Clarke
The mood of the staff was primarily a mix of anticipation, interest, and feeling burdened at needing to orchestrate an epic event on relatively short notice.
Mitch was petulant, sending occasional glares in her direction.
Ray was attentive, probably in an effort to return to the good graces of his department head.
Russell watched, cataloguing everyone’s reaction.
Maintenance would be setting up the temporary housing. All she had to do was tell them where to put the buildings. The students staying there would all be legal adults.
Mitch was probably angry because slacking on this assignment would be obvious, and most likely result in losing his job. He couldn’t delegate this to one of the prefects.
If she was still here at that point, it would be fun to meet students and professors from other colleges, and watch the events. Having aimed for a career with the National Institute of Psionics, she hadn’t participated in one.
When the meeting adjourned, most were preoccupied, some muttering to themselves. Clarke waited for the department heads to leave before standing from the table. She wasn’t in a hurry.
Clarke followed two professors, flanked by Jace and Russell, as they walked to the main entrance of the Admin building.
Heath Halston was a few feet behind them, engaged in conversation with Professor Radcliffe.
After descending the marble steps, she nodded to Jace and Russell nonchalantly, like any other coworkers, as she stepped onto the cobbled path.
Since Professor Halston knew she and Jace had been in the basement over the weekend, Clarke was determined not to give him anything to wonder about.
Jace admitted that he hadn’t reacted casually to mention of the spelled alerts.
Chatting like pals might give him another reason to question the nature of their relationship.
And Russell was right next to her. He hadn’t brought up Jace in conversation yet, but Clarke worried more about Russell than she did Heath Halston. Russell noticed too much.
Better to play it safe. Nothing to see here. Just two coworkers dedicated to their jobs.
She did want to talk to Jace, and meet him in the tunnel. But she would text him when she was back in the dorm.
Her thoughts revolved around the tournament. Since she and Jace hadn’t found a single clue that led to her dad, Clarke had to wonder if the event was a factor in what had led her to Mars. But the vision hadn’t depicted Clementine, the stadium, or the auditorium.
And the tournament was months away. The thought of her dad still being missing at that point was like a weight crushing her chest.
Something had to be here. She just hadn’t found it yet. It was clear to Clarke that she needed another vision, one that would give her and Jace a direction to look in.
The campus was too vast, with thousands of people between students and staff. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack among thirty identical haystacks, without knowing what the needle looked like. At this rate, they could search for years, and find nothing. That was unacceptable.
“Hmm, this will be interesting.” Clarke was startled, looking to the left. She hadn’t realized that Russell was keeping pace with her until he spoke. “My, someone was far away,” he said teasingly.
“Yeah, I was lost in thought,” Clarke said. “What’s interesting?”
“Everything. The reactions. We had plenty of time to prepare for the previous tournament here, and I wasn’t involved in the planning sessions.
I love people watching, and this meeting was a goldmine, revealing lots of nuggets.
That aspect was more fascinating to me than the subject under discussion,” Russell said enthusiastically.
“Really? Care to share?”
“The chief of maintenance frowned seven times while he made notations for allocating tasks to his staff,” Russell said.
“That tells me that he is worried, and at least one of them is unreliable.
The head groundskeeper acted like he won a jackpot, which strikes me as suspicious.
I would expect him to grumble, and bitch about all the extra work he needs to do for this tournament.
But he clearly sees it as an opportunity for something.
“Dreamy Heath looked like the weight of the world suddenly fell on his shoulders. But why? Several casters he knows well will probably be enrolled in the tournament, but that won’t be his responsibility. Most of the coaching will be done by the professors that teach more advanced courses.
“He must have other concerns, but I have no idea what those might be. The academic department heads seem to be taking things in stride. Their reactions were expected.
“Ray is a question mark. He’s kissing ass right now, but who knows what he’ll do later.
With his lack of initiative, Ray’s level of interest is either fake, or pertains to something other than the workload.
Mitch is firmly on the path of self-destruction.
You’ll need to stay alert for more sabotage from him,” Russell said.
“I didn’t notice half of that,” Clarke said.
Russell really was a valuable resource. He’d given her considerable food for thought. This was also proof positive that she and Jace had to be very careful how they acted around Russell.
Russell shrugged. “You don’t know them like I do. I did my undergrad studies here, and worked in the library part-time. This is my eighth year at Mars as the assistant librarian. You learn a lot about people when you work with them for years.”
“I’m still impressed. You’re very observant,” Clarke said honestly. “Was that everything you noticed? You left some people out of an otherwise detailed spy report.”
Russell chuckled at that. “Those were the highlights, and main points of interest. There were a few other curiosities to note, but minor in comparison.”
“What makes you think Mitch is getting worse?” Clark asked. “Jace said this is his second year at Mars. You might not know him as well as other staff members, keen perception notwithstanding.”
“Mitch grew up in Clementine, and is only a few years younger than me,” Russell said. “He has a history of blaming others for his limitations, and making little effort to earn his way.”
“That explains a lot,” Clarke said as they reached the intersection where she would turn toward the dorms. “I’ll see you in the library tomorrow.”
“Count on it. Have a good night,” Russell said cheerfully.
Upon entering the common room, Clarke headed for her office first. She submitted the number of empty rooms in the dorm, as well as a count of portable cots and bunks in the storage room, to the Dean’s assistant.
Then she printed an announcement she had typed that morning.
She posted the notice outlining the project she and Jace were working on to fix the rodent infestation in the basement.
Donations of any kind would be appreciated.
A signup sheet was directly below the notice for anyone interested in helping.
With that attended to, she made her rounds.
After checking on the students, Clarke iced her knee again, which had begun to throb by midafternoon.
Jace wanted to wait another day before meeting in the tunnel, to be on the safe side.
As much as Clarke wanted to spend time alone with him, that was the smartest plan.
Her mind went back to Russell’s comments about the staff while she ate dinner. Clarke wondered if she and Jace should look more closely at the maintenance crew and groundskeepers. They might not have anything to do with her dad’s disappearance, but there were no other leads.
She decided to discuss it with Jace when they met in the tunnel.
Clarke thought about trying to get another vision, but doubted she would able to concentrate with her knee aching the way it was.
Mitch wasn’t just being a vengeful, petty ass for no reason.
He was also slowing down her hunt for clues.
The next day, Clarke braced for a water-related attack as she got ready for work. Nothing happened. No geyser in the toilet, no ice on the floor. The faucets and showerhead worked the way they were supposed to.
That made two mornings in a row without an issue. Instead of being relieved, Clarke was anxious. It wasn’t like Mitch to leave her in peace. What was he planning now?
Clarke shook it off as she made her morning rounds of the dorm.
The boys were all up and about, some making breakfast in the dorm kitchen, others heading for the cafeteria.
Content that her charges were accounted for and behaving, Clarke finished her own breakfast, used the toilet, and grabbed a banana for later before leaving her apartment.
Draping the strap of her messenger bag over one shoulder, Clarke exited the dorm from the front, and began the trek to the Humanities building. The bag was similar to carrying a purse, and therefore comforting in routine.
Her knee was a palette of blue and yellow splotches, but the swelling was down. Clarke still had some twinges, but wasn’t stiff. It was a beautiful day for a walk, warm but not hot, sunny with a few fluffy white clouds overhead.
Students chatted as they strolled through the quad. Clarke tried to appreciate the friendly atmosphere rather than focusing on the lack of clues. That would only lead to frustration.
She was walking past a large fountain featuring two leaping fish, when it suddenly malfunctioned.
Streams of water shot out of the fishes mouths, not into the basin, but directly onto her head.
Clarke frantically jerked the messenger bag away from her body, trying to prevent her laptop and phone from being drenched.
In seconds, she was soaked from head to foot, with water dripping from her nose. `
It was strangely reassuring that Mitch was still up to his nasty tricks. Better the evil she knew than wondering what worse things might be in store. But now, she would be late for class, and might need to replace her phone and laptop. That motherfucker.