The Recruit

Chapter Four As Kate drove along the road, traveling at the speed limit of fifty-five, a sense of excitement surged through her. The black sports hover-car was something she had only dreamed of driving since most of the hover cars she would have been able to afford weren’t nearly as nice. When Kate looked out the rear view mirror, noting Alpha 4 had disappeared from sight, Zach told her to increase her speed to eighty. They coasted for about twenty minutes, Kate watching the surroundings of vast desert blow by her. Again Kate wondered how she ended up in a desert when New York wasn’t near one. “Are we still in New York?” “Technically, no,” Zach stated. Kate waited patiently as large cacti rolled by as she drove. “Okay,” Kate asked when the silence threatened to overwhelm her curious mind. “where are we then?” Zach flashed a smile, “Where’s the nearest desert?” “Kentucky has some desert at the southern end of the state.” She glanced over at her companion. “You are telling me we are in Kentucky? What is there some teleportation portal hidden in New York that I missed?” “If that’s your theory,” Zach stated as his eyes flashing with humor. “Right,” Kate stated, focusing back on the road. Sam and Sara did say there was something strange about the station’s rooms. Their technology is higher than any I’ve seen so it’s not impossible they haven’t created a transport device. The road they traveled was paved, though it appeared to be a back road. The entire time they’d been driving Kate hadn’t seen any other drivers, including the students from Alpha 4. Several cacti lined the road, and rock formations faded in and out of sight in the distance. Zach made Kateen increase her speed to one hundred twenty-five mph after they had driven past the rock formations. Kate hid her surprise and did as she was told, heightening her senses and enforcing her power on the car in case it tried to roll as the road curved. "After the next turn increase your speed, using your mind, to two hundred." Kate was about to object, then thought if she did, she wouldn't pass the test. Focusing her thoughts, she concentrated on the gears. She could almost feel the energy running through her, as if she were the car itself. Her skin seemed to cut the wind as she tore through it. The next turn was the sharpest she had seen, almost a full U-turn, but with her concentration zoned in, the car rode smoothly. Once the road straightened back out, Kate found she would be tested on maneuvering between cars. “After you pass these first few cars you’ll have to get in front of a semi to get off the road. If you can make it past the semi, we’ll return to base,” Zach stated. Kate nodded in response. “And you have to try to do this without losing speed.” I can do this, she thought. I hope. Kate cut her way around a variety of cars like a knife through butter. She had once again pushed her mind through the car, and also to her surroundings, seeing the cars and the various ways to pass by them safely. She had thought she had been doing well when literally out of nowhere, two semis driving side by side appeared a few miles in front of her. The road was currently one-way with only two lanes for the cars. The loose sand of the desert covered the edges of the road, making Kate leery of trying to drive on the side, even as tuned in to the car and surroundings as she was. As the semis were coming up fast, Zach began to fidget. Kate’s mind was racing through the car’s system, already reworking the program to suit the plan she was forming. “Do you trust me Zach?” Kate asked, as the monster vehicles were only a thousand yards in front of them. “If you have an idea, go for it,” Zach said, as twitched into a fist. Kate wondered at the nervous reaction from him. “Do these semis usually appear?” “No,” Zach stated, looking at his watch for a reading on the vehicles. “Are the cars we’ve been moving around real or was everything a simulation?” Kate asked, wondering why they hadn’t seen any of the other students on the road. “Everything is real, though we do have a way to avoid accidents if the students lose control.” Zach’s watched beeped a response, causing his brows to furrow. “What is it?” Zach shook his head as he answered, “These two semis shouldn’t be here.” “I kinda got that based on your first reaction when we saw them. What aren’t you telling me?” “You were right when you asked if we teleported to where we were. Normally we can end the test with the push of a button, but something isn’t letting me end the test.” “What do you mean you can’t end the test!” “Kate, trade me places.” “I can handle this Zach,” Kate said looking at him. The semis were closing in fast. “Trust me!” Zach glanced at his student and nodded. Kate returned her gaze to the road and increased her speed once more. Zach watched her as her eyes glowed silver and gold, the colors like liquid metal in her iris. As they were about to crash into the huge trucks, the sports car began to morph. The front of the car lengthened and became a mere foot in width. The rest of the car followed suit. However, to Zach and Kate, the interior remained the same size. One of the trucks had a ladder on the side, but the sports car slide around it as though it were made of water. When they were past the semis, the car molded back to its original form and Kate pulled off onto a side road her instincts said led back to Alpha 4.