The Audience Adventure 2 - Chapter 15

 Chapter 15

Marine opened her mouth to greet Aysmar but Ezria beat her to it.

‘I haven’t seen Marine.’ She said quickly, and Marine smirked invisibly at the neat avoidance of a lie from Ezria.

‘Good.’ Aysmar responded quickly, ‘They are hot on your trail and it’s best she doesn’t lead them here.’

Marine smarted silently at Aysmar’s assumption that she would be so foolish and clumsy as to lead Vanweer to the Cavern.

‘Do you know if Vanweer got any information out of her?’ Ezria asked gently, and Aysmar shook her head.

‘Not from what I’ve heard. I think she was interviewed but I’m not sure Vanweer has told anyone what happened. Most of the rank and file have no idea what’s going on they’ve just been told to recapture a traitor.’

‘How did she escape?’ Asked Ezria, and Marine was surprised to see Aysmar falter. Her eyes seemed to cast about for a few seconds searching for an answer.

‘They are saying she went invisible. There’s talk that she’s some sort of wild sorceress… I… I can’t see how that can be true? We would know if one of the team had magic, wouldn’t we?’

‘I cannot see how we wouldn’t.’ Said Ezria, pretending to chew over Aysmar’s remarks with a nod.

‘Did you know she was magic?’ Aysmar prodded. Ezria continued the slight bouncing head nod as she let the question swill about her head.

‘I don’t believe she can be. I would have known.’ She said finally, ‘I… I wonder if it’s something Vanweer is cooking up to hide the fact that she still has Marine in captivity? She understands how the population will react to unrest and coming up with a story like this and filling the streets with guards is the quickest way to cement the danger and shore up her own position as great protector.’

Aysmar considered this for a few seconds, ‘It’s a huge story to fabricate…’

‘It’s a bigger story to be true.’ Replied Ezria evenly.

There was a scuffling sound behind them and the three Tingions whipped their heads round to face the noise. Eleff and Rishekke appeared through a tunnel entrance and saluted Aysmar and Ezria.

‘We heard the news and came as soon as we could.’ Said Rishekke, ‘Have you heard from Marine?’

‘No,’ said Aysmar as Ezria shook her head.

‘That’s good.’ Said Eleff, ‘I don’t trust the story Vanweer is putting about, ‘If Marine had the magic we would surely know?’

‘That’s exactly what we were just discussing.’ Said Ezria, ‘Aysmar, Rishekke - when did Vanweer decide to visit the laboratory?’

‘It was very last minute.’ Said Aysmar, quickly, ‘We had no time to get a message out to you as she arrived at the lab after Rishekke had delivered the uniforms.’

Rishekke looked downcast, ‘By the time I knew she was there, she already had Marine. Poor Marine.’

Ezria nodded, taking it all in. ‘Has anyone heard from Jurann or Mortglade?’ The little group shook their heads. Ezria nodded. ‘Ok, I think we should wait here to see if they check in.’

‘Are you worried?’ Eleff asked gently, laying a little hand on Ezria’s arm.

‘Mortally.’ Ezria said, and sat down to wait.

Marine sat down as well, as quietly as she could but she noticed Aysmar’s eyes flicker to where she sat as a single pebble wobbled under her invisible feet. Marine wasn’t entirely sure what to do now… she was aware she could flicker back into view at any moment and that would undoubtedly be a bad thing. Ezria not revealing everything to Aysmar had somewhat thrown her off… did Ezria not trust Aysmar? Days ago that would have been unthinkable for Marine. She heard Ezria’s voice in the back of her head saying she would trust the entire team with her life, now there was supposed to be a mole? Since when?

Marine’s stomach was in turmoil… it all felt too much. Too complicated. She fiddled with the laces on her boot absent mindedly wondering what the truth was behind it all. Then she froze. She could see the laces on her boot. She could see her entire boot. Her foot had come back into view.

As quietly as she could, keeping her booted foot as still as she could she stood up. Immediately she saw Ezria’s eyes flick casually to her and an eyebrow flex in a questioning motion. Marine pointed urgently down to her foot and Ezria understood immediately.

Ezria stood up calmly and Marine marvelled in how the woman moved so cautiously and controlled even in an emergency.

‘Excuse me,’ said Ezria, and turned away from the little group, on the opposite side of the circle to Marine. Marine used the distraction to dart as quickly and quietly as she could further back into the shadows with her now visible foot. ‘It seems my bladder does not know we are lying low.’ Continued Ezria and wandered away into the shadows whistling gently to herself.

Marine backed away quietly, looking at the group. Everyone was watching the departing back of Ezria. Except Rishekke.

For hours Marine hovered in the gloom at the far wall of the Cavern watching her treacherous body slowly coming into view part by part. There was an amusing hour where she was just a foot and a hand; Marine vaguely wondered if this would ever be useful were she able to repeat the trick in the future with more control.

First she heard the group greeting Kurann; he had no new major information but was glad to see everyone safe. He said the city had been placed in a lockdown while Vanweer searched for Marine. They had still been told nothing further than that she was a traitor.

Some time later though, Mortglade arrived with terrible news.

‘They’ve announced her parents are traitors also for harbouring her.’

It was all Marine could do to keep quiet over in the shadows where her left leg was still stubbornly invisible. She wanted to run to Vanweer and offer anything she could for the safe delivery of her parents.

‘Some of Marine’s wider family have been taken in for questioning too.’ Mortglade continued, ‘I assume we’ve not heard from her? Lying low. Sensible girl. This is not good.’

Marine felt tears slipping down her face as she thought of her nieces and nephews trying to sleep that night with their parents in custody. Or perhaps Vanweer had taken the children too? She couldn’t bear it any longer - she had to act.

QUESTION:

Does Marine:

1. Dash over to the group and demand they free her family
2. Go straight to Vanweer now to negotiate
3. Go back to the lab and try and touch the stone now
4. Dash over to the group and say that she thinks there’s a mole

The Audience Adventure 2 - Chapter 14

 Chapter 14

Marine knew she needed to act fast in case the magic stopped and she suddenly came back into view. The street outside Vanweer’s office building was beginning to come alive with the day’s activities and as she watched, guard after guard came tumbling out of the front door to proceed out in a different route through the city. They were after her.

Marine knew Vanweer wouldn’t risk causing a scene by filling the streets with guards unless she was hell bent on finding Marine. This was escalating rapidly. Marine looked about her for safety, but where to go?

Her first instinct was to race to her parents’ home and check they were ok - see that despite all this madness and the world turning topsy turvy, the little house still stood there between those of her neighbours. Marine’s feet began leading her towards the little house and the people she loved most in the world. She pictured herself bustling in and throwing their clothes into a bag - telling them to run away and keep safe until she could let them know everything was ok. Her mind was so distracted with thoughts of rescuing her helpless parents that Marine didn’t notice the guard looking to cross the street in front of her.

Not being able to see her own limbs, she didn’t notice they were on a collision course until they bumped into each other.

‘Sorry!’ The word fell out of her mouth towards him before she could stop her treacherous tongue. The guard blinked into the open air before him, brushing his arm confusedly. Then he seemed to force himself into understanding and swallowed with the shock.

‘She’s here!’ He sent up the alarm. Heads whipped around in their direction and Marine just about managed to get herself together in time to shrink back against a wall. It would have been comical if she hadn’t been so scared: all these official guards with their arms spread out in front of them looking for the invisible criminal. They looked like playground children.

‘She may have head home!’ Called an officer and signalled to his troupe to follow him. Marine’s stomach turned sour. She couldn’t go home now. There was no way she would be able to explain everything to her parents, including why she was a disembodied voice, before the guards arrived. She would have to look for Ezria.

Marine decided to head for the Cavern… the last place she had felt safe and confident. How had she got caught up in this mess? After a lifetime of wishing for something different and extra, Marine was beginning to understand why Tingions generally craved peace and simplicity.

She padded as quietly as she could across the city towards the Cavern. She saw fewer and fewer guards as she got further out into the outskirts and her heart rate began to calm. It was eerily quiet compared to the chaos in the centre. Marine quickly found the entry hole to the cavern and scurried inside, trying not to dislodge any rubble or small stones and give a clue to a spying eye that someone was here.

The tunnel seemed to have doubled in length since she was last here; it twisted and turned and every corner smelt of urine and droppings. Every few paces Marine had to stop to convince herself that she could not hear footsteps following her. She moved as silently as she could, but she was slowly starting to feel like her best was nowhere near good enough. She couldn’t stop thinking about guards turning up at her poor confused parents’ house. They would be drinking hot root brew and having breakfast when uniformed officers arrived and began banging on the door. Would they even knock?

By the time Marine arrived in the hollow of the cavern she was 100% glad she was invisible because tears were pouring down her tiny face. She stumbled to the middle of the hole and sat on the floor - hugging her knees up to her face.

‘Marine?’ Came a gentle voice behind her and Marine’s head whipped around. She saw Ezria emerging from the gloom.

‘Can you see me?’ Asked Marine, trying to wipe the tears and snot from her face.

‘Yes.’ Said Ezria, and Marine breathed a sigh of relief that she was again visible. She looked down at her feet. They were still not there.

‘Oh!’ She exclaimed, ‘How?’

There was a pause as she watched Ezria swallow and seem to make up her mind about what to say next.

‘I have gifts too.’ Came the words eventually. Ezria’s voice was so quiet and faint that Marine was hardly sure she had heard them right.

‘You? You have the magic?’

‘I do. At least, I think you and I have some similar abilities. From what I’ve noticed occasionally of you in your training, and then that night in the rain confirmed we were similar. Of course, I have had many more years to hone the control of mine.’ Ezria reached out an arm and handed Marine a cup of steaming root brew. Marine concentrated on getting the cup safely to the lips without pouring the scalding liquid down her front. Ezria watched her fondly.

‘Why did you send me to touch the stone?’ Marine asked suddenly, ‘I mean, if you had the magic too?’

‘I thought you stood the best chance of not being detected in the lab. My face is too well known. It turns out neither of us stood a chance about Vanweer but I took a gamble. I’m sorry you were put in danger.’

‘Why not just touch the stone topside? We could have known what was happening before Vanweer even got involved?’ Marine was beginning to unwind the knot of tension in her back now the hot root brew was in her stomach. She realised how tired she was having been awake and on edge all night.

‘I couldn’t risk it in front of the team. I have been growing suspicious for nearly a year that Vanweer has… had a mole in my team and I couldn’t have risked the stone glowing under my touch and then losing the stone as well as giving myself up. I didn’t realise Vanweer would make a move so soon.’

Marine had so many questions, ‘Wait? What? You knew something was up with Vanweer? You thought… but who? Who would have betrayed us?’ Marine threw the faces of all her old team through her mind, she couldn’t imagine any of them betraying Ezria. But then, she would have found it hard to have imagined being invisible in the Cavern as a fugitive before today.

Ezria was nodding tiredly before her, ‘Sadly yes. I have noticed er, changes within government for the last year. Missions that should have gone ahead being cancelled, evidence just vanishing into the system and everything being smiled over. It’s almost as if Vanweer doesn’t want the stones on people’s minds.’

‘But there was only one more left to find?’ Marine thought over the announcements that all but one of the Great Stones had been found.

‘Exactly.’

They were interrupted then by Aysmar appearing breathless before them in the Cavern.

‘Aysmar!’ Ezria continued, ‘Do you have a report?’

‘Marine has escaped from Vanweer’s captivity and they have put out a city wide announcement for her capture. She has been listed as armed, dangerous and to be captured on sight using any force. Her parents have been arrested and taken to Vanweer’s office. Have you seen or heard from Marine? Where do you think she would go?’

Ezria and Marine looked at each other in horror.

QUESTION:

Do they tell Aysmar that Marine is there and invisible?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes but they say the invisibility was Vanweer’s doing
4. No, but when Marine is visible again they do reveal that she has some magic

The Audience Adventure 2 - Chapters 12 and 13

Chapter 12

Marine didn’t know where to look. If she looked away she would seem guilty and flighty, if she looked directly at Vanweer it felt like putting your hand in a flame. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was dimly aware of some training she had had on how to lie convincingly. It was either look directly at the person to show you had nothing to hide, or to make brief eye contact but keep alert around you so you didn’t look like you were trying. In the milliseconds she had before it was obvious she was hesitating she had to make a decision. Marine swallowed hard and looked up to salute Vanweer.

Vanweer looked annoyed at the small Tingion being in the doorway and barely nodded in response as she swept past and into the corridor. Her heavy footsteps had a dead sound to them as she paced away - Vanweer’s boots were recognisable in amongst the lighter steps of her guards. Marine shivered with relief and took a step through the door past the remaining entourage of guards following Vanweer. She could see the stone in the lab at the far end of the room, she felt her skin prickle at the thought of the next part of the plan.

There weren’t many Tingions left in the room - a few were clustered around the Stone where the glow lamps were at their densest and then there were two pairs of others talking and looking at charts at different desks on the walls. Shouldn’t be too difficult to make herself look busy and get up close to the stone - it wasn’t roped off at all. Marine scanned the Tingions for Utra, still clutching the badge in her pocket in case she needed her alibi again.

She turned around to close the door gently behind her and saw that Vanweer was looking directly at her from half way down the corridor.

‘I know you don’t I?’ Vanweer said. She didn’t raise her voice but it rumbled confidently down the bare corridor and hit Marine like a freight train. Marine froze. The door stood half open, her tiny fingers gripping the edge. It would be so easy to close the door and run towards the stone and throw her hands against it but if she did that the game would be up permanently.

‘Yes,’ said Marine honestly, ‘You did my passing out ceremony and we have met a few times on official -‘

Vanweer cut her off, ‘You were part of Talaglashi the traitor’s company were you not?’ Marine saw the guards around Vanweer hold their batons a little tighter. She blanched, she was unarmed. They had decided to run the mission without weaponry - a calculated risk to give themselves the best chance of remaining undetected.

‘I was,’ she admitted, ‘I was stationed here after the disbandment of the company.’ She prayed that the lie would work, delivering it as casually as she could muster.

‘No you were not. Only Rishekke and Aysmar were here. What are you doing here?’

‘I was posted here, I…’ Marine tried to convince but Vanweer knew it for the lie that it was.

‘You do not have authorisation to be here. Arrest her.’ She signalled an arm forward and two of the guards around her stepped forward to seize Marine. Marine slammed the door as hard as she could and then turned and ran on bouncy feet towards the stone. It was maybe 30 paces across the room and her breath burned in and out of her as she leapt into a sprint and aimed her arms out in front of her, desperate to feel the smooth surface of the stone on her finger tips. She heard the door opening behind her and feet following her but she didn’t dare turn round, she had to touch the stone.

It was maybe five steps away now, four… three… she felt strong arms wrenching the back of her overalls and pulling her backwards. She crashed backwards and the full weight of two guards lay on top of her - completely immobilizing her. She panted heavily, not caring about anything other than getting air back in to her legs - which was no easy feat with two security guards sitting on her chest.

Vanweer stood over her, smirking. ‘Well, well, well… we will need to have an interesting chat, won’t we?’

Marine said nothing. She let the guards secure her arms in rootrope and bowed her head in shame as she was marched along the corridor with Vanweer.

‘You will need to tell me exactly what you were up to. There may be a way yet we can save you if you are willing to talk.’ Vanweer said coolly as they walked. Marine said nothing, her head was spinning. What would her parents think? Would she ever see her parents again?

She tried to look around as carefully as she could as they marched through the labyrinth of passages, she wanted to know that one of the others had seen what had happened so she knew she wasn’t being marched off to a cell with no one knowing. There was no sign of any of the others as they neared the exit. She realised that they would have scarpered as fast as possible upon knowing something was up: she hung her head in shame at thinking about her own safety before that of the safety of the mission. Could this night get any worse?

She was bundled into the back of Vanweer’s private cart, and Vanweer and a single guard climbed in beside her. Vanweer clicked to the driver and the cart pulled off back towards the main city.

‘I have to assume you didn’t know I was going to be there tonight?’ Vanweer said, conversationally, flicking through some pages that had been passed to her when she took her seat, ‘It was a pretty spur of the moment decision for me and look how well it’s worked out. I’ve really caught a live one. I will also have to assume you are working for Talaglashi? I knew she wouldn’t just let it lie. Stupidly dedicated.’

Marine sat dumbly in her seat, she barely felt real. She just wanted to go back to before any of this happened and do nearly everything differently. They pulled up outside Vanweer’s building and Marine was frogmarched up the slope and into Vanweer’s office.

‘I’ll be in in a moment, make yourself comfortable.’ Sneered Vanweer. 

Chapter 13

Marine sat on the clay stool looking with interest around the cluttered office. It was almost fascinating enough to distract her from the impending doom that lay heavily on her shoulders. It occurred to her that it was a surprise to find that Vanweer had clutter, she was so brisk and important that a completely tidy office would seem appropriate. But instead there were things scattered all across the desk and up the wall hollows. Even the floor had dropped items in the corners.

Books lay scattered across Vanweer’s desk and hundreds more lined the walls. Artefacts and skulls of various animals, interesting pebbles and shells. Even the ceiling was covered with dangling bits of root in intricate knots. Marine realised she felt very comfortable in here. Perhaps that was the point? Perhaps Vanweer went for the “Make yourself comfortable” approach in order to relax her ‘guests’. This all seemed very at odds with Vanweer’s demeanour which was hard and to the point. Marine realised, though, that she’d never been alone with Vanweer and therefore had no real idea what to expect when that came to pass.

Time ticked by, although Marine couldn’t feel the Beats to know how long it had been. She was fairly sure First Beats must have passed by now. Perhaps this office had some sort of clever structure that stopped the Beats disturbing whoever held it? Marine’s stomach was making Beats of it’s own - she was so hungry. The rations she had secreted in her pockets were long since gone.

Vanweer couldn’t be hiding anything in here, she deduced, or Marine would never have been left alone in the office for so long. Or perhaps, Vanweer was just so confident that Marine wouldn’t dare nose around that there was information hiding in plain sight? What would Ezria and the others say if they found out Marine had been left unattended in Vanweer’s office for all this time and had failed to do any investigating? But suppose Vanweer was spying somehow? There could be secret spyholes bored through the walls for checking up on prisoners.

Marine decided it was safest to just play along with Vanweer and her pretence of innocence. She sat in the seat and gazed about her - sparkling fragments of glass and other shiny things twinkled in the light from the glow lamp. Marine realised they were set up on slowly rotating bases so that they moved beautifully in the light. How clever.

The door opened carefully behind her and Marine turned to see Vanweer entering carrying a large pile of files.

‘Good morning,’ said Vanweer, ‘Thank you for behaving yourself in my office.’ She bustled past Marine and dropped the heavy load onto the desk with a bang. It made Marine jump even though she watched in happen. Marine felt a familiar tingle in her fingers start with the surprise. Not now. She groaned, and realised she pretty much always said that when she felt the magic starting. Perhaps Not ever would be a better wish. She said nothing back to Vanweer, it didn’t feel like she was supposed to.

‘What were you doing in the laboratory last night?’ Vanweer sat down in her chair and asked the question plain and straight, looking Marine directly in the eye. Marine blanched. She thought there would be more warm up questions than this.

‘I was working.’ She mumbled, ‘I needed to return Utra’s badge to him…’

Vanweer waved a hand, dismissing Marine’s feeble excuses, ‘But you shouldn’t have been in the laboratory at all - let alone in that room. The guard who let you through has been fired by the way.’

Marine felt awful. It was extremely difficult to be a Tingion guard as they were, by nature, very trusting people.

‘Are you working for Talaglashi?’ Vanweer asked. Marine shook her head, hating that she knew Vanweer didn’t believe her but couldn’t think of anything else to say. She felt completely trapped. Suddenly the decorations around the office weren’t beautiful, they were enclosing - not giving her space to breathe. She felt her fingers tingling and sweat beading down the back of her neck.

‘I know you are working for her,’ Vanweer continued, barely breaking eye contact to blink, ‘I just don’t know why. Why would you give up everything? Your safety, your parents’ safety…’ Vanweer paused and cocked her head slightly to one side to let this sink on. Suddenly she banged a hand on the desk and Marine nearly flew off the stool.

‘Mavis!’ Shouted Vanweer, and within milliseconds the head of a tiny Tingion appeared around the door. ‘Bring me some hot berry brew. And one for my guest.’

The tiny Tingion nodded and backed out of the door. Vanweer flicked her eyes back onto Marine.

‘Why would you be so trusting of Ezria? And why would she choose you, out of all of her squad?’ Marine felt a tiny glimmer of hope, so Vanweer didn’t know that the others were involved. That was good. It was the only good thing, but it gave Marine a focus suddenly: she could not give up the others.

‘Obviously you were not going to be able to remove the stone from the lab, so wha were you doing in there?’ Vanweer mused, Marine knew these were rhetorical questions and so sat still and quiet on the clay stool. ‘There must have been a reason for you to inspect the stone…? I know you didn’t study artefacts particularly in your training.’ Vanweer patted the pile of files on her desk. ‘In fact, you weren’t a particularly promising student at all, but Talaglashi seems to have seen something in you that no one else valued. What was that and what were you going to use it for on the stool?’

Marine felt like she was suffocating. Her lungs wouldn’t believe her that there was air in the room and no noose around her neck. It felt like Vanweer was circling closer and closer and to the truth: to her magic. What in earth would she do to her if she found out? Would Marine be killed, imprisoned? Would her family be tested on? Marine thought of her poor parents at home in their tiny living room having no idea of what awaited them. Or perhaps they had already been rounded up. There were so many disastrous outcomes, how had this happened to her? She had tried to be so good, so right, so…

‘Hey!’ Vanweer suddenly stood up at the desk, slamming both hands down. Marine looked up at her, wondering what the problem was. ‘What the…?’ Vanweer said, coming round the desk closer to Marine’s stool. Marine backed away instinctively from the approaching Tingion and slipped backwards off the stool to the rug beneath her. When she scrambled up she noticed that Vanweer’s eyes were not on her but still on the stool where she had been sat before. Marine looked down at her hands and saw they had vanished. She couldn’t see herself at all. Thinking quickly, she eased herself backwards as fast as she could, pressing herself up against the wall.

‘Mavis!’ Cried Vanweer, staring around the office unable to believe what she had seen.

‘Coming!’ Called Mavis, pushing her way back in holding two steaming cups of berry brew, ‘Sorry Ma’am, there was no…’

‘I’ve no time for that now. Call an alert. She’s disappeared!’ Vanweer was apoplectic.

Mavis stared around the office. ‘Disappeared?’ She questioned stupidly and Marine thought Vanweer might behead her there and then.

‘Yes! Are you an idiot? She has vanished before my eyes. Call. An. Alert.’

Marine was watching so intently she realised she was about to miss her chance and darted through the door Mavis had left open before either of the others could realised it was a possible chance of escape. She looked about her in the corridor trying to focus both on which way she had come and how to move without bumping into things when she couldn’t see any part of herself.

She headed back down the corridors, twisting and turning and flattening herself to avoid Tingions racing past her in the other direction to wards Vanweer’s office. She reached the main reception and lingered by the door, praying that someone would open it so that she didn’t have to move it and have someone see. Eventually her prayers were answered and she dashed through, finding herself on the streets.

Now what? She thought to herself.

QUESTION:

Does Marine head for:

1. Ezria to report in
2. Her parents

The Audience Adventure 2 - Chapter 11

 Chapter 11

Marine stood under the overhang and shivered. It was late, late into Beatless Time and she was chilled in the thin body suit she was wearing. The Tingion City was not so deep under the ground that they couldn’t feel the slight changes in temperature from the Topside. Sometimes you could barely tell the temperature change from Beats to Beatless but some days everything was much warmer during the Beats and then it cooled dramatically as time ploughed into the night.

Tonight was one of those where the mud had warmed during the day, and as the heat faded out as they moved further and further on from 8th Beats Marine started to feel the chill more and more into her bones.

She wished she could jig about to help herself keep warm but she new it was important to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She couldn’t see the others - they were all tucked nearby, hidden in little crevices near the laboratory waiting for Rishekke.

It was 6 days since they’d met at the Cavern and it was finally time to put their plan into action. Marine had been exercising, keeping a low profile and showing as much commitment as she could stomach giving to the new Team to which Vanweer had assigned her. It had been an exhausting week. Marine felt like she was running on nervous energy: surely she had worried away the entire ling of her stomach by now? Each question and worry and concern in her mind felt like it had its own set of bubbles to go with it and they were all churning and frolicking within her body, threatening to spill up her throat at any moment.

Finally though, she was here: crouched in the dark and waiting for Rishekke.

Rishekke and Aysmar had been assigned to security detail on the laboratory where the Lost Stone was held. As far as the rest of Tingion society knew, the laboratory was just for root adaptation: looking for new ways to strengthen roots for growth, improve their nutritional value and to make them grow in directions useful to Tingions rather than, say, straight through a building. Tingions knew the benefits of not messing too much with roots - you never knew when a careful movement of a root would cause the rest of the roots to wither and die. They tried not to let their structures depend too hard on roots (instability was not the Tingion way) but it was impossible to live underground without being symbiotic with the reaching fingers. Marine had never questioned that these laboratories did exactly as she had been told they did, but now that she knew this was where the Lost Stone had been taken she began to wonder how many other things had been a lie.

She shook the thoughts out of her head - she needed to remain focused. She heard footsteps around a corner and recognised Rishekke’s figure in the gloom - she was in a uniform and had a large bag slung over one shoulder. The laundry bag. As she passed the nook where Marine stood Marine just about saw Rishekke’s fingers twitch and the bottom of the bag loosened for just long enough for a small dark parcel to emerge. Rishekke didn’t drop her pace at all - she continued in the direction of the laundry. Marine waited, tasting her heart beat in her tongue as she counted steps making sure Rishekke was far enough away. Then, Marine shot out a hand and grabbed the parcel, hastening to unravel it and slip her legs into the laboratory uniform. It was slightly too big for her and she was glad she had wrapped a belt around her waist to tighten the overalls. It fit neatly over her thin suit and she was soon dressed, looking for all the world like she worked in the laboratory. There was no telltale pile of clothes left on the ground where she had been either. Ezria had thought of absolutely everything.

Marine counted to ten in her head and then made her way to the staff entrance of the laboratory. The laboratory worked all the way through Beatless Time so there was nothing suspicious about popping in and out of the doors at any time.

She pushed through the thick wooden door and blinked at the brightness of the lights inside - she’d never been anywhere with so many glow lamps in one place. It took her a while to let her eyes adjust and then she had to hurry to move herself down the corridor and into the staff room where she was meant to be. Aysmar and Rishekke had drilled them over and over again on the layout of the lab, Marine felt like she could have paced through it in her sleep.

She found the door to the staff room easily and opened it; inside there were various coats and civilian clothes hanging on the walls. Marine felt guilty about it, but she padded over to a deep green coat and slipped a hand into the pocket and pulled out a badge. She spirited it into her own pocket as quickly as she could.

Only a select few Tingions were allowed into the room with the Lost Stone, Rishekke had informed them at the beginning of the planning stage. Most of the Tingions at the lab didn’t even know it was there, so in order to get into the room, Marine was going to need a reason to be where she shouldn’t be.

She fingered the badge in her pocket as she headed purposefully down the corridor. With any luck the others would also be secreting themselves around the lab by now. Ezria was too recognisable and so was outside ready to be called on in an emergeny, but Kurann, Mortglade and Eleff were each also in uniforms and dotted about the lab to cause diversions, busy nosy members of staff and to clear the way for Marine to touch the stone.

Marine counted out the steps in her head that were taking her to the room with the stone, “I should be arriving in… 3, 2… 1.”

“May I help you?” Said the guard on the door.

Marine swallowed to keep calm, “Yes, I’m looking for Utra, I heard he was working in here today? I found something of his and I think he’ll feel a lot better once it’s returned to him.”

The guard eyed her suspiciously.

“Where have you been working today?” Marine let the wave of panic come and go - no point fighting it, but don’t let it overwhelm either, just let it happen and then answer on the other side.

“Distillation.” She said, adding a slight shrug and frown to make it look casual, “If he’s busy I can hang on to it until later?” She lifted her right foot slightly as if making to walk off - hoping this didn’t look like too much.

“He’s in there.” The Guard opened the door and Marine felt her heart soar.

“Thanks, back in a mo.” She said cheerily to the guard.

“No problem, he’s showing Vanweer around, should be easy to find.” Said the guard, and closed the door behind Marine.

Every alarm in Marine’s body went off at once. What was Vanweer doing here? She hadn’t been briefed for this. How was she going to touch the stone in front of Vanweer? Could she hide in here somewhere until Vanweer had gone and then touch it? But if she took too long it would trip the emergency protocols in place with the rest of the team. How had she got this far only to be stopped now? Would Vanweer recognise her?

Marine wished she had some way of disguising herself - she looked at the walls and briefly wondered if she could smear her face but then decided that would make her stand out even more. Who turns up filthy for their shift in a root factory? If only she had thought to bring her tiny make up kit and compact.

There was nothing for it, Marine would have to continue the plan as best she could. She headed down the little corridor that only had one door at the end of it. Her hand reached out to twist the handle but just as her skin touched it the door flew open and Vanweer stood in the opening.

QUESTION:

Does Vanweer recognise Marine?

1. Yes
2. No

The Audience Adventure 2 - Chapter 10

 Chapter 10

Fourth Beats rumbled and Marine scanned Heavy Street for any sign of Eleff. She had hoped the clues in their conversation earlier were enough for them both to rendezvous here. She repeated her silent pleading over and over again that the man in the waistcoat would have gone to the Crescent at Third Beats. Just in case, she had concealed herself in a bore hole over the top of Heavy Street so she could watch for Eleff’s arrival. Kurann should be out of his home by now and over with Ezria and Aysmar at the Cavern.

Marine heard a sound and held herself up to see around the edge of the hole as far as she dared. A slim figure had appeared at one end of the street. It was Eleff. She was wearing training gear and seemed to be jogging. Marine thanked every element she could think of and watched Eleff trot by, looking for all the world like she was just out for some exercise. Marine scanned carefully around - there was no one else there. As Eleff got to half way down the street, she stopped to stretch - carefully bending and flexing her long limbs. Marine gave the street another long look, she tried to sit very still and try to feel if there was anyone else around. She felt, heard and saw absolutely nothing. She slid carefully out of the hole and sprung up to her feet as quietly and carefully as she could, still glancing about her for anyone who might have seen. There was no movement.

She was back in her delivery outfit and so sauntered as casually as she could past Eleff as if she was going to hop the dirt wall into one of the houses on the street and make a delivery.

‘The Cavern.’ She muttered as she passed. Eleff didn’t even flinch - she remained bent in half stretching out the backs of her legs and breathing heavily from the exertion. Marine had to hope she’d heard and she hopped the wall to go and drop the empty package into the post hole. No doubt the home owner would be extremely confused later. Marine dawdled back to the street, pretending to busy herself with paperwork and then whistled as she made her way in the direction of the delivery depot.

Several diversions and a despatching of a delivery outfit later, and Marine entered the Cavern.

The Cavern was a large dugout on the very outskirts of the city. No Tingion would ever admit to going there - it was an old badger sett and it reeked of animal fur and other rotten things. Most Tingions were petrified of badgers, and with good reason, and so the Cavern had been shut off from public access. Most teenagers liked to pretend they had been in the Cavern but no more than one of them had ever made it all the way in. It was a place Ezria had brought them often in their training, but never in their official training. Ezria Talaglashi knew of seemingly infinite ways in and out of the Cavern and Marine had never known them to enter and exit from the same hole.

She slipped in the way she remembered most clearly and lay still, listening for the vibration of footsteps or the gentle trill of voices. It was faint, but she could hear something and she followed the vague sound in the pitch darkness. Eventually, after several terrifying meters of twisting and walking down a tunnel she prayed wasn’t a dead end she emerged into the Cavern and saw Ezria standing with Aysmar, Kurann and Eleff. Her heart bounded. She had succeeded in her mission.

‘Welcome Marine, well done - you have done well today. Thank you.’ Said Ezria as Marine joined them in the little circle. Ezria was holding a small glow lamp and the light flickered across each of their features. It was eerie, but better than the other option of total darkness.

‘Where is Mortglade?’ Asked Marine.

‘She is not here yet. I was just filling these two in on what we are up to. They are keen to help.’

Just then, Marine heard a noise behind her. She saw Ezria’s eyes flick to something moving behind her and she whipped her head around just in time to see the man in the long waistcoat emerging from the closest tunnel. Marine was annoyed at herself for her first thought being relief that he had not appeared from the tunnel she had come through - at least she hadn’t led him there.

She sprang at the man before she had time to think of anything else unhelpful. He bundled to the ground under her full weight. He wasn’t as strong as he looked and Marine began to wrestle his arms into submission. The man kicked out, causing her to wobble as her arms floundered against his. She rolled off the top of him and caught his booted foot in the side of her head. Her vision swam but she focused on trying to climb back on to him, if she could just hold him still the others would be able to subdue him fully. Marine slammed her body back on top him and rained three swift blows to just below his shoulders to try and numb his arms. She felt his arms going weak and she gripped around his body with her legs and torso.

‘I have him!’ She called out, and waited to feel his weight being pulled by other Tingion arms. Nothing came. She held on as best she could - feeling the man wriggling beneath her. She thought she could laughing.

‘I’ll show you I am not to be laughed at.’ She snarled, but then noticed the laughing was not coming from the man beneath her. She looked up to see Ezria, Aysmar, Kurann and Eleff all stood over her laughing. She scrambled backwards off the man and looked down at him.

Lying, crumpled on the floor, with a skewed wig and dishevelled costume, was Mortglade. Also now laughing.

‘Oh fierce Marine, you have defended us so well against Mortglade.’ Ezria laughed. Marine felt the adrenaline from the fight leaving her body, she didn’t know whether to cry from embarassment or join in the laughter. She chose the latter, perhaps she could fit in the former later when she was alone.

‘Mortglade, I’m so sorry - I didn’t know it was you.’ Marine said, offering Mortglade a hand up.

Mortglade shied back, pretending to be afraid of Marine’s hand. ‘It’s quite alright,’ said Mortglade cheerily, rubbing at her arms, ‘It’s my punishment for being late. I worked out that you added the extra root to Eleff’s bundle to signify fourth beats not third, but you through me off with the location. I thought your references to sickles meant the Crescent. By the time I thought back over the conversation and realised you’d said Heavy a few times, you must have been long clear of Heavy Street. I’m getting slow in my old age. I paced around and then decided that I ought to try here - as I believe it’s about the only place in the city that Vanweer would have no idea we would come. So, I am here. Late, and bruised, but I am here. Now what do we do?’

Ezria beckoned them closer. ‘We make a plan.’

QUESTION:

What do the team wish they had brought with them on the mission that they do not have?

1. A mirror 
2. Gunpowder 
3. Food
4. Shovels