Under the Moon

Chapter Forty Three

CHAPTER FORTY THREE

It took a moment for him to register who I was and for me to find my voice again. Then, at the same time, we shouted, "What in the world are you doing here?" He stared at me and I stared at him. "I thought you were dead," he told me.

"I survived," I said, "Obviously."

"What a pity. How did you live?" he said.

I glared at him. "It's a long story. What are you doing here?"

"After the hospital took Elizabeth away from me, I got a promotion. I worked as a leading Peacekeeper here in the Capitol before joining this mission. What are you, such a little girl, doing here?" he said. The hospital took Liz away from him? Of course! He hadn't been told about the whole District Thirteen situation! That was obviously classified information.

"Well, I didn't want to be in this mission. I work in the labs and I was in there the day Phobos was visiting. I knocked over his folders and when I picked them up, I read information on the mission. He found out and said I must either die or participate. And so I participated," I said.

"I see," he said, snidely, "Though I am surprised why Phobos didn't just kill you. I mean, you're only a kid and will probably slow us all down. I can't imagine what use you will be. Well, I have to admit, you are quite smart, but there are many adults smarter than you."

"Would you prefer that I died?" I demanded.

"No, I am quite indifferent on the matter. Oh well, I must go," he said. I stared at the spot where he had just been. Why was he promoted after Liz left? I guess it was because like other Peacekeepers, he finally had no family to care for, so he could participate in more dangerous affairs. Hermes stood up and said, "Well, introductions are over. Time to go meet the Chinese ambassadors." We followed him in a perfect, single file line. Being number fifty one, I was all the way at the end of the line. We went to a giant room, rows and rows of chairs facing each other, for us. All of us sat beside each other, since the Chinese ambassadors were sitting across from us. The meeting began with formal inquisitions. It was monotonous and boring. As Kayte, the only thing I was supposed to discuss was education. "I think that both Russian and Chinese should be taught in our elementary schools. Then we can communicate a lot more comfortably, since we'd be fluent in both languages. I've been learning to speak Chinese. See!" I said. Then I begun to speak really bad Chinese with a horrible accent. The ambassadors nodded, satisfied by by my horrible attempt. The meeting continued, with us pretending to negotiate trade with the Chinese ambassadors. After the long meeting finally ended, it was dinner time. I was allowed to finally return to my hotel room. I walked over to one of the screens on my room to order food. After eating a meal of noodles, I turned on my wrist computer. I asked for the plans for tomorrow, and a tiny white capsule came out the edge of the watch. It started growing until it became a small piece of paper. I skipped the boring details and went right to the mission section. Who would my mission partner be? I looked at the list. It said, "Mission Partner: None." None?! Why did I have no partner? Right below it, it read, "Last mission member, not enough members to have a partner." Darn it! I was sure to die. Why did I have to find those papers? Why didn't I listen to Shayne and Copper? Even watching the games with Shayne or doing whatever Copper wanted to do that day was better than this. I couldn't help it. I started crying, I started sobbing in body wrenching sobs. I hadn't cried like this in so long. Not since I was eight and my dog died. I never had a pet after that. I hadn't cried like this when I got reaped for the games, not when I heard that Shayne would be turned into an Avox, and not when I had been sent to District Thirteen either. But this was the definite last straw. There was no way I could handle this and everything else I was suffering as well. I might as well die. If the rest of my life just involved avoiding other death traps, there would be no point in living. It would be the games all over again. I wondered what I should do from here. My wrist band had the necessary weapons to end someone's life. But what would I accomplish in killing myself? Shayne and Copper would be heartbroken. Shayne will be killed or turned into an Avox because I was no longer there to protect him. And because of that, my parents would die too. I knew I couldn't ever let that happen. One day, when I was sure Shayne and Mom and Dad would be safe, maybe. But I'm not suicidal. I want to live my full life. Tomorrow is only my fourteenth birthday. I have years and years ahead of me. There is no way I would ever end my life now. But I knew that my chances for survival tomorrow were slim. At least I have a small chance. I clenched my fists and practiced breathing deeply. "Why are you crying, Miss Kovski? Is there anything I cam do for you?" Chi-333 asked.

I shook my head. "But thanks anyways," I mumbled. I didn't have the patience of talking to a machine now. Just as the instructions said, I said, "Goodnight," and ran my hand across the wall. The slight whirring noise stopped and the Chi-333 turned off. Now, I just returned to my bed and wiped off my tears. I began reading the paper again. How were we supposed to survive this if the security cameras weren't disconnected? I could do it with the help of Shayne, but he wasn't even here. The one person I knew who could comfortably hack into their system and disconnect the cameras was Shayne's brother, Tesla's twin, Beetee. I remembered how easy hacking was for Beetee. He had hacked every single computer run system in District Three. Since everything in District Three, from the lights to the bathrooms were controlled by a computer program. When all the lights went out and when all the toilets started overflowing, nobody blamed little Beetee. His goal was to someday hack into the program that controlled the Hunger Games and bring an end to them. He hadn't succeeded in that yet, obviously.

Hopefully, some adult on the mission had already taken care of the cameras. I read the rest of the mission description. At four AM, we were to put on only our chameleon suits, our watches, thin gloves, and specially padded shoes. We were each assigned a room to bug with the equipment. Our watches provided the tiny cameras we were to put in the rooms. I read that if we weren't back by 4:45, the mission would leave without us. Hermes had told the Chinese officials that we would leave at 4:45 AM so we would get back in time. Of course, we were just attempting to be back safe at Panem if the damage from our breaking in was discovered.

Suddenly, I heard a tapping noise at my window. What was it? Was it a message from a mission member? I was relieved to realize that Chi-333 was off so only I noticed the noise. I walked over to my window and tenderly opened it. I gasped in shock. At first, I saw nothing except for the dark sky and the blinking lights from the buildings. Then, something flew past and stopped by my window. Floating, flying right above my window was Shayne.

_______________________________________________________________________________________ Sorry for not posting for so long. I'm really busy with school and all, but this coming Friday is the last day, so I'll be posting more soon:).