-3-
"NEVADA!"
"Why the fuck didn't you tell us more, sir?"
"You're out of line, soldier."
"Sir, you said nothing about…" Gamgee exploded.
"I SAID YOU ARE FUCKING OUT OF LINE, Soldier."
"Sir, the only thing you tell us is that it is classified! How are we going to work with that?" Gryffin said, angrily.
"I had my orders. Do you know which unit you work for, soldier?"
"Sir, the Rangers, sir."
"And what is it we do?"
Silence.
"Yeah, that's right. We investigate – we do not just clean up messes, we clean up messes before they are created. Do you know how delicate this situation is? We have a whole bunch of greedy hound dogs monitoring our every move, what we do, why we do? You think our directives are completely secure? After Olduvai – UAC has been under scrutiny for every cup of coffee we drink. Besides what difference would it make?"
"We do not work for Union Aerospace, sir." Gamgee said.
"No we don't," agreed Smith. "And the difference it would have made, was that I'd call my little girl and tell her I loved her…" Smith broke to a roar. "…JUST IN CASE I CAME BACK IN A FREAKIN' BAG!"
"A….you are over reacting. B…you don't dare talk to be like that again, soldier." Genghis sighed. "Mission is simple boys and girls, we do what we do best. Investigate, contain and report."
"Now," Genghis continued, "Dr. Grimm's job here is not for you to know. All you need to know is that she is to be kept safe. Reaper –" Krycek looked at John. "You don't mind us calling you by your old name, do you?"
John nodded.
Genghis continued, "Thank you. Reaper, here, is our field consultant. He will advise us as to our plan of action, once we have a full idea of the place we're at."
"Gamgee."
Gamgee responded with a straight-faced nod.
"We've never had to use Forensics before; you have some experience during your time in the army?"
"Allied deputation on Mars, while I was training sir, only for six months."
"Then I guess you just became our new expert. You and Phoenix here will be with the Grimms –"
"Sir, it shouldn't be just us. After Olduvai, it's clear that more teams are required." Gamgee spoke.
"SOLDIER, YOU WILL GIVE YOUR OPINION WHEN YOU ARE FUCKING ASKED FOR IT!"
John sighed as he looked at the horror on the faces of all soldiers. Sam fidgeted nervously. He had never expected such a small group to be sent for this mission. If anything, he had hoped for at least a platoon. Obviously UAC was fond of repeating their mistakes.
The assholes.
Reaper felt these soldiers did not deserve to die without knowing the truth Who knew where this wormhole would lead? He knew he wasn't authorized to do it but he felt that it was better than telling them, 'aliens might have invaded the planet, because an unidentified signal was reported from Nevada. Find 'em and kill 'em'. He of all people knew how horrible unexpected surprises can be.
"Sgt. Krycek," he called the burly sour mouthed man aside. Keeping a low voice he said, "Maybe it's best that we debrief them."
"But my orders…"
"Your orders are only as good as if your soldiers are willing to cooperate. And it would help if they knew their odds. I have to agree with Gamgee – this isn't a job for a small unit."
"Did you not hear what I said, soldier? The directive –"
John snapped. "I was under the impression that my rank in this mission is equivalent to a lieutenant."
Genghis was silenced.
"Were you made aware of something, contrary to that, soldier?"
"I am in charge here, Grimm."
"You'll have no argument from me there, Sergeant; all I'm saying is that I am still superior to you."
"You motherfuckin' bastard – you don't even make sergeant in your time, you dickassed schmoozie! What gives you the right to give me orders? I don't fuckin' care what role they assigned you, I'm the boss here."
"Reread your orders, Sergeant. I call the shots or we're going back. You order your men, as you please but you do not, order me, am I understood? Or we're just going to have to call your super."
Genghis gritted his teeth. "You just wait till this mission is over, Reaper..."
Reaper bent his head forwards and hissed, "This mission, Genghis, will never be over. Not until we're all dead. Now shut the fuck up and do as I say."
Genghis ground his teeth and nodded.
"Do you wanna tell them, or should I?"
Genghis shrugged.
John cleared his throat. Every pair of eyes was on him – and he found himself at a loss for words.
"This is violating the directive, but I'm going to do it – for your sake. So you better listen up close."
Silence.
"The dig at Mars, revealed that there had been a civilization here, several of thousands of years ago. Later specimens found that there had been some genetic modifications made – adding a 24th pair of chromosomes to their genomic structure. At Olduvai – an experiment was carried out on a criminal – the results were disastrous. All you guys need to know was that he turned into a monster and went about infecting the people he killed, making them, into monsters."
John paused. Not a word was said.
Sam spoke up. "We don't know how the modification had been done to the previous civilizations – it certainly wasn't an inherent mutation. Most people had a theory that extraterrestrials may have been responsible."
"So now," said Poet, "these aliens are back?"
"The Magnus research on the west continent reported some sort of radio interference about two and a half years, ago. They couldn't put their fingers on it – all they knew was that there was a blip. They had attributed it to a power glitch. Until when one of their researches went down to one of the excavation sites and came back, not quite the same."
"He had been transformed." Sam said. "Into something horrid."
"Before, Magnus had been sealed off. That thing transported itself to Deimos. And we all heard about Deimos, didn't we?"
"We were there, sir." Bazooka spat out. "We lost many good men."
John nodded. "I'm sorry."
He paused and then continued. "Magnus, as you know was sealed off – all quarantine measures had been implemented over all research facilities. All Arks had been sealed off for the one year quarantine."
"We were part of those measures, too, sir," said Poet, "you don't need to tell us."
"SOLDIER, WERE YOU ASKED TO GODDAMN TALK?" Genghis barked.
"Sir, no sir."
"THEN YOU DON'T BLOODY OPEN YOUR MOUTH UNTIL I TELL YOU TO!"
Gryffin rolled his eyes.
Genghis marched up to him and said, "What the hell did you just do, son?"
"Sir, nothing, sir."
"You're damn well lyin' to me, you chicken shit! You fuckin' rolled your eyes at me."
"Sir, I did not, sir."
"Then what the fuck did I just see you do?"
"Sir, I was prayin' to the good Lord, sir."
Genghis was flummoxed. Sam stifled a giggle, and John couldn't help but snort. He had to admire Gryffin's presence of mind – and his gall.
"Now you listen to me you goddamn motherfucker…" Genghis bit out his words. "Don't you dare get cute with me Gryffin, or I'll cut your cunt-suckin' cute tongue out. AM I CLEAR?"
"Sir, yes sir."
"And don't you be prayin' to your Lord, while I'm givin' you orders. I'm your god while I'm givin' you orders, ye hear me?"
"Sir, I do, sir."
"And you pull that with me once more, I'll punch your face in so hard that you wouldn't know which side of your girlfriend to hump!"
"Sir, wouldn't dream of it, sir."
Genghis socked Gryffin's shoulder and returned to his position next to John. John was sure he saw Gryffin's mouth twitch when Genghis had his back to him.
John waited for a moment for the orders to set in. Keeping his smile in check he continued.
"So back to what I was saying, the unfortunate scenario is that the Ark in Nevada had been sealed off a long time ago. It had not been for the last one year. One month ago, the satellite read unidentified thermal signatures from the site, which did not reappear in the next scan. After which, the satellite somehow seemed to refuse reading the Nevada base area. It's almost as though something was blocking its view. Nevada had a continuous pulsator signal that pulsed every hour. That beacon stopped signaling over a fortnight ago. We are reading that to be a sign of some sort of infiltration."
"So you believe them to be aliens or them monsters?" Gamgee spoke.
"GAMGEE! What did I tell you about interrupting?"
Gamgee's face dropped. John felt like hooking Genghis in the jaw. What was the asshole's problem? The chopper turned around, causing John to brace.
"Is the satellite signal masked for the particular set of coordinates only or is it just the general area in and around the base?"
John was surprised more that the voice, rather than the intelligence of the question. He was equally surprised to see that Genghis had not barked. Perhaps because this was the first time, the person to whom that voice belonged had spoken in the last five minutes. It was cold but feminine voice with a lingering character, As though it came from a voice box that was not used to speaking.
He also noticed she had a clipped accent. She wasn't American.
…Aye! Yer goin' on an' on about ye stupid plan. I dun' see it workin', yeah?...
All eyes were on Phoenix, and her grey eyes were on him. He was so surprised that he found himself at a loss for words. Where was that memory from?
Sam spoke for him, before he could mumble. "Only the coordinates of the research facility. Its almost like seeing a cold blank area in the exact shape of the base. Why did you ask?"
"What about tectonic signatures? Ground heat?"
"None. Cold as ice."
"There is no military technology that can possibly create such a picture."
"We know." Samantha frowned. "Did ever you work in the war-tech research division?"
Phoenix shook her head. It was a hesitant shake and not a firm one. "It was just a question."
"And a bloody good one," Genghis said. There was pride in his voice. "How is that possible?"
John observed that there was no agitation or envy on the faces of the men. Genghis, being the man that he was, never seemed to allow them to ask questions let alone compliment his men – it would be but natural that such kindness to the girl would bring about some sort of discomfort…but there was none. Either his men were really good at hiding…or the group was closer knit than he assessed them to be.
Poet leaned over and whispered in his ear, "You have the same expression; the Hobbit did about two weeks ago. You'll get used to it. At the end of this you'll see there's a reason he doesn't clamp her mouth. She never talks unless she needs to. Unlike the rest of us, she uses all silence for using that smart red head of hers."
She never talks unless she needs to…
John frowned. A memory hit him like a light bulb flashing in his eyes.
…Has anyone ever bothered told you that you talk too much?...
…I ne'er talk unless I need to…
…So now, you seem to be in need so often, eh?…
John shook his head. He looked back at Phoenix and found that she had averted her eyes to something that Sam was saying.
She was reminding him about some part of his past.
The question was, had she ever been a part of it?
