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Arrival
by Marcus Taylor |
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Phoenix Gamma, Centaurus May 1 3058, 0843h Local
Olly Kavanagh threaded his bicycle back and forth between the parked coolant trucks, cocking his head and winking to the drivers waiting to take on their payload for the day's work. The middle of an awaking military encampment wasn't the best place for morning exercise, and this thought was reinforced by the few joggers he found during his cycle. Either the Lancers had few people eager to exercise - which wasn't likely - or they had particular trails beyond the base's perimeter, in the sylvan countryside. Olly hadn't had a chance to find out about them yet, though, and didn't want to waste time passing through security, being unfamiliar to the guards. He'd just stay inside the bivouac for the next while, and when he had a day off, he would make a trip of it - packing a light lunch and exploring the hills.
'Besides,' he thought, 'the camp's nicely flat, and that gives me a chance to practice my sprinting.' Kavanagh neared the inner fence, and scanned the circumference road for any traffic. Finding none, he tucked down onto his bike and scythed through a steep left turn. Once he leveled off, Olly lifted off his seat and began to build speed. As he worked up through his highest range of gears with a series of smooth 'snicks', the officer went over the day's plans. 'The only paperwork I've got left is the approval of the Shadow's wargames schedule - Maj.Hopkins nodded off before we got to that, so I'll have to see what she thinks of what I came up with.' Kavanagh smirked as he recalled putting the Lancer officer 'to bed'. 'She looked so peaceful and innocent,' he mused, leaning into a corner, 'right up to the point where she nearly broke my leg! Anyway, today: gotta get the Shadow's training program started - marksmanship trials this afternoon, I think - and we can get the first exercises over with tomorrow. Oh - and I'll have to hand over Dillard's squad to Rolyat; they'd be the best choice to help crack into that Castle Brian he's going on about,' the cyclist reflected.
Hauptmann Kavanagh was almost through his day's schedule when a heavy, rhythmic thumping caught his attention. He slipped down a couple of gears and slowed, standing on the pedals to scan around. He was confronted by a sight unsettling to most Inner Sphere Mechjocks: a Clan battlesuit was loping towards him! He quickly fought off an urge to flee as he remembered that the Lancers had some Elemental bondsmen.
The armored trooper pulled alongside, and to Olly's amusement it waved to him with its claw hand. The amplified voice of a man spoke: "Do you have a permit for this thing, sir?"
An idea struck Kavanagh, and he snarled hammishly "You'll never take me alive, Copper!" and started to sprint, canting his bike back and forth to increase torque, and slamming straight to top gear with a heavy 'thunk!' He quickly left the Elemental behind, and tucked down over his frame to build his lead as much as possible. He pumped furiously, his short but solid legs beginning to blur, even at the bike's greatest differential. Blood thumped in Olly's ears and he thought 'just as well, I wanted one last aerobic push before hitting the showers anyway!'
And then a light tapping on his helmet gave him another shock as he realized that the sound he heard WASN'T his pulse... The battlesuit crept into the corner of his vision, and the mechjock took solace in the fact that 'at least he's working to keep up with me - that lazy jog he had earlier is gone now.' The race ceased to be fun for Olly when the Clanner began to run *backwards* alongside his speeding bicycle. He sat back up, eased quickly back down in speed and gears, braking to an eventual stop. Once they were standing still, he admitted "It's a fair cop, but society is to blame!"
"Pardon?" came the guard's reply, as the faceplate slid back to reveal a bemused but puzzled man.
"Oh, sorry - it's a criminal's expression, meaning that the speaker had been arrested fair and square, but society in general was responsible for his illegal behaviour," Kavanagh gasped as he tried to slow his heart and lungs.
"Aha, now I see the humourous connection - not bad, if a little obscure. So may I ask who you are, sir, and what you are doing circumnavigating the camp?"
"Certainly - Hauptmann Ollwyn Kavanagh-"
"Of the Kommandos of the same name."
"Singular, actually - the name refers to the unit as a whole, not the individual soldiers."
"Indeed. Well, I hope you are enjoying Centaurus, sir."
"Oh, LOVELY climate - is it usually this mild?"
"Around here, yes. And dry too; it is only occasionally that we have to stand under tarps for guard duty."
Olly wended his way through the lyrical diction of the giant next to him, and idly reached out to examine the differences of a Clansman's mind.
"So, if I may ask, why-"
"Oh, the bike? Well, lemme step off and you'll understand."
Olly stood erect alongside the Elemental, not even reaching his armpit.
"Oh! But you looked..."
"Short legs. That and a touch of arthritis in the knees makes 'pounding the pavement' an unpleasant proposition."
"Ahhhhh. Well, it gladdens me to know you have found comfortable means to maintain your health."
"Thanks, and you have a quiet - erm, a busy...uh,"
"It *is* difficult to know how to wish a sentinel a good day, is it not?"
"Yep, guards, medics and morticians - three types of professionals you WANT to be bored! I gotta go clean up."
"Yes, you do, sir," the bondsman said sniffing audibly and after a moment, smiling.
Olly remounted his bike with a chuckle, and made for his quarters.
* * * * *
Kavanagh Compound, Phoenix Gamma, Centaurus 0906h
Olly slid the key onto the receiver, and a high, barely audible tone sounded, opening the door to the conference room. He poked his head inside, and confirmed that Maj.Hopkins was still asleep on the couch. He paused, considering whether to wake her. 'Nah,' he thought, 'first: she's been working too hard and could well use the rest, second: she still looks so cute and innocent like that, third: waking up to behold a disheveled, sweaty, unshaven and somewhat underdressed man would not be a good idea in her exhausted state, fourth: I'd have to get within striking range of her, fifth: I've gotta rush to get cleaned up in time to meet with Kym, and sexth - SIXTH-I mean *sixth*...um, well - that says something right there.
I'll leave her be; got enough reasons already.' The door pulled shut without even a click of the bolt disturbing the recumbent woman.
* * * * *
???? ????h
She was running. She couldn't see where she was, or where she was going. That didn't matter because she wasn't running TO something; she was running AWAY. She stole a glance behind her, Alexi was still there, running silently and purposefully. If he caught her again...
Her cheek still ached from the beating she got, and this time it would be worse, much worse; this time she wasn't merely disobeying a john, this time she shot him.
It was funny, but even though her aim had been dead on, driving a small blue hole into his forehead, he hadn't died. She guessed this just reinforced her belief that pimps weren't human. Alexi wasn't alone, there were his 'friends' chasing with him. Plain, anonymous-looking people, the sort that you bumped into in a crowd and forgot about immediately...unless you looked into their eyes. She'd seen these people before; Alexi would bring a couple of them with him on occasion, and they would ask her questions about her johns - did this officer mention military operations, did that politician discuss closed-door meetings, and so on. They'd grill her for hours at a time, never showing any mercy...or ANY other emotion for that matter. There wouldn't be any point in trying to shoot them - they were already dead...
So she continued to run. Hiding wasn't an option - she'd tried to disappear into the army. She had a measure of respite, and had learned some valuable skills, but in the end those 'non-people' sniffed her out and she was forced to run again. But she knew she couldn't run forever; every now and again she'd catch a glimpse of people stepping from the shadows around her to join the pursuit. So far they'd merely fallen in behind her, but how long would it be before one of them decided to move early and block her path? And then, as if thinking about it brought it about, that very thing happened - cursing herself, she watched a shape detach herself from the darkness ahead. It was BIG, and probably male, but it was different...it didn't seem to be a man so much as a man-shaped hole in her environment. She started to veer to her right, not too soon that her new opponent would react, but not too late to be caught in his grasp. Now she passed this shadowy form, and now he reached out and caught her, the indistinct arm barring her progress and wrapping around her shoulders. It was softer than she expected, and as the shape clasped her to his (its?) breast she felt a comfortable warmth suffuse through her body.
She remembered why she was running, and turned in the shadow's embrace to gaze upon her pursuers. They trotted to a stop in front of her, Alexi at the front, eyeing her with contempt and possessiveness, and her 'protector' with suspicion. He reached out to take her back, and was struck down by the shade's free hand. The pimp looked up with rage and fear, but didn't stand.
Begone. She didn't hear the word, indeed it wasn't even like she heard the word in her head - it was more like she suddenly had a memory of the word being spoken in the recent past without the event actually happening. As she looked, Alexi sighed visibly and just dissolved from sight, his friends turning and slinking away, but glancing back with the first emotion she'd ever seen them express - hatred and vengefullness.
When they too had disappeared from sight, she turned back again and examined her saviour. He...or it was even taller than her, and very broadly proportioned. But though generally a man, there were no specific details that she could discern; no facial features, for example. It was like she was hugging a cloud - a large, warm, firm cloud that protected her. And its other arm completed the embrace, its hand placing itself on her shoulder blade. A hand that started to buzz and vibrate-
Conference Room, Kavanagh HQ May 1 3058, 1012h Local
-and Eva awoke.
She reached over her shoulder to remove the beeper sitting in her jacket pocket. Hopkins muzzily regarded the code on it, and shifted to a sitting position, releasing the sofa cushion she had been holding onto.
'Wow, that was vivid,' she thought. 'Not usually that distinct, and why does my elbow hurt?' She rubbed the tip of her arm, and went over the what her subconscious had created for her. Alexi and friends were obvious enough - Gudonov was her pimp back *then*, and his friends were the Maskirovka agents that he worked with - his circle of 'professionals' being a source of low-grade information for House Liao's intelligence organization. 'That shape though...I don't know anyone that big apart from some of the Elementals, and I'm not too close with them. This is all history anyway. I've already run from the army and found refuge in the Lancers. And Alanna took care of the problem,' Eva mused. She thought back to the amazing interview - she'd never expected to be taken in by such a successful unit, having just deserted from the Capellan army. And she recalled fondly the help that XO Macin had given her - the woman had called in some favours to 'send a message' to the Maskirovka that avenging the loss of their little ring of informers would an expensive proposition. After two agents 'had an accident', Hopkins was left alone. And welcomed into the Lancers. So why a *masculine* image?
'Maybe He was a symbol of the Phoenix Lancers in general, rather than anyone in particular - I sure don't have any feeling of THAT sort for the Colonel! Or maybe he's just an ideal - "The Man Of My Dreams"...
HAH, that's it! A giant teddy bear that does what I need of it and doesn't talk back because it hasn't got a mouth; that sounds perfect!
But then, a mouth *does* have its uses,' Eva admitted to herself, absent-mindedly puckering her lips as she sat back onto the couch her arms outstretched. She glanced down at the sofa, and examined the fabric closely...it was dark grey velvet, soft to the touch and it warmed quickly from body heat, but the padding was quite firm and supportive. She chuckled out loud, realizing that part of her dream had been supplied by the feel of her impromptu bed.
'And what am I doing over HERE,' she wondered. 'Last I remember, I was working at the table...' Hopkins smirked as she noticed another jacket folded up on the sofa arm as a pillow. It was the blue-grey of the Kommando, a black badge with two gold "K"s eliminating any doubt, and the rank symbols were bi-coloured spearheads...the emblems of a captain.
On a whim, Hopkins tucked the other jacket under her arm as she surveyed the orderly piles of forms, hard copies and data disks sitting at the near end of the conference table. A VDU on 'sleep' grabbed her attention, and pressing a key, she re-activated it. Eva skimmed over the tentative training schedule Kavanagh must've left for her, found no fault, and typed in a brief message giving her assent to it. As she began to pour over the work the Kommando CO had done after her 'departure', her beeper throbbed again. She checked the display, and as the message code cleared, the Lancer Major was shocked to see the time. She swore, gathered up her half of the paperwork, and rushed off to be unfashionable late to her first meeting.
* * * * *
Kavanagh Officer Barracks 1019h
Kym Nagashi stomped out of the Officer's Mess and took another sip of coffee.
"Any more of that and you'll be climbing the walls - I can see your muscles clenching. What's up?"
Lt. Nagashi glanced to see her commander and friend step out of his quarters, straightening his fatigues shirt.
"Ahhhh - it's nothing."
"Come-come; I don't want to see you burn a hole in your gut over something you should get out in the open," Olly retorted, smiling evilly.
"Oh, you *love* turning my words back at me, don't you?" Kym asked, her expression softening.
"It does give a certain satisfaction, yes. Seriously, though - what's troubling my dear friend?"
"Well, it's Rolf. We were talking about the upcoming operation - I figured it'd be okay now, right?"
Kavanagh thought for a second. "I don't see why not; who's he gonna tell? The messages off-planet are being monitored, as are the departures. Anyway..."
"Right, so I explain to him what we're planning to do, and all of a sudden he gets this look in his eyes-"
"Why, Kym! You alluring old goat!"
"Noooo; I mean he stares off into space and suddenly jumps up and dashes off to his studio you got set up for him!"
"So, he got inspiration and decided to act on it; what's the problem?"
"Well, I *was* sitting on his lap at the time!"
Olly suppressed a snicker at this.
"Yeah, and now I've checked in on him and he's won't answer the door. He's been in there since last night."
"Well, just get security to pass the lock for you-"
"I tried that already; he's got something big pushed up against the door and the windows don't open. He pulled the blinds when I tried to attract his attention."
"Kym, relax. He's an artist - when he gets an idea, he has to do something with it while it's still fresh in his head. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Well, that's not what's *really* got me edgy...when I peeked in the window, I saw he was sketching something. Something that looked like two people..."
"So?"
"Well, I got to thinking about what you said; what if he does start sculpting me...him...US."
Olly laughed out loud. "Oh, calm DOWN, Kym! I'm quite sure he's not gonna put the two of your night-time activities in stone; from what I've seen of him, the worst he'd do is sketches, and those would only be seen by you!"
Nagashi sighed and relaxed her posture slightly. "Yeah, you're right - he wouldn't do anything to disturb me...at least without asking me first." A wistful smile appeared on her face.
"That's quite enough of that - we're in public here," Olly admonished his elder friend.
"Oh, YEAH - sorry, I keep forgetting that you can feel what I am feeling!"
"Heh; on that matter - I think you should know my 'talents' are developing further than either of us expected."
"How so?"
"I was having a friendly talk with one of our troops, and I actually shared a memory he concentrated on: I could see the place he was thinking of as clearly as if I was there - and I've *never* been there."
"Wow, really? So what am I thinking about now?"
"Look, it's still rather vague - I think I can only focus on very vivid and clear things so far..."
"Fine; how about -now-?"
"No, no, no. It's not a parlor trick, you know; I can't just turn it on an-GOD, you are a *dirty* old woman, and they should lock you up in a chastity belt for the rest of your life!" he snapped, before realizing what he'd accomplished.
"Ah, so you DID see what I was thinking of!"
"Yes, but you -could- have used something not so...well,"
"You said you wanted vivid."
"Ugh!"
"Hey - I'm not *that* unappealing, am I?" she demanded with mock anger.
"No, no; it's not that. It's just when you put yourself into my mind, I started thinking about you and mom...and well, you know how difficult it is to think of one's own parents...doing that."
"Aw, sorry about that, little one."
"Well, it's not your fault." Olly stuck his hand in his pants pockets, and noticed something. "But on to other things; did you happen to see my engagement ring lately? I seem to have misplaced it."
The Oriental mechwarrior started guiltily. "Um, er - no, well you see, I uh-"
Her young friend and commander clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Heh-heh, s'okay, Kym - I've found it; well, Georgi found it actually."
"Huh?"
"Surely you wondered why the dropship's engine cut out?"
"A fuel-line blockage, wasn't it?"
"Yes, but what blocked it?" Olly countered, pulling the jeweled gold band from his pocket.
Kym put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, Olly - I'm sorry; I don't know how it got in the line, but I couldn't find it after the transit and I was worried that I left it back on Outreach-"
"Well, I was quite puzzled as to where it turned up, since I had had nothing to do with the Union's refuelling, and then I remembered that you were told to check out the fuel trucks that were coming in; I also recalled that the last time I saw the ring was when I was getting dressed that evening when you dragged me out to a disco."
"I'm sorry, it's just that I figured you might be able to relax more if you didn't have..."
"Yeah, and I must thank you for that, Kym; you forced me to think beyond my past - I'm sure what you did helped me."
"Well, that makes me feel a lot better. So what's on the agenda today?"
"Right, just as soon as I check on something, I'll be assigning one of the Shadow squads to a force of Lancers. Then I'm gonna supervise the marksmanship exercises for this afternoon - actually, here's a thought: I was hoping to get a look at the countryside before training got too busy, and since you..."
"Since I'm suddenly available, maybe I'd consider swapping off-days and cover for you? Yeah, sure - it's not like I've got anything else to do! It's been a while since I've fired off a cone rifle, anyway."
"Oh, thanks - you're a god-send; you know how I like to have a morning cycle, but I can't really get any exercise around the base, and I don't want to go off into the countryside until I know my way around."
"Well, good for you - oh, and if you happen to come across any hiking trails that'd be just perfect for a young couple in love..."
"YOUNG?!?" Olly sputtered humorously.
"Well, alright - a NEW couple!"
"Sure thing; I'll keep an eye out."
"And who do I speak with?"
"Oh, Rogers should have all the information that you'll need - just tell him that you'll take charge, and thanks."
* * * * *
Conference room 1025h
Hopkins was gone. 'She must've woken up and rushed off,' Olly thought, regarding the disturbed and substantially smaller piles of paperwork. He looked at the VDU and saw her approval of the schedule, then sent a copy to Lt-Col. McEnroe and Olt.Rogers. He was about to call Col.Rolyat's office, when he realized he was missing part of his uniform - his jacket was no longer on the couch. 'Normally, I'd be touched, but I left both my comm-set and my verigraph in it - I really need both today!' Kavanagh cursed lacking the presence of mind to at least remove the essential items and keep them with *him.* 'Oh well, spilt milk and all that - it'll just take a little longer to get things done without conclusive ID.' He tapped at the VDU's keypad, and called up a communications link.
"Hpt. Kavanagh, sir?" came the distorted, digitized voice through the terminal's speaker.
"Morning. Can you get me someone on Col. Rolyat's staff, Pieter?"
"Uh, of course, sir; but you could call directly through your comm-set-"
"Well, I left my set back at my quarters and I'm in the middle of something..." Olly lied, grimacing.
"Sure thing, sir; I'll put you through."
A momentary pause, and another voice spoke up. "Lancer S-2, Capt.Whiteaway."
"G'Morning Captain, this is Hpt. Kavanagh - I was wondering if your commander was available to talk for a moment."
"Sorry, he's out of the HQ right now, is there something I can help you with?"
Olly hesitated, wondering how secretive Trebor wanted to keep the Castle Brian raid. "Um, well...it's a rather -discreet- matter..."
The voice at the other end lowered slightly. "Ah, I think you should know that I'm privvy to the more *subtle* elements of your unit's contribution - I'm assigned to handle your stuff here, Captain."
"Okay then. I believe Col.Rolyat wanted to borrow some of my boys for a raid..."
"Yes, I was hoping you'd get in touch with me about that today; Captain Falkenberg wants to get the full 'burglary' team started training; I can put you through to him-"
"Oh, that's alright - if you'd just tell him that I'll be bringing over the 'technicians' in a little while, and tell me where he's bivouacked..."
The staff officer rattled off the Lancer unit's location and asked "Anything else?"
"Yes, could you put me through to Lt-Col.McEnroe?"
"Well, I think I may save you some time - she should be at your compound."
"Really?"
"Yep, she left message that she was meeting with a Lieutenant Rogers..."
"Oh, okay. Thanks - that'll be all, then."
"Well, glad I could be of service, Captain." And with that the Lancer officer rung off. Olly shut down the terminal, gathered the forms and other papers he'd need, and left. |
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