by Darrell Pitt
Chapter Twenty-Five
It’s almost a pleasure when the alarm goes off the next morning. The fluorescent light flickers into life. We shower with time to spare. We dress and make our way to the dining hall in silence.
Twelve allowed us to return to our dorm room after our surrender. I’m not sure what made him rethink his strategy. Maybe he realized he was dealing with a pair of teenage boys who could cause mayhem if we wanted. Maybe he came to the conclusion that he needed us more than we needed him.
Whatever his reasoning, we’re back with the others and it feels good. Dan says nothing while he accompanies us to the dining hall. Then as Brodie and Ebony look up in surprise he jerks a thumb back at us and says, “The jailbirds are free.”
The girls jump up and hug us both. We sit down and start eating and talking at the same time. After a while I notice Ebony goes quiet. Her face turns more pale than ever and red spots appear in her cheeks.
Chad finally notices too. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You were just going to abandon me.” Her quiet voice is shaking with fury. “You were going to run away and leave me.”
“No, wasn’t –”
“What else do you call it?”
“I call it fun.”
“Fun?” Her voice rises in fury.
I know Chad’s the one with the ice powers, but right now Ebony is doing a great job of making the temperature drop.
She continues. “Abandoning your sister so –”
“I wasn’t abandoning –”
“Are you a jerk? You could have gotten yourself killed. I don’t –”
The argument continues till the end of breakfast. We’re ready to resume training – which you may interpret as ‘doing as we’re told’ – but it turns out there’s a change in plan. Mr. Brown turns up with the other trainers and leads us to a truck. We travel underground for about an hour until we reach a metal door. It groans open and instantly cold, salty air washes over us. We’re looking at the ocean.
“It’s a great day for the beach,” Chad comments.
Dan looks at the assembled trainers. “Something tells me there won’t be any time for sun baking.”
Mr. Brown takes the lead. “You will be learning a new skill set today,” he explains. “Up till now you have worked individually to hone your abilities. Today all that is going to change. Today you are going to work as a team.
“You will pass through a training mission, facing a number of obstacles until you reach the end. You will only have yourselves to rely upon.”
“Sounds tough,” Chad smirks.
Brown gives him a look. “Today you will be facing live ammunition.” He steps up to Chad until he’s only inches away from his face. “It will be tough.”
He produces a map that shows our position in relation to an island. We can actually see it from where we’re standing. It lies a short distance off the coast. He explains our mission. We have to get from here to the island – hopefully without being detected – then break into a compound and destroy an obelisk situated at the heart of the facility.
“We are throwing you in the deep end. Have no doubt about that. We are forcing you to sink or swim. We want you to think for yourselves.” He lets this sink in. “The war game will only come to an end once your objective is achieved. You have three hours to complete your mission.”
“Uh,” Chad holds up his hand. “What happens if we don’t want to achieve our mission?”
Brown’s eyes narrow. “Say again.”
“What happens if we should decide to go for a burger and fries instead?”
Oh Chad, I groan internally.
The seconds pass slowly. A gentle morning breeze washes over the beach. A solitary seagull cries and soars away into the distance. The waves crash, race up the beach and drain into the sand.
Finally Brown’s eyes move to each of us. “If you should succeed in today’s mission you will be rewarded with a twenty-four hour furlough.” He lets that thought sink in. “If you should decide you are incapable of following orders you will be considered an enemy of The Agency and you will be treated as such.”
His eyes settle once again on Chad.
I’ll say one thing for Chad. He might be a tough guy, but even he knows when he’s met his match. Finally he looks to the island. “Looks like we party tomorrow.”
Mr. Brown nods and leads the other trainers back through the metal doors. He turns back one final time and looks at me.
“You remember the exercises we conducted regarding flight shapes?”
I do. “Yes.”
“The wedge should get you to the island without being detected. It’s the most like a stealth bomber. Stay low and fast.” He turns to the rest of us. “Remember. It’s live ammunition. You are on your own. You can die if you make a mistake.” The metal doors start to slide shut. “Good luck.”
The doors slam shut with an ominous boom.
“Live ammunition,” Brodie says. “Uh, where’s that burger place?”
“We’ll be okay,” I say, although I don’t feel as confident as I sound. “Mr. Brown’s right, though. We’ll need to work together.”
“You’re such a hero,” Chad shakes his head in mock admiration. “Such a leader.”
I turn to him angrily. “Is there something wrong with your brain?”
“No. Is there something wrong with yours?”
“What the hell is your problem?”
“I don’t recall anyone making you leader –”
“I’m not the leader, stupid. I’m just –”
Brodie comes between us. “Boys, switch off your glands. We need to get moving.” She checks her watch. “We’ve got two hours and forty-five minutes.”
I create a wedge as Brown instructed and the others climb on. A week ago I could not have imagined building a flying device for us to fly on, but now I do it with ease. It even has a hand rail and everything. With enough practice I could probably even give it really cool fins and make the wings –
Brodie looks at me. “Are you ready?”
I rouse myself from my dreams of becoming a flight engineer and we start across the water. It’s quite an exhilarating experience. From my training with Mr. Brown I know that keeping us close to the water decreases our chance of being picked up by radar. I glance over at the others. They all look so happy it’s hard to believe we’re heading off on a dangerous mission.
Live ammunition, I think. Let’s hope it doesn’t leave one of us dead.
