Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Something Wicked This Way Comes

--Victoria Thompson's Penthouse--

     Miss Thompson has had a very long night, and is passed out on her couch only to be awoken by the sound of her manager entering the room.

     Maxwell let himself in with the spare key, and closed the door behind him, careful not to wake Victoria. As the door closed it made a clicking sound and she sat right up.
"I smell cheap cologne", she said. "Maxwell is that you?" -"Yes", he sighed as he placed the key into his pocket. "Thank goodness", she groaned. "I've got such a terrible headache".
Maxwell looked down and noticed a wine bottle in her right hand. "No surprise, really", he murmured. She dropped the bottle and tried to stand up, but she felt too weak. "Get me a rag or somethin", she demanded.

     Maxwell walked towards the cabinet and pulled out a rag, wet it under the faucet and then handed it to her. "I must be forward with you", he started to say. "Huh?" she groaned as she took the wet cloth from his hands and put it over her face. "I didn't appreciate that little stunt you pulled earlier", he finished. -"Are you angry with me?" she asked. "Just a little", he answered. "I didn't appreciate being embarrassed in front of all those people".
-"Well you deserved it", she snapped. "Just because that man wasn't rich doesn't mean you gotta treat him like scum". Maxwell sat with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes. "He was in my way", he said. "I was in a hurry, alright?"

     "Draw me a bath", she interrupted. -"Did you even hear what I just said"? he asked.
"Oh yeah, sure", she answered. "I heard you, I just don't care for excuses, besides he was kinda cute if you know what I mean". Maxwell shook his head again. "You say that about every man you see", he pointed out. -"No I do not", she argued. "In fact he was the only one who caught my eye tonight". -"Such a lie, and a terrible one", added Maxwell. "You also had your eye on tonight's poker champ, remember? The young blonde man". -"I did not", she argued. "Just because I said he should play against me sometime, does not mean I had a thing for him".
"You gave him the look", he continued. "Whenever you see someone you like, you express yourself in the same manner". Victoria stood up with her hands on her hips, and her nose in the air. "You obviously know nothing about me". Maxwell sighed and shook his head. "Forget it".

     The strange object beneath the surface of Atlantis, had been detected by the AMF science team earlier. This discovery was due to the fact that this strange contraption had been sending out signals as if it were trying to make contact elsewhere.
Little did the science team know that the signals traveled faster than the speed of light, halfway across the galaxy where it was picked up by a giant black spaceship.

It was the mother ship of an ancient race of aliens called the Zyrians. They were the immortal ancestors of the zentraedi, and the first race of aliens to ever make contact with the ancient civilizations of planet Earth. The head commander and leader of the forces, Zoal had become obsessed with obtaining a secret weapon called the zergyx. His first encounter with it dates back almost millions of years ago, where he witnessed its great power. It had been sent away by its own creators in fear of it falling into the wrong hands, and ever since then Zoal and his people had been searching the universe for its location, and many of these searches had been complete failures.

     Many times the zyrians wanted to give up, but Zoal would not let them, instead he threatened their lives if they refused to help. Even Zoal's own adviser began to realize what a waste finding the zergyx was, but he didn't dare to say it in the open. Zoal would sit in his chair, staring at the large monitor near his control panel, waiting for the radar to pick up any kind of signal that would take him to his destination. Several times he had picked up signals, but all of them were false alarms, but now his monitor was on full alert. The alarm sounded, but Zoal ignored it as he felt it might just be another false. Bhor suddenly bolted through the door and scrambled over to the control center. He looked up at the monitor, while observing the radar reading. -"Did you not hear it?" Bhor asked his commander. "This signal is incredibly strong, in fact it is stronger than any I have ever seen".

     Listening to Bhor ramble, Zoal decided it would be in his best interest to investigate. He stood up from his chair and began walking closer towards the monitor, his eyes fixated on the screens results. "Don't you see it?" exclaimed Bhor. "This might just be the signal we've been waiting for". -"It does seem rather accurate", Zoal commented. "It could be the zergyx, however I am not convinced". -"Perhaps a test, would be in order? Bhor suggested.
-"Ah, good idea indeed, have Kronus bring me our prisoner", Zoal smirked.

     --AMF Headquarters--

     Lynne stood in the conference room, looking impatient as she looked over at the wall clock. "I'll give him ten more minutes", she grumbled as she took a seat in one of the chairs and began to twiddle her fingers. Suddenly the entrance door opened and Justin Church stepped in. "You're late", Lynne scorned. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?"
Justin gritted his teeth nervously as he noticed the angry expression on her face. "I'm sorry", he sighed. "I lost track of time". Lynne stood up fast and stomped her food down. "Captain Grant and I needed your assistance with the space craft paper work", she continued. "We finally gave up and just did it ourselves, and assigned someone else to play test pilot". -"Oh shit", Justin exclaimed. "I forgot about that, I'm sorry". -"So where the hell were you then?" she asked.

     "Card Shack", Justin uttered in a low voice. -"Card shack?" Lynne exclaimed. "And just what was more important than your work?" -"I was gambling again", Justin sighed.
-"So I see", Lynne remarked. "You of all people should know that I won't tolerate this kind of behavior, not even with corporal sterling!" -"Am I going to be punished?" Justin asked.
"Well certainly", Lynne scorned. "Maybe a day in the brig will set you straight".
Justin let out one last depressed sigh as he exited the room, he knew where he would be spending the rest of the day and was not looking forward to it.
He followed a couple of guards as they led him to the room. It was no bigger than a jail cell, but with a comfortable couch and a stack of magazines on a small table. Justin sat down on the couch and grabbed a magazine and started looking through. "Have fun", mocked one of the guards as they closed and locked the door behind him.

     Brian had agreed to meet up with William Sterling and his friend Stan again, and they decided to meet at the Card Shack from now on. Lucky enough the same booth they sat at the night before was empty, so they decided to sit there again. William had taken a liking to Brian, for some reason he reminded him of a younger brother type, someone who needed a guiding hand to help them. Stan on the other hand didn't appear to have a problem with Brian, although he preferred not to talk to him. As William looked at Brian, he thought about asking him if he'd like to join the AMF, but the thought of Brian getting mad over it, made him think otherwise.

     Brian was actually quiet, he didn't really have much to talk about so instead he just relaxed and listened to the music booming through the speakers next to them.
"Hard to believe how much the music has changed", William commented.
Brian nodded in agreement.
"Used to all be composed with instruments, and now its all made by computer".
-"Technology is amazing", added Stan. "You can do so much with it, and learn new ways to use it". "But sometimes you can go too far", Brian said all of a sudden.
"You could abuse its power, and do more harm than good".
Stan laughed in response to his comments. "I don't believe in that", he said.
"When it comes to technology, there are no limits".

     Brian felt like arguing, but remembered how pointless such an argument with a stranger would be. "I guess", he replied with.
William scoped around the building, as if he were looking for someone. Stan had noticed and asked him who he was looking for, although he suspected it might be Miss Thompson.
"Justin", William answered. "I was expecting to see him here, but from the looks of it I guess he decided against more gambling tonight". Surprised by his answer Stan just responded with a quick "oh", and then went back to his business. "I'm kinda disappointed", William sighed. "I was going to ask him to join our group".

     Outside the Card Shack, a cab pulled up and Victoria stepped out. She was wearing a long green coat with white fur trim and a matching cloche hat. As she made her way towards the entrance, she noticed a couple of guys annoying a woman who was passing by. She could hear them asking the woman to donate to the needy, which she assumed was themselves.
Victoria waited until the woman got away from them, and then she headed over there, walking with her hands on her hips. "You don't give up do you?" she said to them. Startled by her presence they started rambling on like a couple of idiots. "Well there's a fine dame if I ever saw one", commented one of them. -"Yeah what brings you to the dark side miss Thompson", asked the other.

     "Business", she rolled her eyes. "But also the fact that you are soliciting on private property, while there appears to be a "no soliciting sign on that door behind you". The two men looked behind them as if pretending they hadn't seen it before. "Oh, now I see", one of them laughed. "Sorry about that doll face, don't send Morane after us, okay?" Victoria laughed and shook her head. "I promise not to taddle this time", she grinned. "Just make sure Maxwell don't catch you out here, he's a tough cookie and would surely report you to the man".
"You're too kind", replied one of them. -"Nah deep inside, I'm as bad as they come" she joked.
"Only my ambitions are sweeter, but still try to stay outta trouble will ya guys?" - "Sure" they nodded in unison. -"Good, cause it would be a shame to see your pictures listed under the obituaries", she said.
"And holy hell, does that happen often".

     Justin Church had spent the entire day within the confinement of the brig, but he wasn't completely bored. They at least provided him with some reading material, despite the fact it was old news. Justin heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door, and quickly stood up as he waited for the door to open. The guard entered the activation code and the door slid open, he then stepped in and escorted Justin out. "Hopefully, I won't have to do this again", the guard remarked as he let Justin out of the exit. "Shouldn't", Justin replied. -"Famous last words", the guard uttered as he closed the door behind him.

     As Justin started leaving the AMF base, he ran right into commander Williams. She had been waiting for him at the gates, and didn't look too happy. "I'm hoping you learned your lesson", she said sternly. - "Yes", Justin replied. "I promise not to disobey your orders like that again". -"Good", she nodded. "Well, I'll trust you for now, but that doesn't mean I won't keep my eye on you".
"Yes, commander", Justin saluted as they parted ways.

     Brian yawned, he had been listening to William brag about himself and the interesting encounters he's had with other people. Brian also didn't like the subtle humor between William and Stan, it seemed they were the only ones who found their inside jokes to be funny. "It's quite interesting", Stan gloated. "I passed the written AMF exam with flying colors". -"That's nice", Brian sighed. -"So lets talk about you", William interrupted. "What are some of your goals?" Brian was alarmed that he would ask such a question, in fact Brian was clueless as what to respond with.
"I really don't know", he shrugged. William kind of looked at him funny, along with Stan. "Well surely you must have something you want to do with your life", William asked. -"Not that I can think of", Brian replied.

     This was just the answer William had been looking for, because it would give him the perfect opportunity to pop the question about the AMF. "There's just the person you were looking for", Brian remarked as he signaled William to look behind him. William turned around for a quick glance, and saw that it was none other than Victoria with Maxwell walking at her side, both of them appeared to be heading to the game room for poker night. "Beauty and the beast", Stan nodded. William agreed and kept watching behind him. - "If that guy doesn't like you then talking to her might be a problem", Brian said. -"That guy can kiss my ass", boasted William. "And besides, he doesn't have control over what she does". -"She's rich and popular, how are you going to even get her to notice you?" Brian asked.

     "That's just it", William replied. "She's not like the other celebs or big shots, she's nice".
Brian rolled his eyes. -"Still doesn't answer my question", he said. "Yes", added Stan. "We are curious as to how you plan on getting yourself noticed?" "She is obviously unaware that you've been the one leaving roses at her door every night". -"I'll think of a way", William chuckled. "Besides, I can be a very charming guy". -"I'll believe it when I see it", Brian scoffed.
William watched as Maxwell started dealing the cards and caught sight of him glaring back. "He sees you", Stan said. - "Yeah, I know he does", William replied. "He just gave me an evil look".
Brian shook his head in disbelief. "What does that guy have against you?"
-"He doesn't like soldiers", Stan sighed.

     William noticed that Maxwell had left and took off to the restroom, leaving Victoria all by herself. "Wish me luck", William said as he got up and started heading that way. "This I've got to see", Brian snickered as he followed behind.
"Game will continue once Maxwell returns", Victoria announced to the players. "Miss Thompson", called one of them. "Show us some of your fancy card tricks". -"Alright, alright", she said as she put her cigarette out and grabbed the deck of cards and began shuffling them in a fancy manner.
"Wow", commented one of the players. "That's impressive!" - "Why thank you sweetie", she replied.
William had also watched her perform these tricks and felt the need to compliment her.
"You're very good with your hands", He said. She glanced up at him with a raised brow and chuckled. "Why thank you", she replied. "I guess I have mastered the art of card shuffling".

     "You any good at playing?" William began to sweat nervously, and noticed Maxwell heading back to his spot. "I'm a fairly decent player", he said. "But I'm sure, you could still beat me".
-"I've returned", Maxwell announced. He was annoyed that William was so close to the table and began to advise that he move away. "Unless you plan on playing, I'd step away from the table", Maxwell scorned. "Besides, I'm sure you are needed elsewhere, isn't that your duty?"
-"Whoa now", interrupted Victoria. "This isn't school, lets get along boys alright?"
William was angered by Maxwell's words and felt like punching him, but decided to hold back for the sake of being kicked out. -"I am not fighting", Maxwell told her. "I am simply stating the obvious".
"Let's go", Brian said as he tugged on William's arm. "He's not worth it".
William let out a frustrated grunt and started leaving. "Give a man a suit, and suddenly he thinks he's Lynn Kyle", he grumbled under his breath.

     Maxwell heard him and narrowed his brow as he watched him walk away. "I don't like that man", he said to Victoria. "I don't want to see you talking with him anymore". -"Excuse me?" she exclaimed. "Who do you think you are? Telling me who I can and cannot talk to, you aren't my guardian". "He's a soldier", Maxwell continued. "They cannot be trusted".
-"Oh applesauce", she snapped. "That's not an excuse, he's still a human being with emotions, unlike a rock like you". -"Besides, I like him, he seems like a nice guy". -"You women", Maxwell remarked. "You all act the same, spoiled and ignorant". "Oh, I see" she laughed. "Well at least he's a man, in fact if it ever comes to him swinging a fist in your direction, I'll gladly step out of the way.

--AMF Tech Lab--

     The AMF science team, had been debating over what to do in order to get a closer look at the mysterious object below. They were hoping they could set out and use some of their most advanced technology to dig it out or insert a camera below to snap some photos.
"The signals are still active", said one of the scientists as she sat in front of her computer.
"They've been active the entire time, but I still can't make out what type of signal it is".
-"We should notify officer Williams and Admiral Grant of this matter", suggested one of them.
"We certainly can't contact the council, or else they'd be all over it".
Just then one of the scientists picked up the phone and started to call Admiral Grant.
He answered the phone and his jaw nearly dropped as he listened to news.
"That's quite a discovery", he exclaimed.

     Lynne had been passing by when she heard the excitement in Grant's voice. She was curious as to what was going on and entered his quarters to find out for herself.
"You are certain it's not some kind of rock formation?" Grant asked.
-"Deep beneath us, you say?" Lynne moved closer to the desk, trying to listen to the conversation.
"So you want to send the team out for a private investigation?" Grant said.
-"What is it?" Lynne whispered. "What did they find?"
Captain Grant put the phone down for a second. "They discovered some large formation deep underground", he explained. "Wow", Lynne gasped. "That's incredible news".
-"Indeed it is", Grant nodded. "Our only problem is we need to keep this information from the council". -"Right", Lynne agreed.

     "Well thank you for informing us", Admiral Grant said as he hung up the phone.
-"What can we do?" Lynne asked. Grant pulled out a cigar and started to light it. "What do you mean? he asked. Lynne brushed her long bangs out of her face and took a seat before him. "Well if we're going to keep such a discovery as this private, how exactly could we let the team investigate without being caught?" "Hmm", Grant uttered as he narrowed his eyes. "That is going to be the hard part", he said. "Unless, we could come up with some type of diversion, a lie even".
"A lie would work", Lynne replied. "But it would have to be a well thought out plan, perhaps I could be the one to come up with such an idea?" -"If you feel you could handle it", Grant told her. "In fact, I'll even let you take charge of this entire ordeal, how's that sound?

     Lynne nearly passed out from the shock. "You mean it?" she asked in an excited tone.
-"Of course", Grant nodded. "Besides, you deserve it, you've spent enough time getting after our soldiers, why not take on a great challenge as this? -"Oh, I could hug you", Lynne exclaimed.
"This is just what I've waiting for, I'll even get Corporal Church to help me, that is if he isn't too busy gambling again". -"Well", Grant started to say. -"Well what"? she asked.
"Such a top secret project as this must not get out, so very few will know about it".
-"But please tell me, Church can be a part of it? He's one of our top scientists and it would be a shame if he had to miss out on something as magnificent as this". -"Alright, just him", Grant nodded
"But no one else, is that clear?" -"Yes Captain", she saluted. -"Very well", he replied. "Just see to it that none of this gets out, or else we're screwed". -"Rest assure", she smiled. "If there's one thing I'm good at, it's keeping secrets".