Her words were received in silence, and after taking a deep breath, she continued. “He promised to help me get to my mother and help me find her if she had gotten involved in the whole thing, which he has done. Despite what you might think, I’m not with Bretdon because he’s forcing me to. And so, I have no reason to want getting rid of him.”
“Unfortunately, it’s your word against Jonathan’s,” the second man said. “We have no proof to confirm either version, and this is too important to simply trust our instincts.”
Struggling to keep her hands still on her lap, she turned to look at him. “What does that mean, exactly? That I’m condemned with no right to a fair trial?”
“We’re in times of war. Harsh decisions have to be made in order to ensure our people’s safety,” the first man said, in a stern tone.
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. “And what’s your decision in this case? Are you planning to involve Bretdon and Kirkcal in this conspiracy? Or perhaps, even my mother?”
The man didn’t look very pleased with her words, but he shook his head. “The cyborgs wouldn’t betray us. They have more to lose than us, and your mother was a prisoner until a few hours ago.”
“I guess I should be happy with that,” she said, oozing sarcasm.
“We’ll have to put you under arrest until we decide what to do,” he continued, choosing to ignore her words, as they all got up.
“Please know I believe in you, but this place is ruled by a council, and the decisions are made based on the votes of the majority,” Sandra explained, looking distressed.
But Ophelia wasn’t in the mood to be comprehensible. Not at the moment.
One of the men called a guard and ordered him to accompany her to a cell, one of the rooms with locked doors in that same area.
Ophelia didn’t struggle or try to escape. She knew it would be in vain. Her biggest worry right now was Bretdon’s reaction to the events. Would he believe in Jonathan? Would he know she was innocent?
She heard the door being locked behind her back and with a deep sigh, she looked around the cell she had been put in.
It had a simple bunk bed and a tiny bathroom area, with a toilet, a sink, and a shower stall. Everything she might need so she wouldn’t have to leave the place.
She threw herself on the bed and closed her eyes, swiftly feeling exhausted.
She must have slumbered because when she opened her eyes again, the cell she was in was darker than before. The only light in it came from the small window on the door that allowed one to look inside the cell.
Sighing, she mumbled ‘lights on’ and a dim light lit the room. Getting up, she walked to the bathroom and washed her face, wondering how long these people would keep her locked up.
She guessed they couldn’t let her go since she knew too much about them, and the caves’ location but the implications of that thought were too terrible for her to even consider them.
She couldn’t wait for Bretdon to return with her mother. She had faith he would believe in her, but she couldn’t completely silence the nasty voice whispering in her head, asking why would he bother rescuing her.
Bretdon sighed with relief when they finally parked the trucks in the caves. It had been a very long trip, and he couldn’t wait to have Ophelia in his arms and lose himself in her embrace.
Her mother was as eager as he was to see her, so he guessed he would have to give her priority, but after that, he planned to drag her to their room and forget about the rest of the world for a few hours.
The convoy was received with cheers and a large group of people. He surveyed them, looking for Ophelia and frowned when he couldn’t see her anywhere. He was sure she would be there waiting for them, if not for him, at least, for her mother.
Marian, the woman Kirkcal had been seeing, was there, and she didn’t waste a second throwing herself into his arms.
With a growing frown, he walked up to the couple. “Marian, how are you? Have you seen Ophelia?” he asked, the woman.
The expression on her face changed radically when she looked at him. “I’m not sure I’m the right person to tell you this,” she said with a stern tone.
“What’s going on?” Kirkcal asked, losing the blissful smile on his face.
“The council put her under arrest─”
“What the hell?” Bretdon exploded before she was able to finish her sentence.
“Bretdon, what’s going on? Where’s Ophelia?” Marisa asked, worried.
“Please, wait here, Marisa. I’ll go find her,” he asked her while looking for someone in the crowd.
The moment he found her, he strode to meet her, leaving an intrigued Marisa behind. Kirkcal and the other two cyborgs joined him.
“Sandra, what’s this I’m hearing? Where’s Ophelia?” he snarled at the woman. She was visibly pale and a bit shaky.
“I’ll explain everything if you’ll allow me,” the woman asked, trying to keep a calm tone. “But not here, please.”
“What’s going on here?” one of the men from the council asked, in a cold tone, as he approached them.
“Not now, Jeffrey. I’ll explain the situation to Bretdon,” Sandra said, her tone colder than the man’s.
“It was a decision made by the council, there’s nothing to explain, just to notify,” the man said, with a hint of scorn in his tone that upset Bretdon.
He took a couple of steps until he towered over the man. “Then, notify me, Jeffrey,” he demanded, with a harsh tone, as he pulled his gun from its sheath, being copied by his friends. “Tell me what the hell is going on before I decide to tear this place down until I find my woman.” His tone was so stern, so deadly, the other man took a step back, clearly not feeling as bold as he had a minute before.
Sandra took a step closer to him, trying to calm him. “Please, Bretdon. You’re scaring people. Let’s have this conversation in a more private room,” she asked, in a soft tone.
Bretdon looked around. The place was so silent you could hear a pin falling to the ground. They were the center of attention, and like Sandra said, people looked scared.
Nodding, he urged her to show him the way, and she did, as quickly as possible. Kirkcal and the other two cyborgs followed them, as well as Marisa.
The older woman looked appalled.
Sandra took them to the conference room where they had interrogated Ophelia, and after everyone was in the room, she closed the door.
“Start talking,” Bretdon ordered, ignoring Sandra’s suggestion to take a seat.
She quickly explained what had happened, making sure he knew she had never agreed to that decision, but that she had to abide the council’s decision.
“You know perfectly well Ophelia would never do anything to endanger this place or the people in it,” Bretdon snarled at the woman. “This guy, Jonathan, has been bothering her ever since we got here. His word is worth nothing, as far as I’m concerned.”
“If that’s right, what the hell was he doing in her room that same night for over thirty minutes?” Jeffrey asked scornfully.
Bretdon clenched his hands into fists, trying to keep his anger under control. “He must have been perving at her in her sleep. The curtains you use as doors offer no protection whatsoever.”
“We’ve never had a problem before,” the man retorted, blushing furiously.
“That’s a lie,” Marian said, coming out from behind Kirkcal. “Jonathan has done that to several women. He has entered our rooms while we’re out and has tried to impose his presence when we’re in. Now, hearing this, I’m sure he has been in our rooms while we were sleeping as well.”
Sandra was shocked. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
“I told Mr. Jeffrey, and he dismissed my worries and said I was imagining things that it was probably due to the trauma of being enslaved by the aliens,” she explained. “I didn’t insist because the last thing I wanted was to cause any kind of trouble here. My family and I have no other place to go to.”
Sandra turned to look at Jeffrey with a deep frown. “Is this true? You knew about Jonathan’s behavior, and you did nothing about it?”
“I was…sure she was exaggerating-” he mumbled, not so sure anymore.
“And even when you heard Ophelia’s story, it didn’t occur to you he wasn’t trustworthy?” there was sheer rage in the woman’s tone.
“I want to talk to this man. I’m sure I’ll be able to get the truth out of him in a few seconds,” Bretdon demanded.
“You’ll force him to tell the story you want to hear,” Jeffrey protested, not willing to admit he had made a huge mistake.
“Are you doubting my honor?” Bretdon asked, crossing the room and towering over the man, once more, wishing he would give him enough reason to throw him across the room with a single punch.
“Jeffrey!” Sandra warned him, in a forbidding tone.
“I’m sorry, I was out of line.”
“Bring Jonathan here. I want to see if he keeps his story when confronted with Bretdon,” Sandra ordered Jeffrey, and the man quickly left the room.
“This is unacceptable, Sandra. I left Ophelia here because I was sure she would be safe. And now, I come back, just to find out she has been wrongfully accused and that Jonathan has been molesting her,” Bretdon said coldly.
“I told the rest of the council they couldn’t trust Jonathan’s word, but they didn’t listen,” she assured him, embarrassed by the whole situation.
“I understand your position, as I’m sure you’ll understand ours when we leave as soon as things are clarified,” he retorted.
The woman gasped, clearly surprised. She hadn't expected such a reaction from him. “I’m sure there is no need to do that.”
Bretdon opened his mouth to reply but the door opened up at that moment, and Jeffrey walked in with two guards escorting Jonathan.
“What the hell is going on here? Why was I brought here?” the man mumbled, clearly scared.
“You’ve accused my woman of being your accomplice. I believe I’m entitled to hear that story from your lips,” Bretdon said, in an ominous tone, as he struggled to control himself. All he wanted was to grab the man by his throat and squeeze the life out of the bastard.
“She… she… came to me… she said she was tired of being with you and she wanted to escape,” he said, trying to recite his version of the story, but obviously intimidated by the presence of the cyborgs.
“When was that?” Bretdon asked, barely containing his rage.
“The night after you left. You can check the cameras, you’ll see we met at her door,” he replied, feeling a bit more emboldened. After all, he could prove they had met.
“What happened next?”
“I told her I wanted to warn the government about the existence of these people. They are quickly becoming a threat to our nation, and it was my duty to warn them,” he said, his tone bordering on fanaticism. “She agreed with me and encouraged me to send out the message. She had been in the communications room the night before, and she was sure we could hack into the system,” he said, with a devious grin.
Bretdon turned to look at Jeffrey. “How the hell did this guy get here?”
“He used to be my daughter’s boyfriend,” Jeffrey explained, astounded with the words coming out of Jonathan’s mouth. “He convinced me he didn’t agree with the government’s actions after the war started and I told him about our group. He was practically family.”
“Where’s your daughter now?”
The man’s expression got a bit clouded. “She was abducted by the Taucets soon after the invasion. We haven’t been able to find her,” he explained.
“So, that’s the real reason why you decided to trust this man’s word because you were responsible for bringing him into this group.”
“She… she… seduced him into doing it…” Jeffrey mumbled.
“He thinks our people are a threat to the government, Jeffrey. How can you still protect him?” Sandra ranted.
“He knows I’m telling the truth, that’s how” Jonathan retorted. “I admit I came here with hidden intentions, but I would have never acted on it if she hadn't encouraged me.”
“It’s impossible to believe a word coming out your mouth,” Sandra assured him. “You’re simply trying to protect your own skin while harming a woman that rejected you.”
“You…you can’t know that for sure,” Jeffrey grumbled.
Bretdon turned to face Jonathan, allowing him to see the killer rage shinning in his eyes. “Now that you’ve spilled your lies, I’ll give you one more chance to tell us all the truth.”
“Get this thing away from me,” Jonathan cried out, revealing a bit more of his intolerance and hatred, but also of his fear and cowardice.
“He’s not a thing, he’s a person,” Sandra snarled at him.
“He’s nothing but a glorified android,” the man shouted, losing his mind. “Ever since he showed up here, you treat him as if he was some sort of a hero, and he’s nothing more than a machine, built to serve us.”
“Would you like to see how human I can be?” Bretdon threatened him, taking a step closer to the man, but being held back by two of his friends.
“I told her she shouldn’t be with such a thing, but she didn’t listen. She even had the guts to tell me… ME… he was a better man than me,” he ranted, and it was obvious to everybody who he was talking about. “I should have shown her what a real man is like, that night when I visited her room, but I had more important things to do.”
Bretdon almost lost the little control he had over himself. “You little bastard! You didn’t talk to her that night, did you? You were just perving on her.”
“You can’t prove that,” he mocked him.
“I don’t have to. You’re a liar, and anyone with common sense can see that,” Bretdon assured him, freeing himself from his friends.
Jonathan let out a small cry of fear, but Bretdon didn’t get closer to him.
“I’ve had enough from this scumbag. It’s your choice to believe him or not, but for me, the truth it’s quite obvious,” Bretdon said, clearly outraged. “I’m leaving, and I’m taking Ophelia with me, and I truly advise you not to stand in my way.” These last words were directed explicitly to Jeffrey, but the man refused to meet his eyes.
“Please, Bretdon, I’m sure we can discuss this,” Sandra tried to convince him. “Jeffrey, admit you were wrong about this man,” she demanded.
But the man didn’t want to admit his mistake. “We don’t have proof─” he tried once more.
She snorted and turned to look at Bretdon. “Please, give me a chance to inform the rest of the council about what we have heard here today. I’m sure they will agree with me that he’s lying, especially now that Jeffrey can’t vouch for him.”
“Do as you wish. Right now, I want to see Ophelia, and I’m sure her mother wants that as well.”
Marisa seemed to come out of her shock when Bretdon mentioned her. “Yes, please. I’m still astounded with all I’ve heard from this man,” she said, shaking her head. “Ophelia would never betray anyone, for no reason. Especially, if it meant hurting innocent people,” she assured Sandra, with a stern expression on her face.
“I know. I’ve come to know your daughter well in the short period she has been living here, and I told the rest of the council just that. But they decided to accept Jeffrey’s vouching for Jonathan,” she explained, wriggling her hands, uncomfortable.
“Please, take us to see Ophelia,” Bretdon asked, impatient.
They left the room, leaving Jeffrey alone with Jonathan. The guards would wait outside.