Chapter 4: A Crash Course
Alex washed his face in the sink of filling station, the cold water splashing relief on his dirty face. Dirt and blood leaked out of his beard into the sink, creating a brick color water in the basin. Alex stared at himself in the mirror. Dark circles hung under his eyes, contrasting to the bloodshot orbs that puffed out of their sockets. He ran his fingers through his short bristly hair and looked back at his hand. A faint red tinted his wrinkled hands. Alex dried his face and took a deep breath. What has happened? He thought back to Tom, leaving him on the planet after they ran. How could he do that to his friend? Alex fought back tears and took another breath. Now wasn't the time to grieve. He had to find his way out of this mess and get somewhere safe. He stepped back out of the bathroom and looked around. The station had a small restaurant inside, a diner without much in the way of health standards. The pilot lay on a booth, sitting up slightly, holding her side. Her breathing was labored and she winced occasionally. The station attendant was sitting beside her, a medikit in her hands. The attendant wore the bottom half of coveralls with the top tied around her waist, a dirty tank top as a shirt. She had a shaved head and a large tattoo of the moon on her right arm. She was looking over the pilot, who had taken off part of her uniform to look at her side wound.
"Glad to see yer awake," Alex said as he approached. The pilot looked up at him, her green eyes looking sternly back at him. She sat up slightly and grimaced. The table next to her was littered with bloody paper towels and water bottles the attendant had used to clean her up. The pilot used the table for support. Alex kneeled down next to the pilot and grabbed the medikit.
"You got torn up pretty bad, let me take a look at that," Alex said gesturing to the wound on the pilot's side. She paused for a second before turning towards Alex. The medikit was filled with gauss and anti-bacterial creams. A large syringe sat in the very center of the pack. Alex picked it up and examined the large tube. SP-01 was printed on the side of the glass syringe. "Where did you get this?" Alex asked the attendant.
"Picked it up off a marine troop that came through couple months back, their medic and I became fast friends," she said and winked. Alex smiled and placed the syringe back in the case. He grabbed some alcohol pads and gauze and motioned towards the pilot, who nodded and winced as Alex cleaned the wound more thoroughly.
"Dunno if you heard me earlier, my names Alex," he said, glancing up at the pilot. She shot Alex an angry look. She sighed slightly and relaxed, realizing her anger was fruitless now.
"Staff Sergeant Paige Scott," she said quickly and sharp. Alex smiled as he wrapped gauss around her cut.
"A pleasure to meet you, Sergeant Scott," Alex said. He finished up bandaging the cut and stood up. He offered her a hand as she struggled to stand but she ignored him. She peeled off the rest of her uniform top and began walking to the exit, Alex and the attendant following close behind. "So what's your plan then?"
"Plan?" Paige said without stopping. Her shoulders swayed as she walked out of the diner. Gentle rolling hills surrounded the station, with large trees in the distance looking like a city in their own right, with large trunks reaching for the heavens. A road stretched alongside the station towards the city in the far distance. Grass gently blew in the morning wind with the dew of the previous night glistening in the new light, broken apart by the determined pilot's footsteps. Moisture flung as she stomped her way to her ship. A little ways away, a man was cleaning a pump station. The attendant that had been following them had walked over to the man.
"Well, I'd imagine the Confederacy wouldn't look too kindly on someone who abandoned their post during a battle, so what's your plan?" Alex said. Paige stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Alex. She clenched her fists and stared at the old man.
"I have my own reasons for what I did, what are yours?" she retorted. Alex could tell he had struck a nerve. Her question alerted Alex to the fact that she didn't know who he was. Even though he still had no idea how he had gotten aboard that ship, it seems their captain kept everyone else in the dark as well. Typical Confederate mindset.
"I'm no soldier," Alex said. Thoughts flashed back to him of the battle of Mar Sara and their flight from it, leaving his friend to die at the hands of the Zerg. Guilt rushed to Alex's head. Paige stared at him without blinking. Alex shuddered slightly and felt the burn of tears in his eyes.
"So what are you, an engineer or something? A dock worker?" she asked. Alex pondered the query.
"I'm nobody, same as you," Alex responded. Paige smirked slightly. She gave Alex a quick nod and continued walking. Alex thought about what he was going to do. He assumed the Protoss wiped the planet like Stro said they would. Tom was gone. His home was gone. He pushed away from the thought and continued walking. They reached the ship and Paige turned back to Alex.
"I'm not going back to the Confederacy, not after what happened," Paige said. There was some hurt in her voice. "This ship has a tracking device on it, and I'm sure they already know we're down here," she explained. Alex looked at the ship curiously.
"The ship we were on, didn't the Zerg destroy it?" Alex asked.
"No way, that was a small raiding party, barely enough to board," Paige explained. Alex was shocked. Those men dying in the docks, they died to a small raiding party?
"The cruisers main guns and interceptors I'm sure took care of most of them," Paige said. Alex looked up to the sky. Dark clouds were forming, a storm approaching over the ocean. A rumble of thunder echoed through the hills.
"Then why did you abandon your post, Sergeant Scott?" Alex asked. Paige glanced at him as she climbed into the ship. She said nothing as she grabbed a bag from the back of the pilot's seat, a green backpack. She slung it over her shoulder and walked back out of the Wraith.
"The fleet is gonna pick up the ship and send a squadron down to either arrest or kill me, take a guess which," Paige said, shifted the pack on her shoulder. She gestured to the handgun stuffed in Alex's pocket. "Mind if I get that back?"
Alex pulled the gun from his pocket and examined it. Its clip had been ejected and he wasn't sure where it had gone. He pulled back the slide and looked inside the chamber, making sure it was empty.
"That depends, are you gonna put it against my head again?" Alex said. Paige laughed slightly. Alex handed her the gun. She put it in a holster on her right leg.
"You saved my life, so I owe you that," Paige said. Alex smiled.
"I have a question," Alex said. Paige looked at him inquisitively. "The refugee fleet that was with the Sons of Korhal, what happened to it?" Paige looked confused.
"I don't know anything about a refugee fleet, but General Duke did fight a Korhal fleet not two days ago," Paige said. "Most warped out but we got a few of em." Alex looked slightly disheartened. There was still a chance the townspeople were still alive. God, I hope they made it out, Alex thought to himself.
"I need to get into contact with the Sons of Korhal," Alex said. Paige didn't look surprised as Alex thought she might.
"Where do you think I'm going?" She said and smirked. "I have a contact, I'm meeting with them in four days here on Brontes, 50 miles east of here," Paige explained. Alex looked at his feet. The slight patter of rain began to fall on them. A cold wind swept through slightly as a thunderclap broke the rhythm of the rain. Alex looked up and saw the storm clouds moving silently through the sky. Behind the clouds, a Confederate battlecruiser hovered ominously in the storm. Paige looked up and saw the ship and back at Alex.
"We're running out of time, you're with me?" Paige said frantically. The rain began to pick up until it reached a downpour. Alex looked at Paige through the deluge. He nodded and buttoned his coat. The attendant that had been speaking to the other man had run over to them.
"The ships yours, you never saw us!" Paige yelled through the downpour. The attendant smiled and looked at the ship. Paige began walking towards the forest past the hills and gestured for Alex to follow.
"We have to make it to those woods before the Confederation dispatches a squadron down," Paige said.
"Think we can hide in there?" Alex asked. Paige shrugged.
"I'd rather hide in a forest than in grassland!" Paige yelled back. Lightning struck not far from them, illuminating the hills with a highlight of yellow light. The ship above them billowed a loud horn indicating they were entering the atmosphere. Paige and Alex looked up at the large station, raindrops soaking their faces.
Above them, Admiral King stared at the view screen of the planet.
"Sir, we've picked up the missing Wraith just outside of Volun City," a radar technician said. King nodded.
"Dispatch two marine squads, I want that pilot found and brought back for questioning," King said. Another soldier approached the admiral. King didn't acknowledge him. The soldier stood at attention silently for a while longer until King finally looked his way.
"Yes, what is it?" King said growled. The soldier looked nervous.
"Sir, Officer McBride requested an audience in the infirmary," he said quickly. King looked surprised. It was rare that he was summoned anywhere. McBride has some balls on him, that's for certain. King stood up slowly and headed to the elevator.
At the infirmary, McBride laid in a bed, a folder sitting in his lap. A small bloodstain coated the manila folder. The door to his room slid open as Admiral King stepped through. McBride quickly sat up, wincing slightly. A bandage wrapped around his head, a red spot soaked through on his crown.
"How are you feeling McBride?" King asked as he approached. He pulled up a chair and sat next to the injured officer.
"As well as I can sir," McBride responded. He felt dizzy from his exertion. The nurse said that he had a concussion as well as a small skull fracture. King relaxed in his chair, his uniform wrinkling as he sat back. The old Admiral still had an extremely fit body for his age, though he thought that the past few years had taken a toll on him. He had slowed down considerably in the time McBride has known him. King's large hands clasped together as he watched McBride attempt to sit up farther, to no avail. McBride sighed in defeat and grasped the folder.
"Sigh, I have some questions," McBride said, slightly out of breath. King didn't move or give any change of expression. "I pulled this folder from the archives." King looked at the folder and saw a name printed at the top, ALEX TANNIN. A rush of blood went to King's head.
"Sir I know you asked me to interrogate the prisoner, but I didn't know we had a record on him," McBride explained. King sat forward in his chair. "I used your passcode to retrieve the record after mine was blocked, which I just assumed was a glitch." King looked over at the bedside table and saw the nurse had left her kit there, including a sedative syringe. King looked back at McBride.
"Sir, I know I overstepped my bounds, but what I have learned endangers both you and the rest of this ship," McBride said. King stood up and stood beside McBride. He reached for the folder but McBride pulled it away.
"Are you disobeying a senior officer boy?" King said angrily. McBride looked back at him sternly, but relaxed.
"No sir, I suppose I'm not thinking straight," He said, defeated. He handed the folder to King who grabbed it quickly and held it tightly. McBride looked down at his hands. King picked up the sedative and examined it. McBride sighed deeply.
"If you knew who this man was, why didn't you warn me ahead of time?" McBride said. He didn't look up at the admiral.
"You were on a need to know basis," King said sternly. He looked at the IV bag next to McBride. He glanced down at McBride and saw his still looking down. King inserted the sedative into the IV intake and emptied the entire tube into the bag.
"But he's…he's," McBride said sleepily. He looked at King wide-eyed and at the syringe in his hand. He went to grab King but the admiral threw off his hand. King pushed McBride back and held his throat in his hand. McBride weakly struggled.
"It's for the best son," King said as he gripped the officer's throat, feeling the life leave his body. King pulled the blanket up to McBride's chest and straightened his arms out. The Admiral let out a sigh and brushed his fingers over McBride's eyes, closing them. He walked quickly out of the room and to the elevator as nurses ran to the room.
King sat in his office staring at the folder. A large cigar stuck out of his mouth as he chewed it silently.
"Damn him," he said quietly. He stood up and placed the cigar in an ashtray. He picked up the folder and held in front of him. He looked out the window into the storm clouds that surrounded the ship. King picked up a light and flicked it on. He held the open flame under the folder, its thin paper catching quickly. He threw it into the garbage can and walked away. The folder burned in the metal can, the black ink bubbling as the flames licked the paper clean. The outer folder burned revealing the pages inside, a picture of Alex in a Confederate uniform and his name printed right beside it, ALEX TANNIN KING.