Sanctuary Falling

by Pamela Foland

  Several times Becky seemed to be close to saying something, then would remain silent.

  Finally Annette rose and sat on the chair next to her, “Hi, Becky, my name’s Annette, seeing as we may be here a while maybe we could talk, rather than just sit here stewing.”

  “Yeah, that would be good, I guess,” Becky replied, but made no move to further the conversation. Annette felt like she was holding something back, like Niri.

  “So, have you heard anything about what this test will be like, other than what she just told us?” Annette asked.

  Becky’s eyes lit up, “No, have you?” Suddenly, Annette felt as though she were being interrogated. She couldn’t tell the source of the suddenly intense interest.

  “No, I just thought maybe she said something before we came in,” Annette answered.

  Becky’s eyes dimmed, “Oh! So what took you so long in getting here?”

  “Niri didn’t mention I had to be up at any specific time this morning, and then the room didn’t tell me she’d come looking for me, and then we waited a little while for Sinclair in the waiting room,” Annette paused, perhaps she shouldn’t have mentioned that, Niri hadn’t, “but that was barely long enough to sit.”

  “Hmm,” was Becky’s only response.

  “So, you didn’t get a fair shake the first time?” Annette prompted.

  “I guess not. No, not really.”

  “So you want to be a factor pretty bad to try this?” Annette asked.

  Becky shrugged and stared off into space. Annette thought she heard a whisper, “It would make mom happy.” Annette suspected the whisper was telepathic. Then a moment later, Becky actually spoke, “I want to make my mom proud of me.”

  Annette’s mind itched. She was hearing people’s thoughts, maybe running into that pole had turned on her telepathy. She shoved those thoughts aside, and thought of what tawny would say, “Are you sure that’s the only way to make her proud?”

  “I,” Becky stopped short and glanced around, then she blushed, “Never mind.”

  Annette thought about pressing the question, again she got the feeling that something was going on that she wasn’t aware of. She glanced at the clock. What was the big hurry if only to end up waiting? She stiffened, Annette knew there was more to the test. Niri’s strange behavior first brought up the feeling. Becky’s behavior confirmed it, or at least that Becky thought the same way. This was part of the test, that’s why Niri and Sinclair left. Heck, everything from the moment she walked through the door was probably part of it.

  Annette fought not to allow herself to think of the mistakes she had made. Now wasn’t the time. Should she have sat in the chair? Should she have introduced herself? Should she have spoken with Becky? Should she? ? ? Annette’s mind froze. She couldn’t do this. How could she have ever thought she could make it as a factor?

  “Well ladies, the gentlemen have completed their run,” Angela said appearing abruptly in front of Annette.

  Annette leapt to her feet, more out of startlement than out of preparedness. Though standing she couldn’t get her feet to move. Tony and Rupert must have finished the next part in record time if Angela was already back. Annette knew she couldn’t manage whatever it was anywhere near as quickly.

  Angela gestured towards the transport pod in the corner of the conference room. Becky followed her, and sluggishly Annette managed to follow Becky. Numbly she watched as Angela activated the controls. Then they arrived in a locker room. Angela pointed, “There are a couple of jumpsuits over there, I’d suggest you change into them, the course is a little muddy. When you’re both ready, step into the pod and activate it then follow the arrows to the end of the course, good luck.”

  Annette picked up a jumpsuit and mechanically began changing.

  “I take it you’re really into this,” Becky said, “You really want to be a factor don’t you.”

  Annette paused, now Becky wanted to talk? As if suddenly no one was watching, maybe there wasn’t. After all they were changing clothes. It wouldn’t be right to have cameras in here.

  “Yeah, I’m into this,” Annette answered, “but I don’t think I’ll make the cut.”

  Becky smiled, “I know what you mean there. People say Angela can be even worse than Mr. Shove-us-out-the-door.”

  “I can’t believe you called him that!” Annette exclaimed, because she couldn’t believe it.

  “Why, trust me, I’ve heard worse,” Becky replied, “Don’t you call him anything, after he rejected your application?”

  “No, I don’t. That’s not how I was raised, by either set of parents!” Annette protested.

  “Okay, I won’t call him that again. So I guess you don’t mind the all the work it’ll take if you do get accepted. You know, constant studying and tests and chores and it’ll go on and on and on for four or five or even six years!”

  That question didn’t even give Annette pause, “Why should it be any different. Niri ran us into the ground. Then I had school, and then after school there was more Niri, and then homework. If I had time after that I would study on my own.”

  “Seriously?” Becky asked. Her face clearly showed her surprise.

  “Seriously! Haven’t you worked for it?” Annette shot back.

  “Not that hard!”

  Annette glanced at her, again her mind fished away at something more, “If you want something, shouldn’t you work towards getting it?”

  “Yeah,” Becky nodded, “But there is work and then there is WORK!”

  “There is also wanting and WANTING. Are you ready?” Annette asked.

  Becky nodded and both entered the transport pod. Annette tapped the activation button. When they arrived at the start, Annette realized that somehow her anxiety had built the obstacle course into more than it was. Ahead of her was a short, if high balance beam walk. Then a rope climb, which would hardly be a challenge seeing as the rope was pre-knotted at intervals. The course seemed too easy. Niri had been known to put her class through much worse before breakfast.

  Annette started across the balance beam, picking up speed as she went. About halfway across she wobbled as a brief wave of dizziness hit her, but she made it across. She turned back to check on Becky’s progress just in time to see the girl land on the suspension field at the bottom of the six-foot pit. Annette glanced from the girl to the bottom of the pit. She probably could not make it out on her own. Even if Becky didn’t have the same work ethic it wasn’t right for her to fail so soon into the test. Annette’s eyes scanned the platform, the climbing ropes were too long they were probably designed to reach the floor. The excess rope sat in a coil on the platform. Annette scooped up one coil and tossed the end into the pit. Becky hadn’t even fully recovered from the fall yet.

  “Are you okay? Do you need me to come down and help you up?” Annette called.

  Becky spun to face Annette, with surprise clearly shown on her face. “No, I’m okay, you go on, there’s no point in both of us failing!”

  Annette turned to climb her rope, but glanced back. Becky still seemed dazed. She shoved her own rope over the edge and jumped into the pit. She sprinted to Becky’s side and offered a helping hand, “Come on, the rope’s this way.”

  “But, what about your score? And the time limit?” Becky asked ignoring the helping hand and shuffling towards the dangling rope.

  “So it’ll take me a while longer this time, all the more improvement to show for the next test,” Annette waited until Becky had arrived on the platform before scrambling up her own rope. Becky continued up the rope ahead of Annette without so much as a backwards glance, or a thank you. Annette tried not to take that personally. Becky was already halfway across the next obstacle, a rope bridge, when Annette finally reached the upper platform. Annette started to set foot on her own bridge when Becky noticeably swooned. It almost looked like she was going to fall.

  “Hold on tight Becky, I’ll be right there!” Annette called.

  Becky swiveled her head and nodded to Annett
e. Carefully and more slowly than the ticking timer in Annette’s head liked, Annette inched across the rope bridge with as little disturbance as possible. Finally she reached Becky.

  “What’s the matter?” Annette asked, “Did you hit your head on the beam as you fell?”

  “No,” Becky gulped, “I just don’t like heights.”

  “Oh! Well! Then look at me not at the ground,” Annette said. Becky gulped again and nodded. “Feel for the rope with your feet and slide along.”

  Slowly they made progress across the bridge. The cargo net that greeted them was even less encouraging. Annette couldn’t think of any way Becky could climb down that without freezing. Then she glanced at the arrow. It pointed down, but it didn’t say they had to use the net.

  “Becky do you trust me?” Annette asked.

  “Sure, though why you’re ruining your own chances to help me goes beyond me,” Becky answered.

  “Then will you do something that will help us get back some of the time we lost?” Annette asked.

  “Sure, but what,” Becky asked, looking down and cringing.

  Annette thought of telling Becky the plan but decided against it. Becky might freeze costing all the time that the unorthodox plan might gain them. Instead Annette shoved Becky off the edge, and jumped. Becky began screaming immediately. Annette just waited for the suspension field to catch them, and it did, cutting off Becky’s scream. They landed on the floor a little hard, but not hard enough to hurt.

  Becky turned on Annette, “You shoved me! We could have been hurt! That was crazy!”

  “No, it wasn’t, I knew there had to be a field to catch us just in case we fell accidentally. I did ask you if you trusted me now let’s go.” Annette sprinted towards the tunnel crawl. Becky made a frightened noise and sprinted along beside her. They quickened pace and suddenly Becky tumbled forward clutching at her ankle.

  Briefly Annette thought of abandoning the other girl, they weren’t even halfway through the course and there couldn’t be too much spare time left. Becky’s squeals of pain were too much, Annette stopped, sympathetically her own ankle throbbed. She turned back and squatted beside Becky.

  “How bad is it?” Annette asked.

  “Bad,” Becky groaned through gritted teeth, “Finish without me! I mean it!” Becky’s voice took on an unexpected tone of command.

  Annette knelt warring with herself. She had helped Becky this far; it wasn’t like she would be failing at the first pit. On the other hand, Annette knew what desperate disappointment could do. If she were in Becky’s place, she’d be saying the same thing. On the third hand, this was just a test and Becky was hurt, if that wasn’t grounds for a retest what was? Another thought occurred to Annette, shouldn’t Angela be watching this?

  Annette stood and hollered at the ceiling, “Hey! Angela! She’s really hurt down here! Can we call a time out and get her some help?!”

  Angela’s voice boomed from speakers all over the course, “It doesn’t matter, time’s up anyway, I’ll >port her to the clinic.”

  Becky abruptly disappeared. Then Annette found herself back in the dressing room. Distressed, and depressed, Annette ran her actions over in her head, while she changed. If only she hadn’t wasted so much time helping Becky, she knew she might have managed to finish the course. Briefly Annette hoped that Angela might accept helping Becky as a mitigating factor, but the hope didn’t last. Even if Angela could be convinced, Annette doubted Sinclair could. This wasn’t looking good. Annette felt she would have to do ten times as well on the second test to make up for this finish. Oh well, it wasn’t like she could do it again. Even if she could, she would probably do the same thing over again. Annette folded the jumpsuit and stepped into the transport pod.

  The next thing she knew she was back in the conference room with Anthony, Rupert, Niri, Sinclair, and Angela. Annette noticed that two more chairs had been added to the row, and that one of the empty chairs was next to Niri. Slowly she shuffled over to that one.

  Angela nodded in her direction, and then appeared to speak directly to Annette, “Becky managed a bad sprain, but Tina should have her fixed up in no time, so don’t worry.”

  Annette nodded back, as she sat. Rupert glanced at Annette with a strange look on his face. She brushed it off, and focused on Angela.

  “I’d like to dispel some tension and let all of you know that none of you finished the obstacle course. Anthony got the furthest, and dirtiest having reached the halfway point of the tunnel crawl before time ran out. The rest of you were right behind him on the sprint to the tunnel. That said, I must say that all of your performances leave me with a lot to consider before the next test, and that today leaves me greatly encouraged that at least one of you has what it takes to be a factor! Now so you all can relax. The next test is scheduled for exactly ten weeks from today, at nine-fifteen sharp. I would encourage each of you to avail yourself of every opportunity you have at your disposal to improve your performance for the next test. That’s all for now you are dismissed,” Angela smiled at each candidate and disappeared.

  Sinclair and Anthony disappeared shortly after that. Rupert walked up to Annette’s chair and almost said something, before he too left, via the door. Niri sat quietly next to Annette for a long while.

  “So, how do you think you did?” Niri asked eventually.

  “I don’t know, not good. I spent all my time helping Becky. I could have finished the course, but. . .”Annette closed her eyes and tried not to see her hopes darting behind yet another dark cloud. She felt tired.

  “What exactly happened?”

  “First she fell off the balance beam into the pit. So I helped her out. Then she froze on the rope bridge and I helped her across. Then I shoved her off the platform and jumped and we made up a lot of time, but maybe something in the landing strained her ankle cause it wasn’t long after that before she twisted it.”

  “You shoved her off the platform and jumped!” Niri asked, somewhat shocked.

  “I knew there had to be a suspension field, especially after she fell of the balance beam. It was only six feet down, you don’t even bother with a fall that short. I was pretty sure there would be one for the higher fall.”

  “So why did you shove her first?” Niri asked.

  “Because I didn’t think she’d jump after me and I didn’t have time to climb back up and shove her,” Annette answered.

  “Why did it matter?”

  Annette paused, now it didn’t seem to matter as much that Becky make it to the end of the course. At least if Annette had left her at the top of the platform she wouldn’t have been hurt. Annette shook her head. “It just did, I would have wanted the help if I needed it.”

  “Okay,” Niri said, “How do you feel about lunch?”

  Annette didn’t feel hungry, but she knew Niri. “Why, what do you have planned for afterwards?”

  Niri laughed, “Nothing much just a short run, and maybe a swim.”

  Annette flinched, Niri didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word “short” at least not when used before run or swim. “I think I might like something to eat.”

  By dinner time, Annette was exhausted, tired beyond her twelve years of experience. Instead of the cafeteria, her feet found her way to her new room. She struggled with knob and opened the door wearily. Without changing into pj’s, she collapsed into her new bunk. Her legs and arms refused to go on. Her eyelids headed the rebellion.

  “How did it go?” Annette heard Tawny’s voice through the slowly rising fog of sleep. She tried to force her lids back open and failed.

  - - - - - - - - - -

  Chapter 3

  Wake Up Already!

  ------------------------------------

  “One-thousand-four-hundred-eighty-six bottles of beer on the wall, one thousand-four- hundred-eighty-six bottles of beer, you take one down and pass it around, one-thousand-four-hundred-eighty-five bottles of beer on the wall,” Angela thought to herself, in an affected version of slight inebriation,
“One-thousand-four-hundred-eighty-five bottles of beer you take one down and pass it around four-thousand-five-hundred-twenty-six empty bottles of beer on the ground.” She yawned. Despite Gene’s surprise presence for the second time in less than a month, This morning’s informal meeting was dragging on even longer and more dismally than usual. Angela grabbed her pop-pad from the table and rapidly tapped through the pages of text it had acquired since she checked it last, over four-hundred bottles of beer ago. She hated beer, but she was almost ready to teleport five-thousand real bottles into the room just to see what would happen. No, that wouldn’t be appropriate. Tenalli, and Canelli, heads of food and custodial services were breeding Tanerian females. Not only would they take the beer as an insult, the alcohol would be a serious health risk for them and their unborn children, however big the litters were this time. Angela shrugged off the thought and the stupid song cycling through her head that had somehow twisted itself even further from the norm. Whimsically she wondered if the virtual alcohol fumes in her brain could affect the Tanerian women.

  Angela looked at the time counter on her pop-pad, in exactly three seconds the meeting would cease being a morning meeting and have stretched into something more gross in dimension. She could then almost call it a seminar, or based on the topics covered, a disaster reaction conference. Struggling against severe boredom, Angela tried to focus on the topics of discussion. That failing she focused on Gene, who was still waiting for his turn to talk. He barely, if at all, seemed to notice that he was in the meeting. Angela stared at Gene for a while, until suddenly a phrase broke through her apathy.