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Chapter 5

Rita wiped the kid's memory of the entire incident. That's how it was at The Center. Take what you want, eliminate the rest, cover your tracks. I was so naíve. They left me alone on the trip back, voluntarily this time. Ray was still there, in the second to the last seat, turned sideways, watching me. I wasn't curled up in a fetal ball this time; there was no need. I just sat there, my head against the window, the lights low, so people could sleep. As if they could rest comfortably, after knowing what I could do.

James kept his mouth shut, only reporting to the old man, but they knew. The light show had to be fantastic. Who could have missed it after the windows were blown out? Ray had his telescopic lens, James along with the goon was front and center, Max had to have been able to see from a back window somewhere. He had to know when to send those jets of water onto the neighboring houses to keep them from going up in the conflagration that resulted afterward. Heather… well Heather controlled the lights. She had to be aware of the light-show that I lit up inside the house, and Rita--she would have had to see the memories to remove them, right? There would be no secrets from the students of The Center for long.

The only thing that was playing through my mind was how much time would it take for them to realize that I was too dangerous and turn on me? Would they send one of the others to kill me in my sleep? Would it be Ray they sent?

I looked over at him, sitting there, watching my every move. Being a spy wasn't as glamorous as it seemed anymore. James Bond was a tool, not in the 'screwdriver' sense, but in the 'lame-B.S.' sense. There was no glamor. There was power, death, and paranoia. Everything else was window dressing and times in between.

Maybe I shouldn't have looked at him. He got up and came over to sit beside me. So much for privacy.

"You don't have to talk. Just let me say my piece and I'll go back."

I didn't bother saying anything, and just lay my head on the window again.

"It was something like that my first time. In October there was a pair of twins that were due to transition. Tony is a Clairvoyant, but he is nowhere as good as Dani is a Pre-Cog. All he could see was that there was trouble with the twins, nothing specific."

I didn't know who Tony was. Maybe one of the guys that I hadn't met yet.

"On the trip out to New York City is when I learned how to use the rifle. A video file of a guy shooting a man sized target. Taking it apart, putting it back together, show me how to adjust for wind, distance, heat variances and visual distortions. I had it down pat."

We began our descent. I knew this because I could see lights on the ground below, they were still tiny, but I could see them.

"I took up position in the high rise across the street from the apartment they were in. All I was supposed to do was cover James. If he was in danger then I'd lay down fire to clear him, so he could get out." He paused and then started back up again. "I had both the twins in my sights. They were wearing matching white Polos and jean shorts. The window was one of those plate glass ones that cover like three times the space of normal windows. I heard James on the Com saying one of the kids had gone bad, like irredeemably bad. He was planning on killing his brother when he got the first chance, because they both had power and he was tired of being compared to him. Something that stupid…"

The pilot's voice came over the intercom. "We are beginning our descent, strap in and secure loose items."

"Rita's job was to go in and wipe the bad kid's mind. We'd take them, separate them and see if we couldn't fix the evil twin. Well things didn't go as planned. Heather did her thing, and I had to go to infrared. I still had everyone pegged down, no problem. The uniforms we have disperse our body heat differently and the parents weren't home.

"Turns out the kids were Pyrokinetics--fire.

"I had marked the twin on the east side of the room as number one and the other as number two. The evil twin was number two. The fire he shot at Rita killed the infrared as the whole room lit up in my scope."

I heard him swallow. "By the time I had switched back to a normal lens all I could hear was Rita screaming to take him out, number two. If I didn't then James and her were dead. The twins had moved, and I had no way of telling who was who. Rita wouldn't quit screaming, so they couldn't hear me asking which one was number two."

I turned to Ray at that moment. He wasn't looking at me and tears were streaming down his face.

"I had no choice. It was either take a chance or lose both of my friends." He sniffed and wiped at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "What you did tonight was justice, Kris. It was dirty and horrible, but it was justice. What I did was chance. I flipped a coin and lost."

I moved up the seat arm separating us and pulled Ray to my chest. Rocking him through his silent tears didn't help me. I was still too numb from what I did earlier to even shed a tear for him, but I tried to comfort him all the same.

It was almost four in the morning by the time we made it back to The Center. I still wasn't tired, and the old man excused the lot of us from classes and exams for Friday. We'd have to make it up on Sunday. He wasn't the most likable guy around at the moment.

I just grabbed my clothes and went up to the room. I hoped that Dani and Christopher would have taken it upon themselves to go ahead and move my things into the next room, but upon seeing my name plate still under Dani's, well, I was out of luck apparently.

Instead of trying to get some sleep which I knew would never come I set my shoes by the door and went to drop off the clothes in the laundry chute in the bathroom. I'd saved my cell and dropped it in one of the four hundred pockets located in the commando pants I was still wearing.

The only way I knew I would be able to sleep was if I was tired enough, so I went to the workout room and closed the door. The smell of fresh paint was fading but still apparent. The boots came off and I climbed aboard one of the stationary bikes. Ten minutes into a warm up I shed the outer shirt to the floor along with the web belt. Another ten minutes and I had removed the hair restraint handkerchief thingie, and rolled it up to use as a sweatband and to keep my sweaty hair out of my face.

The universal weight machine was still there and unharmed by my powers from earlier, so I did ten reps/three apiece around the machine. It totaled ten different styles. By the end I was still wide awake, but sufficiently sore and it was six-thirty. Enough time to shower and grab some breakfast, hopefully alone. I made it down to wardrobe and grabbed an outfit on the way to the showers. I really didn't want to stop by the room and wake Dani up, not to mention the interrogation I could avoid at the same time.

The shower made the aches from the workout go away, for then at least. Luckily the old man made it an off day for us. I wore a yoga outfit and tennis shoes. I just wasn't in the mood for anything else. Breakfast was comforting. I did eat a little more than normal, the excess use of my powers was evident, but not outrageous like the previous night. The girl's attempted murder boost was more than enough to counterbalance the loss that I had taken.

At seven-twenty I tossed my tray and disappeared down a different hallway that I knew everyone else didn't use. I did hear Dani's voice as she was talking to someone, so I knew the coast was clear in the room. Within a few minutes I noted my shoes were missing and I opened the door. Coast was clear. Dani was nice enough to set my boots inside on my desk.

I got to work moving my clothes to the next room over. I really didn't have that much to move. I hadn't gone whole hog at the wardrobe room, only taking enough to make it through until Sunday when Dani and I planned on going down and through the contents to find me some regular things. Two drawers of my dresser held socks, stockings, bras, and panties. I had three outfits that were hanging in the closet and four pairs of shoes. The desk held nothing of note, and I double checked to make sure I had signed out at the computer before heading to my bed to strip the sheets. It was the last thing to do. Imagine my surprise to find someone there waiting for me.

"Meow."

It couldn't be. It was. The Calico cat that had followed me home! "How in the world?"

I reached up and she let me pick her up and snuggle into my arms. The markings and colors were all where they were supposed to be. It was the same cat. "What are you doing here precious?" I rubbed my face in the fur of her neck. She had been cleaned recently and from the look of the collar around her neck she'd been to a vet. There was a vaccination tag hanging from the clip along with a identification tag as well, stating: Property of Kristyn Keys. If found call…

It was my cell number at The Center.

Pulling her back I looked at her green eyes. "Did you follow me here or did they bring you along when they took me?"

She didn't answer. Obviously. But she did lick her nose for me. Pulling her back under my neck, I ran my hand along her back. "It doesn’t matter. You're here now, and I need a friend that can't ask me any questions. You'll do quite nicely." Tilting her back so I could see her eyes again I asked, "Ready to go see our new digs?"

She blinked at me, so I set her down by my feet and leaned over to strip my bed. "Come on girl… We need to figure out a name for you."

After checking once more to make sure the coast was clear I slipped my nameplate out of its holder and went about ten feet down the hall to slide it into its new home.

"Here we are Miss Kitty..." I frowned. Too Cat Woman. I opened the door to let her in and she rushed ahead. "How about Cali since you're a Calico?" She looked back at me and then proceeded to explore the room. "No, huh?" When she reached the desk, she reared back and jumped up top. It was a little dusty and her sniffing didn't do anything nice to her nose. She looked up at me. "Meow." And then she sneezed really weird. "Okay, Miss Bonsai it is." She tongued her nose again. I think she approved.

I didn't have the energy to dust or to do much beyond making my bed and kicking off my shoes and clothes. I pulled the blinds closed and locked the door before climbing onto the bottom bunk and pulling the covers up. Miss Bonsai jumped up on the bed and snuggled near my chest as I smoothed her fur. The last thing I remember was the sound of contentment in the form of purring.

Miss Bonsai watched me from the unmade top bunk as I prepared for the rest of the day. Regardless of how much I needed sleep, I woke up shortly after lunch and couldn't get myself to escape into dreamland anymore. As I was doing my makeup, or the basics anyway, I still haven't gotten the hang of that yet, and without practice I never will, I pondered Miss Bonsai. She wasn't a full grown cat as of yet, but she wasn't a kitten either. Only being, maybe, eight to ten inches long from nose to rump, she probably had another few months of growth before she'd be an annoying bunch of fur that liked to sit on my chest during the night.

Every once in a while I'd see her through the mirror cleaning her whiskers or watching me. She was always watching me. But, what else do cats really do, and I am quite interesting. I can see how she would be attracted to me.

Since I really didn't have many other clothes I went ahead and chose the school girl outfit with the three inch heeled boots. Attaching my cell holster to my skirt I made for the door. "You staying here or you want to go with?"

She raced down the bunk stairs and petted herself along my ankles. When I opened my door Rita was just entering her room directly across from me. She came to a stop and nodded a greeting. You know the kind. 'Hello, but don't talk to me.' I returned it with 'Fine I didn't want to talk to you anyway,' face.

My cell went off right when I closed my door. I swear, I didn't know how she knew I was up and about, but Shanahan sent me a text saying she wanted to talk to me ASAP. Probably bugging me like Ray did, yesterday. Why should I expect anything different?

Miss Bonsai ran ahead of me and inspected all the relevant corners and sniffed at a few doors before she led me to the main office. How she knew we were going there, I have no idea. Apparently everything and everybody knew more than I did. Before I opened the door I looked down at her. "Are you like a robot or something?"

"Meow."

"I figured. Android. Probably bionic. If she gives me a hard time in there just hiss at her." She licked her nose in reply and then butted the door with her head. "Yeah, I know. Get it over with."

The same receptionist was still there. "She's waiting for you."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Well, far be it for me to keep her majesty waiting."

Yeah, I was a little snippy this morning… afternoon, whatever it was. Pulling all-nighters has its drawbacks. The door was open, and right as I was about to knock I noticed the old man from last night was sitting behind the desk and Dr. Shanahan was in one of the adjacent chairs in front. Great.

"Kristyn," Shanahan said with just a little too much cheeriness in her voice. "Come in, have a seat. You remember the Colonel, of course."

I nod at him. "We were never introduced, but I assumed. Does the Colonel come with any added name or is it like Cher and Madonna?"

"Harris," he answered with a take no nonsense tone.

"Pleased to meet you, Colonel Harris." I swept my skirt and sat, crossing my legs after, at the knee. "You wanted to see me, Dr. Shanahan?"

She gestured at the man behind the desk. "The Colonel actually, but I'll be here as well."

Without saying anything further I gave my attention to Colonel Harris.

"Miss Keys, after a mission, at the first opportunity we debrief the participants to make sure were are all on the same page, for training reasons. This is your time to do so."

I didn't change any features on my face when I replied. "Is this the same training I received before I was told to kill someone last night? 'Cause I gotta say, if so, then your training sucks."

Shanahan leaned forward and looked like she was about to tear into me, but the Colonel stopped her with a gesture of his hand. "I'm willing to take a little heat, Dr. Shanahan, if it is deserved, and in this instance it is well deserved." His eyes shifted to me this time. "However, I will not be disrespected at any time."

Something bumped against my ankle. Miss Bonsai. I leaned over. "Got the place reconnoitered?"

"Meow."

"Good enough, come on." She bounded up in my lap and turned around to have her back petted properly or to stare at the Colonel. Either was fine with me. "Colonel Harris, where I come from, one has to earn respect. I don't know you from Adam, but if I take it on faith that you are a Colonel, then you've commanded people in the military. You have my respect for that. But sending a girl who has been here less than two days into a deadly fight with no training… well, you're smart enough to see where I'm going with this."

As if on cue, Miss Bonsai hissed at him. I petted her neck. "Shh."

He eyed the cat and let the subject drop. "Continuing on, Miss Keys. Tell us what you encountered when you entered the house last night."

I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth to center myself. "I witnessed two people, the parents, dead on the floor near the entrance. Their heads were gone and most likely spread around the surrounding area walls, furniture, carpet, occupants, from what looked to be caused by a small bomb in their head. Their bodies, from the few seconds that I saw them seemed to be in normal order.

"The child, a boy, was crouched by the girl shaking and pissing himself. The girl asked 'Who the fuck are you?' I told her 'Death,' and then I killed her."

Shanahan blinked at me. I seemed to have taken her unawares. The Colonel seemed to be sucking on the inside of his lower lip. "Did she attack you?"

I nodded. "Her eyes glowed and then I felt a really strong force of energy slam into my head, but it was like a power boost for me that I channeled into my return shot."

"You channeled it. I thought you said you didn't have any training."

I nodded. "True. No teacher here has taught me anything. You have Ray Lomax to thank for showing me how to control what I have thus far."

"So you never tried to stun her so that we could bring her in?"

I immediately saw where he was going with that remark. "No, I could have stunned her. I killed her on purpose."

"Why?" Shanahan asked with morbid curiosity.

I cocked my head at her, letting my hair fall to the side of my face. "She blew up her parents heads in front of her baby brother, and if we hadn't arrived then he was next. The kid hadn't even hit puberty yet and he pissed himself. She deserved it just for that alone." Turning back to the Colonel. "That hellion tried to kill me. No, I killed her because a power like that girl had should not be allowed to exist under anyone's control. Her sole purpose in life, if you had managed to get control of her, would have been to kill people and nothing else. Pardon me, if you people have given me very little reason to trust you just yet." After a two count, I added. "That's everything."

I continued to pet Miss Bonsai while trying my best to stare the Colonel down. He's had years of experience being a badass, I'm just annoying when I want to be.

"Dr. Shanahan, give us a minute."

"Sir?" Shanahan was taken aback by the order.

The Colonel broke eye contact first, to deal with the good doctor. "I wish to speak with Miss Keys alone."

Reveling in the technical win, I scratched behind Miss Bonsai's ears and was given a warm purr in response. The doctor got up and seemed somewhat disgruntled at being kicked out of her own office. She'll live. When the door clicked shut, the Colonel leaned over and retrieved a satchel whereupon he removed his own iPhone. His had something attached to the back where he keyed in a series of numbers and then sat it on the desk.

"We're secure. Nobody can listen in on our conversation." I immediately thought of Ray out in the hall, yesterday. Hopefully if he was out there this time he wouldn't be too annoyed. "Lets lay our cards on the table, Miss Keys."

"Miss Bonsai, down. Guard the door." I don't know if she understood me, but she followed directions to a tee. That cat is way smarter than I originally thought. Even the Colonel was semi-impressed when he saw Miss Bonsai center herself on the carpet in front of the door, sniffing for whatever cats sniff for.

"You're an oddity, Miss Keys." He absentmindedly fingered his scar with his left hand. "Every single one of the students, after transformation, had trouble dealing with their new gender. Even your friend, Miss Marks, who I'm told was a closeted transsexual. It took her a week to become comfortable in her new skin. Yet you are dating on your first official day here, less than twenty-four hours after your change."

My lips pursed. He didn't seem to want an explanation. He just seemed to be spouting facts. "Your personality profiles are truly interesting. You show a very pragmatic view of society and those around you, almost detached, but still informed. It shows that, if necessary, that you have an ability to turn off your feelings, in a way, and make practical choices. I personally saw evidence of this last night to and from the mission as well as during."

This is where I interrupted him. I wasn't about to be pigeonholed by a psych profile. "I wouldn't rely too much on tests, Colonel."

His lips turned up slightly. "Oh, I don't, but they are an excellent guide in letting me know what to look for. And these aren't your average tests."

Figured that one out all by myself there, buddy.

"Something else I've noticed is your ability to bring together the young men and women during meal times. It's minor, to be sure, but a talent nonetheless."

I cocked my head at him. "Where are we going with all of this, Sir?"

He looked at me for another thirty or forty seconds before reaching into his satchel and pulling out a three inch thick binder. He opened it up to the first page and turned it around facing me. "Within this folder is The Center. What we do, why we do it, how you changed in the first place, and who is responsible, the chain of command. Interested?"

I wanted to grab it and run, but my curiosity won out. "What's the catch?"

This time he didn't smile. "The catch is that you can't tell anyone. The sheet on top is a non-disclosure agreement. If any of the information included in this folder is conveyed in any way, shape, or form to anyone not listed within, then you go to prison for the rest of your life, or shot, that option is up to me."

I looked down at the folder with a little more respect. "Why do you want me to see this?"

He leaned back in his chair and gripped the arms lightly. "I want you on board as a leader, Miss Keys. I see a great amount of potential in you. I see even more potential than you are aware of in regards to your talent."

He was playing games and I was in the dark as to why. Then something occurred to me. "That's why you had me come down here first thing after I woke up."

He looked at me as if to judge whether or not I could suss it out. "To separate me. You want the others scared of me." He lifted his left eyebrow slightly. "You knew I hadn't talked to any of them yet, even Ray, about what happened last night. By now it's all over the school how I walked in there calm as could be and destroyed the girl and the house without a second thought, and me with no training." He relaxed his face and turned it to the opposite side watching me with interest. "They already think I've got something else the rest of them don't with how I've dealt with changing.

"Hell, Heather is spazzing out over me every time I turn around." I leaned into the desk. "What's your game, Colonel? Because you know I'm not going to sign anything that gives you any official power over me unless I'm more in the know."

Without missing a beat he said, "Turn to the second page, Miss Keys."

This is where experience wins over tenacity every time. I had just been played. I grimaced and flipped the top page over to the left.

"This is a different agreement that allows me to disclose certain generalities to you. If it gets out, you still go to prison, but only for five years and you'll never hold any job that requires a background check, because you'd fail."

I mentally shrugged. "I could live with that."

He supplied a pen and I signed. With that, I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs again.

"Imagine if you will, Miss Keys, a hypothetical situation."

Ah, we're playing that game. He's not admitting to anything just some mind candy that I would have a hard time proving. "Okay."

"Tainted water gets introduced into the populace. It was by pure accident, on the bottling company's part, that a hundred thousand containers are distributed to people across the United States."

My heart just fell somewhere into my stomach. That wasn't what I was led to believe. It was supposed to be a few hundred that were tainted.

"Now, lets suppose that the government found out about this and formed a special unit of Homeland Security that would deal with this situation. It would be off the books, of course."

"Of course," I acknowledged.

"Those imaginary bottles, they would be recovered, a good portion at least: fifty-seven thousand. That left a significant portion still out there, sold to customers in different cities, in different states. Now, there are people, children, that are hypothetically, possessing awesome talents and swapping genders across the land. Children that are not registered in any government database and with the right talent can become figuratively invisible… sell their talents to the highest bidder, and insert themselves near the highest levels of government, or move in and become your next door neighbor. Or they could go off on their own. Imagine a power like Brian Rivera's in the hands of a sexual predator, or a power like Danielle Marks' in the hands of a serial killer."

Oh, god.

"We would need people of unquestioned morality and practical judgment to find these gifted teens before it is too late. We wouldn't have time to pussyfoot around with hand holding and nice little cries during or after a mission. We would need people that could get the job done no matter how awful the outcome. Those people would need to be able to make the life and death type of decisions that you made last night." He laced his fingers and got very serious when his eyes bored into mine. "You were completely one hundred percent correct in how you dealt with that girl. She broke the law and there would be no chance for a trial because there would be no way to hold her without endangering her jailers. The most important reason was that you were right: if certain agencies within our own government were able to grab a hold of her…"

He didn't finish. Instead he sighed. "Sign the first page, Kristyn. I'm done screwing around. I need you. Your country needs you. If you want another reason more altruistic, then little boys like the one you saved last night need you."

I looked at the folder. My lips pursed. "I need fifteen minutes."

He didn't seem too pleased, but he nodded. "Remember the terms of the agreement, Miss Keys."

I nodded and stood up. Miss Bonsai pounced out of the way of the door when I opened it and then followed me out of the office. I didn't go anywhere of any significance, just out into the main hallway. Pacing didn't seem to work, so I squatted on the opposite side of the main doors and let Miss Bonsai whirl around me entertaining herself.

Was I weighing any great responsibility or decision? No. I just needed to breathe. I knew it was a military man that was in charge of this facility. He was trained to think of the worst case scenario. That was a given. But what was the best case, considering what I witnessed last night? There would be people out there that took advantage of their powers for self-gratification. In all likelihood there would even be people that did exactly what Colonel Harris said they would do. But more than that, there could be thousands of kids out there that were like my friends: innocent enough, but powerful, and in the body of the opposite sex not knowing what happened or what to do. They needed help, and I didn't trust anyone not to take advantage of them.

He was still sitting there when I got back. After I closed the door he secured the room again.

"What would I need to do?"

No nonsense Colonel Harris just laid it out. "You would be in charge of the students. When we go out to find these kids you are the judge, jury, and if need be, executioner. If they are normal kids, bring them in. If they are on the fence, sedate them and bring them in. If they are like the girl you saw last night, eliminate them and destroy any evidence you were ever there. You'll have the talents of your team to rely upon. You won't have to second guess yourself."

I sat down and scooted up to the desk where he continued. "School is over for you. You graduated in the top quarter of your class with honors. You'll be trained from the start in military operations, physically trained, mentally trained to deal with what's out there. You have control of your EK talent, but from what our tests show that's only the beginning. You have a talent or several talents that haven't shown themselves. It's unclear at the moment. Further testing needs to be performed. I can't tell you anything else until you sign."

He held the pen out to me. I looked at it and inwardly sighed. 'This is your life now Kristyn. Don't screw it up.'

I took the pen and signed at the indicated line. He closed up the book and stashed it in his satchel. "You'll be able to access anything you want through your computer. Reset your password to sixteen characters including alpha and numeric symbols. If you follow guidelines then security will deal with hackers within the school, not that we have any yet."

They didn't know about Ray then.

"Let me see your cell."

I unholstered it and passed it over. He withdrew a different one from his satchel… how big is that thing anyway? The phone was like his, with the extra attachment on the back. "This is a scrambler that will prevent anyone from using this cell against you except for me. Whenever you want to secure it just type in 'secure' on the keypad, and cancel when you want it normal again." That password earned the fish eye from me.

It fitted more snugly into the holster, but the material would stretch to accommodate soon enough.

"The particulars: Officially you'll be a Warrant Officer."

"Pardon?"

"A technical adviser or specialist in your field. You don't have a title as such and will be addressed as Miss or Ms. No saluting unless you are in uniform which you never will be. You report directly to me for debriefing after every mission."

It sounded like I was being thrown to the wolves, a repeat of last night. Colonel Harris saw my face and waved me off.

"After training. Until then, I'll be accompanying you as an adviser on the more high-risk missions, and if the shit hits the fan, as team leader."

He tossed something else on the desk. "Your identification as a Warrant Officer under orders from the Director of Homeland Security. It's official, but I report straight to the President. You report to me."

Next thing I know, Kevin Bacon will pop up somewhere along the line, and I'll have my six degrees of separation. You'll be drawing a salary equivalent to a GS-9 with hazard pay. It's not in the same neighborhood as the bigwigs, but this is the government we're talking about. Right now I want you to concentrate on your training, especially your tactical training. Second most important; work on your talent."

"What do I tell the others?"

He had the whole thing figured out long before I ever set foot in the school. He was just waiting for the right person to fill the position.

"We'll make an announcement at dinner, staff and students will be attending. Tell them nothing specific until then. You're under orders to stay silent after all, use it. I'll be alerting the administration and the teachers of your status change in a moment."

I nodded.

"Lastly, at least for now…" He passed me an ID badge. "This is your key to everywhere in the facility. Get to know every square inch. The only place you won't be able to enter are these offices. Maintenance is installing a security lock to your room. That will open it."

He jerked and I blinked. Then a frown came over his face. Scooting his chair back he leaned down, and returned with a hand full of Miss Bonsai. "Appropriate name for your cat."

"Sorry," I tried not to giggle, but it came out anyway. "Miss Bonsai, don't bother the nice Colonel."

Colonel Harris chewed on the side of his mouth at being called nice. "Any questions?"

I shrugged. "A few thousand, but they can wait until I read some of the folder on my computer."

He nodded, satisfied. "I'm available anytime during normal working hours for non-critical questions. After hours for any possible missions. Dr. Shanahan is at your disposal for anything else you need. As of now, you outrank her at the school."

"What? She's…"

"Your subordinate. You are number two only to me, Senior Officer on base, Field Officer on mission. Just keep in mind that you are also responsible for them as well. If they screw up it's on you to explain it to me… eventually." He smiled somewhat evilly.

"I have it this way for a purpose, Miss Keys. Very soon here the school will be loaded with students. Average people, like myself, will be at a considerable disadvantage. That's why you are taking the fast track. We need trustworthy and reliable people with the talent to enforce decisions that need to be made. You'll have time to adjust and learn what they do behind the scenes before I become a hardass. What I am getting at is I want the students we bring in to be comfortable and want to work with the system, not against it. They are our only hope to contain the threat that is out there. Make this school yours Miss Keys."

He stood and held his hand out. "Congratulations, on graduating high school, and welcome to the team. He looked down at what I was wearing. "And get something more appropriate to wear. I can't have all the men around here walking around gawking at you. That schoolgirl outfit is so wrong on so many levels."

When I got out to the hallway, I pulled my cell and looked up Heather's number then hit send. It rang three times before she answered. I've seen her whip that phone out in the blink of an eye. I guess that's how much she's nervous about talking to me.

"Hello?" She wasn't the bubbly Heather I'd come to know over the last couple of days. I guess I have some fences to mend.

"Heather, it's Kris. I need your help in wardrobe."

There was a definite pause there. "Um, I'm kind of busy right now. Tons of homework."

Okay. "Heather, this isn't a request. I have orders from the Colonel."

"Oh. Okay. Um… I'll be right down."

I closed off without saying anything. There was no point. She wouldn't be back to the way she was with me anytime soon. Pleasantries were for people that actually liked you at the moment. Miss Bonsai trotted down the stairs ahead of me and waited for the door to be opened before darting off to stand in front of the wardrobe room. Okay, what the hell is with this cat?

"How did you know where I was going?"

"Meow."

"Very helpful, thank you."

When I got there I looked around at all the different things that I would need to be professional. I was boggled. I was a teenager for god's sake! How was I supposed to… never mind. I pulled the cell again and looked up Christopher's number. It rang twice and a girl's voice answered. Tina.

"Hi Tina, it's Kris."

"Um, hey, I'm kind of in the middle of Physics class right now and the teacher doesn't look too pleased."

"Oh, sorry. I'll handle it. I need you down in Wardrobe."

"Okaaay."

"Miss Duncan!" I heard in the background.

"Let me talk to him, Tina."

I heard the cell being passed off. "It's the new girl, Kristyn. She wants to talk to you."

"Yes, Kristyn, I'm looking forward to having you in my class on Monday. These sort of things may be allowed…"

"Excuse me!" I almost yelled into the phone. "Mr. Whoever you are, have you checked your text messages within the last fifteen minutes?"

"No. We're in the middle of class," he answered briskly.

"Go ahead, I'll wait."

The door to the room opened and Heather came in, looking decidedly sick. Her face was pasty and it looked like she hadn't had any sleep since… well, I'd guess the day before yesterday. I waved her in and held up a finger for her to chill for a minute.

"Oh," I heard faintly over the speaker. It sounded like he was holding the phone to his side. "Yes, Miss Keys. I've retrieved the message. What can I do for you?"

He didn't sound pleased, but he was respectful. I'd take what I could get. "I need Tina down in Wardrobe ASAP."

"Very well. Anything else."

"Not at the moment, sir. Thank you for your cooperation. I'll try to keep times like this to minimum."

His voice changed again, almost conciliatory. "Thank you for your consideration, Miss Keys."

"Anytime, sir." Clicking off, I stuck the cell in my holster. That's when I noticed Heather spotting the new attachment on the back. Her eyes darted back up at me and she looked to the side as if she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Apparently I had a lot of work to patch things up. Seeing a couple of chairs against the wall I motioned her over to them.

"Let's chat."

"I didn't say anything to anyone. I promise."

I looked at her and sighed. "Heather, I don't care. Really. Tell whoever you like." As I sat down I reached to one of my boots and slipped it off. "I did what I had to do last night, just like you did. I'm not some psychopath that's going to go off on you at a moment's notice. If I was then The Colonel and Dr. Shanahan would have had me drugged and carted off to wherever they cart the psycho cases to, right?"

She lurched and let out a gasp of air she'd been holding. Tears immediately fell from her eyes and she covered her face. "I… I… I thought." I leaned in and pulled her to me, stroking her hair.

"It doesn't matter. I'm the same Kristyn… well not exactly the same. I mean after doing that I guess I'm a little more cynical, but you didn't see everything I did either. So I guess it's understandable that you thought I was going to play the bully card down here." Her breathing was becoming deeper, like she was trying to get herself under control. "Look, Tina's on her way down here. So, I promise, no hatchets in the head, or any Friday the Thirteenth things to worry about."

Where the hell did she get that tissue? It just appeared from nowhere. I have to learn that trick. Being a girl now, it could come in handy.

The door opened and Tina was through it smiling like it was Christmas. "You should have seen it! It was awesome!" Upon seeing us sitting there she rushed over. "What happened?"

"Give us a sec, Tina, okay?"

She nodded and backed off looking around for something to keep her busy.

"You okay now?"

Heather's head was still down and her hair curtained her face, but she nodded.

"Alright, why don't you go to the girls room and splash some water on your face. Come back when you're ready."

She nodded and without letting either Tina or me see her properly, skittered off.

"What was that about?" Tina immediately asked as soon as the door shut properly.

"She saw what I had to do last night, but not everything. She wasn't prepared enough, and thought I was going to go all Ted Bundy on her or something. She was scared of me."

Realization hit Tina's face. "Oh, eww. Sorry. That's got to suck."

I nodded. "Hopefully I got through, otherwise it's going to be really awkward around her."

"You're okay though, about last night?"

I nodded. "It's made it where there's going to be a few changes around here, but I'm… I guess the phrase would be, 'at ease', about it."

She nodded in understanding. "Sometimes it really sucks."

"Yeah. Anyway."

Tina's eyes lit up. "What did you tell Mr. Walton? What was on his phone. He nearly crapped himself when he looked at it!"

"Can't say. Sworn to secrecy, literally." At her disbelieving look I nodded. "No B.S."

"Okaay. So how can I thank you for getting me out of Physics?"

I laughed and pointed toward the cosmetic section of the room. "I need to look professional, but not like thirty or anything, and need to learn how to do it for myself so I can quit bugging you."

"Professional?"

"Yep. Colonel's orders."

Her eyebrows shot up. "He actually talked to you outside of a mission? That's rare. He never talks to us unless it's concerning a mission." Then her eyes widened further. "Oh, you're going on another mission, aren't you. That's why you need the professional look."

I thought it was easier to let her draw her own conclusions. "I can't really talk about it, Tina. Sorry."

She nodded. "It's cool, I understand. It happens sometimes." She turned around and led me to the pegboard with displays loaded down with everything a girl would ever need."

Ten minutes into explaining color coordinating your makeup with clothes and times of day, I was lost. "Maybe I just better learn as I go."

Tina giggled at me. "It's not that hard, really. Once you get the basics down, it's just time consuming."

The door opened again and Heather returned, not looking much better, but at least she was in a better mood. "Sorry I took so long. So what's the mission?"

Tina sighed dramatically. "It's a lost cause. We have to make Kris look respectable."

Heather just looked at me after grinning along with the joke. "Hmm, not so hard. So, who's the audience?"

"Audience?"

She nodded. "You always dress to impress by judging who you are trying to impress."

"I'm supposed to look more authoritative. Like a young businesswomen, but not the frumpy crap I see in offices. Think TV or movies." It was the only idea I could come up with.

"Okay, come on. I want to try some blazers on you. Take off your vest."

Black and Navy colored blazers were my mainstay. Various blouses, turtlenecks and camisoles, for underneath and matching skirts of various types, not to mention a few pants, which I wasn't fond of. I'd explained the role I would be playing would be long term. That, and telling them I couldn't talk about it at the moment was the only thing stopping them from showering me with questions. The Colonel wanted it, so they provided.

The outfit I chose for the announcement at dinner was a Navy blazer with a pink button down that tucked into a matching Navy knee skirt. The collar was above the blazer and set open so that Tina could show off a demure silver necklace that hung halfway to my cleavage. A single silver band bracelet annoyed me on my right wrist and a matching watch on my left. One ring on each finger finished me off in the jewelry department. Or so I thought.

My lobes ached from when they dragged me to the salon and pierced my ears. Studs would have to do for now until they healed. At least I didn't have to mess with changing them all the time, for a while at least. The three inch closed toe pumps made me feel almost normal again. Who would have thought that I'd prefer high heels to flats.

Tina had me do my own makeup three times, from beginning to end, with minor repairs here and there until I basically knew what I was doing. She looked at me in the end and didn't seemed entirely pleased. "It'll do for now. Sunday, we go at it until you get it right. Bright and early."

I spent the rest of the afternoon, all two hours of it, secluded in my room pouring over the materials of the mysterious binder on my computer, and was floored.

Genetech, a pharmaceutical company just upriver from the water bottling plant that started this whole mess, was on the forefront of genetic manipulation, ever since the breakthrough in deciphering the human genome was released. Their goal was to offer, somewhere down the line, the ability to offer custom babies to those that could afford it. Basically, Eugenics. The potential parent would be able to decide the sex, hair color, physical makeup, mental makeup, and so on, of their child.

The facility had been burglarized by a fanatical pseudo-terrorist group that was regularly on the news at the time. They would usually enter the facility destroy research, release test animals, and burn the place to the ground. In Genetech's case, they also tossed serum samples used for animal testing, down the sink. Coincidentally, Genetech dumped their non-potable water supply into the adjoining lake, which fed into the surrounding grounds down river, and into the water supply that the bottling company used for their product.

That's how it all started.

The Colonel was correct in his numbers to me earlier. Slightly more than a hundred thousand bottles were sent out to major cities across the U.S. and a little more than half had been recovered. They were able to track down the stores that the product was sent to and had them pull it off the shelves. But that didn't make a difference to all of those people that had already purchased bottled water during the months in between.

So far, only expectant mothers and their unborn children were affected by the tainted water, and depending on what stage of the pregnancy the children were in when the water was ingested determined how they developed. Apparently my Mom was drinking it on and off for a few weeks when she became pregnant with me.

Another reason, I figured, that the Colonel wanted me in the position I was in. I would be in the group most likely to overdevelop their powers. However there was a downside to being more powerful. We were also the group most likely to go off the deep end during transition, and turn into stark raving lunatics.

Detailed backgrounds on all the students were provided, and I checked out Dani's, and mine first. There was some stuff I never knew about myself located in the file, all the way back to conception. I'd been there for all of three days, well four really, but who's counting. How had they compiled so much information about me? The government was more far reaching than I had originally thought.

Dani, and the others as well, had fallen into the second and third tier group, having been exposed well into their development. Some like Dani, had made it through their first trimester, others the less powerful, made it all the way to their third trimester before being exposed. I could almost guess, by strength of power, who was exposed and when.

That was all I had time for before being alerted that dinner was about to start by my cell alarm.

After logging off the computer, I slipped on my blazer and hooked my cell holster at my hip. The ID badge was slipped into the blazer's breast pocket. Once I was announced, I would have to wear it all the time, but for now, I didn't want to announce myself as staff. My hair was pinned up on the sides to keep it out of my face and I had to readjust one of them for slippage. I'd get the hang of these things one of these days. Lastly, I stepped into the pumps and stood by the door with my hand on the knob.

Miss Bonsai was in her perch on the top bunk, watching me. "You have to stay here this time, Miss Bonsai. Official stuff to do."

"Meow."

"Thanks, I'll need it."

The lock automatically engaged when I closed the door.

"Well, don't you look all spiffy."

Dani.

"Hey, yeah." I brushed the front of my blazer. "It's a thing the Colonel wants me to do."

She smiled at me with understanding. "It's already around the school that your status has changed in some way."

I looked up at her with surprise. "What?"

She backed off a little. "Nothing specific, just that the Colonel had you in the office longer than the rest of the mission team. Not to mention Tina and Heather dressed you up. They denied knowing anything either. Said they couldn't talk about it."

My lips pressed together. "They were right." I pulled out my cell and sent a quick text message to Colonel Harris. Cat is out of the bag about my status change. No specifics though.

"New phone?"

I didn't let her see it close up. "Yeah, kind of came with the job."

She studied me quizzically. "And you can't talk about it yet."

"Right."

Dani nodded her head in the direction of the cafeteria and we began to walk. "I've seen that modified phone before. The Colonel has one just like it."

I nodded. "I can't talk about it, Dani. Can we drop it for now, please."

She wasn't annoyed at me; it was the situation that bothered her. "Well, when you can, I'll be there if you want to talk."

I touched her hand with the tips of my fingers. "Thanks for understanding."

The Cafeteria had been redecorated. More area was being used and more tables were brought in. The teachers and administration were already there, just digging into their meals, while Dani and I entered the serving line. Rita, Heather, Debbie and Brian were in line ahead of us eying me with interest. Brian's eyes were at the V of my blouse, watching the minor amount of cleavage I was showing, and then down at my legs. The skirt I was wearing showed less than the schoolgirl outfit, but Brian seemed interested in me now more than ever. Well it was a little bit tighter than the previous skirt, hugging my hips and narrowing slightly as it approached my knees.

Heather winked at me. It looked like she might have gotten a couple hours of sleep; her color was better anyway.

When I reached the end of the line and was waiting for Dani to grab her dessert I felt a presence approaching me.

"Hello, Colonel Harris." No it wasn't some new power. I could see his high polished shoes out of the corner of my eye.

"Miss Keys. Much better choice of clothing."

"Heather and Tina helped me out."

Dani walked up at that moment and looked up at the Colonel. He was rather tall. It must be a serious bitch to be even shorter than I was. I think that's why I was enjoying the heels so much. Compensation.

"If you would please join us at my table, Miss Keys."

I made a small face at Dani that conveyed my apologies for bailing. "Yes sir. Thank you."

Being accustomed to everyone watching you, all the time, is an acquired trait. You get used to it, but you are never able to ignore it, or at least I wasn't able. Conversations eased at the student tables and then picked back up with a fervor when I was led to a chair beside the Colonel.

I nodded to the other administration members that were sitting there, some of whom I didn't recognize, some of which I did. Immediately, Colonel Harris launched into introductions. Doctors Shanahan, Lynchburg, and Tipps, I already knew. An early fifties stern looking motherly type was introduced as Mrs. Stapleton from Admissions, and a stunning late thirties dark haired woman that looked in buff shape was Mrs. Fine, Disciplinarian. Luckily I hadn't encountered her as of yet.

I already knew some of their background and actual jobs, beyond the cover job for the students. Stapleton was head of Information. She's the one that did the background check on all the students and employees. Fine was head of Security. Her file said that she took care of in house problems, whatever that meant. The goons that I saw during the missions were under her purview. From my own background of books and movies, I reasoned that she might be some sort of internal affairs honcho along with her job of spanking the children when they'd been bad. I bet Brian loved being spanked by her. I kid. To my knowledge, spanking wasn't going on behind closed doors, by the administration, at least not in a punishment sort of way.

The Colonel finished up with me. "Most of you already know about Miss Keys from the bulletin I sent off earlier today. I trust you've all familiarized yourself with her new duties."

Nodding followed all around. This is when I saw that Dr. Shanahan wasn't too pleased. She hid it pretty well, but I could see from the tightness around her mouth that the thought of reporting to a child was beneath her. She was right. I didn't know what I was doing and she held a doctorate. But I also recognized that the students would need someone from their ranks to look up to lead them and make the hard decisions that they were too emotional to make themselves. Taking orders from an adult is all well and good in a school setting, but out in the field, eventually we will be on our own. Colonel Harris recognized this. That told me he didn't rise through the ranks of officers through college and officer candidate school alone. He was an actual grunt at one time. He saw the need for solidarity between the people that actually did the dirty job and their immediate commanding officer. It's a much different relationship between people on the ground and those that sit behind desks all of their life.

I was almost finished with my meal when he turned to me. "Ready?" I nodded with a last sip of Pepsi.

He backed his chair away from the table and stood. The noise in the room dropped almost instantly. The man commanded respect. I've got to give him that.

"Thank you for your attention."

I scanned the other tables and saw the teachers looking on with interest and the students eager to find out what the scoop was on me.

"As difficult as it is to quell the inner school grapevine of any topic, I see that most of you are aware of Miss Keys change in status. While the staff and administration only need to know about the change, I also recognize things work differently with students. You usually require a reason before you accept things. That is why I chose to have this dinner with all of us together so that we are all on the same page."

I turned my glass around in place, staring at the condensation sliding down the side as I listened.

"Because of certain confidential reasons of national security, I cannot go into the particulars of why she was chosen for her new duties, but I can tell you that we have been waiting for her, or someone like her at The Center. These reasons were revealed to us through testing, behavior here, interaction with certain people, tasks that were entrusted to her on her first day, and so forth. So I can tell you this is not a decision I made lightly."

I took another sip of my drink to quench the thirst of my suddenly dry mouth.

"As of one o'clock today, Miss Keys has accepted and was assigned a new job by me. If any of you care to second guess my qualifications in doing so then you can take it up with me or Mrs. Fine at your leisure. I ask that you trust in our experience and knowledge of all the facts that you cannot be made aware of at this time."

"Without further boring speeches by old men I want introduce my new second-in-command. Warrant Officer Kristyn Keys."

I gave the students a few seconds to let it sink in, as to the bomb the Colonel just set off in the cafeteria.

The olds let us to our devices, me alone to fend off the massing hordes of teenage angst.

"You just got here! How can you be in charge?" from Rita.

Dani just looked at me sadly. "Are you okay with this?"

"I… I…," James stammered.

Brian was just seething, mumbling to himself.

Heather and Tina knowing ahead of time how I was dressed seemed to be the two most adjusted of the bunch. The rest of the girls took their cues from them. The rest of the boys looked mystified. All except for Ray. His was a look of understanding. I let them get it off their chest. They wouldn't listen to any kind of reason until then. In the meantime I took out my badge and affixed it to my lapel: Miss Kristyn Keys WO1, then underneath, Senior Officer, Field Officer. Snazzy. I felt a little full of myself for wearing it, but it was part of the job now. Like it or not, everyone having a hissy fit at the moment was my subordinate and would be required to follow my orders here at the Center and in the field. For right now, I had to earn their respect.

"Quiet down, please," I said in a normal voice; not that anyone heard me.

I already told myself that I wasn't going to yell. Raising your voice, to me, meant that you were about to resort to violence and/or you already lost control. Neither of which was my current situation. So I spoke in a language that everybody knew.

Touching the tips of my fingers with both hands together, I raised a good amount of energy. Ozone filled the air and Ray backed up a few steps, knowing what was coming. Five separate electrical arcs leaped across from finger to finger growing longer, stronger, and crackling louder with each passing second. I separated my hands shoulder width apart and increased the strength. I figured this little trick out on the way to kill the girl last night. Passing electricity from one point of my body to the other didn't use up any of my reserves. I was shocking myself, in essence, but it didn't hurt, it just was.

One by one they noticed as I stared them down, and letting my power loose only enforced what I was capable of doing. Rita had her back to me and didn't notice until her hair started frizzing out and she smelled something burning. Everyone else backed away. Then Rita turned around and let out a startled yelp.

I moved forward one step, closing the distance to Rita. "Sit-Down–Now."

Her legs collapsed involuntarily and she dropped to the floor. I let the arcs bleed away until they were gone entirely. "I meant in a chair. Jesus, Rita."

Ray hid a snicker behind one of his hands, along with a few others that saw some humor in the situation. But I didn't let it sidetrack me.

"You all can second guess the Colonel all you want. The appointment's been made, it's not going to change for any one of you. The best you can do is work with me. If you can't work with me, well then you'll be removed. It's as simple as that."

Rita showed me a hate filled face for embarrassing her in front of the others.

"Now, as Rita pointed out, I have only been here a few days and now I'm in charge of you guys. That means here and it means out in the field. You don't have to like it. That's fine with me. But you are my responsibility now, because I can handle it."

Rita Pfft me. Okay. We do this the hard way. "Alright, Rita. Since you have the biggest beef against me, lets go."

"What?" Now she looked, well, not exactly worried, but wary.

I shrugged and then took off my blazer to lay to over one of the chairs. "You and me, come on. If you can take me down then the job is yours. I'll quit."

She crossed her arms and sulked. "You'll use your powers on me."

I shook my head. "No I won't. Just me and you. I'll even let you use your powers, how's that?"

She glared at me. "I'm an Eraser. I don't have any offensive powers."

I blinked and rolled my eyes. "You're kidding, right?" She didn't give me a response, so I gave her an example. "You're fighting someone and you can wipe the memory of how to fight from their head and you don't have anything offensive?"

That actually sunk in. Brian sent out a bark of laughter, so I glared at him. "You're next, Kything boy. Keep it up."

Rita stood up, and shook out her arms. From the position she took a foot or two away from me, it was obvious that she had hand to hand combat training, even to my untrained eye. "Just so we're clear," she said. "I get to use my powers and you don't. If I take you down, I get to take your place."

I nodded. "Everyone got that? Everyone willing to be a witness here?"

Ray was nervous. He knew I didn't have any formal training and the only thing I had to rely on was my power, but he nodded along with the others. Brian was in the background. "Kick her ass, McFadden."

I smiled at Rita, hands by my sides. "Yeah Rita, kick my ass. Give it your best shot."

I could see her face squeeze up a little, much like when she wiped the boy's mind last night. I took that moment of distraction and leaped forward to slam a fist in her face.

She screamed out in pain and then covered her nose. "You cheated!"

I shrugged my shoulders and held up my now sore fist. "Uh, this is my hand that I used, not my talent. You apparently just suck, McFadden."

She lunged this time, aiming low for my stomach, to tackle me to the ground. I moved to the side, as best as I could in heels, which isn't saying much. Then I reached out my hand and shocked the shit out of her. Blue lightning arced across her body, laying her out to the floor, twitching like she was having a seizure.

"And it's over."

Brian was the first to his feet. "You cheated! You said no powers!"

"I lied." I watched as the others tried to reason me out and a few just watched as Rita's body slowly stopped twitching. Straddling her body, I knelt down and made sure she could hear me. "The bad guys aren't going to play by the rules, Rita. Bang, you're dead."

Raising my head back up I looked at the rest of them. "Who's next? Brian?" His eyes dropped. "James? Lili? Come on, you're telepathic. You can see what I'm going to do before I do it." They shook their heads. "Max, surely you can kick my ass."

He smiled at me. "No thanks, boss. Electricity and water don't mix."

That made me smile a little. "Good point." The only other one that I knew had a chance at taking me down was Ray. "Mister Lomax, care to take a chance?"

"Nope. I've been tased by you before. I like my hair just the way it is, thanks."

"Fine, are we in agreement then? I win?" Looking down at Rita, I saw that she was starting to come out of muscle lock. "Rita? Blink if you concede and promise not to give me any more shit."

She blinked.

After gaining my feet under me again I turned around and walked a few paces away. "I didn't want this job at first. I thought they wanted an assassin to scare everyone into behaving and following along like good little boys and girls. But that's not it." Turning around, I grabbed my blazer and put it back on. "I have access to files on what actually happened to make us how we are and what we're doing about it. While I can't tell you anything, top secret you know, I can tell you that we are the first and only line of defense. That's what we are doing here."

James raised his hand, and I almost laughed. "I'm not a teacher, James. Just ask."

"Are we going to have to kill people like…"

Well that was straight and to the point. "No." He looked relieved. "But let me ask you a question. You saw what happened last night, right?" A nod was returned. "All of it?"

"I read her mind. She was a psycho."

Some curious looks were passed around. Maybe the grapevine wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "Okay, for those that weren't there. Imagine a power that when used makes the victim's head explode. And I'm not talking about a nasty migraine. I'm talking about painting the walls in blood and pieces of skull and brain."

Lili looked a little green.

"Now imagine that power in the hands of a psychopathic killer, and her standing in front of her five year old baby brother about to use that same power on him." I paused for effect, and to just let it really sink in to their heads. "I didn't try to talk her down. I didn't try to reason with her. There was no point. There was only one decision to make."

Dani's face was stone. She already knew what had happened. She had a seat, front and center.

"I killed her. That's one of my jobs. In the span of about three seconds she was vaporized. Anyone else want my job now?"

Most of them looked down at the floor. Others, that finally understood, met me gaze for gaze. Even Rita, who had been pulled up into a seat, met my gaze. Will wonders never cease?

"Sleep on it. We make plans tomorrow. I don't have all the answers. I'm just sixteen like the rest of you. But we'll work together to make sure anytime we go out there that you are prepared and that you all come home safely."

I left them there, in the cafeteria. They had to talk it out amongst themselves now that the cards were mostly on the table. When I was halfway to my room my cell chirped at me. A text message from the Colonel: Had me worried there for a minute. Good job, Miss Keys.

I shook my head, and typed back: You--worried? Whatever.

Photo Credit: Kristen K.