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Marooned Chapter 16
Posted By: Steve Ollett<stenlisa@olletthome.freeserve.co.uk>
Date: 17 May 2004, 8:37 PM
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MAROONED, CHAPTER 16
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2038HRS 08-OCT-2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR)
SECOND PLANET OF ACKWAZE SYSTEM.
UNDERGROUND FACILITY, EXACT LOCATION UNKNOWN
Cold blue lights pulsed along the centreline of the hall's roof. A hall that could have been like any other inside the facility. The hexagonal cross sectioned room was again the same ubiqitous slate grey tiled affair, roughly eight metres square, with the height of the ceiling being about the same measurement as the room's width.
The walls were decorated with the occasional incomprehensible, holographic display blinking away to itself, accompanied by a quiet crystalline tinkling sound.
The room had two exits; the group had used one of them to enter the room from the corridor behind them, and the other being a similar hexagonal doorway that lead onwards to who-knows-what.
The assembled group had stopped to take a rest and grab a bite to eat out of their almost spent rations.
Corporal Stocks sat with Privates O'Shea and Garrett. Karen also sat with them. From the rounds of laughter rising from the group, and the occasional admiring glances Ryan received from the young Miss Moore, Ryan was sure that the Stocks was no doubt recounting the antics that he and Ryan got up to in their early years in the service.
Ryan sat away from the group, alone on the cold floor with his back against the wall. His helmet, MA5B assault rifle and bottle of water lay on the floor next to him as he considered the chocolate bar in his hand. After pausing to peel away the wrapper, Ryan took a bite.
Looking around the room, Ryan saw that Private Tom Collins was sat with Private Johnson on the opposite side of the room - both men deep in conversation. Private Johnson sat with his combat knife in hand, cleaning it in what appeared to be an absent-minded way with a rag whilst he talked to Collins.
Another thing Ryan noticed was that Dr Muller had disappeared, together with the large aluminium case that he carried.
Ever since both teams met up on the walkway, Ryan noticed that Dr Muller seemed to be guarding the case, not allowing it out of his sight. Perhaps he was attaching too much significance to the doctor's actions, Ryan thought. Afterall, the doctor could have simply gone for a call of nature and taken the case with him as a matter of course.
Dr Armstrong stood near the doorway at the end of the room, apparently studying one of the holograms that were located there.
Ryan looked away and back at the ground, his thoughts still on Dr Armstrong and the group's predicament.
Although Dr Armstrong had assured Ryan that they were on the right way to the surface, he hadn't actually shown him any of the map data. Whether or not this was intensional on Armstrong's part Ryan didn't know - afterall, he was grateful that the soldier-come-scientist was guiding them out of what was a nightmare of a facility. It was just that Ryan liked to be aware of things - to know his options. Apart from a few revelations about the place, Armstrong had played his cards close to his chest. That concerned Ryan.
There was also the matter of what he saw on Armstrong's uniform - something that he half recognised but couldn't put his finger on it. The hints that Armstrong dropped about working on recovered Covenant tech also rang warning bells in his mind.
Perhaps he was over-reacting? That could be it! Afterall he was in the situation where he was answerable only to himself until the team were to get back safety onboard the Sheffield. Maybe it was due to Armstrong assuming command? Or it was just annoying him on some unconscious level because Armstrong's directions have been on the money so far.
Ryan pushed the thoughts out of his mind. He needed to refocus. A clear, calm logical mind was required if their plan was to work.
Ryan looked up again. He noticed that Dr Armstrong was holding his datapad against the blue-white holographic projection, whilst tapping away on his pad's screen. There appeared to be some kind of interaction occuring as the hologram began to shimmer with a bright green color. The new green glow spread outwards from that point, affecting all of the holograms in the room. The holograms pulsed briefly for a split second, and then returned to their previous blue-white hues.
Several seconds later, all of the holograms in the room pulsed green again, and each one steadily changed back to their original blue-white colour. To Ryan this occurance looked almost as if the green pulse appeared to 'drain back' to the hologram where Dr Armstrong held his data pad.
The Doctor stood facing the hologram for a couple of seconds before withdrawing his data pad whilst tapping a few keys on the small device. He began his walk back towards Ryan whilst smiling to himself.
"Playing games with the hologram over there doctor?" Ryan asked as he picked up his water bottle, unscrewed the cap and took a swig.
"Interesting stuff," replied Armstrong, "The hologram reacted to the proximity of the datapad." He studied the small device in his hand for a moment, and quickly glanced back at the holograms for a split second. "Fantastic!" He enthused, "If only we had more time to investigate this technology!"
"How much further?" asked Ryan as he took a bite from his penultimate chocolate bar. "Rations are low and people could do with some sleep before long."
"Relax Ryan," Armstrong said casually, as he sat down on cold floor a couple of metres away. He tapped the screen of his datapad once more, "The recon data that I have puts us close to the facility's hangar. Once you're through it, you're out on the landing platform. A couple of hours at the most - It'll be a piece of cake."
"Really?" replied Ryan skeptically, "I would have thought that the Covies would leave someone behind to guard their ride home - I know I would if it meant being marooned otherwise."
"Nasty business with the Albatross back there at the lakebed." Armstrong answered with an odd tone to his voice, "It just goes to show that even good plans go FUBAR sometimes."
"Yeah," Ryan said with a forced smile, "Especially when some people screw up."
"What exactly do you mean by that son?" Armstrong replied curiously.
"I've been thinking... That DIR sweep you called in from the Sheffield -" Ryan answered, "I know I'm not up to date with classified technology - but a radar sweep of that magnitude might have alerted the Covies to our presence here. Did you consider tha-"
The Doctor's jovial mood changed as abruptly as Armstrong rose to his feet "If you'll excuse me Ryan, I have important business to attend to." As he turned to leave, Armstrong added, "Don't burden yourself with any unnecessary details Sergeant. Your job is simple; to get us out of here safely. All you need to know is that the situation is under control."
With that Dr Armstrong turned on his heels and strode off.
Ryan screwed the plastic wrapper up from his chocolate bar and threw it on the floor beside him in anger as he watched the older man disappear back into the corridor they originally entered through.
Corporal Stocks walked over and sat beside Ryan. "What did you say to upset him?", he grinned as he took a bite out of his own chocolate bar, "I heard you there crossing verbal swords with the Dr - What's your problem? He got us on track again."
"I didn't realise I was doing it so badly before. Thanks for the vote of confidence, John." Ryan replied sarcastically.
"No I didn't mean it like that!" said Stocks, giving Ryan a shove with the palm of his right hand, "I mean meeting up with the others is definately the morale booster we were looking for!" Stocks paused for a second to glance around at O'Shea, Garrett and Karen, "On the subject of the others - where is Dr Muller?" he added.
"I was thinking that myself. He's gone and so is that case that he was carrying" Ryan replied. "Amrstrong and Muller are acting strange. I get the feeling that we don't know the full extent of what's going on here!"
"You're over-reacting!" Stocks said as he finished the last mouthful of chocolate, "You know what stuck-up twats scientists are - look at Zoran for crying-out-loud."
"For a scientist, even Zoran was kept out of the loop." Ryan argued, "He was sent out with us to collect samples. Armstrong and Muller were supposed to be doing the same when they found the first obelisk. Come to think of it they could have come to this place straight away instead of taking soil samples! Who would have known?"
"Leave the paranoia to me." laughed Stocks, "Next thing you'll be saying is that Armstrong is working for ONI! No seriously, I'll have a quiet word with Garrett and O'Shea to keep their eyes open for anything."
Stocks fell silent for a second and then continued, "One thing that did get our attention was the thing that Armstrong did with the holograms. Private Garrett has his own ideas on that one - he'll speak with you when you have a minute."
"Ok, Thanks." Ryan replied as both he and Stocks walked across the room to join the rest of the group.
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