Starbound

14 - T minus 2 Weeks

Zach

A month passed.

We fall into a pattern of endless training. It took a week of trying to convince the divers that I was fine, that I wasn't going to almost drown again. And I won't.

I'm walking with Charlotte from a theory lesson when we heard a voice.

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR ALL PAIRS. YOUR JOURNEY WILL BEGIN IN TWO WEEKS. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TOWARDS THE CONTROL ROOM WITH YOUR PAIR NOW. I REPEAT, ALL PAIRS TO THE CONTROL ROOM.

It is grainy and metallic, coming from hidden speakers.

Two weeks.

I look over at Charlotte to see her reaction, but I find her already looking at me. She gives me a closed lip smile, no doubt trying to hide her excitement out of respect.

Two weeks to make a plan and escape.

'Do you want to go straight there?' Charlotte asks.

'No, lets drop out stuff at our dorms before we go,' she looks down at her pile of books, then back at me.

'Good idea, I don't think I can carry this for much longer,' she says, shoulders slumping. I chuckle at her hateful look towards the weight in her arms, she smiles back and giggles.

Not long later we reach our dorm, dumping all our things on our respective beds. We leave our dorms quickly afterwards, not needing to do anything else. We are in the middle of walking down a corridor when we hear people talking through an open door.

'They keep requesting to see her, I don't know how much longer this can go until they make it public.' A male voice says. Charlotte pauses beside me, recognition and wariness shining in her eyes.

'Does the girl know?' Another voice asks, female and familiar.

'No.'

'Good we shall keep it that way, we should've never let her talk to them, especially with such a Pair.' Charlotte's face starts to go pale, her blue eyes meeting mine.

'I-I left something in the dorm, I'll be right back,' She whispers, her eyes lined with silver. I nod, I can tell she is lying, trying to find an excuse to go to a quiet place and control her emotions, 'Wait here,' she points her chin to the door. I get her message well enough, Stay here and listen. I nod again as she turns her back and quietly, to not give away our presence, walks away.

The conversation coming from the two in the room had already moved on from when I last paid attention.

'Are you going to do it?' The man asks.

'Yes, I have no other choice.'

'What if they aren't ready?'

'I don't care if they live or die, I just have to carry out this insufferable promise,' Her voice really sounds familiar.

'When? When are you going to do this? Why not wait two weeks?' The man's voice sounds worried.

'Because we can deal with one Pair not wanting to be here, but two...' She doesn't finish her sentence.

There are other people who don't want to be here, maybe we can work together.

There is the sound of shuffling from the room.

'Where are you going?' The man asks.

'To complete a promise I made.'

It took a bit longer then I want to admit, to realise the woman was leaving the room. Slight panic rushes through me, I look around, trying to find a way out that won't leave them suspecting me of overhearing them. Without finding a good excuse, I take off the way Charlotte went, towards our dorm. As if my thoughts summoned her, I spot her walking towards me, looking as if she had collected herself just fine.

I run towards her, grabbing her arm and dragging her the way we came. I quickly told her we had to walk normally, that if we were found by whoever was talking, we shouldn't be caught looking guilty.

Five minutes later we arrive at the control room, most of the pairs are already there, standing in a clump as Angela talked to them from a small step.

Hearing Angela's voice, we start running. She looks up at the sound of our footsteps, causing half the pairs swivel around to look at us with curious eyes. We are about to reach the group when something grabs my elbow and brings me to a sudden stop, causing me to trip and almost fall. I hear a few giggles from the group, mostly feminine, but I ignore them and look to what has grabbed me. A tall, muscular and dark haired man stares back at me. He is nearly two heads taller than me (and I have been told I'm very tall myself), almost four times larger and his hands are as big as my head. And one of those hands is holding my arm in a death grip that I know will bruise.

'You two are-' he pauses, his eyes narrowing as he looks at me, 'You.'

I am thinking of something to say to get him to let go of me when Charlotte steps in, 'I'm sorry sir, I had to go to the bathroom and Zach was kind enough to wait for me.'

'You should've-'

'Michel,' Angela interrupts, 'let them be, they wont be late again, will you Zachary?'

'Yes ma'am.'

She looks straight at me, her too flawless smile hiding an evil gleam in her eye. I feel a shiver pass though me and I look away. I glance at my arm, my fingers going numb under the security guard's grip. He shoves me away, almost making me fall but I find my footing and join the other pairs.

'As I was saying,' Angela says, looking straight at me, 'we are preparing for launch in two weeks.'

A burst of excited squeals and annoyed grunts fills the room. I'm surprised that Charlotte stands still, knowing how excited she was a month ago I would've expected her to throw a party.

'In these weeks you are going to put your final supplies into your transporters,' excited gasps come from everywhere around me, 'and we are going to double your training,' groans this time.

'We will soon dismiss you to load your transporters, but we have something to show you. Follow me.' Angela steps off her step and walks through the pairs, who give her room to walk though.