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By the time the President was meeting with TR Holt and his other advisors, Anton and Westmore had crossed state lines into West Virginia - but a number of contractors were not too far behind them.
"I don't care what he is..." the leader of the team growled over comms "I don't care who he thinks he knows... we never got our asses kicked this bad anywhere else in the world without taking at least a small bite outta the enemy... and now, thanks to two aliens, we're almost twenty men down!"
"We hear ya, man" one of the other contractors replied "But we can't kill 'im, not if we want that nice big bonus".
"Can't so much as crease him with an MP5" another added "I read the report from whatshisface... dude went in with ten, but even though he did get what we needed no one else came out with him! That alien must have real thick skin...".
"-and that, all of you..." their leader replied harshly "is why we'll make a brief stop at a drop site to pick up 416s, a coupla 240s, and maybe a few LAWs if we got time. Those'll be just in case it all goes to shit an' that alien an' his collaborator friend find a few more friends - we only got to get that alien alive, no one said anything about any helpers he got".
The mood lightened just a little.
Haven't had to work this hard on a domestic contract for a while the team leader thought to himself CO's gone, XO's in Washington... target's gonna be messed up once we get him, let's hope we can stop him bleeding to death long enough for a doc to look him over.
"There are new humans coming?!" several Kalish asked, very curious, when a Scarran told them General Franklin and his wife would be eating at their galley "Are they staying aboard? Are they new members or simply temporary guests? Are they friends of our War Commander or another officer?"
"I don't know" was the reply "I was told the War Commander will be coming as well... I think it's the first time he's eaten here, too".
That news was just as eagerly received as the news of guests. The Scarrans looked at their Kalish crewmates with amusement, though they were a little curious about the guests as well as being pleased Harrigan was visiting their galley too.
The Scarran who'd brought the news strode over to stand by the door, and less than five momens later it opened and Harrigan poked his head around the door frame before grinning a bit.
"WAR COMMANDER ON DECK!" the Scarran bellowed, getting everyone present standing to attention - when he saw the insignia on General Franklin's shoulders, he added "GENERAL ON DECK!"
"AT EASE!" Harrigan shouted back, before adding "This 'ere's my CO from back before I came to find you lot - General Franklin - and his wife! Dunno if they'll be eating the more interesting things we got, but they get to eat their dinner here before I take them back to their own place dirtside. Kids... let them eat a bit before you come over and look at 'em an' ask 'em everything you don't already know about humans. They've only seen one or two people who aren't like them before...".
After everyone laughed a bit, Harrigan called "Dis-missed! Kitchen staff, let's get this started as soon as you're ready!" before looking around for a table with enough empty seats. Eventually one was found, although it was some distance away from the serving counters.
"Don't you worry about that" Harrigan assured the General "Kalish being who they are, I doubt it's going to be too long before at least half a dozen try to wait on you hand and foot just so they get to see a bit more of you and ask you endless questions".
"We can talk to a few of them after we've eaten, I don't mind that" General Franklin decided "Not time to talk to everyone, this galley's packed out - if someone's got a camera, and if the presence of my wife and I is really the community event of the week, they can send it over whatever comm you got in ship here for others to see".
That news got around the galley even before the senior chef called their readiness to serve the meal.
"I don't mind eating stuff with a bit of kick to it..." General Franklin told the small gathering of young adults now present "but my wife usually doesn't like to do that".
"Something a little easier on my stomach would be better" Mrs Franklin confirmed, which got a Kalish woman nodding slightly and explaining about the foods of her people available that meal sitting.
"Scarrans have something really weapons-grade, General..." one of the Charrid young men added, grinning "but there's some good food my people make as well, and we've got a few of the more traditional dishes available this Meal time...".
"No one taking an interest?" Westmore called as he drove as fast as he felt he could get away with.
"No one is following us that I can find, if that's what you mean" Anton replied "I doubt we'll get all the way to where my friend Harek is without being found... there are only two of us, after all, and I don't know how to drive human ground vehicles. If they are clever, they will rotate drivers and keep going, while we may need to stop to rest or eat".
"Won't need to" Westmore said "GPS says... hundred an' eleven miles till we hit Morgantown? About that, anyway. Not been back here for a while. About two hours if things go well".
Once Anton translated that into the time scale he knew, he immediately got on his comm and called Harek.
"I hear you, mister!" Harek called happily "Still doin' a bit of tactics an' strategy, there's officer training in progress here... I'll see if anyone knows where we can get guns 'round here, get a proper welcoming party ready for the guys coming after you".
The training sergeant in the room at the time walked over and stood beside Harek before asking "Is something important happening, mister Harek? Is something important happening here now?" with, Harek decided, some respect for rank but little tolerance for having the lecture interrupted.
"Certainly is, sergeant" Harek confirmed, getting to his feet and brushing the fragments of broken chair off his combat pants "We got one of my guys comin' in hot, a few nasty guys after him trying to stop him. We've got about... 1.75 human hours ... about that... before they reach this location".
"Do campus police know?" the sergeant asked, wondering just what was going to be happening.
"Talked to their big man before" Harek replied "He said his law enforcement personnel could keep people safe, but none of them are trained soldiers"
"Shit..." the sergeant grumbled under his breath before adding "You know who sent these bad boys? Are they just a bunch of weekend warriors with guns or are they real soldiers?"
"Sorta-real soldiers" Harek replied "As far as we can tell, they're mercs on a black-bag job for someone our big man never got on with very well even when he lived in this sector".
"That's not good" the sergeant replied, shaking his head "No telling if those kinda people are simply former Army grunts or real nasty ex-special ops. I can't call any people I know in the usual chain of command or this will likely get out and bring a whole heap of shit down on our heads from Washington".
"I'm surprised you're taking my word for it, to be honest" Harek told him.
"Whether I like you or not, mister..." the sergeant replied, turning to look Harek right in the eye "I did overhear that call you got... which means your friend's got a bunch of angry killers after him who won't take no for an answer. One way or another, that has to be dealt with".
"Sure does" Harek agreed, nodding "First thing to do is get people, then what we need is gear. Anyone here got what it takes, sergeant?"
"They should have passed basic before they get here, mister" came the reply "They should be able to shoot straight with all the-well all our usual gear. I'll call someone and get records-"
"No time for that" Harek cut in "We have to use who and what we have. If everyone here has passed basic proficiency then that will have to do. Once my friend and his new friend get here we get two more who'll know what to do. Right now we need people who can shoot straight and obey orders - are those people in this room?"
By now almost everyone was staring at their training sergeant and wondering what was going on.
"Well, recruits..." he grumbled "Looks like we get to test you out with real tactics and strategy and not computer simulations. Bad things are going to happen soon and they're going to happen right here".
"Intel?" one Air National Guard recruit asked.
"Good and bad" Harek said "Good in that my friend and his new friend are well on their way here... bad in that they're far enough ahead of their pursuers that they won't know how many soldiers we have to deal with, how well equipped they are, or how well trained they are. Next time my friend calls, we can probably clear up some of that... the rest we'll have to deal with when it happens".
"What support can we count on?" an Army recruit asked "I don't know who this big guy is or what he does for a living or who he knows. Have the bad guys got support of their own? Do we get access to anything we can use to counter it if they do?"
"Should have clear comm, no trouble there" Harek told him "Might even be able to get sensor scans an' tracking an' all that good stuff too. In an urban environment it might not be a good idea to call in strafing runs or artillery support".
"Could always grab stuff outta the bunker, sir" one of the female recruits suggested.
"Assuming that's actually real and not just some story you've been told..." the sergeant replied, turning to stare at her "you've probably broken classification laws just telling us about it!"
"We have to be alive to be prosecuted, sir" she replied "Might be a bunch of shit, might not... but my uncle told me about it, he says he was poking around and found it. He didn't say if it was a standard civil defence site or stuff for combat missions... but he did say it was on the grounds here at the Hall and he told me a couple of places it might be".
"Well that's one volunteer" Harek decided aloud "The rest of you look like you'd make good volunteers too... thank you so much for helping out, leave your gear here and fall in".
The sergeant grinned as he hear the groans and subvocal muttering - Harek wasn't in the mood to take plok from anyone and screeched at them until everyone stopped talking and turned to face him.
"Good..." Harek growled "Now I have everyone's attention. In case you haven't figured it out, there's real soldiers with real guns and real bad intentions heading our way! The only thing in their way is us! So stop giving me a load of plok on this and GET MOVING!"
The woman who revealed the possible presence of the bunker soon realised only she knew where they needed to go, so she told the training sergeant "Comes down to a couple of places, sir... one's right down in the bowels of the Hall, but the other means we have to check the larger groundsmans' huts".
"You're staying with us" Harek told her "Get everyone else paired up and searching potential sites. For now I'm trusting you with this, so don't make me regret it".
I sure don't want him screeching like that again she reminded herself as she talked to other recruits and sent them out around the Stansbury Hall grounds For the most part this weird guest is friendly... but when it gets down to business he clearly won't tolerate avoidable mistakes.
"We're maybe ten miles outside Pennsboro, mister" Westmore told Anton "but that chatter we heard on the radio earlier tells me they know that".
"Will they take another route and try to cut us off?" Anton asked, thinking fast.
"Isn't one" Westmore replied, shaking his head briefly as he drove "Not if you want to get where you're going quickly, anyway".
"So we just have to stay ahead of them" Anton said "If we do that, we reach my friend Harek ahead of our enemies".
"Yeah" Westmore agreed "Only problem is if there's a drop site around here an' they decide to stop off and get stuff. We gain time but then they'll be much more well-equipped than us when they do catch up".
"You don't know if there are supply caches around this area?" Anton asked in surprise.
"Nope" Westmore admitted "Not really needed to know till now, mister. I know where a few are further south, but none in West Virginia".
"How much fuel do we have?" Anton asked "Enough to reach our objective even if we're forced to proceed at full speed the whole way?"
"As long as we don't spring a leak or two, we should" Westmore replied "I'd really prefer not getting local PD or staties chasing us and laying spike traps and sending helicopters and generally making our lives as inconvenient as possible, though".
General Franklin was feeling a good deal better now he had eaten, though he did wonder what went in to two of the dishes he'd been encouraged to eat.
"Yeah..." he said when a Charrid grinned at him "Had a few people tell me 'If you need to know what's in it, you're not hungry enough'' before when I tried stuff".
"It's good for you, sir" another Charrid insisted happily "Plenty of good meat, along with interesting things in the sauce and condiments to keep you going on a long training mission".
"I like the food I have" Mrs Franklin replied when she heard that "My stomach isn't as strong as my husband's".
"My wife craved treel right through her second pregnancy" the same man replied with a proud grin "I've not eaten Kalish food much, even less so before I came here... but it kept her and our baby narl healthy".
Harrigan held up a hand when Anton called in with a progress report.
"I hear you, mister!" Harrigan called back "Just make sure you don't run out of fuel, food, or ammo! Ask your friend if there's any way to track the vehicles his former friends are using".
"Nope" Westmore interrupted "If we do domestic stuff we usually use Surburbans or F-450s when we need to move people in a hurry, but they aren't stock - no trackers, but they're usually a nice shiny black. You see a bunch of big black trucks in a group, it's probably them. No one's bothered repainting the domestic ops gear since the last CO thought it'd be nice to have it all looking like Umbrella Corporation... you know? From the movies?"
"I know it!" Harrigan laughed "Pity about the lack of trackers, but at least if we know roughly where to look we should be able to find them if we have to".
"Gotta go" Westmore called "Looks like staties got a roadblock up, that's going to slow us down".
"Looks like something's going our way" the contractors' team leader called over his radio "Staties got a roadblock out ahead of our target, we'll make up some time - Bobby, you get yourself up front when we get that far, you're just about the only one with us who ain't got a record".
After the expected laughter from everyone, Bobby called "Hearin' ya, man".
Over at a well-known but nonetheless secret location in Virginia, Beasely Junior was on a secure line to his father.
"I've got people tracking their cellphone transmissions and radio traffic..." he explained "I can't find the item of interest that easily, they must be using their own comms - and I can't pass this along to the NSA or Holt will find out".
"Holt's got ears almost everywhere, son" Beasely Senior reminded his son "As long as we can delay him finding out what's going on until it's too late for him to do anything about it, we'll get what we want - and this time we fly the target right to a secure location and sort this out properly".
"The experimental changes being performed on subject Karl Torvald are proceeding as directed, Doctor" a Scarran doctor announced to Nrakal "and perhaps slightly ahead of schedule. We've had to increase nutrient flow three times, but that's the only thing we hadn't expected".
Nrakal checked the large tank's archive, then nodded before asking a few more questions.
"I had wondered if Kalish medical staff would do that" he replied, smiling a little, when the doctor told him they had been climbing on the tank to look through the roof and see with their own eyes how well Karl we doing "Have they logged their observations for the archives? Have any younger members been properly supervised if they went with their parents or family members?"
"Short video clips mostly" came the reply "Couple of the narls have enough talent for that sort of thing that the skulkers might take an interest in them later".
Nrakal smiled a little at that before getting back to his console.
"Sir!" an analyst at Ft Meade called.
"Yes?" TR Holt replied "I just get in from Washington and there's already an incident that warrants my attention?"
"Got a YELLOW CAVE call from a state police roadblock in West Virginia, sir" the analyst replied "Barely managed to get pics, but there's one that's good enough to be useful. Not quite right over the target... looks like the satellite was coming at just the right angle to get a pic of the front of the vehicle. Visual, once we washed the pic to get rid of the flare on the windscreen, showed two people - even though thermal only showed one. Looks like bits are starting to fall off that satellite as well".
Though TR Holt knew nothing about the change, he wasn't stupid.
I'm sure this has something to do with Harrigan and his aliens he thought to himself YELLOW CAVE means there's a high-priority mission coming in with unwanted attention...which means that alien may have convinced someone with a clearance to help him... though it'd be good to learn more about these aliens on my watch, it's better we move cautiously. Whatever their plans are, something tells me this won't be the last time Harrigan and his new friends visit Earth and America... I should see if we can find out political information about the species and nations worth respecting beyond our star system, even though I doubt their information will cover the entire galaxy.
After a few minutes thought, he placed a call to Jack Crichton.
"Do you know where all of Harrigan's personnel are within the US?" he asked "Information just came across my desk ... I don't know if it concerns them, but considering the attacks on their supply flights...".
TR Holt only heard half of the following conversation, but what he did hear made him grumble before Jack Crichton told him "Their soldier who was kidnapped earlier has apparently escaped from wherever he was being held... the War Commander told me he was somewhere in West Virginia - no, he didn't say where, exactly".
Considering the YELLOW CAVE call Holt decided and this new information... I'd guess Beasely used the usual contractors we keep on standby for sensitive work - and this alien promptly made complete fools out of them and escaped. At least the contractors aren't stupid... despite the fact I've not yet found out where they are, I expect they're pursuing the alien even now, more so once Beasely finds out about the YELLOW CAVE call. I'll put a few people onto trying to track the contractors' comms... Harrigan might want to kill valuable assets, but if we help him get his soldier back I might just be able to persuade him not to do that.
"Get me a list of members for the two units of contractors we keep on standby for short-notice domestic ops" TR Holt told a room full of people elsewhere in the building "Looks like someone else who knows them has got some of them out on unsanctioned missions. I don't need home addresses... but I do want phone numbers, both their cellphones and their home landlines, for every member of their families".
Let's hope I can fix this without it becoming a major incident TR Holt thought If this issue with the contractors and the one with the aliens are one and the same - and with the YELLOW CAVE call coming from West Virginia I'd say that they are - then I'll need to move fast but carefully, the less Harrigan knows about current US politics the better.
"We just lost twenty minutes" Westmore told Anton once they got moving again "Changing a fuckin' flat, and way out here with not so much as a country gas station in sight... ".
"The rest of the vehicle is functional" Anton replied "We managed to stop for food earlier without being found. We had the foresight to pack weapons and ammunition before we left. Unless you have a medical condition I doubt you would be hungry - besides, once we reach my friend and together nullify each and every soldier pursuing us, we will retrieve your family as promised and you can eat aboard our ship".
"Could do with a burger, true" Westmore admitted " 'Spose I'll have to teach everyone where you are how to make a decent American burger...".
Anton smiled, telling him "Good, you are setting goals and looking ahead. While you drive this vehicle, I will ask and see if some of my other friends know where your former comrades pursuing us are now - in detail, I mean".
"We got freqs and numbers, sir" another analyst told TR Holt "Some of the cellphones made calls in the past day or so, those are listed there... radios look to have scramblers on, it'll take us a while to crack that".
"I don't need to hear what they're saying, at least not at the moment" Holt replied "It's more important to simply know where they are".
The analyst turned to the relevant page - Holt looked, read, then nodded before pointing to several of them and simply saying "Those ones. Radios and phones. Put them on the big screen here and update them frequently".
On the Cry Havoc's bridge, Keyah and the duty navigation officer had an advantage in that they could track Anton's position in real-time. Once they had got a fix on his position, a Kalish man who Keyah thought must be one of the most physically large but most heavily-scarred of her people still able to survive barked a few words in his own language before calling "Here, War Commander! Here is Anton's current position and there are the positions of several vehicles just like theirs!"
"Good work, mister" Harrigan told him once those positions were all displayed on the big screens "I'll call dirtside and see if a friend or two can help out and confirm this".
Jack Crichton nodded before thinking for a minute or so... then passing over TR Holt's private number at Ft Meade.
What the...? Holt thought when he received a call with the caller ID 'Big man Harrigan' How in the hell did Harrigan get this number?!
"Yes?!" he asked in both surprise and anger "I hope you have information I need to know, or some other good reason for calling me on this number... I can put aside how you managed to get it until later..."
"Heyyy..." Harrigan replied, from the command chair "Is that any way to talk to your ol' buddy, your ol' pal, Mr Happy fun-time Harrigan? Specially when I got stuff to tell you which you might actually want to hear"
"So you have useful information..." Holt replied, wondering what information that might be "I expect you want me to do something for you as well".
"Well, yeah..." Harrigan replied "But there's something in this for both of us, mister".
"Which is...?" Holt prompted.
"Pretty sure we found the bad boys trying to get my man" Harrigan explained "We found my guy an' his ride, an' we found a bunch of vehicles like it a few miles behind them on the same road. Since we can't get a good angle of view on them at the moment, I thought you might have something that might help out a bit - even though driving black Suburbans in a group like that isn't exactly criminal activity on its own".
Black Suburbans... TR Holt thought, starting to put information together That matches what I know about one of the contractors on my shortlist. Their last commander, assuming I'm thinking of the right one, preferred to make an impression rather than drive something that isn't so blindingly obvious... especially when they're all painted the same colour! If we get out of this without having to sacrifice whoever's in charge over there, I'll suggest they may want to change their preferred mode of transport very, very clearly.
One of the contractors heard odd but faint noises on the line one time while calling another contractor and promptly told their team leader.
"Gonna pass that up the chain" he replied "I don't know if we've been burned or not - but I'll call the XO, and he's just the XO till comp'ny meeting says otherwise, and see what's what".
That information didn't take long to reach Beasely Junior, who asked one of his own analysts about it.
"Who the hell knows..." she replied, shrugging "I'd say the chances are high that someone's tracking your guys, or at least trying to... I don't know what you have them doing, or I'd be able to narrow down the list of suspects".
"I don't know either" Beasely Junior replied, adding not yet in his own mind "I'm going to find out right now", after which he called his father again.
"Shit!" Beasely Senior replied "I have to pass this on, especially if we want the contractors to back our story if this gets before a Congressional hearing - if they see we're helping them control any fallout from this landing on them as well as us, they're more likely to move the way we need them to".
"You're not kidding..." the team leader said before throwing his phone out of the window.
"Looks like we got heat on us" he told the rest of his people over radio comms "Just got a call from higher up, looks like some alphabet-soup agency's been talking to them aliens - and between the two of them, they managed to figure out where we are. Once the target gets told, our window of opportunity shrinks massively - we're really going to have to move".
"Drop site's somewhere near Lumberport, isn't it?" his driver asked.
"Outer edge of Pleasant Valley, numbskull" came the reply "No need to go north up 19 at all, we can just stick to the current route - but we're going to have to speed it up some".
"OK, Dad" Harek said on his comm "None of the outside sites we've been checking's turned up an entrance to a drop site... we've checked three possibilities inside Stansbury Hall as well, but- oh look, looks like there's one just up ahead. Just as well, fekking basement here smells, Dad".
"Really thought it was in here, mister" the woman told Harek "I looked everywhere my uncle told me to look, but nothing... err... what are you doing?"
"Heat patterns, miss" Harek whispered, his head panning from side to side as he walked "Air behind some bunker door's gonna show different to what's in here... I spy with my litttle thermal eye... something beginning with... D!" before one big hand flashed out and he added "Nicely done, thermal baffling in that matting and it's under the floor instead of through a wall. Someone phone the training sergeant and get him to call everyone down here".
"Looks like we got it" Harek told him once he arrived "Once I shift that crap someone dumped on the floor over there we'll lift the matting and see what's what". The sergeant was surprised when Harek almost threw an entire shelving unit across the room, though he just nodded and called "Two people, get that matting rolled back as soon as our guest gets off it".
Harek surprised everyone again by hauling the heavy metal floor panel away one-handed, after which he called "Miss, you and I go first... sergeant, if you could bring everyone else down once we manage to get the door open down there, that'd be nice".
"Dammit, it's an old-school mechanical lock..." the woman grumbled "I saw uncle do a few of the codes for these - he swore me to secrecy after he stopped shouting at me for watching. Can't pick that, though" after which Harek promptly grinned and started kicking the door as hard as he could until somethng snapped three blows later and the door swung inwards.
"Government contract lowest bidder bullshit..." Harek heard the sergeant grumble as he inspected the mess Harek had made of the lock "Right, someone find me lights... right now I'm thinking only our guest can actually see down here, we need more light".
Someone's calling me? Westmore saw when his phone started beeping That's my company phone, too...
"Yeah?" he asked, phone to his ear while he drove.
"Mr Westmore..." TR Holt answered "Before you start asking questions... yes, your interests and my interests are one and the same. At least as regards your safety and that of your new friend".
"Was wondering how long it'd take for the YELLOW CAVE to get further up the chain, whoever you are" Westmore replied "To be honest, I don't care how my situation got to your office as long as things work out how I need them to".
Good TR Holt decided Westmore won't ask inconvenient questions before smiling and adding If he's changed sides as I think he has, he'll save those for his new friends. I won't get in his way over this, since if I do it'll get press and others asking questions they aren't cleared to get answers for any time between now and the end of the universe.
"Now I know we appear to want the same thing..." TR Holt continued "I'll say that it appears that some of your old friends and some of your new friends seem to be talking to each other... and we have found at least some of your former contractors several miles behind you on US-50 in black Suburbans" before he sighed and added "Seriously... did your current leader learn nothing from his predecessor about the complete stupidity of using vehicles that only ever make you look like Secret Service agents, movie extras, or what you actually are?"
"Dude got a hole the size of a cocktail sausage right through his forehead, mister" Westmore replied "Dunno what number one will want to do about the car problem, assuming there's anyone left of the unit after the smoke clears".
"So far..." Holt replied "your unit is useful where it is, doing what it does. Whether you stay in it or not".
Westmore knew he didn't need to say anything more about that.
Whoever's calling me on the company phone guessed the deal I made he knew to get out of all this alive. Right now I'm in between two sets of heavily-armed maniacs, but at least one looks to have my best interests at heart and seems to find it a good idea to haul my fat out of the fire.
"We should be good here, mister" Westmore told Holt "So far nothing serious has fallen off our car, and if all goes well I got friends waiting for me".
"Don't get us all in trouble by getting caught" Holt ordered "It'll backfire on you first if you get caught and you know it, but it'll endanger me, national security, and probably POTUS as well. I'm hoping you realise that's not in anyone's best interests".
"Plok, they're gone" Anton grumbled, some time later.
"That's not good" Westmore said as he drove through the middle of Fairmont on I-79 "Sounds like whoever's in charge back there lit out after us without getting good gear and is heading for a drop site. We're going to have to risk getting cops on our tail once we get out of town and just floor it".
"We're not ready just yet..." Harek called when Anton's call got through "But we're going well. Found some guns, so once we're all loaded up I'll get everyone ready for you - they even got rockets down here, did you know that?"
"You'll need 'em" Westmore added from his side of the car "These things have light armour, proof against small arms fire. There's maybe five coming after us just like this one".
Harek looked around the room, grinning as he watched humans loading rifle magazines or machine gun ammo drums, finding uniforms or other things, or just doing anything else he or the sergeant told them to.
"Copy that, mister" Harek assured Westmore "We'll be ready. Just gotta tell my people this end" before discomming and telling the sergeant what he'd been told.
"That's about half an hour's drive time" the sergeant said "We'd better grab our stuff and get into position to help your guy when he gets here".
"Clock's ticking!" Harek shouted "Whether you've got everything you were told to get is now largely immaterial... target will be here in less than half an hour! Make sure you don't forget rockets, too... looks like the bad guys got at least some armour on their cars, so we're going to have to make some mess" before grabbing a bag of his own.
"Deployment positions, sergeant?" Harek asked the sergeant softly once everyone else was out of the bunker "I want at least a couple people on higher ground if there is any... if there's good cover at ground level, that's where we can put everyone else".
"Teeny train track goes around both ends of the building" the sergeant replied "Sight lines aren't good. If this goes to a firefight it'll be close and messy".
"We can put people both sides of the bridge" another Army recruit suggested "If you're putting people on the roof, it'll have to be on the lower sections of the building at the north and south ends, a rocket might clip the power lines if fired from up top".
"I'll take one with me and do that, then" Harek decided "Miss... since you decided to help us find the guns, you can come with me. Hope you know one end of these rockets from the other".
"Andrea, sir" she replied "Yeah, I know LAWs or AT-4s".
"You're my contact with the sergeant as well, Andrea" Harek added "in case both my hands are occupied holding a rocket or hitting people. We did all remember to bring comms with us, yes?"
Harek stared until everyone held up small hand-held radios.
"Sergeant, sort out deployment positions either side of the bridge" Harek ordered "and anywhere else you need them. Once I'm up top I'll call campus police and they can sort out keeping the civilians clear of combat".
"We're back on the trail, good" one of the contractors driving a Suburban said with relief "Thought we'd be at the drop site forever".
"Lock rusted shut" someone else in his vehicle replied "We just gotta go flat out, XO said he had a word with someone and got our cars a free pass with local PD and staties".
"That's good, yeah" their team leader said over the radio once the conversation reached him "Bad news is we don't know if our target or Westmore's prepping an ambush for us, so just go ahead an' assume they are".
Every driver promptly slammed the accelerator down as hard as they could and tried to keep together. No one on the interstate was pleased, especially the police - but those police had just received a very clear, if also very displeased, lecture from their own superiors telling them to stay clear of the group of black Suburbans.
"Jackson, grab four and take the PRT-end of the bridge" the sergeant ordered "Harris and Bond, do the same and stay just inside the Hall's main doors - one of you will stay near the Hall and the other one gets the bridge, so you'll need to get in position in seconds once this starts going down".
"Jackson, in position" that man reported once he'd crossed the bridge with his four recruits "Trees are mostly north, so we might have issues if bad guys come from that direction. Otherwise we're good".
"Harris, Bond?" the sergeant called.
"We're good, sir" Bond called "People are asking questions when they see us in fatigues - mood's getting a bit tense here".
"Are you hearing this, mister?" the sergeant asked Harek "If people are noticing our preparations, we'd better get campus police clearing at least the hall entry".
"Can't, it'd spook the bad guys if there's no one going in and out" Harek replied "I don't like it, but we'll have to keep people moving right till just before the first bullets fly".
"Yeah, it will if they're good" the sergeant admitted reluctantly "Better call campus police and at least give them a heads-up, though".
"On it" Harek replied.
"Captain Chedester, be advised that bad guys with guns are well on their way and should arrive in about fifteen to twenty five" Harek called over police radio once his PDA found the frequency again "I got my guys in position, but one of them said that people around the doors to the Hall are starting to get anxious. If you can put a few police in there just to watch things a bit and try to keep them away from direct line of sight to doors and windows, that'd be nice".
"I hear you, mister Harek" Captain Chedester replied "My SRT team's getting ready as we speak, but depending on traffic may not get to you in time".
"Captain Camden here, mister Harek" a new voice added "Extra police should be arriving now... make sure your people don't shoot us and we'll do our part securing the Hall".
"We're right in town now, mister!" Westmore called when Harek commed in on Anton's PDA "Should be coming in from the south unless you want us coming in the other way or traffic's bad!"
"Chief Roberts..." Harek called on police comm "We're close. If you could advise law enforcement officers in the city itself of the current situation, that'd be helpful in stopping the public getting hit by stray rounds".
"They should be listening on our frequencies already, mister Harek" Chief Roberts replied "No way we can shut down Beechurst Avenue, especially at this time of day, but there'll be local PD around to keep it under control afterwards, if nothing else".
"One of of my guys says we'd better keep people away from the windows in Brooks and Hodges Halls as well" Harek added "Looks like they're the two Halls closest to the bridge".
Chief Roberts called officers already assigned to those areas, then called "Done".
Anton, mostly by chance, saw a black Suburban in the wing mirror on his side - when he saw one more a bit further back he told Westmore "Enemy in sight, mister Westmore - you drive the vehicle to our destination, I will hold off our enemy".
"Oh shit, here it goes..." Westmore moaned, though even Anton could tell that was mostly for show - and floored it.
"We've been spotted!" the lead driver among the contractors called over comm "Some guy's climbed into the back... Westmore's got one of the F-450s, not one of these, crap...".
"Box him in" came the reply from the team leader "Box him in, force him to stop, then we grab him and make sure he's out of it properly this time before getting out of town far enough for an evac".
"Be advised we're getting calls reporting automatic weapons fire along Don Knotts Blvd" the local police's shift leader told Chief Roberts "Couple of crazies shooting it out, looks like some black Suburban an' a F-450-oh shit, looks like it just got worse!"
"Black Suburban brought friends!" another officer shouted across the room "F-450's in deep shit if they catch up! SWAT's ready, local FBI's on standby but their HRT is still being called in!"
"National Guard?" the shift captain called, but his deputy replied "Their CO told me they got a call from someone in Washington ordering them to back off, and the state governor can't be contacted!"
"Local police..." Harek called, surprising only the local police's dispatcher to any appreciable degree "The people following the vehicle identified as 'F-450' are professional military contractors my superiors know to be sent here by a senior official of this sector but without legal orders. It'd be advisable to keep your law enforcement personnel well clear unless standing orders from your city leaders dictate otherwise".
Chief Roberts gave a very reluctant explanation of who was on board the F-450, which none of the local police officers were pleased to hear.
"Well, then..." Chief Preston told Chief Roberts after a few minutes fast explaining "Looks like us locals get to clean up the big federal mess again. No FBI in sight, state governor either can't or won't deploy the Guard... it's up to us and these visiting weird people from a galaxy far, far, away".
"Not sure what their man on the ground wants to do, Chief" Chief Roberts replied "but it'd be good to have anything and everything close by, at least in Beechurst Avenue PRT station".
"Already on the way" came the reply "I'll call them and make sure they don't wander into a potential firefight, then we'll decide what to do".
Anton was sending short bursts at any Suburban he felt he could hit, but called "These vehicles are armoured, as you said they would be. Do we have shaped-charge grenades for this rifle's under-barrel weapon?"
"Should be a few, yeah" Westmore replied, dodging rifle fire "Should be in the same bag I put the rifle ammo in" after which he described the markings on the grenades that would let Anton know he had the right ones.
It didn't take more than a minute for the first call of "Shit! Grenades!" to come over the contractors' radio once Anton started firing.
The contractors were good drivers and knew their vehicles, while Anton's rifle didn't have the target-tracker uplink he was used to - so most of the grenades missed, if not by much. One did hit right over a headlight, blowing off a good chunk of the left front wheel and wing and flipping the Suburban over - but that was Anton's last grenade.
"Local police..." Anton called from his own PDA "Be advised there is a major traffic accident outside of ...".
"Morgantown Event Center!" called Westmore as he dodged more gunfire and other vehicles.
"...Morgantown Event Center" Anton continued "The occupants of the vehicle are well armed and extremely dangerous and should be approached with caution, if at all"
"He's one of mine..." Harek added when several police officers demanded to know what was going on "Further questions to Chief Roberts and/or Captain Chedester from WVU campus police, if you don't mind..."
"Just passed Westover bridge, mister!" Westmore called, doing his best to concentrate on driving and talking "Get your guys ready, we only get one chance at this!"
"Chief Roberts!" Harek called loudly "Deploy your officers to ensure the safety of those inside Stansbury Hall if you haven't already - we've got barely a few of your minutes until my friend arrives!"
"Already done, mister" Chief Roberts replied "Brooks and Hodges Halls have been secured and I've got my own officers and local PD just over the bridge and Beechurst PRT station".
"No more shaped-charge grenades" Anton told Westmore through the window from the back of their F-450 "Standard explosive rounds would cause too much collateral damage. Proceed at maximum safe speed to Stansbury Hall!"
"Define maximum safe speed" Westmore replied.
"Fast enough so they can't hit us and kill us" Anton replied "while also getting us to where my friend Harek is waiting for us as quick as possible".
"Something easy, then" Westmore replied, checking the GPS "Nice straight run the whole way, just gotta turn left onto Beechurst Avenue and we're good".
"Use our own grenades" the team leader ordered "You lot should have the same ones our target had, since he an' Westmore raided the armoury before they left".
"They're doing what we did" Westmore called to Anton after a grenade barely missed them "Thankfully there's enough trafffic here to make it difficult, but it doesn't look like they're too concerned with hitting a stray family wagon or SUV, to be honest...".
Anton nodded before telling Harek "We are passing some buildings with odd emblems on them... my helper says they are religious buildings for students' use".
"Most likely St John's Catholic church along with the Lutherans' building" Andrea told Harek "We'd better be ready".
"Target in sight!" Harek shouted, a bit more loudly than intended "I can barely see them... but there's flashes from automatic fire coming from the rear end of my friend's vehicle and occasional explosions to one side or the other from grenades launched against him from our enemies!"
Harris had got his small team walking back and forth across the bridge, thought they'd had to ditch their fatigues before they started.
~Target in sight!~ one of them signalled fast ~Five!~
"One's who we're looking out for" Harris whispered on comms "Likely that F-450 I can just barely see through my scope. Black Suburbans are bad guys".
"Got you, Harris" both Jackson and Bond called back "Got our people ready, two with LAWs out and ready while the others got rifles up to cover them".
"I see them" the sergeant called, pulling the sole AT-4 he'd brought with him out of his bag and making sure it was ready "Just say the word and I'll bring them to a halt right where we need them to be".
I'll have to be extra careful he reminded himself Using an AT-4 in an urban environment isn't without it's problems, and this shot will have to be almost point-blank range. No room for error.
Bond's team watched as Westmore tried his best to bring the F-450 to a fast but safe stop and nearly flipped it, hitting a power pole but not knocking it over.
"Up here, Anton!" Bond called "Your guy on the ground here told us who you were, now get up here with us before things start getting interesting!"
Westmore grabbed the bags with their ammunition and guns in before the pair of them left their vehicle partially blocking the street and ran up the access ramp to Stansbury hall - just in time to see a puff of smoke near the bridge entrance on the PRT station side of the road followed by the sergeant's AT-4 shooting barely a few feet over their heads and blowing one Suburban into tiny bits all over the street.
"Now!" Harek called over their radios "Rockets! Destroy their vehicles!"
"Scatter!" the team leader shouted over their own radios as the sergeant's missile pulverised the Suburban behind his "Don't bunch up and make easy targets of yourselves! Use your vehicles as cover until they're forced to expend their supply of rockets to destroy them or they come down to ground level to get us - then we have the advantage!"
"RPG, RPG!" one of Bond's team called as a contractor's LAW rocket sped overhead and clipped the top of Stansbury Hall.
"Everyone... remain calm!" campus police officers called "Drop to the ground and crawl to cover! Police officers will be waiting for you inside Stansbury Hall and at the PRT station!"
Of course, everything turned to utter chaos - some people did drop as they were told, but everyone else just ran to wherever seemed like a safe place at the time. Harris' team had a hard time doing their job and staying out of people's way until the sergeant called them aside - two got clipped by rifle fire from contractors, and while they did hiss in pain nearby students screamed and panic spread, causing extra police officers from the PRT station to be called in to keep matters under control.
While the contractors had lost two vehicles to rocket fire at this point, the team leader noted he still had almost all of his people - until Andrea threw a grenade almost right on top of one team and blew two of them to pieces.
"On the roof" he called "Todd, you lot take out those guys in the middle of the bridge and keep the team near the PRT station from getting in our way; Hammond, you help him. Everyone else, we get the job of silencing enemy personnel dug in around the doors to the Hall".
Harek grabbed Andrea and her gear, leaping to the higher central part of the building before either of them could be shot.
"OK, you can start shooting people again now" Harek encouraged her "Jackson, can you get any good shots from there?"
"Got my people taking pot shots with rifles" Jackson replied "Don't know if we hit anyone yet, but they're keeping their heads down. Looks like your man went to Bond's team".
"Anton!" Harek called "Are you well?"
"My new friend and I will fight, Harek" Anton replied "He says their leader is most likely to be between the two vehicles where we find it hardest to see him".
"Reinforce Bond's team, both of you" Harek decided "Dunno what you brought with you, but he's had to pass some of his stuff to Harris by now and could use the help".
"Looks like that team on the bridge got cut down to size" the contractors' team leader told his people "Don't know if you killed any of them, but we've seen no one out in the middle of the bridge for a while. I need some of you to hold their attention with me while the rest of you head inside and get our target back" - just before Harek fired a rocket at them again. One of the contractors fired one back at him, making Harek duck back behind cover.
"You're hit!" Andrea told Harek with surprise "Took a chunk of your skin off, probably cracked your skull good an' hard if that's not got bits missing as well... your left eye ain't looking so good either, mister...".
"It's only a small rocket, I'll live" Harek replied "I can still see through that eye, if that's what's worrying you - not well, mind you. Give me an hour or two and some good food and I'll be fine. Right now there's a problem I need to deal with".
"Might have got one of those on the roof" the contractor, now holding a spent LAW tube, told his leader.
"Watch out on your left there" the team leader ordered "Windows on my Suburban gave out - either they just put so much rifle fire into them they shattered, or someone forgot to replace 'em last month when they should have. Stupid plastic windows have to be replaced every year if we want 'em staying bulletproof"
"Just as well none of those guys can throw grenades for shit" another contractor said "They have to have thrown at least a dozen at us by now and not one made it over our cars to get us apart from that one thrown off the roof".
"We are covering the ramp, mister Bond" Anton told the human "I have this support weapon, I still have a rifle in case I run out of ammunition or spare barrels, I have my new friend here to help me. Should Harek order it, your team should be prepared to move with us to assault the enemy position and kill every last one of them".
Harek heard Anton talk, but decided I will not do that, even though it's a good idea - I will do something a bit like what uncle Trannak did rescuing my Amara when she was tiny and new, I will wait until the humans here have their full attention, then I will drop to ground level and creep up behind them before killing their officer and any one else I can get to. This will be Anton's signal to assault their position from the other side before he remembered I have a probationary Justicar's ranking...and the human police know it. I will be expected to secure prisoners, at least long enough to be interrogated - and the conditional authority this sector's leader signed off on means I have to sentence them according to their human guidelines in this sector, so I cannot summarily nullify them either.
When he told Anton this, Anton growled but nodded before replying "It will be more effective against your father's enemies here if we secure prisoners and interrogte them vigorously. If we get even a small amount of useful information out of any of them, it might implicate them as those who gave the orders - which may force their removal from positions of power they hold".
Once Harek agreed with him, Anton called "Human soldiers... we must keep the remaining contractors suppressed or dead, but keeping their attention on us. To the soldier with Harek on the roof... continue to watch them and tell us when and where they move".
"They redeployed some of their guys" a different trooper told their leader "Looks like some are still holed up under the tunnel on the bridge there... but I think I'm hearin' a few more come outta the building, might be goin' to make a run at us".
"We're more vulnerable on this side" the leader reminded them "thanks to the windows failing on my Suburban. Bring both the 240s around this side... if they do try and assault our position from the ramp, we'll make 'em pay for it in blood".
When Anton saw Harek stand up on edge of the roof, preparing to jump, he called "Now! Keep them occupied - kill any you can, but just make sure they think we are the only threat until it's too late for them to react to my friend. Once he gets inside their improvised fortifications, we win".
"Acknowledged" Harris, Bond, and Jackson replied - though Jackson added "I got two wounded from Harris' team here - not sure if the other two are in the hall or still out on the bridge".
"I'll go out there and look, you lot" the sergeant insisted "You do your part here".
Harrek jumped, dropping the three floors to ground level comparatively easily. Ducking down as far as he could, he used Westmore's damaged F-450 as cover until he reached the back of a contractor's Suburban. Anton saw that and risked ordering the humans with him to make their advance then - Harek drew his swords and killed one contractor before replacing one sword with his pulse pistol, resting his other sword against the lead contractor's neck, and whispering "I could kill every last one of you... but for now, under the authority given to me by Justicar-Marshal Sturk, our War Commander, and your own President, you are all under arrest for terrorism, treason, assaulting a Justicar in the execution of their duty, assaulting personnel under the protection of diplomatic immunity, possession of illegal automatic rifles, possession of explosives, reckless driving endangering life... and probably a few more local laws as well. I've been told you have the right to remain silent... also that you have the right to have a legal advocate present during questioning. It really surprised me to hear that if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to represent you. For now, that's all the charges against you - unless local police have any other ones they feel like adding to the list. Your legal advocate will be told about these if there are".
"Well, shit..." the contractor who'd shot Harek with a LAW said "Sir, we're screwed. Yeah, we might trying fighting our way outta this - but we're no good to anyone if we fuck it up and get dead. If this guy wants to do this with law and not war, our odds get so much better".
"Drop 'em..." their leader decided, once he saw the ROTC recruits present at ground level come closer and level their weapons at him "Don't anyone talk to anyone 'cept me - that means keep your mouths shut. I'll make a call, get our usual lawyer out of their office and down here quick-smart".
"Anton, if you have striptape" Harek told his friend "I want each living contractor cuffed hands and feet, then hands to feet. We might be doing this by law, but I'm not gonna be stupid about it" after which he called Captain Chedester and called "All clear, Cap'n... get your guys in here, this is officially a crime scene".
After a few minutes, a number of local police officers as well as campus police arrived at road level and started cordoning off the area while Anton cuffed the remaining contractors.
"Got it..." Harek replied when the sergeant told him about one of his ROTC officers being dead "Get all the right things sorted out your end, mister - if you get problems I'll call the White House".
Not long after that, a Reaper came to a hover above the road and the unmistakable shape of Sturk jumped out of it. By now, news media - national and local - had also arrived and at least three cameras were aimed at Harek as he managed the area.
"Good to see you here, unc- sorry, Justicar-Marshal" Harek said "These are all we have left of the contractors... eleven altogether, all of them alive although four are badly injured. I read them the list of charges and their rights under sector law, as I was told to, although I expect local police will do so again before long".
"Good, you remembered" Sturk told him "Under sector law, Harek, if you don't read them their rights that way their legal advocate can insist they be released - just as our interrogation options are more restricted. We don't have the options we have in Scarran space out here on Erp, mister Harek".
A local police officer asked what they intended to do with their prisoners.
"The local cells are not secure" Harek replied "not for high-risk prisoners like these. They will be secured in the rear part of the craft that just landed on the road behind us until such time as their status is decided between their legal advocate, Justicar-Marshal Sturk, our War Commander, and the White House".
"Not sure where we're gonna find a judge to take this case" the police officer replied after talking to his captain - though after Sturk explained the conditional authority granted to him and showed him the letter from the White House, the officer nodded and said "Looks like they'll be locked up at least until after the next Presidential election, then - if our new one decides to run again and wins, they'll stay locked up, but who knows what'll happen if they get reduced sentence or pardoned once our current pres is out".
"Dad told me about a military place called Leavenworth" Harek added, stepping forward "Gonna charge them under military law and hide 'em there, how about that?"
"Might as well just drop 'em off at Gitmo an' leave 'em in supermax" another police officer suggested "if you're already going to make that much effort into keeping them off the streets. Those guys know how to keep prisoners on the inside, they do".
"Why'd he have to go suggest that..." the contractors' team leader groaned.
After twenty minutes, four people in very expensive suits arrived.
"Lawyers, yeah" Captain Chedester told Harek "That's what we call legal advocates in these parts".
"We have been appointed to represent the men currently being held prisoner by the... non-humans" the more junior lawyer told Captain Chedester "We would like to see both our clients and any legal officials representing the non-humans".
"That would be me..." Sturk answered, growling a little bit under his breath.
After talking to both Sturk and Harek for some time, the more senior of the group said "I must ask you to release our clients now. Your case rests almost entirely on the testimony of three people, all of whom might be considered to have an interest in seeing our clients imprisoned simply for being in their way. In addition to this, whatever authority you have where you usually work does not apply here on Earth - thus you cannot arrest or confine people here".
Sturk showed them the letter from the White House, after which he explained the rights of a Justicar in both making arrests, trying cases, and passing sentence where required - then watched while one lawyer called the White House.
"It's real" came the reply from the Attorney-General "Against my own judgement, sure - but legal, at least for the duration of the current administration. At least in West Virginia your clients can't face the death penalty, since that state no longer allows it and executed their last prisoner in 1963, I think".
When Sturk heard about that he called the Attorney-General himself and made the man look through every law book and record he had access to via computer until he got back to him over an hour later and said "Yes, it's accurate, Justicar-Marshal - there is no death penalty in West Virginia, so since the alleged crimes took place there the defendants cannot be executed".
"After consulting with the senior law official in this sector..." Sturk told the contractors "it turns out the death penalty is not permitted in this subsector... by any method... so you will simply be imprisoned in a maximum security military prison until your political leaders change and the new ones decide to release you, or you die of natural causes".
"Military prison?" the most senior lawyer asked, surprised.
"They're conducting military action on this sector's territory..." Sturk explained "without the official backing of any nation-state, including your own. Technically, under military law, that makes them spies and liable for summary execution - I could still order them executed under military law since one of the charges against your clients is treason - but our leader has suggested to me it may be better not to do so for all concerned. As well as your clients, of course".
"You will not be questioning them?" one of the lawyers asked.
"We certainly will" Sturk corrected them "Our conditional authority, as well as your clients being charged under military law for some charges, permit us greater latitude in the means we use to interrogate your clients... I'm sure they won't like that and I doubt you will either, but the sooner we learn what we need to know then the sooner we can stop interrogating them".
"Whether we like the way you question our clients or not..." a differrent lawyer added "the law gives us the right to be present while you question our clients".
"We'll let you know if we want you out" Harek told them "Until then... it's up to sector law and Justicar-Marshal Sturk".
The lawyers certainly did not like the level of force Sturk used to interrogate the contractors - the contractors, for the most part, tried to tough it out as long as they could (which Sturk respected even though he didn't like it).
It took three hours of Sturk applying electrical projection, both of his slappers, and anything else he could lay his hands on before the team leader screamed really loud and hissed "Alright, alright... bunch of assholes..." before adding "What the fuck d'you want to know, anyway?"
"Nothing related to you personally" Harek told him "or your family. We wish to know one thing only - who gave the orders that sent you here?".
"Fuck, I tell you that and all of us are in the shitter" the team leader replied "Guy who sent us here might not be able to get away with doing anything to you, but if he feels like it he certainly will take it out on us - even if that just means giving the next few contracts to our competition".
"Our leader..." Sturk explained "may be persuaded to give a certain amount of ... what's the word, Harek?... "
"Mercy?" Harek suggested "Dunno what it usually means here, I always thought it meant we stopped cutting bits off or hitting people or roasting them over a barbecue pit even when they deserved to be turned into scorched bits".
"Mercy..." one of the lawyers told Harek "means not punishing people to the full extent of the law even when they deserve it. If our clients decide to tell you what you wish to know, we would like their cooperation to be considered and their sentence adjusted - in their favour".
"If they tell us not only the minimum of what we want to know..." Harek suggested "without us having to hurt them some more... but everything else they know concerning those who sent them here... I'll talk with the Justicar-Marshal and we'll see what we can do. Your clients are going to prison, there's no avoiding that, but if we get what we want I'm not totally against giving them something in return".
The team leader got one of the lawyers to pass messages to his contractors but eventually just said "Shit... thought some of you might have been there once or twice... looks like I'm the only one who knows what's needed to stop those two maniacs from working us over again".
"Yeah..." one other told him "Don't think anyone else who knows is even in-country right now. Just you an' the XO".
"Well?" Harek prompted, grinning at him.
"Never heard any names..." the team leader explained, wincing in pain from the injuries suffered during interrogation "but I can tell you what he looks like if that'll stop you torturing me an' my guys".
Anton growled a bit at that, but Harek held up a hand and tried to calm his friend before saying "Tell us. All of it. If neither I nor the Justicar-Marshal knows who they are, we'll send it topside so our leaders can hear it".
It took twenty minutes, with Sturk asking for clarification on some points several time while Harek asked him to repeat a few things, before Sturk shook his head and said "Sending the recording to the War Commander and the senior officers, Harek - neither your or I seem to know who they are".
"Received!" Lazarus called once Harek's interrogation recording was fully downloaded, after which he turned to Harrigan and said "Right, let's see what we've got...".
Ten minutes later, Lazarus growled angrily before saying "Why am I not surprised...".
"Description's pretty close, yeah" Harrigan agreed "Gonna quiz your son a bit, not sure if he heard anything useful before he broke out".
"I'm here, uncle Commander" Anton replied when Harrigan called his comm "I heard little in the way of voices, and all we found in the computers was an authorisation code... I can send you that if you need it...".
"I'll get Jack to poke around a bit" Harrigan told him "Even if he can't find out what the code means, he'll know who will".
Jack's phone bleeped right in the middle of dinner, which got him grumbling a bit before he heard Harrigan's voice.
"Just had my dinner, Harrigan" he explained "I can ask around if you need stuff, but we might not get an answer until tomorrow".
"It'll have to do" Harrigan replied.
"OK, let's hear it..." Jack prompted, before Harrigan told him about the authorisation code.
"I'll have to call TR Holt" Jack admitted "System won't do anything for me on that, looks like I don't have clearance. Holt will".
Holt was not pleased about being called that late in the day either and said so, until Harrigan grumbled and told him "Relax, you'll give yourself a stroke..." and told him about the authorisation code.
Someone's been sloppy TR Holt decided, before telling Harrigan "I'll get someone from night shift looking into it - if we can't find out tonight, I'll look around myself tomorrow".
"It'll do" Harrigan replied.
"Look, look..." one of the Scarran doctors told Moratha, in the sick bay "Subject Karl Torvald is, by all appearances, healthy... but less than 10% of the medical sensors are working! I don't know enough about the change to decide if that's good or not".
"Usually it's good, at least this far along it is" Moratha explained, before the pair of them went out to the service transport platform and Moratha climbed up to look through the top of the tank herself.
The subject is extremely large, taking up most of even this custom tank's space she decided The change looks to have been assimilated fully... most of the hair on his head fell out at some point, the replacement hair is very short, though he still has most of his beard. Doctor Nrakal's notes said the front part of his chin was permanently depiliated to avoid him setting his face on fire every time he used his breath weapon. So far he still sleeps... he twitches a little bit, but barely moves even then.
"The subject is now under twenty four arn medical watch" Moratha ordered "Should anyone supervising his tank even need a momen or two for the refreshers, they will not go until their replacement arrives! There should be a minimum of one doctor at all times, though I doubt any more than a small number of orderlies or other medical staff would be helpful. Should that crazy human Troll be awake, he should be notified if the subject's emergence time arrives - not for any medical reason, but since he did most of the job convincing the subject to take part, he will do as much of the work as possible helping him adjust to his new life after the change".
"Nice..." Harrigan said when he was told "A bit of good news early in the evening. For now we got those guys who bagged Anton in our own maximum security cells, we'll sort out a more permanent solution once we get a few answers we need tomorrow".
True to form, at least with the human subjects, Karl Torvald's emergence time arrived at about three in the morning when almost no one was around.
I need to wash my face, my eyelids barely opened without help Karl decided That American told me my eyes would be very sensitive to light immediately after I awaken this first time, so I suppose it's just as well it appears to be the middle of the night right now and the light are barely on at emergency level. It does smell bad in the tank, but I expect most of that is due not not being able to see where any oxygen mask or air circulation is.
Karl looked around for the monitor cameras he was told would be there, relaxing a little bit when he found them.
Good he decided The cameras are there... and from how I see them turning from side to side a bit, they are either on a pre-programmed scanning pattern or someone will soon be alerted to the fact I would like to get out of this tank.
It took a little while before someone responded to Karl Torvald's signalling to the cameras, but he soon saw a Kalish face through the transparent covering of the tank.
That orange person is staring at me Karl saw, before raising his hands and carefully trying a few hand signals.
The Kalish saw these, thought for a few seconds, then nodded.
~Wait~ he signalled, before disappearing from view.
"When something important happpens..." the heavily-scarred Kalish man grumbled, finding the operation manual for the tank "... the doctor assigned to night watch is in the refreshers!"
He looked at the large panel on the side of the tank, grumbled again, then pressed several buttons and turned a dial as he remembered the manual instructing him to before climbing up to the top of the tank as the lid opened and the tank was purged.
"Stay still" the man told Karl "Medical staff will soon be alerted to your current situation. Until then you should remain where you are... unless you feel you can get out of that tank without help. If you feel even slightly unsteady in your mind or body I would not advise you to do that".
"My eyes are all gummed up and I feel fatigued" Karl replied in Old Scarran, since he was barely awake and was reliant on the change to speak Kalish "Get me some water so I can clean my face and we'll see about climbing out of the tank after that".
The Kalish man nodded and disappeared back inside the sick bay. Karl rumbled a little as he heard the man muttering in his own language while he searched for the food and drink set aside for Karl, after which he heard running water.
I can understand that orange man's speech Karl realised That American told me I would be able to do that with the common languages of many species and a few more specialised ones once I wake up again. I had wondered if that would take some time before it would work, but I can understand that orange man even if I don't feel I can do so well enough to speak to him in his own language yet.
"Here is water" he said, looking down at Karl in the tank "Sit or stand so I can reach you".
Karl slowly got to his feet, his enormous bulk putting him just about head height to the Kalish man even though he had climbed up the side of the tank.
"I don't need a servant" Karl told him "Hopefully I can clean my own face this soon after waking up again, I'll not be much use to anyone if I can't".
The Kalish man smiled thinly at that, but as far as Karl could tell approved of his desire to take care of his own needs and not have someone do that for him.
Good Karl decided This orange man and I think the same way. We both prefer I should take care of my own needs, newly-changed or not.
"You are a soldier?" Karl asked, trying to speak Kalish.
"I am a bridge officer for security" the Kalish man corrected him "I have skills with infantry. I can speak Old Scarran... you have a very strong accent in my language at this time and you did not speak clearly. Relax, speak the language you know - I can understand it".
"Where is a doctor?" Karl immediately asked "Where are medical staff? Is that American human nearby?"
"There is one doctor here at this time" the Kalish man replied, nodding "I believe she was seeing to personal needs and getting food... you Scarrans and other species eat more often than my own people do, so that was unavoidable. When I opened the tank, an alert will have been sent to her own comms as well of that of senior medical staff. Medical staff will be here shortly, and should you not be able to climb out of the tank without help strong Scarrans will assist you".
"I'll get out without assistance or not at all" Karl insisted, a bit more loudly than he'd intended - which brought muffled surprise and muttered speech from the doctor assigned to night watch before she ran over to the tank.
"When did he emerge?" she immediately asked the Kalish man "How long has be been able to stand unassisted? Has he requested medical assistance? Did you give him the food allotted to him for after his emergence?"
"I do not know where that is, doctor" the man replied immediately "or I would have brought it here for him".
"Wait here" she decided "There's a box in the sick bay, it's got hot ration cans in it - but even a Kalish your size might have trouble carrying it".
"Where, please..." the man asked firmly "It can't be any worse than hauling tools and ammunition boxes during the evacuation".
A few momens or searching was all it took for the box to be found, after which the Kalish man dragged it back himself before ripping the lid off it and explaining about self-heating field rations for Karl's benefit.
After he tried several times to climb out of the tank, each of which produced loud snapping noises, Karl called "The lower eight steps on the ladder inside this tank have all snapped in half".
The doctor immediately called to see if Amara or General Tareg was awake.
"I will come..." Amara's tired voice replied "I should see to medical testing of this subject in any case, Doctors Nrakal and Moratha deserve more sleep".
The doctor also told Amara about the steps inside the tank breaking, which made Amara ask more questions - the Kalish man laughed briefly before answering those as best he could, before a soft pop came from the sick bay itself and Amara translocated herself there.
"I could not do so close to you, Karl Torvald" she told Karl when he asked about what she had just done "One of the protective additions you now have is called a deadlock zone, it has been active for a short while before your emergence - this was noted in the archives and is normal. That capability prevents the use of mentalism for a short distance around you. You will be taught how to make best use of all its capabilities that later - but in order to help you out of the tank I must teach you some of the most basic things on how to control the zone's area of effect now".
Amara took a few momens to explain the theory behind what she was asking him to do, along with how they had learned it was even possible.
"Like a fishing net" Karl said, nodding "I knew people who made their living that way, at deep-water fishing - at that time in my life I had chronic seasickness, so I volunteered for Army service where I would rarely if ever have to go near the sea".
The Kalish man was still there, and he nodded though he also laughed a bit as well.
It took Karl almost fifteen momens before he could hold his deadlock field completely offline for long enough for Amara to lift him out of the tank.
"That felt odd" he told her "My instincts were telling me to release that deadlock zone and shield myself".
"You will need training" Amara agreed, nodding "so you can build on your instincts and enhance your capabilities. Not now, though. Now you must undergo basic testing and eat. All the newly changed must eat".
The Kalish man looked at him in detail as he ate, taking notes but not asking too many questions. He did lean closer and examine his carapace and his skin, which Karl found amusing - and smiled a little when the man passed his notes to Amara and made a few observations of his own about him as well.
"I can hear you, mister" Karl called, again more loudly than he intended.
"You were supposed to" Amara told him, before testing his hearing and other senses a number of ways.
"We will test your sense of smell when you go to your assigned galley for First Meal, Karl Torvald" Amara explained "There you will be introduced to the smells of every species of person present on board this ship, both male and female where present - you will also encounter many foods which we eat here, and can start to learn what they smell like to your changed senses".
Once Karl had finished the last tin of hot rations, Amara stepped in front of him before floating up so she could look him in the eye and tell him "Do NOT try and test your weapons or other capabilities in here. Not only is this a sick bay, but testing weapons in a comparatively confined space will endanger both you and us. That odd American named Troll, whom you saw before your change, will lead you through that part of your training - and Sturk will lead you through learning how to control your flight capability, since he is the most skilled of the few we have with it".
Amara dropped to the ground when Karl lost control and his deadlock field snapped back out to normal radius again.
"I am well" she assured him "You do not need to apologise. Your progress even up to this point is good, though you are taking a little longer to learn about the deadlock shield and a little less time about one or two of the other things".
"I should like more food" Karl asked "That and perhaps some rest if not sleep".
"This was not accounted for" Amara replied "but you are both human and the first subject receiving some changes. I will find more food of the same kind you had before. If you wish to practice what you know already concerning how to control your deadlock zone, I can bring that food directly to this location with my special skills".
Karl did so, and while his control wavered a little Amara brought another box of hot ration cans from the nearest stores facility by mentalism successfully. She watched while Karl ripped the lid off the packing crate and devoured the contents of every can, nodding happily and taking notes.
"Am I doing well?" he asked curiously "I can just about read the screen of your tablet device, but it is both upside down and I am not entirely sure how long the language data takes to assimilate well enough for me to read anything but the languages I already know".
Amara scanned him on each of the scanning devices in the sick bay, and although she muttered and grumbled in disappointment she also explained to Karl Torvald why she did this and why it meant he was performing as expected.
"Even with my own change, Karl Torvald" she told him "little more can be seen" before she added "Since you broke the weighing scales for people... I had to perform a mass displacement scan with my mentalism and record the result. Your appearance, your weight, and other important things about you have now been recorded in the medical archives".
Nrakal ran in almost right after Amara stopped speaking and promptly bombarded her and Karl with questions. Karl looked over at the Kalish man and raised an eyebrow in enquiry - he smiled and told him "I do not indulge my curiosity quite as eagerly and happily as Doctor Amara... but all the Kalish people are curious and exploratory as she is to one degree or another. Many who see you will ask you questions about your new things, children will want to talk to you and climb on you" before telling him about why they could do that, which made Karl grin a bit before saying "That is interesting... odd, but interesting".
"Sleep some more" she encouraged Karl once Nrakal stopped questioning him and examining him "Doctor Nrakal will come and collect you when it is time for First Meal. Do not try an sleep on the beds here, you will break them".
Amara brought the largest size of sleeping bag in the stores - which was still a little too tight and too short, so Amara found blankets and pillows.
"Good, he seems to adjust to the basics of being changed easily" Amara told Nrakal "The uniform trousers provided for him fit but are tight, so someone will neeed to find something more suitable for him after First Meal tomorrow".
Aden wasn't in a sick bay, but was in bed.
"Muhhh... mrrr..." he murmured, still shivering a bit - he felt warmth next to him, so he fell asleep again.
When he woke up next he felt considerably better, though still a little cold.
"What...where..." he mumbled, before looking up and deciding "This ain't recruit quarters..." - then rolled over and saw a woman in the bed with him and screamed "HOLY SHIT!" loud enough to wake her up.
"I was told..." she grumbled "that human men are much like any other... and would not question waking up next to a sleeping female, even if they did not know how they got there...".
"Not complaining!" Aden squeaked, terrified "Please don't kill me!" before his brain kicked in just long enough for him to say "Training Sergeant Molsey?! Shit, I'm gonna die, what the hell did I do yesterday?!"
"Oh, stop complaining..." Molsey muttered "You were suffering cold intolerance. I brought you here. Body heat is the most effective way to raise a person's body temperature back to a level required for good health" before she wrapped her arms back around him, which made rational thoughts leave his mind once more.
"Why are you so fearful?" she asked him "I heard you talking to the other new humans about me, mister! You were curious about why my skin is green and a little more curious about whether I was green all over my body".
Aden still felt terrified and said so, though he added "Miss.. err, sergeant... err, sorry, don't know your rank here...".
"You're in my quarters, mister... Aden" Molsey replied, looking him in the eye from just a few denches away "You're in my bed. With me".
He did shriek again, though after he stuttered an apology he added "Still findin' this a bit scary, to be honest... about half of me's saying ' You're right up close to a non-human with no clothes on. Be terrified' ".
"The rest of you...?" Molsey prompted, pretty sure she knew what the answer would be since she could feel his body start to react to her presence "What is that saying?"
"It's saying 'WOMAN' " he admitted sheepishly "It's telling me not to worry about you being green or not human or anything else except being female, sexy, and here... It's reminding me I've had little to no luck with the ladies since passing basic, and telling my how stupid I am when the first thing I do when finding myself in bed with a woman is scream" before he realised what he'd just said and shrieked again.
"Sorry..." he said one more time "Being around people who aren't human is still freaking me out a bit... I don't mean to be disrespectful. Or unthankful".
"Better" Molsey replied, then smiled before telling him "Well? I'm assuming you've looked at me a bit now... does it frighten you that I am green all over?"
He looked her over, smiled just a little bit, before he moved his hands.
"Mmm..." Molsey murmured, moving her own hands and resting her cheek against his own - she smiled when he whimpered a bit, knowing that wasn't brought on by fear but by interest, more so when he looked over at her and leaned forward a little and raised his eyebrows in speculation.
"You don't have to ask permission for every little thing..." she scolded him, squeezing him just a little more tightly "Come on... you can if you want to...".
She let him set the pace at first, smiling encouragingly after he kissed her the first time - laughing softly but happily when he grinned afterward.
He likes my figure Molsey realised, both pleased and relieved Those human females I saw at the event after the funeral were so skinny and not well muscled, how can they remain healthy and please their mates and enjoy life's other challenges? This human man, this Aden Powell, while he is still wary and a little fearful around people outside his own species... he likes me as a female, he appears to like the fact that I am physically strong as well as physically interesting to him. Soon, I hope, he will start to become more interested in me for non-physical things... then we can see if I am just a passing interest for him, or if I might become the first of my people to secure a human as their mate for life. So far, only Scarrans have secured humans as their mates... even Kalish have not managed such a thing. I don't know humans well... but I like this one, I think I shall try to keep him.
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