Nuriyev, who had observed the entire discussion from the hatchway, called out across the cargo bay, "Captain?"
"What is it, Ensign?"
"How about the quarters occupied by its former companion? Those are already set up to accommodate a..." she almost said "Custodian." but corrected herself at the last moment, "...an Overlord. Our...guest should be quite comfortable there."
"Good thinking, Ensign," said Kozloff, "that might just work." He addressed the Custodian again, "I assume you overheard our discussion. Would you agree to stay in quarters already prepared for you until we can meet with others of your kind and transfer you over to them?"
The Custodian thought the suggestion over for a long moment. As a member of the Reconnaissance Corps, it had a duty to learn as much as possible about the subject species and report back to its superiors. By remaining alive, it might be able to obtain valuable intelligence about these Humans and, as a bonus, the Hordea.
"You may take me to these quarters," said the Custodian.
"You will understand if we don't release you from the restraining net while we transfer you there?"
"It matters little, soon you will all be totally subjugated."
Moving the Custodian from the cargo bay to the quarters formerly occupied by Pavlovich's alien handler went without incident. The two netmen simply transferred the sticky restraining nets over to one of the antigrav transfer plates and used the plate to maneuver the alien through the ship. When the entourage arrived at the doorway to 100476's new quarters, the Soviets manipulated the net in such a way that it adhered to the corridor wall around the entrance. Once the net was in place, they released the creature into the small but comfortable chamber.
"Is there anything you need?" asked Kozloff.
"I wish to be left alone for a while," replied he Custodian.
"As you wish. Close the door, Corporal."
The hatch scissored shut, and all the Humans breathed a sigh of relief. Betula performed the Hordean equivalent.
"Are the video transmitters working?" asked Kozloff.
"We can observe every square centimeter of that chamber on our monitors," replied the corporal.
"I want two personnel manning those monitors around the clock," said Kozloff. "I also want two armed guards out here in the corridor. Shoot to kill if the creature misbehaves in any way."
"Aye aye, sir."
Kozloff leaned against the corridor wall and allowed himself a moment for the tension he'd been under to ease somewhat."
"We've done it, sir," said Nuriyev, "We've captured a live Custodian!"
"I am aware of that, Ensign. The question is: What do we do now?"
Chapter 53. Calm Before the Storm.
Earth, Theodore Roosevelt Island, October 15, 2676.
Upon exiting the aeroplane, Zack saw that, aside from several structures that were obviously prefabs assembled from portable kits that had been transported in, the buildings must have been thrown together using materials salvaged from the nearby ruins. Malus immediately glided over and began an examination of a different crop of weeds growing along the border of the concrete runway.
"I can take you on a full tour tomorrow, Malus," said Cyrus. "Will you be okay while we have some dinner?"
"By all means, go ahead Cyrus Keeling. There is so much here to experience that I will be more than fine."
"It will be dark soon," said Cyrus.
"Then I shall have to do what I can before that happens."
Jamison had a surprise, of sorts, for the expedition. Leaving Malus to his investigations, the big man led the group over to one of the prefab housing units. Zack recognized it as soon as he saw it. It was a portable military mess module, just like the ones he dined in all the time when he was in the field. The food didn't smell anything like Marine fare, however. Jamison showed them to a table already set and motioned to them to have a seat. Without thinking about it, Zack and Ariane automatically sat next to each other.
Two very efficient women proceeded to serve them the best meal they'd been treated to yet. Starting with a real green salad, which would have cost a month's wages on an orbiting platform, they were served slabs of pork roast with a medley of fresh vegetables consisting of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and real mashed potatoes. The luscious apple pie served for dessert was greatly appreciated, though it was completely unnecessary. By the time the meal was over, it had become full dark outside, and Jamison showed the humans to another prefab module, outfitted for lodging. Malus was content to remain outside and, for the first time in his life, spend the night with his base tubules burrowed into the soil of a world totally alien to him.
Zack found himself housed with Erik while the three Soviets shared one of the larger rooms. Ariane had smaller quarters all to herself. As soon as the two of them entered the room, Erik dumped his stuff on the floor, flopped onto one of the beds, and almost immediately fell asleep. Zack dropped his own gear on the floor, looked around at the sparsely finished room, and sat down on the edge of the other bed. Despite the marine training enabling him to sleep anytime, anywhere, he found himself fidgeting on the bed, not quite ready to call it a night.
He got up and headed out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. The housing module had sleeping units of various sizes lining both sides of a central corridor. Zack turned to his right and followed the corridor towards the outside door at that end of the module. As he neared the exit, he pulled up short as the last door on the left side of the corridor began to open in front of him. He experienced a subtle, momentary rush of pleasure when he saw Ariane slip out of the room. She was mildly startled to discover someone else already in the corridor, but recovered quickly when she saw it was him.
"Zack?" she whispered, "What are you doing here?"
"Can't sleep yet," he whispered in return.
"Me neither."
"I thought I'd go out and check on Malus, make sure he's okay, and then maybe enjoy the fresh air for a bit."
"Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all."
He followed her to the exit, and the two of them slipped out into the cool night air, Zack closing the door behind them. As soon as they were outside, they stopped whispering but continued to speak softly. "We've spent way too much time on spaceships and inside moons to waste this opportunity," he said. "I figured I'd enjoy being outside on a planet for a change."
Ariane inhaled deeply through her nose. "Sure does smell good, doesn't it."
Following her lead, Zack also sniffed deeply. "Sure does," he replied.
After checking on their Hordean colleague, who assured them he was better than fine, they headed over to the cleared area containing the statue of Theodore Roosevelt. As Cyrus had warned them, the statue, and the little square dedicated to it, had seen better days. The weathered bronze figure, with right arm uplifted in an orator's gesture, was mounted on a pedestal at the end of the small raised square.
Zack followed Ariane up a short set of steps onto the rectangular floor of the square. They took a quick look around before sitting down next to one another on one of several concrete benches lining the perimeter of the space. The benches, like the statue looming overhead, had probably been there for centuries and had also seen better days.
They sat in silence for several minutes, each immersed in their own thoughts, both of them appreciating the unexpected but welcome companionship. The nearby orchards and vegetable plots lent a welcome and complex mix of unfamiliar, earthy aromas to a lazy breeze. Overhead, stars were shining down through gaps between the scattered clouds partially covering the night sky.
Over the tops of the trees ringing the little square, in the silver light of a half moon, they could make out the upper levels of the taller buildings remaining upright amongst the ruins across the river. Rooms in the upper stories in two of the buildings were illuminated with a flickering, yellow-orange light that had to be firelight. Zack wondered briefly if the people in those rooms had hauled firewood or some other fuel up mu
ltiple flights of stairs in exchange for the security of a more easily defended sanctuary.
Ariane interrupted his thoughts. "Well," she said, looking up at the stars, "here we are, on Earth of all places."
"Yeah," said Zack, "here we are." He too looked up at the sky. "To think this all started because I needed a pilot."
"And wound up getting stuck with a sinister agent who'd been stalking you," she responded. She paused for a moment, "You know I really am sorry I had to lie to you."
He turned to look at her. "That stopped mattering as soon as I realized what we were up against. Besides, you turned out to be a pretty damned good pilot."
The corners of her mouth twitched upward slightly at the complement. After a moment, she turned to him, her eyes troubled. "Are we going to be able to pull this off?"
Zack switched his gaze from her to the statue while he pondered the question. "We have to. All of Mankind is counting on us, even if they don't know it yet."
She surprised him by moving closer and gently placing her hand on his forearm. "I don't know how I could have done any of this without you."
He slipped his arm out from under her hand, took it in his own, and gave a gentle squeeze. "I could say the same thing. We do seem to work pretty well together.'
They sat in silence, holding hands, immersed in the moment, enjoying the cool, quiet night air and each other's presence. The absence of an immediate crisis of some kind was a refreshing change even though they were about to plummet headlong back into the thick of it first thing in the morning.
"I never wanted to be a Guardian," said Ariane, looking up at the stars again. "I just wanted to do my job, make a difference somehow, even if it was just small one."
"Me neither," replied Zack. "But for some reason we've been chosen for this. I don't think we'd have been picked if we weren't up to the task."
"I know, but that doesn't ease the pressure. If anything, it makes things worse."
"Like I said to you the day we got selected, 'We'll just have to do better than our best.' As usual," he added.
She let out a long sigh and Zack could sense some of the tension go out of her. "Yeah, I know," she admitted. A moment later, she leaned her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The movement felt so natural that neither of them found the resulting intimacy remarkable. They sat in the dark, each immersed in the warm, comforting presence of the other, their many cares somehow shoved aside for the moment.
After an undetermined amount of time, but probably no more than a few minutes, Zack's eyes flicked open, and he realized they'd both dozed off. He gently nudged her awake. "Think you can sleep now?" She stretched and nodded muzzily in response.
He helped her to her feet, and they walked hand in hand back to the barracks. During the time they were dozing, a bank of clouds had blanketed the island and it began to drizzle. They stopped, closed their eyes and tipped their heads back, feeling rain on their faces for the first time since either of them could remember. As the breeze picked up and the drizzle turned to a light rain, they quickened their pace and made haste to the protection of the sleeping module before either of them got wet enough to matter.
Inside, she surprised him as they stopped in the dimly-lit corridor outside the door to her chamber by reaching for him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tightly. He closed his eyes and hugged her in return. Without breaking the embrace, she tilted her head back and gazed into his eyes for a long moment before surprising him again by kissing him on the lips. It was just a quick little buss, more affection than passion, but it felt wonderful nonetheless. Afterwards, they reluctantly broke the embrace. She stopped halfway into her room and turned back to him. "Thanks, Zack," she whispered. "A little time with you was just what I needed...as always. See you in the morning."
"It was good for me too," he whispered back. "...Goodnight Ariane."
She entered her quarters and closed the door, leaving a somewhat dazed Zack out in the corridor. He slipped back into his own chamber and, after a shedding his coverall, crawled into bed. As he began to relax, he discovered the ever-present feeling of dread hanging over him had subsided to a dull ache. He fell asleep quickly, thinking about the beautiful, talented and courageous woman who, against all odds, seemed to have taken a fancy to him.
Chapter 54. Mission DC.
Earth, Theodore Roosevelt Island, October 16, 2676.
Zack was up at first light, and after a few preparations, headed over to the mess module where he joined up with the rest of the team for what turned out to be a hearty breakfast which again consisted of fresh, genuine food -- fried potatoes, bacon, orange juice, scrambled eggs and toast.
After breakfast, Zack again checked on Malus and found him deeply into an examination of a rather unkempt little rose garden.
"Good morning, Malus. How was your night?"
"It was most excellent. I spent the time moving from place to place analyzing different patches of Earth soil. So much information! I shall be busy for much of the morning sorting through what I have found. I thank you again for bringing me with you, Lieutenant."
"No problem," said Zack. "We'll be leaving for the city soon."
"I wish you good fortune on your endeavor."
"Thanks, Malus. We're probably going to need it. See you later."
The expedition members retrieved their gear and gathered on the lawn outside the mess hall. Zack, Ariane and Erik helped each other get into their battle armor while the three Soviets also geared up. All five of the military personnel in the small expedition were outfitted with their military's finest and most up-to-date light armor. Erik's armor was several generations older but looked to have some interesting, and probably very effective, modifications.
The unmistakable sound of whirling quadcopter propellers filled the morning air, growing louder until the machine hunkered down on the runway about twenty meters away, its four ducted rotors blasting up clouds of dust. Just a few seconds after the craft set down, Jamison came out through a sliding door on the side of the craft, and sprinted over to check with the team. "You guys ready?" he said, shouting to be heard over the noise of the 'copter's engine and whirling rotors.
"As ready as we'll ever be," Zack shouted back. Jamison made a "follow me" gesture with his arm and headed towards the quadcopter. He stood by the door while the others clambered on board. The noise level went down considerably after the big man secured the door. The team members kept a grip on their weapons as each of them strapped into one of the mesh chairs lining the passenger area.
"A word of advice before we go," said Jamison. All six heads turned in his direction. "The longer you stay, the more dangerous it'll be for you. Once word gets around there's an expedition of some kind down here, the natives will forget their petty squabbles and get organized in a hurry. You'll be in the most danger about the time you're ready to leave."
"What kind of weapons will we be facing?" asked Zack.
"Mostly old pulse rifles and pistols," said Cyrus. "Your armor should be able to handle them without too much trouble." He stopped for a second before adding, "There have been reports a few of the bands have gotten their hands on some more powerful stuff recently but, so far, I haven't seen any myself. We sure as hell would never sell them anything like that!"
"We'll perform the mission and let you know when we're heading back," said Ariane.
"Key these coordinates into the tracking systems of your battle armor." Jamison listed off a string of coordinates that each of the expedition members entered into the control systems of their armor. "I warn you right now though, if I don't like the look of the setup, I won't be able to drop the shields at our end of the bridge. We can't risk the compound getting invaded."
"We'll keep that in mind," replied Zack. "Thanks for the warning."
"If you're ready to go, let's get on with it," said Jamison. He went forward and strapped into the copilot's seat. Seconds later, Yamato guided the craft st
raight up from the pad for a couple hundred meters, spun around, and tilted forward, making for the nearby the ruins.
Each of the team members was occupied with their own thoughts as the craft crossed the river and headed out over the ruins. Zack glanced over at Ariane and caught her looking at him. She treated him to a whisper of a smile and a wink before becoming all-business again. He smiled back and gave her a little nod before he too went back to the sober business at hand.
From their vantage point, the devastation and deterioration the city had suffered were far more noticeable. Crumbled and burned out buildings lined the streets everywhere. Many of those streets were partially or completely blocked with rubble, much of which must have fallen during the destruction and never been cleared out. Here and there were areas that appeared to have been deliberately walled off to establish defensible enclosures. Zack wondered if they represented tribal borders or something else.
They flew over far too many hectares of depressingly desolate ruins before Jamison announced, "Get ready everybody, we'll be on the ground shortly."
Zack and the others spent the next few minutes double-checking their gear and mentally preparing to make a rapid exit from the 'copter.
A very large, open square came into view just ahead of the quadcopter. At one end was the bottom third of what appeared to have been a tall, slender obelisk. Around it, lying where they had fallen, were the upper portions of the formerly proud, stone spear. At the other end were the remains of what had been a large, domed building. The massive dome had collapsed inwards but a few columns of the building's impressive wings were still standing erect.
With a flare of oscillating blades and landing thrusters, Jamison set the craft down in the middle of the formerly proud National Square of the United States of America with nary a bump. Eyes flicking restlessly in all directions and on the quadcopter's personnel detectors, Jamison shouted curtly, "Okay, everybody off!"
The Archeon Codex: Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel Book 2 Page 28
