Blackstone - The Temple of Trials

Visions and Dreams

I spent the next day with Thomas, David and Nicole in briefing after briefing, readying ourselves for the mission ahead. We studied holograms of the temple complex, and tried to find the location of the prince. Apparently, he would be in the dormitory where the novice initiates spent most of their time. The plan was to go in, snatch him and jump back out again. This was going to a stealth mission. We couldn't use our Razor Phones because they might be detected, so only Etheric Knives and Photon Belts would be taken. This was going to be a dangerous mission, but all through our preparation I kept thinking about Carrie. It had been a year since I had seen her last. What would she look like? Would she be dressed in an Orion uniform? I wondered what I would say when I saw her again. I knew I had to control my temper. I could hear Mary's stern words. A Keeper of the Wend must be in control of their emotions at all times.

Finally, we attended our last briefing and were told to get a few hours rest to prepare for the coming mission. There was no time to jump home to Brooklyn so I bunked down with Thomas in the Ranger's lounge. The Ranger's lounge was the section of Blackstone Control where Ranger's could rest, relax, and recharge before and after missions. It was a large garden with a beautiful waterfall and ponds where fish swam. Tables and cots were placed throughout the Gardens. A snack bar was also in the lounge that served green fruit smoothies and green tea. When Thomas and I entered the lounge, I saw a portly looking MechaNect behind the counter of the snack bar. I felt like a smoothie so I got in line with Thomas behind a few other Rangers.

The Rangers in front of us joked around with each while Thomas and I stood silently. We were thinking about the mission that was ahead of us. The tranquil setting of the Garden almost always helped to calm my nerves, and I would often come here by myself to meditate. Mary had taught me to meditate to control the Wend. It was a way to harness and channel my turbulent emotions. A Keeper of the Wend must be in control at all times and meditation was one of the useful practices I employed to help me with that endeavor. Finally, Thomas and I got our green smoothies and walked to a park bench where we sat in silence and drank our smoothies.

Thomas finished his smoothie and put it in the trash. He came back to the bench.

"What are you going to say when you see Carrie again?"

I put my smoothie down on the bench. "I don't know. I'm trying not to think about it."

"I don't see how we can trust her. Not after what she did to us last year."

"I know. Believe, me I think about that night when she attacked me all the time."

"Not to mention what she did at Loch Ness."

I hadn't forgotten about Carrie's control of the dinosaur at Loch Ness. They were testing me all the time. The Orion Empress and her right hand girl, Carrie Brunner. Carrie who always seemed so shy and reserved when all the time she was working against Thomas and me. It still stung almost a year later, now I was going to have to work with her again on a mission where we would risk our lives. Life was strange.

"Someone once told me that we don't choose the cards we're dealt, but we do get to choose how we play them," I said.

"I wish I had your attitude. It doesn't take a bloody psionic to see that this mission is going to be tough. I hope we can trust these Orions," Thomas said.

"We don't have much of a choice. If it was up to me, I'd let that spoiled Orion prince do whatever he wanted to do. It's his life. Let him join the Church of Darwin or whatever it's called. I just want to see, Father K one more time. A nice photon blast to the gut would certainly make me feel a lot better," I said.

Just then Alexis Van Leer and the Miller Twins entered the Garden area and got in line at the snack bar. I immediately tensed up. Thomas saw them too.