Jaw set Alicia stood a few feet back to watch as Nathaniel had a discussion with the older Shannon girl. Saw her try to cover a look of surprise as the Commander apologized for the position he put her in. Their discussion this morning had focused on that and while he had not been pleased with Alicia's view of the situation he had admitted it was not a spot he should have put a teenage girl.
Maddie Shannon was smart and she was sure the girl had a bright future in the science division; especially at the rate she had finished her apprenticeship and been given an entry position. But taking a pet project from her boss and tossing it in her lap was not fair, and should have been done with a little more tact.
They did not need answers badly enough to complicate the girl's career as it just started. Given she had gotten a blast of Malcolm Wallace this morning she was going to be watching closely to see there were no reprisals from Nathaniel's decision to hand the project to Maddie. She'd had a talk with the scientist, she wasn't sure how much of it had gotten through his head but no one could say he did not have a clear picture of what they expected from him in the future.
And she had chosen to ignore the barbs about the colony becoming a dictatorship; the military ran this colony and defended it. Military leadership and structure was what had been decided well above their heads, things had changed but she had heard no outcry to change their structure; she figured most of the colony understood why it was military personnel making the calls. And beyond a difficult scientist she didn't think anyone in the colony was suffering. She would see that Malcolm was released and sent home tomorrow morning before she headed back out to the out post.
Hopefully he would keep his head down and do the work he had been assigned. As Maddie began to explain what she had learned to Nathaniel Alicia could almost see his fight not to stop the girl. She knew he hated technical language that was not related to tactical planning.
But something else caught her eyes, Reynolds lurked at the back of the room; he had been on night shift and done the training round yesterday. There was no good reason that kid shouldn't be flat on his back trying to get some sleep.
The kid had his hands stuffed in his pockets and his shoulders hunched forward; she frowned and headed over. The blood ran out of his face and Alicia tried not to glare; he looked trapped and guilty. His shoulders squared as she stopped in front of him, one hand came out of his pocket but the other didn't; she could make him salute but that seemed cruel.
"Energizer bunny today Reynolds?"
"No Ma'am; but Maddie stayed up all night, Darren; I mean Dr. Combs said she could leave at lunch." It didn't take much to figure that he was waiting for Maddie but it was well known that the two were together; it did not explain the guilt in his expression.
"Problem with your right hand soldier?" She asked, referring to the one still jammed in his pocket; the blood that had ran out of his face flooded back.
"No Ma'am." The hand didn't move.
She waited and he glanced at where Maddie was still explaining something to Nathaniel; blue eyes looked dull and she knew he was trying not to zone out. In time the girl would learn how to report to him, no sense in teaching her too soon. Reynolds started to back out of the room, raising a brow she followed.
The hand slid from his pocket, a small box clutched in it. Alicia schooled her expression quickly, keeping her face straight; secretly she was pleased. "I uh applied to move out of barracks and was approved; I get my own unit the first of next month."
She was aware of that, Nathaniel had commented before approving the request and doing some fast math she figured it fit. Payday was a week ago Friday and Maddie had turned seventeen a few months after the occupation; she couldn't be more than two months from her eighteenth birthday.
"Sure about this soldier?" She asked coolly, the kid was solid and he had followed Maddie around like a puppy since she arrived.
"Yes Ma'am but…"
"What?"
"Well I tried to talk to Shannon but I don't think he understood me. I mean what I meant, he doesn't understand the rules and I really want to marry Maddie." Nathaniel's famous rules, the stupid lecture he gave his soldiers to try and reduce the fooling around they would do and did despite the lectures on finding the right woman and treating her with respect.
She agreed with the principles, and the values but he took it a little far. "How do you think the Commander did with following his own rules?"
"Ma'am?" He looked confused.
"Reynolds its not Shannon you want to marry it is Maddie. It should be her decision and her opinion that matters most. Ask her, deal with Shannon later. Sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than permission." And given she didn't need to be a scientist to guess what the girl's answer would be; it would shorten a long process of getting around Shannon.
"Yes Ma'am." The kid murmured and Alicia smirked before heading back to see if Nathaniel was done; she'd have to keep her mouth shut about that for awhile.
….
He handed several of the pages Maddie had translated off to Alicia and settled behind his desk with his own stack. The kid was fast, and her work was good but she could talk a mile a minute. She'd been twenty minutes explaining that she had identified the dialect, not only language but also the region where it was spoken and when.
Then she'd given him the portion she had finished with, and as he settled in to read it he realized it was more of a ledger than a journal. Alicia was suspiciously quiet as she worked, he paused to watch her chewing her lower lip and sneaking glances at Shannon. Maybe she was more upset about the decision to use Maddie than she let on, he knew it was an awkward spot for the kid and while it hadn't been his idea he had thought it a good one; especially given her broad range of knowledge.
But he had thought they had sorted that out, she had been off since they left the science division this morning. As lunch approached Shannon disappeared and a grin broke on Alicia's face; he gave up trying to read.
Leaving his desk he rounded her and leaned over her shoulder, resting his hands on either side of her; she had no route to escape. "Spill woman."
"Shannon is going to be very upset when he gets back this afternoon." Alicia murmured softly.
"Why?"
"Reynolds isn't just getting ready to play house; he's got a ring." There was a glint in his wife's eye, clearly she was pleased about this bit of information.
"How did you sniff that out?"
"Scared him into showing me." She grinned, and he thought back to the morning, he had seen her leave for a few moments while Maddie briefed him. "Said Shannon didn't understand your rules, I told him since you didn't follow them he could have a pass on the sit down with the father; it's Maddie's opinion that matters most."
"And that my dear just proves you are not the father of a daughter. You are going to catch heat if Shannon gets wind that you passed on that advice."
"Oh I know." And given she was due to go OTG in less than forty eight hours he figured she planned to drop the irritated man in his lap.
Shannon was back in less than an hour and given the man's mood had darkened considerably he figured there had been news waiting for him when he got home. Nathaniel wondered if he should have laid a wager on how long it would take the cop to tell them. He was aware of the fact that Alicia had enjoyed her secret and now was enjoying the man's pain as she plowed through her paperwork with a grin.
When the man got up for yet another cup of coffee Nathaniel decided to poke the bear. "Something wrong Shannon?"
"That depends on your point of view." Shannon stared at the cup in his hand for a long moment. "Reynolds wants to marry my daughter; she's hardly seventeen."
"She'll be eighteen in less than two months." Alicia smirked, and he watched the man turn on her.
"She is a kid, she's just got her first job. And he is three years older; almost four." At their raised brows the man rubbed a hand through his hair. "I know you two have quite an age gap but four years is a lot when she is only seventeen."
"It is three years, the way their birthdays fall he is four years older than her for all of six weeks. And at seventeen he was already here working security." Alicia argued, clearly not understanding that there was no winning this fight, he'd never had a daughter but he had known a father-in-law and that had been difficult by times.
"Where were you at seventeen, at eighteen? You were just a kid. Had you ever even thought about marriage?"
Clearly Shannon wasn't thinking things through and he watched as Alicia leaned back in her chair. "On my eighteenth birthday I was on an air transport that was shot down over the Oceania region; the Russo-Chinese took over Australia three weeks before. I started boot camp on my seventeenth birthday. So no back then I wasn't so much worried about marrying as I was surviving."
He remembered that day, it had been his unit on that transport and they'd lost two soldiers. Alicia didn't tell the man she'd spent the evening of that birthday working to dig war graves and mark them so that someday the military could return for their dead.
Shannon was silent for a moment, pacing the room between the desks and the table he usually worked from. Clearly trying to sort out his thoughts. "He's got a ring, he's got a house; next he's going to want a baby. Maddie is my little girl, she isn't old enough for this."
"Have they set a date?" Alicia asked, earning herself a glare; and not the least bit concerned about it.
"No, a year; maybe next summer. He only asked a few hours ago, don't you dare hurry them through the planning. The longer it takes the more time she has." Or, Nathaniel thought, the more time Shannon had to figure out a way to stall it even longer.
"Elisabeth was only a few years older than Maddie is now when you guys had Josh."
The glare she was fixed with was deadly and he smirked at his wife's lack of concern; Shannon wasn't going to intimidate Alicia Taylor. "Elisabeth said that, that is entirely different. Elisabeth already had her bachelor of science, and graduated med school. She was almost five years older."
He knew that, he had read her file, Elisabeth Shannon, previously Elisabeth Maclin had finished a number of programs that usually took people over a decade to do in less than six years. The woman had lived and breathed school from the time she was sixteen until she was twenty and then began her residencies. Which given the specialities she had taken was well over eight years to earn all the letters she now had the right to sign after her name. She had done it with two children and a husband at home. The woman was, on that front nothing short of impressive and that had been a large factor in her recruitment.
"Not quite four." Alicia replied without looking out from the paper she was reading; either his wife's friend had shared that or Alicia had also reread that file recently.
"Shannon, when you are in a hole it is a good idea to stop digging." He muttered, also focusing on his work. They'd gotten him going, put him through his paces and had their fun; now they had to let the poor man come to terms with the fact his children were growing up.
"You know you still have a little girl, I'm sure you could convince Elisabeth to have another if you are afraid of empty nesting." Apparently Alicia wasn't done, he looked up at her snarl of disgust; Shannon had sprayed her with his coffee. The man's face a mask of horror.
She fixed him with a glare and used the edge of her vest to wipe her face. Nathaniel chuckled, he couldn't help himself and shook his head at Shannon's look of terror; clearly their wives had been discussing things. Given women were prone to such things and his had few opportunities to do anything like it he was secretly pleased she had a female confidant and he knew there was nothing they could do about the shared knowledge. In private he would impress on her that some things she only discussed with him. He wondered if Elisabeth was more open, on second thought it was better he didn't know; he had to work with both Shannons.
"I am going to check the plan for tomorrow. And possibly change." Alicia rolled her eyes at the both of them and left.
….
The next morning dawned sunny and bright as the patrol headed out and the track gave way to rougher land. The rover rocked through the underbrush as they made yet another trip to the outpost. After the first trip out to investigate it they were making another; this time to drop a team and supplies. Guzman's unit would man it in rotating shifts and work on the renovations that were necessary to arm it. But as his daughter's birthday was today she had agreed to lead this trip.
Really Alicia didn't mind, it was a day trip; she would be home with her husband by night fall and the team would be inserted. She wasn't about to turn down the time OTG as she knew between Elisabeth's treatment plan and the moment she learned she carried Nathaniel's child she would be confined to the colony; and she wasn't sure how far off that day was.
This out post had been built mostly as a relay station and had been supplied and manned by military personnel only; the scientists had not done much exploring in the area given the predators that migrated through. She was curious as to what lay beyond the ridge, to her knowledge they hadn't explored that valley. And given the ridge could be a good defensive position she wanted to know a little more about it. They left the colony at oh four hundred and made it to the outpost by nine hundred hours. Alicia radioed in as the supplies were unloaded, confirmed that Guzman would be out with a secondary team the next day; after that they would rotate on a roster.
She had brought three members of her own unit for the trip, Reilly as her back up and the other two who she wanted to observe a little more OTG. She had warned Nathaniel that she wanted to take a scenic route back that morning so they had several hours to explore.
With supplies and the team dropped safely inside the gates Alicia took shot gun and let Reilly drive; indicating they head up to the ridge. The valley rested between the ridge and the mountains beyond, she doubted anyone would try to pass through the mountains but it would be a good direction to force an enemy. The ridge ended with a steep downward slope; it would be difficult to navigate a transport down it.
This end was relatively open and parked on the ridge she looked out into the valley, using binoculars to search for any indicators of what inhabited the valley. The view was impressive, if she wasn't scouting she would have taken the time to enjoy it; but they needed to keep moving. Twisting in her seat she pointed to Jenkins. "Keep an eye on that river, we will follow the ridge across until we meet with the track. I want to know if it veers away from the colony or follows course."
He nodded and immediately pulled out his binos, she had brought those two for very different reasons. One she had to decide if he needed to spend more time within the gates of the colony to learn a bit more about duty and the other both her and her husband were considering for promotion.
As they continued the jungle around them became thick and with no track the rover rocked and rolled over rock and tree roots, squeezing between the strong tall trunks of ancient vegetation. Alicia caught a flash of movement up ahead. She gestured for Reilly to bring the rover around, it had been fast but she didn't think it was an animal.
Their engine revved as they cut after it, Alicia raised her rifle and eyed the scope; scanning to try and regain a line of sight. They burst through the trees into a clearing just as a motorcycle cut in from the right fifty yards ahead. Her gut tightened and she felt the collective intake of breath from her soldiers; it was a Phoenix soldier.
She raised the rifle again as he turned, extending one arm and fired on them; the sonic went wide. Apparently some of their weapons had survived the EMP or they had also figured out how to fix them. Reilly floored it as Alicia lowered her weapon, there was a girl on the back and judging by the rope binding her to his bike and the lack of movement she was unconscious or tightly bound. Anger boiled inside her. "Get us in close."
Tossing her rifle into the back so it was not easily accessible while she was occupied Alicia slid off her seat and held onto the frame. They closed the distance and as they pulled up, five feet off his back she leapt. He turned but she impacted in a bone jarring collision before he could raise the weapon. Her weight threw their balance and knocked them from the bike. The girl moaned as they hit the ground. Alicia saw stars as her head connected with someone's knee but it didn't knock her out.
He hit harder and the weapon flew from his hand, Alicia fumbled at his hip; taking the combat knife for herself. When she looked up she was pleased to find herself looking down the barrel of three rifles. She grabbed the girl by the scruff and half pulled half crawled her behind the soldiers.
Not more than twenty with skin clearly darkened from the sun and clothes made from hides she was certainly no member of the Phoenix group and Alicia didn't think she was a Sixer either. As Alicia checked her over green eyes cleared, focused and became wild. A hard kick to the chest pushed Alicia back as the girl began to scramble up.
As the girl took off into the woods and Alicia gave chase she heard a weapon discharge, with no charging whine she knew it was the pistol she had given Reilly; she had to trust that Reilly could handle their team. The girl was clearly used to running in the jungle and even though they were both hurting Alicia struggled to gain on her.
Sure footed the girl leapt off a rise, and began to pick her way down the rocks. Alicia paused a moment; it was a twenty foot drop; the lowest point of the ridge as the valley fell away beyond it. She chose a different route and scrambled and slid her way to the ground below just as the girl took off again.
"Wash, where are you?" Her comm crackled.
"Over the ridge." She replied, she didn't have time for anything more. The girl stumbled and Alicia pushed her muscles hard, ignoring the aches until she closed the gap enough to tackle her.
They both went down but Alicia rolled herself on top and used her weight to pin her smaller opponent down; trying to get her breath back. As she did she sat up, and pulled the girl up with her. Able to get a clear look at her she saw the thick callouses on her hands, she had run through the jungle barefoot and she hadn't been easy to catch.
Green eyes were vivid and wide but it was not only terror there; anger too. Alicia saw the flash of anger seconds before a fist plowed into her gut, the girl pulled her fist back and seemed confused; her hand probably hurt. But the blow did not have the power to topple her and the armour eased the impact.
"I will not hurt you." She murmured, and saw recognition flicker in the girl's eye. "You speak English?"
There was a quick nod but no words. Alicia tried again. "I am from Terra Nova, we live that way. We are not with that man."
Another nod. The girl hitched at her tattered shirt, it had been torn down the side, Alicia could see where it had been laced but the lace was missing and the top hung open. Reaching down she removed the extra lace she wrapped around the ankle of her combat boot; she kept it in case the lace in the boot snapped but also because she liked the fit. She held it out and gestured to her own side; a hand darted out and took it. Reaching to her ear she engaged her com. "Hold off on picking me up. Do you need medical assistance?"
"Copy that Ma'am, no medical required."
"Have Denke take the motorcycle back to the outpost. Check ins every ten minutes. Have the Commander informed." She ordered as she watched the girl rub the lace between her fingers and frown before using it to fasten her top.
The top was made of a hide, the scaled side out she assumed the side against her skin was softened. The shorts were made from a similar hide but Alicia did not see laces holding them together. This girl had been living in the jungle a long time, and given they way green eyes evaluated her had never seen the fabrics and materials she wore. Or the weapons as eyes latched onto her thigh holster where her pistol was stored.
"I will not hurt you. I do not know where you have come from."
A hand stretched out, pointing across the valley, to the foot hills of the mountains. She nodded, they had never explored the mountains, if that was where the survivors had gone to live it explained some things.
"Are you alone?"
Emotion crowded green eyes. "They come."
She frowned, did she mean the Phoenix or her rover? She would not reference the military, it was enough that their uniforms were similar; she was thankful her husband did not expect her to follow dress code as it made her slightly different. "My friends will come. They are my ride."
Her head shook. She raised her hand, made the sign for a gun and pointed it at Alicia. "Hunts."
"They shot your hunters? And took women?" Alicia swallowed, so the Phoenix were not going to raid the colony, or at least not right away. How had they found these people, had it been an accident or did they know more about the past than Terra Nova had assumed.
"More come. We must go."
"Engage my locator, get here now." Alicia spoke into her computer and nodded. "My friends will help, you tell us where to go."
"One. You. Too far." The girl gestured at the trees, then turned; Alicia grabbed her hand.
"Wait, I will go but I need my weapon." And she could hear the rumble of the rover, all the same she kept a tight hold on the girl and eased into the trees until she could confirm it was Reilly. "Please wait for me. I will come."
When she got another nod Alicia went to the rover, Jenkins and Reilly eyed her nervously. "Phoenix are in the area, her English is broken and accented. She's not a Sixer and she has been in the jungle a long time. I am going with her, we are going into the foot hills, track my tags and stay close. Update the colony and the outpost; get a team out as back up. I don't know what I am going into."
"Why don't we stay together Ma'am? It would be safer." Reilly asked, she was right; but Alicia had to follow her instinct and her instinct said the girl was right.
"Because if she can get me to their camp faster we have a better chance of stopping what ever the Phoenix think to do."
"Ma'am?"
"She said they killed their hunters, she was strapped to the back of a bike; what didn't the Phoenix bring through with them? What does any civilization need to survive? I wouldn't stand by a year ago. I won't today either. Stay as close as you can." Slinging her rifle over her back Alicia returned to the girl; prepared to face what ever was thrown at her.