The Other Path

Rendezvous.

Rendezvous.

The trip to Shuttle Deck Twelve was relatively uneventful, broken only by Timmick bursting into song halfway there and causing Jerahl and I to start in shock. Jerahl had been fidgety and kept glancing over his shoulder as if he expected to see an attacker come flying at him from behind, and really, I couldn’t blame him.

I felt just as nervous as Jerahl, and throughout the ten minute walk to the shuttle deck, I had done my fair share of paranoid over-the-shoulder glances as well. We all seemed to feel as if there were eyes on us at every turn, and though the walk to the rendezvous was short and no one attempted to accost us, I couldn’t help but notice the hairs prickle at the back of my neck or the unsettling sensation of unwelcoming stares, though there was no one about.

So it was no surprise that when Timmick broke into an abrupt rendition of The Flipskirt Maiden − accompanied by wild gestures and some admittedly fancy footwork − I snapped and whirled on him.

“Timmick, what in the name of−what do you think you’re doing?” I hissed, and  both Timmick and Jerahl stopped in their tracks to stare at me in wide-eyed confusion. I supposed my exclamation came as a surprise to them; after all, they had only just met me and were not yet privy to my short, violent temper. Most of the time, I was level headed, but the situation here was tense enough to set me on edge and allow my temper to be released somewhere other than the confines of my thoughts.

“But it’s the song about a girl who lo−”

“I know what the song is about,” I reproofed, accompanied by a slap to the back of his shaggy head, and set the pace back towards the shuttle deck, “but we’ve already drawn too much attention. To gain any more would be extremely dangerous. ”

Jerahl nodded and walked along looking at the floor, as if he pondered  something of profound importance. He was probably checking if his shoelaces were tied. I sighed and resigned myself to spending the rest of the expedition with two males I had no idea what to do with.

Timmick bounced back from a brief moment of despondency to grin and chirp, “Kaiya, I didn’t know you were actually a spitfire under all those layers of serious-ity!”

“Seriousness.” I corrected, urging him down the hallway. If we continued to pause in the middle of the hallway to make idiotic comments like this, we wouldn’t meet the rendezvous time and would be met with serious reprimand and even less room to breathe than we were going to receive on the surface.

After a few more instances in which Jerahl quietly stared on as I sighed, and Timmick received more than a few slaps to the head, we arrived at the entrance to the deck. I held up my hands as we drew near and took my little impromptu allies aside.

“We should try not to be separated.” I began in hushed tones, “If, by chance, we are, we need to be wary of Taren and Kalek. I think Hiron may be an ally, but be careful of what you say. Aside from the main mission, we need to ascertain what everybody’s Secondary is, but we can only report back to each other when we are absolutely certain no one else is about.”

Jerahl nodded, his expression grim, “I agree. Perhaps we should use some sort of code to check that we are safe to talk freely?”

Timmick was enthused at that. “Yeah, that’s a good idea!” he exclaimed at top volume, earning himself a sharp look from me. Suddenly his expression grew solemn “How about we ask each other if there’s any new information? It could refer to both our secret agenda and also to the main mission.”

I stared at him as my mouth gaped open in surprise. Jerahl looked as astonished as I was, and with good reason. Timmick kept catching me off guard with his insightful comments and serious behaviour. It was as though an entirely different person stood in front of me. His drawn down eyebrows coupled with an intense gaze and a straight mouth made him appear years older, but at the same time wasn’t uncharacteristic. Yet I wasn’t suspicious of his loyalty. I felt inherently he was still an ally despite his conflicting behaviour; as if he had a secret mission but it didn’t threaten me in any way. But the mere fact I felt he wasn’t a threat caused me to be wary, and reminded me again that on top of finding out what the other party members’ Secondaries were, I had to find out Timmick’s as well. It hadn’t escaped my notice that he had neglected to offer up that information.