Chapter 339: (TerraSol)

Warborgs patrolled the parking lot, aerospace fighters moved in lazy circles around the huge building, the halls were full of security troops with "MP" on their chests and shoulder pauldrons, medics ran back and forth dealing with minor injuries.

The office was missing the far wall, the window, the ceiling and floor toward the window, and the walls close to the outside wall. The ragged edges were solid gold, gleaming in the light.

General "Tik-Tak" sat on a chair, rubbing his forearms together, as the medic examined him.

He tried to ignore what some of the Military Intelligence analysts were studiously ignoring.

It was grey, its skin like stone, winged and brutish looking. It had a long muzzle, fierce red eyes, gleaming ivory teeth, and a red mouth. It didn't shift, didn't move, just stared at the computer terminal on the desk.

If one was to open the dictionary and look up "Gargoyle" the creature would be squatting in the image box staring at you.

Tik-Tak shifted his head slightly at the medic's gentle push.

"So, you had a standard M404 Datalink with a warsteel casing and flag officer upgrades?" she asked.

"Yes," Tik-Tak said.

"Huh. Well, it's certainly pretty now," she said. She squinted at the datalink housing, bringing up her surgical magnification.

The casing of the datalink was pure white, with gold swirls and decorative swoops, adorned with tiny gems. The whole thing looked like it belonged in a religious reliquary rather than on the side of a portly general's head.

"Does it feel different?" she asked. She wasn't even sure how to get this new casing open.

"Warmer. More like a part of me. I used to get a nagging itch behind my right ear when I did high encryption data transfers, but right now I don't feel it," Tik-Tak said. He sighed. "It was a normal M404 two hours ago."

The medic moved around to the front of the general, lifting up a light. "Track this," she said, moving the light back and forth.

The General's eyes were bone white. She could see them move, but she didn't see any pupils.

She shook her head. "Well, sir, your biometrics are fine, but you've suffered some physical changes. Can you think of anything that might have caused them?"

She regretted the words as soon as she said them.

"Oh, I don't know, how about an ANGEL MANIFESTED IN MY OFFICE?" Tik-Tak yelled, standing up. He sat down, rubbing his forearms together again. "Apologies, Sergeant. My nerves are a bit frayed."

The medic glanced at the gargoyle. "I understand, sir."

General Forgrumm, Commander of FORCOMTERSOL, stepped in and looked around.

"Well, Imak, you look like you've had an exciting morning," he said.

"Gee, you think?" Tik-Tak snarled, then caught himself. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Having viewed the security tapes, your anxiety is perfectly understandable," the General said. "The building's security systems detected no transmissions, no idea where it was generated from, but I think it's safe to say it wasn't some kind of prank. Women went into labor from here to Hell Is Inky City," he chuckled. He turned to the soldier next to him. "This is Private Argwark Olson Lamat, Military Intelligence."

"Got caught in the barracks sober, Private?" Tik-Tak chuckled, pulling the Private's attention away from the crouching gargoyle.

"Uh, yes sir," the Private said. He pointed at the secure computer system that was normally hidden by the wooden paneling of the desk.

It was exposed, and as everyone watched it vibrated, bounced around a little bit, expanded weirdly, then hopped up and down for a moment.

"I assure you, Private, my sec-comp normally is quite well behaved," Tik-Tak said.

"What's making it do that?" the General asked, ignoring the medic who was examining Tik-Tak's ears. The portly general had bled from the ears despite the fact his eardrums were intact.

"Well, from what I can tell, it might be the fact that the angel, oh, I don't know, DELIVERED MAIL!" Tik-Tak shouted the last part then caught himself, sitting down. "It went through my datalink to the desk high security computer system."

The Private looked at the gargoyle then at the computer then at the gargoyle again, then burst out laughing.

"What is so funny, private?" General Forgrumm asked.

The Private stopped laughing. "The gargoyle is there to see when the email is opened. It's a read receipt."

General Forgrumm harrumphed. "Well, who do you think sent it?"

"To be honest, sir, I have a suspicion, but I'd like to bring in an expert," the Private said.

"An expert in this?" Forgrumm asked, looking doubtful.

"More than any of us," the Private said.

Forgrumm looked at Tik-Tak, who just shrugged. The medic had plugged in external cable to the datalink and was running function checks on it.

They waited, watching as Criminal Investigations Division took pictures of the damage to the building.

The Colonel who entered had Chaplain markers on his collar. He looked around, looked at the gargoyle, swallowed thickly, and moved up next to the two Generals and the Private. The medic had managed to get Tik-Tak's datalink casing off and was staring at the inside. She'd summoned a cyberneticist to get a good look at it.

It looked really weird to her.

"Brother Sumton," the Chaplain said. He looked at the Private. "You were right, this looks like some kind of divine visitation."

"Gee, ya think?" Tik-Tak said, then shook his head. "Apologies, I'm still a little shook up and the side of my head is wide open to the point I'm wondering if the good medic is reading my thoughts."

"Nothing so nefarious, General," the medic said.

"Someone really should read that email," Tik-Tak said. He pointed at his computer, which was still hopping and shaking. "Whatever it is, it's really excited to be here."

General Forgrumm nodded. He moved up to the keyboard, the holographic outline now inscribed in gold on the desktop, and reached down.

The top of the desk turned into a fanged maw with tentacles on the side and ringed by over a dozen staring red eyes.

General Forgrumm jumped back. "Uh, I don't think I'm supposed to access that email," he said as the desk went back to normal.

Tik-Tak sighed and glanced up at the medic. "Mind putting my head back together?" he asked.

The medic flushed. "I'd rather wait for a cyberneticist, sir."

"I'd rather open that message before my computer sprouts legs and runs away," Tik-Tak said.

The medic sighed, a long suffering sigh that medics learn in the early weeks of school, and started putting the casing back on the datalink. It only took a minute before she stepped back.

"Done, sir," she said. "I advise against this."

"Duly noted," Tik-Tak said, stepping forward. He put his hands over the desk and the circle of eyes opened up, blinked, then closed. Tik-tak looked at the screen, which had carvings of flowers and vines in bronze and gold leaf on the frame instead of black plas. He typed in his password, accessed his email, then entered his password again.

The email waiting was obvious to everyone.

For one, it sparkled, burned with a white fire, and sparkles shot off of it. Little cherubs lifted it up above the monitor.

"You don't have the VR system on, do you?" General Forgrumm said.

"No, sir," Tik-Tak said.

"Yup, those are definitely cherubs," Brother Sumton said.

Tik-Tak reached out and touched the email and it immediately opened.

The gargoyle leapt from the corner, spreading its wings as it left the ragged hole in the hall, and dissolved into smoke as it flapped away from the building.

"There goes the read receipt," the Private from MI said.

Scrolls poured out of midair, rolling across the floor, even as schematics flashed by on the screen. Tik-Tak staggered back slightly, his hand going to his implant and his eyes crossing.

With the sound of huge bells, the email vanished, the cherubs laughing and giggling as the cartwheeled away.

The medic was crouched down, looking at one of the scrolls. She looked up, frowning. "I recognize some of this," she said.

General Forgrumm shook his head. He wanted to run screaming, but he had a certain image to uphold in front of the troops. "What is it?"

"It's circuitry for a medical stasis pod. I recognize this part because about a hundred years ago I had to repair a pod by hand with only schematics," she tapped it. "It's the old version, the real old version. I was on a long-sleep vessel that we'd found orbiting a dead planet."

"How old?" General Forgrumm asked.

"The Glassing," the medic, the Private, and the Chaplain all said at the same time.

"So, do you think I've got to feed it?" Tik-Tak asked, staring at the top of his desk.