Secret Meanings

A friend once told me that every book has a message built into it, even if the author wasn't consciously aware of it while writing.

I've been picking apart Mind & Machine trying to figure out what part of it I need to work on. I was developing a scene where Commander gets interrogated and blacks out. In his blackouts, he finds Kathryn and she starts questioning his loyalties--he starts his crusade trying to rescue her, after all.

Now, Commander's nuts about Kathryn. He can't do a damn thing about it. All he can do is the traditional suffer in silence. During his quest, he does find a distraction in Sandra Bright. So he becomes torn--does Commander renounce his feelings for Kathryn or does he dodge his promise to find Bright again once the battle is done?

Commander's quest is outwardly a big battle. The real nature of the beast is that he has to fight his inner demons and contemplate the question, "What do you do when you can never tell someone you love them?"

I know I've discussed my intermittent battles with unrequited love in the past. My past history is a big influence on Commander, so I figure I'd put my past misery to work for me.