Olesya stepped into the mess a few minutes late for breakfast. It smelled of instant coffee and overcooked scrambled eggs. She was the last recruit from Firebird to arrive, and after what happened this morning, she preferred it that way.

Her appetite was almost zero, so she skipped the overcooked eggs and dry bacon that most recruits shoveled down their necks and settled for a liquid breakfast: a bland-tasting coconut shake, purposely missing all the chocolate so the recruits wouldn’t go crazy on sugar. So no one would question her appetite, she placed a cup of coffee and a snack-sized packet of cashews on her tray.

By now, all of Firebird were halfway through their breakfast and chatting among themselves. She felt Ark’s stare as she walked to an empty table. Another recruit shifted from Ark’s table to hers, sitting opposite her.

‘So you’re Olesya?’ Xiu asked.

She was reading off Olesya’s nametag, but Olesya nodded anyway.

‘Welcome to Firebird Squad, I’m Xiu.’ She pronounced it as she-you. ‘Where are you from?’

‘Russia,’ Olesya said. ‘Technically I’m from Belarus, but my family moved to Russia. And you are from—’

‘America.’ Xiu grinned. ‘Technically from China.’

Xiu didn’t say anything more. Instead, she ate her eggs in silence, her eyes wide and focused. Under the fluorescent light, Olesya could see freckles scattered across Xiu’s pink cheeks and threads of amber in her brown eyes.

Xiu’s movements were smooth and quick, so quick that a mouthful of scrambled eggs slipped from her fork onto her lap. That would’ve annoyed Olesya, but Xiu didn’t seem to care. She wiped her chin with the back of her hand and collected the egg with her fork. It looked funny, but Olesya was careful not to smile. Xiu caught Olesya staring.

‘Your father never hit you, did he?’ Xiu said.

Olesya swallowed. ‘No.’

Xiu tucked a strand of raven-black hair behind her ear. ‘So why did you say that to Ark?’

‘I was just … trying to make a connection.’

‘What you said to him, no one’s ever gotten away with that before.’ Xiu seemed almost amused. ‘But you said it better than most.’

‘Thanks.’

Xiu chewed thoughtfully. ‘So, English Squad, huh? All this time and then they just throw you in with us.’

Olesya nodded. ‘I don’t know why they decided to move me.’

Xiu’s small lips curled into a smile. ‘I was born in America and your English is better than mine.’

‘But I have an accent.’ Olesya felt her cheeks warm. ‘And I think you overestimate me.’

‘We’re all here because we’re special,’ Xiu said. ‘You don’t think so?’

Olesya sipped her shake. ‘We’re different.’

‘I saw your test results last year.’

That seemed so long ago, Olesya could scarcely remember that. She couldn’t even remember arriving at the base. ‘Nothing out of the ordinary.’

‘What I saw this morning, you ran rings around our squad leader and he didn’t even know it,’ Xiu said, leaning in. ‘That wasn’t ordinary.’

Xiu stopped talking when Jay sat next to her and started eating from his tray. He had high cheekbones, an amber complexion and an ever-present smirk.

‘Sorry about our squad leader,’ he said, between mouthfuls of bacon. ‘He can be a bit of a dick.’

Olesya looked down. ‘I don’t think he likes me much.’

‘Ark can be a bit difficult,’ Xiu said. ‘But we’re family.’

Another recruit sat next to Jay with his own tray of food. His nametag read Damien. He had pale olive skin, scruffy hair, and a nose slightly too big for his face.

‘So you’ve met our squad leader?’ Damien asked. At least he still had a slight Italian accent.

‘Unfortunately,’ Olesya said.

Damien shook his head. ‘There was this one time at the range, the rear sight on my pistol was stuck and I couldn’t adjust it.’

Jay elbowed him. ‘Yeah, I bet Helldiver sabotaged it on purpose.’

‘My point is, we had this big test and my shots were off,’ Damien said. ‘I wasn’t going to qualify. I told the instructor and he just blamed me, told me there was nothing wrong with the sights. He didn’t even bother to check.’

Damien paused to sip his juice.

Jay cleared his throat. ‘When the instructor wasn’t looking, Ark swapped his pistol with Damien’s.’

Damien nodded. ‘I just scraped through.’

‘What about Ark?’ Olesya asked.

‘His shots before that were dead center, tight grouping,’ Jay said. ‘Even with Damien’s messed-up pistol, he just managed to qualify.’

‘Ark looks out for us,’ Damien said. ‘Give him time and he’ll look out for you too.’

‘What if I’m not good enough?’ Olesya asked. ‘Then I get all of you disqualified. What happens then?’

Xiu, Damien and Jay exchanged glances.

‘We don’t know,’ Damien said.

‘I can tell you my theory,’ Jay whispered. ‘When you’re disqualified, they—’

Xiu held up her hand. ‘No one wants to hear your theory, Jay.’

‘Fine, whatever.’ Jay accidentally spat bacon into her shake. He looked at the table behind them and ran off the names of every recruit in Firebird Squad and their ‘inherent abilities’.

‘Sitting next to Ark, that’s his sister, Val,’ Jay said. ‘She has really good night vision and she can see ultraviolet stuff. Ark’s ability is magnets or whatever it’s called. Pretty lame ability. I never said that though.’

Val had the same curly brown hair, but longer, and her face wasn’t narrow like Ark’s. She was actually quite pretty, Olesya thought. Hard to believe she was Ark’s sister. Val caught them looking at her and smiled. She seemed friendly.

Olesya watched as she turned to Ark and rattled her fist. He did the same. They both shook their fists three times, then she opened her palm while he opened his fist into a finger gun. It looked like they were playing some sort of game and he’d lost. It showed on his long face as she pinched the last of his bacon.

‘Val keeps him in check and he looks out for her, just like the rest of us,’ Jay said. ‘But they’re super tight.’ He paused. ‘Tight is like close. They’re real close.’

‘I got it.’ Olesya nodded. ‘Tight.’

Xiu followed her gaze to the table across from Firebird.

‘Who are they?’ Olesya asked.

‘Helldiver Squad,’ Xiu said.

Olesya noticed the girl a few shades darker than Jay. She had tightly drawn lips and dark springy hair tied in a bun.

‘That’s Nasira, their squad leader,’ Xiu said.

Jay risked a glance. ‘She never smiles.’

‘Don’t stare,’ Xiu said.

Olesya averted her gaze and caught a smirk from Xiu.

‘Not you, Olesya.’ Xiu nodded to Jay. ‘I meant him.’

Jay nudged Damien. ‘Tell her your ability. It’s a good one!’

Damien had just started to delicately eat his breakfast, one food group at a time. He cleared his throat and looked up. ‘Um, they call it thermogenesis.’

Jay groaned. ‘That’s too complicated, I told you to call it Thermo! It sounds way cooler.’

‘How does it work?’ Olesya asked.

Damien leaned forward and wrapped his hand around Olesya’s cold cup of coffee. Nothing happened for a while. He released it and she could see steam rising.

Jay grinned. ‘We make him do that all the time, it’s real handy.’

‘What’s yours?’ Olesya asked.

‘I can electrocute stuff,’ Jay said, reaching for her cup.

Olesya quickly moved it from his reach.

Jay looked dejected. ‘I call it Electro.’ He moved his hand toward Xiu but she was quick to intercept it, gripping his wrist.

‘Shock me again and I’ll shave your eyebrows while you sleep,’ Xiu said.

Jay pried his wrist free and rubbed it. ‘Xiu’s ability is she’s a total ninja. Reflexes like a cat. The testicle system—’

‘Vestibular system,’ Xiu said. ‘Balance, agility. The scientists here call it Hyperequilibrioception.’

Damien chewed on his eggs. ‘They’re pretty keen to take that ability and give it to all of us.’

‘If we qualify,’ Jay said. ‘So what’s yours?’

Olesya’s mouth went dry.

‘Jay, not everyone has one.’ Xiu glared at him. ‘We were picked because of our special genetics, not whether we have party tricks. Plus, it’s rude to ask.’

‘Yeah, sorry.’ Jay leaned over to inspect Xiu’s breakfast. She slapped his hand, sending him into retreat.

‘Olesya doesn’t have to tell anyone her ability, unless she wants to,’ Xiu said.

Damien nodded in agreement. Jay did too, although he was busy peering over Damien’s breakfast. He spied a sausage on Damien’s plate and poked it with his fork.

‘Are you eating that?’ Jay asked.

The sausage was already in Jay’s mouth by the time Damien replied.

‘No, I’m not.’ Damien looked over at Olesya. ‘Just give Ark some time. He’ll come around.’

Olesya flicked the straw in her shake. ‘He reminds me a lot of my brother.’

‘Your brother tried out for this?’ Jay asked.

She nodded.

‘Was he eligible?’ Damien asked. ‘It’s totally the whole genetic thing. I’m an only child, but there’s heaps of brothers and sisters here.’ He nudged Jay. ‘Didn’t you say you had a brother?’

Jay rubbed his nose. ‘No.’

‘My brother should be here, not me,’ Olesya said.

‘Why would you say that?’ Xiu asked. ‘So you don’t want to be here?’

Olesya didn’t want to offend Xiu or the boys, they’d been so friendly. ‘Not as much as my brother did.’

‘He didn’t pass the trials?’ Jay asked.

‘Don’t talk with your mouth full,’ Damien said.

Olesya wet her cracked lips. ‘He passed everything but the stress tests.’

‘Yeah, they suck big-time,’ Jay said. ‘He buckled under pressure, hey?’

‘My parents were disappointed in him,’ Olesya said.

Jay smirked. ‘But you got in, right? You’re here.’

Olesya drank the last of her coffee. ‘Yeah.’

Xiu clapped her hands once, sharply. It made Damien jump and Jay choke on his food. Xiu ignored them. ‘Olesya, have you used a weapon before?’

‘A gun? No.’

Xiu leaned over her breakfast tray. ‘OK, so first rule is you don’t call them guns. They’re pistols, rifles, carbines, things that go boom,’ she said. ‘Second rule, you probably don’t get this in English Squad but we have two hours of free training after lunch. I’m no expert, but maybe I can show you a thing or two.’

‘Nice,’ Damien said.

‘Yeah, Xiu’s our best shooter.’ Jay grinned. ‘After me, anyway.’

Xiu tilted her head. ‘Jay, do you even remember our scores in close quarters?’

‘In my head,’ Jay said, ‘And I exaggerated the numbers a bit.’

Damien and Xiu laughed, and Olesya laughed with them. It was the first time she’d laughed in a while.

‘How about it?’ Xiu arched an eyebrow and Olesya saw a glint of mischief in her eyes.

‘You really want to help me?’ Olesya asked.

Xiu smiled. ‘We have to.’

Olesya’s packet of cashews rustled. She looked down to see Jay’s hand over it.

‘Are you going to eat those?’