Several hours after John had been taken from Sam's room, he remained in the conference room with the general. John leaned against the table, his arms were lying on top of the surface in front of him, and his eyes remained concentrated on the table. The general stood looming over John, as he had for the past several hours.
"Let me get this straight, Sargent." The general began. "At the UAC Olduvai Facility, your unit encountered a creature, mutated by a synthetic chromosome, reconstructed by Doctor Carmack and his team. Now this creature is the reason for Doctor Carmack and his team's disappearance in the facility. You also state that this creature is able to transmit from selected host to selected host through a series of neck wounds cause by its tongue.
"Now this creature, managed to take out four men within your unit before cutting through the sealed Ark door, and reaching Earth where it then spread through the UAC facility, attacking the UAC scientists. Your CO, yourself, two other unit members, and one UAC scientist returned to Earth where the everyone except you and your sister survived. The scientists were all killed, either by infection or by your CO's hand, including one member. Your sister returns in critical condition, but you, you return without so much as a scratch on your entire body." The general said.
"Yes sir." John answered. He withheld his sigh.
"That's the shittiest story I've ever heard, soldier. Do you really expect me to believe that shit and relay it up top?" he asked.
John took a deep breath. Getting into a conflict with a general was never a good idea. And with two guards posted outside the conference door, John wasn't ready to show why he wasn't injured…to anyone.
"Not only is your entire outfit dead, Grimm, but you failed in your mission entirely. The data ordered to be retrieved remains on Olduvai, the scientists are dead, and the UAC Facility lies in shambles." The general continued. "Is this your way of saying you can't perform to RRTS standards?"
John glared at his CO. He'd already had this harassment when Jumper was killed four years ago. He wasn't going to take this shit again. "If you don't believe me, go check out the facility, sir."
The general straightened his posture. "It won't be needed. We've received a transmission from inside the facility. The hazard clean up crew. All they found were bodies of UAC workers. No creatures, no demons, nothing but the crew."
John was stunned. How could there be nothing of the creatures there? He'd personally slain them all. The floors had to have been stained in their blood. There couldn't be nothing left of them. "That can't be."
"Well it is, soldier." the general replied. "Bullshit."
The general grunted the closest thing to a laugh possible. "If only, soldier. And since that transmission, UAC has ordered a full sweep of the facility and recovery of the data that was left behind. They've demanded another RRTS Unit to enter the facility."
John said nothing, but he could feel something was coming at him.
"CO's up top agreed that your performance, for the most part, is Gunnery Sargent material. And for your first mission, you'll be leading another RRTS Unit back into the UAC Ark Facility and perform a thorough sweep of the Facility." The general explained. He dropped a large file onto the conference desk and leaned closer to John's ear. "And if you fuck this mission up, you'll find yourself wishing you'd died with your unit on Olduvai. Understand, soldier?"
"Yes sir." John said. "Just one question."
"What?"
"How do you suggest we retrieve the data with the Arc blown?"
The general smirked. "You'll see how. Dismissed."
John rose from his chair. He grabbed the new RRTS file the general had set down in front of him. John walked from the table and out of the office. The two officers that had escorted him in were standing on either side of the door. John stalked through the hall holding back the urge to punch that prick of a general. His hand was clenched on the file tightly in his shaking hand. He walked back toward Sam's room.
Return to UAC Ark Facility. Shit. Why don't they shoot him now and get it over with? It would be easier than sending him back to hell and burying him there. Which was exactly how it was starting to sound. There was no way all evidence of those imps had been illuminated. Someone had to be covering up the situation again. Most likely the same people that created the cover story. But there was backing out of this one. No Sergeant to offer a leave to him, no partners to cover his back. No, John was non his own with this one. He was going to see this one through.
John reached the infirmary door, leading to Sam's room, and paused. He clenched his fist tightly, trying to calm down. He came to the corps because he didn't know what else to do with himself. They'd given him skills and directions and let him go. Now they only seemed concerned with progress without limitations, even if it meant sacrificing innocent people to get there. John unclenched his fist and quietly opened the door. He found Sam sleeping peacefully in her bed. Her steady heartbeat eased John's mood, if only a fraction. John closed the door and quietly made his way into the chair by Sam's bed. He smiled sadly as he watched her sleep soundly. A drastic comparison to twenty-four hours ago when they were hiding in a small storage room, waiting to die.
John reached into his leg pocket and retrieved the vial of C24. He'd taken it from the facility before searching for Sam. If UAC got their hands on the vial, Olduvai would start again, only on Earth. John let his eyes shift between Sam and the vial. He couldn't understand why Sam felt the need to bring this with them. Well, that wasn't true. The scientific side of him was very interested in what C24 could do, but he already knew the dark side. The chromosome was dangerous in the wrong hands, deadly. Sam knew the risks and she still brought it with her. Granted, it had been the one thing that saved him.
"John?" came a soft mumble.
John looked up to see Sam coming to. "How're you feeling?"
Sam shrugged. "I hate infirmaries."
John snorted, but a harp pain hit him in the heart. "You and someone I used to know."
Sam watched her brother closely. His entire demeanor shifted in seconds. His eyes were distance, as if he were staring into the past miles from where he was. She hated to see her brother in this state. She had seen it when they were growing up after the accident. She wanted to help him, but she also didn't want to cause more harm than good. Sam swallowed slowly. "John, what happened?"
John took a breath and glanced toward the door. "They're sending me back to Olduvai."
That was not what Sam was expecting. "They're what?"
"They're sending me in with another RRTS unit. They want that data." John explained.
"No! No!" Sam yelled. "They can't send you back there! Not after what's happened. Those creatures in the facility-"
"Are gone." he answered.
Sam was silent, waiting for him to continue
"Every trace of them is gone." John explained. "Someone's covering up everything. They want to data on those disks."
"They want C24." Sam whispered.
John nodded and lifted the vial. Sam's eyes quickly fell to the canister. "I can't let them start this shit again, Sam."
"What will you do?" she asked.
"I'm gonna go and destroy every piece in data on Carmack's experiments." he explained.
"They'll kill you." Sam said.
John smirked. "They can try." He pressed the vial into Sam's hands. "I need to guard this one. As soon as I'm back, we destroy it."
Sam nodded slowly. "Just make sure you and Vera keep each other alive."
John looked away instantly. "Vera's not coming, Sam."
Sam frowned. "Where is she?"
John closed his eyes. He hadn't had time to fully accept what had happened to her. Suddenly it was washing over him in waves. "She's gone. Her transport was sabotaged this morning. There were no survivors."
Sam was stunned. "John...I'm so sorry."
John nodded slowly. He opened his eyes and looked up at Sam. "She said something before she left. Said, 'go find some small town in need of a moody doctor'. So I say once we end this shit we do just that. Together."
Sam nodded, clutching the vial close. "Sounds like a plan."
With a heavy sigh, John rose from his chair. "I need to go. Got a unit to meet and a mission to sabotage. You rest up and I'll see you when I get back."
Sam reached out and grabbed his hand. "Be careful."
John squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. "See you soon."
yay next chapter! gotta love a power hungry co.