16. Sean's Nickname

The five of them rested together, Nathan standing guard outside, looking for something. Since Sean was already there, he followed along. Victoria wanted to come along, but they divided up the tasks and took turns keeping watch. Since Daniel had just received treatment, he had to rest for a few hours so that the medicine Victoria had given him could adapt to his body.

It was dark at night, but the hiding place was brightly lit. There were small lights, and there was air ventilation so it wasn’t too stuffy. The place they were using was big enough for the five of them, about three by three square meters before they entered a circular tunnel. There was enough room to sleep.

“You’re brave enough to jump straight into a place like this, Victoria,” said Maria, lying next to Victoria.

“I can’t just sit still and wait. Courage comes suddenly, then disappears just like that. To be honest, when I was on my way here and those creatures attacked the car, I was scared, and regretted that decision,” Victoria admitted, laughing a little at her strange thoughts.

Maria laughed a little too.

“Wow. So you’re still a girl, Vic,” Maria said after laughing.

“Yeah, that’s how it is. But at least I'm here, I'll do anything," said Victoria.

"I like your courage. Hopefully, we can stop this strange attack," said Maria.

"Yes."

It's been more than a week since the first attack by the strange creatures. They still haven't found a bright spot to end the war. Of course, the victims are the residents, as well as the soldiers and other animals. The creatures seem to be relentless in launching attacks, and looking for prey as if they were hungry.

"I'm in the eighth division on duty in Megphil, previously I was in the same team as Sean in the training division, that's when I met him. How about you, Victoria?" asked Maria again.

In a strange place that is not so comfortable, how could Victoria sleep? Maria knew that the girl couldn't close her eyes yet.

"Me? I happened to meet him on the first day I entered the army doctor's military camp," answered Victoria. "At that time I accidentally dropped my luggage, and Sean helped me. The first meeting was quite good, but then I don't know what started it, Sean and I often fought," continued Victoria telling how she got to know Sean.

Maria stared at Victoria, waiting for what the girl would say next.

"He called me Captain Temptress, and it was so annoying," the girl admitted with a small smile.

"Captain Temptress? Sean called you that?" Maria looked surprised.

"Yes. That's because I often seduced soldiers who didn't want to have their health checked with seduction, and I even seduced Commander Kevin, and other captains just for fun. But, among them, not a single one fell for my seduction. Maybe for some reason, the seduction worked. That's why Sean nicknamed me Captain Temptress," Victoria explained.

Maria laughed again as if it was the first time she heard Sean give someone a nickname.

"I didn't expect him to be that close to someone," Maria said after they were silent for a while.

This time it was Victoria who glanced at Maria.

"You know, Sean is an indifferent, cold, and strict person. He is merciless when giving training to juniors. You must know his nickname too," Maria looked at Victoria.

"Commander Lion." Victoria certainly knew Sean's nickname.

"That's right. He acts like a leader, like a mighty lion. However, you should also know, that he is subject to rules and superiors, but he speaks up if there is something he doesn't like, or something is wrong. He also limits interactions with women, that's why when you came with him earlier, I was surprised," Maria said about Sean.

Of course, Victoria knew about Sean's legendary nickname, namely the Lion Commander. Sean is also a person who is very disciplined with time and obeys the rules, tough, firm, and intelligent. Sean has achieved many achievements and is indeed known to be cold. However, Victoria did not feel that way.

"Maybe to other people, but to me he is annoying," said Victoria.

Maria could understand Victoria's words because Sean must be looking for trouble with the girl, even teasing her.

"Nice to chat with you, Victoria. I've been bored these past few days because there are only Daniel and Nathan here," said Maria.

"Have you been in the same division for a long time?" asked Victoria.

“Yes, quite a long time. I was with Nathan longer even though we were in different divisions, he and I still met often. With Daniel, since he was transferred to Bolphi, we rarely met, only occasionally exchanged news via cellphone, and we met again when we were assigned to sweep here,” Maria replied, telling something else.

“So that’s how it is, I’m surprised,” Victoria admitted.

Because she had to be on guard from early morning until morning, Maria invited Victoria to sleep while Sean and Nathan were on guard outside.

They didn’t know that there was a pair of eyes watching from a distance, from an invisible place. The pair of eyes glowed blue, then dimmed.

Would Victoria be able to complete the mission given by her superior? Her arrival to that dangerous place was indeed to take the technology on the alien ship, but because of the obstacles she experienced, it certainly wouldn’t be easy to take it. So Victoria had to ask more about how to approach the alien ship.

Elsewhere, a reddish light surrounded the giant ball-shaped ship. The light flickered around it like a lamp, but no sound was heard. The reddish light was like a burning fire and became a shield for the ship. Around her, strange creatures stood guard, from small to large gathered there. Who knows what they were waiting for, or looking for in that place?

However, on the other side, a dark place not far from the plane, a pair of blue eyes shone again, but only those eyes were visible in the darkness of the night. The eyes moved to scan the surroundings. Who knows what the owner of the eyes looked like or his body because a few moments later the eyes disappeared again.

Victoria was awakened by a voice heard from the direction of the hiding place. Not long after, Sean came in followed by Nathan.

"You're back," Victoria greeted while sitting on the special army bed.

"Yes. We woke you up, right, Vic?" asked Nathan.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm easy to wake up," replied Victoria.

Nathan just smiled and looked away. Sean approached the girl.

"Are you okay?" asked Sean softly.

"Yes," answered Victoria briefly.

Sean gave Victoria a bottle of mineral water and the girl accepted it.

The sound of Maria waking up distracted Sean from Victoria, and Maria smiled thinly.

"I'm going to see Nathan. Victoria, be ready when you're fully awake," Maria said and got up from the bed.

Victoria was silent.

Sean himself sat on the bed provided beside Victoria. His attention was no longer on the girl but on the watch on his hand. What Sean did was check his heartbeat which was connected to the watch, and was surprised by the numbers that appeared on the watch screen.