Read In Makr's Shadow - Book One: Symbiosis Page 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn't angry enough." - Author Unknown
"Kieran, I want you to stay with Carlos. He needs a friend right now."
"Yes, Mother-General. I've already decided I would stay with him wherever he goes—if he'll have me."
"Aren't you bitter about what happened to your eyes?"
"I have eyes now. I can see."
"Yes, but these eyes don't have your usual sparkle, do they?"
"So they say. Things change. I'll be all right."
"Sure you will." There is bitterness in your voice, but I need you. "I know. For such a long time there it seemed there were no other Outsiders like us who are willing to fight for our freedom, no Touchables or Evangels to get in the way—just a few of us trying to wage a war against the Cyber. Our numbers are greater now, but I wonder if they're great enough to meet Makr's threat."
"We are fighting an invisible, evolving enemy. We've always needed your strength, Mother-General."
"Thank you for those kind words, my dear. Sometimes it is so hard to be a leader...and a mother. I worry about our people. I worry about my sons."
Kieran was puzzled. The Mother-General had two sons, and one is dead. Does she not accept his death?
"I have lived outside of Makr for more than 25 years. I bore three sons and a daughter. I gave up one son to his father and to Makr. I hope one day my other sons will come back to me. I let one die foolishly. I should never have let him fight." Her eyes glisten as she holds back the tears.
She said she had three sons? Where's the third? Never heard of the daughter either. Why the secrets? Don't push too hard Kieran, she tells herself.
"What happened to your daughter? I've never heard you speak of her before."
"I don't know. I sacrificed her to the cause as well."
But no information on that subject was forthcoming.
"Mother-General, you of all people know this is a fight for survival. We lose people every day. We have to keep fighting."
"I know, my child. I'm sure if I had my daughter here she would be very much like you."
"Thank you, Mother-General. That's very kind of you..."
"I'm not kind. I save the humans from Frankenstein's monster. I was there at the beginning, remember?" Pause. "You know, I had always hoped that you and Carlos...well, you know. I guess some things aren't meant to be—if you count on chance rather than Cyber matchmaking. You have been a good friend anyway and that's what he needs now. Someone to give him strength and confidence. Just between you and me, I was too hard on him. I know that now, but we can't waste time apologizing. He is where he's doing some good. I had planned for him to go there anyway. This just made it happen sooner. You know, sometimes I yearn for a normal life, but that isn't possible. There hasn't been a single normal life since the damn Matchmaker Cyber was created!"
Kieran didn't know what to say. She was born in the Shadows; it is the only life she had known. She put her hand on the Mother-General's shoulder. Not many have that privilege. She had it because she is a woman; she also had it because she was close to Carlos.
"I don't have the answers to life's mysteries. It is you who has known the paradise before."
"Believe me, dear, it wasn't paradise before, but the world belonged to us—not the Cyber. Go now, please. I've already said more than I should. You are my ears to Carlos. I want to know everything. I mean it, Kieran O'Shea. Everything."
"Don't you trust him?"
"Yes, but a mother needs to know her children are safe. I don't want him to know of this. I do want him to know his brother and sister when I find them again. Now, go! Please!"
There was still a question in Kieran's mind. Where's the other son and daughter? Why so secretive, Mother-General?
As Kieran closed the door behind her, the usually stern Mother-General buried her head in her hands and sobs in private. Someday, she thought, all my hopes and dreams will collide with the nightmare my husband conjured up.