III
Sergeant Santiago had not slept well, its not like he was allowed to, orders were to stand on alert, but then again, he hadn't slept a full night in ages. The MP deployment was supposed to be a rest, since he was not allowed to leave yet, he had been deployed here as a reward for his combat actions in Cauca. It was supposed to be a well-earned rest, but with the anomaly it was turning into a nightmare.
He had not even seen the anomaly, but now he oversaw the whole security of the HQ, why? Well, he asked himself, there was a captain, but he was not in charge, there was the ministry of defense, but he wasn't in charge either, in contrast, everyone came to him.
"I better get a promotion for this shit" he moaned just as he dispatched another soldier.
"May I get a moment of your time?" a young female doctor came in sight of his small tent.
"What can I do for you?" he put his best smile, but he knew it looked strained.
"It's not my intent to put more stress on your shoulders, but we really need to move them to a hospital."
"And you know the orders, we can't" he pointed out.
"Damn the orders! Im quite sure the whole group is infected with Tuberculosis, we already lost one, and even though we have the medicine we might need equipment we don't have!" she groaned.
"I can't, my orders are to keep them here, and the only one that could tell me otherwise is either the captain of the minister by the other tent" he was annoyed, but not at her, he understood.
"And I can't reach them" she said, "Can you do so for me?" he shook his head, they hadn't said anything to him since 3am, it was now 7.
"So you are in charge, but not in charge basically" she laughed bitterly.
"Ill do what I can for you…?" He looked at the girl.
"Camila" she answered.
"Ill try my best Camila."
"Thanks" she left, and he returned to stare at the wall, and hopefully sleep a little. Just when he was about to dose off, he heard a distant, loud voice.
"Sergeant" a soldier shook him awake.
"What?"
"The captain needs you on the HQ."
"They are finally taking control of this circus?" he asked sarcastically.
"Apparently not sir, you may get complete command what Ive overheard" the man threw him a sympathetic smile.
"Perfect," He closed his eyes and took a deep breath "more work, Ill go in a minute" the man nodded and left.
"I better get a promotion for this shit" he moaned as he left the room.
Camila came back to the makeshift hospital, the interpreter had finally managed to calm them down, and with the food they gave them, just MREs, but they ate them hungrily. They had succumbed to a peaceful sleep, although with the help of a few sleeping pills she sneaked into their system. She was not proud of that, but she had to do something, apart of course, starting them in wide spectrum antibiotics, and making sure everybody had proper PPE.
"So, did they agree?" a nurse, Maria, asked her with a big smile.
"Their chain of command is non-existent, and they threw all the responsibility in a man with no real authority to do something, I swear I will smuggle them if I have to, else they may die." She complained yet again, few hours of sleep had creep into her usual good spirits.
"Ill get you some coffee, also, the interpreter, his name is Juan, wants to speak with you" Maria left with that.
She walked slowly, since she had to reaccommodate a new set of PPE, she passed more medical personnel, soldiers, and police, and eventually sitting on a bench along with a physiologist, she saw the interpreter and took a deep breath before approaching them.
"Doctor!" Juan smiled "I would stand to greet you, but Im a little occupied at the moment" he had a laptop and a few carpets on both his hands, the psychologist however, remained quiet.
"No problem, tell me, what do you know about them?" she sat in front of the pair.
"Well, they speak an older version of English, possibly medieval, and they also might come from a medieval world."
"That much I can infer from their clothes and state, but did they told you anything before they dozed off?"
"Sorry but no, well talk with them when they wake up" the psychologist, an older man than Juan, finally spoke.
She was about to say something, but that was interrupted when a lot of voices came from the hospital tent, and screamed, she ran and reached the tent just in time to see the disaster. Two of the men had woke up and where in a frenzy, trying to attack the nurses, fortunately the guards had subdued them. On the other side of the tent, one of the kids went into cardiac arrest, she rushed to help with everything she could, since they were also short-staffed.
"We need to move him, or he won't resist" another doctor told her as soon as they stabilized him.
"I know, I know" she scratched her temple "I just hope they finally organized some hierarchy" she left and rushed to beg once again.
Santiago walked slowly, he knew his destination, but he cared not for it. He knew well that everything might change after he went and received orders, me might be able to finally do something. He was tired, he was bored, and he ached to do something useful, anything for that matter.
He stopped at the door, he hesitated to knock, and when he did, nothing at first, but eventually it snapped open, the captain and the minister looked at him, and he proceeded inside.
"Sirs"
"Thanks for joining us sergeant" minister Velazquez nodded at him "What can you report about the prisoners?"
"They are in bad condition sir, head doctor fears we might lose them if they are not moved to a proper facility."
"And about the anomaly?" captain Ramirez inquired.
"We haven't received any specialized equipment sirs; exploration is off the plan right now, but apart from that no other visitants have appeared, and the Tayrona has been completely evacuated."
"I see, more men and equipment should arrive soon" Velazquez pointed out.
"Sir if I may, we need a proper chain of command, I fear that without specific orders, my hands are tied I would consider wise for any of you to assume proper control, and as such I wish to relieve myself of command and hand it to captain Ramirez as my direct superior, sir" he looked at Velazquez expectantly, hoping for the hail mary, but it turned to be a vain hope.
"You are not mistaken sergeant, but we are all in chaos, theres big problems, and as such we need you to keep command of the perimeters and the HQ."
"Then sir" he shallowed "I need specific instructions, and I need something clear to work on."
"Your orders are reinforce the perimeter, being exploration of the anomaly, and keep the prisoners alive, is that clear?" Ramirez intervened.
"Am I authorized to move them?"
"You are authorized to do whats necessary and request any resources available in order to follow your orders" Velazquez said.
"Anything else?"
"No sir" he said as he fixed his sweaty uniform.
"Then you are dismissed" the captain waved him off, and he left the room quickly.
"They want a scapegoat, and Im their chosen sacrifice. Fuck!" he grunted when he was out of hearing range.
Camila walked quickly and when she spotted the sergeant, she almost ran to intercept him. While she passed, she saw the tired faces of the soldiers and police, of the medical staff, and the utter confusion every was in.
"Sergeant!" she grinned.
"Yes, Doctor Camila?" he looked like he had aged forty years.
"The group is getting worse; I need to move them" the sergeant aged even more with her words.
"Move them" the sergeant turned to leave.
"Can I?" she was dumbfounded.
"Put them on some trucks you have your authorization, nobody except your staff should touch them, if anyone has a problem tell them to come to me." The sergeant looked defeated.
"Thanks" she put a big smile "May I ask for you name sergeant?"
"Santiago" he uncovered his surname on his uniform, it was dirty.
"Thanks once again" she shacked his hand and the sergeant left.
She turned on her shoes and went quickly to the hospital tent, she now wore a big smile, she was finally relived, and her good spirits returned.
"Camila?" a nurse asked when he saw her.
"Prepare to move them, we are finally authorized to do something, keep them alive, and make sure nobody except us touch them."
"Finally" the man breathed in relief and when to inform the others.
After that everything moved quickly, they were loaded in trucks and everybody was ready to leave in a few minutes, in the hospital tent only military personnel remained, as in the rest of the camp, all civilian medical personnel were withdrawn with the prisoners, and with the military and police, remained a few scientists, the anomaly was no longer her concern, the people that crossed were.