Faces
Larry Mann
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"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"
Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown
"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

ASPECT TWO:: Faces

- - -

X-COM SUBTERRANEAN BASE "ICEHOUSE"
SOMEWHERE IN GREENLAND

	Deciding that her gear was finally in order, Lyudmila Mannski 
grasped the zippers on her nylon footlocker bag and zipped it shut. Some 
of her old gear had of course been replaced either due to aging or because 
of new technology, but overall they had done a good job of keeping her 
personal effects in order while she was in stasis. The thought triggered a 
brief flash of anger, since she had not wanted to be put in stasis in the first 
place. She would have protested if she'd been coherent enough at the time. 
But, nothing for it now. It was 40 years ago, and the people who'd made 
those decisions were likely dead, or not worth killing.
	She picked up a small pin resting on the bench beside her: her new 
rank insignia. It consisted of a white anchor behind which a gold chain 
stretched diagonally. Under X-Com's new naval ranking system that meant 
she was a Lieutenant. It was, according to Commander Deborah Hand, 
identical to her former rank of Captain, but the concept of naval ranks was a 
bit foreign to Lyudmila, and so it still felt like a step down the ladder. Then 
again, Deborah probably felt the same way, since in this system the 
supreme rank was Captain, not Commander.
	Lot of changes. This would take some getting used to.
	There was a knock at the doorframe then, and Lyudmila turned to 
see a young Asian medic standing there. "The others are starting to wake 
up, Lieutenant," she said, a little timidly. "Just so you know."
	"Thank you. I'll be there in a minute." With her Russian accent and 
a frame comparable to that of Samson, as well as her high psionic rating, 
Lyudmila had a tendency to intimidate everyone around her, particularly 
people such as this medic, who looked like a brittle twig in comparison. No 
surprise that some of her American squadmates who were fond of the 
MechWarrior RPGs had nicknamed her `The Elemental'.
	She pinned her rank insignia to her coat lapel and headed for the 
recovery room.

	"Gaah... `Hey, Hicks. Man, you look just like I feel.'"
	"Stop with the movie quotes, okay Marcelle?" groaned Zander, the 
trooper who had been addressed. Then he coughed and made a noise 
which was totally inarticulate but nevertheless reflected the pain in his 
throat quite effectively.
	"Here, drink this," said the medic, who had entered the room with 
three plastic bottles containing a clear liquid, one for each of the troopers. 
Otto Zander was first to receive his bottle, then Francois Marcelle, and 
finally Himiko Nagano. Their faces all bore similar expressions of disgust 
as they drank the foul-tasting fluid.
	"Ghah," Himiko croaked. "What is this shit?"
	"An electrolyte balancer," said a new and familiar voice, and the 
three troopers looked up to see their unit commander entering the room. 
"They gave me one too."
	"Sorry about the taste," the medic apologized. "But it's the fastest 
way to get your body chemistry back in order."
	"Sheeze, we didn't have *that* much to drink," Marcelle quipped. 
Then he considered for a minute and looked up at Lyudmila. "Did we?"
	Himiko snickered. Otto did not. In fact Zander appeared rather 
focused on Lyudmila all of a sudden, and she seemed similarly focused on 
Zander. "Hey Sarge, what's wrong?" The troopers recognized their squad 
leader's "bad feeling" mood, and since he was a psi, his feelings were 
rarely ignored.
	"What year is it, Captain?" he said to Lyudmila without preamble.
	"It's Lieutenant now," she replied. "Under the new ranking system. 
And the year is 2040."
	The troopers paled. "Wh... *what*??" Himiko finally sputtered.
	"You heard me," Lyudmila answered flatly, not willing to let shock 
chew up her troops' morale any more than was necessary. "Sergeant, your 
rank is Ensign now. Squaddies, consider yourselves `Able Seamen'."
	"*2040*?!" Himiko went on. "What did they *do* to us?!"
	"*Calm down*, soldier," Lyudmila snapped. "We were placed in 
cryo. Apparently someone up top decided we were too valuable a resource-
-"
	At that moment a monitor set in the upper part of the wall pinged and 
flared to life, and the face of Commander Deborah Hand appeared. She had 
been a young woman, and a Squaddie, when the troopers had last seen her, 
and the addition of 40 years of age to her face did not help their state of 
mind any.
	"Lieutenant, I need to speak with you immediately."
	"Can we put it off at all, ma'am?" Lyudmila said, trying not to sound 
irritated. "I'm in the middle of debriefing my unit."
	"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but this can't wait. I need you and any 
readily available troops to prepare for immediate departure to Tsunami."
	Hell, barely a few hours out and they're *already* putting us on the 
roster? Lyudmila fumed to herself as the monitor went dead. Outwardly 
she expressed her frustration as a sharp exhale through her nose. "All 
right, squad, you heard the lady. Soon as you can walk without losing your 
balance, get into gear. The techs'll show you where everything is."
	"Yes ma'am!" Zander replied immediately, his old reflexes kicking 
in at Lyudmila's commanding voice. But at the rate we're going I wouldn't 
expect us to be ready for much of anything for at least half a day, Lyu, he 
added privately.
	I know, she answered. Don't worry about it. And she left.

			* * *

SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN

	"Bogey on sonar, ma'am. Bearing zero-four-five, coming straight at 
us."
	Deborah was beside the pilot in an instant, and a moment later 
Lyudmila joined her. She was the only trooper from her squad on this 
rather abrupt flight to she knew not where, since the others were obviously 
in no condition to go anywhere. Another Triton transport would be 
dispatched for them later.
	"Can we get a visual?" Deborah asked.
	"Aye, ma'am," the pilot pressed a couple buttons on his console, 
and a moment later the sonar image was replaced by a dim but 
comprehensible view of a small, yellow-hulled object which seemed to 
stare back at them with big green eyes. "I confirm a bandit, tagging as USO 
Zero-Eight."
	"`USO'?" Lyudmila asked.
	"Unidentified Submersible Object," Deborah elaborated. "One of the 
smaller ones we've been running into."
	What exactly *are* we dealing with, here? Lyudmila thought to 
herself, but kept silent. This was no time for an explanation of what the hell 
was going on.
	"Barracuda Zero-Two to Triton Zero-Three," the radio crackled. "I 
confirm targeting solution on bandit USO Zero-Eight. Do I have permission 
to engage?"
	"Permission granted, Zero-Two," Deborah responded. "But stay at 
maximum range. I don't want to lose my escort, understood?"
	"Roger that, Zero-Three. Engaging."

	A brief flare of thruster energy cut through the darkness of the ocean 
as the Barracuda interceptor shifted onto a new course and rocketed off 
toward the small yellow submarine. The pilot flipped open the safety 
guards on the weapons systems and primed the chambers for the depleted-
uranium torpedoes he carried. As the targeting computer reported the 
readiness of the weapons systems, the small blip marking the location of 
the submarine passed inside the range marker. The pilot pressed the 
trigger.
	A gleaming metallic cylinder shot from the belly of the Barracuda 
and streaked off into the abyss. The pilot watched its track on the scanner 
as it approached the larger USO blip, and a flash confirmed that it had 
impacted with its target. The ship continued to approach them, however. 
The pilot waited impatiently for the launch tube to be re-primed, and the 
`ready' signal came not a moment too soon for him. He squeezed the 
trigger again, sending another fish after the enemy. Again, the weapon's 
scanner track flew toward its target...
	It missed. Cursing, the pilot again began the interminable wait for 
the tube to reload. He contemplated moving in closer in order to throw an 
Ajax torpedo at the thing, but that might subject him to enemy fire. He'd 
already had one close call with those weird green energy beams and had 
no desire to repeat the process if he could help it. But if this last D.U.P. 
torpedo didn't do the job, he wouldn't have much choice--
	In the next moment the decision was taken out of his hands, for the 
USO changed course and rocketed away at a speed well beyond the 
maximum capacity of the Barracuda. How the hell those things moved so 
damn fast in all this water was beyond him. But, his job was done.
	"Barracuda Zero-Two to Triton Zero-Three," he radioed the transport. 
"USO Zero-Eight has bugged out. Returning to formation."
	"Good work, Zero-Two," answered the voice of the Commander. 
"Drinks on me when we get to Tsunami."
	"Roger that, ma'am," the pilot said, not concealing a grin.

		* * *

X-COM AQUATIC BASE "TSUNAMI"
NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN

	"Triton Zero-One on final approach," the duty officer reported. 
"Doesn't look good, ma'am."
	"What happened?" Lyudmila asked.
	"A cruise ship was attacked by unknowns near Hawaii. USOs were 
detected in the immediate area. Standard squad of 10 troopers and one 
Coelecanth were dispatched." He became more downcast. "The CO 
aborted the mission. Coelecanth was destroyed. Seven troopers KIA. 80% 
of equipment lost."
	"Damn..." Deborah hissed.
	"May I see the flight roster?" Lyudmila asked.
	"Yes, ma'am," the officer said, handing her his datapad. Lyudmila 
went down the list of crew and equipment, and her eyes got wider and 
wider, in proportion to her disbelief.
	"You sent a squad of one officer and nine *rookies* on what was 
obviously a terrorist attack? With *pistols*? And *no armor*?!?"
	"It was all we had available, ma'am!" the man snapped defensively. 
"And we don't *have* armor."
	"What do you mean you *don't have*--" Lyudmila started to rail 
when Deborah got her attention.
	"We don't have any armor, Lyudmila," Deborah said tensely. "The 
old alloys dissolve in or near sea water. And even if they didn't, there's no 
Elerium anymore!"
	Lyudmila just stared at her in disbelief. At that moment the surface 
of the water in the sub pen began to bubble, and a silvery shape began to 
rise into view.
	"Look, now's not the right time to explain what the bureaucracy did 
to us while you were asleep. I'll fill you and your people in later, all right?"
	Lyudmila hesitated for a long moment, then finally nodded, realizing 
her temper had taken the helm at a bad time, and turned and watched the 
Triton move into docking position. Pockmarks from some kind of weapon 
marred the otherwise sleek hull. Evidently the terrorists had cornered the 
troopers in their transport. That was a very bad place to get cornered, 
particularly if one of the bugs had a Blaster Launcher, or was a decent psi...
	The hatch on the side of the vessel snapped open and three 
bedraggled troopers filed out, the Lieutenant looking almost as gloomy as 
the two Seamen, who had that familiar "Why the hell am I here?" look in 
their eyes. Lyudmila recognized that look, having seen it once too often in 
her own troopers. Technicians clambered into the sub and, after a moment, 
hauled out two plastic tubs, one containing several weapons and other 
assorted items, the other containing the corpse of something. Lyudmila 
had barely set eyes on the latter when the shape of the body registered, 
although its color and scales did not.
	"What the hell kind of a Sectoid is that?"
	"We're calling them Aquatoids," Deborah said as Lyudmila knelt 
down to take a closer look at the body. "They're obviously Sectoids, but 
engineered for underwater existence. I'll fill you in on the aliens we've 
seen at the briefing."
	Lyudmila nodded and turned her attention to the plastic tub of 
weapons. They were... unusual, to say the least, dominated by bright green 
and yellow -- or in the case of what had to be grenades, red -- coloration, a 
sharp contrast to the drab metals which had dominated the old arsenal of 
alien plasma weapons. There were a few sundry items of human origin in 
there as well, which the troopers had apparently had time to salvage, 
presumably from the aliens they did manage to kill. They all seemed to be 
made of gold, she noticed, or at least had some gold element in them. Gold 
rings, a gold watch... there was some kind of necklace buried under the pile 
of grenades too. Carefully she picked it out...
	...and stared at it in surprised silence for a long moment. The 
simple metal chain ended in a gold mount, but Lyudmila's attention was on 
the large crystal held in place by that mount. It was a piece of golden-
orange crystal which seemed to sparkle, even in the drab flourescent 
lighting of the sub pen, and despite the fact that it appeared to be encased 
in some kind of thin plastic laminate.
	To Lyudmila and Deborah, who had fought many missions in the 
Alien War, it was unmistakable.
	"Elerium..." Lyudmila said in amazement.
	"You found this on the ship??" Deborah turned to the Lieutenant 
from the Triton, an officer by the name of Gerard Richter.
	"Y-yes, ma'am," Richter answered, not quite understanding what all 
the excitement was about. "One of the lizard-things was carrying it."
	"But *how*...?" Deborah said, more to herself than to anyone else 
present. An Elerium crystal was not something you found on someone's 
gold neckchain on a public cruise ship. The level of security which had 
surrounded the Elerium stocks after the Alien War -- or perhaps it should be 
the First Alien War, now -- made such an idea near unthinkable. And yet, 
somehow...
	Lyudmila, for her part, was staring more and more intently at the 
crystal, which seemed to glitter back at her in response. Almost as if it 
were calling out to her, trying to tell her something. She stood up, and let 
the crystal settle into her left hand.
	And suddenly she was *fairly certain* that something was calling out 
to her... it sounded the same... almost the same as...
	She closed her fist around the crystal and gripped it tightly.
	HELP!!! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!
	A panicked face of a young girl with blond hair and very dark -- 
almost black --eyes, and an almost primal scream.
	Lyudmila reeled and lost her balance, falling backward and landing 
unglamorously on the decking with a cry. The crystal clattered to the floor, 
making a small, bright flash as it impacted with the metal deck. In the next 
instant Deborah and a few of the officers were at her side, while others just 
stood there staring, more than a little bewildered.
	"Lyudmila! Are you all right?!"
	Lyudmila said nothing for a very long moment, her eyes locked on 
an imaginary point in front of her, her breathing quick and shallow. Then 
she shook herself violently and glanced around at the people clustered 
around her.
	"What happened, Lyudmila?!" Deborah pressed.
	A flicker of light caught Lyudmila's eye, and she found herself 
looking at the Elerium pendant, still lying on the decking where she'd 
dropped it. Slowly, she raised one hand and pointed toward the crystal.
	"I want to find out," she said quietly. "Who that pendant belonged 
to."

END TWO


END