Fire and Ice

Chapter 10 [] Ender

Kayleigh let them talk for hours. She sat quietly and listened intently to each person as they spoke, just like they had done for her.

At some point she glanced at her wrist and her eyebrows raised slightly. She put her wrist down, and stood up to stretch.

"It's dinner time, y'all," she said. A collective silence fell, accompanied by Petra falling back into the couch and pulling a pillow to cover her face. Kayleigh smiled down at her and said, "I know, I know, hate to be the party poopers, but you guys need to stay healthy and get to bed at a reasonable hour."

Dink shrugs. "Don't need to tell me twice." He starts walking out of the room, followed closely by Fly and Tom. Bean and Alai walk out together, followed by Hot Soup. Petra groans and slinks off of the couch, trudging through the library in pursuit of food and sleep. Leaving me and Kayleigh. She glanced over at me.

"Aren't you going to go eat?" she asks. I shrug in response.

"Don't usually."

"Well I guess today's not usually then," she quips. I half smile, and then turn to follow the rest of my Toon Leaders. A question suddenly bursts into the forefront of my thoughts, so I turn around to ask Kayleigh if she'll come eat with us. All I see are couches.

†††

As soon as Ender turns around to leave, I slip silently away to start locking down the library. Too much precious information could slip into the wrong hands. I hear a few footsteps, then a small squeak, probably Ender turning around to ask me something. A small inhale, a disgruntled exhale, another small squeak, and the footsteps continue in the direction of the door.

------------------

"Sir, all seven members of the jeesh and Ender have been seen in the mess hall, eating."

"Thank God. Where is she?"

"...."

"Anderson, where is she?"

"We don't know sir. She was seen exiting the library, but then.."

"Then what, Anderson? I can't read minds."

"She-- I- she just..."

"Just what?"

"Disappeared. Right outside the library doors. She... shimmered out of existence. I don't know how else to explain it."

"Anything else, Anderson? Something useful, and not just reports of her cloaking device being used?" Anderson gaped at the statement.

"She raised her middle finger at the camera before her cloaking." Graff slammed the table over, effectively crushing the screen that he was using to talk to Anderson.

"Damn it! Check all security systems!"

††††

Cameras, down. Firewall, unencrypted. Information, mine.

≈≈≈≈≈≈

Alarms started blaring as we were depositing our empty trays. Ender finally showed to dinner for once, he even ate food. Maybe they need him in for a pysch eval.

A small message appears in the corner of the cafeteria news screens. Get Ender to his room. Stay there and wait for orders. -Graff. Oh no.

"Petra!" Someone calls out from my left, grabbing my arm. I turn and see Ender, eyes wide. I grab his arm and pull him in.

"Dink! Form up!" I yell. He appears beside me, tailed by the other toon leaders, in less than twenty seconds. Without exchanging a word, they form a tight perimeter around Ender. I take my spot, not letting go of his arm.

"What are you doing?" He pants.

"Graff needs us to get you somewhere safe," Fly responds matter-of-factly.

"No, he doesn't!" Ender cries defiantly. "It's Kayleigh!" Everyone collectively takes in their breath.

"Well, whatever she's gotten herself into now, we can't help her yet. Our number one priority is keeping you alive," I state. The words sting coming out of my mouth. I don't want to abandon her, none of us do. We all looked up to her as children, and I doubt that respect lessened when we met just a few hours earlier. The others nod in agreement and start moving toward Ender's room.

†††

Out of the corner of my eye I see a large group of people moving quickly from room to room. A slightly longer glance reveals Bean, Alai, Petra, and Ender. They seem to be heading very quickly towards his living quarters. Graff.

The door bursts down behind me, leaving me no escape, and facing several gun barrels down.

≈≈≈≈≈

We push and shove and yank our way through the crowded halls until we reach Ender's quarters. We all file in, and Hot Soup closes the door behind us. Ender plops down on the bed, fiddling nervously with his fingers.

"What do you think she's done now? She's not exactly got her toes in a line," says Tom.

"She looked really confused when we were talking about all of the recent power struggles."

"Yeah... She didn't seem to know that Earth was split into multiple different countries still... I'm guessing Graff didn't tell her everything she needed to know." Ender nods solemnly.

"She probably hacked the system and caused a security breach," says Alai. Bean looks up thoughtfully.

"Or she was analyzing our security measures. That would be far more useful to her," he says, pointing to a fallen piece of rock on the wall. Fly grabs hold of it and yanks. It pops out if the wall, followed by strings of wires.

"A camera," I whisper.