Chronocide 0: Snowblind

They were given access to the Lotus. Not as extensive as  they’d been given in the future—they were sealed off of the temporary  R&D facility, and had to be checked at each checkpoint with a  confirmation back to the Head Office, but they were free to go.

Soteria  claimed that she wanted more time to get to know them, but the endless  work of a republic’s president called, something Knight urged her to get  back to in preparation for Hazel’s upcoming mission.

So now Simon and Hazel walked through postmodern halls as they followed signs for the Lotus 'Commissary’.

Hazel  looked around curiously at the ways that it differed from how it would  appear in the future. Not like she thought she had a strong grasp of it  anyway, since she’d only seen it for a day.

Hazel had  known all her life that ‘so much can change in a day’, but she’d never  really felt it before. Now, she was really grappling with it. Her head  felt full to bursting.

She squeezed Simon’s hand. “Sorry that I dragged you into this.”

His  hand squeezed hers in return. “It's alright. Hazel, you’re my best  friend…my sister in a lotta ways,” he glanced at her “I’d follow you to  hell and back. You know that.”

He took a deep breath “it’s a  lot, and it’s all I can do not to melt down–but if I’ve got you here  with me, then I can keep it together.”

The halls themselves  hadn’t changed too much in shape, though they had less of the pop art  colors, and more beige and wood-panels. An earthy and relaxing color  scheme that made the place feel more like some kind of lodge than a  military facility. 

She gave him a little smile. “I bet you can tell I’m having some trouble keeping it together myself.”

She  hoped, honestly, that he was the only one who could tell. Hazel spent a  lot of time perfecting her placid exterior, and she could think of no  worse time for it to fail her than now.

“Ohh yeah. I can tell.”  His thumb gently rubbed against hers “Don’t worry, I don’t think anyone  else can, but…I can see it’s getting to you.”

He smiled sadly,  “not knowing what’s going on, feeling adrift…and now we don’t even have  your mom to fall back on for her knowledge of this place.” 

“Yeah,”  she nodded. She paused, leaning against the wood-panel wall for a  moment, and pulling Simon with her out of the flow of traffic. “And we  probably won’t even be here long. A mission…

Simon leaned beside  her, brushing his hair over his ears with a nod “a mission and then, who  knows. Back to where we left? Far in the future? We don’t know, and  that’s…frightening.” 

She leaned against him, her  shoulder touching his as they held hands. She stared across at the other  side of the hall. “We have no idea. None at all. But we just have to  keep going and hope that it works out, right?”

“Exactly, we take  it as it comes and adapt. If what happened over the last few days is  anything to go by…I’ll be with you no matter what. So at least you don’t  have to worry about going it alone, huh?” 

“I don’t  know what I did to deserve you, Simon, but I’m glad for it.” She glanced  up at the ceiling, squeezing his fingers again. The pale lights dazzled  her vision. “I never even dreamed something like this would happen to  us. I’m not really a science fiction person, you know?”

“Yeah, I  remember when I tried dragging you to the Stargate movie.” Simon  chuckled softly, staring up into the lights as well. They reflected off  his glasses, hiding his eyes from view as he continued to chuckle.

“You  kept telling me how it made no sense. It’s not your genre. But heh…I  guess…stargates and time vortexes have more bearing on our lives than we  thought.” 

“Damn, it really is like that, huh?” she  said, shaking her head. “Never thought, but here we are. Heh. I’m still  stuck on that picture of Lionheart.”

Simon’s expression turned serious “yeah…me too. She looks so much like you, Haze.” he said in a quiet voice.

“But  not exactly…Soteria’s right, you got a lot of your mom in you, but it’s  uncanny how much you and this Lionheart woman look alike.” 

She nodded solemnly and slowly. “There has to be a reason. I don’t know exactly how, but I think we must be related. Like…”

She glanced meaningfully at Simon.

Simon nodded slowly, “didn’t the president say that she and your mother were close?” 

Hazel nodded. “I was always positive that the original Joy must have been a lost love of my mother’s…”

He  huffed a soft sigh “...given the current evidence, I’m going to say  that’s probably correct.” he glanced over at her, his eyes hidden in the  glare of his glasses “...it’s likely this Lionheart woman is your  mother’s lost love.” 

“I wonder if there’s some way we  can get them back together,” she murmured. Then she shook her head.  “Sorry, that’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Time travel parent trapping my mom.  Besides, she’s probably somewhere in the future anyway.”

“Time travel parent trapping your mom.” Simon repeated in a deadpan, before laughing out loud,

“That  may be a bit much. Honestly…she’s probably in the future catching up  with your mom as we speak. Things got bad for your mom because she  vanished in some attack, right?” 

Hazel nodded. “That’s  what it sounded like. So, you’re probably right. In as much as “as we  speak” makes any sense from a time travel point of view.”

“Yeah.”  Simon chuckled “but it’s a shame she’s busy…I’d like to meet her. Your  mom’s old flame, and a hero of this place too? It’s an impressive  resume.” 

“Same,” she nodded. “But maybe we’ll get the chance. Who knows how long we’ll be hanging around the past, huh?”

“Could be anything between a few days to a few months from what I’m gathering.” Simon nodded with a pensive smile.

“We’ve got a unique opportunity, Haze..”

“You have some ideas?” she asked, a slim, sly smile crossing her face.

“Well.” Simon stretched out against the wall “This may not be the world we grew up in but here we are in the 1960’s.”

He  looked over at her with a casual grin “Firsthand witnesses to history  in the making. That’s pretty neat huh? There’s all sorts of people to  meet, technology to see developed, media and music to see in its purest  form…” 

“I wonder how different it is from our own  history,” she murmured. “Your history?” She furrowed her brow, wondering  if she could consider earth ‘hers’ at all..

“Heh, ours.” Simon  said with a lopsided smile, “see, it may not have been ‘your planet’,  but if you grew up there, it’s part of your cultural identity. Gotta  wonder how different it is, though…the political structure and religious  ideologies are completely different.” 

She smiled a  little, and bumped her shoulder against his. Leave it to Simon to know  just what she was thinking. “Only one way to find out I guess. You ready  for this?”

Simon nodded, bumping his shoulder against hers in  return. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Can’t stall forever, sounds like they’re  sending us into the gauntlet as soon as they can manage.” 

Hazel took a breath. “Once more into the breach, and all that.” 

She squeezed his hand, and started back toward the commissary.

Simon  walked right beside her, hand in hand as they passed the increasingly  familiar offices and conference rooms that entailed this part of the  facility. The Lotus was sprawling, Hazel had heard there was actually a  small monorail service for getting to different wings quickly, but it  was neatly organized and signs were well posted.

A one stop shop for all your governmental needs.

Dead  ahead of them were the double doors to the Office of the Commissar, a  roll of tickets by its door for those in line to take a number. But,  Soteria had informed them, they had no need to bother with that. Time  was of the essence, after all. 

She felt bad passing by  the people who were in line for the commissary– especially when a few  heads turned to look at her in confusion. She gave them an awkward wave  as she passed by.

Not a huge fan of the special treatment, she thought to herself. But I guess it’s necessary in this case.

Simon  bowed his head, giving a broad smile to them as they eased past the  line and through the doors. Behind them , someone whispered something  about a couple of ‘choice foxes’, causing Simon to blush brightly and  slip inside.

The Commissary was a large room, a bit like a cross  between an office and a warehouse. Behind a long front desk were  shelves and shelves of uniforms, weapon request forms, instruments of  combat and espionage…

A number of colorful safety posters hung,  half forgotten, on the walls, flanking the single man behind the counter  who gave them each a dubious look. 

Hazel held her hands up to her chest when she saw him as a ‘sorry’ gesture. “Madam Soteria sent us, sir.”

The man sat upright, his eyes widening briefly, “Well, Well. I’ll be damned.”

Leaning  on the counter he looked them over. He was a young man, barely in his  20’s, with tightly curled black hair and a deep golden complexion. He  smiled playfully. “If it ain’t the heroes of the hour. Heard how you  took down a couple of those Collectivist bastards in front of half the  international relations team. Bravo.” 

Hazel felt her  cheeks flushing a little from the praise, and she shook her head.  “Anyone who overheard would have done the same. But thank you.”

“Hey, you’re welcome.” He said with a wink. “Now, what can I get you pretty ladies?”

Simon flushed, giggling into his hand with a wide and impish smile, “the works?”

“Afraid that ain’t possible.” he chuckled “Been told it’s one of those ‘bare minimum’ kinda missions, I’m afraid.” 

Hazel nodded. “No surprise there. What are your recommendations?”

“You’ll  want a sidearm, some radar equipment, maybe some NVG…” he listed off on  his fingers. “Not sure exactly what your mission’s gonna entail, but  you’re gonna want the basics. Binoculars, combat knife. Full body  infiltration gear, works for insulation against the elements and  protection, while dampening the sound of footsteps.”

He pointed  to Simon “you’re gonna need a communications uniform, and probably some  basic comm equipment, as well as a sidearm and knife. I recommend the  10mm 1911 Serenity pistol with a silencer attachment for our field  agent. Same for you, too, sans silencer. No need to be stealthy in the  comms room.”

Hazel looked thoughtful as she  reflected on the list. “All of that sounds good. I’d like a holdout  knife for my boot if that’s possible. What are my non-lethal options?”

“A  knife we can do, but non-lethal , eh?” he scratched his chin  thoughtfully, “we’ve got the mark 4 Peace Whisper, it’s a tranquilizer  gun. Operates on a gas canister to propel a dart dealing a payload of  sedatives. Might suit your purposes.” 

“How’s the noise level on it?” she asked. “Is it as quiet as it sounds?”

“Like  a whisper.” he grinned, resting his chin on the back of his hand. “It’s  about as silent as a silenced pistol, maybe a little more because the  gas mechanism is muffled by the gun’s construction and attached  silencer.”

“Sounds perfect,” Hazel nodded. She had no  idea how practical it would be, but she at least wanted her first line  of defense to be non-lethal.Somehow, she had escaped two assassination  attempts without killing anyone. That record couldn’t hold forever, but  she wanted to keep it as long as she could.

“Alright, I’ll mark  you down for a holdout knife and Peace Whisper.” he wrote on a pad. “And  the Serenity and communications rig for the pretty comm gal.”

He winked , making Simon blush again.

“You  want any equipment? Radar? You’ll be provided on the outset of the  mission with a ‘worst case’ pill. It’s a capsule filled with a fast  acting cocktail of poisons you’ll keep in your mouth , in a false tooth,  in case of capture by the enemy.”

Hazel hated the sound of  that, but she wasn’t about to complain. She avoided Simon’s gaze anyway.  “Alright. Tell me about the radar.”

She could feel, even if she couldn’t see, the shudder that went through Simon’s body and hear the sharp intake of breath.

“Radar’s  a finicky business. If there’s any animals in the area it’ll throw it  off, but…you hold a readout on your wrist. It’ll send out a ping every  other second, and any movement in the area will register upon it. It’s  not exact, but it’ll give you an idea of upcoming threats without  needing to radio to headquarters every half second.” 

“Hmm….” she considered for a moment. “Any drawbacks? Does it make noise, or emit a signal that could be detected?”

“A  soft beep that’ll feed into your comlink. Nobody’ll hear it but you.”  he tapped his fingers on the table “but…yeah, there’s a chance if you  get too close to a communications hub, they could pick it up if they’re  looking for it. It’s unlikely though.”

“Everything has a drawback I suppose.” Simon whispers, the subtle excitement faded since a mere few moments ago.

Hazel ran her tongue against her teeth. “Alright. I’ll take it.” She could always ditch it in the field if necessary.

“You’ll  be given ammo for the field, a limited supply but it’s possible you’ll  find a resupply if you hit an enemy depot,” he murmured, marking some  numbers on the sheet. “Radar, that should be all you need. President  says it’s not meant to be a long mission, just an urgent one.” 

Hazel  nodded, running over the items in her mind again. It was a good thing  she’d worked on her strength training. “Good. Sounds like you’ll have me  all set up then.”

“Yep.” he clicked his pen, and put it to the side “just gotta get your measurements for the suit , and your buddy’s uniform.”

Simon perked up a little, smiling widely, “what’s the comms uniform look like, sir?”

“Eager, eh? It’s cute. You’ll love it.” 

Hazel smiled at him. “I know you’ll look great. I want a picture.”

Simon  flushed, brushing his hair over his ear with a wide smile, “may I have  the feminine form of it if there’s a difference, sir?”

The  commissar blinked at him, “uh, yeah, of course.” for a moment he seemed a  little confused, peering at Simon before flashing a smile and waving  his hand, “anything for a pretty lady. It’s what I had ya down for  anyway.” 

Despite the other things on her mind, that made Hazel giggle, and she bumped her shoulder against Simon’s. “See?”

Simon  laughed, bumping back into her with a bright grin on his face. “You  were right, Haze. Alright! Let’s get those measurements!” 

—-

Ironically,  the dorm to which Hazel and Simon were assigned was the exact same one  that they had been– that they would be?-- assigned in the future. Hazel  wondered idly if it had been written down somewhere, and the reason  they’d been assigned that one in the future was because it would have  already belonged to them in the past.

Hazel was already  starting to hate time travel tenses, with one thing being the relative  past– her past– and simultaneously being the concrete future.

At least thinking about that sort of thing kept her from worrying about the mission. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

She  slept with Simon again that night, her lanky body curled gently around  his soft form. The rhythm of his breathing was soothing, even though she  found herself awake long after he had managed to find his way to sleep.

She  didn’t count sheep. Instead, she paid attention to her breathing, and  imagined herself in a field of flowers, underneath a spreading tree. She  counted the leaves as they gently fell in the breeze.

When Hazel slept, she dreamed of a single moment, stretched on forever. At least it was a peaceful one.

A  peaceful dream gave way to reality. A knock on the door brought with it  a pair of uniforms. A military dress uniform for Hazel , and the  communications officer kit for Simon. A note affixed to the packages  requested their attendance to a briefing in an hour…THE briefing for  their first mission for the Pax Republic.

A shiver went through her at the thought of it. One hour, and then…

She was determined not to get nervous. She would do what was asked of her. One foot in front of the other. She nodded to Simon.

“Let’s get dressed.”

The  clothes, as promised by the commissar, fit perfectly. Simon nervously  stood before the mirror, smoothing his skirt out over dark stockings. It  was a military uniform in pale olive, the Pax Republic flag plastered  on either shoulder over a ranking insignia.A thin yellow bow formed at  the neck of his white button up blouse which rested just under the crisp  military jacket, and trialed down into the matching skirt, and high  heels.

He brushed his hair out, forming it into a professional  bun, and adjusting his glasses with a nervous smile, “wish I brought my  makeup, heh.”

Delicately ,he sat a pale olive beret on top of  his head, it’s yellow ribbon accent just below a patch with  PRI-Communications Division emblazoned around a peace sign and a dove. 

“Too bad,” Hazel chuckled. “Maybe you can borrow some from the comms ladies?”

She patted herself down after she’d changed, considering her own appearance.

It  was a handsome uniform, light olive pants and the olive military dress  jacket, matching Simon’s in patches and designs, right down to the patch  reading PRI, Pax Republic Intelligence. Hazel’s read PRI-Agent over the  starburst and insignia of the Pax Republic. Where Simon had the pale  yellow ribbon, Hazel had a tie. Where Simon had the beret, Hazel had a  smart military cap with the PRI logo on its forward face. A smart,  handsome uniform like those she’d seen in the training manuals right  down to the incredibly shined boots. 

Hazel couldn’t  help the satisfied smile on her face as she wound her long, pale braid  on top of her head, and slipped the cap over it. At least she looked  amazing.

Whether or not she deserved to be in this uniform remained to be seen.

Simon took a deep breath, laughing softly “yeah, if I’m lucky I can borrow some from the comm girls.”

He  gave himself a nervous smile in the mirror, before turning to face her.  “you’ll do fine, Hazel. We can do this. I believe in us.”

“Me too,” she said softly. “And hey, you look great.”

---

The  Pax Republic briefing room, in the wing housing the PRI division, was a  large auditorium with a massive screen projector standing at its head, a  podium and stage before it. There were a number of people in the seats  ringing the stage…but not as many as Hazel thought there should be for a  large operation.

Politicians and secretaries taking notes.  Communications team members idly chatted while they waited for the  briefing to begin, Soteria Costa and her entourage pacing just behind  the curtains at the end of the stage…

And a pair of seats for Simon and herself at the front row. 

Hazel  pulled Simon’s seat out for him and waited for him to sit before she  did. She glance around the room at everyone in attendance. She couldn’t  lie to herself. It was intimidating. Action, she could handle. But this  was distilled anticipation.

Some of the faces she  recognized–there was a man she’d seen beside Soteria in the hall, as  well as Knight standing up near the stage. That woman, the one with the  sharp features and Uldovian accent–Stiletto, she’d called herself– sat  idly beside a handsome-featured man in a crisp uniform, his stripes  marking him as a Colonel.

Others, not so much, like the young  man a few seats away from her. He sat with his arms crossed, a pensive  expression on his face. Chestnut colored hair fell down his neck,  brushed back and away from his face, matching in color the short beard  he wore under pale blue colored eyes. 

She looked over  each face with interest, and tried to guess what they were all doing  here. What role they would play in what was to come to pass.

There was a lot she didn’t know.

A  man walked in, all skin and bones draped in a baggy white labcoat.  Shaggy dirty-blonde hair fell over his eyes, more or less half-heartedly  brushed, and a pair of sunglasses rested on his nose as he hurried in,  and sat with a huff at one of the nearby chairs. “Guh.” was all he said.

Hazel  glanced him over and raised an eyebrow. Must be a busy and important  man, to walk into a meeting like this disheveled and visibly annoyed. Or  maybe he just didn’t care.

He didn’t pay much attention to  anyone, not as he pushed his sunglasses up. He had dark circles under  his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep, and a notepad that he started to  scribble in while murmuring to himself. Hazel caught a badge glinting on  his chest reading ‘Dr. Renfield, R&D’.

Could be worse, she thought to herself with amusement. Could be Dr. Frankenstein.

She shifted her attention back up to the front of the room.

Soteria drifted her way towards the podium with a tense smile. “Ah, hello and welcome to everyone here today.”

Her  eyes scanned the crowd. “We’re just looking for one more support team  member to make her appearance, if everyone can continue to be patient  for just a little longer..”

Hazel glanced from the  podium around the room again. She wondered who they were missing. Was it  her partner? He had to be here, right? No, Madam Soteria said support…

The back door opened, and a series of clipped footsteps echoed through the mostly quiet auditorium.

“Ah, you’re here Doctor!” Soteria smiled warmly, “please have a seat and we can get started!”

Hazel  watched as her mother–looking no older or younger than she had just the  other day far in the future…walked into the room in her sharp suit, and  took a seat in the front row, pushing her sunglasses up her nose with a  soft huff.

“Sorry I’m late. My protege and I had to finish work  on the refined radar update, Madame President. It should be ready for  use in a week’s time.” 

Hazel couldn’t stop herself from staring.

There  was her mother, looking the same as she had every day of Hazel’s life.  But she wouldn’t know her. It was long before Hazel would ever have been  born.

Dr. Kovalenko leaned back in her chair, sharing a look with Dr. Renfield, who gave her a lopsided and too-eager smile.

“Hello, boss,” he said in a low voice, as Soteria got into position behind the podium with Knight standing beside her.

Hazel’s mother nodded to him, looking past Hazel, before she turned her attention to the stage.

Simon took a deep breath ‘hoo boy.’ he whispered, ‘here we go.’