As soon as she landed at the airport, Rosetta felt something was wrong. They were supposed to wait for her at the airport since her flight was only fifteen minutes later. She couldn't see any of her school mates and the phone numbers of her teachers weren't reachable. She was about to go to the inquiry desk when she spotted two men bearing her name on their cardboard. She recognized one of them. He works in her parents' science institute. She should have known, her parents didn't want her to go to any summer camp, they wanted her to camp for the summer in their institute. She sighed and walked towards them.
"Miss Stone... " the one she recognized began.
"Rosetta" she corrected politely
"Eh.. Dr. Stone instructed us to bring you to the institute. "
"I've figured that one out. " she said under her breath. What she wanted to know was if this was their plan all along or did they change their mind like they did with the email. She dutifully followed the men outside. There were more children outside. There were also more men in black, most of them she didn't recognize. The children all had suitcases like they had been preparing for some sort of vacation. The man she recognized motioned for her to stand close to the group of kids. She moved a bit closer.
The men rounded up the children who were between ages 13-17. At first Rosetta thought it was some kind of bring your kids to work program. She looked around, she recognized some of them but not as the children of her parents' colleagues but as recipients of one award or the other, in other words they were star kids. Maybe this was some sort of excursion.
The men were paroling round the children as if they were taking a head count. They had a list which they checked off. When the men got to her, they looked at her with unease.
"Rosetta Stone? " one of the men called her. She looked up. They starred at her.
"Is this not Dr. Stone's daughter? " one whispered
"Carry out your orders! " the one that seemed to be in-charge commanded.
Rosetta was taking aback. She couldn't figure out what was going on. They seemed to be surprised that she was among the children. Her brain protested that something was definitely wrong. She decided to analyze the situation. She looked around and saw that none of the children appeared to be 18 and above. Further more, they wore school tags of different schools. It was as if each of the best school had a representative except a school that had three. All the children present appeared to be very smart, the kind of crowd her parents would want her to hangout with. All of them looked relaxed as if she was the only one that didn't know she was going to be here. To her all these did not support her suspicion that something was wrong, that was until the men started collecting school tags and identity cards. That raised her brows.
Rosetta stealthily pulled off her identity card from her neck and slipped it into her shorts between her thighs. She watched as other children obediently handed theirs over to the men. When it got to her, she put her school tag into the container placed in front of her. She could see some of the names on the identity cards tossed in. There was Tyler, Michael, Elizabeth, Jason, Madeline and Lily. The rest were either covered with school tags or other identity cards. She looked up to find the man studying her. She was afraid that she'd be caught but decided not to panic outwardly.
" Identity card!? "The leader commanded gesturing at the container with his head.
"Didn't bring mine" she replied trying to stifle the trembling of her voice. He signaled to another man who immediately came forward and frisked her. She was surprised and let it show. She had never been frisked on her way to her parents institute.
"Nothing " the man frisking her replied. She prevented herself from closing her eyes in relief. The leader moved ahead and collected from others. Since she came seven more children have joined them including a girl that was dressed in a bright pink polka dotted gown. In total they would be about thirty or more kids. Why so many, she didn't know.
After collecting, the leader made a call. It was a man at the other end. She could tell by the base notes she detected. The man at the other end seemed pleased until he was told that she didn't submit her identity card. He asked if she was frisked to make sure. The leader replied in affirmative and moved away.
His superior wasn't too thrilled that they couldn't obtain Dr Stones' daughter's identity card and asked him to keep a close eye on her, that she could be a sly one. He didn't see anything sly about her. She was a shy girl with intelligent and famous parents. He just hope his superior's logic proved true because to him anyone who forgets their identity card doesn't count as smart let alone having one of the highest IQ for a kid.
"Now I want you to treat them well. I want to begin as soon as they arrive. I don't want any psychological or physical hindrance. Is that understood!? "
"Yes sir! " the leader replied
Rosetta still observed the man even when he moved farther. He had great respect for who so ever was at the other end of the line. It was not an employer-employee relationship, it was more of a superior-subordinate relationship, the type seen among military officers. The other man she recognized wasn't a military officer. She was sure that whatever they were up to was beyond a normal excursion. She couldn't tell how many were military personnel and how many weren't.
The leader came back and organized his group. The children were marched back into the airport to a private airstrip. Rosetta surveyed the lone plane. It didn't look like a normal commercial plane. It looked more like a private jet. There was a logo she hadn't seen before and 'X+' written beside it. They were made to board the plane. Their passports were collected in the plane. She could not deny being with her passport so she dutifully handed it over.
They were given refreshments on board but she declined opting for water. Rosetta was used to being around adults more than children of her age. The only thing she had to do was to listen attentively, respond when spoken to and politely request for something. Right now she wanted nothing more than to politely request that she be taken back home but somehow she knew that wouldn't be possible. She looked around people were talking in an animated manner and she wondered if she was the only one having a bad feeling about this. She also wondered what they had been told to make them so compliant. She tried making conversation with the kid close to her but she didn't know what to say. She moistened her lips thinking of the most appropriate way to start a conversation with the girl beside her.
"Hi"
The girl looked up from the magazine she was reading as if she was pissed at being disturbed.
"I'm Rosetta "
"I know. What do you want!? " the girl replied coldly directing her attention back to the magazine.
OK this was not going well. Rosetta thought. It was obvious that the other girl had existing prejudice towards her. She didn't know how to go about this but she needed information. She couldn't ask her where they were going to because it would make her stupid ,embarking on a journey to an unknown destination. She couldn't ask her what they had been told because it would seem as if she had more information than they did which she didn't think she did. She couldn't make small talks either because she didn't know how. Also she couldn't guarantee the girl will answer and answer truthfully. This is a very tricky situation Rosetta. She muttered to herself. She took a sip of her mineral water and grimaced. It tasted a bit off. She dropped it aside.
"Do you happen to know how long the flight would take? " Rosetta asked instead. She knew where they were. The time would only give her a list of prospective places they could be heading to.
"I'm not the pilot. Look I know you are used to this, science excursion, seminar and all and you probably know where we are going or have even been there before, so don't try to rub it in or make small talks cause I'm not interested in either" the girl cut her off.
At that Rosetta reflexively reached for her drink taking a mouthful before remembering that she shouldn't be drinking it. She put it down. She looked around. How many people knew who she was? She didn't know but guessed a good number did. So they were told it was a science excursion and seminar. 'I just hope they are right' was her last thought before she drifted off to sleep.
The leader came out later and surveyed the sleeping children and shook his head. He had orders and he was following them. His job was to deliver them and that was what he was going to do. He asked the man that Rosetta had recognized to watch them and left.
The man surveyed the children, they had been drugged that was why they were all sleeping. He looked at Rosetta, he didn't know if her parents were aware or if it was by their instructions. He had seen her when she had removed her identity card. He had to distract the others. He didn't know why she did it but knew she considered it important. He knew from the way she hid it that they might discover it before she wakes up. He curse and bent down. He could see the rope. He pulled it out of her shorts and separated the paper from the card holder. He got a piece of transparent tape and attached the information paper to her inner thigh. He pocketed the card holder to dispose later. He didn't know why but he knew that when they moved base and demanded thirty children something fishy was going. He didn't know the rest of the children but he knew Rosetta Stone and he prayed that no harm should befall her even though it was faithless.