Watchers of the Night

by Matthew Keith

Chapter 20

  Paul’s first effort was a disaster. Allen claimed to have spent almost an hour waiting for Paul on a bench right outside the exit to the maze, which Paul felt had to be an exaggeration. The second effort, the race back to the center, was not a disaster. Paul had been smart enough to remember all of the correct turns from his first try and made it flawlessly back. He and Allen had run side by side to start, but about three turns into the maze, Allen had laughed as he made what Paul knew was a wrong turn and shouted, “Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you again!”

  When Allen finally burst into the center of maze and found Paul casually strolling its perimeter, he cursed, demanded a rematch, and spent the rest of evening trying to win again. The only strategy that worked for him was to follow Paul’s lead until the end and then try to sprint past him to claim victory, but of course that only worked once. By the time the sun rose, Allen was bitter and barely speaking. Obviously he’d wanted to be able to tell everyone he’d beaten Paul, so it was with relief that Paul saw the first ray of sunlight peek over the horizon and, in the blink of an eye, was back in his safe room.

  He woke to find Steven pacing the small space of their room. When he propped himself up on his elbows, Steven said, “Dang man, it’s about time. I’m freakin’ starving. Hop in the shower and let’s get upstairs for some breakfast. Today’s our first real-world training mission. We got a big day ahead of us.”

  Shaking his head to clear it, Paul stretched and did as Steven asked. On their way up to the commons room, he asked, “What do they have us doing?”

  “Not us,” Steven replied. “You. This is your first real-world training mission. All I got to do is make sure no one messes with you while you’re doing your thing. Long as we see the morning in one piece, I’ve done my job just by standing there.”

  “Ok…” Paul replied, insinuating through his tone that Steven should continue, but Steven didn’t, which was very odd. Normally Steven loved to talk about… anything. “So then what do they have me doing?”

  “I don’t know, man,” Steven replied, fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt. “They didn’t tell me your part, just mine.”

  As they stepped from the elevator into the second floor hallway outside the commons room, Paul made Steven stop. “You alright? You seem edgy.”

  Still fidgeting, Steven replied in rapid-fire speech, “Yeah, well, man, that’s because I am. This may be just another night coming up for you but this is my first run, man. My first job.”

  Realizing that Steven was actually worried about doing well at something besides getting laid or partying, Paul felt a surge of pride at the change in his friend. Putting a hand on Steven’s elbow, he said, “You’re going to do fine.”

  “Yeah, well, easy for you to say.”

  “Seriously, it didn’t even cross my mind to be worried,” Paul encouraged. “I know I’ve got nothing to worry about as long as you’ve got my back.”

  A smile crept into Steven’s eyes. “Thanks, bro. And get your hand off my arm. People gonna think we’re hot for each other.”

  Grinning as they went up to fill their breakfast trays, Paul reflected on how much just five days at Astralis had changed Steven. If anyone had ever forced Paul to seriously guess what Steven would be doing for a living after high school, he would have had to say something along the lines of factory work or construction. Now, in this short time, Steven was becoming a respected member of an elite organization that worked for the United Nations. It was a lot to absorb.

  They ate their meal a little subdued, both of them wondering what the day would bring. The rest of the group at the table recognized their tension and mostly left them to their thoughts. As they finished their meal and everyone else stood up to go about their day, Kenneth said, “Don’t be nervous, Paul. We all do the same three training missions and I can tell you for sure—you’re going to do totally fine.”

  Smiling at his new friend, Paul thanked him. The table cleared away, leaving only Paul and Steven sitting there.

  “So what do you suppose we do now?” Steven asked.

  Looking around as the commons room rapidly emptied, Paul sighed and pointed across the room. “Looks like we’re going to find out from some of the last people we want to hear it from.”

  Hodge and Rex were still sitting at their table, kicked back in their chairs with their feet up. Both of them wore knowing smirks on their faces. They stared back at Steven and Paul, obviously aware that the two of them had no idea what was going on.

  “This should be fun,” said Steven. They got up and walked over to Hodge’s table.

  “How we doing today, New Guy?” Hodge asked when they got close enough. He and Rex stayed with their feet propped up, clearly enjoying the fact that they’d made Paul and Steven come to them.

  “We’re wonderful,” Paul replied evenly, looking back and forth between Rex and Hodge. “I don’t suppose you have anything to do with my first mission?”

  Bringing his feet down and leaning forward so that his chair came down with a loud clack, Hodge said pleasantly, “Why yes, sir. As a matter of fact I do. In fact, Rex and I both do.”

  “Joy,” said Steven sarcastically, mostly under his breath.

  Turning a taunting ear toward Steven, Hodge said, “What was that you toad-eyed little redneck? You say something?”

  Steven stepped forward to reply to Hodge, but Dittrich’s voice came from behind, stopping him. “Glad to see you’re already teamed up.” Dittrich gave Hodge a long look. “As you may or may not already know, the four of you will be working together on Paul’s first real-world training mission. Paul, it will be up to you to acquire the Target. Hodge will be there for backup and guidance as needed.

  “Steven, it will be up to you to stand sentinel over both Paul and Hodge in the hours between sunset and sunrise. Rex will be there to monitor how well you employ the training standards that you have been taught up to this point.”

  Handing Paul a sealed, yellow legal-sized envelope, Dittrich said, “Instructions for your mission and the nature of the Target are in this envelope.”

  Paul turned it over in his hands. It was not labeled. “Do I open it now?” he asked.

  “Open it whenever you like,” Dittrich replied. “You have until just after lunch to familiarize yourself with the contents and form a game plan. At one p.m., be sure that you and Hodge are safely enclosed in his safe room.” Addressing Steven, he said, “You and Rex will need to be on board the Griffon by 12:45 and ready to go.”

  To Paul’s surprise, Steven nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”

  Dittrich looked them over, one person at a time, and said, “I’m sure there will be plenty to plan and plenty to discuss between now and the time you arrive at your destination.” Did his gaze linger on Hodge longer than the rest? Paul couldn’t be positive, but it sure seemed like it had. Nodding one last time, Dittrich said, “I’ll leave you to it, then,” and left the room.

  Looking at the envelope in his hands, Paul said, “Well I suppose we should open it and get to work?”

  Standing up, Hodge said, “Yeah you should. Wouldn’t want to screw up your first time out of the play pen. As for me and Rex, here, we already know what’s in there so… good luck.”

  With that, he nudged Rex on the shoulder and the two of them strode away.

  Frustrated, Paul said to Steven, “That guy is such an asshole.” Steven bobbed his head in silent acknowledgement. “So now what?”

  “Now we plan your first mission,” Steven said, his face breaking into a grin. “Should be a ball, man. How many times did you watch a 007 movie and wish you were Bond? Now you get to be.”

  Steven actually seemed excited, which surprised Paul, and he said as much.

  Steven looked at him like he was crazy and said, “Dude, we got an underground lair with computers, big screen TVs, and a helicopter to take us and our super secret safe room wherever we need to go. On top of that, we got unlimited snacks. What’s not to be excited about?”

 
Grinning by the time Steven finished speaking, Paul said, “Let’s kick this shiznit into high gear.”

  Steven stopped smiling, shook his head and looked at Paul with mock pity. “Wow. You try so hard, don’t you? Don’t worry, someday you’ll be cool. I promise.”

  Punching Steven in the shoulder, they made their way down to the safe room area.