Sometime after midnight the storm passed, dawn was a few hours away, when the silence of the night woke Felina. She lay still getting her bearings in the dark tent. A warm body and breathing in her ear let her know Steele had turned in the night and was now spooning her back. She grimaced in distaste but it really wasn't his fault, the tent was tighter than a sardine can.
Sighing, she wriggled her body a bit to try and wake him. This only made him moan and drape an arm around her waist. Something hard prodded her lower back. She flushed red!
'Alright that does it. It's natural for a male but no one says I have to put up with it.' She snarled to herself.
She rammed an elbow into his chest. He cried out in shocked surprise, rolled on top of her, pinned her arms, while his knees came down between her legs then hooked his feet over her ankles pinning her completely. He'd done this all on autopilot.
For several breathless seconds all that was heard was harsh breathing. Felina was stunned. She'd always thought of Steele as an incompetent and clumsy nitwit but he had managed to effectively take control while barely awake. She was impressed!
"What the hell, Felina?!" He complained in pained annoyance.
"Hey! I was just trying to wake you up. You were the one pawing me in your sleep. " She said flatly.
"Oh! Sorry!" He blushed bright red and quickly got off her, grateful she couldn't see his face.
"Good reflexes you have there, though." Felina said in reluctant admiration. "Anyway, I prefer you don't call me by my first name, that's not professional." She added tartly.
"Uhm, I apologize, Lieutenant. Well, since we're both awake, I guess we should see if we can find the Agracite Mines." He said quickly trying to smooth over the awkward moment.
"Good idea, sir." Felina popped open their shelter and looked around. Though still dark, the snow provided them some kind of light. "At least the storm has past."
"Good! We'd better inventory our equipment and see what we have." He said, pulling a small flashlight out and shielding the beam so that it only focused on their packs.
Felina closed the flap to their tent and went to their packs, pulling them close to Steele's light, she began to look through them.
"Well, we have food rations, ammunition, and a horizon scanner. Here's the binoculars that can detect heat and has night vision. At least we have this much left." She said in relief.
Steele opened his coat and took out the folder to see if there was a map in it. As luck would have it, there was. "Here's another piece of good luck. This shows the mine is two miles north of here. Let's pack up and get moving." He ordered briskly, folding up the map and tucking the important packet back in his coat
They quickly and efficiently packed up their camp and moved carefully out of the cleft, checking to make sure nothing was around before striking out north. They followed along the base of the mountain range they had sought shelter in, staying close to where the darker shadows lay preventing anyone from detecting them.
Felina pulled her hood closer to keep out the bitter cold and followed close on Steele's heels. They marched along at a good clip so that when the sun came out they had succeeded in reaching a small base nestled among the rocks which was acting as a windbreak, protecting it from the major storms that happened here regularly.
As they got closer, they were unhappy to find no apparent signs of life. In a clear space some yards from the base was a helipad with the Megakat City logos on it but no copter.
"Well, looks like we found the missing scientist's base." Steele said quietly. "Let's check it out. Weapons at the ready!" He ordered as he pulled his LX-18 pistol out of its holster under his coat.
Felina just nodded and pulled her weapon as well.
They proceeded cautiously up the rough path to the base. The gates to the fence around the place were suspiciously thrown open. Someone had either gone in or left in a hurry. Unfortunately, due to the storm, no footprints were left to know which it was. They reached the building without incident and without seeing anyone.
As they reached the heavy door leading into the main entrance, Steele gestured for Felina to wait.
"I'll go first! Cover me!" He said tensely.
"Roger!" Felina acknowledged softly moving to one side of the door with her pistol at the ready.
Steele pulled down on the heavy lever to the door and shoved it in. It moved smoothly. The door opened to a small entryway with a guard post, which was empty. He signaled her in.
She slipped in behind him and pulled the door closed behind her. Steele moved ahead to the interior door and opened it. Before them was a large area that apparently served as a meeting area for the inhabitants. There was a large screen TV in one corner with several couches surrounding it, a library was on one wall, laptops were placed on various tables, and a door that led to what turned out to be a small but efficient kitchen. Everything so far, looked normal...no signs of struggle, blood stains or death...perfectly innocent.
A simple door led to a hallway of closed rooms. With Felina following close behind, Steele checked each room. They were quarters for the scientists, support staff, and security. Again there was no sign of violence, nothing was disturbed beyond what a particular occupant's own state of cleanliness was.
Moving back to the main area they went through another door but this one was heavy like the front entrance. Opening it cautiously, they found the main work area. It was a large room filled with work benches, lab areas, etc. At the back wall of this was a huge doorway that led straight into the mine. Lights were still on and trailed into the mine and disappeared around a corner out of sight.
"This is too strange. Everything is in its place just as if they walked out for the day but never came back." Steele said uneasily.
"Yeah! I don't like it!" Felina said tightly still looking around.
"I think we should see if the communications still work and contact Enforcer Headquarters." Steele said moving back toward the main entrance where they had seen a communications area beside the guard post.
When they reached the entrance they heard a rumble of noise. They hurriedly went to the door and cautiously opened it a little. To their surprise, an enforcer chopper was making a landing.
Steele stepped out followed by Felina who closed the door. They walked down until they met the two heavily armed commandos that were getting off the large troop chopper.
Puzzled as to how they had located them, Steele asked, "How the hell did you find us?"
"There are tracking devices in your winter suits, sir. It was a precaution should the drop ship be lost." The commando said gruffly.
"So have you guys come to give us a paw in checking this place out?" Steele asked.
"No sir! This base has been quarantined. We are to take you back to headquarters." The commando said flatly.
"Quarantined? But there's no sign of any biological agents or chemicals around. Why is it being quarantined?" Steele demanded in confusion.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm not allowed to answer that. Please head to the chopper. A team is arriving to isolate the base. Excuse me sir, but you two haven't gone down into the mine have you?" The commando asked in concern.
"No, we just checked out the base proper. We didn't find a sign of the missing scientists." Steele said still a little puzzled why they were being pulled before they could investigate further.
"That's good sir. Now please board the chopper." The commando repeated.
Still frowning in confusion, he and Felina did as asked. Climbing aboard they got into their seats and strapped in. Steele glanced toward Felina and saw the same frustration on her face too. 'What the heck was going on?' He wondered.
Ah, there we go! The enforcers might be hiding somethin' from them huh? Well it's bound to get exiting either way now! Nothing like that to intensify the story. Please review if you want to spare some constructive criticism.
A thank you to- sk rulz!! For that inspiring review! As well as- Nicky4, yep I can agree with you there! I can't promise this next chap will be here so quickly either, but don't worry, it will happen! So enjoy the mystery and the romance that will be coming!!
