Author's Note: The sequel to "From the Void", this story is incomplete and
I am not sure I will ever get back to it.
"Heart of the Unknown" Part 1
The world went black. Alec's stomach clenched in terror and he heard the frantic pounding of his heart in the oppressive silence. Was he dead? Suddenly the light was back and he was roughly thrown around the cockpit of his e-frame when it slammed into the ground and rolled twice before coming to a stop laying on its back. He laid there for a moment, staring dazedly at the ceiling thru the cracked glass of the windshield, before calming his jangled nerves enough to engage the cockpit release. Air hissed out as the cockpit cycled the pressurized air out. Belatedly Alec glanced at the atmospheric readings. Fortunately they indicated the atmosphere to be passably breathable. His damaged hatch stuck after opening about an inch. Alec checked the status menus then queried the computer to see if he could possibly fix the malfunction himself. He cursed softly when it came back with a negative reply. Two e-frames in the span of two weeks. It had to be some kind of new record. He hadn't been that hard on his frames during the entire three years of the war. A terse mental command disengaged the cyber-link before he reached up to pull the manual emergency cockpit release. A second passed and nothing happened. Alec scowled in disgust. He was basically trapped in his e-frame. Could anything else go wrong? Alec fought down his rising panic and tried to slow his rapid breathing. Typhonus's face flashed in front of his eyes. He closed his eyes and reminded himself that Typhonus was dead and couldn't hurt him again. The claustrophobic feeling didn't go away. He practically punched the comm- link. "Maggie?! J.T.?! " he called. All he was rewarded with was static and sparks. Alec swallowed his fear and settled back against the padding. He chided himself for being ridiculous. He slapped out a smoldering spark on his arm while he contemplated what to do next. Years of war-honed instincts took over. He was an easy target laying there in the middle of the floor. Anyone who came by could take him easy because all of his frames defenses were down. He didn't know where he was but he wanted to live long enough to find out. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Alec placed both feet solidly against the glass and pushed. The spiderweb of cracks in the windshield spread even farther with audible pops and crackles. Alec relaxed for a second before squeezing his eyes tightly closed and covering them with his arms. Again he slammed his feet into the windshield and, with a final groan of protest, it shattered. Shards of broken glass rained down into the cockpit. He waited a moment before cautiously lifting his arms. The cockpit air was replaced with the sterile, recycled air from outside. Alec took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before carefully brushing fallen glass from his face. He laid quietly, his ears straining to catch any sound indicating he'd been discovered. Hearing none, he cautiously pulled himself from what was left of his frame, mindful of the jagged edges of glass that still clung to where the windshield had been moments before. He brushed the glass from his clothes and shook his head to dislodge the shards from his hair. With both feet safely on the floor, Alec dared a look around him. His jaw fell open slowly as he turned around in a full circle. It was amazing. From what he could tell, the ceiling, walls, and floor were all made of the same smooth, almost seamless material. On closer inspection, it proved to be like no other substance he'd ever seen before. It was solid yet it seemed to give beneath his hands. It also seemed to give off a faint luminescent light from deep within itself that looked totally natural. "Fascinating." Alec murmured to himself. He reached out and placed his palm against the wall and was surprised to find it not cool but warm to the touch. He pulled his hand away hastily. There was no doubt in his mind that he was aboard one of the alien ships. The only question left in his mind was were these new beings friendly? Alec shook his head, reminding himself that every moment he dawdled brought him closer to being detected and he didn't want to find out the beings temperaments the hard way... through experience. He forced himself to turn back to his frame. A wave of nausea rippled thru him, catching him unaware and driving him to his knees. Alec groaned in agony as pain slashed thru his head, pushing him almost to the brink of unconsciousness. His vision went blurry and for a second all he saw were vague shadows dancing before his eyes then it cleared and he was staring at the floor of the hallway. He hadn't moved at all. He was still kneeling on the ground, one arm bracing himself against the floor, the other wrapped around his stomach. Alec drew a shaky breath and straightened. The sick feeling had vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. he didn't know what had happened to him but he hoped it only had to do with something in the air. He couldn't afford to be ill until he at least found out what had happened to Chaos. He unsheathed his knife and used it to pry a piece of panel off of his e- frame. It popped off easier than he expected and clattered to the floor before he could catch it. Alec's head snapped up and he glanced up and down the hall before setting to work. He buried his hands in the wires until he found the back-up battery cable and tugged it out to where he could see it. It was a black, inch thick bundle of wires used to run the life support systems in case the fusion pack was out of commission. If he could wire it into the emergency beacon, it might power it up enough to reach Able Squad or at least keep it transmitting until someone picked it up. Even as he formed his plan he had stripped the outer casing off with his knife blade and was seperating the different wires inside. Every now and then he would look up warily before going to work again. After locating the main power wire and cutting it, he dug in the wires again until he located the beacon wire. It took less than a minute for Alec to cut, strip, and splice the two wires together. He held his breath and prayed as he reached into the cockpit and turned the emergency beacon on. A tense second passed before the reassuring beep indicated it was running. Alec released his pent up breath in relief. ~Thank you, Maggie, for making sure we all knew our frames in and out.~ He stood slowly and looked both ways. Which way to go? The ship was just to tempting to even consider staying put. After a moment of deliberation, Alec moved off down the passageway. His footsteps were muffled by the very material of the floor. Behind him he left his abandoned frame, still faithfully transmitting it's emergency signal.
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"You can't be serious!" "Lieutenant, that was an order." J.T. replied. "But," Maggie protested, "we can't just leave. We have to help Alec!" There were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the squad. J.T. shot them a silencing look. "Maggie, we can't attack those ships. Alec is on one of them and the people of Chaos. We don't even know what kind of defense they have. There are only seven of us. It would be suicide." he reminded her. "If we wait for the Damocles to arrive with its troops we'll have a better chance." His voice softened. "Don't worry. We won't abandon him." Not this time. She looked torn but, with a final glance at the ships in the distance, she reluctantly nodded and moved toward the waiting hull of the Remington. J.T.'s gaze flickered to the emergency beacon pulsing on the display. As much as he longed to take after Kaz or Bronski and go after Alec with guns blazing, he was a leader first and a friend second. He had to think of the safety of the entire squad over that of a single person. He looked at the blip another second before turning the sensor off and bringing up the rear of the squad.
So. What do you all think about the first part of the second chapter? Be honest. Sorry it took so long but I just graduated and now I'm looking for a job. Ugh. :) I have my own e-mail now so send all death threats to facade98@yahoo.com , K? Thanx
*Facade*.
"Heart of the Unknown" Part 1
The world went black. Alec's stomach clenched in terror and he heard the frantic pounding of his heart in the oppressive silence. Was he dead? Suddenly the light was back and he was roughly thrown around the cockpit of his e-frame when it slammed into the ground and rolled twice before coming to a stop laying on its back. He laid there for a moment, staring dazedly at the ceiling thru the cracked glass of the windshield, before calming his jangled nerves enough to engage the cockpit release. Air hissed out as the cockpit cycled the pressurized air out. Belatedly Alec glanced at the atmospheric readings. Fortunately they indicated the atmosphere to be passably breathable. His damaged hatch stuck after opening about an inch. Alec checked the status menus then queried the computer to see if he could possibly fix the malfunction himself. He cursed softly when it came back with a negative reply. Two e-frames in the span of two weeks. It had to be some kind of new record. He hadn't been that hard on his frames during the entire three years of the war. A terse mental command disengaged the cyber-link before he reached up to pull the manual emergency cockpit release. A second passed and nothing happened. Alec scowled in disgust. He was basically trapped in his e-frame. Could anything else go wrong? Alec fought down his rising panic and tried to slow his rapid breathing. Typhonus's face flashed in front of his eyes. He closed his eyes and reminded himself that Typhonus was dead and couldn't hurt him again. The claustrophobic feeling didn't go away. He practically punched the comm- link. "Maggie?! J.T.?! " he called. All he was rewarded with was static and sparks. Alec swallowed his fear and settled back against the padding. He chided himself for being ridiculous. He slapped out a smoldering spark on his arm while he contemplated what to do next. Years of war-honed instincts took over. He was an easy target laying there in the middle of the floor. Anyone who came by could take him easy because all of his frames defenses were down. He didn't know where he was but he wanted to live long enough to find out. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Alec placed both feet solidly against the glass and pushed. The spiderweb of cracks in the windshield spread even farther with audible pops and crackles. Alec relaxed for a second before squeezing his eyes tightly closed and covering them with his arms. Again he slammed his feet into the windshield and, with a final groan of protest, it shattered. Shards of broken glass rained down into the cockpit. He waited a moment before cautiously lifting his arms. The cockpit air was replaced with the sterile, recycled air from outside. Alec took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before carefully brushing fallen glass from his face. He laid quietly, his ears straining to catch any sound indicating he'd been discovered. Hearing none, he cautiously pulled himself from what was left of his frame, mindful of the jagged edges of glass that still clung to where the windshield had been moments before. He brushed the glass from his clothes and shook his head to dislodge the shards from his hair. With both feet safely on the floor, Alec dared a look around him. His jaw fell open slowly as he turned around in a full circle. It was amazing. From what he could tell, the ceiling, walls, and floor were all made of the same smooth, almost seamless material. On closer inspection, it proved to be like no other substance he'd ever seen before. It was solid yet it seemed to give beneath his hands. It also seemed to give off a faint luminescent light from deep within itself that looked totally natural. "Fascinating." Alec murmured to himself. He reached out and placed his palm against the wall and was surprised to find it not cool but warm to the touch. He pulled his hand away hastily. There was no doubt in his mind that he was aboard one of the alien ships. The only question left in his mind was were these new beings friendly? Alec shook his head, reminding himself that every moment he dawdled brought him closer to being detected and he didn't want to find out the beings temperaments the hard way... through experience. He forced himself to turn back to his frame. A wave of nausea rippled thru him, catching him unaware and driving him to his knees. Alec groaned in agony as pain slashed thru his head, pushing him almost to the brink of unconsciousness. His vision went blurry and for a second all he saw were vague shadows dancing before his eyes then it cleared and he was staring at the floor of the hallway. He hadn't moved at all. He was still kneeling on the ground, one arm bracing himself against the floor, the other wrapped around his stomach. Alec drew a shaky breath and straightened. The sick feeling had vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. he didn't know what had happened to him but he hoped it only had to do with something in the air. He couldn't afford to be ill until he at least found out what had happened to Chaos. He unsheathed his knife and used it to pry a piece of panel off of his e- frame. It popped off easier than he expected and clattered to the floor before he could catch it. Alec's head snapped up and he glanced up and down the hall before setting to work. He buried his hands in the wires until he found the back-up battery cable and tugged it out to where he could see it. It was a black, inch thick bundle of wires used to run the life support systems in case the fusion pack was out of commission. If he could wire it into the emergency beacon, it might power it up enough to reach Able Squad or at least keep it transmitting until someone picked it up. Even as he formed his plan he had stripped the outer casing off with his knife blade and was seperating the different wires inside. Every now and then he would look up warily before going to work again. After locating the main power wire and cutting it, he dug in the wires again until he located the beacon wire. It took less than a minute for Alec to cut, strip, and splice the two wires together. He held his breath and prayed as he reached into the cockpit and turned the emergency beacon on. A tense second passed before the reassuring beep indicated it was running. Alec released his pent up breath in relief. ~Thank you, Maggie, for making sure we all knew our frames in and out.~ He stood slowly and looked both ways. Which way to go? The ship was just to tempting to even consider staying put. After a moment of deliberation, Alec moved off down the passageway. His footsteps were muffled by the very material of the floor. Behind him he left his abandoned frame, still faithfully transmitting it's emergency signal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------
"You can't be serious!" "Lieutenant, that was an order." J.T. replied. "But," Maggie protested, "we can't just leave. We have to help Alec!" There were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the squad. J.T. shot them a silencing look. "Maggie, we can't attack those ships. Alec is on one of them and the people of Chaos. We don't even know what kind of defense they have. There are only seven of us. It would be suicide." he reminded her. "If we wait for the Damocles to arrive with its troops we'll have a better chance." His voice softened. "Don't worry. We won't abandon him." Not this time. She looked torn but, with a final glance at the ships in the distance, she reluctantly nodded and moved toward the waiting hull of the Remington. J.T.'s gaze flickered to the emergency beacon pulsing on the display. As much as he longed to take after Kaz or Bronski and go after Alec with guns blazing, he was a leader first and a friend second. He had to think of the safety of the entire squad over that of a single person. He looked at the blip another second before turning the sensor off and bringing up the rear of the squad.
So. What do you all think about the first part of the second chapter? Be honest. Sorry it took so long but I just graduated and now I'm looking for a job. Ugh. :) I have my own e-mail now so send all death threats to facade98@yahoo.com , K? Thanx
*Facade*.