Chapter 16: Aerial Aquatics Tryouts

The next morning, Victoria Valerius showed up at Alexa's dorm room.

"Alexa? I need to have that device I was told about, our scientists need to examine it thoroughly."

Alexa knew exactly what Victoria was talking about, and went and got it out of her backpack and handed it over.

"When you're through with lunch, I want you to come to my office, so I can share the results with you."

"Sure, Victoria!" Alexa replied.

When Victoria left, Stratus arrived at Alexa's dorm. "What did she want?"

Alexa explained that Victoria wanted Alexa to go to her office at lunch time, but she had failed to take the device that could abort Morgan's plan.

"They have mind control technology they might use while you're in there," Stratus warned. "You have to keep your mind occupied on something else while you're in there, or they'll figure out you're working for the Dark Mistress."

"What should I think about?" Alexa asked.

"Aerial Aquatics," said Stratus. "The playoffs are coming up soon, the coach is picking students tomorrow, so keep your mind on that. You're a pretty good swimmer, maybe you could end up winning the championship."

"Thanks for the advice," Alexa replied, "I'll do that. I've been thinking about Aerial Aquatics a lot lately any way."

After attending her first four classes, Alexa went to lunch and ate quickly. After she was done eating, she went straight to Victoria's office. The receptionist ushered her inside, and she sat on a couch to wait for Victoria. A few minutes later, Victoria invited her in.

Alexa sat at a chair on one side of Victoria's desk, while Victoria sat in her office chair. The cylindrical device that Morgan had given Alexa was on the desk. Alexa tried to keep her mind on the upcoming Aerial Aquatics tryouts.

"It doesn't have any crucial tech that we need to be concerned about," said Victoria. "I don't think we need to worry about this device. I can understand why some of the Recto girls were frightened of this, it does look like something you might have gotten from the Dark Mistress. Where did you get it?"

"I got it in southern California when I went to visit my family for Winter Break," said Alexa. "A friend gave it to me."

"I'm inclined to believe you," said Victoria. "It doesn't contain any Futurian technology whatsoever, I guess those Recto girls were just paranoid."

"This necklace you gave me has everyone thinking I'm working for Morgan Lefevre, they all know you're using this to track her through me."

"We need you to wear it, Alexa. It's the only way we have any chance of stopping Morgan Lefevre."

Victoria told Alexa she was welcome to leave, so Alexa got up and went to her next class. She took the cylinder that Victoria had confiscated from her, and put it inside of her backpack. After her last class, she attended the recovery of lost technology club, then went to the Verso common room. Stratus greeted her.

"What happened in Victoria's office?" Stratus asked.

"She doesn't think there's anything dangerous about that device," Alexa replied. "Maybe we should go to my dorm and talk."

Once they were safely inside Alexa's dorm room, Alexa continued their conversation: "She has no clue that I'm really working with the Dark Mistress! Do you think she suspects anything?"

"I don't know, but anything is possible," said Stratus. "I would be careful if I were you!"

The next day, Alexa was in P.E. class in her one piece swimsuit. The globe of water was levitating above them, the murky water hiding the location of the objects they would need to find.

"I'm going to be picking people for the playoffs," said the coach. "I want the best person from each year and each period to form a team to go up against a rival academy up north. Most of you are pretty good, but for the first year team I want people with talent. Who here thinks they've got what it takes?"

Alexa and two other first year students stepped forward.

"All three of you are pretty good, I want you to go up against each other to determine a champion for this class."

The coach had Alexa and two other students compete. Alexa got the first two trophies that were submerged, and each of the other two students each got one. Alexa found another one, then two more at the same time. When the competition was over, Alexa had the most trophies.

"We have a winner!" said the coach as he lifted Alexa's hand. "Alexa won by a mile!"

Later that day, in the Verso common room, the other girls congratulated Alexa on being chosen by the coach for the first year team. Even Hellion, who was normally critical of Alexa, praised her: "Keep up the good work, Lexie! The only reason we lost the past three years is because students at this school didn't practice as hard as Ridgecrest. If you practice five or six days a week, you can get really good!"

"You should practice every day," said Umbra. "The coach will let you into the pool after hours, since you'll be competing. That other academy up north has won for the past three years in a row, we really need to beat them."

"How does it work?" Alexa asked. "What if the first year team wins, and some of our other teams lose?"

"It doesn't matter," Umbra replied, "a win is a win. Even if only one year beats them, that's still one win. There is a contest for each year. So far though, they have won every year. It doesn't look good for us, they have a great coach."

Ion appraoched Alexa. "I'm heading over to the gym in a few minutes, I made the team for my year, do you want to practice with me?"

"Sure!" said Alexa, and she got her swimsuit and headed over with Ion to the gym. 

Once they were in the gym and dressed in their swim wear, they got on the catwalk and dove into retrieve the trophies that were submerged. There were six other girls there, and Alexa was the youngest. Still, she managed to keep her own and retrieved some trophies. After the first session, the robots set the trophies back in the water in random positions. Everyone went a second time, and this time Alexa did better than the first time. After about five sessions, the other girls were ready to head home, but Alexa remained to practice more.

When Alexa got back to the dorm, she was tired, but felt that she had improved her game. She showered and got dressed and did her homework until it was time for dinner. When she got to the table with all the food laid out in front of her, she piled her plate more than usual.

"She's in training," said Stratus as Hellion looked with wide eyes as Alexa ate. "She needs more calories."

All of the food Alexa ate was healthy, and she skipped dessert.

"Do they have all the teams picked out?" Hellion asked.

"I think so," said Stratus. "this is the most important time of the year, we have to beat Ridgecrest this year! My sister has hated them for three years, and she came home every summer and told me about it every time they won the championships." 

When it was time to go to bed, Alexa fell into a deep sleep because she was tired from so much swimming. When she woke up the next morning, she went to breakfast and ate more than usual. After her last class, she went to practice and swam for several hours. She was the first student there at the gym, and the last student to leave. This went on for a couple of weeks, with Alexa only taking off one day a week to rest. She burned up so many calories swimming that she had to continue eating more at meal times than she did before she started training.

By early March, the teams were ready to go to Ridgecrest for the playoffs. The teams were assembled by year, and the first year students would go first. Alexa was in her black bathing suit, standing on the catwalk above the sphere of murky water. The Ridgecrest students wore white swimsuits, while the Southridge students wore black.

When the bell rang, they all dove in and tried their best to retrieve the trophies. Alexa was first with a one hundred point trophy, the highest possible score. A Ridgecrest student retrieved a fifty point trophy, and two Southridge students both retrieved trophies at the same time. When the first round was over, Southridge had won. Since it would be best four out of seven games, they had to go again. Alexa was the best out of both teams, retrieving the most trophies. After four games, Southridge won in a sweep.

The Southridge students cheered as Alexa returned to the stands.

"That was really good, Alexa!" said Umbra. "You were the best student out there!"

When it came time for the second year students to play, they didn't fare as well, and Southridge lost in six games, four to two. The third year team did better, and won a close victory in seven games. Ridgecrest won the next round, but Southridge won the next three rounds. Southridge won four rounds, while Ridgecrest won two. When Alexa returned to Southridge academy, she was cheered on by both Recto and Verso students.

As she socialized in the outdoor area where the student government presidents gave speeches, one of the older athletes, a blonde girl, gave a speech. "We couldn't have done it without Alexa Lockport, when we saw how hard she trained over the past two months, it got the rest of us in gear, and we trained harder and longer. When Alexa's team won the first round, that gave us encouragement that Ridgecrest could be beaten! Alexa, we couldn't have done it without you!"

Alexa approached one of the administrators. "Where is head mistress Victoria?"

"She went with Ozymandias on a temporal reconnaissance mission, we're not sure when she'll return."

Just as the administrator said that, the ground began to shake.

"I thought the tectonic stabilizers prevented Earthquakes here?" Alexa asked.

"That's not an Earthquake," the administrator replied, "we're under attack!"

Flying vehicles flew in and landed on grassy areas of the campus. Shock troops deployed and spread out over the campus, armed with rifles of some type. Each faculty member was sought out by the soldiers, and forced into a group on the field between the classrooms. The Recto students looked alarmed, but for some reason, the Verso students weren't afraid. 

Umbra approached Alexa. "Lexie, what's going on?"

"I don't know!" Alexa replied.

"People think you know what's going on, we're under attack by the Dark Mistress!" said Umbra.

"She didn't tell me anything about an attack today, I haven't heard from her in a couple of months. She did say she had some kind of a plan, though."

A flagship landed once the campus was secure, and Morgan Lefevre stepped out. She approached the podium and announced her plans.

"As some of you may know, I am Morgan Lefevre, the Dark Mistress. I am taking over all of the schools on this reality, and from this day forward until further notice, Verso house is in control of this campus. I need to know the whereabouts of headmistress Victoria Valerius."

Alexa approached Morgan. "She left with Ozymandias on a temporal recon mission."

"No doubt to track my whereabouts," said Morgan. "But it will do her no good, my technology reigns supreme!"

Umbra and some of the other Verso students gathered near Morgan.

"So we're in charge?" Umbra asked.

"Yes," Morgan replied. "I need all of the students to remain in this reality while I unleash my plan. I'm about to generate an alternate timeline where I will be absolute ruler, and I don't want any of you to get duplicated accidentally. If that should happen, you might be seen as usurpers by your counterparts, and they could try to kill you."

The Verso students began cheering and clapping.

"When will you launch your alternate timeline generator?" Alexa asked.

"On the Vernal Equinox," said Morgan. "So that is less than two weeks away! We will rule over the ephemerals as a race of gods!"

The Verso house students began cheering again. Alexa was happy, but she had doubts about the world that was being created; what would happen to Santiago, Tricia and Roxie? Alexa still had the device that could abort Morgan's plan, but she wasn't sure if she should use it. If she did try to use it, would it still work?