On her mat, Annie sat up. Her heart pounded. “B…. Briton? What’s going on?” she asked.
Briton turned her back and moved to where the Master sat. “You can’t be serious. She’s not ready.”
“It is what it is.” Finality offered no opportunity for argument.
“Briton.” Annie stood. “It was my choice. It still is.” She didn’t try to control the intensity of her voice. “Now. Tell me what’s going on.”
The others turned their attention to her.
“We don’t have enough time.” The first to speak, Briton looked down. “You need training, ” she whispered.
“That’s what we just did. Right?”
“We started. There’s so much more. But.” Briton took a deep breath. Stillness in the room vibrated with the physical effort it took for Briton to push the air back out of her lungs. She turned and placed her hands on Annie’s shoulders. “You are the core of what we need to save our worlds. You are not ready.”
Annie’s back stiffened. “I have to be ready.” What she had once resisted, she pulled close with the power of determination. She enjoyed the sensation of it running through her. She turned to look at the feline. “It is possible, isn’t it?” she asked.
His rumbled response intensified her resolve.
“Fine, then I would suggest you show me what I need to do.” Annie squared her shoulders, standing taller to demonstrate her strength of mind.
Briton laughed in acquiescence. “LaMandu obstinance strikes again.” She shrugged and took Annie’s hand. “Time for the laboratory.”
Annie pulled back. “You should know,” she smiled.
Out through long narrow hallways, warm sea air swirled in to surround Annie with a sweet salty flavor that caked her lips. The crash of waves pulsed from stone foundations through her body.
Deep indentations in the walls broke the monotony of cold gray stone as they moved on. Are they rooms where others train as I did? Annie stretched her hand out and touched the surface of one as she passed. Warm and sharp, a strong current kissed her fingers.
Yez, the answer formed in her mind.
She pulled her arm back, and kept it close to her side.
Curving in a spiral, the hallway seemed never ending. Just when it felt like they would surely get back to where they started, the passage twisted in the opposite direction with a stronger arc and angled down. The spiral grew steeper. The walls drew closer. Now, without indentations, the surface radiated growing intelligence.
Annie