Chapter 6
The three Freelancer agents had walked into a large room that looked like a cross between some nomadic tent interior, some occult library, and a military command center. Decorated fabric was draped across the beams of the ceiling and hung down the sides like tapestries or silk curtains. A few woven rugs were placed across the floor, and a pile of blankets and pillows showed that Delaware preferred something other than the traditional cots for sleeping in, preferring comfort to practicality. A series of charts and maps were strewn across a desk and pinned to the walls, showing ship schematics, a map of the Inner and Outer colonies, and Covenant-controlled planets. Certain ones were marked with a fluorescent blue marker, some with red, and some with black or green. A small book case was packed with all sorts of actual paper books that were a rarity these days, and some cardboard boxes held even more data pads along the side of the walls. Candles and dried herbs were placed at random points all around the room, drawing on a more mystique element to the room than the traditional track lighting overhead.
Wash had barely taken one step into the room when something rustled and gave a slight gasp of air. On a wooden perch in the corner by the bookcase, a large black bird sat blearily, blinking its beady black eyes tiredly. It was not of Earth origin, so it was of some alien species unfamiliar to the agents. Long black tail feathers trailed a good three feet towards the floor, with a patch of white crest feathers almost as long trailing down the back of its head. The rest of the bird, from long, hooked beak to curved talon, was jet black. The bird stared at the Freelancers long and hard, and they stared back at its alien form curiously. The bird extended its five-foot wings in a stretch, flapped a few times, and resettled itself on its perch, not ready for an attack against the Freelancers.
"Weird bird," York muttered as he went into the room and set the box down by Delaware's 'nest'. Straightening up, he stopped as he saw some pictures hanging on the wall. "Hey, guys. Come take a look at this," he motioned the other Freelancers over to look at the printed pictures that formed the timeline of Delaware's life.
The pictures all showed people in them, mostly female. The first one that drew their attention was the oldest picture, of a woman with dirty blonde hair and tanned skin smiling as she held a baby against her chest. The dark golden skin and tiny black curls showed a younger Delaware wrapped in a wool blanket, deep asleep against her mother. The next one was of a two-year-old Delaware standing with her mother in front of a large stone building with a group of other people; given what they knew about her, the others could only assume that they were a group of survivors that had escaped Reach before it fell to the Covenant. Then, there was a picture of Delaware, five years old with shoulder-length hair, standing by a crib at four newborns, all with lighter skin and blonde hair. Several more pictures showed the four new girls with Delaware over the course of a decade with smiles on their faces.
Then, at a picture of a seventeen-year-old Delaware, the smile had disappeared as she stood over a decorated casket with her twelve-year-old sisters standing beside her. The pictures continued to show Delaware, standing with groups of people for various charity projects, then lined up with some finely dressed people at a function, then on horseback with her sisters again. The pictures came to an end with a large family picture that featured her at the center, surrounded by her platinum-blonde sisters, and several younger boys and girls (obviously nieces and nephews) against the same stone building where she had gone after her home on Reach.
"So, she had a mom and four other sisters, but no dad? Not even any brothers?" Wash asked out loud.
"That's right," came an unknown voice from the doorway, and they whipped around. Julius stood there, wiping his hands on a cloth before tossing it away. The bird in the corner sailed over to him and landed on a shoulder, settling down again.
"Umm, sorry, sir. We were just curious about these pictures, and…" North trailed off lamely, having no excuse to offer the older man.
"There's no need to apologize, Agent North Dakota. There is no excuse for curiosity," the medic answered, scratching the bird on the head absently as he came over to the other men.
"Sir, is Delaware alright?" York piped up, taking a step forward.
"Yes, she's fine. She's in Recovery right now, sleeping off the anesthesia. She'll be sore for a bit, but she'll make it." They breathed a sigh of relief, and the grey-haired man chuckled. "I see that you hold some amount of affection for her."
"More like curiosity. North, on the other hand…" Wash started, and North punched him in the arm. "What?! It's the truth," Wash complained.
"Well, I'm sure that she appreciates the affection, nonetheless," Julius replied as he continued to pet the bird on his shoulder. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before he continued. "I was there with her mother to raise Dawn since we came from Reach-"
"Her name's Dawn?" North asked, letting the name roll off of his tongue like a drop of honey.
"Yes. Anyways, I'd helped raise Dawn's mother for a time, and taught her everything that I knew. Then, I went with her when she fled Reach with her daughter and a few others to our new home, Terra- Beta. We started our life again from scratch, and I taught Dawn what I could too." Julius sighed fondly as the memories came up. "She was always eager to learn anything. Dawn skipped right over the picture books and started reading Shakespeare after her ma read her 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. She went through all the books that we had by the time she was ten. Didn't have to go to school or anything, not that we had one anyway. She helped build Beta's first school here," he pointed to the picture of Delaware with all of the volunteers in front of a three-story brick building. "That's one thing about Dawn, is that she tries to gift more than she receives from people. She devoted her life to making everyone else around her happy. When her sisters were born here," he pointed to the four newborns with Delaware looking over them, "Dawn's ma had to help with some political stuff on Terra-Beta. So, Delaware helped raise her sisters; cooking for them, reading to them. Didn't matter that they had another father, she loved them just the same."
"What happened here?" North took the picture off the wall and showed Julius the picture of the funeral. His eyes became mournful.
"Dawn's ma was murdered on Dawn's seventeenth birthday. Found her with her throat slit open in the middle of the night and didn't say a word; just sat there crying until morning when we found her. The kid's never been the same since then, still wandering the halls in the middle of the night wherever she is." Julius bent to hang the picture back on the wall, and the bird flew over to settle on York's shoulder, running its long, hooked beak through his hair a few times. Julius gave a small smile. "Predator seems to like you," he remarked as the bird fanned its tail like a peacock at the mention of his name.
"What happened after her mom died?" North asked, taking a seat with the other Freelancers.
"Gosh, she never really smiled much after that. She became so focused on protecting everyone else, she didn't have much time for herself. Dawn was close with her ma, so she was really depressed when she died. Just kept working to the point of exhaustion, and then some. She got out of it, though, after the Uprising."
"Uprising?"
"Yeah. Dawn's ma helped form a government on Terra-Beta after we left Reach, and kept things under control. She formed a central government and helped write the laws for the colony. After she died, a whole bunch of political parties were fighting for leadership, and we almost destroyed ourselves in civil war. Dawn didn't like what they were doing with all the corruption, but she was so focused on keeping things together, she didn't want to get involved in the mess." Julius took a pause for a second, collecting his thoughts.
"Things started getting really bad about two years after the murder. Everybody was tearing themselves apart, and Dawn had to work with a few others to form a revolt against the government her ma created. She was purely political up to the point that the corrupt guys kidnapped her oldest niece, Jessa. Then, well…it was quick and bloody. When she brought the fight to them, it took less than a week to finally get rid of her mom's government and rescue her niece, and it gave her a different perspective. She had a fighting spirit, and needed to put it to good use. So, she helped form the new government, put people that she could trust in charge, and signed up with the program. She was the very first Agent that the Director recruited, hence the name. That was twelve years ago, and I've been with her ever since."
North couldn't believe it. After everything that Delaware had been through, he had no idea how she could still smile through all the problems from her life.
"Now, don't you go feelin' sorry for her," Julius snapped at them. "Dawn's fine, and she's happy with all the help that she gives people. She doesn't do well with pity, so don't mention that I brought this up to you. We had this conversation only between us, nobody else."
Well, that wouldn't be hard to do. A story like that, no one would want to keep bringing it up.
An older teenager appeared in the doorway, cropped blonde hair barely disguising the fact that she was a girl. "Uncle Julius? Dawn's awake."
Julius stood up straight and beckoned to the other Freelancers. "Well, let's get back up to Recovery. I'm sure she'll want to say something to you boys when she wakes up," he called to the Freelancers, who joined the older man as he made his way up to see the waking Agent.
"Our plans are coming too soon to fruition," a gravelly voice growled in the large, circular room.
In the bright white room that had no seams, no apparent floor, and no ceiling, five chairs hovered over the floor, each with a white robed figure sitting tall against the ornate chair backs.
"You are paranoid, brother. Everything is going according to plan," a high, reedy voice responded sharply to the first voice.
"The destruction of the UNSC ship not only has alerted that collection of worthless slime, but it has also garnered the interest of that new group, the IAOC," a third voice agreed with the first, deep tones rumbling like distant thunder. "We cannot afford such mistakes at this point in our plan."
"Then we have much work to do to complete our tasks, and we must retrieve our stolen technology," the first voice continued. "Curse that low-born doctor for stealing Onyx from us!"
"The loss of the Shield World is of no consequence," a fourth, cultured tone rang out to counter its brothers. "The technology on that planet was not of correct function with our ultimate plans. It would have been useless and incompatible with our ultimate goals." An image of a planet appeared in the center of the room. "Our equipment resides on this world, in the second arm of this galaxy. That is where we shall find our necessary tools to make this fire."
"A fire that shall consume all of the impurity that has polluted our worlds," the final voice spoke, deep and hypnotic and full of strength. "And from the ashes, our race shall be reborn again, with me as its true leader, and we shall regain our former greatness."
"And, what of those with the possibility of stopping us, Father?" The three allied voices asked as one. "What of the Clone?"
"The Clone? It shall not stop us on our quest," the Father spoke harshly, waving the image of the planet away angrily. "Its death will secure our future and bring forth our greatest weapon. Once we find it and kill it, nothing can stop us. The universe shall tremble at our feet as our fires redeem these worlds of ours and bring forth a new age once again."
Well, things have taken an interesting turn in the story. We now have a glimpse of Delaware's past, Julius' role in the story, and we have some long-term antagonists making their way in. Can anyone spot the references I am making in their speech? Any ideas who they're talking about and/or who they are?
Drop me a line. I appreciate any comments and critiques I can get with this story.
Sincerely,
anna1795