by A. L. Knorr
"Learning to use your powers?" Targa's coffee stopped halfway to her lips and she raised her brows. "You don't know how to use your powers?"
"I just acquired them a few months ago."
Looks of shock were shared at this. "So did we," said Georjayna.
"Really?" This was not a piece of information Jody or Hiroki had armed me with. I looked from one face to another. "Everyone?"
Saxony nodded. "Part of the reason we haven't slept is because we've been up all night talking about what happened to each of us. Prior to this summer, we were all just… normal humans. Well, Akiko wasn't," she amended, "but she was being held captive and was unable to use her powers. She just got them back this summer."
"Wow." My eyes drifted back to Akiko, concern flooding me. "Who was keeping you captive?"
"It's a very long story." She took a sip of her coffee very slowly to signal that she wasn't in the mood to tell it again.
"Fair enough." I took a breath. "Hiroki is a scientist who works at one of the TNC labs. He's got all kinds of amazing technology that is built to help supernaturals develop their skills."
"Interesting," Saxony murmured.
"TNC is very hierarchical though, and very secretive. If you don't need to know something, they don't tell you. A good example of this is that I've been given the task of inviting you to a presentation, but I don't know what the presentation is about because I'm supposed to see it for the first time along with you."
"That's it? That's your pitch?"
"Almost," I said. "If you agree to come to the presentation, you'll be picked up by a helicopter tomorrow morning-”
“Tomorrow is a holiday,” interrupted Saxony.
I nodded. “TNC doesn’t want to take you away from school. You’ll be taken to their field station up north for the day. You'll be returned home in the evening. You will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement because you'll see things that no one else is allowed to see. If you decline, no hard feelings, you'll be thanked for your time and sent on your merry way. If you accept, you'll be given more specifics."
"And the project? You know nothing about it at all?"
I shrugged. "I'm sorry, but not really, no. I know that TNC is really excited about it. They say that it's going to change the world, make things better for all of humanity. Beyond that, I can't say."
"Geez, they really get you with curiosity," Targa murmured.
I nodded. "It's understandable that they can't really share more than that. They don't want competitors getting wind of what they're doing."
"Until after." Saxony nodded. "A friend of mine just said something similar."
I gazed at Saxony, wondering who this friend was who had told her such a thing about TNC. I made a mental note to ask her when we knew each other better.
"But we've all got plans and things to do," said Georjayna. "Saxony is headed to school overseas, Targa inherited a huge shipping company she has to figure out what to do with. I want to finish high school. We'd have to halt all that for this project." She twisted her lips to the side in an expression of doubt. "It's not likely we'll say yes, even if it is exciting."
"You don't know that," I said. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime. It's not like there is any risk in it for you at this point. A day's worth of your time is all you're asked to give, for starters." I took a sip of the coffee and almost forgot what I was saying. “This is the best coffee I think I have ever had,” I said to Georjayna.
She gave me a toothy grin. “Right?”
I saluted her with the cup, took another sip, and then set it down. "Say no if you want, but when the project hits the media, I can almost guarantee you'll wish you'd been a part of it. TNC has been helping and protecting supernaturals for generations."
"And using their powers for gain," Akiko pointed out.
I nodded. "Yes, of course. It's a mutually beneficial relationship."
"Any idea how long this project is supposed to go for?" Targa asked.
"No. I'm assuming less than a year though, because I'll be a part of it, and my contract expires in less than a year."
The kitchen fell silent.
"Why don't I leave you my cell number and give you time to talk? Call whoever you need to call, talk to whoever you need to talk to, and get back to me so I can give my supervisor an answer."
Georjie took a pad of paper and a pencil from a drawer and slid it across the counter toward me.
I scrawled my number on the pad. I stood and shrugged into my jacket. "Thanks for the coffee, Georjayna."
"I'm interested in the presentation," Saxony blurted.
I turned back, surprised.
"Me too," said Targa. "I doubt I'll take the job, just being honest, but I have to admit I'm dying of curiosity." She shrugged. “It's just one day."
Georjie nodded. "I'm pretty curious, too. What do you think, Akiko?"
I shook my head. "The invitation is just for the three of you, remember?"
Georjie frowned and looked at her friends. Saxony glowered.
"Without Akiko, we won't go. Even if she's not part of the job. She's one of us." Targa said simply. "It's all of us or none of us."
Saxony and Georjie nodded in agreement.
I looked at Akiko but she was an impenetrable wall. "Do you feel the same?"
"These are my friends," said Akiko. "I have an interest in their safety and while I'm sure TNC will treat them with the utmost respect, I would feel better going along. If you don't agree to take me," she shifted in her seat and I thought the look on her face grew a trifle smug, "I'll go on my own."
"You don't know where it is." I scanned her face but it was nothing but secrets. When she didn't respond, I narrowed my eyes. "What are you, again?"
"I never said." Akiko closed her mouth and again it was clear she wasn't going to say anything more.
"Well." I took a breath. "I guess we aren't going to do any better than that. It's a yes then?"
"Yes," said Saxony. "As long as Akiko can come."
Georjayna and Targa looked at one another. "Yes," they both said.
"My supervisor will be happy. You know the chopper pad behind the fire station on Victoria street?"
"We know it," said Targa.
"Be there at six-thirty tomorrow morning." I smiled at the girls. "Even if you say no after the presentation, you're in for the most incredible day of your lives."
Saxony laughed. "I sincerely doubt that."
9
Petra
I pulled my Toyota into the parallel parking along Victoria street, turned off the engine, and got out. I buttoned up my jean jacket against the chill of the fall morning. The sun was a mere suggestion on the horizon and my breath hung in the air in front of my face. Cars along the street were slick with dew and the streetlights were shrouded with misty halos. A shiver went through my body and I regretted not wearing a thicker jacket.
I made my way down the silent street to the walkway which led to the fire station and the helipad behind it. A restless excitement fluttered in my gut. I was looking forward to spending the day with supernaturals. It was even more amazing to me that we were all young women and all from Saltford.
But today was exciting for another reason, too. Today, we would learn more about this project which had been so tightly kept under lock and key.
I scanned the streets for the girls, but the city seemed like a ghost town this morning. Most residents would be sleeping in or having a lazy Labor Day morning.
As I turned the corner from the sidewalk to the much narrower walkway, a loud and unexpected telephone ring made my heart vault into my throat. I gasped and almost tripped as my hand clutched at my chest. If my pulse had been jumping before, it was galloping now.
The ring was coming from the run-down old telephone box across the street. How many times had I been down this way and never noticed that phone box? It looked like it had been out of service for at least a decade and the city just hadn't gotten around to removing it yet.
The
ringing continued.
I took another sweep of the street. Squinting at the filthy glass of the phone box, I expected to see someone inside, but there was no one there. A creeping sensation made its way across my skin, starting at the back of my neck and working its way down my arms. Why did I have the strangest feeling that the call was for me?
I dismissed the thought and laughed at my own silly superstition. Someone had made an appointment for a call but had gotten their wires crossed. Or it was a telemarketer calling a randomly generated phone number. I expected each ring to be its last.
But it kept ringing.
I crossed the street toward the ringing phone. Stepping up on the sidewalk, I peered in through the half open door and looked at the scratched and worn phone, unsure of what to do. From the look of the rust on the hinges of the door and the weeds choking the base of it, it wasn't likely to move easily. I went closer, observing the worn handle of the phone, once a glossy black, now a stippled dark gray. The metal cord was wrapped around itself in a tight figure-eight.
I stepped close enough to reach inside and pick up the receiver. A smell of stale urine wafted to my nose and I made a face and retreated.
The phone stopped ringing.
"Petra!"
As though waking from a dream, I turned to the voice I would now know anywhere. No one else I knew had a voice like a dry husk.
"Good morning, Saxony." I smiled at the redhead as she and the other girls walked down the sidewalk in pairs. "You guys have a good rest?"
"I didn't sleep a wink, but I've had three coffees already." Saxony was wearing a hunter-green puffy vest and a plaid flannel shirt with dark denim and a tall pair of brown boots. She looked like the poster girl for Canada. Her appearance said she hadn't wanted to try too hard to impress, but still wanted look good for whatever she was facing today.
"I slept like the dead," Georjayna said as they stopped in front of me. She jammed her hands in her pockets and shivered. Her blond locks spilled out from underneath a floppy knit cap. She wore a mauve turtleneck under an oversized gray sweatshirt. "I needed a crane to get me out of bed this morning. How about you, Petra?"
"I slept well, thanks." I took the lead as we entered the narrow walkway. I glanced over my shoulder at Targa and Akiko. "All right?"
Akiko nodded but didn't say anything. She was dressed like someone who wanted to be invisible. Black jeans, black boots, black hoodie with the hood drawn up.
Targa gave a yawn that made me wonder if she could dislocate her jaw, but said that she'd slept well. She wore a mid-thigh length trench-coat tied at the waist. Her long black hair spilled over the khaki-colored fabric. Knee-high tan boots with a short square heel and laces all the way up the front gave her a few extra inches.
Given that I hadn't told the girls what to wear, I thought they'd done rather well considering they were about the meet a billionaire and be given access to a high-security field station. The girls looked like themselves, but prepared for anything. I felt a surprising and unexpected surge of pride in them.
I led them through the narrow walkway to where the pilot, Sy, was waiting for us. He was bundled up against the chill in his usual aviator jacket.
He nodded at me. "Petra." It was difficult to see where he was looking from behind the mirrored sunglasses, which I rarely saw him without, even in dim light like this morning.
"Morning, Sy."
"These are the Elementals, then?" Sy nodded at the girls but his expression didn't change.
If he was impressed by how young they were, it did not come through. He was, as most TNC employees were, the consummate professional. He shook their hands in turn, then opened the gate for us and led us up the switchback metallic steps that brought us to the helipad.
We piled into the back of the chopper and buckled up.
"Before you put your head-gear on," Sy said from the cockpit, "I'll need you to read over and sign these non-disclosure agreement papers." He glanced at me. "I'm guessing you warned them about these already?"
I nodded and took the papers from him and distributed them to the girls. They each took a copy and sat back to read it over.
After a few minutes, Georjayna said, "So, basically, we're not allowed to tell anyone anything about the location of the field station, the identities of anyone we interact with, and anything about the project we're going to be pitched today, under pain of a massive fine no one except Oprah could ever afford to pay."
"That sounds about right." Sy smiled. "Keep your lips sealed and there'll be no issues."
The girls signed and gave their copies to me. I passed them up to Sy, who folded them and tucked them into his jacket.
"Your parents must be a bunch of pretty cool cats to let you guys come along on a mysterious mission like this," Sy said.
When no one answered, he turned back to the group again with a curious look.
"My mom is working." Targa said as she pulled her helmet down over her glossy black hair. "But she'd be cool with it. In fact, she'd probably want to come. Just so you know, I'm only here out of curiosity, and to be with them." She gestured to the other three.
"Fair enough. Although I'm sure Miss Marks will be disappointed to learn you've already written the project off." Sy raised his eyebrows at Georjayna. "You?"
"My mom is at a conference." Georjayna shrugged. "She wouldn't care if I rented a Cessna and flew to New York for the weekend."
"You know how to fly?" Sy looked impressed.
"No. But we have good insurance." She gave that heart-stopping grin.
Sy laughed and his eyes drifted to Saxony. "What about you, Red?"
"I got a pass from my Prof." Saxony sat back and clicked her seatbelt into place. "That's all the permission I needed."
"Your…Prof?" Sy wrinkled his nose, perplexed.
"It's a long story."
"How about you?" Sy looked at Akiko. "Which parent did you have to bribe to be here?"
Her face impassive, she said, "I know I look like a minor, but I'm not. Every human I care about is in this helicopter. I'm exactly where I need to be."
"Alright then." Sy faced front and flicked a bunch of switches. "Good enough. Let's go." A low hum vibrated through the chopper and the blades began to turn.
"Sure I can't take a photo? Just one?" Saxony grinned at me from under her helmet. "We look so hot right now."
Targa turned her head toward Saxony. The dark glasses looked huge on her face. "You look like a bug."
I laughed and shook my head. They knew they wouldn't be allowed to record any of today's events in any way.
"How is it that TNC has clearance to use this helipad?" Georjie asked, her voice sounding slightly metallic through the headgear.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Akiko got there first.
"My guess is that TNC made a healthy donation to the fire department's upgrade back in two-thousand-three."
I nodded. "You'd be right." I had asked Sy this very question on one of my trips to the field station. It struck me that Akiko was much worldlier than she seemed. Most high school kids wouldn't jump to the conclusion that there'd been some donation made in order to use a private asset like a fire department's helipad, even though this was the way the world worked. Most high school kids wouldn't even ask such a question, so I supposed all the girls were rather worldly for their age.
Saltford fell away and the girls became absorbed with the view of their hometown as it shrank beneath us. City gave way to agricultural land, farms gave way to forest, and the forest went on forever. The chopper picked up speed and angled for the coastline, keeping it just in view on our right for most of the journey.
When the modular buildings of FS11 appeared in the distance, jutting up from the tight forest of evergreens, the girls strained at their seat belts for a better look.
"What's that?" Akiko asked, pointing beyond the compound. To me it seemed as though she was pointing at where the forest met the sky. I squinted in the direction she indicated, but it took me a full mi
nute to see what she was talking about. I shot a side-glance at her. Her eyesight couldn’t be that good.
"I don't know," I answered truthfully. Where she was pointing seemed so far away I thought it had to be outside the borders of TNC's property.
Now that we were closer, there was clearly a large patch of earth which had been clear-cut. It was close to the Atlantic and appeared to be a near perfect circle.
"What's that, Sy?" Saxony asked when I failed to produce an answer.
"You'll have to ask Hiroki or Miss Marks." Sy turned his face half-toward us between the two front seats of the cockpit. "I'm just the chauffeur."
The clear-cut patch of earth went out of view beyond a hill as Sy steered the helicopter toward the pad on the top of the highest TNC building, the one with the biggest lab beneath it. Sy cut the engines and instructed us to wait a minute before getting out. The whirring blades droned as they slowed, and then came to a sudden halt.
Leaving our headgear on the seats, we piled out of the helicopter and stepped out into the brisk morning air.
Hiroki was waiting for us at the corner of the helipad, wrapped up in a black oilskin jacket and wearing a gray knit hat jammed down around his ears. His expression was as close to excited as I'd ever seen it.
"Welcome, welcome, ladies!" He stepped forward and grabbed Saxony's hand, jiggling her arm enthusiastically and grinning into her face. "Welcome!"
I watched, bemused, as he passed through the line, shaking the girls’ hands each in turn and making sure he'd gotten their names right.
"Akiko," he said, nodding to the tiniest member of the group with a warm look which I respected him for. "Let's get out of this chilly breeze."
We followed him down the steps and into the building. He led us to a boardroom where an impressive spread of food had been laid out.
"Oh, man." Saxony unzipped her vest and shucked it. "Fresh croissants? Are those scones? It smells like a bakery in here. I'm suddenly starving."
"Have a seat and help yourself." Hiroki poured himself a coffee from the machine in the corner. "If you'd like a hit of caffeine after the early morning you've had, help yourself. This baby will make you whatever you want. I have to say, I quite fancy the vanilla-bean latte myself."
