Shattered Boundaries

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay folks, so much for consistent schedules. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter in the Shattered Boundaries series

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Chapter 6:

"...Many would argue that the world has ended... Yet here we are. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not the end, but a new beginning. The folly of man has reached its apex and we have survived.... It is time for North America to lead Humanity into a new age." Excerpt from a presidential speech blessing the NAU.

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"... You and your War-Brothers have been betrayed."

Anderson did not respond. He could not. What this young woman was telling him was impossible. He looked into her eyes searching for any sign that this might be some kind of sick joke. He found nothing but sincerity though.

"Exactly what proof do you have?" his voice came out gruff.

"The night that you approached, your enemies began milling about in preparation. They laid a trap by the moonlight, but you did not come until the dawn...."

The redhead's tone had softened as she spoke. Despite her fears and how easily he could annoy her, the man before her was still her Master and she did not want him hurt. Betrayal was never an easy thing to swallow, much less for a warrior.

"Then they didn't know a whole lot. Anyone that saw us could have told them we were nearby. Hell, we passed though the middle of a village before nightfall."

Anderson needed more proof than what she was giving him. At least, that is what he told himself.

"Open your eyes! They waited for you and set trap after trap. If it were not for me, you would have perished...

Master

," She spoke his title with biting sarcasm. She was not a liar and would not stand for him treating her as such.

Anderson drew himself up, but before he could say anything, Annabel intervened again.

"Sister! The war band is leaving, you and your master must hurry."

This was not going at all as the young blonde had planned. It made no sense that her Bond-Sister would fight with her master so much. She could not doubt their relationship. She saw it in their eyes every time they looked at each other. Yet, more than a few civil words could not pass between them before they were arguing.... Perhaps her own Master could shed some light on the situation.

As the Squad began to move out, everyone got into their positions. Anderson and the redhead stared angrily at one another for a moment but they had to break off their contest before they were left behind. Although the young woman still followed behind him, they studiously ignored one another. On the other side of the central formation, Annabel sought out her own master.

Private White had been busily securing and organizing his gear and had not noticed the argument his friend had gotten into. As the group began moving, he looked about for his companions and noticed Annabel approaching. The serious expression on her face served to worry him.

"What's wrong dear?"

Private White still had his misgivings about the two women. He was especially troubled by his dream. But it felt so natural to have the beautiful woman at his side, that terms of endearment would just slip out.

"Sister and your War-Brother are not behaving as they should." The concern in her voice rang clearly.

"Well they sure are acting like an old married couple, but not everyone in the world can get along," White shrugged, "that's why we're here in the first place."

"But he is her Master." She said it as if they were committing some great taboo.

White scratched his head and thought it through. The young blonde was gazing up at him as if he held all the answers and he felt obligated to come up with something.

At that moment, a long forgotten memory began to surface. Another night sitting around the fire, crude jokes and imitation beer flowing easily. His fellow soldiers had been joking about the perfect woman. A lot of the descriptions were typical, concentrating on physical characteristics, but then they had gone off on a tangent about personalities. The nymphomaniac was, of course, the most popular archetype, but Anderson had said something... White knew it was somehow relevant to the problem his Annabel wanted him to solve, but he was having trouble remembering. Suddenly it hit him and he turned towards the young woman at his side.

"A long time ago we were joking around, and Anderson said something about what he thought would be the perfect woman."

Private White grinned at the irony.

"He said that he wanted a girl that could hold her own and give is as good as she got."

White continued to grin, waiting for the young woman to understand. His smile faded though, as she looked up at him blankly.

"It means, that he got his wish. What those two are doing is fighting for control." He began to chuckle.

"But he is her

Master

...," Annabel repeated, emphasizing Anderson's position.

White shrugged uncertainly. "I don't know about all that, but it seems pretty natural to me. Just give 'em some time and see if it doesn't work out."

The young blonde nodded. She still had some doubts, but she would trust her Master.

Across the countryside the group continued to march along. They stuck closely to potential cover and avoided open areas. A thoughtful quietness pervaded the air around them, and even the two enemy captives were subdued by the mood. Each figure gazed out with unseeing eyes as their focus turned inward.

The Sergeant struggled with the military significance of all that had transpired. The equipment of their enemies and their organization was proof of a much more powerful force. Images of maps and potential hideouts were called up, one by one, from his memories. He needed to figure out where they were staging their operations from. In the back of his mind though, his questions about the women and the events of the past night still weighed heavy.

A short ways behind him walked Anderson and the fiery redhead, the anger they still exuded putting a little extra distance between them and their companions. Anderson was running through every encounter with the raiders. The facts would not help him decide one way or the other if they had truly known of the squad's presence. The placement of the ambush did argue for betrayal. But when his fire team had come across Anne, the raiders chasing her were certainly not aware of their presence until they were laid out on the ground.

Anderson's female companion was concentrated on a much closer subject. Specifically, the man walking before her. The weaklings that her Master and his War-Brothers were so concerned with did not merit much consideration from her. This infuriating man did. He was so thick-headed that he could not see what was going on around him.

He almost got himself killed, for Creation's sake!

A second later, a light blush appeared on her face as she remembered exactly what had been distracting him.

It is not my fault that men allow their eyes to wander so much...

Opposite from them and a little farther back, walked Private White and Annabel. This couple was far more calm in their demeanor, but their minds worked just as furiously through their own troubles. White was caught up on the dream he had about Annabel. Or perhaps it was

with

Annabel. He hated to admit something that sounded so ludicrous, but it did seem that she had experienced at least something similar. She had already begun to move when they had woken, and she showed no surprise when he had called her by her name. In fact, she had responded to it immediately, as if she had been called by it all her life.

Beside him Annabel was just as thoughtful as any of the others. She still worried about her Bond-Sister, but her Master had told her it would all work out. Instead she put all her concentration towards a great dilemma. The Creators had made it very clear that they knew very little of her kind, if anything at all. She could not see how that was possible, but somehow it was. Here in came the problem. She had always assumed that her Master would know what was to be done once she had found him. Finding him was, of course, a great joy, but all the lore that she knew ended there and only hinted at something beyond. Sister had been her teacher, so they both knew as much as the other... Inspiration struck Annabel. There were many others that had crossed into the world of the Creators and at least a few had to have found their Masters. One of them must know about the missing lore. As she came to this conclusion, her mood became that much lighter.

They all continued along as the setting sun lit the sky in in brilliant shades of orange and red. So deep in thought were they that it took the soldiers a few minutes to notice the activity on their displays. At some point their implants had reacquired a satellite signal and their SquadNet was active once more. Upon realizing this, the Sergeant called a halt.

"Looks like the Net is back up. Cameron and Reichert, find a suitable campsite, we're not going to get much farther today. Everyone else, maintain your positions and keep an eye out," he ordered.

Now that the SquadNet was restored and full functions were available to their implants, the squad needed to attend to their wounded. The health readouts and access to medical data were essential for their treatment, as the scouts were only trained in providing first aide. The implants were supposed to supply them with all the information needed to patch up a soldier beyond that if there were no medics nearby.

They waited a few minutes. While they did so, they watched the position indicators that marked the two scouts moving about. Eventually they saw that the two soldiers had stopped and their voices came in through the Sergeant's head set.

"Sir, we have what looks like a prewar bunker. Its in pretty good condition and it doesn't look like its been inhabited for years, what do you think?" Cameron asked.

"Negative Corporal, I'm not about to walk into a military installation I don't know anything about."

The Sergeant did not like the idea of getting trapped in any kind of place that he was not absolutely sure had multiple exits.

"Understood Sir, we have an alternative site nearby, marking position."

The squad's retinal displays directed them to an area near the two other soldiers and they began moving towards it. Once they came within sight they saw that their campsite for the night was to be an old farmhouse. The outer buildings were all in various stages of collapse, but the house itself seemed to be sturdy enough. Its construction and placement were ideal. The windows on the second floor would give them unobstructed fields of fire in all directions and they would not be out in the opening anymore.

"Good work men, looks like we get to sleep dry for once," the Sergeant commended the two scouts

The idea of a dry place to sleep was appealing to all the soldiers. Even when it was not raining, the dew that would appear on the ground each night would make everything uncomfortably moist by morning.

As they moved through the house, they made sure to clear each room as they were trained to do whenever entering an unsecured building. There were no threats though, just a lot of dust and broken furniture. It was when they reached the second floor bedrooms that the house yielded two prizes.

"Sir," called down Corporal Anderson," We've got two beds with actual mattresses up here"

None of the soldiers could remember the last time that they had slept on real beds. Even when they were on base, all they got were military issue cots that were far from comfortable. The Sergeant was quick to snuff out the ideas that his men were getting though.

"Good, I'm sure the ladies will appreciate having something soft to sleep on." His response was loud enough to be sure all the scouts had heard him.

A couple subdued groans slipped out from the squad members, but they were not going to argue. They knew that they needed to take care of the women as best they could.

"Sister and I could sleep together on just one of the beds," came Annabel's musical voice.

She was only trying to be helpful and did not realize the effect her offer would have. Every soldier within earshot suddenly stopped what they were doing and the house went quiet. They all seemed to find something interesting on the walls. Thinking that she had said something wrong, the young blonde spoke again.

"I did not mean to give offense.."

"No, no you didn't say anything wrong," came the Sergeant's strangled response, "We're used to sleeping on the ground, you and your sister need to be able to get some rest."

The two confused young women looked at each other and shrugged before walking up the stairs. None of the soldiers dared turn around until they were sure that the girls were out of sight. Once they did turn around, they all had the same guilty smile. The idea of the two beauties sleeping in the same bed would have been a tantalizing concept at any time, but the 34th had been deployed for so long that it had almost been too much for the deprived soldiers.

Upstairs the two beauties in question were searching for their Masters. They had been kept outside while the house was secured or they would have followed them right in. Down the main hallway they spotted them. White was grinning as he waited for them, but Anderson stood stiffly and ignored their approach.

"Ladies, welcome to your chambers. If you have need of anything, do not hesitate to ask," White spoke jovially while mock bowing.

"Thank you for kindness good Master," Annabel happily played along and curtsied.

Corporal Anderson and Annabel's sister remained petulantly quiet. They snuck quick glances at each other to see what effect they were having. By luck, they caught the other's eyes. Just as quickly, they looked away and harrumphed.

White nearly choked on the laugh he was holding back. The two were acting so childish it was comical. Annabel only stared back and forth between them in consternation.

"Well anyways, You ladies get to bed and we'll wake you up in the morning," White said.

The young blonde nodded and the two women moved just inside the doors. They held them open and seemed to be waiting for something. After a few seconds of looking at the men expectantly, the elder sister became annoyed enough to finally break her silence.

"Are our Masters going to grace us with their presence or not?" she asked sarcastically.

The two soldiers looked momentarily lost before realizing what she was suggesting. Their expressions then turned into a combination of shock and embarrassment.

"No we're not... I mean to say that we are not sleeping in the same room... not that thing about gracing you with our presence.... Uhm, Anderson?" White was tripping over his own words.

Anderson looked none too happy that the Private had traded off the role of speaking to him, but tried to answer a bit more eloquently than his friend.

"What he means is that you girls sleep in here and we'll sleep in the other rooms. So... Good night," he finished lamely.

The two scouts began walking away, hoping to get out of the awkward moment as quickly as possible. A second later though, they heard footsteps behind them. They turned to find the two women in the hallway.

"Uhm... Why are you following us?" the Corporal queried

"We sleep where our Masters sleep," The redhead responded, sounding as if she dared him to challenge her.

Anderson rubbed his temple and looked at Private White, encouraging him to speak. He had noticed that the girl that responded depended on which one of the two soldiers spoke first. He had also noticed that they never got anywhere when it was him and the redhead talking... or should he say arguing.

White picked up on the his friend's cue and took over speaking in a soothing tone. "Its just not proper for two young ladies to be sleeping in the same room as two men. You girls need to sleep in the rooms."

"Master, we are sleeping where you sleep." Anderson's hunch had been correct and it was Annabel that took over the women's side of the argument.

Unfortunately it did not help much. Now the younger sister had her arms crossed and had taken a determined stance. White's mind worked quickly, despite the slight shock that his sweet Annabel was being just as contrary as her sister. He knew from past experience that he was not going to win anything when a woman got that look in her eyes. He needed a compromise.

"Ok, how's about this? You ladies sleep in the rooms and we'll sleep outside the doors."

It seemed like a brilliant idea to him. From the looks the women gave him though, he knew it was a no go. Beside him, Anderson made one last ditch effort to convince them.

"The Sergeant said that the rooms are for you two, and he is not going to let you sleep with us. Understand?"

"Ah, so you big, strong men need his approval before you can sleep with your women, hmm?" The redhead asked without missing a beat.

Anderson wanted to kick himself. He should have seen that he was walking right into that one.

"Look, we're not sleeping together and that's all there is to it."

The two women just stood their ground and stared. Anderson hoped that their lack of response meant they had given in. He subtly nudged White while turning and the two began walking towards their own rooms. Almost immediately they heard the pair of footsteps following them again. Anderson stopped and mumbled curses under his breath. White let out a defeated sigh, but they both got a little boost of hope when they heard another set of footsteps coming up the staircase.

They waited, and sure enough, it was the Sergeant's head that popped into view. As he came to the top of the stars, he saw the four people standing there. All of them were staring at him.

"You should all be sleeping. Why aren't you?" he was too tired from the long day to be anything more than curt.

"The ladies don't understand that no means no," Corporal Anderson bitterly joked.

The Sergeant rubbed his temples and sighed, an unknowing imitation of his two soldiers' earlier reactions.

"Just give them whatever the hell it is that they want. We don't have time for this."

Anderson and White stared incredulously at their commander.

"Sir, they want to sleep with us!" White's tone took on a tinge of despair.

"They want to fuck you?"

Both the men and women were taken aback at his blunt question. White so much so, that it was up to Anderson to respond.

"Uh... no sir... at least I don't think...." he glanced back at the girls as if to get their opinion but stopped halfway and shook his head to clear it. "They just want to sleep next to us I suppose..."

"Good God... that's what the fuck you two have your panties in a bunch over. For the sake of your manhood gentlemen, get the hell in there."

Past experience had taught all the scouts in their squad that the more the Sergeant peppered his speech with expletives, the more irritated he was becoming. Thankfully he seemed too tired to get overly worked up, but the two soldiers knew that he was no ally in this argument.

Muttering various colorful phrases under his breath, the Sergeant turned about and left the group to their own devices. Normally he would have forbidden any inappropriate sleeping arrangements between his men and anyone they might be escorting, but White and Anderson would keep the two women out of trouble. Added on to that, the two had appeared so shocked at the suggestion, that Scott knew they would not take advantage of the ladies. Whether the ladies would try to take advantage of the two men was a different matter though...

Back up on the stairs, Anderson and White stared forlornly at the spot where the Sergeant had walked out of sight. The problem was not so much that they were opposed to keeping the two ladies company, but that this situation just seemed inappropriate to them.