The Secret War - 1st novel in the Shadow Series

Chapter 30 .

Vai

It was a different substitute at school. A human again. She had introduced herself as Engineer Wen. She didn't say it outright, but she implied we might have someone new everyday as the G.E.F. had only hired one teacher for the older students. It never even occurred to them that they might need a substitute. Her class was as equally boring as Lieutenant Garcia. At least he had talked about war strategies and not engineering.

"So," Minmin said as soon as class was over. "What happened? Did she show up?"

"Let's not talk about it here," Shel said. "I set up a program." He sent the program through to my okulus and then he disappeared from the school program. Minmin followed him. Owen nodded at me before he followed them.

When I entered the program, I was on a small island filled with green trees and large blue flowers. A large blue and silver bird sat in a tree above us. It had a large green head crest and green eyes. Blue ocean surrounded us. There was a small beach of silver sand between the ocean and the start of green vegetation. The sky was blue, but it was a different blue than the videos I had seen of the sky on Earth. This blue seemed richer, more vibrant. The sky was cloudless. There was a gentle breeze that brushed us.

"Is this a real place somewhere?" Owen asked. He touched one of the blue flowers. The petals folded into themselves.

Shel and Minmin sat at the start of the vegetation, their feet were still on the sand.

"Yes," Shel said. "It's my homeworld, Bundu IV. Just a small piece of it of course. My favorite spot."

Owen sat next to Minmin. "It's very beautiful. Reminds me of my home, Earth."

I didn't go sit with them. I went and stood by the water's edge. The waves lapped around my feet. I was curious how well Shel did in making this place - how real had he tried to make it. I made my ansible shoes disappear. The waves enclosed around my feet. The moisture swept between my toes, around my ankles, the sand underneath my feet shifted with the waves sending little granules around my skin.

"Is it to your satisfaction?" Shel asked me.

I hadn't realized they all watched me until then.

"There aren't really oceans on Mars," I said. It had never occurred to me to try to make my own place within the ansible. It wouldn't have been too hard to do. I could have recreated my past with Callie, Emilio and Posha. I could have ridden that old Levitric repulsor above Olympus City. I turned back to look over the ocean - away from the others - as a tear spilled onto my cheek. Maybe not. I had enough to deal with rather than getting lost in past memories. My hands clenched into fists by my side. I hated him. My father. I hated him for all he took from me.

Another tear spilled onto my cheek. Thankfully, none of them came to check on me. Although, I felt their eyes on me.

"So what happened?" Minmin asked Owen.

I stayed facing the ocean as he relayed what happened the night before. Not just about the girl, Esther, but also about the missing sedatives and how he and I both suspected Esther stole them.

"You should tell security," Minmin said.

I finally composed myself enough that I was able to loosen my hands and turn to them. I walked over to them and sat in the sand in front of them. I dug my toes into the silver sand. I had no idea if the sand felt the same as it would have on Earth's beaches. I had never been to Earth.

"No," Shel said, "they shouldn't tell security."

The two of them exchanged a look. Clearly they were keeping some secrets too.