Walking the Halo
Chapter VI
Dan walked into General Coleman's new office, now in the underground facility. This would be Dan's first time down here. Unfortunately he was there to be scolded for bringing people back to the base with him; two civilians for that matter. It wasn't like it was his fault. They recognized him from high school. He couldn't kill them for that.
Everything in the room was well polished and shiny. The expression on Coleman's face was not so bright though. Alexia, Dan's Status monitor stood on the General's right. She had a look of disappointment on her face.
"Dan, you know why you're here correct?" Alexia was first to speak. Before he could respond she began again, obvious eager to leave, "You brought two unauthorized civilians into a secure facility. They are now required to remain on base and engage in a task so designated by the general. Any questions?"
"What will they do?" Dan asked.
Coleman decided that he would answer that, "At the moment they are being questioned to see how much of the Spartan program they know about. Afterwards they shall be ordered to clean the facilities until further notice. I haven't decided what to do with them. Kristina and Mike both knew what they had to do; did you order them to leave them? It doesn't matter we questioned them already and they stated they would not have killed them either."
Just then Dr. Arkling entered the room from behind Dan, "You know if you bring back friends on every exercise than we may not have room to hold them any more. You must be more careful."
"Exercise?" Dan didn't understand, "I thought it was—"
"I'm just saying it was no more than an exercise because it was all too easy for you. That's all." Arkling corrected. "We did get a good deal of information from the experience after all.
"Dr. Arkling these were Americans we were shooting." Dan mentioned. Coleman stood up. "It's true. They were all X-military hired by someone. I'm willing to bet it is the same person who called you General Coleman. Someone other than us wants information on the Spartans."
"The terrorist you brought in is still in recovery and hasn't been questioned yet. If what you're saying is true than we have three unauthorized civilians on base." Dan couldn't tell if Coleman was more upset or more confused. "Whatever the case I'll have someone look into it. We have more pressing matters. Matters that require our intervention. That is why your punishment is being over looked Dan. You and your Spartans are going to be doing some investigating. I'll give you the details later. Dismissed."
Dan saluted, rotated 180 degrees and marched to the door. The door slid open at his approach however he turned to Coleman one last time. "Sir, my we at least see my friends? The two civilians I mean."
"We'll see." The General responded.
As Dan turned to leave he noticed Arkling standing off to the side. He sported an expression of disapproval of what had just occurred. Dan moved on so not to get yelled at more.
Everyone sat in tiny desks that Kristina had not seen since high school. Off to their right was each of the Status Monitors for each of them. Kristina hadn't met her monitor however she didn't see how it would make any difference. She tried turning her attention back towards the front of the room only Ray decided to take the seat right next to her. The two Puerto Ricans exchanged unpleasant expressions of speech than sat silently as the briefing began.
"Ladies and Gentlemen now may be the last thing we time expecting this but it is happening." Coleman announced. The lights dimmed down and a large screen came down from the ceiling. Once it stopped it sprung to life. They could see what looked like a flaming X in the sky. Kristina recognized it as something entering the atmosphere. "Ladies and Gentlemen what you are looking at is an extra terrestrial space craft. Pay close attention."
Everyone watched as the fire ball changed to a large blue X. The image froze and the lights came on just over top of Coleman. "This image was taken by a cloud observer over Kansas. As you can see, their technology obviously is far superior because if you look there are no burn marks of any kind on the vessel."
The image began moving again. They watched as what appeared to be the bottom split open. The two panels that made up the bottom settled back to reveal a gaping mouth. Kristina dropped her pen in amazement. Ray had picked it up and handed it back to her as if they were the best of friends. She was too caught up in the video footage to care that it was him. Out of the hole shot several small pods. The camera panned out to get the direction of each pod. They all separated and went in different directions. As they watched the flying cross shut the blackness behind the two blue panels again. Suddenly the ship arced and rotated. It revealed its backside to the camera showing several thrusters of very different design. The engines ignited and shot the vessel back into orbit. Once it was at a distance that they could no longer recognize it the screen froze again. Coleman stepped out to look at the image himself than turned back to them. No one could believe what they had just seen. The room was still and silent.
"We did some work and determined that this is definitely not a fraud. It was taken nearly three weeks earlier and was sent to us once we got wind of it. We have been able to calculate each one of the pods trajectory. They were sent to several major cities, several of which are not state capitals. Dr. Arkling insisted that you all get some society blending skills and search for these pods. I've decided to go with him on this because if they become hostile you may be the only chance of defense against them.
"Each Spartan has been paired with his or her Status Monitor. Monitors you have been given an envelope and were instructed not to open them? You may open them. Inside contains information concerning where you will be heading. Some of you may not be going any where. Our radar has shown that a pod has landed in the near by rocky terrain. Scouts have been sent and are in route as we speak. Anyway, the monitor and Spartan will travel to the designated city and investigate by any means possible without revealing yourselves or the aliens. This is urgent. You cannot be discovered. We have reason to believe that someone is observing the Spartans from else where. The only people who know that you are leaving are everyone in this room, Dr. Arkling and the pilots that will be briefed in the morning. You all will leave immediately following their briefing. Every body understand?" A quick glance around the room announced this briefing was over. "Good than you are all dismissed. Get some rest you'll all have a long flight tomorrow."
Chapter VII
Dan looked over the side of the boat and just starred at the water beneath him. They had already been in New York for about a week now. After some investigating they learned something had splashed down into the Manhattan River. It took a few days to get the necessary equipment to check the river. To save money and there appearance they were posing as a fishing boat. Dan had been the one 'volunteered' to dive down and check. Whether the water was cold or not was yet to be seen.
"This is where the reports said it hit." Alexia called out to the boat driver. "Dan, you ready?"
He sighed and walked to the back of the boat. "As ready as I'm going to be I guess."
"Good. Suit up then." She enjoyed giving orders to someone so powerful and Dan knew it.
He pulled the hood of the wet suit over his head and turned to get his stuff. Any one else might need some help getting the air tank on but Dan slipped it on like a high school back pack. Once it was on and tight he approached the edge of the boat. He put the new specialized breathing mask on. The mask gave him the ability to talk while under water. It wasn't anything too new. The only thing special was that it had a mounted camera and a vital signs monitor.
"Testing? Dan can you hear me?" Alexia spoke into the headset.
"Can we turn down the volume?" Dan responded.
"Funny." She barked back. "Get in the water smart ass."
Dan turned to face the water but caught something move in the corner of his eye. He probably would have seen it if the mask wasn't in the way. He shrugged it off and sat down, dangling his feet in the water. It wasn't too cold not that would bother him anyway. He slid into the water with little to no splash. He could hear in the ear piece Alexia asking if he had gotten in yet.
The water was surprisingly clean. The legs of a nearby bird could be seen on the water's surface. As he dove deeper the river became much murkier. Dan could still see with out too much effort though. He had heard of some projects to clean the city's rivers but was surprised to see that they could still us a little work.
Before long Dan found the river bed and switched on the mask's mounted flashlight on. There were all kinds of things lying down there that Dan couldn't even begin to identify. Suddenly he came across a huge pipe buried in the soil. It ran from one side of the river to the other. It could have fit a four lane high way in it.
"Alexia. There is a huge pipe of some sort down here. Tell me this isn't a tunnel." Dan stated.
"It looks like it." She confirmed. "That tunnel should be the…"
There wasn't any sound for a minute, "Alexia?"
Dan could hear Alexia talking again, "…find what that was. Now! Dan? Are you there?"
"Yeah what's going on?"
"We heard a splash. Not just a fish jumping out of the water splash but a person diving in kind of splash. Keep your eyes peeled. You may not be alone down there."
Dan grabbed the combat knife he had tucked in his belt and proceeded over the top of the tunnel. At the peak of the pipe he stopped to check around him. He was alone. Continuing down the other side of the pipe light reflected off of something a little ways off. He made his way towards it ever wary of any unexpected visitors.
Sure enough something was sticking up out of the mud that was of no human design. It looked like a huge oval pill. He circled it once and made sure to get it at every angle for the camera. One side had two panels opened outwards like a pair of double doors.
Just then something flashed in the corner of his eye. He jumped back as a ball of light shot past him. Over the pipe came a figure. It seemed more of an oddly shaped bubble than any thing. As it got closer Dan realized that the creature possessed the same optic camouflage that the Belly Betty had. The transparent monster dropped the gun and thrust out its hands to grab Dan. Instinctively he brought up the knife and just missed slicing the things figures off. Dan thrust the knife at the bubble while it just twisted to avoid the attack and smacked his arm to make him drop the knife. It had the same power in the attack as one of the other Spartans. He flipped and kicked the alien away. It instantly caught itself using a tail that Dan had missed before. The figure than whipped out a large sharp object of its own than proceeded to manifest a second one in the other hand. Dan groped for the straps of the air tank. He leaned back as the alien propelled itself at him swords first. Dan used the blades to slice the straps of the tank off. At the same time Dan punched at the things abdomen and struck home as it past by him. It dropped on of the blades and grabbed its stomach. The discarded blade became visible and was much easier to retrieve. Dan now free of the heavier air tank took the blade before the alien could recuperate.
The two now stood starring at one another equally matched. The alien however turned tail and ran. Dan tried to pursue it over the top of the pipe. The reptilian tail aided in its escape at high speeds. Dan had no choice but to return to the surface. He couldn't hold his breathe forever.
He came up top side facing the boat directly. Once on board he ripped off the now useless mask.
"Dan!" Alexia was there instantly. "What happened? I've been calling for you for five minutes now."
That's when it occurred to him that he had heard her screaming and didn't even register in his mind. He couldn't have responded coherently anyway without air and his mask slowly filling with water.
"Dan!" Alexia repeated, "I asked you a question."
"I was… attacked…" he announced between breathes.
Chapter VIII
Alexia had never seen Dan like this. He was acting like he had just beaten his favorite video game. He had told them that the life form that arrived in the pod had obviously attacked him. He seemed eager to tell the world that they were not alone in the galaxy. That was impossible though. The only people he could tell were his superiors. They had gotten back to the apartments where they were staying as quickly as possible.
The hall to the apartment was empty as Dan unlocked the door. Once inside he was immediately on the cell phone to call the General. She worried about him. He still held that alien blade he had found down there. It was an odd design. The handle had a ring around it that the blade would slide around on allowing the holder to perform a variety of attacks at different angles. Alexia hadn't really had a chance to look at it because Dan had not even changed hands with it until he picked up the phone.
She set the camera mask on the edge of a dresser then flopped down on the bed. She sat up and looked at the 34 millimeter camera that lay on the dresser next to the mask. She had wanted to do some sight seeing while they were there. That wasn't going to happen now.
Dan set the cell phone down on the window sill where he had the battery charger resting. With nothing better to down he turned to her and smiled. As far as she could remember she hadn't really ever seen him smile the way he was. It made her worry more. Then his expression changed just in time as there was a knock at the door.
In a flash Dan was at the door gun ready. He opened it slightly to peer out and see who it was. Not really thinking Alexia grabbed for the first thing she could shoot: her camera.
Dan relaxed as it was just the land lord. He shoved the gun into his back pocket and pulled his shirt over it.
"What can I do for—"Dan started.
"What the hell is going on?" The man barked.
"Excuse –"Dan tried again.
"Don't play dumb with me. You support some punk band or something? Well you don't have to destroy my walls to do it."
Dan stepped out into the hall and saw the words 'the roof' carved into the wall. He shot back into the apartment. "Alexia, meet me on the roof." He then turned back to the land lord, "How do I get to the roof?"
The man showed Dan the stairs that would take him to the roof. The whole time complaining about who would pay for the damages. Dan ordered the older man to remain down there.
One the roof Dan brought the alien blade back up into a defensive position incase of another ambush. The roof was empty except for a few pigeons that took flight at his approach.
"You have adapted to the use of my weapon in a matter of minutes? Impressive." A voice came from the adjacent roof. No one was there though. Dan realized that it was the optic camouflage again.
"No sense in hiding now, don't you think?" Dan called over. In a moment the creature's silhouette appeared on the opposite roof. With the light bending oddly the reptilian figure came into view.
It had the head of a raptor from a movie Dan had seen once the only thing was that it had what looked like hair. The hair looked like the material they put around the outside of wires only a lot shinier. There was a strange marking on the lizards chin down underneath leading to his neck. It stood about as tall as Dan. The creature was obviously male in nature. He wore tight pants that looked like something a biker wears. On each shoulder sat what looked like automated targeting cannons. They looked different though, leading Dan to hope that one might be a camera.
"You may call me Zek. What are you known as human?" Zek inquired.
"Dan. How is it you can speak our language?" Dan returned.
"I am the one asking questions here." Zek barked. "If you should know, any member of the Coven must know how to speak one of the human languages if they want to be any part of your observation. I have come to retrieve my blade." He held up the blade's twin in his left hand.
"And what if I don't want to give it back?" Dan knew what was coming next.
"Something most unfortunate." He replied.
Dan jumped over the other building to be face to face with the man/lizard. "Than I guess you'd better get started, because you aren't getting this back."
"How unfortunate." Zek stated.
Dan stepped to the side as Zek thrust the blade at his shoulder. Almost instantly the blade flipped back and pointed at Dan's chest. Before it could be placed into his torso he fell backwards and kicked at Zek's abdomen. The force of the strike sent Zek back several feet allowing Dan to get some distance between them.
The door to the roof Dan was just one opened. He quickly checked to see if it Alexia. It was and she instantly had an expression of disbelief on her face. Dan looked back at Zek to see he was already in his face again and about to put the sword into his side. Dan twisted just in time to avoid being stabbed. It wasn't fast enough though as he received a cut on his side for averting his attention for a moment. Dan returned by cloths-lining Zek and sending him to the floor with a thud. Instinctively he brought the sword up and was about to bring it down on him but remembered that they needed him alive.
Zek apposed his hesitation and kicked Dan in the abdomen. The blade now lay between them. Dan didn't bother to try and get it he just stepped on it as Zek tried to pick it up. The opposing strengths forced the blade to snap in half. Zek fell backwards but caught himself using his tail like he had done in the river. At Dan's approach he leaned back on his tail and kicked him back with both feet. The kick knocked the wind out of him and made him drop the sword. As Dan recovered the lizard retrieved his sword as he came to do. Zek dropped the broken one and came after Dan again. Dan did a series of back flips to avoid each slash sent by the monster. Zek then kicked up some pebbles that lay on the roof. They were enough to interrupt Dan's back flips. He fell to his knees and looked up just in time to see Zek bringing the sword down on him. He reached up and smacked his hands together stopping the blade between them. The edge of the blade was no more than two inches from his face.
Dan was not about to be killed like this. He gritted his teeth and snapped the sword in half with his bare hands. They both stumbled a bit. Dan rolled away making sure that he kept the broken blade in between his hands. Just as Zek balanced, Dan rolled and hurled the tip at Zek's face. He fell back to avoid it and dodged the most of it. There would now be a scar across Zek's left eye for the rest of his life.
They both stood up. Dan's cut was starting to bother him. The constant stretching opened the wound more than it had. Zek was cursing in some unknown tongue. His eye poured out a blue/green blood. He reached into a sack on his belt and pulled out two spheres. He pressed something on the one than dropped them to the ground behind him. The one opened up to reveal another ball. This new ball disintegrated. Moments later all three balls were falling apart. Off to the side a small plate was being created. That's when Dan knew what was going on.
"Nano-machines?" Dan asked.
Zek didn't say anything. Before long the plate was humming with life. It was large enough for someone to stand on. Sure enough Zek stepped back on to the plate.
"Fair well Dan. You are a worthy opponent for the Coven. May we meet again." Suddenly Zek began to shine. Some sparks jumped here and there. Then with a blinding blue light he was gone. The plate hummed for a moment than fell silent as well. No lights or sounds. Dan looked to see if Alexia was still there. Sure enough she had finished a role of film and was smiling back at Dan holding the camera up.
Zek stepped out of the teleporter. He still held his eye. A medic approached but he ushered him away. He brushed past Kerr who had just come back as well. Zek stepped up to his report status station. He slammed his clean hand down on identification panel. The monitor in front of him buzzed on. After some links he opened up a communication system.
"Zek. You have returned." Stated a voice over the monitor.
"Yes. Now get me the captain." He replied.
"Okay why?" the voice pondered.
"I need to speak with the Apostles."