“Why do you think you own the world?” a girl across from her questioned flatly. Ashlynn looked up, but she couldn’t get a good look at her since the girl’s raven-colored hair was covering her face.
“Because I’m better than you,” Ashlynn answered simply.
“Humph,” the girl responded.
On the other side of Ashlynn, a girl named Jude nudged her softly. “That’s Mors. Don’t worry about her. Although she’s somewhat of a sociopath, she’s a great asset to the team.”
“Humph,” Mors repeated, communicating that she could hear every word they were saying.
Ashlynn glanced down at the makeshift cast on her hand. Things would be very difficult with her not being able to move her hand. She sighed, annoyed that Sam had had to break her thumb in the first place. She wondered if Sam was laughing about it right now. Probably.
Cyan turned to Ashlynn again. “But what if she is somewhere around here? You know Fi is looking for her.”
“I don’t want to worry about Ignea right now,” Ashlynn answered without even glancing at her. “You should be focused on the mission.”
“This mission is so boring,” Cyan said, cringing. But her movements indicated her surrender.
“This is so stupid,” Mors stated.
Ashlynn sighed again. It would be a long mission.
***************
"Laura!"
Laura finished tying the knot to the tent that she was bringing up, then turned to Imraan and patiently asked,
"What is it Imraan?"
"There's a boy in the group that's placing explosives around the camp. I immediately stopped him, but he didn't accept me as a superior officer. What should I do?"
Laura paused to think, then asked,
"What is this boy's name? Did you ask him? What did he look like?"
"He was short, with red-brown hair. Lots of freckles."
"Ah. The explosive expert. I'll go and talk to him. He should be setting up alarm systems and a few explosives, but not all of them. Would you finish setting up this tent?"
Imraan replied, "OK. Thanks, Laura."
****************
Conner grinned as he slid the long pin connected to the shield into the soft mud and stood. “All in place…initiate magnetic field,” he commanded to himself. Dialing a code into the remote control, he took a few steps away from the tiny shield in the grass. As the field switched on, he slowly watched the building disappear off of his ELDAR (Electronic Locator Device and Analytical Remote), then surveyed the area and tossed the MFC (Magnetic Field Control, as he had just recently named it) onto a patch of dry ground. He crouched low and looked down at the ground around him. He reached over and picked up a stick, then wrote the code into the mud. He stood next to the code until he could hear voices in the distance coming towards him. He pushed two buttons on his ELDAR and it formed into a watch. He snapped it onto his wrist and began walking in the opposite direction of the facility.
When he heard dogs, he started running.
When he first flew in, he had seen a large patch of dry ground he could use as a secondary runway. This is where he headed. As soon as he reached the plateau, he unclipped his belt and snapped a thick section of the end to form a crack. He slid a tiny disk out of the end and rubbed it, activating it. Then he threw it into the air and watched as it transformed slowly into a jet, the Technishards rippling out to the ends until it was complete. With a glance behind him, he climbed the steps on the side and slid into the cockpit. In the matter of a few minutes, he had already started the plane, turned it around, and lifted off.
*****************
“Hey, everyone decent in there?” Laura questioned as she stood outside the tent. She put one hand on the tent to let whoever was inside know she was talking to them. She heard some shuffling around before the door began to unzip.
“Nope. It’s just me,” Wesley answered, stepping out. He turned to zip the tent back up but Laura stopped him.
“Do you smell smoke?” she asked.
Wesley pulled up his shirt and sniffed it before replying. “Could be. Why? Do you smell something?”
Laura pushed him aside and stepped into the tent and he followed. “Yah, smells real strong in here. What have you been doing?”
Wesley shifted uncomfortably. “A little experiment,” he answered after a pause.
“Experiment?”
He looked down as Laura turned to look at him, her body emanating stern disapproval.
“Wesley, what am I going to do with you?” Laura sighed. Wesley looked up but Laura wasn’t looking at him. The sternness had loosened a little, and she seemed to look older, as if the wear of her work aged her. Wesley didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about that, Wes,” Laura said, eying the bag. “Imraan was just a little tense. These last few weeks haven’t been very bright for him. Leave the explosives where they are.”
Wesley slowly set the backpack back down on his sleeping bag. “But I thought…” He trailed off as Laura unexpectedly sat down on the bottom of the tent. Unsure what he should do, he continued standing.
“I could tell Imraan wanted to ask me something, but something made him hold back. Do you know what might be worrying him?”
Wesley went rigid. Should he tell her? Her movements were informal, friendly, but he just couldn’t. What would she do once she found out? He kept quiet.
“I know it’s bothering you too. I just hope you don’t let it get you down.” She sighed. “The morale of this camp has depleted so low, I’m not sure they will survive the journey.”
A spark of curiosity lit over Wesley’s figure and he suddenly became interested. “You never told us where we were headed. What are you planning?”
“Wes,” Laura said sadly, shaking her head. He could sense her guarded attitude kicking in. “My mission is to protect you. Some things are must know. Understand?”
Wesley cringed. He always hated that saying. It was only ever used as an excuse to hold back important information, especially when he most wanted it. “But if you—” He hesitated.
“What?”
Wesley continued slowly, choosing his words carefully. “If you are gone, no one will know where to go. If you tell me, I can protect them when you’re gone.”
Laura winced, and a pain shot through Wesley’s heart. Immediately, he regretted everything he had just said.
Wesley was quiet, not wanting to say anything more in case he might hurt her.
Finally, Laura said, “I can’t tell you. You have a life ahead of you, full of things you haven’t experienced yet. You still have much to learn. I can’t take that from you.”
The pain transformed in his chest and surged up to his throat. He fought to hold back tears. “I don’t have a life ahead of me, Laura. You don’t understand—” He stopped.
Laura stood. “What?” she inquired softly. She moved to put her arms around him, but he stepped back.
“Nothing. It’s nothing,” Wesley answered, suddenly angry with himself. He swallowed the lump and looked down. “You should go. You have a mission, a whole group to command.”
He couldn’t see her face, but he felt the sorrow in her movements as she collected herself. Then she awkwardly moved towards the door of the tent. “Right,” she said before stepping out.
In a rage, Wesley yelled and punched the pole of the tent, making the whole thing shake. Why was he so stupid?
Boom!
Wesley whipped his head in the direction of the sound and instinctively whispered worriedly, “Kalyia.” He quicky grabbed his backpack and his stick and rushed out of the tent. Barely catching a glance of the wisp of smoke over the trees in the darkening sky, his eyes went wide. How had they avoided the traps that were farther away? This explosion was way too close to camp. Was it one of his friends? He didn’t have time to think. He ran in the direction of the smoke, denying his fear and closing it deep within him.
*******************