CHAPTER 18
Sunday morning was a bit brisk, but clear. Sun burned off the dew. Rich Dalton was up with the sun without any prompting. Everyone else was already about. Arnet and Sheridan had breakfast ready.
Spencer ordered, “Listen up! Commander’s briefing will take place while you get breakfast and seats, so keep quiet. No formal formation at this time.”
Elliott took over. “Thank you, Sergeant Spencer. Today is a semi-down day. We’ll be doing some camp cleanup, some administration, and some details. Stick around after eating and we’ll assign those.”
Rich stood up, and said, “It is Sunday. I’ll be holding a nondenominational worship service down by the rock near the north fence.”
Caswell prompted him. “When?”
He replied, “As soon as breakfast and the commander’s assignments are done.”
Elliott said, “Start that now. Chores can wait a few minutes. They’re on the roster here.” He indicated a very normal-looking rollup board, hanging from the awning post.
Rich grabbed his ruck and strolled down to the rock, and people straggled in over a couple of minutes. Caswell came along. The commander nodded from over near the command area. He was listening in as best he could.
“Doctors?” he called up to the scientists.
“I’m good,” Sheridan replied.
Raven’s response was pure ice. “No. Thank you.”
He just replied, “Very well,” and turned back to the group.
He opened with, “Would anyone like a Bible?”
Oyo said, “I would.”
Hamilton nodded. “Please. Mine was destroyed.”
SSG Burnham agreed, “I’ll borrow it, certainly.”
“These are exact copies of mine,” he held his up. “It kept me, and most of my element, comforted and supported while we were lost. I hope some of the wear and tear and warmth of it will help you, even if only as reminders of the wear and tear we’ve all been through here.”
He had a decent gathering, including Caswell and the captain. Doc was busy. Oglesby had never been very religious. Sergeant Spencer hung around at the outer edge. He was a hard atheist, but very supportive of his people. All the recoverees were present. Some were certainly religious. The rest were probably here to grasp at familiarity of their home. That was a perfect opportunity to offer them the spirit of Christ.
He started with Psalm 50:15. “‘And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’
“Like you, we were lost in time. Though our stay was only two years. Looking back, that seems so short, though at the time it certainly felt like an entire life. The uncertainty was tough on some of us.
“But I had faith that God would provide for us one way or another. If we were to stay, He would support us. If we were to return, He would arrange it. He did so for us, and He has brought us to find you and bring you home.
“I give thanks to Him for the experience. As rough as it was, I learned much about myself. I formed strong bonds with people I hadn’t known, and learned much about them, and by extension, all of my fellow men and women.
“We should seek the positives from any experience, to learn and grow, and glory in conquering the adversity, with God’s help, if we will let Him. I find I am stronger now against any challenge, calm and secure, and I pray that all of you will find renewed strength from this experience.”
He wrapped up in few sentences, and led a prayer. He was pleased to see that most of them did look a bit lighter and more cheerful.
The little girl was attentive with her mother, and seemed to grasp this was important. He had orders not to proselytize, but he’d encourage her participation if she stuck around.
Rich felt refreshed and calmed, and he’d helped others with their spiritual needs. Ministering to others was one of the greatest things he was privileged to do, and he thanked the Lord for the opportunity to spread His peace to those in need.
So it was very important that he walk back up the hill to that tent.
It was opaqued, but he assumed it was one way, and not silenced.
To it, he said, “Sergeant Lozano, it’s Sunday. Would you like to pray or read scripture?”
“Fuck off.”
Not a promising start, but he simply replied, “I’ll leave you alone, then. May God bless you.”
“Wait…” Lozano hesitated and sounded almost afraid.
“Yes?”
The man admitted, “I would like to talk to someone. Someone else, I mean. Not my group.”
Rich offered, “I’m here. Let’s talk.”
“Look, I have a good thing here, you know.”
He nodded. “I heard you’d adapted well.”
Lozano let out a short laugh. “‘Adapted.’ It’s the first place I ever felt welcome.”
“Oh?”
“That’s all. Maybe more later.”
“I will sit here for a few minutes.”
“Nah, I’m done.”
“That’s fine.”
He sat patiently. The Lord had made it clear this man needed help. He’d be as nonjudgmental as he could and wait for God to enlighten them both.
The sun burned off the rest of the dew, and the woods below glowed green with yellow tinges of impending fall. The ground was chill, but his clothing was warm, and the pully cap kept his ears covered. He watched his breath mist.
Eventually Lozano said, “You’re really just going to sit there, aren’t you?”
“I have no pressing duties until later. It’s a beautiful day. I can relax anywhere.”
“I’m as middle class as they come,” the young soldier admitted.
“So am I. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Yeah, but I hated it.”
Rich wasn’t sure where this was going. “I see.”
“Here I’m someone. A respected hunter.”
That was an opening. “Well, good. We did well by each having a valuable skill. Mine also was hunting. Do you go for those ugly antelope? Related to the saiga?” He hadn’t seen any around here so far, but maybe…
“The ugly nose? Yes.”
This was a good start. Rich said, “Yeah, those. A bit tough, but a good flavor.”
“You have to slow roast with hot coals and nibble as you go.”
He nodded. “We did a bunch of things. We penned some goats, too, but they kept getting out.”
“The goats are tasty. Young ones taste better. As they all do.”
“We got some milk and cream on occasion, too.”
“I do like having milk again. Even if it’s fake.”
“It’s chemically real. The Bykos have amazing ice cream.”
“Eh. I can manage.”
“Sure. That’s important.”
Rich sat for another thirty minutes, plucking at grass, flicking at bugs, examining some tiny pebbles with neat grain. Lozano said nothing else.
The man was obviously done for now, so Rich said, “Have a blessed day, Christopher. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Later.”
Well, that wasn’t much. But something.
He could follow up with Uhiara, who was glad to go home, eager to see his wife, and needed reassurance that God would not punish him for cheating when there was no expectation of return. He was a good man and, like Rich, his faith had kept him strong.
“Jake!” he called. “How are you doing?”
“Rich, thank you for the service!”
They could split firewood and speak of faith.
Since they had to account for as much property as possible before leaving the area, there was no reason not to continue debriefing at the same time. Much of that fell to Martin Spencer.
After that, he had to explain where the Guardians came in, and their society. That was less contentious.
“They have the ultimate sci-fi party world, but you won’t get to see much of it. You can guess from their field rations, though, what it’s going to be like. Top-quality food and booze. The women are amazing, and yes, most of the men are chiseled like these guys. You can’t see most of the technology, you just ask and there it is. The important thing from a personal and professional standpoint is that there’s no privacy. At all. Anywhere. They have AIs monitoring everything from the conference room to the shower. They won’t say anything and won’t intrude, even if you’re rubbing one out. But they’re there, and everything is recorded. So absolutely nothing of a military nature is discussed without being in the common area and after consulting with the captain or myself. And don’t do anything stupid because we’ll find out.”
They looked serious. Keisuke asked, “So it’s 1984?”
That was a valid comparison. “Yes and no. Literally everything is monitored for safety, but they have very strong privacy mores. A bit like Japan. They ignore anything that they’re not invited to know about, ask politely, and only review records for emergencies, or research under certain circumstances and with certain permissions. It takes getting used to.”
He concluded with, “So there’s going to be more in-depth debriefing, and we’ll try to give you some more useful info before we transit to their time. We also have to try to account for literally every piece and scrap of US gear to minimize problems with the timeline. Plan on daily PT followed by daily paperwork.”
A couple of them responded, “Hooah.”
“I’ll let Dr. Raven give you some nerd updates.”
She smiled and stepped forward. He left her to it.