Stealth
Chapter xxxii
By YuriNigasa
*standard I don't own FFVIII, Squaresoft, characters, etc. applies from now until whenever I decide I'm done*
Stealth
Chapter xxxii
By YuriNigasa
We crowded around the terminal the best we could. I was pretty sure my hand was too close to Quisty's chest and I knew for damn certain that Irvine's boot heel was grinding into my toe, but I kept quiet.
"What did you find?" asked Squall.
"Well, I asked Usuki about this," Elijah said, bringing up an image of a large feline looking creature that could have been the result of crossbreeding a Torama with a Moomba. "He thought that maybe it was an unidentified Guardian, but, when he left for a bit I started reading. They were an ancient race that lived side by side with the Centrans. The text refers to them as Sesh'Ka-ha'chi. Watchmen or... Sentinels. The most honored among them protected sacred sites."
"Was that with the manuscript?" Quistis asked.
"No, Usuki was handling the manuscript scans. I was organizing some miscellaneous things when I came across it. I'm trying to build something of a general database for all of this information, so we could theoretically continue our study without Usuki if we had to," Elijah replied.
"So maybe we know what this Sentinel we're looking for looks like," said Selphie. "But honestly, how many caves do you think there are in Centra? I mean, it's huge!"
"She's got a point. Granted, it's a really obvious one, but it's a point," said Zell.
"Thanks for nothing Zell," Selphie retorted.
"Not only that, but there's over fifteen hundred years worth of land erosion and modification, plus the damage from the Lunar Cry. For all we know this site we're looking for has been demolished or is even underwater," added Quistis.
"Well, I could try to access Esthar's information network. It's possible that they've got some geographical information we don't," offered Elijah.
No Esthar. No. Absolutely not.
"Go ahead," said Squall.
So much for my telepathic potential.
"Don't we need to request access?" asked Quistis.
"Need to? Yes. Will we? No." Squall smirked. "It's easier to apologize than to get permission."
I stared at him in mild shock, although I'm sure it floored me less than it did the others.
"Seifer, you're being a bad influence on Squall," scolded Selphie. "Either that or the two of you have worked out some really good ventriloquism."
I rolled my eyes as if I refused to lower myself to her level.
"Ha! Pets really do resemble their owners I guess!" she laughed. "That's a Squall expression if I ever saw one!"
I took a halfhearted swipe at her and grinned. "Shut up already!"
Squall waited for us to settle down before he spoke again. "Zell, I want you to contact Balamb and request that Cadet Francois assist Elijah."
When had Squall decided to go on a first name basis? He must be feeling pretty comfortable around Elijah to do that. I had to admit, though, Elijah's presence in our 'association' had gone over far better than I heard Rinoa's had. At least Elijah was competent.
"Just tell Cadet Francois that he's going to need access to Esthar's database and Esthar doesn't need to know about it," Squall finished.
"Nice," said Irvine, "gives us plausible deniability."
Squall nodded. "Cadets do get bored." He shrugged.
"Okay, where is Squall and what's in his body?" Selphie demanded.
Squall fixed an impassive gaze on Selphie and quirked his eyebrow.
"Oh, phew, that's better," she giggled. "You had me worried."
"Wait a minute," said Quistis. "Where exactly did Usuki find these artifacts?"
"I'm not exactly sure," I said. "Why?"
"It might give us a place to start looking. Think about it. The manuscript and other things are fairly well preserved. We've seen what Centra looks like. Things don't just survive like this. Not in this condition," she said.
Why hadn't I thought of that? "So you're saying that maybe they were intentionally placed where they would be found intact?"
"Precisely." She nodded.
"Couldn't hurt to ask. It's as good an idea as any of them. Maybe even a little better at this point," said Zell.
I decided Quistis would be the one to approach Usuki. She was intelligent as well as beautiful, and I felt certain that this wouldn't be lost on the dear Doctor. It might also help distract him from our real purpose. It was later that evening when we made our way from the clinic to the Command Center. As she struck up a conversation with him, I eavesdropped from my seat by Seifer.
"These are quite fascinating, Doctor," she began.
"Oh, thank you... Quistis, isn't it?" he asked.
She nodded demurely. "I find the images especially amazing. The artistic styling is so unique. It's a pity we don't know more about the culture."
Never send a man to do a woman's job. Usuki was looking flustered with all the attention. I gathered he probably didn't have many young females flocking around him asking about his research.
"Yes, yes it is." He fumbled, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
"So how many times have you been to Centra?"
"I've accompanied a half-dozen expeditions, mostly concentrating in the northwest."
"Exciting. I've actually been to Centra once, myself, although we weren't there for archaeological or historical reasons." She shrugged a little, as if her involvement in the Ultimecia incident had been a minor inconvenience.
"You're one of the few. Then again," he gestured toward her weapon, "you're quite able to handle yourself I would imagine. When I visit, we're generally accompanied by a small brute squad. They take care of all that for us."
"So where were you when you discovered that wonderful manuscript?"
"We were in one of the more minor northeastern regions that we call Nadi."
"It sounds fascinating. What was it like there?"
Usuki chuckled. "Dry, hot, dusty. It was a bit cooler inside though."
"Inside? Did you discover some more ruins?" she paused to blush.
"No, we discovered some caves during some exploration of a canyon. The temperature, of course, was remarkably cool once we got far enough back. There was little humidity, although there was some, well you wouldn't call it structural damage, would you? There were some minor cave-ins and such that made the going slow in places. Unfortunately we didn't get as far back as we would have liked. There was simply too much debris to move when we reached a certain point."
"I didn't know Centra was known for caves."
I smiled. Quistis was doing great. I could tell by looking at Seifer that he wanted to vault out of his chair and run for Centra right then.
"Well, normally it isn't. It's desert and rock now, for the most part. Perhaps at one point in time there were rivers and such that would have contributed to the formation of caverns. It's just a shame that we didn't get to go further in." Usuki's face looked resigned.
"So you think you'll go back then, eventually?"
"Yes, it's all a matter of raising the funds to do so. My area of study isn't exactly the most in vogue right now."
I had heard enough. I motioned discreetly to Seifer and we headed outside.