Decay Page 11

  That time of his life felt surreal, like a movie he watched, but not something he actually lived. So much of who he was had changed. He was surprised his father even recognized him.

  Alan waved at his father, trying to stay strong. “I will see you soon. Give my love to mother. I'm sure you will see her before I do.”

  “Goodbye Macky. Stay safe.”

  “You as well,” Alan said and blinked back a few tears. The screen went black, and Alan exhaled with relief and sadness. He loved his father, but seeing him reminded Alan of all the pressure already on his shoulders. Things on the ship would be even more intense between him and Sir Oriol. Alan missed home terribly, and seeing his father brought back memories of a simpler time in life. Sometimes he wondered if he'd ever return to Altura.

  He'd give anything to walk through the sea foam green fields near his childhood home. To see his silly pet, Ponda, a lotoads, an animal similar to what the Earth people referred to as a dog, yet different. Both species had the same playful nature, but lotoads's fur came in various bright colors. Ponda was a bright, flame red with blue paws. He actually looked as if he were made from fire. His fur was thick and soft, and he had a big bushy tail and face like that of the dogs on Earth. The final difference was lotoads had six, long, graceful legs instead of four stumpy ones. At least, all of the dogs Alan had seen thus far had short legs. It was all an example of how Earth was so similar to home, enough to make him miss it and his family, but also different enough to make him remember how far away he actually was.

  Seeing his father was the 'icing on the cake', as Cadence would say. The man felt almost like a stranger to him, but being able to talk with him made Alan desire to see his mother too — to see all of his family. He had a younger sister he barely knew. She was almost a woman now. Alan still had a long time to serve. He didn't know which was worse: seeing his father and missing home more, or not seeing him and forgetting what he was in fact missing. But if Alan completely forgot about home, would he remember what he was even fighting for?

  For a long time, Alan stared at the now black screen. Tuliy stood up and turned off the device then stopped in front of him, like he couldn't decide if he wanted to address Alan or not. Finally, the young man cracked a smile and gave Alan's arm a firm squeeze.

  “Macky?” Tuliy asked.

  Alan scoffed. “It's a childhood nickname. My father is the only person who calls me that anymore. It's been a long time since I've heard it.”

  “Are you all right? You seem a little troubled.”

  “Stunned is more appropriate, I think. When was the last time you saw your family?”

  “When I left on the ship, just like everyone else.”

  “Do you write?” Alan asked.

  Tuliy sat down on the couch while shaking his head. “I haven't for a while. My mother said that it was too difficult to write to me, and I should only contact her if there's an emergency or something important happening.”

  “That must be rough,” Alan whispered. No wonder Tuliy was so lonely all of the time. Alan lived for the letters from his parents. They were few and far between, but a word from them always made him feel better, especially on days where he clearly wasn't wanted by his comrades on the ship. When everyone around him spoke about him as if he weren't there, that was a good sign he might as well be invisible.

  Shrugging, Tuliy smiled. “It is what it is. I have leave time coming up in eighteen Earth months. There will be plenty of time to catch up with my family then. The time passes quickly, even more so now that I am making friends.”

  “I find the relationships I am beginning to build do help make the time here easier. At least I no longer have the great desire to quit. That's progress. I'm growing fond of my charges.”

  “I am as well.”

  Don't read too much into that statement, Alan thought. Just because he fancies Cadence, doesn't mean that's what he's referring to. His blood boiled at the idea of his charge being pursued. He trusted Tuliy to not do something dishonorable, but with the latest heartbreak the girl was going through, Alan needed to be extra careful. Cadence was his favorite charge. He knew he shouldn't feel that way, but he couldn't help it. She was the most agreeable and pleasant to spend time with. Smart enough to hold an intelligent conversation with, and sweet enough to trust with his emotions. He understood why Tuliy found her fascinating.

  She was intellectually stimulating as well as beautiful. Girls with Cadence's physical features were not common in Alan's home nation on Altura, but there was more to it. The way she looked at Alan, he could tell he was meaningful in her life. She genuinely cared about him as more than her leader. They were friends. He couldn't say that about his other charges.

  Alan ran a few fingers over his lips. “I've been thinking... Since we will be separated, and I'm sure you will have lots of work to do on Earth as well as the ship... Perhaps you would like to have my powers? To make transporting back and forth easier?” Teleportation was not a rare gift on Altura, but no one besides Alan had it on the ship. In fact, he was one of the few people on board who had multiple abilities. With everything that would need to be done on the mission, and on future adventures, it only made sense to offer. Alan could trust his friend to not abuse the gift, right?

  “Are you sure?” Tuliy asked, eyes wide. The light sparkled off of them, and it added to the young man's excited gaze.

  “Yes, I think it's necessary. When I return from my meeting, we can set something up. I will have enough time to train you on how to use it properly before I go.”

  “Thank you, friend. It means so much to me.”

  Alan nodded. “I should go to Earth and see how my charges are doing now. It should only take a few hours.” He needed to tell them of the new plan. Going to the planet would help him relax and focus again. Dwelling on his father's upcoming visit wouldn't do anything but make him anxious. Not something he could afford to feel.

  Tuliy nodded and gave a short wave before staring absently to the front, something JD liked to call “zoning out”. His comrade must have a lot on his mind as well. Perhaps when Alan returned to the ship later, they would both feel like talking more.

  Closing his eyes, Alan focused on Orlando's place of education, imagining the soft blue tiled walls of the private bathroom he usually teleported into. The school day was near its end, and hopefully the two would be able to have a decent amount of time to talk. Orlando should have been in a class referred to as “study hall.” It was the easiest class for the teenager to skip for long periods of time. When Alan went to the designated classroom, Orlando was nowhere to be found.

  Odd... Every time Alan went to the room, his charge could be found listening to music through a pair of head phones while he worked on his assignments for school. Orlando was a much more diligent student than Alan would have thought. The teen liked to rebel, and yet he took school seriously. Alan was pretty sure he did everything unexpected on purpose.

  If Orlando wasn't in the classroom, he could usually be found wandering the halls, while he “used the bathroom”. A classic excuse used on Altura, as well whenever anyone wanted to take a break from work. Alan had certainly used it enough times back when he was in school, but Orlando wasn't in the hallway. Or the bathroom. Or anywhere.

  Is he ill? At home? Skipping? Alan was about to teleport to the mansion where Orlando lived, when he caught sight of the girl known as Sprout. Tait was her real name. She walked past Alan, rubbing her arms, gaze downcast. With her was a young man that Alan recognized as her brother, Bean. Alan didn't know his given name.

  The best part of Alan's ability to be invisible to anyone not part of his tribe, was that it made for a lot of great opportunities for him to be a gargsnap, or fly, on the wall. He trailed the two siblings, keeping back a few feet so he could listen with ease, but not so close they might accidentally bump into him.

  Tait's twin brother stayed close to her side. From past observations, Bean always proved to be the softer of the two. He put an arm around his siste
r and pulled her close to him, hugging her.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “This is my fault,” she whispered.

  “What? You can't blame yourself for Orlando going missing sis,” he insisted.

  “They think he ran away. A lot of his stuff is gone. What if my lies broke him? What if I pushed him over the edge? He said he loved me. That's not something he takes lightly, you know.”

  Bean shook his head. “Whatever mistakes you've made, they didn't cause him to run. And that's assuming he did it in the first place.”

  “Do you think something else happened to him?” She looked up at her brother. Her eyes were wide and full of tears, such a huge contrast from the girl who had once tried to kill Alan.

  “I don't think so, but I don't think he ran away for good. He'll come back. I'm not worried. He probably just needed a spontaneous vacation. I don't know him as well as you do, but if his home life is as complicated as you say it is... And after all of the holidays... He'll come back.”

  The two turned a corner and went down a flight of stairs. Rather than follow, Alan stood in the doorway, stunned. He checked his ears to make sure they weren't clogged and he was hearing clearly. Orlando? Missing? How could that be right? If it was true, Alan was almost positive the boy hadn’t run away. Something strange was going on, there had to be.

  Why would Orlando want to run? It didn't make sense.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Angela paced The Apartment. A meeting had been called after school. Hopefully Alan knew where Orlando was. The alien had a strange way of knowing where they all were at any given time. Could he use that power to locate their friend? She wouldn't have even come to the meeting if she didn't think Alan knew something. When he showed up alone, her heart sank. Then JD arrived, and Alan went straight to business.

  “Let's begin. Preparations are underway to make sure we have everything we need for the mission. Lodging−”

  Angela frowned. “But we're−”

  “I know. We are missing two of our team members at the moment, but what needs to be discussed only concerns you.” Alan pointed at her and JD. “It's about the mission this weekend.”

  “It's still on, right?” JD asked.

  “Yes.”

  Angela couldn't believe what she was hearing. One of their teammates was gone, and they were still expected to work? She scoffed at the idea. “You're kidding me, right? No, I'm not going. Not without knowing where Orly is.”

  “You'd be singing a different tune if it was anyone else,” JD muttered.

  She glared at her brother, and she could feel her cheeks growing hot with a mix of embarrassment and anger. “He's part of the team and my friend. We'll need his help, and we don't know what happened to him.”

  “I'm concerned as well,” Alan interjected, “but war does not pause for anyone. This mission is important. You'll be helping with the retrieval of an important piece of machinery. It has been on Earth for a long time. While I know Orlando is a key part of our team, as well as a friend, you know he would rather you focus on work. You two especially are essential to the plan. Cadence will be remaining here, researching The Doctor some more. I am going to do everything in my power to find Orlando, you can be sure of that. He will not be forgotten.”

  Angela went to her usual spot and sat down, hugging herself closely. Her gaze wandered to Orlando's chair, and she couldn't fight the breaking of her heart. Please be okay. With a sigh, she composed her emotions and fought off the tears that had been threatening to spill all day.

  “I get it,” she said, “but I don't like it. What if he was kidnapped by his ex or something? Maybe she found out who he was and−”

  “I don't think so,” Alan said with a shake of his head. “When I visited his place of education, she seemed rather upset. More so than she should have been if she knew anything about what happened.”

  “Well I'm not buying the run-away story.”

  JD sighed. “He's run out on us before. Maybe he couldn't take the pressure anymore.”

  “True...” Alan said quietly.

  “But he wouldn't ditch his sister,” Angela said firmly.

  “I thought the same thing.”

  JD shrugged. “Then we're back to the kidnapping theory, but if it wasn't Sprout, I don't know who else would take him. She had a particular interest in him joining their group and being injected with The Doctor's drug. Maybe he has something to do with it? Either that, or he got into some kind of an accident. All of those options suck.”

  “Big time,” Angela added. She didn't like thinking about all of those hypothetical outcomes. Foul play had to be involved, and if not Sprout, then who? The Doctor was by far the scariest of all their potential enemies. But how could any of them have figured out who Orlando even was? Something didn't add up, and that was most worrisome of all.

  “We need to focus on the mission. You both must mentally prepare yourselves for anything. I'm not sure how dangerous this will be. There will be a number of things to remember. I also have the pamphlet of information for your parents to help make your story more believable, as well as your accommodations for the weekend.” Alan handed each of the teenagers a red folder. “Review these materials.”

  JD opened the folder and paged through a few of the pamphlets and papers. “I'm not sure if my parents are going to completely buy this, but I'll work with it. Not like I'm worried. They're pretty easy going anyway.”

  “I'm sure they'll gladly kick us out of the house,” Angela said. “Unless they need babysitters this weekend. That would be the only problem.”

  “Yeah, I forgot about babysitting. But they don't have any special couple occasions coming up, so we should be safe. Besides, the fact that we're actually going to be doing something together will surprise them so much, how could they say no?” Her brother wiggled his eyebrows. “I wonder if the hotel is going to have a pool...”

  He has the weirdest priorities. She shook her head. “Assuming we have time to do anything fun. We're working, keep that in mind. Is there anything else? I have a friend to find.” They had a week to track Orlando down, before the mission. She wasn't about to give up, and she'd feel much better about leaving if he was safe. Every moment of her spare time would be spent trying to bring him back.

  Alan watched her. “Be familiar with all of the information. There's a video as well. It's on the device hidden in the metal casing in your folder. It will have more things you need to know about the artifact specifically. Watch this before we leave. We will go over everything on it during a meeting.”

  She exhaled slowly. Great, more homework. I'll just have to find a way to squeeze it all in. “Got it.” She stood up and walked out the door without another word. There was only so much business she could focus on, and being inside of Orlando's home put her on edge. It felt even more empty and dead without him there. She couldn't even begin to imagine what his poor sister was feeling. The young woman's eyes were so swollen and puffy when Angela saw her at school. I should stop by and see how she's doing, see if there's more I can do to help, and I should drop off my present, just in case he comes back.

  The spontaneous gift she'd picked up for Orlando was in her back pack. Most of the weekend she had worried herself sick over whether or not she should actually follow through with giving it to him. She no longer cared. In fact, she was ready to pour out her soul to him the second he returned for fear of never getting the chance to ever say it. He needed to know. She could hardly live with her secret crush buried deep inside her heart. Most of all, she wanted him to know he was loved by someone, and more importantly, that the love she had for him was her choice and not an obligation. Both of those things were important to him. He'd told her that before in the past when talking about Tait and the relationship he had with his sister.

  He liked to call himself broken and troubled. Angela thought it made him soft and sweet.

  Just as she was about to head down the stairs so she could leave, JD grabbed her arm.

 
“Where are you going? Aren't you going to ride back with me?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I'll take the bus home. It picks up just down the block. I wanted to see how Lyssa was doing.”

  “And leave him the dorky card you made?” JD smirked. “I saw you pasting that thing together with all of the construction paper. Can't say you've ever made me a homemade card.”

  “You're my brother. Don't be so over dramatic.” She snorted.

  “I was kidding, but I notice things. You were up until, what? Two in the morning watching that movie and making it? I could hear the TV. I'm pretty sure everyone could. At first I couldn't figure it out, but I get it now. Be careful Sis. Are you sure you wanna go there?”

  “Just because you messed everything up with Cadence doesn't mean I will with...” She glared at him. “It's just a card.”

  “I saw a box too, when I went to the bathroom.” He folded his arms in front of his chest. “The white one you colored on with marker. What's inside? What are you doing?”

  “None of your business!” A growl escaped her lips. Why did he have to be so annoying all of the time?

  JD rolled his eyes. “You're my sister. It is my business who you crush on.”

  “You've never cared before.”

  “Because I didn't think I needed to. This? Yeah, I care. We're all kind of friends, if you haven't noticed. Plus, I have to be sure you're making good decisions. Remember the party where The Doctor injected you with a mysterious drug? And do you remember how you went down there thinking maybe you'd be getting high or something?”

  “And do you remember me deciding it was a bad idea and trying to get away?” she snapped.