Emergence: Threshold Series Book I Page 2

“I will see you again when you arrive on site. Have a nice evening, Ms. Everly.” With that, he was gone. I stood up uneasily to look for my advisor, but the whole building was empty. There were still people out in the quad, mostly Alliance Employees cleaning up after the commencement ceremony. I’d have to go back to my apartment. It was normally a comfortable reprieve from the sterile environment of the academy, but now my thoughts were laced with anxiety.

  I had rented a small studio on the edge of campus. I had been lucky to get it too, the Alliance housing was cramped and miserable. I’d assumed I would stay for the summer until I found a job, but now that seemed laughable. I would have to call, Mrs. Harmon, the Landlady. She was usually pretty nice, but she would probably be annoyed that I was leaving right before the slow months. I knew she needed the rent money bad. Most of my student credit allowance had gone to her, but I couldn’t bear to live in the desolate Alliance Buildings. They were safe from storms, but they had no life. When it really came down to it, It was exhausting to have to act the part of a perfect Alliance student. It was nearly impossible to pretend that the Threshold Crisis didn’t matter, but in the Academy I had to keep my guard up. At least in my apartment I was alone, so I didn’t have to pretend anything for anyone.

  As soon as I walked up the old carpet stairs onto the third floor, I forgot all about Mrs. Harmon. My apartment door was already open. I could see it hanging ajar. I didn’t have much in there that someone would want to steal. I kept my computer with me, but my heart started to race. I looked in the room and couldn’t see anything at first glance that looked disturbed. However, on further inspection, it seemed that some of the papers on my desk had been moved around. There were a few things that looked like they had been moved. Someone must have gone through my stuff, then tried to return to its place, but couldn’t be bothered to remember where it had been. It must have been Commander Marshall or someone he had ordered to search my apartment. I was smart enough to know they had probably done their research on me. Was this a standard part of the security clearance procedure?

  I shut the door, locking it behind me and laid down on my bed feeling a heaviness settle over me. I’d have to call my mother. I’d do it later, after a shower and some dinner. We weren’t on the greatest terms, my mother and I.

  I pulled up a number on my phone, ordering take-out before hopping in the shower. I had to eat something, I reasoned. The call could wait.

  I let the warm water of the shower relax my muscles before putting on comfy joggers and a black band shirt that I’d had since high school. I ate my lo mein in silence, letting my mind wander. I thought about my “bird paper,” as the Commander had put it. I let myself get a little bit excited. I had poured my heart and soul into that research. It was a study of the patterns of swarming behavior among certain groups of starlings. I had developed a theory for the complexity of their formations, which were seemingly intelligent, purposeful even. My observations showed that they were performing their tasks as a unit rather than a group of individuals. In my paper, I proposed that they had developed a method of near instantaneous communication. Maybe this project would be interesting after all.

  I looked in my desk drawer for my hard copy of that paper, and I guessed that they must have taken it. “Great.” I sighed. “It’s not like they haven’t already read it,” I said sarcastically to no one in particular.

  I sat back down at the table and scooped up the last of my noodles. I dialed my mother, hitting the call button before I could change my mind.

  Her voice was frantic when she answered. “Lane?” She knew I never called her unless I had to. “What’s wrong baby? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” It galled me that she could act as if she cared when the worst things in my life had all happened under her watch. I knew that was unfair, but I couldn’t help it.

  “Well, what is it?”

  “I just wanted to tell you I got a job.”

  “I thought you were still in school?” She sounded worried already. “Did you drop out? It’s okay baby, I don’t blame you.”

  “No--Mom, I graduated.” She had no idea. “I was at the Alliance Academy, remember?.”

  “Oh, that’s great honey.” She sounded far away already. “So what’s this job?”

  “It’s with the IPA. I just wanted to let you know I’ll be leaving soon.” It’s not like I could tell her where, but she probably wouldn’t care anyway.

  “That’s wonderful.”

  “I may not be able to call you for a while. At least 6 months, maybe more.” The possibility gave me pleasure, and I hated it. After I took the scholarship to come to the Southern District, she had not forgiven me. It was hard to be around her after Dad died. The Western Coastal Tsunami wiped out our house and she wanted me to quit school to work for Threshold Management. They offered quick cash, but it was hard to leave once you got started. She couldn’t understand.

  “Oh. Okay.” She sounded hurt, which irritated me more. What reason did she have to be angry with me? I got off the call as quickly as I could. As I suspected, she didn’t even ask me where I was going. I went to bed soon after, knowing I had to get up early the next morning. I wrote a note for Mrs. Harmon explaining that I had gotten a job. I credited her account for my final rent payment and explained that I was leaving for a job right away. I left a bit of extra money for her to hire a moving company to take away my stuff. It was most of my savings. I hoped that Commander Marshall was a trustworthy man. It occurred to me that I should have gotten something from him in writing. I would have to hope, something that I was not innately good at. My quilt was heavy and comforting. Against all odds, I did find myself beginning to hope. This would be a good thing. The right thing. I knew it.

  Chapter 3

  My sleep was restless, and I woke up fifteen minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. Despite my night of tossing and turning, I was too nervous to feel tired. If I didn’t know better, I might think I was actually excited. I ate a quick bowl of cereal before packing my bag. Since I didn’t have to bring clothes or toiletries, I wasn’t sure what I would bring. The room was pretty bare. I really should have decorated more. After all, I had lived here for a year. There was nobody that ever came to visit, so there was never a good reason to put any effort into interior design.

  I chose a small leather backpack to take with me. Inside, I added a leather-bound notebook filled with project analysis notes, my laptop and charger, my identification papers, and a necklace my grandmother had given me. It was silver and had a small circular charm with a geometric design that almost resembled a flower made of concentric circles. My grandmother was a strange woman, but I loved the necklace. She’d given it to me before she died, and It reminded me of my work. Sometimes from what looked like simple circles, there would emerge a complex and beautiful pattern. That is what I loved about it. You never knew when you were going to suddenly see something that had been there all along, waiting to be found.

  The address was a short distance from my apartment so I decided to walk. There was nothing that I was leaving behind that I would miss. Anyway, soon I would have enough money to replace all of it if I wanted to. The air was cool since it was still dark, but it would be hot before long. I briefly wondered whether it would be hot where I was going, but I decided not to speculate. It was probably someplace I’d never heard of.

  The building was nondescript and there seemed to be several businesses sharing it once before the storms got bad. A graphic design office, an accounting firm, and some sort of consulting firm were listed on an engraved plate in the entryway. I didn’t see anything about a military office, and I didn’t have a name or anyone to ask for. The graphic design office held the whole first floor and the accounting firm was on the third. The wallpaper was peeling and everything had the vague smell of mildew.

  The second floor was just as bad if not worse. Crumbling cement on the stairs made me question whether the building was still safe. Where had the Commander told me to go? I pulled out the b
usiness card and read it over. 1100 South Bureau #3869. There were no numbers anywhere, but across the hall, a light switched on in an office.

  It was designed like any other normal office, but I felt silly walking around in an abandoned building with all my possessions in my backpack. There was a suspicious lack of identifying evidence. No one would have any reason to suspect that what had once been the “Consulting Firm” was now a makeshift office for the International Peace Army. There was one desk with a man behind it, he was dressed very formally, but I wasn’t sure if he was military or not. There was nothing on the desk, not even a computer, and there were huge locked black filing cabinets behind him. I made a few quick calculations. They couldn’t have been here more than a few days if anything. Perhaps they set up shop quickly in order to recruit other recently graduated students from the Academy. That made the most sense.

  “Lane Everly?” He called out my name, not even looking at me as he handed me a manila folder.

  “Yes?” I answered him and took the folder.

  “Please verify that all our information is correct and then you may proceed to the waiting room.”

  I scanned the sheet that was in the folder. It had a picture of me, taken for the Academy’s newspaper. It read:

  Name: Lane Alexandra Everly

  Age: 18

  Ocupation: Student at the Accelerated Academy for the Threshold Sciences, in the South-Eastern District

  Description: Brown hair, Green Eyes, 5 feet 8 inches tall

  There were pages and pages of information in the packet, all of it about me. Papers I’d written, journals I’d published in, lists of schools I attended…

  “You only need to verify the first page,” He said, noticing my shock.

  I swallowed and glanced up. “Yes--it all looks right.” How long had they had all this?

  “You may proceed to the door behind me on my left.”

  Were they trying to cultivate a sinister International Espionage kind of vibe, or was that just my imagination? The door was very heavy. They must have installed it in this building for some reason. As soon as I opened the door I felt the panic bubble up in my chest. It was an interrogation room. There was a metal table, two metal chairs, and a mirror. I knew they were probably watching me from the other side. The man in the lobby ushered me in.

  “What is this? Some sort of interrogation?”

  “Of course not, Ms. Everly. This is standard procedure.” I knew that nothing about this was standard, but what choice did I have? I walked in and set my backpack down beside one of the chairs.

  “Someone will be in with you in a moment.” I sat down in the chair and waited. It was probably fifteen or twenty minutes before someone finally did come in. This man, tall with dark greying hair, was clearly military personnel. He had a patch that read SGT. Westin.

  “Good morning, Ms. Everly.” His tone was not impolite, but it was not warm either.

  “I appreciate you all leaving my apartment so clean.” I tried to bite my tongue but the words came out anyway.

  “Oh, you noticed.” He seemed impressed. “I assure you, it was necessary. Normally, we don’t have to resort to those methods, but the government requires your assistance immediately. A traditional security clearance could take weeks, if not longer.”

  “So it’s for a security clearance?”

  “Of course, Ms. Everly.”

  “Did you get everything you needed?” I hissed, feeling very exposed. I didn’t have anything to hide, but his entitled tone annoyed me.

  “Not quite,” he started. “I’ll have to ask you a few questions, just to verify some information. Now then, how old were you when you moved to Atlanta?”

  “Fifteen.” I wouldn’t give him any more than he needed.

  “And you came with your mother?”

  “No, I came here alone, but I’m sure you already knew that.” Reign yourself in Lane, I thought. He was just trying to do his job.

  “Where is your mother now?” He pressed firmly.

  “The Western Coastal District I assume.” I could never quite be sure about my mother’s whereabouts, but she hadn’t left since my father’s death. Nothing had really changed since then.

  He cross-examined me for what felt like an eternity, although it was probably only a few hours. Most of them were objective questions about the facts of my life, but others were harder to answer. What motivations did my various family members have? How did they feel about the natural disasters that were coming more frequently? What did I think of the government? The military? It went on and on like that. Sometimes I would answer the same question, three or more times, but phrased in slightly different ways.

  Finally, when he was finished, I was left alone for a long time. I wished that I had thought to bring a book with me or really anything to occupy myself with. I waited… I felt my stomach growl though it had not been that long since breakfast. When I checked my watch, I was shocked to see that it was almost noon. I hoped that they would let me eat something soon. When it was nearly half past the hour I decided to look around. The interrogation chamber had thrown me off, but I wasn’t a suspect of any sort so I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me stretching my legs out. I felt fidgety, because I missed my morning run this morning. The door that Sgt.Westin had come through was unlocked, so I pushed it open slowly. There was a small room with a few doors into other offices. The lights in all the offices were dim except one. I intended to knock on the door, but it opened before I got the chance. It was Commander Marshall. I just stood there. I wasn’t sure what to say, but they were the ones that owed me answers.

  “It looks like your Security Clearance has come through, Ms. Everly.” He said matter-of-factly.

  “Great.”

  “Are you ready to go?” He flashed a brief smile, so I decided to push my luck.

  “Do I get to know where I am going now?”

  “Yes, of course. ” he motioned me back into the room where I had been questioned. We sat down and he continued, “You will be assigned to a project called Black Cat. It is highly classified and nothing that I tell you should be shared with anyone. Any and all research that you perform once you are on the team will be distributed at my sole discretion. Your only communication during your contracted time will be with other members of your team or selected individuals with the proper clearance. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Sir.” I felt as if I should salute him or something, but I restrained myself.

  “Now, the project is located within the Southern Equatorial Rainforest in a partitioned sector of the jungle, sAM-4. It was previously controlled by the local Alliance Coalition, but their district has ceded control of this particular area to our team. Our plane leaves in an hour.”

  My mind was spinning. I was going to a different continent. To the jungle. There were so many questions, but I couldn’t formulate any of them quick enough to keep up with the Commander.

  “When will I meet the team?”

  “This afternoon I should think, depending on the weather,” He seemed to have something else to say. “I do apologize for our hasty clearance procedure. We are just very impatient to have you begin working.”

  I didn’t get the impression that Commander Marshall had to apologize very often but considering all the money they were planning to pay me, I must be a valuable asset.

  “I’m sure.” I picked up my backpack as I stood up to follow him. We walked down a back stairway and out a side door. The sun was hot already. How much hotter would it be where I was going? The Commander led me to a large black SUV. I was expecting him to turn around and head back inside, but instead he got into the driver’s seat. I climbed in on the passenger side.

  “Are you coming as well, Commander?”

  “Naturally, as it’s my project.” I felt silly as I realized, that of course, he was in charge of the project. So the Commander in charge of the project had come all the way to the Southern Bureau to recruit me himself? Black Cat must be a high-level project.

>   The highway was crowded since it was midday and we made our way slowly to the airport. We didn’t head to the international terminal like I expected. We nearly drove past the terminal, but before we did, the SUV turned abruptly onto a small road. There was a large sign marking the road that said: “Private Access Only”. The only building in sight was a hangar. It was small compared to the International Airport Terminal down the road. Commander Marshall pulled the SUV up to the hangar. Once we had walked inside, I could see a large group of soldiers assembled. They got into formation as soon as the Commander and I were in sight.

  Commander Marshall surveyed the group. “Attention”! His voice echoed throughout the room. Every man moved simultaneously. “Alright men, We are leaving for the Southern Equatorial Forest, in sAM-4. You have already been briefed on your mission objectives, but I want to make something very clear. Your main purpose on this mission is to uphold the values of the Global Peace Alliance. Is that understood?” The response came immediately and unreservedly.