StarCraft Ghost Warrior
Chapter 11
Decision Making
A/N: Reviews help motivate me to write more chapters at a faster pace.
Disclaimer: I don't own the gaming masterpiece known as StarCraft otherwise this story would be canon instead of just a fanfic
-Altara, Dominion Military Research Facility-
In a large, barren and utterly desolate valley on the planet of Altara there was a large four story building that had been completely surrounded by a thick prefabricated concrete wall that almost made it look similar to an old earth castle. Outside these walls was what one would call a literal a maze of defenses. Directly outside the walls was a line of bunkers, missile turrets and auto-guns that kept a watchful eye for any possible intruders.
Ordinarily this kind of ordinance would be exorbitant for a mere research facility, but due to Altara's close proximity to Zerg controlled territory many in the Dominion military had argued that these precautions were reasonably warranted. Although the facility appeared to be relatively small compared to other Dominion bases on the outside, there were an additional seven floors that went underneath the facility.
The underground research labs were strictly off-limits to anyone that didn't have the necessary security clearances and those who did never so much as said a word about what happened. This level of secrecy lead those who worked aboveground to speculate on what went on down there. In fact, one time some of the facility's aboveground workers claimed to have spotted a number of convict laborers go down into the research labs only to never come back up.
Soon after that incident, rumors had started to circulate within the facility about what was going on down there, all of which were more disturbing than the last. Despite repeated assurances from the administration staff rumors persisted and eventually the lower levels were given the nickname "The Dungeon".
Inside one of the lower levels of the Dungeon, there was a spacious room that contained several moderately sized holding pens, inside each of these holding pens contained a single test subject that was originally a convict laborer that had been transferred in from New Folsom. If one was paying attention to the convicts who were sealed behind their soundproofed cells one could see that they were all scared beyond rational thought.
At first glance one might think that they were afraid of the Zerg infestor that was inside a pen located directly on the other side of the room. However most of the convicts weren't even paying attention to the oversized insect. Instead they were all looking directly at one of the other human test subjects that had just been dragged out of his cell by a pair of marines clad in CMC powered combat armor.
The man was quickly restrained on a wheeled operating table near the center of the room despite his struggles. The convict had a fearful look on his face as he pleaded with his captors not to inflict the same horrors that he had seen inflicted on several of the others that had been brought down into the Dungeon.
The scientists ignored him and one of the scientists whose name tag read "Dr. Friedrich Genzken" approached the operating table from the direction where the Zerg infestor was being kept. Doctor Friedrich Genzken was a man in his early fifties. He had short graying hair that was almost always kept neatly combed and trimmed to perfection. Genzken's eyes were light blue in color that almost looked grey if one wasn't looking hard enough. In the doctor's right hand was a syringe that was filled with a sinister looking dark purple liquid.
As Genzken approached the operating table and upon seeing the syringe the convict's eyes widened before he began to cry for someone, anyone to show mercy. The syringe carrying doctor looked over at the other scientists with a look that would be best described as irritation. The other gathered scientists flinched at the look that the doctor was giving them and one of their number quickly walked over to the operating table and put a muzzle over the man's mouth muffling the man's irritatingly repetitive pleas.
Genzken then looked over at one of the technicians who was nervously holding the camera that was supposed to record a log of the…experiment. The tech was holding the camera down and hadn't even pushed the record button "Well what are you waiting for, we can't begin until you stop acting like a scared little child and start recording the experiment immediately!" the man yelled angrily. The tech fumbled with the device for a moment before he pushed the recording button.
No one in the facility wanted to get on doctor Genzken's bad side, ever. Not the doctors, not the techs, not even the security ever wanted to mess with him. This fear of doctor Genzken stemmed from the rumor that one of the scientists grew a conscience and made a futile attempt to send a message to UNN about the kind of experiments that Genzken and the others had been performing. Security found out and under Genzken's orders, made the scientist become one of the test subjects for their project. They still had what was once the good doctor in one of the holding cells on that particular wing.
Doctor Genzken put the syringe's needle up against the man's neck before pushing it into the man's skin. Genzken hit the injection mechanism and sent the liquid into his bloodstream. At first there wasn't any kind of a reaction from the test subject, but then the man that was strapped down to the table started to convulse violently as if he was having a seizure. When the change in the man started the doctors and other staff began to take the man back to his cell that was only just a few feet away.
The technicians and scientists that weren't helping to move the table were keeping as much distance from the wheeled table and the man who was writhing in pain as they could without getting on Genzken's bad side, even the security officers who were clad in CMC powered combat armor kept as much distance as they possibly could. Zerg-like appendages started to appear beneath the skin before they burst from their fleshy prison and started writhing around almost uncontrollably.
Seeing the mutation in the convict accelerating the researchers and technicians quickened their pace as the put the table back into the containment cell. Genzken meanwhile simply walked alongside the table almost as if he was out for a simple stroll at a park with a neutral expression on his face but anyone could see the corners of his mouth twitching downwards. He was displeased.
Once the table was inside the cell the tech closest to the door hit the switch and the thick transparent barrier slid and locked firmly into place. The man's body was now growing new appendages that were much in common amongst infested individuals, the test subject's hands turned into claws and parts of his skin started to develop a chitinous look to it. The now infested human continued to struggle with the restraints until they finally broke from the creature's now monstrous strength.
The infested Terran turned its gaze over at Genzken who had positioned himself just a few inches away from the thick transparent barrier that separated the two, a calculating look on his face. The infested Terran let out a roar before running up to the barrier and started banging it with its hands. Genzken didn't even flinch even as the scientists and techs let out cries of alarm while the marines trained their weapons on the abomination that was just behind the glass.
Genzken walked over to a nearby computer terminal and typed in a few commands. After he finished all of the cells in the room started to slowly lower into the floor. After the cells finished lowering into their own smaller prisons, Genzken's subtle frown became more and more noticeable.
One of the other scientists, a man by the name of Dennis Howe walked up to Genzken and wore an extremely nervous look on his face. Dennis was a man of American descent and upon graduating from the Korhal University of Medical Science had been asked by the military to help run projects for them that would more than likely end up saving countless lives. At first Howe thought that he was going to be working on some kind of medical breakthrough that would help save soldiers' lives. Then he was assigned to Altara and forced to work on this particular project.
"Um, doctor Genzken sir, what do you want us to do with the test subject?" Howe asked. Genzken's first impulse was to order the creature's immediate destruction but he quickly decided that it would be more prudent not to. After all this test subject had been exposed to a variant of the Zerg virus that they had no record of, therefore he could provide them with useful data for them to sift through or it may even provide them a clue as to how complete their project.
After a few long seconds Genzken responded "I want you to keep it locked up for now, it may yet prove to be useful to us" Howe nodded before he went to relay the decision to the rest of the scientists. Genzken almost pulled at his hair in frustration. If he had known that these test subjects would be useful he would have simply fed them to the other Zerg creatures that they kept down in some of the other labs.
Over the past several months doctor Genzken had used up almost every single test subject he had been given. They had attempted to slow the Zerg infestation's progress with certain drugs and when that proved to be of little use he tried to speed it up but that failed to do anything either. He only hoped that their supply of test subjects would hold up, they were going through them fast.
Genzken then started to ponder other possible scenarios in his mind. If low level psionics would work than perhaps what he needed was one that was well over five, perhaps even a nine or a ten. Yes! That had to be what he needed for project: Overlord to be a success. How fortunate that there were several Ghost Academy trainees coming to visit his charming little facility on a 'training' exercise. All he needed to do was to make sure that one of them suffered an accident during their stay at his facility.
-Hyperion, Outside the Captain's Quarters-
Andrew and nova were standing in front of the entrance to Raynor's room. Just a few hours earlier Nova had gone to Andrew's room to inform him that she had started to express an interest in joining the Raiders. At first Andrew didn't really know how to respond to that but eventually he just told her that she'd have to wait until some time during late morning in order to talk with Raynor.
After that Nova had gone back to her quarters and simply relaxed on her bed for well over an hour before she finally fell into a dreamless sleep for which she was truly thankful for. The last thing that Nova wanted was to experience the moment she witnessed her parents and brother die in front of her and her time in the Gutter of Tarsonis. A few minutes after Nova had awakened from her slumber, she asked Andrew if he could lead her to Raynor's quarters. She also felt that him being there would help make her feel a little more confident when she made her request to Raynor.
Nova let out the breath that she had unconsciously been holding in before she walked up to the door that lead into Raynor's quarters. Nova raised her arm and knocked on the door a couple of times. Less than a moment later the door slid open and the two psionics saw Jim Raynor in the same attire he usually wore and although he tried to appear that he was fine, it didn't take a telepath to tell that the guy was having a hangover the size of a Protoss mothership.
Andrew barely managed to let out an annoyed groan at his commanding officer, Raynor must have had a lot to drink last night, if there was one thing that Andrew disliked about Raynor then it would have to be the man's drinking habits. After all, any decent battlefield commander needed to keep his or her head in the game as much as possible and being completely hung-over before they were about to engage in an operation, even if that operation was little more than a glorified delivery run was a stupid idea. The Ghost Operative then started to consider blowing the booze that Raynor enjoyed out of an airlock later but Raynor's drinking habits weren't the reason that the two of them were there.
"What do you two need?" Raynor asked politely even as he rubbed his forehead tenderly. Resisting the urge to tell Raynor that he should stop drinking that crap the night before the Raiders underwent an operation, instead Andrew bit his lip and allowed Nova to take the floor. At first the young telepath seemed a little hesitant but she soon found her voice "I want to join the Raiders" she declared with a very determination look in her eyes. It was a look that Raynor immediately recognized.
It was a look of pure confidence and determination that the former marshal had seen in Sarah Kerrigan's eyes back when she was still human, before the Zerg took her and turned her into that, abomination. Raynor quickly put those thoughts out of his head and hoped that the two hadn't picked up on it. Raynor started to consider the girl's offer. Another telepath could make a very valuable addition to the Raiders and it was obvious, to Raynor at least that Andrew and Nova were smitten with each other, they just didn't know it yet.
The leader of the Raiders let out a small smile when he saw the two psionics' faces do a very good impression of an overripe tomato. Despite the obvious fun that Raynor had been having teasing them, he decided that it would be best to get serious with the young woman in front of him "Are you absolutely sure you want join up?" he inquired.
Nova's determined face showed that she had already completely made up her mind before Raynor had even asked her that question. "Positive" she said. Raynor then shrugged nonchalantly "Okay then, consider yourself part of the Raynor's Raiders" the blond telepath/telekinetic looked at Raynor dumbfounded. Nova had thought that she had to go through some kind of a test or something like that before Raynor would accept her into the Raiders.
Raynor seemed to have noticed this and cocked an eyebrow while asking "Why are you looking at me like that for?" at first Nova didn't seem to be able to reply to Raynor's question, instead she stammered for a moment or two before she finally answered "I guess I just didn't know what to expect when I asked" she shrugged. Raynor gave the two Ghosts smile and said "Well then I'll expect both of you to head for hanger bay 2 at 1000 hours, dismissed" he ordered.
Andrew and nova both gave their commanding officer a sharp salute before heading back down the hallway. 'Those two make a lovely couple' thought Raynor at the top of his head, hoping that the two of them would hear that little comment. Much to his disappointment this wasn't the case, or at least not that he could see. So Raynor silently resolved to try a little bit harder next time.
The two continued down the hallway for a while longer until Andrew started to look strangely nervous, "Uh, Hey, we've got a good hour and a half until we reach the Umojans, do you want me to show you around the ship?" he asked lamely before attempting to cover his tracks "I mean, if you're going to be working with us you may as well know what it is you're doing" he elaborated with a nervous blush on his face.
"That sounds nice" said Nova who sounded more than pleased to spend more time with the other Ghost operative. The two continued down the hall, Andrew explaining where they'd be going as they went.
Matt Horner, second in command of the Raynor's Raiders was standing on the bridge going over the report that Andrew had sent him yesterday. Despite witnessing most if not all the crazy things that Andrew had managed to pull off in the past he still had a difficult time believing that Andrew had managed to pull a stunt like this off without much of a hitch. However it was to be expected, Andrew had a habit of accomplishing what many considered to be impossible.
Matt was so engrossed in reading the report that he didn't hear the door slide open and a pair of footsteps come in until one of the new arrivals on the bridge spoke up "Hello Matt" called out a very familiar voice, one that Matt Horner hadn't heard in well over a month.
The second in command of Raynor's Raiders turned around and saw Andrew Cole clad in civilian garb that he almost never wore since he had always preferred to be in his Ghost armor. Next to him was a girl that was about Andrew's age that he didn't recognize. The young woman had long blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail and was also wearing civilian garb. Matt briefly wondered what that young woman was doing up there before Andrew spoke up.
"Hey Matt, it's been a while" said Cole with a grin on his face before he looked over at the girl he was with "Nova this is Matt Horner, the second in command of the Raiders, Matt this is Nova Terra, she is our latest recruit to the Raiders, I'm giving her a tour around the ship until we reach the Umojans" he said introducing the two of them as well as answering Matt's unasked question. The second in command of Raynor's Raiders looked at Andrew with some surprise on his face "Really, when did this happen?" he asked. "A little less than an hour ago actually, Jim Raynor allowed me to join up" said Nova
Matt Horner stroked his chin in thought. Judging from what was written in Andrew's report it seemed that the only reason that the last member of the Terra Family agreed to escape the Ghost Academy was because she didn't want to undergo the mind wipe procedure that all trainees were to undergo upon graduating the Ghost Academy and had shown no interest in joining the Raiders. This made Matt curious as to what the reason was behind this young woman's change of heart.
Always one to get straight to the point Matt Horner asked "Just out of curiosity, what made you want to join the Raiders?" if one looked closely enough they could see a fire in Nova's eyes as she gave her response to Matt "Let's just say that Andrew helped me see the true face of the Terran Dominion" she explained. Matt nodded. Whatever it was that Nova had been shown had to have been pretty damn convincing for her to not only join him in his escape of the Ghost Academy but to join the Raiders as well.
The second in command of the Raynor's Raiders was broken out of his thoughts by Andrew who asked "So how have things been going since I infiltrated the Ghost Academy?". Matt Horner let a sigh "I'm not going to lie to you, things haven't been going to well lately. We lost two whole squads since you left and we haven't been able to do much damage to the Dominion and for the last couple of weeks they've been practically right on our tail and preventing us from doing much damage to them or even getting a decent resupplying operation" he explained.
Andrew let out a sigh, he had no idea that things were going that poorly for them. Despite the near desperation of the situation, the young Ghost operative had faith that their fortunes would come around very soon. After all, they were about to get a huge payday from the Umojans if what Andrew had been hearing around the ship was correct, this would really help to quell some of the financial problems that they had been having.
Matt and the two Ghost operatives talked for a while before a chiming noise started to come from Andrew's watch. The young telepath/telekinetic brought up his hand to check the time and let out a sigh, "Nova it looks like the tour's going to have to wait a little while, we're almost to the rendezvous point which means were going to have to suit up" Andrew explained. Nova gave a simple nod as a response before she and Andrew headed off leaving Matt and the other members of the Hyperion's bridge crew to get back to their duties.
-Hyperion, Hanger Bay 2-
Morgan and the other Old Family survivors sat waiting along with Colin Phash and Delta Emblock in the hanger bay for the Umojans to finally arrive and take them into protective custody. Despite having several days time for everything to sink in, Morgan Calabas and the others still had a very difficult time wrapping their heads around what had happened to them the past couple of days. Morgan sat in the fetal position up against one of one of the many crates that were scattered throughout the hanger.
Morgan's mind had been replaying the events during the past couple of days over and over again. He was still having trouble trying to get past the fact that his whole family had been completely wiped out by the Zerg back on Tarsonis and whatever was left of them were probably still back in the ruins of the capital city somewhere.
The worst part of it all was that the last image of his father that Morgan had was of him in a panicked state sending them a panicked prerecorded message to him and his friends telling them to get to get to Shi. The last member of the Calabas family could still remember the fear in his father's eyes. It was almost as if his dad knew that he probably wasn't going to get off of Tarsonis alive.
Hell Morgan never even get a chance to say goodbye to either of his parents before he and the others left for Tyrador IX since he had been out running his business. Even after he and the others landed on Tyrador IX, his parents rarely contacted him and when they did it was always through an intermediary.
In a desperate attempt to get himself away from the thoughts of his dead family and friends Morgan's mind wandered to the one missing member of their group, Nova. 'Is she running late or something?' he wondered idly to himself. Earlier when he and the others went down to the hanger to await their transport they quickly noticed that Nova wasn't among their number and when they asked Delta about why that was she informed them that Nova had left a note saying that there was something important she had to do and that she'd meet them in the hanger before Umojans arrived. It had been well over an hour since then, what the hell was she doing?
Morgan was just about to ask someone if there was anyway that he could get in touch with the last member of their little group when Antonia spoke up "Just relax Morgan, I'm sure that Nova will be here soon" she said. The last heir to the Calabas family looked over at Antonia with an odd look "So you're a telepath now too?" he asked with a voice that was positively dripping with sarcasm. Antonia couldn't manage keep a wide grin from forming on her face as she responded "Morgan you give yourself way too much credit, it doesn't take a telepath to know what you're thinking" she joked.
Before Morgan could utter a response one of the doors that lead into the hanger bay opened. Simultaneously everyone turned their heads to look at the new arrivals and saw Jim Raynor along with Nova and Andrew who were both clad in Ghost armor. Raynor walked up to the group that had been previously just been lounging around and proceeded to clear his throat before he addressed them
"Okay everybody listen up, the Umojan battlecruiser New Dawn is already in the system and they're sending in a dropship to pick you all up in a few minutes before they take you to Umoja and into protective custody, so I hope you all have whatever possessions that you plan on bringing with you" he explained. Just about everyone that was in the small crowd in front of him felt emotionally uplifted. The long, seemingly endless journey that they had all endured was finally starting to come to a close.
Delta Emblock felt her facial expression to change to that of a smile. After everything that she had endured throughout her life she now had a decent chance at a brighter future. Delta looked over at her surrogate big sister and quickly ran up to her "Nova why aren't you excited like everyone else?" the twelve year old asked.
After Raynor had finished his little announcement everyone that was in the group that she had been traveling with was excited to finally be given a chance to live a relatively normal existence away from all the fighting and death that had been ravaging much of the Korprulu Sector but Nova didn't really seem all that excited. Although she seemed happy, Nova didn't seem to be nearly as excited as everyone else. Delta was about to ask her surrogate big sister why she didn't seem as excited as everyone else when Nova suddenly spoke up "Uh, everyone I have something to say" she said a little nervously.
Nova took in and released a deep breath "I'm staying aboard the Hyperion" she stated bluntly. Almost everyone's mouth went agape at this new revelation. The only ones that didn't look at all surprised were Andrew and Raynor which told Delta and the others that they knew of this before Nova made her announcement. The reactions from Nova's childhood friends and Delta were almost instantaneous. They gave a barrage of questions, in an attempt to get some kind of an answer as to why she wanted to join the Raiders.
Nova put her arms out in front of her defensively signaling everyone to be quiet. Once everyone had stopped talking the blond telepath/telekinetic spoke up to the small crowd in front of her "Because Mengsk isn't what's best for humanity and after everything he's done to gain power, someone has to stop him" she explained. Of course there were a number of other reasons regarding her desire to stay aboard the Hyperion but they were personal.
Delta looked over at Nova tentatively for a few moments before her facial expression changed from surprised to that of determination "Well if you're staying then I'm staying" she said resolutely.
Raynor then looked over at the twelve year old girl with a stern expression on his face "Sorry kid but that's not happening" he stated. The last thing that Raynor wanted was to have a kid that was no older than twelve fighting in the Raiders. The two female psionics looked over at Raynor with expressions of surprise and disappointment.
The leader of Raynor's Raiders put his arms up defensively "I'm sorry kid but I can't let someone that's barely even an adolescent to join the Raiders" he explained and when he saw Delta's hurt expression he decided to elaborate further "We don't use kids as soldiers, period, the only reason that we let Andrew join was because he was already at the standard enlistment age for some of the Confederate fringe colonies when we formed the Raiders"
Delta was about to make a remark about having been in the Ghost Academy learning how to fight for almost a year but before she could start an argument Andrew came to their defense "Raynor I think that Delta should stay with the Raiders" he stated. Raynor turned to look over at Andrew with a very serious expression "Look Andrew, you know full well that we don't use kid soldiers, period" declared Raynor with a very serious look on his face.
"Raynor I'm not suggesting that she go into combat, at least not until she gets older, what I am suggesting is that she help to take on a support role on board the Hyperion helping with some of the crew, I have heard Swann saying that he could use some help down in the hanger bay more than once, and Delta here has some experience with mechanical engineering" Andrew explained. It was true, Delta had actually done some repairs on some of the cargo loading equipment on the freighter a day after they had rescued the last surviving members of the Confederate Old Families back on Shi.
Raynor started to think it over in his head and saw that it wasn't all that bad and Swann had all but begged him to find a new helper down in the hanger deck areas of the ship. After a few moments of silence the rebel commander let out a sigh "Alright, fine, the kid can stay, for now, but she's not going out into combat until she hits at least sixteen, no exceptions" Raynor said reluctantly.
The reaction from Delta was almost instant, her face lit up with a cheerful smile and she gave Raynor a salute "Thank you sir I'll do my best" Raynor raised an eyebrow at the girl's display. It almost reminded Raynor of when Andrew had first joined the Raiders. Only back then his was less perky and energetic much more serious given the situation that he had been in at the time.
"Eh, okay then, at ease" he said. Delta immediately stopped saluting but she still kept that same ecstatic look on her face. Raynor then looked back at the last surviving members of the Confederate Old Families and saw that they were talking with Nova, most likely saying their goodbyes to their friends.
Andrew was currently sitting down on some of the supply crates about ten feet away and silently watched the exchange between Nova and her friends. He knew better than to intrude on what was more than likely a personal moment for them. The Ghost operative looked over at the hanger bay doors which connected to a large airlock that was large enough for seven Vikings to fit in before it ran out of room.
Just a few seconds later there was a loud mechanical groan as the inner doors of the airlock slowly started to open. Once the doors opened fully it revealed a Umojan dropship. The dropship slowly hovered towards one of the landing pads in the hanger before it slowly landed on one of them. The dropship's engines hummed for a few moments more before they slowed to a stop.
The moment that the engines had finally turned off the ramp that lead into the space transport lowered and several Umojan marines, clad in CMC powered combat armor disembarked and stood at the edges of the ship. They were there just for the Umojans to show off to the crew of the Hyperion. A few moments later two men came down the dropship's ramp. One of them was a middle aged man with graying hair a neatly trimmed beard and had a very militaristic demeanor that was evident as he walked down the ramp.
The other man was at least a decade younger, it was obvious that this guy was a civilian judging by his choice of clothing and the way he walked. The man bore a very strong resemblance to the silent six year old that was huddled up silently against one of the crates. It didn't take long for everyone to deduce that this was former Terran Dominion Senator Corbin Phash, Colin's father. Already knowing that his father was on board the Hyperion, Colin all but jumped up and ran over to his father the instant that he spotted him. Andrew and Raynor watched the father and son embrace each other for the first time in almost a year and smiled. It was times like this that they truly enjoyed their jobs.
As the father and son shared a tearful reunion the military Umojan officer walked towards Raynor, Andrew, Nova and her friends. "Well Raynor, it seems you and your comrades have come through once again. It also appears you managed to find and rescue the last remaining members of the Confederate Old Families as well, I have to say that I'm quite impressed" the officer praised.
Nova saw that both Andrew and Raynor seemed a little surprised judging by their thought patterns and facial expressions. "Thanks general Matheson , it's pretty rare to here praise from a guy like you towards men like me" said Raynor. The general waved the rebel commander off "I'm more than willing to give credit where credit is due Raynor, I admit that I may not enjoy the thought of my government working with a group that might as well be a band of anti-Dominion pirates but I do respect your abilities as a strategist and tactician" Matheson took in a deep breath before he looked over at the last remaining members of the Confederate Old Families.
"I'm going to be completely honest with all of you, the Umojan Government has mixed feelings at best in regards to you seeking political asylum on Umoja, especially when one considers the fact that we weren't exactly the best of friends after the nuclear devastation of Korhal, however they have decided allow all of you political asylum from the Terran Dominion" Matheson explained much to the relief of Nova's friends.
After a quick goodbye between Nova and her old friends, Matheson lead the last surviving members of the Confederate Old Families into the Umojan dropship. Before entering the dropship himself Corbin Phash went up to both Raynor and Andrew and thanked the two of them profusely for returning his son to him before he and his son both entered the dropship.
As the dropship's ramp closed everyone could hear the dropship's engines turn as it prepared to lift off. Nova watched the military transport slowly make its way back to the airlock and hoped that Morgan and the others would have a much brighter future.
Andrew approached Nova while she watched the ship make its exit and said "Do you still want to finish up that tour?" he asked. Nova turned and smiled at the other Ghost operative "I think I'd like that".
To be continued