Subject Seventeen: Wraith Among Shadows
Chapter 22

I wake up to the sound of the alarm. I sit up slowly and groan. How is it already morning? Rising out of my bed I walk out of my room. The rest of the team are already leaving their rooms and walking towards the armoury. Guess it’s time to gear up for the mission.

Memories of the previous day flash through my mind. I remember how I leaned forward and kissed Seventeen. I sigh. I don’t know why, but the more I try and hate him the more I fall for him. Maybe I thought kissing him then would jog some of his memories, but now I feel like I just did it for my own personal gain. Fine. I’m willing to accept the fact that I’m into him but no more than that.

Something catches my eye. Thirteen is talking to Seven. He puts his hand on her shoulder and whispers something into her ear before he walks off. What’s that all about?

I make my way to the front where Thirteen is walking. I’m tempted to ask him what he was talking to Seven about when I notice that Three is right behind us. This stops me from saying anything. The last thing I should do is make Three suspicious.

Instead I decide to increase my pace as I head to the armoury. I’m the first one to get there. When I open the door what I see stops me in my tracks. The door at the end of the room has been broken down. As far as i remember it leads to one of the special weapon holding rooms that the Director personally stocks up. I’ve only ever been allowed in there once and that was for our mission in Berlin when I had to use a special rocket launcher. I don’t know what else is inside but I do know that the room is off-limits to us.

Maybe I’m still tired. I rub my eyes and blink twice and look back up.

This time the door is back in its original state. More than that I’m surprised Sanders didn’t even detect a breach in security. What’s going on? Am I hallucinating? I move aside as Thirteen and the rest enter. Thirteen has small smirk on his face. It hits me that he has something to do with this. If that’s the case then it is best for me not to question his motives.

Opening my locker I see that my equipment has been replaced. My usual throwing knives are inside but my akimbos have been taken away and replaced with a Logistic 3R7 assault rifle. Wow. These babies all use armour piercing rounds and fire nine-hundred and fifty rounds per minute. They are fitted with a new generation motion system which scans the area viewed through the lens and calculates trajectory. This is without a doubt the most lethal assault rifle I will ever lay my hands on. Ever.

I turn around and see it is the same for everyone else. All except Ten of course who has his usual weapons. I can’t help but wolf whistle for the gun. One laughs at my reaction as she straps her rifle around her. I strap the gun to my back also. It is fairly heavy. No surprise there.

My type 64 is still inside my locker. I probably won’t need it but I still holster it and strap on my belt with the throwing knives attached. Leaning on my locker I take a moment to calm myself. This is the calm before the storm. After today there will be no turning back. This is it. The final chapter. We better make it count.

“Let’s go, Two,” Nine says. I nod. Nine draws a knife from its sheath and pokes the tip. Then he holds it up to his hair. I watch him strangely. Is he cutting his hair?

He takes a handful of his long hair and bows his head down. Next he uses the knife to completely cut if off. He really did it. I stare at him completely shocked. As he raises his head it really dawns on me how tall he is. Probably about six foot two. I don’t think I noticed before that he has a dimple just below the left corner of his lips. Weird. He looks so much more grown up now. In a way, he now looks like a proper leader. As if he was born to lead. It should be him in charge of our missions and not Three. I can’t help but turn my face away as I begin to turn red from my embarrassment.

Nine smiles at me and then walks off. Only Thirteen, Five and I remain inside the armoury. Thirteen turns around to face me, causing me to freeze.

“Wait for my signal,” he says. “The plan has changed. It happens today.”

With that he and Five leave. I take a few deep breaths as I register this new information. He moved the plan forward to today? Why? When does he plan to carry it out? There’s no possible way that he can carry it out before the mission. That’s suicidal. We need to first deal with Eight and Three.

I begin to walk in the same direction. I don’t know how Thirteen plans to pull this feat off, but he sure as hell better know what he’s doing. I don’t see how he plans to take this place down today. If that’s what he wants to do he has to do it before we get on the jet doesn’t he? It’ll be too late by the time we arrive at our destination

The chill I usually get before I go on missions is creeping its way up my neck and causes me to shiver. I make my way to the hangar. I’m the last one to enter. Sanders is already waiting for us, pacing up and down.

I fall in line next to One as we are fully briefed by Three. After she briefs us she falls back in line and silence fills the room. No-one talks. I’m even able to hear the breathing of Seven on my right. The atmosphere in the hangar bears down on me heavily. It’s becoming a little hard to breathe. I’ve never felt this kind of tension before.

Sanders not talking only makes it worse. I feel a bead of sweat trickle down from the side of my forehead. The temptation to turn my head to look at the others is slowly overpowering me until I force it back down.

“Today,” Sanders says. “Is an important day. You have all trained for this. You’ve shed blood and sweat on the path leading to this exact moment in time. This war has continued for far too long. It’s time we hit our enemies where it hurts: right in their hearts. They’ve underestimated us. They’ve taken us for granted and laughed at us from afar. No longer. Today we show them exactly what it means to wage war against us.

“Project Shadow was originally designed to enhance specially trained soldiers to become Shadow Soldiers. Enhanced. To be more than just a soldier. To be more than just a weapon. It was created to show our enemies that we are a force to be reckoned with. The project has been successful, and although you are not all the soldiers we expected to initially create, you are the best of the best.

“Know that we expect great things from you all. We have faith that you have exactly what it takes to win this war. Anything can happen out there today. Anything. All I can say to you is good luck soldiers. Carry out your mission and fulfil your duties, for today is the day we take back this war!”

Sanders finishes speaking and puffs out his chest as we salute him. I don’t know if he thinks that speech motivated us or something but he certainly does seem proud of himself. He looks at each and every one of us before walking up to One. Reaching into an open briefcase in front of him - held by an assistant - he pulls out the small vials he showed us yesterday and hands one to One. Next he moves on to me, then Three, Ten and Seventeen.

I hold up the small vial which contains the serum Sanders called VERTIGO SIX. I wonder what I’ll be able to do once I take this. Maybe I’ll be able to summon a thunderstorm now. Oh I’m definitely looking forward to doing that.

Footsteps sound from behind me and I can’t help myself from turning around to see who it is. The Doctor approaches us, followed by a few other men in white lab coats. He doesn’t give any of us the time of day and walks straight through the line to Sanders. Putting his hand on Sanders’ shoulder he leans in and starts whispering something into his ear.

I can’t hear their voices but I know whatever it is must be really bad. Sanders’ eyebrows have furrowed together and his face is slowly turning red. He glances in the direction of someone in the line. My eyes slowly trace the direction in which he looked. The person he was looking at is either Nine or Ten. I highly doubt it is Ten. Nine must have done something. Idiot. What did he do now?

The Doctor takes his leave without looking at any of us. I notice how his hands are shaking as he passes by. Something big must have happened. What on earth could be so bad for the Doctor to be shaking so much?

“Move out,” Sanders says. His voice is low and calm. Strange. As we all climb aboard the jet I notice Sanders exchange a look with Three. Curiosity gets the better of me. Something is going on and Three knows. Whatever it is it seems like Three is going to be the one dealing with it. If it really is something to do with Nine then he may be in danger.

I scale the stairs to the jet in a hurry. This might be bad for us. We can’t let anything happen to Nine now. This is too crucial a point in time for us to lose him. I need to tell Thirteen.

After we all climb aboard the jet we each take our individual seats. The tension in the air has followed us from the hangar to inside the jet. I’m just praying that someone says something to lighten the mood up. Three is sitting at the front of the cabin and Nine is near the back. That’s good so far. They need to be kept apart. I let myself relax in my leather chair and put my head back. Might as well enjoy the time I have now before things get serious.

I turn my attention to the window as the jet begins to move. We speed down the cold epoxy floor and slowly begin to rise. The hangar doors must have opened all the way already. I watch as the view of the hangar is replaced by water and large rocks. We’re above the ocean right now. We climb higher and higher, not slowing down even once. The wing of the jet skims through a cloud and for a few seconds I can’t see anything. The view that appears next is beautiful. I can see the sun shining in the distance and the clear blue of the ocean below us. Clouds fill the sky and slowly drift through seemingly unbound.

How would life be as a cloud? No worries or battles. No stress. Just me, myself and I drifting through life. That is how it should be. A life without stress. Why couldn’t I ever have something like that? Instead I’m being thrown in the middle of a warzone. Great.

Nine rises out of his seat and walks out of the cabin. I guess he needs to use the loo. I’m about to dismiss it when I see Three rise out of her seat and head in the same direction of Nine. This is bad. I slowly rise up out of my seat and begin to walk after Three when Thirteen stands up. He looks at me and shakes his head. I sit back down.

Thirteen then walks off after Three. I wonder what’s going on. Whatever it may be, as long as Thirteen’s there Nine should be safe. Now that Thirteen is gone I see that the seat next to Seventeen is open and decide to take advantage of it. Seventeen doesn’t question me when I sit down next to him.

“You alright?” I ask.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Ouch. Alright then. At least I know that you’re not in the mood for any small talk. I decide the best thing to do is change the topic. He might know exactly what it is that Thirteen has planned.

“Want to fill me in on what’s going on?”

“Hasn’t Thirteen told you anything yet?”

“Only that it is happening today.”

“In that case just stay put. It’s about to happen within the next hour.”

“What do you mean within the next hour?”

There is no way it can happen within the next hour. No way on earth. We’ll still be in the air. If Thirteen starts a battle here then all of us are going down. I need to stop him. I can’t let this madness continue. I’m not going to play along with his suicidal games.

I begin to get up but Seventeen reaches out for my hand. He pulls me back down to the seat. I glare at him. Maybe I misjudged him. He may not be the Doctor’s puppet anymore but he’s turning into Thirteen’s puppet.

“Let me go!” I hiss quietly.

“Trust me,” he says. “Just wait this out. It’s for the best.”

I take my seat again. If Thirteen does anything now that will put our lives in danger I won’t hesitate to kill him myself. Although he’ll probably know that I’ll try to.

It’s only now that I notice Seventeen is still holding my hand. I can already feel myself turning red again. Great. Nice to see I still haven’t gotten over this. I turn my face away from Seventeen so that he doesn’t see me blushing.

“You can let go now,” I say.

“I don’t want to.”

This takes me back. He doesn’t want to let go? What a weird guy. I try to slowly pull my hand away but he just wraps his fingers around mine. My face is on fire. Stop. He needs to stop. I don’t do this stuff. I’m nothing like Five and Seven. Yuck. This stuff disgusts me. Doesn’t it? Well I mean it used to...

As much as I replace myself thinking all these thoughts I don’t pull my hand away anymore. It feels as if we’ve done this so many times before. Almost as if it is natural. It makes me feel comfortable. I decide to leave my hand there. He’s going to have to let go eventually. I can’t help but let myself smile a little.

“Have you thought about after this?” Seventeen says. I turn to look at him. At this moment I’ve forgotten how red my face is.

“After this?”

“I mean after all this nonsense. After we take down the facility and the Doctor. Saving Fourteen. Getting my memories back. What do we do after?”

“There’s still going to be a war going on you know.”

“And what do you expect us to do about that? Do you think we’re strong enough to stop it by ourselves?”

“I believe we’re strong enough to do anything as long as we believe we can.”

“Not all the time. Not all the time…”

I sigh. As much as I hate to admit it the simple fact is that Seventeen is right. Say we escape and take down Youdu, what then? It’s not as if we’ll be able to lead normal lives. Not with these abilities or with the war we’ve started. Even if we want to try and put an end to the war, how do we end a world war? Who is going to listen to a ragtag group of teenagers just because they have abnormal abilities?

It is not like we can keep relying on Nine or Thirteen. They’re only human too. They have real life worries and problems that they need to deal with themselves. It isn’t fair if we let them do all the work.

“I don’t know,” I finally say. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out.”

“I want to stay with you, that’s for sure.”

I pause. Wait. What? Did he just confess his feelings for me? I bite my bottom lip, not sure what to do. I don’t know why but I really want to say that I feel the same way but I’m too afraid to let myself be vulnerable like that. I avoid the comment.

“What’s taking those three so long? I’m itching to start..”

“In that case I suggest you brace yourself,” Seventeen says.

“For what?”

The next thing I know is that the jet spins out of control. I can’t tell which way is which as my entire vision spins out of control. Things fly around the cabin hitting the walls and ceiling. Something hit us.

“For that!” Seventeen yells. I can barely hear him over the roar of the engines. Actually, I think we just lost one. I’m flung to the left of the jet as it tilts at an angle. My back hits the wall and the air is knocked out of my lungs. My head is ringing and I can’t make sense of anything that anyone is screaming.

Just as I’m trying to get to my feet something flies straight inside the jet from through the wall behind me and through the other wall, ripping a hole straight through the centre of the jet. Wind immediately begins to whip about the cabin and I’m lifted off my feet. The hole made in the jet is trying to suck me out and I immediately grab on to the edge of one of the seats.

“What the hell is going on?!” Ten screams. He jumps straight out of the opening in the side of the jet and I glimpse a stream of flames before he vanishes from sight. I can no longer hold on to the edge of the seat and replace myself flying backwards through the jet. Fear courses through my body as I’m sucked out and replace myself free falling through the air. Oh god, this is it. This is how I die.

My hair whips all around me as I fall. The wind violently pushes against my face and I raise my hands in protection. I’m spinning violently out of control as I rush downwards. Something streaks across my vision and I try to rotate my body to get a better look.

Whatever the hell it is attacked our jet. I look around, squinting so the wind doesn’t hurt my eyes. I can’t see anything. I replace myself trying to scream for help but I can hardly even hear my own voice over the roar of the wind.

Suddenly I’m yanked upwards by my left hand. I scream out in pain as I feel my shoulder dislocate. Looking up I see that Ten is the one who has caught me. He holds on to me tightly with his right hand while directing his left palm downwards. Flames burst out of his left palm, propelling us back upwards. I thank god. I can’t believe Ten of all people saved me.

“Sorry about this, Two!” Ten screams over the wind. I don’t have time to ask him what about as he twirls around in the air and swings me around before releasing me. The pain in my dislocated shoulder makes me scream despite the fact I know he can’t hear me.

I fly through the air. This is definitely the end for me. I’m definitely going to die this time. So much for Ten being my saviour. The momentum I had from Ten throwing me is slowly declining and I begin to fall again. Just as I’m about to give up all hope someone catches me.

I turn around to look at my rescuer. It’s Six.