by Nathan Pedde
“Holy Jupiter,” Des said, shocked. “That was fast. When did you get this fast?”
“Whatever are you talking about?” Elsie said, walking away.
The school bell rang.
“That’s class,” Mr. Goldhat yelled. “See you, next class.”
Mr. Goldhat walked past Elsie, “Good form Elsie. Keep it up.”
He approached Des and made eye contact with him.
“Were you sleeping?” Mr. Goldhat asked.
“I was…” Des stammered.
“You’re faster and better than that. I’ve seen it. You’re slipping.”
“Sorry, sir,” Des replied.
“You seem distracted. If you need a confidential ear, please feel free to talk to me.”
“If I need one, sir, I’ll ask.”
Des walked from the field to the change rooms and the showers beyond.
“Are you able to talk now,” Cryslis’s voice bounced around his head.
“Yes,” Des said under his breath. “Kinda.”
“The signal happened again,” Cryslis said. “During your match.”
“During…”
“From the school field.”
“What… School field…”
“Yes. Who was missing from your class during the match?”
“I don’t know,” Des said. “I was focused on not getting hit by a…”
“By a girl?” Cryslis finished.
“By a sword.”
Des racked his memory. He wasn’t paying attention to the other students in the room, just Elsie.
“Go get changed,” Cryslis said, frustration in her voice. “I’ll see if there was a camera or something in the gym. See if we can get some information that way.”
“Roger that. Sorry.”
Des wasn’t developing into a very good spy. He was missing information he should be remembering. Cryslis was silent as he entered the changing room, showered, changed into his school uniform. He left the changing room, heading for his final class of the day.
“There is no camera’s in the gym,” Cryslis said. “Who was missing?”
“I’ve no idea. I should have set up a camera.”
“You have a new objective,” Cryslis said. “Figure out who’s sending the signal. Cooley and I will keep an eye on when, and where it appears. You get there and find out who it is.”
“On it,” Des said, reaching his locker.
“I’ve placed your Courier One uniform into the locker, and your scooter is waiting in the parking lot.”
“How did you get into my locker?” Des muttered.
“Do I need to answer…”
Des pondered the subject and thought back to the match. Who was there watching my spar with Elsie? Who left the arena? He wasn’t sure. He was paying too much attention to the fight and not to who was watching him or not.
Some spy I am, Des thought.
The last class went quickly. Des paid attention the best he could, his mind was in other places. Once the class was done, Des walked down the hallway.
What should I be doing? Homework? Sheemo? Mr. Smith? Veer? What should I be doing? Des thought.
Des bumped into a student in the hall.
“Hey,” Alix said.
“Oh. Sorry, Alix,” Des said. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“That’s okay buddy. You look lost. Is everything okay?”
Alix, in his school uniform, was standing in front of his locker with it open.
“Is that your locker?” Des asked.
“What of it?”
The lockers stood from floor to almost to the ceiling and were as wide as a person’s side. Des was sure most of the kids in his grade could still fit into the lockers. Alix’s was filled from the floor to his gut with random pieces of junk. Old food containers were mixed in with old un-washed gym clothes. Pieces of metal floated around in a sea of debris along with a baseball.
“How did your locker end up like that?” Des asked, shocked.
Alix shut the locker door. “The state of my locker is none of your business.”
“Wow. I was just razzing you.”
“Sorry,” Alix took a deep breath. “I’m under a lot of stress from my parents because of my poor grades.”
“I see. I’ve had a couple talks cause apparently my grades are slipping too.”
“Oh? Why are your grades slipping?”
Des immediately regretted opening his mouth. His grades were the result of him going to two schools and having two jobs he had to juggle around each other. Des wished this war would end so he could stop being a spy.
“Well, my grades are slipping because I now have a much more difficult job.”
“I heard about that. A courier. How’s it going?”
“Not good. I’m having problems with the boss. More importantly the boss’s son.”
“How old is the boss’s son?”
“Like twenty something. He hates me and is driving me bonkers.”
“I guess we all can’t have my job.”
“I wish you would stop rubbing it in my face,” Des replied.
“Why? I like my job.”
“You mean my job,” Des said. “I wanted the job as the intern at the technology firm.”
“I know. Too bad it was a random draw,” Alix replied.
Des cleared his throat.
“Do you know what I kinda wish?” Alix said.
“A million credits?”
“Well… who doesn’t?”
“What do you wish?”
“I wish we could be normal kids,” Alix replied.
“I know, right,” Des said. “I hear stories from my uncle about what he and my dad did when they were kids our age. They didn’t have to work. They worked because they wanted the extra spending money.”
Alix nodded. “They didn’t have to be afraid of the constant threat of missile attacks…”
“And evacuation drills…”
“Maybe the war will end soon?”
“I doubt it.”
“Anyways, I’ve to get to work.”
“Me too. Do you get a day off soon?”
“A couple hours on Saturday.”
“Are you going to go help Susan with Elsie and me?”
“Maybe,” Alix said. “Are you actually going to go as well?”
“If I can escape from work and my studies for a few hours.” Alix turned and locked the locker. “See you. I need to get to work before my boss blows a seal.”
Alix waved as he walked down the hallway.
Des continued down the hallway to his locker. He opened it up and grabbed his backpack, taking it to the empty washroom. Des changed into his courier uniform, stuffing his school uniform into the pack. He left the washroom and hurried through the halls toward the outside doors.
“There you are,” Mr. Goldhat yelled from a smaller side hall.
Des turned to look at the short man.
“Can I have a word with you for a moment?” Mr. Goldhat said.
“Sure,” Des replied. “But only a moment, I’m going to be late for my job.”
“Is everything okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Mr. Mixon says your latest test came back really low. Unusually low in fact.”
“Well,” Des sighed. “It’s just this transition to this other job.”
“Oh?”
“At the tool factory, I did clean up. I just tidied up after the shop workers. It usually took me an hour or two and then I was done, and I got to go home and study.”
“And your new job?”
“I’ve a full bag of deliveries to make, and I’m not very good at it yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought I knew this station,” Des said. “But I don’t. I’ve got to go to parts of the station where I haven’t been before.”
“Did your boss give you a tablet of some kind?”
“Yes,” Des said. “Of course. It doesn’t work very well though.”
/> “Do you have it?”
Des pulled it out of his pack.
“Can I see it?”
Des handed it over to the teacher.
Mr. Goldhat looked at the tablet, and after a fury of buttons pressed, he stopped at a menu.
“Is your boss angry at you?” Mr. Goldhat asked.
“Why?”
“He changed the settings in it to cause you to go off course and has disabled a multiple route function.”
“Multiple route function? It has one?”
“Yes. It’s a great tool. You’ll have to have it unlocked. It has a parental code.”
“That bast—” Des began. “Sorry, sir.”
“No worries,” Mr. Goldhat said, handing back the tablet. “Get your work done faster and get studying. You can still get into that college if you keep at it.”
Des nodded, spoke his thanks, and left. He hurried down the hall and out of the school, glancing at his watch. Des was going to be late. Another excuse for Diplin and his father to be angry with him. Des reached the parking lot and marched to the bright red hover-scooter in the lot.
He sat on the scooter and pressed the start button.
Nothing happened.
An error message flashed on the scooters small screen: Please insert start-up chip.
“Oh, come on,” Des said. “What else can go wrong today?”
Des padded around his courier uniform, searching through his pockets. He opened his backpack, and he began to search through his school uniform.
“Des,” Cryslis’s voice said. “Where are you?”
“I can’t find that stupid chip. I’m still at school.”
“Hit the find button to the right of the scooter’s screen.”
Des hit the button, and another message flashed on the screen. 150 meters south, southwest of here.
“That’s-” Des paused for a second. “My locker.”
“Go get it,” Cryslis’s voice said. “And why haven’t you left yet. You’re going to be late.”
“I know,” Des said.
Des stepped off the hover-scooter and stormed back toward the school. He threw open the doors and marched through halls to his locker. The school halls were deserted of people.
“Did you forget something Des?” Mr. Goldhat said from the teacher's lounge.
“My start-up chip for my scooter, Mr. Goldhat,” Des said.
Des saw he was talking to Mr. Mixon in the Teacher’s Lounge. Serious looks were spread across their faces. He hurried to his locker and unlocked it. Everything had its place. His gym shoes were in one place, while his schoolbooks were in another.
Des’s locker was right next to the door to the girl's locker room.
“Yes, I’m alone…” a girl’s voice said from the washroom. “I checked it before I made the call…”
The voice sounded exactly like Elsie’s.
“It can’t be him…” Elsie said. “I’m his friend… No, it’s not clouding my judgment… You did what? I know about protocol… You should have run it by me first… I want him on our side… Yes yes… I understand… I’ll do what needs to be done…”
Des investigated the locker. Sitting on the shelf next to his gym shoes was a small white device with the scooter logo on it. He grabbed the key and pocketed it.
He shut his locker door without making a sound and locked it with a flick of his wrist. He stepped away from the locker and bathroom door. Des rushed out of the school. His mind racing with many different thoughts as Des powered up the scooter and drove off.
Chapter Eleven
Des rode the hover-scooter down the road. His mind reeling with what he heard. He wanted to know what Elsie was talking about. He weaved his hover-scooter around the different vehicles in the Teal Sector.
“Cryslis,” Des called. “Are you there?”
“Yes, I am,” Cryslis replied, her voice thick with sarcasm. “The device is attached to me.”
Des explained to Cryslis what he overheard from Elsie.
“You need to get into a disguise,” Cryslis advised. “Cooley will be at the corner of Blue One and Sanderson. Get there now. He’ll have a different scooter and a change of clothes.”
Des turned around a corner heading toward the location.
“Okay. Headed there now. Why do I need to change?”
“This is the best lead we have. They were talking about you, and it’s worrisome if they know you’re an agent. I need you to tail her and find out who her handler is. If we find it, we can find out who’s attacking the station.”
“What do I do about my job?”
“I’ll cover for you,” Cryslis paused for a moment. “How long till you get there?”
“Three minutes.”
“Okay. Cooley will be there.”
Des weaved through traffic and was soon at the street corner. A large white cargo hover-van sat nearby. As Des approached, the door slid open. Cooley stood in the doorway. Des revved the engine. The hover-pads lifted it up off the ground. Des maneuvered the scooter to slide easily into the van. Cooley closed the door behind him.
The van was empty, except for a Des’s white scooter.
Cooley threw him a change of clothes.
“Where’s Cryslis?” Des asked.
“Handling the computers,” Cooley said. “We need to recruit someone else who can legally drive a full-sized vehicle…”
Des didn’t say any anything. He changed out of his work uniform and into a set of street clothes. Cooley handed him a disguise necklace, then held up a small mirror. Des quickly checked to make sure his disguise was good.
Des hopped onto the scooter and turned it on. It buzzed to life with silent noise. Cooley peeked out of a window and then put his thumb up.
“Good luck,” Cooley said.
Des flew out of the van into the busy street, weaving his way through the crowds of people.
“Do you know where Elsie is now?” Des asked Cryslis.
“I’ve her on camera walking down Horizon Ave,” Cryslis replied. “Catch up with her before she gets to 10th Street, I have no cameras over there.”
“Seven blocks.” Des nodded. “I’ll catch her.”
Des sped down the street. He took care to drive fast, but not enough to catch the eye of a station guard.
“You need to go faster,” Cryslis urged. “You’re going to miss her.”
“I just passed the fourth guard car,” Des said. “If I go faster, I’ll have to explain why I was speeding. And why I have no license for this face.”
Des heard an indistinct grumble from Cryslis.
“What was that?” Des asked.
On the street corner, standing in his school uniform was Veer. He was waiting for the light to change and let him cross the road. Veer looked straight at Des as he approached the intersection. Des’s eyes caught Veer’s.
Des panicked when he noticed Veer’s face follow him.
He saw the light in front of him change from a green to a yellow. He sped up as the light shift from yellow to red, and he sped across the lights.
Des checked his rear-view mirror as he passed a guard. The guard didn’t notice him. Veer, however, ran down the street and followed Des.
“I have a tail,” Des called to Cryslis. “I need a new disguise.”
“What?”
“Veer from spy class recognized me.”
“That’s a problem.”
“He’s a nosy one. And persistent. I’ll give him that.”
Des turned a corner at high speed. He felt the back end of the scooter slide along the street.
“Cooley is moving to see if he can intercept him,” Cryslis said. “Don’t worry about Veer. I need to know who Elsie is working for.”
“Roger,” Des said.
After a few minutes, Des spotted Elsie walking across a pedestrian overpass toward the train station on her personal phone.
Des pulled up to the sidewalk and screeched to a halt.
“Target spotted entering the train station
. When’s the next train?
“Three minutes,” Cryslis answered. “Get on it.”
Des parked his scooter and ran off towards the stairs. He dodged people taking the stairs three at a time. At the top of the stairs, he bowled over an older lady.
“Hey, watch it,” the lady said.
“Sorry,” Des yelled over his shoulder. “I’m late.”
Des heard the lady say something about stupid kids, but he didn’t pay attention to it. He could see Elsie standing on the platform. The train screeched and slid into the station. Des ran across the platform toward the train. Its doors opened slowly. Elsie stepped into the middle of the long train. Des ran into the first car. The train was half-full of people. Des walked down the train car and looked for Elsie amongst the people. He saw Elsie back on the platform. His eyes caught hers as the doors closed. She smiled at Des and waved at him. The train sped off down the tracks.
“Jupiter,” Des said to Cryslis quietly. “I lost her.”
“What?” Cryslis said.
“She must have known I was after her for some reason. She got off the train right before the doors closed.”
“She’s good.”
Des sat on an empty seat. “That’s the truth.”
“Of course it is,” Veer said from beside Des.
Des turned to see Veer on a chair next to him.
“Good to see you, Ryder,” Veer said.
“What are you doing here,” Des replied.
“Why, because you saw me earlier?”
“Well…” Des said.
“You were making so much noise, any spy with a single braincell could tell something was going down.” Veer laughed, shaking his head. “Oh. By the way, night, night.”
Des felt a small prick on his neck. He turned to look and thought he saw Diplin standing in the train car. Everything went black.
Des woke up. It was dark out, but not black. Light filtered in through the cloth bag on his head. The scratchy fabric itched behind his ear.
“Ryder, Ryder,” Veer said from somewhere in the room. “Is that your real name? Ryder?”
“Bite me,” Des said.
“I told you he isn’t going to talk,” a second voice said from the room. “We should just space the brat. This isn’t Des. I want Des.”
It took a moment. However, Des recognized the second voice in the room as Diplin’s.