Sylvana was still sitting in the windowseat, contemplating the evening sky, when Sci entered. "Bored?"
She turned to face him, and he noticed that she rearranged her features from melencholy to cheery in moments. "Yeah, I guess so," she grinned. "Not much to do around here." She shrugged, giving the impression of one without a care in the world.
Sci knew better, but said nothing. "What would you say if I had something for you to do?"
The grin didn't quite reach her eyes, "I'd say, 'When do I start, sir?'!" She gave him a jaunty salute.
"Don't you want to know what it is?"
"I figured you'd get around to telling me, eventually."
He moved over to a chair and sat down, "I've been thinking that perhaps your wingmate would like to join us on our little trip to Coruscant."
"You said her name was Emily Janson?"
"That's the one."
Sylvana looked as though steeling herself against an unwanted memory. "What do I have to do with this again?"
"You're a doctor, she's a student in high-school." He stood and handed her a slip of paper with some particulars on it. "You figure it out, I'll see you tomorrow night."
With that, he was off again, presumably to spend more time with his friend.
Sylvana looked down to see written an address, for both school and home, on the paper. "Well, it's been a long time. I wonder how you're holding up under Alisky's death, old friend."
Sylvana shut the door, her pack on her shoulder, and headed in the night air for the subway.
On her way, she stopped into a costume shop, and bought a simple, short, cinnamon-brown wig. She put it on and, voila! Her blue and black hair became instantly respectable.
When she got to the station, she bought a ticket to New Hampshire--it was more expensive than she would have liked--and was then soon on her way.
As she found a seat, she noticed a dark-headed man sitting nearby. For the briefest moment, she thought she was looking at the cab-driver from the other night. No, the nose is all wrong, and this guy has blue eyes, not dark gold. She shook her head and looked out the window. Once the train started moving, she was lulled into false sleep.
I hate these contacts, and this false nose itches! the Watcher consciously refrained from satisfying the itch with a good scratch. He did, however, give his eyes a rest with some eye drops.
With a sigh, he leaned his head back and surreptitiously watched the sleeping woman. Good luck for having that tracker - I barely even recognised her.
Emily was window-shopping at the mall when she ran into a familiar fivesome of bishonen. She blinked in confusion. What the hell is going on here? She waved half-mindedly when the boys turned around and caught her gaze. Why in the name of all that is holy are they wearing orange flightsuits?
Emily shot awake at the familiar klaxon of her alarm clock, letting her know that yes it's 0630 in the morning, and yes you have school today. She smiled to herself, reveling momentarily in a fantasy of pulling the sword off the wall and smashing the clock to infinite pieces - but the mono-wire blade would probably slice through the clock, the dresser, and the floor to stick out of the kitchen ceiling below. Hey, I can dream . . . can't I?
She quickly got dressed, pulling on the dark violet vinyl pants, a fishnet shirt, and a blank tanktop with blue and purple flames licking up the torso. Put on boots; put on makeup . . . a good portion of eyeliner never hurt anyone; brush teeth; brush hair; put in contacts; grab carkeys. Voila! Time to go to hell!
Wow, I'm on time today. Impressive. Means I can make it to Quikava for some coffee and then I'll be two minutes late for school. She jumped into the white '92 Ford Ranger XLT that she endearingly called "Zero" and sped off toward Manchester for the morning coffee and muffin.
A journey to New Hampshire, by train and then bus, is terribly long. Several depot stops along the way, a few changings, and finally, shortly after the midday meal, Sylvana had gotten there.
Leaving her pack hidden away, she entered the school yard, and soon found her way to the main office. At a desk sitting before the door to the Principal's office, sat an elderly lady looking through files. She turned as the door opened. "May I help you, ma'am?"
"Yes," Sylvana spoke, donning her old professional air. "I'm Doctor Lorrdain, and I'm here about a patient of mine - Emily Goczalk."
"Is there something wrong, Doctor?"
"Nothing serious, but I need to request that she has the next few weeks off from school."
"Oh, oh my! Is it serious?"
"Not terribly, but I'd rather not run the risk of an epidemic."
The woman nodded quickly and spoke into a small microphone. Her voice came over the school's intercomm. "Would Miss Goczalk please come to the Principal's office, would Miss Goczalk please come to the principal's office immediately. Thank you."
She motioned Sylvana over to a chair to wait.
Emily sighed, put her notebook into her backpack and strode from the room amongst whispers from the other students.
"What do you think she did now?"
"You think they found that sword in her locker?"
"I bet she gets suspended this time..."
And on they went.
Innocent until proven guilty; innocent until proven guilty; innocent until proven. . . . repeated the mantra in her head.
She soon arrived at the office, and was surprised to see a cinnamon-haired woman in professional dress sitting there. The woman gave her a wink and a short nod, and so the girl realised it was her old friend, Sylvana, and knew that she should play along with whatever scheme the woman had cooked up this time.
Just then, the Principal's office door opened. He beckoned the two of them inside for a brief conference.
"Well, I suppose that is the best idea." The Principal turned to Emily, "We could send you a tutor-"
"That's okay, I'll keep up with things, I promise!"
"All right - I suppose that's acceptable."
"She will be back as soon as the danger of communicating the infection has passed."
"I really think you should slow down, Emi' - we're not exactly in a hurry here." Sylvana held tightly to her bag as they sped along.
"Are you kidding? You just got me out of school! It's time to start having a vacation!" They squealed around a corner as the teenager paused. "Why did you get me out of school, anyway?"
Sylvana smirked, and readjusted herself as she finally got used to the breakneck speed in which they were going. "Major's orders."
"Uh huh, right - sure. Like you know any Majors."
"Sci said you might like to go to Coruscant with us."
She was slammed against the seatbelt as Emily brought the truck to a quick stop on the side of the road. "Excuse me?"
"I've been recruited to Terra Group, my little brother Arrek as well, and Sci's taking us, along with the other new recruit, Bethany, to Coruscant. Catch up to more 'modern' uses, or something," she shrugged. "Apparently I'm your wing - I didn't tell him we'd already met, it could be fun to mess with his head."
"Knowing Sci, he probably already knows," Emily mumbled while pulling back onto the road.
Sylvana watched in amusement as Emily packed up her things. "We're not moving there, Emi', you don't have to take everything you own."
"I know, but I'm packing important stuff." She shoved a large makeup case in a bag she'd been stuffing with clothes.
"Important stuff," Sylvana chuckled and shook her head as she leaned against the doorjamb.
A pistol with an in-pants holster was secreted on her person, and Emily then grabbed a knife to slip into her boot. Another knife, a stiletto of sorts, complete with a lockpick set, disappeared as she braided her hair. She pulled out a second bag and began tossing things into it.
"What now?" Sylvana asked. Wonder when she started carrying weapons much as I do?
"Gundam Wing, of course!" Emily flashed her a grin as she dropped some manga and DVD's into the bag. She turned to the five pilot figurines as if she were trying to decide whether they should be brought or not. "Hm . . . if I brought Heero, his feet could fall off again; Duo's at risk of losing his hair; Trowa keeps disappearing, anyway, so he probably wouldn't appreciate being dragged along; Quatre should stay to make sure no one decides to trash my room; Wufei . . . stays. Damn." She picked the figures out of their usual spots and moved them someplace she deemed more secure.
This went on for a while. The blinds had to be closed so the posters weren't sun-bleached when she returned, the various other anime DVD's needing to be brought, and mangas needed to be hidden from prying siblings, and the Gundams themselves were locked in the closet in cardboard boxes with styrofoam peanuts. "Just in case there's an earthquake or anything, don't want to have to put them all back together again," Emily explained with a wink.
Sylvana, a Gundam Wing fan herself, only chuckled and shook her head at the teenager's antics. Finally, it seemed as though the girl was finished. In the final bag, she packed eight empty ones. "Nani?" She slipped into the Japanese expressions after a few minutes of conversation with the girl. "What now?"
"Hey, if I'm going to Coruscant, I'm going to need room to bring home stuff in."