“Where are they?” Jasmine asked anxiously as she stood outside the tent in a cloud of fog. She rubbed her arms against the chill and scanned the area, hoping to spot their expected arrivals.
“Relax, Jazz,” Seth sighed, “They’ll be here, it just takes a while to get here from L2.”
“I guess,” Jasmine muttered, “But they said they’d be here by now!”
Seth just laughed and rolled his eyes. The young couple were waiting for the Maxwells to get there from the L2 cluster. They’d gotten a phone call from Jason the day before, telling them that David had seen Brittney inside colony 1-975. Needless to say, they were all anxious to sort things out.
“Oh, there they are!” Seth cried suddenly, pointing at a big black full-sized van rolling down the road through the trees.
Jasmine kept her arms crossed as she jogged over to meet them. Seth was close behind her.
“Helen!” Jasmine cheered when she arrived at the car. Helen stepped out and smiled at her.
“Jazz, long time.” She grinned. Jason and Carol followed her.
“Hey guys!” Jason said merrily. “I’d love to chat, but we’ve got a lot of business take care of first. Is everyone else here?”
Seth nodded, “They’re waiting inside. C’mon.” He led the way inside the huge circus tent.
They had to duck under wires and ropes to get past the people who were trying to set up for that night’s show.
In the back, the entire group was waiting for them.
“It’s about time,” Joel grumbled, “What took you?”
“Carol,” Jason and Helen both answered.
“Hey!”
“Figures…”
“Quiet, Joel,” Jasmine hissed.
“So,” Seth started, “What’s this I hear about Brittney?”
“She’s been spotted inside the control room of the penal colony 1-975.” David told them quickly. “Which definitely suggests that something is going on in there, and I think that Brittney has something to do with it.”
“If she doesn’t, she will.” Jason grumbled.
“I’ll second that,” Helen offered. “But what can we do about it?” She continued, “The Preventors aren’t allowed to touch that place.”
“Yeah, does anyone else find that highly suspicious?” Indigo asked, looking around. “Why would the President not let us in?”
“Unless he had something to do with it,” Jasmine suggested.
“Jasmine! He’s the President!” David cried in shock. “He would never do something as illegal and dangerous as setting free prisoners in the most heavily guarded penal colony in the galaxy. He’s in a position…”
“Yeah, yeah, David.” Jasmine cut him off. “You are so naïve, don’t you know politicians are corrupt?”
David grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms in front of him.
Helen sighed, “The President may not be directly involved, but I think he knows something that we don’t.”
“You think?” Jason muttered.
“Hey kid! You’re on in half an hour! Better get in costume!” A clown in half costume said, interrupting the group’s discussion.
“Oh, shit!” Indigo cried, jumping up and running out to find her costume. Seth quickly followed suit. “See ya guys after the show. Sit in the front row somewhere or stay backstage. Doesn’t matter.”
“Thanks baby!” Jasmine called after him as he ran off.
“Ooh, we get a free show?” Alexis squealed, “C’mon David! Let’s get good seats.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him away.
The others watched them go curiously. “Well…” Jason said finally, “I think I’m gonna hang around backstage. Coming Helen?”
“Sure, why not?” She shrugged.
“Hey guys, can I come?” Carol called after them.
“NO!” They both screamed at her.
Carol frowned, “Fine, be that way.” Then she turned on her heel and went in the same direction as David and Alexis to find a seat near the front.
“How’s it going, Lizard?” Lizard could practically feel Kegs’ smug little smile as he stepped up behind her.
“Fine…” She answered groggily, leaning forward and squinting her eyes, trying to make out the tiny letters on the computer screen.
“What is all that?” Kegs asked, taking a step forward.
“Firewalls,” She yawned.
“Oh…” He looked around the room, trying to think of something to keep the conversation going. Then he spotted Brittney, slumped over in the armchair awkwardly and fast asleep.
“Who the hell is that!?” He cried.
Lizard yawned again and looked behind her. “Oh, that’s just Brittney Norris, a prisoner here who found her way down because you weren’t watching the elevator like you were supposed to!” She glared at him.
Kegs gulped and paled. “I needed a snack…” He whined.
Lizard rolled her eyes and turned back to her work. “Hey, Liz, you’ve been at this all day, you need a break.”
“Uh oh,” another voice cut into their conversation, “You called her ‘Liz’, prepare to die.”
Kegs turned around and glared at the person who’d just entered. “Shut up, Aidan.”
Aidan only rolled his eyes. Brittney stirred in her sleep and lifted her head.
“Good morning Brittney.” Lizard chirped. “Have a nice sleep.”
“Yes, actually.” Brittney answered as she stretched her tired limbs.
Lizard only smirked.
“Who is he?” Brittney wondered, looking directly at Kegs.
Kegs smirked and held out his hand and began to answer “I’m…” but Aidan cut him off.
“No one you want to be associated with.”
“Who asked you?” Kegs growled, turning on him.
“Well she did of course.”
“No, she asked me.”
“Kegs, if she had been speaking you, she would have asked ‘who are you?’ instead of ‘who is he?’ Therefore, she was addressing me.”
Kegs was turning red with rage. “Go get a haircut, you jerk!”
Aidan snorted, “At least I don’t look like a pirate,” He countered.
At this, Lizard, who had been sitting back leisurely and watching the fun, burst out into hysterics. It was funny because it was true. With his shoulder-length blonder hair that he kept constantly tied back in a low ponytail with a few loose wisps, he really did look like a pirate.
“Fuck you!”
“No thanks,”
Kegs didn’t even bother to retort as he stormed out again. “Hi Lizard!” Aidan grinned as he grabbed some coffee and took a big sip.
Lizard shook her head slightly as she tried to retain her giggles. “You are such an ass, Aidan.”
“I know,”
“Aw, they were fighting over me!” Brittney cooed.
“Don’t get excited, Brit, they fight every chance they get. You’ll learn to ignore it eventually.”
Brittney blinked and then frowned, disappointed that they had not actually been fighting over her. Too bad, they were both really cute.
Kegs was blonde with long hair and narrow crystal blue eyes. He was tall and thin, although Aidan was much more muscular. With sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes he had an air of danger around him; whereas Kegs simply gave off an aura of mischievousness and cynicism. As Brittney sat trying to figure out which of the two guys was cuter, Lizard was back at work and Aidan had retreated into a corner with his coffee and his Walkman.
“What a bunch of wierdos.” Brittney grumbled, “Who could stand working this much all the time?”
“The kind of people who are getting paid for it.” Lizard laughed suddenly, answering her rhetorical question. “Go exploring if you want, Brit, I’m gonna be a while, and Aidan isn’t very good company.”
“Fine,” Brittney shrugged, standing up, “I’ll go find some company.”
The lights dimmed over the circus, an eighteen-year old girl sat with her two-year-old son huddled under her arm. “Isn’t this fun?” She smiled, “I love the circus.”
“Are there going to be lions?” The boy asked, wide-eyed.
“Yep,” She answered, “And elephants and tigers too!”
The boy just whimpered. “Nothing to be scared about, Cameron, they’re nice tigers.”
“Oh…”
The girl shook her head laughingly and sat back in her seat.
As the show progressed, she found her eyes wandering around the stage. She spotted a couple just inside the wide opening to the backstage area making out and couldn’t help but smirk as she watched. I wonder if they know everyone can see them? She thought, and then I wonder if they care?
Eventually, the girl pulled back, as if she’d heard something, and walked further backstage. The guy watched her and then turned around again to watch the show. As the girl studied his face, she found him strangely familiar, and as she searched her memory for a name to go with the face, it hit her suddenly.
“OH MY GOD!”
When the show was finished, Indy and Seth returned back stage to clean up.
“Great show, man!” Jason waved at his friend.
“Thanks Jason.” Seth panted and he washed the make-up off his face. “Where’d Helen go?”
Jason shrugged, “Some kind of emergency with her sister. She’ll be back.”
“Hm,” was Seth’s only response, as his face was drowning the sink.
Jason leaned back against a tent support and waited for either Seth to be finished or Helen to come back.
But he got neither. He looked up just in time to see a girl around his age storming towards him, she had short blonde hair with blue streaks and bright green eyes. Behind her she was practically dragging a two-year-old boy, with messy, sandy blonde hair and huge blue eyes.
Jason smiled at her as she got close, “Hey…” He greeted her, but he didn’t have time to finish because the girl stopped and slammed her first into his jaw.
Jason stumbled back and Seth jumped up from the sink and stared at her. “What the hell…?”
“Hi Jason,” The girl hissed, “Do you remember me?”
“Should I?” He groaned as he felt the blood coming from his lip. He looked up at her and stopped dead in his tracks. Her face…it was so familiar. He didn’t even notice that Helen and Carol were approaching from behind.
“Holy shit…Kat!?” He cried.
“That’s right asshole. And this down here,” She pulled the boy out from behind her leg, “This is Cameron, he’s your son.”
