“Right Blane, are you all packed up?” Mindy asked hurriedly.

“Yes, yes I am. Chill out!”

“I am chill. I’m just checking we haven’t missed anything,” she assured.

Holt came into the room with a box of his own. “Even if we do miss something, it’ll be here at The Facility. It can be shipped out easily.”

“Is that your last box, Holt?” his sister asked.

“It’s my first.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mindy exclaimed. Holt slammed the box down but she continued. “We are leaving first thing tomorrow and you’ve just started?”

“Don’t start. I’m doing it, aren’t I?” He stormed off back towards his room.

“Well, that went well,” Blane muttered.

Mindy shook her head, frustrated. “Look, I’m just worried Blane, that’s all. This move is a good thing for us. We’ve been wanting it for a while and I just want Holt to get better and enjoy it with us,” she explained.

“And how does having a go at him work with him enjoying it?”

“It doesn’t,” she admitted.

“He’s doing it. Yes, he should’ve done it sooner, but he’s doing it. That’s a good thing, right?” he reasoned. Mindy looked at him and nodded. “Is there anything else I can do or…?”

“No, you’re fine thanks. Go and play on the Xbox or something.”

“Thanks sis,” Blane said, and then ran off to spend his evening on a World War II epic.

Mindy took a seat on the sofa, looking at the few boxes ready to go, reflecting on how her and her brothers got here. She didn’t mean to be all intensely mothering and take control. She wasn’t the eldest of the three, but through the loss of their parents and older brother, and now Holt not being quite himself lately, she felt she had to do something to keep the three of them going.

They had assimilated well into life on Earthuu, been accepted by The Enhanced Beings Collective, and in large, the citizens of this earth. They were now being given the independence to relocate to the Nevada desert, just outside of Las Vegas and Mindy craved the opportunities to take on projects like her friend Kimona was doing in Miami. This really was a fresh new start for them. And hopefully in time, Holt will have been able to process his feelings and begin to move on, like they had to with their parents, as hard as that was.

She considered seeing if Holt needed a hand but reckoned he wouldn’t be up for that after earlier. She’ll just apologise in the morning. Mindy sighed deeply, a combination of tiredness and pensive thought, and got up to go to bed.

***

The hot Kansas sun beat down, with only a slight breeze taking the edge off the sizzling on the skin. Holt, Blane and Mindy were stood with The Secretary outside the hangar as a team of people loaded up their boxes, before heading for Nevada. The four of them were going to travel together, with The Secretary showing them around their purpose built house for the first time.

“The Nevada desert is perfect for you three. Holt, the sun will provide you with endless flow of pure energy. Mindy, the evenings can get cooler and Blane, the internet in Las Vegas is really quick… there is something for everyone there,” she explained, back when the idea of moving there was discussed.

Mindy had fallen in love with the idea of moving to New York City, occupying some magnificent penthouse in Manhattan, being close to the heart of shopping, but because Brad was already there and with the magnitude of their strengths, a highly densely populated area would be risky should they be the target of an attack.

That idea suited Holt who had fallen in love with the temperatures Texas had to offer but he wasn’t so sure he wanted to be so close to The Rodeos. Blane just wanted to be somewhere busy which had something to offer. And that was how they settled on Nevada, close to Vegas.

“We really appreciate this, Ma’am,” Blane said as the last of the boxes were loaded up.

“No, you’re welcome. It’s about time you had somewhere truly of your own. Shall we get on the jet now? After you,” she motioned for them to ascend the steps onto the jet and followed behind them.

“Next stop, home,” Mindy declared.

The flight didn’t last long, even without pushing the jet to it’s maximum speed, the journey lasted over thirty minutes. The view of Vegas sprawled out in the desert was breath taking. They flew over the city, taking in the plethora of exciting shaped buildings that lined the famous strip. From their height, it looked like a model of a city, ready to play with.

Their new home was just outside of the city, very much isolated and made to measure. They landed on the designated landing zone, which then descended below the ground. A hidden door slid over across the mouth of the hole they were now in. The lift system took them down into a small garage hangar looking area. The Secretary looked at the triplets and their looks of awe.

“This is where your jet will be, housed underground. You have access from the house which we will take in a moment. From house to being airborne above ground will take less than two minutes.”

They disembarked from the jet and headed for an elevator door to take them to the house.

“To come down here, there are three shoots for you to take from the house, but when you come back into the house, you can just take this lift up together.”

The elevator opened, and they found themselves in the huge lobby area of the house. It was large, pristine and sleek, modern and fresh. They loved it.

“So let’s do a quick tour. You can explore more later. We have six bedrooms all with ensuites so take your pick later. No need for arguments!” she chuckled to herself. “Open plan kitchen-diner, there’s the living space here but there are also two further den rooms or snugs elsewhere in the house. You’ll also find a twenty seat big screen room for films or games. Blane, it’s not for you to hog for yourself.” She gave him a playful eyebrow raise. “The garden, as you saw coming in, is through the back there. There are several areas within the garden- pool, social and private areas with a nice lawn. Everything you could need, so feel free to check out when I’ve gone. There’s a sound system connecting to the garden and every room for music or should we need to alert you to anything.”

“And what about defences?” asked Blane.

“Good question. The property is bordered with a perimeter fence and at the end of the two hundred metre drive is a gate with intercom and camera. There are sentries and surface-to-air missile launchers underground that will pop up if there is any breach. Believe me, they work. There are anti-vehicle measures fitted on the drive to stop or slow down any vehicle which is not permitted. You have access to this all from your control room in the centre of the house. You need to scan your eyes to get into it and back out.”

“Back out?” queried Mindy.

“Sure. If someone determined enough takes your eyes out to get into the room, they’re not likely to think to take them in with them. It’s kinda gross, so if they get in there for what they want, they’ll find that they’ll be trapped inside ready for when backup arrives.”

“Huh. Suppose you can’t argue with that logic,” Holt piped up.

“Oh and I forgot to say, you have a gardener once a week.”

“Wow, you’ve thought of it all,” praised Blane. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. I think that’s it, but once your belongings have been unloaded, we’ll be off to leave you to settle.”

Hours later, the triplets were sat together in the kitchen area around the island. The Secretary and the relocation team had long gone and the three had each chosen their bedrooms and explored the house and garden. Pizza takeout had since been ordered and delivered, which is what they were eating as they sat together.

“Even this pizza tastes better here,” marvelled Blane. Mindy swallowed her mouthful and laughed.

“It’s the same company we usually get.”

“But this is Vegas pizza. It tastes of freedom and independence! How’s yours Holt?”

“Alright, thanks,” he dully answered.

“Maybe they left the extra freedom off from your toppings,” suggested Blane.

Holt just shrugged, not really getting into the spirit of the occasion. Mindy rolled her eyes at Blane who did a silent theatrical shrug behind his back, but Holt caught them.

“What?!” he demanded, his pizza slapping back into the box as he dropped it. “Why did you both do that at me? You think I wouldn’t notice?”

“Brother, take it easy,” started Blane. “We didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Sure you did. Just say it if you have a problem."

Mindy and Blane exchanged glances. “We just feel that you aren’t as fun anymore. This is an exciting time for us and you’re just not into it as much as we’d like,” Mindy explained.

“We get that you are missing Lucas…” Blane started to say.

“And that this is probably something you’d have wanted to share with him…” Mindy continued.

“...But we just hoped that you’d be able to enjoy sharing it with us too.”

There was a shared silence as Holt didn’t say or do anything.

“I don’t think he’d want to see you like this,” Mindy finally suggested.

“Don’t you dare assume what he would or wouldn’t like. You didn’t know him like I did,” Holt snapped back. This was the real first time that Blane and Mindy were getting a show of emotion from their brother for a while. He stormed off again, leaving his pizza where it was.

“Shall we go after him?” Mindy asked Blane. “I’m tired of this stroppy adolescent routine.”

“You can, I’m finishing off everyone’s freedom pizzas!”

Mindy charged off out of the kitchen, following Holt into the garden.

“Holt, stop. Please!”

“Go back into the house, Mindy. Leave me alone!”

“No we have to talk. I need you to know we’re here for you. That you can talk to us. We got each other through the loss of our parent's and Tarron...”

“I don’t want to talk to you!” he yelled back.

“Tough! This can’t go on any longer!”

Holt turned and paced up to Mindy getting very close to her. “You can’t take it any longer? Well maybe I’ll move back to The Facility so you don’t have to!” He threw his arms out and Mindy scoffed.

“Don’t be stupid, that’s-”

“Oh so I’m being stupid too am I?” and through a surge of bottled up emotion he lashed out, pushing his sister. She stumbled back a few steps and looked in horror at her brother and what he had become.

Instinctively she punched him back in the face. He had so much anger in his eyes, and he took off, leaping into the night sky. Mindy was straight after him, chasing him over the desert. Blane caught them flying off from the kitchen as he continued to chew on his pizza.

Mindy fired a short burst of her moon beam at him, hitting him on the shoulder and causing him to veer sharply to the right. He turned mid-air and retaliated with a sunbeam blast. Mindy dodged it by going up and gaining the height advantage.

Holt recovered and they flew directly at each other. What followed was an aerial dog fight, the two siblings exchanging blows, dodging blows and firing their respective brand of beam all whilst soaring above the lightscape of Las Vegas.

Mindy got a hold of Holt by the shoulders and gave him a blast of ice that sharply spread across his upper body. Taking advantage of his momentary incapacity, she roundhouse kicked him, launching him into the dark depths of the desert. Holt crashed into the dusty ground hard, but by the time Mindy caught up with him, he had thawed out and was picking himself up.

“Do you really want to carry on like this?” called out Mindy, rolling her shoulders as she walked towards him.

“Oh, I can keep going!” snarled Holt, readying himself.

“But do we need to? Can’t we just talk?”

“You’ve made your thoughts clear.”

“So then why can’t you? You’d rather fight with your sister?”

“Well I do already feel better for it,” he toyed.

Mindy clenched her fists and rose into the sky. “Well then let’s finish this.”

They began to charge at each other again but a stream of purple beam landed between the two of them, stopping them from progressing their fight.

“Stop, the pair of you now!” yelled Blane, hovering above them. “Come with me, you two.” Blane started ascending higher. "Now!" Mindy followed and then reluctantly Holt after.

“Where are we going?” Mindy asked.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

They went higher and higher, out of the Earth’s orbit towards the moon. Blane touched down first and sat down on a crater’s edge, looking down on the planet they now called home. Holt and Mindy landed and stood in front of him.

“Why are we here?” Holt demanded to know. He had calmed down slightly since his brawl with his sister was interrupted.

“I just wanted you to see what I see.”

“It’s Earthuu. What else are you seeing?” Holt asked.

“I see our new home. I see a fresh start for us. I see a chance for us to make something of ourselves.”

Holt and Mindy turned to look at Earthuu to appreciate the same thing as their mediating brother saw.

“Holt, listen to what I’m saying," Blane said. "Lucas is dead. He’s gone. It sucks so much, I know. It sucks for you. It sucks for us too, but in a different way, I know. There could have been a lifetime for you two to be together, and it's been taken away from you. It's heart breaking. I also know that we are still reeling from the death of Tarron and our parents, and boy, that still makes me so mad. But down there is our new life. We don’t forget about those we lose. We work together, we support each other and we move on. But if we fight against each other, we lose that ability and we no longer have the Power of Three. Mindy has just been trying to help you. To get you to understand your pain, and to share it with us. We love you, Holt.”

Holt stared out at Earth, their new Earth, with tears filling his eyes.

“I know you do. Both of you,” he finally croaked. "I'm so sorry."

"We know you are," Blane said.

“We have a new crazy beautiful home that we should be enjoying together as a trio,” Mindy softly said.

“I think we should have a party,” suggested Holt, wiping his eyes.

“A civilised one, though. I don’t want the house to get wrecked so soon,” Blane said, agreeing to the idea.

“It’s beautiful up here isn’t it?” Mindy said reflectively, after a pause.

“It really is,” Holt agreed. “Do you come up here often?”

“Sometimes, yeah. Just to think or watch.”

“It’s a nice spot. Thanks for sharing it with us.” Mindy said.

“And thanks for stopping us from fighting too,” Holt laughed.

“I knew Mindy kicking your ass wasn’t going to help you,” teased Blane, causing Holt to playfully push his brother over.

“I’d have done better in the day time,” he protested.

“Excuses, excuses!” The triplets, now reconciled, laughed together and continued to watch the world literally go by.