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Chapter 10

"Here's my report about it. But I won't criticize your intel by making you read it," Farah told Micah as she handed him a thin stack of printed papers.

"Basically it notes how we seem to be targeted," Farah went on. "That was the third bio-bomb that hit us, last night. And they targeted your base, too."

"Who?" Ulises asked.

"No clue," Farah said, "but they, or it, is most evidently hostile."

"Could it be the enemy?" Micah interjected, "Another base of mutated soldiers? Have they grown... intelligent?"

No one spoke. The silence felt palpable.

Micah turned to Oberon. "You seemed to have deduced a lot about the Biogen mutations simply from sight."

"Is that a fact?" Farah remarked and also looked at Oberon.

"Well, I am a scientist..." Oberon answered. "Alas, I fear you may be correct, Micah. I took extensive readings at your base. The Biogen is adaptive. It can grow smarter. It will cover this world in weeks. Days, more like."

"Who are you? Really?" Farah asked Oberon.

Oberon told her.

* * *

"I knew something was fishy about those bracelets," Farah said. "And other dimensions? Well. That's a whole other long report to write."

Micah noted how well she took Oberon's tale in stride.

"I do agree with Micah, Oberon," Farah said, "no more spying. I can't give you orders. But I'm giving them the order not to look in on you." She darted her eyes at Micah and Ulises. They both nodded in compliance. She looked back at Oberon.

"I expect the same respect," she told him.

"Understood," he replied.

"Our next course of action is getting the hell out of here," Farah announced. "We leave at daybreak. Get some sleep, all of you. That's an order."

"Where will we go?" Ulises asked her.

"Tomorrow," she simply said.

Micah had stepped just outside her doorway following everyone else when Farah spoke. "Micah. Wait."

He stepped back inside her hut.

"This Oberon... why do you keep him around?" she asked him.

Micah hesitated, then spoke. "We can learn more about the Biogen, and he can assist us in that endeavor. And these bracelets can be used to our advantage. He endowed these devices to us. He knows about how they work." He recalled the thick stack of Oberon's notes stored in his rucksack. He had been studying them during his spare time and before sleeping. He had been planning on doing just that before she stopped him. "Besides, we can't just leave him to the mercies of the desert."

Just then, he saw Ulises standing behind Farah. Then he vanished. He had only appeared for a split second.

Good boy, Micah thought.

"I order caution," Farah told Micah. "Your comrade's instincts about him are right on the money, I think. I suspect that the Doctor is withholding a lot more than what he's telling you."

"All of which is hardly my business," Micah responded. "It doesn't matter where he's from, or why. His actions have never suggested any malicious intent. He has been our ally."

"All right," Farah said. "If you say so. He'll remain your responsibility. I do advise having him remove his device from his wrist, as soon as possible. And maybe remove yours and Ulises' too. But - it's up to you." She stood up and gave him a salute.

"Heed Ulises' instincts," she told him. "You're dismissed, soldier. Sleep well."

* * *

"She's right, you know," Ulises smugly told Micah later. They both laid in their respective bedding in their assigned hut.

"Silence, you. That's an order. Good night," Micah said and rolled over.

Minutes later, he was stirred by light against the wall and ceiling. He rolled back over.

He saw Ulises, still awake and staring at his laptop. Micah sat up.

"What are you doing?" Micah said.

"I nabbed a copy of her database," Ulises said. "Oh wow. She wasn't kidding. Look at these photos."

"No, soldier. This is highly irregular. Purge the database and turn it off, and I'll consider not reporting you."

Ulises turned the laptop's screen to face Micah.

Micah saw a creature similar to what lay on the ground at his former base. Except on the screen, its muscular deep-purple figure was very much alive, and charging, its long claws extending outward.

He closed his eyes when he saw the look of pure agony on the former soldier's mutated face.

"Turn it off," Micah repeated quietly.

He wouldn't sleep for the rest of the night.