lonely at night."
	He took a deep breath. "Don't remind me."
	"Tobias, is everything all right?"
	He layed back. "I thought you were going to die. I don't want to see 
my love die. I would go berzerk and end up killing myself." He sighed. "For 
the first time in my life, I don't want to die. Things are just too good. I 
don't want it to stop."
	She caressed his cheek. "It doesn't have to."
	"I know...but I have a feeling it will." He let a small whimper go. "I 
don't want to lose the respect I've earned."
	"What makes you say that?"
	"Consider this. If I am a prophesy, then I was sent here to save you 
people. After you're all safe, then I become less important."
	"No, I don't think that will ever happen."
	"Why do you say that?"
	She hugged him. "Because you've made many friends. They'll want your 
advice." She rested and arm across his chest. "And I love you. You will 
never be less important to me."
	He smiled. "Okay. You've made your point." He pulled her closer. 
"You've earned this." She smiled and rested herself up against him. "Would 
you really love me forever?"
	She kissed his cheek. "I will if you will."