Explorer X Alpha (16 page)

“Maybe that's something we can find out tonight. We should check out the infirmary to see what the sick kids look like there.”

“You are right. Okay, I'll add that to the list since I already mapped out how we are going to get to the other places,” Eirena said as she tapped her lips to let Raiko know she wanted her to read her lips.

“We have to go through the oxygen ducts. It's the only way to go, undetected? We are going to hit the staff quarters, this place they call the cave, and the infirmary. Splitting up is the only way to go to them all before the expedition tomorrow. Something tells me we need to see this before we go,” Eirena said, looking intently at Raiko.

“I don't think the boys will have a problem with it. We can probably talk quietly with them about this at dinner, as there are so many kids around they probably won't be monitoring conversations as much.”

“Good. Let's get the map and go meet them for dinner,” Eirena said as she went to her bag under her bed to retrieve the map. She then folded it up and put it into her jeans pocket.

Aadi walked straight to his room. He figured he better tell the guys that the girls wanted to talk to them about something serious. He had a feeling he knew what it was about. They all kind of kept quiet after the night in the labs, but he had not stopped thinking about what they had stumbled upon. He wondered what big experiment TEGRC was doing with the campers. He figured it was probably focused on making sure that the camp would do well for their next trip, or at least that was all he was hoping it was. But deep down, he really felt in his gut it was just something too ugly to even begin to consider. It made him wonder if his parents had any idea what they had signed him up for. Also, it made him hope that they had no knowledge of the true purpose of this camp, because any other option would be too hard to accept.

“Hmm. Let's not skip to conclusions. I'll just see what the girls figured out. Maybe there is more to this,” Aadi said to himself when he got to the door. He scanned his eyes, and the door opened. No one was in the room yet, so he went over and tapped on the floor. Ebu immediately came out of the backpack and climbed on the bed.

“Hello, Aadi. I was getting really bored today,” Ebu said as he crossed his legs.

“I know, but I am taking you to dinner with me today. The girls want to talk about something important. I think they are onto something,” Aadi said.

“Hmm, okay. Well, I better get in the backpack before the others arrive,” Ebu said, and then he scrambled into the backpack like a good little robot. Aadi grabbed the backpack and put in on with Ebu inside just as the door opened.

Dakota, Damien, and Scott walked in and were talking about the movie they had just seen in the virtual movie room. They had all just come from a horror movie, and each had been the victim of the killer. They were laughing about how each had gotten bitten by the werewolf and who cried like a baby about it.

“Wow, it sounds like a good movie,” Aadi said as he overheard them.

“Man, was it ever! You have
got
to go to this one! We are going to see it again after the expedition. We started the movie as kids in high school. We all went to a senior hayride and were attacked by a band of werewolves. Man, when they bite you that crap hurts. The movie made me shake like a Mexican jumping bean when I turned into a werewolf,” Dakota said, laughing and slapping hands with Damien.

“Well, I am on my way to dinner, and I wanted you to know that the girls have something important they want to talk to us about. I think it has something to do with our last um… adventure,” Aadi said.

“Interesting, I can't wait to see what this is about. I have been bored sick since our last ‘adventure,' and am ready for another,” said Dakota.

“Hey, where are Tacitus and Carter?” Aadi asked while he adjusted his backpack.

“Oh, outside talking to the kid next door. Poor kid doesn't know what he got himself into asking Carter about how he made out in the movie,” Dakota said while he laughed.

“Oh, he made out all right. He was one of the first people bit by the king werewolf and held in death mode before he changed into a werewolf himself. He couldn't even make a kill when he became a werewolf because he was easy for all of us to outrun. Useless, he is,” Damien said and then placed his hands on his hips.

“Well, we can grab them on the way out. How did Tacitus make out?” said Aadi.

“Great, of course. Whenever we do the computer generated reality stuff, he just keeps getting better and better. No one could catch him, and trust me, we all tried,” replied Dakota with a laugh. They all headed out the door to find Carter and Tacitus talking to a kid who stayed in the room next door.

“Hey, Sam,” Aadi called as he walked past. “We are on our way to dinner. Carter, Tacitus, are you guys coming?” Aadi called back.

“Yeah, right behind you,” Carter said as he gave Sam the cool handshake. He and Tacitus followed.

They got to the cafeteria in no time flat and saw Raiko waving at them. They walked over to the table and said their hellos.

“Hey, we are gonna get our food first and come back. I see that spaghetti looks really good,” said Aadi to Raiko. He didn't speak to Eirena or even glance at her, still quite troubled by her actions earlier that day.

“Yeah, it is pretty good, Aadi,” Eirena answered for Raiko. Aadi didn't reply. He only turned around and went to the food line.

Eirena looked up to see Neema and Jacob walking over to their table.

“Hey, guys, thanks for playing Speed and Fire with us today. We have to have a full team rematch when we get back from the expedition tomorrow,” Jacob said, then sent a dazzling smile toward Eirena. He then winked at Raiko.

“Hey, you guys played Speed and Fire without me? Man, I can kick butt and take names in that game. That would have been more fun than the werewolf movie we saw today,” said Carter, who didn't do them the favor of following the other boys.

“Um, Carter, aren't you going to get some food?” said Eirena.

“Naw, I am not hungry. I had food in my room, so I just came to hang out,” Carter said as he got comfortable in his seat and leaned his head on his hand. Just as Carter replied, the others came up to the table.

“Hey, my name is Jacob, and this is Neema. We are Team Fire Six. We were just thanking Eirena, Raiko, and Aadi for playing us today,” Jacob said easily and smiled at the rest of the team.

“Well, this is Damien, Dakota, Scott, and Tacitus. They went to the virtual theatre today and saw the new werewolf movie with Carter,” Aadi replied.

“How was that? We heard it was really scary, but nothing really scares us that easily,” Neema said.

“I guess nothing would,” Eirena replied saucily. Aadi glanced at her and then jerked his gaze back to Neema.

“Yeah, Neema, you are right. You really gave as well as you got on the game today. Next time, I'll make sure I am on your team,” Aadi replied while he smiled at Neema and took her hand in his. He sneaked a glance at Eirena to make sure she saw the display.
Serves her right to be angry,
he thought,
after what she pulled earlier.

“Eww,” Eirena said under her breath. Then Raiko softly tapped her on her shoulder. It went unnoticed by Eirena, who kept on mumbling to herself. “Oh, he looks stupid,” Eirena thought out loud, “staring at Neema like a lovesick puppy. I so don't feel sorry for attacking that fool. Oh, he definitely deserved it,” she said without realizing she spoke rather loudly this time.

“Eirena, you need to keep your hateful thoughts to yourself. I can hear you,” Raiko whispered to Eirena. Eirena shook her head to snap out of her anger.

“Well, hopefully all of you can join us in the match next time. Oh, and we will be right behind you in the expedition tomorrow, so see you then!” Jacob said as they went to meet their team at their table.

“Well, well, well… I see Aadi has a pretty groupie hanging on. She sure looks yummy. Did you take a bite? A kiss? A smooch? Man, give us something to dream about,” said Dakota.

“Naw, she's not that type. We're just getting to know one another. She is nice, that's all,” Aadi replied, then slipped a peek at Eirena, enjoying her jealous reaction to his flirting with Neema. He thought Neema was pretty but hadn't decided if he wanted to pursue her in the way she wanted him to.

“Oh, she is more than nice. She is friggin beautiful, and she wants you, bad man,” said Dakota.

“Yeah, I am with you on that Dakota. I would give my left pinky finger to have her smiling at me that way,” Scott replied and slapped Aadi on the back.

“Will you boys grow up? We have more important things to discuss - like what we need to discover about the reason we are all really here!” Eirena said with tightness in her voice.

“What are you talking about?” Damien inquired and stood up then leaned in to face Eirena.

“We found some crazy stuff out about our team, Explorer X, that seems fishy to me. It referred to an experiment that we are all part of. I want to get to the bottom of this,” Eirena said quietly but clearly to the others seated around her. Then she returned Damien's stare.

 

 

“What do you expect us to do? Why should we care? I know I don't,” Damien said and looked Eirena directly in the eye.

“I have a map of the ship - one that is not easily available to the campers. It shows some places I think we should investigate before the expedition,” Eirena said. She started to sit, and Damien followed with a frown.

“Where are these places? Now, I must say, I am a bit interested,” Damien said, then cut his eyes at Aadi.

“Well, this is the map,” she said as she pulled the folded piece of paper out of her jeans pocket. She laid the map down, and they all gathered around to look at it.

“See… this here is the infirmary. I think that is where they put the kids that got sick after the immunizations. Here are the staff quarters. It is a lot bigger than they stated on the camp map that they gave us upon boarding. Lastly, here is what they call the cave,” said Eirena.

“Man, I didn't even know they had an infirmary that big. That place is huge! Why would they need one that big for this size of ship?” asked Scott as he pointed at it.

“I bet they need it because they expected a lot more of us campers to get sick. But sick from what is the question,” said Damien.

“Also, look here… this place called The Cave is not so small either. What's in there, and why would they call it The Cave? Is it like a prison or something? Is that where they take kids that get caught doing crimes?” Aadi asked.

“Well, we can go check these places out today while everyone is moving around. We won't be missed that way, and we figured we could use the oxygen vents to travel from place to place on the ship without being seen,” said Eirena.

“Yeah, I say we meet in the engineering area near the basketball courts. They have an oxygen vent there that's close to the ground and easy to get in and out of,” Aadi said.

“Who's in, and where do you want to go?” asked Eirena.

“Me and Dakota will take the cave,” said Damien while he winked at Dakota and nodded his head.

“I'll take the staff quarters. I know where their meeting room is, and they usually hang out there after meetings,” Carter said.

“Raiko and I will come with you, Carter,” Scott added as he nodded at Raiko.

“Well, I guess I'll take the infirmary. Tacitus and Eirena will be coming with me,” said Aadi with heaviness in his voice. “I have some things I want to bring that are in my room. Let's meet in the engineering room in about thirty minutes,” Aadi said while he gathered his tray up and left. Everyone got up and followed.

 

 

They all met in front of the engineering room door just as they had planned, a side door next to the basketball courts. The door wasn't lit up like most of the others on the ship, as it was mainly used for the maintenance crews only. Aadi and the others had stopped at their rooms to gather whatever they could find to protect them or hide them from view. They were all equipped with their backpacks, and Eirena brought the extra copies of the map she had printed.

“Okay… here. Everyone take a copy of the map,” Eirena said.

“I have two scrambling devices and some hearing amplification devices for everyone,” said Dakota as he held out his hand for Scott to grab one. Damien grabbed the other.

“Wow, Dakota, you think of everything!” said Eirena. She shook her head in wonderment and laughed lightly to herself.

“Don't worry about us. I have a device,” said Aadi.

“I'll lead the group through and use my scrambler device along the way as Tacitus, Eirena, and I have the last stop through the ducts. We only have two hours before they call lights out, so let's meet back here just before then,” Aadi said. They all nodded and stood behind Dakota as he used Carter's key card to gain access to the engineering room.

The plain gray door slid open, and they all entered. The room was filled with pipes and ducts. It had gray walls and dim lighting brightened as anyone moved through.

“Okay, according to the map, the ducts entrance we should use is on the left wall. The places we will be going are all in the belly of the ship. Let's try not to get caught, ‘cause I don't want to end up in the cave ourselves,” said Aadi as he led the way to the oxygen ducts. The duct was square and had a steady breeze as oxygen pumped through. He pulled out his toolaid and rubbed it to activate the small screwdriver. He screwed off the covering over the oxygen duct and moved the lattice covering aside. He moved quickly to put some space between him and the others and told Ebu to come out and go in front of him toward the infirmary. Ebu unzipped Aadi's backpack and scurried out of the top of the bag and ahead of Aadi down the dark square duct. Aadi put on his glasses that allowed him to see in the dark and followed Ebu down the duct. They all traveled through the ducts silently, waiting for Aadi's queue for the first stop, the staff quarters.