Food For Thought Ch. 007

Logan moved his head around a little; the window stayed oriented in a manner that didn't cause disorientation or get in the way. It was like when the time popped up yesterday morning. He couldn't look directly at it, but Logan didn't need to; it was fully visible if he just looked straight ahead.

It took a moment to get used to, but Logan got the hang of having it in his field of vision. Unable to touch or interact physically with the window, he spent a few moments in the dark room trying to focus on the button he wanted to press. The occasional red flash from Logan's glass on the bedside table filled the room.

Lilith shifted in her sleep beside him and rolled over, draping herself across Logan. Her body was incredibly distracting. It was strange looking at her form illuminated by the flash of red light, the dim window not providing any visibility.

Focusing on the ceiling, Logan took a breath and tried to think about what he wanted to do. The small red icon indicating a message was still there; he could pick the glass up and check it manually, but where was the fun in that?

A few minutes passed with no change; he was visualizing touching the button he needed, but nothing was happening. Furrowing his brow, Logan took a firm hold of the outcome he wanted and pushed; there was a flutter at the edge of his mind like something pushing back.

He wanted to slam his mental effort against it in frustration but took a deep breath and tried to let go a little. Almost like the feeling of shaking hands with someone, Logan felt the force pushing back change to gentle pressure.

The window illuminated for a moment with a button press, much like how his physical glass device would behave. Another window opened, filling with rapidly scrolling lines of complex code. It looked slightly different than before. Trying to follow what was happening, Logan could only pick out tiny fragments of what was crossing the window. He got the sense it had to do with his terminal.

Thirty or so seconds later, Logan was looking at the secure access screen of his terminal. Which, to his knowledge, should be impossible. 'Impossible for us, but wherever you little robots come from, it looked pretty easy for you,' he thought.

Logan paused for a moment and worried about giving a foreign entity access to the C.A.S. database or his terminal functions. Still, it wouldn't really matter, would it? Whoever made the nanomachines would be capable of penetrating any kind of security they had.

With some effort, Logan opened his secure messages and was greeted by a message from the Chief Auditor, Victor Rellor. The subject line read: Priority Mission. What the hell kind of mission could he have to undertake here?

Focusing on opening the message, Logan was having difficulty getting the feeling right to use the interface that was displayed to him. Trying to imagine invisible hands wasn't working; the harder he pushed, the harder the sensation at the edge of his mind resisted.

It was like a mental exercise of using strength delicately or opening a jar with a bomb without damaging anything. Logan spent some time letting his mind wander for a bit; the terminal interface window never disappeared. He wasn't entirely done with it, and it apparently knew that.

His thoughts drifted to Lilith and their history. Some events from Logan's four years in the Navy popped up, and thinking about where he was now was bizarre compared to the life he led up to a few days ago.

Logan felt a little more relaxed, so he changed his focus back to the waiting message and tried to open it again. There was still some resistance, but it opened after a brief and slightly draining attempt.

He was thankful the headaches he used to experience when trying to tap into his abilities were no longer a thing. Still, there was some level of mental fatigue involved that he hoped he would get used to.

The message contained a set of coordinates but nothing else. As he was thinking about where they could lead, a map was displayed, a small green dot marking a building at the city's edge to the east.

This was going to complicate things. If it was a mission from the Chief Auditor, he must have seen everything Logan was uploading. It had taken a few hours for the footage of the brief fight to cover Emily and her companions to upload to the database. Beyond the quarantine lockdown of the data net, something had to be wrong with the communications system.

Logan could ignore it, but there might be a way off the planet if there was a mission to complete. Kissing Lilith on the nose, he began to wake her gently.

Lilith's hand flopped onto Logan's face like it was an old alarm clock, making him chuckle quietly. Placing a few more kisses on her nose, one of Lilith's eyes cracked open, and she looked at him sleepily.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was still in dreamland.

"It's time to wake up; there's something important to discuss." Logan pulled her into a soft cuddle.

"How rude, can't even let a lady sleep off a huge load in peace." Her mock indignation was undercut by the mention of the cum she had been absorbing.

Caressing her now clearly slender stomach, Logan played his fingers across her skin, "Seems like you already took care of it all to me."

Lilith pushed into him at the loving touch and snuggled closer, "What did you want to discuss? Keep it up with the hands, and I'll be walking out of here with a stomach full of cum."

Going over his brief interactions this morning, Lilith slowly perked up and turned to look at him thoughtfully. After telling her where the map coordinates pointed, she lay in silence and processed.

Playfully cupping a breast, Logan gave it a firm squeeze, eliciting a soft moan of approval.

"Well, do you truly think there could be a way for us to get off Skye if we go to the coordinates?" Lilith placed her hand on top of Logan's, and they both fondled the same breast.

Considering the question, he eventually answered, "Possibly, I suppose there's no way to be sure."

"A chance is better than nothing. It's also a risk." Lilith breathed and wiggled closer, "We should probably discuss it with the others."

Logan was hesitant to loop everyone in but ultimately agreed it was the right thing to do. Weighing the soft, warm flesh still in his hand, Logan couldn't feel much difference. It didn't seem like Lilith had changed further.

"It's a little concerning, if helpful, that the technology behind the nano-machines was able to directly interface with your terminal. I wonder what else it can interact with?" The question felt more open-ended as Lilith looked off into space, lost in thought.

She was right; it was concerning. Balanced with the notion of accessing his terminal functions without touching it, Logan was torn.

Spending a little more time glued together, they eventually got up and dressed. On their way out of the room, Lilith split off and went to check on Emily while Logan headed upstairs to find some food.

Vance was once again playing the role of chef, which Logan appreciated.

People slowly filed into the upstairs space they had been using as a dining room; everyone just about fit around the conference table comfortably.

Thirty minutes into eating, Lilith appeared with a rather tired-looking Emily behind her. The other two marines who had been hovering outside her door also filed in. It was a squeeze to get everyone sat down.

Logan shot a curious glance at Lilith, who just smiled at him. Looking far better than the day before, Emily seemed no worse for wear. It was a pretty remarkable transition; the nano-machines were very good at fixing people.

After everyone had some food in them, Logan got everyone's attention. "I'll get straight to the point. I received a message sometime during the night." The room was filled with confused chatter.

Emily banged on the table, which quieted everyone down. Logan gave her a smile; she looked half asleep.

"All I got were a set of coordinates and two words: priority mission. No other information, no instructions, no description. NOTHING. Alright? I want to make it clear that beyond the location, I have no clue what is there." Logan could see they all had dozens of questions; he tried his best to impress upon them that he really didn't know anything.

His intense glare got the point across, and no one immediately jumped at him with questions.

Effy eventually pipped up, "Who was it from?"

"The Chief Auditor," Logan replied.

That caused a few curious looks. Logan waited patiently until Vance, surprisingly, asked a question.

"What do you honestly think it means?" Vance asked.

"I really don't know. I've never had any interaction at all with anyone who runs the audit service. It's strange to me that I would receive directions like this indicating there was work to do, especially now of all times." Logan answered honestly.

"How did you get a message in the first place? I thought all communications were blocked." Effy seemed to be mulling a lot over in her mind even as she asked another question.

"The Colonial Audit Service uses slightly different transmission frequencies than standard Naval traffic. It doesn't rely on civilian communication infrastructure. I think that probably has something to do with it." Logan knew what the next question would be.

"Can we call for help?" However, Logan was surprised it was Lindon who blurted it out.

"No." His answer was blunt. Logan knew how pointless it would be to call for help; no one would come with the quarantine in effect.

"But!" Lindon looked on the verge of fainting.

"Look, there's a planet-wide quarantine in effect, right? Even if we could send a message, do you think they would breach that to save us? For all they know, we have whatever the fuck everyone else has." Effy's words seemed to hit Lindon hard. He sank down and looked at the table.

Logan gave Effy a thankful nod and continued, "It doesn't work that way. The device I have isn't made for sending stand-alone messages; that's what my glass is for, just like yours. All my terminal lets me do is interact with the C.A.S. database and its functions. I can receive one-way priority messages, but that's it."

Everyone chatted for half an hour about the coordinates; the newest additions offered some general information about the location. There apparently wasn't much there at the edge of the city.

Emily eventually popped her hand up and waited for Logan to look at her. "Why did you tell us?" She asked directly.

"Because there's a decision for me to make, and I think it wouldn't be fair if I left you guys out of it entirely since it does affect everyone." His frank response calmed the group.

There were a few nods as everyone looked around the table and eventually back to Logan.

"What do you plan to do?" Effy asked, head cocked to the side.

"If there's a mission, there might be a hope I can find a way to get us all off the planet by going to the location I was sent; I'm going to go." Trying his best to emphasize 'all of us,' Logan wanted to ensure everyone knew he meant it.

Looking around the table, Logan saw mixed emotions on everyone's faces. He hoped he could put them at ease. He intended to discover what was so important, but not at the group's expense.

"So what's the plan? I really appreciate you pulling us off the street, but there's a supply issue here, right?" Emily asked curiously.

Vance nodded slowly, "Only have enough food for one more meal."

Observing Emily for a moment, she had perked up quite a bit. The warm food worked its magic on her tired body, and she looked almost like a person now.

"Even before I received the message, I planned to head out today for more supplies. The only thing that's changed is what happens after we get back. The more hands we have to carry supplies, the more we can get." Logan hoped they could carry enough to last for a while.

As people decided if they wanted to go, the lights started to flicker. Everyone stopped talking and watched silently.

"That can't be good, right?" Effy looked up at the lights and back to the group.

"There's probably no one monitoring the administration building's reactor. If something did happen, it would shut down." Emily said insightfully.

"What happens if we lose power?" Tanya asked worriedly.

"The basement will get really dark," Effy replied.

Breakfast wound down as everyone seemed lost in thought by the morning's discussion and the looming threat of a power failure. Logan helped clear the table before heading to grab what he needed to make another run for food.

Lilith joined him in the first basement foyer; both had gotten themselves a backpack and duffle bag of sorts. They were going to have to bring a decent amount back. Logan once again had the shotgun with its now dangerously low shell count slung over his shoulder. The weapon wouldn't last long in a prolonged fight but could get them out of a pinch.

Effy, Emily, Vance, and Evans, one of Emily's marines, had decided to go on this trip. They arrived, bags in hand, with cautious expressions.

"Where are we headed?" Logan asked; the gathered group looked at him with slight confusion. "I'm just a tourist here. I have no clue where any stores would be."

As soon as he finished speaking, a map appeared in his field of vision, displaying a short list of nearby stores. Logan blinked a few times at the sudden intrusion and tried to not look startled, though he did give Lilith a look.

Turning around, Logan quickly eyed the list and saw the small store they had been to previously. There was another slightly larger store. In roughly the same direction but a few streets over, it wouldn't take too long to get to.

"Logan?" Effy's voice called from behind him.

"Sorry, I think I might actually have an idea. A few streets over from where we were last time, I think Lilith mentioned it to me a few days ago." Logan's eyes darted to Lilith, who looked confused for a second before nodding in agreement.

'It's good the little guys are trying to help, but It would be nice if they waited for me to ask,' Logan thought.

"I checked on the underground exit, and I'm certain the large group that chased us in is still in the back alley. How are we going to exit?" Effy asked curiously.

"What about the topside back door?" Lilith offered.

"Sounds like a good option. I'll go take a look." Logan headed for the stairs, "Two people should grab the spears I made; they might come in handy." He called over his shoulder.

The area around the back door Logan and Lilith had used to gain entry into the building days ago was clear. However, two infected were awkwardly leaning against the wall halfway down the narrow side street.

Logan quickly dispatched them with two headshots from his J7. He waited a few moments, but there was no indication of other infected coming.

Back downstairs, Logan found Vance and Emily armed with the spears. Emily's rifle was slung over her shoulder; she didn't seem to intend to use it unless the need arose. Her previous interactions with the infected taught her a few lessons.

Standing off to the side and waving her over, Emily raised an eyebrow as she walked over to join Logan.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I just wanted to check on you. You seem to be doing a lot better than yesterday." As he spoke, Logan looked her over.

She wasn't pale at all; her colour was quite good. Any real traces of having been hurt that he could see above her clothing and armor were gone. Logan was sure the nano-machines sorted her out, though the speed at which they fixed Emily differed from the few days Lilith took to bounce back.

Logan couldn't know how long Lilith hadn't been able to care for herself properly, with Steepler Interstellar breathing down her neck.

Shaking the thought, he smiled at Emily, who smiled back curiously.

"I feel pretty good. I don't quite recall passing out. We talked for a while yesterday, and then I remember feeling rather sick, but it all gets fuzzy after that. The next thing I remember was Lilith sitting beside me on the bed." She paused as she gave Logan an examining eye in return.

"I'm glad you feel better. You seemed tired this morning." Logan found it slightly amusing that they took turns looking at each other.

One thing that did stand out to Logan was a few tiny, almost invisible flecks of sapphire blue and gold in Emily's stormy eyes. Those weren't there yesterday.

Exhaling sarcastically, Emily groaned a little, "I was so exhausted when I woke up. The breakfast that.. V.. Vance?" She paused as Logan nodded. "That Vance made felt like the first meal I had eaten in weeks. It perked me up a bit."

Chuckling lightly, Logan was glad that Emily seemed in decent spirits. She had had a rough go of it the last few days.

"Lilith seems like a wonderful woman." The comment caught Logan off guard a little; Emily glanced over to Lilith, who was talking to Effy.

"She is." Logan's tone softened as his eyes fell on Lilith as well.

It was Emily's turn to laugh lightly, and as Logan turned to look at her, she gave him a little bump on the shoulder.

"She was very kind this morning, made sure I was feeling all right, and even offered to bring me food in bed." Emily smiled

"Lilith has a kind soul, though she can punch real hard." Logan thought back to when they had first met years ago. That really was a good punch.

Emily laughed again. "Anything else, or are we good to go?"

"Yes, sorry. I can see you're up for the outing, but I just wanted to be sure. No offense meant." Logan began to walk over to the others.

"No worries, I get it. I'd do the same in your shoes. It's dangerous out there." Emily nodded and followed Logan.

Rejoining the other three, Logan informed them the back was clear, and they began to make their way upstairs.

After double checking everyone was ready with weapons and bags in hand, Logan opened the door and ushered everyone into the side street. Closing the door behind them, Logan waved gently to Tanya, who anxiously watched them go. After the door closed, Logan heard a click as the door was locked.

The journey to the store the nano-machines indicated was quiet enough. The hour-long crawl through the city at a careful pace was slowed twice.

Once, by the three infected they came across. Logan shot one and killed it instantly, while Emily speared another quite expertly. Vance managed to topple the third and finish it on the ground, but it took some effort. Logan had watched the whole thing and was ready to take a quick shot.

The second was a large group of infected idling at a cross street; the group was too large to risk attacking, so they had to find a way around. Luckily, they found a path through some buildings that let them cross far enough away to avoid attracting attention.

As they arrived at the store, there was a rumble from overhead as dark clouds began to press across the sky. The rain had been a near-constant companion; Logan hoped it held off.

The group took everything they could from the store. It was a medium-sized shop that looked like someone had already been through it. Items were scattered on the floor and shelves. There were a few blood smears here and there, but no signs of infected.

Between the six of them, they managed to acquire a large amount of food. Evans was carrying two duffles, having resigned himself to holding things since his rifle would only do more harm than good if fired.

The trip back took slightly longer; the extra weight slowed them down. Making their way back across the street, far enough away from the large group of infected, Logan stopped. Pressed against the building, he observed them; after a few seconds, Emily stood beside him.

None of the infected really moved. All stood silently, staring blankly at whatever was in front of them.