Perfect Sacrifice (24 page)

"I'll be more careful," she told him.  "I promise."  He nodded and walked towards the door.  This would definitely make things more complicated.  Dr. Solaris knew this for a fact.  In matters concerning Ramirez, extreme caution was necessary.  If he ever were to find their base, not a single one of them would get out alive.

* * * *

General Gordan slammed his hands down on his desk, causing Abby and Brian to both take a step back.  The general seemed anything but pleased.

"You what?!" he shouted at them.  They had just told him what had happened at the excavation site, not leaving out a single detail.

"Sorry sir," said Abby meekly, very afraid for the moment.

"I can't believe you called Ray!" he said as his glare hardened.  "What the hell were the two of you thinking?  She's on probation!"

"But sir," began Brian, "if we hadn't, neither of us would have survived."  Gordan balled his hands up into fists, trying to contain his temper.

"I'm aware of that," he said lowly, obviously still angry at the two knights.  "I'm just saying that it was a risky move, and what's even worse is that Ramirez showed up."

"He didn't find out who she was though," pointed out Abby.  Brian lowered his head a little though as he recalled the threat Ramirez had made.

"He threatened Leon, however," began Brian, drawing Gordan's attention.  "He knows that Leon is helping us, but he doesn't know that the Solaris family is hiding Ray."  Gordan sighed as he sat down, placing his head in his hands.

"This was an
observation
mission," he stated slowly, now looking up at them between his fingers.  "How could you screw this one up?"

"They obviously have sensors," explained Abby.  "I'm sure that's how they found out about us."  Gordan rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on.  He was getting a lot of those as of late.  Everything felt like it was slowly falling apart, and all of the pieces seemed to be falling on him.

"From now on, we're going to leave the excavation sites alone," explained Gordan.

"But sir…" began Brian.

"As soon as Ray is off probation, we'll figure out what to do about them," he continued while standing up.  "Both of you are dismissed for now."  Without a word, the two knights left the room, leaving Gordan to do the rest of his paper work alone.

* * * *

As the sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of gold and red, a midnight blue raptor made entirely out of metal finally arrived at a set of ruins.  The cockpit opened, and a man jumped out, his silver hair slightly ruffled.  He straightened himself out before approaching the ruins.

            There were men all over the area, each dressed in a very military like uniform.  They were studying, digging, hauling, and taking pictures.  The area was quite interesting.  There were different markings on the pillars, now crumbling or already broken.  The structures had obviously been around for years.

"General Ramirez," called out one man.  The young general looked towards the entrance to the ruined building.  There was a boy there who appeared to be no older than fifteen.  His shaggy black hair was unruly, partially covering his midnight blue eyes, framed by glasses.  He wore a white lab coat, and black pants.  In his hands were a clipboard and a camera.  A smile painted his pale face as he kept his eyes on the general.

"What is it?" questioned Ramirez as he walked up to the boy.

"You have to see this," he said, sounding very excited.  The boy led Ramirez into the dark building, now cracked and worn with time.  On the walls were different writings, dating back to eras that none of them knew existed.  They only had the history of a certain amount of years.  This was indeed a discovery.

They walked to the far wall where some torches were placed, all recently lit.  They were shedding light on a large image, a design of some sort.  It was beautifully crafted, the shapes all the same sizes.  Not a single circle was misshapen.  Whoever had carved the picture was indeed a true artist.

"What is this?" questioned Ramirez.

"It appears to be some kind of symbol," explained the boy as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard.  "As you already know, I've been studying hieroglyphics, and these appear to be similar to the ones from ancient times.  However, this building is obviously much older than what our history recordings date back to.  This is indeed a discovery."

"What do they say?" he questioned as he looked around the large room.  The writing was everywhere, but the large symbol on the wall didn't appear again.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," explained the boy.  He pointed to a few inscriptions that were circling the symbol.  "I think these talk about Des."  He pointed to a few others.  "And these ones refer to the sacri crystals."  A smile crossed his face, his eyes alit with interest and contemplation.  "But it's this one that I'm the most curious about."  He pointed to the large, sun shaped symbol in the middle.  It was a circle within a circle.  Triangles were used as the points of the sun shape.  Some of the triangles were larger than others, and some were connected to the outer circle while others weren't.

"What is it?" asked Ramirez, staring at the rather intriguing sun shape.

"I'm not entirely sure," he responded.  "But I do know one thing.  The words here and here…"  He pointed to the words written inside and outside of the first circle.  "They talk about one person, and something about…I think it's sacrum."  Ramirez's eyes lit up with curiosity and interest.

"Sacrum…" he repeated softly.  Sacrum was an intriguing thing indeed.  "Andy," he said, drawing the boy's attention.  "I want you to research this symbol and find out what sacrum has to do with it."

"Why just this one?" questioned Andy.

"Because…" he began as he turned around, now walking away.  "I want to find someone that has sacrum.  A person with sacrum could easily destroy the GRC."

* * * *

The doors to the GRC base opened, sliding apart with a gentle whooshing sound that followed.  In the now open doorway stood Ray, a smile on her face.

"It's great to be home," she said happily as she walked down the hall, not bothering to notice that the entryway was empty.  She was currently heading to the next door that would lead her into the real area of the base.

Ray reached out to open the door, but she stopped before touching it, her hand hovering only a few centimeters above it.  Something didn't feel right about this.  There was something in the pit of her stomach that told her that she didn't want to open that door.

After only a few seconds of debating, she grabbed the doorknob and turned it.  The door slowly creaked open, and she just stood there, watching as the room revealed itself.  She was frozen from fear, her body going into a state of shock.

The hallway was a mess.  The ceiling was cracked, the walls were falling apart, and there were people lying everywhere.  The lights were dimmed, now flickering on and off.  Some of the broken light fixtures were buzzing and sparking, but through it all, Ray was afraid of only one thing.  Blood.  There was blood all over the walls.  There were handprints of it, now smeared all the way down to the bodies that littered the hallway.  Ray had to cover her mouth and nose, trying to prevent herself from retching as the smell reached her sensitive nostrils.

She took a step forward, her eyes wide with horror.  She walked slowly and soon picked up her pace, and not long after, she broke off into a sprint.  She ran down the hallway, but everywhere she went and every room she saw looked the same.  Each one was littered with bodies, soaking in puddles of cold crimson.

"Abby!" she shouted as she ran further down the hallway.  "Brian!  General Gordan!"  She received no answer.  Other than the buzzing of broken lights, the halls were silent.

Ray turned a corner and saw the worst sight yet.  Near Gordan's office lay at least twenty men, each one as white as a ghost with crimson stained uniforms.  The door to his office was currently cracked open.

"Gordan!" she shouted as she pushed the door open.  She had to shield her eyes from the blinding light of the sun through his window before observing the room.  She gasped and covered her mouth.  Her eyes slowly began filling with tears.  On the floor of Gordan's office lay three figures.  She knew each one by heart.

Brian was laying the closest to the door, a gun sitting only a few inches from his bruised and cut hand.  His grayish blue military jacket was coated in blood, and his face was splattered with it.  His hair was now more crimson than blond.  What had once been a pair of beautiful crystal blue eyes was now nothing but two faded blue orbs, half closed from his eternal slumber.

Only a few feet from him lay Abby, her black hair flowing out around her still form.  There was a pistol clutched tightly in her hands.  Her body had been beaten to a bloody pulp.  She had obviously put up a good fight, but it hadn't been enough.  Two bullet wounds graced her chest.  No one could have survived it.

Ray ran to the last figure, lying near his desk chair.  There was blood spattered all over his papers, dripping from the desk onto his lifeless body.  Ray got down on her knees and placed her hands on his back.  She desperately began to shake him, pleading for him to open his eyes and wake up.  She wanted him to scold her, to yell at her, just anything as long as he was speaking.

"Please Gordan," pleaded Ray as she shook him, lowering her head.  "Wake up."  Slowly, she began to roll him over.  She wanted to retch.  The sight was too much, too gruesome.  His body had been maimed, no longer looking like a normal person.  Bullet wounds graced his body on all of its limbs.  His clothing was nothing but blood.  A single shot to the head had probably been what had killed him if his other wounds hadn't done the job first. 

Ray began to move away, her back now against the wall.  She placed her hands over her ears, closing her eyes.  She couldn't take this.  None of it was fair.  The sickening smell of blood was so strong that she could taste it.

"This isn't real," she whispered, trying to bring her mind to rest.  "It's not real."  She began rocking back and forth to calm herself.  "I want to wake up."  She curled up tighter.  "Let me wake up!"

* * * *

Ray shot up in her bed, her eyes as wide as they could possibly be.  Her silvery blue locks were matted to her forehead, her whole body now covered in a cold sweat.  Her whole body felt like it was pulsing right along with her heart, now beating so hard that it felt as if it would burst.  The beat echoed roughly in her mind, her eardrums being tortured by the sound.  Her breathing was so rapid that it felt as if her lungs would never be fully filled with air again.  What made it worse was that the images of her nightmare were replaying in her mind, drowning out the serene sight of her room

"Ray?" questioned a soft voice.  She snapped her attention to the open doorway, locking eyes with Chris.  He stared at her, seeming confused.  It was only until Ray realized where she was that she began to calm down.  She was still at the base with the Solaris family.  Returning to headquarters was impossible.  It had all been just a dream.

Ray sighed deeply as the pulsing in her head finally ceased, and her breathing finally returned to normal, her heart slowing to a steadier beat.

"Are you alright?" asked Chris, taking a step inside her room.

"Fine," she responded, her voice coming out as nothing but a whisper.  It still held a pinch of fear that she prayed the youngest Solaris wouldn't pick up on.  His father would have interrogated her, and Leon would have probably stared at her in analysis.  Chris just looked at her in slight worry and confusion.

"Are you sure?" he asked her after a while.  Ray only nodded.

"Just a…nightmare," she responded with a hopefully believable smile.  She lowered her head.  "Just a nightmare," she repeated for self reassurance.  The images still were painting her mind.  The strong smell of blood wouldn't leave her senses.  She began to feel nauseas again.

"What kind of nightmare?" asked Chris innocently, simply wanting to know.  He wasn't trying to analyze her like so many others did.

"Just…a nightmare, that's all.  It was nothing special," she responded, an involuntary shiver traveling up her spine as the words released themselves from her mouth.  "I always have them…after a battle with Ramirez."  Chris nodded to her, not planning on asking anything more on the topic.

"Well, I hope you sleep well," said Chris as he began leaving her room.

"Thanks Chris," she said appreciatively.  "Goodnight."  Chris closed her door as he left, and Ray lied back down on her bed.  She closed her eyes, but all she could see was the dead bodies and the bloodstained walls.  If she fell asleep now, she'd never be free of the nightmare.

After nearly an hour of just lying in bed, she sighed in defeat.  Her mind was still restless, and it wasn't about to let her rest that easily.  She threw the covers off and removed herself from her bed.  The halls were dark now, since everyone had gone to sleep.  She made sure to be quiet as she entered the living room.

Ray looked around the room, but she quickly turned towards the door that would lead her down to the hanger.  She walked through the kitchen and quietly went through the door, making her way downstairs.  Her Geno stood there against the wall, standing proudly.  Even though it was damaged, it appeared to be as strong as ever.  Perhaps it was good at putting on a front just like its pilot.