By unspoken agreement, the four headed towards Sasha and Mariel’s cabin. Its proximity to the mess hall and the illusion of privacy the girls had created made it the best place to reconvene. Stepping through the flag draped doorway into the girls’ tented room, the four removed their coats and gloves and settled on the two bunks before resuming the interrupted conversation. Mariel passed around cups of cocoa she’d had the foresight to grab as they were leaving the mess hall. Everyone wrapped their hands gratefully around the warm cups and grinned when she laid a napkin full of cookies on the nightstand.
Only the lid on her cup saved Sasha from drenching herself with hot liquid as she bounced up and down on the bunk impatiently. “So, you said you knew who the other two families are?” she prompted.
“Yes, I do.” Kyra affirmed, as if the conversation hadn’t been sidelined by Tess and Sebastian’s arrival.
The air in the cabin crackled with pent up excitement. Without even knowing what Kyra’s team had found, it beat out the latest crisis currently occupying their elders. They knew their work continued to be of primary importance. Their overactive imaginations had painted horrific pictures of humanity should the Transition be thwarted. Those pictures more accurately reflected reality than they knew.
“Are you going to tell us, or were you planning on turning this into some kind of sick guessing game?” Mariel demanded.
“Well….” Kyra took a sip of cocoa and a bite of cookie, her half smile and a glint in her eye warning she’d drag it out for as long as possible. Noticing the makeshift missiles Mariel had hovering in the air ready to fling, Kyra’s smile faded as she set cookie and cocoa aside.
“OK, OK!” Kyra shielded her face and head with her arms. “You know I was only kidding, right?” She relaxed only after the missiles disappeared from the cabin.
“The first family isn’t really a surprise. It was high on the list your dads gave us to look into. One man in particular from that family is Colonel James Fitzhugh. He’s a logistics genius We suspected someone with his unique skills had to be part of the operation. He’s so well known, we were able to identify his energy signature in the sample you brought us.” Kyra retrieved her cookie and waited. Everyone talked at once, causing a deafening chatter as each tried to be heard above the rest.
“Holy crap!” Sasha exclaimed. “According to my dad, he’s one of the best in the business. Leave it to a scumbag like Hightower to make sure he has the best of the best on his side.”
“True, that.” Ty agreed. “Fortunately for us a group of teenagers would be so far below his radar we’d be virtually nonexistent. Therein lies our advantage.”
“Do you think the fire at Sebastian’s office was intended to warn us?” Mariel wondered.
“I doubt it. In the first place, they don’t know we’re being trained and in the second, they seem to be operating under the misconception the Council is still running things.” Kyra smirked. “They have no way of knowing your parents went rogue and took most of the Star Guides with them, including some of the Council members. They sure wouldn’t believe a bunch of half-trained teenagers have been able to uncover their secrets. For now, I think we can focus on finding their rat hole without much fear of discovery.”
“So who’s our other rat?” Sasha set her cup down knowing she’d wear the contents because of her impatient fidgeting. Getting up, she paced the small space to burn off some of the nervous energy. She wanted to get back to retracing the ley lines armed with this new information. Knowing which energy signatures to look for would make their search more productive.
“None other than Nathan Watson.” Kyra’s announcement fell into a stunned silence.
“The freakin’ Prime Minister of England?” Sasha stopped her pacing so suddenly she lost her balance and nearly landed on top of Mariel who laughed and rolled to the other side of the cot.
“Did you not hear me mention they’d spent centuries embedding themselves into top levels of government? It makes perfect sense they’d have found their way into positions of power long before we even had a government. The way they pass down positions in the House of Lords to family members makes it cake to get someone in there and keep the seat forever.”
“There is a plus side to this.” Sasha noted. “Because they’re both so prominent, finding energy signatures without getting too close won’t be difficult. We already have Fitzhugh’s. I’m pretty sure one of the Star Guides has crossed paths with Mr. Prime Minister and can help us out.”
“Finding where they cross with Hightower’s ‘don’t look at me’ protections will be easy peasy.” Mariel added a trifle too optimistically.
“Oh joy!” Mariel raised an eyebrow when Sasha clutched her head in her hands. “Remember all the ley lines we ruled out?” Mariel nodded. “Well, now we get to revisit them.”
“Guess we’d better get to work.” Mariel rose slowly and shoved her arms back into the sleeves of her recently discarded jacket.
The four exchanged hugs, and, scuffing their feet on the ground, moved to rejoin their own teams.
“Please thank everyone for figuring out who we’re looking for, Kyra. You’ve cut our work at least in half.” Sasha said as she linked her arm through Mariel’s.
“I don’t know about that. We have a good deal of backtracking to do.” Mariel groaned.
“Let’s meet here at the same time tomorrow night to compare notes again.” Kyra suggested. “We’re starting to see some of the same clues. If we share what we learn we won’t waste too much time going over the same ground.”
“Great idea, Kyra. See you then.” Sasha followed Mariel to share the news with their team.
A mass groan followed Sasha and Mariel’s announcement about retracing many of the ley lines they’d considered dead ends. When they explained why and what they were looking for, the room became a beehive of activity. Because everyone had kept detailed records, it was quick work to pull up files on all energy signatures which had mysteriously disappeared.
With Kyra’s information, they incorporated Fitzhugh’s energy signature into the search. Since they already knew there were traces in and around Adamsville, they looked for places where it accompanied Hightower’s energy signature. If they were lucky, they’d track the signatures to Hightower’s base of operations. Finding the base meant the Star Guides would be a good deal closer to locating the source of the resistance…and to shutting that resistance down.
As unlikely as it might be they’d find Watson’s energy signature anywhere close to Adamsville and the mine, Sasha and Mariel linked telepathically with their parents to get a sample. The sample Sasha had provided contained dozens of energy signatures which they’d been unable to identify. There was no point in ruling anyone out without proof. If nothing else, it might be useful in identifying others who might be involved. Everyone suspected an organization capable of taking over entire towns was managed by more than three people, despite how highly placed and brilliant they might be.
“Let’s focus on two things for now.” Sasha spoke above the tapping of keyboards and humming of printers. “First, identify as many of the high-level players as possible. Second, trace their energy signatures through the ley lines to determine both how far their influence extended, and where the energy signatures are the strongest. We have to find their base or bases so we’ll know where to send teams of Star Guides and Guardians once there’s a plan to stop the resistance and protect the Transition.” She got no response from the group but knew they’d received and were acting on her instructions.
As data came off the printers, the team broke up into groups of two or three, poring over reports to determine where to begin retracing ley lines. Mariel and Sasha stared at each other, frozen for a moment in time. Not long ago, they were just kids causing their share of mischief, camping with their families, and trusting their parents to keep them safe. Now they were managing a group of their peers who were working on saving the world. Sasha shrugged her shoulders and sat at her computer. Joining her, Mariel tapped the keys which pulled up their own list of discarded ley lines. They put their heads together, just as they had since early childhood, and used their combined brain power to begin dissecting Hightower’s protections.