I found out what Tsee Blackbourne meant when he said, "Two Kasse," the other day in the training room. The boys woke up early and even dragged me along to the Stairs Room. I was told to go at my own pace, but at the end of the time frame all of Fourth Squad was sweating profusely. They had run through the course several times, but also added various exercises in-between laps, like pushups and sit-ups. The most impressive part was that they all did it perfectly in-sync, too, moving as one complete unit. Okay, I might have stopped a couple times just to watch. I mean, you know, to learn the proper techniques on performing those exercises. Certainly, not to ogle all that straining muscle.
"A few First Squad members are taking Eleventh through Orbs Rotation. Instead, we will be taking Miss Sorenson on one of the training missions to Unara's near-space," Tsee Blackbourne explained to us when we finished showering and reassembled. Gabriel was eyeing the clip in my wet hair with disdain, but he wouldn't dare interrupt Tsee Blackbourne to grab it from me. "Everyone take the rest of this shift and second shift to rest and replenish energy reserves with a high protein content meal. Then meet at the Gate Lock on Level 34 Third Shift First Hour. Tset Korba and Tset Morgan, take Miss Sorenson to Supply Storage to equip and train her on the mission pack equipment. No activities are scheduled for the Commons, you should be able to make use of it as needed. Dismissed."
Silas and Victor whisked me away, but not before Gabriel could snag my clip with telekinesis. Ha! If he only knew I'd now figured out how to make my nanosuit replicate one, which I did as soon as we were out of sight and bundled my hair back up. In Supply, Silas asked a KOTIS staff member for an extra mission pack. It had a little food and water, a tiny medical pack with anti-venom and a breather for any flooded zones.
"Are all the spaces okay to breathe?" I asked.
"Usually," said Victor. "Sometimes it doesn't smell very good, but we have not encountered any that were toxic. The leading green-suits have two main theories. Either, only certain atmosphere types create a truly living world."
"Or that we are not actually breathing," Silas added. Huh, weird. The staff member handed him the pack.
"Why this a training mission?" I asked as we left and headed back to the elevator which brought us down to this level. It was the lowest I had been on, only a few floors above Konna's surface.
"It is short, there's nothing smart living in it, and it never changes," Silas answered.
Victor said, "It also leads to Unara, as at least a quarter of all rotations do, so there's usually not much going on in near-space either. This rotation is four spaces. The first is always bare. The second is Gabriel's least favorite. It's full of insects that are small and tend to swarm. If one strikes you, use the antidote to their poison in your med-pack.
Silas said, "Then we will be in the near-space of Unara's airway tunnels. My father sometimes works in actual space there. I am glad that is consistently cleared, so I don't worry about him on those assignments."
Was it wrong that I had never worried about my father when he went on business trips? I realized this was one of the few times that any of the guys mentioned their families. "What your father do?" I asked.
"He does design and maintenance of different systems, but mostly the cleansing nanocyte recycling depots. The air tunnels have to be cleaned to prevent air-borne illness and disease. Same for sewage and water tunnel systems. You've heard a little bit about the residential areas being cleaned by specifically programmed nanocytes. All the tunnels and tubes have to be designed and maintained for the nanocytes to do the cleansing properly. He inspects the areas to make sure everything is working, too."
"And you're too accommodating when he drags you along to help him," Victor stated to Silas.
Silas just gave a half-smile and said, "Probably."
Victor picked up his description, "On the return trip, we will go through a space that is rarely occupied, but the Ionoth there are large and slow. The last space has three winged creatures. We should complete it fairly quickly." He walked out of the elevator having reached the recreational level we were headed to. "With you, Princess, we might even set a time record," he added slipping his hand into mine.
We entered the Commons Room and moved to a far corner where a few of the others waited. Silas and Victor quickly ran through operating directions of the equipment bag with me. Really, how hard is it to see that you are underwater and need to use the breather? But as Kota pointed out, they just needed to document going over the procedures to meet protocol. Here, I actually saw some of the Kalrani in their brown uniforms. They all gave very deferential nods to black-suited Setari. Three Setari girls joined us after the equipment demonstration was over.
"Hey Newton," Nathan greeted the girl in the lead. "This is Sang Sorenson," he introduced me. She had short pixie-cut hair and a confident air.
"I'm Karen," she said to me. "This is Carly and Lake, we're on Seventh Squad. I'd offer you a proper greeting, but there is that Hands Off the Stray rule." She smiled kindly.
The girl Karen pointed out as Carly said, "I heard the testing on your ability was going well and they started scheduling other squads to test with."
I glanced to Kota, but nodded nervously as I took a step closer to Silas.
In a deadpan voice, Lake, by far the shortest of the Setari I'd met so far, quipped, "Yeah, should be a real blast," looking as if anything else would be more interesting to her...or maybe him. She was wearing Setari appropriate makeup and longish hair, but had a more androgynous face and body-type and her voice was a deep alto or high tenor. I wasn't sure.
Carly shot her a long-suffering look, but Karen's eyes brightened in laughter. I took that to mean Lake just had a very dry sense of humor.
Carly looked back to me and said, "You should ditch the boys for a bit and join us for Second Shift Meal, Sang."
I panicked for a den, wondering how to politely decline, but Kota intervened, "Sorry, for now we are on orders to keep Sang with us."
"Well, Sang, no need to be shy. Send a message anytime you are free, but for now, do any of you want to play Tairo?" Karen asked. That was a game I'd seen played the first time I went shopping with Erica and Jessica back on Kessine. The teams each try getting one of three balls through a hole in the other teams' base wall. Across the court are poles of different heights and platforms at various levels that the players use to leap, twist or somersault to and from.
Nathan laughed and said, "Still trying to make up for that last loss, huh?"
Karen just shrugged, but her eyes twinkled.
"Well, you'll have to try redeeming yourselves some other time. We are headed on a mission at the start of Third Shift and Tsee Blackbourne wants us to reserve our energy until then," Nathan said.
"Alright, but you're going down Griffen," she said as the girls turned and walked away.
I found myself feeling anxious about Nathan and Karen's banter. Were they together or had they dated in the past? I looked around and my stomach clinched at the thought that each of the boys could all have girlfriends that I didn't know about. They hadn't said anything about other girls though, I reminded myself. Surely, a girlfriend would have complained about all the time they had spent with me lately. But I was an assignment, the Stray with the Enhancing Talent that had to be babysat at night to make sure she didn't wonder off into the Ena or...
North somewhat interrupted my inner thoughts by placing a hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong, Sang Baby?" he asked, brows furrowed. I blinked back the sting in my eyes. What was wrong with me? Was this what jealousy felt like? I had no right to feel this way about the boys...all of the boys. I already knew I hated the idea of North ever being with Jade. Thankfully, he'd made it clear he wanted nothing to with her. However, there were other girls here, not only all the amazing Setari but the other KOTIS staff members. Erica had met Kota's father when she was a purple-suit in MedBay. Was Ista Green with one of the medics. Or actually, considering Tare's marriage practices, did any of them have more than one girlfriend? They could hold my hand and pull me onto their laps without regard for another girl's feelings because it was expected. Oh God, I was close to hyperventilating. North shook me, both hands on my upper arms now. "Sang! Sang! What the fuck is wrong?" his deep voice finally broke through my dark musings.
"I...I," Tears were still threatening to fall, but North grabbed me up and carried me out of the Commons.
"We can't go outside to your place on the roof, there is a strong storm, but we will go somewhere else," he said and the others followed, all wearing concerned faces.