The Expedition

by Chris Babu

  Catrice touched his knee. “Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. There’s nothing else you could have done. You can’t physically wrest control of the boat from four Guardians.”

  “Do you think they were never told that we would be in charge?” Drayden asked. “Holst and von Brooks could have lied to us.”

  “Or,” Sidney said, “they always planned on taking over once we got out here, where nobody would find out.”

  Charlie kicked the table leg. “Charlie’s pissed. I know these guys are super strong and everything, but people should leave decisions to smart guys like you, Dray. Can you imagine if I was driving? We’d wind up in China.”

  Sidney reached into her backpack and pulled out a bag of apples. She handed one to each of them. “We’re only like an hour and a half into this; we’ve got a long way to go. Hopefully it won’t matter.”

  “Thanks, Sid,” Drayden said. He tore into the apple, which was sweet and crunchy. What if they did need to make an important decision? He never enjoyed hearing Charlie talk about being dumb. Nevertheless, he also loathed the idea of these meathead Guardians making a critical choice if one arose. He hadn’t consulted the map in a while; he should figure out where they were. He dug into his pack and fished it out.

  Everything on the Connecticut coast looked the same. Lots and lots of trees. Another reason they needed to hug the shore.

  Charlie started talking with a mouthful of apple. “How about the bomb they dropped on us about reaching Boston? Shkat flunks.”

  “I don’t care what happens. We have to make it,” Sidney said. “I can’t have my sister sent away. How could they even do that to an eight-year-old? She’s just a child. It’s so cruel.”

  “I’m not sure we can trust the Bureau,” Catrice said.

  “We can’t,” Drayden said. “Let’s not give them a reason to make good on their threat, though.”

  Eugene emerged from the cockpit and joined them at their table, beside Charlie. He wore an apologetic expression.

  Drayden glared at him. Eugene-the-great sure as heck didn’t defend him in there. Then again, he was the lowest-ranking Guardian. Taking orders and keeping his mouth shut came as naturally as shooting for him.

  Everyone remained silent, waiting for Eugene to say something.

  “Hey, Drayden, don’t worry about that back there,” he said. “The captain’s a grizzled old veteran. It’s hard for him to take orders from anyone, let alone a teenage civilian. He doesn’t even like taking orders from his commanding officer. He’s actually an amazing guy. He served in live combat with the Marines Pre-Confluence. When push comes to shove, he knows you’re in charge. Driving the boat and all that isn’t a big deal.”

  “I guess,” Drayden said. “Thanks, Eugene.” Yet to him it was a big deal. Given the stakes, and his own secret goals, he wasn’t about to kowtow to the captain.

  “Would you like an apple?” Sidney asked Eugene.

  He rubbed his hands together. “Yeah, love one. Thanks, Sid. Is it okay if I call you Sid?”

  She tossed his apple high in the air. “You can call me Sam if you want, as long as you’re talking to me.”

  Eugene caught it and took a bite.

  “What’s going on with your gun there, Euge?” Charlie asked. “Can I call you Euge?”

  Eugene cracked up. “Dude, you are hilarious.” He drew his pistol, which appeared to extend through his holster. An elongated metal cylinder protruded from the muzzle of his Glock 22, the same gun they used. “This is a silencer. I made it. Check it out.”

  He raised it with one hand, aiming out over the water. He squeezed off two quick rounds, the sound like a coin dropping into a glass jar.

  “What do you need a silencer for?” Catrice asked.

  Eugene shrugged as he holstered his weapon. “Who knows? There might be a situation where you need to kill someone without the rest of the world hearing. We prepare for every contingency. Let me ask you a question. How many Guardians are there in the Precinct?”

  “Around fifteen thousand,” Drayden answered.

  “Exactly,” Eugene said. “There are only a few hundred Palace Guardians, yet we’re prepared to defeat fifteen thousand Guardians if they ever tried to overthrow the Bureau. Every Palace Guardian is Special Forces–trained. We’re picked when we’re eight to begin training, based on observed strength or athletic ability.”

  “Are you happy you were picked?” Catrice asked.

  He stared out over the water. “I’m happy being a Guardian. No regrets. But if were totally up to me? I might have become a scientist. As I told you when we met, I love math and science. Hey, can you guys share any brainteasers from the Initiation? I’m so curious.”

  Charlie raised his finger in the air. “I’m probably the guy to walk you through those, Euge.”

  Eugene leaned toward Charlie, apparently ready to do some thinking.

  “Oh, I was joking,” Charlie said. “I was as confused as a homeless guy on house arrest.”

  Eugene held his sides, laughing out of control. “You guys must be constantly cracking up with Charlie around.”

  “Yeah, he’s a gem.” Drayden rested his chin on his hand. “You want to tell Eugene about that time in the Initiation when you tried to kill me, chotch?”

  Charlie frowned. “Drayden, I thought we agreed we wouldn’t talk about that anymore?”

  “Whoa, what’s that about?” Eugene asked.

  “Ah, I’m just busting Charlie’s chops,” Drayden said. “In the final challenge we had to cross a chasm, like two hundred feet deep, with a raging inferno at the bottom. Charlie’s best friend, Alex, tried to throw me in, and I thought Charlie was helping him. He claims he was trying to stop Alex. The jury’s still out.” He smirked at Charlie.

  Charlie flicked Drayden on the arm. “Draaaay…c’mon, you’re my boy.” Charlie scooted toward Eugene. “After Dray fought him off, I tried to save Alex, who was dangling over the chasm.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t do it. He fell. Then I almost fell but Dray saved me instead of finishing the Initiation in time. Holst admitted both me and Dray to the Bureau because of what Drayden did. He wanted all of us for this mission.”

  Eugene’s mouth hung open. “Dray…I’m…I’m blown away. Forget Lindrick. You’re battle-tested. You’re a freaking hero. That should be in the history books or something. I knew you and Catrice solved the brainteasers, but I don’t think people know about those heroics. Man, I wanna be just like you.”

  Although Drayden hated it about himself, he was still a sucker for flattery. He needed that reassurance, for people to like him. He wished he was confident enough not to care what other people thought. Instead he glowed from Eugene’s praise.

  “I can tell you some of the brainteasers if you want,” Catrice said.

  Eugene licked his lips. “Yeah, I’d love that.”

  Drayden was probably being a little selfish, but he was irritated that Catrice had stolen his moment in the sun, the studly young Guardian heaping him with praise.

  Catrice tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “We only had five minutes to solve the brainteasers. There was a tough one with two wicks. What—” she stopped and covered her mouth with her hands.

  Drayden looked at his feet and tried to blink away the tears that were coming.

  Don’t cry, dammit.

  “Oh my God, Drayden, I’m sorry,” Catrice said. “I’ll pick a different one.”

  Drayden kept his head down. “No, that’s all right, it was a cool problem, you can tell him.” She had to choose the one where he screwed up and killed his best friend. Real thoughtful.

  Catrice reached over and touched his arm. “Drayden.”

  “I’m…I’m sorry, you guys,” Eugene said. “I didn’t mean…you don’t have rehash this for me. The Initiation was traumatic for you guys and I’m treating it like a game. That was
insensitive of me. I was—am—blown away that you guys did it. That’s all. Please forgive me.” He got up and headed for the cockpit.

  “Eugene!” Drayden called out. “Come back.”

  Eugene hesitated for a moment before returning and sitting next to Drayden. “Something awful happened on that challenge. You don’t have to talk about it. I wouldn’t be able to either.”

  Jesus, he wanted to rest his head on Eugene’s shoulder. He wished Catrice would be that considerate.

  Drayden removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “Basically, we had to disarm a bomb. We figured out how to do it right, but I messed up pulling out the detonator and my best friend, Tim, was killed. I was seriously injured and everyone else was hurt too.”

  “You didn’t mess up,” Catrice said emphatically. She faced Eugene. “While the rest of us hid behind the steel pillars in the subway station, Drayden and his best friend Tim handled the bomb. Even though Drayden did it right, the detonator didn’t come out. I don’t think the Bureau intended for it to come out. They wanted the bomb to go off. At the last second, Drayden ran for cover. Tim stayed and tried to rip the detonator out. Unfortunately, it exploded.”

  Wait…was Eugene crying?

  Eugene wiped his eyes. “Wow. I’m sorry, Drayden. Catrice is right. You can’t blame yourself. Surviving the blast probably was the challenge. You should have run for sure. I’ll bet you tried to get Tim to run, and he didn’t. He must have been very brave.” He wrapped his arms around Drayden and hugged him.

  It was insane, but the first person to ever truly comfort him over Tim’s death was Eugene. He buried his face in Eugene’s chest and cried.

  CHAPTER 13

  Three hours into their journey, Drayden didn’t know where the hell they were.

  It was 1:00 pm. He’d spread his map out over the table, his eyes darting from the map to the Connecticut shore and back. The Long Island shore was barely visible. Even the Connecticut coastline didn’t offer much in the way of clues. So many insignificant peninsulas jutted out and harbors cut in, like the unfinished border of a jigsaw puzzle. Tiny islands dotted the coast everywhere. He needed a meaningful landmark.

  According to the map, a major group of islands clustered off the shore around Norwalk. They lay further out than some of these other rinky-dink islands. He needed to find that.

  Although hours of daylight remained, once darkness fell he needed one additional and crucial piece of information to navigate—their speed. He would need to enter the cockpit with the Guardians. He hadn’t been back in there since Lindrick shut him down earlier.

  Whether intentional or not, Captain Lindrick had steered the boat closer to the shore. It wasn’t as close as Drayden wanted, but at least you could distinguish trees, docks, and buildings.

  After three hours on the boat, they’d all become restless. While the senior Guardians huddled in the cockpit, the privates and Eugene milled around, searching for any way to occupy themselves.

  Drayden sat alone at the table, thankfully. He was eager to move on from the awkward cry that had left an owl-shaped wet spot on Eugene’s shirt. Catrice did genuinely seem to feel horrible about having brought up the challenge in which Tim died. Regardless, he was embarrassed for having bawled in front of everyone, particularly Catrice and Eugene. Not only was Eugene strong and confident, he turned out to be sensitive and compassionate too. Drayden, on the other hand, was a worried crybaby. It was a tough comparison. He didn’t want to imagine what Catrice was thinking.

  He walked around the cockpit onto the deck in the front of the boat so he could check for approaching landmarks. Charlie and Sidney were slouched there, chatting.

  Drayden squinted, digesting the distant landscape.

  A sizable island lay in their path about a mile ahead, and other islands were visible beyond it. That was Sheffield Island, the first of the Norwalk Islands.

  He wanted to check their speed. Why should he be afraid of going into the cockpit? He headed back to the rear of the boat and strolled inside.

  Sergeant Greaney and Lieutenant Duarte sized him up without speaking. Captain Lindrick, who sat at the controls, stared straight ahead.

  Drayden peered over Captain Lindrick’s shoulder and checked the speed on the boat’s odometer.

  They were traveling at twenty-two knots. Since one knot equaled 1.15 miles per hour, twenty-two knots translated to twenty-five miles per hour, which was the boat’s maximum speed.

  Before leaving, Drayden noticed the Guardians didn’t even have their maps out anymore. Perhaps they intended to wing it. That would be a brilliant strategy after it became dark.

  Idiots.

  He walked back to the table in the stern and took a seat.

  Against the boat’s rear wall, several tall plastic cylinders rested beside each other. They were dark green and bound together, with water trickling down their sides. That was the backup water supply. A few other gray metal boxes, secured with chains and locks around them, sat beside the water. The Guardians had loaded those. Drayden found it odd that they were so well protected, wondering what they contained.

  Catrice knelt by the water tanks, examining the knots that secured the cylinders together. With extra rope in her hands, she attempted to replicate the knots.

  “It’s called a bowline knot,” Eugene said, approaching her with his own rope. “Want me to teach you?”

  She held her tangled rope like an offering. “Yes, please. I should be able to figure this out, but I can’t.”

  He sat cross-legged in front of her, rope in hand. “In Guardian training, we learn to tie all kinds of knots.”

  Catrice followed suit, sitting the same way, tucking her hair behind her ears.

  Like a magician, Eugene whipped his rope into a complex knot that culminated in a loop. “Okay,” he said, “hold the ends of your rope in each hand. Yup. Now stick both of those through this loop.”

  “Okaaaaay…” She pushed both hands through.

  He yanked one side of his knot and the loop snapped tight around her wrists. “That’s called a handcuff knot. I made that one up.” He giggled. “The more you struggle, the tighter it gets.”

  Catrice couldn’t stop laughing. “Nice, funny man. Are you arresting me?”

  “Honestly, knot training is so damn pointless I wanted to finally use it for once!” Eugene untied the knot and she pulled her hands out. “Let me show you this knot. The bowline knot is a great one, since it doesn’t slip but it won’t get any tighter. Up in the Meadow where the sheep live, the farmers could tether them with a bowline knot. It’ll never get too tight around the animal’s neck and hurt it. It’s also easy to untie.”

  “I can tell you really love this knot,” Catrice said. “I want to learn the handcuff knot too.”

  Drayden couldn’t take it anymore, hoping Eugene could tie a noose for him to hang himself. It wasn’t just his jealousy and insecurity. They were cute together. Eugene wasn’t sleazy like Charlie, he was…dammit, he was cute. Innocent. He was childlike and endearing. Why wouldn’t Catrice dig him? She’d be crazy not to. Drayden couldn’t compete with that guy; not in strength, charm, or physical attractiveness anyway. He was so damn confident, so comfortable in his own skin. Although he was tough, he never worried about looking tough. Still, there was one way Drayden could outshine Eugene.

  “Hey, Eugene, you want to hear another brainteaser from the Initiation?” Drayden asked. “This one was downright stupefying. I mean, I solved it, but it was crazy tricky.” He immediately regretted asking, invoking the Initiation all over again. The test that saw his best friend killed, and he was trying to use it to embarrass the guy.

  “Yeah, definitely,” Eugene said. “I’m sure I won’t get it. Why don’t you come join us over here? There’s not much I can teach you, but I’m basically a certified knot instructor.” He winked at Drayden. “Here, grab some rope, have a se
at.”

  Catrice waved him over. “Come on, Dray. Eugene’s holding knot school.”

  “Nah. I’m going to do some work on navigation. I’m afraid your Guardian buddies will sail us to China. Thanks anyway. You guys have fun.”

  He stood, his head back and his chest puffed out, and strode toward the front of the boat. Unfortunately, he tripped on the table leg and stumbled. He refused to peek back and witness the giggling. Once up front, he collapsed alongside Charlie and Sidney, burying his face in his hands.

  “Sometimes I forget you guys lost your best friends during the Initiation,” Sidney said. “Or I’m afraid to bring it up, even to tell you how sorry I am, because I know how upset you’ll get. Drayden, I felt terrible for you having to cry on Eugene like that. None of us have been there for you—or for you, Charlie, about Alex. I’m sorry,

  you guys.”

  “Thanks, Sid,” Drayden said.

  Charlie fist-bumped her. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll still never understand why you liked Alex,” she said to Charlie.

  Charlie touched a finger to his chin. “Alex…was an acquired taste.”

  “Well,” Sidney said to Drayden, “I assume Catrice has been super supportive.” She gave a sarcastic nod.

  Drayden snickered. “She’s too busy entertaining Eugene.”

  “Awesome, another guy that picks her over me.” Sidney play-punched him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll go break that party up.” She straightened her uniform and walked toward the rear of the boat.

  The sky had darkened further, and the winds had picked up. The ocean swells ballooned, violently rocking the boat. If they grew large enough to capsize their vessel, they should angle themselves so the waves didn’t hit them broadside. Drayden bet Captain Lindrick hadn’t thought of that.

  “You’ll get over Catrice pretty fast,” Charlie said. “I did.”

  “What?” Drayden asked.