Far and beyond

The hunt

Viktoria woke up in her office. She had fallen asleep while keeping an eye on the expedition. When she woke up she could not believe her eyes. The drone camera was showing something straight out of a horror film. There were bodies in the snow. So many bodies. Most of them were intact. Most of them were human. But there were some that clearly were not. She stood in front of the screen analyzing the situation. She was trying to recreate what happened. She started rewinding the recording. She got to 4:38 am. That is where she saw first signs of what was to come. A large group of... something was approaching the camp from the west. It was from where the peak of the mountain was located. They must have climbed down. She noticed them only because they emitted some form of radiation. They were invisible to the thermal cameras. No heat signatures. Interesting. They were almost invisible in the snow, regardless of the camera quality. Their bodies moved without disturbing it too much. Almost like they were weightless. They were also fully white. Some of them had a specific color scheme. They had some blue markings running down where a spine would usually be. By the way they were walking they resembled a mix between a gorilla and a horse. Still, what was giving out radiation? She fast forwarded the video. They split up into groups. Four of them. Each one had a member with blue markings. They must be some kind of leaders. She later noticed that they had positioned themselves around the camp, surrounding it from all sides. They were hunting. And then, at 4:57, after about twenty minutes of positioning, she saw the crucial piece to the puzzle. They stood up on their hind legs and on their front sides they were carrying all sorts of things. They were the ones that were emitting the radiation. She assumed it's the same kind of radiation that was emitted from the spear that Mike and Steph brought back. Still, she was not sure. Viktoria knew what followed. She fast forwarded the part where everyone gets mascaraed. At the end there is the burning Outlander stranded in the snow. The aliens running scared from it's explosion. Or maybe they are running because everyone was dead. Either way, they weren't there. She did expect contact with the aliens, but not like this. She placed her hand over her mouth. What had she done. There were only bodies left. She wanted to analyze the radiation that was coming out of the weapons they left behind, but she could not do it unless someone goes to retrieve them. She was done paying attention to the seemingly still image on her screen until something moved. It was one of her people. It was a solider. She saw how Sofia stood up. Even in the dark night, the fact that it was a female in a military uniform made it obvious who it was. She followed her with her eyes as she walked towards one of the tents. Was that Monsa that was getting out? Viktoria kept looking as the two women drove away. The camera remained fixed on the camp. The vehicle disappeared from the screen. 

Viktoria sat back in her chair. There were survivors. One of them was most likely Monsa. The other was definitely Sofia. She felt an icy sensation flowing down her spine. She opened her mouth, almost as though she wanted to say something to herself, but no sound came out. She started looking around the room. The recording was off. No camera saw anything. Only she had access to the recording. What should she do now? In what seemed the only logical thing, she started fast forwarding to see if anything else had happened. Then she saw that those things had returned again. This time in even greater numbers. They were everywhere, the filled the screen. There was one different from the rest. His fur was darker. He was taller, he stood with confidence among them. That must be the leader. That is who did this. After a few minutes of her watching those creatures scavenge the sight she noticed that there were some that appeared to be talking to the leader of the group. One of them had a burn on the left side of his body. A kind of burn that could be cause by a plasma gun. He must be a survivor from the attack. They must be telling them what happened. She didn't expect them to be this evolved. There was no audio but it was clear that they were talking. They were walking around and showing the men in the black uniforms. They were holding up the guns they used. They pointed at the Outworlder. And then, they pointed at the tracks. It seemed that after a discussion one group was sent to follow the tracks. They were still hunting them. They were after Monsa and Sofia. Viktoria scrambled. She saved the recording. Then she took control of the drone and started to move its view away from the camp area. She followed the tracks until she came across a big red spot in the snow. She zoomed in, it was Sofia. But what happened? And more importantly, where the hell is Monsa? Did those things catch up to them? Were they that fast? What happened to the vehicle? Why was Sofia left to die in the snow? Was it possible that Monsa did this? NO! It could not have happened. Monsa could not have done this. Maybe the creatures did it. They must have done it! 

Before she could do anything more she heard a knock on the door. Who the hell could this be? It was too early for anyone to be at work. 

- Come in, she said as she turned off the screen and went to her chair. - she tried to quickly hid any evidence of her sleeping in the office. And she also hid the whiskey.

- Hey Viktoria. I'm bringing in your report. First thing in the morning, as promised. - Steph had a smile on his face showing that he was proud of his work. - And I also came to personally say once again that I am sorry for my outburst yesterday.

- Yes, thank you. Would that be all? - Viktoria tried to sound like everything is alright and not give anything away. 

- Yes. That is all. Actually, are you alright? You look a bit... - Steph stopped mid sentence. Wanting to be more careful about his choice of words because he realized that what he initially wanted to say would be very stupid.

- Excuse me? Steph. Why don't we do this. You go do whatever you need to do. In that time, you let me do what I need to do. After that happens, I come down and tell you where you need to go and what you need to fix. In the meantime, keep your words firmly inside your head where they can do you no harm. ARE WE CLEAR? - Viktoria just wanted to get him out of her office. She knew she looked like a total mess, but she didn't need to be reminded of it by an employee.

- Yes Viktoria. I'll be on my way now. Goodbye. - Steph walked out of her office feeling disappointed in himself. He just wanted to fix something what he had done yesterday and in a few short moments was able to get himself yelled out of the office by Viktoria. 

After Viktoria was left alone she finished viewing the recording. After a few minutes she reached the end of the line. The vehicle that Monsa was driving was left in the snow. It was nowhere near Nebograd. Why would Monsa do that? Had her hunters finally managed to catch up with her? There were no signs of struggle. No signs of fighting. Did she do this on porpoise? She tried to look around but she could not find Monsa anywhere. 

After Viktoria had given up looking for Monsa she again had an issue in front of her that needed resolving. It was only a matter of time before the press and the activists learn about this. She needed to give out a statement. She needed to make it clear that she was on top of the situation. In a quick back and forth with herself inside of her own head, she decided to call a meeting. She sent out a message to all the office to gather in the auditorium. She would tell everyone what happened. This way at least she could avoid different versions of the story coming out. She would control the outflow of information, that was key. After that she would decide what to do next.