Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Guy ❯ Chapter 5

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
A year had gone by since "Failboat" had fled the radioactive mine. John Roberts had only had that name for a short time, but somehow he was nostalgic over it. Maybe it was because it reminded him of the time he stopped believing in the Empire. He'd certainly burned his bridges in the last year, killing at least half a dozen soldiers and police officers to avoid recapture.

Most of the time, though, he was able to live among the citizens without anyone suspecting him. When he looked around, what he saw disgusted him. None of the Imperial citizens seemed able to question what the Ministry of Freedom was telling them, and everyone seemed convinced he could never be declared a Bad Guy. John found himself wondering if in fact there was such a thing as a "Bad Guy," or if the Empire made it up to keep the masses in line.

Keeping citizens in line wasn't much of a problem, though. The government's popularity was at an all-time high, thanks to its imminent victory over the Females. They were now halfway between the enemy homeworld and where they were when John had his life taken from him. When he thought about it, "enemy" didn't seem an appropriate label for them anymore, since he no longer had any stake in the war's outcome.

He'd stayed in this city for a week when a news report about escaped prisoners showed up on a nearby video screen. He saw an interview with Samuel Jones, now a disgraced ex-Supervisor, who talked about the mass breakout that had taken place under his watch. John realized it might only be a matter of time until his face was shown on-screen, and he thought it would be best to be somewhere else before then.

Fortunately, he'd gotten a bike with money he'd earned from various odd jobs. He couldn't help thinking some of his employers knew he was a Bad Guy, but kept it to themselves since they didn't want to lose a worker. He generally tried not to think about it, and for now he just rode his bike until he reached a small town. Fortunately, these people didn't have electricity, so it could be a while before they found out about him. When he thought of it, though, it saddened him that he could ever think of such a thing as fortunate.

As he stayed the night in the town's inn, he decided he couldn't stay on the homeworld any longer. Not only was he constantly having to move around to avoid the authorities, but he just couldn't stand being around his fellow Males anymore. Everyone he saw here was yet another who, like him, would no doubt be used and then betrayed by an Empire that claimed to value him. He resolved that night to be off the planet by week's end.

A few days later, John returned to the city he'd fled. To his surprise, no one reacted to the sight of him. He figured he wasn't shown in the report after all, no one was paying attention, or they'd somehow forgotten. He relief at this dissipated when he saw another report on the screen.

"I bring you great news, citizens!" said the reporter. "As of today, the Female Nation has announced its complete surrender to the Male Empire. After countless generations, humanity's two sexes are one people again!"

John figured this might happen; the Female government probably wanted to keep its people from suffering needlessly. He heard citizens cheering when the heard the announcement, and some of them looked at him when he failed to join in. It was ironic; at one point he'd fought harder than any of these people to ensure this outcome, and now that it had come it saddened him. On some levels he supposed he was hoping the Females would be the ones to knock some sense into the Empire.

That wasn't going to happen now, so he went back to planning his escape. There would no doubt be a large number of Females arriving on the Male homeworld, both to formally surrender to the Empire and to take their place as its servants. This would distract them enough so he could take a ship and leave the system. He still hadn't decided where he was going and what he would do when he got there. It was times like this that he missed the certainty that had come with being a citizen.

When the day finally arrived, he changed into a set of clothes he'd bought for this occasion, to make sure no one would recognize him. He reached the space port just in time to see the Females arriving on their ship. None of them looked all that happy to be there, not that he blamed them. Also there were 134 Bad Guys, one for each year the war had lasted; they were to be executed, one at a time, to celebrate the Females' surrender. John felt sick to his stomach; had the last year or so gone differently for him, he might've been the Bad Guys' executioner. As it was, he was just glad he wouldn't be around to see it.

He was relieved to see the Female ship unguarded. He got on it and found it was still powered up. There weren't even any security measures. No doubt this was a civilian ship. He hadn't lost the piloting skills he got as an Imperial officer, but the ship's controls were rather unfamiliar to him. Still, he managed to get the ship flying, elude attempts to stop him, and get off the Male homeworld. He didn't set any particular course, instead going where fate decided to take him.