BGG: Landing Zone Part 5

Nikita took a seat towards the back, wrapping her arms around her knees, taking in the situation while trying not to look as scared as she felt. She stayed quiet and out of the way as much as possible.

Mal pulled a blanket from beneath the webbed seating, wrapping it tightly around Cain to help keep him comfortable, and motioned for the first aid kit to check his brother’s vitals.

Dogo complied, reaching for the first aid kit and tearing it open passing Mal some of the equipment. His eyes flicked to the girl and reached tossing her a blanket. The open ocean in a chopper was a hell of a lot colder than being bikini-clad on an island.

Nikita quickly took the blanket and wrapped it around herself, shivering. “Thanks,” she said, her voice swallowed up by the noise of the helicopter.

Dogo made a motion he was pretty sure she didn’t understand and went back to work stabilizing his downed brother.

His pulse was weak, his blood pressure low, Mal was worried the drug was some sort of depressant that was draining the life from his brother. “I should have thought to grab some of the caps,” he said, “So med bay would know what they were dealing with. Cain? Can you hear me, hold on just a little longer, kiddo.”

Dogo dug into his pocket showing Mal the fistful of blister packs. ‘Way ahead of you brahv.’ he motioned.

“Genius!” Mal said back, taking a seat on the floor of the chopper next to his wounded brother. Monitoring was really all they could do, though he was ready with an adrenaline shot should Cain’ vitals drop too low. The sun was still out, but it’d be dark when they got home. Tomorrow, sunlight, it’d help him metabolize everything, or so went his theory.

‘Thats twice now I’ve come in with the clutch.’ Dogo motioned with a smirk, trying to inject a little levity.

“Dogo saves the Day, name of your autobiography.” Mal said back with a chuckle. “It, of course, is a picture book.”

Dogo punched Mal's shoulder silently laughing.

Satisfied that Cain was as comfortable as possible, Mal turned his attention to the girl in the back. “What’s your name, Miss?” He called to the green haired girl. He kept his voice soft, raising the volume just above the sound of the helicopter.

“Nikita,” she answered. “Karagiannis. I’m an… I was an Island Girl.”

Mal looked to Dogo, wondering if that meant anything to him.

Dogo looked to Mal wondering if that was something he should know. ‘Is that a sex thing?’ Dogo motioned to Mal.

“Hope so,” Mal signed back, trying to keep a straight face, a neutral expression. “Island Girl?” He asked out loud.

“That’s… I worked for… “ Nikita thought for a moment, it all seemed so… demeaning to say it out loud. “You know boat and auto shows when they hire girls to wear bikinis and act like if you buy the car they come with it? Kind of like that. Stand around, get guests champagne, go to pool parties… I worked for Aristotle Andreas.”

‘Definitely a sex thing.’ Dogo snarked. ‘Ask her what her bikini ass was g doingstealing our boat.’ he motioned, prodding Mal.

Nikita watched the man with the gun sign something to the other, she couldn’t tell what he was saying, but his scowl said enough.

Mal looked over to Nikita, motioning for her to put on the headset above the webbing - it was noisy as hell in the chopper. “Well, Nikita Karagiannis, Island Girl,” he said, once her com was in place, “why were you stealing our boat instead of trying to sell someone one?”

Nikita grabbed the webbing, hard enough to turn her knuckles white as her mind tried to find an answer. She glanced at the boy on the ground - nice hair color choice! - and back up. “I didn’t know it was yours.” She told him, avoiding looking at him, or the glaring man she’d bopped in the nose. “And with the explosions and gunfire, it seemed the safest bet.”

‘I though the resident did wander that far into the island. We picked out that beach because it was remote, away from the compound and its activities.’ Dogo signed.

“That beach was nowhere near the resort,” Mal translated. “Look, no one is mad,” he said pointedly, not asking Dogo his opinion on that.

‘I beg to differ.’ Dogo snarked with a quick motion.

“I was taking a walk, and then there was explosions and I took the boat,” Nikita said quickly.

Dogo gave her skeptical look.

“I’m sorry,” Nikita offered. “I didn’t realize it was this whole… black ops ordeal. Who are you guys?”

‘Oh, she's only asking this question now? In the middle of the Ocean on a helicopter.’ Dogo snarked motioning.

Mal glanced at his brother, then back to the girl. “Black ops. Classified,” he reminded.

Nikita felt sick to her stomach. Maybe it was the bumpy chopper ride, but more likely it was all this. “Just my luck,” she said under her breath, which was picked up by the mic.

Dogo snorted at her comment. ‘We can still give her the heave ho.’ He joked. ‘I doubt she knows any info of value.’

‘She getting under your skin?’ Mal asked, again, trying to keep his face from giving away what he was saying, unlike Dogo, who currently wore resting grump face.

‘No, just don’t know what we're going to do with her. It’s not like taking in a puppy. Plus she a Jenny, she could absolutely be a plant.’ Dogo motion in crip motions.

‘Next time, lead with that,’ Mal signed. “You’re a Jenny?” He asked the green haired girl, who retreated into the wool blanket.

“Registered,” she said quietly. “Citizen status. And you’re an anom,” she added in an accusing voice.

‘How observant of her.’ Dogo motioned sarcastically.

Mal side eye looked at Dogo. ‘Cain will be fine,’ he signed, attributing Dogo’s attitude to worry. Then again, some of it was just Dogo. Of the three, he was by far the cynic. “In a way,” Mal replied. “So are all the Island Girl’s Jennies?”

“It’s not one of those things you brag about,” Nikita told him. “Hi, I’m Nikita, I’m an aquarius, I like long walks on the beach, sunsets, and I have AC-17.”

‘Still didn't answer the question.’ Dogo noted with a motion.

“Is that a yes?” Mal asked.

“It’s an I-don’t-know,” Nikita answered, sharper than she intended. “I don’t… it’s illegal in Arkangel. No one there used any abilities that I know of. It wasn’t a prerequisite, it wasn’t even asked on the interview, they didn’t even check Citizen status, everything was by private jet. I really just want to go home. I don’t have my phone, my sister is going to freak out. I don’t know anything, I didn’t see anything, I won’t even tell anyone about you. I want to get back to the city, hang out with my friends in the sprawl, go to a rave and put this whole nightmare behind me.”

‘Great so all she’ll be useful for is telling what everyone's favorite cocktail is.’ Dogo motioned rolling his eyes. ‘Kimura will handle her.’

‘Or she’s telling the truth and Kimura cuts her free,’ Mal countered, finger spelling free because hell if he could remember the word for it.

‘Like I said. Kimura will handle it.’ Dogo reiterated.

‘What’s got you full of piss and vinegar?’ Mal spelled.

‘Really? Cain’s got a face full of concentrate Carbon Copy, Baywatch here tried to steal our ride and the though for hot second I was HER hostage when she flash he power, shes an employee of the guys lab we just blew up and were suppose to buy this babe in the woods bullshit?

‘Why wouldn’t baywatch have sank it? We’d be stuck on the island or drowned. We could have stole Jet Skis, that was the backup.’ Mal signed back. ‘Cain will be okay. You know he’s tougher than he looks.’

‘She dosn’t look like the sharpest tool in the shed Mal. I can’t predict everything.’ Dogo motioned back.

‘Wasn’t her brains I was looking at,’ Mal quipped back.

‘Well at least that was predictable.’ Dogo motioned trying to suppress a laugh. ‘How dare you ruin my bad mood!’

‘You keep an eye on Cain. I’ll go play good cop, see if I can get any info. Glare menacingly once in a while, you’re good at that.” Mal offered, stealthily checking his breath.

‘I can do that!’ Dogo smirked.

Mal slicked his high and tight hair back, then moved to the seat next to Nikita.

“Hey, look, sorry about my brother,” he said, motioning to Dogo. “They’re twins. He’s just worried about his brother.”

“He took a face full of Carbon Copy?” Nikita asked.

“Yeah,” Mal admitted. “And he kind of spaced out after, then just out cold.” He gave a look over to his brother lying on the ground.

“He’s an anom, like you,” Nikita surmised. “He’s got a better chance. If he was a norm?” She shrugged. She could see how worried they both were, she would be too, if it was Nike or Nikka lying there.

“Familiar with Carbon Copy?” Mal asked, even though at that point it was more of a statement.

Nikita hesitated, looking into the hard eyes of Dogo, and shook her head no. She shrank back further into the webbing, holding tighter to the blanket around her. “I just want to go home,” She told him, quietly.

“We’ll see what we can do,” Mal assured, giving her a little more space. “For the time being, I’ll just sit here, okay? Talk, don’t talk, whatever you’re comfortable with and we’ll see what we can do.”

Nikita nodded, her head pounding as she slid off the large headphones, letting her forehead rest on her knees. She was too wound up, too scared to sleep, but this guy didn’t need to know that. She wasn’t even sure of their names. Charlie? Mike? Victor? No, Delta, she was pretty sure the glaring man was named Delta. She closed her eyes. I just want to go home.