Free Minds

Chapter 60.

"Check again," I whispered to Rav.

   He stared at me with an expression of despair that had become all too familiar in the past five minutes.

"Beth, I've checked our communication system seven times," Rav made it a point to emphasize those last two words. "There aren't any issues from our end."

"Check. Again," was the only stoic reply I gave.

   Despite the tired glance Rav shot me, he let out a sigh of defeat before tending to the laptop once more.

   My fingers that had retired for a while went into motion yet again, tapping away at the sides of my thighs. The heat that wouldn't stop convulsing in me triggered countless beads of sweat that overtook my forehead.

   Even though I had backed up from the laptop and was currently leaning against the walls of the van, my eyes never left Rav's device.

   Talise couldn't be caught. She just couldn't.

"Beth..." Camila decided to try this time.

   I shook my head, holding up a hand and interrupting her before she could continue, "How are we expected to hear Talise if you guys keep talking? We need to be quiet."

   As I said those words, my gaze remained fixed on Rav's device. Still, it didn't take a lot to imagine the hopeless expression Camila was probably wearing from my response when the sound of her shaky breath released reached my ears.

   The subsequent time that passed didn't breed any more attempts by the others to talk to me. Or talk at all. My sight turned blurrier and blurrier from the tears that I refused to release. I didn't realize how much energy I was using to withhold them until I lowered my eyes to notice that my hands at my sides were tight fists.

"Rav?" Dorian's low voice broke the stillness that had overtaken the van. "Why don't you check ag—?"

"Hello?! Beth?! Rav?! Can anyone hear me?"

   Ironically, the voice I'd longed to hear was the same one that kept me glued to where I was standing and tongue tied while everyone else surrounded the laptop, in reaction to Talise's call.

   Even as I moved to join Rav, Camila and Dorian, it still felt like a dream. The kind which came with a sort of bliss that made you want to never wake up.

"Talise," The tension in my throat made the mention of her name come out in a weird squeak. "Are you okay?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Her tone was as chipper as ever while she asked. "I just finished putting the leg brace back on so I'll be heading to the cafeteria soon. Being disconnected from you guys was a bit scary though, I'm not sure what happened. I feel way better now that I can hear you all. The adrenaline from all the running is taking a while to go away, seriously. Especially after the unexpected energy that burst in me at the last minute. It was so weird. I made it into the bathroom with twelve whole seconds to spare. Can you believe it?"

"How d-do— h-how do you know that?" Rav couldn't mask his shock as he stuttered his question to Talise.

"You didn't think I was going to rely on you guys the whole time, did you?" Talise laughed. "I set a timer on my wrist watch right when you first announced the amount of time left."

   If Tali's watch wasn't wrong and she made it into the bathroom with twelve seconds remaining... The grinning faces all around me was an indication I didn't have to point out that Zavlon's cameras weren't able to detect her.

   After all, Dave, the intern, said he ceased the operation ten seconds earlier and Tali's watch revealed she'd reached the bathroom with twelve seconds left. This provided one or two seconds before Zavlon could get noticed their intruder message from their camera systems. The second/seconds anyone could have discarded as useless were the very ones that saved Talise from utter doom.