Nero trailed out of the warehouse, thinking about Solstice's threat. He had no doubt that she would act on it if given a reason to. Walking up to the Shroud, he noticed that while everyone else had already boarded, Solstice and Equinox were standing nervously at the end of the ramp.
"Is something wrong?" Nero asked the two.
"This is the same thing they use to take us away," Equinox said quietly.
Solstice, ever the angry teenager, clenched her hands into tight fists. "I thought you said you have no affiliation with the Astronomy labs."
A flash of confusion came across Nero's face. "I do not, Solstice. I didn't lie."
"Then what is this?" Solstice snapped, pointing at the Shroud.
"A Shroud," Nero replied. "It's a stealth drop ship used by H.I.V.E."
Solstice glared at Nero, as if trying to determine the truth of his statements. "The Astronomy guards use this to transport us to the different labs. How would they have one?"
"I think the two of you are mistaken," Nero said. "Only G.L.O.V.E. members would have access to a Shroud."
Equinox twirled a strand of blue-green hair around her fingers. "Would Wade Jackson be able to get one?"
Wade Jackson, the head of North American operations and, unbeknownst to Nero, the main supporter of the Astronomy Project. Everyone working for the Astronomy Project was told it was a government funded project, when in reality; the truth was far from that.
Nero was about to reply when Raven appeared at the top of the ramp. "We have to leave now, Max."
"I'll explain on the way to H.I.V.E.," Nero said, walking up the ramp. Solstice and Equinox gave each other unsure looks before slowly following him.
Inside the Shroud, most of the Colonel's men were sitting down, talking idly, until Solstice and Equinox walked in behind Nero. Nero left to the flight deck to have a conversation with Raven. The silence was only interrupted by the quiet hum of the engines as the Shroud took off.
Solstice pulled her headphones on and turned up a rock song. Little bits of lyrics leaked out of her headphones.
I'm the deepest lie . . . darkest night that's . . . leaving you.
She sat down on the floor and leaned her head up against the walls of the Shroud. Equinox sat down next to her. They were looking at something on the screen and tapping at it every few seconds.
"These kids seem so harmless right now," the Colonel said to no one in particular.
A few mumbled replies came from the H.I.V.E. guards, and the ones nearest to the deathly duo scooted a little farther away.
Solstice slipped off her headphones. "Got something to say?" she said to the Colonel.
The Colonel sat up a bit straighter, not allowing himself to be scared by two little kids. "You're a dangerous pair. And I think bringing you to H.I.V.E. is a mistake. All you're going to do is cause trouble."
Solstice snickered. "A school full of miniature super villains in training and you're worried about two more. I think more is expected from you."
"You're not the average student at H.I.V.E.," the Colonel countered.
Equinox grabbed the iPod from Solstice and started furiously tapping at the screen. With a final keystroke, she chucked it at the Colonel.
He caught it effortlessly and turned it over a couple times. "Why did you throw it?"
"Three, two, one," Solstice said, holding up a hand with the corresponding number of fingers. The Colonel realized what was going to happen and threw the iPod to the other side of the Shroud. The iPod exploded. Little bits of glass and metal flew outward, striking the nearest guards.
The Colonel blinked a few times in surprise, his face slowly turning into a mask of anger. Just then, Nero came back.
"What happened?" Nero said calmly.
"I made Solstice's iPod explode," Equinox said, shoving her hands into her jacket.
Solstice reached into her scrub pants pocket and pulled out another iPod. "That's the third one this week," she mumbled, turning her music back on.
I'm not the same . . . hard to explain . . . I can barely believe it.
"Miss Equinox, you cannot cause such things to happen for no reason," Nero said, a hard edge in his voice.
"Or what?" Equinox said, staring back at Nero. "It's not like anything's going to happen."
"I say, we throw them over the Pacific Ocean," the Colonel said. "If they go the wrong way, it could be catastrophic for H.I.V.E."
"Power of flight over here," Solstice said sarcastically.
An explosion rocked the Shroud and Raven came down from the flight deck. "We're under attack!"
Hola, my readers! In case any of you are wondering, the songs used are Deepest Cut by Get Scared and E for Extinction by Thousand Foot Krutch.