Of Wolves and Weasels - Day 597 - Terror on Moonbase Alpha - Chapter 5, Part 2

Hey all, GoodShibe here!

So yesterday I completed Chapter 5, Part 1 of Terror on Moonbase Alpha.

If you're just joining us now, please feel free to get caught up here:

Without further ado, here's Part 2 of Chapter 5

Terror on Moonbase Alpha - Chapter 5, Part 2

The door to the room slid open and a wave of cold air slammed home, sending shivers up Jacob's spine.

A tall, athletic woman strode in then, she wore a standard DDF jumpsuit, white and tan with hints of gold - like the calvary of old, there was no way you wouldn't see them coming... but if they were headed your way, nine times out of ten, you were thanking your lucky stars.

She had a look about her, like she'd been chewing something distasteful for a long time but had finally resigned herself to the flavor. Looking up at her, Jacob had never felt himself under a gaze like that before -- it was as if, with that one look, she had laid all of his secrets bare inside her mind's eye... and found him wanting.

"Get up," she said, her voice was soft but firm. "We're going to visit your friend."

The symbol on her chest named her as Lieutenant V. Talon of the DDF Ranger Corps and, without thinking -- suddenly feeling like a dumb 15-year-old kid -- Jacob blurted "What's the V stand for?"

He felt his face flushing and he smiled a crooked half-smile, trying desperately to recover some semblance of dignity.

She paused, considering, then with a shake of her head she motioned out the door, "After you."

Jacob stepped out into the hall, his sweaty skin now covered in goose pimples and he found himself shivering in the chilled air of the base. Lieutenant Talon tossed a sweater his way and he caught it in an over-exaggerated fashion... he fought the sudden need to flex.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he thought. He'd never felt so utterly awkward.

"If it's any consolation, it's probably the uniform," she said and Jacob froze.

"Yes, I did and yes, I am," she said, anticipating his next two questions. "They brought me in because they couldn't believe your story but your vitals never wavered. I was asked to try and get a read on you."

Together they walked down the hall toward the Infirmary and Jacob felt ice-water run in his veins as the full weight of it hit home. "... so you read my mind?!"

"Not all of it," she shook her head for emphasis. "I just skimmed through the last 24 hours or so."

"Can you... not do that anymore?" Jacob thought of some of the things he had done in the last 24 hours and cringed.

She turned to him, matter of fact, "Jacob, I'm bound by strict guidelines and regulations on what I'm 'looking for' when I go in. I have no interest in anything that doesn't directly pertain to this case."

Jacob nodded, somewhat relieved - though he found the words 'no interest' stung more than he'd expected.

Outside of the Infirmary, Lieutenant Talon stopped him, a look of concern on her brow.

"Before we head in, I want to apologize that this is going hit you, well, like a ton of bricks, to be honest. Unfortunately, there's just no way around that. With that said, I want you to know that I have no power to force you to do anything against your will. Jacob, I need you to hear me and understand what I'm about to tell you. Then I need you to agree to follow me in there of your own free will."

Jacob nodded, feeling his body tense.

"Your mind is a complex lock. There are many, many ways into that lock - even without psychic powers. You and your friend have been attacked, something tried to brute force its way in... and that left a 'mark' on your lock. From the mark it left on you it lead me to Kara which means that these psychic attacks are connected. In a way, that's a good thing."

The Lieutenant shifted her weight, preparing for what came next.

"Because you're connected to her in this way, if you touch her, I can... ride on your shared connection to try and break her out. But, here's the important part - and the dangerous bit for you. We don't know how to 'heal' psychic wounds yet. Whatever attacked you, it tried to get in and didn't succeed... but the damage is done. Once we're in there, if it senses your presence, it could attack you both again. It's complicated... and dangerous for both of us."

She gazed hard into his eyes, searching for a response and Jacob saw real worry there behind them.

"Will you follow me in there?"

Jacob met her gaze, his mind made up.

Steeling his resolve, he said "Hell no!"

And that wraps up Part 2 of Chapter 5, I hope you enjoyed it!

It's 9:48AM EST and I'm sending positive vibes your way. Have a great day, my friends! Our Global Hashrate is up from ~1240 to ~1250 Gigahashes per Second and our Difficulty is down from ~14617 to ~13921.

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GoodShibe

Posted Aug 28, 2015, 2:00 PM UTC · edited

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