Chapter 65

Day 251:

Everyone started talking at once.

Ariel was initially the loudest with, “We should go to Kokebi Bedaran. That is our best choice.”

But Sygraid’s voice grew to overwhelm the others. “ ... the closest city. In addition, we may get better weapons and armor there.” She gestured down at her legs, encased in a pieced-together patchwork of other parts.

Deni supported his mother. “Dwarves! Let’s go to the Dwarves!”

And Veronyka whispered into his ear. “We have to let the others know. The farther we get, the harder it will be to get Hal and Vasin linked back up with us.”

“All right, all right!” John held up his hands for silence after a minute of babble.

After everyone quieted down, he continued, “So, we’ve got two things we need to accomplish. One, get away from the people chasing us. We need to pick a destination, so if we end up separating, everyone will know where to meet up. Which leads to the second objective: getting everyone we left behind at the Pyramid back together, without sacrificing the getting away part. Does that sound about right?”

He looked around, receiving nods from almost everyone.

“You intend to Challenge Lo’tyan afterward?” Ariel asked quietly.

“Yes, but let’s hold that off until we get everyone together. My suggestion is that we make for the Dwarf city first,” he offered, “then make our way to the Djinn city Ariel is suggesting. We can’t stay long, but it will give us a chance to stock up. If we find a portal stone before reaching the Star-whatever-it-was, we can always use it then plan our further path from there. Does anyone have an issue with that?”

Silent glances were exchanged, but nobody indicated any resistance. Sygraid did have a hand on Deni’s knee, signaling him to stay silent whenever he opened his mouth.

“Seriously?” John reconfirmed. “No issues at all?”

Ariel spoke up again. “Your compromise is reasonable. We are all experienced enough to know that arguing now only delays us further. It is plain to see that all here acknowledge your leadership; in this, we support you. Let us not tarry.”

“Okay, then.” John answered dubiously. “Sygraid can’t ride one of the mounts we’ve got anyway, so I suggest we send her to collect Vasin, Hal and Dulgan with the other mounts.”

He looked at Veronyka. “Can we borrow your dragon for a bit?”

She shrugged, glancing over at the four mounts sunning themselves. “I don’t see why not.”

John turned to the War Maiden. “Syg, will you go get our friends?”

She nodded her head formally. “I will do as you wish, Lord Jyon. Am I also to inform Ben and E-lys of our plan?”

“Yeah, thank you.” John replied. “That was my next question. Ask them to be patient. Trying to send you back a second time is begging for Murphy to mess with us.”

Sygraid cocked her head. “Who is ‘Mur-fee?’”

Spooky chuckled. “He is the patron of messing up military operations on Earth. Not a real person, of course, but the idea that the more complicated you make a plan, the more likely it is to fail because of unforeseen circumstances.”

Ariel stared at him. “This is a very wise thing to know.” He shifted attention to John. “You do have much wisdom in your world.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve got plenty of idiots too.” John retorted, making Spooky laugh again.

Ariel’s lips quirked. “The foolish are everywhere.” He looked to Sygraid. “Titan, our route will be in that direction.” He raised a hand to point. “Look for the dark, dry hill region. We will be traversing it, heading to the north. I suggest you may find us more quickly if you depart from the north side of the Pyramid, instead of returning here, especially if you are delayed for any length of time.”

Sygraid gave him a slightly less respectful nod-bow. “I will consider it. Thank you.”

John fixed his gaze on Deni. “Do you know anything else about what you said before? The doors to get back, just inside the Haboob? Anything at all that someone said?”

The boy shook his head emphatically. “Only that anyone who finished the Challenge will find them right after going into the Haboob. That’s it.”

“I hope they were being truthful with you.” John warned. “Otherwise, your mother’s not going to have much luck.”

Deni looked at Sygraid. “Should I come with you?”

“No son.” She replied. “I’ll be all right. You stay and help Lord Jyon.”

Deni nodded firmly. “I will.”

“Anything I’m forgetting?” John asked, anxious now to get moving.

“Let’s ride!” Spooky joked, as the group scrambled to their feet.

Day 250:

Adam opened his eyes and met Chatman’s as the technician crew took their time unhooking him from everything. Keeping his body on Earth alive while he stayed in what John called Challenge World for weeks on end required quite the medical setup. Even so, his vision was a little blurry and when Chatman gave him a hand getting to his feet, Adam staggered for a moment. His Djinn body felt different than his real one.

“Easy there, Bambi.” Chatman joked, wrapping iron-like fingers around Adam’s arm. “Let’s go get you cleaned up and fed.”

“Briefing?” Adam’s voice was hoarse.

“Hot-wash (after-action review meeting) right after, but they said to take our time. C’mon.” The Command Master Chief directed him to another room.

Adam’s ‘suite’ had a large, comfortable bed (to his surprise), and a spacious bathroom that looked more appropriate for someone wheelchair-bound. Not that Adam was complaining, especially the second time his foot slipped in the shower and he had to grab the safety rail bolted to the wall. He’d been on some primitive-conditions deployments before, but nothing quite as extreme. After weeks of grit-encrusted skin, with no way to get clean at all and trying to defecate in a marginally sanitary manner, the SEAL took his time luxuriating in the feel of hot water, steam and actually using toilet paper.

“You all primped up for our date?” Chatman snarked when Adam exited his room an hour later.

“You’re just jealous of how beautiful I look now.” Adam mock-fluffed his hair with a neck toss.

“Jealous?” Chatman joked back. “You did look in the mirror before coming out here, right?”

“I did.” Adam retorted. “And let’s be honest, I make this look good!”

Chatman offered Adam a few choices from the take-out he’d brought in. After selecting, the pair settled down in a corner of the dining room. Chatman palmed a small device and thumbed it on. He stashed it between their plates, and Adam picked up the nearly inaudible hum of an ultrasonic sound dampener.

“Paranoid much?” Adam asked, between bites.

“Always.” Chatman fired back.

“What’s the gouge, Master Chief?” Adam inquired seriously.

“First off, good job.” Chatman began. “You found Morgan, found the others, and I’m guessing from your statement that you completed the, uh ‘Challenge’?”

“I did.” Adam held out an arm. “You want to test it?”

Chatman waved him off. “I’m sure the docs will give you plenty of that. How does it feel? Different?”

Adam shook his head. “Not really. A little odd when it happened, but afterward no change. The weird part is having things you can’t talk about, no matter what you try. It’s true. Even now...” He shrugged helplessly.

Chatman shook his head. “That’s going to make the hot-wash a little rough, but if you can’t, then it is what it is. Speaking of which, there’s some stuff you need to know.”

“Give it to me straight.” Adam instructed.

“Well, you’ve been so successful that we’re now into the politics of this whole thing.” Chatman warned.

“Ugh.” Adam grimaced. “Isn’t that Captain Bazhaev’s area?”

Chatman frowned. “It would be, but he’s not here. Commander Conley’s convinced the CO that he can look out for you in addition to his JSOC responsibilities. That’s your first problem. Do you know him?”

Adam shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Used to be Lieutenant Commander Conley of Gray Squadron?” Chatman suggested meaningfully.

“Oh, that guy?” Adam’s face twisted. “Ugh, he’s such a pain in the ass.”

“Yeah. And now he’s gotten it in his head that if he plays his cards right with this that he’ll get command of Gray out of it.” Chatman explained. “I’ll do my best to keep him from fucking you over, but do not trust him. I certainly don’t.”

Adam nodded. As the Command Master Chief, Chatman should have immense input into whoever Captain Bazhaev and JSOC picked for squadron command billets, but it sounded like there were other ‘political considerations’ going on. If there wasn’t anything Chatman could do, sticking his nose into it wouldn’t help Adam out.

“In addition, General Mcknight’s here. Personally.” Chatman continued. “If you haven’t talked to her before, well, it’ll be an exercise in memory recall. No detail’s too small for her, so you might as well tell her everything you remember. Every. Single. Nit-noid detail. But don’t make anything up. She’ll figure it out, sooner or later, and then you’ll be in the shit. She’s got one of those brains that usually means you top out at O-6, but she’s not a bad leader either. You can speak your mind, within reason.”

“Details, huh?” Adam mused. “Got it.”

“The problem, of course is that she used to command the Activity. That’s a much more officer-heavy unit. She may be dismissive of your opinion, and unless Conley steps up...”

“I’ll get steam-rolled.” Adam finished. “Throw me a bone, Master Chief!”

“How about this, then?” Chatman offered. “The JSOC J-3 rep is Colonel Nunez. He used to be the commander of Delta before Colonel Akin. From the way he’s been talking, Sergeant Major Ellis, Hull and Morgan are his top priority. He told me you earned a favor from him when you jumped right in to help Morgan out when you ran into him. Good job, not that you need to hear that from me.”

Adam stared Chatman right in the eye. “He’s my friend.”

Chatman nodded. “I hear you. Keep in mind though, Morgan doesn’t mean much to anybody else. Dr. Krasnov implied that Ellis and Hull have finished a Challenge too. That lowers Morgan’s value in their minds. Be careful how strongly you stick by him. It’ll only earn you brownie points with Colonel Nunez, nobody else.”

“Aye aye, Master Chief.” Adam replied tonelessly.

Chatman rolled his eyes. “You’ve been warned. The other players you already know, even if you’ve never gotten their real names. Colonel White’s real name is Lieutenant Colonel Tuiaa. He’s a Space Force officer from the Activity. Their CIA liaison, to be specific. He knows the original CIA case officer from Morgan’s project. Luckily for us, he thinks that guy was a douche, so all the reports painting Morgan in a bad light only make Morgan more attractive to him.”

“Good to know.” Adam acknowledged. “Where’s he from, do you know?”

“American Samoa.” Chatman said. “Looks like it, huh? I hear he’s covered in tats.”

“He’s a big dude, that’s for sure.” Adam agreed.

“His partner-in-crime, ‘Major Black’ is Major Brandao, the Activity liaison to the NSA. I will admit, so far he seems like the person who’s the least interested in playing political games.” Chatman continued. “And you know Colonel Chandler. Lately, when it comes to anything that might impact you or me, he’s been deferring to the General, or even to Colonel Nunez for some reason.”

Air Force Colonel Ishaq Chandler was the JSOC project officer for Project Everquest. He’d come across to Adam as a no-nonsense, but down-to-earth officer. He kept a tight rein on their security situation, but wasn’t micromanaging or over the top about it. He’d even fought to employ former special operators as security contractors, and made sure they carried weapons heavy enough to give them a fighting chance if the Chinese showed up.

“That’s the peanut gallery you’re playing to at the hot-wash. A whole slew of senior officers from across the community, and two mud-sucking enlisted pukes for them to gang up on.” Chatman finished, as they set silverware down and pushed back from the table. “I hope you’re ready.”

“Ain’t nothing but a thing.” Adam quipped as they walked down the hall. “Though I wouldn’t mind an occasional Ensign or J.G. to mess with. For a light snack, you understand.”

“Come in gentlemen, and grab a seat.” General Mcknight waved, interrupting Master Chief Chatman’s introduction report when he and Adam walked into the conference room and shut the door behind them.

“Chief Brown,” she continued after he’d followed her direction, “good job accomplishing all our initial goals. You’ve made contact with Sergeant Morgan, and earned his trust. Legitimately, I know, nothing underhanded about it. That alone was well done.”

“Or lucky.” Colonel Chandler interjected, not unkindly. “But we’ll take lucky over good right now, with an entire planet to search.”

The General gave him an exasperated glare, picking back up.

“You’ve even found the others we believe are over there too. So your luck,” her eyes flickered to Chandler, “seems to be holding. Maybe we’ll have to start calling you the Rabbit’s Foot.”

Everyone gave an obligatory chuckle.

She winced. “Okay, not as funny as it was in my head. But in all seriousness, we’re a lot farther along than we figured we’d be by now. So I’m officially giving you an ‘atta-boy’. Plus, are we to understand that you passed the ... Challenge?”