She was tall and lean, donned on a full sleeved, waist-length gray, fabric coat that hugged her slim body. Beneath it is a white sleeveless top with a slanting strap on one side that crossed her chest. A short, skirt was worn over a pair of gray tights and knee high fabric, flat boots. There is no mistaking that she is the same young girl in the lab photo because of her sharp features. It's very familiar...and yet somehow different.
Different from what he expected.
As she stood expressionlessly looking at the consoles of the portal, he watched her keenly: The thick red, shoulder length straight hair plain and loose around her head and resting on her shoulder, snow-white skin, high forehead, stunning sharp nose. She was beautiful but not the Hollywood kind of standard. Her beauty is exotic; a conglomeration of races - most prominent of which is possibly Greek which gave her well-textured facial bones and yet there was a softness about her face. Like an angel - a fierce angel. Her looking down at the portal's panel afforded him a view of her eyes decorated with thick, long lashes. He couldn't help but watch her keenly in awe; an awe mixed with a sense of curiosity.
'Ava Kinski' he heard himself saying.
He dialed Phil's number who answered on the second ring.
"Phil, she's here. Come over here now--"
Barely finishing the sentence, he heard Phil say to him. "I'm coming. Get a hold of her. Don't let her get away,"
Alec chuckled. "Phil, she's not a fugitive and where else can she go---,"
"Get off the phone now and go to her," Phil hastened.
"Okay, okay! Geez! Don't worry too much, she's not going anywhere," Alec muttered.
As he looked up to where the girl was, she was no longer there. She has started walking away. He ran after her, round the portal stand, calling.
"Ava!"
Ava whirled around and saw this black-haired guy sprinting towards her, stopping just a meter from where she stood. She doesn't need to be told that he's the one of the men who has come in from Sybil.
Alec for a moment was taken in at the sight of her. Up close she is like a Goddess carved fresh from ivory. Her eyes brown, her brows thick and perfectly shaped, her lips a heart-shaped red. She was not wearing make-up Alec could tell but she looked like perfection so evident of perfect genes and he bet he is not the first one to have noticed.
She was in every way imaginable beautiful it is almost otherworldly.
Her head only raised a notch as she looked up at him; she was a tall one.
"You're Miss...Pearce, right?"
She didn't reply; just stared straight through at him.
Alec thought of something to say. Should he tell her directly about everything? Nah! Let Phil handle that.
"Well, um, my name's Alec Archer—"
She looked away as he offered his hand, cutting in a very blunt tone. "What is the System's business here?"
Alec winced at her in sheer perplexity, withdrawing his ignored hand.
"You know we're from the—?"
"What is the Systems' business here?" she repeated like he didn't hear it the first time.
Okay....she wants direct answers, Alec realized, and was starting to feel a little irk.
"You," he said thickly.
Her face remained impassive, "Go on," she said in the same blunt tone.
To Alec it was more like, 'Report I'm listening.' She had an arrogant way about her.
Who does she think she is? Napoleon? Nobody told him that the daughter of WDF's brain of armament is a superior officer. He scowled secretly, finding her irritating now.
"Miss Pearce...or Kinski...?" He wasn't sure what name to call her.
When she didn't respond, her eyes remained fixed on the view outside, he resolved to use her real name.
"Well, I'm actually not in the position to explain things to you, Miss Kinski. My superior officer, Lt Wilson, who's in charge of this mission will report to you as soon as he gets here. He's on his way here right now, if you could wait for a---"
"What is the mission?" she interrupted again. This time, Alec heaved a sigh of utter annoyance.
"The—the mission?" He really didn't know where to start.
She didn't speak again, just waited for an answer. Then Phil's voice suddenly can be heard in the background.
"Miss Pearce! Miss Pearce!" he was practically shouting from afar.
The two heads turned to Phil's direction who is approaching hastily. He almost stumbled against a person who was on his way. It was a preposterous sight to Alec but when he saw the girl's unmoved expression he had to suppress what was to be a chuckle.
Phil settled beside Alec, extending his hand towards Ava Pearce.
"Miss Pearce, allow me to introduce myself. I am Phil Wilson and this is Alec Archer we have come here for a very important---,"
"What is the mission?" the girl cut in with the same question, reverting back to where her head was facing a while ago, to the view outside of the glass walls.
She ignored the extended hand. Phil had to put it away, daunted.
"Zap the introductions Phil," Alec said from the corner of his mouth. "She demands answers,"
Phil looked puzzled. He took off his glasses and said, "I see, Archer here had brief you on things, Miss Pearce,"
"Phil, I didn't," Alec leaned and whispered over Phil's shoulder again. "But she knows we are from the System,"
Phil jerked his head towards Alec in surprise, with a questioning look.
"She knows," Alec mouthed.
Phil placed back his glasses and cleared his throat. "Miss Pearce, we would tell you everything in the appropriate venue---"
"Tell me now," she ordered.
The two men felt the commanding authority in her voice. It puzzled the men for a while none of them could speak. They expected her to be 'weird' but they did not expect her to be a callous sort of person.
Alec could only shrug at Phil. "Well, there aren't too many people around, lieutenant."
Phil nodded in concordance and cleared his throat again. "Our mission here is to retrieve professor Kinski's long lost daughter whom we believe is you," he disclosed. "This is with regards to a very important issue going on in Sybil right now. It involves your father."
"Qualify," she commanded again. Phil and Alec looked at each other before Phil spoke again.
"We weren't brief on any other information, Miss Pearce. Our order is to get you to return to Sybil as soon as possible," Phil told her. She must know of the protocols of the federation somehow. "We can leave the airship tomorrow while on its brief stopover in Sydney. An aircraft will be waiting for us in--"
Alec noted how she was nodding slightly to herself as if a notion of hers has just been proven.
"Consider your mission failed," she cut in.
Phil was immediately disconcerted at this statement. "Miss Kinski?"
"You can go back to Sybil without me," she repeated with a stone-face expression, and with that, started to walk away.
Phil looked really problematic to Alec now. He had not expected the persuasion to be difficult. Why would she not want to pay her father a visit when she has been told that there has been a situation regarding her father?
"Miss Kinski, you have to go back to Sybil. Your father---" Phil called in desperation.
Ava stopped on her tracks and said over her shoulder. "I am a civilian, lieutenant. Don't bother me anymore,"
She left without another word.
From the author:
Thanks for reading! If you like this story, please comment and/or vote. I would really appreciate the encouragement!
Cheers,
Charley