Mana Pool Snippets - The Days After

Five

"The least you can do is clean up."

"Oh so now you care about my well-being. Know any hot springs? I got some nasty bugs under my-"

"Just fucking say yes!"

Jaruka laughed, still enjoying messing with Mathews. "Okay, I give. Give me a second."

Jaruka-before teaching Mathews-programmed the scanner to allow one person and no more, in case Mathews got wise. Mathews ran to the closest SUV with the scanner through the mud and soaked grass. Resilient campers outside the shield watched as the Marines kept them away.

It came to Jaruka finally. Why did she want to meet him, and in person?

The SUV's rear door opened and Mathews entered. The bridge dinged from the DNA registration. "It better be her," Jaruka said.

There were five humans registered-Scott, Katie, Deryl, Mathews, and Winchester. That thought made Jaruka's shorter skindreads curl a bit.

Mathews stepped out of the SUV with Winchester, she walked with Mathews under his umbrella and passed through the shield; Secret Service became agitated as she went closer and closer to the ship.

"Like I want to hurt her," Jaruka muttered.

Winchester looked up and down the dropship. "It's bigger than the photos," she mentioned and then noticed Jaruka blocking the hatch. Not once did she show fear.

"Ma'am, keep moving, please," Mathews said.

She blinked. "Of course. This rain is dreadful."

"Back up, Jaruka. Let her in." Mathews threw the device at Jaruka, and he caught it.

"Easy, Mathews. He's our guest." She walked closer to the hatch. "A rather...odd guest."

"Don't mind doofus, his ego's all twisted," Jaruka said.

Winchester paused for a minute before entering. "Can't believe I'm doing this," she whispered, but Jaruka caught it. "Oh wait. Where are my manners?" She coughed. "President Sarah Winchester. Nice to finally meet you on such circumstances."

She held out her hand to shake his. Jaruka, figuring that she was not like Mathews, accepted the gesture. His hand swallowed hers, and Jaruka caught a barely audible gulp from the President.

She wore a dark grey pantsuit with a buttoned green shirt underneath, with tennis shoes for the weather and mud. She was young, Jaruka suspected that she as in her mid-thirties from what he had seen from human aging graphs. She had auburn hair styled just below her ears and stunning blue eyes that might cause someone to mistake her as a primed terran after plastic surgery to prevent tail and ear regrowth.

Winchester smiled. "And just like that, I shook hands with an alien from the stars." She paused. "Right, the rain. Can we have this inside?"

Jaruka thought the request for a good moment. There was no use denying someone whose blood was already registered with the shield entry into the ship. "Why not?" Jaruka stood back to let them in. "Mind the trash."

Mathews was the first inside the dropship, he scoped the insides for just about anything he could think of, namely traps and weapons. He eyed Jaruka's plasma rifle and katana hanging on the wall. "Clear," he said.

Winchester stepped inside. "Trash never bothers me just...wow," she said. "Just what the reports said."

"Don't be star struck, Ms. President, we are here because you asked to come," Mathews reminded her. "Jaruka, close the hatch."

"No," Winchester said firmly. "It's please close the hatch. You weren't hired to make Jaruka mad."

The muscles in Mathews' neck tightened, indicating that aggravating Jaruka may have been his intention.