When Every Second Counts

Chapter 9
Sometimes I'd Rather Face the Phantoms

"Oh, look at it. It's so cute!" Neil cooed.

"How the hell can you call it cute?" Jane demanded, staring at the container. The Phantom inside looked like a miniaturized version of one of the human-sized terrors she had seen many times before. Just looking at the thing gave her the creeps.

"I don't know, it does look kinda innocent," Ryan said, tapping one side of the cylinder with his index finger.

"It's only a baby, Jane, give it a chance," Neil quipped.

"Is that what they said about you when you were born?" Jane retorted irritably.

"Wanna hold it?" Neil grinned, ignoring the remark and reaching for the release mechanism of the container.

"No!" Jane exclaimed, horrified. She grabbed for the tech's hands and managed to pull him away from the creature. The force of the action made them both tumble backwards to the far side of the transport bench.

The woman cursed as she pulled herself back up onto the bench. She cuffed the man laughing beside her before realizing who it was. She lowered her fist and mumbled an apology to Gray. The captain grabbed a hold of the front of her armor in a display of anger.

"You don't hit your commanding officer, missy," he growled.

"She's been good so far, captain," Ryan said, "She won't do it again."

"She did good on the mission, captain, maybe she needs to be rewarded instead," Neil said, having recovered from the fall. Had she been able to turn around, she might have seen the mischievous look on the his face, "Kiss her, captain, she deserves it." Had she been able to turn around, she would have strangled him.

"Hmm," Gray considered, the anger seeming to fade away, "Do you think you deserve it, corporal?" His face was only an inch from hers when the stimulant reached her central nervous system and forced her into the waking world.

Back in the world of darkness, Melissa tried to coax Jane from the vehicle. She glanced at the reddish glow near the back of the Quatro and tried to hurry the woman as much as she dared. Reaching into the bag she now carried, she grabbed an ovo-pack and sent it flying towards the Phantom. The Phantom chased after the cylinder, and the doctor gave a sigh of relief.

"What's going on?" Jane asked groggily, "Where did you go?"

"I went to get us help," Melissa replied, "Keep your wits about you. Run when I do, and please try to keep up." The blonde woman smiled as Jane nodded. One good thing to be said for the military, the doctor thought.

So they ran. Past Phantoms, and the dead bodies of humans. Past buildings that would eventually pass into faded history as those outside the barriers had. Past burning wreckage and twisted metals. Every once in a while, when a Phantom blocked the path, Melissa would stop and throw an ovo-pack. Sometimes the creatures would be distracted by the prospect of the energy and follow the cylinder. More often the women would have to run and find another route.

They reached the military airfield in less than half an hour. Had she been told this, Jane would not have believed it. It felt like years had passed since she left the hospital. She had never been on the Tucson mission, that was another person in another life. All she had ever done was run and all she would do would be to run forever.

Phantoms were vacant on the airfield. Melissa dropped the bag she carried and pulled Jane towards an escape pod. The man waiting in the airlock looked as though he was not pleased with waiting. With a start, Jane recognized the man as General Hein.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked the doctor, keeping his anger under control by power of will, "And why did you bring her?"

"I wasn't going to abandon her, Hein," the woman said brashly, "You heard my report, or else you wouldn't have waited."

"I wouldn't have waited anyway, Mel," Hein replied, "If the Council didn't like you so much."

"Since when did you care what the Council thought?" Melissa snapped back, pushing past the general and bringing Jane with her, "Get us out of here, or abandon us, but do something before we are all killed."

Grumbling, Hein moved to comply. Melissa should have been left to die, he thought. He cared not what happened to Jane, she was just another soldier. But if anything did happen to Melissa, the Council would hate him. And that was not what he needed right now. Not when the goal was so close to his grasp.

"We're not going to Houston," Hein mumbled as the women strapped themselves into their seats.

"As long as we're not going to the wasteland, and not staying here I think we'd be alright," Melissa replied.

Jane sat quietly. Hein was an imposing figure, she was unsure as to how the doctor was able to speak to him in such a way. Where she could have felt safe as the aircraft lifted itself from the ground, she felt apprehensive. She felt almost captive, and wondered if the general would look over her or if she would be under his full attention. She prayed that he would leave her be. Even if he left her to face the Phantoms.