Maya was strapped in a seat on the Vertibird next to Ramos. Once all the excitement of the escape had died down a bit and the adrenaline stopped, her body rudely reminded her that she was still recovering from an injury from before her little "trip" through time. Whatever was in that syringe that they gave her had sped up the healing process rapidly, there was only a scab and some bruising left where she managed to impale herself in the lab when the earthquake hit. Her side was still sore, but the gentle lull of the aircraft was making her feel drowsy.
Ibsen was playing around with a large device that looked somewhat like a large watch or bracelet covering most of his arm, and Maya was intrigued.
"What's that?" she inquired, tilting her head to get a better look.
"Oh, this?" asked Ibsen, looking a bit like he was put on the spot in front of a classroom during show-and-tell, "this is a Pip Boy, it's basically like a computer that you wear on your arm that does…well…a LOT! It's pretty much a relic, from before the Great War" he replied.
"It looks…. fascinating" Maya replied, her eyes continuing to study the device. Ibsen recognised that look – it was the same look every one of his Scribes shared when they found a new device they had absolutely no idea about. It made him smile.
"Here" he said, passing the Pip Boy to her, "you can have it, if you'd like?"
Maya studied it curiously and looked up at Ibsen.
"Are….are you sure? Won't you need it?" she asked.
"Nah, I've come across plenty of Pip Boys. Besides we don't really have any need of them, we have a similar system hooked up in our advanced power armor" he re-affirmed her, "it's yours, if you like it".
Maya's face lit up. "Wow…Thank you" she said and smiled at Ibsen, incredulous that anyone would want to part with such a device. She turned it over a couple of times to study it. It had a screen built in, a couple of worn knobs that when turned changed the display on the screen, listing things like Data, Map, and Radio. "This is incredible" she whispered, her eyes wide.
Ibsen and McNamara smiled at her wonder. "Put it on, try it out for size" chimed McNamara.
Maya looked up at him curiously, then back down at the device. She placed the section with the display facing upwards on her arm, and secured the Pip-boy using the straps underneath. Once it was secure on her arm, the Pip-boy display turned off, and it appeared to restart by itself.
"What's going on?" she asked slightly alarmed.
"Haha" laughed Ibsen, "don't worry! It's supposed to do that"
Maya looked at him quizzically.
"It adapts to the wearer. It will now display your stats and automatically logs anything you pick up and carry with you" Ibsen explained.
"Ooooh…" Maya nodded, not quite sure how the device was able to do that for her…but it certainly sparked her interest.
A bit of code in green lettering popped onto the black screen. 'Old school style' thought Maya and a smile crept onto her face as she remembered the days when she played Space Invaders on her dad's old gaming console.
She clutched the device on her arm, flicking through the tabs and an idea crossed her mind.
"Hey, how about a little music?" she asked the group.
"Sure! I could use something to keep me awake!" replied the pilot enthusiastically.
"I'm sorry Irvine, are we boring you?" McNamara asked light-heartedly.
"Oh no Elder! Not at all, I'm just hoping to catch my favourite tune" the pilot replied more seriously, not wanting to step out of line.
"Relax Irvine, I'm not Elder anymore" replied McNamara, a slight look of disappointment crossing his weathered face, "I've been…replaced".
"Not to us you haven't Sir" the pilot responded firmly, "for us you will always be Elder".
McNamara smiled and thanked him for the gesture, and looked to Maya with a well? Where's that music then? Look.
Maya flicked through to the Radio tab and increased the volume.
'Play the guitar, play it again, my Johnny' came the song through the small speakers, 'Maybe you're cold but you're so warm inside'
Maya remembered the song. It was an old song from the 50's…. back in Maya's time. She could hardly believe that they were listening to these old songs hundreds of years into the future. Surely they must have better songs…?
"You actually listen to this?" she asked
"I was always a fool for my Johnny" the pilot sang along, trying to mimic a woman's voice with impressive results, which answered her question.
McNamara laughed and nodded his head. Maya decided to leave that station on and listened to the lyrics. She found them a bit haunting and…sad…somehow. It made her long for…something. If it wasn't for the pilot's singing antics, she might have changed the radio station to something a bit more…happy…if such a word could be applied in a world that suffered through a nuclear apocalypse. The lull of the craft was having powerful drowsy effects on her, and she felt her eyelids getting heavy. She wanted to relax, to sleep and wake up back home.
"Hey, we're almost there" McNamara's voice broke through her drowsiness, "no sleeping. Not yet anyway"
'Sleep would have to wait for now' thought Maya. She looked out of the aircraft and McNamara pointed out their landing site and the location of the bunker. Maya didn't know how she felt about going back inside another bunker, not after what they've just been through. But mostly she didn't know how to feel about meeting the rest of Nolan's group. Apart from him, and Ibsen, she didn't detect a welcoming feeling from the other members….
'Maybe they won't all be this way' she hoped, but she already knew the answer deep down – this wasn't her niche.
As the Vertibird came in for a landing, Maya found herself dreading the meet with the other members…and wishing she could be taken back home.
It took Boone the better part of a day to get to Hidden Valley. He made a few stops along the way, once at Camp Searchlight to check in with the First Recon group and inform them of his progress and current objective. They disapproved of his mission to find the Vertibird and dismissed it as a fool's errand, but their attempts to persuade him away from the mission were met with his stern and silent gaze. They eventually relented, seeing as he was so stubborn to find this very particular craft, and gave him some supplies for his journey. He was, after all, one of the decorated heroes of the war on Hoover Dam and served with the NCR for almost his entire adult life. He was no General, but he did have the full respect of the NCR.
On his way, he made a stop in Nelson to purchase some RadX and Rad Away as he knew that there were parts of Hidden Valley that were still highly radioactive. As soon as he completed his purchase he was back on track though. He had a couple of near misses with some fire geckos and big horners, but managed to get away in time. Fatigue had hit him like a sledgehammer and was causing him to make stupid mistakes. He was glad the Courier wasn't around to see his blunders.
Desperately trying to stay awake, he trudged up the hill to the wire fence surrounding the Brotherhood of Steel's valley. It was a cold night, frost peppered the gravel ground and reflected the full moon's pale white light. A sandstorm was raging in the valley…
'I better watch out; they must have patrols out scavenging for supplies' he mused. Boone opted to go the more difficult route: he stayed around the rocky areas where more cover was provided, although that did also mean a higher risk of running into some rad scorpions. But he was determined not to reveal his presence.
He clambered onto some rocks and made his way up close to the cliff overlooking the bunker. This way he could minimise a surprise ambush from behind and he would have a good view of what was happening on the ground while maintaining low visibility. Once he was up, he unrolled his sleeping bag and took out his binoculars to scan the area. He couldn't see signs of the Vertibird, but he suspected that such a large craft would not be left so obviously out in the open.
'They must have flown the craft to another site' thought Boone. The sandstorm would have covered up any tracks by now as well, so Boone decided the best course of action for now would be for him to get some rest. He tucked his binoculars away into his pack and took a few gulps of purified water before pulling the sleeping bag over himself and resting his head on his arm, using it as a pillow. As he drifted off into a deep sleep his thoughts were of Carla and he wondered if she would appear for him again…
0800
The sun was already beating down on the Mojave and the temperature was rising above 65°F. Rad scorpions were stirring in the shadows beneath Boone's position.
*BANG* the sound of a gun being fired echoed through the valley.
Boone shot out of his sleeping bag and grabbed his rifle and got into shooting position, belly pressed on the rock's rough surface, his right eye planted on his rifle's sight. He made some adjustments to it to compensate for distance.
Surely enough he found the Brotherhood of Steel down there. It looked like all of them were rounded up outside of the bunker, majority of them did not have their power armor on and were being arranged by another group of Paladin's in white armor.
'Curious' thought Boone. The last time he was here he did not remember seeing any special Paladin guards in white armor. One of the Paladins, the leader Boone guessed, was inspecting the round ups.
"Hmmm" Boone mused….that Paladin looked familiar. He scanned his uniform and found "T. White" written on the left hand of his jacket. It didn't sound familiar…but his face…Boone could feel that he had definitely seen his face before…but where?
' …where do I recognise you from?...' he thought to himself.
Boone carried on looking at the scene on the ground. Every one of the Brotherhood that was not in armor was lined up and the guards were moving up and down the line to make sure no one stepped out of bounds.
"Right!" he heard the Head Paladin yell. He looked the line of people up and down, "Somebody better tell me where the EXILE" he emphasised the last word and paused briefly before continuing, "McNamara and his group are hiding"
Boone remembered McNamara, he is…or was by the looks of things, the Elder for this Brotherhood of Steel group. He helped the Courier aid McNamara when they stumbled upon their bunker. He remembered that the Courier even managed to convince the Brotherhood to aid the NCR at Hoover Dam.
Silence in the valley…no one spoke or stepped up to betray the Elder. Boone respected that, McNamara was a great leader who did everything for his people to keep them safe and hidden. Now…they were all on display for anyone who would stumble into the Valley.
"HARDIN!" the Head Paladin yelled. Head Paladin Hardin stepped forward out of the line without a word.
From this point on Boone couldn't hear anything else being said in the valley, just a lot of gesturing. It was then that he felt something cold and metallic press behind his skull. His stomach dropped. 'Shit' Boone thought.
"Put it down, slowly" a young male voice said behind the gun said. He felt a hand grab and pull away his beret.
Boone complied, slowly putting his rifle on the rocky ground and raising both arms up beside his head.
"Now…back up from the precipice" ordered the voice. Again, Boone complied and crawled away from the precipice, but he still had his combat knife hidden underneath his shirt secured by his belt, and he was starting to itch for it…
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you where you stand, NCR?" the voice snarled.
"Because you're gonna get us in some serious shit if you pull that trigger" said Boone.
The voice hesitated for a second.
"And how do you know I'm not a White Paladin?" he asked.
The corner of Boone's mouth curved upwards ever so slightly. He had him now.
"Because if you were….we wouldn't be having this conversation" he stated matter-of-factly.
"Put your gun down!" hissed a familiar male voice.
'Could it be?...' thought Boone.
He heard a few hurried steps, then a hand pull him around on his back. Boone kept his arms up above his head. He knew now he was safe.
"No…you…" McNamara said wide eyed, realising it was one of the Courier's aids "what the hell are you doing here?"
He was kneeling over Boone with a Brotherhood scout who looked a bit too young to be in full service yet.
"I could ask you the same question" Boone replied, squinting in the bright morning light.
McNamara reached his arm out to Boone and helped him stand up. He looked him in the eyes and studied him for a second.
"Why are you here?" he insisted. Boone sighed and explained the Vertibird he saw that almost blew the Sniper's Nest away heading to Hidden Valley and that he decided to follow it.
"I figured something was going on, so decided to see what that was" he continued.
"Yeah" McNamara sighed, "yeah that was us".
*BANG* another gunshot echoed through the valley followed by White yelling.
They all dropped down to the ground and peered over the precipice. White was trying to intimidate the group, and it looked like Hardin was knocked out. He was sprawled on the ground, a bruise already visible on his balding head and a cut running along his eyebrow was bleeding.
Boone looked over to McNamara, "I can end this, just say the word". His gaze was steady and no hint of hesitation in his voice.
McNamara shook his head, "No, that would just confirm their suspicions" he said,"and besides, they have my people hostage..."
Boone raised an eyebrow slightly, betraying his curiosity for the predicament that this Brotherhood group was in.
McNamara caught his curiosity and replied "I'll explain everything, soon as we're out of here"
Boone nodded, picked up his rifle and duffle bag and followed behind the two Brotherhood members away from earshot of the bunker.
"Fine…but I'd really like my beret back, please"