Belligerent (Vicara) (9 page)

“Basically you chose him for us,” Mackenzie clarified.

“Ryan wasn't the first,” Clarisse said.

“How soon after James did Shifter start looking?”

“Mackenzie-” Clarisse started to protest. There was that look in her eyes. The one that meant if she said anything, someone would end up hurt.

Mackenzie didn't care. “How soon?”

“Two days after it was official.”

“It's still not official!” Mackenzie shouted.

Clarisse was too emotionally drained to flinch. Aria, however, glared at their strategist: a rare expression of disapproval and a slight protectiveness for Clarisse. Aria almost never interfered in the disputes of others except to play the part of a mediator, but it appeared as if she would take a side in this round.

Clarisse continued. “Shifter started looking almost immediately. He knew that no matter the final outcome, we would at least need a temporary substitute. I'm not sure if he's even given any thought as to how long this arrangement will last. He's doing what’s necessary at this moment and leaving the future to figure itself out as he always does. You must understand that, since you're a strategist as well.”

“I do understand,” Mackenzie said. “It's just... I can't separate the personal from the business. Not this time. Not when it concerns James.”

“You don't have much of a choice right now. You're our leader, after all,” Aria said, relaying the obvious.

Mackenzie sighed. “Maybe we should switch. You always seemed to be much better at being a leader,” she said with a small smile playing at the corners of her lips.

Aria raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to spend most of your time locked in labs with potentially lethal chemicals?”

Clarisse giggled behind her hand.

“Never mind. I take it back.” Mackenzie said as she slid down a little further into the water.

Her teammates were right. She didn't have any choice but to accept Ryan which meant she needed to learn everything about him: skills, intelligence, limitations, fears, weaknesses, quirks and potential sources of distraction.

*

Logan stared at the door to the last bedroom on the left for longer than could be considered normal before raising his hand and knocking sharply on the wooden surface. Nothing happened for a few moments. Logan considered that maybe Ryan had descended the ladder from his loft. That tended to trip him up as well. Actually any kind of heights tended to cause him to be a little less than graceful.

Eventually, the door to the bedroom opened and Ryan filled the space, blocking the entrance with his lanky frame. “Yeah?”

Logan grinned and hoped his smile looked convincing. “I come bearing gifts,” he said and suddenly wished he had convinced someone else to handle the task in his place. Unfortunately, nobody else was any good with electronics - beyond the basics, of course.

Ryan stared down at him, making their height difference seem even greater than it was. “What kind of gifts?”

“Gadgets,” Logan replied and gestured that they should move into the room.

Ryan hesitantly stepped backwards to where he was no longer blocking the doorway. “Come in.”

Logan glanced around at the changes that had been made to the room. “I've never seen this space look so neat,” he said before he could help himself. He tended to ramble, and the more uncomfortable he was - the more he rambled.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, James was always kind of a mess. Walking chaos, really. There were always coveralls covered in grease stains tossed on the floor or random car parts spread around the room. Plus, he always had all those posters tacked up in a haphazard sort of random order. I don't think there was a single one that wasn't crooked.” Logan's breath caught as he realized that the room would probably never be James's room again, and he loudly cleared his throat to hide the choking noise that was trying to emerge from his chest.

“Who's James?”

Logan jerked from his thoughts. “Shifter didn't tell you? James was our transportation specialist before you,” he said, but the explanation didn't seem enough. James was their eighth, or he had been anyway.

“Why isn't he still your transportation specialist?”

Logan realized he had perhaps said too much. If Ryan hadn't been told about James then there was a reason for it. “I brought you a communicator,” Logan said, pulling a device from his backpack. “You'll need to keep it in your ear most of the time. They're completely waterproof, so don't worry about getting it wet.”

Allowing the topic of James to slip, Ryan asked, “How does it work?”

Logan exhaled in relief when Ryan accepted the change in conversation.

“You place it in your ear. Tap once for listening mode. That leaves your line open for emergency calls from the others. Tap it twice in a row to talk to any of the rest of us. Tap it three times in a row to shut it off completely, though we almost never keep them completely turned off. It's too risky and you'll miss too many notices that way.”

Ryan placed the device in his ear and tapped it once.

Logan reached up to tap his own twice. “Ryan's now on the comm line with us,” he informed the others. Ryan gave him a surprised look, and Logan held up a finger. He set his own comm back to listening mode. “Just wait a moment,” he explained.

As Logan expected, Clarisse was on the line almost immediately. “Hello, Ryan!” Her voice came through the comms clearly. “Don't forget to keep your comm in listening mode when you're getting hot and heavy with someone. Unless you're an exhibitionist of course.” She giggled at her own joke.

One by one, the others began to chime in with a quick “hi” or some acknowledgment that they had heard them. Logan noticed that Mackenzie was the only one to remain silent.

“That's the group,” Logan remarked with a smile. Ryan was not thrilled or amused in any way. Rather, he was exhausted. “Let's handle the rest of this stuff, so we won't be late to dinner. Clarisse and Eva are both excellent cooks.”

Ryan shrugged. “I'm not really hungry.”

Logan didn't believe that for a second and he watched the other boy from the corner of his eye as he produced his tablet.

“I need to enter your band into the security system so that you can let yourself into the villa. Hold out your wrist.” Logan worked quickly to scan the band and program in Ryan's information, tapping briskly on the surface of the tablet. “All you have to do to get into the villa is hold your wrist up in front of the panel by the door and wait for it to scan.”

“Thanks,” Ryan mumbled.

“You need any help figuring out your schedule? I could show you where your classes are going to be or maybe answer any questions that you have.”

“I'm good for now.”

“Do you know where the dining room is?”

Ryan nodded.

“You should come to dinner. I'm pretty sure you'll have a few people trying to drag you there if you don't,” Logan said, trying to joke. When Ryan continued to be mostly unresponsive, Logan took it as a sign that he should leave. “I'm gonna just head back to my room. I've got a new project I'm working on, and... Anyway, I'm two doors down if you get bored and want to hang.”

Ryan was staring at the band on his wrist when Logan let himself out of the room. Stepping into the courtyard, Logan was startled to see Mackenzie seated on one of the benches, quietly staring off into space. When she noticed him, she tilted her head to the side. Logan shook his head. If she wanted to know, she could talk to the guy herself.

*

When Ryan didn't show up to dinner, Daylan appeared at his room to fetch him. The medic had a strict rule that everyone on the team be well fed so that he wouldn't have to deal with the effects of malnutrition in addition to broken bones, scrapes and punctures. Apparently, Daylan found treating his teammates for anything less than something life-threatening to be an annoyance.

“Just make my life easy, man, and join us,” the medic said.

Conceding, Ryan followed him to the dining room. He sat at the table with the others as they passed around food like they were some kind of family, and while he didn't want to eat at first, the food smelled and looked so amazing that he wasn't able to resist for very long. He quietly ate while everyone around him talked about classes, hobbies and even what broadcast shows they were watching.

Ryan watched as Clarisse returned from retrieving the desserts once their plates were nearly cleared of jambalaya and salad. She seemed at ease in the villa, as if she weren't a prisoner but instead someone at their childhood home. It certainly seemed that Shifter kept her more informed than he did the others. Maybe she would know how to escape from the academy - but if she did know, why hadn't she left already? He watched her refill her tea cup, and a shimmer of pink emanated from her band, catching his attention.

“How do you remove them?” he blurted out. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Remove what?” Eva asked.

“The bands. How do you take them off?”

“You slice off your hand,” Kenichi said. “And you do it quickly before the sedative is injected into your bloodstream. Don't forget that your best chance is to cut above the band.”

“Kenichi, no gory talk at the table please,” Eva requested while scooping a small portion of both cobblers onto her plate.

“Hers is different,” Ryan gave a nod at Clarisse. “You're telling me she was just given a special band right off?”

“Shifter paid for her to get a custom band at her last refitting since hers tend to last longer than the rest of ours,” Aria commented. “Actually, she's only had to have hers adjusted once.”

“Why? Would you like a custom band as well? I'm sure Shifter would consider it if you asked nicely enough,” Clarisse said, though anyone could see she knew Ryan had no interest in such a thing.

Ryan frowned. He was tired of them always changing the subject. “So none of you know how to get the bands off?”

Everyone went quiet. “There's no way to get the bands off,” Mackenzie said firmly as she stood. “I need to be leaving.”

“What about dessert?” Clarisse asked innocently.

“I'll have some when I get back. If you don't mind saving some for me, that is,” Mackenzie said.

“Where are you going?” Eva asked.

“I have somewhere to be. Somewhere personal.” She glanced over at Clarisse, who mimed zipping her mouth shut. “I'll be back tomorrow.”

“Shifter gave you permission to go off campus?” Logan asked.

“How else do you think I'm going?” Mackenzie said with an eye roll.

“I'll go with you,” Eva said and stood as well.

“Personal business,” Mackenzie reiterated. “You don't even have permission to go off campus.”

“Shifter won't have a problem granting it if I tell him it's in the team's best interest.”

“Even if he doesn't have a problem with it, you're not going to leave the rest of our team unguarded when all of the other students have returned, are you?”

Eva appeared conflicted, as if she didn't know whether she should follow Mackenzie or stay with the rest of the team.

It was Daylan who ended up being the voice of reason. “Eva should go with you. All the rest of us will remain here in the villa until the two of you return. Besides, I doubt anyone will try to break into the villa tonight when it's still summer break”

“Don't jinx us!” Clarisse said, putting a slender finger to her lips.

Daylan held up his hands in mock surrender and said, “My sincerest apologies.”

“Are frequent break-ins a problem around here?” Ryan asked, but nobody paid his question any attention.

Logan finished swallowing a mouthful of cobbler. “I upgraded the security system earlier this summer, so there'll be no getting in or out without one of our bands.”

Eva relaxed at his assurance. “I'll go with you, Mac. Just let me grab my overnight bag and call Shifter for a campus leave.”

Mackenzie seemed a little frustrated about the escort, but didn’t make any further protests. It was a little quieter after the two girls left though neither one had been necessarily loud. Eight teenagers together tended to create its own din. Daylan volunteered himself and Kenichi to handle the cleanup while Aria and Logan disappeared to their rooms to work on their projects.

Ryan was about to return to his own room when Clarisse tapped him on the shoulder. “You don't have to hide out in your room if you don't want. Most of us are night owls, so don't worry about waking any of us up if you want to wander around the villa at night.”

He shrugged. “I'm kinda tired, so I might not do much wandering around tonight.”

“Oh! Okay. If I don't see you before morning, we usually have brunch around ten on the days we don't have classes. If you get hungry before then, there's plenty of snack food in the kitchen. I sometimes bake at night too, so... Don’t be bashful about snagging any cookies or other sweets you see cooling on the counter.”

“Thanks,” Ryan said. “I'll remember that.”

Before he finished turning to leave, the comms squawked to life.

Kenichi, I have something I need you to test. Please meet me in the courtyard
.
Despite his polite way of phrasing it, there was no hiding the excitement in Logan's voice.