Sorry for the long wait guys, I hope you are still a little interested
Chapter Four
That evening she returned to fence, several slabs of meat loaded into the rover this time; a tranq gun on the passenger seat. She nodded to the soldiers in the towers as she parked close to the fence, the two babies she had been feeding played in the clearing; she saw the other two resting in the shade. The mother wouldn't be far.
Alicia set the meat on the ground and slid through the rails, tranq gun ready. That animal was too injured to hunt, and if it died the babies were not likely to survive; the two that knew her already raced forward. A rustling in the jungle told her where the adult was, it had yet to come out. She pulled the first slab of meat through and cut off small pieces for the ones that greeted her, pausing to rub the crest on each of their heads; taking quick glances towards the trees.
Hesitantly the other two were approaching from the shade, clearly unsure of her; she threw pieces to them. The babies were hungry and young enough to be bold, the adult was not; although she knew it had to be just as hungry. She tossed the last of a piece towards the jungle; where she had seen movement a few moments ago.
Squatting she kept one hand on the rifle as the little female tried to climb her again; there were going to be plenty of scratches on her legs to clean tonight. As she started cutting up the second slab, all four babies crowded her, the adult emerged for the first; by the way it was moving she knew it was in pain. It should be attacking given she was handling its young and easy prey; but it only devoured the meat. It was watching her though, making soft clicking noises which the babies responded to; Alicia tossed another large chunk towards it.
The two new babies, both female, retreated to their mother once they had eaten, the little male had discovered he could squirm between her and the fence and was now doing loops as the fourth contentedly curled in her lap. She cut the last slab of meat into chunks and tossed them to the adult, it was dangerous to feed it, but she suspected even more so to let it starve out here.
In the morning she would try to tranq it again and check its wounds, she suspected once it was strong enough to hunt it would disappear; taking its babies with it. Alicia figured its mate must have been killed, otherwise it would not be here alone; slashers tended to mate as juveniles.
Nudging the little female from her lap she ducked back under the fence, watching as the little slasher sniffed after her, waiting a few moments before returning to its mother who sniffed it over carefully before looking at her. The dinosaur had been badly hurt by humans, but she had treated its wounds and handled the babies; it watched her, but it did not attack.
Did it sense that they were different? Slashers were excellent hunters, capable of tracking their prey over long distances, was it waiting for her to let her guard down for an easy meal? If it tried the guards on the towers would likely kill it.
She headed home, a little disappointed at how tired she was given it had been an easy day. Nathaniel had her spend the day reviewing drone footage, there hadn't been too much to find after the first few hours played out; but it did put a few things into place. She had been out to the Badlands, it was a few years ago but it was the only area of desert they knew of in this world; a stark contrast to their tropical home.
Slipping into her unit she cut through the back yard into his, the worn path reminding her how easy the route was; the separate units a show for the colony. He was home, take out containers from the market still steaming with heat as he read a plex. She hung up her jacket and left her boots on the mat next to his, work could not be taken off as easily; he would probably put in a few more hours tonight as he had to do both their jobs. She knew some of her work would become his for awhile but there were other tasks Alicia intended to reclaim.
"Go ahead and eat. Malcolm dropped this off, hoping he can go back to his own research." Nathaniel smirked, gesturing to the plex.
"Is it to do with the Phoenix?" She knew the scientist had likely had a few complaints about her to voice as well; their opinions on the slashers differed.
"The portal. I want to know why they've given up on the one down here. It doesn't make sense unless our little explosion had more of an impact than we realized." He relaxed, setting the plex on the table between them and pushing one container to her before taking the other. She must have been giving him a blank look because he paused. "It was your suggestion actually; we had Shannon blow up the portal on the other side. Stem the flow of reinforcements and supplies. As soon as they learned that it had been blown the Phoenix and the Sixers cleared out and headed north; they found the prow of an old ship out there."
"Does the science division have the background to figure it out?" She asked hesitantly, his son had been brought here on the second pilgrimage to help figure that out and she did remember what had happened between the two.
"Lucas loved to taunt me; he recorded his research on the waterfall. We have all the information, and the equipment to pursue it; it was just a matter of sorting out Lucas' work. Skye tipped me to something that helped there; she used the EYE to help him- when the Sixers had her mother. I pulled the log; between the rocks and that we know everything he does. And we have a lot more people working on it."
Nathaniel explained as they ate, she didn't miss his tells; he hated that his son stood on the opposite side that they did. For them to succeed he had to hope his son would fail. "Malcolm also pulled the preliminary research on the time fracture; it was always fragile on an elemental level. He believes the fracture down here may have been sealed off when Shannon opened it during the explosion. It may still exist in 2149, but it will not come here. The question then becomes whether or not there are any other fractures; and where they originate from."
"Is there any way to know?"
"Yes, we will use the same tests that were used in the future to find the one we used; Engineering will begin constructing a drone with the proper capabilities and we will look. It took about three weeks to complete the original testing in 2134; once we have it built, we should know within a month." He continued as Alicia shifted the plex so that she could read it. Had they realized the possibility of a second portal? Or was it a concept that had been introduced by the Phoenix?
It seemed like something they should know, in the Cretaceous period the land mass was concentrated; it wouldn't shift into separate continents until long after she was dead. She listened as he continued to talk about work, filing details away and using them to fill in the gaps in her own memory.
…
She was awake before dawn, early enough to work out and jog the perimeter before her shift; but she only burrowed into his side. He couldn't say he minded that, although seeing her regain her usual routines would be reassuring.
"Will you watch my back? I need to tranq that slasher again." She dressed quickly, glancing to him as she slid a knife into her boot.
"Are you going to feed them again?" He already knew the answer to the question but waited to see her nod. "The hatchlings let you handle them."
"The one little female especially, but the others are curious." Wash was ready before he was, he could tell she wanted to go see those little Slashers. But the adult was healing, and all of them were getting used to being fed; she'd been doing it a few days now.
As soon as she slid through the slats of the fence the hatchlings came racing towards her and he watched as she kept walking out to meet them. He let her get out a little way and then slid through the fence himself, holding his tranq gun at the ready.
Alicia carried a small pistol herself, but stopped to feed the little ones as they scrambled for their food and after they ate two stayed looking for her attention and two hovered watching for a few moments before joining in. The babies played and circled her knees, his attention stayed on the treeline beyond her; finally, the adult emerged.
It moved cautiously, still hurting, a little it sniffed eagerly, and he felt tension creeping up his spine; Alicia approached it. She held out a slab of meat and when she was within five feet, and she could easily be taken out by tail swing, she tossed the food to it. Holding her ground as it crouched to eat, the babies scrambled back and forth between them.
When it finished eating it paused, tilting its head as it looked at Alicia as if waiting. Alicia took a few steps closer, and he growled as she played with her pistol and then tucked it back in her holster, stepping forward until she could practically reach out and touch it. The Slasher was curious, and seemed at ease, its hatchlings scampered around its feet and it didn't seem to view his wife as a threat.
Suddenly she did reach out for it, and he saw the colored tassel of tranq barb in her hand; punching the barb into its chest. The dinosaur made a chirping sound but did not attack and slowly sunk to its knees. Alicia doubled back to where he was and grabbed her med kit before returning to the creature's side.
She treated its wounds, having a bit of a struggle as the babies crowded around her but when she finished, she sat cross legged beside it. Petting the adult as the babies clambered for her attention, she sat with it until it started to get up. It stumbled a few times but rose and then paused, turning back to her it sniffed Alicia over carefully once again.
When they retreated into the colony the Slashers stayed in the clearing to watch. They went to work but at lunch she disappeared and when he radioed the tower, he found out she was back out there. Over the next two days she went back out every few hours, she stopped asking for help but had attracted the attention of both colonists and her own team. Nathaniel went down to watch and put his own concerns at rest a few times. The adult was recovering but did not seem concerned about letting Alicia handle it or the hatchlings who now played eagerly with her.
It was mid afternoon when he climbed to the tower, Alicia was out there again. Running in circles the four babies chased after her, he watched curiously as she spun one way and then took off another; jogging backwards as she talked to the babies. Suddenly the comms chirped, their spotters had spotted activity out where their crews were resetting perimeter mines again, it was happening more and more.
As he climbed down, assembling a team a chill ran down his spine; the Slasher's distinctive call had them turning back to the fence. He swung back around as Alicia stared into the trees; the adult Slasher had rose and was crossing to take a position between its young and the trees.
But just as quickly the Slasher swung its tail and sent Alicia flying back into the dirt; he heard chatter and shock in the tower. Yet he felt strangely calm, the Slasher had not turned back on her but bolted head long into the trees; Alicia lay still.
"Hold your fire." He ordered sharply, gesturing to two men to flank with him. The babies had curled around the woman laying in the dirt, but he saw her stirring. "Do we have anyone out west of the tower?"
Confirmation rolled in that it wasn't a colonist the Slasher was after and so he left the Slasher to do what it would; he needed to get to his lieutenant. They slid through the fence as Wash started to sit up, getting head butted by a hatchling. But as they approached all four babies remembered they were Slashers and turned on them; yipping and snarling. Alicia looked a little dazed but made to get to her feet, hatchings struggled to decide whether to turn back to her or to keep threatening him and his men.
In the trees they heard the blood curdling screams as the Slasher found what it had been searching for; it had been human. Alicia reached down to stroke one of the little slashers as she stepped past it; into his reach. Nathaniel got a firm grip on her and slid an arm around her middle to take her weight; moving back through the fence.
As his soldier tried to brush him off, he turned to the unit assembled. "Head west, see if you can get close enough to see what the Slasher found; don't fire on it unless you have to."
"Yes sir." The unit began to move out and he glanced back to the hatchlings that now curled against the fence; yipping unhappily. Alicia had pulled away, rubbing her side and looking a little annoyed, she knelt by the fence and reached through to pet the slashers.
But when Dr. Shannon arrived a few moments later he had to pause, the woman looked worried. She approached Wash first, looking a little hesitant about getting so close to the slashers, and then crossed back to him. "I heard she was hit by a slasher tail?"
"Not the barbs, it caught her across the chest; I'm not clear on why." He explained quietly.
"I want to check her out." The doctor stated firmly, and he cast a glanced at the soldier now sitting by the fence; she was tired of being poked and prodded.
"Keep her until I come by, I've a few things to wrap up here but I'll stay with her tonight." She'd had far too many head injuries in her life, the worst one all to recently, a fact he was sure was playing through the doctor's head.
They would have been together either way, but he didn't need the doctor coming up with a way to monitor her. He spent the next hour handling reports, the slasher had found a nest less than a click away on a rocky embarkment. It had been a sniper's nest; the team had found both Sixer and Phoenix possessions. What was left of the men that owned them was buried.
Had that nest been activated civilians would have been as easy prey as soldiers on the fence and patrolling the routes beyond. Clearly something wasn't panning out in the desert, more focus was coming back their way. It wasn't quite time to attack though, he wanted them desperate; the colony had a massive advantage now.
They had developed resources, homes and defenses; they could wait it out. It was simply a matter of stepping up their own security, and that was already in motion. He gave the orders before heading to the infirmary to find Alicia.
A nurse pointed him to the cubicle on the end and as he slipped through the door, he heard the doctor asking questions, but the woman looked concerned. Alicia answered one question quickly, but the doctor's next question had the hairs on the back of his neck rising. "Tell me a little bit about your husband. Was he in the military too?"
His eyes met his wife's and he took a step forward. "Doc."
Did she know? It was in their records, but their identities were carefully buried, no one should be able to find out that they were married to each other. However, the look of concern on the doctor's face had him wondering if she wasn't looking into something else; she drew him to the side. "Is that going to be traumatic memory for her to recall?"
"Where are you going with this Dr. Shannon?" It might be more traumatic for the colony than it would be for them.
"Lieutenant Washington is a strong woman, and a smart one. I know the colonists mean well, so does her unit. But telling her about events, telling her about her life does not necessarily help her recall old memories. I think she may be compiling the information she is given to piece together her past. I haven't been able to find any information on her husband or her marriage, so I assume few here would know enough about him to tell her…" The woman trailed off, eyes focused on him as he cringed internally; he hadn't considered that. And he had told her plenty of their old stories, many people had, he'd been trying to fill in the gaps. But were those gaps in her memories, or gaps in what others had told her?
He stepped around the doctor and crossed to his wife, running through their past for something she would know. "Wash, where did we bury Sammy?"
Nathaniel Taylor swallowed hard, he saw that she recognized the name, but she didn't seem to be able to recall that. He knew she would have, Wash had tried hard to save the man's life, she had helped him dig the war grave when they realized they couldn't carry the body out. Jeffery Samuels was the first man she lost as a medic; it had been during her third mission with the unit.
Lieutenant Samuels had been part of another unit working in the region, they had stumbled upon him, already left for dead as they returned from the field. She'd managed to stabilize the man for transport but when an explosive rolled their rhino, they'd all been banged up; there had been no saving Sammy.
With no operational transport and a long hike home burying the man was kinder than letting his body fall to the enemy or the elements and so they'd lain him in a war grave. Marking the coordinates so that just over a year later he could be recovered from that wasteland that had once been a beautiful Fijian rain forest and properly laid to rest.
He glanced back at the doctor and swallowed hard. "Where did you take Lucas for his tenth birthday?"
He heard the doctor's sharp intake of breath, he wasn't sure the colony realized how personal Lucas' action had been, or the role the woman he tried to kill had in his life. She didn't remember where she took him for that birthday any more than she remembered that Lucas was the one who shot her.
"Its alright Wash." He murmured, his own throat feeling tight, he had wanted her to be well. Watching her with the little slashers, seeing her determined to do things, and working to piece things together; coming back to work. He'd thought she was healing, but had it all been too much too soon?