Watched by Baker Tihema

Author:Baker, Tihema
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Huia (NZ) Ltd
Published: 2014-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

*

Duo kept their distance from Unum. They passed each other in the hallways, ate near each other at meal times, and none of them – not even Liam, to Rory’s surprise – said a thing. He was glad he didn’t have to step in. Jason seemed glad for the distance too, although Rory was still reeling from Gabriela’s ultimatum and had not yet figured how to get around it. He had decided that, for now, the best course of action was to simply pacify the two by keeping his head down and his mouth shut.

The continuing difficulty of their Training Sessions gave him an excellent excuse to do this, as each one grew more intense by the day. Every session drew on all of his energy, physically and mentally, and the daily Simulation they took part in only amplified the drain.

It was only midway through their sixth week of training, and Rory put his hands to his head and gasped in air as the Simulation he had been leading ended; the Stalkers’ flag the team had just secured vanished, revealing the glaring white of the Training Room once more.

‘Bravo, team, bravo,’ said Serena, beaming as she approached. ‘Another successful Simulation. Keep this up and you will be ready for the examination in no time!’

‘I don’t know how we’re going to endure five more months of this,’ Rochelle said as they exited their Capsules. ‘I don’t think I can handle another day.’

‘Come on, it’s not that bad,’ said Liam. ‘I think I can keep going. How ’bout we shoot some hoops?’

‘You’re insane!’ said Rochelle.

‘I’m keen,’ said Henrik, and Rochelle looked at him in disbelief.

‘Come on, Rochelle,’ said Gabriela. ‘It’ll be fun.’

And so they headed for the basketball courts on Level One – only to see Team Unum already there, passing a ball between themselves.

‘Jason?’ Rory said. ‘What are you guys doing here?’

‘Just having a game. You’re free to jump in, if you want.’

‘This is our court,’ said Liam suddenly, stepping up to Rory’s side.

‘Sorry?’ Jason asked, reeling.

‘Get off – this is our basketball court,’ Liam said.

Jason looked with confusion at Rory. ‘Um, okay, I don’t know who you think you are, but I don’t see your name on this court. The courts are for everyone.’

‘Listen, we play on this court all the time,’ said Gabriela. ‘So move it.’

‘Oh, you wanna play it like that, huh?’ Kala said, as he and the rest of Unum joined Jason. ‘Well, we were here first. So I guess that makes it ours.’

Liam snorted. ‘I don’t care. We use this court all the time. It’s ours.’

‘The court is nobody’s,’ said Kate. ‘If you want it that badly, play with us.’

‘I’m not going anywhere near you,’ said Gabriela. ‘I don’t want to end up thrown against a wall or something.’

‘Hey, back off!’ said Kenny, stepping in front of Kate.

‘And what are you going to do?’ said Rory, approaching Kenny.

‘Whoa, Rory, this is ridiculous.’ Jason put himself between Rory and Kenny. ‘There’s another court just down there. Why

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.