by Ken Lozito
“That sounds like Mills. Could he have gotten here ahead of us?” Connor asked.
“Probably hitched a ride with the med evac,” Diaz said.
“Screw this,” Connor said and stormed toward the door. He wasn’t about to let Mills go on about how his people were attacked because of him.
Franklin’s assistant tried to step into his way. Connor quickly weaved his way around the young man and opened the door. Franklin was sitting behind his desk and Mills was pacing around in front, his hands balled into fists. Mills stopped speaking and turned around, his face contorting in anger at the sight of Connor.
Connor ignored Mills and walked inside the office. Diaz followed.
Mallory’s skinny assistant came in. “I tried to stop them, sir.”
“It’s alright, Gabe,” Franklin said to his assistant and then looked at Connor. “I hear you’re having a hell of a first day.”
The door to Mallory’s office shut.
Connor strode to Franklin’s desk right in Mills’ designated pacing stretch. “I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain—”
“Explain what?” Mills snarled. “How you’re responsible for two of my people getting critically injured? Or the fact that you caused a pack of berwolfs to charge at my team?”
Connor went rigid and swung his cold gaze toward Mills. Mills took a step back. “Cut me off again and you’ll be eating out of a straw for the next few months.”
Mills tucked his chin in and his nostrils flared.
Franklin stood up. “Alright, let’s settle down.”
Despite how satisfying it would have been to follow through with his threat to Mills, Connor looked at Mallory.
“Damon, why don’t you go get a cup of coffee?” Franklin said.
“With all due respect, sir, he needs to hear what I have to say,” Connor said.
“Fine, let’s sit down then. Juan, you take the middle seat,” Franklin said.
Diaz moved in front of the middle chair and adjusted his belt. The corporal only sat down after Mills and Connor did.
Franklin settled back down behind his desk. “Juan, why don’t you give me your take on what happened outside the fence first.”
Diaz laid out the facts of the day’s events and left nothing out, recounting without a hint of conjecture. Diaz simply stated the facts as he saw them. More than once Franklin’s gaze slid toward Connor, but he couldn’t get a sense as to what the head of Field Operations was thinking.
“How did you know the berwolfs were laying out a trap?” Franklin asked.
“When you’ve been involved in as many missions as I have, you learn to see the signs. Otherwise you’ll end up dead,” Connor said.
“For Christ’s sake. Do we really need to listen to this?” Mills asked.
“You don’t know who you’re talking to, Damon,” Franklin said. “Connor Gates led an elite special forces team. I’ve had some time to look up some of his operations . . . well, the AI pointed me in the right direction by running an analysis of news headlines and found a pattern of events that were tied to Connor’s reported whereabouts. So if the man says you were being ambushed, I’m inclined to believe him,” Franklin said.
Mills pressed his lips together and glanced over at Connor.
“Don’t take my word for it. Take a look at the drone feed we have,” Franklin said.
An aerial video started playing on the wallscreen off to the side. It showed Diaz driving the ATV and Connor shooting the SD-15 to startle the berwolf that was stalking the kids. A secondary drone feed showed four other berwolfs just inside the tree line. Those berwolfs sprinted further into the forest, where the drone lost the visual. Franklin forwarded the video to where the first man was taken by the berwolf and dragged into the woods. Connor watched the security detail plunge into the forest despite his protests and he and Diaz circling around to flank the hunters. By the time they’d finish the video feed, Mills looked pale and at a loss for words.
“Paints a different picture, doesn’t it? I think you owe Connor your thanks for saving your lives,” Franklin said.
“Drone feeds are one thing, but being there is another,” Mills said.
Connor cleared his throat. “Why don’t the security details have access to the drone feeds? I know I didn’t spot the drone until after the berwolfs had left.”
“We rely on the tech on duty at Command Central to patch us the feed if they see something suspicious. The drones themselves don’t have any type of combat-suite AI that can alert soldiers to an enemy nearby,” Franklin said.
“The berwolfs have never done anything like this before,” Diaz said.
“They’re nothing but stupid animals that just got lucky,” Mills said.
“You’re wrong. They’re quite intelligent, and you’ll see more attacks like these in the future until we figure out why,” Connor said.
“What makes you say that?” Franklin asked.
“They were probing defenses. Are there records of them showing up along the perimeter? Especially by the gates or where you have other crops outside the fence. Any place where people are likely to visit regularly,” Connor asked.
Connor glanced around, and none of them knew the answer.
“I think this is something to look into, Damon,” Franklin said to Mills.
“It looks like the kids were the original target, but we disrupted their approach, so they changed tactics. This was a coordinated attack. I’m no expert on animal behavior. Do you know someone on staff who can advise us on predatory behaviors? If you do, they should be brought in to give their opinion,” Connor said.
Franklin nodded. “I’ll bring someone in and have them evaluate the video. Another good suggestion. You look like you’ve got more to say.”
“You might not like it,” Connor warned.
“My pride probably won’t, but if it saves lives, I can put that aside,” Franklin said.
Both Mills and Diaz watched him, waiting for him to speak.
“Your protocols for dealing with field personnel are full of holes. They should be standardized to convey the importance of the communication at the outset. The operator who contacted Diaz either didn’t know or didn’t convey the level of suspicious activity, then acted as if Diaz could have refused the request,” Connor said.
“I wouldn’t have done that,” Diaz said quickly.
“I know, but one thing that keeps getting drilled into my head is that this isn’t Earth. We’re the aliens. We need to remember one thing above all. Lives are at stake. Command Central didn’t know where Mills or his crew were when they contacted us. We only learned that Mills’ ATV had been attacked by a berwolf when we saw them pulled off the path repairing their own vehicle. That should have been reported,” Connor said.
Mills frowned. “It was just a power cable, something we could easily replace.”
Connor shook his head. “This is how lives are lost. Status updates, regardless of whether you think them trivial, need to be communicated back to Command Central so if you’re overdue they can send a team out to investigate. What if the berwolfs had attacked you? I know you’re armed, but what if one of you had gotten hurt or dragged off into the forest like what happened with the other team?” Connor asked.
“We’d radio to COMCENT for backup,” Mills said.
“Really? Like you did when the other team had a team member get dragged into the forest? I’m not trying to insult you, but I don’t believe it. But let’s say for the sake of argument that you did just that. Then the people at Command Central, who didn’t know where you were in the first place, would have to scramble to find someone to get out there to help you,” Connor said and looked at Franklin. “There needs to be a clear chain of command and concrete protocols that your field teams and leaders follow to the letter. In addition, you need an emergency response team ready for deployment to deal with issues as they arise. Also, what about the kids who were out there? It was dumb luck that they even survived. While Diaz and I were trying to fi
nd that berwolf, we should have sent an update about those kids so when Mills came in behind us he could have checked on them before reaching the other team,” Connor said.
Franklin pressed his lips together in thought. “You make a lot of good points.”
Mills blew out a breath. “This is overkill, Franklin.”
“Hold on a second, Damon,” Franklin said. “Go on, Connor.”
“I would need time to evaluate the teams you’ve got together. I’m not sure if you have any advisories that are communicated to your field teams. If you have techs monitoring drones, why aren’t they putting out a daily report on the activity they see? Based on what I saw today, it seems like you need an experienced direct-action force. Otherwise, you’re going to lose more people until we properly evaluate the threat an animal like the berwolf poses,” Connor said.
Mills laughed bitterly. “I can see you coming from a mile away. You come in here and dazzle them with your evaluation, all so you can lead a team of your own.”
“Clearly you need the help,” Connor said.
Mills rose to his feet and glared toward Franklin. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to this. I want this taken up to Tobias for review. Until then, I have a compound to secure,” he said and walked out of the office.
Franklin rubbed his fingertips on his desk and then looked at Connor. “I’m trying to remember that I asked for your opinion.”
“You’ve got it. I’m not going to lie to you. The protocols being used here are entirely too lax,” Connor said.
“And you don’t pull any punches, it seems,” Franklin said.
“What’s Mills’ role?” Connor asked.
“He’s my second in command. So all that stuff you pointed out about how we’ve been doing things is basically like a slap in the face,” Franklin said.
“I’m not trying to insult anybody,” Connor said, and Franklin gave him a dubious look. “Fine, only a little bit, but lives are at stake.”
“What would you propose I do? Just assign you a team and say have at it?”
“Well, for one, you can give some serious thought to the communications protocols and make your people use them. They need to be formalized. I think that’ll have the greatest impact to start with. As for me, you need a highly skilled direct-action team,” Connor said.
“Like your Ghosts?”
“No, I don’t think so. We were mainly used for counterterrorism and intelligence gathering, as well as high-risk, high-reward missions. Some of the methodologies will carry over, but not all of it. Tobias told me to come down here and find a place in the colony. I think I found it,” Connor said.
Franklin sucked in a deep breath and sighed. “You’re awfully quiet there, Juan.”
“Thinking about everything Connor just said, sir,” Diaz said.
“And?” Franklin asked.
“I agree with him, sir. All of it, including my part.”
Franklin nodded. “I’m not going to make any decisions right now. I’ll talk to Tobias about this and your suggestions. In the meantime, I want you to finish orientation and have Diaz continue showing you around Field Operations.”
“Sir, I have duty—”
“It’s canceled. I’ll have someone else take over,” Franklin said. “As for you, Connor, continue your evaluation and come up with a real proposal for this new team and anything you think we could improve here.”
Connor nodded. “I’ll need access to personnel files.”
“I can’t just grant that kind of access, but I can work on it. For now, work with Juan. Oh, and I meant what I said before. You saved a lot of lives today. I know Mills doesn’t see it yet, but he will. Eventually,” Franklin said.
They left Mallory’s office, and Connor was still trying to come to grips with what had happened. He hadn’t gone in there with the goal of establishing a new security response team for the colony. He’d just pointed out all the flaws he’d seen with their current system and how he thought they should fix it. Is this what he even wanted? He didn’t have a choice about being here, but everything beyond that was up to him. He glanced at the people who worked at the Field Operations Headquarters. They were just people trying to do the best job they could. Mallory had mentioned the lack of military personnel on staff. Who were these people? And were they even qualified to be doing the jobs they were being called upon to do? Connor glanced at Diaz. If Connor had to guess about Diaz’s background, he would pin him as an infantryman for the Marines. He’d followed Connor’s lead and his actions denoted some combat training. Ideally, he’d like to find more people like Juan Diaz, but the situation on this new world would definitely influence the makeup of the team he had in mind. Like it or not, he’d need the expertise of noncombatants.
Diaz took him back to orientation and Connor tried to pay attention, but in his mind he was already moving forward. Never one for sitting idly by, he had spent the bulk of his life throwing himself at his objectives, and this was no different. At least back home he’d had the chain of command to rely on, but here on New Earth he was all he had, and he’d need to convince Franklin and Tobias that they needed him more than they knew.
12
During the next few days, Connor settled into a routine of attending the orientation required by all new colonists and working with Diaz in the off hours. Diaz had become a voice of reason, fulfilling a role once occupied by Kasey Douglass from the Ghosts. Diaz was adamant that Connor first needed to learn how they operated at the Field Operations Headquarters before making recommendations, and Connor conceded the point.
The colony’s orientation program only lasted for a few days and was meant to give colonists a brief introduction to the planet, as well as a vision of what they could become. Basic system access was easily understood. Connor breezed through the qualification tests to demonstrate that he understood the materials presented to him. It was implied that the colonists would receive more of an introduction from their designated faction for work. The priorities of the colony were to learn as much as they could about their new home and build new habitats so more colonists could be brought down from the Ark.
He and Diaz had just finished eating dinner. The vatery was able to produce any kind of meat they wanted and had been the solution for producing animal proteins for human consumption on Earth for hundreds of years. Noah had pointed out that there hadn’t been an actual slaughterhouse on Earth for a hundred and fifty years.
“So in terms of equipment for the field teams, is this all you’ve got? Or is there stuff in storage that hasn’t been brought down yet?” Connor asked.
Diaz groaned and took the last bite of his pork chop, savoring it. He surrendered his fork to his empty plate and wiped his mouth. “Connor, enough already. We’ve been at this for days. I need a break. Do you understand what I mean when I say I need a break?”
“I’m afraid I have no idea,” Connor said mockingly.
Diaz sighed. “I have needs, Connor, needs that can’t be fulfilled if you keep me trapped working late another night. Needs! Do you get me?”
Connor laughed. “Victoria off duty tonight?”
“Yes! So can we just take the night off? I know we have to meet with Tobias tomorrow and Damon will be there and all that. We can have an early start, but tonight, Connor, tonight I have to unleash the beast,” Diaz said.
“Alright, go feed the beast. I’ll see you tomorrow at oh six hundred,” Connor said.
Diaz shot to his feet and grabbed both their trays. “How about oh six thirty?”
Connor chuckled. “Fine. Go have fun,” he said.
It was his fourth day on the planet and he’d been working almost around the clock getting up to speed about how the colony worked. Diaz had been with him through most of it, and he could hardly fault the guy for wanting to take a day off.
“Hey there, rookie. Is this seat taken?”
Lenora sat down without waiting for an answer. She smiled at him while enjoying a vanilla ice cream cone.
“Y
ou didn’t bring any for me?” Connor asked and then took a sip of his water.
Lenora stuck out her cone for a second and then snatched it back. “Why, Mr. Gates, I don’t think I know you well enough to be giving you a sample from my ice cream cone.”
Connor started coughing as the water went down the wrong pipe, and he felt a flush sweep across his face.
“I do believe I took your breath away,” Lenora said and giggled.
Connor had to fight to keep from coughing, but there was still a tickle right on the cusp. “You do accents too?”
He let out one final cough and then glanced at his water, weighing whether he should risk taking another drink.
“My mother is from Atlanta and my father was from New York,” Lenora said.
Connor nodded. “Want to take a walk?”
Lenora nodded.
They left the cafeteria. Nightfall had descended on New Earth and the sky was full of stars. Nearby there were a couple of people playing acoustic guitars and singing.
“How are things going at that research base?” Connor asked.
“Great, now that Noah got our systems up and running. Had to bring him back here earlier today, so I thought I’d stick around and head back out tomorrow morning,” Lenora said.
“You flew him back here alone?” Connor asked.
“Yeah,” she said and took another lick of her ice cream. “I decided early on that I wasn’t going to wait for a pilot to take me where I needed to go, so I earned my flight clearance before going to sleep on the Ark,” Lenora said.
“I thought all travel outside the compound required a security detail.”
“Are you gonna turn me in?”
“It’s for your protection.”
Lenora’s eyes widened. “You do care,” she said.
Connor rolled his eyes.
“I appreciate your concern, but our security people were escorting some field ops near our base. Noah had to get back in time for some big meeting tomorrow,” Lenora said.
“Oh, that’s probably my fault then. I asked for him to be there. I’m meeting with Tobias tomorrow.”
