Chapter 284 - Slipping Away (1/2)

Laz had questions about how he understood what the sign meant, so when Ruby asked him, he didn't know how to answer.

”So that's it? You don't have an answer?” Ruby said, a bit annoyed.

”Would you like me to lie to you?” Laz asked with a half smile.

”Would you like me to kick your a.s.s in view of everyone here?” Ruby asked back at his stupid question.

”If I remember correctly, it's you who enjoyed having her ass….”

”I suggest you shut up right now before you say something I will make you regret later,” Ruby stopped him from saying anything else although Laz felt like he detected a slight flush on her cheeks. Still, he decided to stop teasing her for now.

Now that the immediate threat was over with, Laz recognized another problem. Him and his team were expected to stay by the door and protect the various people coming in. At no point were they suppose to wander off and do whatever they wanted to do. Laz knew this going in, but that was a problem he had put on hold for later.

Now was later and Laz had come up with a stupid yet smart idea.

As the two captains and their remaining men came over to gather with Laz, Laz started looking around in an exaggerated fashion as though he wanted people to know he was doing it. Ruby had no idea what was going on in his head and therefore didn't say anything.

”Thank you Captain. We would have all been killed if you hadn't figured out a solution,” said one of the captains to Laz while they both looked on at Laz's actions.

”Is there something wrong?” The other captain asked. As far as they were concerned, Laz had seen things they didn't which indicated a level of competence they didn't have. They respected his for this and would therefore give him more leeway, even if he was acting weird.

”There is a problem here,” Laz replied without explained. He then went over to the various destroyed automations and took some time examining them. He wasn't really looking for anything but wanted to make it seem like he was.

More than that, Laz did find something unexpected. Even the destroyed bots still had a power core inside of them which still contained a certain amount of energy. Laz wasn't sure it would be good for anything, but he was going to save them all the same.

He made quick work of the destroyed bots before returning to the captains who had been waiting patiently.

”Look around and tell me what you see,” Laz asked.

”Uhh... A whole lot of metal and nothing?” Captain number one replied without much thought.

”Yeah... Nothing...” Captain number two added, but with hesitation. He kind of felt like he knew where Laz was going with this statement.

”Right. Nothing. And when we first got here, there was nothing. Except that screen up there.”

”Yeah. I was meaning to ask. How did you understand what it said?” Captain number one asked back.

”I didn't. All I did understand was that if they screen was different than when you first walked in, then it was indicating something. When you look at a gate or access point as a potential security hazard, then it makes sense that anything around it would be monitoring it.” Laz's reasoning was bullshit, but it made a weird kind of sense. At least enough sense for the other two captains to accept.

”What are you thinking?”

”I'm thinking that just staying here as a big group is stupid and dangerous. We need to know more about what's around us and if any other threats are in the area,” Laz replied back with a serious look. This wasn't the most original thought, Laz figured. 'You all stay here and I'm going to scout the immediate area,' seemed like a plot line that was not only overused, but seemed stupid when you where in a new environment in which getting picked off one by one was the bigger issue. Still, no matter how dumb it seemed in Laz's head, it was the only thing he could come up with on the spot.

”Alright. Well, my team and I...” The first captain tried to volunteer his remaining squad members for the mission.

”Captain, with all due respect, your team is broke and tired. Let them rest here while waiting for the next groups to arrive now that we know the immediate area is secure. And make sure not to kick anything, bump into anything or spit on anything that can't be identified, alright?” Laz responded, implying that his team would do the recon work.

”Captain. You know this goes against our immediate orders don't you?” The second captain asked Laz.

”Those orders were given before the gate was opened and before we knew what to expect. Right now, we are not only sitting in a hostile environment, but we are trapped here until we find a way to open the return gate. I don't know what's going to happen in an hour, a day or whatever from now, but for the moment, I want to get working on finding a way back. If they got a problem with it, they can bring it up to me when they get here. Which based on the time difference, looks like it's going to be a while.” Laz said, looking at the 'sky' that was blocked out by the orange layer of clouds and light. Laz wasn't just making this up. Even though a lot had happened when they first got in, barely fifteen minutes had passed since his squad had come in. And if what they are saying was right, that 5 minutes outside equaled an hour in here, then the new arrivals wouldn't be here for at least 45 minutes. But that was assuming that they came in right at the five minute marker. The troops had been ready to go and on standby. The civilians coming in next wouldn't be so organized.

There were two squads left to come in along with various scientists and media. After they all got here, the higher ranked personal would come in. There would be one major coming in with the next squad though, but there were only going to be a few military personal in that squad while the rest were going to be reporters.

This was their way of bringing more attention to gate exploration and showing off for the public. After all, there had been nothing like this before in history.