So here we have chapter 36,
I'd like to thank doctor anthony for proof reading and advice as well as helping with the story these two chapters thanks to my au:ing the story to this extent was difficult to write and make them flowing.
Ben drove on through the jungle and realised how truly beautiful this pre-historic world was, there were giant trees and plants he couldn't even figure their names – That was Maddy's department….one of her many fields of knowledge anyway he proudly realised,
True there were very real dangers if one was not very careful and Ben had met some of those dangers, he felt at ease in this jungle especially at night when all the rest of the predators became active,
"Though the most dangerous predator by far is the one from the future." He thought as came out into a glade and saw the moon starting to show,
As he were approaching the spot where he would meet up with Reilly's squad when he saw a light coming from the direction of Pilgrim's Tree,
He stopped and parked the bike and snuck towards the tree as stealthily as he could.
Jim had just gotten to Pilgrim's Tree and had started digging until he found something buried just where Boylan had said it were and eventually what he managed to dig up was….
Ben snuck closer until he saw someone digging at the foot of the tree, he drew his knife slowly while he manoeuvred himself behind what appeared to be a man and grabbed him and put the knife at the other mans' throat,
"Wrong move Sixer." He hissed and then he recognized the smell and spun the man around,
"Jim?" He exclaimed surprised and sheathed his knife,
Jim slightly massaged his throat, "That's becoming a really bad habit little brother." Jim said calmly,
"What the hell are you doing out here?" Ben demanded to know,
"Boylan told me something that were buried here, and I was just about to see what it was when you mistook me for a Sixer." Jim said with mock accusation,
"Yeah, sorry about that." Ben excused,
"Well, what is it?" Ben asked,
"Let us take a look." Jim finished and turned back to where he had been digging and then he and Ben saw the skull of a human skeleton and when both dug more they found the rest of the skeleton,
Then Ben's com came to life as Reilly's voice came through,
"Warrant Officer, we're approaching the rendezvous point and the tracker on your bike ain't moving, are you okay sir, over?" She asked,
"Don't let them come here Ben, just order them to stay wherever you left the bike." Jim pleaded,
"Why?" Ben queried,
"I'll explain later, trust me, okay?" Jim said,
Ben looked at him for a few seconds then activated his com,
"Reilly, I'm fine, my bike just broke down, meet me at that location in five, over and out." Ben responded,
"Okay Jim, but you better have a damn good explanation for this later as I not only lied to my subordinate officer who also happens to be my girlfriend AND that I also have to make my bike look damaged, which means I will have to damage military property." Ben growled and without any more turned and ran back towards the glade where he had left the bike while Jim loaded up the remains of whomever the skeleton were into his rover and quickly took off back to the colony.
When Ben came back to he quickly drew his knife and carefully stuck it into the air filter of the bike and twisted a little until he could hear a frizzing sound indicating that something just shorted out thanks to his knife's vibro function, and sheathed it again just in time as the rhino came trundling through into the clearing.
The rhino stopped a few feet from where Ben stood and Anna got out together with the other soldiers – for some reason except for Dunham and Curran before he was banished, Reilly's squad was comprised of more female than male soldiers like Joan Wilder and Diana Shackleford also known as Shack,
"You need any help hooking the bike on the transport sir?" Anna asked him,
"No thank you I can manage." Ben said shaking his head slightly and lifted up the bike and carried it to the back of the rhino and hooked it on the hooks made for that purpose,
Then he noticed Shackleford who were standing watch,
"That's not a standard issue weapon, Specialist?" He asked,
"Originally it's a sonic pulse rifle that I've rebuilt, it has longer range and I've even tweaked on a pulse grenade launcher sir." She rambled proudly and showed the weapon to Ben who examined it,
"Looks good." Ben commended her,
"Yeah Shack is our resident hillbilly gun nut." Dunham blurted out standing not three feet away and chuckled until Ben looked at him and Anna smacked him at the back of the head,
"Okay people let's get back to the colony." Ben then ordered,
And everyone got in the rhino and Anna started driving back home through the now dark jungle.
As soon as Jim came back to the colony he discreetly parked Malcom's rover where he had borrowed it, and then with the skeleton in a sack in his arms he headed directly for the infirmary calling Elisabeth on his com,
"What is it?" Elisabeth wondered when she answered,
"I need you to meet me at the infirmary right now." Jim replied,
"I'm still here, I've the late shift." She said,
"Make sure there are no one else there." Jim said,
Jim entered the infirmary a few minutes later Elisabeth were waiting for him and they walked with the sack and put it on the examination table and opened it, at first Elisabeth gasped,
"Where did you find this?" She queried,
"Out by Pilgrim's Tree, I found it buried there, I need you to examine it and help me figure out who it was." Jim replied and Elisabeth recognized his cop mode and activated the examination table.
After Ben and Reilly's squad had returned,
"Reilly, tomorrow morning I want you and your squad to be ready for evaluations together with Reynolds and Gonzales's squads, then we start it up again after the harvest festival, so don't let them slack off." Ben said seriously,
"Is there anything more then sir?" Anna queried,
"No, you go ahead and dismiss your squad." Ben answered, Reilly saluted and Ben nodded and turned and walked briskly towards the infirmary,
When he got there he could clearly hear both Jim and Elisabeth speaking,
"Well, what we have here is a middle aged male." Elisabeth stated as the first result of the scan came out,
"And look here, he seems to have been shot and most likely killed by a bullet in the chest." Jim stated as he examined the torso of the skeleton,
They were both so concentrated on their examination that they almost jumped out of their skins when Ben simply walked into the lab no longer bothering to hide his movements,
"Damn it Ben, could you at least try and make some noise when you walk into a room like that?" Jim scolded, Ben ignored it,
"And I thought I told you to do nothing until I came back, and why did you drag Elisabeth into this?" He retorted,
"Please, do not argue." Elisabeth pleaded,
Ben then noticed a fraternity looking gold ring on the skeletons ring finger and raised an eyebrow and carefully took it off and examined it and then turned over to Elisabeth,
"So what about the arm then?" Jim asked,
"I'm not sure if it was lost before or after death." Elisabeth answered, Ben who were examining the ring took a glance at the arm,
"It looks as if it were cut or sawed off." He said, Elisabeth checked with the medical scanner this time and nodded,
"Yes, I think you're right, at least a decade old." She said,
"What could have been the cause of death then?" Jim queried while examining the body,
Elisabeth examined and found what she thought could be a possible cause of death,
"There is a definite trauma here on the left side of the ribcage – he could have been shot, the heart are usually situated right under here." She said and showed them,
"And judging by the rate of decomposition, I'd say this man have been dead at least five or six years." She added,
Ben got that feeling something just didn't feel right, but collected himself,
"Have you done any DNA testing on this yet?" He asked calmly,
"Yes, it should be finished in at least five hours." She answered,
"What's with the ring Ben?" Jim asked,
"I'm not sure." Ben lied and walked towards the exit but before he reached it he turned around to them,
"Can you put that somewhere no one but you can get to it?" He asked,
"Yes….yes I can." Elisabeth answered,
"Do so, and as soon as the DNA test is complete notify me and Jim and no one else." Ben said adamantly,
"Not even Taylor?" Elisabeth asked perplexed,
"I wasn't planning on telling Taylor." Jim assured,
"Why not?" Elisabeth queried,
Jim looked at both of them and sighed,
"When Boylan told me where to find the body, he thought he was talking to Taylor." He started,
"And it seemed like he was threatening to use it to expose Taylor somehow." He finished,
"You don't think Taylor killed him?" Elisabeth now asked worriedly,
"I think Taylor would do anything if he thought it was in the best interests of the colony." Jim answered,
"I agree, he would." Ben stated nodding,
"Liz, until the DNA scan is complete, I want you to hide the body, I'm gonna go check about the ring." Ben said and turned and walked out of the infirmary,
"Liz, do as he said and hide it until you finish the scan, I'll see you at home later, I've got a feeling Ben may actually know more than he's telling right now." Jim said,
"I'll do what I can." Elisabeth answered and started preparing the corpse to be placed in the stasis compartment I her lab, Jim gently put his hand on her shoulder,
"Just do it quietly." Jim said and then hurried after Ben,
Ben knew exactly what kind of ring it was and after examining it recognized it as a fraternity ring belonging to one of the wealthy practically noble families in the twenty-first century, and he wanted to be sure who the ring belonged to before saying anything that might cause trouble for his family,
Jim caught up with Ben outside the Infirmary,
"Ben, what's with the ring?" He asked but Ben didn't answer as he walked quickly towards the Eye, Jim walked back into the infirmary to help Elisabeth hide the evidence as he trusted Ben with his part.
Meanwhile about four hundred kilometres away Mark's convoy were driving through the rugged makeshift roads that crossed the jungle to Outpost Nine,
Mark grabbed the com and called Terra Nova,
"Castle, this is Squire One, now passing four hundred klicks, over." He reported,
Back at The Command centre Alicia had practically ejected Kono from the com so she could take care of this personally – Mark was after all like a little brother to her,
"Squire One, Castle, I copy you at four hundred over." She acknowledged
"Talk to you at five hundred, out." She finished and put the com unit down, she was worried about him almost as much as Maddy were, Mark had always been stubborn about getting those dangerous OTG assignments, she knew that he had to test his wings someday but that didn't stop her worrying,
Mark put the com down as the convoy continued unknowingly watched by Sixers hidden in the shrubs and in the trees,
As the convoy were driving through a large pair of trees suddenly fell right in front of the front escorting bikes nearly squashing them and their drivers, the convoy came to an almost screeching halt as the motorbike drivers had to practically throw themselves to the sides as to not hit the tree trunks,
"Sixers!"
"We got Sixers!" Mark could here a couple of voices shout as he went for his sonic pistol,
His squad tried to prepare for defence but it was all in vain as the Sixers literally came jumping down from the trees and out of the jungle in a perfectly coordinated ambush and overwhelmed them,
Mira came running out of the jungle with her thug second close behind her, when she saw Mark she went straight for him and raised her sonic pistol at his head when she came up to him, at that close range even on the lowest setting even if not lethal could cause permanent brain damage from the pulse – the message from their spy in Terra Nova said to kill him –
"Don't move." She hissed threateningly at him, he was barely more than a kid perhaps maybe a year or two above twenty, Mark dropped the com and his pistol and kept both hands where she could see them, he felt really stupid for driving into an ambush,
"I may be a mercenary, but I'm not gonna kill someone without good reason." She thought and decided as the rest of her people took procession of the supplies the convoy were carrying,
She looked intently at the young man as he, if she did kill him then instead of just defending against them Taylor would most likely have a search and destroy order for every Sixer – and with this Ben Shannon in the mix….? She'd rather not provoke the beast,
Carter grabbed Mark and dragged him out of the rover and started beating on him as Mark didn't come along as fast as Carter wanted,
Carter took out his bone knife made from the tail of a slasher they'd killed – a lot of the Sixers weapons were usually improvised or handcrafted that was why they appeared tribal and the tribal outfitting the usual Sixer had improved upon that image – He was just about to slash open Mark's throat when Mira stopped him,
"STOP!" She commanded and Carter looked at her surprised as he also had seen the message,
"What, why?" He asked,
"Orders were to kill this guy?" Carter growled, Mira stared him down, Carter obeyed orders but he was also a thug – In the future he had been little more than a common criminal working for a mafia network as the archetypal leg breaker if ever there were such an archetype, Mira took the pulse rifle from one of her other Sixers and gestured for Carter to move aside,
"Guess what kid? This is your lucky day." She stated and hit Mark hard over the head and for Mark everything went black.
Ben after parting ways with Jim managed to sneak into the Eye-room and scanned the ring and walked to the tray with the scanning apparatus next to the Eye-computer,
The scan started the scan and what he got did not make him happy at all,
-SCAN COMPLETE-
-RING BELONGING TO PHOENIX CORPORATE MILITARY ACADEMY-
-ONLY STUDENTS WITH TOP HONOURS RECEIVED SUCH RINGS-
"List personnel owning such rings!" Ben ordered the computer,
-REQUEST DENIED-
-CLASSIFIED INFORMATION-
Ben knew better than to try and ask again but then thought of Maddy who had a knack for these things but then;
"NO, I will not drag Maddy into this, I'll have to find out another way!" He thought and left the Eye-Room and walked home, damn near getting surprised when Anna waited for him,
"OH, sorry I'm late something came up in the last possible second." He explained while showing her inside the house after which she grabbed him by the collar of his uniform,
"You're forgiven….Sir, and I know the perfect way for you to redeem yourself." She said mischievously and dragged him into the bedroom while relieving him of said uniform and of course he didn't complain as he likewise relieved Anna of her uniform.
Hours later in the hold of the Command centre, after a restless sleep Jim had decided to visit Boylan, he gave him a mug of water which Tom emptied,
"Better?" Jim asked and Tom looked at him still with eyes bleary from lack of sleep and the drugs he'd been given by Taylor, Jim bent forward closer after checking they were completely alone,
"Why did you mention that body?" He asked in a hushed voice, Tom looked tiredly at him,
"What body?" He asked back,
"By Pilgrim's Tree." Jim answered,
"You told me there was something there, I found it." Jim explained,
"Logging a little one-on-one time, Shannon?" Taylor said as he entered the rather large cell,
"I gave him some water, to clean his system of the drug you've been giving him." Jim replied straightening up,
"Such a beautiful spot….a perfect place to take a nap in the shade." Tom slurred as if he were still drugged,
"What's he talking about?" Taylor queried,
"I've no idea, he's been blabbering like that for twenty minutes." Jim answered,
"To see if good cop bad cop approach might get some answers." He quickly added and put his hands on his back in an almost military manner, Taylor looked at first Boylan then back at Jim,
"Any results?" He queried,
Jim shook his head,
"Not at the moment sir." Jim replied,
Taylor smirked and then smiled as he turned around to Boylan again who were now talking nonsense,
"Then maybe it's time for bad cop to give it a try then?" He said and looked Tom in the eyes.
Meanwhile at the now sunlit central plaza Maddy were organising the children's rehearsal of the Harvest festival play, Zoe was playing as Commander Taylor in a scene with Leah Marcos playing as Washington, Zoe wore her makeshift beard and Leah her makeshift wig as well as other props some of which had been made for the play while for example Leah's armour had actually been donated by Terra Nova Security as it was too small for most, they had also been lucky with the weather as according to the science department the late summer to early autumnal rains were coming, before they had been rehearsing in the school but this day was the first using actual props,
"Lieutenant Washington!" Zoe said in a as commanding a voice as she could,
"Yes sir! Leah answered with a similar voice and made a salute – in a way that she thought a salute was supposed to be,
"Let Hope Plaza know we're ready to receive!" Zoe commanded mimicking Taylor as best she could,
Leah put the prop that were made to look like a com to her mouth "Hope Plaza, we're ready to receive." She said into it, Maddy walked from the makeshift table and walked in front of the stage,
"Okay, good, guys." She praised them while loving that she got to help with the play, in 2149 such plays were always done in holo movies and outdoor plays was NOT a good idea there as seeing for example Henry VIII in a rebreather just didn't look all that authentic plus just like with music bands such things as theatres were a thing of the past, she supported her right hand on her hip and looked on her plex to see whose line it was now, she looked up at Sam,
"Sam, that's your cue." She said smiling encouragingly at the shy boy, and Sam walked quickly up to Leah and whispered something to her,
Leah turned to Maddy, "Sam needs to go to the bathroom." She reported,
"Okay, bathroom break." Maddy said loudly,
"Everybody go now so you don't have to go later, and wash your hands." She told the children, Ben who were just walking past smirked at how good Maddy were at organising things – it got him in a better mood after having come up with nothing as to who the ring belonged to, even so he knew he had seen the emblem on the ring before – a birds talons clutching a sword,
"Zoe! Zoe leave the beard." Maddy told Zoe who were on her way off the stage, Zoe took off the beard and gave it to Maddy who put it down on the stage and then a large dragonfly-like insect swooped down over the stage sending most of the children running screaming away from it,
"Hey kids. Relax just a bug." Reilly said as she had been standing next to the stage watching Ben in as discreetly a way as she thought possible,
Ben tried to look but got blinded by the sunlight as it was midday, all he saw at that moment were spots in front of his eyes,
"Are you kidding?" A child on the stage queried frightened,
"Thing's huge." Sam stated while trying to not sound too scared and most importantly not having an accident in front of Maddy,
Dunham who had been fixing some of the props hanging on the stage, grabbed his pulse rifle and wacked the insect which then landed right in front of Maddy who jumped back,
"Gross!" She thought making a grimace,
"Sorry, thought it might bite one of the kids." Dunham excused,
"No problem Dunham, you're our hero." Ben said semi sarcastically as he walked over to Maddy,
"You okay?" He queried putting his hand on her shoulder, she nodded and he turned to the rest of the kids,
"You kids alright?" He asked, everyone nodded meekly, then he noted Maddy were looking at the bug,
"Ben, look at this." She said pointing slightly at the pre-historic dragonfly,
"What is it Maddy?" Ben queried as Reilly came over curious at what was going on with a slightly smug Dunham trailing behind,
"I don't know, it looks like it has some kind of microchip on it." Maddy stated as she examined the insect without touching it – there seemed to have been some kind of microchip attached to one of its legs, some things she did not like and that was what her mother called the creepy crawlies,
"Better take this to the science building then, maybe that little weasel Wallace can have a look at it." Ben said to Reilly who nodded and leaned in closer,
"Do you have any free time later on?" She whispered into his ear,
"I'm off for tonight and Maddy is spending another week at least with her mother," Ben stuttered – he was used to be in control of himself but the way he reacted whenever talking to Anna Reilly outside of work made his knees weak,
In the corner of his eye he could see Maddy smiling happily at them as she could obviously clearly see what was going on.
After sending Dunham and Anna off with the bug Ben headed for the gate to check on Corporal Gonzales's squad, when he got there just in time to see Reynolds's convoy driving in through the gate, but it was when they started getting out of the vehicles that Ben saw something was seriously wrong,
"You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow?" He queried,
"We got ambushed sir." Private O'Mara explained, he looked as if he'd taken a fist to the jaw the others looked to have variations of similar injuries,
Then he saw Reynolds stagger out of the lead rover he looked beaten – a lot more than the rest of his squad,
"Aw crap!" Ben exclaimed and contacted Washington,
"Lieutenant Washington, we've got a problem." He said.
Meanwhile in Malcom Wallace's lab,
Malcolm wad examining the pre-historic dragonfly,
"This must be how Mira and her spy have been communicating." Malcolm exclaimed excitedly,
"Well Commander it's the cretaceous equivalent of the carrier pigeon." Malcolm explained,
"You're telling me the Sixers have trained a bug to carry messages back and forth?" Taylor asked incredulously,
"Yeah, I mean, insects respond to powerful attractions like scent or colours." Malcolm explained,
"Though, actually more likely a sound." He continued,
"They must have figured out how to lure it back and forth, he finished gesturing with his hands back and forth,
"You gotta hand it to them this is flipping brilliant!" Malcolm exclaimed, Taylor who stood just beside him rolled his eyes,
"You don't have to sound so damn impressed." He grumbled,
"Sorry, but the way the Sixers have trained this insect IS rather interesting." Malcolm replied,
Taylor picked up the chip and examined it trying to fit the two pieces together, it had been broken apart when Dunham smashed it with the butt of his rifle,
"The chip it was carrying, what's on it?" He asked,
"Yeah, it was damaged beyond repair, there's no way to find out from whom it was or who it was intended for." Malcolm said apologetically,
Taylor looked thoughtful,
"If we release the bug, let it fly wherever it was going, wouldn't it take us to the spy?" He queried hopefully, he was sick and tired of having the Sixers get information that was damaging for the colony,
"Unfortunately, the wings are damaged, its flying days are over I'm afraid." Malcolm responded,
"Damn it Malcolm, do you have any good news for me?" Taylor asked when Washington came walking in,
"Commander, we have a problem." She reported,
"Carry on." Taylor told Malcolm and walked after Washington out of the lab and towards the gate.
While walking quickly towards the gate Washington reported what had happened,
"I just checked in with them when they were hit." She reported,
"Mira?" Taylor queried,
"She was at the lead." Wash replied,
"And what's worse they beat Reynolds more than the others, as if they were looking for him exactly, if it hadn't been for Mira Carter would've killed him, according to O'Mara." She continued,
When Taylor and Washington got there Taylor spotted Warrant officer Shannon already talking to Reynolds while supporting the younger man as it was clear Reynolds had some problem standing upright,
"They've gone too far this time!" Taylor spat angrily when he walked up to Reynolds and Shannon,
"Why haven't he been taken to the infirmary yet?" He growled,
"He refused until he could make his report to you, sir." Ben explained calmly,
Taylor smirked at Reynolds sense of duty,
"Well, report corporal!" He ordered and Mark straightened up with visible signs of pain,
"They knew everything about us, sir." Mark started doing his best to ignore the pain,
"What route we'd take, what time we'd get there, how many of us were there, it was over before we even tried reacting to the ambush." He finished looking ashamed,
"I'm sorry sir, I failed, and I should have….done more." He added shamefully, Taylor put his right hand on the young man's shoulder,
"Now, don't beat yourself up son, from what I can see you were lucky to survive." Taylor said in a fatherly tone,
"And what exactly happened, this business of targeting you?" He asked,
"All I know is that Carter was about to slit my throat when Mira stopped him and told me it was my lucky day, that's all I remember sir." Mark explained as Wash started checking on him, he winced in pain,
"Stop being such a baby Mark!" She teased while examining him to Taylor's obvious mirth, she had this tendency to act like such a mother hen, even Ben smirked slightly at the care Mark got which made the young man blush, Taylor knew how much Mark meant to Alicia after the death of his family she had practically raised him he also knew that she didn't like sending Mark on OTG missions if she could help it,
"Better get that gash checked out corporal, before a certain Shannon sees it." Alicia said smirking after examining him and then turned towards Taylor again,
"Okay, sir, you KNOW I put that convoy together over a week after you put Boylan in the hold!" She stated,
"And then there's the reason as to why they had him beat up like this!" Ben stated, Taylor nodded,
"I don't like this at all, it's not just enough they know exactly where and when to ambush our convoys disrupting our supply-lines to the outer outposts, but that this spy whoever it is may have ordered Reynolds to be murdered in a way that would make it look as another casualty!" Taylor then growled,
"Sir, does Reynolds have any enemies in the colony?" Ben queried,
"Not that I know of, he's always been well liked by most of the soldiers and civilians!" Alicia piped in before thinking, Taylor nodded,
"True." Taylor agreed, he frowned
"We had the murder of Ken Foster and now our first assassination attempt!" He then said shaking his head slowly in disbelief,
"This have just turned even more serious with someone ordering a hit on one of my soldiers!" He stated angrily and then turned to them,
"Okay, Wash, let Boylan out of the hold, we can't keep him in there anymore, I don't trust that snake, but he cannot possibly had anything to do with this, Shannon you make sure Reynolds and his squad get to the infirmary ASAP!" He then ordered,
"Sir!" Both Alicia and Ben replied in unison,
Mark had to take a step back and lean on the rover's hood as he felt dizzy,
"Okay that's it Reynolds, you're off to the infirmary before Maddy hears of this." Alicia stated,
"Too late!" Ben stated,
"Mark!" Maddy almost shouted as she came running nearly toppling over poor Commander Taylor who had to move out of the way in order not to have the girl crash into him which made him stumble a little while regaining his balance,
"I heard what happened, are you okay?" Maddy blurted out worriedly as she slowed down and immediately noticed the bruises and the gash just at his hairline,
"Oh, you're bleeding, and what happened out there? You look like you've been beaten?" She rambled worriedly while she felt some tears threatening to emerge from behind her eyes,
"Maddy." He started but she cut him off,
"You may have a concussion, really you don't know what that's like, I know that you might think…." Maddy continued to ramble, while she tenderly cupped his face between her hands,
"I know." Mark tried while gently trying to remove her hands so that he could explain, she looked so beautiful while rambling and her voice was so soft despite her frenzy right now,
"Is this what it's going to be like having someone except Alicia who care about me welcome me?" He wondered, but now he needed to calm Maddy down before she fainted from lack of air as she looked absolutely hysterical,
"M-M-Maddy, Maddy, I'm, I'm fine." He assured her while trying to smile which stung a bit thanks to his split lip,
Maddy looked up at him and made a sound of both relief and worry and before he realised she had gotten her arms out of his gentle grip and again put them on either side of his cheeks and pulled his face down and kissed him in broad daylight for everyone to see she didn't care at all that the entire colony saw her kiss this boy, and as if to reassure herself he were actually there she deepened the kiss slightly, Mark who were about to say something to calm her down before the kiss didn't complain,
Ben simply face palmed himself,
"Good thing Jim doesn't see this, he'd totally freak out….Okay kid I AM RIGHT HERE!" Ben thought annoyed, He heard some soldiers from Mark's squad snickering at it all and he turned around and glared at them which caused whatever teasing remarks to get swallowed back down,
And as suddenly as it begun Maddy broke the kiss and looked at his face and also realised that Ben and Mark's entire squad were standing there staring…well the squad did Ben acted as if he didn't see anything as he were facing the soldiers who looked a bit tamed,
"I'm sorry….I…Uh, I was just really worried about you." She said apologetically while blushing and Mark were blushing as well,
"No, no, don't be sorry." Mark started smirking, Maddy looked at him as if examining his every feature she had the most beautiful eyes and Mark realised he may actually be falling in love for real not just a crush,
"I was just thinking I, uh….might like to get ambushed more often." He said trying to sound as if it was nothing getting his ass kicked also trying not to wince in pain as his split lip stung, funny while Maddy were pressing her soft moist lips to his it hadn't hurt at all strangely,
Now Maddy's face broke into the most beaming smile he had seen so far threatening to outshine the sun who were at its zenith at that moment, then the dizziness came over him again and he as discreetly as he could leaned up against the rover again but Maddy didn't miss that,
"You ARE dizzy, aren't you?" She asked almost stated fretfully and Ben cleared his throat,
"Okay, you and your squad are going to the infirmary and that's an order corporal." He ordered,
"Gonzales, can you spare a few soldiers to wrap this up would ya, while I get Reynold's squad checked up?" He asked since Gonzales and his squad were responsible for the gate and some of the towers closer to it this day,
"No problem, Warrant Officer, we'll take care of this." Gonzales assured and Ben nodded and gave the orders to Reynolds squad to follow him to the infirmary while Maddy supported Mark a little who now looked very tired.
Meanwhile at the infirmary in Elisabeth's lab the computer had finished most of the scans,
"Any progress ID-ing our little friend?" Jim asked as he were walking in and carefully closed the door carefully so as to not make any unnecessary sounds,
"I finally got the results from the scan." Elisabeth replied less than enthusiastically,
"What's wrong?" Jim queried,
"I still can't identify him….BUT, he did not come through on any known pilgrimage." Elisabeth said puzzled,
"But I have come to a definite conclusion, and that is that his DNA does not match anyone that ever came through the portal since day one." She added,
"Okay, so maybe he's a stowaway, someone who managed to get through a pilgrimage unnoticed." Jim guessed,
"The problem is Jim, he didn't come through on any known pilgrimage." Elisabeth replied knowingly,
"How do you mean?" Jim now queried surprised,
"Time displacement leaves a molecular signature." Elisabeth started explaining,
"So, everything that passes through the portal is left with a sort of trace imprint." She finished,
"So, our guy doesn't have that signature?" Jim asked a confounded,
"No, he does." Elisabeth said,
"It's just, it doesn't belong to any pilgrimage that's on record." She continued,
"According to my scans, he came through the portal sometime between the second and the third pilgrimages." She finished ominously,
"How's that possible?" Jim asked totally incredulously as by now he was completely lost on what to think of it all,
"You tell me." Elisabeth replied fretfully, this whatever it was that Jim had stumbled upon was something she had thought – HOPED they left the old future to be without,
Then Ben and Maddy came walking into the infirmary supporting a very beat up Reynolds and Elisabeth had to turn her work towards that while Jim closed the medical stasis unit hiding the mystery skeleton, after that he left the lab and saw Ben looking at him and felt a pang of pain at seeing Maddy fawning over Reynolds but could also see that someone had definitely done a number on the boy as by now Reynolds had to be supported, as soon as Ben had made sure his subordinates were being taken care of he walked up to Jim,
"Anything new about you know what?" He asked Jim who explained after they started walking out after making sure no one could overhear them, Ben as well gave what excuse of information he had made about the ring,
"Now that I think of it, Ben didn't you get a ring with a similar motif at the Youth Academy?" Jim asked, Ben nodded slightly
"Only that mine was a phoenix claw holding a pair lightning bolts." Ben corrected,
All this seemed to only produce more questions than answers as the two walked on.
Well that was chapter 36, so I'd be grateful for some reviews so I know I'm on the right track still.