Powers TG, Episode 5: Beta

"Alright, we're ready for takeoff. Amelia, you all set?"

"Let's do it."

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[Agent Richard Swanson. Private log, September 30, 2011, 9:03 am.

[The details of Amelia's life are put together. As soon as Derek gets out of school, I will take him in his Amelia Stevens persona down to the public records office and have Amelia recorded in the database. After that, I will take her down south for her first abilities evaluation. I still think we should start with a wind tunnel instead of open-air flight, at least until she gets an official piloting license, but what am I supposed to do about it? I'm only the one in charge of these tests. What authority do I have? Damn Fluke and his rushing.

[But I did notice earlier, though, that Derek seemed a little eager to get off the ground again.

[End log.]

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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

"So, what exactly are you supposed to do?" asked Lauren. The two of them were in the study hall after school, Derek making up the work he missed on Tuesday.

"The...assignment was about a test flight. Check the top speed and maneuverability," said Derek. They had agreed that any talking about Amelia would be worded as a school project instead.

"Ah. Cool. They're gonna use speed guns or GPS to see how fast it'll go?"

"Not sure. I'll find out Friday, though."

"Know what grade you're gonna get?"

"I'm hoping at least a B, but I'm not really an expert on model aircraft."

Lauren turned back to their homework, trying to guide Derek to finishing his math again.

"You know you got me in trouble," said Derek.

"How so?"

"For lying about how we met. Mom took away the book I was reading."

"Wait, when was this?"

"Monday. You didn't say anything about locker rooms."

"Ah. ...So what book was that, again?"

"The Hunger Games. I was on chapter 25."

"Sorry then." Lauren paused for a second. "So, did you talk to your Dad?"

"No. He got home late and right to bed. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Ah." They worked on two more math problems before starting up again. "So, I know we were trying to start off slower, but..."

"But...what?"

"Well, when you first came over, we never finished that idea."

"Which idea?"

"You know. Drawing out that dream you had."

"Oh! Right." Derek paused for a moment. "Well, I... I guess I can take a crack at it, see what I can get out of it."

"Just get a few and stop by tomorrow. John has a school play, and Dad's watching, so I get the house to myself."

"Wait, you're inviting me over to your place while your parents are out?"

"...good point. Maybe we should reschedule."

"Hang on, what exactly did you have planned?"

"Well I was...kinda thinking about figuring out ideas of what those characters could do. You know, for the comic book."

"Comic book?"

"Uh huh. You draw up the characters, we think up powers for them and see what we can do for a comic book idea. Might not get published, but if we find an editor..."

Derek realized this was her cover idea, letting them talk more openly and directly without actually spilling anything. He wondered just when she came up with it. "Sounds good. I'll work on some character designs."

"Didn't I ask you to?"

"Ahem!" said the teacher. Even though it wasn't a class, a teacher still had to be there to monitor the students. "Talk about your little comic book ideas on your own time. Study hall is for studying."

"Yes ma'am," said Lauren and Derek in unison, going back to the math problems.

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Friday, September 30, 2011, 4:23pm

"Amelia Stevens, this is Captain Wendy Tillman," said Mr. Swanson. "She will be in charge of your flight test today. Captain, this is Ame-"

"I know who it is, Rick. You already said her name." Captain Tillman said in a gruff, stern, and annoyed voice. She wore a dark blue suit with three metal buttons on the front, a pair of small medals pinned over her left breast. She stood taller than Amelia, almost on par with Mr. Swanson, her body neither skinny nor overweight, leaning closer to the latter just slightly. Her brown hair was bundled in a no-nonsense bun, and she stared with cold brown narrow eyes through thin-framed glasses. The glare from the sun cast her left eye into opacity, but didn't hide her eyebrows narrowed in a V. The woman extended her left arm towards Amelia. "Welcome to Ellington Field, Miss Stevens."

Amelia quickly connected hands, not used to shaking with her left. "Thank you, Mrs. Tillman."

Captain Tillman pulled back and stood up straight again. "If you're going to be on this base, you're going to address me as Captain or Sir."

This got a curious look from Mrs. Parker. "Why 'sir'?"

"I don't believe I gave you permission to speak, though since you're a civilian, I'll let it slide. For now." Turning back towards Mr. Swanson, she said, "Alright, Lieutenant. What was so damn important that you had to come here? Your boss faxed me the assignment, but there were parts blacked out and the explicit note that you would explain."

"Of course," said Mr. Swanson. "Amelia, would you please demonstrate?"

Amelia concentrated for a moment, and her feet left the ground again. She hovered off the ground long enough to float to eye level with Captain Tillman. It had taken most of the car ride up to convince her to do this when they arrived; after all, it was supposed to be a secret. Only a select few were allowed to know, and those chosen specifically by Mr. Fluke or Mr. Swanson.

Captain Tillman was silent for a moment, still staring with narrow eyes at the now-floating girl in front of her. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. "Captain?" asked Mr. Swanson.

"Shush," said Captain Tillman. "So, you can fly and you dressed up like your favorite pilot to play the role."

Amelia set herself down on the ground. "I guess. It's practical, right? Wind chill and-"

"Yes or no." An edge crept into the Captain's voice.

"Yes," said Amelia bluntly, grossly undersimplifying the reasoning she and Lauren deduced for the attire hours before.

"Yes, what?" said the Captain.

Amelia realized she'd been so focused on preparing herself to reveal her flight to the captain that she'd forgotten what Mr. Swanson said about formality. She snapped her heels together and stood straight, saluting. "Yes sir," she said quickly and clearly.

"Good. Now, the assignment said you have to get in the air, and we have to follow. You have a flight plan, and we are to make sure you don't deviate from it."

Over the next half hour, the group went over the plan, as well as brought in someone to check the frequency of Amelia's headset. Once they had that locked in, they then went outside to a readily parked helicopter. Amelia was the only one of the four who would actually be going into the air; the others went to the Air Traffic Control tower. In a pocket inside Amelia's coat was a GPS tracking device synched to the base's radar.

"Alright, Skygirl," said Captain Tillman over the radio. "You know where to fly. Just go as fast as we tell you. Chopper 1, you keep up in case she starts falling."

"Uh...roger that, Captain," came the pilot's voice. The helicopter's blades started spinning, faster and faster until the chopper started to lift up off the ground.

"Alright, we're ready for takeoff," said Mr. Swanson. "Amelia, you all set?"

Amelia was still not used to willingly flying around people, but this was the government's direct request. She looked up at the sky, seeing the helicopter hovering over the building and out of the paths of the runways.

But past that, she saw a fluffy little cloud, just floating there.

This time, she was determined to catch it.

"Let's do it."

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Thursday, September 29, 2011, 4:31pm

Lauren pulled up to her house, Amelia in the passenger seat. Just in case her dad was still here, or a neighbor was paying attention, she'd asked Derek to transform before they arrived.

"Alright, so now that we have studying taken care of, what's next?" said Amelia.

"Well, we discussed this, didn't we? You show me what drawings you got, then we find out the right powers to go with them." Lauren unlocked and opened the door.

"I still don't know about this. Sure, my parents were okay with me coming over here, but still." She shut the door behind her and saw Lauren go over to the curtains to close them.

"It's not like we're actually doing anything. We're just friends hanging out." She smirked. "Besides, you're too much of a prude to try anything."

Amelia didn't have a counterargument for that. She set her backpack down and pulled out a sketchbook. Derek had redrawn Amelia the night before, but in a full-body shot. The next few pages were five of the characters from his dream that Derek had picked at random. She glanced through them for a moment and took out her pencil, trying to see what details could've been overlooked.

One of them had long hair and what looked like a long-sleeved jacket with a belt. Amelia remembered the jacket was kinda loose, but still closed during the dream. The second was wearing what looked like an anime schoolgirl outfit. The third had a tank top with some kind of swirl pattern, as well as earmuffs. The fourth definitely was wearing a sports bra on a flat chest, no question there. And the fifth had a short-cut shirt, a headband, and either a skirt or a pair of shorts; she wasn't sure which.

"Coast is clear," said Lauren, reentering the room. "We have total control of the house."

"Good," said Amelia, transforming back into Derek. "So, what do we start with?" He handed his sketchbook to Lauren.

"Hmm..." she said, flipping through the pages. "Well... This one looks kinda sporty."

"Yeah, that one I had the easiest time remembering what she looked like."

"I can imagine. Still, what can she actually do?"

"Could be anything, really."

"Maybe, but maybe not. You look like Amelia Earhart when you can fly, so the look of these other forms must tie into what their powers are."

"What, like themed costumes?"

"That's the idea. I mean, is there any superhero that doesn't have a themed costume?"

"Um... I don't know enough heroes to answer."

"Alright then. So, let's try and see what they can do based on what they look like."

"Yeah, there's just one problem with that. I'm not one hundred percent sure what they look like myself."

"That's an easy fix. Just turn into one of them."

Derek was about to question this, but then remembered that he couldn't draw Amelia until after he'd turned into her. Maybe it was the same way here. "Alright. Which one?"

"Well, this one's first in the book, so let's try that." Lauren had the sketchbook turned open to the one with the belted jacket and long hair.

"Why that one?"

"Because it's first in the book. I just said that."

"Okay, okay. Let's see." Derek stared at the picture, trying to get a good mental image of the form. Visualizing the form in his mind, as best he could. And with that, he willed the transformation.

And after a second or two, it was done.

"How do I look?" said Derek nervously in his lighter girl voice. Audibly different from his other Amelia voice.

Lauren stared at Derek's new form for a moment, her mouth falling open. Then, she burst out laughing.

"Hey! What's so funny?"

"Take a look at yourself!" laughed Lauren.

Derek looked down, light brown hair hanging over his face. He brushed the hair aside to get a better look at his new body.

The first thing he noticed was the "jacket" was more like a bathrobe, was sky blue, and was belted loosely so as to reveal what was underneath.

The second was that there was barely anything underneath at all.

"I... Wh... The he..." Derek could barely form a coherent word, face turning red. What he saw on his body was literally nothing more than three patches of blue with strings coming off of them. A skimpy bikini swimsuit. His mind was exaggerating, however; the cups of the top and the full shape of the bottom were actually quite modest. And the form's body was considerably slim as well, with small breasts possibly no bigger than an A-cup, and barely a dent in the waist.

Lauren finally calmed down and wiped a tear of laughter out of her eye. "Whell," she said, getting one last little chuckle in her words, "at least we know what power this one has."

"Wh- Why am-" A vague part of his mind recognized that he was effectively naked in his mind, so he pulled the sides of the robe closed and tightened the belt so he didn't have to see what he was and wasn't wearing.

"There," said Lauren. "Looks like you do have some level of modesty after all."

"M... Uh... I, um... Okay, maybe I should just change back n-"

"Not yet."

"Wha- Why not? I'm practically naked!"

"Not even close. I own swimsuits smaller than that. And you have a robe. You're good."

"Easy for you to say!"

"Come on. Guys in swimsuits don't even wear shirts. You're actually more modest than you'd normally be. So what's the problem?" Derek stammered for a second, trying to form a decent counterargument. Before he could, Lauren spoke again. "So now that that's over with, back to business. Let's get to testing your powers."

"Wh... What powers again?"

"Isn't it obvious? What do you normally associate swimsuits with?" Lauren walked over to the kitchen.

"The beach?" said Derek. But then it clicked. "Duh. Swimming. Water."

"Exactly." Lauren returned with a glass of just that. Water. "So let's see what you can do about it."

"Like what? And how am I supposed to focus?"

"You said you stopped caring about literally everything else once you realized how fun flying was." She set the glass down on the coffee table. "Just use your powers, and you'll forget all about your little swimsuit."

Derek blushed at the last word, but tried to focus his mind anyway. He looked at the water. Stared at it. Focused on it. Thought about it. And soon, his concentration did push his state of dress out of his mind. But what was he supposed to do? Just try and will the water to move or som-

What do you know? It worked. The water shook like those ripples in Jurassic Park. He tried to get the water to move more, and now it seemed to roll in the glass as if it was boiling. Daring to test further, he made another mental effort.

In the middle of the glass, the water pushed upward in a stream, staying there as if solid. More water pulled up behind it. Before long, the entire contents of the glass was floating about a foot over the coffee table. A translucent blob that twisted and distorted the images behind it. A few thoughts, and the water shifted in shape, molding itself into a sphere, then a cube, then a star, then a donut.

Derek pulled the water towards him, stopping it over his upraised palm. He pushed his hand upwards, and the water raised up as well. He then shifted his hands so the water was floating between them, and started molding the water. Shaping it.

Bending it.

With that realization, he stood up and started moving the water in wider arcs, moving his arms and his entire body along with it. As if flowing with the current.

"What are you doing?" said Lauren.

"Waterbending," said Derek. He pulled the water over his head and around his body, trying to imitate some of the moves from that show. "It's trickier than it looks, actually."

"I dunno. Just watching you so far, you seem to be controlling the water better while doing all this dancing than when you're not."

"It's not dancing. It's Waterbending."

"My point remains valid, though."

"Hmm..." Let's see. What else can I try with this? thought Derek. He stretched his arms over towards the kitchen, the water floating into it. Still using his hands to move the water, he tried to grab the sink handle with it.

"What are you doing now?" said Lauren.

"Trying to get more water."

"You could've just asked." Lauren started walking to the kitchen.

"I'm trying to see what I can do." Derek pulled the water back, and it managed to push the handle enough to get the faucet running. After only a second, he started turning the stream of water so it was defying physics and flowing upwards into the air, merging with the blob and making it expand.

"Okay, that looks pretty damn cool," said Lauren.

When the blob was about the size of a basketball, Derek again used the water to try and turn the sink handle. Lauren, however, just stepped over and turned the sink off by hand. "You're no fun," said Derek. He brought the blob of water over to himself and started forming it into bigger shapes than before. Split into two separate blobs, then four, then eight. Then back to one, but breaking a small piece off. He concentrated on it. Then frowned and tried again. "Hey, I can't freeze this."

"Huh?"

"Freezing. I can't freeze this water."

"Hmm..." Lauren opened the fridge and got an ice cube from the dispenser. "Try moving this around," she said, holding the cube in her hand.

Derek's attempts only pulled the melted water away, and only once enough water had melted into Lauren's hand.

"Well, ice is out," said Derek disappointingly. "Still..." Derek pulled the water back to himself and spread his legs a bit. "Okay, how did it go?" He leaned to one side, shifting his legs to keep balanced and pulled the water behind him. Then he shifted forward and outstretched his hand, sending the water in a cord-like stream in that direction. It came to a stop near the corner.

"What was that?" said Lauren.

"You really don't watch Avatar, do you?"

"No, not really."

Derek sighed. "I was trying to do the Water Whip technique. Think I can get the water to work, but my stance is off."

"Why is your stance so important?"

"Because maybe I'm a fan of the show and I'm suddenly interested in authenticity. You're a comic book fan. Surely you understand."

"Oh really? Name one superhero who has a specific stance or pose that can be imitated by fans."

Derek crossed his arms. "Spider-Man's web finger pose. Superman's flying pose--which I've done, by the way. And don't some fans dress up or imitate lines and behaviors?"

It was Lauren's turn not to have a ready response for that, for at least fifteen seconds. "Okay, fine. You win."

The muffled sound of a car door instantly grabbed both of their attentions.

"Shoot! They're not supposed to be home yet!" said Lauren. "Put the water in the sink and change back!"

Derek moved the water and willed himself to transform. But as soon as he started changing, the water dropped to the floor, leaving a huge puddle on the carpet and tile. Lauren yelled at him in a whisper: "I said in the sink! Why did you-"

"I don't know! I was doing what you told me to, and it just fell when I started...changing..."

The door knob started turning feebly before someone knocked. "Hello? Lauren, it's me."

"Just a minute, Dad! Amelia, you go get the towels from upstairs."

Taking the hint, Derek transformed into Amelia and ran to the only bathroom she knew the location of.

Someone else started pounding on the door. "Laureeeeeeen! Open uuuuup!"

Lauren walked over to the door, her mind racing for a believable story. Keeping herself composed, she unlocked the door and opened it. Almost immediately, a redheaded blur ran past her and around a corner.

"Sorry about that," said Mr. Carter. "He really had to go by the end there."

"Don't they have bathrooms at school?"

"Didn't we say this yesterday? They've had some issues with the water system."

"Oh yeah."

The two of them stepped into the living room just as Amelia came back in with three towels. "Lauren, has your brother learned to shut the bathroom door when he's in there?"

"Yes," said Lauren, simultaneously annoyed by and used to this.

"Uh, what are those for?" said Mr. Carter.

"Well we kinda spilled some water just now, so-"

"Some? Looks like you dropped a whole gallon."

"Hey, at least none of the glasses broke," said Lauren. "Right?"

"Well, yeah, that's true." He glanced around the room. "Why are the curtains closed?"

Lauren just shrugged.

"Hey, who drew this?" He had spotted the sketchbook, which was flipped open to the imperfect drawing of the swimsuit water girl.

"Oh, uh..." started Amelia.

"This is pretty good. Who did this?" He flipped over and saw Amelia's much more detailed depiction.

"That one belongs to..."

"To Amelia's foster brother, Peter Parker," said Lauren. At least she had time to review her friend's fictional past.

"It's Derek," said Amelia.

"I know, but I couldn't resist."

"Oh? I didn't know you had a brother," said Mr. Carter.

"Well," said Amelia, "we haven't known each other long, so-"

"Ah. True. You don't know much about me either, I guess."

"Well I was talking about Derek, but okay."

"Still, your brother's a good artist. Might I ask what all these are for?"

"We were kinda planning on a little homebrew comic idea," said Lauren. "Just a little hobby thing, though. Those are some of the character sketches."

"With a blatant self-insert, I see."

"Yeah, well..."

"Heh. Relax. When I was younger, I pictured myself on the Scooby gang." He laughed for a little. "Well, if that's all, I'd better get dinner ready. You staying, Amelia?" Somewhere in the background, a toilet flushed.

"Well I wasn't planning to, to be honest."

"Ah. Alright, then. You finish up your homework?"

"Took care of that at school," said Lauren.

"Good. Go ahead and do whatev-"

Without warning, Lauren was suddenly shoved to the floor, a redheaded eight-year-old wrapped around her legs. "Hi, Lauren!" the boy shouted.

"John! Let go. Hi." Lauren tried to pry her brother off her legs.

"Lauren's wearing green panties!"

"JOHN!" Lauren's face was redder than a beet. Mostly from anger. She sat up and pushed her skirt down.

"Uh, wow. I am really glad I don't have siblings like that," said Amelia.

"I think I'm gonna go over to Amelia's house for dinner," said Lauren.

"Aww!" complained John. But he shifted gears quickly and stood up. "Hey sis! Come 'ere. I gotta show you thi...i...is library book I got."

"I'll pass."

"Come on!"

"After dinner, John."

"Come ooooooonnnn-"

"Alright, fine!" Lauren walked down the hall after her brother, mouthing "I'm sorry" to Amelia as she did so.

"Sooo..." said Amelia. "Uh, what's for dinner?"

"I thought you weren't staying," said Mr. Carter.

"Yeah, but maybe I can help. I'm not that good a cook, but I've...picked up a few things from Derek's mom."

"Well I was gonna make hotdogs today. Something simple."

"Oh, well never mind then."

"Come oooonn!"

"John, please." Lauren walked back into the room, trying to be pulled into the hallway by John.

"What's he want this time?" said Amelia.

"He wants me to play Crash Bandicoot with him. It's a one-player game."

"Yeah, but I always get stuck on this one part. I need your helllllp!"

"John, you'll never get better at it if you always ask for someone else to do it for you."

Amelia brought her hand up to her forehead. "Definitely glad I don't have siblings like this."

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Friday, September 30, 2011, 5:10pm

["Alright, Amelia,"] said Mr. Swanson over the radio, ["we're going to start with a top speed test."]

"Why start off with that?" said Amelia into her headset.

["Because you're not tired, and this way we get figure just how fast you can push yourself at full energy. We can start with your limit and work from there."]

Amelia grumbled to herself as she floated near the helicopter. Since it was a shared, private radio network, she caught the pilot's mutterings. ["...irl who can fly. Pfft. I've seen weirder. I've been to Vegas."]

At that, Amelia flew up closer to the chopper, fighting against the wind to do so. "Oh? What makes you think any stage show in Vegas is more strange than someone who can genuinely fly on their own?"

["Go there."] And that was all he said.

["Miss Stevens, you're flying too close to the helicopter,"] said Captain Tillman. ["This isn't an airshow. This isn't a dogfight. And you're not taking a break. You have no reason to be that close to a helicopter in mid-air."]

Amelia backed up. "Sorry."

["Sorry what?"]

"Sorry sir."

["Good. Now, fly in a straight line. The helicopter will keep up. We'll monitor your speed on radar."]

"Yes sir." Amelia flew off in the direction the helicopter was facing. She leveled her body and pressed forward. The wind pushed at her face, so she looked down at the ground below.

Back in the air traffic tower, Mr. Swanson looked over the radar technician's shoulder. "How fast is she going?"

"Got her at 47 miles per hour, sir," said the radar guy.

"Wind speed?"

"Already factoring that in."

"Okay, Skygirl," said Captain Tillman over the radio.

["I'm not using that name."] said Amelia.

"Tough. How hard are you trying here?"

["I can go faster, but it's stinging my eyes."]

"You have goggles."

A moment of silence.

["Right."]

"Now, go faster. Go faster until you can't."

["Yes sir."]

"Sixty and still climbing," said the radar operator.

"Pick it up, rookie!" said Captain Tillman.

["O...kay."]

"You hear that?" said Mr. Swanson. "She's starting to strain."

"If she can go faster, she's not strained enough."

"Seventy. Still climbing."

"Are you factoring wind speed?"

"I've been doing that. I'm giving the number with the wind speed removed from the equation. Per your instructions. Speed seventy-five heading east, wind six heading south-west."

Amelia's breath was more audible now. More labored.

"Push it, rookie!"

A determined grunt came over the radio.

"Sir, she just went to 83. And still climbing."

"Come on."

"85."

"Come on..."

Amelia was breathing very heavily now.

"87... 88... Holding at 88."

"Heh. Insert DeLorean joke here," said another technician.

"Not the time, Terry."

"Chopper 1, status."

["Constant altitude, constant velocity... Wait. She's dropping a little."]

"Down to 84. No, 78. She's slowing down."

"Amelia, this is Mr. Swanson. Go back to the helicopter."

Amelia didn't respond, but obeyed. She flew up to the door, which was pulled open for her, and slumped down on the floor, breathing heavily. Someone handed her a bottle of water, which she drank from before stopping to breathe some more.

["Everything alright?"]

"I'm... I'm fine...Captain..."

["Good. Rest up. You're not done for the day."]

"Joy..." Several breaths and another sip of water, and she said, "Hey, how... How fast...did..."

Mr. Swanson's voice was next. ["Factoring out the wind, you sustained a top speed of 88 miles per hour for about twenty-three seconds."]

"Eighty-eight, huh...? Heh. Insert DeLorean joke here..."

["The radar operator said the exact same thing."]

After several minutes, the helicopter flew back down to the runway to meet Captain Tillman. Amelia was still tired, but could stand.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I just ran five blocks to catch the bus."

"I've been asked to get a more specific answer. Any soreness?"

"Kinda?"

"Where?"

"All over, I guess. It feels like I was just...out of energy. Like I ran a mile, but my legs don't hurt from it. I'm just...tired."

"When you pass out from exertion, that's when you're out of energy."

"You know what I mean. Er, sir."

"Alright. Ten minutes, and then we start part two of your abilities test."

"Part two?" said Amelia with discomfort.

"Maneuverability. How sharply you can turn, how fast you can accelerate or decelerate, how much you can carry while flying, that sort of thing."

"Super."

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Friday, September 30, 2011, 2:37pm

"I gotta go, Lauren."

"Okay. See ya next week, then."

Derek walked over to Mr. Swanson's car, waiting for him near the loading zone. The buses started to pull away, right on schedule.

"Hey, you coming too, Mom?" said Derek as he sat in the back seat.

"Of course," said Linda, also in the back. "Your father couldn't come, obviously, but you should still have one of us here."

"Thanks."

The car pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the highway. "Okay," said Mr. Swanson. "You should transform now while we're still in these back roads."

"Why here?"

"Better here than on the highway where the other cars can keep up and watch the whole thing and follow us."

Derek didn't think twice. In under two seconds, Amelia was in the backseat.

"Okay, here's the game plan," said Mr. Swanson. "We're putting you in the public records today, which shouldn't take too long. When that's done, we'll head down to Ellington Field for the evaluation Mr. Fluke is putting you through."

"He's gonna be there?" said Amelia with a hint of nervousness.

"No. One of my old colleagues will be administering this test, as well as a radar staff and helicopter crew specifically picked for this. They've been selected because they can keep secrets, so you shouldn't have to worry about them revealing anything about you."

"Wait, does that mean I have to-"

"It means you do have to fly in front of them, on purpose."

"But I thought this was a secret!"

"It is. Which is why they won't tell anyone. Part of their pay depends on it."

"The more people you tell, the less of a secret it is."

"I understand your concern, but this is the procedure that Mr. Fluke has told me to follow. Even though I'm supposed to head this whole thing, but that's not important at all now, is it?"

"But still, we can't just go around telling everyone."

"I'm with him on this," said Linda, pointing to Amelia.

"We're already on our way, and it's already been arranged. Backing out of this now would be suspicious. And you don't want Mr. Fluke breathing down your neck. I have to work with him, and I'd rather keep it that way."

"This is a very long week," said Amelia.

"It only seems that way, honey," said Linda. "Tell you what, maybe we'll make it up to you. Mr. Swanson, is there anything we're supposed to do tomorrow?"

"Not unless Fluke springs something on me at the last second. Wouldn't put it past him, to be honest."

"Then how about this. Tomorrow, we'll head down to Galveston for the day. Just to relax and forget about all this."

Amelia thought about this. It would be a nice break from everything. "I... guess that would be okay."

"Great. Maybe we could invite one of your friends along, too. Maybe that Lauren girl."

It was hard for Amelia, let alone anyone, to miss Linda's smirk. "Think I'll pass." Especially because of her suddenly remembering that Lauren said she had a bikini less modest than... Amelia blushed all of a sudden. "When are we getting there?"

"We're going downtown," said Mr. Swanson.

This is gonna be a looong drive, thought Amelia, sinking a little into her seat.