Visions

By Starseeker

Part 4

Gee, is this story getting somewhere? Are you anxious for it to stop going so slow? Well, things get a little more interesting from here. A lot of stuff starts happening, and a lot of time's going to pass, too. Also, some parts after this one may become a little more...graphic. Nothing terribly awful, though. So enjoy the story, and e-mail comments to Starseeker__1@hotmail.com!

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In the previous part:

After the encounter with the Controllers, Trei takes Alyssa to the base he talked about, for the organization known as Stryfer. There she meets Professor Idia, who's in charge of the facility. She's shown to where she'll be staying after being told that she'll start training to be an official soldier there.

But before Alyssa can be comfortable, she says that she needs some clothes from her home. So she leaves the Stryfer headquarters and sneaks in to her house, packing a few things that she'll need. Then Alyssa thinks of her mother and writes a note explaining that she was gone, against Professor Idia's orders.

And now she starts her training.

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"This may be very intense for some of you, be warned. If you're not able to deal with it, then you'll go to another area. We're focusing on emotions here, the ability to be impartial to friends or family. You may find yourself fighting against them. I won't lie to you about that. And no one will be there to push you forward." I sighed. Professor Idia had already given me that speech.

We were in a small, dark room. There were six of us in all, Trei and me being two of them. They all seemed so confident here, like they had been through this before. I felt so small compared to them.

"Great time to be having doubts," I thought, mocking myself with the words. But doubt or none, training was about to begin. I just hoped that I was ready.

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It had been a while since I had seen the sky. Since I had seen anything other than white walls and familiar faces. I think that the seclusion from the world was getting to me.

We had been in training for about two months. It wasn't very easy. Professor Idia had warned me that it wouldn't be easy, I should have listened to her.

"We're in the midst of a war. Two races...battling for the right to control Earth. If the Yeerks win, they will destroy the planet," Professor Idia was saying. I shook my head and stood.

"We're as much a threat to Earth as the Yeerks are," I said. Professor Idia gave me a questioning look. Trei hissed at me to sit down and shut my mouth. But I just had to keep going. "We're an environmental problem, just like they are. If they win, they'll destroy our planet and move on to the next, overthrowing the beings there and killing that planet as well. Isn't that what we're doing now?"

"What do you mean?" Professor Idia asked.

"Humans took the Earth from the animals. And we're killing it. And after this planet's dead, we'll find some way to go to another that we can live on. The only difference is that we won't control other people, like the Yeerks do. We'll kill them." Everyone was silent. I looked around, cleared my throat nervously, and sat back down.

We soon left for our lunch hour. I was walking out of the room when professor Idia grabbed my arm.

"Alyssa," she said. I looked calmly at her. "I don't appreciate outbursts like that." I swallowed hard, trying to keep my face emotionless.

"I was just-" I stopped when she slapped me on the cheek.

"Keep your opinions to yourself," she hissed. It was part of the Professor that I hadn't seen before. I stood up straight and glared at her.

"Yes ma'am," I growled, looking at the floor. She lifted my chin, and I thought I saw a smile on her face.

"You're doing well," she said. "Better than I thought when you first came here." I was silent as she spoke. "I think you're ready to go on a mission." I blinked. "I'll talk to you about it later." I nodded and walked out of the room.

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"What'd she say to you?" Trei asked.

"Not much. Something about a mission," I told him, shrugging casually. He nodded.

"She tell you what you'll be doing?"

"Not yet."

"You'll probably be coming with me," he muttered. I looked up from my food.

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

"She talked to me a few days ago about something...some kind of assignment. She said that I'd need the help of another person. I bet she meant you."

"Maybe," I agreed. "So what're you going to do on this...ah, assignment?"

"Nothing major. We'll just be destroying a small base near there."

"Oh, is that it? Are you sure? Maybe she wants us to kidnap the President while we're there?" I asked sarcastically. Trei didn't say anything, but there was a trace of a grin on his face. Maybe while I was becoming more like a soldier, I could give him some humor lessons.

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"Professor Idia!" I ran up to her as she walked down the hallway. She turned around.

"Hello Alyssa. Is there something I can help you with?"

"You were going to talk to me about this assignment...?" I asked slowly. She didn't say anything right away. Then she nodded.

"I remember! You're doing very well in your training, Alyssa. I want to let you go with Trei on his next mission. He's leaving to-" she began, but I cut her off.

"Destroy a base, I know. So you're letting me go with him?" She nodded.

"Yeah. You sure you can handle it? This is pretty big for a beginning soldier."

"I guess I can. We'll just have to see," I told her, smiling. She laughed.

"You're a lot like I remember you."

"Thanks...I think," I replied. "I've got to go now."

"Okay. You're dismissed, soldier." She turned around and continued walking again. I went back to my room.

"This is weird," I thought. "Why am I getting so excited about being called a soldier? Why do I really care so much about going on a mission? ....I guess I've changed more than I thought."

There was a knock on the door.

"It's open," I said. The handle slowly turned and the door pushed open. Trei peeked his head inside my room.

"Did Professor Idia brief you on the mission yet?" I nodded.

"Just a little while ago," I replied.

"We're leaving in two days. So we need some extra training, and I guess we'll need to pack some stuff too. I'd get started as soon as I can. Never know how long we'll be gone." I leaned on my bed frame.

"Okay. I'll be ready."

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Two days later, I was ready to go. Trei and I were talking with Professor Idia for any last minute details.

"I wouldn't recommend making many friends. You'll eventually have to leave anyways," she told me.

"No emotional attachments. Right. Got it." I repeated.

"You're already transferred into the closest school. A private school. So you'll be wearing uniforms," she further explained. "This should be a pretty easy mission, considering what I've given you. And the information, too."

"So we're ready to go now?" I asked.

"Yes. Have a good flight."

Twenty minutes later, we were on a plane and heading for our new school. The fight would only be about an hour and a half long. That's how late we'd be for our classes. I leaned back and tried to get a little rest.

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"Remember: we're brother and sister. You're Errin and I'm Tim. Don't get close to anyone. We don't know how long we'll be here. Only as long as it takes to destroy the base. It could take days, or weeks, maybe even longer. That's doubtful, though. Just-"

"I know," I interrupted. "Keep a low profile. Can I just ask one thing?" Trei looked at me. "Why do we have to wear these stupid uniforms?" I looked down at my burgundy pleated skirt and jacket, over a plain white shirt. I hated it.

"This is what we have to do." I nodded and walked away from the dorm houses, into the large, old main hall. The soles of my shoes made a hard clicking noise on the tiled floor. The echo carried through the hallway. I looked at a small piece of paper in my hand, a homeroom assignment. Professor Idia made sure that Trei and I were both in the same class.

"112. I guess it's this way," I said, pointing to the left side of the hall.

"We just transferred from another school out of state. Far away. No details," Trei reminded me.

"Right, I got it." I stood outside the door of the class. Nodding to Trei, I took a deep breath and opened the door. The teacher, a man who appeared to be in his mid-ourties, looked at us.

"You must be the new students." I looked at the large class. There must have at least been thirty-five people there. "Class, these students just transferred into our school. I'll let you introduce yourselves."

"I'm Errin. Nice to meet you all," I said somberly.

"My name's Tim. It's a pleasure."

"Okay. Errin, you can sit in that empty seat beside Tonya. Tim, why don't you sit at this desk?" Trei looked at his seat, second row from the front. I looked around for this Tonya girl, finding her motioning for me to sit beside her. She looked a little like me, but her hair was red. I walked to my new seat and sat down.

"Hi," Tonya said cheerfully. "This school's pretty big. Do you think you need someone to show you to your classes?" she asked.

"I'm sure I can manage on my own, thanks," I replied.

"Oh. Okay then." And class started.

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"Hi." I turned around. A rather tall guy stood there. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He was kind of good-looking too, I guess.

"Don't get attached to anyone," I reminded myself.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"So...you like the school so far?" he asked.

"It's okay," I replied. He nodded.

"My name's Brad. I hear yours is Errin."

"Yeah."

"So why'd you decide to come here?" he asked casually. I looked at him for a minute, then started walking.

"Got to go," I called over my shoulder. The bell rang and students poured into the hallways. I was sure that the guy didn't see me any more.

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I paced in my room, looking at the clock every few minutes. It was getting close to midnight. Finally, the numbers turned and it said 12:00. I opened the window in my empty room and climbed out of it. I seemed to be going through windows a lot lately.

Without even reaching the gutter, I remembered that my bag was still inside. Trei had most of the weapons that Professor Idia had given us, but I kept some of them hidden in my room. I felt strange carrying them.

Carefully I climbed down the gutter, running to the far side of the courtyard to meet Trei. He was waiting for me.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded.

"As I'll ever be," I said.

"Then let's go."

We headed for the base. Trei claimed that he knew where it was, and that he had a map so we could find it. I hoped he was right.

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It was about forty minutes of walking before we got there. I looked around, seeing only one building near us. It was a big, old factory.

"So this is the base, huh? What do they do here?" I asked.

"It's a training facility," Trei answered.

"It's not as big as I thought it would be."

"Good thing too, because they would have triple the security," he told me.

"So...we just go in?"

"Not through the main doors. But there's got to be a way to sneak in. There usually is," Trei answered. He walked silently to the side of the building. There were two garage doors, both closed, and some guards posted beside them.

A truck rolled towards the doors, the weight of it making the gravel underneath crunch. One of the garage doors slowly opened, and it closed after the truck was inside.

"Trei?" I looked at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I think we have a way in."

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To be continued...