Redemption

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

                On the five hour flight from Seattle to the staging area near Red Hill, Pennsylvania, Niki hadn’t gotten any sleep. About twelve hours after Zach had woke her, she really wished she had managed to sleep.  They didn’t bother getting settled at the old building they were using as headquarters as they weren’t planning on staying long. Instead, as soon as they were off the plane, they got down to business.

                One of the first things they did was try out the new 200R power suits. They had been custom sized and labeled with names, making it easy for them to find the right ones. The material was deceptively light in appearance, looking flimsy, but they were actually quite heavy. Somehow, the material also remained pliable enough that the suit could be slipped on with ease.  Once dressed, Niki powered the suit up with a button in the collar. A small light on her left wrist flashed, telling her it was on. Like the old models, a built in touch screen was included that displayed time, temperature, atmospheric pressure and countless other environmental factors that someone might need to know.

                Niki wasn’t too interested in the screen and so didn’t mess with it. Instead, she took a few steps, glad to find that movement came easily. The suit was heavy, but because it increased the wearer’s strength, it made the extra weigh irrelevant. She took off running, practicing jumps and other maneuvers along the way. While an Anitreh could use telekinesis to achieve many of the same things the suit allowed, it was much simpler to just wear the suit rather than focus on every movement, and far less exhausting. Of course, even with the suit’s assistance, running and jumping for hours was still exhausting.

                They had a quick lunch after taking the suits off, although Niki let the others go ahead. She wanted to check out the power packs on the suits. As Kimberella mentioned, they were removable, although at first, Niki couldn’t even see where they were located. Once she found them, she removed one just to see how easy it was and quickly replaced it. Kimberella had made a big deal about those power packs, and Niki couldn’t help but wonder why.

                After lunch, they did more training, this time without the suits, focusing more on their abilities than anything else. Without a skilled healer present, they weren’t able to go at it as intensely as they usually did, but it still was good practice. By seven in the evening, everyone was completely exhausted, and the group decided to call it a night. They still had received words regarding who would be in charge of the mission, and therefore, had been making all decisions as a group.

                The normal staff at the Red Hill facility had made as much room as possible, but because it was so small, they only had two rooms available for their guests and their fylgjas. In one room, Lance Quezada and his gazelle, Riley Felder and his capybara, and Morgan Peak and her slender loris were assigned. In the other, Niki shared with Zach and his prarie falcon, Shelby Glauber and her civet, and Justice Starkey and his aardwolf. Because the beds were bunk beds, those with fylgjas that could not climb or be comfortable high up were assigned to bottom bunks, which meant Niki and Garm had one of the bottoms in their room. Zach took the bed above her.

                “I’m going to bed,” Shelby said once they got inside. She climbed to the top bunk opposite Zach. “If Paradox is disturbing you, just wake me up, but he’s usually pretty good about staying quiet.” She referenced her fylgja, who was nocturnal.

                “Same here,” Starkey said. “And Ris shouldn’t be trouble either. Guess we all have nocturnal fylgjas in this room except for you Zach.”