Chapter Twenty-Seven

There were so many thoughts racing through my mind. A plan. That's what Samuel said to the group. We needed a plan, and it had to be one that was well thought-out and executed. This mission had to be successful.

"Let's go back to Paul's place and prepare. We may need extra weapons," Theo said, looking at each of us as if inspecting our white uniforms. He paused when he caught my eyes.

The rest of the team headed off, talking amongst themselves, but Theo and I remained.

"Esa, please be careful. We've lost you once before and I don't want to lose you again. This mission could get dangerous, since there is so much at stake. Plus, none of us has ever been inside Troy's facility. Our information is very limited. We have no idea what could be waiting for us."

Before I could stop him, Theo pulled my face close to his, our lips only millimeters apart. We stared at one another in silence, before he pushed me back again.

"Stop! Don't walk away from me." My voice was firm, my entire body shaking from being so close to him. I longed for his friendship and his touch.

Theo turned back. His eyes glowed with a new level of intensity. "When you disappeared, I thought my entire world was over. Don't you get it? Don't you understand? I don't ever want to have that feeling again. I don't ever want to love someone so much that, when they're gone, it hurts. Esa, I don't think I will survive if it happens again."

Grabbing his arms, I guided his body back towards me. "I didn't purposefully leave you or at least I didn't intend to be gone for three years. Something happened. I'm sorry you were hurt. I'm sorry I disappeared. Trust me, I want answers just as much as you do."

His look caused my heart to beat faster. There was nothing I wanted more than to be close to him. I just hoped he could truly understand, and forgive me.

He tilted my chin and leaned down. His soft lips touched mine, sending a soft shock from the two electrical forces coming together. His lips were warm and inviting as he continued to kiss me.

"I can't lose you again, Esa. I can't," he softly whispered as he pulled away, his eyes so full of hurt, I could feel his sadness. He leaned down again and gave me another gentle kiss on the cheek; then he pulled away and headed after the rest of the group. It took me several seconds of standing in silence before I was finally able to join him.

The others were already inside the apartment, Samuel pacing the living room. "Audrina and Gave, if I gave you chargers, do you think you would be quick enough to jump through the facility and place them at strategic points? I'd like to take down the main building, but keep the holding facility intact."

"We could probably do it, but I would need to have a better look at the complex with a map of all target locations." Gave said. "I also need to get some extra materials."

"I have a few things I need to get as well if we really plan to infiltrate NorthStar," Audrina said, moving to stand next to Gave.

"Fine," Samuel responded. "You can leave in a little bit. Theo, you'll be on Luther. Find him and distract him while we set the rest of the plan in motion."

"My pleasure," Theo responded, his jaw clenched. He looked over at me, and his eyes were now completely void of any hurt or sadness. He was preparing to fight. "Can I go ahead and kill him?"

"No."

"Fine, but either it's me or we all know Audrina will end up doing it."

"Just leave him for me." Audrina said.

"Esa, you will go inside and get a better view of the operations." Samuel pointed at the top floor of the building on the screen. "This is where we believe Troy's office is located. Paul will go with you. You will protect him while he taps into the computer system."

"How will I know what to do?" I asked. The question seemed silly. Was I ready for this type of mission?

Audrina looked at me, perplexed. "You will know what to do because you are Esa, our Captain. The fearless fighter. Now, get a grip and start acting like your old self. We need you today."

Samuel nodded. "This is what you keep asking for, Esa. You've told us you're ready. Now it's time. You just need to blend in and then jump out before you are spotted. Watch out for Luther. Remember, he will be able to feel you if you get too close. Wait for Theo to distract him before you get anywhere near him."

"Okay. I think I can handle it." Fear and uneasiness swept through me, but at the same time, there was a level of confidence that was starting to settle in.

"I will stay here, but I'll be watching you and Paul very closely. You need to insert this bot into Troy's system so that we can transfer the data. Got it?" Samuel held up a device that looked like a smaller version of our medallions. "The minute this is attached to his computer, it will instantly start to transfer data to LUX. She is waiting for the download and will help decipher the contents."

Samuel continued to roll through his plan. It sounded like he had been thinking about this for a while. I wondered how long he'd been doing recon missions on this place. There was something in the way he talked that made me realize Samuel knew a lot more than he was letting on.

"What time do we strike?" Audrina asked, looking at her watch.

"We will go in five minutes. Luther felt our energy a little while ago, so we can't allow too much time to pass. Please be back here in a few minutes so we can start," Paul said to the group.

"Not a problem," Theo responded. "It will just take me a few seconds to get what I need."

Several minutes later, Audrina and Gave both looked like they were ready for battle. I jumped back far enough to take a few "normal" clothes from my old closet. I knew I would need something to hide the white jumpsuit. I also grabbed a black hat to cover my white hair.

Theo looked at me. "You look good, Esa. Hopefully, you'll be able to blend in for a bit until I can find Luther."

"Thank you." I looked back at Theo.

Samuel was standing near Paul and handing him several objects. "You will need these for Troy's system. I've already started the preliminary sequence to hack in, but I'll have to wait for the rest of the information."

Paul withdrew a glass vial from one of his pockets. "I brought these."

Inside the vial were dozens of black tiny dots.

"What are those?" I said, moving forward to get a closer look.

"They're my moles. They will ride with us and then I'll let them out inside the compound. They will help collect data and send it back to our main system. We won't be able to get all of the information we need without them."

I paused. "Those are the things that caused severe pain in my head. I don't want them anywhere near me."

"Esa, Samuel told me about that and I believe it was because of the frequency of the tracker in your wrist. We shouldn't have a problem this time. I was trying to get more information on Luther. Samuel told me to send in the soldiers to distract the group and draw the focus."

"You destroyed our compound," I said. "How could you guys decide to do that?"

"No, you all destroyed your place. I was coming to capture Luther, or at least see if I could scare him enough to make some sort of move so we would finally catch him in action."

Paul's snarky comments and confidence were starting to annoy me. I really didn't care if we were related by blood. I just wanted to get this mission over with and finally get some answers.

I looked over at Audrina. She rolled her eyes at Paul's response.

"Esa, you and Paul will go first," Samuel said. "This is the optimal area for you to start. It's near Troy's office and looks like it should be relatively empty. Land there and then go down the hallway without anyone noticing you. Paul will go into Troy's office."

"All right. Anything in particular I should look out for, besides the big, ugly soldiers?" I asked, hands on my hips, trying to understand exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Surely, I should feel more confident?

Paul looked over at me. "I just need you to be a second set of human eyes for me. If you see something, make sure you let me know so we can evaluate if we need to collect it."

Before I could think too much about the mission, I pulled out my medallion, grabbed Paul's arm and made the jump.

Seconds later, I was at my destination, or at least somewhere close to it. I had gotten better at jumping, but I still hadn't perfected my ability to land in a specific target area.

The room was small, with an odd-shaped couch pushed against one of the walls and several chairs scattered throughout the rest of the area. It must be some sort of waiting room. I headed toward a nearby door.

Samuel had been right; it was quiet in this area. We had timed our attack perfectly. No one appeared to be on the floor.

Suddenly Samuel's voice came booming into my head. "Looking good, Esa. You hit the mark. Unfortunately, we've got company."

"Okay," I crouched down.

Gave came on, "Audrina and I have hit our mark and we are starting to place the timers."

A commotion caused me to snap out of my trance.

"Someone is coming our way," I frantically whispered to Samuel as I pushed Paul behind a bookshelf.

The door opened and two soldiers entered the room.

"I heard something in here. Give me a second to check it out," one of them said to the other. He was wearing a black military-style uniform with an unusual emblem on the collar. The soldier looked human, but his voice sounded almost robotic.

The energy inside my body ignited. The two soldiers stood motionless, looking away from me. It was almost too easy. Coming up behind them, I put a hand on each of their shoulders and sent a strong bolt of electricity into their bodies, causing blue sparks to fly as their bodies twitched. They turned to look at me, wide-eyed, before they crumpled to the floor, leaving a burning smell lingering in the room.

"Don't worry, I've taken care of the problem. By the way, the soldiers may have looked human, but they were definitely robots. The electricity I sent into them caused sparks, and now it smells like I burned some metal while cooking."

Samuel was quiet on the other end of the microphone, and then he finally responded, "Esa, I think your memory is starting to come back. That move is something the old Esa would have done. You didn't hesitate. You just took care of the problem."

"I don't feel like I'm back, but there's something about this place, Samuel. I've been here before," I said, continuing to scan the now-empty room.

Paul crept out from behind the bookshelf and moved toward a glass plate on the opposite wall. He pulled out one of the devices Samuel had handed him. "Samuel, Bot One is in place," Paul said as he continued to watch the monitor.

"Got it. Scanning now," Samuel responded. "Esa, when were you at NorthStar? I don't recall us ever going on any missions up there."

"I don't know," I whispered back.

"Try to remember. Esa, I'm positive we've never had a mission at this facility. In fact, we've intentionally stayed away, for fear that we would be trapped. I've done a few recon missions, but those were all very recent and I stayed on the outer edge."

"I don't know, but something about this place is causing a part of my memory to come back. I've got to find Troy," I blurted out. Images of Troy suddenly came racing through my thoughts. I'd seen him. I knew him. I was more familiar with him than I'd originally thought.

"Esa, stick with the plan. Do you hear me? Stick with the plan," Samuel frantically whispered into my ear. "Paul, don't let her leave your side. We can't afford for her to go off on her own."

I wished I could obey him and the rest of the team, but not this time. I needed to get some answers. I was going to find Troy and Luther and make them both pay. I turned, placed my hand on Paul's shoulder and sent just enough electricity into his body to cause him to blackout. Hopefully, he would understand and forgive me later.