Jessica stood in the room for a couple of moments before a very large door opened on the wall just behind her. The door was large enough for her to step through but for a moment she did not notice it open. Eventually she turned around and began to slowly walk out of the large room. She was very disappointed with herself since she had failed to save anyone during her training exercise.

 She walked out into another large room but this one was well lit and full of agents and other workers. Most of them didn’t notice her leaving the training room but a few of them did since they were the ones who were at the controls. No sooner had she left another set of agents entered the training room and the large door shut immediately. 

 Inside this room there were several screens on the wall near the training room entrance along with several control panels. There were a couple of workers attending to the consoles and they were initiating the next training session for the other agents. On the screens they could see exactly what was happening in the training room and they could pull the plug if things were getting out of hand.

 The General was also at the control consoles but he wasn’t watching what was happening in the training room. Instead he wanted to speak with Jessica over what had happened inside the training room. She was one of the top agents the company had ever had and she rarely failed even in training. He also had an assistant with him who had only just started the job. He was nervous around Jessica since this was the first time he had ever seen her up close and personal. He had seen her several times at a distance but never this close, he always knew that she was extremely tall but to see her in person was something else entirely.

 “Agent Snape I need to have a word with you,” said the General. He waited for Jessica to crouch down and put her hand on the ground. He quickly stepped onto her hand and his assistant did the same reluctantly. No sooner were they both on her hand she lifted them up so that they were at her level. “What happened in there Agent Snape? You know to keep an eye on everything around you no matter what your activity is.”

 “I know sir,” replied Jessica. She gave out a large sigh of disappointment. “I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

 “You mean about Mr Martel. You need to keep your head in the game Agent Snape, the moment you lose your concentration innocent people may be harmed. I think it’s best that you don’t go on your mission today.”

 “No sir I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be fine. It’s not Tucker on my mind, it’s just that I’ve been thinking about life in general.”

 “Do you want me to book you an appointment with Doctor Drake?”

 “Maybe, I don’t know yet.” She then looked at the General’s assistant in her hand as well. She had never seen him before and saw that he was a little nervous in her presence. “What’s your name new guy?” At first the assistant was speechless and could not mutter a word.

 “Answer Agent Snape, Grey.”

 “I-I’m Hubert Grey,” stuttered the assistant. “I-it’s my first day.”

 “Don’t be afraid,” replied Jessica in a soothing voice. “When I first started here I was even more nervous than you. But you’ll find that this place is a nice and safe working environment with many brilliant and wonderful people. Don’t forget no matter how small or insignificant you think your job you’re working towards making a big difference in so many people’s lives. If you keep that in mind you’ll have nothing to worry about and besides you’re in for a world of fun here.” This made Hubert smile a little before turning her attentions back to the General. “Is there anything else you need?”

 “Well there is one other thing,” replied the General. “Mr Martel knows that you’re taking him on your mission with you.”

 “Yes sir he’s actually looking forward to it.”

 “You know that normally we wouldn’t allow non-agents to travel through the vortex but the man is under your supervision throughout his stay here. Make sure he doesn’t get himself hurt or worse. Above all do not leave him behind when your mission is completed, no one must know of our work or technology.”

 “Yes sir.”

 “And on this mission we need you to bring back some soil and water samples along with your normal objectives.” He then cleared his throat. “You may now put us down Agent Snape.” Jessica slowly lowered her hand back down to the ground and the General and Hubert stepped off safely. “You are dismissed Agent Snape but remember to complete the rest of your training before returning to the medi-lab.”

 The General turned around and walked away closely followed by Hubert. While they were walking Hubert turned his head to look at Jessica and she gave him a cheerful wave. He couldn’t help but feel happy after her little talk with him. It had made him feel a lot more comfortable.

 Although Jessica had finished the physical part of her training she still needed to complete her theory training. Since she was too large for any paper or computer based training she had to be asked the questions orally and she would answer which she thought was the correct answer. For this she needed to go into another room that had a seventy foot ceiling, since she was so large she couldn’t stand up in the room so she had to sit and crawl which she found very nerve-racking. The other rooms that were more suitable were either occupied or out of service.

 Inside this room were a few other agents who were also going through their training. None of them were new recruits but like Jessica were highly trained agents. But as in any job they were constantly trained so that they could complete their work with maximum efficiency. The oral training was normally boring but it had to be done. Jessica had to sit at the very back of the room so that the other agents could see what was going on in front of them without her blocking their view. At least here she could lean on the wall since unlike the other agents she didn’t have a chair.

 The trainer was another military man but instead of being a General he was a drill sergeant with a loud booming voice. He wasn’t particularly tall but he more than made up for it with his aggressive personality. For any other job he would not be suitable but for this one there was no other man more capable of doing the job. He could intimidate almost anyone even Jessica who was around one hundred and twenty feet taller than him.

 “OK MAGGOTS!” shouted the Drill Sergeant in a booming voice. “WHILE YOU ARE HERE YOU WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AND YOU WILL ANSWER THEM CORRECTLY OR SO HELP ME I WILL FUCK YOUR LIFE UP!” He walked past the agents and eventually stopped where Jessica was sitting and pointed up to her. “ESPECIALLY YOU LITTLE MISSY!” This had caught her completely by surprise since the Drill Sergeant normally left her alone. “I HEARD WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT AND IF I WERE IN CHARGE YOU’D BE COURT MARSHALED BEFORE YOU EVEN REALISED YOU’D MADE A MISTAKE! BUT LUCKY FOR YOU I’M NOT IN CHARGE OR ELSE YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY SORRY!” He began to walk back down the room but before he reached the end he once again turned to Jessica and pointed at her. “NOW TELL ME WHEN WORKING IN PAIRS WHAT MUST YOU NEVER DO!”

 “Err leave them behind,” replied Jessica meekly. Although she was the largest person in the room at that moment in time she felt as if she were the smallest.
 “VERY GOOD AGENT SNAPE YOU’RE ACTUALLY NOT USELESS AFTER ALL!” He turned his attentions to all the agents in general. “WHEN ON A MISSION YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR PARTNER’S SAFETY JUST LIKE THEY’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURS!”

 The training course dragged on for close to an hour before it was finally time for the agents to leave. For the entire session the Drill Sergeant had made Jessica his personal verbal punching bag, it had made her feel low but she tried not to feel too bad. She had not been the first person to receive a verbal shakedown from the Drill Sergeant and she wasn’t going to be the last. His attitude was also a good motivator, if any agent wanted to avoid a scolding they just had to do their jobs correctly.

 Before Jessica could leave the room she had to wait for the other agents to leave and then she had to crawl out through what would have been a very large door. But since the door was only half her height it still meant she had to crawl, but when she was through and into another room where she could stand up she was already feeling better. On the wall in front of her she could see a normal size clock she remembered about Tucker.

 “Those medical tests should be finished by now,” thought Jessica. “I should go and wait for him or else I could get into even more trouble.”

 Meanwhile Tucker was lying down on what he thought was some kind of futuristic X-Ray machine. A beam of light was constantly moving up and down his body while Doctor Summers was monitoring what was happening on his computer. He could see a three dimensional model of Tucker’s body and there were several small pop up boxes pointing to certain parts of his body. The two agents were also standing by the machine watching over Tucker. Agent Carpenter no longer needed to use her powers to keep him calm since he had naturally relaxed after the business with the syringe.

 “Hey Doc what exactly is this thing doing?” asked Tucker.

 “It’s scanning your body for any ailments,” replied Doctor Summers though his focus never moved from his computer screen.

 “So is it like an M.O.T for people?”

 “If I knew what an M.O.T was I could answer your question. Don’t worry I’m almost finished with the scans.” No sooner had he said this there was a ring of a bell and the light scanning Tucker quickly subsided. “Ok Mr Martel we’re done.”

 Tucker slowly sat up from the machine and got back to his feet. Agent Barnes stayed very close to him since he still didn’t try anything funny. Agent Carpenter still had a grasp of Tucker’s mind and if he thought about escaping or attacking anyone she would know immediately. But so far she had not sensed him think anything along those lines. She was surprised to sense that Jessica was on his mind a lot. Although they had known each other for less than twenty four hours she could sense that there was something he felt towards Jessica that she had not expected.

 Doctor Summers continued to look at the results of the scan and he couldn’t find anything seriously wrong with Tucker. There were a couple of things that he did have a minor issue with but that could be fixed with a couple of lifestyle changes. He could also see where Tucker had broken a couple of bones in the past and where they had healed. He seemed to be happy with the results that he was seeing.

 “So anything up?” asked Tucker as he took a couple of steps towards Doctor Summer’s desk.

 “Everything seems to be in order,” replied Doctor Summers. “You just need to drink a little less and eat more vegetables. But other than that you’re completely healthy.” He then placed a small device onto the table that he had also gotten out of his drawer. It had a small screen on the top and looked to be a perfect metallic square otherwise. “I just need some fingerprints and then we’re done.”

 “Err Ok I guess.” He placed each of his fingers and his thumbs onto the small screen of the device. Each time he changed his finger the device would record the print and save it into a data network. He felt that he had been arrested and that they were taking his prints for his criminal record. “I just want to know what you call this place?”

 “This place is the medi-lab. I thought Agent Snape would have told you that before your appointment.”

 “No I meant what do you call this planet you live on. I bet it has some kind of barmy name like Lanty Shant.”

 “That’s plain silly.” His expression changed to that of a smile. He thought what Tucker had said was funny and it had tickled hi inside. “No this planet is simply known as Home. All the other planets we’ve travelled to we call them by code-names like LN 621 but not our own planet.”

 “I guess that makes some sense. Since it’s your home planet I can see why you’d call it Home.” He paused for a moment. “What do you guys call my home planet Earth?”

 “I’m not sure.” He looked a little embarrassed since he did not know the answer. “There are so many worlds that we’ve visited I cannot remember all the names. Maybe Agent Snape will tell you when you see her next.” He slowly stood up from the desk and once again smiled Tucker. “Ok everything is done now, Agents Barnes and Carpenter will escort you back to Agent Snape.”

 “Please follow us,” said Agent Carpenter holding her hand out towards the door. Her tone of voice was soothing since she had sensed that it had worked when Jessica did the same.

 Tucker was more than happy to follow the agents as they left Doctor Summer’s lab and make their way through the rest of the medi-lab and down the long staircase. But as they walked down Tucker could see that Jessica had yet to return, this made him worried since she had promised to be there when he returned. He didn’t think of anything drastic, he just thought that the most logical reason was that she was still pre-occupied with her training. He had no idea exactly what training she was doing or how long it would take but he hoped that she would return very soon. Every moment he was away from her he felt a sense of loneliness and abandonment.

 “Where is she?” asked Tucker with concern.

 “Hopefully Agent Snape will return shortly,” replied Agent Barnes. “Until she does we are to stay here so you don’t try anything funny.” He had his arms crossed and a look upon his face that indicated that he was in no mood to argue.

 “You know you could be a little nicer and not a complete prick all the time.”
 “What did you say?” His voice had become very stern and a flash of rage was overcoming him. He wouldn’t allow an insult like that to go without some kind of retribution. But before he could think of anything Agent Carpenter stepped in-between the two men and put her arms out. “What are you doing?”

 “Making sure you don’t do anything stupid,” answered Agent Carpenter as she used her telekinetic powers to push the pair a couple of feet further away from each other. “Now both of you stand down before I wipe your minds until you can’t even speak anymore.”

 Although she had the power to do it Agent Carpenter would never do something like that to anyone. She just hoped that this would deter the pair from squaring off with each other. Although Tucker had been a good fighter in his high school days he didn’t stand a chance against Agent Barnes. His superhuman strength would be too much for Tucker to handle and if Agent Barnes wasn’t careful he could actually kill him.

 Suddenly the three of them felt the ground rumble like it was a small earthquake. But each tremor only last for a moment and they continued on for a few seconds one after the other. They realised that these were not natural tremors but instead seemed to be footsteps. Tucker looked over his right shoulder and was happy to see Jessica was walking towards them. For a normal person it would have taken them a good minute or so to make the  trek from one side of the warehouse size room to another but Jessica made it in a couple of seconds. At first she was happy to see the three of them but then she saw that Agent Carpenter was between the two men seemingly stopping a fight. Jessica quickly became concerned and knelt down when she eventually reach the three of them. They were all looking up to her and for the moment Tucker forgot his quarrel with Agent Barnes.

 “What’s going on here?” asked Jessica with concern.

 “Just a show of testosterone Agent Snape,” replied Agent Carpenter. “I think it’s best you took Mr Martel somewhere where he can cool down. I will make sure Agent Barnes does the same.”

 Without hesitation Jessica lowered her hand and picked up Tucker, when he was in her hand she stood up to her full height. Agent Barnes could only watch as the man he was arguing with was going up out of his reach. He knew that he was going to have a stern telling off from Agent Carpenter to come but she wasn’t as bad as some of the other agents he had met over the years.

 Before Jessica began to walk away Agent Carpenter used her telepathic powers to send her the events that had led to the confrontation. This annoyed Jessica and she looked down at Tucker while she walked away from her fellow agents. She would expect this kind of behaviour from a child but never a fully grown man.

 “You shouldn’t provoke an agent Tucker,” said Jessica sternly. “Push a person too far and you’ll soon find out just how powerful they are. I’ve seen junior recruits with better sense then you Tucker.”

 “Hey he was acting like a prat,” replied Tucker.

 “I don’t care if he was insulting your mother, never provoke an agent especially Agent Barnes. He has a short temper and is possibly stronger than men.” She then gave out a small sigh. “Just promise me you won’t do it again.”
 “Ok I promise I won’t provoke Agent Barnes.”

 “Or any other agent.”

 “Or any other agent.”

 “Good now I need to prepare you for you’re the mission. Before we go anywhere I need to make sure that you’re sufficiently prepared.” She continued to walk through the large room and Tucker still seemed to be nervous. He remembered what had happened on his first trip through the vortex and it was a very unnerving experience. She noticed that he was sitting quietly with a look of worry. “Are you alright Tucker?”

 “I’ve just been thinking Jessica.” By now he was sitting with his legs crossed. “Everything is just so strange to me here and the idea of going through the vortex again isn’t making me feel any better.”

 “Don’t worry.” She brought him up near her face so that she could talk to him properly. “The first time is always the worst, when I went through for the first time I thought I was going to puke my guts out. But after that I was completely fine and besides after a few times you won’t even feel it. And as long as you’re with me I’ll try and make things as familiar to you as possible.”

 “There is one thing you could do for me.” He looked up at her and was beginning to smile a little.

 “Anything Tucker.”

 “Can you tell me a little more about yourself? There are so many answers I want to know like how you got so big and why there are all these agents and vortexes.”

 “I’ll tell you all you want to know after we’ve finished the mission.”

 Eventually Jessica reached where there were a couple of scientists waiting for her and an oversized vortex projector. Tucker could see that they were warming up the vortex projector in preparation for Jessica. He still had butterflies in his stomach but since he was back with Jessica he thought that he would be able to get through it. He was looking forward to seeing another world but he thought that there might be risks.

 Unexpectedly Jessica lowered Tucker back onto the ground without telling him and a couple of the scientists began to scan him with a strange flat screen instrument. Tucker had no idea what was going on and he once again looked up at Jessica looked for answers.

 “What are they doing?” asked Tucker with concern.

 “It’s nothing to worry about Tucker,” replied Jessica. “They’re just scanning you to see if you have anything that might cause you harm during the jumps. It should only take a moment and then we need to be weighed.”

 “Weighed?”

 “Sure an agent is weighed before and after a mission so that we know whether we bring back anything we shouldn’t.” She then smiled at him. “That’s how I knew you had hitched a ride last night.”

 After a few moments the scientists had finished scanning Tucker and they had given him the all clear. Before Jessica would pick him back up she had to pick up a couple of large glass spheres which she attached to her belt. These were so that she could bring back the samples that were required. They were as large as Tucker and he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t know exactly how much was needed but from the look of it there was going to be a lot of sample material.

 As soon as the spheres were properly attached to her belt Jessica knelt down and picked up Tucker. Once again he felt the softness and warmth of her hands, he looked up to her face and he could see the angelic features that made him truly feel safe. She smiled down at him as she stood up and walked onto a metal plate that was close to her feet. When she had stood onto the plate the scientists began to type away on a computer near the plate. This was what they were using to weigh their agents before and after a mission. Tucker could not see how much he and Jessica weighed but he couldn’t hazard a guess.
 “Ok Agent Snape you’re good to go,” said the scientist with long brown hair. She was a woman and they were common in the area. There were just as many female agents and scientists as there were men.

 “Thanks Gloria,” replied Jessica. The last thing Jessica needed to pick up was her VSC device which she strapped around her left wrist. When it had been fastened properly she moved Tucker from her hand onto her right shoulder. “Sorry Tucker but I’m going to need both of my hands for this. If you want to you can wrap some of my hair around yourself just in case.”

 Tucker did not hesitate with wrapping the hair around himself. Although he trusted Jessica entirely there was always a chance that something might go wrong. Like his late mother had told him it was better to be safe than sorry. He watched as Jessica pushed a couple of buttons on the VSC and he gazed as a huge vortex suddenly opened up right in front of them. It was large enough for Jessica to step through but before she did she turned her head and looked at Tucker on her shoulder.

 “Are you ready little man?” asked Jessica.

 “I’d be lying if I said I was,” replied Tucker. His anxiety was beginning to build and it made him feel sick.

 “Don’t worry I promise you that it won’t be as bad as it was last time. The first time is always the worst.”

 Without a moment to spare Jessica took one giant step into the vortex and almost instantly it closed behind her. Tucker could feel the same racing feeling that he felt the first time around, but this time he could also see what was happening. There were bright purple colours flying into him and he noticed that Jessica was practically staying still. This time since he had been expecting the journey it seemed more fun this time than frightening. He felt like he was on a rollercoaster as they travelled through the vortex. Never once did he feel afraid, as long as Jessica was with him he felt safe. But almost as soon as the journey started the pair popped out of the vortex.

 Tucker was amazed with what he was seeing. He never thought in his wildest dreams he would be in a place like this.

 “Wow,” said Tucker in amazement.