Absolute Power (Book 1): Origins (23 page)

At first Eve felt awkward sitting with the Rodriguez family.  They had a lot of catching up to do, and most of what they talked about was family stuff.  Eve let them chat while she tried to figure out the menu.  It was in a mixture of English and Spanish.  While she was in Cuba, she hadn’t had the time to pick up the language.  The Hispanic food she had at the Complex was limited to tacos and burritos. She spotted those on the menu, but there were more than one type.  She didn't know they came in a variety.  She also didn't know what an enchilada was, or a torta or fajitas.

Misses Rodriguez grabbed the menu out of Eve's hands.  “Don't worry about that,” she said.  “We’re going to order a lot and we can all pick at it.  So tell me Eve, how is Danni doing in her classes?”

Eve's eyes darted to Danni.  She knew Danni was not going to be happy no matter what she said.  So Eve spoke as carefully as possible, “I only have one class with Danni.”

“That good?”  Danni’s mom laughed.  “I guess next time I'll have to ask when Danni isn’t around.  It's a good thing we moved out here, so we can keep an eye on her.”

“Yes, it's lovely,” Danni said sarcastically.

The food came, and the five of them ate and talked for the rest of the evening.  They asked Eve a few questions but made sure to keep the conversation light.  Chrissy enjoyed some of the stories about classes.  She oohed and awed like she was listening to an adventure tale.  During dessert, Chrissy started giggling uncontrollably when Danni created a little shadow mouse.  It scampered around the table knocking things over.  Her parents were annoyed until the mouse stood up and started tap dancing.  Then they all broke and laughed, including Eve.

At the end of the night, Mister Rodriguez drove them back to the Complex.  Chrissy fell asleep, her head resting in Eve's lap.  So when the car stopped, and everyone got out, she didn't know what to do.  Danni noticed and grabbed her sister, yanking her off Eve.  Misses Rodriguez started to cry as she said her goodbyes.  She said a lot of things in Spanish that Eve didn't understand.  Eve decided to slip away to give the family their privacy.

“Where are you going?”  Danni’s mom called to her.  “You're my daughter now too.”

Eve hesitated, then slowly walked back.  She stopped and waited not sure what to do.  Misses Rodriguez grabbed her and Danni, hugging them both.  Mister Rodriguez joined in nearly suffocating them all.  The physical communication Eve read was love, hope and safety.  For the first time, Eve understood why the people here enjoyed the warmth so much.  It was the same to them as cold was to her.  It was something she thought she might be able to get used to.  Danni’s mom continued to cry, and Eve could start feeling the tears welling up in her.  She said goodbye as quickly as she could then portaled to her room.

She didn't bother turning the lights on or changing her clothes.  Pulling the blankets on top of her, Eve climbed into bed.  The tears poured out onto her pillow, and her body shook.  Through the tears, she watched the clock turn to midnight and for some reason it made the sadness worse.  The door opened letting in a crack of light.  Eve flipped onto her other side so that Danni wouldn't see her crying.  She listened as Danni was silent for a moment.  The door closed after a second, but the lights didn't come on.  Eve heard Danni change clothes and get into bed.

Danni started speaking softly, “You know how I got my powers?  This guy called the Sandman.  I always thought he was just a story, you know.  He came when I was little and asked if I wanted to learn magic.  I thought it would be cool; I was seven, so what did I know?  I wish I had never said yes.  I think it ruined my parents’ lives.  All their friends stopped talking to them, and they moved out here, dragging my sister along.  Nobody here has it easy.  So don't think no one understands.”  Danni settled in bed and said nothing after that.

Eve couldn’t sleep, so she stared at the wall.  Then she thought she heard something.  It was a strange sound and it wasn't Danni.  Something shuffled along the floor coming toward Eve.  Whatever it was, it climbed up Eve's bed post.  She stayed still, trying to figure out what was going on.  A creature, no bigger than a cat, crawled across the bed and on top of Eve.  It looked down at her with its cute bear like face.  The thing turned its head at an angle examining Eve.  Then it slipped down under the blanket and nuzzled her neck putting her to sleep.

Eve woke to the sound of the alarm clock.  It had been buzzing for some time.

The little creature was gone, but Eve guessed as much.  She suspected it disappeared around the same time Danni had fallen asleep.  It probably meant that Danni had been awake most of the night.  Eve rolled over and saw Danni sprawled out unconscious.  She was oblivious of the buzzing alarm.  Eve got up and nudged her gently.

“Uhhh,” Danni said.

“We slept late,” Eve said.

“Uhhh,” Danni repeated.

“Class is in fifteen minutes,” Eve said.

Danni sat up with a start.  “Crap,” she said and jumped out of bed.  “We'll never make it in time.”  She was scrambling to get dressed.

“If we can be ready in fifteen minutes, we will be there,” Eve said.

The other kids were a little shocked to see Eve and Danni appear together from the shadows.  They asked what had happened, but neither of them answered.

“Okay, boys and girls.  Welcome to the first day of regular classes,” Master Sergeant Lewis said over the fuss.  “Today is tag, powers for defense and evasion only.

“That's not fair,” Rachael moaned. “How is anyone supposed to catch Levitas?”

“You'll just have to be good,” Lewis replied.  “Michael is
it
.”

Michael smiled happily, rubbing his hands together as he looked over his prey.  Scott and Rachael were already running into the trees before Eve realized anything was happening.

Sara grabbed Eve by the hand and yelled, “Run.”

They caught up to Koji, who was doing his best to navigate through the bushes.

“Where are we going?” Eve asked.

“Away from Michael,” Koji huffed.

With Sara still holding her hand, Eve grabbed Koji by the collar and yanked the two of them into the shadows. They reappeared in the shade of a tree several hundred yards away.  It took a moment for Sara and Koji to get their bearings.

“How do we win this game?” Eve asked.

The kids had to think about it, and Koji answered, “I guess you can't, unless you're
it
.”

“
It
?”  Eve was confused.

“The person that has to tag someone,” Koji explained.

“Then what happens?”  Eve asked.

“Then that person is
it,
and they have to tag someone,” Koji replied.  “Thinking about it now it sounds kinda stupid.”

“Yes,” Eve agreed.

“We'll I'm gonna go off on my own,” Koji told the girls.  “Don't want to be too close in case you guys get tagged.  Mind if I copy your powers, Eve?”

Eve grimaced.  There was a lot of innate dangers if her powers weren’t used properly.  “Do you remember what I told you?”  She asked Koji.

“Only go places I know, never stop in your dimension and don't go too far,” he listed off the rules.  Eve had been making him repeat them since he first asked to copy her.

Satisfied Eve put out her hand, and Koji took it.  He closed his eyes and used his ability.  With that done, Koji went into the woods and disappeared.

“We could probably hang out here for the rest of the class and never get tagged,” Sara suggested.

“Probably,” Eve replied as she looked up at the concealed video camera.

By the end of exercise class, Eve had remained un-tagged.  When class was dismissed, she went with the other kids to eat lunch.  No one else saw that Scott stayed behind, but she didn’t bother to guess why.  Then when lunch was over, Eve took a look at her class schedule.  Espionage was next, and she noticed that it was located at Field Testing: Section 3, adjacent to exercise.  She had to find a map of the grounds to figure out where to go.  When she had the general location, she portled.

Eve was in the forest again.  In front of her was a clearing and in the center was a house.  Not a cabin, but an actual house, like something found in the suburbs.  The two story building had a chimney, satellite dish, two car garage and driveway.  But as the yard and walkway ended so did the facade.  At the edge was the forest growing around it, tree roots, and all.

To Eve it looked a bit like a dream, and she stared at it for a while considering if this was normal.

“It's Scott, don't scream,” a voice said.  Scott appeared in front of Eve.  His face was twisted up as he prepared for her to freak out.  The screaming never came, so he relaxed.  “Sorry,” he said.  “I got here early ‘cause I thought, you know, espionage, they'll probably try something sneaky.  So I waited out here to see what they were up to.”  Scott looked embarrassed.  “Nothing happened till you showed up.  I waited some more, thinking they'd do something to you.  Then I realized nothing was gonna happen, and I couldn't just appear without scaring you and then things got complicated.”

Eve watched him struggle to explain himself, which for some reason she found amusing.

“You don't talk much do you?”  Scott asked her.

“No,” she answered.

Scott looked at her dumbstruck, then turned to face the house without saying another word.  A couple of minutes later they could hear a car approaching.  A small four wheel drive vehicle bounced along a dirt path.  It came to a stop near Scott and Eve.  The two of them instantly spotted Rachael sitting in the passenger seat.

“Oh, God,” Scott moaned.

Rachael heard him and smiled wickedly.  The woman who was driving climbed out and came around the car.  Her hair was cut short, but not nearly as short as Eve's.  She was small, and her eyes scanned them like a hawk, Eve felt intimidated.  Scott seemed to have the same feeling.

“I am Staff Sergeant Beach,” she said at a measured pace.  “You may call me Sergeant Beach or Sergeant.  I will be instructing you in the tactics of espionage.  You will be my students till the day you graduate, so do what I tell you, and we won't have a problem.

“One of the most important things you will learn here is ingenuity.  You may be better than the Norm's, but in here you are nothing.  The capacity to use your abilities in unique ways will keep you ahead of your enemies.

“Inside this house, there is a computer and in that computer is a list of names.  You will get that list without being detected.  Any questions?”

Scott raised his hand, and Sergeant Beach nodded for him to go ahead.

“Do you think anyone would mind if I move in?”  Scott joked.  “It looks cozy, and my roommate smells.”

“My all means, Cadet Brown,” the Sergeant said wryly, “at least until demolitions class at fifteen hundred.  My aide,” she pointed at Rachael, letting Scott's joke go, “will be inside the house.  She has been instructed to act like an unsuspecting civilian.  If you are detected, you fail.  If you do not retrieve the data, you fail.”

With that Sergeant Beach went to the back of the car and opened up the tailgate.  There were a series of computers inside, and they came to life.

Taking the opportunity, Scott whispered to Eve, “Dragon lady.”

Eve had no idea what he meant.

“Cadet Debord, take your position in the house,” Beach said.

Rachael hopped out of the car and brushed past Scott.  “You know Scott, even when you're invisible, picking your nose is still gross,” she whispered.

“I don't pick my nose,” Scott exclaimed.

The Sergeant looked up from her monitors and stared at him.  Rachael giggled as she went to the house.

Beach turned back around and said, “You first Cadet Brown.”

Scott gave her a mock salute when she wasn't looking, then spun to face the house.  For a second, the light around him shimmered like a mirage.  An instant later he was invisible.  Eve watched his footsteps kick up dust as he approached the house.  When he arrived at the driveway, she lost track of him.  She glanced back and saw that one of Beach’s monitors showed Scott as a red silhouette.  He was already at the side window.  Eve looked at the house and saw the window slide open.  From inside the building, an annoying high pitch alarm pierced the air.

Rachael’s voice came over the radio, “I see him.”

Sergeant Beach flipped a switch, and the alarm went quiet.  “Fall in,” she shouted.  Scott became visible again and trudged back to where they stood.  “Did you check to see if there was a security system?” She shouted into Scott's face.

“No, I...,” Scott tried to answer.

“Don't most houses have a security system?”  Her voice was overwhelming.

“I guess...,” Scott couldn't get in a word.

“Test failed,” Sergeant Beach said dismissively, then turned to Eve.  “Cadet Levitas, you're up.”

Since her first day at the Complex, Eve had been learning to use a computer.  She knew the basic component parts, so that in her opinion this was a simple task.  Digging into her pocket, Eve fumbled around for a second.  Sergeant Beach watched her with her arms folded and eyes narrowed.  Then pulling and tugging, Eve brought out the computer hard drive.  She handed it to Sergeant Beach, and Scott tried not to laugh.