Fighting For Your Rights

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Owen opened the door to their quarters and looked at Al, “Can I help you?”

“There was a second transmission that I wanted to show you,” she answered as Robyn walked up beside him.

Robyn stepped aside to let Al into their room. The door slid close and Al walked to the wall and slid her card into the reservoir. A picture of a woman who was kept beautiful scientifically, but her eyes showed an age that was contradictory to her face. Owen stared deep into the eyes that he had found comfort in long ago and the arms that had encircled him so many times, “Mother.”

Al smiled slightly, “When we told her that you were with us, she sent us a picture for you.”

“Told her?” Owen questioned unable to take his eyes from his mother’s.

“Your mother has been with us since you were taken. She agreed to help us as long as the palace informant kept an eye on you.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you need her help? This is an internal battle.”

“It is not an uncommon thing for a smaller force to seek alliances with people who have the same enemies. I don’t think you realize, though, that North America is not the only continent where the people wish to bring back the old way of life. We are allied with numerous revolutionaries across the world, that was your Grandma’s idea,” Al said looking at Robyn. “When they heard that she was still alive and being held prisoner in the palace, a vast majority of them were willing to start a massive revolution just to free her. Your mother, Owen, has been a great ally against your uncle, and she is prepared to see him overthrown.”

“Why didn’t she have you come and get me?”

“She realized that it was better if you stayed there.”

“Why?”

Al pulled the card out of the reservoir and handed it to him, “She left a message on there for you to read. I haven’t read it because she asked me to decipher it without reading it, but I think your answers will be in there.” Al turned back to the door then looked at Owen but couldn’t form the words she wanted to say and went to leave the room.

“I’ll go with you,” Robyn spoke then got up on her tiptoes to kiss her husband’s cheek. He nodded his appreciation to be alone with the letter from his mother. He had not heard from her for many years and had no idea what emotions would pass through his body. He knew that he could be himself with Robyn, but he wasn’t ready to reveal all of his internal struggles yet.

Al offered her arm and when Robyn was close enough, she threaded her arm through Robyn’s and led her out the door.

Twirling the card between his fingers, Owen walked to the table beside the bed. He sat down and pulled open the drawer. Grabbing the small, electric pad, he slid the card into the reservoir on the side. The picture of his mother quickly displayed and he stared at the tiny button that said text on the screen. He touched the screen, the picture disappeared and words began to scroll across the screen. Owen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he looked at the words his mother wrote, “My dearest Owen or shall I call you Sean. Oh, the memories that name stirs, I think of your father and how it was a strong name for him. I know you will do it proud. You have no idea how happy I am that you are with the revolutionaries and to hear that you are now married. I have a daughter and I relish the day when I can meet her and see you again. I pray that it is soon for I wish to see my future grandchildren before they are grown up. I missed most of your life and I do not wish to miss theirs. However, I know you want answers in this message and not the wishes of your mother’s heart. I am sure I know the one question that has been running through your mind for many years. My dearest Owen, I wanted to free you from your captors. I pleaded with your uncle to reconsider and bring you back, but he was too in love with his power. I joined the revolutionaries for the sole purpose of getting you out, and they were ready to get you, but at the last minute I cancelled the rescue. When your uncle denied your return, he counted on King Roham killing you and when he did not, he was afraid of what you would tell the king and of what your anger would drive you to. I knew that if you were to return, he would kill you. It was safer for you to stay with your captors. I wish I could write more, but it is not safe for me to do so. I love you, Owen. If you remember nothing of this letter, please remember that I love you and will always be a part of you. Love, Sinead Dored.”

Owen pressed the button that said picture and watched as she was displayed on the small screen. Looking over the whole picture, he stopped when he spotted her hands with the left placed over her right on top of her lap. He stared at the bare hand, “Where is your wedding ring, Mother?”

He pulled the card out of the reservoir and walked to the wall. Sliding it into the slot on the wall, the picture came up on the wall. Owen began to scan the picture slowly a section at a time. He stopped when he reached her left elbow. Leaning closely towards it, Owen tapped the screen repeatedly to blow up that area of the picture. As soon as the section was big enough, he pressed a button on the side of the screen and hit the section continually until it came into focus. He stared at the reflection of the woman driving an old truck. Yanking the card out of the reservoir, Owen charged towards the door and slammed the button to open the door. As soon as he stepped into the hall, he grabbed a hold of the first person that passed by, “Where is Pekelo?”

XXXX

Al was so focused on the wall screen filled with information that she jumped when Owen burst into the room and dropped the card on the desk in front of her. She looked over at him and pulled the glasses from her face, “What is wrong, Owen?”

“What is this?”

Looking down at the card he dropped, “It is the card I gave you.”

“Who is that woman in the picture?”

Al returned her attention to the screen, “I don’t have time for this. If we are to get into…”

“That is not my mother.” Owen slid the card into the reservoir and the picture popped up on the wall screen. He pointed to the woman’s left hand on the screen in front of them, “My mother always wore her wedding ring, this woman doesn’t have one.”

“She may have taken it off.”

“Then how do you explain this,” Owen stated hitting the screen by her left elbow. “If she lives in France,” the screen quickly turned to the picture he had made before, “how did that get into the picture?”

Al looked at the mural outside the window that had been a part of Winslow history since the twentieth century. It helped to make the town famous and now it ruined a secret that Al was hoping wouldn’t escape. She gazed at the painted reflection of the woman driving an old car or what could only be assumed a woman since the face was scratched out by the law. “Part of the picture takes place in Winslow.”

“What do you mean part?” Owen demanded running his fingers through his hair trying to keep himself calm. “Is the letter actually written by my mother or only part of it?”

“Your mother did write the whole letter. She sent us a picture of herself, but asked us to transform it.” Al walked to the edge of the screen and began to enter a code, “She didn’t want you to know the truth.”

“Truth about what?” Owen asked watching Al’s every movement then stepped back in shock as the corrections dissolved. Owen gazed at the woman before him. Her eyes and cheeks were sunken her skin completely pale except for the blue and black circles around her eyes. Her limbs were thinned to the point of mere twigs. “What is wrong with her?”

“Your uncle injected her with a virus.”

“A virus, what kind of virus? We have found cures for all the biologics that have been developed or are natural.”

“Your uncle developed a mutant form of the AIDS virus, one that we have never seen before and haven’t been able to develop a cure for. Our scientists are working as hard as they can to find one.”

“How long does she have to live?”

“We don’t know. The virus is slowly deteriorating her organs. It appears the king wants to keep her alive, but keep her weak.”

“I want to go to the capital when you go.”

“You can’t.”

“I know the lower area better than anyone. My lab was down there and I can get my things.”

“You can’t go. We can’t risk it.”

“Risk what?”

“Loosing you.”

“What importance am I?”

“Robyn.”

“What about Robyn?” Owen inquired confused as he pulled the card out of the reservoir.

“She is next to rule the revolutionaries. She is the one who will get countries back on their feet until they can take care of themselves.”

“What?”

“The last president appointed the leader of the revolution, and it was made a rule that the leader appoints the next leader. They were to mold and teach the next leader in the proper ways. Mariah is the true leader. I was just temporary until her return. She never appointed one until now.”

“How do you know she appointed Robyn?”

“Mariah taught Robyn history, medicine, politics… everything. Robyn told me that herself and that means that Mariah has chosen her to be the next leader.”

“Shouldn’t you be the leader though?”

Al shook her head, “There are things that I don’t know. Things only Mariah could reveal to the true leader.”

“It doesn’t seem right.”

Al turned away from the screen nodding, “I want it this way.” Al walked to the desk in the room and sat. “I knew,” Al kept her eyes on the screens on her desk as Owen wondered how much she was trying to convince herself instead of him, “that Mariah would come through for us.”

“Robyn won’t take it from you.”

“That is why I want to get Mariah,” she said looking up at Owen. “I think it is the only way she’ll believe that this is what she was trained for. That this was the life she was meant to have.”

Owen scoffed as he turned to the door, “I’ve been trained for a lot of things, didn’t mean I wanted to do them or follow that path for my life.”

“Well, right now I want her to try and be a leader. If you go, she will not make decisions as a leader, but as a wife. She is already making decisions as a daughter and granddaughter. We don’t need one more thing clouding her mind.”

Owen turned back to Al balling his hand up in a fist. He swung his arm ready to punch a wall, but at the last moment stopped. He sighed, “I’ll stay, but I think you’re reading her wrong. There is another reason that she wants her family brought here, I am sure of it. It’s because of who the witness is, I know it.”