The Academy

Chapter Four: Athena

     The icy water enveloped her and Athena felt herself drifting towards unconsciousness. A strong hand grabbed her wrist, and then an arm circled her waist and she was being dragged to the surface. Her vision was fading but she managed to stay awake long enough to catch a glimpse of the boat she'd seen earlier and a man hauling her up a ladder towards the deck.
The next thing she knew, she was lying in a railed cot. It swayed back and forth with the rest of the boat as it sailed the waves. Athena listened for a moment. She could hear scuffling above deck but no one seemed to be with her. Slowly, she sat up. She shivered with the cold. Her hair and clothing were still slightly damp from her icy plunge. 

     "You've awake."
She jumped, terrified by the sudden noise. There was someone there. A boy. He smiled at her lopsidedly.

     "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he said. "I'm Dylan."

Athena studied him carefully. Was he one of the ones she was supposed to meet? There was nothing particularly special about the name 'Dylan'.

     "I'm Athena," she said carefully. "Was it you who saved me?"

     "I spotted you. My father pulled you out. He's above deck."

     "Thanks."

     "It's what any decent person would do." The boy shrugged.

     "Decent people aren't as numerous as they used to be," Athena pointed out.

Dylan shrugged again.

     "Are you hungry?"

Without giving her a chance to answer, Dylan stood and left the cabin and headed to a small storage room. Athena could still see him through the doorway as he dug through a large pantry.

     "We don't have anything really good," he apologized, "But it's better than nothing."

     "Thank you."

That was when she remembered her backpack. She glanced around frantically.

     "Looking for this?" Dylan grabbed her pack from a corner and held it out to her. She smiled her thanks and unzipped it, pulling out her tablet. 

     "It's probably dead," she said, devastated. How could she hope to get through without it? She pressed the button, hoping against hope that the screen would come to life. It did. She gasped in surprise and excitement.

     "It must be waterproof," Dylan put in. "Your whole bag was soaked." He cautiously moved in beside her after she'd punched in her password. For the first time, she got to explore the tablet's contents. The background of the home screen was plain black but there was an option to change it. Dylan reached over her shoulder and hit the camera icon.

     "What are you doing?" Athena asked. He laughed as he hit the shutter button. Before Athena could follow what he was doing, he'd set the photo to the home screen. She broke into giggles at his wild smile and her confused expression. She shook her head and chose to ignore it, hitting a new icon. A map of the world showed up then zoomed in on the Pacific Ocean, just off the British Columbian coast.

     "What were you doing out in the middle of the ocean?" Dylan asked slowly. Athena hesitated. Should she tell him? She didn't see why not.

     "I'm enrolling at the Academy. I have to make it from here to their headquarters in Ontario. I guess, somehow, they knew that you'd be here." 

Dylan shook his head.

     "That's crazy. You can't be much older than me."

Athena shrugged.