The engines of a Field Ops transport carrier roared as the pilot increased their power. The carrier was weighed down with two all-terrain vehicles equipped for a lengthy excursion far away from Sanctuary.
Bemused, Connor looked at Noah as the young man glanced out the carrier’s windows, watching New Earth’s latest official settlement becoming smaller as the distance grew between them. He looked as if he couldn’t quite believe he’d been talked into coming on this trip.
Noah’s gaze shifted to Connor and he eyed him suspiciously, reminding Connor of the eighteen-year-old kid he’d met over twelve years earlier. The long hair was gone, along with much of his inexperience. Connor had always liked Noah, and Lenora loved him like a brother.
“I thought you said this was just a short camping trip?” Noah said as he gestured behind them. “When did you get your hands on a pair of N-Class Rovers?”
Connor grinned. “It is. There’ll be a lot of camping involved. I requisitioned them last year after the discovery of the NEIIS capital city, but we only just got them about four months ago. The newer N-Class Rovers have better capacity and range than the models we were using."
Noah’s gaze slid toward the two Rovers. They were sleek at the nose, with three doors on either side of the vehicle. A large storage cabin and mobile lab was located behind the passenger compartment of each six-wheeled vehicle. The armored plating was glossy black, and Noah felt the edges of his lips pull upward. The Rovers were quite impressive. The roof racks already had equipment loaded onto them. “Field service equipment, perimeter deterrents, provisions for two weeks. Is this your idea of relaxing?”
There was a clang as a young man walked toward them, his large pack slamming into the rear corner panel of a Rover. The youth’s eyes widened and he hastily began wiping the area with a sleeve pulled down over his hand—a largely ineffective endeavor. If he’d been paying attention, he would have realized that Connor’s Rovers already had more than a few dents from the many excursions he’d been on.
“No new scratches,” the young man said.
“Good. Otherwise, I would’ve had to send you the bill for having it painted,” Connor said severely.
“He’s kidding, Tommy,” Noah said, and Connor grinned. “Connor, this is Tommy Lockwood. We’ve been working on the multipurpose protection suits you’ll be field-testing.”
Connor shook Lockwood’s hand. He was tall and lean, but the strength in his hands was that of someone who liked to get them dirty.
“Do you know where I can store my bag?” Lockwood asked.
“Go on up ahead and talk to Diaz,” Connor said.
Lockwood thanked him and left.
“What am I field-testing again?” Connor asked.
Noah arched an eyebrow. “The MPS for civilian protection in the field. They’re made from battle mesh that’s flexible and strong. The matrix of the nanofiber can be realigned and used in all kinds of conditions. The foundations for the design are from the Nexstar combat suits, but we took out things that a civilian wouldn’t have use for. Here are the technical specs.” Noah made a snatching motion in front of his PDA’s screen and tossed it toward Connor.
A technical specs brief hovered in the air and Connor used his implants to access it. He skimmed the write-up and then looked at Noah. “This would’ve been a lot more fun if you had made that suit fly.”
“Perhaps we’ll release a flying model next year just for you. We took out the suit jets to save on weight, but you can still jump a fair distance with it and land unharmed,” Noah said.
Connor pressed his lips together in thought. “Low-altitude drop?”
Noah shook his head. “No, of course not. This is for civilian use, and most civilians aren’t doing low-altitude drops.”
Connor feigned disappointment and then grinned. “I was just kidding, Noah. What happened to you? You used to have a sense of humor.”
“Yeah, and you didn’t for a while,” Noah replied. “I still have a sense of humor. Anyway, these suits are prototypes. We need to field-test them in order to get them approved for civilian use. We put them through some paces at Sierra, but the terrain out here near Sanctuary is a bit rougher. Also, if I could get a recommendation from you based on your experience with them, that would secure the necessary support to begin production,” Noah said.
Connor nodded in understanding. He’d heard that Noah had retired from the Colonial Defense Force and was doing research and development work on the civilian side of things for a change. “I’m happy to help you, Noah. You know that. We’ll give those suits a good breaking in. Now, let me introduce you to the other people with us.”
Connor led Noah toward the front of the carrier, leaving the storage area behind. Field Ops had taken measures to install some creature comforts on the carriers, which included a storage area that was separate from where people sat. They even had padded seats now, which made for a much more comfortable ride.
Sitting in the rearmost row by herself was a young woman with long brown hair who glanced up at their approach. She’d been holding a tablet computer and was reading.
“Anna Gray, this is my friend Noah Barker,” Connor said.
Anna looked at Noah. “Yes, hello,” she said and looked away. “I’ve met your wife.”
Noah smiled. “You know Kara. Were you on the lunar base?”
Anna’s shoulders went rigid and she nodded, then abruptly turned away from them and went back to reading her tablet.
Noah gave him a questioning look as Connor led him away toward a trio of men, but before Connor could introduce them, Diaz strode over.
“Noah! It’s so good to see you, my friend,” Diaz said and gave Noah a bear hug.
Connor smiled as Diaz released Noah. “Good you’re here, Diaz, so I can introduce you to the others as well.” The trio of men had stopped talking and were looking over at Connor, Diaz, and Noah. “Hey, guys, I’d like you to meet a couple friends of mine,” Connor said, introducing Noah and Diaz to them. “Alright, from right to left we have Gibson—no first name because he doesn’t like it, so just Gibson. Next to him are Trevor McCrea and John Rollins.”
Diaz eyed Trevor McCrea for a moment, and the dark-skinned man coolly met his gaze. “McCrea, you don’t look Irish.”
Trevor’s dark face split into a grin, showing a healthy set of pearly whites. “That’s funny. I was going to say the same thing about you.”
Diaz let out a hearty laugh and nodded his approval. “What unit were you guys in?”
“Flight mechanic,” McCrea said.
Diaz looked at John Rollins, whose cold gaze wasn’t quite a full-on glare, but it was close enough. “At ease. I was just asking.”
Rollins had a receding hairline, but what was left of his hair grew to meet his shoulders. He was clean-shaven and had a hardened glint in his eyes.
“John, we talked about this,” Connor said.
“Don’t mind Rollins. He’s just pissy because we made him get out of bed early this morning,” Gibson said.
The others laughed, and Rollins looked at Gibson. “Well, who wouldn’t be pissy with your ugly mug the first thing they see?” Rollins said and glanced behind them. “Now, if it was her coming to wake me up, I might be more agreeable.”
Anna ignored them and didn’t look up from her tablet.
Rollins shrugged. “But then again, I might not.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t wake you up this morning,” a woman said from several rows in front of them as she stood up and turned around. Her blue Field Ops uniform clung to her muscular frame. “I know just how to handle someone like you.”
Rollins looked back at her and made a show of shivering. “I believe you do, and I count myself lucky, ma’am.”
He then looked away, settled back into his seat, and closed his eyes.
“Good morning, Donna,” Connor said.
Donna Marten smiled a greeting at Noah. “I’m glad this isn’t a total sausage party. Maybe next time we can have a few more women along to spice things up.”
“Next time I’ll let you pick a few people to come with us,” Connor said.
“Are you still with Field Ops?” Noah asked Donna.
“I never left. Apparently, there’s high demand in Sanctuary for the best Field Ops has to offer, so here I am,” Donna said and gave Diaz a playful slap on his shoulder. “I heard you have four kids now. Is that right?”
Diaz smiled widely. “Number five is on the way. I’m doing my part for the colony.”
“I’m sure Victoria’s doing just a little bit more to contribute to that than you are,” Donna said, and Diaz grinned.
Noah’s eyes widened. “You have five… or you’re gonna have five? Where do you find the time?”
“What are you talking about? You’re married. You make time. There’s always time for some lovin’,” Diaz said.
“Yeah, but five kids,” Noah said in an exasperated tone.
“They multiply with water,” Connor said.
“Or some tequila,” Diaz said with a chuckle. “Did you tell ’em what we’re doing on this trip?”
“Of course I did. We’re going camping,” Connor replied innocently.
Diaz let out another hearty laugh.
“What’s he talking about?” Noah asked, sounding alarmed.
“We’re going to observe some ryklar activity,” Connor said.
Ryklars were spotted, cat-like animals that had two sets of arms—two powerful outer arms with thick black claws and two inner arms that were shorter, meant for holding their prey in place while rending it to pieces with their outer arms.
Noah licked his lips, and his mouth hung open for a moment. “I’m sorry, did you say we’re going to find ryklars?”
“To observe from a safe distance, yes, we are,” Connor said.
“Why would we want to do that?” Noah asked.
“To learn more about them,” Connor said and then held up his hand to stave off Noah’s next question. “I started doing some fieldwork observing ryklars that aren’t under NEIIS influence.”
Noah frowned and squeezed his eyes shut. “NEIIS—New Earth Indigenous Intelligent Species.” He opened his eyes. “Just remembering what NEIIS meant. When did you start watching ryklars in the field?”
“A few months ago. I began looking at the current documented research on ryklars based on what happened last year. I think there’s a lot more to them than we initially thought, so I wanted to document some of their behavior. We know how dangerous they can be, but we don’t know much about what they do with their time. We know they’re pack animals and are capable of complex hunting strategies, but that’s about it,” Connor said.
Noah pursed his lips in thought for a moment. “What have you learned so far?”
“They’re more than mindless predators, that’s for sure. I’ve seen them care for one another, protect one another. They definitely display curiosity about the world around them,” Connor said.
“But they still attack us on sight, right?” Noah asked.
“If we get too close, they’ll posture. But without any NEIIS signal agitating them, they’re likely to leave us alone. Plus, if I study them, I get to leave the office from time to time,” Connor said.
“Lenora told me you enjoy being the mayor,” Noah said.
“I do, but sometimes I still need to get away.”
“You keep curious company nowadays,” Noah said with a slight head-jerk toward the others.
“They were all in the CDF. Some still are, but they come to Sanctuary to recharge their batteries. None of them had to come along today; they chose to. They’re good people. You’ll see that,” Connor said.
A speaker chimed above them. “Mayor Gates, can you please come to the cockpit?”
“I’ll be right there,” Connor said.
The Field Ops pilot preferred to call him by his current official title. Connor had had many titles throughout his life—from a colonel in the NA Alliance military to General of the Colonial Defense Force and now Mayor of Sanctuary. Despite his initial reluctance about becoming the mayor of Sanctuary, he’d grown to like the job. He’d been doing the job anyway, and now it was official. Lenora liked to joke with him that if he wasn’t careful, they’d try to make him governor of the entire colony.
Connor entered the cockpit, and the pilot told him that a call was being routed to him from Sierra. Connor sat in the copilot’s seat and put on a headset. A small window appeared on the heads-up display with the words: Connecting call.
“Hi, Connor. Thanks for taking my call,” Dash said as his image appeared over the comlink.
“No problem. What can I do for you? I thought you were at a remote site,” Connor said.
Diaz entered the cockpit and stood behind Connor.
“I am, but the call’s being routed to you through Sierra. Lenora told me where you were heading, and I was hoping you might be able to investigate a location for me. It’s not far from where you’re going anyway, and I thought you might be interested in taking a look at this. I’m going to send over some satellite images now. Just let me know when you get them,” Dash said.
Connor waited for a few moments before the images appeared. When they showed up, he saw a landscape that had distinct lines of foliage, some of which looked to have been there for quite a long time, but others looked artificial. “Wasn’t there a monitoring station deployed here?” Connor asked.
“No, there wasn’t because it didn’t look like an active NEIIS site, but this is the second site I’ve seen that looks like that. What do you think it is?” Dash asked.
“I don’t see anything,” Diaz said.
Connor gestured to the loosely circular shapes on the ground. “These might be impact craters.”
Diaz peered at the image. “Impact craters from what?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Connor said and looked back at Dash’s image. “I think we can fit this in. Have you been to the other site?”
“No, it’s pretty far away, and we’ve just started looking into sites like these. When we did the initial survey, we focused on placing monitoring stations at ruins that had the potential to have working NEIIS technology. Now we’re looking at some of these other places and trying to determine whether or not we need to investigate them as well.”
“I’ll take a look around and let you know if we find anything,” Connor said.
“Thanks, Connor. I really appreciate it. I know you probably have a pretty full itinerary for this trip already,” Dash said.
“Perhaps we’ll see you on the next one,” Connor said.
Dash wished him luck.
Diaz eyed Connor. “I almost didn’t recognize him. How many of these protégés do you have running around?”
Connor smiled. “Dash is a good kid. He’s proven to be quite reliable over the past year, especially at going to investigate some of the more remote NEIIS sites. Plus, he gets to work with the new students from the Research Institute.”
Diaz shook his head and laughed. “So now he gets to babysit as well as explore. Well done.”
“He wanted the job, and babysitting goes with the job. Seriously, he’s come a long way, and he’s got a really good knack for finding things, so this trip might prove to be interesting,” Connor said.
“I don’t know how well this group can handle ‘interesting’,” Diaz said.
Connor understood Diaz’s concern. Some of the others on the transport carrier were trying to escape the experiences they’d had, and Connor still hoped this would be a quiet trip for them.
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