Free Life-After by J. A. Laraque Page B

she arrived at basic training everyone expected her to be given the royal treatment because of her name. It did not help matters any that Sara was a proud woman, very confident to the point that if you did not know her you would think she was arrogant.
    Sara’s pride, as I soon came to realize, was warranted. She did not take the easy road to anything. Everything she did was to prove she was just as good as everyone else. Sara wanted to be the best, not to live up to her father, but her own goals and standards. As basic training continued it became clear to everyone that Sara was a true solider and she earned everyone’s respect. I still had my reservations about her.
    Growing up the way I did, I hated anyone with a famous lineage. After being ostracized for my parents’ refusal to join the alliance military I grew to resent people who used their last name to get ahead in life. All I saw when Sara would go to extremes was someone who knew the correct way to utilize their family name without bringing negative attention. I found nothing special about her accomplishments during the beginning of basic training. I myself had done what she had and more.
    The problem obviously was with me, but I was stubborn and wanted to prove my opinion right. During my time in high school I became proficient in accessing restricted networks and had even cracked the alliance network downloading a prerelease copy of an operation system that was to go global once the war was over. I used my abilities to break into Sara’s personal records. I learned her father did not want her on the front lines. Sara was an accomplished diplomat during her time in college. She was asked to join the Alliance Nation’s Council but refused the offer instead transferring to the marines.
    I read her family history discovering that she was kidnapped as a child along with her mother by a Federation terrorist group. The group planned to use Sara’s mother to get Captain Preston to give up sensitive information. Captain Preston notified Alliance command that pressured the Federation government to peruse the terrorist cell. The Federation military eventually found the location of Sara and her mother. When they sent in their forces the terrorist killed Sara’s mother right in front of her.
    After reading about everything Sara had gone through and the fact that she still fought so hard to be accepted changed my opinion about her. I befriended her and near the end of basic training we fell in love. Soon after my friend Hershel was killed during a virtual reality simulation. The loss of a friend and my love for Sara make me rethink my service in the military. I told Sara how I felt and mentioned her time with the terrorists. She knew that information was classified and I had to confess to what I had done.
    She was livid. I told her she had nothing to prove and neither did I. For the first time I wanted to just run away. I asked her to come with me and leave the war behind. She refused and walked out on me. The next morning I went looking for her to apologize. The commanding officer told me she was sent on a mission. I did not even know she had been tasked. They would not tell me anything and I was left waiting weeks to hear word of her.
    One night Jonathan walked into the barracks, he had the same look on his face as he did when Hershel died. Sara was captured and was killed trying to escape, that was all they would tell me. I never saw her body, there was no funeral. All I wanted was to tell her I was sorry and that I understood her dedication. I decided to apologize through my actions and completed basic training. My career in the military was dedicated to her and I was determined to serve with dignity in remembrance of her.
    When I began work at Naxum I sat Clara down and told her about Sara. She listened as I told her everything including the fact that I still wished I could apologize to her. A look came over her face as if I had crushed something inside her. Just as