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 Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:10 pm
Captain Richard McMullard sat in the shotgun seat of a HMMWV, rolling rapidly down the road. Richard wasn't particularly clear on where precisely he was going. No one had explained that to him just yet. In fact, they had be rather insistent that it wasn't explained, and that irritated Richard. Being thrown into a situation blind wasn't something he was new to, but he never got used to it. Every time his skin crawled and he couldn't sit still wondering where the next bullet would be coming from. It was a feeling he detested, and no matter how much he tried, there was no way to resolve it. All he could do was wait until he got to the location and figure out exactly what was going on. He glanced behind him into the other seats. Two of the soldiers on his squad - Lt Liner and Lt Tomson - were sitting, obviously as uncomfortable as he was. They were fidgeting uncomfortably, and kept checking the chambers of their rifles, even though they had done so more than a hundred times already. Behind the Humvee they were in was another Humvee, this one carrying the other two members of Richard's team, Lt Hallard and Lt Monson. He could only imagine how they were feeling. Waking up as early as they had been, then thrown into bizarre action. Again, nothing new, but nothing comfortable.
He shook his head, turning back forwards. This was not the sort of thing he liked at all.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:11 pm
Cyrill and his men stood outside the barracks in the chilly morning air, their breath steaming. Cyrill stood about five feet in front of his men, and as the Humvees skidded to a halt he stepped to the lead car, pulling the door open.
"Captain McMullard?" he asked stiffly. After a second's hesitation, he saluted. "Welcome to America."
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:27 pm
Richard stepped down from the vehicle, returning the salute quickly. "What am I here for?" he asked immediately, decidedly skipping by whatever formalities might have otherwise occured. Liner, Tomson, Hallard, and Monson filed up behind. They were all in combat uniform, already armed and prepared to deploy immediately. They were clearly under the impression they were coming in explosively, or would need to very, very soon.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:16 pm
Kurtis clicked a button and the graph stopped scrolling. He spun in his swivel chair.
"Ah, Doctor Connor? A pleasure to finally meet you," Kurtis answered. "Okay, formalities are finished. What's up?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:22 pm
((Siiiign back on Joooooooooooooooooe!!))
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:32 pm
Cyrill relaxed as the formalities were skipped, reverting to his usual self. "Stand down," he said to his men as they moved behind him. He knew them well.
"You tell me. The US government has ordered me to assist you on a mission. Perhaps you'd like to review the details." He held out the stack of papers that he himself had received. "I'll give you an hour. Debrief your men, then we board the plane."
Connor smiled softly as he waved the young physicist away. He scampered off in relief.
"Likewise, Doctor Sewell," he said lightly. "Tell me, are you enjoying your time here?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:52 pm
"Oh, very much so," Kurtis replied, smiling. "I must say, this particle's behavior has some fascinating implications. It appears that..." he caught himself before he got carried away and looked carefully at Connor's face. "What I'm working on now isn't why you're here, is it?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:09 pm
A small smile lifted Connor's mouth. "Not at all. I'm always fascinated by what my people are producing."
He walked over to the station and looked at the screen for about four seconds. "Ahh, I see. Interesting indeed." He tapped the screen lightly and turned back to Kurtis.
"Doctor Sewell - may I call you Kurtis? - the European governments are all clamoring for my attention. Would you care to hazard a guess as to why?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:16 pm
Kurtis grinned broadly. "Something that was most certainly not a solar flare and behaved nothing like one?" he ventured.
((Random: That experiment I'm mentioning isn't made up; a machine that was supposed to be triggered by a quantum particle that could've but shouldn't have activated it has been demonstrated. I don't remember where the article I read on it was, though.))
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:20 pm
((Cool!))
Genuine mirth showed in a slightly wider smile. "That's right. Seems that something else was the cause." He handed Kurtis a small, sleek PDA with a data file scrolling across the screen. It was the feed that he had downloaded. (Post 2 one Page 1.)
"Read that. Let me know your thoughts."
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:28 pm
"Well now," Kurtis murmured as he read. "Well, well, well, well, well..." He leaned forward in his chair. "So he have, essentially, a wormhole spitting something that could be chunks of iron, or could be something earth may never have been exposed to before? I mean, I can't imagine we got very accurate readings on it, judging from what it's saying." He pulled a pen from his pocket and began chewing the tip.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:36 pm
"Accurate readings? You either overestimate our technology or underestimate this substance. There were no readings at all." He took the PDA back and slid it into a pocket. "We have no idea what this is. And of course, someone had the idea to ask us what it is."
He looked down at Kurtis and smiled. "So, Doctor, the question now becomes: will you come with me while I look for this stuff?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:40 pm
"So we having nothing on it? No idea of mass? Trajectory? Direction? And you have to figure out where it went?"
Doctor Kurtis Sewell smiled. "I'm in."
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:45 pm
"I figured you would be," Connor said as he turned to a computer that stood near the door. Typing rapidly, he spoke over his shoulder. "Your records and recommendations told me that you work extremely well as long as you're mentally stimulated. The way I see it, this should be enough mental stimulation for the entire world for at least a few years."
He finished typing after a few minutes and turned to Kurtis. "So. In this, we will be partners. What's your suggestion for the first step?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:53 pm
"Well, if we have no idea where it went..." Kurtis mused, "Do we have any reports of strange occurrences? in Europe? If not, can we find out about any such reports in other regions?"
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