Saving The Mission, page 20
part #1 of The Race to Space Series
Samantha felt her heart leap and found herself feeling happy that she could have another awkward car journey with Mike. She thought it would be an easier journey with David but something compelled her to stay with Mike. “Hi, Mike! I thought you’d gone.”
Mike laughed, “you mean you thought I wouldn’t finish the challenge?” He eyed her suspiciously “Do you still want a lift?”
Samantha felt conflicted, she had got on really well with David. Even though he was about twenty years her senior, they had struck up a bond that made him feel like a father figure. Someone who actually looked out for her. However, she felt she owed Mike for getting her here in the first place and there was something about him that intrigued her, making her want to spend more time with him. “Yeah sure, thanks Mike. Maybe next time David?”
Samantha watched as David eyed Mike up and down suspiciously. “You look after yourself Samantha. Here is my number. Come visit me in Cardiff sometime.” David pulled out a receipt from his wallet and jotted his number down and handed the paper to Samantha. Samantha took the bit of paper and put it in her backpack. She took out her notepad and jotted down her name and number and gave it to David. “Here’s my number David. Come to up to Chesterfield sometime too.”
Elizabeth interrupted, “Samantha Harrington right? I’ll search for you on FriendFinder and add you.”
Samantha replied, “That would be great.” Samantha turned to David. “Look after yourself David. No more roller coasters OK?”
David laughed, “most definitely not. I never want to go upside down again! Looking at the trials on offer, I’m not sure it’s for me anyway. They’re probably recruiting for a new officer for MI6 and I’m certainly no James Bond these days.”
Samantha said her emotional goodbyes, to people she had only known for a day, but already felt were better friends to her than people she had known for years. She found herself hoping they stayed in touch.
As she was walking to the car she said to Mike, “pretty intense day huh?”
Mike smiled, “not half. The phrase, ‘don’t give up the day job’ springs to mind.” Samantha stared at the floor, in that instant she wished she had taken the lift with David. Mike quickly interrupted her thoughts, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I have a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way.”
Samantha remembered those glances she gave him earlier on, he was always surrounded by a big group, always fitting in. “You seemed to make plenty of friends along the way.”
They reached the car. Mike looked at her across the car before getting in. “Well, you have to on a day like this. I’ve done plenty of assessment days like this in the past.” He hastily added, “Not exactly like this, you know more office-based assessments. I tell you what though, there is more back-stabbing there!” Samantha opened her door and got in the car. Mike said, “St Pancras, I presume?” Samantha nodded.
The car started along the drive and Samantha heard the now-familiar sound of tyres on gravel. It made her think back to the journey in the minibus earlier on and a shudder ran through her. She knew she would never be able to hear that sound again without associating it with this place and this day.
Samantha watched as the world spun past her, each green tree they passed looking the same as the one before. As if she was watching a spinning top. Watching the world go past made her think back to when she was on the train going to work, watching the world go by and how it always made her feel her life was going by with it. She then suddenly had a flashback of being in the back of the car with a gun pointed at her head. She shuddered to shake the image out of her head. “That last challenge was something. How did you make it back?”
Mike replied, “a combination of a taxi till our money ran out and running really fast! One of our group was local to the area so knew instantly where we were and a good taxi company. We got it easy really, although the taxi driver was weird. We got there and he demanded more money or wouldn't let us out. We eventually had to bargain with him by giving him some items we wore. One guy gave his watch, it was an Armani and worth more than ten times the fare! Talk about dedication! You?”
“You want weird, well this tops it. We hitchhiked and our ride threatened us with a gun and made us strip!”
Mike turned to her in shock, looking as though he didn’t know whether to shout in surprise or laugh. Samantha just wished he would keep his eyes on the road.“What! You need to report him.”
Samantha tried to brush the experience off as if it was no more than an inconvenience, although she knew the experience would scar her forever. “I slashed his shoulder with a hacksaw so if I report him, I’ll get done too, so best to leave it.”
Mike shook his head and focused his attention back on the road. “Jesus. Some day huh?”
Mike proceeded to make his way through all the London traffic. As they were passing Regents Park, Samantha turned to Mike and said, “find me on FriendFinder, I’d like to keep in touch.”
Mike replied, “me too.” He parked in the taxi rank at St Pancras Station and Samantha gathered her bag and turned to him, wondering if this would be the last time she would see him. Samantha realised that she hoped it wasn’t. “Well, I’ll speak to you soon hopefully.”
Mike looked at her and smiled. “Definitely.” They looked at each other, neither quite knowing what to say next or how informal to be, whether to hug or shake hands. Samantha was about to lean in and hug Mike when she heard a loud horn beeping from the car behind which made her jump. The noise made Samantha come to her senses as if it was kickstarting her rational brain, realising that she had only known Mike in the last twenty-four hours. She grabbed the car handle and got out of the car. As she did so, she leaned back in and said, “bye then.”
Mike looked into her eyes, which Samantha could see where tinged with sadness. “See you soon.” Samantha hesitated, the car door was open and she was holding the handle, partly because she didn’t want to see Mike drive off but partly because he seemed so confident they would meet again. The beeping horns from the cars behind were now deafening. Samantha shouted, “what do you mean see you soon?”
Mike turned back to look at the road and said, “I best get going.” Samantha stared at Mike in confusion, but his attention was firmly focused ahead. His body language was clear, the conversation was over. Samantha was filled with so many questions she wanted to ask, so many things she wanted to say, but she realised she had run out of time. She slammed the door shut and watched as Mike drove away. She felt confused, but most of all sadness.
Samantha made her way across St Pancras station and past all the high-end shops. As she walked through the mass of people rushing to their trains, Samantha recalled the day in her memory. The stress, the horror, but the image that stuck most in her head was the warmth of the friendships she had made along the way. The assessment day was like living in a different world, a fake world, and Samantha realised that despite the challenges, it was one she didn’t want to leave.
Samantha made her way across the station to her platform and noticed despite her train not leaving for another half an hour, it was waiting. She boarded the train and sat in her reserved seat, which was by the window. She stared out of the window and all the day’s events started to replay in her mind like her mind was a cinema showing ‘A day in the life of Samantha Harrington.’ Samantha thought to herself that at least they picked a good day to play. She felt a strong vibration through her body as her phone went off in her pocket. She got it out and saw that she already had two FriendFinder requests from David and Elizabeth. She accepted both and started to search for a Mike Aston. It drew up lots of results but none of which seemed to match. She typed in “Michael Aston” and scrolled through the list of results. She clicked on the pictures of random faces, but none of them seemed to match.
As the train was just about to leave the station, Samantha heard some commotion at the end of the carriage. She watched as a man in a black suit and sunglasses was arguing with the conductor. He looked middle-aged with short black hair and a sharp jawline. Samantha watched the encounter with interest, wondering what they could be arguing about. She watched, as eventually, he was let onto the train. As he made his way into the carriage, Samantha thought the man looked strange, something about him didn’t seem right. He was still wearing sunglasses even though it was getting dark and as he got closer, Samantha realised that he had in his hand a black briefcase.
Samantha watched as he strolled down the carriage and Samantha hoped he didn’t sit next to her, not because she was afraid but because she wanted to be left alone. He sat in the aisle seat opposite her. His presence still made Samantha feel uncomfortable. The train started to pull away, she saw the man get out his briefcase and take out his laptop. Samantha relaxed, thinking that he was probably just a typical London city businessman. Samantha did not remember falling asleep, but the steady rumble of the train and the weight of her heavy eyes, eventually made her succumb to her tiredness.
20.
Samantha's sleep was restless, just when she felt like she was going into a deep sleep, the trauma of that car journey kept replaying in her mind. The minute the gun fired just behind her, kept jolting her awake. Suddenly Samantha felt a jolt, her subconscious mind realised that this was not like before and was a physical movement. She slowly opened her eyes in confusion. At first, all she could see was blackness, then she realised that it was the dark suit and sunglasses that she could see. She let out a scream, she was not quite awake enough to do anything else. The man kept hold of her, he was so close to her face that she could smell the stale coffee on his breath.
She could see her own petrified face in the reflection of his glasses. “It’s ok. You're Chesterfield, right? Where almost there.” He spoke in a deep husky voice. Samantha looked out of the window in confusion and saw that he was right, she saw the rolling green hills of Derbyshire in the background and the crooked spire come into view. She put her hand on her heart as if to calm the speed of it and said in quick breaths, “thank you.” She gathered her things and walked to the end of the carriage, ready to depart.
After she left the train, Samantha started the long walk home. It seemed to last a lifetime, each step weighed down by the exhaustion of the day. Suddenly, as she was passing the main town centre and walking away from the crooked spire, she stopped. There was a thought in her head that she couldn’t quite grasp. It came and went. She looked at her phone, then turned around, expecting the man from the train to be behind her. There was no one there. That is when she realised what had made her stop. She paused and said out loud, “how did he know I got off at Chesterfield?” Saying the thought out loud made Samantha more nervous. She looked around her, as the panic in her chest suddenly started to creep in and she could feel her hairs start to stand on end. She tried to reason with herself, “the conductor must have said it when he saw my ticket. But...I don’t remember him coming round. Unless he did and I can’t remember it. They usually come round. They must have done and I was off half asleep. That must be it.” She proceeded to walk back home but she knew her reasoning was thin and she walked home that bit quicker than before. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was on edge, but she couldn't escape the feeling that she was being followed.
As Samantha unlocked the front door she sighed, dumped her bag and locked the door. She had never been so relieved to be home. Even then, in the comfort of her own home, the thought wouldn't go away. She ran herself a hot bath and felt the warm water run over her cold body, soothing it and making her muscles relax. When the bath was full she sunk her head under, letting the water envelop her body. Samantha's eyes suddenly opened and she sat up. She spluttered, “They didn’t check my ticket!” Samantha felt on edge, suddenly feeling that she was not safe in her home, the feeling that someone knew where she lived. She ran through her head questions she desperately wanted answering. Did they follow her after she got off the train? How did they know where she lived? Most importantly of all to Samantha was why did they follow her? However, it was not the feeling of being unable to answer a single one of those questions that disturbed her most of all, it was the feeling that even in her own home, in her own bath, she felt like she was being watched.
Part 3 - The final few
1.
Ed Dayton turned into the gates of Kings Hill School and drove his bright yellow Lamborghini Huracan down the same gravel path that many had travelled down earlier that day. He could see the tyre tracks the cars before him had made. Ed’s main concern at that moment was that he hoped any loose gravel didn’t chip his paintwork. Ed muttered to himself, wondering why he had to come in the first place. He had asked for the meeting to been held through a video call, he didn’t see why he needed to be physically present, but Andrea and Tim were insistent. Ed recalled Tim’s insistence, “if we can be bothered to be here all day, you can at least turn up for half an hour.” Ed didn’t really have a good response to that, it was a fair point. He was just very thankful that he didn’t have to waste a full day on this exercise, he had bigger problems right now. Ed drove his car across the drive to the car park and parked up. He got out of the car and turned back, staring at his car with the private plate “E D47TON” in adoration. It was his prized possession above all things. This was his car and everyone knew it. Ed rarely drove it these days as he preferred to be more inconspicuous. Ed noticed Tim’s red Ferrari Tributo in the car park and Ed made a ‘hmph’ noise and thought that the car truly represented Tim. Always the cliche.
Outside, the sun was slowly setting, giving the sky a red coloured glow. It made the school look eerie in the background. Ed walked through the school’s doors and surveyed the entrance. It had been a good choice. Grand enough to make an impression with all the facilities needed. As Brady also pointed out to Ed, the psychology of having it in a school would make the candidates feel young and naive again. Ed, however, had another trick up his sleeve. It was his idea to have it at a school that had the same name as a school nearby. He could only imagine the chaos that followed when people got to the wrong school. Ed wondered how anyone could have been stupid enough to not realise that this school had all the facilities. Also one of Ed’s nerdy tech team had inserted an “easter egg” on the school's website. He had inserted a clue in the form of a fake news story about Andrea having gone to this school in her younger years. In reality, she had gone to a school like the comprehensive with the same name and, with respect to her, had worked her way up from being an office junior.
As Ed walked down the long hallway and into the main entrance, his new tanned shoes clicked against the hard wooden floor. Just outside the hall was a man in a green jacket and cap. When Ed approached, he took his cap off. “Evening Mr Dayton.”
“Evening Andrew. How did they get on today?” It was Ed’s idea to have the people on-site assisting the day wear a uniform, in particular, a cap to hide their identities. Ed had utilised a couple of his colleagues who he trusted and Andrea had done the same.
“Some better than others. They all looked rattled. It was quite fun actually.”
Ed replied, “are they in there?” He pointed to the big wooden double doors.
“Yes. They have been in a while.” Andrew opened the doors for Ed and he walked through. Initially, Ed was impressed with the building, the main hallway was large in scale and had a beautiful dome-shaped roof. However, when Ed looked at ground level, he saw a scene of chaos. Ed thought to himself how humans in so little time, can make so much of a mess. The red chairs had been scattered at all angles, there was water all over the floor and rubbish scattered about. He walked down past the chairs and saw on the raised platform there was a lectern. Behind it was a large rectangular table with four people huddled around it. Ed recognised Andrea and Tim but did not recognise the other two.
As Ed approached the table, he noticed it was covered in cards like the game ‘Happy Faces’, with each card showing a photo and a name. The cards were arranged into columns of ten. There were ten columns with ten rows. The one hundred selected candidates. As he approached the table,
Andrea looked up. “Nice for you to finally join us Ed.”
“Well, at least you got to see all the fun. I’ve been sat at my desk looking through accounts all afternoon.”
Tim looked up. “That’s a job I’d rather be doing.”
Ed replied, “what, looking at accounts all afternoon?”
Tim laughed scornfully “no Ed. Looking through your accounts.”
Ed glared at Tim. He was trying to drag him into a fight, already trying to humiliate him before they had even begun. “Well, that’s for another day. Now, how did it go?”
Tim replied. “Well, Scott is probably the best person to fill you in. He assessed all the groups so got a good perspective.”
“Scott Dudley. You must be the famous Ed Dayton.” The man who was rather tall and visibly a strong build stood up straight and instantly held out his hand to Ed, which Ed shook. As he shook his hand he could feel the man's strength from his wrists to the tips of his fingers.
“The one and only,” Ed replied.
“You are aware of the challenges the candidates faced?” Ed nodded. Scott carried on. “Each photo in front of you represents a candidate. Those with a red cross through them were removed before they completed the challenges either on grounds of illness or misbehaviour.”
Ed couldn’t help himself, he had to ask. “Expelled from space school! What did they do?”
Scott replied with a smirk. “Well as requested we were strict with them. Most were removed for either interrupting or disobeying orders.”
Ed liked a rebel, he always had, they reminded him of himself at a young age. “That seems a bit harsh, we want a variety of candidates after all. We are not in the military now GI Joe.”
“If you are taking someone to space they have to obey our orders. We can’t have someone who has their own agenda up there, there is no safety net.” Ed looked across the table to the man who had just spoken. Ed had not seen him before and his voice did not sound familiar. He was of medium height and medium build. He was softly spoken and Ed thought he looked rather young. Ed placed him in his late twenties.
