A lamb, Rock, And Bullets

The faint rumble of an engine, the opening of a gate, and the rush of lift off causes the awe inducing white castle, that is Citadel, look like a distant speck in the reflection of a hover-car side mirror. I gently lean back into the passenger seat.

"Where to sir?" The driver speaks as the car glides over the eerie snow fog.

"The Anthropology Ministry. We'll pick up Cassian then head to the Science & Technology Ministry for Luca."

The window wipers come to life as snowflakes drop onto the front window and zip past the side ones. I grip the grab handle as the car descends into a haze of white and gray, in free fall. The turbines purr again and the hover car wings come back to life. As soon as we break past the fog, we descend lower down the steel plateau until we see the familiar bold marking on the sides of the steel walls; L-1.

Four matte black and white police hover-cars cover the flanks, rear and front of the car and escort us into the city's airspace.

Level 1

We hover past the towering white stone Pillars of Praxis, that circle the outskirts of the city, and past lofty metal silver homes with waving colorful citizens wrapped in thick coats.

We soon arrive into the Save Fors district with little to no air traffic and continue past tall ivory-white stone buildings, towards the large square institutions of the different Ministries. We dock at one with the letters TAM displayed vertically on it. The car door opens and I'm hit with the howling gust and snow. I grab the zipper on my left shoulder and pull it all the way up, as my turtleneck cover covers my face, and then shoot my hands into the chest pockets of my oversized white jacket. I watch the hover-car get escorted away before being directed towards the elevator.

Through the tinted glass window, I notice the different levels as we descend through The Anthropology Ministry. We pass through the spacious bright museum, and I smile as I spot group of young learners at The Consortium section huddling around a docent. Then through the diverging uncanny darkroom with Anthropology personal, equipped with bulky optical headgear who hauntingly stop analyzing the photographs and stare at the elevator before continuing with their work. I stare fixated, wondering if they can see through the tinted window. After a few more levels filled with strange Lost Civilization artifacts we stop at the hangar bay.

Dune Reaper Hangar Bay

A green light appears, and the doors open, my escort waits for me at the elevator. "Introducing his sovereignty, Nova Konn." An announcer booms. All personnel pause and partake in a customary bow, before going back to their work.

I pull down my turtleneck and proceed inward as the smell of the spacious sterile room stings my nose. The room, tinted in light orange, has walls and floors colored in shades of grey, white and orange, and varies from dropships docking, Dune Reapers in their customary polished matching leather utility jackets (with a detachable flannel that reveals a part of their either a blue or grey shirt to indicate their ranking), trousers, cuffed gloves, combat boots and metal heavy-duty backpacks, running their ship's inventory with men in black and grey overalls, to the silhouettes of people in hazmat suits disinfecting sealed off parts of the hanger. TAM personal dressed in black and grey overalls with their orange armbands that I can't identify fill the hangar.

An alarm suddenly blares as the hangar doors open. A sleek drop ship carrying a battered large head soon pulls into the hangar. The head dangles and swings as the ship tries to steady it down. He hangar comes to life with Anthropology Ministry personnel scrambling to get the artifact down. Once steady, the ship detaches from it. A loud thud echoes through the hangar as the head hits the ground. I wave the dust from my face and come closer. The head is severely weathered, a telltale sign of Lost Civilization artifacts, and dawns a broken crown with several cracks running from its eye and all around its neck - where it was, no doubt, rudely removed from its body. From the corner of my eye, I see the drop ship land, and with one final glance at the eerie artifact, I make my way towards the ship.

I walk past its exterior and note the words Neo Horizon spray painted on its side. With the second 'o' in horizon being replaced with an 'e' - the handy work of Cassian Smith no doubt. From its other side, I hear a door open and then the heavy thud of combat boots.

I make my way around, just in time to see Cassian finish up running his inventory with his dock master. He removes his gloves places his palm on a tablet and then signs on it. His dock master nods at him and proceeds into the ship.

"Explains all the noise." I say behind him. He turns around in recognition and stares at me with a proud smirk on his face. I clasp his hand and reach in to hug him with my other. We embrace each other for a beat before separating.

His sleek leather-clad Dune Runner outfit, which usually has a fine glossy finish, is now dusty and battered - a byproduct of spending scavenging the wastelands. He looks me over and gestures towards my shoes. "Finally wearing shoes outside." he jokes. Causing me to shrug. "It's winter," I say causing him to chuckle. I scan ahead of him. "Where's your team?"

"Inside getting the rest of our salvage." He says as we begin towards the head before suddenly stopping. I stare at him as he takes off his backpack. "Almost forgot," and after a few whirs and clicks, he pulls out a small rectangular rock sealed in a clear glass container and hands it to me, "Happy birthday." I stare at him blankly and then at the grey ashy rock. "You shouldn't have."

"You know, this is the last confirmed piece of the pyramid of Giza," he grabs it and holds it up. The ceiling lights kiss the edge of the container. "It's even more rare than this," he says as we proceed towards the decapitated head.

"What is it?" I say as I nod in its direction.

"This my inquisitive friend is all that remains of the commemorative gift known as The Statue of Liberty. It looks battered now, but it was a colossal spectacle in its prime." He says as he gives it a small kick. He reattaches his backpack and we head towards the elevator.

"How are they going to get it out of here?"

"That is a problem for the overalls," he says as he removes his other glove and discards them. "As long as my name appears engraved under the discovery team on its museum mantel, I'm good."

As we enter the elevator; I notice a colorful beaded bracelet on his right hand. "Is that a friendship bracelet?"

"Yeah. Found it in the undergrounds"

"That explains the smell." I say pinching my nose. He smells himself and shrugs.

"You know, I would've preferred the bracelet over this." I gesture to the rock. He lifts his arm.

"It says 'Abigail'. But if you really want it-"

"No, no." I say waving him off. "It's just..it's a rock."

"A special rock."

I let out a small chuckle as the elevator door closes.

***