Memories - 14,025 Years Earlier
They took the stealth scout jet in fast, leaving rapid deceleration to the absolute last moment. It did not do any long term good for their jet or even their bodies, but they were in a desperate rush; the world was falling to pieces around them.
They brought the hovering jet down vertically, landing at the edge of a long deserted village surrounded by fields. The two figures removed their flight gear, jumped out of the cockpit, landed in mud and made their way to the middle of the nearest field.
'You sure it's here?' shouted one figure to the other, making their voice heard over the lashing rain and the dull thuds of bombardment in the distance.
'Stupid question,' was the only response. This was the fourth stop on their special mission and she had been exactly correct so far. The advantages of keeping the lieutenant around were starting to look rather weak in the face of having to put up with the junior officer.
She checked some details on her wrist computer then held out her right hand. She pointed her index finger and middle finger out, palm facing down. A small bead of light formed in the area under the end of the out-stretched fingers and she swiped horizontally in the air from left to right, dropped her hand and took a step back.
A second passed then a large clearly defined section of the ground in front of them silently sank down, stopped, and split into two sections that then slid apart. As this was happening she turned to the lieutenant with a look that said no further debate necessary.
The cavern that had been created was only dark for a short amount of time. Lights came on and a smooth white structure started to rise from within. She tapped a couple of buttons on her wrist and the lights went out.
The two figures stood staring at the structure; that in fourteen thousand and twenty fives years would call itself Charlotte. The figure, who was obviously in charge, walked up to a section of wall, placed a hand on it, waited for a door to appear and open, then headed inside. The lieutenant stood guard outside.
It was not all of the high powered corporate, government and military hardware and software being flung about the planet with abandon that worried them. They had taken every precautionary stealth measure they could think of and even then they would be regarded as an insignificant speck of a target if they were detected. Though, the lieutenant thought that if their purpose was discovered then everyone and everything would be after them. No, it was inquisitive locals, guerrillas, insurgents, rogue robots, hybrids and everything in between; which was not part of one of the warring titanic entities (societies, governments; or whatever they had turned into now that their masters had left them), that worried the two figures. That was why the lieutenant had to guard the outside, gun at the ready, like a soldier from ancient times.
The lieutenant was not having it this time. Her suspicions had started as early as the second stop on their so called special mission. They both knew it was not a true official mission. They were, after all, the ones who had set it in motion. They had acted very early, as soon as it was obvious that the last transport ship had left Earth, there were going to be no more transport ships and no one would come back to get them. They were going to re-instate a hidden mothballed rocket, escape the Earth in it, catch up to and board the last transport.
They would have to fly around the world collecting specific components and software; she thought these locations would all be at old government military installations. Her superior officer said it was a plan she had been working on for a while; as soon as she thought she knew which way the wind was blowing in regards to selection for the last transport ship, in fact.
