Alien Forces Of Affinity: Episode One

by Cher Hollis

  She felt like he was drowning, and if she were to release his gaze, he might perish. As she held his gaze, she watched him take a deeply controlled breath, then he straightened with a look of detachment dropping like a mask over his strong features.

  He took a step back to look at Ann Marie, and he snapped, “I’ll find out what happened to Robert.” Then he shoved through the threshold as if there was a physical barrier there he had to push out of his way.

  “Thank you, Bo,” Ann Marie called to the Colonel’s retreating back, as he stalked down the hallway without a backward glance.

  Cassie struggled to catch up to his longer strides, while she tried to decide what her next words to him should be. Her head was bent in concentration when she was brought to an abrupt halt—she’d nearly collided with Colonel Wyatt from where he’d stopped and turned to face her. His large hand was like a brand of heat on her arm where he steadied her, before he stiffened and stepped back a pace.

  “Private, that conversation never took place,” he ordered.

  His features were a solid mask of masculine hard-angles, and Cassie felt forced into a military stance that equaled his, so she blurted, “Yes, sir.”

  “And in the future, you will keep your opinions to yourself. Is that understood?”

  Anger colored Cassie’s cheeks at the Colonel’s commanding tone, but she muttered, “Yes, sir.”

  Then she started to stomp away, and she didn’t care if he followed her or not. His attitude was insufferable and it angered her. But at the same time, a small voice told her that she’d stepped in where she shouldn’t have.

  His sharpness had sparked her anger, even if he was justified by her failure to keep her promise. In the end, she decided she might be angrier at herself, than she was with him. So when she felt his hand on her arm again, she didn’t try to move it, instead she let it stop her.

  “Private Ramona, do you know that officer?” Colonel Wyatt asked, and he gestured in a sideways direction with the question mirrored in his blue eyes.

  “Which officer?” Cassie asked, as she looked in the direction he’d shown.

  She saw they were stopped in a hallway outside the entrance to one of the bases recreation areas. She saw the obvious man Colonel Wyatt had pointed out, who was walking directly toward them with an intent look.

  “Major Rickes,” she expelled under her breath, then she added a grimace. Immediately, she hurried forward, while over her shoulder she said, “I know him, and I don’t want him to corner me again.”

  She didn’t plan to give a better explanation; she was too busy trying to get away from Major Rickes approach directed toward her. Then Colonel Wyatt’s long strides brought him to her side, and she was glad he wasn’t trying to make her stop and greet the Major.

  Cassie heard Major Rickes call out behind them, “Private Ramona!”

  He was still some distance away, and she continued to ignore him as she headed through the next set of retractable doors, which swished open as they approached.

  “Here,” Colonel Wyatt ordered, once they’d passed the threshold.

  He grasped her shoulder and moved her into a side room. It was a MD database library with ten terminals lined up along the back wall. There was only one soldier in the room and he was at the terminal furthest from where they’d entered to basically hide.

  Colonel Wyatt pressed her forward once they’d stopped, so they couldn’t be seen from the hallway, while he looked at her intently.

  “I don’t like him,” she mumbled lamely, while she shifted under his sharp gaze.

  “Who is he?” he asked, and his grip to her shoulder loosened.

  “He’s Major Rickes. And he is Lt. Colonel Black’s second in command at A-Tell.” Cassie shrugged her shoulders.

  “Your thoughts aren’t as clear-cut as before, private.”

  Cassie looked along the ridge of his hard jaw with a darker five o’clock shadow, while her instant irritation at his accusation lessened, because she thought he was right.

  “I’m just sure Lt. Colonel Black has ordered Major Rickes to try and seduce me or something, because he hasn’t taken “no” for an answer the entire two weeks I’ve been held here.”

  She’d said it seriously and she meant it that way.

  Colonel Wyatt made a disbelieving cutoff sound. It was arrogant across his hard angled face. She hardly had time to notice the change from his normal brooding slash of lips, when it dawned on her that he’d just cutoff laughing at her.

  Her anger spiked and she was sure it made her eyes spark as she decided that he was insufferable and instantly an ass. She understood that sound meant he had judged her too unattractive for Major Rickes to be interested in.

  “You are very insulting, Colonel Wyatt,” she snapped, and then she stalked past him, without another word.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded, and he easily stopped her with a strong hand.

  Cassie spun around. “Any place where you are not.”

  Colonel Wyatt’s gaze narrowed as his grip moved to her arm and it tightened.

  “Not possible, private. By the Lt. Colonel’s direct orders, I have no choice but to babysit you, until we reach the U.S.S. Regan. That leaves you two choices, we can take the time to go to the mess hall or I can return you to your barracks, where you will stay for the rest of the night.”

  Cassie felt heat flash across her cheeks as a dozen angry replies hovered on her lips, and then the perfect one came to her.

  “I would enjoy being the reason to further tarnish your image, Colonel. By all means, let’s go to the mess hall where everyone can see us together.”

  With that said, she tugged her arm free and she started forward.

  “It’s this way,” Colonel Wyatt corrected her.

  Cassie looked in the direction he’d pointed. “Well, I’ve never been there before,” she muttered.

  After that they walked in silence, while Cassie could feel the powerful tension coiled inside Colonel Wyatt as he paced at her side. She snuck a peek at him and saw his profile was rigid. He was a man that was used to command and having those around him follow his orders without any questions.

  Slowly, her anger began to cool and she thought about why she’d been so angry with him. That left her with an uncomfortable feeling, because she realized her anger showed that she’d wanted the Colonel to find her attractive, and not look at her as the disheveled frump she’d been playing.

  Colonel Wyatt just thought of her as an annoyance. A person he would be glad to be rid of as soon as possible—and maybe he really did dislike her because she was Dr. De La Fluenta’s daughter. She couldn’t blame him for that ... he had a right to dislike her because of it.

  Yet she’d always hoped that one day she’d find one Variant who would overlook—

  Cassie shook the thought away; she couldn’t hope for that. She knew better than anyone what an angry Variant could do. Her thoughts left her brooding in silence, and not looking forward to the obligation of spending an entire meal with the Colonel.

  The mess hall was in an older building at Fort Briggs. It was a large room with outdated hovering bench tables and round metal stools. The room was noisy and filled with military personnel. The food was limited to the same kind of standard space rations offered at Earth colonies or on space carriers. In typical military style, the food had nothing to do with taste or appearance; it was only sufficient nutrition, served in lightweight portions.

  Cassie had been subjected to it being delivered to her quarters for the entire two weeks she’d been there, and she’d developed an immense dislike for the rations.

  The prepackaged rations were doled out automatically at the push of a button, and she’d picked two nutrient bars, which she found the least offensive taste wise, then she added a cup of coffee. Colonel Wyatt had a full-meal ration, and he seemed to have no problem eating the gelatinous mass. After a few moments, he’d apparently noticed her wrinkled-nose survey of his food.

  “First
thing to learn, private, forget about enjoying food again. Once you’re in space, it will be a waste of time.”

  Cassie sighed with resignation. “I’m already learning that. It looks like everyone here has adjusted.”

  “All new recruits have a hard time with it. No one knows the importance of food, until their in a situation that forces them to reorder their thinking. It can be learned though.”

  He lifted a darker brown bit of food to his lips.

  Cassie thought that he seemed nearly pleasant, in a hard-edged way. Maybe he was ready to put their bad beginnings aside.

  “So you’ve never dreamed of a thick juicy steak or an old world cheeseburger?” she asked.

  “No, private. After eighteen years in the military, food has lost its importance, and it will for you eventually.”

  Cassie still wasn’t convinced as she took another bite of her tasteless nutrient bar, but she wasn’t going to argue with his expert opinion, so instead she asked, “I’m curious, Colonel Wyatt, and I don’t want to anger you, but I wondered what ‘snipers’ meant, when you used it in Lt. Colonel Black’s office?”

  She had asked the question while trying to look innocent, and she was relieved to see a slight lift at the corners of the Colonel’s intriguing mouth.

  “It has a few different meanings—regular military call those assigned to intelligence ‘snipers.’ They think it’s an insult. Doesn’t matter that it’s right.”

  “So you were using it as a double meaning of the nickname?”

  Colonel Wyatt visibly relaxed in his chair and took a sip of coffee, before he answered. “Yes.”

  She nodded. “I think the word sniper is appropriate too. From what I’ve seen Lt. Colonel Black is very evasive.”

  “I’ve never met him before today,” he said, and he surprised her. “My normal tour of duty is as a pilot. But now I’ll be commanding other pilots. The huge losses in the alien war are making advancement rapid.”

  Cassie blanched, but she was also curious about the squadron his ex-wife had called the Falcon’s. She was about to ask him, but then decided it wouldn’t be right for her to pry.

  So instead, she spoke mostly to herself. “Then it’s everyone’s duty to do what they can to stop the senseless killing.”

  Colonel Wyatt set his coffee cup down and he seemed on the verge of saying something she really wanted to hear.

  But then they both heard, “Private Ramona!” It was Major Rickes. “There you are, private. I tried, without luck, to catch up to you a few minutes ago.”

  He was clearly out of breath as he stopped at their table.

  Cassie frowned as she stood, and then she hastily said, “You did? I’m sorry I never saw you, and now I have to be leaving. I’m already late, Major.”

  She turned to leave, and she thought she would escape.

  “Now wait a minute.” Major Rickes grabbed her shoulder. “You can give me a couple of minutes, Cassie. I know for a fact that you don’t have any commitments here, at least until tomorrow night.”

  Cassie scowled in disbelief, while she wished he would take his obnoxious hand off her shoulder.

  “Major, you’re wrong,” Colonel Wyatt said. “Private Ramona and I have a commitment we are leaving for, right now.”

  Colonel Wyatt stood, as Major Rickes looked at her somewhat desperately, and then he pulled her rudely to one side. But she was finally able to shake his hand off her shoulder.

  “Stop that,” she snapped.

  “Please, Cassie!” He moved closer and he tried speaking to only her, sounding very urgent. “You must meet me tonight. Or even tomorrow.”

  The Major attempted to grab her hand, and Cassie slapped his hand away. “No! Not tonight, tomorrow night, or ever. Can’t you get it, the answer is no.”

  Cassie spun around and started to leave, when she heard Major Rickes surprised voice behind her.

  “Get your damn hand off me!”

  She looked back and saw Colonel Wyatt held the much shorter major in place with a tight grip to his arm.

  “The lady was clear, major, it’s time to back off.” The icy look in Colonel Wyatt’s eyes reinforced his words.

  Rickes paled, and then he complained, “I was only trying to be friendly.”

  Colonel Wyatt released the major with a sharp look, until Major Rickes wisely stomped off in the opposite direction. Then Colonel Wyatt turned to join her, and they left the mess hall together.

  Cassie kept her eyes forward as they walked side by side down the hallway, until she finally said, “Thank you, Colonel.”

  Colonel Wyatt only nodded and remained strangely quiet as they made their way to the barracks where she’d been quartered. It was located in the outer perimeter of the base, away from the newer structures. She thought her barracks had to be one of the oldest at Fort Briggs, and she was the only occupant, except for two guards posted at either entrance.

  There were thirty individual quarters inside, located on either side of a long hallway. Her quarters were in the exact middle of the empty building. She was surprised to see that Colonel Wyatt seemed to know where her room was.

  He stopped right outside her door, and said, “I was told to deliver my gear to the room next to this one ... so that one had to be yours.”

  Cassie nodded slightly. The door had an older mechanized bar and she started to push on it, when Colonel Wyatt stopped her.

  “A few words, Private Ramona.” She paused and looked up at him. “You know your quarters has an inside connecting door that leads to my room.”

  “Yes.”

  “I expect you to come through that door, for any reason, if you need me,” he said. Then he added, “I’ll leave it unlocked.”

  Cassie felt a quick and undefined feeling run through her, but outwardly, she raised a questioning eyebrow as she absently pushed her thick glasses back up.

  “Is there something to worry about here on the base I should know about?”

  “No, private. Nothing you’re not already aware of. But you’re my responsibility now, and I state things clearly, so we both understand. I’m also ordering you to stay in for the night. From now on, if you go anywhere you tell me.”

  “Of course, Colonel Wyatt. They haven’t allowed me to move freely on the base since I’ve been here, and I honestly have nowhere to go.”

  “Good, so we understand each other,” Colonel Wyatt said, and then he stopped in the middle of his turn to leave.

  He looked down at her, and she’d never seen him look at her like he was. It was nearly the kind of look a man might give a woman he was going to confide in, and not the kind of look a leader gave his subordinate.

  “It’s not past imagining that A-Tell would use any way they could to gain your confidence, private.” Then he added a crisp, “Good night.”

  Thrown and maybe a bit touched, Cassie watched the Colonel walk away. He stopped at the next door, while an uncertain look passed across her face. He stood there, and she could see that he was waiting for her to enter her quarters first.

  “Good night, Colonel Wyatt,” she offered, just before she pushed open her door, and it left her last sight of him as a tall and isolated figure in the hallway.

  The inside of her quarters was plain military, and included lifeless metal walls without any windows. There was a hard regulation hover-cot that tilted on one side, one built-in auto-dresser, and a floating-chair placed conveniently in front of an imbedded terminal counter. The toilet and shower facilities were down the hall.

  Cassie walked straight to the glass-topped interface counter, which was planted in the steel riveted wall of the barracks room. It was the quarter’s most up-to-date piece of equipment. The interface held a cerebral data processor or MIND, which most people called MD.

  MD’s were the most popular computing systems used in the twenty-second century. They used a person’s brain as the internal-drive and worked in tandem with the human brain through an optical retina scan. The one she sat in front of was a basic system, an
d her only interest in the MD in her quarters was because it was interfaced with UED’s complex network.

  She had her own highly evolved system that she’d created and used in her work. Her system was called a Brain Analog Synergetic Entity or BASE. She’d already hyper-linked her BASE to the UED complex network through the simple interface terminal MD in her barracks room.

  Seated at the terminal, Cassie attached her personal retina scan over her left eye and she accessed a hyperlink into the UED complex network. Her BASE activated immediately as her inner mind and eye entered the network of four-d florescent grids.

  Previously, she’d searched her quarters for any surveillance devices, and found none, then she decided that the age of the building had something to do with there not being any she could detect. But she had found two neuro-trackers in the hallway, with one at each entrance to the barracks. Satisfied with that search, she’d felt free to continue her clandestine activities through her BASE.

  She knew Lt. Colonel Black was IT illiterate and would never suspect she carried anything like the BASE in the small amount of luggage she’d brought with her. Even in the day and age of the twenty-second century, Cassie knew there were not many people who knew what internal hackers were capable of doing.

  What she was doing, and had been doing for the past two weeks, was only personal. She’d been using UED’s network to generate an untraceable link to her surrogate father, Mikhail Romanov. Any other form of communication could have put him in danger and left evidence of her current location.

  That night would be the last time she’d be able to speak to Mikhail for a long time.

  She thought for a moment about the man, who was her only family and closest friend. Mikhail wasn’t related to her by blood. He had four natural children and a lovely wife Elena. But his busy life and his family hadn’t stopped him from treating her like his own daughter. She would always be indebted to him and never be able to repay the sense of caring he’d brought to her life.

  Mikhail had been her father’s top advisor and CEO of De La Fluenta Incorporated’s vast holdings. He was the only man her father had ever called a friend. Ramon was arrogant and highly egotistical, and he’d thought most people were beneath his consideration. But Ramon had respected Mikhail—and Mikhail had tried many times to use his influence with Ramon, to curb his arrogant use of power, especially where Cassie was concerned.