1859 hours, April 4, 2557 (Military Calendar/)
Planet Maige"Who are they?"
"They look like Spartans."
"I know they're Spartans. I want to know who they are."
"Well maybe I didn't answer because I don't know."
Spark opened her eyes a little and sat up bolt right, pain arcing up her back. She winced at the searing heat as her vision cleared. They were in some sort of forest she guessed; oh great, more bugs, more cover for probable enemies. She could see Derek a few yards away, and there was the Pelican, but there were two other figures that she couldn't make out. She stood up slowly and she could hear them murmuring.
"So what do we do with them? Chairman Edwards probably doesn't want them."
"Don't ask me. I say we see what they know and just dump 'em somewhere."
"That's not nice."
"Who cares about nice? I don't and I know you don't."
Spark sat up, a little more focused, except she couldn't hear out of her left ear. One of the figures froze, turned a little, and looked at Spark out of the corner of their eye, but Spark couldn't tell. They both flung to face her and one ran, lunging at Spark. She jumped back and took off. One of the figures was about to follow, but the other stopped them. "That doesn't matter now. We need to bring the others back to the facility." The two figures turned to Derek and the other passengers of the Pelican and started to gather them up.
Spark kept running. She wasn't sure if they were following, where she was, or what had happened. She just knew if they were following her and she stopped, she probably would've been in a boatload of trouble. She ran and slid down a slope, then stopped when she was in the safety of the bushes at the bottom of the hill. She turned and froze in place, breathing hard, trying to concentrate at the top of the slope. She waited a few moments, and when she was sure no one had followed her, she started going again, but she stopped. What about the others? She turned and ran back up the slope towards the crash site. When she got there, everyone was gone; Derek was missing, and supplies lay scattered around the Pelican. Looks like they searched the ship. She walked slowly until she heard a slight crunch come from under her foot. She lifted it up and saw an ammo case. She picked it up and inspected it. Spent, she thought. She dropped it on the ground and saw a pair of footprints heading towards the mountain. She nodded, decided that was the direction, and headed up the slope.
