Lucy's plans had been in the works for a long time.
"Training today is based on travel. Rudy, please." Kate stepped back, so her twin could stand in front of the group.
They had gathered in the gym area of the Hive. Rufus and Anne lounged on mats on the floor. Ethan, Georgie and Lucy, with Twiskers on her lap, sat on chairs pulled over from the study area.
Lucy listened as Rudy explained how important it was that they stick together. Kate could only track her twin. Without Rudy, no one could find their way back.
Rudy reminded them about the time limitations and how it was best to not draw attention to themselves. The danger to them if their powers were discovered was stressed over and over.
Rudy said he also had a plan to avoid the drowsiness they felt when traveling. He then explained how members of the group were going to make a short test travel. Only two would go.
Lucy clutched the letter in her pocket. It was addressed to her parents. She kept it with her at all times in case she ever had the opportunity to transmit outside the Hive.
"Ethan. Anne." Rudy pointed at his choices.
Lucy held back tears. She would have other opportunities to contact her family.
Over the next few weeks they made many test travels. Each session was a quick in and out. Some lasted only seconds. At first 2 different people were paired. Next, Rudy moved three people at once. By the end of the month, he was able to move the entire group, but to transit they had to huddle uncomfortably close. Anne and Ethan never stood next to each other and no matter where they placed Georgie, he complained. It seemed as if Lucy was in the middle every time.
An opportunity to break away or contact anyone outside the group never came...until their first mission.
Lucy had no chance of slipping the letter to Tenzing with the doctor hovering over her and the group watching from the corner. She had left the monastery in hopes of finding a phone. Or better yet, an American tourist who could carry her letter home. She had made it only as far as the square out front when people started pointing and yelling. Confused she looked around, but it soon became apparent they were moving towards her. Word spread quickly from person to person. It became a stampede.
The crowd pressed in on Lucy. She yelped when her elbow hit the stone wall she was pushed against. She could barely breathe. Her tiny feet were being trampled. Hands grasped at her. Someone reached out and pinched her upper arm. People were pulling at her clothes, tearing pieces off.
"Help" It was like the mewing of a kitten, weak and lost in the noise of the crowd.
"Lady?" Aba, the boy from the village who served Tenzing, began to wiggle through the crowd.
"Help me." Lucy was gasping now.
Aba squirmed through the mass of people until he was in front of Lucy, partially shielding her.
"Lady, them say you are magic healer. They come for you help." Aba's English was spotty.
Lucy tried to look past the boy. "But there must be a hundred people!"
"La-yo-re. You are hero. " He smiled, proudly. "I am hero"
"You shouldn't have told. I....I can't cure them all." Her voice was feeble as a surge of people crushed forward. "Help me back to my friends. Please? "
"Move aside!" Ethan's voice rang out. He used the formal dialect to impress his authority on the locals. His group moved tightly together. Even Georgie stayed close. Anne put her head down and plowed through.
Rufus, easily the tallest person there, spotted Lucy at the back of the crowd, jammed against a wall. He ruthlessly elbowed villagers aside. "Move it." His words were in English, but his voice was loud and menacing.
The crowd grudgingly separated. Lucy looked up; frightened and broken. Rufus' heart broke. He scooped her up into his arms.
Georgie shoved Aba to the ground as the foreigners made a protective circle around the healer.
Against all Kate's rules about appearing and disappearing in public, Ethan pulled them all close and demanded, "Get us out of here! Now!" Rudy meowed once.