'Go. I’ll be okay.'
She did not move. None of them did. Trevor saw the concern in her eyes, reverence for her leader. Long ago, there would have been more. Now he only held her loyalty.
'That’s an order.'
The Dark Wolves allowed themselves to be led out of the room by the mysterious soldiers. Reverend Johnny remained.
'Hey, let’s go. Time is short, you know?' she said to Johnny.
'I shall not leave. It would take the hand of God to budge me from Mr. Stone’s side.'
One of the soldiers aimed the wicked bayonet of his weapon toward Johnny’s neck.
'Do you really want to meet God right here? Right now?' This 'other' Nina sounded exasperated. Trevor sensed she worked on a tight schedule.
Johnny stood resolved. 'I am prepared to meet my judgment. Are you?'
'He stays,' Trevor said.
'He goes,' Nina insisted.
Trevor glared at her and for a moment-just a split second of a moment-he saw retreat in her icy blue eyes.
'He stays. You say you mean me no harm? Prove it. He stays.'
Nina curled her lip and narrowed her eyes but it was not a pout, more consternation.
'Fine. Whatever. Screw it.'
She turned her back to them and strolled over to the control panel where she consulted with the dark haired, green eyed woman.
Trevor turned to Johnny and said, 'Thanks.'
'I’d just assume leave you to clean up this mess you have made but Master JB would certainly scold me if I abandoned you at this point.'
While the reference confused Trevor he said, 'I appreciate the vote of confidence.'
Johnny sighed and conceded, 'I suppose we all look before we leap on occasion. Particularly in affairs such as these.'
While they waited for whatever they waited for, Trevor surveyed the room in more detail.
Something akin to tree bark served as the basic building block with glowing crystals in the walls, a smooth floor, and those strange controls oversized to the point that the technicians working them seemed like children in comparison.
Trevor could not fathom the purpose of the place, but he felt certain that whoever this Nina may be, she and her people were as much interlopers as he.
A beep from Nina's utility belt grabbed her attention. She spoke into a small communications device, 'All clear? Good. Seal things up, we’re going to jump.'
Trevor and Johnny shared a look.
Nina spoke words to the technicians then returned to the two prisoners.
'Okay, we’re all set.'
Johnny asked, 'All set for what?'
Nina ignored his question and returned to the puzzle she contemplated prior to removing the other Nina. She raised her finger and wagged it at Trevor again.
'So anyway, what’s the story here, Trevor? I mean, I go out and grab Nina 'cause I figure you’re going to come to her rescue because, well, she’s your main squeeze. Right? Then I get here and she doesn’t know what the Hell I’m talking about. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her that you were going to come get her. Like, I think that shocked her more than seeing, well, seeing herself. Or me. I dunno. Shit, this is absolutely nuts. I can understand why she screamed.'
'Sounds like you don’t have it all figured out, do you?'
Nina went on, 'So I’m thinking that things are just, well, different over here. Or, at least, more different then we thought. I’m just about ready to scrap the whole idea and-shit-you come walking on in. So everything works out the way I planned.'
Nina strolled to Trevor and looked into his eyes as if there might be an answer there. 'So either, like, she’s a great actress and lied her panties right off or…' She peered even closer. 'Or there’s a really good story here.'
The dark haired woman-Jolene-interrupted the conversation. 'We’re ready.'
Nina nodded and told the men, 'This’ll just take a sec. There’ll be a flash; no biggy. But you’ll feel a little, well, dizzy after.'
'After what?' Trevor questioned.
Nina may have answered, he did not know because he could not hear. A loud roar filled the complex. The air seemed to shake. Next came the flash Nina warned of, as if a thousand cameras snapped a picture at once. Yet Trevor could not discern the source of the flash. It came from nowhere, yet everywhere.
As the spots in front of his eyes faded, Trevor felt a warm sensation across his body, almost like wind burn.
That immensely loud noise stopped.
'What in the Lord’s name was that all about?'
Trevor tried to answer his friend but, instead, fell to the ground on his hands and knees.
'I told…I told you,' Nina stuttered as she too struggled with balance. 'It’s like a really good buzz for a second or two. It’ll fade…whoa…I think.'
'Y-you think?'
Trevor felt queasiness in his stomach from the loss of equilibrium. He was not the only one. He heard the unmistakable sound of someone vomiting.
'Good God, what did you do? What was that flash?' Johnny asked.
Nina ignored Reverend Johnny yet again. 'We…we have to get going.'
Trevor staggered to a stand as his stability slowly returned. He saw the technicians hastily gather cases and pouches as well as jackets and weapons with an obvious sense of urgency. Despite fighting dizziness themselves, the members of Nina's 'crew' hurried to leave.
Reverend Johnny grabbed her arm. 'I asked you a question, woman!'
Nina eyed the hand holding her, mildly shocked at the strength of his grip. But the anxiety Trevor saw in her eyes did not come from any threat posed by Johnny.
Before they could exchange words, Nina’s communicator beeped. Trevor and the rest heard the panicked voice on the other end. 'Team One, this is Perimeter. You need to haul ass because we’re out of time!'
Trevor touched Johnny’s shoulder but looked to Nina as he said, 'We’ll get our answers, but we have to get going first. Isn’t that right?'
'Yeah. That’s right,' she yanked her arm from Johnny’s grasp. 'But we got to get going right now. I mean, right now.'
Johnny put aside his anger.
Nina pulled the communicator from her belt and made a general announcement: 'All units evacuate. Proceed to extraction zone for immediate egress.' She holstered the radio again. 'Now you two come with us. Trust me; you don’t want to do anything stupid. If you want to be stupid later, fine. But not now.'
Trevor agreed and said more to Johnny than her, 'I’ve filled my quota on stupid today.'
'The day is young, Mr. Stone,' Johnny shook his head. 'The day is young.'
Green eyed Jolene joined them. Nina led the group down the wide ramp. She set the pace first walking, then walking fast. They overheard radio chatter along the way.
'Command, I got movement at-' static enveloped the transmission.
'This is Kartright; I’ve lost contact with my outer ring.'
'Kartright, this is Command, fall back to-'
'Oh shit it’s RIGHT HERE-!'
Static.
Nina’s pace changed from a fast walk to a jog.
Johnny spoke to anyone who would listen, 'What in the devil’s name is going on here? Why are we in such a hurry?'
