Taggart and Talbot paced just inside the plastic-coated headquarters of their operation, Taggart biting his knuckles with his head practically buried in his chest, and Talbot constantly cleaning and re-cleaning his glasses every few seconds. Taggart kept glancing at the projector screen, where the computer's images were being displayed on the backdrop.
The HK leader had had a video camera mounted on his helmet, which documented everything from the first sighting where the elf had gone speeding by at well over twenty miles an hour, to the final moments before she was shot in the side by one of the team members. She'd pulled her sword, though hadn't actively attacked anyone, and a different team member had shot her in the chest, thankfully stopped by the thick armor she wore. Taggart had been surprised by this, as the shot hadn't even seemed to damage the armor, and the elf hadn't seemed very phased by taking a direct high powered rifle shot to the chestplate.
They'd downloaded the video directly from his helmet to the computer using a wireless connection, and they'd been studying it while waiting for the ambulances to arrive. They'd set up a makeshift field hospital in the area anyway, as several men had had accidents with equipment or other things, and the area's hospital wasn't very well equipped.
The altercation had happened at an area about half an hour's drive from here, and they had sent several ambulances to pick up both the wounded men, and the alien. Taggart was more nervous because the operation had gone to complete shit under his watch, while Talbot was worried he wouldn't have a chance to speak to the Alien at any length before she died. If she could even understand him! Talbot growled with frustration, causing Taggart to glance at him with a raised eyebrow.
Both of them almost jumped when someone banged on the plastic door to the room, and Taggart was surprised to see Dwayne banging on the glass with his fist, yelling something Taggart couldn't make out. He gestured to one of the Military Police in the lab, waving his arm. "Let that idiot in before he breaks something."
The MP nodded curtly and snapped a quick salute before moving to the door. He barely had time to unlock it before Dwayne pushed through, pointing an angry finger at the General. "You got her shot, you asshole!" He growled and tried to jump at Taggart, who was thoroughly surprised. Dwayne was normally docile, and he hadn't expected anything like this from the younger male. Two MPs wrapped him up with their arms, and Dwayne struggled against them.
"What? You think I wanted this to happen? Are you some kind of idiot?" Dwayne cooled a bit as Taggart spoke, barely keeping his voice from becoming a yell. "The first alien we've had contact with in history, and she gets shot. How do you expect that makes me look, huh?" He glared at Dwayne, who finally pursed his lips and nodded. "Why do you care so much anyway, son?"
"Because I-" They both turned their heads to look down the hallway as several people began running down it toward the doors.
"They must be here!" Taggart pushed Dwayne out of the way and took off down the hallway toward the front door. He almost knocked several people to the side as he ran, pushing through the swinging doors out the front of the station where an ambulance and two EMT Humvees were parked. He skidded to a halt as the military medics unloaded the two wounded soldiers first, rushing them inside the building.
One of them didn't look very serious. He came out of the first medical humvee on a stretcher, his boot removed and a pack of ice around his ankle to keep swelling down. The second soldier was removed from the ambulance, with a civilian paramedic at his side. His right arm was bent at an odd angle from his shoulder, and he was writhing in pain. They quickly carried him into the building and out of sight.
A crowd was gathering around the last medical humvee, emblazoned with a red cross on a white field to denote that it was a purely medical vehicle. Guards were trying to keep soldiers and a few curious civilians who had gathered around out of the way, as the operation, as per Taggart's orders, hadn't released very much information about what was happening, and why they were there. One of the MPs gave an order, and the soldiers backed away slowly. The civilians still hung around and tried to get a good look.
As the medics pulled the stretcher bearing the alien out of the humvee, Taggart was mortified to see that it was covered in a sheet. Splotches of purple blood covered the sheet, and the form underneath was still. Taggart rushed over, pushing one of the MPs out of the way, and stopped one of the medics. "What happened!" His face was pale, his actions more hurried than he would have liked.
The medic spoke quietly, trying to reassure him. "She's stable for the moment. We just knocked her out with an injection and covered her with the sheet to keep eyes off until we see her first, Sir." The medic nodded toward the door. "She's bleeding internally and we need to get her inside. Sir."
Taggart nodded, only just now realizing that he was blocking the way to the door. He stepped to the side and let them pass, only to follow them moments later. They quickly led the way through the cleared hallway, having had it emptied by the soldiers on gurneys passing through moments before.
Taggart kept pace with the medic as they wheeled the alien on into their command center, then around to the side where the hospital area had been set up. The other two soldiers had already been taken into medical bays and curtained off. All Taggart could hear from them was the quiet groans of pain from the soldier with the shattered arm that had been hit by her sword.
Taggart considered him lucky, if she had chosen to, she could have removed the arm rather than just break it. He was still curious why, even when being shot, she had chosen not to react lethally. She could have potentially killed or seriously wounded multiple members of the HK team. He supposed that he'd have to try to ask her. If she survived, and if they could find some way to speak to her, he mused.
The medic wheeled the stretcher with the elf atop it into the largest of the medical bays, reserved for actual surgery and that maintained as much of a clean room environment as they could manage. The medic gently pushed Taggart back. "We need space to work, sir. We'll notify you when the operation is complete."
Taggart nodded, though he noticed that the medic hadn't said 'when the operation was successful', choosing to just say 'complete' instead. That really didn't bode well for her, Taggart thought. He began pacing back and forth outside of the operating area, waiting for something to happen that he could actually take part in. A few moments later one of the medical bays with one of the wounded soldiers pulled it's curtains aside, and a soldier on crutches came hobbling out. "The one with the ankle." Taggart thought.
He made his way over to the soldier, who was hobbling away, and put his hand on his shoulder to stop him. "How is it?" Taggart moved to the soldier's front, stopping him from going anywhere else, and watched his face. The young man's nametag read "JOHNSON" in big block letters. When Johnson looked confused, Taggart gestured to his ankle.
"Oh! It's… well, it hurts sir, but the doc told me that it's just a sprain. She didn't hit me hard enough to break it. Guess she just wanted to knock me over."
Taggart raised his eyebrow at the young man. "You mean the alien? Why say 'she'?"
Johnson's face colored a bit, his hands waving womanly curves into the air in front of him. "Well, if she isn't a she, you're going to have a few confused men in your hands." He shrugged his shoulders. "She's certainly something to look at, sir. We've all seen the pictures from the room you have set up over there." Johnson hooked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing toward the plastic-encased room where Taggart and Talbot had been going over all the evidence.
Taggart gave the man an odd look for a moment then finally nodded, patting him on the shoulder. He moved to walk away, but Johnson called him back after a moment. "Sir!"
Taggart turned, facing Johnson once more, a somewhat confused look on his face. "Yes?"
"I… I'm the one that shot her. In the chest. She raised her weapon, and… well, training took over. Sir." Johnson looked ashamed of himself, but Taggart just nodded, his face setting a little.
"We'll handle that later, son. Go do whatever Doc told you to do."
Johnson nodded, then quickly hobbled away.
Taggart began moving back toward the command tent they'd set him, and a sidelong glance at the door told him that Dwayne was still watching the room, his eyes glued onto the curtains that hid the alien from view. As Taggart opened the plastic door to the tent, he waved at one of the MPs. "Someone bring him in here. We need to talk."
"Who, sir?" Replied one of them.
"Dwayne. And his little friend Colin, wherever he is."
The MP nodded. "Right away, sir."
Talbot was waiting for Taggart when he returned to the tent, a horribly worried expression on his face, glasses clutched between his fingers where the nervous scientist was still cleaning them. "How is she?"
Taggart grabbed a mug and began pouring himself a cup of coffee. The afternoon was beginning to turn into evening, and he had a feeling it was going to be a long night. "Bad. But we've got some of the best army medics here. She's in good hands, Talbot."
Taggart noticed that even he was calling her a she now, but he supposed that was just going to be easier. He glanced up at the feed from the HK lead's helmet, noticing the frame had been frozen on the elf's face, screwed up in the expression of tense combat. He guessed they wouldn't need images and video now that they had the real thing.
If she survived the night.