Mitchell's Revenge
Orlov homestead at Noo on Tarasov

Anja was finishing an assignment ather desk in her room, when Daria strode in. Anja swivelled her chair around toface her.

“Today we go to Achernar,” Dariaannounced.

Anja’s heart leapt in her chest. Atlast she had a chance to leave the homestead. She watched Daria’s face closelyas she explained the purpose of the trip.

“Today you will try out for apartner. It’s time you began to work properly. We have three boys to choosefrom,” she said. “You will dance with each of them, and see how you get along. Accordingto my information, their mothers want them to be champions. And they know theconsequences if they fail.”

Anja shivered. She had nightmaresabout Lake Ladogat and the young man who died in its boiling waters. In herdreams the colour of the water changed from deep violet to pink to blood red. Sheusually woke up screaming. Then she’d lie awake until she was too tired to do anythingbut sleep.

“Are you listening to me?” Dariademanded. Anja re-focussed her attention on Daria.

“Yes, yes,” she replied. She stoodup.

“You will also be measured for yourcompetition costume,” Daria said. “The costumier will be at the tryouts. Heneeds to see how you move and what your potential is. Then he will makesomething to suit.”

“Do I have any say in what the costumelooks like?” asked Anja. “If I like it then I will perform better for you.”

Daria looked at the girl insurprise. She was an old head on young shoulders. Anja took everything inaround her and she learned fast. Her progress to date was remarkable. It wouldbe interesting to see how she worked with a real partner from now on.

“I will think on it,” she replied. “IfI say yes, then you should think about what you would like.” Anja nodded.

“Thank you,” she said meekly.

“You remember Elena Zeitsev, don’tyou?” asked Daria, as Elena appeared in the doorway. Anja smiled at her over Daria’sshoulder. Elena put her forefinger to her lips and shook her head imperceptiblyas she stepped into the room. Anja’s smile faded. Elena was dressed in militaryfatigues and had a heavy sidearm holstered at her waist. She bristled with comstech.

“As we’re leaving the homestead,we’ll need protection,” Daria explained. “Elena will be our bodyguard today. Youwill not think about trying to run, hide, or anything else. She will be incontact with Anton here at the homestead at all times. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Hello Anja,” said Elena quietly. “It’sgood to see you again. You’ve grown ten centimetres since I last saw you.”

“Hello Elena,” Anja said, standingstraight. “I have, and I’m stronger now too. I’m learning to dance.”

“I heard,” said Elena, smiling ather now. “I’m looking forward to seeingwhat you’ve learned. You’d better dress for travel now. We’re leaving in twentyminutes.”

Half an hour later they were on theroad to Achernar. Anja was reminded of just how flat and featureless thelandscape was. There was nothing to indicate how far they’d come or thedirection they were travelling in. Petr was their driver again and they weretravelling in the same land carrier she had arrived in. Elena sat up front withPetr and Anja shared the rear seat with Daria.

On the outskirts of Achernar Elenabegan to direct Petr through the city. They travelled through what looked toAnja like a commercial district. There were warehouses and long flat buildings withnumbers above their doorways. There was no signage and nothing to indicate thenames of the companies that operated from here. The occasional heavy vehiclepassed by. There was very little other traffic.

Eventually they came to a stopoutside one of the long flat buildings. It had a stylised number five on thefront. Anja saw from her vantage point above the street that there was nowhereto run, so she resigned herself to behaving perfectly. Except for her tutor,she’d had no contact with anyone else on the planet other than the Orlov family.Elena escorted them from the vehicle.

Anja carried her case containingher practice dresses and several pairs of shoes. She’d managed to scavenge somesweets from the kitchen and a couple of bottles of water. She had a feeling itwas going to be a long day. Daria explained on the journey that she had made anappointment for each boy. They were expected to arrive promptly for the tryout.She allowed time between the completion of the tryout and the next appointmentso that they could discuss and evaluate the performance.

Daria opened the door to numberfive and led Anja through a narrow entry way that opened into a long barn of aroom. Elena followed behind them and positioned herself near the doorway. Abeautifully polished timber floor stretched from where they were standing tothe end of the room. Mirrors lined the wall on the right hand side from the ceilingto the floor. Bench seats lined the left hand side and Anja could see a doorwith the intergalactic man/woman symbols on it which indicated change rooms andtoilets.

There was a counter with a watercooler on it and tall glasses. Anja could see music tech on the other side ofit. There were speaker domes built in to the ceiling at regular intervals. A thindark haired man emerged from behind the counter and glided towards Daria. He hadthe same ice blue eyes, which looked odd with his dark hair.

“Darling!” he exclaimed as hereached her with his arms outstretched. She smiled as he hugged her close. Anjastood by not quite knowing where to look. Daria released herself from hisembrace and stood at arm’s length.

“I have found quite a talent Givi,”she said excitedly. “This is Anja.” She gestured towards her protege. Anjasmiled nervously at him and clutched her dress case in front of her.

“This is my brother, GiviSafronov,” Daria explained to Anja. “He is in charge of this dance school. Heknows music, he teaches dance, and he designs and makes the most divinecostumes. He will be creating your dresses. And he will help me decide on thebest partner for you today.”

Givi made strange clucking noisesas he circled Anja, examining her from head to foot. It was unnerving to saythe least. She felt as if she were on display in a shop window. He walked backto Daria’s side and stood with his hands on his slim hips.

“She‘s perfect darling,” he said. “AndI think I know which boy will do today.” He glanced at the clock on the wallbehind the counter. “Let’s get organised. The first one will be here soon.”

“You can get changed in there,” Dariapointed towards the change rooms. “Elena will stay with you at all times.” Shegestured to Elena to follow Anja.

“Ballroom first,” she went on. “Thenjust change shoes for Latin. It will be enough to see the partnershippossibilities.”

Anja did as she was told. As the girland the mercenary disappeared into the change rooms the door chimed. Givi wentto meet the first boy. He arrived with his mother, sister and aunt, all of whomhad a vested interest in his success. He was eleven years old, blond haired andblue eyed and as tall as Anja. The whole family knew there was money to be madefrom partnering an Orlov daughter.

In the change rooms, Elena stoodclose to Anja and swiftly switched off all her coms gear. She had only a fewseconds before Anton would become suspicious. Anja looked questioningly at her.

“I will get a message to yourfamily,” she whispered to Anja. “For that I will need your measurements and thepattern for your dress.”

She switched the coms back on. Anjanodded and smiled broadly at her. Her mind went into overdrive as she hung herdresses on the hooks provided and put her shoes in a row on the floor. Shewondered what pattern could she invent that would send a message to Sibil thatshe was alive. The measurements alone would not be enough because she had grownso much since she left EQ2. She changed into a ballroom practice dress and wriggledthe suede soled shoes onto her feet.

“I’m ready,” she said to Elena.

They returned to the ballroom toreplace the first boy already changed and waiting for them. The tryout processbegan with the ballroom. Givi selected the music and watched with Daria as thetwo youngsters paired up and began to dance.

Anja did exactly as she had beentaught. But she found it very difficult to dance with someone her own age andheight. Everything felt different. And she didn’t feel comfortable with thisboy at all. They stumbled and crashed into each other. He pulled her right armstraight and lifted her left shoulder up. He held her so tightly to him thatshe felt she couldn’t breathe. It was not an enjoyable experience. After thefour ballroom dances, she changed her shoes and danced the Latin. This wasmarginally better but still not good.

When they finished, the boy and hisfamily were thanked and dismissed. It was a unanimous decision that this onewas no good. Anja had time for a drink and some sweets before the next boyarrived. They went through the process again. Still no good. That left the lastone. She had some time to catch her breath as they waited for him.

Half an hour later the door chimedand Elena ushered the family in. This time the boys’ father accompanied thegroup. Both parents were tall and graceful, blond haired and blue eyed. Anjacould see they had been dancers when they were young. She shook their hands asshe was introduced. The father explained that they had been young competitorslike her, and they were now returning to competition in the senior ranks. Thewhole family travelled together to the events and supported each other throughthe rounds.

Aleksandr Ostrakov was a fraction tallerthan Anja, and at age eleven, had only one year left in the junior ranks. Hehad short blond hair and grey eyes. He stood up very straight and his eyestwinkled as he was introduced to Anja.

“Just call me Aleks,” he said as heshook hands with her.

She liked him immediately. Heseemed fun to be around and his parents were very nice to her. This tryout wasquite different to the other two. Aleks asked Anja lots of questions about whatshe had learned, how she had been practicing, how she felt about it, what shethought of the music and which dances she liked the most. Once he had a goodidea of what she had been doing he offered his hand to her and led her onto thefloor.

Givi chose a lovely waltz for thefirst dance. Aleks explained to Anja how she should position herself againsthim, waited for the right beat and started to dance a series of simple stepsthat she could follow easily. They moved together, one two three, one twothree, down the floor. It still felt strange to Anja and she could feel her entirebody getting tense.

Aleks stopped moving at the far endof the room and stepped back from Anja. He held both her hands gently in hisand explained how to follow him. He reminded her to breathe as they moved. Theyset up in the ballroom hold and started to move again. This time it was easier.Anja started to get a sense of what his lead meant.

“This one has possibilities,” Giviwhispered excitedly to Daria. She nodded, never taking her eyes from theyoungsters.

“I think he’s the one,” she agreed.“If he’s going to be a champion in this grade, he has to do it this year. He’llbe too old in another twelve months.”

Givi changed the music to tango. Anjaand Aleks went through the same process for this dance. Half an hour later theyhad danced four ballroom and four latin dances and were looking morecomfortable together. When they finished Daria instructed them to sit by her towatch Alek’s parents demonstrate how it could look with some work.

Ivan and Irina Ostrakovdemonstrated all five ballroom dances, including the Viennese waltz, and thenthe five Latin dances, including the Paso Doble. They were very talenteddancers. Anja decided she loved the Paso Doble, but was quickly told by Dariathat she would not be learning that yet. And certainly not for the competitionthey were preparing for. She would have enough work with eight dances.

When they finished, Anja wasdespatched with Elena and Givi to the change rooms to be measured for hercostumes. Elena again stationed herself at the door. Givi fussed around Anja asshe stripped down to her underwear. He told her to stand still while hemeasured her waist, hips, chest, neck, arms, shoulder width and height.

As he muttered the measurements tohimself, Anja repeated them loudly enough for Elena to hear. He then tappedthem onto his handipalm which displayed a photo of Anja staring out at him.

“Thank you,” he said as he tapped. “That’svery helpful. I might actually get these right.”

Anja winked at Elena as he finishedtapping the information into the unit. She nodded imperceptibly. Givi turned toface Anja.

“Now,” he said. ‘Daria has agreedto let you have some say in the pattern for your ballroom dress. But you haveno say for the Latin one. What have you thought about?”

“Fireflies,” said Anja immediately.Givi frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Fireflies,” Anja repeated. “Youknow, small dots of light that flicker as they move.”

“No I don’t actually,” replied Givi.“I’ve never seen anything like that. You’d better explain a bit more.”

“We have them on EQ2. They are tinybugs that glow at night. They flicker. They fly very fast, as if they aredancing, like this,” Anja gestured a figure of eight shape in front of her. “Likeslalom skiing around poles.”

“I don’t know about that either,”replied Givi, “But I get the general idea. I’m sure I can work that kind ofpattern into the programming. It could look very pretty on the floor. Do youlike any particular colour?”

“I like blue and silver,” shereplied.

“That would look very good withyour blond hair and blue eyes,” he replied. “Good idea. Leave it to me!” Hescurried off, leaving her to change back into her street clothes.

When she and Elena returned to theballroom the deal was done. Aleks Ostrakov was to be her partner. He smiled ather and shook her hand again.

“I look forward to working withyou,” he said formally, and made a little bow. Anja smiled back at him.

“That’s enough now,” said Daria. “Alekswill come to the homestead three times a week for four hours. Once a week youwill both practice here on the big floor. Givi will make your costumes, andthen we’ll see what else we need to do. It’s time to go, we need to get backbefore dark.” She gestured to Elena to escort the Ostrakovs out of thebuilding.

They followed shortly after. Anjasat in the back of the transport feeling exhausted but relieved. Aleks was verynice. Perhaps it would be alright after all.