Chapter 2 – A Minor Problem and a Major Pain
Major Johnathan Reginald Casey, formerly of the 123rd Advanced Tactical Operations Agency of the Universal Union, and more currently a Major in the 12th Division of the Armed Forces Division of the United Peoples Resistance (or more commonly referred to as the UPR), was a solitary man. He had his quirks like any other person.
Some people got up in the morning and turned on the television. John Casey went for a ten mile run holding 200 lb weights over his head. Some people would sit down to a big breakfast and enjoy family time. John sucked down a cocktail of raw eggs and pepper sauce and read mission reports. Some people would chat with their families or check their email before heading off to their happy little job, in their happy little life.
John Casey cleaned his guns, and fought to obtain the freedom that was being taken away from everyone in the universe.
It hadn't always been that way. He had once been a happy younger man with a fiancé and a promising career in the Universal Union's elite army. But then there had been a civil war of unheard proportions as an unknown enemy split from their ranks equipped with unbelievable technology and power.
The short of the story was that the love his life, Ilsa, had been tragically killed in the final battle of the war, and even more importantly…
They had lost.
The Universal Union which had enjoyed unbridled peace was dissolved. In its wake stood a ruthless empire that ruled through oppression, and took advantage of every planet in its wake;
The Fulcrum Empire.
After the shame of surviving the war, John Casey had stolen the enemy fleet's fastest ship, and all the supplies that he could and had waged a one man war. Sure he had not been able to do much to damage the rapidly growing Empire, but interrupting supply chains and sabotaging installations were all feasible one man operations. For him the war would not be over until he was dead, or Fulcrum had been overthrown. Word of the Lone Wolf of Jaynestown, (Casey's home planet) spread throughout ports and space stations.
A year later, Casey had been contacted by the shattered shell that remained of the former Universal Union, the UPR, and took up arms with his fellow brothers and sisters. They were a small operation but they worked to expand their force while fighting back to overthrow the tyrannical empire. He had been with the movement ever since then.
It was actually because of the UPR that he found himself in the most backwater section of space he had ever been in. It was also because of his current assignment that he was cursing whatever gods existed, as he scrolled through holographic maps trying to find where in the universe he was. Always a stubborn man, it was hard for him to admit that he was currently drifting alone in space in his spaceship who he affectionately called Vic (after and old army friend who had died in the war), totally and completely lost.
A blinking light on the console in front of him barely gave him any notice before a red haired woman popped up on his holographic monitor. He immediately snapped to attention. "Major were you planning on making the rendezvous?" came the stern voice of UPR General Beckman.
"Sorry ma'am," was Casey's immediate response. "My navigation systems went down. I have successfully rebooted but I have not been able to determine my exact location as of yet," Casey explained to the General
"Never mind that Major," Beckman interrupted. "Your misfortune might have been the best news we have had since before the war." Beckman actually smiled as she relayed the information.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I'm not following," the major responded.
"Major, our long range scanners detected an energy signature when we were trying to locate your whereabouts. It matched the exact frequency that is thought to be attributed to the relic. This type of signature hasn't been detected in hundreds of years, and never with such intensity. We think it might have been activated," the general relayed.
Were Casey not a more seasoned veteran, his disbelief would have shown more on his face. "General I thought that the relic was just a fairy tale," Casey questioned.
"I assure you that I am having just as hard of a time believing in it as you are but Major, the reality is that I have a team of scientists telling me that this is the only explanation they can think of. Even more than that, there was still an unidentified surge from an unknown energy source a while ago that needs to be investigated, and it turns out your right in the area." Beckman's light demeanor became stern as her face turned into a scowl.
"I'm sure that I don't have to impress on you just how important this mission will be. Do I Major?"
"No ma'am," Casey replied enthusiastically. The General meant business and as a good soldier, he never disrespected orders.
"Good. Our people are uploading all our data on the energy source to your computer and an updated nav file. You should be all set." Casey felt relief at the knowledge that he would no longer be lost, but that soon gave way to focus as he started to mentally prepare for his assignment.
"Thank you ma'am." Casey gave the general a nod and flawless salute.
"I expect to hear an update from you soon. And Major, good hunting." Beckman's holographic screen disappeared leaving Casey standing at attention facing the wall. He immediately moved to the control console and accessed the location of the energy spike. It seemed that life would be getting a little more interesting.
Taking control of the ship, Casey throttle up the engine and set a course for his next assignment: A medium sized planet called Earth.
"So let me get this straight," Chuck said with disbelief. "This is probably the most important piece of technology in the universe." Chuck lifted up the cube that hung from his neck to emphasize his point. Sarah merely nodded in agreement. "And you are an alien from a distant planet that is supposed to protect whoever activated the cube?"
"Not just anyone Chuck," Sarah corrected. "The cube has existed for as long as anyone can remember. Countless people have been in contact with it throughout history, but no ones ever been able to activate it." A smile traced its way onto her face. "Well at least until you."
"Of course…" Chuck nodded unconvincingly. "That definitely makes sense."
"You don't believe me," Sarah stated, a hint of frustration seeping into her voice. They had moved inside to the couch after the initial confrontation while Sarah had relayed to Chuck his situation and her reason for being at his doorstep.
"Forgive me if I am having a hard time swallowing this whole thing," Chuck said putting his hands up in the air. "I mean, I guess I always believed that the universe was too big not to have any intelligent life out there, but I mean… I never thought that I would have an alien knocking on my front door."
Sarah furrowed her eyebrows in frustration. She had already spent hours explaining the situation to the man. She got that it was hard to understand, but really. He had been in the cave. He had seen what happened. Was it really that hard to accept?
"Not to mention, you don't have any tentacles or horns, and you don't need a spacesuit to survive in our atmosphere, or have gills. I mean, you look just like any other girl," Chuck babbled trying to fill the silence. Something clicked in his head as an idea played onto his face. "You don't have gills right?"
A glare in his direction silenced that thought process. "Alright, I'll take it as a no on the whole gill situation. I mean you were underwater in that stasis pool and obviously didn't have an air pack to swim out of the cave with. Not to mention if you were supposed to be protecting me where have you been the past month?"
"Chuck just because you haven't seen me up until this point doesn't mean I haven't been protecting you. After what happened the first time we met, I figured I'd wait for my body to regenerate before I came to you in the open. I figured you'd take it a lot better if ZOMBIE GIRL didn't come to greet you," Sarah explained. "Obviously I thought wrong."
Chuck flushed with embarrassment. She obviously had not let the whole "zombie girl" thing go yet. "Yeah I'm really sorry about that by the way. It was just a bit much you know," he apologized. His eyes lowered to the floor. "This whole thing is way too much," he said with a sigh.
Sarah looked at him sympathetically and put her hand on his. "Look Chuck I can understand where you're coming from. Really I can. I get how hard it is for you to accept all this but I really need you to. The fact of the matter is I have to protect you and am going to, and it'll be a lot easier if you're on board."
Chuck stared at the skin on skin contact, his flush gaining in intensity. Even despite the circumstances, it was not lost on him that a beautiful girl currently had her hand on his. He looked back up to her. "Sarah, I don't get why are you protecting me though. It's not as if I'm living a dangerous… " The creaking of the front door interrupted him.
"Oh shit, what time it is?" he blurted frantically. Chuck looked up to see the door start to open. He had lost track of time and now Ellie and Devin were back from their shift. They had only had to pull half duty that day as they had plans for that night. A panicked expression plastered its way on to Chuck's face as he looked around the room trying to find some excuse for Sarah's presence in the home.
And then his panic was gone.
Surprise was his initial reaction as he felt the soft contact on his lips. His eyes were wide with a million questions as the beautiful blond sitting next to him kissed him. When she opened her mouth and her tongue forced his mouth to part and let her in, he lost all semblance of thought and closed his eyes enjoying the moment.
Time stood still, the moment stretching out until it was the only thing that existed as the two kissed, her body coming on top of his. A high pitched squeal brought him back to reality and he let out a small grunt of disappointment as he and Sarah separated.
"Chuck, oh my god, oh my god," Ellie squeaked excitedly. Sarah gave him a bashful smile as they linked eyes sharing a look before turning to the newcomers. "Why didn't you tell me you were having someone over?" Ellie happily babbled as she ran into the room.
"Awesome bro," came Devon's approval as he followed at a much more managed pace behind his girlfriend.
"Uh.. yeah.. umm…." Chuck replied flustered by the entire situation. His mind was having a hard time functioning after the kiss the two had just shared.
Sarah stood up dragging a dumbfounded Chuck up off the couch with her. She turned to Ellie and flashed a million dollar smile. "Hi I'm Chuck's girlfriend Sarah," she said extending a hand out for a handshake. "You must be Ellie. Chuck's told me so much about you."
Ellie's eyes lit up even further than before at the news, her smile threatening to burst as she pushed Sarah's hand out of the way and hugged the girl. "It's so nice to meet you Sarah," Ellie said excitedly, as she continued to nearly strangle the blond enthusiastically.
Chuck brain finally caught up to the situation. 'Girlfriend?' the thought popped into his head as he made tried to make sense of what had just happened.
"Chuck," Ellie said menacingly as she separated from the girl, allowing oxygen to reenter Sarah's lungs. She turned her attention to her blindsided brother. "Why didn't you tell me that you had a girlfriend?" A hurt look started to form on her face. "I thought we told each other everything."
"I'm really sorry Ellie. It's actually my fault," Sarah interrupted saving Chuck. "I'm not that good with relationships and wanted to take things slow. I asked Chuck to keep things real low key to start off. I have a hard time putting myself out there, but this man is just too good not to make the effort," Sarah said, turning to Chuck to give him a smile.
"Oh that's alright," Ellie quickly reassured. "No worries at all. "
"Yeah sorry about that Ell," Chuck admitted awkwardly, his mind finally reaching at least walking speed.
"No problem little brother," Ellie said making her way over to him giving him a hug of his own. "All that matters now is that we got to meet her. And Sarah's right, you're a great guy Chuck."
"I agree with that," Devon voiced making his way into the conversation as he approached Sarah. He shook her hand with a smile. "Hi I'm Ellie's boyfriend Devon. It's awesome to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," Sarah replied giving the surgeon a firm handshake and smile.
"So you have to tell us all about you," Ellie said turning back to the couple with a happy smile on her face. "It's been years since Chuck's brought a girl home. How did you two meet?"
Chuck could feel another blush creep up his neck as he let loose a nervous cough at the embarrassing fact was relayed by his sister. So what if it had been a little while since he had had a girlfriend? And maybe he was a little embarrassed about the fact... The thought of whether the stasis pool could work for him crossed his mind. It seemed a better alternative at the moment to the current conversation. Not only did he have a beautiful alien protector that had just been spontaneously locking lips with him only moments before, but now apparently she was his girlfriend and his sister was in full on Ellie-joy mode.
Sarah and Chuck shared an awkward look not completely sure how to answer the question. "Well it was definitely an interesting meeting," Sarah started hesitantly.
"We were actually both scuba diving underwater… at a really cool ship wreck." Chuck hesitantly continued. He realized he sounded about as convincing as a Jeff talking about sobriety but he hoped he had sold it.
"I was there by myself and all of a sudden I saw another diver there," Sarah offered saving Chuck from further stumbling over his words. "It turned out to be Chuck. We kind of exchanged looks underwater and decided to explore together, and when we surfaced and actually talked we hit it off," Sarah offered.
"That's so romantic," Ellie sighed. "So Sarah where are you-"
"Babe, let's give them a little space," Devon intervened picking up on the looks that Chuck and Sarah were sharing. He walked behind Ellie encircling her in his arms. "Besides, you two are going to come out with us tonight right?"
"Umm, I really should probably go," Sarah started trying to come up with an excuse.
"Nonsense," Ellie beamed. "We were just going to drag Chuck off with us anyway so I don't see why we can't have a double date! We want to get to know Chuck's new girlfriend. Just let us get ready and we'll go out to dinner."
"Okay," Sarah agreed as the two doctors turned and made their way down the hall to their room to change. When they had finally left the room she turned to Chuck with an apologetic expression "Sorry about that but it was the first thing I could think of. And I figured the whole girlfriend thing would be a good cover for me protecting you."
Chuck mumbled a dazed, "S'Okay," as they shared a look.
An awkward silence fell in between them until Ellie's voice scolding Devin interrupted them. Sarah snapped back to attention, putting on a serious expression and grabbing Chuck's hand. "C'mon, let's go outside. We have to think up my life's story in about ten minutes."
Chuck just nodded, and allowed himself to be dragged out of the room. The only thought that made its way through the cloud of confusion in his head was the constant of echo of "What in the hell have I got myself into?"
A thunderous sound echoed throughout the sky as Casey guided his ship through the entry into Earth's atmosphere. Activating the cloaking device, he checked his heading once again. His trajectory pointed him landing very close to the initial location of the detected energy signature.
Casey checked his surroundings as the ground came ever closer. Luckily there was a large mass of water where he could easily stow his ship. The last thing he wanted was some backwater native accidentally running into his cloaked ship. The unwritten rule of all interstellar species with regards to those that had not achieved the ability to break the speed of light was that of strict non-intervention.
The impact with the water was lulled to a mild bump as the ship slowed to a hover and gently descended into the murky depths. "It's go time," Casey murmured to himself as he activated the ships autopilot. He felt the familiar lightheadedness of teleportation as he pressed a series of keys on the holographic control activating the teleportation module.
He surveyed the dark scenery around him as he rematerialized on the shore, scanning for any hostile contacts. He was in the yard of what looked to be a quaint wooden structure. Light poured through a window of the home spilling out into the darkness in front of him. He pulled out a small rectangular portable scanner and activated a search for traces of the energy signature of the relic.
Moving from the lawn to the driveway his eyes set on a vintage automobile with the words Crown Victoria indicating the make of the vehicle. A rare smile graced his face as the sensor locked onto a faint reading a half a click from his position. Accessing the menu of the scanner he pulled up schematics of the vehicle, and how to operate it.
"At least the yokels have a little style," he commented as he opened the unlocked door and entered the car. Following the instructions provided by his portable computer, he hotwired the car another grin forming on his face as the engine roared to life. In a split second, he had backed the car out of the driveway and headed towards the energy signature.
If he had been less focused on getting to the detected signature, he would have noticed a cloaked ship enter the atmosphere behind his, or the appearance of a figure materializing in the shadows.
Zarnow, a gun for hire of the Mercenaries Guild smiled to himself as he watched the car that had held Major Casey disappear down the road. He had little worry as to losing the man as he had locked onto the Major's energy signature. Imagine his luck. He had been escorting a smuggling ship through one of the backwater shipping routes when he had detected the presence of the highest current bounties ship.
"The Fulcrum Empire will pay a hefty reward for John Casey," he laughed to himself as he counted his fortune. Who would dream of running into one of the biggest bounties on an out of the way planet like Earth? He would capture the criminal and his stolen ship but first he would see what had brought the pride of the UPR to a backwater planet like Earth.
Perhaps the most surprising thing to Chuck was how well the night was actually going. Alexandria Bay (or as it was nicknamed, A-bay) was the commercial hub of the 1000 islands. Built on a giant hill, the town was full of quaint gift shops, restaurants, night clubs, marinas and all the necessary outlets for the thriving center of tourism in the region.
The group had walked through the town, Ellie showing Sarah all her favorite stores (as Sarah had revealed that she had never been to A-bay). Finally settling on a riverfront restaurant, the two couples had sat down to dinner as the sun hung low on the horizon, casting golden rays that reflected off the water. Chuck would have taken time to appreciate the sunset if not for the fact that he was too busy stealing glances at his 'girlfriend.'
Sarah had been much more than expected. He had been sure the outing would be an epic train wreck given the circumstances, but instead it felt surprisingly normal. Chuck barely knew the girl, but the more time they had spent walking the town, the more Chuck felt as if she fit perfectly into their group. She was charming, beautiful, considerate and not afraid to talk and express her opinions. Chuck had honestly never met a girl quite like Sarah Walker. 'Of course how well do I know her,' was the constant thought nagging in his mind.
He was becoming comfortable with the girls presence which was mildly upsetting. He knew that his guard should be up since he knew next to nothing about her, but he was beginning to lose the nervous edge that had been plaguing him since the blond showed up on his doorstep. In fact, he was potentially having a great time.
"So Sarah," Devon said as the waiting staff collected the empty dishes from the meal. "Let's turn this up, personal style."
"Yes I'm so excited to hear about you," Ellie agreed. Sarah stole a shy look at Chuck before looking back at the two.
"Well there's really not that much to tell," she said with a bashful laugh. "I'm originally from DC, and got laid off with the economy tanking so I took my severance package and came to the 1000 islands to find myself." Cool relief eased into Chuck as Sarah without hesitation relayed the cover story they had come up with.
"It's wonderful up here isn't it," Ellie agreed.
"Unbelievably so," Sarah nodded her head. "I'm really glad that everything happened this way actually. I looked at myself in the mirror one day back in DC and I didn't know who I was anymore. So when I lost my job, I figured I would stop pleasing other people and I would do something for me. I broke my contract on my apartment, sold all my things and came up here, and things have been great ever since." She shot Chuck a smile. "Especially after meeting Chuck."
"Awesome," Devon agreed. "That's actually pretty much how we did it too. We had some bad times in LA and…"
Chuck's mood shifted with the reminder of their own departure. He tried not to think about those times anymore. Too many hard memories. His face fell, luckily his sister picked up on it and interrupted her boyfriend.
"But that was a long time ago and we don't really dwell on it anymore," Ellie said, giving Devon a subtle elbow under the table. He gave a surprised grunt catching on to the message.
Chuck looked up to see Sarah giving him a sympathetic and questioning gaze. He shook off his melancholy reminding himself how many years ago that had been. He gave her a smile to ease her mind. "But anyways," Chuck said changing the subject. "I'm glad that we are all here and enjoying a dinner together, with my fantastic sister, her awesome boyfriend, and my wonderful girlfriend." He held out his wine glass in a toast.
"Here, here," came Devon's enthusiastic reply as the group toasted there drinks. "It's great that we got to meet Sarah, and were glad that someone's realized just how awesome our man Chuck here is."
"I'm just lucky to have met him," Sarah happily replied. "I wasn't expecting to meet such an amazing guy. And I have to say, you have all been very welcoming. Thank you all for having me." Her smile lit up the table and made Chuck's insides melt.
'Stop it' Chuck, he reminded himself for what seemed the thousandth time that night. 'It's all a cover,' he reasoned. 'You don't even know this woman.' Yet for some reason, that argument was losing ground.
Chuck took another sip of the last of his wine to quell his internal tirade. As silence broke the table Ellie chose to interrupt with an idea of her own. Chuck sputtered out wine eliciting a giggle from Sarah as Ellie declared: "I have a great idea. Lets go dancing!"
Casey pulled the Crown Victoria up to the side of the road and double checked the reading on the sensor, surprised to detect the relic in such a public place. He punched up the general on his communicator as the signature started to move on his sensor. As it started to come closer, he saw a group of civilians start to walk out of a restaurant.
Pinpointing the relic's energy signature, Casey found himself staring at a lanky, curly haired man that was currently walking next to a tall blond woman. Another couple who seemed to be with the two walked further ahead. Sizing up the group, Casey was unimpressed by their presence. On first glance they were just a couple of normal couples out enjoying the night air. He double checked the sensor, but sure enough, the energy signature albeit faint was originating from the unassuming young man.
The communicator beeped to life as he heard the General's stern voice. "Beckman secure."
"Casey, secure." He replied as he focused more on the blond. The more he examined her; he could tell that she had tendencies more suited to a trained soldier. She constantly surveyed and scanned her surroundings, but so subtly that he could barely perceive anything was up. She had an awareness that only seasoned and top caliber soldiers had.
"General I have located the energy signature. It appears to originating from a local, but I believe I might have detected a hostile with him," Casey reported as the group walked past his parked car and down the street.
"Major, I cannot stress to you how important this is. I want you to take in the man alive for questioning, and see if you can locate the relic on him. Take out the agent with him. If fulcrum is already here, it could spell disaster for the entire UPR." Casey grimaced in acknowledgment. If the empire had gained such a asset, they would be even more invincible.
"As always try and limit exposure to terrestrials, but you have full clearance to abandon discretion if the situation is deemed necessary. You cannot afford to fail Major. The stakes have become much too high," Beckman relayed.
Casey smirked at the news. "Understood ma'am. I won't fail you. Casey out." It looked like this boring mission would end in some gunplay after all. Hell he might even get to kill someone. Things were beginning to look up.
The night air was a pleasant as a soft breeze swept up and played with Sarahs long golden tresses. Awesome had dragged Ellie ahead to the club under the pretense of letting Chuck show Sarah a little more of the town while they went ahead to find a table. Of course, Chuck couldn't help but want to crawl under a rock as the pair walked away Devon not so quietly whispering something about "not cock blocking bro's" resulting in a playful slap from Ellie. Of course Chuck's inability to come up with any conversation wasn't helping him at all either.
"You nervous Chuck?" Sarah teased breaking the awkward silence as they leisurely started towards the nightclub. The thumping of music could be heard in the distance. Chuck looked over to see her giving him a playful smile.
"I think that I should probably warn you. It might be a big surprise but I'm not much of a dancer." He said, finally reacquainting his brain with the ability to string words together.
"I'm sure your not that bad," Sarah reaffirmed grasping his hand. A slight blush started to burn on Chuck's face at the surprising contact.
"Trust me when I say that two left feet is an understatement," he answered with a grin. "You might be here to protect me, but I'm pretty sure we'll need an army or at least your own personal strike team to protect you from my patented Bartowski shuffle."
She let loose a melodious laugh that made Chuck's insides warm and formed a wide smile on his face. "By the way, thank you for being so good with Ellie and Awesome. I can tell that they both really like you."
"It's not a problem Chuck," Sarah said without hesitation. "They're really very nice people." A tinge of sadness entered her voice as she continued, "You're very lucky."
"Ellie's the best sister a guy could ask for, and the Captain is… well Awesome. They've helped me through a lot." Chuck shook his head inquisitively looking at Sarah. "But what about you, I'm sure you have some great people back where you're from, which I might add I have absolutely no idea." An uncomfortable frown appeared on Sarah's face.
"I mean I'm not trying to pry but I'm pretty sure that you weren't conceived in a cave, though it would be a pretty interesting story if you had stalactites for parents, or maybe it would be stalagmites, I hear they're freakier."
Sarah's frown melted as the corners of her mouth turned upwards. "It's complicated…" Sarah started, as an odd smell entered her highly sensitive nose. A scent that was foreign to Earth… the unmistakable odor of a pulse rifle.
"What's wrong?" Chuck questioned as he felt her hand squeeze his tightly. He turned to her as they stopped walking. Sarah's eyes darted around the landscape, and the crowds of people walking through the warm night finally settling on a man in a black trench coat exiting a black Crown Victoria.
She leaned into him, her lips coming up to his ear. "Chuck," she said in a tone that spoke all business. "Don't freak out but the man behind you isn't from around here."
Chuck gulped audily. "Like not from A-Bay?" he asked, a hopeful plea in his voice.
"Like not from this planet." Sarah answered continuing to scan the area as she formulated a plan. She grabbed his hand and began to casually lead him away from the nightclub they had been approaching.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Chuck replied fear creeping into his voice as his inside froze to ice.
A/N: So it's been almost a year… Life is pretty crazy for me between my attempt at getting into grad school, taking prerequisite courses, working full time, and juggling being in a band that plays out most weekends. It's fun and pays well, but unfortunately does not leave much free time for writing. That being said I hope to have Chapter 3 out by august… so Review and let me know what you think!
-Plothole
