Gray walls surrounded Sabrina Sam.

The strife pieces in the walls and floor prevented her from using her Save. In that Freeman base, she had shared her power with Kevin Sam, but that hadn't lasted. Strife had gotten too close to her. She had lost the power to use her power, and her enemies had taken her captive.

The Freemans had separated her from Kevin, the man who had raised her for eleven years. He wouldn't die inside the building they had attacked.

Sabrina sat on a bed. She wore a zip-up hoodie and blue jeans. She donned a blue shirt beneath the unzipped hoodie, and light glowed against its white fabric. The thin girl wore her Soynite pendant, something her first pair of parents had given her.

Sabrina ran her fingers through her blonde hair. She pointed her blue eyes at the wall ahead, as if looking at it would bring her closer to freedom. The spaceship's exterior was gray, and so were its interior walls and its floor.

Sixteen years ago, Sabrina had been born on the twentieth of February.

Many pregnant Freeman women lived on planet Free, without a doubt. Pregnant Freemans would spawn more of their gross people. Pale babies might become warriors Sabrina would have to kill. And maybe she would become a mother sooner than she expected to.

People from Free had murdered Soynite men, women, and children.

All Freemans needed to die.

Footsteps moved past the prison cell's door, quick.

"There's trouble!" a Freeman said, speaking his native language.

Sabrina had heard his voice earlier. He had forced her into the prison cell.

"What is it?" a different Freeman said. He might be the one Sabrina had seen before entering the cell.

"Soynites are attacking the base we're headed to," said the Freeman who had moved past the door. "Eight Soynites are there, and they're attacking our people."

"What else do you know about those Soynites?"

"Two of them might not be allied with the others there," said the Freeman with the information. "They're not wearing white backpacks, but the other Soynites there are. I think two different groups are assaulting the base. The Soynites with the backpacks must belong to the same team."

A hand slapped the door twice.

"Open this door," the Freeman said. "I want to speak to the girl."

Sabrina would smile if she saw Kevin. She would rather speak to him than talk to her enemy.

She scoffed.

"I know you're listening, Soynite!" said the Freeman, speaking English.

Thanks to him, Sabrina had learned her people had started an attack on a Freeman place. She might join them. Would Kevin?

Had he died inside the building where Sabrina had last seen him?

She fiddled with her fingers. If the Freemans had never discovered Strife, the attack on that base in California might not have ended in failure.

Eight Soynites assaulted a different base. Their attack might end in success.

"It sounds like your buddies are having trouble!" Sabrina yelled, speaking English. She possessed an American accent. Kevin didn't. "Eight Soynites are already killing the Freemans at the base we're going to. And I'm going to help them."

The door swung open.

A Freeman stepped into the cell. He headed toward Sabrina, and stopped. He was seven feet tall, but the enemies she had killed in California had been that height, too.

His top showed the red symbol for Free on its chest area. Like Sabrina's past victims, he wore the typical Freeman combat uniform.

"You're a prisoner, Soynite," he said. He had given information to the other Freeman. "Even if you join your people, you would be fighting for the losing side. But I need you to focus on the present. You're in a prison cell, and you're with me. The man who helped you kill many good Freemans is gone. Who is he? Is he your father?"

Bowie Low had died. So had his wife, Prim.

Kevin had taken care of Sabrina for a longer amount of time than the Lows had. Regardless, Bowie and Prim had brought smiles to her face. They had loved her. Kevin still did.

She might find her parents' murderer at the base the Freemans planned on transporting her to. She had seen the killer, yet she had never learned his name.

When her parents died, she had been called Reese.

She hadn't been born as a Bloodhound, a type of Soynite a dog breed was named after, but she could find her parents' killer.

"You want to know if the man I was with is my father?" Sabrina said. The Freeman nodded. "That's too bad, because I'm not going to tell you anything you want to know. But I will get free, and then I'm going to kill you."

"Your arrogance is going to be gone when you've spent enough time with my people," the Freeman said. "You and that other piece of Soynite trash killed too many great warriors. While you're in here, the rest of my people are out there."

He pointed at a wall. A strife piece remained in it, the green substance keeping Sabrina powerless.

"If those eight Soynites at the base aren't dead by the time we get there, I will join the fight," the Freeman said. "And those Soynites will die."

Eight members of Sabrina's race had launched an attack on Freemans at a base in Washington. Trouble for Lock Tannis's people would never be trouble for her.

She clutched the black comforter, as if the gesture might kill the Freeman. She might smile if she could grip a laser gun. Her opportunity to shoot a Freeman would come.

Eight Soynites gave Sabrina's enemies trouble.

"They're not going to die," she said. "They're going to live, and you're not. I'm going to kill you. I promise."

She had killed Freemans in California. So had Kevin, who would fight to reunite with her if he could. They had been together on Soy. Not long ago, they had gotten separated in a gray building. Freemans had forced Sabrina away from Kevin, who had killed to keep her safe.

Freemans had stolen her freedom. She had been shoved into a bad situation, but she had escaped plights before. She would do it again.

A Freeman had shot and killed her parents, but Sabrina hadn't taken a laser to the head. Her heart hadn't stopped.

She lived. Bowie and Prim didn't.

They couldn't kiss her forehead anymore. They couldn't chase her in their backyard on Soy. They couldn't speak with Kevin.

Sabrina couldn't talk to him.

If she had to choose a man to be her new father, she would pick Kevin.

"You actually believe that you will kill me?" the Freeman said. In his native language, his name showed on the front of his combat uniform. "That won't happen. You're powerless. You're going to be restrained with strife handcuffs, just like earlier. And you're never going to use that Save of yours again."

He glared.

"You can be killed," he said.

Hush Warden's dagger remained in its sheath, but he might try stabbing her with it in the future. If he stabbed Sabrina, she would live. No enemy of hers would kill her. They might try, but they wouldn't succeed.

"I can be killed, yeah," Sabrina said. She squeezed the comforter. "So can you. I'm going to kill you, Hush. If I see you in that base, I will kill you. Then I'm going to see the man who helped me attack that other base."

"Even if you manage to kill me in the near future, Great Leader Lock Tannis might just kill you," Hush said. "And if he doesn't do that, he will make sure that you suffer. I can guarantee that friend of yours is suffering. If he's not being physically tortured, he's being emotionally tortured. Because he is never going to see you again."

No Freeman would keep Sabrina apart from Kevin forever. She would see him again.

She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going to see him again," she said. "And I'm going to make sure that you never go back to Free."

"For you, there is no home planet to return to," Hush said. He gestured to the gray walls surrounding them. "Look around you, Soynite. You're inside a Freeman spaceship, and you're far from Soy. That planet has no life on it, and there is nothing for you there. Soy doesn't even have trees. I have a planet I can go back to. I have Free. I have my people. What do you have?"

Sabrina didn't break eye contact with him.

Hush shook his head. "You have nothing."

"I have a beating heart," Sabrina said. "You do, too. But I'm going to change that soon enough. I'm not going to let a Freeman kill me so easily. I'm not going to let one of Lock's people kill me at all. If I could send a message to him, I would. Because I need him to know that I want to see him."

Sabrina might reunite with Kevin, and she might meet Lock. Nobody had slain the Freeman leader, but someone would.

"If you were able to meet Lock, you would regret it," Hush said. "He got rid of Vice Reaper, and he would kill you if he could. You will never end my leader's reign. That's the truth, Soynite. You killed too many of my people in California, but Lock is someone you will never kill. He is better than the warriors you and your friend murdered. And he is better than me. He always will be. He has led Free for over a billion years, and he won't die anytime soon. He's unstoppable, and you aren't. Neither is your friend."

Sabrina's love for Kevin stuck to her like glue, sticking to her no matter how far she had gone from him. When she was five, she had played with someone younger than Kevin. A boy.

Kevin had been with Sabrina longer than the boy had.

The smothering urge to hug her Watcher poured into Sabrina like thick syrup. He had been in her life on Soy, and he had protected her when she didn't have a Save.

"My friend is a good one," she said. "A really good one. He's also tough. You're not the only person who knows someone who can fight well. When me and my friend get together again, you won't be able to stop us. The rest of your people won't be able to, either. Me and my friend will do what we've already done at that base in California. We'll kill more of your people. That's the truth, Freeman."

"Your friend isn't with you," Hush said. "You can fantasize about reuniting with him and helping him kill Freemans, but that won't happen. He's gone. You never should've attacked that base with him. But because of that decision you made, you're here. Soon, you will be at a different Freeman base. You won't kill the warriors there, and you won't kill my Great Leader."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Sabrina had turned Freemans into smoke, and she would do the same to Lock.

She would kill Free's leader.

"I will kill Lock Tannis," she said. "But I'll kill you before that happens. You won't be there to see me kill your leader, but it will happen. I'm going to be the next leader of the Freemans. Your people will love me. They will do whatever I want them to do, and that includes kneeling for me when I tell them to kneel."

Hush narrowed his brown eyes. "That day will never come, Soynite."

"Your people kneeled for Lock after he killed Vice Reaper. They stopped loving him when he died, and they started loving Lock. Your people love him, but they will love me when I kill him."

"You're a liar," Hush said. Sabrina pressed her fingers against the pillow. "You won't end Lock Tannis or his reign. He will outlive you, just like he outlived the Soynites who died when my people attacked your planet. I don't know your name. But I do know that the Freemans will never kneel for you. You couldn't stop your enemies from capturing you, and now you're powerless. What makes you think that you can kill Lock?"

Sabrina scowled. "What makes you think that I can't?"

"No one will ever kill my Great Leader. And no one will stop us from delivering you to that base."

"I'm not going to be stuck in that place forever. I fought and killed Freemans at that base in California, and I'll do the same at the one we're going to. Trust me."

Hush unsheathed his dagger.

Sabrina didn't run.

Hush's red dagger could pierce flesh. Yet Sabrina remained seated, as if it were guaranteed Hush wouldn't try hurting her.

He sheathed the dagger.

"You won't have that foolish bravery when you've spent enough time locked inside a Freeman base," he said.

The pale moron left the prison cell. After its door closed, Sabrina shook her head.

"Kevin," she whispered. "I'm going to kill these Freemans, and we'll see each other again. I promise."

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Kevin and Sabrina had blond hair and blue eyes, and he was more like her than she knew.

He sat next to her on a blue sofa in the living room. A movie played on the television's screen, showing violence, but Kevin and Sabrina had seen the real kind on Soy. The brutal kind.

They wore white shirts, blue jeans, and white socks, as if they could revive Soy by wearing matching colors. Soynite pendants rested on their chests.

Kevin Sam was tall and muscular. He hadn't been born with Kevin as his name. When Sabrina was born, she hadn't been called Sabrina. They had adopted new names. The Watcher and his girl lived in a mansion. No matter how great their home was, it would never be as great as Soy had been.

Sunlight passed through the windows' glass, and Kevin thought about Sabrina's Save.

He lacked powers. But he had killed Freemans, and he might slay more.

Framed photographs hung on the brown walls. Some of them showed Kevin and Sabrina together, and others showed him by himself. Some of them showed her by herself. Neither of the photographs showed either of them as a baby. Each picture had been taken on Earth.

A coffee table remained between the sofa and the television. No framed photographs sat on the coffee table's long and rectangular surface.

Kevin's socks touched the carpet, which was brown, like the Freeman eyes that had aimed at him during Soy's invasion.

"Kevin, do you ever think about what happened to the former Highs?" Sabrina said. "And I mean the ones who aren't Reed Pisces."

Theo Majestic. Boris Endman. Don Ascend. Ray Fire. Notch Slip. Tale Wick. Reed Pisces.

The former Highs.

Theo had stripped Reed of his High status. Don had become his replacement, and that had happened many years before Kevin's birth.

Don had married a woman named Camille. His brother-in-law was Cambridge Downer.

Theo had gained each Save. But strife disabled Soynite powers. Kevin had seen a photograph of Lock Tannis in a Freeman textbook, and he had wielded a strife sword in the picture. If that weapon got too close to Theo, it would prevent him from using his powers.

"Sometimes," Kevin said.

Where had Theo gone?

No Soynite needed to kneel for him. Wherever he lived, he had given up his royal authority. He had ended the other former Highs' reigns.

Long before that, he had banished Reed from Soy.

Reed had been a Soynite High when Soy had trees, grass, and water. He had wanted to destroy the Freemans. His hatred for them had led to his downfall.

"Theo Majestic and the people he led Soy with aren't rulers anymore," Kevin said. He put a hand on Sabrina's shoulder. "There are new Highs, and most of them are great people. Well, I hope that's still the truth."

Sabrina nodded. "Me too."

Kevin had killed Freemans. Like Sabrina, he had stopped believing all life was precious.

A Soynite who believed all Freemans deserved to live could become one who didn't believe that. A ruthless Soynite could become a compassionate one.

Soynites could change. Kevin had. And Soynites could break promises.

"Do you remember that museum that was named after Don Ascend?" Sabrina said. She put a hand on the sofa's cushion. "The Ascend Museum. It's gone. Just like everything else that was on Soy. But we're going to bring all of that back. I already know we will."

On Soy, Freemans had destroyed buildings Kevin had been inside. The Soynite royal palace no longer stood. Neither did the home Sabrina, Bowie, and Prim had lived in.

Sabrina's parents had stopped believing all life was precious, but that hadn't stopped them from dying while Lock's people attacked Soy.

The Lows had died. A Freeman had killed them. When their deaths came, Kevin and Sabrina hadn't been far from them. He had failed to save her parents. He had taken Sabrina to where Bowie and Prim had wanted her to be, and she and Kevin had survived.

He had done what her parents had wanted him to do, yet Bowie and Prim had died. A Freeman had killed two people who had brought joy to Sabrina's life. And Kevin's.

He hadn't used the fastest Soynite spaceship to escape Soy.

"Speaking of the Ascend Museum, I wonder what happened to the fastest Soynite spaceship," Kevin said. "Of course the Freemans destroyed the building, but I do hope one of our people used the spaceship to escape. It didn't deserve to be destroyed by the Freemans."

Lock Tannis had gained authority over the Freemans by killing the one who had led them before he had.

Vice Reaper. He had gained authority over his people by killing the Freeman leader who had led before him. Lock and planet Free's dead rulers formed a long line of leaders. A long line of murderers.

If someone wanted Lock's people to kneel for them, their leader would have to die.

With a person like Kevin as his enemy, Lock Tannis needed every Freeman warrior at his disposal. Kevin had failed Bowie and Prim. He wouldn't fail their daughter, not while life remained in him.

He had met Pures.

He hadn't been born as one. Neither had Sabrina. But she possessed a power that would make it hard for Freemans to kill her.

Killing Lock Tannis would come with difficulty. Whether or not they were a Freeman, if someone killed the Freeman leader, they would become the new one. Even a human could do it. Or a Soynite.

"We deserve to destroy the Freemans," Sabrina said. She formed a fist, as if doing that would kill Lock from a distance. "One of them killed my parents."

Kevin caressed her long blonde hair.

"I'm here for you," he said, while Sabrina looked at the television.

"I hate the Freemans," Sabrina said.

For years, Kevin had acted as if killing Lock would give him eternal happiness. But hatred alone wouldn't grant Lock the death he deserved. No, someone had to make an effort to slay him.

"I know you do," Kevin said.

"The original Freemans were good," Sabrina said. "They started out that way, but they ended up hating us. Me, you, and the other Soynites are great. We deserve to be alive, but the Freemans don't. We need to kill all of them. They're never going to change."

Reed had revealed his desire to destroy the Freemans, as if he would've died if he hadn't exposed that wish. Theo had sent him into exile. No Soynite could banish Sabrina from Soy, and neither could Kevin. He and the thirteen-year-old girl had fled Soy. They didn't live on their home planet, but Kevin hadn't forgotten what Sabrina had become.

Lock would kill her if he could, but Kevin would fight to protect her.

"We're going to kill all the Freemans," Kevin said. He grabbed the television's remote control. Maybe a Freeman wielded a laser rifle. "They're hunting us down. They want to kill any Soynite they can find. The Freemans are here, and they need to die. It's as simple as that."

"Where's the pale moron who killed my parents?" Sabrina said. "I know you don't know, but I wish you did. I want to find the Freeman who killed my parents. I know that I will, but I hate the wait."

Kevin and Sabrina didn't launch an assault on a Freeman base. Finding the enemy who had murdered Bowie and Prim would have to wait.

"You're always so sure that everything will go well for you," Kevin said. "That's a great belief, Sabrina. That means you won't ever give up. You're hopeful. And hope was extremely important to Theo Majestic."

People had entrusted Kevin to protect Sabrina. He had slain Freemans, but he hadn't killed her parents' slayer. Kevin had taken her to where she had needed to be. They had escaped Soy, but her parents hadn't.

Kevin's failure to kill one Freeman had caused his friends' deaths.

"I hope he hasn't killed the Freeman who murdered my parents," Sabrina said. "Because I have to get rid of that Freeman. It needs to be me. My parents were good, and that Freeman killed them. I loved them."

"And they loved you," Kevin said. "But I'm sure you already know that. Your father was a great person, and so was your mother. I know you'll do your best to kill the Freeman who killed them. They really do deserve to be avenged, and I know how badly you want to deliver justice. Killing the Freeman who murdered your parents will bring that. And getting rid of his leader will bring justice, too. Lock Tannis started the Invasion. What happened to your parents isn't just that Freeman warrior's fault. It's Lock's fault, too. So much is his fault."

Kevin couldn't walk through the halls within the Soynite royal palace. He couldn't see Bowie or Prim playing with Sabrina. Neither could he talk to her as Soy's warm wind brushed his face.

They had gone to Earth, but they might return to their home planet.

"Life on Soy was great," Kevin said. "But the Freemans came, and we both know what they did to our planet. We know what Lock made them do. They supported him back then, and they still do. The Freemans don't fight for us."

"They will when I kill Lock," Sabrina said. "I'll get rid of him one day, and all the other Soynites will appreciate me. Because I'm going to kill the person who almost destroyed our race. The Freemans will appreciate me for it, too. They will love whoever kills their leader. They're ridiculous, but I want them to be ridiculous people who will kneel for me. They respect Lock Tannis, and they love him. But I want them to love me. And I know they will."

Kevin would rather live with an optimistic Soynite than one who believed they would never kill Lock. Even if Sabrina didn't think she would become the next Freeman leader, Kevin would protect her anyway.

"Whatever happens, I want you to know that there are already people who love you," he said. "And they're not Freemans."

Sabrina nodded. "One of those people who love me is a hero."

A hero wouldn't have failed to save a girl's parents during Soy's invasion.

"Whoever kills Lock will be a hero," Kevin said. "That's something I do know."

Gunshots erupted from the television. Sabrina kept her head against Kevin. Swords didn't clash in the living room. On a distant planet, one Kevin and Sabrina might journey to, Lock had killed Vice Reaper with a sword.

"I know that, too," Sabrina said. "And if I kill him, all the Soynites who died during the Invasion will be avenged. Like my parents. I really wish they were here, and I wish I had saved them."

Sabrina had been a young girl when a Freeman shot and killed her parents. If Kevin had turned that warrior into smoke, maybe Bowie and Prim would've escaped their doomed planet. Like their daughter had done.

"Kill Lock for them," Kevin said. "Kill him for every Soynite who died when the Freemans attacked our planet. Your parents are gone, Sabrina. But you're not. It's not too late for you to become that hero I mentioned."

"The hero who will kill Lock Tannis."

Free's former leaders had never reached Lock's age. As a teenager, he had slain Vice. That had happened over a billion years ago.

No Freeman knew the names of Lock's parents. Neither did Kevin.

"The Freemans will see Lock's killer as a great person," Kevin said. "The Soynites will, too. As bad as the Freemans are, they will kneel for one of our people, if that person kills Lock. His people value strength. He killed their previous leader, and they love him for it. The Freemans are terrible, but it's a good thing that it's possible for a Soynite to lead them. I'm not exempt from becoming a future leader of Free. You aren't, either. One of us needs to kill Lock. A deadly warrior, that's what the Freemans want as their ruler. That deadly warrior might be in this home, or maybe someone outside this mansion will kill Lock. We can only hope that the next leader of the Freemans will be a Soynite."

Enough Freemans had ruled Free, and Lock had been in power for too long. Bowie and Prim had gone unavenged for too long.

Sabrina ran her fingers through her hair.

"Whatever happens, I'll keep being brave," she said. "Just like you are. The Freemans want a brave and deadly warrior to lead them, and I will give them that. I want to give them that. I would love to hear them call me Great Leader."

The title Great Leader had never been pinned on Sabrina Sam, but it might.

She stood.

"And I would love to see my parents again," she said. "I still think about them. It's hard for me not to, especially when I know that I haven't killed the Freeman who killed them."

Sabrina took several steps forward.

She had referred to Kevin as a hero, but a true Soynite hero would've saved Bowie and Prim. Kevin didn't deserve the title Sabrina had given him.

"My parents couldn't escape Soy with us, but I think they would've survived if that Freeman hadn't killed them," she said. "He's probably still alive, but he doesn't deserve to be."

"No, he doesn't," Kevin said. "You do, though."

She turned to him. "I know."

Tears came to her eyes. No amount of crying would resurrect her parents, a man and a woman who had been murdered years ago. Noise emerged from the television, indifferent to Sabrina and her issues. But Kevin would never be the living-room television.

"Come here," Kevin said.

He opened his arms. Sabrina embraced him, and he hugged her back. He had lost Bowie and Prim, but he hadn't lost their daughter.

"We survived Soy's invasion," Kevin said. "Your parents didn't, but you have to be brave for them. And you have to be brave for all the Soynites who were murdered by the Freemans. We can practically say they were murdered by Lock Tannis. That Freeman back on Soy killed your father and mother. So did Lock. What happened to your parents will never be your fault."

The hug ended.

"Lock is a pale moron," Sabrina said. "So is the Freeman who killed my parents. But I'm going to kill that murderer, and I'm going to kill Lock, too. They will have to deal with a deadly warrior. Me."

Kevin nodded. "I really hope you keep your confidence, Sabrina. People need confident leaders."

On Soy, warm wind had touched Kevin's blond hair. Red lasers had rushed through the air. Freemans had fired them. If Lock hadn't slain Vice, their people might have never launched a global attack on Soy. Or maybe Vice would've made the Freemans attack the planet if he had survived the duel.

Vice had lost his life. The Freemans had gained respect for Lock, and too many innocent Soynites had died because of that. No one could change the past. But Kevin remained near Sabrina, and he was as alive as she was.

"Our people need me," Sabrina said. "And I need you."

Kevin smiled before kissing Sabrina's cheek. "I love you, baby."

"I love you, too."

As the television's glowing screen showed a car chase, Sabrina wiped away her tears. Kevin didn't cry, but he had spent years loving Theo Majestic's wife.