Page 53 of Unrest
The four of us watchers came out of the long hall into the common room, all of us stripping off the top layers of our uniforms. We were laughing about something when a far door opened—the door where secret things happened and nobody was allowed to enter—and my stomach flipped at the sight of Rylen and Linette walking out together, heads close in conversation.
What were they doing at four in the morning? I thought Rylen only worked the day shift. Seeing as we were the only people in the room, they stopped and saw us right away. Linette wore a nice expression until her eyes landed on me and hardened.
Back at ya.
When Ry saw me he completely froze, and his face went through the strangest series of emotions: surprise, fear, nervousness, and then he seemed to shake from his reverie and plaster a stoic look in the place of the dire ones. Seriously, what had they been doing? I was shaking and it had nothing to do with the cold clinging to me.
The guys greeted Rylen and Linette, then headed toward the tunnel. Linette gave Rylen a good-bye nod and seemed to communicate something heavy through her eyes. He inclined his head in return, and she left us, not looking at me again.
Rylen’s jaw rocked side-to-side as he waited for Linette to be gone. Then he looked at me and I felt myself rock back on my heels from the heaviness of his gaze.
“What’s going on?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the fear from my voice.
He swallowed. His mouth didn’t open to speak. He blinked and peered around as if trying to make sense of his surroundings. I stepped toward him.
“Rylen, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me. Is it . . . is it Linette?”
“No.” His voice sounded dry, and I watched as he swallowed again. “Just work stuff.” Then it hit me.
“They told you things, didn’t they? Intel?”
When he stared at me without responding, I knew I was right. His freaked out expression made me feel woozy.
“What is it? Tell me.”
“I can’t,” he whispered. And suddenly he moved forward and I was in his arms, and he was hugging me so solidly I could barely breathe. I had never seen Rylen this freaked out. It scared me.
“Tonight.” Even that single word sounded like he struggled to get it out.
“You’ll tell me tonight?”
Rylen pulled back, ran a hand over his hair. “Everyone who doesn’t know will learn tonight.” I wanted to push for more, but something held me back. Perhaps the fact that he was too out of sorts to talk, or that I was terrified to hear whatever had shaken him this hard. For whatever reason, I didn’t question him further. I just led us to the tunnel, turned on my flashlight, and got us to our rooms. He waited for me to get inside mine before going in his.
Remy snored lightly and snuggled up to me, but I couldn’t fall asleep. I could only toss and turn as my blood buzzed with fear of the unknown.
Rylen came to get me from the med room at the end of my half-day evening shift. He said nothing, and our steps were heavy as he led me to the forbidden door. Our group of eleven stood there waiting, along with about twenty others. The quiet tension as we waited for First Sergeant to get us was unnerving. Remy stood so close, our arms were fused. I think we all knew that whatever news we were about to learn would change us forever.
“Here comes Dog Balls,” Tater said in a hushed tone.
We turned to face Top as he approached from the tunnel with Linette and Puppy Nuts by his side. He said nothing as he opened the door and ushered us in, down a narrow hall.
We filed into a large room that reminded me of a college classroom: rows of long, thin tables with a screen at the front of the room. I sat with Remy on one side and Rylen on the other. Once everyone was seated, First Sergeant came to the front. Puppy Nuts and Linette stood to the side. She leaned against a desk with her arms crossed.
First Sergeant cleared his throat and began. “Thank you all for your patience. I know you’ve all been curious about what we’re facing, and I wanted to gather as much information as possible before we debriefed the entire staff. We now know as much as we possibly can, and I don’t want to hold off another day on educating you about what we’re up against.
“This war did not begin on Thanksgiving. Plans for the attacks on Thanksgiving began over a hundred years ago.” The hairs on my arms stood at attention as a chill swept over me. A hundred years? He began to pace back and forth as he spoke, his hands behind his back.
“Though our communications with worldwide entities has been sparse the past six weeks, what we’d gathered is that the situation is the same across the globe. Every major country’s government and military were infiltrated. And while we’ve been studying this enemy for over one hundred years now, we were unaware of their power and outreach. Their numbers. They blended in and eluded us.” He paused. “We severely underestimated them, and we failed.”
Texas Harry shook his head and asked, “Who, sir?” Who are they?”
First Sergeant seemed to steel himself, and it looked like he’d begun to sweat at his hairline. “They’re called the Baelese. From a place called Bael.”
My mind scoured through old geography lessons, but I couldn’t place it.
“Sir,” said New York Josh. “There’s no country by that name.”
“It’s not a country.” Top appeared pale now, and even Linette shifted uncomfortably as he said the next words. “It’s a planet.”
