Chapter 716 Team
?716 Team
The mission didn't immediately start, but its preparations did. The message had listed the team members for the political envoy, and everyone gathered in the Harbor by the end of the week.
The gathering location had nothing to do with Khan. He was still hosting lessons, but the Global Army wasn't doing him any favor. The Harbor was the closest area to the destination and the only place with the required interspecies clearance.
Khan rode to the Harbor's hangars when the embassy warned him about everyone's arrival. It was the middle of the morning, five days after the official order, but the network remained silent about it.
No amount of scrolling on the phone brought Khan to the news he sought. He spent the entire ride to the hangars looking for official statements or announcements, but the network had nothing. It didn't even mention the imminent end of the lessons, which were supposed to be public knowledge.
Khan had also expressed his doubts to Abraham, but he was as clueless as him. The scientist didn't hear anything about his imminent departure, probably indicating that the Global Army wanted everything to be sudden. As for why, Khan had his guesses, most of which came from paranoia.
Nevertheless, Abraham wasn't completely useless. His knowledge of the scientific departments had allowed him to recognize the mission's personnel, adding information the message didn't report. Everyone was a specialist and had no notable affiliation with Khan's most obvious enemies.
That was both good and bad. The presence of proper and affirmed specialists highlighted the mission's seriousness. The Global Army appeared ready to spare no expense to succeed in the first contact with the Scalqa, which reassured Khan. It wouldn't make sense to deploy such experts just to trick him.
At the same time, Khan had proven his worth time and time again. He had survived and triumphed over untold and unfathomable crises. If the Global Army wanted to set a trap, it would have to use and sacrifice experts of that caliber.
The pickle wasn't solvable by thoughts alone, so Khan decided to suspend his paranoia until he had gotten a good look at his team. He trusted the knowledge achieved after years of political games, but his senses remained more reliable. He wouldn't mind making the specialists faint to uncover their secrets.
The cab landed in the Harbor's hangars, and a team of soldiers welcomed Khan before escorting him into more classified areas. The public wasn't aware of the imminent mission, so all the preparations happened inside isolated docks.
No words flew while Khan followed the soldiers through the many corridors between hangars. That maze of labs, teleports, and passages had long since become familiar to him, but his destination managed to hold a few surprises.
Khan arrived in a slightly small but packed hangar. Boxes and machines lined the walls, and multiple soldiers attended to them, creating a cramped vibe.
The number of boxes and machines seemed overkill for a single mission handled by a small team, but the ship towering at the hangar's center told a different story. Khan recognized that model, but his stern expression tried to falter anyway.
All in all, the group looked more than decent. The two young men were second-level warriors, but their role had nothing to do with the battlefield. The young woman was a third-level warrior, and the remaining two members were in the fourth level. That was a good set-up, especially with the addition of Khan.
'I can't sense anything odd,' Khan concluded, but his doubts remained. Yet, he temporarily put them aside to move to the next task.
"Introduce yourselves," Khan ordered, nodding at the two young men. "The researchers first."
"Marcus Tairnu, sir," The tanned, brown-haired man announced. "My specialization includes all the research-related software we'll use in the mission. I can modify the programming of scanners and ship's computers alike."
"K-Kirk Holger, sir," The blondish, skinny man followed. "I'll deal with any hardware issue, ship included."
Khan then nodded at the young woman, and her cheerful voice soon filled the area. "Amy Padridge, scout. Although I won't claim to be as good as you, sir."
The compliment didn't distract Khan from the task, and the middle-aged woman spoke as soon as he looked at her. "Celeste Pakenwell, xenolinguistics. It's a pleasure to meet you, Major."
The last man began speaking even before Khan glanced at him. "Randall Perelli, alien species specialist and team leader, sir."
Khan's eyes lingered on Randall longer than the others. The man had dark skin, and his military uniform hid a lean body. He wasn't muscular, but Khan couldn't deem him weak either. He looked pretty capable, but Khan couldn't consider him his match.
Randall couldn't see the world reflected in Khan's eyes, so the longer inspection put him on the spot. Tension expanded in his mind as his thoughts raced to find something wrong with his previous statement, and only one detail popped out.
"Of course," Randall promptly continued, "If you wish to be the team leader, sir, no one would object."
"I have no interest in leadership," Khan responded, diverting his gaze. "I'll focus on the Scalqa and share what I discover."
Khan's few words had been enough to erect a wall between his teammates and him. Clearly, he had no interest in friendly cooperation, but the scout didn't seem to care.
"Sir, sir," Amy chirped, breaking her military salute to lean forward. "The Global Army provided a lot of booze. What do you say we have a toast to break the ice?"
Amy's intentions felt pure and founded on the best intentions, but Khan was in no mood to make new friends. He was so wary about the potential trap that a chilling vibe invaded his following words.
"Put me up to speed," Khan ignored the request. "The toasts won't happen until I trust you."