Conflicting Objectives XXIX

John and his two companions - Martin and Andy - were not surprised by not seeing Alina with Rashid's group. While everyone was happy seeing them returning safely, they could not avoid questions concerning one of the comrades not being with them.

Obviously, Marlow would have preferred the nature of Boskovitch's absence to be kept confidential for now, but it was not possible in their current circumstances.

On the bright side, she either did not believe they would be able to leave the area or the structure of the underground facility was too solid for her to block the route in any way, thus reaching back to the rest of the group was less troublesome than reaching the control room, especially with John being able to disable most of the blockages, subsequently opening the facility to further, more detailed investigation.

Still, her actions clearly showed Alina had a hidden agenda for tagging along this mission, therefore it was a topic of utmost emergency to be addressed on a higher level, yet the crewmates also had to talk this through - not only to ease their minds, but this possibly could lead to John learning some useful, additional information that might come in handy in future.

Of course, he was hesitating to an extent as there was no guarantee other parties were not involved in this particular mission, yet - ultimately - he decided discussing this matter would give him more advantages than disadvantages.

Thus, he went ahead with giving everyone a summary of what happened after they split, skipping only a few things related to his findings, which were supposed to be included in the report for Ryan, and disclosed to more people once colonel gave his approval.

- This is a disturbing thing you just told us, John - Rashid was the first one to speak after they heard the story - I know that we had incidents and casualties before, because of major players being involved with their people sent for the expedition. However, I always say there are limits to how far you should go, and what Alina did is one of the lowest things a human being could do. Jackie was supposed to be her friend, possibly comrade sent alongside her, and she did something like that to his body - from my perspective, it was an act of profanation which requires punishment. Even at war, you should pay respect to the dead. Knowing there are more people like that among us makes me feel sick. I honestly dread about what such people are capable of, and I thought much better about her, which is even worse.

- Doesn't it mean she actually did a good job from the perspective of her employer? - Keira, with whom they re-established the connection, was also listening and asked once Rashid was done speaking - I don't support her actions, just saying that she played all of us so easily. Personally, I wouldn't have thought she was capable of betraying our trust like that. Sure, she had this sharp tongue, and it was sometimes hard to get along with her, but I considered Alina to be a capable and reliable person.

- Such people are the worst, if you ask me - Martin stated, still visibly fuming about the whole situation with their traitorous comrade - Even though she was pissing me off so much, I still counted on her. We helped each other a number of times, yet it turns out she was acting all that way only until she reached the target.

- I get it's all hard on us, but it shouldn't be the topic for us to focus on right now - Marlow decided to speak as the focus of the conversation was not really going the way he wanted - We should try to figure out what could have been her target and where she went.

- Well, I doubt she used any route leading to the main entrance - Moussa said that with confidence - We had a full visibility on the area around and no one reported spotting her, and our sensors had no constraints after you guys made the adjustments to security systems from the control room. I bet she went through some secondary route.

- Then, mountain range exit, right? - miss Evergate asked - Maybe we should send a unit to check the area? Not sure how much time it passed since she left you, but there is a chance she may still be somewhere in the area. John, I can reach out to colonel to get this done.

Marlow felt silly after hearing her speak - he was so focused on trying to find out Boskovitch's motives that he completely disregarded a possibility of still catching her, and getting this info straight from the person in question.

- Yeah, it's been a longer while, over two hours or so - he started replying - Since we spent around one hour on re-taking the control room, it was definitely enough time for her to exit the facility, but leaving the area is a completely different matter. If we send a scouting squad, there is a chance they may find her.

With that, Keira disconnected in order to get in touch with Ryan. Others, on the other hand, were still in underground facility, engaged in discussion about Alina, which expanded, touching on the events that happened in the past. John was listening to others talking for a while, hoping to hear anything useful, but most of the stuff people in his group were mentioning was already known to him. Moreover, there were no signs of awkward behavior shown by them. Ultimately, major decided that there was nothing to gain from continuing this discussion.

- Okay, has everyone rested enough to get out of here? - he asked others when there was a short pause - If so, there is no point in staying here any longer. Let us go outside.

The group collected all the equipment they had placed in the area and headed towards the main entrance they used for entering the facility. Owing to how John adjusted the settings in the control room, the way leading to the entrance was permanently set to a staircase, therefore the group had no issues whatsoever in leaving the area and soon got to the route leading through caves to their main camp.

- I need to go and see colonel McRae - Marlow notified the others once they reached main chamber where most people had their quarters - Feel free to get some longer rest. It's well-deserved.

- Are you fine going on your own, John? - Rashid asked with a serious face - You might have secured the facility's system, but Alina's case is a huge problem.

- No need to worry, I'll manage. In case we need you guys to help with anything, will let you know.

Andy and Martin looked as if they wanted to ask something similar as Rashid did, yet hearing John's reply, both ended up backing off and everyone went to their respective quarters.

Again on his own, Marlow headed towards the place where McRae was staying, and tried calling miss Evergate on the way. However, she was not accepting connection, suggesting she might have been still talking with colonel.

Once John reached his quarters, it turned out he was right and the two were inside.

- Good you got here already, John - Ryan welcomed him - Please, have a seat - he added, pointing at the one next to where Keira was sitting - Miss Evergate already briefed me about what happened. I have sent a scouting squad to look for Boskovitch several minutes ago.

- As I said, just call me Keira - miss Evergate spoke to colonel McRae - If you want me to be more casual, be like that yourself.

- I don't think it's the most important matter right now, but will remember about that - Ryan said that to her and turned to John - We spent some time reviewing the data you guys got from the underground, and - I must say - it looks interesting. I can see why different people may be wanting to get their hands on this place.

Marlow was wondering what they managed to talk about so far - based on McRae's reaction, it looked like he was already impressed, though miss Evergate received only portion of information John managed to gather in the facility. Even if colonel got full data Keira had, it was far from enough to properly grasp the importance of this place in understanding the alien technology.

Major had theories of his own, based on observations and additional information miss Evergate did not receive - John intentionally kept some details from the wider audience, initially planning to disclose these to the rest of his selected team upon meeting them again, but situation with Alina made him reconsider and wait a bit longer, until he got more clarity as to who could be trusted. This also meant testing behavior of people he relied on, including Keira and Ryan.

- So, what exactly picked your interest, Ryan? - Marlow asked McRae.

Colonel raised his eyebrows.

- Aren't you going to start with your own report?

As usual, Ryan wanted to stay in control, but John had a strategy already in place.

- Well, since you both already discussed about the data we gathered, I think it would have been better if you could bring me up to speed. I don't believe that talking about the same thing several times would be really productive.

McRae sighed.

- You do have a point, John. And I have to apologize for not waiting for your arrival. Remember that I'm a military guy, so I prefer to act than wait. Either way, we already looked at the structure of underground and systems you guys identified. Keira says this was a bigger settlement, likely created to host the crew required for operating and maintaining the facility, hence the key building was secured and stayed intact, while so many buildings around it got ruined when they left. This undergound place must have been considered a part of critical infrastructure by the original infrastructure, but the layout doesn't remind me of anything I would know, so I cannot guess what it was. The solid construction is sturdy enough for a bunker, yet you didn't find any survivors or their remains inside, so I doubt that would be a correct guess.

This short speech made it clear for Marlow the other two had a more of a chat focused on the fragmentary data he shared, and - quite surprisingly - it was not enough for them to come up with any strong conclusions. Of course, he could have expected that from McRae, who was an army guy, but miss Evergate was a different matter - he looked at her, thinking whether she did not have any thoughts of her own, receiving a smile in return. As he saw Keira smiling, John decided it was quite likely she intentionally did not lead conversation in direction that would allow Ryan to learn more, possibly because she wanted John to get to that point. Obviously, it could have been just a misunderstanding on his part, yet the situation allowed him to take full control of the topic.

However, before that, he needed to clarify was whether colonel wanted miss Evergate to be present for the further conversation they were supposed to have - Marlow remembered well, how McRae was careful when it comes to people with whom he works and whom he trusts. At this point, also recalling their previous talks, John could not be sure what is Ryan's opinion about Keira right now. Because of that, he sent a quick question via PEC in order to understand what colonel plans, and the man requested for miss Evergate to be included. Marlow was not sure what kind of change McRae went through, but - as long as he had confirmation - he could proceed with the discussion in a way he wanted.

- I could have expected that you would connect this place to some military facilities, Ryan - John started talking, selecting pieces of information he felt was safe to share in this place and time - While I cannot rule out the possibility of this to be considered as such, the layout of the place, how the placement of rooms and corridors can be adjusted, and the energy readings we captured, combined with settings allowing us to stabilize the energy flow, I would say this place is related to energy processing in some way. For now, I'm unable to say how exactly this worked, since learning more would require time to investigate better, but the possibility of controling the energy, adjusting the frequency and strength of electromagnetic waves, it could be some kind transformer used for energy conversion, a power plant, or simply a specialized facility that requires a specific energy output. It cannot be seen due to the rocks that piled up on the top, but the main buidling is shaped like a pyramid, and properties of such a structure suggest it could easily be a generator.

McRae looked as if he was doing everything not to smile after hearing Marlow's speech.

- So, you basically mean we might have found ourselves a power source? Can we possibly make use of it to supply us with energy?

John shrugged.

- Since it's an energy, it should be convertable obviously. Still, from what I've seen, this energy flows through the structure in specific range of settings, which we first need to understand, then check how it is transferred through, and how we can transfer it and adjust to our needs. Besides, we don't know what exactly is the source of energy, so stability of the supply is also a question.

- Either way, if people from different parties who interfere in the expedition were able to reach a similar conclusion, this place will be a tasty bit for them. We need to secure it, and if we are able to use it for our current needs, that's even better.