By the time Nick had awaken, he was hungry and in pain. His hands were cuffed, and he was confined in a room whose four walls were made of electric fields. 'Where am I,' he muttered to himself, still groggy from the chloroform. His arms were incredibly numb. He tried to wrangle his arms out of the cuffs, but to no avail. He got to his feet to push his way out, but only received a jolt of electricity instead.
'Great,' he thought. 'I'm stuck in an empty room with no food, no warmth, and no other human life form.' His mind drifted to what happened last night. He remembered feeling the cool breezes and looking at the beautiful stars. Then he saw a form wave at him frantically through his window. He squinted to get a better view of the person, but before he knew what was going on, someone had already grabbed him from behind and forced him to inhale the chloroform.
Nick broke out of his reverie when he heard footsteps. About 15 to 20 people were heading his way. He thought one of them sounded familiar. "He's awake now, is he?" the voice said, and another answered affirmative.
"Good!" was the reply. That voice sounded like. . . the President? Nick stood, shocked. Why was he here? What did he do? Thoughts raced through his mind as the footsteps got nearer.
Finally, the President stood before Nick, his form elegant and cautious. He carried a smile on his face. "What the hell?" the President said in the most politically incorrect way. "Remove those cuffs!!" the President ordered, flashing Nick his brightest smile. The guards turned off the electric field and removed Nick's cuffs. Nick stood there, dazed.
"Good morning, Mr. Carter."
"Err, you can call me Nick."
"Yes, well Nick, this is very unusual for me to be meeting you this way." He tried to look apologetic, but his expression didn't quite click with Nick. "However," the President continued, "due to the importance of this mission, we must make sure that everything is confidential."
Nick stared, still dazed and now also confused. "I don't understand."
"Nick, this country needs you. You see, the U.S. is under a lot of pressure. We are under constant surveillance by the Cartasians. They are always looking upon us, waiting for the chance to pounce on us like a mad dog. And at this time, we the U.S. government, must take care to protect our nation and our people from harm's way."
'How ironic,' Nick thought about his own kidnapping.
"The Cartasians are too demanding and brutal," the President continued.
"But haven't they brought peace and unity to Earth?" Nick questioned. "I mean, we're living in peace and all."
"You don't understand Nick. They live in peace only IF we agree to their demands and quench their greed. The peace they speak of is not without a price. Nothing is free in this world, Nick."
Nick just stared at the President, too exhausted to counter him. "So what does this have to do with me?" he asked defeatedly.
"We were thinking of making, well, a special offer to Queen Feya Dejais to sort of 'buy' their trust."
Nick suddenly snapped out of his daze. For a kid of 17 going on 18 in one day, he was pretty sharp. "I'm not really into politics. I mean I don't know. . ." Nick started, but the President interrupted him.
"You claim that you're ignorant of these matters, Nick, but your words betray you. You're a clever boy." The President smiled. 'A little too viciously,' Nick thought. "Not many boys are able to finish my thoughts before I voice them," the President continued. Nick didn't look convinced.
"How about I give you a more convincing argument," the President now had a threatening edge to his tone. He took out a 3D image of Nick's family (everything is in 3D in the future). He saw his parents and siblings and the Boys smiling, standing in front of their house. It felt so warm. His heart melted at the sight. "That's the 'before' picture. . . And here's the 'after' picture." The President revealed a 3D image full of a blood-strewn lawn. There house was now reduced to rubble." The President smiled yet another time. "Have I convinced you yet? That second image is impending, waiting for your reply."
Nick leveled his gaze onto the President's face. "What have I done to deserve this?" he asked evenly. Perhaps it was intuition, but Nick felt that the President didn't like him too much. 'Why? What did I do?' Nick couldn't think of any reason for the President to be mad at him. He had never met him in his entire life.
The President yet again flashed another artificial smile. His men have remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. "Nick, looks like we've inhaled a little too much chloroform. Starting to hallucinate, eh? Well, we'll leave you here to think more clearly about your possibilities. Come men."
"No!" Nick cried out immediately. "I don't need to think." The President looked into Nick's youthful face, in awe of Nick's confidence. 'Nick truly loves his family!' the President sensed. Nick continued, "Yes, I'll go." Then a little more weakly, "But my family needn't know."
"Why certainly. That's why we kidnapped you rather than staged a welcoming party," the President smirked.
"When do I leave?" Nick asked, again carrying a defeated look to his face.
"Tomorrow, when the queen begins celebrating her 20th birthday." Then the President and his men left.
"Get him cleaned up and give him a few facts about the Cartasians so that he won't make a fool of himself," the President directed his orders to his men.
"Sir?" one of his men said. "Why didn't you tell him about our plans of freedom and our attempt to fight a war for independence? After all, he should know about the importance of his mission? He should at least know that his job is to divert the queen's attention."
"He doesn't need to know," the President replied. "He might give it away. Plus, he can be of use without him having to know every detail."
"At least he'll get to be free once this we win back our freedom." The President's men couldn't help but feel a little pity for this 17-year-old boy.
'Right, provided that he's still alive by that time,' the President thought gleefully. 'You don't know how much I despise you Nick, for what you have done to me and to my family. You're gonna pay back with every ounce of life in you.'
"And sir?"
"Yes?" the President replied.
"Why tomorrow? Shouldn't we at least give him some more time to at least be trained?"
"No, he's a clever boy. He can deal with it. Besides, when would be a better time to give this offering than at her majesty's 20th birthday. It seems so appropriate, so . . . well perfect." 'Yes, things are just PERFECT.'