Savage World (Babel Series Book 1) Read online

  “Sergeant!” He motioned Jazz to follow him.

  “Dr. Hall?” Tom called out on approach. “I'm Major Merrick and this here's Sgt Jackson. Are you ready to go? My lot can help with any equipment you needed loaded up.”

  “Major,” Olivia smiled warmly at the man. He looked every bit a Shark. Hard, no nonsense and highly capable. “It's nice to meet you both and yes, we're ready,” she indicated her crew behind her. Most of them had cases in hand and backpacks on, save for Luke. As her gaze went to the Rickman boys, she had to clear her throat before continuing. “If your Rickman is anything like mine, the faster those two get off the ship, the safer the female population of the Olympus will be.”

  “Boys will be boys,” Tom smirked, making no apologies for either as he spied the gunny gesturing his brother and a cute librarian, towards the hopper.

  The other squints were following suit, picking up their gear, preparing to board the craft. Some of the cases appeared large and unwieldy, too much for squints to manage on their own even if they were making a valiant effort to try.

  “Your people look like they've got things under control, but my lot will help, just to move things along,” Tom offered, telegraphing his eagerness to get down to the planet.

  “I've a long-standing rule on my team,” Olivia gestured to the group. “If you can't carry it, it doesn't go and if it can't be abandoned, it doesn't go.” To date, all her survey expeditions had returned alive. It was a record she planned on maintaining.

  “Good on 'em,” Tom complimented her sensible approach. He'd met more than one egghead who'd go into palpitations at the idea of leaving anything behind. “Still, might as well be useful, right?”

  Jazz nodded and reached out to take the case from the doctor. “May I, Doc?” he smiled. “I will be careful.”

  “Sure,” Olivia replied, giving Jazz a look that said his ass would be so much Gaian mulch if something happened to the spectrometer case she was handing over.

  Tom caught the look and smirked inwardly, his respect for the woman hiking up another notch. Anyone who could, with just a look, intimidate a Shark sergeant armed with an arsenal was a woman worthy of his admiration.

  VI

  Babel

  When the Firefly descended through fluffy, pale green clouds, she trembled, excited to finally be in the sky, searching out unexplored territory.

  Jules tore her eyes from the skyscape to the console as the yoke shuddered in her hands. Instinct and training told her the cause, but she checked the instruments anyway and found she was right. Atmospheric ionization. With a frown, she relayed the information back to the Rutherford, along with an order to complete a full scan, to ensure a larger storm wasn't on its way.

  Once the little ship dropped into the atmosphere, Jules headed towards the appointed landing site. Soaring over tall, tall trees and endless green plains, Jules noted that from up here, Gaia didn't look that different from Earth. Except for the clouds. They were a greenish tinge, reminding her of fluffy cotton candy from her childhood. A thought occurred, and Jules switched off the HUD. Yep, she grinned. Still a pale, light green. Flipping the HUD back on, the realization she was the first person to see their new home hit Jules like an avalanche.

  A near sob sucked her breath away and Jules inhaled to regain control. The elation was bittersweet and heavy. Chuck should be here, beside her. A deep ache squeezed Jules's chest at her friend's loss, hurting more in this moment than his absence had done throughout the last few months.

  He would be the first to tell her to get back on her feet. There was too much to be done, too many people depending on her.

  Someone in the back laughed, drawing Jules out of the darkness of regret and loss. When they laughed again, not even the hum of the engines could hide the contagious nature of it and before she knew it, she was smiling too.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Jules set the landing sequence and called back to tell the Major they were setting down. There was more commentary from the back, until a slight thud reverberated through the soles of Jules's boots. The others would have felt it and when she switched off the HUD, Jules had to take another minute to look outside on their new home.

  In the distance, white caps dotted an ocean stretching past the horizon to her right. In front of her, the sea marched right up to impossibly high cliffs and crashed against a series of huge, jagged rocks. Spanning out from her left was a huge, flat expanse of plains, covered with scrub and steppe plants. A river sparkled and emptied out into the bay in front of her.

  There was so much colour it seemed everything was in brilliant bloom. And she was the first to see it. Was this what Earth was like thousands of years ago? So beautifully raw she felt incomplete and primitive compared to the forces capable of breathing life into such an amazing place?

  * * *

  “We good to get off this…oh.” Tom poked his head into the cockpit to ask but was awestruck into silence by the amazing sight beyond the window.

  After waiting patiently for her announcement once they'd touched down and then hearing nothing but silence, Tom decided to investigate. Everyone was jabbering with excitement as he passed them by and Tom gave no cause for concern when he made his discreet exit out of the cabin.

  Once he stepped through however, he understood immediately the reason for her silence.

  The planet beyond them was breathtaking. It wasn't Earth and oh, how it wasn't. There were enough subtle differences here and there, but it was the not so subtle ones reminding him they were light years away from home. The beautiful vista before them could have been lifted from the pages of a fantasy book, depicting an idyllic non-existent world of sunshine, stunning forests and spectacular mountains. After weeks of looking at nothing but grey walls and even greyer faces, the explosion of colour was almost overwhelming.

  “Bloody hell!” He sank into the empty co-pilot's seat beside her, “Now that's something.”

  Jules simply nodded and glanced at him. And did a double take. “Oh shit.” She winced and shook her head, not believing she'd been so out of it. “I'm sorry, I forgot about everyone…”

  “Don't worry about it, luv.” This time he didn't bother to correct himself. “Seeing this for the first time would make me forget about my lot too. I never thought I'd see an ocean again. Didn't have them where I grew up, but I never forgot what it was like to see the Pacific for the first time.”

  “I loved the ocean.” Jules couldn't take her gaze from the window, but she was glad he was there. They didn't know each other very well but sharing the moment with him felt right. “My dad used to take me every year.”

  “I grew up on Ganymede and only saw glaciers.” Tom couldn't imagine what it must be like to have a father who was arsed enough to take you anywhere. “I only saw the Pacific when I was sent to Boot on Earth.”

  Tom glanced her way and was struck by the expression on her face. Her almost hazel eyes sparkled and the smile tugging at her lips was both sad and haunting at the same time. It plucked at the strings of his heart and made him want to wrap her up in his arms, so they could lean back and just take it all in, like a pair of kids admiring a starry night.

  Oi Fuck Knuckle! Get your head back in the game!

  The reproachful voice of Dr. ill Sergeant Wayne 'Pod' Barnes barked in his head, reminding Tom with jackbooted precision, he was on mission. Pod, as he was known to the recruits of Kapooka Army Base, was the hardest bastard Tom ever met. Called Pod, short for Prince of Darkness, the man-made Tom appear positively cuddly.

  Dispelling his love-struck mooning about the Captain, Tom cleared his throat and reminded himself they were on an alien planet on an extremely high-risk mission and he needed his faculties intact. There would be time to offer her a beer and a shag after this was all said and done.

  “Right then luv. Want to open hailing frequencies and tell the Olympus we landed here safe? I'll go get the Sharks and squints ready for deployment.”

  “Now, that's an idea,” she chuckle
d, glancing at him. So far, he was proving to be different than what she expected. Sure, he wore the tough Shark persona like a second skin but there was a shadow of something more beneath it. She smiled slightly and turned back to the console with the moment dissipating. “All right, so atmo is breathable, which we knew.” Always good to have a second opinion when it came to breathing. “No one's wearing a red shirt under their uniform, right?”

  “No red shirts in my team,” Tom replied, still admiring the view outside. In retrospect, it was almost as mesmerising as the view inside the cockpit. Once again, the comment about red shirts reminded him this was an alien world capable of killing them a dozen ways before sundown.

  “Olympus, this is the Firefly,” Jules hailed the flagship as he left her to it and made his way out of the cockpit. “We are on the ground at latitude 170 west, longitude 160 north. 1002 hours, sierra tango.” An answer would take a minute or two to come, so she initiated the shuttle's sleeper mode to conserve energy. When it was done, she checked the clock, noting the time. Nearly five minutes. Was the Olympus crew asleep? She reached for the link again when it went live, making her jump with a start.

  “Copy Firefly. 1005 Sierra Tango.”

  Finally. “Be advised we are exiting the hopper under protocol. Sending reports every thirty mikes. Sierra Tango 1006 hours. Firefly out.”

  When the response didn't come back right away, Jules frowned before chalking it up to some signal lag.

  “Copy that, keep your eyes open.”

  Oh, that wouldn't be a problem, Jules snorted. She hopped to her feet, grabbed her pack, and headed down the corridor to the others. Really, she wanted to sit and stare at the scenery some more but that would bring Major Hotness back here and then they'd both be ensnared by the planet's beauty. That would definitely inspire confidence. Not.

  * * *

  When she entered the carrier compartment, the Sharks were in full roll-out mode, so Jules turned her attention to her pack. While not as heavy as a Shark's, Jules carried a survival kit, protein bars for food, (chicken a la king her ass), and a water zapper among other things. Removing her sidearm and its holster from the pack, she quickly strapped it into place around her thigh.

  Reminded of what was agreed between them regarding who was in charge down here, Tom made his way to the leader of the expedition.

  “Dr. Hall, you ought to be the first one out. We'll still be escorting you, but it will look better in the history books. Once we've had a look about and established a campsite, your team can get set up to do their bit.”

  “Thank you, Major,” Olivia grinned at him, teeth brilliantly white against her dark skin. “I could care less what the history books say, but I don't mind sharing,” she teased before turning to her team. “Do you hear that, ladies and gents?” Olivia raised her voice to make sure they all heard her. “There will be no movement until the Sharks give us the go. If you do not listen…” She nailed Luke with a raised eyebrow. “And you survive, I will make you suffer.”

  Luke opened his mouth to speak but Tammy slapped a palm across his lips and pinned him with 'the look', something only girls with brains (or moms) could do with surprising effectiveness. “Behave.” She said simply, and Luke exhaled sharply in surrender before she really got surly. Doctor Hall's 'punishments' for not listening or letting eagerness override safety were notorious.

  Noting the movement, Derick cocked an eyebrow at his brother over Tamara's head. 'Whipped', he mouthed at Luke before continuing. “Alpha Squad, you're on guard duty. Beta Squad, I want a 25-yard perimeter set up!” He swept his gaze over his teams, resolutely not lingering on Ren Richards or yet another errant curl escaping her efforts.

  As the squad leaders called out their responses, Maya took the opportunity to poke Jag in the shoulder. “Oi! You heard the woman. No stepping in sinkholes, yeah?”

  Ozzy snickered, and Linus was right behind him with a snort.

  Maya fixed them both with a glare. “Oi, you two, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dunce, no touching yourself after you fondled unidentified plants this time!”

  Ozzy and Linus were the terrible twins, feeding off each other, and she didn't like anyone picking on Jag but her. Well, Ren was allowed of course.

  “Hey!” Ozzy glowered at her and tossed his friend an odd look. “What happened to patient/medic privilege?”

  “Oh, I say it ended when we all saw you scratching your nuts like a cocker spaniel with fleas,” Corporal Cori Harwood of Beta squad smirked.

  “No shit,” Ren fist bumped Cori at that. Like everyone else, Ren was eager to get out and see the world to be their new home, not to mention some alone time with her razor. “Come on, let's get going, there's grooming to be done.”

  “You got a hot date with your rifle Richards?” Ozzy cracked, winking at her. Beside him, Linus stifled a snort until both of their heads jerked forward under a solid 'thwack'. Ozzy swore, rounding on whoever hit him but froze when he met with a glowering Gunny. “Oh…uh…”

  “Uh is right,” Derick retorted, shoving past Ozzy into the middle of the group. While his unit teased and roasted each other all the time, Ozzy tended to get too personal (and take things too personal) and Maya had been out of line. He'd talk to her later. While Ren could handle herself, he intervened before someone got shot. He wasn't even going to give any thought to how much Ozzy's digs at Ren rankled him. Not right now, anyway. “If Annie shoots you, I have to fill out the paperwork and then I'm down two good soldiers.”

  “Two?” Ren didn't give Ozzy that much credit. “Sure, whatever you say.”

  Nevertheless, she did flash Derick a brief smile of gratitude before she went off to help Maya who was trying to deal with a dangling strap on a hard to reach place on her pack. She could see Colin itching to help the medic and wanted to spare them the crap they'd get from the rest of the Sharks if he was seen doing it. Everyone knew the two were an item but for the sake of Gunny and Sarge's sanity, it was best if they kept it discreet.

  “Bloody… mother… of a goat…” Maya swore under her breath, one hand scrabbling for the strap in question. When she felt the weight of her pack lift, she grabbed it and turned to Ren. “Thanks, mate.”

  “No trouble,” she replied and then regarded the Major who'd just returned from the cockpit and the Captain with the undoubtedly shaved legs. “Sir, we're heading out? Me and Mayday got our dancing shoes on!”

  Tom kept his game face on, but his tone was light. “Keep your knickers on, Orphan Annie. Gunny, you and me are going to escort Dr. Hall outside for a look about. Captain,” he turned to Jules, “you mind watching the squints, so they don't wander off?”

  “I think I can handle it,” Jules exchanged an amused glance with Dr. Hall. “Don't be long or I'll send them out to search for you and I'll make sure to tell the other Shark units.” Said squints would probably use all their gear and locate the Sharks within minutes anyway. Maybe she wouldn't tell the other Sharks but she sure as hell wouldn't let Tom live it down, either.

  Tom cracked a grin.

  Ren rolled her eyes. Typical.

  “Right then, Doctor Hall,” he turned his attention to the woman who was going to make history if this world was everything they hoped it to be. “Ladies first.”

  “I see chivalry isn't dead,” Olivia smirked at the Marine. She'd meant what she'd said earlier. She really didn't care who put boots on the ground first, but she was grateful for Major Merrick's consideration. For someone that looked like the human version of a junk yard dog, there was more to the man than he let on. “All right, let's get this show started.”

  * * *

  The change in air pressure made Olivia's ears pop as the outer door of the main hatch unsealed. Sunlight stabbed her in the eyes as a soft, fragrant breeze rushed into the shuttle, as if welcoming them. Inhaling deeply, Olivia let it out slowly, savouring every bit of virgin, crisp air. Like the rest of the fleet, she was starved for fresh air and the slightly cool wind that washed over her exposed skin felt delicious.
r />   We'll never be able to say the sky is blue again, Olivia thought, squinting at the pale green sky and the languid, lime-coloured clouds before she moved onto the lowered ramp. All her training babbled on about how the colour was due to atmospheric conditions, water vapour, and light spectrums but the little girl hidden deep inside was thinking how much it looked like her grandmother's sea foam divinity.

  Captain Curran had put them down on the edge of the plains, several hundred yards from a river gorge. In the distance, where the gorge snaked off to the horizon, it was lined with massive copses of trees as big as Redwoods but bore some resemblance to eucalyptus.

  “Gentlemen,” she didn't look at the Shark major or his gunnery sergeant, too entranced by the view. “Shall we?”

  “After you, Doc.”

  Tom, like Derick next to him, was basking in the view. This was going to be home and it was beautiful. Earlier in the cockpit, he was distracted with Jules but now, seeing it up close, he marvelled at what lay before him. After the last six months in space, Tom would be content to spend the rest of his life on this world without ever logging another second of space time again.

  The doctor descended the ramp, and for posterity's sake, the two Sharks remained one step behind her for the occasion, but no farther than that. For all its beauty, this was an alien world and her safety were Tom's primary concern.

  Despite the fact, she had several exploratory missions under her belt, the thrill of stepping foot onto a new planet never got old. For a split second, Olivia was Buck Rogers or John Creighton or even Diana Prince, stepping forth to the unknown. Silly, but once upon a time this had only been a dream. Smiling to herself, Olivia unclipped her slate and stepped off the ramp. Her boot sank slightly into the loamy, moist soil as a faraway ca-caw echoed faintly.

  Fanning out to stand beside the hatch, Derick breathed in deeply. No body odour or sweat, no fear, no overtasked sanitation facilities. Just fresh, fresh air. He took another deep breath, and another, feeling healthy for the first time in months. Around them, fragrant flowers bloomed from various plants and the scent reminded him of his and Luke's mother, Susannah. A master botanist, she would have been ecstatic by this. Loss squeezed his chest, making Derick shut his eyes for a brief second before giving himself a shake and checking the bio-scanner strapped to his wrist.