Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 40

When Sierra woke on her bed, she felt dazed and disorientated. She sat up, both surprised and relieved to find herself in a bathrobe. Apparently transition suits were useless on fish. You probably needed limbs and shoulders to make them stick...

She shuffled to the edge of the bed, feeling stiff and uncoordinated. The moment she tired to stand, she discovered that her feet were painfully tender - like she was standing on little spikes. Luckily the discomfort didn't last. After a minute or two of shuffling around, it dissipated and everything felt normal again.

Her stomach gurgled loudly and she realised it was probably her hunger that had woken her up. She glanced at her phone to find that it was late morning; lunch should be on the table soon enough. She couldn't wait.

Now that Sierra was awake, she found herself curious to see what she'd missed in the hour or so that she'd been unconscious. She went over to the door and eased it open a crack, surprised to discover that there was actually a fair amount of bustle outside. She opened the door and ventured into the hall in curiosity.

"Oh good, you're awake. Suit up, newbie, you're coming on a field trip," Kalko informed her as he threw her a kit of some sort.

She was mildly amused to see the remnants of a shiner on his cheek from their earlier tussle. She glanced down at the kit, then back up at him.

"Where are you taking us this time?" she asked guardedly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

He chuckled.

"China. Your first mission. Pretty Boy's got the brief," he informed her as he started down the stairs.

It was the first time they'd spoken that Sierra hadn't felt riled afterwards. But that didn't mean she was ready to forgive him.

"Wait, what?" she replied, blinking in surprise.

"Our first mission," Devon informed her as he approached from behind.

"But... we're not ready!" she replied, still stunned.

"Speak for yourself," her friend replied with a grin.

Sierra shot him a questioning look.

"Explain!" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest with resolution.

He shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's nothing big - that's why Kal's letting us tag along," he informed her as he handed her the file. "Apparently we're trying to track down some box that someone saw in a watch room photo."

"The box!" Sierra gasped in surprise as she started fluttering through the contents of the file. She found the picture. It was her box - her find!

She smiled to herself as she tried to make sense of the other notes in her excited state. She didn't get very far.

"I don't know why you're so happy. It's a 'humans only' thing - no creatures expected; a stupid hike through some stupid forest, just to see if we can find where that picture was taken and maybe recover the box. It's boring," Devon complained.

"Who are you trying to fool? We're going to freaking China!" she shot back eagerly as she slapped the file back into his hands.

He grinned knowingly.

"Yeah, that part is kinda awesome," he admitted.

"When are we leaving?" she asked.

"Sergeant Sushi just said we're leaving in thirty minutes," Devon informed her.