Chapter 01

During the past six months, I've experienced changing genders over night, attained a boyfriend two days later, been put in charge of a training center for a junior league school for teens with extraordinary talents, foiled a plot to take over the United States government, and saved a billionaire from having to give up his company as ransom for his kidnapped child. All of that was accomplished while my team brought in our weekly allowance of more talented and gender-challenged teens to build our ranks. So, why is it I had to sit in my office, at the Center, and deal with mundane crap like overly hormonal boys.

"Sean, I swear, if I catch you jerking off under the damn stairs one more time, I'm deep frying your balls and serving them to Miss Bonsai."

The creepiest guy at the Center, the one that talks to dead people and then ogles girls on the side wasn't the most productive student ever. He'd been trapped there with the rest of us rats since he was twelve. So, not only did he get to experience starting puberty as a girl, he got it as a guy too. I think he fell into a vat of testosterone somewhere along the way. It's when Sean is mysteriously missing that you really need to worry. That's why I have the GPS locator that's in his personal cell phone, booted up in my computer pretty much always. If he goes near a stairwell and pauses for more than a few seconds, I'm on the move.

"That's one of the reasons you have a private room."

His face was red as Lara Williams hair, but for some reason I was thinking that he didn't mind being caught as much as everyone thought he did. That mental picture took my mind to places that just made me shudder.

"Why are you doing this? Don't you have a girlfriend?"

He shrugged.

"Would you like to have this conversation with the Colonel?"

A head shake followed.

"Then tell me why? I used to be a guy. I know what you're going through… but in the stairwell?"

"Luce is on assignment and they took away my porn."

"Wha…?" Luce is Lucinda, Sean's girlfriend, and she'd been assigned to Beta site for the last month to help with construction.

"Mrs. Fine. I was late to class one too many times and now she has me on restriction."

My mouth hung open a little in disbelief. "You're grounded from porn?"

His eyes flicked up at me for the briefest of seconds, which kind of surprised me. Sean wasn't the kind of guy that actually looked dominant girls in the eye. "Uh, internet access."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. Stupid. "Right. Internet. Look, I'll see what I can do to get it restored. Maybe I can get Ray to buy you some magazines when we're out next time. Just in case this happens again."

When he left, I spritzed my hands with sanitizer and whipped out the Lysol for the doorknob and armrests on the chair. I've found myself a little anal retentive recently. I have no idea why. Afterward, I pulled up Mrs. Fine's number and hit send.

"Fine."

"I hate you."

"Miss Keys, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Will you please reinstate Sean Hunter's porn privileges. He's whacking off under the stairs once more and I swear, you're dealing with it next time if you do this again."

I've never known Mrs. Fine to be a practical joker, or even crack a smile. I would probably swear on a stack of Bibles that the woman had never been laid. I don't think it was for the lack of men trying. But one look from her, in a certain way, could probably mentally castrate most males.

"Would you suggest another form of punishment?"

I looked up at a tiny spider crawling to the corner of my utilitarian white office ceiling. "How about distracting him. Maybe let him go out and talk to some ghosts with your cleanup crews? We might actually learn something."

After particularly nasty encounters with rogues over the last six months, we were raking up quite the kill rate, which I really wasn't happy about. It was starting to ease up over the last couple of weeks, but still. Mrs. Fine's people normally dealt with the fallout, providing believable covers, alerting the CDC or whatever agency that could scare the bejesus out of people enough that they wouldn't even think about trying to find out what happened first hand. They'd go in, clean things up, blood splatters, gray matter, dead bodies, you get the picture. Then they'd declare the area clean of any contaminant and move on. I would think a guy that could communicate with the dead might be able learn something that even after eight years we couldn't.

"That's… not a bad idea, Miss Keys."

"Wonderful. Don't forget about the porn."

Lunchtime came and nearly went if Ray hadn't come by to find out where I was.

"There's a cold roast beef sub with your name all over it in the cafeteria."

I looked up from the stack of folders piled on my desk. No matter how far the human race had come with the invention of the computer, the Department of Homeland Defense still wanted certain things on hardcopy -- mainly request forms. I think it's so that everything moves that much slower in terms of them having to actually fulfill them. They could get lost in the shuffle and claim they'd never received the request, thus postponing the cost until the new budget quarter.

"Ray, save me."

He shrugged and looked playful. "You could always use some more JKD training."

A frown dropped on my face. "Let me see, drowning in paperwork or getting beat up, hmm. It's a hard choice."

"If you actually trained then I wouldn't be able to hit you so much and you wouldn't be getting beat up. Besides, you like the rubdowns afterward too much."

"True."

Ray held his hand out. "Come on, even the Colonel stops to eat every once in a while."

"Are you sure about that?" I stood and slipped my black blazer on.

"Well, there is rumor that he's actually a robot and you found the password that controls him."

I nodded and then kissed him on the cheek before closing the door and heading out of the office. "I was wondering how I got this job."

"So what's Sean's excuse this time?"

"No porn. Mrs. Fine cut him off."

Ray grabbed his chest as he faked a mild heart attack. "Harsh."

I stopped and gave him a glare. "You better not be looking at porn, Ray. I should be more than enough."

"Uh… of course I don't do that. Though, maybe one more time a week wouldn't hurt keeping my mind off of thinking about looking at it."

I smacked him on the arm and then grabbed his hand to drag him along. "We have sex like four or five times a week. I'm starting to get calluses."

"I could rub some lotion…"

I pointed my finger at him. "Don't even."

Everyone was already halfway finished when we arrived. Just as Ray said, there was a roast beef sandwich ready to be nuked with a little post it on the outside that read: Property of Kristyn Keys. A bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and a Pepsi was collected by me before I heard the ding, signaling my sinking into nirvana.

With the influx of students, we had to add several more tables to the area. I received a number of waves and nods, not to mention a few scowls. Well, I personally had retrieved most of the people in attendance, and I had to deal with the chronic problem cases as well. Somewhere along the line it seemed like I'd added the title of Principal to my laundry list. Ray had voted for Headmistress, but I quickly voted that one down. I wasn't into roleplay quite yet.

Yes, I'm sure you've noticed that we have sex on the brain. We're teenagers for God sake, of course we do. It was almost impossible not to. Think about it. All the boys had once been girls and vice versa. We knew how to please ourselves before the big switcheroo, so that meant that we had an edge heading into the bedroom. Sex was fantastic. I wish we'd have started sooner.

I promise I'll try to keep talk about it to a minimum.

Heather waved us over and pointed to the two saved chairs in front of her. Dani was to my right and Max to Ray's left. Max was getting really good with his manipulation of water. He always had a glass or two in front of him at mealtimes, where he would make miniature water-spouts while holding conversations with people. It was a testament to his control that he could hold it together without spilling a single drop on Debbie's precious books.

Oh, it's official, Heather and Debbie are a couple. They had been casually dating since soon after I'd arrived, but they eventually came out and went exclusive. It's couples heaven at our table.

Heather leaned in when I started unrolling my sub from the deli wrap. "Did you hear about Kevin and Michael?"

I glanced up. "What?" Kevin was our newest high level Telepath, and Michael, a -- prepare yourself -- a Lactokinetic. That means he can manipulate milk and most dairy products. And I thought controlling mice would be a silly power to have. Anyway, they were roommates.

Heather sighed. "They hooked up last night."

"Eww." Just for that, I pulled the imitation cheese off of my sandwich and set it aside.

Ray looked three tables over where the couple were holding hands. He smiled. "Good, they're cute."

I bumped him with my knee. "You're heterosexual now. Knock it off."

With a laugh he leaned in and kissed my neck. "I'm a Kristynsexual, but I can still appreciate a hot guy when I see one."

"Please, I'm trying to eat." We'd both agreed that each of us was some type of freaky anomaly that we were attracted to, because I was still turned on by girls and Ray still liked to look at guys. That's when I coined the term Raysexual. He just returned the favor.

By the third bite of the sub, my stomach stopped growling at me and I was pleasantly ensconced in a conversation with Dani about absolutely nothing of consequence. It was times like those that I think I loved the most. No life or death struggles, no new students, no administrative duties, just two friends talking about the pros and cons of being a Star Wars or Star Trek fan.

That, of course, meant that the world was about to come to an end. If Murphy is anything, he was consistent; my phone rang.

Most everyone at the table stopped all movement and looked at me. There were very few people that called me outside of my group of friends which were already present, and that meant either Mrs. Fine or the Colonel. That narrowed the choices down to two people nobody wanted to hear from during a meal.

I shrugged apologetically to the others. "Keys."

It was the Colonel. "Beta site is operational as of oh-nine-hundred this morning. Make the announcement, prep your team and ask for volunteers."

"Yes sir."

He clicked off. Moving over to the text messages, I sent off a meeting notice to be held in the cafeteria, since that's where virtually everyone was already.

A moment later everyone's phones started chirping.

"What's going on?" asked Dani.

I looked at her with a mild amount of regret. "Beta site's up."

The hand holding a drink to her lips faltered and she wound up going with the flow, setting the cup on the table. "Already?"

It was good news and bad news. Originally, the Beta site was conceived as an alternative for Center headquarters, but considering the security upgrade recently, we really didn't want to lose the building that everyone had come to consider their home. Instead, we took into account the projected amount of students expected over the next few years and decided to just branch out to include a secondary compound in the Colorado mountains, and eventually a third, in the Texas plains, by the end of the following year.

The Center wasn't like high school, where you could conceivably have a few thousand students as long as you had the space and staff to handle it. There were teens with strange and powerful talents to consider, and grouping them in enclosed spaces in large numbers wasn't advisable. Teens being teens will be petty and violent. Smaller numbers were easier to control, thus the idea of having three schools spread out across the nation was a much better idea.

There were advantages to being able to reach critical cases much faster. While having the Alpha site in the upper Midwest was nice for times when seclusion was needed, it played hell when we had to jet off to Florida or south Texas. Four plus hours was too much time wasted, and truthfully, I was getting tired of being constantly on the move.

The influx of new students was increasing. The current week had three new students arriving, and that's just who was scheduled. Every once in a while one would pop up unannounced and we'd have to scramble to contain the aftermath.

The few students that had decided to forgo lunch for some other activity had arrived. I stood and straightened my blazer which provided time for the low rumble of voices to quiet. I really hated times like these, when eyes of the student body were on me, looking for guidance, experiencing curiosity, or sometimes in dread.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your down time, but the Colonel just informed me of some news that will affect everyone in one way or another."

A few heads turned to friends and a couple of comments, that were out of my earshot, were exchanged.

"The Beta site has officially become operational."

This was welcome news to some people and hated news for others. I allowed a few moments for heated whispers and then continued.

"We've all been expecting this and we've been involved with training in order to make the upcoming transition as smooth as possible. After lunch I need the Beta team leaders to stick around for a briefing and those of you that have not been assigned to the new site to think about whether you want to stay here or volunteer to move on and be a part of the future of the Center.

"If you would like to volunteer for the move then email or text me by the end of the day. If we do not meet the required minimum for the student body then the administration will randomly choose for you."

That caused another rush of hushed comments.

"I know some of you don't want to take the chance of being separated from your friends or… acquaintances. If that is the case, I highly suggest that you be first in line to volunteer. It's pretty much the only way to guarantee that won't happen.

"Remember, contact me by the end of the day. Tomorrow morning will be too late and your choice will be taken away."

Someone in the back raised their hand. In the past I would have told them that this wasn't high school, but there was a reason people raised their hands in large groups. Five others raised their hands a second afterward. I moved to the side a little to see who was first.

"Barry. You have a question?"

The African-American looking teen stood and looked a little nervous when everyone's heads turned to him. "I just got here last week. Does that mean I have to move again?"

I wondered if everyone understood the definition of the word random. "I don't know. That's why it's called random. You might or might not have to move if we don't…" An idea came to me. "Tell you what. I'm sure a lot of you have already decided if you wanted to move. Go ahead and text me right now and I can give you a better idea about what to expect. Then we'll talk in a minute. If you are unsure or have further questions then hold back until we're through. You've got three minutes."

I flicked my alert notification to silent and set the phone back in its holster and went to the soda fountain to refill my drink. It was looking to be a long day. When I turned back around, Dani was standing there.

"Some of them are terrified, Kris."

"I figured."

She looked to the side, unsure of herself. "I know you said that Tina and I wouldn't be split up, but…"

I smiled and set my hand on her shoulder. "You two aren't going anywhere. I've already told the Colonel that our team is not going to be busted up."

Dani stepped in and gave me a brief hug. "Thanks."

By the time I made it back, I saw the number of texts I'd received. "Okay. The current count is twenty-nine. That means at this point, eleven people will be chosen at random. That doesn't include the ten Beta team leaders."

I shrugged. "That gives us a better idea, and I'm actually kind of surprised the count is that high. If you're leaving in hopes that the food is going to be better at Beta site, then you're pretty much screwed." There was more than a few laughs and giggles at my attempt to lighten the mood.

"How many of you are sitting on the fence? Show of hands."

At first count, fifteen people raised their hands, and I saw a couple of half-hearted movements as well.

"Alright, you guys stick around as well after lunch and we'll see if I can answer some of your questions and get you nailed down with a decision. I'll keep everyone updated as any changes are made to the count. Dismissed."

After I answered a number of really stupid questions and a few insightful, I received seven more volunteers, bringing the count to thirty-six. That left only four more. I sent out the current count and hoped to see the roster filled by the end of the day. I'd really hate to move someone that didn't want to be moved.

Beta team consisted of our secondary recovery team which had been on missions with Alpha, in the field. They were mostly leaders and had fairly powerful gifts much like the original fifteen, six months ago. Their training had peaked the previous month and since then I took them out and acted as an observer. After a few fumbles, while they got their teamwork figured out, they looked pretty good.

They made decisions that I mostly approved of. Of course, there were things I wouldn't have done, but that came with the territory. They weren't me. However, the benefits outweighed the risks. I was still taking on the high volatility missions myself, and until someone stepped up that could beat me in leadership and combat, that wasn't going to change.

Beta team leader was a guy by the name of Daniel Davidson -- alliteration is the current fad when self-naming, not that I participated in said fad or anything -- he was a Pyrokinetic. The second to come along after Jason's death at the gun points of Mrs. Fine's staff. The first was Ariel, Luce's protégé, but she wasn't allowed out on missions until she got older and wiser. I was wary about David at first, but he turned out to be quite competent. That afternoon, as planned, when Beta site came online, he was to be signed into service, much like I was, as a Warrant Officer. I'd be raised in rank to a Chief Warrant Officer-2, so we could keep the chain of command in order.

This also bumped Mrs. Fine up in rank to Major, as she would still be responsible for security at all of the branches of the Center. She was tickled pink when she found out. I could tell, because the day it happened, she wore her hair parted in the middle instead of on the left like she normally does. That's a big social statement on her part. The next day it was right back to normal and her personal happy mode had passed.

I took Ray's advice and trained with him that afternoon when I'd rid myself of at least half of my paperwork.

Miss Bonsai had made an appearance after her morning patrol of the grounds. I actually thought that she only showed up to see me get pummeled, because she always found a perch atop one of the weight machines to observe properly.

"UMPH!" The air was knocked out of my body when Ray flipped me over his back and barely held a disabling blow to my throat. "Uncle," I managed to squeak out.

"You're getting better. I think I actually started to sweat." Ray stood up and held out a hand for me.

I was drenched in sweat and aching in places that shouldn't normally hurt. Instead of lifting my hand for his help, I flipped him off and lay there trying to catch my breath.

"You enjoy this way too much," I complained.

"It's your powers. You'd be screwed if you lost them, Kris."

"Meh, I'd just dazzle them with my sexy body."

He bent over me and set a light kiss on my lips. "And they'd all fall to their knees in worship."

I closed my eyes and smiled. Ray really was a romantic at heart. "I need a shower."

"Need a hand scrubbing your back?"

Flicking one eye open, I looked up at him. "You just smacked around your girlfriend and you expect sex? I think they have a name for people like you."

"Yeah, but I left my wife-beaters in my room, and they're not beer stained enough."

My phone chose that moment to beep at me. Ray gave me a hand up and threw a towel at me to wipe away the worst of my humiliating defeat. After checking messages I looked back up. "Three more volunteered."

He checked his watch. "And it's only a quarter after five. Do you really need exactly fifty people over there?"

I shrugged. "It's preferred. We've already busted the hundred student mark, but if it comes down to only making one person go I probably won't do it."

"They could always transfer later."

With a nod, I agreed. "We'll see."

A rushed shower and a quick visit to Liz and I almost felt human again when I entered my office minutes before six o'clock. Daniel was waiting in the reception area, obviously eager to become official.

I gave him a knowing smile, since he really didn't know what the heck he was getting into. It wasn't all missions and bossing everyone around. There was bad as well as good included with accepting rank, mainly paperwork and disciplinary duties to deal with.

"All ready to sign your life away?"

He didn't say anything but nodded. Okay, maybe he was a tad nervous as well. Since we only had two minutes left, I went ahead and ignored my office and led the way to the Colonel's. We waited an additional thirty seconds and then knocked on the closed door. I liked to be punctual when possible.

"Enter."

I opened the door and stepped inside. The Colonel was just adjusting his tie and nodded at us both. A familiar binder was sitting on his desk. I stood to the side and motioned Daniel to the desk.

"Mr. Davidson, you've read over the confidentiality agreement?"

"Yes, sir."

The Colonel opened the folder and handed him a pen. "Sign at the indicated line."

After the hard part was over he was passed similar credentials and secured phone that I possessed.

"Congratulations, Mr. Davidson, on your appointment and your new command. We'll be shipping out at 0600 tomorrow. Make sure your team and transfers are ready by then."

They shook hands and Daniel left. The Colonel looked at me. "Your ID, Miss Keys."

I unclipped my badge and handed it over, and he gave my new ID. The only difference was the WO1 was changed to CW2 and Team & Field Leader was switched to Company Commander.

"Uh…"

When I looked up, the Colonel's lips held the tiniest quirk on the sides. "You're in charge of both sites, Miss Keys. You'll need to train your replacement for Alpha site. I'll be overseeing the Gamma site construction for the most part."

I blinked and felt my stomach start to sink. "But…"

"You'll be working out of Alpha most of the time, but your duties will be changing. I still want you out there for the high risk situations, but you and I know that they are few and far between now. This last month, you only had two rogues."

"Yes sir, but…"

He shuffled a folder into a drawer of his desk and picked up the binder that Daniel had signed.

"You'll still be reporting to me, however there'll be a monthly report to the President that I want you to handle. Your new duties should be loaded into your computer. If you have any questions, you can always email me or call. Congratulations Commander."

Damn. So much for Principal.

I would have loved to assign Ray the Leader position at Alpha site, but we were currently in a relationship, which could easily be construed as favoritism. I was giving him the choice of backing out or taking the promotion. It was the least I could do.

"Does this mean I have to call you Commander?"

My eyes narrowed at him while he sat opposite me at my desk in the dormitories. "It's not so much a rank as it is a title. Harris only promoted me to CW2."

He leaned into the desk and looked down at the calendar that served as his doodling pad during our official talks. "So, all I have to do is call us quits and I get the job." It was more a statement of fact than it was a question. I nodded, but the tightness in my chest hoped he didn't take the position. "Who'd be leader if I decide not to, Luce?"

"Either her or Max Stevenson. Gamma site won't take long to convert so we'll need Leaders for each site."

Ray nodded. "Max, would be a good choice." With a nod, he'd decided. "As long as he's not an ass, I wouldn't mind working under him."

"And Luce?"

Ray shrugged.

Quirking an eye, I shifted my feet. "Is there something you aren't saying?"

"It seems like the girls are outnumbering the guys around here."

It was true. For some reason, most of the guys wound up going rogue and thus wind up dead. Not all of them, or even a significant portion, but enough to alter the balance in favor of the girls. "So you'd like to see a guy in charge for equality's sake?"

He rolled his eyes. "Well when you say it like that, it sounds like I'm going to lead a group of guys to burn their jock straps in protest or something."

"I'd like to point out that Daniel, who is arguably a guy, is in charge of Beta site."

"And is being shipped out tomorrow morning." He lifted his hand and started ticking off fingers. "Luce: your second-in-command, Dani: head of orientation, Mrs. Fine: head of security, Dr. Tipps..."

"Okay, you have a point." With a burst of inspiration I offered an olive branch. "Would you like to be head of something?"

He shrugged.

"It's not like you to pout, Ray."

"I'm not pouting. It's called being reflective."

Countering that wouldn't really be productive. "Well, you think of something and I'll arrange it so you or another guy is in charge."

Raising both of his eyebrows at me he looked somewhat placated. "Really?"

I shrugged and smiled. "Well, don't go crazy like Supreme Commander or anything, and it has to make sense. I wouldn't put you in charge of the salon."

He mocked an affront. "Why not? I have excellent taste in hair fashion," he said as he primped his lime green business cut with spiky tips in the front.

Getting back to business, I shuffled some papers around the desk. "Anyway Luce or Max would be in charge when I'm not here and eventually one of them in charge all together. If today is any indication, I'm guessing when Gamma site activates, the Colonel will probably retire at that point and I'll probably be President." I frowned.

"I think there's something in the Constitution about the President having to be a certain age. I could be wrong, but I'd vote for you."

Setting his levity aside, I stared at him seriously. "Ray, don't make this decision because of me. You know what they said about being assigned after we finished our training." Again I was trying to be altruistic.

His eyebrows bunched in confusion. "Are you saying that you want to break up?"

"No, not at all. I just don't want you making a decision now that you'll regret later."

Ray leaned back and assumed a relaxed pose with his feet up on the desk. "I'm not the leader type, Kris. I don't want the responsibility Besides, I can't see them taking me out of here. I'm not super-powered like the rest of you. I can just learn things faster."

I sighed. "Ray, that's not true. You can kick my butt any day of the week."

He laughed. "Yeah, if I was wearing a rubber ninja suit."

That thought brought a smile to my face. "That's not a bad idea. I'd like to see you all decked out in tight shiny rubber. I bet you'd be hot."

"You first."

I shrugged. "Rank has its privileges."

He sighed and then got up to circumvent the desk. "I'll get out of your hair. Call the suck up's. Give them the job, jobs whatever. Just make sure it doesn't go to their heads." I received a peck on the lips. "Can I come over later?"

"You can come over anytime, you know that."

That brought on a big smile from him, which meant that he had fun activities planed.

When he closed the door, I sent a text to Max. Luce would have to wait until I got to Beta site.

Ten minutes later, a knock sounded at my door. Opening it, I found the tall form of Max Stevenson, looking like I interrupted his workout. I gave him a thin-lipped smile and stepped aside so he could enter.

"Thanks for coming."

"What'd I do?"

Ah, that's why he looked a little nervous. "If you did something bad, you wouldn't be in my room, Max."

His shoulders dropped a little; the tension faded. I motioned to the chair beside my desk and took a seat in my own. Seeing his intense curiosity I decided to just get right to the subject.

"As you already know, Beta site is up and running." He nodded. "We're leaving at 0600 tomorrow, the Colonel and I."

He kind of rolled his eyes in minor annoyance. "Mrs. Fine will be in charge. I know the drill already, Kris."

I shook my head. "No, you'll be in charge."

He looked frozen in shock for all of about five seconds. "Uh..."

"With Beta running, the Colonel has put me in charge of both sites, I'll be edging out of the fieldwork except for high risk missions. That leaves Alpha team without a field leader. You up for my job?"

He looked down at the floor and leaned forward, brushing his hand through his electric blue hair. "Why me?"

I shrugged. "You're the most experienced, both in the field and talent-wise. You don't buckle under pressure, and I trust your judgment."

His eyes darted back up to me. "You picked me?"

"Well, yeah. I picked you and Luce. Gamma site will be open soon enough and I'll need to train both of you on the duties then one of you will move there."

He looked off at one of the walls, staring into space at what I assumed was a quick daydream about being in charge, or maybe it was about what was for lunch. I guess it could have gone either way.

Before he gave me his answer, I threw in the downsides. "It'll be up to you to make the hard decisions, put out the fires, do the paperwork, you name it. I'll be hopping back and forth between the three sites on a regular basis, so it'll be a lot I'm asking you to do."

He nodded. Max knew exactly what I went through on a daily basis. It wasn't easy, but I would be there to help him through anything and he knew it. "I'll do it."

This whole getting up at four in the morning thing really sucked. Luckily I could wear my commando outfit. Since we were heading into the mountains it would be cold, so I wore the standard Battle Rip ACU shirt and trousers. That stands for Army Combat Uniform. The Suburban Urban Digital design was the darker of the three available, the others were Woodland and Desert which were brown & green, and tan, respectively.

The new uniforms were dropped off the night previous with my new rank insignia sewn in. What can I say? The uniform was a heck of a lot more comfortable than the blazer and skirt. When I was out in the field, it was my standard outfit, unless I needed to blend in. In house, I liked being girlie. Plus the heels were always cool.

The Colonel was playing online poker again, I was guessing, while I was going over the specifics with Daniel. We had to take three jets to accommodate all of the transfers. In the end, we were actually two people short. The Colonel left it up to me to make the choice about forcing two more. I decided that it wasn't worth the aggravation to whoever I forced and to myself. So, I let it go.

When we arrived, two military buses were waiting for us which traveled all of five minutes to lead us to our hideaway carved inside of a mountain.

"This used to be an auxiliary base for NORAD. Budget cutbacks forced its closure, so it's ideal for our security needs," explained the Colonel

"What took so long to get it ready then?" I stared at the gigantic hanger bay where two helicopters sat along with a number of the standard SUVs.

"It's been closed since the late seventies. Everything had to be updated."

"Ah."

The main difference between the Alpha and Beta sites was that all the staff working at the Beta site was active Army, which meant that if I was in uniform I had to learn to salute. Ray laughed his butt off teaching me how to do that and not look like an idiot. I was still unsure as to when to perform the action. If I was indoors, I was only supposed to do it sometimes. The best advice I received was to only return a salute, since the only people that were above me in the command structure were the Colonel, the Director of Homeland Security, and the President. Since nobody that wasn't with the Center couldn't enter without the Colonel's permission, I felt fairly safe.

I'd seen the layout on my computer back home, but it was nothing like seeing it in person. "That's it. I'm transferring."

The set up in the main room was all big screens and cool computers with a big office behind and above everything, so Daniel could look out over all he surveyed. Jerk.

"Our offices are up there too," he said.

"Oh, okay then," I said, slightly mollified.

The cafeteria was about the same, but a little more military. I think I liked Alpha's better. There was a really nice workout room, about the size of a gymnasium, classrooms were identical, dorms were identical except no window, but the lighting was better -- less fluorescents.

Wardrobe was definitely military organized. A big counter cut off the majority of the room where a single person sat on a stool behind and had a computer where everyone's sizes and inventory were stored. They could call ahead and have their clothes ready for them when they came down. While that service being nice and all, I kind of liked going down and browsing myself. Everything else was pretty much like Alpha site.

"Looks cool."

The Colonel nodded. "Gamma site will be similar, underground."

"Another abandoned NORAD site?"

"Air Force."

"Bush two had a bunker built in when he was president. Closer to home."

He looked out of the window, above the command room and lightly sighed. "I'll leave it in your hands, Miss Keys. I'm off to Texas. Let me know if you need anything."

"Yes sir."

I took the time to set my office up and check for any updates. There wasn't really much to do, until Daniel popped his head in. "Kris, you got a minute?"

I nodded and leaned back, away from the computer. Daniel, somewhat uncomfortable in his generic suit, loosened his tie. "Okay this is the last time I wear this."

I smiled. "It's either that or a uniform."

"I'll take the uniform."

With a nod, I gave him an inquiring look. "What's up?"

"Are you sure all these Army people are on our side?"

I nodded. "The Colonel vouched for them and they've been through the telepaths. Why?"

He shrugged and frowned slightly.

"Daniel, I'm heading back to Alpha site tomorrow, and all this will be in your hands. I know you've got a military adviser that you've been working with already, but you're the boss. So, if you have any problems that I need to deal with then now is the time."

"No problems," he admitted. "I just… how do you deal with the olds looking at you like you're stupid."

"Ah." Yes, I received those looks before, from guys mostly. It was like I was too young to know what I'm doing. "I find telling them what you've been through helps. Plus showing off your power every now and then doesn't hurt." I leaned into the desk and interlaced my fingers. "Some of these people have never seen combat, most have. You've taken lives in service to this country, Daniel, and you've sacrificed being separated from your family for the foreseeable future. Not a lot of them can beat that since they get to go home when their tour of duty is up. Use it to your advantage.

"If they give you any crap, then give them crap back. They won't respect you otherwise."

The intercom bleeped. "Mister Davidson, we have an unannounced subject presenting First Emergence in Denver."

I almost punched the button myself and moved to do so, but at the last second I stalled. "It's your show, Daniel."

He gave me a determined smile and nodded before hitting the button. "On my way."

I moved to the main room overlooking the Command Center and flicked on the communication relays. Everyone down there had headsets on, and I listened in. I watched as Daniel headed down the metal staircase. My hands were shaking, itching for action, so I moved them behind me and observed.

"Status?" Daniel ordered.

"Subject is male, mixed heritage, Randall Billings. Presented at Denver Health Medical Center bleeding from all orifices. Not displaying any talent at this time."

Daniel paused, turned around and looked up at me. I didn't even twitch. "Scramble Beta retrieval team. Prep the Cougar. I want to be in the air in ten. Alert CDC cover unit to converge on Denver Health. Give me an ETA."

Thirty seconds later he received an answer. "Unit will be there in fifteen."

Daniel nodded. "Standard cover procedure. I want everyone out of that boy's room and in quarantine until the Eraser can see them." He turned around and dropped his headset before looking back up. I gave him a nod.

"Go get him, D," I whispered to myself.

The coffee wasn't doing my nerves any good, but it gave me something to do until I heard back from Beta team. All the while I wondered if this was what the Colonel felt like when he put me in charge. Nervous energy ran through me as I paced back and forth, watching everything everyone was doing below. Okay, I take it back. I want to be at the Alpha site where I'd be the one in the field. The waiting was killing me.

Then I groaned again. Of course, Max would be leading the Alpha team from now on and I'd still be sitting in my office wondering what was going on. Leadership sucked.

"Miss Keys, they're on site," the communications officer notified me.

I punched a button to listen in on the chatter.

Everything seemed to be going well. They'd made their way from the helipad down to the subject's room and getting the story from the CDC agent in charge. The Eraser went to modify the staff's memories slightly, while the Somnokinetic put the subject to sleep until he could be secured on base.

Thirty minutes later the hangar doors opened and the Cougar dropped in. I disappeared into my office and tried to look busy and unconcerned. Hey, maybe that's why the Colonel always looks bored when I go to his office! It's because he's trying to instill confidence in me, letting me know that he's aware I can handle pretty much anything. Hmm.

"Knock Knock," Daniel said before I waved him in.

"Everything go okay?"

He looked at me oddly. "You didn't monitor us?"

I shrugged. "I did for a little bit. I was wondering what kind of talent the newbie had." He looked like he was let down because I wasn't cheer leading him or something. "Daniel, I have full confidence in you. If I didn't then you wouldn't be in this position. So, don't take it too badly when I don't break out the pompoms and short skirt." That seemed to placate him a little. "But I will say good job. Nobody had anything bad to say about you when you left. I think you took charge and got the job done. Everyone made it home uninjured and nobody had to die."

He nodded. "It was a good day then?"

I motioned out the door. "Don't follow my example. Go write your after-action report and get it filed. They have a way of piling up if you don't."

"Yes ma'am."

I arched my eyebrow at him while he spun on his heel and laughed.

My quarters were nicer than the ones at Alpha site. It was actually a two room, bedroom/office combo. They weren't gigantic, but the bed was a little bigger and the office was an actual office instead of the large closet that Shanahan's used to be.

Spending a little time in there and having a working wardrobe sent up for the times where I would be on site, kept me busy until lunch.

Everyone had split up, into pretty much the same groups that they hung out with at Alpha, so it didn't surprise me to see Luce waving me over to an empty chair beside her.

"Hey Kris!" She gave me a pretty smile that lit up her Asian features. Something that I wasn't expecting were the two pigtails branching off either side of her head. While Luce Xiang is very pretty, she'd always shied away from being overly girlie. I was wondering what had changed in the month that she was away. Hopefully it wasn't a new boyfriend. Sean would be crushed, which would lead to more time spent by me keeping an eye on him.

"Don't you look cute," I teased playfully.

She gave me a look like she didn't know what I was talking about. Then she twigged. "Oh. My hair was getting in the way. It's just temporary. It doesn't really like to be bound."

Watching the little wisps of hair working at the tight elastic was kind of funny looking.

I nodded. "Sean misses you."

She sighed a little and pushed her vegetables around her plate a little. "You're going back tomorrow morning, right?"

"Yeah. So are you if you want."

She shrugged. "I guess. I kind of miss my room."

"But not Sean?"

Her cheeks reddened a little. "Maybe."

I let loose with a slight giggle. "It's okay to have a boyfriend, Luce. I had one the second day I was there. Or you can have a girlfriend. You know nobody at the Center judges you, and if they do then they'll have to deal with me."

Blue lightning crackled between my fingertips and then settled. "A little zap in some sensitive areas and they tend to shape right up." I was exaggerating. I don't really taser guys in the privates. That's a little too cruel. But it brought a smile to her face.

We finished lunch while we caught up on personal issues. If at all possible we like to skirt business talk while we're eating. Digestive systems tend to work a lot more efficiently that way. Then I broke the news about the new training.

"In charge?" said Luce with more than a tad of disbelief.

I shrugged. "Not totally in charge. I'll be overseeing all three sites, and you'll either be at Gamma or Alpha as Field Leader."

"Are other people as abused as I am?" She reached up and worked the elastic out of her ponytails.

Her comment brought a smile to my face. "Oh, there are others that are much more abused. Take Ray for instance."

Luce's eyebrow quirked up at me. "You didn't leave him handcuffed to the bed again, did you?"

"That was a totally unfounded rumor."

"Uh-huh."

Tendrils of her hair managed to snag one of the elastics and tried to stretch it out or break it. It occurred to me that it didn't like be restrained and was trying to make sure that it wouldn't be in the future.

"So you'll think about it?"

She shrugged. "How long do I have?"

"Until tomorrow morning."

I was there for the Second Emergence of our first Beta site subject. Randall Billings parents were African-American and Japanese. He was pretty much split right down the middle with inheriting both of their traits. The girl that emerged from the high risk containment cell on a rolling stretcher was altogether Arabic or Indian in looks: long cerulean blue hair, big wide eyes, and deeply tanned skin.

When the doctor checked out her eyes, I noticed they were ice blue. Very exotic.

"Still no idea what her talent is?" I asked Daniel as he picked a loose thread from the thigh pocket of his ACU.

He shook his head. "Whatever it is, it's not dangerous in the traditional sense." After a brief pause, his lips quirked. I didn't bother asking him to explain. Lame powers was pretty much a running joke ever since Michael's ability to make cheese sticks move across the table like inchworms came into being.

I glanced at my watch and noted the time, then frowned. Ever since our battle at the White House, the Colonel had contacted me no later than four-thirty to go over the day's events. Even on his days off. It was already five-fifteen. "I need to hit the office before closing up shop."

He nodded. "Don't worry. Everyone's already settled."

"Let me know if they've forgotten anything important by fourteen hundred hours tomorrow. We should be back at Alpha..." My phone chose that moment to interrupt me. "... site by then." Pulling it out of the holster I saw a phone number that I wasn't familiar with. "Keys."

"Commander Keys. This is Lieutenant Salazar, Gamma Site."

I blinked. Nobody with the military ever calls me. "Go ahead Lieutenant."

"Ma'am, at sixteen-fifty-three hours, Colonel Harris' transportation went off the grid. We haven't been able to reacquire the helicopter's transponder signal, and they do not return our hails."

I think I actually felt the blood drain from my face. "What... what are you saying, Lieutenant?"

"Unknown at this time, Ma'am. I've scrambled ground crews to the last known position and scrambled two rescue helicopters. We should know more in..." I heard a voice in the background before Salazar came back. "I'm told ETA is thirty-two minutes."

I nodded to nobody. "Contact Major Fine at Alpha site. Tell her what you've told me." My brain finally clicked into place. "Relay coordinates of his last known location to Beta site."

"Copy that, Ma'am. Anything else?"

"Contact me again when your crews are two minutes out."

I clicked off and pulled up Max's number. Two rings later and he answered. "Heeellooooo." I soooo regretted purchasing all the seasons of Seinfeld and passing them around.

"Max, prep Alpha team ASAP and get in the air. Destination is being sent to you."

His attitude changed when he heard the stress in my voice. "What happened?"

"I don't know yet, but the Colonel's plane went missing twenty minutes ago. I want Liz, Lara, Kevin, Ray, Sean, Sheri... dammit! Bring everyone that has three months or more of training and can be the slightest bit of use. I don't care how many jets you have to use. Be there five minutes ago!"

Daniel was staring at me with a closed face, waiting for me to elaborate.

"I'm on it." Max clicked off and I holster my phone.

Daniel stood beside me. "What can I do?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Beta team needs to be available in case something else comes up."

"Kris," he almost whined.

"Do you have a problem with my orders?" I snapped.

He didn't answer and I didn't wait around. Twenty feet down the hall, I called Luce and told her to meet me in the Deployment Room. Then I took off at a run. She made it there about a minute after me. I was already stripped down and pulling up a pair of black commando pants when she pulled her shirt over her head.

"What happened?"

"The Colonel's gone off the grid."

She stopped and looked at me. "What's that mean?"

"He's missing. They lost the helicopter's transponder somewhere over Texas."

Luce took the hint and hurried out of her clothes and into a tactical uniform while I entered the weapons room. Normally I don't bother with weapons seeing as I pretty much am one. However, I didn't want to be ill prepared, just in case, so I belted up and attached a combat knife, pistol, smoke grenades, and a couple of flash-bangs. Luce followed suit and saw how serious I was taking the situation.

Normally, I never carried more than a single smoke grenade and a knife. I was trained with the weapons, I just never found much use for them.

"It may have just been an accident," she offered in some vain attempt to calm me down.

Glancing at my watch, I said, "We'll know in nineteen minutes. Hurry up."

I was probably being a bitch, but what else was new? While Luce was finishing up, I double-checked to make sure I had everything. I even went so far as to tie my hair back with a black kerchief and slip on my gloves. Did it make any sense? No. It would take five minutes to get to the landing strip, another fifteen to let the flight crew do their checklists, an hour or more to fly to the closest field where we would have to jump into a helicopter to make it out to wherever the Colonel disappeared to. The first thing I was requisitioning when I got back was some sort of jump jet that could land in the middle of nowhere without a flat surface and runway lights. I probably wouldn't get it but what the hell, it was worth a try. The point I was making is that it would be a couple of hours until I could even see what was going on.

A hand settled on my shoulder and I startled. Luce was wearing her compassionate face. "He'll be okay."

I started to send back a biting remark but held my tongue. She was only trying to help and I was being an ass. "Let's go."

TBC...
Photo Credit: Kristin K.