"Tell me, Ace, what exactly were you thinking?" John said. Once again his friendly Texan accent was nowhere to be seen.

The ticking of his clock sounded empty and hollow. John's office seemed dark and small; it also smelled slightly moldy. The chair looked soft but felt hard. Someone blacked out the windows. Not sure if that was to keep people from looking in or to keep the soldiers from looking out.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't think you'd run off the first chance you got?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're just lucky that I had Dan fill in for Jeff. Dan's biometrics are similar to yours, just like David was. If they hadn't been and you tried to hijack him, it wouldn't have been pretty...for you."

I folded my arms and turned towards the wall like an angry two-year-old throwing a tantrum. "You recruited my father. And when you didn't like what he said, you threw him away."

John sighed. "No. I didn't. That was my father. And he...well let's just say he wasn't as nice as I am. There are rules around here, Ace. You might think I'm the Big Boss, but I'm not even close. My legacy will protect you only so far. Luckily you didn't learn much and I was able to cover your tracks." He pointed his finger at me like he planned to give me a "time-out." "If anyone asks, you say you got lost and never got a chance to see anything. Got me?"

I nodded. I'd play the obedient child, for now.

John stood causing a nail-on-the-chalkboard sound as his chair scraped across the floor. "But one thing's clear. I can't trust you just yet. That whole thing with Dan; it was a test. You failed by the way." He turned his back to me, staring at the blacked out window. "Tomorrow, your real training begins with your new trainer."

Sensing that Watermark finished, I stood. The chair let out a pfft noise almost like it'd been holding its breath while I sat. My hand was on the doorknob when I asked, "Do you even know what happened to my father?"

Watermark still faced the wall. He might have relaxed for a moment. In that moment, I thought he might be considering telling me...something. He straightened back up with a military-like click of his heels. "I'll see you tomorrow."

***

"You did what?!" shouted Dr. Richter. "Ace, these guys are dangerous! They will step on anyone who gets in their way. They don't play nice and they'll do whatever it takes to win." Richter rubbed his forehead; he took a couple deep breaths.

I sat slumped in the overly soft chair. It almost felt like it wanted to eat me. My arms were folded and I wore what I now feared to be a permanent scowl on my face.

Richter's eyes softened when he glanced down at me. "I'm sorry, Ace, I know I'm not your father, but I still don't want to see what happened to him happen to you." Richter paced between me and his desk. "One minute he was standing right next to me; the next he was gone."

"Maybe he wanted to disappear," I mumbled.

Richter's face turned to anger as he snapped his attention back to me. "What was that?"

"Nothing," I mumbled.

Richter got extremely close to me. "No, I want to hear this."

The lone light in Richter's office, a desk lamp, flickered and buzzed. The nearly dark room caused Richter's shadow to stretch and almost seem to try to grab at me. In the brief seconds between flickers, his shadow multiplied across the walls.

"Maybe...Maybe he got tired of all this. All these secrets and games." Richter's clock ticked signaling the passing of seconds. It sounded fake...almost hollow. "Maybe he wanted to get away and find some peace. Even from me."

Richter stood straight again. His multi-shadow danced across the walls. Time passed with more tocks of the clock. Richter's face was a mix of anger, disbelief, and sadness. "You shouldn't believe that. Your father was a good man."

"Wish I knew that," I said, looking towards the wall.

"Ace." I faced Richter. "If Samuel had run off, he would have taken you and your mother. If anything Ether Operations has him...somewhere."

I thought about that while Richter returned to his desk; he reached for his mug. The stars started to appear out his window. "That video showed them taking him away to some stasis room."

The mug smashed apart on the floor. The sudden noise made me flip towards it. Liquid and glass went everywhere. Richter looked like he wanted to faint. "A stasis chamber?"

I sat forward, the best I could in that man-eating-chair. "What about it?"

"A room such as that puts someone to sleep, but it is a different kind of sleep. The body is frozen in time, making it so he couldn't project. He'd be trapped in his body." Richter was suddenly next to me, grabbing my shoulders. "Promise me, Ace, you'll never go to that room."

My eyes met his panic filled eyes. This was more than anger at E Ops or guilt from my father's disappearance, he was terrified for me. "OK," I said softly.

He released me and began babbling as he paced. "How did he escape? Unless he was taken there after he met with me."

"He could still be there?" Worry and hope filled my body.

Richter once again snapped back towards me. It almost seemed like he hadn't turned; he just suddenly looked at me. He pointed a finger at me, much like a parent about to discipline a child. "Don't you dare, Ace Journeyman. The last thing we need is both of you trapped in there. I'll figure something out. I still have contacts. In the meantime, keep up your work here and your training there."

I tried to think of a protest. The light again buzzed and flickered. This time the light stayed off longer. I closed my eyes for a moment. Nothing I could say would change his mind. "OK," I said.

By this time Richter had returned to his desk. He leaned back in his chair. "You better head to the mess hall. Get something to eat. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

I was tempted to give him a salute but decided on leaving. But once I was gone, Richter picked up his phone. "Sandy," he said, "keep an eye on Ace. I have a feeling he's going to do something stupid."