Chapter II
Lex stood and sighed. "Then find another guide." And she walked out of the room to her room.
"I spoke with Mr. Weyland, the money's been wired to your foundation's account, and the chopper's refuelling to fly you back home." Max said from the door to Lex's room as she packed up her things.
"Who'd you get?" Lex asked curiously as Stafford turned to leave.
Stafford stopped and turned slightly. "Gerald Murdoch." He answered. Lex froze and turned to the door, staring in disbelief at the empty doorway.
It was a couple of hours later that she made it to Weyland's office on the ship, she knocked when she got there but she entered before Weyland could invite her inside.
"Gerald Murdoch has two seasons of ice time. He's not ready." Lex said cutting to the chase.
"Don't worry about it." Weyland rebuked.
Lex growled silently. "What about Paul Woodman or Andrew Keeler?" she asked, forcing herself to not show that she was annoyed.
"Called them" Weyland replied.
"And?" Lex asked, getting more annoyed by the minute.
At that precise moment Max entered the room with some paperwork for his boss
"They gave the same bullshit answer you did." Stafford replied.
"Bullshit?" Lex asked herself quietly, before she said in a louder voice. "Mr. Weyland, what I told you wasn't bullshit; if you rush into this, people will get hurt or maybe even die."
"Ms. Woods, I don't understand your objections. We're not asking you to take us up Everest, we need you to take us from the ship to the pyramid and then back to the ship." Weyland said before sitting back and finished with "That's it's."
"What about inside the pyramid?" Lex asked the arrogant billionaire, her instincts were warning her that she wasn't going to like the answer.
"You don't have to worry about that Mss Woods once were at the site we have the best equipment, technology and experts that money can buy." Weyland responded.
Lex's eyes narrowed as she nearly lost control over her abilities. "Mr. Weyland when I lead a team I don't ever leave my team." She said, it was true when she lead a team they became a temporary pride to her.
"I admire your passion, I wish you were coming with us." Weyland said sincerely stunning Lex for a fleeting moment.
"You're making a mistake." Lex finally says before walking out on Weyland for the second time.
I wish I was young and healthy. Weyland secretly wishes he wouldn't have minded a woman such as Lex as a wife, he could tell that the male that managed to tame the wild and animalistic spirit that she had would have her full loyalty and devotion, he could also tell that any male that wanted her would have to prove themselves to her before she would even entertain the notion of giving him a chance.
Lex stood on the deck watching the Aurora Borealis that lit up the sky, she thought over what Weyland had said and how he had been feeling, she had kept everything that she was taught in the Institute sharp, she had never truly lost any of the abilities or skills that she had gained. Her head snapped to the side at the sound of footsteps approaching, when she sees Miller and Sebastian she relaxes slightly.
"It's in the upper atmosphere. Streams of protons and electrons from the Sun are deflected by the Earth's magnetic field causing a solar radiation storm." Miller says as he approaches Lex, never giving up in his hope to impress her.
"It's beautiful." Sebastian said looking at the Aurora like Lex. "Even the way you describe it, Professor." Sebastian finishes teasingly making Miller blush slightly before glaring at him for ruining his attempt to impress the dark beauty that he and many other men hoped would lead the expedition.
"Actually it's Doctor." Miller corrected again, still a little put out with Sebastian, but then turned to Lex and said. "I agree."
Lex looked at the Aurora for a moment more before saying. "Shackelton called Antarctica the 'last great journey left to man'. It's the one place left in the world that no one owns, that's completely free." She said with a touch of longing in her voice then she continued with a smirk. "Me?" she asked innocently. "I'm sort of partial to the penguins."
"I wish you would reconsider coming with us." Miller said a bit forlornly. Lex looked at him and smiled a small smile but shakes her head, Miller then leaned in thrilled that he was this close to her and felt a short burst of victory for being the first one to be this close to the Wild Beauty as they had started to call her. "Not for me, obviously. But I think a lot of the other guys really need you." When he saw the look Lex was giving him he continued. "C'mon don't make me pull out pictures of my kids again."
"Your kids aren't that cute." Lex replied, with a small smile to show that she meant no offence.
"What if we got pictures of other peoples kids? Would that do it?" Sebastian asked.
Lex smiles and considered her chances against Millers humour and Sebastian's charm.
"Want my advice?" She asked them after she looked back up to the sky and continued before they could answer. "Stay on the boat." She knew what was going to happen and she wanted to avoid it if possible.
"Were not staying on the boat." Sebastian replies with Miller nodding his agreement.
"Guys, the first rule of this job is to not take people to places they're not ready to go." Lex explained with a sigh.
"Listen." Sebastian began. "I was on the next plane to Mexico. My team's waiting but if Weyland is even half right, this could change history."
"Weyland is more concerned with making another billion than with anything else." Lex said then added. "Including your safety."
"Let me ask you something. You're here, you know this place. Do we stand a better chance of surviving with you than with a number two choice?" Sebastian askes, and from the look on Lex's face he could see that they did. "Because if we do and you don't go and something does go wrong, are you going to be able to live with that?" he asked.
"Ms Woods." Rousseau interrupted, and Lex turned to her.
"Your helicopter's refuelled. They're waiting for you." Rousseau continued when she saw that she had the other woman's attention and then she left.
Lex stayed on the deck for a while longer until she makes her decision. Once she made her decision she went to get ready, she knew that she would curse herself severely for this decision later.
When she walks back into the Piper Marus hold for a second time she see that they are preparing to leave. Lex was in full Antarctic gear that she had made herself to work around her unique DNA situation, she also had some weapons that had been designed and made by herself stashed all over herself.
"Move these Haaglunds out." She heard Quinn yell at his team.
Lex stepped forward to address the expedition.
"I told you she'd stay, it's my animal magnetism. It's irresistible." Miller whispers to Sebastian. Lex glanced at them quickly before shaking her head, he hadn't even proved himself to her and he thought he had a claim on her, clearly he was a bit senile.
"Everybody." Lex called out. "Gather round." She continued once she had everyone's attention. "It's my job to keep you alive on this expedition and I need your help to do that, since I don't have time to train you properly I'm laying down three simple rules." She said as the rest of the expedition took in the equipment behind her and Rousseau handed out walkie-talkies.
"One: No one goes anywhere alone. Ever." She began. "Two: Everyone will maintain constant communication. Three: Unexpected things will happen. When they do… no one tries to play hero." She said, she had been taking in the reactions and feelings of the rest of the expedition.
"Foe some of us it just come naturally." Miller joked, gaining a smile from Lex and laughs from a few others.
"Laugh it up beaker. You get scars like this when some 'hero' on your team screws up their assignment." Verheiden said coldly, Miller looks at him and there were no more jokes around him.
"If one of us goes down. We're all going after them." Lex said as she looked around. "Understood?" She continued.
"Understood." Various voices chanted back at her. Once that was done she walked over to the only other female on the expedition.
"Seven seasons on the ice and I've never seen a gun save someone's life." She said when she saw that Adele was cleaning an automatic handgun.
"I don't plan on using it." Adele replied.
"Then why bring it?" Lex asked curiously.
"Same principle as a condom. I'd rather have one and not need it, then not have it and need one. I'm Adele." The other woman introduced herself.
"Lex." She replied.
"I'm glad you decided to stay." Adele said.
Lex smiled teasingly. "Couldn't let you have all the fun in scaring all these males now can I?"Adele laughed at that in agreement, all the men felt the icy cold hand of fear grip them at the laugh that Adele let out.
A couple of hours later they were out on the ice on their way to the wailing station that would be their base camp, they were advancing as quickly as they could on the ice.
Lex looked out at the moon, she was riding with Sebastian; the men had decided to split the women up. She then glanced over to her companion and saw that he was fiddling with a bottle cap.
"What's with the bottle cap?" She asked.
Sebastian looked up at her before he glanced down at the cap. "It's a valuable archaeological find." He replied.
"I can see that." Lex replied with a smile. Sebastian turns to the moon.
"When I was a kid growing up in Sicily, you know what they'd call a moon that big?" He asked Lex.
She looks at Sebastian and shakes her head.
"La Luna del Cacciatore." Sebastian said.
"La Luna del Cacciatore." Lex repeated.
"Brava." Sebastian congratulated her.
"What does it mean?"She asked.
"Hunters moon." He replied, Lex snorted mentally Figures, I'm right in its gaze and I'm an Apex predator. Lex thought to herself, as she looked up at the moon.
A few hours later they arrived at a ridge were they stopped, Weyland disembarks from his Haaglund soon followed by the rest of the expedition. Around them, the snow was falling slow and steady as Lex moved closer to the edge if the ridge, as she could see more than the others, she could see the whaling station and there was no indication that anyone else had been there since 1904, the year that it had been abandoned.
"Take those over a bit further! Connors!" Quinn yelled out. "Hold it guys… Keep the engines running!" he ordered his men.
"Hi." Lex heard Thomas greet someone, but obviously they didn't want to say anything.
"Be honest. You're a little disappointed that you didn't get a yellow jacket aren't you?" Thomas asked, Lex shook her head hopefully the one he was attempting to talk to would correct that misconception.
"They give the newbies the yellow jackets so that when you fall down a crevice and die, it's easier for us to spot your body." Adele replied curtly, Lex smirked it would take a lot to tie both her and Adele down to a man.
She turned and saw Thomas walk of, she used one of her psychic abilities to see what he thought of her new friend.
Lovely girl. She heard Thomas think, she grinned at that and was that sarcasm that she heard in his mental voice?
Lex turned back to what she could see in the dark she sighed mournfully and directed her eyes forward not looking up as her sight was sensitive, she then prepared a parachute flare gun and fired it sending a flare high into the sky, once it reached a certain height it exploded and illuminated the Whaling station in a glowing red light.
"It's an abandoned whaling station, according to your satellite imagery Mr. Weyland the pyramid is located directly beneath it." Lex said as she watched the red light die out.