Chapter 7
Tony raked his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“I have no idea why would she would gather all these information.” He groaned, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. “For all the past hours, I was trying to see what the purpose of all of that was and I didn’t get it. And I hate not getting anything!”
“Why don’t you take a break? You have been working nonstop for hours.” Dean suggested, trying to calm him down.
“No, I need to-“
“What is that?” Natasha interjected suddenly as she got to her feet and stared at something with concern. “Look!”
They both turned towards what she was pointing at. They froze as they saw the engraving glow red and fade again in a steady beat.
“What the hell?” Dean muttered while still staring at it.
“You shouldn’t have pressed that button until we study it.” Natasha sighed looking nervous.
“What do you think that glowing and fading means?” he asked turning towards Tony.
“I am not sure. I need to study it more to figure out.” Tony shrugged, eyes never leaving the glowing engraving.
***
“When I started my journey through time, it was very confusing, since my ship couldn’t tell what era I landed in.” Sydney continued her story. “So at the early eras I had to rely on the stars. If the stars were wider apart than the last era I was in, it means I am currently in a future era, and if they were closer, then I went further back in time.”
“So, that’s why you gather so much information about space and the stars?” Castiel asked curiously.
“Mostly yes. And to find a way to know when each black hole will take me, but no luck so far.”
They were silent for a few heavy minutes. Castiel and Steve were trying to figure out what to say.
“Why did you say you will only talk to us?” Steve asked the question he was dying to ask from the start. “Why did you tell us your story and not anyone else?”
“I told you. You are the only ones I know I can trust.”
“Why?”
She didn’t answer for a few minutes. Steve was almost sure she won’t answer at all.
“In my time, you two are the ones who gave me this mission.” She announced eyes trained on them.
Steve and Cas froze as they stared at her with wide, shocked eyes.
“That’s impossible.” Castiel breathed, still looking to be in a shock. “You said you are the third generation of the Avengers!”
“Yes, but I didn’t say the first generation was gone.” She shrugged like what she was saying wasn’t a big deal.
“How are we alive for this long? I find that hard to believe.” Steve shook his head as he tried to wrap his head around what he was hearing.
“Well, you are. No need to know how. All you need to know is that I was assigned to this mission by the both of you to save our time.”
“I think you have said enough.” Fury announced as he entered the room suddenly, directing his words to Sydney with a stern look in his eyes. He was followed by Hill and Coulson and a few other agents. Outside the room, Thor, Sam and Nat were standing while glaring hard at the back of Fury’s head.
“Were you listening to us this whole time?” Steve accused as he stood up with Cas.
“Of course I did.” Fury just shrugged. “That’s a normal thing for every interrogation. So no one would claim that what they said was from torture or violence.” Then he waved his hand and the agents approached towards Sydney who stepped back nervously. “That doesn’t matter now. Take her.”
“What are you doing?” Steve demanded as he and Cas stepped between Sydney and the agents. “Why are you taking her in?”
“She is danger to our future.” Hill said firmly. “You heard her yourself, she had ricked enough things and the more she talk the more she ruin our future. We can’t allow that to happen, so she will be kept in a cell away from everyone.”
“What you should do is to find a way for her to complete her mission and go back to her own time.” Castiel said firmly with a sharp glare.
“It’s not our problem to deal with. We have our own set of problems. We will not focus on a crises that doesn’t concern us currently.”
“I won’t let you do this.” Steve snapped angrily.
“Sorry, Captain. But it is not up to you.” Fury gestured to the agents and they moved around Cas and Steve to surround Sydney.
“You made this an Avengers’ business. So, you can’t-“
“I didn’t make it your business. I just needed her to say whatever secrets she was hiding and she only wanted to talk to you. So it is more a favor really.” He waved his hand towards the agents and they pushed Sydney out of the room. “The order is already made. And any interference from you or your team, will be considered treason.”
“Fury, you are not giving me any other choice but-“
“No, Cap. Don’t.” Sydney stopped him, and gave him a sad smile. “It’s okay. Really. I was expecting it.”
Steve froze as he watched the agents push her out of the room harshly. He shared a look with Cas and saw the same helpless look in his own eyes reflected back to him.
***
Three military helicopters flew over area 47. Their captain took a calculating look around the area from air.
“From air patrol to base, we have eyes on the unknown body.” The captain reported through the comms. “It looks like a UFO with two short wings and a small tail. It is floating in air at height between a one to three meters. At three hundred meters from it, is patrol 7’s jeep. There is no sign of life inside it.”
“Where are the patrol’s men then? They didn’t vanish in thin air!” came the commander’s voice, sounding frustrated.
The three helicopters flew around the area two times.
“Oh, god! We found our men! But-“ he cut himself off at the horror he was seeing and could felt a lump form in his throat.
“But what?! Captain, tell me what’s going on!” the commander shouted anxiously.
“They are just a scattered body parts! At a very wide range that we didn’t see it at first until we noticed a huge blood stain and-“ he couldn’t finish the sentence as he felt like throwing up. “What a horror!”
Silence filled the comms for a few minutes, like the pilot had transferred his horror to everyone at the base.
“And what about the unknown ship?” The commander asked nervously.
“It is unmoving, sir. But we are getting fixed signals from it.”
“Did you try to analyze that signal? It might be a message!”
“It said that it didn’t mean anything, sir. Just fixed signals. But we will try to get a closer look at the ship. We might find something.”
“Be careful, Eagle 1! We still don’t know what did that to patrol 7.”
“No need to worry, sir.” Then he switched the comms to the ones connecting him to the other two pilots. “From Eagle 1 to Eagle 3, go down to twenty meters in air, and round that unknown ship to get a close look.”
“From Eagle 3 to Eagle 1, Roger that.” He got his answer while the third helicopter was already descending. When the helicopter got closer to the ship, the pilot spoke again. “There isn’t any significant change. I just receive those signals much clearer now and-“
Suddenly, another signal interjected through the comms, ruining the connection.
“From Eagle 1 to Eagle 2, what’s going on?”
“From……. The engine sto…… contro…..” then the helicopter fell from twenty meters in the air, at ten meters distance from the unknown ship. The other two pilots could swear that the falling helicopter took an invisible kick that threw it another ten meters back to hit the sand violently.
Then it exploded.
“Goddammit! It attacked Eagle 3! Attacked and destroyed him!” Eagle 1 shouted in anger as he switched to the base comms.
“Fall back! Do not engage!” the commander exclaimed.
But the rage that ran throw Eagle 1 made him dart towards the unknown ship and fired his missiles at it.
“Too late, Sir! Too late.” The first missile shot from the helicopter towards the ship. “Go to hell you-“
He was cut off by the explosion of the missile.
But the explosion was ten meters away from the ship.
“Crap! It is surrounded by a protective shield! Our missiles exploded over it!”
“From base to Eagle 1, retreat! Do not engage! Come back to base immediately!” The commander shouted.
Then the golden sphere separated from the ship’s body, and darted towards the two helicopters at a horrific speed.
“We are being attacked, sir! A golden sphere-“ before he finished his sentence, loud ringing started in his ears that made him scream in pain and covered his ears in agony.
Then the explosion sounded.
Eagle 2’s body trembled at the scene in front of him as he watched his captain’s helicopter fall to the sand to explode, then saw the sphere dart towards him.
He shot at it with all his weapons with perfect aim, but the sphere didn’t stop.
It kept speeding towards the last helicopter, whose pilot tried to stir away and escape, but then the ringing sounded in his ears and he screamed in agony.
Another explosion sounded.
The remains of the three helicopters scattered at a wide range.
Quietly, the sphere returned back to the ship’s body.