Linked

Chapter 6

Kaileen

After I packed all my essentials, I leaned back on my bed and called my friend Julian, who was in the Surv Force. He was my friend and teacher, who taught me basic combat skills so that I could defend myself when needed. He was four years older than me, and already married to his Link. Julian picked up on the first ring, immediately asking what was wrong. I told him what had happened to Elia at the Ceremony, and explained what I planned to do. After my tale, he sighed and sternly started a lecture about how I should leave the Law to the Law and stay where I would be safe. I gave him a few minutes to be the 'adult' and smiled when he paused and said, "I know you're not listening to a word I'm saying, but really, Kaileen. You do know that contacting me is probably the most unsensible thing you could possibly do when going on a secret mission, right? The Leaders could be listening in right now, at this moment!"

"So, do you know where my best friend is being taken to, or not?" I asked, tapping my foot impatiently.

"I'm sorry, dear friend but I don't have access to classified information of such a high level. But I can go find your friend and slip a tracker on her. I'll send you the tracking code later. And of course, I'll keep this a secret I'll take to my grave." he laughed, and hung up.

I waited for the beep of my comms ring and copied the code down onto a piece of paper. Then, I deleted the personal information on the ring, resetting it to blank so that they wouldn't be able to trace me using it. As I input the code into the newly reset ring so that the only thing on the hard drive would be the tracking code, I picked my bag up and hoisted it onto my back. It was pretty heavy but I could take it. I crept out of my house and scrambled over the wall, avoiding the scanner gate for good measure. A pair of sturdy arms caught me as I fell over the edge of the wall. It seemed that Kyle knew me better than I had thought, since he too had a backpack slung over his shoulders. He set me down and raised an eyebrow. "You do have a plan, right?"