you doing here?’ Ween said, so fiercely that her opening word sounded like a whip cracking.
Lauren played the innocent little sister, making herself sound scared and whiney. ‘I was frightened that the devils had got my brother. I came to make sure he was OK.’
Ween huffed, but then her mood changed abruptly. ‘Oh well, I was about to call your mother up here anyway.’
‘What for?’ James asked.
‘Remember the aptitude test you sat the day after you arrived?’
‘Now you mention it, yeah.’
‘Well, I’m pleased to say that your test results were outstanding. Your mark was easily high enough for you to ascend to our elite boarding school inside the Ark. Unfortunately, the Ark is undergoing a lot of rebuilding work and the school isn’t currently accepting new pupils. However, present circumstances dictate that it would be a sensible precaution if you were taken out of this area until the incident with Elliot blows over. I’ve explained the situation to Eleanor Regan and she’s agreed to accept you into the Survivors’ boarding school as a special case.’
James’ mind raced. He was well pleased to get into the boarding school, but the mission plan had been based upon two, or even all three, agents being accepted.
‘Wow,’ James gasped. ‘I’ve heard about the school. It’s like a massive honour, only …’
Ween screwed up her face. ‘Only what?’
‘I don’t know,’ James shrugged. ‘My dad buggered off, then we moved out here, then we moved to the commune. Now you want me to go off into the outback.’
‘James,’ Ween said reassuringly, ‘your family isn’t Lauren, Dana and Abigail any more. You have a family of angels, ten thousand strong.’
‘I know.’ James shrugged sullenly, looking down at the carpet. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to go, I just think I’d be scared going all that way on my own.’
Lauren realised what James was trying to do and butted in. ‘Did I pass the test?’ she asked enthusiastically. ‘I’d love to go to the Ark and I could keep James company.’
Ween looked stressed out. She clearly didn’t relish the prospect of having to call Eleanor Regan and ask her to accept another pupil, but on the other hand she desperately wanted to hush up the whole thing with Elliot. James being hundreds of kilometres away in the middle of the outback greatly reduced the chances of him opening his mouth to someone he shouldn’t.
Ween looked at James and spoke firmly. ‘If I call the Ark and try getting them to accept Lauren too, will you both definitely agree to go?’
‘What about Dana too?’ Lauren asked.
‘No,’ Ween said, with surprising firmness. ‘There’s no prospect of Dana going. She’s been chosen for another path within our movement.’
James and Lauren exchanged a quick glance, hardly able to avoid grinning at each other.
‘Well, I guess I’ll go with Lauren,’ James said. ‘As long as it’s OK with our mum.’
24. ARK
Abigail acted like you’d expect from a mother facing the prospect of her children being sent to boarding school seven hundred kilometres away. Of course, she eventually let Ween talk her into allowing James and Lauren to leave.
The Survivors owned a small aircraft that spent its life shuttling provisions, mail and people between a private airfield twenty kilometres outside of Brisbane and the Ark. The evening flight was due out at 10 p.m. Ween pulled rank and bumped two other passengers so that James and Lauren could skip town.
All the two kids owned now were the clothes they stood up in and a few personal items like toothbrushes and deodorants. This lack of money and possessions was deliberate, because it left Survivor families dependent on their commune for everything and made it extremely difficult for them to leave the cult and resume a normal life.
Abigail volunteered to drive out to the airport. Dana abandoned her precious Survivors timetable to come along and say goodbye. She rode in the back of the Mercedes wagon beside James, while Lauren was up front with a map spread over her legs.
Although Abigail hadn’t officially donated the car to the Survivors, she’d allowed members to use it for errands over the previous month. The interior was now grubby, the smell of baby puke lurked in the air and there were even a couple of punctures in the leather upholstery.
James looked back at the commune as they pulled out of the parking lot, knowing he wouldn’t be back. Everywhere else he’d been on a mission – even prison – there’d been something or someone that he’d miss. But