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Hidden: Chapter 7

Two Lives

"Of all the things he could have said in the end, he simply sang." I weakly smiled. I had been talking for a while now, my mood becoming more solemn as I went on more and more about the ship. "It's really quite poetic." I looked up at the admiral who was watching very intensely and then at my paws which were resting on my lap. My tail was limp behind me, my ears were drooping and my fur sagged a bit; I truly looked like a sad dog.

"It was a very courageous ending." I didn't look up when he talked nor did my ears perk. "Not many people can face their death like that. Very courageous indeed. His actions and final moments won't be forgotten now that you've shared them." I heard him setting down his pen and notepad.

"I never got a chance to recover his body." I began to rub my hands together and play with my fingers in a nervous fashion. "In Spec Enforcers, the bodies of fallen comrades are always recovered, it had been a tradition since we were first formed." I looked up at the man with my blood shot eyes. "It's a sign of respect and honor for those who died, to bring them back home. I was unable to help him and the others who perished."

"Only more would have died trying to retrieve the remains." The admiral's voice was soft and filled with concern. "This navy, has similar traditions as well. In space, we can't always get to the bodies. If that's the case, we have a uniform made to the fallen sailor's size and send that home in their stead."

"I know that it would have been impossible, we had our objectives and we couldn't veer away to fulfill a tradition. I understand that, I do." I spoke just loud enough for the admiral to hear, but began to regain my voice. "But... um... I don't really want to keep talking about this right now. Is that fine sir?"

The admiral leaned back in his chair. "Of course, you've said enough for today." My tail slowly wagged at the thought of a break. "In fact, I bet you're famished right now. Let's get something to eat."

I hadn't eaten once since I got here and I had felt quite weak. "Yeah, that would be nice." The admiral got up and offered me a hand which I quickly took. All the sadness that I felt faded away as I got up.

"Guard." The guard instantly stood rigid. "I don't think cuffs are necessary." The guard walked over with a key in hand and removed my cuffs.

I rubbed my now free wrists and looked at the admiral with a smile. "Thanks." The thought crossed my mind about making a bolt for it or to take the guard out and hold the admiral hostage, but something quickly expelled those thoughts.

"No problem." He opened the door and waited for me. "Now shall we?"

I walked out and the admiral followed with his guard close behind who closed the door. We began to walk down the halls and at some point my moccasins slipped off, but I didn't care. I found it more comfortable to walk bare pawed since my pads were thick and provided enough protection for walking.

We walked without saying a word and it was killing me so I decided to say something. "Where are other prisoners?" The admiral stopped and looked at me. I gazed down at the floor and let out a slight whine.

"Well, this facility is new and you are the first to make use of it." The admiral turned and started walking again. I looked up, happy that I wasn't going to get scolded and quickly caught back up.

"Can I expect to start seeing others? I do enjoy our talks, but I haven't seen anyone else but you and the guards." I looked over. The admiral had a straight face and was looking forward as he walked, betraying no thoughts.

"Yes, in fact, the first shipment of new detainees is due to arrive sometime tonight." He now had a gleem in his eyes and the faint start of a smile at the edges of his lips. I took note of that and didn't press the issue any farther. I thought that it was better to quit while I was ahead.

A few moments later, we walked into the cafeteria. It was pretty standard. Rows of rectangular tables were set up wall to wall with a bit of room between each one to let a person walk by. There were multiple entrances and a door that led into the kitchen. By the kitchen door was several buffet table that had generic lunch foods such as sandwiches, soup and fruit. There were a few groups of guards eating at different tables. They all stopped and looked when we entered, but quickly went back to their food when the admiral glared at them.

I followed the admiral to the buffet table. All of the food looked delicious and a bit of drool started to hang from the sides of my lips. I grabbed several ham sandwiches, filled a bowl with chowder and filled the rest of my plate with grapes and strawberries. The admiral simply grabbed a turkey sandwich and the guard grabbed nothing. I walked over the other table which held drinks and grabbed a can of soda. We then moved to a table that sat near the center of the room and began to eat.

I ate voraciously, attacking the chowder first with a spoon. It was gone in under a minute, then I turned my energies toward the stack of sandwiches. I tore into them. I couldn't really control myself. I barely contained myself when we were at the buffet table and now that we were hear, the gloves were off and my mind became clouded. The fruit didn't stand a chance neither did the soda. Before the admiral finished half of his sandwich which I was now staring at.

The admiral looked at me amused and after a few moments, extended the sandwich towards me. I nearly took it from his with my mouth, but stopped. I pulled my muzzle back from his hand and then took the sandwich with my paw, looking embarrassed about what I nearly did. He merely gave a slight chuckle He had a front row seat to watching a dog-man (was that the right word?) destroy some food. I must have truly been a sight to see.

With my stomach full and no more food to eat, my mind became clear. "Sorry about the show sir. I was just hungry."

"No worries." The admiral handed me a napkin. "I saw how you looked at the food table. I'm actually surprised you waited to sit down before eating."

I wiped my muzzle off and thought about licking off the pieces of food that were stuck to the napkin, but didn't.

"I always enjoy a walk after eating. I think it would be good for us."

I became giddy and excited. My tail wagged faster than it ever had and I jumped up. "That sounds great."

We just ended up walking around the halls of the facility for several hours just talking about whatever came to mind. I asked about his family and I learned that he divorced since his ex-wife didn't like how much he was gone from home. "Married life and military life just can't co-exist properly when it involves me," was how he explained it. In turn he asked about my family. I hadn't been in contact with anyone in my family since I joined the military. I was never that close with them to begin with but, didn't mind the lack of contact. The conversation moved to multiple subjects after that, from politics to even the weather.

"Well, I think that's enough for today." I hadn't noticed that he just led us to my cell block. He rubbed his knees and a slightly pained expression came to his face. He caught me looking and said, "You may be young, but when you're my age, you can't go walking around for hours without some kind of repercussions." He stood back up with a groan and patted my shoulder. "We'll talk some more tomorrow. Good night." I said my goodbyes and he left.

The guard brought me back to my cell and I was alone. There was a fresh set of sweats on the bed which I promptly changed into, folding the navy blues and setting them off to the side. I then took the longest piss of my life. A few hours after that, another guard came by with dinner, a hamburger with juice and more fruit. He also brought me a toothbrush and toothpaste which I graciously took. He left and I heard some remark about dog breath, but I shook it off. I was in too good of a mood to really care. My walk with the admiral had made feel as if I was on top of the world. A small gnawing part at the back of my mind constantly complained about how pet like my behavior was, but it was always drowned out.

I ate my food and brushed my teeth as best as I could. It was very strange with an elongated muzzle, but I managed. I then heard noise coming from outside my cell. I walked over to the door and peered out of the small window. I could see other prisoners that the admiral said were arriving today. There were about 30 of them and I took my time to look at each one. I was hoping that someone from the ship had survived, that I wasn't the only one that got off, but I was soon disappointed. I didn't recognize any of them.

"Oh well," I said to myself as I sat down on my bed, slightly depressed. "What were the chances anyway?" I then laid down and quickly fell asleep.

I dreamt of my final moments on the ship, it was so vivid and the details were exact.

---

The explosion threw me back against the wall. I fell in a heap to the floor. Alarms were blaring about a breach in my suit and that was it, all other systems were down. I couldn't hear the chatter of the radio nor could I see the vitals of what was left of the Spec Enforcers platoon. I couldn't move, I think my leg was broken as a sharp wracking pain shot up through it when I moved.

"Sir?" A voice gasped. I looked up to see where the noise came from and I stopped breathing for second when I saw who it was. Sergeant Crane was laying there just a few feet away. His mask had shattered and blood was seeping out of the cuts he had on his face. The rest of his body wasn't in good shape either. I could see several deep wounds covering his body and the sticky red fluid was pooling around him. "Sir?" He repeated, reaching out for me.

"It's all right, Crane." I reached out too, but I could get to him. Neither of us had the energy to move closer so we laid there looking at each other with our arms out. "Things didn't go according to plan, but we'll get through, we always do."

He smiled at my words, but I could see that he didn't believe me. I didn't believe myself. "It's alright sir. The moment we stepped on that bridge, I knew that chances were slim to none for surviving." I could hear gurgling whenever he took a breath in, it made me wince.

Tears were streaming down my face. "It's all my fault Crane. I knew it too and yet I still continued with the mission." I looked into his eyes expecting to see hate for not making the right decision, but all I saw was the eyes of the man who had for years made it his duty to make me smile.

"You did your..." He coughed up blood and a bit flew over and landed on my mask. I didn't flinch at it. "You did your duty and I trusted you. I still do." He coughed up some more blood. He was beginning to become pale.

"Crane, you followed me through thick and thin. There is no other man that I would rather die next to." I tried, in vain, to grab his hand that was a few inches away.

"Same here, sir. Same here." He winced as another fit of coughing wracked his body.

"Stay strong Crane." It tore at me to see him dying and not being able to stop it. "Don't you dare die before I do. What would all of the ladies think?"

Crane smiled, showing his blood red teeth. "Yeah, your right. A billion women will mourn when they hear of this." He tried to laugh, but couldn't, Instead he made a wheezing noise.

I began to feel dizzy and a dark tunnel began to close around vision as I breathed in more of the gas that was in the air. I shook my head a bit and looked at Crane who was having difficulties of his own.

"Sir?" His voice came across weak and labored.

"Yeah?" The darkness had almost consumed my mind. All I could see was a small point of light in the center.

"This is bullshit." The voice coming from him was suddenly filled with strength and anger.

That wasn't right. That wasn't what he said at all. My dream burst and I woke up.

"This is bullshit." The voice repeated. It sounded exactly like Crane and I lunged out of the bed and ran to the window.

"Crane," I yelled. My tail was rigid and stuck straight out and my ears were moving in every direction trying to catch any noise. I frantically looked around the cell block with my nose pressed up against the window, but it was dark and empty, not even the guards were around. It was too early or too late for anyone to be up and about. "Crane," I yelled out and then held my breath. I waited for what seemed to be an eternity, staring out into the cell block. Nothing.

I let out the breath that I had been holding and went back to bed, every part of me feeling exhausted. "Must have been my imagination." I closed my teary eyes and fell back asleep feeling more lonely than I ever thought possible.