Laura said that it was fine and knocked on the door. An elderly woman came to the door and started exclaiming things in a mix of Danish and English. Kalyia didn't know what the connection was between Laura and this woman, but Laura kissed the woman on the cheek and entered the house without asking. Kalyia and Imraan remained outside awkwardly until Laura came out, inviting them in.
"Ummm, Mormor, is it alright if we go into the basement?" Laura suddenly asked. 'Mormor' looked from Laura to Kalyia to Imraan strangely and asked her something in Danish. Laura nodded. The woman stood up, led them to the front of the house, lifted a rug off of the floor, and opened a trap door hidden beneath it. She let them down into the basement and closed the trapdoor on them.
"Laura, who are these people?" Imraan asked. Kalyia could tell that he didn't trust them.
Laura looked at him strangely and said, "I thought that you would have figured it out by now. That was my grandmother. Emil is my cousin. Come on, let's go. There's a secret tunnel down here."
Laura led them further into the basement and started to tap some places on what appeared to be a blank wall. The wall opened, revealing a dark tunnel. Laura walked through it calmly as if she knew it like the back of her hand. Kalyia and Imraan followed her, knowing that she had more secrets to reveal.
****************
Why hadn’t it worked? Rebecca wondered. Then she realized Xarissa was actually waiting for an answer. She glared at her friend until Xarissa got the idea and walked away silently. Finally it was peaceful. At least, as peaceful as it could be with a broken leg.
Then Conner walked in. Rebecca closed her eyes, regretting that she wasn’t able to turn over. Maybe she could pretend she was asleep…
“I know you’re not asleep,” Conner said, not fooled. “You were just talking with Xarissa.”
Rebecca glared at him from beneath her eyelids. I wish I could talk right now, so I could tell you to go away.
“Oh, quit it. You’re not asleep,” Conner said, sitting down next to her.
Rebecca sighed and opened her eyes. She gave a moan, wishing she could talk straight. What do you want?
“I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but I know that whatever Malyssa said to you was a lie,” Conner said.
Rebecca let out a sound that rose in question. Oh, really? How do I know you’re not lying to me now?
Conner sighed. “I’m not pretend, Becky Lyn.”
Rebecca sucked air in through her teeth. Nobody had ever called her that except for Conner. Then she mentally shook her head, clearing herself of the thought. She was making it up. She knew Conner called her that, sometimes.
“How can I make you believe I’m real?” Conner asked.
Rebecca thought for a minute. What could he do? No matter what he did, she would always think he was making it up. If she told him to do it, her mind would make him do it anyway, because that’s what she wanted. She closed her eyes, holding back tears.
“I think I know what happened out there. You thought this was a dream. You tried to kill yourself to wake up, but it didn’t work. Give up, you know this is real,” Conner said.
Maybe he could be right, Rebecca thought. Things haven’t worked out the way I planned. Wouldn’t I make what I wanted happen if this was a dream of my making? In her dreams, she had never ever tried to kill herself to wake up. That means this must not be a dream. And that meant…Will everyone start to think I’m suicidal?
Conner was probably planning to tell everyone what had happened. And if this was real, that means he had really saved her life.
She never even heard Conner left, but now there was an odd silence. She looked around the room, but he wasn’t there. If this was a dream, she would have given herself enough time to say thank you.
****************
Tyler hadn’t heard much about the secret hideout beneath the Koroyanitu National Heritage Park in Fiji, but Sarah seemed to know where she was going, so Tyler was satisfied with letting her lead. They went down a long hallway and approached a door. It didn’t have a handle, but Tyler could see a card-swiping device on the wall next to it.
“You don’t happen to have a key card, do you?” he questioned.
“No, I don’t,” Sarah said. She walked over to the device and pulled a gadget out of her bag. She placed it in a spot on the side of the device, and the front swung open, revealing a small screen beneath it.
“Well, that was cool, but now how are we supposed to get in?” Tyler asked.
“Shut up and let me work,” Sarah answered, sliding the gadget back into her pocket.
****************
Sarah had never been as good as her sister with this kind of stuff, but she would have to make do. She knew the screen was a touch screen, so she used it to go through files and break firewalls, type in numbers, and tap into the systems so she could open the doors manually.
Finally, she pressed the button and the doors opened.
“Good job,” Tyler said with a smile.
“Thanks for all your help,” Sarah replied steely and put the front of the device back. “Let’s go.” She picked up her pack, and they walked in.
*****************
Ignea looked around the corner to see two agents down the hall. She smiled. Everything seemed just too easy. She turned back to her group and glared fiercely at them. She pointed at Firoxa and motioned for her to come forward. Firoxa moved towards her with a smile. “Hey. Don’t get too cocky, Fi,” Ignea whispered, giving her a cold stare.
Firoxa’s smile fell and she put on a serious look. “I won’t fail. What is my duty?”
Ignea motioned towards the corner. “Two agents. They should be easy. Take them out.”
Firoxa couldn’t help smiling as she moved forward in the line. “My pleasure.”
****************
Janaya had been on their backs for days, requesting new weapons for a little adventure she was planning on taking. Griffin guessed he couldn’t really call it, “requesting”. It was more like “demanding”. But, hey, he wasn’t complaining. Janaya always gave them good information about the places she had been spying on, and she’d helped the agency out a lot when they’d been under attack or when they had been going through hard times. Recently, Janaya had warned the ASW of a bigger threat than anything they’d had to handle so far, a corporation known as the SSAWPS. From what Janaya had told them, the SSAWPS was an all-feminine group that had been known to infiltrate corporations in many different ways to gain access to their core systems and potentially shut them down. The ASW had been warned that their motive for attack was growing larger and that the time of their attack was getting closer. Griffin looked at his partner, Ylva. She had joined a month ago, after leaving home from Scandinavia to visit her sister, Vinga, who joined the ASW a little while after learning that Ylva was in it. Griffin hadn’t even thought until now that they both might be in league with the SSAWPS. He glanced carefully at the girl with medium blonde hair and hazel eyes that stood with him in the hallway. She looked innocent enough, but he heard that that is how people are deceived. He would have to watch this one carefully.
****************