seymoure

37.

Maria jumped up and ran down the hallway after the Colonel.

It was amazing the length of stride the man used. It took her a full 3 minutes to catch him.

“You are going to have to explain,” She began.

He stopped and turned to her, saying, “I think, first, that I should stop what is going to happen within the next 24 hours. Then I will happily stop to tell you and anyone who wants to know just what you want to know.”

He turned and strode away, while Maria stood, flabbergasted in the hall.

It was something that the Inheritors were involved with, and she had known nothing about it.

How was she going to go back in that room and tell them this?

How could she know nothing about a “Project” that was going on under her nose that could destroy the world?

She turned to return to her rooms, without a clue what she would say to those who had seen the same horror as she.

How could an association that she had deemed worthwhile enough to give up all she was, be in possession of such evil weaponry?

Hadn’t maintaining peace and order been part of what they offered? Wasn’t that what people like they were supposed to give up their lives to uphold?

Perhaps those who had been seen as traitors to the organization had found out about “The Project” and found it so horrifying that they could be persuaded that Shastan was not the most evil possibility they might face. Maybe they were the heroes.

How could that be?

How could everything she believed be wrong?

She realized that she had experienced just that so many years ago, when she was hit by the baseball bat thrown at a women’s clinic rally had hit her in the head. She awoke, at age 13 and the entire world was a different place.

Her world had changed then. And again it changed when she met Stonedragon and joined the forces of Thunderbase.

The world changed again when she met Benjy and found out about the Immorti.

The world changed when she gave up her powers to stop Shastan when he tried to level the world before.

A sob caught in her throat. The world had changed again when she lost Benjy. She wouldn’t really miss his Immorti persona, or any of that. She would miss sitting in the room, when the boys were asleep, just enjoying being with him. She would miss being held in her bed when the thunderstorms made her uneasy. She would miss the smell of him as he came in from mowing the lawn. Half parts sweat and newly cut grass.

She had lived through the world changing more times than anyone should ever have to, and supposed, if needed, she could do so again.

She stopped and realized that she still trusted Colonel Stonedragon. He was a man of no little honor. He had never let her down, and she was sure there was a legitimate explanation for this whole episode.

She hoped there was, or she would have to see the end of Thunderbase operations herself.