Project Terra

by S. J Woods

  “Are you alright?” She reached out a hand to Seraphine, who recoiled at her touch.

  “I’m fine.” Seraphine said, not meeting her eyes. Instead she looked to the rest of the squad who were wading downstream towards her. “Honestly, I’m fine. I’m not sure what happened.”

  Gia hung back, letting Neha and the Officer pass her, and Dane hurriedly took Seraphine’s post as Niall completed his crossing. Even soaking wet and a little shaken, Seraphine was straight back to business and her authoritative glare commanded silence as she led them away from the river. The land seemed to fall away at the edge of the forest they had just left, and they walked through a sparse wood, the branches bare and the ground easily passable. The daylight flooded in, unhindered by the trees as it had been back in the forest, and the squad moved quickly towards the clearing that they could see ahead.

  As they drew closer, they could make out the lush green slope of a mountain curving steeply at the end of the clearing. The noises weren’t muffled out here and the calls of animals could be heard over the steady gurgle of the river. A sudden sound startled them, strange and alien in their ears after days of isolation.

  “There are people here!” Kaya was the first to speak and they looked to Seraphine for confirmation.

  “This will be our next camp.” She nodded, casually smoothing down her still-damp hair. “We’ll be joining up with the other mountain squad here to train.”

  She led the way to the clearing and a makeshift camp came into view. Several canvas structures had been erected close to the trees and Dane could see a group of about ten AMS personnel in the middle of what appeared to be a training exercise. The instructor glanced briefly in their direction, but the heads of the service men and women remained focussed on their Officer. Dane squinted trying to make out anyone in the line-up, but they were too far away. The Officer gave one last order before the squad dissembled and they started to move towards the newcomers.

  As they drew close, Dane felt a surge of happiness to see Teonie in the ensemble. She hung back behind her squad and, while she faced ahead, she wasn’t looking up and down the line as her colleagues were. Dane did a quick sweep of the squad but saw nobody else that he really knew and kept his eyes trained on Teonie, willing her to look over.

  Seraphine greeted the Officer, who introduced herself as Officer Williams, giving no first name. They were given a quick tour of the camp, which was made up of two sets of canvas dormitories, a tech room that was out-of-bounds for all except the Officers and the tech guys, Teonie and Riku, and a cramped dining area. Officers Younes and Williams talked both groups through a loose schedule of the training that would take place over the next week, and then they were dismissed while Teonie and Riku were taken to the tech room.

  Dane had tried to discreetly make eye contact with Teonie the entire time, but she had steadfastly refused to meet his eyes, which was no easy feat in a group of less than twenty people. He shrugged off her strange behaviour and followed the rest of the personnel over to the dorm tents. With the Officers gone, he hoped that there’d be more opportunity to get to know the team, Dane thought to himself as he moved towards the huddle that had started to form, and there would be plenty of opportunity to catch up with Teonie over the next few weeks.

  THIRTEEN

  The next few weeks saw the two teams merge into one, but Dane barely saw Teonie. Most of the training took place in the mountain range on their doorstep, but Riku and Teonie were frequently called away by Seraphine, who seemed stressed and on edge. The tech support would appear for meals throughout the day and, at night, to sleep in the tents, but they spent the majority of their time in the designated tech room, only occasionally joining the squad for manoeuvres in the mountain. Being shut up in a tent all day huddled around a screen seemed to be taking its toll on them both, evident in the way that they fell back from the squad, unable to compete physically. They were both pleasant but quiet whenever anybody made conversation with them, citing exhaustion for their reserved demeanour.

  Dane had accepted that they had their own priorities and was enjoying the company and comradery of the rest of the squad, but Gia seemed to have taken Teonie’s distance personally.

  They had been at the mountain-side base for eleven days when Dane was stood, waiting in line for the morning nutritional capsules. It was only a little past dawn, but the day was already warm. The ground was still damp with morning dew and around him, his teammates were stretching and yawning, in various states of dress, jackets unbuttoned, boots untied. Seraphine and Officer Williams had moved away from the tent and were stood outside the tech room. Seraphine’s stance caught Dane’s eye. They were too far away to be overheard, but they were facing each other square-on, an arm’s length apart, hands by their side. Their body language screamed confrontation and Dane looked away quickly, not wanting Seraphine to catch him staring.

  Teonie emerged from her own dorm; her dark hair untied and her face pale. Dane stretched his mouth into a smile of greeting, but she didn’t seem to notice, walking towards the line, eyes unseeing.

  “Tee!” An angry voice followed her out of the tent, a hand grabbing at her shoulder.

  A flicker of annoyance and something else crossed Teonie’s face as she shook off her cousin’s hand. Gia’s own light brown hair was tied back neatly, but her eyes were flashing and wild.

  “Gia.” Teonie spoke through gritted teeth, struggling to keep her tone level. “I said leave it.”

  “I need to know.” Gia hissed back, spinning Teonie to face her with almost-violent force.

  “Woah!” Neha stepped between the two women, a restraining hand on Gia’s arm. “Gia. You need to cool it.”

  Gia glared at Teonie over Neha’s shoulder. “Teonie?”

  Teonie looked away, glancing over at the Officers before looking back to Gia. The whole squad were looking at the two women now but Teonie stared at Gia, her face a picture of frustrated conflict. Wordlessly, she shook her head at her cousin and walked in the direction of the Officers, putting an end to whatever conversation Gia wanted to have.

  Gia made a frustrated noise and Neha slipped an arm over her shoulder.

  “Seriously,” Neha muttered quietly so as not to be overheard. “You’re making trouble for yourself.”

  “I know.” Gia rested her head against Neha’s arm for a moment. “She just frustrates me.”

  “I know she’s your family,” Neha empathised. “But you can’t act like this out here. We’re working.”

  Gia nodded her head and allowed Neha to lead her over to Dane and the others. She caught Dane watching their interaction and gave him a wry smile.

  “Family.” He raised his eyebrows in a jokey manner, hoping to lighten the mood.

  Gia attempted a smile, but her eyes looked heavy with worry. She picked up her tablets and then moved away from the rest of the team, her back to Teonie and the Officers, staring out at the mountain ahead. Dane watched as Neha and some of the others exchanged disapproving looks.

  “What’s going on with them?” Kaya asked quietly.

  “Just family drama,” Neha shrugged. “Gia needs to watch herself though. She’s already on thin ice after knocking Officer Younes into the river.”

  “She didn’t touch her!” Dane interrupted as he joined the huddle.

  Neha pulled a face at him. “I was there. She definitely bumped her.”

  “I was right next to you,” Dane shot a look at Gia, hoping she couldn’t overhear them. “She didn’t bump her. Seraphine fell.”

  “Seraphine.” Neha drew out her name, mocking Dane’s use of their Officer’s first name. “Trust me, that’s not what happened.”

  “She’s meant to be your friend.” Dane said reproachfully.

  Neha pursed her lips. “Yeah? Well, she’s meant to be Teonie’s cousin and she’s been on her case constantly.”

  Dane shook his head, not wanting to get drawn into taking sides, but feeling a pang of sympathy for Gia. He walked over to her and she turned a
s if sensing his presence. He was surprised to see her eyes were shining with unshed tears and she looked away from him, her cheeks colouring with embarrassment.

  “Everything ok?” He said, sidling up next to her but staring out at the mountains.

  Gia let out a sigh. “She frustrates me.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Dane asked quietly.

  “I can’t.” She turned towards him and wiggled her wrist, reminding him that every heartbeat, step and word was logged.

  “Ok.” He said simply and sunk down to the ground.

  Gia looked at him for a moment before sinking down next to him.

  “You had a sister.” Gia said suddenly, and her words chilled his blood as there was no mistaking what she meant.

  Dane nodded, and he felt his heart pound in his chest as uneasiness settled over him. He had never spoken about it with anyone. Not even Joaquin.

  “I had a brother.” She said, and the tears began to fall.

  He had an urge to tear the device from his wrist and fling it into the distance. He slid closer to her, touching her shoulder lightly, and even in his desire to know more, silently willing her to say no more aloud.

  “Gia, be…” He started, his voice catching a little in his throat as he struggled to manage his emotions. He wanted to tell her to be careful, but something made him break off, suddenly very aware of his own self-censorship.

  They both fell silent; Gia silently crying and both staring ahead at the rugged mountains towering ahead. Dane should have been used to his every move being monitored by now. It was part and parcel of growing up surrounded by technology, everything recorded and stored somewhere in a virtual cloud, but even joining the Apatian Military Service, he had never been so aware of the things he said and did. His old squad, especially Joaquin, sailed pretty close to the wind with their teasing and practical jokes. They’d been pulled up a few times by their Officer, caught out by the constant monitoring and mildly reprimanded, yet Dane had never felt under the microscope like he did now. It was almost as if being out here, where he couldn’t help but feel small and insignificant against the breath-taking greatness of the mountains, the forests and the rivers, somehow his primitive intuitive senses had kicked in. He shook off the thought as quickly as it appeared. He was being paranoid, he told himself. It was the lack of sleep and the change in surroundings. The fear of the unknown and the threat of war. They were acting crazy. He just had to look at Gia, not just military-trained, but someone selected because she was amongst the best-of-the-best. She had been chosen because of her skills, yet she was acting out-of-character; losing her temper and out of control of her emotions. He had thought the assessment would have been their make-or-break, but without realising it, the training was separating the weaker soldiers. He was mortified by this thought and he vowed to pull himself together. He glanced at Gia, wondering whether he should speak to Seraphine about her unusual behaviour or to try to help her understand that there would be consequences if she couldn’t pull herself together.

  Dane looked back over his shoulder and, as if she could read his thoughts from across the pitch, Seraphine was walking towards them. Dane saw the heads of the squad turn and follow her as she moved gracefully across the open grass.

  “Officer Younes is coming over.” He said quietly to Gia.

  Gia’s head snapped up instantly and her shoulders squared, and Dane’s heart sank, sensing confrontation.

  “Gia.” Seraphine was almost on top of them now, and Dane rose to his feet to face her.

  Gia said nothing. She turned slightly but remained seated.

  Dane watched as a flicker of something that resembled anger crossed their Officer’s face.

  “Can we get a minute, please?” She said, addressing Dane this time.

  He nodded, half-grateful to be leaving but feeling a pang of sympathy for Gia. He gave one last glance at her and wandered away, skirting wide around the rest of the squad who were shamelessly eyeing Gia’s dressing-down, some with undisguised glee he noticed. He moved instead to Teonie, who was pacing the space outside the tech room. Riku had crossed to meet her but was stopped halfway between the rest of the squad and Teonie, engaged in conversation with Officer Williams. Dane walked quickly, wanting to reach her before Riku did.

  Teonie gave him a half-hearted wave as he approached, and he could tell she was struggling to appear relaxed.

  “Are you ok?” He asked as he drew level with her.

  “Mmmm.” She made a convincing attempt at a positive noise, nodding her head a little too enthusiastically.

  “Teonie.” He gave her a reproachful look. “What’s going on with Gia?”

  “She’s just having a bad day,” Teonie shrugged. “She’ll be fine.”

  “She knows stuff.” Dane said suddenly, needing Teonie to be honest with him. “You told her she could trust me.”

  At his words, Teonie’s mouth dropped open and the colour drained from her face. The look in her eyes couldn’t be mistaken for any other than pure fear.

  And then as if a switch had been flipped, she sprang into action.

  “Wait!” She hissed, holding up a hand to him.

  Her eyes were wildly sweeping the field in front of them and she darted to the far side of the canvas building. Dane followed her, apprehension knotting his own insides and watched as she dropped to one knee, rummaging inside her boot. She retrieved a small object, not unlike the regulation stun gun in size and shape, but Dane knew instinctively that it was something different. She clicked the device sharply and only once. Dane waited, expecting something to happen, but nothing did. He looked away from the palm-sized circular object back to Teonie’s expressive blue eyes.

  “Right,” She said decisively, walking back to the front of the Tech room where she had a clear view of the rest of the team. “We’ve only got a few minutes. I know about Arielle. I’m really sorry I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t, with everything being logged. The same thing happened to Gia’s family. It’s eaten them alive and I looked some things up that I shouldn’t. That’s how we came across your name.”

  Dane’s mouth dropped open as the words tumbled from Teonie’s lips. A million questions were racing through his mind and he was struggling to pick just one as he battled to focus under the tide of emotions.

  “Are you in trouble?” He asked, plucking the most urgent from the concerns whirling around his brain, glancing back towards Gia who was now on her feet facing Seraphine.

  “I’m not.” Teonie shook her head. “She is. She stopped taking her pills. That’s why she’s like that, it’s her hormones. If she doesn’t get a grip, I’m scared she’s going to drop us both in it.”

  “Her pills?” Dane frowned, not following.

  “The nutrition capsules.” Teonie explained, but she waved a hand dismissively as if that wasn’t important right now. “Riku and I, we’re heading away for a bit on a tech operation. Just keep your mouth shut and your head down. I promise I’ll tell you everything when I can. Don’t let Gia talk to you about it. Just tell her to wait. That’s if she’s not sent home after today.”

  With that Teonie turned her gaze to her cousin, who was sullenly stalking away from the Officer back in the direction of the squad. Riku had finished his conversation with Officer Williams and was approaching them.

  “He’s coming.” Teonie hissed, and she dropped to her knee again as if she was about to tie her shoe lace.

  “Teonie,” Dane looked at her, alarm starting to spark through his nerves. “Why are you saying this?”

  He didn’t say the word “aloud”, but they both knew that that’s what he meant. She opened the palm of her hand in response, locking eyes with him as she used her thumb to click the switch before burying the object in the depths of her boot. She knotted her lace slowly and was rising to her feet when Riku reached them.

  “Hey,” She smiled airily. “Are we ready?”

  Riku looked from Dane to Teonie uncertainly.

  “Everything ok wi
th Gia?” He asked.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Teonie waved a hand dismissively. “Just some stuff from home.”

  “Where are you off?” Dane asked politely. “Or is it the usual Non-Disclosure.”

  Riku nodded. “As usual. We don’t even know.”

  “We’ll be back in a few days.” Teonie said, giving Dane a pointed look.

  Dane nodded back at her, already aware of how difficult it would be waiting for the answers that Teonie still hadn’t shared with him.

  FOURTEEN

  Gia was quiet and withdrawn, avoiding interacting with anyone over the next few days, but always present on the outskirts of the group. Dane actively watched for opportunities to speak to her, but Neha was permanently at her side. Officer Williams had them engaged in various operations from dawn until nightfall while Seraphine was away with the tech team, and Dane was glad of the distraction.