by Elle Scott
‘Happy Australia Day,’ Ross whispers behind us.
We all giggle.
The siren stops and the room is deathly quiet, apart from us—Team Alpha, laughing. Professor Ladlow steps up to his lectern and clears his throat. He doesn’t need to look our way for us to know it’s a demand for quiet. We stifle our laughs and soon I hear nothing but the collective pound of a hundred hearts pumping in sync. I swallow hard.
Professor Ladlow begins, ‘sorry to startle you folks, but we've got a bit of an urgent matter that needs your attention. Yesterday our explorer teams discovered large Red Orbs, about fifty times the size of the regular orbs. They are extremely volatile in nature. Until we can make sure we have them securely protected in the orb vault, we will need to vacate the premises. I’m sending each explore team to our safe houses; you will receive your own unit of guards to chaperone you. Teams, please pack all the necessary equipment and assemble on the tarmac. Departure is in ten minutes.’
Miles unlinks from my arm and breaks away from us, forcing his way through the congregation. Instinctively, the rest of us follow him. I can always tell, and Miles has mentioned, how strained their relationship is. I often watch him with sadness as he reaches out for his dad to give him something, anything without any reward.
‘Dad!’ He calls approaching the Professor.
Professor Ladlow looks at Miles and winces, as if he's thinking 'great, the kid wants to know something!' He sighs with indignity and walks to meet him. It makes me mad that Miles has to try so hard for attention from his own father. Ladlow leans over to whisper something into Miles’ ear, then places his hand on Miles’ back, and pushes him towards us, ‘No time for pleasantries, son!’
Miles’ balance is over-thrown and he stumbles over his own feet. Only a father could make an independent eighteen-year-old feel like a child.
~~~
After we gather our things, everyone makes their way to the tarmac. Four helicopters wait for their teams; four more helicopters wait for the accompanying guards. We clamber into the first one and take our seats. I sit behind the empty co-pilot seat, Viv is next to me; Ross, Eli and Xander are opposite us. Miles sits in the pilot seat and lifts his hand to a silver portal orb that’s been inserted into the ceiling. He runs his fingers over it until it makes a whirring noise. The screen below it begins to scan through countries: Brazil, France, China, South Africa. When Canada reads across the screen, Miles taps the portal orb. There are safe houses across the globe, and each setting on the helicopter’s portal orb takes us within a few hours proximity of them. Of course, it won’t take us directly there. For safety reasons no one can know exactly where they are; if a civilian jumped in this helicopter and accidentally found their way to China, they still wouldn’t know where the safe house was.
Miles starts the helicopter engine and we all place headsets on to muffle the slight noise. While Palladium have created a new blade shape to lessen the sound by fifty percent, headsets make talking to five other people much easier.
‘Everyone comfortable?’ Miles turns around, his mop-like hair is pushed back off his face by the headset. Viv leans away from Miles, squinting her eyes at the close proximity of his face.
After a succession of nods and a chorus of ‘yes,’ Miles continues, ‘we've got about three hours, so buckle up and settle in. How about we have our debrief session now, considering we didn’t get to last night?’
‘Well yes, yesterday was different!’ Eli exclaims. He stares at Viv with open eyes. For some reason, I wonder if he’s talking about her weird attitude instead of the mysterious orb.
‘Insane!’ Miles says as he relaxes back to lift the helicopter off the ground.
‘What the hell was it?’ I ask. ‘That orb makes all the regular ones look like small and insignificant stones!’
No one comments though, a few shrug their shoulders. They have nothing to give me. I sigh and furrow my brow.
Viv speaks up, ‘The bigger question is—what do you think all of this is? Not just the latest orb. All of them. What is it all? They've not told us lackey's anything.’ She lifts her hand and secretly motions behind us to point at Miles with her thumb.
We've had this conversation countless times. But even though she’s always been the one to ask us deeper questions, the edge in her voice this time is different, more directional.
‘Hang on,’ Miles says as the helicopter reaches maximum height. He covers the portal orb with his whole hand. I look out the window, this is always the fun part.
Dry grass battles to be seen underneath wispy clouds, but I can manage to see a cattle farm not too far from the airport. Cows that look like ants, graze on long yellow grass, and then, a bright flash replaces the flatland of rural Victoria, Australia, with the rugged mountain tops of Alberta, Canada.
‘It has to be transcendental, obviously,’ Ross answers Viv’s question. ‘Everything we've been told points to that.’
Viv shakes her head. ‘What for? What are they doing? Why aren't those transcendental beings here? Give me more than that Ross! For God's sake.’
‘What's your theory Miles? Don't you have the inside knowledge?’ Ross deflects the tension away from himself. I laugh to myself, he doesn't have an issue with confrontation but he hates being wrong. I often wonder if he'd break down if any aggressive opposing opinion came his way.
‘I dunno,’ Miles plays it cool. ‘Why would I know any more than you?’
‘Bah!’ Eli lurches across the seats and grabs Miles right hand, he holds his palm up for everyone to see. ‘Too right he doesn't know much, he's got the scar to prove it.’
Miles plays along and is happy to indulge everyone while the boys laugh at him. I catch his eye and give him a smile that says, “Don't listen to them.” He is laid-back and imperturbable; he doesn't need my reassurance—but he accepts my gesture and returns the smile graciously. His scar is a beautiful symbol, like a tattoo from nature (or super-nature) to remind him to respect the unknown. He calls it his badge of fearlessness. It starts right in the centre, a perfect circle with jagged lines leading out across his whole palm. He got it on our first mission together, from a static orb zap—not dissimilar to the way the red orb defended its perimeter yesterday.
‘You were reckless,’ Viv changes the subject, ‘did you see the fried tree behind you?’
Eli shrugs as he sits back down.
‘Do you guys wonder why every unit is filled with teenagers doing all the hard work? Isn't that strange to you?’ Viv asks, looking at Miles.
He moves uncomfortably in his spot for a second or two before opening his mouth to say something.
Ross speaks up; ‘That's a bit offensive don't you think Viv? We are all here for our abilities and knowledge. We are young, we are all fit. Apart from the fact Xander and I discovered a portal orb last year, I was the head of my biochemist and biology class. I also know how to engineer almost anything. Xander was majoring in Geology and is a freaking kick ass leader. Eli's environmental prose is second to none. YOU, well you're the best balance for all of us, we're the perfect studies for your psychological skills and you keep us sane and on the mark. And Nora's the savvy journalist to report our missions with finesse,’ he pauses for a minute and then adds, ‘oh and Miles is here because of his Daddy-O.’
‘Rough, man,’ Eli says. ‘Miles' navigational skills have never gotten us lost and his heli flying skills are pretty impressive. Plus, he’s my hero.’ Eli finishes his sentence by fluttering his eyelashes in Miles’ direction.
I'm amused, but Viv doesn't care for any of it. She's so serious lately.
‘Why bring those who are STILL studying though, wouldn't they want experts in their fields?’
Ross sighs and starts picking at a Band-Aid on his thumb.
I'm so uncomfortable with this. I love my unit—we are all so close and sure we have conflicting opinions but the conversation is always light hearted. My heart sinks as I look around at everyone sitting in this tense rectangle of unpredictability. Why i
sn’t Xander saying anything? He's always so resolute.
I try to keep my movement indistinct as I take off my head set and lean over to Viv. ‘What's wrong?’ I whisper.
She turns her head away from the boys and takes off her own head set. ‘I have to talk to you.’
Her face shows fear, concern and all the signs of someone in desperate need of attention. I instantly feel guilty for being so selfish.
Eli’s voice booms through the head set, ‘you know what I want to know? Who the feck named it an Egg Orb, I mean seriously!’
Viv doesn’t take her eyes off me. I wince a small helpless smile and nod, ‘soon, okay?’
‘It looks like an egg?’ Miles offers.
‘As soon as we get there?’ Viv’s eyes relay a glimmer of hope.
‘It doesn't even. It's not even white, it's royal-blue for crying out loud!’ Eli says.
I nod at Viv, trying not to laugh at Eli.
‘It sort of does,’ Xander says making an oval shape with his fingers then slowly turning it into a circle.
‘Did you name it, Xander?’ Eli teases.
Miles laughs and retorts, ‘it was probably my dad, didn't he find it first?’
‘Noob!’ Eli laughs.
Ross chuckles to himself.
I mouth to Viv, ‘these guys!’ Her forlorn expression lifts, a small lightness, a little relief. I smile at her once again, more helpful this time. Then I fit the head set over my ears and say, ‘so you've not thought about the fact that the egg orb creates a protective shield around the person holding it?’
‘Kick her off the team!’ Eli declares in jest. ‘She makes me feel stupid.’
‘Nah,’ Miles grins wide, ‘we're all too shallow and we need her.’
Eli taps Viv’s knee. ‘Her and that Vivian, nup, don't need them, I won't have it—kick them off the team. Girls are too smart.’
The three boys turn their gaze towards Viv in the hope of cracking her. She forges a smile.
‘Ahhh, see there's that delightful smile of yours, no love lost here!’ Eli endorses with a wink.
She moves her eyes into Miles’ direction and drops her smile.
‘While we’re all happy. New topic!’ Eli says, his voice reverberating into my headset. ‘Tell us about your worst ever haircut Viv, I'm dying to know!’
‘Me? Worst ever haircut?’ she questions.
‘Yuh-huh,’ Eli replies. ‘Worst. Ever. Go!’
I'm surprised when Viv laughs her trademark infectious giggle that has been absent lately. ‘Okay. So, when I was about ten, I looooved Julia Roberts’ hair in Hook. Essentially, I wanted a pixie haircut. Short and feminine.’
‘Ohhh, that would suit you so well though!’ I chime in, excited to have her normal again. We can do this, as a team, we can bring her out of this funk.
‘Yeah, well, it would have been alright if the hairdresser did it like in the picture I showed her. I walked away with a boy’s bowl cut. Hideous!’ She raises her eyebrows and nods.
‘Did you look like a boy? Did people call you Vince?’ Eli teases.
‘What was your worst hair cut then? The one you have now?’ Viv retorts.
‘No of course not. But I did do the whole dread-lock thing once—didn't go down too well with the parents. I might try it again though, what do you think?’ Eli flicks the air over his shoulder.
‘I, uh, dyed my hair jet black when I was fourteen,’ I blurt, hoping to get my turn out of the way quickly.
Xander stares at me with his head tilted to the side.
‘What?’ I ask.
‘Trying to imagine it.’
‘And?’
‘Not sure it would suit you.’
‘At the time it did, I wanted my hair to reflect how I felt on the inside.’ I strike a dead-pan face and pull my hair over one eye, ‘dark and broken!’
‘Yikes!’ Eli's expression resembles that of someone who's been offered rat’s faecal matter for dinner.
‘How long did you have it like that then?’ Viv asks.
‘Uh, not long. About four months,’ I laugh.
Viv giggles, ‘your soul is too light and bright to endure the moody look too long, right?’
I shrug, ‘maybe.’
‘I'm not sure I can participate let alone compete,’ Ross says. ‘This is as bad as it gets.’ He points to his short spikes grimly. Redirecting the attention to Xander he says, ‘Can you? I bet you've never had a hair out of place in your life.’
Xander thinks for a bit and says, ‘I don't know!’
‘Of course not, Mr. Cool and Mr. Perfect all in one,’ Eli teases rolling his eyes.
‘Well, there was this one time I thought it might be cool to do a mo-hawk. I thought I looked alright but all my friends thought it was a joke.’
‘Wow!’ Miles voice soars through the headset.
‘Ha! Yeah, it was pretty lame, I couldn't pull it off.’
Everyone chuckles.
‘What about you Miles?’ Xander asks.
Miles lets out a long puff of air then says, ‘I shaved all my hair off once.’
Nothing could be heard but the steady beating thump of the helicopter blades. His face tells a deeper story than his words. And we knew that story well but he says it anyway, ‘it was the night I knew my Mother wasn't going to make it. Even though her hair had fallen out a long time ago, I wanted to show her that I was with her every step of the way. But all it did was serve as a cruel reminder—every time I saw my own reflection, I saw her suffering.’
Warmth circles around my speeding heart and I jump into the seat beside him. I hug my knees to my breast and settle my head back. I turn my face to him, place a consoling hand on his arm, and smile. We are a team within our team, Miles and I. The motherless ones. A simple topic often brings us back full circle to our past grief. Each time we share the pain, my heavy heart loses more weight from the divulge. He twists the arm that I hold and looks at the scar on his hand. His mark of fearlessness.
No one says anything significant for the rest of the flight.
FIVE
Vivian
It’s twilight when we arrive, although it feels like midnight. The safe house we are assigned to is a small cottage in the woodland, snow-capped mountains rise and fall for acres. There are about ten safe houses scattered across the Earth. They are all secluded and unmanned, only ever occupied by us before a mission. They are well stocked with food, blankets, and electricity, and always a welcome escape from the Base. This one is one large lounge area with three two-bunked bedrooms and one bathroom that lead off it, and one kitchen out the back. I'm sure everyone will be relieved to have some time to rest here while we wait for the Base to be deemed safe. With barely any sleep and having come back from a mission just yesterday, I should be exhausted but I'm not, I'm excited. This is where I can stop pretending.
The six of us clamber inside and without saying a word, spread ourselves along the sofa in relief. Xander jumps in panic when four soldiers follow us into the house. They make themselves comfortable in the bottom bedroom on the left. We are so used to it being only us, the extra presence must have startled him. I'm also nervous of them being here to be honest, I wasn't expecting that. We've all done this countless times, Professor Ladlow even said they all need a place to stay too. And I know, right there, that he is lying.
‘Who's going to light the fire?’ Eli says. He's sunk into the sofa so far he doesn't look like he's going to move in the next few hours let alone minutes.
We are all silent for a while. I'll probably end up doing it, it is cold enough for me to not be comfortable anyway.
‘I'll do it then,’ Xander sighs.
He doesn't move.
Miles leans forward on the sofa and stands up. ‘No, that's fine, everyone stay where they are, I'd love to go!’ he says sarcastically.
‘Thank you, Miles!’ Everyone echoes in unison.
Before he heads out the front, he looks back to Nora. She smiles at him and with that he goes to brave the col
d.
I sit on the edge of the sofa; my bones are dancing inside my body. Eli pulls me back and smothers my shivers with his warm arms.
‘Better?’ he asks. Even though he can't see my face, I smile in reply.
‘Oh crap, I forgot something,’ Nora stands up abruptly, looks down at Xander, then strides with renewed energy towards the front door.
Xander sits there for a bit, thinking.
I roll my eyes. ‘Maybe you should go help her?’
‘Yes,’ he jumps up. ‘I mean, yeah, that would be a good idea.’
They return a few minutes later, with fresh faces and warm lips. Nora settles her head onto a cushion and closes her eyes. Miles comes back inside bearing sticks and logs to thaw the frozen house out. Out of the corner of my eye I see the guards make their way to the kitchen, their voices echo in the hollow porch and then I hear the back door close. Now is my chance.
‘Does anybody want a hot chocolate?’ I ask getting up.
Everyone flings their hands up.
‘In retrospect, drinking that much last night wasn't the greatest idea!’ Eli says rubbing his head.
‘Sorry,’ Nora says as she huddles herself up into a ball on the sofa, unaware of what she's apologising for.
I head into the kitchen and flip the switch on the kettle. I can see the silhouettes of the guards through the frosted back door. I lean on the door and listen.
‘...any means possible. Seems a bit vague, no? What is the line exactly?’
‘Orders are orders, protect the legacy by any means possible!’ That last voice belongs to Stevens, Ladlow’s lackey. He’s the kind of person who acts without thought; all bite and no bark.
I hesitate, my stomach starts to descend. What are they talking about? What’s the legacy?
‘What are you doing?’ Miles asks standing behind me.
I turn in haste and look at him through slitted eyes. I can feel my mind spinning, trying to think of a lie. But the steam rises from the kettle, long since boiling, and mugs are sitting empty on the bench. Truth is he busted me and I can't escape that.