The First Mission, part three

We last left Mikayla trapped in a room with a mystery man. Who is he? Will she be able to escape? What about the information she came to retrieve? Will her mission succeed? You'll find out today in the conclusion of "The First Mission"! Miss the first two parts? Click here for part one and here for part two!
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The man straightened up. “So, Mikayla. You came back after all. Your mother said you wouldn’t, but I knew better.”

Mikayla scanned the room. Yes, there! There was the row of indentations that marked the ScanChip access ports. All she had to do was find a way to hold her ScanChip over one until it had the information they needed. As subtly as she could, she began working the ScanChip out of her pocket. “I didn’t come back because I wanted to see you.”

Her father took a step towards her. “Perhaps not, but you are here, and here you will remain.”

“I won’t.” Mikayla edged away from her father and towards the ports. “I have another home now. A better home.”

“With the Silver Bullets, I take it?” He shook his head disgustedly. “I am your father, Mikayla. You belong here with your brother and me.”

Mikayla took another step towards the ports. She was nearly to the closet one now. “What about Mother?”
Her father hesitated, a look of what seemed to be genuine sorrow crossing his face. “Your mother died shortly after she was brought back here. I tried to save her, Mikayla, but I couldn’t. There was nothing I could do.”

Mikayla struggled to fight back tears. “Oh.” She’d guessed as much, but even so, knowing that her mother was gone felt as if someone had struck her heart with a whip. She forced herself to keep moving towards the ports. “Even if she were here, though, I wouldn’t stay.” She navigated the ScanChip into the indentation and felt it click. How long will it take? How long will I have?

The First Mission, part two

We last left Mikayla going to join her team for her first-ever mission. How will the mission go? Will she and her team be caught by the Brotherhood? We'll find out (at least partially) today! Miss part one? Check it out here!
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The rest of the team was already assembled at the exit when she reached it. The two men nodded to her as she approached, and the woman smiled at her. Mikayla nodded back, and they set off. A Shadowcopter carried them most of the way, its invisibility shields running the whole time, and they traveled the last mile on foot. Evening was beginning to fall by the time they reached the Brotherhood headquarters, for which Mikayla was glad. Even though security was higher at night, the lengthening shadows would make it much harder for her team to be spotted as they approached the building.

They circled around to the east side of the building, where the shadows were deepest, and crept towards the door. Two guards stood outside, and Mikayla knew that security cameras were watching the area. “VAAJams on,” Blade whispered. Everyone obeyed. He pointed to the building. “Raven, get going.”

The female Shadow Agent nodded, her face now serious. She slid off into the shadows and Mikayla lost track of her. Only five minutes later, first one guard, then the other slumped to the ground. Raven appeared by the door and beckoned.

In single file, the rest of the team crept up to join her. Raven already had a guard’s hand pressed to the lockscreen by the door, which slid silently open. Blade slipped inside first. Hawk entered after him, then came Mikayla, and finally Raven. The doors slid shut behind them and locked with a click. Mikayla forced herself not to shudder. We got in. Surely it’ll be easier to get back out, unless we’re discovered.

Blade set off down the brightly-lit halls. The others followed close behind, moving silently and swiftly. On this uppermost level, the halls were mostly deserted, and they were able to traverse all the way to the emergency stairs without seeing another soul.

Blade pushed the door open and beckoned for the others to enter. They did so, and he followed, releasing the door. Once it had swung shut, he whispered, “No more cameras until we get to the second underground level. Correct, Night?”

Mikayla jumped and then nodded. “Yes. The first underground level is just sleeping quarters for the ordinary people. Brotherhood leaders and their families are housed on the second underground level.” She suspected the others had already heard that information, but saying it out loud reassured her. Unless someone was taking the emergency steps, they’d have nothing to worry about for two levels.

The First Mission, part one

Hey'a, everyone! It seems I've been neglecting my blog of late, and for that, I apologize. I think that posts will be a bit more frequent this week and in the coming weeks, especially since the creative writing class I'm taking requires that I write at least one new story every week! I'll be posting the first of these stories today through Friday, and I also hope to post some book reviews sometime in the near future as well. These book reviews will be a slightly different format than the reviews I used to do on this blog, and there will also be more of them per post. I have no idea how long I'll keep doing these reviews, but I'd like to be able to release a book review post every few weeks this summer.

In the meantime, however, enjoy part one of "The First Mission", one of my latest short stories!
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The First Mission

When Mikayla Alave received her first official mission, she was in the middle of hand-to-hand combat training, trying very hard to not wallop her opponent and getting rather walloped herself for her efforts. She didn’t have anything against the young man; in fact, she thought he seemed like a rather decent fellow. But lately, every one of her punches seemed to move faster and contain more force than it ought.

She sensed, rather than saw, her opponent’s punch headed for her gut. She dodged and instinctively started to try to kick his legs out from under him, but stopped herself just before her foot could hit. Slower. Slower. Go easy.

Her opponent’s fist hit her nose squarely. Off-balance from stopping her kick, she fell back and hit the ground. She shut her eyes and bit back a groan. Beaten again. What’s wrong with me?

“Cat! Night! Enough!” Her trainer’s sharp voice broke through Mikayla’s thoughts. A hand closed on her shoulder and jerked her to her feet. “What’s the rule when you’re beaten but aren’t seriously injured, Night?”
Mikayla forced her eyes open and looked her trainer in the eye, as she’d been taught. “Get back up again immediately, ma’am.”

Her trainer nodded. “And why is that the rule, Night?”

“Because if you don’t get up immediately, you’re likely to get killed,” Mikayla mumbled. She wished her trainer would let her be just this once. Couldn’t she understand that sometimes, even if you weren’t seriously injured, you didn’t quite feel like you could get up again?

“Correct, Night.” The trainer crossed her arms, switching her steel-grey gaze from Mikayla to her opponent. “Cat. You did well. Take a breather and I’ll be with you in a moment so we can talk about how you can do better.”

The young man nodded and sprinted off towards the benches lining the training room. Mikayla watched him go, fighting a sense of envy. She knew what was coming.