Chapter Twenty-Six: An Introduction to Other Worlds

While we walked and after Porter had given me the sitrep, I pulled out an energy bar from one of my cargo pockets, shifting my DMR to my right hand to handle the weight since I didn't want to further strain the newly healed left. I was aware of my aide's inquisitive glance as I did so, and knew it wasn't exactly a good time for it, but I couldn't remember when I'd eaten last. I figured if no one was actively shooting at me, then now was good enough. I'd learned long ago to take meals when I could in the field.

My husband had lain in a coma for five days now and I was hungover as all hell because of it. And we still had the whole Storm army and the ever-elusive Prometheans to deal with. I had more pressing concerns to worry about than potentially getting shot at while I ate.

Still, I finished up my impromptu meal fast and soon had my rifle back in both hands, vigilantly watching our flanks for any sign of attack - from anywhere and anyone. After several minutes, though, none came, so I keyed the COM to Major Dani Brewer to get the skinny on her battalion's status since the move.

"Brewer, this is Lieutenant Colonel Cooper. We've just returned to the island and I'm heading to the ruins now to see if the scientists have dug up anything new yet that could help us. How's the 213th faring so far?"

The response was prompt and full of detail, both of which I'd come to expect from the newest battalion commander. "We're doing well, ma'am," she replied. "Only five casualties so far. The Storm hit us hard on our way in, but Major Collins was able to clear the skies for us pretty quick. Once we were on the ground, things seemed to die down fast. We've been hearing the occasional sniper shot or patrol run-in, but nothing too crazy for now. Plus with the Mantis - "

"I hear you, Major. That beast has been a godsend," I responded, purposely interjecting so that she didn't continue to go on unnecessarily. "Listen, Dani, I know we haven't interacted much since you've arrived, but we will now that the 213th is on Qamar as well. Next time, it's okay to skip the filler with me. I just want the straight-up facts while we're groundside; the rest can wait for the after-action reports. Got it?"

There was a slight pause. "Yes, Colonel. Understood."

"Good. Anything else I should know?"

"No, ma'am. Although...I wanted to ask about the spooks if I could."

"Go ahead."

"I've requested that Commander Hayden send me updates about the company I left behind on the mainland, in case the local rebs get up to something they shouldn't. I assume she'll do the same for you?"

I nodded out of reflex, though I knew Brewer couldn't see it. "That's correct, Major. I'm keeping a direct line with Hayden as well."

"Right. That's good." There was another pause. "And Lieutenant Lloyd, Colonel? Has he uncovered anything else about the ruins or Prometheans?"

"Not yet, but we're heading there as we speak," I answered. "As soon as we're out, I'll give you and Majors Harris and Warfield whatever new data we find. Till then, keep an eye on the Storm and sit tight."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Cooper out."

A small grin formed on my face the moment I cut the connection. Though Major Brewer had tried to hide it well, I knew the real reason she'd asked about the two ONI operatives - and it wasn't to get a hold of information sharing protocol she already knew. I leaned over to Lloyd as we walked and bumped shoulders with him. He seemed a little startled at first, but then the Naval officer took in my expression.

"What is it, Colonel?"

"I just spoke to Major Brewer."

"Oh. And?"

I stifled a chuckle. "Well, she'd make a good spook. The major was very subtle about asking after you. Slipped it into the conversation pretty seamlessly. I was impressed." I reached over and gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze, smirking. "I think she's a keeper, Cal."

The lieutenant rolled his blue eyes at me and snorted. "All right, all right. Enough with the ribbing." A moment later he turned back to me though, looking more serious this time. "But you're sure she's okay?"

"She's fine, Lloyd. Like Porter told us, things've been quiet around here for a bit. And anyway, you'll get to see her soon."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll stop talking now."

"Good. 'Cause here we go." I hefted my rifle to gesture up ahead. "The ruins are just over there."

We got there a few minutes later, all of us thankful we hadn't run into anything troubling along the way - in the form of ex-Covies or even the new sentient robot things. We passed through both squads of Marines Major Harris had left behind to guard the ruins from the outside, then made our way in and down the ancient steps. When we finally reached the chamber below, Lieutenant Lloyd came out in front of me, with Travis on my six. My younger brother immediately gave a low whistle.

"Damn, Natalie. You weren't kidding when you said this place was big," he said.

"Nope. That's why we've got eight scientists studying every square inch down here."

He gave a short laugh as he continued to look around. "I bet Mom would've loved this. All the brainiacs in here, the relics and stuff, trying to find out who or what left it behind...she would've definitely been in her element."

With my DMR now slung behind my back, I folded my arms across my chest and took a moment to take in the chamber with him. And remember. "Yup. She would've loved to be a part of this, running tests and experiments on everything. Just learning." I swallowed down on the sudden ache in my throat and sighed. "I miss her."

"Me, too, Nat. This brings back a lot of memories."

It did, but unfortunately we didn't have the luxury of lingering down here as long as we wanted. As I watched more Marines begin to file into the chamber, I nodded back to the rest of my brother's demo squad, coming in behind him. I knew we needed to get a move on so we could get back up top in a timely fashion. "All right. Gather your team, Trav, and start your survey. I need to go talk to the lead on this, figure out if they've learned anything new yet."

"Sure thing. I'll let you know when we're done."

"Okay."

Since I didn't know where to start, I looked around the room and caught back up with the spook, using him to steer me toward the group of scientists further down the enormous chamber. Each space in the cavernous room was lit with bright lights - some built into the structure itself, others more powerful, portable types that the brains had brought with them from the Ex. While Matthew and Porter's squad stood watch at the end of the stairs to the surface and my brother and his team made the rounds to determine good places to potentially set up explosives, Lieutenant Lloyd and I continued walking deeper into the large underground area.

We spotted the first of the scientists crouched by one of the walls with symbols on it - all of which, upon closer inspection, remained unlit. When we'd first entered the chamber a few weeks ago, we'd seen a number of symbols that glowed. I hadn't been sure what it all meant at the time, but then Lloyd had explained the portal system to me a bit. Somehow, the symbols had something to do with how a portal functioned. That was my understanding, at least. It looked like this one might be a dead end.

I figured I could easily get confirmation from the scientist before me. I leaned down a little in his direction to get his attention, reaching out with one arm to brace myself against the wall.

"No, no! Stop!" the man suddenly shouted.

Startled, I immediately took a step back and stood upright, giving him a questioning look. In return, the scientist looked at me like I was a complete dolt.

"That's not to touch," he scolded sharply, scowling at me beneath bushy black-gray eyebrows. His voice held a faint tinge of an accent, but it was so buried beneath the words that I couldn't tell from where. "The portal may look dead, but these things are not entirely understood to us yet, young lady. If any of us were to accidentally activate one, there's no telling where we might end up."

Now that I could rest assured that I hadn't launched us somewhere deep into unknown space without meaning to, I was left to snort at his chosen title for me. "'Young lady' is flattering, Doctor, but I left my twenties behind almost a year ago. I'm not old, but I'm definitely not a green Marine anymore, either."

The old man, probably in his mid- to late seventies, scoffed. "My youngest daughter is fifteen years older than you are, dear. Even thirty is still a child to me." He leaned forward himself this time, peering at me with a slight frown. "Who are you, anyway?"

I stuck out my hand. "Lieutenant Colonel Natalie Cooper, sir. I'm supreme ground commander on this mission."

Somehow, his expression became even more scrutinizing. "Lieutenant colonel, huh? You barely look old enough for major." He shrugged to himself before I could reply. "But the military has always paid little attention to age and focused more on skill instead. I assume you are good at what you do then, Colonel Cooper."

"I try to be, sir."

"Of that I have no doubt. But still, in my field, I am better." With an amused glint in his dark eyes now, the old scientist finally took my hand and shook it. "Doctor Patrick Sean McGuinness, Colonel. What can I do for you?"

I gestured to the inactive wall. "I was hoping you could tell me a little of what you've found so far. And point me in the direction of the lead down here. I was told it was a woman, so obviously you don't fit the bill."

"Aye, she's farther down the chamber, just ahead. Studying an active portal, not like this one." The scientist shifted his focus then from me to the wall with the unlit symbols. "As you may've guessed, this one is dormant."

"Yes, sir. I figured as much. Have you been able to determine where it leads yet? Or used to?"

"Trevelyan."

At the mention of the location, I turned over to the spook and exchanged a quick glance with him. He'd told me about Trevelyan before - a world the UNSC formerly called Onyx. It was an ONI research facility now. Beyond that, though, I didn't have the clearance to know anything else about it. Still, I found it strange that the two places were linked.

Being more knowledgeable about the subject, Lieutenant Lloyd stepped forward then and addressed the older man, his eyes wide.

"Trevelyan? Really? That means we know now that one of the inactive portals found there should be linked up to this." Caleb frowned. "But why isn't it? What could have caused a break?"

"We're looking into it, lad. That's why we're scientists; why we study." He glanced back at us again. "The fact that I discovered the destination at all is a great find on its own."

"No argument there," I said. "Thanks for the information, Doctor McGuinness. We'll come back to speak to you more later."

The old man shooed us away with an arm, no longer looking at us. Instead, his total focus had returned to the dead portal now. "Yes, yes. Go on."

The ONI operative and I did as he said and moved on. Going down the chamber, still brightly lit, I started to inexplicably feel cold.

"That was weird, wasn't it?" I asked Lloyd while we walked. "What are the chances that a colony this far out used to be linked up to a top-secret UNSC research facility?"

"It's actually not very strange if you think about it, ma'am. It makes a lot of sense for these portals to be on some kind of network. The idea that the same several places are linked up to each other is logically sound in my mind."

I frowned in thought. "I guess it is. But I suppose that begs the question, why these locations in particular? I get Trevelyan, since if ONI's there there must be something they found worth studying. But why Khan? Besides the presence of the portals themselves, what makes this such a strategic location that whoever built this place needed instantaneous access to it?"

Lieutenant Lloyd held up his hands in surrender. "I think that's probably way beyond my pay grade, Colonel. But I'd bet my check it might just have something to do with our new buddies."

"The Prometheans, you mean."

"Yes, ma'am." The spook gave me a pointed look. "Their presence here can't be coincidence. I think they're connected somehow. But we'll need some more answers before any of us can determine in what way that might be."

Fair enough, I thought to myself. In all honesty, all this deep shit was making my head hurt - literally. The hangover headache continued to linger in the background, less potent than earlier, but still very much there. Hoping to dampen it somewhat, I pulled my canteen from my web belt then and took a long swig of water, then replaced the cap and slipped the thing back onto my hip. This stuff was all miles and away from what I knew best - being a Marine. Combat. Reconstruction. Fighting aliens. Everything else had always been someone else's department - namely the brass and ONI's. Now, thanks to my new rank, it was bleeding into my territory as well. I didn't like it.

Reality could care less how I felt, however. The scientist we were looking for was just a few feet away.

The woman seemed to be around my mother's age at first glance, much younger than the man we'd just met. Probably in her late fifties. She had short gray hair and a simple slate jumpsuit on, likely the kind of garb scientists preferred when working in the field. She was standing near some sort of apparatus I didn't recognize, watching the results of whatever it was she was studying or processing on her datapad. She looked up when she heard us approach.

"Lieutenant Colonel Cooper," she said to me. Then she nodded over to the spook. "Lieutenant Lloyd. I figured I'd be meeting the two of you soon."

"Ma'am?" I asked.

The woman smiled warmly. "I read the lieutenant's file on my way to Khan aboard the Ex. I didn't need to read yours though, Colonel. I knew Doctor Lisa Cooper well."

"You worked with my mom?"

"Oh, yes. On several projects. She had a great mind. Always spoke very highly of you and your siblings. She was quite proud of all of you." Her smile faded fast. "I was sorry to hear of her passing during the War. I'm sure that was hard on you and your brothers and sister."

"Yes, ma'am. It was." I had to swallow hard again. "She died in the bombing of St. Louis five years ago now. She was with my oldest son at the time. I'm damn grateful he made it out alive."

The woman's smile returned. "Lisa loved that little boy with all her heart. She spoke of her grandson often. She'd be glad to know he survived. I understand she was raising him on her own during the conflict while you and your husband were away." She screwed up her face in thought for a minute. "What is your son's name again?"

"Gabriel Hawk. He's on Mars now with his siblings and their other grandparents."

"Ah." Suddenly she seemed self-conscious. "I apologize, Colonel. I'm sure you're not here to reminisce. I assume you'd like a status report, yes?"

I nodded. "That would be great, Doctor..."

"Jill Leedom. It's good to meet another Cooper."

We shook hands.

"Thank you, ma'am. It's good to meet someone who knew my mother. I'm afraid I wasn't very close to her those last few years, for obvious reasons. I regret that."

"You were off fighting the good fight, Colonel. It's understandable."

I gave a noncommittal shrug and moved on. "So, Doctor? What should I know about this place? My spook here told me earlier that your team had discovered five portals down here. Doctor McGuinness explained to us a little about the one he's studying. What about the others?"

Doctor Leedom glanced at Lloyd. "The lieutenant is correct. When he had come down here last and spoken to my colleague, we had already found all five portals at the time. Now, however, we actually know where they go. One is Trevelyan, inactive, which I'm sure Patrick told you."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Two others are also inactive. One leads to a planet beyond the Outer Colonies which we have mapped yet not traveled to called 'Seffern'." The lead scientist shook her head. "The gibberish about matches what we know of the place - that being not much, unfortunately. The second formerly led to Eridanus II, which I'm sure you're familiar with."

"I am," Lieutenant Lloyd quipped.

I chuckled at the spook's enthusiasm. "Maybe he does, ma'am, but me, not so much. I'm an Inner Colony kid. As much as I bounced around all over thanks to the War, first with my dad and later on myself, I can't say I know about every single planet out there - especially whatever's here in the fringes." I scratched the back of my neck. "Hell, I didn't know anything about Khan either until I was told I'd be sending my engineer battalion to it to help out."

Doctor Leedom opened her mouth to respond, but I noticed Lloyd quickly shoot her a sharp look. Both the scientist and I understood that to be something like "Keep your mouth shut."

Apparently, a further explanation of the significance of Eridanus II wasn't something I rated.

"Well, Colonel. In any case, that is where it leads," Leedom said, transitioning as smoothly as she could. "The remaining pair are even more interesting, however, seeing as they're actually live."

Caleb shifted his stance beside me. "And where do those go, ma'am?"

"The first, on the opposite side of the chamber, goes to Sanghelios."

The ONI operative and I both let a gasp.

"The Elites' homeworld," I murmured. "Holy shit." Implications instantly flooded my head, but before I could make sense of most of them, the scientist who'd worked with my mother went on.

"Correct, Cooper. And the final active portal, the one I'm standing beside, leads to Requiem."