Chapter Two- Year: 2505, Location: Unknown Planet: Earth.
Aaron awoke with a jolt and found he couldn't open his eyes. Where was he? Last thing he remembered was fainting, then complete blackness.
He soon realized he couldn't breathe, either. He forced his right hand through whatever was holding him down and gasped, trying to breath. Instead of air, sand filled his mouth and he started to choke. Forcing himself upright, his head and torso popped right out of a shallow hole.
"What the...."
Aaron looked around and saw the moon staring back at him. He glanced down and saw he was in a grave, from his hips down to his toes. Jumping up, he almost fell back down from fatigue.
He quickly gathered that the other three must have buried him to keep his body safe until he conscious.
Tilting his stiff neck side to side, Aaron looked around for his duffel bag which he found covered with brush on the edge of forest a few yards away.
Unsteadily he rose to his feet and slowly walked toward the bag.
When he unzipped it, he found all his stuff intact.
He quickly undid his body suit and rummaged around in the bags contents.
Aaron smirked as he pulled out the clothes he had asked Thompson for. He yanked on a pair of army issued cammo pants and a white tshirt and clipped a thick, sturdy belt around his waist that held his gun, ammunition and whatever else he might need.
Aaron reached in once more to grab pair of fingerless gloves and a bandanna and put them on as well. It felt sorta nostalgic...
The night was young and as he surveyed the sky, he chose to try to follow his team members. Hopefully they weren't too far ahead...
Aaron found tracks a short distance away from his grave leading in to the thick brush. He stretched his consciousness into the night. He half expected pain but it was absent.
He let out a burst of laughter at his discovery. He forgot how much he had missed this...
Aaron carefully felt under his hair for the scar at the base of his head and inhaled sharply at the sharp stab of pain. He looked at his fingertips and saw them stained in blood colored sand.
Aaron quickly cleaned the small wound to insure no infection and gritted his teeth at the sting. He reached out again with his mind, relishing the freedom he now again possessed. It wouldn't be impossible to find the others now, and he located the signs to track them with ease.
Aaron slung his pack over his arms and started to jog into the overgrown forest, fully confident that his arrival would set the others over the edge, especially Phoenix. Smiling to himself, he disappeared silently into the darkness
Ron woke up with a start and panting heavily. He found his body covered in a cold sweat as he threw off his blanket and tried to slow his thrashing heart.
Stars still twinkled brightly in the sky, and the moon hung low on the horizon, giving Ron the impression that he hadn't slept long.
Softly groaning, Ron stood up and walked silently to the small pond they had found early that day while trying to find food. All they had eaten the past three days was the vegetation they had been certain wasn't poisonous. Finding a spot still in veiw of the camp, he crouched down and tried to fight off the bad dream that plagued him night after night by washing his face with the cool water.
He could hear Raleigh's breathing as his brother approached from behind.
"Another dream?" his twin asked quietly.
"Always the same..." Ron replied wearily and straightened.
"Don't worry, little brother. I'm here to protect you."
Ron cringed at his sibling's gentle tease but instead of coming back with a retort, Ron stood there in silence. He sensed something else was out there....
Raleigh started to speak again but Ron waved a hand in silence as he dropped to a crouch again and carefully walked over to a shrub he was sure he had heard rustle from.
A form stepped casually out from behind a tree almost three yards away and Ron and Raleigh jumped back in surprise, drawing their guns and pointing directly as the figures chest.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." the man said.
Ron called out cautiously, "Devery, is that you?"
"In the flesh," Aaron said tiredly as he dropped lightly on the ground to sit beside the pond.
Raleigh, finally gaining his tongue, asked,
"What the hell took you so long?"
Aaron's face hardened a little as he spoke.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. Cant say I've ever died before, so next time I'll make sure to mark it down. How long ago was I 'buried' by the way?"
"Almost a week I think," Ron replied, purposely ignoring the other mans tone.
"Really? I've only been tracking you for a couple of days."
Ron was about to speak when he heard Phoenix's voice calling, "Ron? Raleigh?" she jogged down the grassy hill to meet them. "I woke up and you guys were gone-"
She stopped abruptly and blinked several times as if trying to figure out if Aaron was part of a hallucination or really there.
"Yo," he said, staring up at her and began to take off his shoes with a sigh.
She looked unimpressed and turned back toward their camp.
Ron shook his head in defeat. He read enough to know Aaron was a trouble maker, but they needed him for this mission.
"You guys go get some sleep. I'll take watch now," Ron said as he began to follow Phoenix.
Phoenix shook her head in protest, "Ron, you've barely had any sleep since we got here. You're going to kill yourself-"
Ron placed a finger over his lips. "Go to sleep," he repeated the command, then walked over to a stump he had propped up earlier in the day and sat on it.
From his spot he threw some dry bark on to the dim fire and watched Phoenix and Raleigh reluctantly gave in and lay down on their mats.
When he finally heard the breathing pattern change for both his companions, he sighed deeply and leaned his elbows on his knees, trying to rub the weariness from his eyes.
Running his fingers through his brushed up auburn hair, he sat up and stared into the fire and tried to forget that Aaron was less than five yards away from him.
"Mind if I join you? Looks like you could use the company."
He eyed Aaron across the fire. "No," he said, but the other man acted like he hadnt spoke.
Aaron casually walked up to Ron and sat down cross-legged on the hard packed earth a few feet away.
A silence settled between them until Aaron finally spoke,
"Bad dreams?" he asked picking some grass and casually chewing on it.
Ron looked stiffly at Aaron. Was that freak trying to read his thoughts?
More silence followed.
"I was going to say that I understand." Aaron shifted a little to reach behind him and grabbed a small box. "Coffee?" he asked, holding out the box.
Ron eyed it with distrust, but took a tablet from box and popped it in his mouth. Within minutes he felt better.
"On the way to the station I read your background. Pretty impressive."
Shrugging, Ron silently savored the caffeine rushing through his veins. His eye lids no longer fought for sleep. No, he could stay awake for hours.
Aaron sighed quietly after a moment, " I know you don't like me but its a drag how you are such a sour puss. If anyone should be pissy, it should be me."
Ron still didn't speak but the angery voice in his mind screamed: Those mind twisting freaks! Every one of them deserves to die!
Aaron looked past Ron and into the distance as if looking at a memory.
Ron didn't try to get him to talk. He knew what Aaron was, and in his opinion it was a huge risk letting him loose. Thompson was out of his mind to let the team use a telepath, government contracted or not.
Aaron was a wild card, and Ron hated unpredictability more than he hated telepaths, and that was saying something.
"I don't need to read your mind to know what you are thinking. You are thinking of the best way to kill me," Aaron laughed without humor.
Ron held back the biting remarks that were on the tip of his tongue. If it wasn't for their mission, Ron would have liked to kill Aaron right then but, unfortunately, the team needed Aaron and the skills that he provided.