AUTHOR'S NOTE

No I didn't forget about Ben. You just have to wait for the present day narrative to catch up to the time he time-traveled to before we see him again.

PENNY'S BOAT

CHAPTER 12: INCURSION

Gault sat reading in his cabin. House of Leaves was the title of the book. He turned it in confusion, trying to understand the words within. They were a labyrinth of mystery and confusion. He dropped the book on his desk in frustration. He wasn't a man that was interested in mystery. He liked things straightforward and didn't try to complicate his thoughts.

A knock came at the door.

"Who's there?"

"It's Omar."

Gault opened the door slowly, but there was nevertheless a loud noise. He wondered idly if the hinges needed oil before feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen. The captain looked down to find he'd been shot.

It was not Omar, but Keamy who stood in the doorway. He was holding a pistol and had a rifle slung over his back. Gault grasped at Keamy's shirt pathetically, trying to stop him from continuing his rampage. He had a responsibility as captain.

Keamy put another bullet in Gault's head and walked into the cabin. A master key to every compartment of the ship lay on the desk. Keamy grabbed it and continued on his way.

Sayid snapped awake. He'd heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots. Some would go back to sleep and imagine it had been the engine or something falling, but years in the military taught you to never forget the sound of gunfire.

Sayid got up and looked around the room. Desmond, Hurley, and Neil had been chosen to bunk with Sayid and were all asleep as they'd been before. Nothing seemed amiss in the immediate vicinity.

Sayid opened the door and looked out down the hallway. The next room held Jack, Jerome, Sullivan, and Jin. The room directly opposite his held Claire, Sonya, Juliet, and Sun. Sayid quickly and quietly checked that everyone was where they should be and continued on up the stairs to the deck.

Something was moving on the starboard side of the ship. Sayid dashed over and grabbed the figure, only to find himself clutching fur. Vincent. Of course.

He would have laughed if not for the seriousness of the situation. Noting that the main deck seemed to be clear (save for his canine friend), Sayid approached the captain's cabin. He reached back and took out the pistol he'd hidden among his things when he got on the zodiac. He'd learned there was no such thing as being too careful.

The cabin door opened and Sayid ducked into the shadows. A massive figure slammed the door shut and walked out onto the deck. The man was heavily armed and built like a tank. Sayid crawled along after him and finally pressed his pistol into the back of the man's neck.

"May I ask what you're doing with this?" Sayid inquired sarcastically as he grabbed the man's rifle. As he was slipping the strap off, an elbow crashed into Sayid's ribs, sending him sprawling across the deck.

Martin turned around and wielded his rifle menacingly, "Don't try me, little man. I'm not in the mood."

Sayid smiled, "Then I have the ADVANTAGE!" He swung his fist and smashed Keamy's nose. The mercenary clearly hadn't been expecting such massive strength and was sent flying across the deck.

Martin spat, "You want it rough, boy? Let's go then." He opened fire with the rifle, tearing up the decking under Sayid's feet, narrowly missing him.

Sayid rolled aside and drew his pistol. He fired six shots directly into Keamy's Kevlar-covered chest. The mercenary was staggered, but continued his forward march. He was firing wildly now, not even bothering to aim.

Sayid found his pistol empty and tossed it aside. He slid behind a crate and clasped his hands. He couldn't take on a man of that size unarmed. He was finished.

"Hey, Martin!" A voice shouted. Keamy turned to face a rifle-wielding Sam Austen.

The old soldier smiled, "I could gut six mercs like you before breakfast." With that he fired one high-powered shot into Keamy's kneecap, knocking him off his feet.

"I think it's back to the brig with you, son."

Jack woke up to find the room mostly empty. Only Sullivan remained asleep. Weird. He was always the jumpy one. Jack walked out of the open door and found the other survivors who'd been sleeping in the area in a panic.

Claire was holding Aaron tightly, looking frightened, while Jin and Hurley interrogated a tall, bald, black man that had come on the ship. The man was waving his hands dismissively.

"Calm down, calm down. There was an accidental weapons discharge on the deck. Nothing to worry about." The man assured them.

Jack stepped past Hurley, "Why would you have brought weapons?"

The man gave Jack a rather patronizing smile, "I'm not affiliated with the crew of this ship, I represent Oceanic Airlines. I assume they brought the weapons in case of hostile wildlife on the island."

Jack looked at him apprehensively, "You work for the airline? Who are you?"

The man held out his hand, "My name is Matthew Abbadon. I'm a public relations representative. And you are?"

Jack shook the man's hand tightly, more a challenge than a greeting, "Jack Shephard. Spinal surgeon."

Matthew grinned, "Ah yes, the hero who led these people to rescue. Minkowski told us all about you, Jack."

Jack's expression was distrusting. Something's not right about this guy. I feel like I've seen him before somewhere. It's the eyes… "Alright then. Are you going to be making up a list of the survivors?"

Matthew nodded, "In the morning. Normally a headcount and identification process would have occurred immediately so that families could be informed, but we had a minor communications problem yesterday."

A series of footsteps could suddenly be heard marching down the stairs. The others had gone back to their bunks so Matthew and Jack were left alone in the hallway with the newcomers.

Sam and Sayid were walking down the stairs, carrying the unconscious body of a huge man strapped down with a bullet-proof vest. Jack ran forward to see what had happened, then stepped back in shock.

"I know this guy!"

Kate stopped to catch her breath. They'd been walking for hours and she was bothered by her incessant headache. And the ringing in my ears. It's not going away. What is this?

Locke looked over at her, "No need to worry. We're here." He swept some branches aside, revealing a large, rundown greenhouse. It looked to be fairly small, but the scattered debris around it's base suggested it might have been larger at some point.

Kate stood, "So what do we do with this thing?"

Locke smiled, "It's quite simple, actually. We just have to go in there and overload the station with metallic objects to expose the electromagnetic energy pocket. If I'm right, that pocket is our way out of here."

Kate frowned, "You've changed your tune, John. Yesterday you were saying we weren't supposed to leave the island. Now you're doing whatever you can to get out of here. What's changed?"

Locke glanced at Charlie, then turned back to Kate, "A lot of things have changed, Kate. What was yesterday to us is more of a subjective experience now. So why don't we stop asking questions and get to that-"

Kate looked up at the sky. It was glowing brightly again, the same sort of flash that had struck them before. Locke dashed toward the greenhouse, but was finally dissolved into the sea of light. Everything vanished for a moment, then returned. Everything but the Orchid station. It was replaced by scaffolding and building supplies. The sky had turned pitch black.

Charlie looked unaffected, "So what exactly do we do now, mate?"

Locke grimaced, "Now, Charlie, we figure out who's building that thing, and we give them a little push."