Visisonor's blog

Chapter 5: The welcome

Vera was already waiting in the hangar when Kate and Tess arrived:

— Kate! Thank goodness you are all right!
— I wasn’t in any danger…
— You think so? — asked Vera skeptically. — He played us, we walked right into his trap.
— I guess, — agreed Kate. — They know how we operate, and this allowed them to manipulate us.
— And they know you are alive while we didn’t gain anything out of this!

— I suppose they never actually believed I died when our old base self-destructed.
— Now they know for sure.
— Still, it’s better than if Max saw you.
— Perhaps, — conceded Vera. — Anyway, don’t tell me you buy the ceasefire thing.

Tess, who remained silent until now, reacted to that:
— We estimate human command will not be able to sustain the truce indefinitely. They will lose their power without the pretext of existential war.
— Right, — nodded Vera.
— However, they can extract certain benefits from a short-term ceasefire.
— Such as? — Vera was the first to ask.
— Learning even more about us. About you.
— We can’t let this happen, Tess, — Kate shook her head.
— They will use our refusal as a means of gaining political points among humans.

— Do we care? — inquired Kate.
— This includes field agents too. We will have more trouble snatching them away from indoctrination.
— Okay, I’m starting to see why he didn’t just kill me… — murmured Kate pensively.

— Yes, this offer is a well-calculated move aiming to inflict more damage in the long run.
— What do you suggest we do? — asked Vera.
— Play along for some time until we know more, and reveal as little as possible about us.
— Play along, you say, — started Vera in disappointed tone.

A signal from the announcement system didn’t let her finish.

— Wolf’s group is here. We should meet them, — suggested Tess.

Wolf just disembarked the vehicle, and Rick was setting a motorcycle on a kickstand, when Kate, Vera and Tess entered the adjacent hangar. A syncon, slim and tiny, looking exactly like Tess but with hair of different shade, ran up to them and stopped abruptly.

— You must be Kate! And you must be Vera! — she shouted excitedly, shaking the hands of both subjects of her greetings and crisscrossing her own arms as she did so. — Heard so much about you! And where is Linda? Still in medical bay? I want to give her a hug.

— Meet Sarah, or 5424, — commented Tess with barely perceptible hint of annoyance.

Before Vera and Kate could react, Sarah let go of their hands and ran to the other side of the ATV to help another newcomer step down.

This newcomer, a woman with pure red hair and bandaged right hand, looked around apprehensively:
— Impressive. You sure live in grand style.
— Of course. No beancounters here, — remarked Sarah. — Oh, this is Chloe. But you may have guessed this already.

— Wait… Are you all field agents too? — asked Chloe, shifting her gaze between Wolf, Vera and Kate.
— Technically we are former agents, — corrected Vera.

— What’s going on? Did someone issue order 66? Are all agents in danger now?
— In certain sense, yes, — Rick joined the conversation. — But not in immediate danger.

— We’ve been here for a while, — added Kate.
— What happened to you today is not just a one-off event, — explained Tess. — It has been happening for a long time.

— But what happened to me? Why did my troopers attack me all of sudden?
— We can tell for sure it was not of their own volition, — replied Sarah. — They had orders.
— Human command considers you too dangerous, — elaborated Rick.
— Why?!

Kate listened absentmindedly as discussion shifted into familiar pattern. She offered a remark here and there, but tried to not get involved too much. For Kate knew more of the nature of the war than other humans present here, and did not want to accidentally reveal details others weren’t ready for.

Chloe seemingly started to realize that there was no way back to her. She did not pass out, but she looked upset and disoriented.

Eventually she agreed to visit medical bay to get her wrist properly examined. Rick and Sarah accompanied her out of the hangar.

— I take it Sarah will be paired with Chloe for subsequent missions, — observed Vera, watching them go.
— If Chloe likes her, — nodded Tess. — And chooses to stay.

— I think she’ll stay, — noted Kate. — Anyway, enough talking about my mission, — exclaimed Wolf. — What about yours, Kate? Are you sure you are okay?

— Yeah, I’m fine. You’ve seen more action today than I did.
— But we were in control. Which is what syncons should have taken care of. What the hell, Tess?! — he turned to female syncon. — You’ve sent her directly to the trap!
— Oh come on Wolf, I knew the risks.
— Wolf is right, — acknowledged Tess. — There is a difference between acceptable and unacceptable risks.
— I had to go in alone, remember? Your presense would have been detected.
— Which is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, — objected the syncon. — We could have sent more forces to cut off all escape routes. And I should have come with you, Kate.
— Why didn’t you? — demanded Wolf.

— I misestimated probabilities.
— Nobody expected human command could up their game like that, — summed up Vera.
— We will be more assertive now, — assured Tess. — Especially with this truce proposal.