"Has she awoken yet?"
There was that voice again! She strained to be able to hear better, to push aside that awful buzzing in her brain and focus on that familiar voice. She waited for it to speak again, waited to feel that surge of hope fill her again. Surely if she could hear the voice enough, if it spoke loud enough for her to hear it properly, she would have the strength to wake up and not have to endure this endless pain any longer.
"O-off and on, s-sir, but n-not for long periods of time."
No, that wasn't it. The loud thrumming in her head got louder, a metallic whirring sound, and she wished it would quiet down. She needed that voice! It would help her wake up again! Now, where was it?
"You remember the deadline I gave you?"
There! Yes, that was it!
"Y-yes, of course, sir."
"I expect it-"
The whirring sound got louder, too loud for her to hear anything over it, and there was a sudden flash of extreme pain radiating from her arm, shooting across her back, up her neck, straight into her brain. She wanted to scream with how horrific it was, wanted to lash out and make whatever was causing her to hurt stop. She felt those tears again, those tears that crept out her closed eyes and burned their way down her face, and she wished it would all just stop. Where was the voice? Where was that anchor that would bring her back? She wanted – no, she needed it back.
The sound stopped and, the pain dulled considerably, but the tears still came. This time, though, they weren't for the physical pain she felt, and when she fell back into unconsciousness, it was that voice she heard.
---------------
"Alice. Why would they think Alice was here?" Cortes held his chin thoughtfully between thumb and forefinger, brows furrowed in thought. "Wasn't she sent to the other side of Skyland for some reason?"
"Yeah, I thought so. I mean, that's where she's been sending her messages from, right?" Lena asked, glancing over at the group of people surrounding Vector's laptop on the desk. Cheng sat in the chair, typing away a message to send to Alice with Vector standing beside him and reading over his shoulder; Mahad stood behind the chair, leaning one arm on it and offering suggestions; Cortes tapped his fingers on the edge of the desk inches from the laptop, while Dahlia leaned against the wall behind the desk, arms crossed.
"Is there any way she could have scrambled her signal?" he asked to no one in particular. "Maybe she changed locations and didn't tell us. Or the Sphere."
"What if she's sending messages to the Sphere and masking the signal so it looks like it's coming from here?" Dahlia suggested with a quick look at Cortes.
"No way!" Lena exclaimed, jumping up from her seat on the floor. "She's not a traitor, she wouldn't sell us out like that!"
"No one said anything about a traitor," Cortes cut in, trying to sound consoling but coming off as more irritated. "But we have to think of all the possibilities. And if there is a possibility that Alice is sending our coordinates to the Sphere, we need to consider it."
"The message is almost ready to send," Cheng said, interrupting whatever argument might have taken place. "Anything else we need to add?" He looked around at everyone in turn, each of them shaking their heads. "Then that's it. All we can do now is wait for her to answer."
"Until then-"
"Captain!" Wayan's voice sounded in the room, radiating from the walkie-talkie on Cortes' belt. "A water carrier is passing just outside the perimeter sensors of Puerto Angel."
The captain pulled it off his belt and held it to his mouth. "Unguarded?"
"With the state our water supply is soon going to be in, does it really matter?"
He scoffed disbelievingly into the speaker. "You're right. We'll be right there." An audible click followed his words and he replaced the walkie-talkie, turning to look at everyone in the room. "Dahlia, go meet Wayan in the ship." He waited until Dahlia had nodded and left the room before continuing. "Mahad, Lena, we'll need as much back-up as possible. We need to be prepared for anything that might meet us on that ship. Cheng." He motioned for the boy to follow him.
Lena tried to conceal her excitement as she walked with the rest of the group out of the small house they'd crammed themselves in and towards the docking bay where the St. Nazaire waited. Ever since her battle with Oslo so many months ago, things had quieted down with the resistance. Water-retrieving missions were scarce since carriers were almost never seen anymore – no one could figure out how they were transporting the water, just that it kept getting from one place to the next with almost no carriers they could find – and Cortes and the rest of the resistance leaders wanted to try to organize a plan with what Guardians were on their side before trying to bring the Sphere down completely. It had been a long, long time since she'd been out for more than just a pleasure ride. Somewhere deep inside, she kind of wished there would be something to destroy on the ship just so she would have a chance to really use her powers again.
To her left, she heard Mahad muttering something along the same lines. She smiled to herself – she and her brother really were a lot alike at times. She reached over and nudged him in the arm, smiling happily to show how excited she was. He grinned back, silently pulling out his boomerang and pretending to throw it as though he were engaged in an intense battle. Lena covered her mouth and stifled her laughter so they wouldn't draw attention to themselves.
"Mahad, Lena, where are you going?"
Both of them turned at the familiar sound of their mother's voice, each ready to explain what was happening, where they were going, and what adventures they hoped to finally be going on again, but neither of them managed a word before Cortes started answering for them.
"There's a water carrier just outside the perimeter. If we can get to it quickly-"
"And judging by my children going with you, it's not exactly going to be a smooth ride, am I right?" She put her hands on her hips, and Lena was afraid her mother was going to turn the glare on them. Again, she was ready to jump in and say something, but the glare was never turned her way. It remained fixed on the auburn-haired captain leading them.
"We don't know yet, they're coming along just in case." It was possible he was trying to sound comforting, but his voice had the same tone he had taken with Lena earlier – irritated.
"And you think it's okay to just take my children with you without asking me?"
"Mila, your children are-"
"They are exactly that – my children, and I would very much like if I was informed when they were going to be running around on dangerous-"
"Potentially dangerous, Mila, and your children have proven themselves in much more difficult situations in the past! You shouldn't doubt them."
"I don't doubt them, captain, I know what they're capable of! But as their mother, I should be-"
"Mila, we don't have the time for this. We'll talk when we get back." Without another word, he turned his back on her and continued walking towards the docking bay, motioning for Mahad, Lena, and Cheng to keep following. Lena pointedly avoided her mother's gaze, doing her best to hide behind Mahad as they passed by her. She thought she heard her brother say something like, "Sorry, mom," but it was so low, she couldn't be sure.
They all relaxed once they were out of her sight, Cortes sighing and running one hand over his face, while Mahad, Lena, and Cheng raced each other to the ship. "I was so afraid mom was going to be mad at us," Lena said, hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath just inside the hatch.
"No way," Mahad replied, equally out of breath. "Besides, you know mom would never pass up a chance to try to show up Cortes."
"And if I didn't always find a way to leave halfway through," Cortes said as he boarded the ship after them, his voice still noticeably irate, "your mother would probably win every time. Now come on, we don't have any more time to mess around. Wayan, Dahlia, get us going!"
Lena heard two voices call, "Captain," from the front of the ship, and moments later the ship lurched into motion, nearly knocking her knees out from under her. "Mom really knows how to make him mad, huh?" she asked, following her brother to the back, past Cheng's spot at the navigation screen, until they reached the windows.
"Ah, he's just not used to having a woman around who takes charge. It's been just him for so long, he probably feels threatened." He nodded knowingly, stuffing one hand in his pocket.
"Mahad…if…" She didn't directly meet her brother's gaze, choosing instead to look out the window and pick at her fingernails. "If the Sphere already knows where we are, why would it matter so much if Alice is masking her signal to make it look like it's coming from Puerto Angel? I mean, they've known for a while where we are, but they don't bother us. Or…they didn't."
"I don't think it's that the Sphere will find out where we are, so much as it looks like we're hiding their people from them. If Alice is really sending signals to make it look like she's with us, it probably looks like we kidnapped her or something." He put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Don't worry, little sister. We'll figure everything out."
"Okay. I just…I just don't want to believe that Alice would have been lying to us all this time. I…we trusted her." She bit her lower lip, trying not to think about the possible consequences of allowing Alice to live. She knew she always trusted people too easily and that it might eventually get them into trouble, but she had been so sure that Alice was on their side. It hurt to think that she might have been wrong in her judgment.
"Don't worry. Your instincts have never been wrong before. If you say she's on our side, then I believe you." He squeezed her shoulder lightly before letting his hand fall to his side.
They both fell silent, and Lena allowed her attention to wander, idly watching the clouds rush past the windows. It had been a long time since she'd felt this nervous about the Sphere, but not because of the reasons everyone else thought. Of course she was afraid the rebel base would be found and they would all be hauled to prison, but she had also never told anyone what she'd done – or hadn't done, as it were – and she was terrified what everyone would think of her if they found out. No, when they found out. For a while there, with the sudden decrease in water carriers and patrol ships, she kidded herself that the Sphere had given up looking for her and her mother. She allowed herself to believe they were safe. But now…
She sighed softly and placed one hand on the glass. She knew it was wrong not to tell them, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle the looks on their faces. Of course, she didn't know if she'd be able to handle it if they found out on their own. Surely it would be better to find out from her rather than by word-of-mouth, right?
Another sigh. Thought trains like these had a tendency of getting her depressed, and she didn't like it. She also hated that her brother and mom had noticed her sudden bouts of depression. It wasn't that she didn't like their attention or that she wanted to shut them out from her emotions, but she didn't like making them worry, and when she would close herself up in her room for days at a time, ignoring their knocking and calling and questions of what was wrong, she knew that's all she was doing was making them worry. If only she could fess up…if only she could tell them…
Hot tears burned behind her eyelids as they often did when she started thinking like this, but she did her best to blink them away. This was no time to let her emotions get her down – she hadn't been able to go out on a mission like this in so long! She was excited for the possibilities of huge battles and dozens of brigs to fight off, not depressed! At least, she hoped there was a huge fight, if for no other reason than to get everything off her chest – her anger at herself, her depression, her irritation. Maybe a good fight, a chance to use her powers, to destroy something, would help her feel relieved, relaxed, not so stressed. She took in a long breath and slowly let it out, forcing her lips to turn up into a smile. There, better already.
She turned to look at Mahad, about to say something to him, when she saw him looking at her with an expression that almost seemed sad. "Lena," he said quietly, looking to the side then down, "is…is everything alr-"
"Mahad, Lena, we're almost there." Cortes' voice drifted back to them, and with barely a glance to her brother, she left his side, almost forgetting to be excited. That look he had broke her heart more than she thought it could. The concern written across his features, only there because of her, made her heart ache. "Can you sense anything, Lena? Can you tell if there's anything or anyone on board that might be threatening?"
I kind of hope so, she thought, but didn't voice it aloud. She knew Cortes was looking to get in and out with as little trouble as possible, especially with her mom to deal with when they got back – he wouldn't want to hear her hoping for some kind of fight. "Let me see." She looked straight ahead, out the front windows of the ship, and closed her eyes, focusing her energy, reaching out with all her senses, past Cortes, past Dahlia and Wayan, beyond the walls of the St. Nazaire, into the water carrier, searching for some kind of presence. It didn't take a lot of searching, though – a powerful presence was on board the ship, and pinpointing the location was beyond easy. Before she pulled back, though, she continued focusing on the presence. It was strong, but whatever it was, it would be easy to defeat. She'd definitely faced harder before.
"Lena?"
Her eyes opened sharply, drawing completely back into her body. "Oh! Um. I…I could sense something, but I couldn't really tell what it was." She shrugged apologetically and tried not to think too much about how guilty not telling the whole truth made her feel. It was another of those character flaws she'd recently taken to acquiring that she was ashamed of.
"Well," Cortes sighed, gripping the wheel tighter, "it's not like we really have much of a choice. Wayan, stay here and watch the ship. Dahlia, Mahad, Lena, go get the mosquitoes prepared. I'll meet you down there."
Lena thought she heard him mutter something along the lines of wishing he'd brought more people to help, but she was ushered along by Dahlia down to the lower hatch with Mahad. They readied three of the small ships – Lena still wasn't allowed to pilot her own and had to ride with her brother – and waited for the captain to join them, which didn't take long. It was mere moments after they'd gotten settled in that he came down the stairs, mumbling irately to himself.
"Alright, let's just go and get this done as quick as possible. Ah, this was so much easier when you two could do things on your own." He shook his head and closed the top of his mosquito before either of them could say anything in their mother's defense, though it was possible they might not have. They loved their mother with every ounce of their beings, but they could also remember what it was like when they could do pretty much whatever they wanted. They would never want things to be the way they were, but that didn't stop them from remembering the freedom they'd had.