"Are you sure Reaper?" Naktura asked for about the millionth time.

Reaper gave a big sigh. "Yeah I'm sure."

"Shit I'll go." Duke replied, getting out his game.

Naktura smiled, and shook her head. "Nah it's okay Duke. Dani what time are the transporter's coming to pick us up?"

"Should be here any minute." Dani replied, folding her clothes, and putting them in her duffle bag.

"The goddamn transporters are already five minutes late." Portman was looking at his watch, walking back and forth.

"Five minutes, oh well." Mac commented getting ready to throw an orange at Naktura.

"Don't you think about it Mac."

Of course he was going to barely throw it, not nearly as hard as she thought he would.

"Jesus Christ!" Portman yelled in frustration. Goat looked up and shot a glare at him.

Naktura walked over to Goat. "Whatcha doing?"

"My prayers. I just finished them."

Dani and 'Tura looked at each as they heard footsteps approaching.

It was Sarge. Dani and 'Tura exchanged another look. They both knew this could mean nothing good.

"Listen up," Sarge commanded, waiting until everyone was looking at him. "Leave is cancelled."

"I don't believe this." Duke mumbled as he stood up.

Goat stood up too and turned off his radio. He didn't look upset at all. But the other guys were another matter.

"Shit!" Duke exclaimed.

"You got a problem with that Duke?" Sarge challenged him.

"Who me?" Duke pretended to sound surprised. "Hell no. I love my job."

Sarge stared at him for a moment.

"What's up Sarge?" Destroyer spoke up, curious about this last minute change of plans.

"We got us a game." He replied, sounding very pleased. "So go suit up everyone."

Dani looked over at 'Tura. "Guess OUR game time is going to have to wait."

'Tura grinned back at her, "I hope it's something good this time and not just some simple bug hunt."

Dani laughed as she followed 'Tura up the stairs. A "bug hunt" was their slang for missions involving alleged alien life forms. Almost every time they were called in for one of those it turned out to be a rat or someone's pet. They both knew the only alien life forms ever discovered were the size of bacteria.

'Tura glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Sarge stop Reaper from following them. Sarge was shaking his head. 'Tura wanted to know what was going on, but had no excuse to stick around. They needed to suit up quickly so that Portman would not get another excuse to complain about how "the girls" always took longer than the guys to get their gear on. It had only happened once, but he whined about it like it happened all the time. One of these days she was going to pop him in the mouth when no-one was looking.

As they walked up the stairs, Portman was making fun of Kid. "Kid, don't forget your rattle!"

"Ahh, shut up, Portman" Mac yelled, shoving Ports up the stairs. Mac, and him would joke around, and pick on each other. They could never get pissed off at each other.

When they went to get ready, the girls had a different dressing area. Getting their outfits on, 'Tura commented on something that was bugging her. "I wonder why Sarge stopped Reaper from coming."

"I don't know. I hope he comes."

Naktura giggled. "Yeah you would. Hey do you think Duke has a thing for me? He seems to be hitting on me. But I'm not totally sure."

"Naktura, all the guys are hitting on us. We're the only girls."

"You ladies done yet?" Duke asked, yelling from one end of the room to the other. They had strict rules that the guys couldn't go on the girl's side of the room until they were done.

"Uhh...Yeah hold on a second." Dani yelled. "Okay done!"

"Took y'all long enough!" Portman sneered.

Tura really wanted to pop him in his mouth, everyone knew that too. She raised her fist, but Goat grabbed it. "Calm down 'Tura!"

They left the locker room and saw that Sarge was already dressed and ready to go. The walked outside, and boarded the helicopter.

Dani immediately noticed that Reaper was not with them. She frowned, concerned about this. While it was true she had a crush on him, his absence worried her for other reasons. When it came to people you could count on when the going got tough Dani counted on very few, but Reaper was at the top of her list. He was the best man to have around in a tight spot as far as she was concerned. While Sarge was a top-notch soldier too, he was a "by the book" kind of man, whereas Reaper would do whatever it took to get a job done and keep the people around him safe. Dani had a bad feeling about this mission and his absence only made her feel worse.

Dani glanced over at 'Tura as she got her weapon down - a shotgun. Nobody could handle a shotgun as effectively as she could. It was not typically used as a primary weapon, but 'Tura could do almost as much damage with it as Destroyer could with his chain gun. 'Tura didn't look worried at all. She was tough as any guy on the team and far smarter too. 'Tura glaced over at her and grinned.

"Lock and load baby," 'Tura laughed as she sat down next to Duke, who laughed with her.

Dani reached up and unfastened her weapon of choice - the heavy-duty machine gun. While she carried a shotgun for back up, she always felt good picking up the solid feel of the machine gun. Then she looked around. The only open seats were across from Sarge and next to Portman. There was no way she was sitting that close to Sarge. It wasn't that she didn't like him, but those eyes of his held an intensity that she didn't want to look at all the way to the Ark. Still, the other option out right sucked. She looked at Portman who grinned back at her and wiggled his eyebrows lecherously. He was about
to make some rude comment when Destroyer, seeing her situation, slammed his body against Portman's, sending him into the first seat.

"Hey!" Portman exclaimed, outraged that Destroyer had spoiled his fun.

"Gotta seat right hear for you chickie." Destroyer smiled at her, indicating the seat he had just been in.

Dani laughed and moved to sit down next to him. "Des, you're a life saver."

Naktura was sitting by Duke, and Goat she was in the middle. Which made her happy, Duke, and Goat were her two favorite guys. But that still meant she was close to good old Portman.

"You think you can handle that, baby?" Duke asked, looking at her weapon.

"Are you actually trying to imply that I'm weaker then you? Because I'll assure you that I'm not."

Dani giggled, it was funny when 'Tura tried to show off, because she did a poor job of it.

After 30 seconds of silence Naktura decided to break it.

"So Ports..."

"Yea?"

"Uhh... I got nothing." She turned to kid, and waved at him. "Howdy Kid. You nervous?"

"Hell yeah. We don't know what this mission is about. Or what the enemy is. Heck, we could DIE."

That brought 'Tura hyperness level way down. "I didn't think of that."

Sarge reached out to shut the door, but then let someone pass by him. It was Reaper.

"You coming with?"

"Hell yeah. You guys will screw up some way, that's why I'm here." That brought a smile to everyone's face, even Kid's. Reaper went to get his gun then sat across from Sarge.

Naktura was shaking, but no one could tell if that was good or bad.

"'Tura why are you shaking?" Destroyer asked, noticing she couldn't sit still.

"I had Pepsi before we left, and brought some with me. I'm excited, and nervous."

"Wimp!" Portman mumbled.

"Excuse you!" Naktura yelled.

This was how a lot of missions began, Portman and Naktura would bicker almost the whole way.

"This is why we shouldn't have females come with. They get to scared."

"Then you shouldn't be on the chopper, Ports. Cause you look just like an ugly girl."

"Yea, well, you would know what an ugly girl looks like wouldn't you 'Tura?" Portman shot back. "I'll bet you act like a man cause you can't get one in your bed."

Suddenly Reaper spoke up "Don't give me an excuse Portman," He was checking his weapon, but glanced up to give Portman a threatening look. "No-one here will miss you."

Portman knew Reaper well enough to know not to mess with him. He ground his teeth together. Hating how the guys always stood up for the women, but never included him in "guy" things. Pouting, he got his headphones out.

Sarge had had enough of the bickering. He stood up and walked to the back of the chopper. "Listen up. UAC received an emergency message from a Dr. Carmack on Olduvia."

Goat was clearly not pleased to find out where they were going, "Olduvia..."

Everyone but Portman watched as Sarge played the message. Dani's blood ran cold as she watched something in the background attempting to tear through the door behind the scientist. What were they getting themselves into? Unconsciously she checked to make sure she had every available pocket full of extra ammo. She was pretty sure she was going to need it.

After the message was done playing, Sarge sat back down and stayed quiet for a few minutes. If Portman, and Naktura weren't bickering, it was usually quiet. Which could be a good or a bad thing. 'Tura took out a long knife and examined it. She got looks from a lot of the guys, and Dani. Maybe she could throw it at Portman. No one here would miss him, after all. But she wasn't that cruel.

'Tura took out her MP3 player, and played a Linkin Park song. Needing to calm down, she leaned back, and placed her head on the shelf behind her. She closed her eyes for a minute, then opened them, and saw Mac looking at her. Usually Mac would not even interact with 'Tura.

"How long has it been?" Sarge asked quietly.

Reaper looked down at the ground, trying not to show too much emotion. "Ten years."

"You sure she's even still up there?"

"Yeah." He sighed. While he hadn't talked to her for a long time he always knew where she was.

Down at the other end of the chopper Naktura examined her nails. She was thinking of painting them, it was so quiet, and no one would talk. She tried a few times to get people to talk, but usually people mumbled something, or ignored her. She turned to Mac. "What do you think Mac, what color for my nails?"

"Uhh.."

"Black or red?"

"Black." Mac smiled, then turned away.

"Red it is then." She took out a small bottle of nail polish, and tried to get it on her nails.

"Naktura. Why did you ask Mac?" Kid asked, feeling the awkwardness of the silence.

She shrugged. "That's a good question. One day I will have an answer for you. But not today." She smiled and then finished the rest of her nails. 'Tura examined her painted nails, the color looked to be a blood red color.

"Look alive people!" Sarge called out, just after he was notified by the pilots that they were about to land. "Game time."

Everyone checked their weapons one last time. The landing was a bit rough, but they barely noticed. Each of them was already thinking about the mission ahead of them. Reaper was the first off the chopper, followed by Portman, Mac, Duke, 'Tura, Goat, Destroyer, Dani, Kid and finally Sarge. After everyone was off they all began moving forward. Sarge went to the head of the "V" formation. As they approached the edge of the lighted landing zone Sarge held up his arm and told everyone to stop. They all watched as a structure came out of the ground. Seconds later it opened up to allow an elevator to appear. As the elevator doors opened up Sarge moved forward. Everyone started to follow. Everyone but Kid. Dani started to walk forward too, but he blocked her way. She looked at him and saw the fear, but she wasn't mad, only annoyed. She remembered how intimidated she was on her first mission. Still, she knew Sarge wasn't going to be happy if they fell behind. She nudged the Kid with the butt of her gun and it broke the spell. He hurried forward and she followed. Reaper and Portman were providing cover as they got on the elevator. As she passed Reaper she made eye contact with him and rolled her eyes indicating the Kid. But Reaper's thoughts were clearly elsewhere. He barely saw her.

As expected the Sarge berated the Kid for lagging behind. He looked uncomfortable, but nodded his understanding.

Dani couldn't help but wonder what was on Reaper's mind. She looked over at 'Tura, but 'Tura also looked like her thoughts were somewhere else. Dani looked straight ahead as the elevator began to go down. She had never gone through the Ark before, but she had heard stories. She hoped she didn't embarrass herself and get sick on the other end.

As they stood in the elevator, there was lovely music. "What the fuck is this shit?" Portman asked.

"SHHHH! It's calming music." Naktura shushed him. As they got out of the elevator, most of them wished they were back in there listening to the music. As they walked through a big, open room, people were mumbling to each other.

"What the fuck is this?"

"Where are we?"

"This is our mission?"