Chapter 8: Belle, Tina: Voyage

The sun wasn't even up yet. Belle trailed along after Damien, and yawned. NOBODY got up this early.

One of the smaller buildings was being fitted out as a 'ship' and everyone was hurrying back and forth like ants, or talking earnestly in small groups. Now they were all wearing those silly dark grey costumes, some even increasing the gorfyness of it with long, black coats. Except Damien. His jumpsuit was white, with a sheen like silk, and he managed to make even that look cool.

Belle couldn't understand how Ian could be so preoccupied and involved with these people. They were awful, nothing like his friends from school. Ian was fussing over Doctor Hawksbee now, for some reason, leading her slowly into the cluttered building.

"Really, Mel, you don't have to come," Ian was saying, in that kind, gentle voice Belle hadn't heard him use since they had arrived.

"I'm not being left behind," Old Lady Hawksbee said shakily. "Not this time, not if I can help you. I'll be fine once we get there." She was pale and shaking, sweat dripping off her face. But she was still wearing the stupid costume.

"What's HER problem?" Belle said disdainfully to Damien.

Without even changing expression, Damien said, "Shut up" in a tone like ice.

He walked away, leaving her to stand in shocked humiliation.

Belle felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart with an icicle. It was Damien who had laughed at the others behind their backs with her. He had said far worse things about them than she ever did, and laughed at her insults. How could he speak to her like that, and in front of them all?

Now there was nobody she liked left on the island. Flo, the sneaky, snotty, brother-stealing bimbo, Kalie the immature, grungy, robot-obsessed super-nerd, Teo, the spineless, weedy marshmallow who geeked out over the computers from morning till night, and now Damien, the heartless, evil, two-faced JERK. Not to mention Hawksbee, who certainly was way too old not to have gotten a life by now.

Belle tossed her hair as if she didn't care a bit and walked in the opposite direction from Damien.

At this end of the building a thick, transparent wall separated a smaller room from the main building. In here were a few swivel chairs fixed to the floor, and what looked like flight controls of some sort. And, of course, a bank of futuristic-looking computers. You couldn't spit on this island without hitting a computer.

At least this part of the building wasn't jammed full of weird machines, deactivated robots, big metal crates and horrible people. Belle sat down in the central chair. When she prodded at some of the buttons on the chair arm, the steering column moved toward her, positioning itself in front of her. The wheel felt heavy and well-made, and not only turned, but could be moved up, down, and in any other direction.

These people took their toys seriously.

Belle touched another button. The floor vibrated, and a soft hum filled the building.

Then Ian and Damien charged through the door. With a snarl, Damien slapped a hand down on the button, and the hum died away.

"Belle, this is no place for you. Come on." Ian had never been so stern with her. Trying to hold back her tears, she let him firmly guide her back through the crowded storeroom and out the door once more, past the staring eyes of the other kids.

Once they were outside, Ian let go of her shoulder and she turned to face him. His expression was no longer the hard, cold Ian she had seen for the last few weeks. His eyes were so kind, and he smiled softly.

"Belle, I'm sorry. I know I haven't had much time for you, and the last few weeks must not have been any fun. But there's something I need to do now, and you can't help."

"But Ian—"

"There's a ferry going to the Mainland in two hours, Belle. I need you to be on it. Can you do that for me?"

Belle sighed and kicked her toe into the concrete pavement under her feet. There wasn't really much point of staying any more.

"I suppose," she said reluctantly. Flo and Kalie, who she could see over Ian's shoulder, did not high-five each other behind his back, but Belle was sure they wanted to.

Ian's smile widened, but his eyes were sad. "Thanks, Belle. I'll make it up to you if I can. You take care of yourself. Have a safe trip home, and tell Mom I love her. Both of you."

He hugged her, and turned to walk away.

As he did, a faded memory came back, a barely remembered scene from when she was three years old. Ian, dressed in black, walking away from her. Strange children in dark clothing surrounding him.

It was them. They had come back.

And they were stealing her brother away again.

In the cargo hold of Dumas's ship, Tina sat beside Mel and held her trembling hand. As the last of the equipment was brought aboard, Soreto and Tarlant directed the robots to distribute it around the outer walls of the hold, leaving as large an empty space in the center as possible. Still, the quarters were cramped. The ship must have been made for Dumas specially, scaled to his diminutive (by Greecian standards) physique. It would have been the size of a child's toy on Greecia.

The robots, spiderlike, somehow scrambled up the wall and fastened themselves to the ceiling.

"We'll be taking off soon," Dumas announced, walking to the cockpit. Agi, Seth and and Tarlant followed.

"Are you all right, Mel?" Soreto asked doubtfully. "Would you like to stay in the cockpit? You could at least see out."

"In THERE?" Mel said, with a slightly hysterical laugh. The cockpit was even smaller than the open cargo space.

"We'll stay here," said Tina. Even in the cockpit, there were not enough chairs or safety harnesses for the eight of them. The ship had been built for one.

Soreto nodded and moved to join the others. Dumas was giving them a quick demonstration of the ship's controls and emergency systems. When he mentioned the escape pods, Tina looked around the hold until she saw where the two rearward hatches were. The front ones she could see through the cockpit's transparent wall.

"Dumas will take the first flight shift," Agi said. "We'll switch pilots every hour. I expect we will be on automatic flight for most of the trip, but someone needs to be fresh and alert at the controls at all times."

"Just how long is it going to take to get there?" Tarlant asked. "Full speed, we ought to be able to get to Antarctica from the thermosphere in a couple of hours, even in a little nutshell like this."

"We no longer have the luxury of flying wherever we like," said Dumas. "The people of Earth have made some amazing advances in technology over the last year. My ship was detected on arrival, and I was forced to destroy six military fighter jets before I managed to evade their sensors and resume my course. To avoid sensor detection, we will be flying at subsonic speeds, just above the waves, and avoiding all landmasses and shipping lanes. If we have the misfortune to cross paths with a ship or low-flying plane, we will submerge and continue underwater, at an even more reduced speed. We may reach our mysterious Antarctic destination by evening, if all goes well, or it may take days. I hope nobody's in a hurry."

Tina felt Mel's hand clench.

The briefing broke up, and most of the crew returned to the cargo hold. Seth dropped onto the crate next to Tina. "So, you okay, Mel?" he asked.

"Never better," she said through clenched teeth.

Through the clear wall, Tina could see her brother Dumas strapping himself into the pilot seat, and Soreto buckling up in one of the other two chairs. Agi went to the outer door.

"I'm going to close the door, now," he said. "Ready?"

Mel nodded, but Tina heard her gasp slightly when the portal sealed itself shut. Dumas started the engines.

"Last chance, Mel," Agi said. "Are you all right?"

"I wish everybody would stop asking me that!"

Agi nodded and returned to strap himself into the remaining cockpit chair. The ship rose from the landing pad and moved forward. Through the clear wall, past the piloting controls, Tina could see that they were flying low over open sea.

She wondered what they would find in Antarctica. Soran, perhaps? However she wanted to be with him again, part of her hoped not. He had said he would find her. If she went looking for him, didn't that imply that she didn't trust him? That she doubted his strength and loyalty and dedication? When Soran found her, even if they were living new lives, and no longer knew themselves or each other: she wanted her soul to be able to say to his, "You found me. I knew you'd come."

Conversation died quickly among the five of them. They had all been on the same island for three weeks, had talked everything to death, and had no idea what lay ahead. Still, nobody seemed able to relax, and Tina wasn't surprised. Already exhausted, they had all worked themselves to the limit this week hoping against hope to discover the reason and solution to the Zone crisis. Their leader, Agi, seemed to be under great stress lately, which must affect the entire group. Soreto, too, seemed to be suffering under some terrible strain. Even Dumas was increasingly edgy. And right now, of course, Mel's barely suppressed panic was sending waves of tension through the room.

The voyagers settled into an uneasy silence.

I don't suppose anyone brought a deck of cards," said Tarlant at last.

Silence.

"I brought a book," said Hasmodai. "I could read aloud."

"It's not more Steinbeck, is it?" Tarlant asked suspiciously.

More silence.

"Say, Tina, you brought Helga's sketch pad, didn't you?" Seth said. "I'm sure we'd all love to have a look at your drawings!"

"My bag's buried way in the back. It's too much trouble."

"No trouble at all!" Eager as always either to please her or to have an excuse for action, Seth leaped up, squeezed through some of the large equipment blocks, scrambled over a stack of crates, and started groping through a heap of loose cargo. "I'll have it in a minute, I know it's right about-YAAAGH!"

A high-pitched scream rang through the cargo hold. "Let go of me! Ian, HELP!"

By the time Agi and Soreto had unbuckled and entered the cargo area, Seth had dragged a kicking and struggling Belle into the open by one ankle.

"We got a stowaway!" Seth announced.

"Let me GO!" Belle screamed again.

"Let her go," Agi ordered, and Seth dropped Belle's ankle. She jumped to her feet and gave Seth a shove.

"Belle!" Agi snapped. "What are you doing here?" His brow was creased with anger and consternation. Behind him, Soreto's face was an expressionless mask.

Poor Belle, Tina thought. She's so young for her age, and they're so old for theirs.

"I'm not letting them take you away again, Ian! I'm not!" Belle said. "I know what they're doing. They'll have to take me with you this time!"

"And what about Mother? What happens to her if we both vanish?"

Belle matched her brother's glare, and for a while the two of them stood, glowering at each other.

Agi's face softened first. "Well, you're here. It can't be helped."

"So, what's really going on? Is this a real spaceship? What planet are we going to?"

"Earth," said Agi. "It's a water planet with very stubborn inhabitants. Mel, do we have a spare body suit?"

"In the equipment locker. We brought one for Soran."

"Get it, Tarlant. Belle, you need to wear one of these-"

"Like that's going to happen. Can we say 'Fashion Disaster'?"

"Belle!" Agi was looking angry again. "It's still not too late to have Dumas take us back to Kuril Island and drop you off. You need to put this on NOW so we can start your training."

"My training?"

"Yes. You'll like it," Agi promised. "It's…it's like high-tech super-ninja fighting technique. We'll get you started as soon as you change."

Belle looked around. "Where am I supposed to change?"

"That door's the bathroom," said Agi, pointing.

"Or you could change in an escape pod," said Tarlant, "and hope nobody hits the eject button."

Belle stuck her tongue out at him and entered the bathroom. Agi turned. "Soreto, would you please teach Belle how to use the body suit and energy pack?"

"Me?" said Soreto in disbelief. Agi stared at her. "Agi, she doesn't want me to train her. She wants Big Brother Ian."

"She hasn't got to know the rest of you yet, and if she's going to be with us it's important she learns to trust you. This is a chance for you to earn her respect."

"It isn't going to work. I don't know if you've noticed, Agi, but your sister seems to have an unhealthy obsession-"

"Don't argue with me, Soreto!" Agi barked. "My piloting shift is about to start. Just take care of it!" He entered the cockpit, punching the door control with his fist so it slid shut behind him, leaving Soreto staring in fury at the closed door.

Tina put a hand on Soreto's shoulder. She felt Soreto's anger begin to subside. "It's okay," Tina said. "It will be all right."

"You think?"

Tina hoped.