Otherworld

Part 1

"You all have been chosen for this mission. You were hand selected for your strengths and area of expertise. Everyone is important in this adventure. Stick together and don't wander off by yourself. Carry your weapons with you 24/7 until we know if this planet is filled with hostiles. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!"

Retired Army General Matthew Bearns looked out over the crowd of one hundred that was under his command. Less than half of them were trained soldiers, but everyone had received boot camp training. He shook his head as he wondered what he'd gotten himself into. He had been comfortably retired when they'd asked him to accept this foolish adventure. The only reason he had come was because he was bored and wanted something to do. His eyes scanned the men and women sitting in front of him. Most were paying attention. His eyes landed on the one person in the group that he wasn't happy to see there, Mrs. Bridged Callahan. Mrs. Callahan's husband Arnold sat next to her with a bored look upon his face. The Callahan's were rich environmentalists who's only purpose here was to make sure that the impact left on this planet was minimal. He was sure that the only reason they managed to get on this mission was because of their deep pockets.

Bridged was busy filing her fingernails and talking quietly to Arnold who didn't seem to be paying any attention. Arnold was busy looking across the room. He sat with his left foot resting on his right knee with his arms crossed. He was impeccably dressed in suede shoes, khaki slacks, and a short sleeved brown button up shirt. His brown hair was cut in an attractive style and he wore a pair of small round glasses that gave him an old fashioned look. Bridged's clothes matched Arnold's in color and style. Her waist length brown hair was pulled back in a braid and her green eyes hid behind a pair of round glasses that lent her an air of sophistication. Both she and Arnold had tanned skin from working so many hours in the sun, but Bridged's completion was slightly darker thanks to the Greek blood that flowed through her veins.

Bridged looked up and met Matthew's gaze. She stared at him from behind her glasses. Her gaze was unreadable, but it bode ill for the plans that Matthew had in store for this world. Bridged finally turned her attention back to her nails and continued speaking to Arnold. The language she spoke in was a mixture of modern and Ancient Greek. Matthew would later find out that Arnold and Bridged wrote in runes too in order for no one to learn what they were documenting.

Bridged didn't like Mr. Bearn's staring at her and she let him know by the look she gave him. She put as much icy dislike as she could into it before she turned her attention back to her nails. The file rasped over her nails as she continued talking quietly to Arnold. Arnold's attention seemed to be focused across the room, but Bridged knew him better than that. He was carefully listening to everything she said. They had a little game that they played when they were in public. People thought that they didn't like each other. They rarely spoke to each other in public with anything other than disdain in their voices. They constantly sniped at each other and flirted with the opposite sex. That's who they were in the public eye, but in private they were much different. In private they spoke to each other lovingly and spent as much time as they could together. Their sex life was amazing and they were very much in love. Arnold had come up with this game when they'd first started dating because no one would leave them alone. They wanted to portray a different persona to the public so that they would stay out of their private lives.

"Are you listening to me Arnold?"

Arnold looked at Bridged out of the corner of his eye. "I heard you love and I agree with you. I don't like the look of Mr. Bearn either. If we are to keep this planet pristine we will need to work hard." Arnold pushed his glasses up the end of his nose and sighed. "It'd help if there were some native inhabitants that we could work with."

"Don't give up hope yet. Just because the initial scan of the planet didn't show any indigenous peoples don't that there isn't any. Just look at how many undiscovered tribes there are in the Amazon. This planet is bigger than Earth and has the potential to house a large population."

Arnold rubbed his jaw, but Bridged was still able to see his smile. "You really want to find people, don't you?"

"Of course," Bridged hissed at Arnold causing those around them to shy away. "I want this planet to be everything that Earth isn't."

"That's one of the reasons why I love you."

"I know," Bridged said softly as she rose to storm off in feigned anger. Bridged kept going until something caught her interest outside one of the windows. She placed her hand on the window as she peered outside. Her sharp eyes caught the tiny movement on the edge of the forest. She hid a small smile as she the humanoid shaped creature fade away into the surrounding landscape.