"Captain Phillips, bring me a suit please." Kyra had been right; the activity was like nothing they had seen in the past. Avery stood there with her arms folded, biting the inside of her lower lip. She wanted to see what was special about it. And what considered it a code red, besides the fact that things were coming out, or so the men had claimed. She had stood there for the past twenty minutes staring at the anomaly, studying it, and nothing seemed to drift through.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but I was given orders not to…"
"Captain Phillips," Avery was famous for interrupting her staff when she thought nothing but stupidity came out of their mouths. "Who gave you those orders?" She raised a slender brow.
"Y…You did Ma'am" the man stuttered.
"That's right, I did. And I told you to give me a suit. I'm going to check it out for myself."
Kyra cleared her throat, "Ave, do you think maybe you should call him before you go in. We've already lost three men. We can't lose you to Ma'am."
Avery looked at the Welsh girl with annoyance, "No, I do not." Without taking her eyes off the girl she told Phillips again to get her a suit.
As Phillips walked back to the truck doing as he was told, Avery pulled something out of her back pocket with a smile, "Ma'am," Kyra spoke softly, "Can I ask you something?"
She pried her eyes away from the object unwillingly, the smile still etched on her face. "Hmm."
"Of all the years we've known each other…"
Kyra was cut short when the anomaly started making a strange noise, chaos broke lose around them. Soldiers were standing all around Avery and the Welsh girl with guns drawn and shouting. Avery could see in the corner of her eye, one of the female soldiers was dragging Kyra behind the black wall of soldiers. She felt someone pulling her shoulder as they spoke, "Ma'am, we need you to move away from the anomaly."
She shrugged the soldier off, "I gather from all the activity, something is coming through?" her voice came out stern, but excited. The soldier who was at her side muttered his agreement, trying to convince her it was too dangerous to be standing next to the activity. She refused to stand on the side lines. Soldiers moved up next to her with guns drawn just as a figure was beginning to emerge. At first it was blurry and then it slowly began to take form of a person. Avery and the soldiers took a few steps back just as the form came hurtling out of the rip. The body landed at her feet with a thud. Avery moved next to the black wall of soldiers as the anomaly disappeared. Some turned their heads in confusion, not sure what they should do but others stared at the body lying there with guns pointed. The form lay there lifelessly, or so Avery thought.
Kyra pushed her way to get a closer look of the body. "It's a girl!" she gasped. Her eyes travelled over the girl's body to her head. She wore blue jeans and a black leather jacket covering what was supposed to be a plan white tee but instead was covered in dirt and blood. The girls face was covered with thick chestnut hair. Kyra pressed her fingers to the girl's neck, finding a faint throb under her fingers. Avery heard Kyra's faint gasp, "She's still alive!"
Hearing the girl was still alive forced Avery to find her voice, she shoved the abandoned object into her back pocket as she spoke, "James, get a medic, NOW!" Her eyes scanned the crowed but failed to find what she was looking for, "Damn it! Where is Phillips?"
She heard the whispers and then someone spoke "Ma'am, he went to get you a suit, but he has not returned."
"Go find him!" she snapped.
The medic arrived just as the soldier who spoke ran off in search for her captain. She watched Kyra and the doctor whisper to one another. The doctors hands moved through his bag in a hurried pace pulling out the equipment he needed to fix up the gash on the girls side. Kyra's eyes found Avery's and searched hers before she spoke, "Ave, you alright now?" she asked with concern. Avery nodded; a few lose strands of red hair falling in her face.
The female soldier returned sometime later. Avery could tell something was wrong by the look she wore. She raised an eyebrow, "What is it, Raenah?" her voice came out as a whisper. Raenah stood on her tip toes and whispered something in Avery's ear. She nodded and looked at Kyra, "Ky, you're in charge until I get back." Kyra nodded and looked at her boss questioningly but knew to drop it when Avery shook her head. Approaching the vehicles Avery noticed Phillips sitting on the bed of his truck, his right hand hung in front of him as blood ran down his arm. "Are you alright?"
"Yes Ma'am. Just a scratch." He smiled.
Avery's eyes shifted to the metal cage behind him, "You will need to see a medic." Unwillingly she eyed Phillips as he nodded, too weak to argue. "Raenah will escort you," her eyes landed on the soldier as she stiffened at the mention of her name, "Rae, tell Kyra I would like to speak to her." She nodded and walked over to her captain. He reluctantly let Raenah put her arm around his waist and lead him away from the truck. Avery looked back at the cage as it began to rattle; she stared at the creature as it let out an ominous growl that made her smile, "Now, now, Barbara."
The creature sat in the middle of the cage, watching Avery's every move. She walked slowly to the side of the truck, closer to cage. She studied the creature, even sitting down she could tell it was close to six feet tall. When it snarled she saw the razor sharp teeth; like a sharks, its brown leathery skin was rippled and its rage was like that of a wild animal. "Ma'am, what is that may I ask?"
Kyra's frightened voice startled her, bringing her back to reality, "Barbara here is what you'd call a Weevil."
"Barbara?" The Welsh girl smiled wearily, but with slight amusement.
Avery laughed, "Yes, Barbara." Her smile caused crinkles around her eyes.
Kyra shook her head with bemusement, "Miss Dennings said you would like to speak with me?"
She nodded, trying to collect all her thoughts as she spoke, "I did. How's the girl coming along?"
"The doctor said she should be back on her feet in no time. She just needs some rest. He fixed her up the best he could. She had a laceration across her left side and three broken ribs on the right."
Avery folded her arms and leaned against the side of the truck. "Have him take her to the Home Office's medical room. She will need a fresh change of clothes when she wakes up, hers are filthy. I need you to make sure Phillips gets the medical attention he needs, we both know he will stall for as long as he possibly can." She looked up at Kyra, noticing she was writing every word she said down. A smile spread across her face, the Welsh girl was one of the best assistants and friends anyone could ask for.
Kyra's soft and gentle voice brought her back to the now, "Is there anything else Ma'am?"
Avery bit the inside of her bottom lip and nodded. She leaned forward and grabbed Kyra's shirt, pulling her close, causing her to drop the notepad. She leaned in and planted a soft chaste kiss on the Welsh girl's lips. She smiled, "That wasn't it, but I just couldn't resist."
Kyra flushed red and smiled shyly looking at the ground. "I'm glad you couldn't." She pulled away and cleared her throat, "So Ma'am, what else was there?"
A smile swept over Avery's face as she bent down to pick up the pad of paper, "Find out as much as you can about the girl." She said handing it to Kyra. "I want all the equipment packed, nothing left behind like the last site. I want all reports on my desk by the end of the day." She bit her lip trying to think if there was anything else that needed to be done, "I think that's about it, Ky. If I need anything else I will let you know."
Kyra nodded, "Ma'am, I take it I am riding back with the soldiers?"
Avery nodded, "I have something I need to do…" She gave a half smile at the look Kyra gave. She brushed the backs of her fingers down the Welsh girl's cheek, running the tip of her thumb across her bottom lip, "I won't be long, I promise."
Kyra nodded her voice barley a whisper, "Okay."
Avery leaned in and kissed the Welsh girl softly, "Besides, I gave you a job to do. The last time we left the soldiers alone to clean the site, some dangerous equipment fell into a bunch of filthy little brats hands. I need you here to make sure nothing is left behind."