The Hollow: Chapter 22

The ride to the outpost lasted twenty minutes, but no one said a word the whole way there. When we arrived, it didn't look like a standard UNSC base; it was more like a fortress. The whole outpost was two miles across, buildings towered over the roads. Light AA Guns lined the twenty foot high walls, and Scorpion tanks were positioned at the front gate as we drove past them. But on the inside, it was a whole other story.
Refugees and their families were on the sidewalks, with tents sprouting here and there. We were going five miles an hour, at the most, which made the Hogs' engines quiet as we moved through the streets. I could hear the civilians' anguish. Mothers and fathers trying to calm their crying children, screams of pain, and occasionally, someone trying to find their loved ones."Have you seen my son?", "Please help me, I'm looking for my brothers!"
But the one that got me the most was a small asari looking for her parents. "Momma?" She'd go up to strangers, "Where's my mommy? My daddy?"
I'm usually not affected by kids looking for their parents, but this one was different. She was helpless, alone, and scared. I kept thinking, 'What if she's sick? Is she hurt? How long has she been here? Who'd look out for her?'
That question repeated in my mind, 'Who'd look out for her?', until I made my decision. I would.
I jumped out of the troop transport Warthog and made my way towards the girl. Mickey had done the same and started following me. "Spartan, what are you doing?"
Soon, Tali was next to me, "Keelah, Joe! Why did you jump out?"
I didn't answer either of their questions. "Hang back" was the only thing I said to them. I didn't want the kid to be frightened by three armed people heading towards her. As instructed, they slowed to a stop.
She couldn't be more than the asari equivalent of a seven year old. She had white facial markings like that of the asari councillor, and her skin was a light hue of blue, almost like the sky.
"Spartan?" EDI said, not understanding what I was doing.
I took off my helmet so the girl could see I was flesh and blood, not a faceless soldier. She noticed me and I could now see she was holding a stuffed hanar. She backed away, clutching the toy tighter, but I held up my free hand, "Hey, it's okay" I said in the softest voice I could muster.
I knelt down on one knee, "Are you looking for your parents?"
She slowly nodded, squeezing the plushy as hard as she could.
I extended my hand to her, "Let me help you find them. Come with me".
She gazed at my hand, then back to me, unsure of what she should do. "I want my mommy and daddy. Will you find them?" she asked, timidly.
I showed her a smile, "I will. I promise you".
She slowly came towards me, easing her grip on her stuffed hanar. Instead of taking my hand, she ran up and hugged my abdomen and started to sob. I softly wrapped my arm around her, "It's okay, shhh".
She continued to cry, and I put my helmet back on to pick her up. True, I could just use my free hand, but she needed some reassurance, an extra arm to hug her, to comfort her.
I lifted her up to my right shoulder, and she started to calm down. I depolarized my visor, that way she could still see my face. I looked towards her, "What's your name?"
She looked back at me, meeting my eyes. "Alosa. My name is Alosa".
"Nice to meet you, Alosa. My name is Joe".
She wrapped her left arm around my neck as we approached Mickey and Tali.
Alosa tightened her arm as Tali came up to me with Mickey trailing back and started to whimper. I tried to tell her that Tali wasn't going to hurt her, "Don't worry, Alosa. These are my friends, Tali'Zorah and Mickey".
Alosa didn't loosen her grip, which made me ask Tali to show the girl that she wasn't a threat. I whispered into the private comms, "Be nice to the kid, okay?"
I saw Tali nod, then she turned her attention to Alosa, "Uh, hi... there, little one..."
She was having trouble saying comforting things, but luckily Mickey had more experience with refugee children. He took over for Tali, focusing on getting Alosa to talk about her plush hanar. He pointed at it, "What's your friend's name?"
EDI got my attention, "264, why are you doing this?"
I wasn't at liberty to say it then and I'm not going to say it now. "I'm not sure if I can tell you the full reason, EDI".
She sounded offended, "I can keep a secret, Joe".
I scoffed, "Yeah, like the time you told Ann that Ash has a crush on me".
"She asked! And she's a Spectre! You don't say 'no' to a Spectre and expect to not have to face the consequences".
"Let's just say I think it's the right thing to do, okay?" "Fine".
I boarded the Warthog, with Alosa sitting in my lap. I was in the passenger's seat, and Ambrose was driving. I didn't look at him, and he started the Hog again.
"Where are we going?" Alosa asked shyly.
The Spartan-II answered her without taking his eyes off the road, "Somewhere safe".
We were heading to the ONI HQ building, a giant cube in the middle of the base. There were UNSC marines on guard by the doors, maintaining the order that had been established. The five of us - Ambrose, Mickey, Tali, Alosa, and me - made our way inside. The N7s were going to the medical building to treat their wounds.
The interior of the ONI building was that of a upscale business firm, almost like the Presidium. ONI had a reputation for disguising themselves, making themselves appear as a simple outpost, but in actuality it's a high tech base. Men and women wearing the gray ONI-agent uniforms were going every direction, business as usual. I was once again holding our asari refugee, making sure no spook would try to take her away.
The Lieutenant Commander led us to a receptionist's desk with an asari clicking away at the keyboard. Something was odd; she wasn't wearing the gray uniform like the rest, but a light red dress that covered everything below her neck.
When we reached the desk, she looked up at Ambrose, "Back so soon, Lieutenant Commander?"
Ambrose didn't pay any attention to the receptionist's comment. "Can you lead us to where the rest of Blue Team is?"
She hesitated, but then nodded and got up. She had trouble getting out of her chair, however, because of an amputated leg.
"Keelah" Tali whispered.
The receptionist turned to her, "We've lost a lot of people, ma'am. Everyone has to pitch in," she patted her prosthetic leg, "even if you've given more than enough".
We followed our limping escort to an elevator that would take us to a more secure part of the building. As she finished typing in her code, she saw Alosa and looked at me, "Is the girl going to be coming with you?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "I was planning on it. No one else seems willing to look after her, except, maybe you?"
She shook her head, "Sorry, I wouldn't be able to".
The elevator door opened and the receptionist went back to her desk.
The rest of us entered the elevator car cautiously. The doors closed behind us and we were sent down to the lower levels. It took less than two minutes to reach our designated floor where a ONI representative was waiting for us. This time, it was a man with a freshly shaved face.
He showed no expression. "Please, follow me" were the only words he said to us.
He led us into a debriefing room, ten feet across and ten feet wide. Ann and a high ranking woman were the only ones in the room. The woman had her back towards me, but she called out to me without turning around, "Sierra 264! Hand the kid to one of your squad mates and get in here".