Out Of Orbit

Chapter 14

REBECCA

Three days. Three days and still no power. Despite managing to make it through Trystia's first lesson on defence, Rebecca still felt a little less than useless. If she was going to fight alongside her new friends, she had to find out what her power was.

As a step towards figuring it out, Rebecca had spent time helping the others with their powers.

Michael had moved on to moving things with no hand movements whatsoever. Just yesterday he'd managed to partially uproot a tree in one of the fields. It was a small tree, and he'd had to stop when the migraine had hit him, but it was still an amazing achievement. His accuracy needed some improvement, though. Apparently the bull's eye on the Macaderan had been a complete fluke because Michael hadn't been able to hit any of the targets Riley had set up.

Victoria had teased him about that. She spent a lot of her time working with Riley, well away from anybody else, but Rebecca had watched her practice a couple of times, ears carefully stuffed with linen. The screams still made her teeth vibrate but it had been worth it. With different frequencies, Victoria could shatter objects, send objects flying backwards and, Brian hypothesised, burst eardrums and possibly cause internal bleeding.

Brian didn't require much practice. In fact, he tended to spend more time in the library than out in the fields practising. Rebecca didn't blame him. That library had caught her attention as well. While learning about the history of Dysantyll from Naytan or Trystia was more entertaining, it was good to have a place where she could find answers for herself. Jarryd probably wouldn't approve if he knew. He'd probably say she was immersing herself too deeply in the alien culture. Or allowing their propaganda to override her common sense.

Sometimes he was just ridiculous.

Unfortunately, he was also getting ridiculously good at controlling his powers. Besides his super speed, he'd managed to toss a couple of trees a good hundred metres into the hills. Unfortunately his "battle-useful" abilities meant his opinion and co-operation was highly prized by those in charge. Which meant they let him boss everyone else around.

Well, everyone except Riley. Rebecca grinned. The more she saw of Riley, the more she liked him. He inspired confidence and loyalty. Trystia and Vyllania fought over his good opinion like two dogs over a bone. Not that they'd ever show it.

So everyone had something to contribute. Except for Rebecca.

At least she could still help Francol in the kitchen. Cooking didn't require superpowers.