"What happened to me?" Arissa slid into the dining area, pressing her hands against her head.

"Stanton," Zelia stated, chuckling as she jerked her chin in the direction of Stanton's place.

Arissa froze, a mortified expression springing on her face as she looked at Stanton's evil one. "What…what…did he do…to me?"

"I used a shock ray on you," he laughed. "Don't worry, I didn't ruin your pretty face."

She put a hand against her cheek and I thought I saw a hint of blushing on her cheeks. She must have not been used to compliments. I grinned as I glanced back at my food, sticking a spoonful of soup in my mouth. This ship was just becoming more and more interesting.

"How did you sleep?" Lydia eyed Arissa suspiciously, but I saw a glint of sympathy crossing her eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them became friends. Zelia wasn't really a friend to too many people.

"Fine, just fine. The only problem was nightmares, odd ones for that matter."

"Of what kind?" I blurted, instantly curious. Everyone stared at me in astonishment, and I only blinked in confusion. Where did that come from?

"I saw this guy. I have never seen him before, and it seemed like he was unknown to most of mankind. He had my little sister in his custody. He proposed to me, saying he would give me everything, including the world. I refused. I could see the darkness in his eyes. But when I did, he tortured me, almost killing me right in front of Tiffany."

I looked at everyone else at the table and saw Brady's mouth drop open a little. My mind raced, trying to search through for clues. Was it Arissa's dream that caught his attention? What could have made him react like this?

"Did you see exactly how this guy looked?" Charles asked, his attention more intense than Brady's.

"No, not really. I would know if I saw his face again probably," Arissa shrugged, clearly not getting the point.

The way Charles was studying Arissa's reaction and Brady's shocked face told me that they were both noticing the same thing. It scared me honestly, worrying me to a point that I stood up in the middle of dinner and asked to speak to Charles for a moment.

Charles followed me out of the room, calmly, and pushed his hands into his pockets, titling his head slightly so I could whisper into his ear easily.

"What was going through your head? I could tell you and Brady caught something, but I didn't get it," I spoke, urgency in my voice. I hated not knowing things.

Charles resembled Brady, more sophisticated than I have ever seen him. "Once Brady caught on, I put the pieces together. She was dreaming about someone that was willing to give her the world, was unknown to mankind, and had custody of her sister. Ring any bells now?"

I thought for a moment until it all circled into my brain. "It's this evil genius we are hunting after, isn't it?"

"Seems like it. I overheard Brady talking about that the Company thinks this guy, whoever he is, somehow was in charge of the murder of Arissa's mother."

I nodded. "That's understandable."

His lips curled into a smile. "I also heard Arissa had a little fling with one of her servants."

He left me speechless, stepping back into the dining area. I stood there, gaping at the plain wall before I realized what I was doing. I shook my head, ran my hand through my hair, and walked back inside.

Arissa gave me a small smile, but I sat down in my seat awkwardly, not replying. I could see her puzzled expression, but she put it away. My mind laughed. We both could hide our emotions.

"When are we getting to Base?" Lydia brought up the question that was lying in all of our minds.

"In another hour or so. Unfortunately, we'll hit some turbulence pretty soon. Let's finish up dinner and get to our rooms for that," Brady spoke, wiping his lips on the napkin before standing up to leave. "Tell Eliza thanks for the food."

We all nodded, eating off the rest of the food. Charles and I made contact and for some reason, we both snickered. Zelia glared at me, but I returned a gaze with a grin. She shook her head jokingly before bending her head to eat her food.

At their own time, everyone else left. I still sat there, staring at the table with thoughts running through my mind that I couldn't remember after. I heard footsteps ahead of me, and when I craned my head back up, I spotted Eliza standing in the doorway. She had her hair pulled back in a messy bun, her bright eyes giving me a kind look. I pulled myself out of my seat.

"I'm just here to get the dishes," Eliza explained, her small smile whipping a wide one onto me.

"Need any assistance?"

She laughed lightly. "No, that's fine. Brianna is helping in there. I think we're fine."

I nodded, listening the sound of my own boots hitting the metal floors as I walked out into the halls, heading down to my room. It only lasted for a minute until I felt the ship beginning to shake and tilt, the floor beneath me starting to turn sideways. I fell to the ground and was sliding down the floor like a slide. I kicked my feet, trying to find something to hold me in my place, but I never noticed how flat our floors were.

Shouts echoed throughout the entire ship, but I heard one particular scream above all else and thump quickly following. I knew it came from the kitchen, so I dug my fingertips against the floor, pressed my toes into it as well, and started pulling myself up the floor. My muscles strained drastically, I was close to collapsing, but I kept going.

The lights began to flicker on and off until everything finally went dark. I searched my coat until I found my goggles in my pocket. Throwing them over my eyes, I forced them to use the infrared cam. I knew I had to pass a couple of doors before I could find the kitchen. I did so, feeling the ship slowly moving back to its normal position. I continued to crawl toward the kitchen, breaking down the door when I did find it. I grabbed a hold of a table and got myself to my feet as the lights came back, so I took off my goggles. Eliza sat on the floor, leaning against the cabinets, holding onto Brianna. Her eyes were closed, and even though my breathing was already difficult, I became more worried.

"Is she alright?"

Eliza nodded. "Just bumped her head. I'll get her fixed up."

"Okay. If you need anything, give me a yell. I'm going to go check on the pilot."

"We have a pilot?" Eliza seemed surprised.

"Of course we do. We aren't that advanced in technology. I've never met or seen the pilot before, but I guess this is a good start. Let's hope he isn't crashing us," I huffed, rushing out of the room and tearing down the halls toward the front of the ship.

The door to the piloting area had a small symbol on the front of it. It looked something like a bird with an arrow through it, but I couldn't tell at that moment. I wasn't wasting my time with figuring out a picture.

Bursting through the door, I found the pilot in his seat. It was a dark room that was only brightened by the graphics on the window in front of him. I saw some kind of green lights making the shape of everything; telling how much gas we had, a map of our world, temperature, a satellite keeping track of anything nearby, and a contacting list. I didn't understand any of it, but I got the main idea. I ran toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yo, dude, can we try not to die?"

His face was darkened by a hood he wore over his head. I saw his smile though. "Yeah, sure thing. I'll try not to do anything drastic."

His Irish accent took me by surprise. Where have I heard his voice before? "Well what's going on?"

"We took a big hit of turbulence. It should be passing any second now. No worries, Zach."

It hit my brain instantly, almost knocking me to my feet. His accent, the way he spoke to me, and how he said my name. I growled, narrowing my eyes. "No fucking way!"

I grabbed onto the front of his shirt, knocking off his hood, and picked him up, slamming his back into the wall. There was fear now in his dark brown eyes, his fiery red hair messed up from his hood. Memories tried to flash in my mind when I looked into his face, but my brain screamed at them to go back. I wasn't in the mood to think of the past.

"Damn it Isaac! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I wanted a flying job. And that Captain guy offered me a job," his eyes were grinning, but his face said otherwise.

"Brady is an Admiral."

An eyebrow cocked. "Does that make you Captain?"

I whispered under my breath, but I allowed him to hear me. "Our Captain died last year."

"Ah. I'm sorry to hear that," his face was sympathetic. But I knew him too well.

"I thought you quitted flying," I snarled, throwing him to the ground.

He surely dressed the same when I watched him brush himself off. It was pretty much a tuxedo without the jacket and vest or tie. Plain white fancy shirt and slacks. Even those same shiny black shoes. "I did when you left. My father wanted me to become something like a lawyer. I laughed in his face. I don't think lawyers are as wanted as they were before The Alliances came along."

"The Alliances are dying. I'm pretty sure you know that."

He rubbed his hands together. "Of course I do. I'm not Irish for nothing."

I laughed. He had his old sense of humor, thinking his nationality had to do with everything. Let's just say, he could be pretty conceded in many things. "I don't think that has anything to do with it Isaac."

He leaned forward. "I beg to differ."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I visited Ireland last summer. Looks like this power hungry kid is getting control of them too."

"You've heard of the Illusionist?" Remembering what Brady said came in handy.

He nodded. "He was in Dublin when I went."

My eyes grew wide. "Did you see him? Did you happen to catch his name?"

Isaac interrupted me. "Zach, don't you think I would have told you already if I did? He was surrounded by soldiers."

"Soldiers?"

Isaac looked like he was questioning my intelligence. "He's close to controlling the world, Zach. He's taking each country as it comes."

"That's why we want to stop him," I stated, glaring.

"I understand that Zach. A lot of people want to stop him. But there are more people following him. He almost convinced me to join him," his voice trailed off as he pressed a button at his table of gadgets. I felt the ship steady itself, but it was still shaking.

"I thought you said you never saw him."

"I didn't. He spoke over the loud speakers. His voice sounds trustworthy, but I saw the darkness behind it before he convinced me."

I stared at him, ideas running through my mind. "So you would be able to recognize his voice?"

Isaac nodded, his red hair following his head. "More than yours."

"Then it looks like we'll keep you here."

He smiled, and I could see the mischievous nature hidden in it. I was use to seeing the thoughts behind it. "Of course you do, Zach. You needed me for everything, remember?"

I hissed under my breath before I reached for his throat and pushed him against the wall again. He clawed at my hands as I saw his face pale. "You swore to me that you would never speak of that again!"

He shook his head, his eyes starting to twitch. I finally realized that I had his life in my hands, though it didn't make me let go. I heard the door swing open and saw Brady storm in, wide eyed. I loosened my grip on Isaac and I felt his throat gasp for more breath.

"Who is controlling the ship?" Brady yelled and Isaac lifted a finger in the direction of his board. A single flashing light was there, indicating that it was on auto-pilot. But who knew how long that could keep us up in the air?

Brady pressed the button again, and the light went off. He took a hard grip on the handle bars that were used as a steering wheel. He tried easing it forward, but that ended up with the ship dropping around a hundred feet. Isaac took grabbed onto a door handle of a wardrobe next to me as we flew up. I ended up crashing my head against the ceiling. Let me tell you, that hurt like hell.

"Do you even know how to drive this?" Isaac called to him.

"Not a clue."

A beeping sound went off and I immediately panicked. "What is that?"

"We are getting close to Base. But too close."

Before I could question his answer, Brady made the signs disappear on the screen so we could see out the front window. We did in fact see the large building of Base rising higher and higher, as we fell toward the ground behind it. I heard screams come from every part of the ship as we went face forward into the bright green grass of Base grounds.

We all stepped out of the ship and walked toward Base, with dirt and soot covering our bodies and faces, some cuts and bruises here and there too. Charles was the most covered with black coal because he was down in the engine room. He's the mechanic, so I'm pretty sure that explains why he was down there in the first place.

General Dallas rushed over the grass with a few other Company's men toward us. I slipped on my gloves before they reached us, covering up the scar on the back of my hand.

"Did everyone survive?" General Dallas exploded, searching over all us, his eyes falling on Isaac, Eliza, and Brianna with curiosity. Oh yes, he hadn't met them yet.

"Yup, everyone is here," Charles replied, pointing a thumb to our ship. "She took it pretty hard though."

"I'll hire some men to have your ship fixed right away Admiral Brady," General Dallas said, shaking hands. His eyes fell onto each of us, but they froze on Arissa. He began to stutter. "Miss…Holden?"

Arissa broke into a wide smile. "Dallas! How are you and Joseph?"

"Wonderful," he shook his head in disbelief. I studied them both as they spoke. "Would you like for me to get him?"

"No that's fine. I'm sure he'll find me eventually."

Charles met my gaze, jerking his head toward Arissa. When I stared at Charles, not comprehending, his eyes told me to look up at the building. I did and saw a young man standing at one of the windows, gaping down at Arissa. Then I put the pieces together. One of her admirers.

"Very well. Now, Admiral Brady, are you planning on staying here until your ship is repaired?"

"If that's fine with you?" Brady's back was straightened and his face was hard. He was always so formal with these men, even when they told him not to be.

"Of course it is, Colton," General Dallas smiled.

Arissa cringed for a moment. "I thought he was Brady," she whispered in my ear.

I leaned closer to her, speaking low. "His full name is Colton Brady. We just call him by his last name. He always hated his first name for a reason none of us had found out."

Arissa leaned away from me, nodding her head as a response that she got what she was wondering about. Our eyes went back to General Dallas and Brady.

"Well, I'll give you a room to yourself, Admiral. Four other rooms for your crew to bunk together, and a separate room for Miss Holden."

Arissa bowed her head. "Thank you General."

General Dallas did the same to all of us and spun around on his heels, reentering the Base building. I glanced up at it, remembering the history of this place. It used to be an old university back when America became a country, and it was used as a mental hospital after that. When the Base took out those people, they placed them as personal assassins. We have never had problems with assassins since then, they are trained directly and are not allowed to do anything else. It always seems to work, from what I hear.

"Listen here," Brady said, turning to us. "Charles and Stanton, you take one of rooms. Zelia and Lydia in another. And the two sisters can stay together of course." His eyes landed on me, and then the crazy Irishman next to me. "Zach and Isaac take the last one."

I glowered and Isaac laughed. We both knew how this was going to end. Let's just say, last time Isaac and I had to share a room, we were twelve, and I almost murdered him. Not literally. Though, me choking him earlier could have killed him.

As we headed toward the big double doors of Base, I took another look up at the window where the young man was. He was still there, watching us. But as I squinted to get a closer look, I saw another man standing behind him, a bright grin floating on his darkened face.