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(Cover Accreditation: Images are from FreeDigitalPhotos.net and are as follows. "Soldier Man" by maniaroom. "Vintage Style of Shanghai Cityscape from Top View" by khongkitwiriyachan.)

Thank you,

Ariel Paiement

The first thing Nari Eaton noted upon walking into the room were the escape routes. There were two doors - the door she'd entered through and one other, small door on the left side of the room behind the desk, which sat in the middle of the room.

All of the walls were grey as were the furnishing of the room, which consisted of little more than a desk, filing cabinent, and four chairs, three of which were organized around the front of the desk, while the remaining one was situated behind it.  

The only splash of color in the whole area came from a single, small blue sculpture on the glass surface of the desk. It appeared to be a fiery stallion of falling water, but she wasn't close enough to know for sure. 

She steeled herself, sighing. This was it. Her last interview. Here, she would find out if she could move on and leave her past behind. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that she would be accepted, that the past could be left where it belonged - in the past. 

"You can go in now." The man - who she assumed to be an orderly - waved her into the office. 

Now was when she would move on or go back to her dull, painful life on Earth.  

This was it.

*** 

Nari gazed up at the man. Originally, she hadn't expected to be interviewed at all, let alone by the general. What sort of military establishment was this that the general would stoop to talk to new recruits? And since when were generals as young as the man standing before her? He couldn't be more than her twenty-seven years.

But the answer to both questions was right before her. She had been interviewed once by a regular recruiting officer, and this was the second interview - this time, though, it was the General who stood before her, framed by the doorway. And he was without doubt younger than any general she'd known.  

“Does the general normally interview recruits?” She asked glancing about at his sparse furnishings and the rest of the gray-walled office before setting her gaze on his blue sculpture again. The little blue carving was a life-line for her in a sea of grey and fear. It anchored her and calmed her, something she needed desperately if she was going to make it through this. 

The young man smiled, making his way to sit down behind his desk. “No, not usually.”

“So why are you interviewing me?”

He gave her a searching glance. “What makes you think I’m the general?”

She struggled not to squirm under his penetrating gaze. It was almost as though she was back in elementary school being lectured by one particularly stern teacher for dropping a pencil. "You gave it away when you answered my question earlier. You said 'not usually.' The only reason you would phrase it like that is because you are the General." 

He smiled at her, dipping his head slightly in acknowledgement of her statement. "A good response."

She didn't allow anything to show on her face or in her eyes despite the triumph she felt at having given a good answer. That was what he would be looking for. Her reaction would tell him whether or not she was truly a good fit for this place.

He was interviewing her for a position in an organization that worked to keep dark magic from reigning over the world, and all the agents of such an organization needed to know how to control emotions, reactions, and all other hints that would give an opponent the edge.

The General's gaze stayed steady on her face, and she met it with a cool stare. She knew the game he played - or thought she did, anyway. And she wasn't going to play. Not his way, that was.  

His steady gaze moved away and to the manilla folder with her name on it, which was sitting in the center of the desk, opened to the first page with her picture and general information. “If you don’t mind, Miss Eaton, I’d like to know a little bit more about your background. I know you lived with your mother and sister until you were fifteen... Your bio says that your sister died at that time. It also says you were in law enforcement.”

“Yes. That is the case.” She kept her face emotionless, but she felt the familiar panic rising when he began delving deeper into her past. She didn't want to relive her sister's death. Her sister's murder. She wanted it to stay buried in the past. It was already hard enough to deal with without making the wound even deeper.

“What happened to your sister, Miss Eaton?”

“She was killed by a young man out on the streets. He shot my sister through the heart. They arrested him the next day and sent him to jail. That was twelve years ago. I saw him when I testified in the courtroom trial that locked him up for ten years in a juvenile hall."

The General nodded. “So why did you come here, Miss Eaton?”

“With all due respect, sir, I mentioned that in my last interview and in my file.” She shifted in her seat, gazing at a spot on the wall above the General's head.

“I would like to hear it again from you personally. Why did you come here?” He repeated the question again with a gentle smile.

She suppressed the urge to sigh. She knew why he wanted to hear it from her. He was looking to see what her facial signals and body posture could tell him about her and her true intentions. It just hurt to talk about this, and she would've preferred it stayed on paper instead of coming from her as well.

She needed this position to much not to comply though, so she cleared her throat and answered his question. “I wanted to escape my past. My family has a history of working here. When things became unbearable, I decided I needed a new start. This place has always intrigued me, and it seemed like the best place to turn.”

“I see. So, do you usually run from your problems, Miss Eaton?” He smiled at her.

She knew he was trying to be gentle about it, but it still stung. 

Her eyes glinted with rage and tears that she tried to conceal with little success. She berated herself with bitterness as she realized he'd gotten the rise out of her that he'd been looking for earlier. Her cheeks flamed, and her voice was steel as she replied. “I came here to fix my problem, sir, not to run from it.”

He smiled again. “I see.”

She gave him a cold stare, but she didn't say anything. Respect was key here, and she knew that if she wanted the new start she claimed to want, she would have to keep herself under control. “Are you going to let me join or not, General Parsi?” Her posture and voice were stiff, and her eyes held a dangerous glint as she struggled to hold herself in check.

He ignored her question, and his smile told her he was letting her sweat a bit.

He leaned back in his grey, metal-backed chair. “So, you were in law enforcement before you came here. Your bio mentioned you were a former FBI agent and police officer. Would you please fill in more details about what you did in these positions?”

She wasn't sure if sharing more information with him was a good idea or now, but seeing as this directly pertained to her ability to perform in the positions they might place her in, she knew the question was an important one to answer. “I was with the Criminal Investigative Division, and I worked as an intelligence analyst.” She looked straight into his dark brown eyes when she said it, daring him to defy her.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Why the surprise, General?” She jumped at the opportunity with a smile.

“Please, call me Andrew. If you must use a title, sir will do. You are only required to call me General in formal settings.” He smiled. "I'm not really surprised, simply interested. It isn't an easy thing to get into the FBI, as an intelligence analyst or otherwise." 

Nari remained seated on the edge of her seat, ready to attack or flee if she had to. She crossed her arms across her chest - her usual defensive posture - and stared him down. The longer this interview was stretching, the more uncomfortable she became. It felt like school all over again with constant questions and unforgiving silences. In other words, stifling and barely tolerable.

He sighed. “Please, be at ease.”

She relaxed a bit, but remained wary. 

He nodded, leaning back and resting his chin on his clasped hands, elbows resting on the table. “I see. Very well.”

She gazed at him with a placid expression, but her irritation and anger still burned just under the surface. By his expression, she could see that he saw it in her eyes despite her attempts to mask it. She knew he'd reached a decision long before this point, but he'd put her over the fire anyway. It didn't matter that this was just another tactic to test her for endurance and patience. She had little of those things, but in a pinch, she could fake them well enough. Right now, she was just praying that the trick worked this time. 

He grinned at her. “You’re accepted into the MBC, Nari. Welcome aboard!” He extended his hand and she gripped it, shaking it with confidence.

She felt the tension leak out of her, and an inaudible sigh slipped from her. “You won’t be disappointed, sir!” She let go of his hand, excitement flashing in her eyes and her tense body posture.

He nodded. “I should hope not. My Lieutenant General, Indri Blake, will brief you on what is required of you. I may call for you or have someone else do so to put you on assignment in a few months after you've gone through some training. For now, go with Indri, and he will take you to your quarters.”

Nari stood, smiling at him as the tension bled out of her. He had accepted her. The wait was over and she was on her way to a new start.

***

Chenn had been recruited into the MBC just a week before. He walked down the empty, grey halls, his soft whistling of a favorite Mozart piece punctuating his steps. 

A young woman passed by, bumping into him. He almost snapped at her to watch where she was going, but she was such a small, owlish creature that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. After all, he wasn't hurt. But she had stumbled and fallen onto the floor.

Instead of snapping, he picked up the paper she had dropped and handed it to her.

She blushed. “Thank you, sir!”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m not an officer, Miss…”

“Kallie.” Her gaze flitted away from him as she corrected his use of a title.

“I’m not an officer, Kallie." He repeated. "My name is Chenn.” She was still on the floor, Chenn realized, and he extended his hand to her.

She took it, allowing him to help her up. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Chenn. I’m so sorry I bumped into you like that. I should really pay more attention to what I'm doing!” Kallie answered, her grey eyes focusing on his face with unease.

Her cheeks went crimson as Chenn smiled at her.

He knew the effect he was having. Her eyes traveled over his face, then down to the floor as a deeper blush rose into her cheeks. She gave him a shy smile back.

He knew he should go. He was making the poor girl nervous and uncomfortable. She had things to do, and he shouldn't keep her from them.

Every girl Chenn had ever met had reacted this way. He didn’t know what it was about him that did it. Maybe his eyes did it. On the other hand, maybe it was just his powerful charisma.

Chenn didn’t really care. Well, he did, but he pretended it didn’t matter to him because he just wanted it to disappear.

All he asked was for one girl to see just who he was. Not the wind-swept dark brown hair peppered with gold. Not the smile or the eyes. Him. He just wanted them to like him for who he was, not for how he looked. However, he didn’t foresee that happening anytime soon.

“Well, great meeting you, Kallie! See you later!” Chenn waved, a cheerful smile gracing his face despite the turmoil he felt inside, and then he walked off, wishing that he would find some sort of meaningful, deeper connection here.

Nari had been at MBC - Magic Balancing Corps - for a week, and things were going well. She was receiving excellent training to learn how to handle the balance between black magic and white magic. It was an important task, and MBC handled it all. It was also an enormous burden.

She hurried down the grey, pristine halls. She had to get to class. Everyone else was in their classes, but she had private tutoring lessons with Andrew right now. And Andrew was waiting for her.

Her mind drifted to other more serious matters as she walked. The places her mind wandered were disturbing to her, but she didn't push them away. It was necessary to consider the things she did.

She found herself wondering about Andrew. Did he give special training to all the agents?

Knowing that he was busy, Nari very much doubted that Andrew spent his time helping the other agents as he was helping her. He had seen something special in her; Nari just didn’t know what it was yet.

She wanted to figure out what Andrew saw in her that had caused him to spend time with her when he could be attending to other things. Nari knew that he had other, far more important things to do. He was the General after all.

Instead, he was teaching her how to lead armies and handle people. She did have to admit, though, Andrew knew how to handle people. In his hands, she became as malleable and easy-going as she had been before her sister and father died.

With Andrew, Nari regained something she had thought lost forever. Not that it mattered. Andrew was kind to her, but it was only friendship between them. Nari knew that was all it would be. What she really wanted was to be loved by someone.

Her mother had loved her, but Nari had spent her life feeling that her mother loved her sister, Hanna, more. She’d never resented Hanna for it, but she hadn’t loved her mother as much either. Her father had loved her, but he was dead. His passing had left a huge hole in her heart, larger even than Hanna’s passing had left.

Now, as she grew older, she realized that she wanted a strong man like her father to fill the gap. She wanted to marry and have kids so that she could have someone to love instead of the empty existence she had now. She wanted a family.

However, it wouldn’t be with anyone she’d met so far. They treated her well enough, but they didn’t love her. Her heart was still cold and empty.

She cut off the trail of thoughts aprubtly as she reached Andrew's office. She had little time for allowing her thoughts to ramble. In order to remain focused and composed, she needed to keep her thoughts under control. 

It wasn't as easy as it seemed. As soon as they began the lesson, Andrew noticed something was wrong and began to take note of it with some concern. “Nari, you aren’t focusing on your lesson. Why?” He placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m just thinking about other stuff.” She shrugged off his question, not wanting him to know what she was feeling. It wasn't something she was proud of, and those areas hurt too much to let him probe them like he was doing.

Andrew gave her that cocked eyebrow that meant: elucidate. She shook her head, silently ignoring the fact that if anyone would understand, it was probably Andrew.

“Talking about it would make it easier to deal with, Nari.”

“It’s not something I want to discuss with you.” She turned to him, giving him a hard stare to get her point across before turning back to her terminal.

“Indri tells me that you’ve been having trouble focusing on your lessons with him these last few days too. Is there something I can do?” His voice was soft and gentle, but it didn't fix the fact that he was pushing her.

Nari turned around, facing him with a cold mask. “I told you, I don’t want to talk about it, and I'm fine.” She crossed her arms, pressing her lips together in a tight line.

He gave her a sharp look. “Nari, tell me what is wrong. I want to help. I’m your friend. You have great potential, and I want to help you reach your greatest, but I can’t if you don’t focus on the lessons I’m teaching you. Now this will simply be a waste of both of our time if you can’t pay attention and do well with this. So what is blocking you from doing so?”

“I can’t tell you.” She turned away from him, trying to hide the quaver in her voice.

She sensed his warmth as he walked over to her and stood by her, his shoulder brushing hers. He smelled vaguely of pine trees and amber. Exotic in a way. Then again, Andrew was exotic too, so it was a good fit. His hands rested in a gentle, supportive manner on her shoulders. She wanted nothing more than to tell him what was wrong. She wanted to let him hug her, as she knew he would.

In front of everyone else, Andrew was strong and properly distant, but one on one with his soldiers he was close and gentle. He knew when to be firm and unmoving and when to offer love and compassion. If anyone could comfort her now, she was sure Andrew could.

But she didn’t want comforting. She pushed his hands from her shoulders. “Please, just drop it. Move on with the lesson. I’ll focus; I promise.” She dropped back into her chair at the terminal.

He hesitated, but then nodded. She didn’t need him to offer her comfort right then. She wanted him to respect her privacy, and she could see that he would. She was grateful for that.

***

A half-hour later, Nari escaped Andrew’s watchful, protective gaze, and went to find some privacy. She wasn’t able to keep the tears from streaming down her face as she went to her room.

Normally, Nari kept a tight, tyrannical rule on her emotions. Unless she wanted to display an emotion, it didn’t show. But now the raw, pulsing grief she was feeling couldn’t be contained. She stumbled down the hall that led to her room, tears flowing with abandon.

Soon she could hardly see anything. She bumped into a boy who towered over her. But she didn’t notice this or anything else about him. He tried to hold her, taking her by the shoulders. Generally, Nari felt that when a stranger touched her on the arm or shoulder they were trying to be friendly, but now his touch made her more hysterical. She wrenched out of his grip, gasping for breath.

In her frenzied state, Nari didn’t even think about it. She twisted his wrist sharply and sent a swift jab into his solar plexus with the other hand, leaving him to double over in agony. She hadn't actually hurt him permanently, but she knew she had managed to do enough damage to his wrist that it would be in a brace for a week or two, maybe more. As soon as she knew he wouldn't follow her, she fled. 

In the barracks, she slammed and locked the door, pulling the dead bolt across it. Despite the uncomfortable lumpiness of her mattress, she collapsed onto it, burying her face in the flat, bumpy pillow and weeping.

It took her five minutes to gain control of herself. What was I thinking? I could have broken that boy’s wrist! And all for what? Because I was upset and panicked for no reason. She paused for a moment. It had happened for a reason. Now that Nari thought about it, she realized that it had been brewing long before she came here.

Only before she joined MBC, she hadn’t known that she was missing anything. Her heart had been empty, but she was used to it then, so she hadn’t even noticed. Now though, Andrew and Indri had shown that they cared about her, and Nari had discovered how empty she was. They had shown her the secret longings of her heart without even meaning to. And she had needed it.

But it hurt. Her little outburst had come because she had realized that the way she was now, no person in his sane mind would give her what she wanted. No man would marry her. She was too bitter, and she wasn’t willing to be girlish just for them. She’d spent too long barely surviving to become weak before anyone.

It hit her with a shock. I don’t know how to love anyone. I can’t do it! I’m incapable of it. I’ve spent so long feeling unwanted, discontent, and despised that I’ve forgotten how to return love. So even if some guy was crazy enough to want to marry me, I wouldn’t be able to love them back because I don’t know how!

A knock came at her door, and Andrew’s voice floated through.

“Nari?”

She took a deep breath, trying not to sound like she was crying.

“Go away, Andrew. I don’t want to talk to you.” It was a lie. She did want to talk to him, and she felt bad for lying to him, but she really did need him to leave her alone. As much as she wanted to talk, she knew she needed to do this on her own.

“Nari, I don’t know what I said, but please let me in!” His voice was weary and concerned, and she knew he really did want to help.

“It’s not you!”

She started crying again because it hurt so much that he cared. She couldn't return his love, regardless of what type of love it was. Knowing he cared was a good kind of pain, but not being able to reciprocate his love was awful, and not in a good way.

“Nari?” His voice broke her reverie.

Her sobs greeted his words.

“Nari, I don’t know what’s wrong, but I want to help. Let me in, please.” He knocked lightly on the door again, his voice pleading.

Indri’s voice floated to her ears. He was speaking to Andrew. "Let her alone, Andrew. She doesn't want to see you."

“I have to try, Indri.” Andrew’s voice grew a bit louder. “Nari? Please.”

She couldn’t bear it any more. Sending him away would be like killing herself. She wasn’t the type of person who could deal with her pain without another person to pat her on the back and care. She needed Andrew to tell her that it would be all right because on some level at least, Nari trusted him. Still, she couldn't let him see her like this. She was supposed to be strong and in order to do her job here, trainee or no, she needed to learn to deal with this on her own. 

She squared her shoulders, sniffling and wiping away tears. She was twenty-seven years old. This behavior was just childish. It was time to do what she came here to do. Leave the past behind. It didn't have to keep ruining her life or making it hard for her to be happy and free. It didn't need to keep effecting how she related to other people. Instead, she had to accept that it made her who she was for better or worse, and move on. 

"It's not something you did, Andrew, and there isn't anything you can do. I just need you to leave me alone and let me figure it out on my own." She answered finally, her voice strong and determined now. 

He said nothing for a few moments, then his voice came through the door again. "I get that, but if you do get to the point where you need help or just need to talk, don't hesitate to come to me."

A week passed uneventfully after her breakdown, and she was beginning to think that the worst had blown past. She was starting to feel freer and happier here, and the ability to forget the past and move on was beginning to seem like a reachable skill.

Until Andrew called her to his office, that was. She walked into the grey cubicle, head down, shoulders hunched with uncertainty. She didn’t know him well enough yet to know why he was calling her to his office or what it meant, but she did know that typically, being called into an authority’s office without a prior appointment constituted a bad thing. It almost felt like she was in high school again, being sent to the dean’s office for misbehavior.

She cleared her throat as she entered, and Andrew looked up. As soon as he saw her, he smiled warmly and ushered her in. “Have a seat… I just wanted to talk to you. Don’t worry; you aren’t in trouble.”

She relaxed a bit, sighing in relief when he spoke without any hint of anger or annoyance in his voice or posture. Walking to the chair he’d indicated, she sat down, giving him a weak smile. Her legs felt like jelly after all the tension that had built up in her body as she stressed out over this meeting.

Andrew cleared his throat, looking at her. “Nari, I’m worried about you… Other people are saying that you’re actively avoiding them and friendships… I’m worried that you aren’t developing the connections you need to be successful here.”

She gave a nervous laugh. “Avoiding people and friendships? Me?”

He continued to stare at her, and she ducked her head, cheeks turning crimson with embarrassment. “No one’s even bothered to approach me. I don’t think they want to be friends, and anyway, professional is the best I can offer.” She muttered.

He raised an eyebrow when she glanced up at him. “I think that you’re short-changing yourself. You have a lot more to offer to someone other than just a professional relationship, and you would be a great friend to have. No one approaches you because you’ve made it clear you don’t want them around.”

“Because they obviously don’t want me around!” She insisted, staring intently at the computer terminal’s blinking green buttons.

Andrew snorted. “Believe me, they want you around. They’re all very curious, and I know for a fact that you’re a kind, generous person, however much you may wish to convey another sort of person. You’re loyal and hard-working from what I can see, and add to that mixture your attractive appearance… Let’s just say most are interested in meeting you.”

“If you think that, then you don’t know me. I’m sarcastic, rude, and as my mother was fond of saying, as charming as mud.” Nari dead-panned.

“Then your mother needed her vision checked.” Andrew grinned.

A laugh bubbled up from inside of her. She let it out, giggling at first, and then laughing hard. Tears streamed down her face. “Her vision was fine!" She gasped.

He smiled at her. “Maybe so, but you don’t know the effect you have on people. Half the men and boys on this base don’t focus when you’re around, and you’ve only been here for a month.” He clasped his hands, resting them on his knees.

She gave him a searching glance. His smile was still there, but his eyes were dead serious.

“Really?”

“Really.” He answered, no longer smiling. He patted her knee. "You're quite distracting, even if you don't know it yet."

Nari frowned. That wasn’t good at all. People needed to do their jobs well, and if she were a distraction, they wouldn’t do that.

“Maybe I should stay away from them or make them hate me?” She suggested.

Andrew rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'm sure that would help, Nari."

“Quit being sarcastic. I’m serious.” She rocked back a bit in her metal-backed chair, trying to find a comfortable position.

“Heaven help us if your method of making people hate you is what you did to poor Chenn.” Andrew grimaced.

“Chenn?”

“Chenn Covalenti. He’s the boy you assaulted in the hall. You nearly broke his wrist. No one informed you of that?” When she shook her head, he sighed and continued. “Please, don’t do that to any more of my soldiers. I need all of my agents, in training or not.” Andrew smiled, but she knew he was serious.

Nari cleared her throat, shifting in her seat again, uncomfortable and embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Andrew. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I just… I really thought he was trying to hurt me.”

“Well, the instinct to protect yourself isn't a bad one, Nari, but you need to learn to think rationally in situations where you are frightened because otherwise you may end up injuring those who would otherwise be your friends. Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure he doesn't blame you. Maybe next time, he'll think twice about just grabbing a distraught person by the shoulders." He laughed.

Nari nodded. “I know.”

Andrew gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Look, why don’t you hang out with Chenn? He’s quite a friendly, charming young man, though a bit reckless. You never know. You two might become good friends.”

She gave him a look. “I don’t know. I’ll consider it.” She paused, thinking hard. “Wait, did you say Chenn?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Oh, well, it’s just that every girl on base has been talking about him. Apparently he’s quite popular.” She made a sour face.

“Hmm… I’m not surprised. Put it like this: Chenn has a magic charm and the looks to accompany it.” Andrew grinned at her.

“Oh great… A popular boy and one who is good looking. Bound to know that he’s charming, and he’ll probably be a jerk about it. Why would I want to hang out with him, Andrew?”

“Give him a chance, Nari. But be careful. You might find yourself falling in love before you know it!” He winked at her then stood. "Well, that’s all that I had to say to you… You’re dismissed to go to class. Indri knows that you’ll be late due to this chat."

She nodded, but her mind was reeling. Standing up, she turned to walk out of the door, faltering in her step for a moment as she realized the implications of his words. He had noticed at least a small piece of her fear and desire. And he’d called her out on it too.

Her? Fall in love? When had that ever happened? She’d been the only girl she knew who never dated. Her friends had to drag her out of the house, and she’d strictly avoided anything involving boys. They made her feel uncomfortable, and she didn’t like people that much anyway. It was strange to think that maybe she might be able to feel that way about someone. She doubted it would truly happen, but the thought insistently took root in her mind, refusing to budge. Slight though the hope was, it was a bit of light anyway. She desperately wanted to believe that she could love someone and he could love her back. Maybe Andrew was right. Maybe the time just hadn’t been right before.

Should she go and see Chenn? Andrew had suggested that she should, but she didn’t like what she’d heard from all the girls. He sounded like every other popular guy. Arrogant and a know-it-all.

No. She shouldn’t go see him. She’d just end up sorry for it. But then, Andrew had said she should. 

No! I’m not going to. I’ll try to make friends with some of the girls, but I don’t want anything to do with Chenn or any of the other men. I’ve always avoided guys, and I’ve done fine so far, so I’ll just continue on that way.

Class didn’t seem like a very fun prospect right then, but she knew she had to be there, so she let her feet lead her in that direction as she contemplated the things that Andrew had said to her.

 ***

Chenn cradled his twisted wrist against his belly. It hurt today. It had been a full week since Nari had injured him, but he still felt the pain occasionally. It was getting better, though, and Chenn was beginning to resume normal activities.

A young woman with silky blond hair and wide green eyes flitted over to his side.

“Chenn?” Her voice was airy and bubbly.

He wanted to sigh in irritation. He was sick of the way the girls reacted to him. True, there were only a handful of them on West Base – probably only twenty out of the two hundred men here. But there were enough of them to tick him off. He hated airy, empty-headed women.

Only he knew that they weren’t empty headed. People weren’t accepted into MBC unless they were smart and quick to react. No, the girls – well, women really – only reacted this way to him.

Pasting a smile onto his face, he turned to see which one of the women had hailed him this time.

It was Vanessa. Chenn would have groaned, but he had to be polite. He couldn’t have every single person on base hating him, not even if he hated them back. After all, the agents of MBC were all smart and more than capable of making life miserable for him as a newbie.

Still, Vannessa was the worst of them. He’d heard that she had been orphaned, well, deserted really, as a child, and people whispered that it had driven her insane. It made him feel bad for her, but not bad enough to put up with her continual flirting. Part of the problem with nymphs was that they never knew when to stop attempting to seduce the opposite sex. "Vannessa? What can I do for you?"

“Well, I was hoping you’d like to sit with me for breakfast.” She gave him a predatory smile and rested a perfectly manicured hand on his upper arm.

“Uhh…. Well, I sort of… umm… I can’t. I need to go study for the exam on dealing with diverse cultures.” Chenn knew the excuse was lame, but Vanessa seemed satisfied with it. He really did have an exam coming up, but what she didn’t have to know was that he’d already studied enough and knew everything he needed to.

“Oh, well, okay! Maybe tomorrow?” She gave him a wide smile, white teeth flashing at him.

Yeah, or maybe never in a million years, Vanessa. Chenn thought. But he didn’t say it. Instead, he smiled wider, and he said, “Maybe. No promises though.”

“I know… How about if we study together? I have the same class.”

Chenn tried not to groan. Could she be any more obvious? That was the other issue with nymphs. They really had no subtlety whatsoever. He shook his head. “Sorry… But I study best alone.” A fortunate thing for him that this was true. It was just the saving fact he needed.

Her face fell, and he felt bad for brushing her off given what he knew about her past. She’d probably been neglected and rejected more times than he could count, and now he was just adding to it. Little wonder that she was so clingy and obnoxious. She probably wanted to avoid any further pain or rejection. Finally, she cleared her throat and pasted a smile onto her face. “Well, see you tomorrow, I guess.” Her voice was a bare whisper that sounded like the wind whistling through dead, leafless branches.

It only added to his guilt when he realized how badly his rejection had hurt her. She’d really been hoping he would say yes. I don’t treat anyone else any differently, though… So it’s not like I’m being mean. Just fair. Wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea. Convincing himself wasn’t working, but he had to try anyway. The unmistakable look of frustration and barely contained tears in her eyes wasn’t helping at all.

Before it could get any more uncomfortable or guilt inducing, Chenn turned around, heading out of the dining hall. The best he would get for breakfast today would be a muffin. Not that he was complaining. He was used to this sort of minimalistic living from his days in jail. Anyway, if he tried to sit down and eat, then he’d have to deal with the guilt of watching Vannessa sit by herself in a corner. No one else was willing to sit with the loud-mouthed nymph, and it almost made him turn around again to go sit with her when he thought about it. Almost. But he wasn’t that suicidal yet. Just because he felt bad for her didn’t mean he was at the point where he was willing to put up with her for any longer than necessary.

On his way past the breakfast bar, Chenn ran into a young woman. He was just about to snag a muffin from the table when she slammed into him. A thick red and gold bound volume went flying as she rammed into him.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” She looked up at him. She walked quickly over to where her book had landed, hastily picking it up before someone could step on it.

“Don’t mention it. People do it all the time to me, it seems. Apparently, running into me in the halls is quite a pastime." Chenn joked, trying to get a laugh out of the quiet, serious girl.

She didn't seem to be very happy, and for some reason, he didn't like that. It bothered him that she wasn't happy and smiling. It also bothered him that his joke was not bringing even the hint of a smile to her lips. 

It peaked his curiosity instantly. Why was she so serious? Why did she seem to have a lonely, sad quality about her? She seemed almost haunted by something, and he wanted to know what. Her eyes met his in a flash of irritation, and he wilted, wishing he hadn't said anything. It didn't quench his desire to know more about her, to connect with her in some way, but it certainly quenched his courage to say anything.

She cleared her throat, a muscle in her jaw clenching tightly. “Very funny. Well, I'm going to get something to eat, and I’ll hope that the memory of horrid jokes doesn’t make me sick. Sorry for walking into you.” She walked off.

There was no attempt to flatter him or simper over him. At best, she simply apologized and walked off. At worst, she had made fun of him.

Chenn gaped at her, eyes wide. What’s wrong with her? What a jerk. I can’t believe she just did that… For some reason, Chenn found it annoying that she hadn’t been the slightest bit interested in him. All the fawning that the other women were giving him must be going to his head. He’d never been annoyed when people didn’t pay attention to him back on Earth. There he’d done all he could to avoid attention.

But then again, he’d spent ten of those years in jail for an accident that had killed a girl. It hadn’t been his fault, but he had been the only one standing there when the girl was discovered shot dead, and he had been holding the gun. So to the witnesses and police, he seemed the only realistic culprit for the girl’s death.

Prison hadn’t been a breeze, and he’d done all he could to avoid the inmates. The warden and staff of the jail had branded him a recluse, and he guessed he had been. Before he went to jail, he had been a dogged extrovert. He had loved people and being around them.

But jail had changed all that. He had stopped talking to people, and most of the habitual secrecy and pain had stuck to him after he was released from jail ten years later. He’d spent two years muddling around on Earth trying to make a life and forget his terrible past and the girl’s pale, haunting face.

And he’d given up. He’d come here to escape all that. It hadn’t worked, but at least here, he was doing something useful and eating well. It beat working all hours at a grocery store where he didn’t get paid enough to afford enough to eat or a decent place to stay.

He gazed after the auburn-haired girl who had bumped into him. She still had her nose in her book. From where he was standing, he could just make out the cover. "Art of War" by Sun Tzu.

He stared at the binding of the book, surprised. While Art of War was hardly an unheard of book in military establishments, he hadn’t expected to see a woman reading it with such avid interest. The girls in his class had been indifferent. They read it because it was assigned, and they said that it had many good points, but none of them had expressed interest. This young woman on the other hand, was completely absorped by the words on the page. She almost bumped into three other people on her way to find a table. 

He watched her for another few minutes. Eventually, she looked up and glanced back. When she saw him staring, she glared at him and immediately sat down at an abandoned table in the back of the dining hall. He mentally shook himself out of the strange mood he felt creeping in on him as he stared back at her. 

He was still wondering how he might start a conversation with her. Since she liked books on tactics from what he had seen, maybe that would be a good conversational topic. 

He shook his head. What am I thinking? She isn’t the least bit interested, you idiot. She’s rude too… Why would you ever want to start a conversation with her? He shivered, unsure why he felt so strange all of the sudden, and turned away. Walking out of the hall, he forgot all about breakfast or any half-laid plans to grab a muffin on the way out of the mess hall.

 ***

Nari sat at her table, eating her roll and eggs as she read her book. Andrew had given it to her. She hadn't known what to make of it at first. The book had been so highly praised by military personnel around her that she'd been expecting something grand and startling. Instead, the book was simple. The underlying principles and concepts were anything but simple, of course, but the language used was not complex or grand. It was common and easily understood. 

Glancing about for a moment, she saw that the young man she had bumped into had left the room. Who was he anyway? He had looked familiar somehow, but she couldn’t place him. Maybe she’d run into him somewhere in West Base before. And another thing, why was he staring at her? She wasn't that interesting. Maybe she'd been a bit too rude with him. He didn't really deserve a tongue lashing for being terrible at making jokes. Well, what was done was done. She wasn't going to hunt him down to make an apology. Not only did she not know him, but she didn't want to initiate any further contact between them.

Shrugging, she turned back to her book. What did she care about some strange boy with a twisted sense of humor? She soon immersed herself in her book and breakfast, forgetting about the boy and everyone else around her. 

“So have you talked with Chenn at all?” Andrew asked.

Nari and Andrew were going over some of the information that she’d read in her lessons from the previous week. He didn't get many chances to talk to her otherwise because he was too busy, so occasionally, he would bring up a topic of discussion that was not pertinent to the lesson if he felt they needed to discuss it.

Nari shrugged. “No.”

Andrew gave her a searching glance. “Why not?”

“I just didn’t feel like it. I’ve talked with some of the girls though, and I’ve been making friends with two of them.” She spun in her chair to face him.

“Which two?” He continued to scrutinize her.

“Vanessa and Nikki.” She shrugged. "Why?"

“Ah. Yes, I know who you’re talking about. Nikki is a good friend to have. Hard working and generous.” Andrew mused, turning his chair back to his own terminal.

“Glad you approve. Shouldn’t we continue working?” Nari asked, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t included Vanessa in his assessment.

She filed the information away to remember at another time. She would need to keep her guard up with Vanessa if Andrew thought she wasn’t worthy of including in the hard-working and generous category. He also hadn’t said she was a good friend to have, yet another hint that perhaps she should be wary of Vanessa and maybe even go so far as to stop hanging out with her.

“Yes, we should.” Andrew turned back to their work. He brought up some holographic displays of virtual battle scenarios. “So can you tell me how to solve these, Nari? What should I do if my forces are down here in this plain and the enemy is somewhere in the surrounding hill land?”

Nari looked over the scenario.

Green, computer-simulated hills, mountains, and flood plains glowed on the holograph - a sort of transparent screen projected onto walls or surfaces that was able to be rotated and moved around by moving one's hands through the projection - hovering in the air. Her forces were represented by black dots, swarming the plains in tight, compact ranks. There were no dots to indicate where the enemy was, and the lay of the hills was seen from above so that she could see all the surrounding hills instead of just the ones in the front.

“Any time, Nari. Remember, in real battles you won’t have much time to deliberate in a situation like this. You need to be able to think quickly, whether it’s just you or if it’s you and your men. So what are you going to do?” Andrew pressed her to make her decisions with speed.

Her brilliance with plans was no use if she needed a lot of time to come up with one in a situation where she needed to make one in a few minutes.

“I’m going to send scouts into the hills in groups of two or three to figure out the enemy position. I don’t dare send my helicopters into the air to scout their position because if I do, they’ll be shot down if the enemy has any anti-aircraft weaponry hidden at their location. With scouts, if they do their job carefully and properly, the enemy won’t know they’re there.” She decided, pointing at a few locations in the hills.

Andrew nodded, smiling. “Yes, that’s a good plan. When – or rather, if – the scouts return, what will you do with this information?” He thumbed something into the display.

A cluster of red dots showed up, pulsing on the hologram to show her where the enemy was located. They were located in a nest of hills with the mountains towering on their left flank. 

“Am I offensive or defensive here, Andrew?”

He grinned. “You’re offensive, Nari. You should know that by now.”

She laughed. “Quit making stupid jokes. It distracts me.” She turned to look at the pulsing red dots, calculating some things as she shifted, trying to find a comfortable spot to rest her back in the metal-backed chair.

He laughed too. “You're the invading force here. So decide what you’ll do. And explain it.”

“Well, the most obvious place to go if I’m attacking, not defending, is through this small pass in the hilly terrain. It’s the only place where the land around is flatter so that I can see what I’m dealing with to some extent. I’m going to assume that the enemy already knows that I’m on the plain. That’s the best way to approach the issue. Never assume that they haven’t spotted you yet.” She gave him a glance.

He nodded. “Continue.”

“So, I can’t go through this flat terrain because that’s predictable, assuming that they already know where I am. If I circle around behind them…” She paused.

Staring at the terminal, she placed her fingers into the holographic projection.

It melted away from her hands like ink bleeding on a paper. She spread her thumb and pointer finger far away from each other, zooming in on the display. The terrain sharpened and she could see the details of the encampment. Soldiers and buildings popped up on the plains, showing her where the defenses were and how they were laid out.

They had a strong guard on their right flank and both front and back positions, but the left flank was left open with few guards there. The mountains stretching up behind the camp could present a problem, but if she played it right, those same mountains would work to her advantage to hide her so they wouldn't see her coming.

She grinned. This was fun. “Their guard is weak on the left flank. They seem to feel confident that the mountains to that side of them and the hills will discourage any attackers. Looking at the terrain, it probably would. But then, it is in the perfect position for my army to march quickly and quietly through the hills unnoticed if I do it right.

"I would need to send my army into their positions several large groups at a time. I can’t take everyone through there all at once or they’ll spot us. So I’ll send groups, have them cluster in these key positions, and when everyone is assembled twenty or thirty minutes later, I’ll signal the attack.”

Andrew nodded. “Good, but one issue. If the enemy has already spotted you, Nari, don’t you think they’ll be watching to see what you do? They’d see the troop movement and begin fortifying in the areas you’re sending the troops to. How will you fix that issue?”

She shrugged, still grinning. “Easy. I’ll send a larger group to the right flank. They’ll do everything the way the smaller group would, and try not to be spotted. Then I’ll have the other, smaller groups appear too obvious to be the real attack. The enemy will believe that the bigger troop is the real attack and ignore the one small group.

"I’ll send several smaller groups to circle around, and I’ll go with one of them, leaving my subordinates in charge of the bigger troop movement that I’m using as distraction. Then, the bigger troop will start attacking the enemy position, creating small distractions and then disengaging and disappearing. Meanwhile, the rest of the army is getting into position. Then when everyone on my side is ready, the real attack is launched while the other portion of my army is creating a diversion.”

“Sounds complex, Nari. It’s best to keep a plan simple. So many components allow for too many variables in the enemy movement and even in your own army. Not only that, you don't have endless soldiers.” He glanced at his watch. “Our lesson time is over. I’m going to go grab some lunch. I don’t know what you have to do, but it's probably best you get moving so that you don’t end up late.”

Nari nodded. “I have advanced self-defense training with Indri next.” She grimaced.

Andrew gave her a smug look, laughing a bit. “What? You don’t like Indri?”

“He’s such a know-it-all.” She blurted it out before she even thought about softening her judgment.

Indri was her superior, and she knew she should afford him the proper respect even if he and Andrew did insist on being called by name, not by titles. 

Andrew crossed his arms, speaking with a gentle, but firm tone in response to her comment. “Mind your tongue, Nari. Have some respect for your superiors.”

“He specifically ordered me not to. He wants us to be open and honest about all our problems in the class and everything we’re struggling with in regards to the class." She hesitated, uncertain if she should go on - what she was about to say wasn't in the least respectful, but it was honest.

She sighed. Best to be honest. "The only thing I’ve struggled with so far is Indri himself!”

“Still… He’s older than you, and he’s in a position of authority, Nari. You need to have respect for him. He’s only working with a select group, and the fact that he’s working one on one with you is a special privilege. Only one or two of our students get that.” Andrew reminded, standing up and putting his desk into order.

“I know. I try not to be disrespectful towards him. But he sort of breeds it and encourages it. I ignore most of his jibes and humor, but sometimes… Well, you and Indri don’t act like commanders with any of us. I mean… In the FBI, our superiors couldn’t be bothered to talk with us mundane workers. We almost never saw them unless it was something important.

"You and Indri… Well, you are always finding ways to spend time with those under you when you can. Everyone on base knows you both, and they all talk about you with nothing but admiration and love. Even the ones who don’t particularly like Indri’s blunt sarcasm.” Nari stood too, putting her chair back into its customary spot just to the side of Andrew's desk.

“You can’t lead people you don’t understand and love, Nari. If those beneath you in station do not know that you love them and are doing all you can to lead them to victory safely, they will begrudge you every life that is taken in battle. They will question you when you ask them to do something seemingly reckless or overly dangerous.

"Listen to me, Nari. Understand this. Whenever possible, explain to your soldiers or underlings what you are doing and why. Taking the time to explain it to them while you have it will breed trust. They’ll see that you are levelheaded, and when you don’t have time to explain it to them, they will understand that the situation is truly dire. That’s how you lead in a manner that people will trust you and follow. You love them more than you love yourself.” Andrew smiled at her.

Nari nodded. “I’ll remember that.”

“For your own good, I hope you do. You have the makings of a leader. A great one, in fact. But if you can’t love those under you, then all the decisive action in the world will fail to make people follow you.

"They want to know that the person they are following can do something for them. They won’t follow someone who is a dictator or someone who, while they are decisive, is unwilling to think about or care for the lives of those beneath them." He paused as though considering his words. "Or rather, they won’t do so for long.” Andrew finished, walking to the door and pulling it open to reveal a long, narrow hall, which was, just like the others, grey.

Grey was boring and seeing it day in and day out sometimes got on her nerves, Nari reflected. This place needed a bit more color.

Seeing that he was waiting for a response, she nodded. “I understand.” She smiled.

He clapped her on the back. “I knew you would. Now go have your lesson with Indri, and be respectful! I don’t care if he deserves a tongue-lashing or not. Think of it this way, if you don’t give him the tongue-lashing he deserves, then you prove that you’re stronger than he is because you can control your tongue even when he can’t.” He grinned at her.

She laughed. “That’s a good way to see it!”

“I know… It’s how I deal with Indri on days when he’s intolerable.” Andrew laughed.

She nodded. “Well, I guess that qualifies you to give advice, then.”

He shook his head, smiling. “Guess so.” He walked out of the room, leaving her to shut off the terminal. She did so, and then she walked to her next class.

Andrew had given her a lot to think about in regards to leadership. The more she considered his words, the more she saw just how true they were.

Her punch came in from the side, but he wasn't there when it came. 

He dodged to the side, letting her fist fly past, followed by her body. He stuck his foot out, tripping her up and causing her to fall towards the floor. 

Just as he thought she would face plant into the blue mats covering the concrete floor of the sparring room, she broke her fall, catching herself with her arms. 

He shook his head. 

She had quick reflexs. 

He had to pin her to the floor for at least thirty seconds. 

With anyone else, that wouldn't have been a struggle. But with Elise... With Elise, she never stayed put long enough for him to get her into a position where he could pin her long enough to win. However, she was not quick when it came to guessing what he would do next. 

As he continued evading her or scoring blows on her padded suit, he could see she was tiring. Her exhaustion showed in the droop of her shoulders, her heavy breathing, and the way she struggled to maintain her initial spry speed. 

He grinned. All he had to do was outlast her. Sooner or later, she would make a mistake, and when she did, he would be waiting and ready. 

She grunted, flipping back up to her feet. "You, Chenn Covalenti, are relentless..." She murmured. 

He was certain she didn't intend for him to hear it, but he had good hearing. Most people didn't account for that, and he heard a lot of things they never meant for him to hear. 

He smiled at her. "I try hard."

Her eyes widened, and she stammered, "You... You heard that?"

"Yeah... Wasn't I supposed to?" He asked, eyes wide with fake innocence. 

She shook her head, still stuttering. "N..No..."

He laughed. "Pity." 

She glared at him. "You are going down!"

He rolled his eyes. "We'll see."

After that, they didn't talk. 

He made a sudden lunge for her, but she just managed to evade him. The girl was good. But not good enough to win. She was too small, and she didn't know how to anticipate her opponent's next moves based on body language.

She was also weaker.

And predictable. So very predictable.

He smiled.

He would win. There was no doubt about it.  

He spun at Elise with sudden force. She tried to parry the blow, but it wasn’t working. The few times she had sparred with him in physical combat, she had lost. Mentally, she wasn't prepared, and after losing to him every other time, she had begun to believe that she couldn't win.

Her slight form just dodged his punch. She wouldn’t have been injured in a significant way. Her padding and armor took care of both of them. His fist wouldn’t be injured and neither would she.

Fortunately, Chenn had been expecting her to duck like she had. He pulled back, not allowing himself to rush past her. He knew if that happened she would take advantage of it and her blows would land.

He waited for her to straighten. She spun, expecting to find him behind her. Elise had thought she could take him off guard. Yeah, right... Like that's going to happen. He slammed into her, driving her into the ground. She gave a muffled yelp of shock.

“Where did you…” Elise trailed off.

“Next time, you should be expecting your opponent to know what you’re planning and do the unexpected.” He flipped her onto her back, pinning her arms to her sides, and smiling down at her.

Her eyes widen as she looked up into his mesmerizing eyes. For a moment, he wondered why she wasn't breathing, and then he remembered that he was lying on top of her, applying steady pressure to her arms so that she wouldn’t be able to throw him off her.

Not that he thought Elise could. His previous train of thought came back to his mind.

She was too slender and she wasn’t strong enough to defeat him.

He knew it.

The instructor knew it.

And to Elise’s humiliation, she knew it.

Why Indri had even paired them together was beyond Chenn. But he wondered if perhaps the teacher thought he was teaching Elise how to defend herself against a stronger opponent. If that was it, Elise wasn’t learning.

“Alright, Mr. Covalenti. You may release Miss Pearl. You won the match.” Indri stared at the two of them, his usual mask of emotionless professsionalism hiding his emotions. 

Chenn got up and offered Elise his hand. She took it, dropping her eyes with sudden shyness, too stunned to be unwilling to accept it.

“Miss Pearl, I suggest that next time you pay closer attention to your opponent's body language.”

Elise frowned. “Body language? How do I read it?”

Indri sighed. “It's a variety of things, but mostly, it's the little signals in body posture and facial expressions that give away what your opponent will do next. If you had been paying attention to Mr. Covalenti instead of simply trying to hit him, you might've been able to prevent half of the hits he scored. As to how you read it, you start paying attention. When you have observed the person for long enough, you will know what their signals are and only then will you be able to anticipate and prepare for their next move. In time, you'll be able to do it within minutes of assessing a person.”

Elise frowned, but this time it was a different type of frown. She didn’t like Indri, Chenn realized.

He liked Indri and his blunt mannerisms, but then, Chenn had always loved those who were honest, to-the-point, and expectant. His own father had been much like Indri. Sarcastic and demanding, but also willing to praise a job well done.

Chenn knew when he’d done well and earned praise with people like his father and Indri, and it was something he felt was necessary to his well-being.

As soon as Indri was out of the room, Elise sighed. “I didn’t make much of an opponent, did I?” Her voice quavered.

“You were just fine, Elise! You did well enough.” Chenn consoled.

“No, I didn’t!" Her face crumpled, and tears came to her eyes. “I try so hard, but I can never do it well enough. My teachers all make fun of me, and the other agents hate me. How did I ever even manage to get in here? I should go back home. I'm only twenty, and I'm too young for this...”

“You were hired because they saw something in you, and you aren't too young!” Chenn answered, smiling at her.

“Who are they? No one I know sees something in me. Not even me.” She looked down at the blue pads that covered the concrete floor.

“Sounds to me like you are having a bad case of self-degradation.” Chenn remarked, glancing at a clock on a bare patch of concrete wall in between two steel supports.

“I am not! Everything I said was true.” Elise turned away.

“No, it wasn’t. I’ve seen your work in the mapping section, Elise. No one I know pays attention to detail the way you do.”

She blushed, her gaze falling to the ground. “You just want me to feel better.”

“Yeah, but it’s also true, Elise.” Chenn put a hand on her shoulder.

She looked over her shoulder at him, giving him another shy smile. “You really think that?”

“Yeah!” He squeezed her shoulder.

“Thanks, Chenn! I didn’t know anyone cared… And, well… When people don't care about me, it's awful. It makes me feel like an idiot.” She gave him a less shy, more genuine smile.

“Yeah, well… I know how it feels.” He murmured.

Her hazel eyes widened in surprise. “When has anyone ever ignored you or not cared? All the girls on base have a crush on you by now, and if not a crush, some sort of interest!” She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock as she realized what she’d just said.

Chenn just laughed. “I know, and it’s awful. I think I preferred it when everyone hated me or ignored me. Being a celebrity is even worse.”

A blush crept up into her cheeks, staining them a rosy red.

He gave her a suspicious glance. “You aren’t like them, though, are you? You aren’t...” He shifted, uncomfortable. "You know..." He hesitated again.

For all his usual bluntness, he wasn't sure that being blunt was a good idea here. How would Elise respond to it if he just came out and said what he was thinking? Besides, he wasn't sure he could do it even if he wanted to. He imagined how that conversation would go. Elise, do you have a crush on me too?

What? How could you ask it like that? It's so heartless!

Yeah... Well, that's me. And I wanted to know. He cleared his throat. "Umm... I don't know how to ask this, Elise.. but you don't like me like that, do you?"

She didn’t answer, cheeks flaming now. It was all the confirmation he'd needed. 

He groaned. “Of course you do.”

She gave him a worried look. “I’m sorry… If you don’t like it, well I can just stop.” She looked down, scuffing her sneaker's sole along the blue pad beneath her feet.

“Stop your feelings? Elise, you can’t stop your feelings, and I’m not asking you to. Control them, yes, but stop them? No. It’ll pass once you see just how rude and sarcastic I am.” Chenn grimaced, realizing that he'd made her uncomfortable and insecure. Which was the exact opposite of what he had been trying to do.

She laughed a little. “You, rude? All the others are saying you’re one of the politest, kindest men on the base! And you've been very kind to me today.”

“They don’t know me. And... You don't either.” He remarked, voice softening.

And it was true. They didn’t know him. They saw him just like they saw any other guy that they became besotted with. It was just a passing phase, and it meant nothing. Well, nothing but a bit of discomfort for him and rivalry between them. “Do me a favor, Elise. Stay out of whatever fights the other women might or might not have over me. Pretty soon they’ll be fighting over who can ask me to eat with them.” He whispered.

“Oh! Well… If it means that much to you, I guess I will. But Vanessa scared off all the other girls yesterday at breakfast. She told us that you were 'hers’.” She clapped a hand over her mouth again, blushing. “Oh! I shouldn’t have said that… It wasn’t my place to.”

Chenn gave her a sympathetic smile. “Don’t be sorry, Elise. Vanessa doesn’t own me, and I’ll do what I please regardless of what she thinks. In fact, in spite of what she thinks.”

Elise grinned. “I wish I could hear you tell her that and see her face.”

“Maybe you will. Tomorrow she’s probably going to ask me to sit with her for breakfast again. I can’t keep saying maybe tomorrow… So maybe you’ll get to see me tell her off. Just make sure you’re in the mess hall by 0700 hours.”

She smiled, less shy now. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

“Good! Now off you go. Wouldn’t want to be late for class, would you?” He glanced away from her, looking out a window and then at the clock.

Her face darkened. “No, not at all. Missing class would be horrid. It’s so much fun when the teachers and students tear you apart.”

Chenn couldn’t help laughing. “Bite back. Maybe if you showed them what you just showed me, they’d be sorry for tearing. Bet you that they’d leave you alone if you stood up to them.”

She nodded. “Maybe.”

Chenn waved as she walked off towards the girls’ changing rooms. He sighed. Chenn hoped he’d instilled some confidence into Elise. She needed it.

Amory grinned at his brother. “Andrew, do you really think you can keep me from doing whatever I want?” He sat down in the chair next to the desk, leaning back and clasping his hands behind his head, the picture of confidence.

To add the last touch to his confident aura, he propped his feet up on the glass surface of Andrew's desk, almost knocking over the statue of a stallion that Andrew had settled on the corner of the desk. 

It helped to relieve the monotony of the endless grey in the place, and it was the one personal touch he had afforded himself. It had been his mother's, and her father's before hers. She'd passed it to him before she'd died and left him and his brother, Amory, alone with their father, who quickly turned abusive. 

Amory knew how much the little blue statue meant to Andrew. He'd made certain that their father never saw it in one of his rages because both boys knew that their father would destroy anything that had been their mother's. He'd taken a punch to the face - earning a split lip - once just so that that Andrew would have time to hide the statue. Andrew had arrived at the door of his bedroom just in time to see it happen. He knew Amory knew what the statue meant to him. And yet, Amory had almost broken it. 

By the triumphant smile on his face, Amory had done it deliberately. 

Andrew didn’t smile back. He loved his older brother, but Amory had been getting out of hand. He was causing all sorts of trouble, and he was upending the no meddling policy of the MBC. Many of the agents were listening to him, and discord was growing. “Amory, I’ll lock you up if I must to keep you from continuing this nonsense. You know why we can’t meddle in human affairs.”

“Why, brother? Why not? We could rule the world if you wanted. Together, no one could stop us. Wouldn’t you like that?” Amory’s eyes glowed with fervor.

Andrew loved seeing his brother excited about something again, but he wasn’t happy with the reason for the excitement. Amory needed to have something to excite and interest him. Ever since he and Andrew had run away to join the MBC's Base here in the alternate reality known as West Gate, he had been beaten. Not in a literal or physical way. That part had ended when Amory decided to take Andrew away from their abusive father and run. But in a mental way, Amory had lost interest.

Andrew couldn’t understand why his vibrant brother had been so sullen when he found out Andrew had been appointed general. He had thought Amory would be happy with him. He’d lived and worked for this moment ever since they’d come to the MBC, and then Amory hadn’t been pleased. Back then, Andrew had been too blind to see it, but now he knew.

Amory had wanted that post. He believed that he, not his little brother, should be in charge of the MBC. He believed he should have been picked instead of Andrew.

Andrew sighed. “Amory, if we meddle in Earth affairs when it doesn’t concern the balance of magic, we risk meddling too far and tipping the balance to the Dark side.”

“Poor deceived boy.” Amory whispered, shaking his head.

Andrew started, wanting to strike back at his older brother for it. His eyes showed his pain and confusion, and Amory grinned, reveling in it. But Andrew didn’t strike back.

Instead, he spoke with calm poise as he sat down in his chair behind the desk. “What am I deceived about, Amory?”

“You’ll believe any half-baked, stupid lie that any one tells you just so long as it sounds good, you imbecile.” Amory hissed.

“Don’t forget, Amory,” Andrew reminded with a soft voice. “I am your superior officer. I could have you thrown into a cell if you insist on causing trouble.”

“You would throw that in my face. Andrew the brilliant! Everyone loves you. You became general. You make the decisions. I had better follow or else you will throw me in jail!” Amory taunted.

His bitterness ran deeper than Andrew had expected. “It’s not like that, Amory. Just because you weren’t picked for general doesn’t mean people don’t like you. I’ve seen how the people I can’t deal with react to you. They respect you, and they listen to you because they like you. I can’t lead them well; you can.”

“Liar. You lead everyone well. Even the troublemakers respect you. When you give a command, they all jump to obey.” Amory sat up, a sneer on his face as he leaned in closer to his brother.

Andrew sighed, ignoring the close proximity his brother insisted on maintaining between them. “No, they don’t. Those who follow you rarely do as I say. They are completely yours. Amory, why not help me? The only way I can handle them is with your aid. So why withhold it?”

“Because you aren’t worth it, little brother!” Amory hissed, smiling. The smile never reached his blue eyes though, and Andrew felt chilled.

“You always used to tell me that I’d do great things, Amory. Remember that? You’d whisper it to me at night after father had beaten you for defending me. And you told me that when our little sister was taken to live with our mother and we were left. I remember, even if you don’t.

"And when we came here, you told me to try hard because for the first time, I had a chance to make something of myself. So I did. I tried hard, and I saw you give up. I tried hard, and I became general. But you weren’t happy or proud of me. All I wanted was just one smile, one pat on the back. Just one little gesture or word to let me know you approved of me. And what did I get instead? I got hostile, empty silence.”

“That’s right, Andrew. Blame it all on me. Anyone could see that you usurped what should have been mine. Was I supposed to praise you for it?” Amory snarled, his face red, an angry leer disfiguring his mouth.

Andrew felt his heart sink. His brother was cruel and hard now. He no longer knew who Amory was. “What happened to you, Amory? You used to be so loving… So kind… I used to be able to look up to you. Now though, you’ve lost all kindness and love. I can’t even talk to you without you exploding at me. Why are you so bitter?” Andrew asked.

His heart felt heavier with each word, and each one of his words seemed to fall on his ears like a death knell.

“I’m bitter because you destroyed me!” Amory shouted, standing up to pace the sparsely furnished room.

“That’s not fair or reasonable, Amory!” Andrew protested, pain filling him at his brother's words.

He had done all he could to succeed because Amory had told him to, because he had admired and loved his brother. And now, after he had succeeded, his brother hated him for it. Blamed him for it.

“Oh, yes it is, Andrew!”

Andrew turned away. His face set with determination. “Go away, Amory. Stop causing trouble, and don’t force me to put you under guard or in a cell.”

“Oh, I’ll leave all right! I can’t wait to leave. You know something, Andrew? You just don’t know how to lose once in a while so that others can have something they want too.” Amory spun to face his brother, his eyes glittering with rage.

Andrew ignored the comment. It stung, but he wasn’t going to respond to his brother. If he started talking, he’d break down and cry right in front of Amory. And weakness wasn’t something that Amory could see right now. He’d jump on it and bring Andrew down if he showed any hint of weakening.

Amory stormed out of the room, heading for his barrack.

***

When he got there, his best friend Bjorn Fjordell was the only one there. Bjorn looked up as Amory entered. Amory slammed the door and turned to Bjorn, eyes blazing.

“What’s up, man?” Bjorn asked.

“We’re leaving.” Amory gave a wicked grin. “My brother practically told me to. He also told me to stop causing trouble, but we’re not going to do that. Go spread the word quietly among our followers. I’m going to get some stuff before we leave. Tell them to be ready to move out quickly tomorrow morning around dawn. There won’t be much time.”

Amory glanced around the room, and then murmured, “We’re going to take East Gate over, and then we’re going to rule the world. See how my bratty little brother likes that, eh?”

Bjorn laughed. “Aye. We’ll see how your snot-nosed brother likes that, alright. I bet he comes crying and begging for mercy when we’re through.”

“I hope so.” Amory rubbed his hands together, glee lighting his eyes where a moment before rage had shone. Amory’s jaw clenched in a way that Bjorn had learned all too well meant trouble. His eyes lit with fire and brimstone. “Indeed we will, Andrew. Indeed we will,” He whispered.

“What’s going on, Indri?” Andrew demanded.

“Sir! Your brother and nearly half of West Base have disappeared. We received reports that a large group was heading through West Gate. They knocked out the guards on duty at the West Gate and went through. We didn’t get the news until half an hour after they went through. Amory must've disabled the message system he built. If he did, we're going to have to rebuild.”

Andrew gave a sharp hiss of disgust. “We’d better see to fixing that message system then. Any idea where they are headed? Can you track them?”

“No sir. He didn’t take anyone who was wearing any sort of tracking device. All the agents on call or on current assignments have one, but he just took all the troublemakers.”

Andrew wanted to believe that it was a stroke of good luck for them, but he knew it wasn’t. His brother wouldn’t leave for any good reason. Of course, maybe he had misinterpreted Andrew’s request to leave.

But no. That just wasn’t Amory. Amory had always been a plotter. The schemer of the family. He’d taught Andrew how to scheme and strategize too, and he’d been a good teacher. He’d taught his brother how his own mind worked so that Andrew could learn how to think the same way.

One mistake you probably aren’t thinking about, Amory. You taught me how your mind worked, and I still remember it. I can think just like you if need be. I understand you because you were the closest thing to a father that I had. I looked up to and imitated you, and so now, I have the knowledge I need to anticipate your next move. Andrew thought.

“Well, I have a feeling I know where he’s headed. Indri, check the hold. Make sure that none of our valuable stores are missing. If any of them are, make a list and report to me. Also, best to check the magical inventory. Be sure that Amory didn’t take any of those items.

"He told me yesterday he wanted to rule the world, and he invited me in on it. I refused, but he isn’t likely to give up because of it. In order to rule the world, he’d need at least the other half of the Book of Spells. East Base still has one half, but we have the other, and I have a bad feeling that he might have taken it.”

Indri frowned, uncertain. “We had alarm systems installed, Andrew. How could he get past them without alerting us?”

Andrew sighed, and then explained, trying to remain patient. Indri was brilliant, but sometimes simple explanations got past him. “Indri, Amory designed our alarm system. I don’t think that the problem was our message system either, now that I think about it. I think that the issue was that Amory turned off all the security cameras and alarms, knocked out the guards, and left. It took someone half an hour to discover the knocked out guards. Either that or the guards woke up and came and told security.”

Indri gave a grunt of understanding and nodded.

This is a disaster. What am I going to tell everyone?

“Indri?”

Indri looked up, intent and listening.

“Alert East Base to the strange activity. If I know Amory, he’s headed there, and he’s planning to take over.”

***

Nari walked into the office.

Andrew and Indri turned to look at her.

She backed up, realizing she'd walked in on a private discussion. “Oh! I’m sorry. I must have forgotten you canceled lessons today, sir.”

She gave Indri a concerned glance. Andrew knew she was still worried that he would disapprove of her. As much as she disliked Indri’s teaching methods, she looked up to him as a steady, firm commander. She knew he could be relied upon in a bad situation, and she knew that whenever he praised her she’d earned it. She could appreciate that, at least.

“No, no! Don’t apologize, Nari. It’s not your fault. Something came up, that’s all.”

She gave a grim laugh. “Yeah, I know. It’s been all over the Base that…”

She stopped seeing Indri’s glare. Glancing over at Andrew, she saw the crest-fallen expression on his face.

He must care about his brother a lot. It would probably upset him if I said that it’s been all over the base that the General’s brother is a traitor.

“Sorry…” she muttered.

Her cheeks heated up, and she looked at the floor, scuffing her shoe along it.

“It’s alright. I know what everyone’s probably saying about my brother. Calling him a traitor and worse would be my guess.” Andrew’s voice was heavy.

Nari nodded. Her stomach clenched and she felt sick. If only she’d kept her mouth shut. Indri was always tirading her for just spouting out whatever she thought of. She should have known saying that would hurt Andrew.

***

Andrew sighed, turning to Indri. “Who did he take with him?”

“The only people I know of are Bjorn Fjordell – no surprise there; he’s a devil if I’ve ever seen one – the Lake pair, Kallie Treyson, Vanessa Lykeson, Dean Trelawny, Mink Sphinx, Otto Hanson, Nellie Firth, Ali Freydson, and... Chenn Covalenti.”

“Chenn?” Andrew asked.

Indri nodded. His face and posture were hard, but his eyes were misted over. Andrew knew how much Chenn had meant to Indri. The two had bonded in the last month or two since Chenn joined MBC.

“I’m sorry, Indri. I know he was important to you.”

Indri shrugged. “It’s not that important. I’ll get over it.”

His eyes told a different story, but Andrew didn’t press him. If Indri were going to cry or show any emotions, he’d do it when no one was around. Andrew understood the feeling, and he didn’t want to embarrass his friend.

“Nari, since you’ve already heard about the situation and you’re here anyway, why don’t you come in? We’ll skip your lesson today. But stay here. I'd like your input on this.”

She walked into the room, sitting in her usual spot. “Before you start, may I ask something?”

Andrew nodded his consent.

“Well, the thing is, the only place I can think of for Amory to go is somewhere he has allies. Does he have any contact with East Base? Friends maybe? Could he take it over if he wanted to?”

Andrew grimaced. “Indri and I were just wondering the same thing. Good thinking, by the way. Considering that you didn’t know anything about my brother, your analysis is excellent. I think that East Base is exactly where he’s heading. He does have a few known friends there, and considering the fact that I didn’t even see half his network here, I think it is a valid assumption that he has supporters in East Gate, unfortunately.”

Nari nodded. “That’s what I was worried about.”

Indri smiled. “I see that someone has learned their strategy and observation lessons well.”

Nari flushed. Indri’s compliments were rare things, and all of his students and a good many of the agents on West Base would have done nearly anything to get the compliment Nari was getting.

“Indeed, Indri… She seems to have a natural aptitude for it. I can hardly teach her fast enough.” Andrew answered, giving her a gentle smile.

“You two are being too generous. I’m not that good, and I’m sure that strategy and observation doesn’t come naturally.”

“Yes, the FBI accepts everyone who is not observational. It’s the one thing they require, and that’s why the U.S.A is so well protected.” Indri quipped.

Nari didn’t have a good response for that. It was so absurd that she couldn’t think of anything to throw back at him.

But that was Indri. All he had to do to shut someone up was open his mouth.  She didn’t respond to the remark.

Indri gave her a snide smile, telling her with that expression that he knew he’d won. She didn’t get that look much, and she hated it when he gave it to her. It made her feel like a two year old. A stupid one, no less.

“Indri, play nice.” Andrew remarked, casual.

“I am playing nice. You haven’t heard or seen anything if you think that’s the worst I can do, Andrew.” Indri shot back.

***

Andrew rolled his eyes and shook his head. He'd learned long ago that when Indri was in a bad situation and worried about it, he got sarcastic - well, more sarcastic than usual. And Andrew played along with it because the quiet banter helped him to remain calm so that he could do what he needed to.

“It’s not my place to say,” Nari said. “But you two need to pay attention to the problem. Andrew, your brother has run off, rebelled, and taken more than half of West Base with him, and you and Indri are bandying words.”

Indri returned to his former seriousness. “You're right that it's not your place... but you were right to say something in this case."

Andrew nodded his agreement. “Yes, Indri and I should be paying attention to the task on hand, not acting like two year olds.”

“I didn’t say two year olds.” Nari protested.

Andrew just shrugged.

Indri glared at him. “If you want to call yourself a two year old, go ahead. Don’t call me one.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

“So what are we going to do?” Nari asked, glaring at the two of them.

“Indri is going to go get that inventory list, and I am going to inform West Base and East Base to be on red alert.”

Nari nodded. “Yeah, fine… But… um… What am I going to do?”

“You, Nari, are going to head out of West Base to see if you can find out what Amory and his gang is up to.” Andrew answered.

She blanched. “Are you sure you want to give me such an important task?”

“Yes. You were an FBI agent, for goodness’ sake, Nari. Not only that, Indri and I both have test results from your classes that show you are exceptionally skilled in both virtual and actual situations. You’ve handled all the simulations with admirable poise and level-headedness. So go out there and make us proud that we picked you. Show us that our choice to privately tutor you was the right one.”

***

She hesitated a moment, unsure what to think, but then she nodded. “Okay. I’ll make you two proud.” In the solitude of her mind, Nari added, I hope.

Andrew smiled at her. Walking over to her, he clapped her on the back. “I know you will, Nari! Now go get ready. Have one of the inventory staff outfit you, but don’t tell them what you’re actually going out for. I don’t want any information leaking to anyone just in case there are spies still in West Base. Tell him that you are handling a particularly dangerous mission for an escaped magical creature. In fact, tell him whatever you want. Just make it believable, and make sure it isn’t anywhere near the truth.”

“You’re condoning lying?”

“Let’s just say that I’m condoning telling the staff fish tales in this case. Just like any angler who exaggerates the size of his fish. Harmless, really. In fact, you’re doing everyone a favor by telling this tall tale. Well, everyone except Amory. But we don’t want to help him anticipate us, so it doesn’t matter.”

Nari nodded. “Alright. I should go now... I guess this is goodbye, then.”

***

Andrew had a sudden rush of emotion. Over the months of training Nari, he had grown attached to her. He was a natural protector, and Nari brought that protectiveness out to the foreground. He gave her a tight hug. “Be careful.”

She hugged him back. “I will.

Indri came over then. He didn’t hug her like Andrew had, but he gave her a firm handshake and murmured, “Come back, Nari. And come back in one piece, you hear?”

She nodded. “Aye, aye, sir!”

He released her hand, and she turned. Walking out the doorway, she braced herself. This was her first real mission, and now that she had it, she found herself unable to think about it in any direct manner. Her stomach fluttered, and her heart pounded. The whole idea of this mission sent adrenaline rushing through her, and she hadn’t even gotten into any trouble yet. It was sickening.

Chenn thought about what he’d done. He’d joined Amory because Amory had promised that they were righting things. He’d said that the Balance was in danger, and Andrew Parci was the source of the danger.

At first, Chenn hadn’t believed Amory. Andrew was a kind, generous person. Of course Chenn didn’t know him personally. He’d only talked to him once when he was interviewed for the second time. Andrew had said that Chenn showed promise. That’s why the interviewer had brought him to Andrew. And Andrew had accepted him into the MBC despite his so-called criminal record on Earth.

That was why Chenn had a hard time believing Amory. He still had doubts, but Amory had pointed out that there had been an influx of incidents with powerful magical creatures being released. He had proved that Andrew and Indri were the only two with access to the half of the spell book that would allow such powerful beings to be brought out of the Dark Realms.

It was a good thing, Amory had told him, that Andrew didn’t have the East Base half of the Books of Spells. And faced with such obvious evidence, Chenn believed Amory.

Now though, he was having doubts. He had been close with Indri, and he could only imagine how disappointed his teacher would be. Indri didn’t show emotion in any severe way, but Chenn knew that his teacher still had powerful ones. His eyes could never quite hide what he was feeling from Chenn. Other people might not see it, but Chenn did.

But Chenn couldn’t go back now. West Base knew he had gone with Amory. They would see him as a traitor, and besides that, his teacher was helping and following Andrew, the betrayer of justice and the Balance. Chenn couldn’t abide the idea of returning and apologizing to Andrew for what he believed was right.

“Chenn? What are you doing out here?”

He froze. Vanessa’s soft, lithe form pressed gently against him in the dark. She moved away a second later. He rolled his eyes. Nymphs were so flirtatious, and they never seemed to give up once they decided they wanted a guy.

“Sorry. Didn’t see exactly where you were. I just felt your emotions and knew the general area.”

She was lying. Chenn knew it. She was an Empathic – all nymphs were – and she could get a good idea of other people’s locations just by where their feelings were coming from. She’d bumped into him on purpose.

“Vanessa, drop the act. I already told you in front of everyone that I wasn’t yours to mess around with. Stop bothering me.”

“Stop playing hard to get.”

“Shut up. I don’t want to talk to you.”

She gave a huff. “You’re such a pain.”

“If I’m such a pain, why are you still here?”

“Because I still want you. Why not go out together just once?”

Chenn rolled his eyes, turning to face her. “You never give up, do you? Where are we going to go out? Vanessa, we don’t get paid much for this job. The only reason we got paid when we were on West Base was because MBC has some very rich beings that sponsor it. They have a particular interest in making sure that the universe never gets thrown into another Dark Ages. Earth wasn't the only one to plunge into the Dark Ages, you know. Whole galaxies were plunged into darkness because of the unrest in the Balance.”

“Money isn’t an issue, you stupid boy.”

“First you ask me to go out with you, and then you insult me. Make up your mind, you idiot girl!” Chenn parroted back.

She gave an irritated grunt. “Chenn, just say yes. One night we can just spend a bit of time looking at the stars together and talking. We can take our dinner out away from the rest of these bozos, and we can be alone. It’d be just like a date.”

Chenn took a deep breath. He decided to mess around with her a bit. He knew what he was about to say would push her over the edge, and he hoped she’d go away if he did it. “Hate to break it to you, Vanessa, but I don’t date. Not only that, I don’t like you. You’re irritating. And even if I did date, I wouldn’t go out with you!”

She hissed back. “You’re a jerk, Chenn!”

“Good! Glad we agree! Now go away and stop bothering me!”

She whirled around, slapping him across the face. He recoiled out of instinct, absorbing most of the blow. It didn’t hurt too badly, but it did sting a bit.

Well, let her slap me if it means she’ll walk away and leave me be.

But she didn’t walk away; instead she got right in his face. He thought she was going to hit him again. But she didn’t. Instead, she kissed him hard.

He shoved her away, furious with her. Girls just didn’t make sense. First, they hit you, and then they’re kissing you.

His mouth was dry and tasted bitter. His lips still tingled slightly from her kiss.

“Don’t ever touch me again.” He hissed.

“Don’t act like a cat someone just dumped water on. Can you seriously tell me you didn’t like the kiss?”

Gritting his teeth, he managed a tight, “Yes, I can. Now will you leave me alone?”

“Why? I think you’re just lying because you don’t want to admit the truth.”

“I assure you, I’m not lying. I don’t appreciate being kissed when I’m not willingly participating or when I abhor the girl kissing me. And to show you just how serious I am, if you ever try that again, I will break your nose.”

“So what they said about you was true then. You are violent. Maybe you should’ve stayed in prison after all.”

He staggered back. How did she know that he’d been in jail?

He could see her taunting grin in the moonlight. “Oh, I did some research on you, Chenn, darling. But I won’t tell anyone so long as you do what I say.”

“I don't know where you got your information, but don’t bother blackmailing me. All the men here are probably equally unsavory. Besides, I’ll probably just tell them myself.”

“No, you won’t.” Her grin widened. “Because if you do, you’ll only seem more favorable among the girls. They already drool over you. Do you want it worse?”

“That’s gross, Vanessa. And I don’t care if you tell everyone in this whole stupid camp! Holy cow! I’ll even get up and do it myself if you insist on being such a jerk about it!”

She pouted. “You would not!”

“Would too.”

He stalked away from her and towards the center of the camp where a small fire blazed. Time to turn the tables on her.

“Hey! Everyone!”

No one paid any heed to his raised voice.

“Hey! Shut up, all of you!”

That got their attention. Every eye turned to gaze irritably on him.

He dragged Vanessa into the circle with him.

“Vanessa has something that she knows about me that she wants to share with you.”

She gave him a venomous look. “You low-life scumbag!”

“Watch the language, darling.” Chenn shot back. “It wasn’t my idea to blab my secrets to everyone. That was yours when you tried to blackmail me.”  He whispered.

Her cheeks turned cherry red. All the girls gazed intently at him and Vanessa. He took a defiant stance, staring at her.

She opened her mouth to say something. Then she shut it again.

“Come on, Vanessa! Spill the beans! What’s the boy tryin’ to hide?” A voice shouted.

“I’m not trying to hide anything, or I would have capitulated when she tried to blackmail me into going on a date with her. Instead I dragged her up here to tell you all her choice piece of information about me!” He yelled back at the person.

The man fell silent.

“I… Umm…” Vanessa spluttered.

Her face turned several shades darker red. Chenn smothered a laugh. It was so much fun to turn her blackmail back on her.

“I don’t have anything to say. I’m sorry about this. It’s all been a mistake!” Vanessa said to the crowd.

Everyone there burst into laughter. They pointed at her, started talking about what she might have been using as leverage to make Chenn cooperate. But mostly they just laughed.

She turned and rushed past Chenn, but as she did, he caught her muttered words. “I will kill you for this.”

“Just you try it!” Chenn shot back, equally quiet.

She didn’t respond, fleeing the light and ridicule to go hide wherever she had laid out her bed roll.

Chenn walked to where Vanessa had stood.

“Sorry about wasting your time. Apparently Vanessa has decided that she doesn’t have anything to say about me after all.” He walked away from the fire, heading to his own ensconced bedroll. He left the laughter behind, letting it fade into the night. Maybe next time Vanessa will think twice about trying to blackmail me. And maybe she’s learned to leave me alone. That would be a small blessing at least! Chenn thought as he rolled into his sleeping roll and fell asleep.  

Chenn rolled out of his sleeping bag, groaning at the stiffness of his muscles. He hadn’t slept on the ground much before. In fact, the only time he’d ever done so was when his family occasionally went camping. But that had stopped when he was eight because his dad had died, and his mom hadn’t wanted to go. She’d taken him to museums instead. Even that had stopped three years later when his mom died in a car accident. So mundane and unoriginal. So normal. He wished every day that she hadn’t died. Now no one but he remembered her.

He’d gone into an orphanage after that. Five years after that, the accident had happened and he’d gone to jail. He still had nightmares about the girl’s pale face and the scream of heartbreak that had torn from the very core of the other girl. He remembered the wide eyes of the living girl brimming with tears. He remembered nothing but those eyes. Those tears because someone she loved was gone. He’d only found out months later at his trial that the girl he had supposedly killed was the weeping girl’s sister.

Shaking his head to clear those memories, Chenn stood. He rolled his sleeping bag up, still trying to work the kinks out of his muscles.

“You look really stiff this morning.” A soft voice drifted into his ear from a few feet away.

He whirled around, surprised. His heart thudded for a few moments, adrenaline pumping through his veins hot and wild. Then he saw who it was, and he calmed down. Kallie stood there in a sleek, formfitting nightgown and tight leggings.

He rubbed his neck. “Yeah. I guess I am.”

She looked at the ground, scuffing at the dirt with her bare foot. Shyly she looked up into his face and said, “I could help you. I used to work in a massage shop before I joined the MBC.”

Chenn shook his head, smiling gently. “Thanks, but I’ll live.”

She gave a slight smile in return. “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.”

“I will.”

She turned and walked off. Chenn wasn’t planning on changing his mind. He didn’t like being touched, and he certainly didn’t want Kallie’s hands on his body. He’d had worse problems with his muscles, and a quick run would loosen him up. No need to deal with Kallie.

***

Nari tossed in her sleep. Somewhere an alarm was ringing. Sirens wailed. Her sister’s body lay before her. Blood everywhere. Her sister’s sightless stare.

Then her scream. The raw pure agony that couldn’t be suppressed came out. The boy stood still. He stared at her with his brilliant sapphire green-blue eyes. He held the gun loosely in his hand. Smoke lingered in the alley.

Nari gasped as the cold air hit her bare arms. She had kicked off her sleeping bag and was thrashing around on the ground. That needed to stop. She had to get good sleep at night. Besides that, she needed to be quiet while sleeping if she was going to sleep when her quarry did.

Worse yet, she was wet. It had rained during the night. She checked her equipment. Soaking wet. It was entirely useless. Just great.

She had set out to catch up with Amory’s party just two days ago. They only had a half hour start on her when she was briefed, but she’d had to spend another day to get equipped. If they had traveled through the night, they probably had a good two-day start on her.

Sighing irritably, she flicked her bedraggled hair out of her face.

She got up off the ground. All she wanted to do was banish the boy from her mind. The way his sapphire green eyes had stared at her in shock scared her. Her sister’s own sightless brown ones nearly caused her to double over in pain. She just wanted to forget the boy who had killed Hanna, and she wanted to forget the way Hanna looked when she was dead. She wanted to remember Hanna as she was before she died. Happy and beautiful. Hanna had been one of the most precious, beautiful parts of Nari’s life.

Shaking off her melancholy mood, Nari pulled a piece of wafer bread out of her backpack. It was wet too, but she didn’t have anything else. She set it aside and put all of her sleeping gear back onto the back of the backpack. Wet or not, she had no option but to keep moving. No time for stuff to dry. She hooked the backpack up onto her back, and then she picked up the wet wafer bread.

She started walking at a brisk, but maintainable pace while she ate. She knew she should be catching up with Amory’s party sometime in the next day, so she kept a sharp lookout for the group because she didn’t want to accidently stumble upon them.

The silence of the day nearly drove her mad. She wished she could sing, but that would be a terrible idea. If she were to come upon Amory’s group unawares, it would be a very bad outcome if they knew she was there before she knew where they were.

Around midday, Nari stopped to eat and rest. She checked her communication equipment again. Still wasn’t working. It didn’t even turn on. As she was doing so, she heard strange noises coming from ahead of her and to her right. People were laughing.

It wasn’t unusual in and of itself. After all, Nari was walking through a preserve that had placed camping grounds within its borders to allow campers to be near some of the site’s most interesting features. It was lunch time, though, so most campers would be out eating somewhere or still visiting special spots in the preserve. Not many of them would be sitting in a spot like this. There wasn’t even anything interesting to see.

She quietly packed her water and communication devices away, and then she crept towards the bushes. Her silent, lithe strides carried her quickly to where the group was.

In an instant, she knew. It was Amory’s group.

She crouched down in the bushes letting their voices drift to her.

Amory was speaking to the group.

“Alright, listen up men. We are, as I’m sure the smartest of you have figured out by now, heading for East Gate. We will be taking over East Base. With any luck, my contacts and friends will already be working on taking it from within. I’ve contacted them already, and they said that they thought they could have the Base taken before we get there. Once we have East Base, we will work on fixing my fool brother’s mess. We will kick him and his cronies out of the MBC, and then we will establish a system that works far better!”

Nari wanted to laugh. The men were laughing and roaring their approval. Good thing they were out in the middle of nowhere or they would have been arrested for being so uproarious and crude. Not to mention the fact that they were talking about attacking something. Although humans would have no idea what the East Gate or Base was, so Nari supposed they would probably just put all the men into a mental facility for being insane.

She thought about what Amory had said. He hadn’t said anything at all about how he was going to fix Andrew’s “mess”. But he had acted as though Andrew was the villain. This made Nari think that perhaps Amory was tricking some of the men into following him. Would they all still follow him if they knew that he was the one behind all the reports of problems on Earth?

Andrew had checked the systems before she left, and it was quite clear that someone had been setting the sudden wave of magical creatures from the Dark Realms very carefully. All the evidence pointed to Amory.

She stayed silent, and then she heard a calm, resonant voice begin speaking.

“You say that we’ll take over East Base. Fine. You say you have agents in place there already. We don’t have any way of knowing, but we’ll believe you on that. But when you say that you’re going to establish a system that works better than the one currently in place, I have to ask you what. The problem here isn’t the system. It’s your brother, Andrew, and all of his minions. So why get rid of the system unless you have some hidden motive for it?”

Here was a rational mind. Nari was glad someone was using his brain instead of mindlessly following Amory’s fraud.

She heard Amory laugh. “Are you questioning me? Chenn, lad, question my brother if you must question someone. Don’t forget that Andrew rearranged the systems when he became the MBC leader. If anything, the system itself is corrupt too because my brother set it up.”

Nari gazed about from her place of ensconcing trying to locate Chenn.

She saw him then. He was standing in a steady, unwavering stance, arms folded across his broad, muscular chest, feet planted in a warrior’s stance. He stared intensely at Amory.

“That isn’t so, Amory. Andrew didn’t reform the overall system. We’ve had the same system for decades. He didn’t even remake the security system that you’re about to say he did. You remade that.”

Nari glanced back at Amory. His face had gone red, and he was staring hatefully at Chenn.

Good job, Chenn. The first thing you do is make enemies with the person who leads the little group you joined. Smart. He can make life miserable for you, but making him angry isn’t a problem. Nari sarcastically noted.

“I wasn’t going to say any such thing about the security, Chenn!” Amory answered.

His face was tight, and his jaw muscle twitched. His voice was controlled, but the things that he wasn’t thinking about, such as the twitch of his fingers and jaw muscles, betrayed his true feelings. Not only that, Nari could tell from his rigid posture that he was lying. He would have mentioned the security system, but Chenn had cut him off. Not a smart move with someone like Amory.

What did Chenn think he was doing? Did he want to end up dead? Idiot. Making Amory mad, and stripping him of credibility was a foolish move.

She remained, watching silently from behind the bushes.

Chenn shrugged at Amory’s comment. “You’re the boss, so whatever you say.”

Amory gave a tight smile. Chenn was mocking him even in apparent submission, and Amory knew it.

Nari wanted to shout at Chenn in frustration. She paused in her thought stream a moment. Why did she care if Chenn made an idiot of Amory and got himself into danger? It wasn’t as if she really cared or liked Chenn in any way. It’s because I’m a decent human being, and I don’t want anyone to get killed for mistakes like this. She shut the thought off. She couldn’t help Chenn anyway. No one could know she was hearing them, and if she stood up and started shouting at Chenn, she’d immediately incriminate herself. They’d probably kill her if she did that, and more than likely, Chenn would simply stand by watching and approving.

Chenn smiled back at Amory. It was a cocky smile. It screamed I’m in charge, and Nari didn’t like the way things were shaping up at all.

Amory took a deep breath. “Well, now that we’ve settled that, let’s move out. Everybody get your gear packed. We’re only a day’s march from East Base.”

Nari’s stomach tightened. She felt like throwing up. There was no way that she could stop them from reaching East Gate on her own, and there wasn’t enough time to get help to stop them. Not only that, if Amory was telling the truth, there were many people on East Base who were traitors. East Base would fall before anyone could do anything to stop the inevitable.

She stayed crouched in her position behind the bushes. It was uncomfortable, but at least she wasn’t going to be spotted. Her own clothing was the same green as the bushes, fortunately, and she wasn’t moving.

She watched as the group packed up their gear. Her heart thumped rapidly in her chest as a few people passed right by her bush, but she kept her breathing soft and unnoticeable. They passed by, and she was safe.

She had to wait nearly fifteen minutes before she could be sure they were gone. Her muscles screamed in agony as she clambered out of the bush, trying to keep quiet just in case. She took off at a dead run, eager to put as much distance between herself and Amory’s group as possible. She had to tell Andrew what his brother was planning. It wouldn’t make much of a difference, she knew that. But it might make some. Despite Amory’s vagueness on his true plans, Nari now knew he wanted to control the MBC. And if Andrew had been right about his brother’s motivations, Amory wanted not just the MBC, but also Earth. He wanted to be ruler of it all. If all those people knew that’s what he is planning, how many would follow? They aren’t likely to be allowed any important part in ruling the world if Amory succeeds. They’ll probably be killed or sent into exile so that they can never compete with Amory’s command again. And Chenn… He just set himself up for assassination. He’d better watch out or he’ll be dead as soon as Amory can manage it.

About a mile away from the clearing, she stopped, pulling out her communication equipment. She had to let Andrew know about the danger. She tried to turn the equipment on, but it wasn’t working. Oh, darn it all! The rain had destroyed the thing completely, and she couldn’t contact Andrew to tell him about the attack. She wouldn’t be able to reach him in time to prevent it either. She was three days away from West Base, and there was no way to get there before the rebels reached East Gate in one.

She would just have to hope that her communication device would start working again. Otherwise, East Base would fall. Of course, it would fall anyway even with her information. There was no way they could possibly get reinforcements to East Base in time to stop Amory and his thugs. Sighing, she put her stuff away again and trudged on.

***

Something wasn’t right. Chenn felt the hairs on his neck prickling as though someone was watching him. Of course, that was foolishness. After what he’d just said to Amory, everyone in the group was watching him. But it didn’t feel right.

Someone was watching and they weren’t supposed to be there. Chenn scanned the group and the surrounding area without making it apparent that was what he was doing. Amory might not think that anyone could possibly be watching or tracking them, but Chenn knew Indri. Indri and Andrew would send someone to spy on the rebels as soon as they got word about the escape.

If word had reached Andrew soon enough, the agent they sent could have caught up with them now. Whoever it was could be watching them now. The only consolation that Chenn had was that Amory was being vague on his plans. He had said that they would take East Base, but he hadn’t said anything detailed about what he was planning after that.

But that vagueness needled Chenn too. Why wouldn’t Amory tell his group what they were going to be doing? Why was he determined not to tell them what he was going to do with the MBC after he overthrew Andrew? What were his motivations? All of these questions were important and Chenn wanted answers. He was already starting to believe that following Amory hadn’t been the wise choice, but if he tried to run or escape from Amory’s little crew, Amory would chase him down and kill him. Chenn knew how relentless Amory was, and he had no wish to end up dead, so he would have to stay and see how things turned out.

Sighing, he dropped the fight that he’d picked with Amory. He simply shrugged his shoulders and told Amory he was boss. Even there he was behaving in a conciliatory way and telling Amory that he wasn’t boss, but Amory was the only one who knew it.

He packed his stuff up from lunch, and then he pulled on his backpack. He trudged along after everyone else, passing by the bushes boarding their clearing as he did so. He still felt jumpy and skittish, and he looked around the rim of the clearing, trying to locate the source of his discomfort. But he didn’t see anything, so he shrugged and walked after everyone else.