GOSSARD:
"Where?" Rico demanded, taking immediate charge, his rifle out, ready, and a good distance between him and an equally prepared Dizzy.
I gaped at my sensors. Not two seconds ago they had indicated advancing, pissed-off, bugs and I swear I had seen a claw protruding from a bush. But the second the warning had left my lips it was gone like some random hallucination. There was no advancing bug and my scanners were denying all that they had just shown and were now displayed everything as being normal . . . Or as normal as things can appear on a scanner that claims that we're surrounded by a million bugs that we can't see and that don't seem to be taking any notice of us.
I glanced briefly at Doc, though it was long enough to see the same confused look on his face that must have been displayed on mine.
"Gossard! Doc!" Rico snapped loudly, bringing us around. "Where are they?!"
"I - um - well," I stuttered, bewildered. "They - they're not coming. I mean, they were, but now their not and it says they never were."
"Say WHAT?" Dizzy murmured.
"So - we're safe?" Rico asked, looking skeptical.
"What's you're definition of safe?" I retorted.
"If we're PERFECTLY safe can we PLEASE keep going?!" Sandrine interrupted in a whiny insistent voice, moving in closer to Rico. "I'm so worried about my friends!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dizzy rolled her eyes at me as we moved out, putting on an obnoxious voice. "'I'm soooo worried about my friends!' Right!" She sighed and shook her head. "Poor Higgins."
I wasn't sure that Higgins was the first thing she was worried about with Sandrine batting her eyelashes and hitting on Rico, but any other reason she might have be angry she seemed quite happy to keep to herself.
"Yeah," I agreed, looking sympathetically in his direction. "Poor kid. He - " I froze mid-sentence.
"What?" Dizzy asked, turning her gaze from Higgins to look in the same direction as me. "Are you O . . . k-ay," she barely breathed the last syllable.
T'PHAI
"Oh, gosh Rico, isn't it beautiful?" Sandrine asked, grabbing his arm as she gasped in 'awe'. "That over there is where we have to go."
As we had turned a sharp bend the trees had suddenly thinned and the ground had dropped away to form an immense cliff, which we had nearly been lead right over. The water seemed to stretch right into the sky as it swirled away, white frothy crests breaking the tops of waves for as far as the eye could see. The cliff curved around a bay of water into a point across from us with a small building on its tip. This building was the place that Sandrine was so enthusiastically pointing at with one hand while she used the other to cling to our Lieutenant's arm.
It WAS beautiful, but Sandrine's behavior was odd as she gushed about the scene before us as though she'd never seen anything like it in her life. She had supposedly been here many times before and she was our guide, so one would surmise that she would have known this would be here and therefore would have been more prepared. Besides, to travel from our last location to that small building could have been made, most likely, a lot quicker by taking a different route.
Most of these thoughts were exactly what an annoyed Max voiced to me, though with different terminology.
I nodded agreement. "Are most civilians this . . . " I cocked my head to the side a little as I watched her, "odd?"
Max shook his head. "Not all of them, not unless they have a reason for it."
I thought that over for a moment but before I could come up with an appropriate response the LT was speaking.
"Are there any caves coming out of these cliffs?" he asked Sandrine casually.
"Er - not that I'm aware of," she replied, smiling innocently up at him.
He didn't return it. "Oh? Well then I guess you'll want to get moving, huh?" he asked coldly.
"I - " she sounded startled. "Yes, yes I think that would be best."
Rico looked over Sandrine's shoulder, considering. Finally meeting Zim's eye the older, more experienced man nodded slightly. Only enough so to catch if one were watching intently for it, (which just about everybody but Sandrine was).
"Alright, Sergeant Zim will escort you and you will both report back here once you've finished. If you find anyone that can be brought back bring them, or radio if you need assistance." Rico replied, moving past her.
Zim stepped forward, taking her by the elbow to lead a reluctant Sandrine away at a march.
"What about radio silence?" Max hissed to me. "The bugs could pick up on the signal."
"True," I replied, "but if those scanners are anywhere NEAR correct they already know we're here."
"Where?" Rico demanded, taking immediate charge, his rifle out, ready, and a good distance between him and an equally prepared Dizzy.
I gaped at my sensors. Not two seconds ago they had indicated advancing, pissed-off, bugs and I swear I had seen a claw protruding from a bush. But the second the warning had left my lips it was gone like some random hallucination. There was no advancing bug and my scanners were denying all that they had just shown and were now displayed everything as being normal . . . Or as normal as things can appear on a scanner that claims that we're surrounded by a million bugs that we can't see and that don't seem to be taking any notice of us.
I glanced briefly at Doc, though it was long enough to see the same confused look on his face that must have been displayed on mine.
"Gossard! Doc!" Rico snapped loudly, bringing us around. "Where are they?!"
"I - um - well," I stuttered, bewildered. "They - they're not coming. I mean, they were, but now their not and it says they never were."
"Say WHAT?" Dizzy murmured.
"So - we're safe?" Rico asked, looking skeptical.
"What's you're definition of safe?" I retorted.
"If we're PERFECTLY safe can we PLEASE keep going?!" Sandrine interrupted in a whiny insistent voice, moving in closer to Rico. "I'm so worried about my friends!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dizzy rolled her eyes at me as we moved out, putting on an obnoxious voice. "'I'm soooo worried about my friends!' Right!" She sighed and shook her head. "Poor Higgins."
I wasn't sure that Higgins was the first thing she was worried about with Sandrine batting her eyelashes and hitting on Rico, but any other reason she might have be angry she seemed quite happy to keep to herself.
"Yeah," I agreed, looking sympathetically in his direction. "Poor kid. He - " I froze mid-sentence.
"What?" Dizzy asked, turning her gaze from Higgins to look in the same direction as me. "Are you O . . . k-ay," she barely breathed the last syllable.
T'PHAI
"Oh, gosh Rico, isn't it beautiful?" Sandrine asked, grabbing his arm as she gasped in 'awe'. "That over there is where we have to go."
As we had turned a sharp bend the trees had suddenly thinned and the ground had dropped away to form an immense cliff, which we had nearly been lead right over. The water seemed to stretch right into the sky as it swirled away, white frothy crests breaking the tops of waves for as far as the eye could see. The cliff curved around a bay of water into a point across from us with a small building on its tip. This building was the place that Sandrine was so enthusiastically pointing at with one hand while she used the other to cling to our Lieutenant's arm.
It WAS beautiful, but Sandrine's behavior was odd as she gushed about the scene before us as though she'd never seen anything like it in her life. She had supposedly been here many times before and she was our guide, so one would surmise that she would have known this would be here and therefore would have been more prepared. Besides, to travel from our last location to that small building could have been made, most likely, a lot quicker by taking a different route.
Most of these thoughts were exactly what an annoyed Max voiced to me, though with different terminology.
I nodded agreement. "Are most civilians this . . . " I cocked my head to the side a little as I watched her, "odd?"
Max shook his head. "Not all of them, not unless they have a reason for it."
I thought that over for a moment but before I could come up with an appropriate response the LT was speaking.
"Are there any caves coming out of these cliffs?" he asked Sandrine casually.
"Er - not that I'm aware of," she replied, smiling innocently up at him.
He didn't return it. "Oh? Well then I guess you'll want to get moving, huh?" he asked coldly.
"I - " she sounded startled. "Yes, yes I think that would be best."
Rico looked over Sandrine's shoulder, considering. Finally meeting Zim's eye the older, more experienced man nodded slightly. Only enough so to catch if one were watching intently for it, (which just about everybody but Sandrine was).
"Alright, Sergeant Zim will escort you and you will both report back here once you've finished. If you find anyone that can be brought back bring them, or radio if you need assistance." Rico replied, moving past her.
Zim stepped forward, taking her by the elbow to lead a reluctant Sandrine away at a march.
"What about radio silence?" Max hissed to me. "The bugs could pick up on the signal."
"True," I replied, "but if those scanners are anywhere NEAR correct they already know we're here."