A Week to Remember: Chapter One – The Transdimensional Archives

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See my original story, "'Welcome to the Saga', for the disclaimer.

<h5><center> A Week to Remember Chapter One By Peter J. Smith </center></h5>

"Hey, there goes another one!" cried Scott excitedly, pressing his face against the window, watching as a large truck turned, crossed over the medium strip and drove away in the opposite direction. "Move over," I said, leaning out of my seat, cursing the fact that I had gotten stuck with the aisle-seat, "give me a look." "Wow," said Scott quietly, watching as the truck disappeared into the distance. "That's like the fifth one in the last ten minutes." I nodded, and smiled. "Don't you envy them?" "Totally." I laughed and sat back into my seat, glancing down the aisle to the bus's front windscreen to see if the traffic had given way yet. It hadn't – the cars on our side of the road were still all trapped in total gridlock. With the other side totally free of cars, more and more impatient drivers were deciding to forget about wherever they were going, drive over the grassy traffic island which separated the north and sound-bound lanes of the highway, and go home. With a dejected sigh, I collapsed back into my seat. Scott turned towards me. "Don't worry about it, we'll get there soon." I quickly held up my communicator/watch, checking the time. "You said that two hours ago." His brow lowered. "I did?" "Yep. And we were only about a hundred metres back down the road." "We were? Damn. Never mind," he concluded with a grin, and turned back to his vigilant watch. I smiled, shut my eyes and leaned back in the seat. Perhaps I should explain. Here we were, the entire sixth grade class of Currimundi State School, squeezed into two buses, on route to Tallebudgera Camp on the Gold Coast for a week of fun in the sun…and we were hopelessly stuck in traffic. And had been for the last three hours, actually. We'd left home about noon, were travelling through Brisbane by one o'clock, had hit the outskirts of the Gold Coast by two, and it was now a quarter to five. Of course, what the teachers who'd planned the camp had forgotten to take into account were the innumerable amount of cars that would be sharing the road with us. A sudden mental picture of the Stegozord rampaging down the road and crushing cars like aluminium cans with each step, its long tail swinging behind it, while I was sitting in the air-conditioned cockpit sipping lemonade appeared in my mind, and I burst out laughing, drawing several stares from the people around me. Regaining control of myself, I stopped laughing and thought back to the events of this morning. It was a bright, cloudless Sunday morning, and all one hundred or so sixth grade students had gathered at the school just before noon, with our luggage and sleeping bags piled on the grass behind us, all looking forward to the week ahead. After all, we were heading down to the Gold Coast, the massive "'supercity' which sits right on the border between Queensland and New South Wales and is renowned for its theme parks and famous surfing beaches, to spend a week at Tallebudgera Camp. The buses had arrived, and we began loading our luggage onto them. All our parents were there, as were Jason, Kimberly and Billy, who had wanted to come down and see the five of us off. Their class had been to Tallebudgera last year, when the three of them had been in the ninth grade, and they were all sure that we'd enjoy ourselves. "You'll have a blast," Jason told me, as he helped me stow my large black duffel bag onto the bus. "But just a couple of things – in the mornings, it gets cold, and I'm talking really cold. Be prepared. And also, if they take you canoeing, don't pick Canoe 13. The camp staff never say anything, but there's a reason that it's sitting at the back of the shed covered in cobwebs." I thanked my friend for his cryptic advice. "Anything else we should know?" He shook his head. "No, that's about all," he said. "Trust me, if you let your guard down for the week, you'll surprise yourself." And with, he'd given me a big bear-hug, I'd said goodbye to my parents, and hopped up onto the bus, where Scott had already saved me a seat. Three hours later, and here we were. The fifty kids onboard our bus had sung every bus song that you can sing (even some that you really shouldn't, especially when two of your teachers occupy the same bus as you), and had taken to watching the traffic to pass the time. The bus continued to slowly crawl along the highway, making headway every few minutes when the traffic would allow it, our chariot steadily carrying us to our destination. Up ahead, Mt Burleigh came into view and slowly inched closer, a seaside forested peak overlooking the crashing surf and resting in a small, protected environmental park, a mountain amid a sprawling metropolis. Once past the peak, the bus inched across the bridge spanning Tallebudgera Creek, and changed lanes. I couldn't help but smile excitedly when I saw a sign reading "'Tallebudgera Camp School' beside a small road leading off the highway. Scott, on the other hand, was literally bouncing up and down in his seat. I turned to him. "Excited much?" He laughed. "I am so looking forward to this!" "Evidently," I replied with a grin. The bus pulled off the highway and onto the sideroad, while behind it, the second bus did the same. The road followed the creek side-by-side, but then turned into a gravel driveway. Following this, the bus passed through a metal gate and stopped – we'd arrived. Looking out the window, I saw we were parked next to a small grassed area beside a row of about nine, small, single-storey square buildings, most certainly the cabins. A small path, leading towards the sand dunes, ran between the last cabin and a long, low building that I guessed correctly was the shower block. Beside this were two large, open buildings, one of which contained numerous chairs and tables and the other with a carpeted hall beneath a second storey. All the buildings sat around a large grassy field, facing in towards it, with tall, leafy trees every few metres apart. Sitting on the grass, however, were about sixty or so kids, three teachers, and a rather massive pile of luggage, all of whom were staring unimpressed at everyone in the two buses. Well, everyone except the pile of luggage, of course (a sentient pile of luggage, now there's an interesting concept). "I guess they're the group of kids we'll be sharing the camp with for the week," I said. Scott nodded. "Where are they from again?" he asked. "Goondiwindi, I think." Scott smiled. "Talk about a great first impression. We must be at least three hours late." "That's probably why they look so happy to see us," I observed. At that point, Mr Di Certo and Mrs Larson, the two Currimundi teachers on the bus with us, got out of their seats and quickly ushered us all out of the bus and onto the grass beside the driveway to unload our suitcases and sleeping bags. Very soon, we had our luggage piled in heaps on the grass, everyone sitting beside their own duffel bags. This accomplished, all the Currimundi teachers wandered over to the Goondiwindi teachers to mingle, and as the two buses started up and roared off out of sight, I turned back to the Goondiwindi students, and found that none of them had moved – they were all still silently staring the assembled Currimundi kids down. I would have liked to have known what was going through all their minds, actually. Certainly, they'd seen the news reports and read the articles about Caloundra, there was hardly a person on Earth who hadn't, but what would it be like meeting people who'd witnessed some of those events first-hand? "Good afternoon to you all," came a sudden voice, and everyone turned to look. Approaching us from the larger of the two halls was a tall, powerfully-built man who looked to be in his early thirties. He had blond hair and wore a slick pair of sunglasses, and was balancing a clipboard under his arm.. "Welcome to Tallebudgera Camp School," the man announced, once he'd reached us. "My name is Mr Burgess, and I'm the headmaster here." At this, there were a few groans in the crowd, but Mr Burgess grinned and continued talking. "Seriously, play by the rules, and you won't even notice me. First and foremost, since we're running late, we need to get the cabins sorted out. In the main hall," and he stopped and pointed back to the carpeted building, "there are seven dorms around the back. Four upstairs, and three on the ground. We've put the girls in the dorms, while all the guys will be sharing the cabins," and he signalled the line of cabins beside us. "We've mixed the two schools up, so we really don't want to hear about every room being split down the centre." With that, he reached for his clipboard and began reading names, assigning students to rooms. I turned away but kept half my attention on the man. He was going through the girls first, it'd be a while before he got to the guys, and I knew that Scott would be listening out for our names anyway. I leaned back, sitting on my bag, and began subtly studying the people around me, thinking back to the events of last night, the emergency trip to the Command Centre and what Zordon had told us all. All around me were beaming grins, faces, sparkling eyes, all happily chatting amongst each other. We'd been told to look for a "'someone', and now, we were surrounded by dozens of potential "'someones'. Far from hindering us, as we'd originally assumed the week at camp would do, this could actually work to our advantage. I turned back to Mr Burgess, snapping out of my daydream in time to hear, "…Peter Smith, and Scott Tiaron, in cabin twelve." "I take it we have a home," I said, turning to Scott. He nodded excitedly. "That we do." Mr Burgess finished the list and looked up at us. "Okay, that should be everyone," he said. "If your name wasn't mentioned, come and see me. You all have twenty minutes to unpack and settle in, and then we'll meet back in the main hall." With that, everyone quickly got to their feet, picked up their luggage and began drifting off to find their dorms. Scott and I managed to gather up all our bags and walked over to the concrete path, turning and following it down past the cabins until we reached number 12. "Hey Peter," began Scott, as we approached the cabin. "Yeah?" "Well, it's the eighth cabin, and including the girls dorms, its the fifteenth dormitory," he said. "So why is it number twelve?" I stopped on the path, confused. Checking the cabins behind us, I compared them with the door we were now facing, and realised that Scott was right. "I, uh, have no idea. Let's not ask questions." He nodded. "Agreed," he said, and opened the door. The interior of the cabin was small but airy, with large windows on either side of the room. We immediately saw that there were six double-bunks in the room – one on either side of the door, facing along the wall, two end-to-end along the back wall, and one more on each side wall, twelve beds in total. Scott pointed to the bunk in the back left-hand corner of the room, and we hurried over. "You sure you don't want the top bunk?" he asked, turning to me. "I know we talked about it in the bus, but…" I shook my head. "It's all yours. I'm always terrified I'll fall out during the night and kill something. Or myself." "Cool," he replied, and he leapt up. I sat down on the bunk, put my duffel bag on the floor beside the bed and unfolded my sleeping bag, spreading it out over the only-slightly-smelly mattress. By now, the kids who we'd be sharing cabin twelve with for the week had arrived, and were bringing their luggage into the room and choosing bunks. There were ten students including Scott and I, five from Currimundi and five from Goondiwindi. Still on cloud nine, Scott enthusiastically jumped down, and everyone began introducing ourselves. The three other Currimundi students were Jarred Lusk, a short, freckled red-head who was a nice, mostly quiet guy, Tom Smith, a very sporting kid with brown hair and soft eyes who inherited incredible diplomatic skills from his father, a high-ranking member of Caloundra City Council, and Matthew McConnell, a kid of average height and dark hair who I'd normally avoid like the plague because he's irritating as all hell. The five Goondiwindi students all seemed to be pretty decent guys. There was Grant McKenzie, a short, soft-spoken student who I didn't hear a word out of the whole week, Petey Jones, a student with short black hair who was apparently very intelligent and was best friends with Luke Graves, a tall blonde with rather prominent ears and a wicked sense of humour. The last two were Lochlan Everett, who was tall, had wavy brown hair and a beaming grin, and Ian Thompson, who was average-height, had sandy-blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and a warm smile, and was freckled from long hours spent in the outback sun. After we all shook hands and returned to our unpacking, I wandered outside to take a look around the cabin. A thin path ran down the side of the cabin, and at the back was a small grassy area, enclosed by a line of trees and a camp gardener's shed. A metal clothesline jutted out from the wall, and pieces of an older, broken clothesline sat rusting in the grass beneath it. Returning, I found Scott standing outside the cabin, and joining the group of other kids, we headed across the grass towards the main hall, where people were already beginning to gather. The hall was massive, a bright, colourful mural covering the concrete wall facing the carpetted area. The painting was of an ocean scene, with a smiling yellow sun above frothy blue waves, several divers as well as sharks, dolphins, jellyfish, turtles, swordfish and manta rays, completed by the ocean floor at ground level with lobsters, prawns and crabs. "Nice," I murmured quietly. "You like the picture?" Scott asked. I nodded. "Yeah. It's, uh, cheerful," I grinned. As the two of us entered the building, Mr Burgess entered from the other side, and crossing the room, stood in front of the mural. Outside, the sun had by now slipped beneath the horizon, and night was quickly descending. Despite this, the man's sunglasses remained glued to his face. Everyone had arrived in the hall, so he quickly organised us into the seating pattern that we'd be adhering to for the rest of the week. The girls were all seated on the left side of the hall, while the boys were put on the right, everyone sitting in straight lines in their cabin groups, one behind the other. Each row of guys sat next to a row of girls – I guessed that this would he how they'd team up all the cabin groups for the week's activities. Glancing forward, Scott and I saw that Brendan was sitting a few rows down from us, and Teresa and Sarah were in the line sitting beside his. "Right," began Mr Burgess with a smile. "Glad to see you all back again. Now, this is probably going to get very boring, but it's just standard house-keeping, so bear with me. First up, showers and toilets are in the long block over there, I'm sure you've already found them. The other hall is the food hall and kitchen, and you'll be eating all your meals there. This is the major meeting hall – after breakfast every morning, we'll all meet in here to assign activities. At the back," and we all turned around to see what he was referring to, "the teachers quarters and accommodation are through that door. They're strictly out of bounds, by the way. The staircase leads up to the second floor, which has offices, the camp nurse and a library, if you're desperately looking for something to do." "A library," I heard Matthew snicker, down the line. "Geeks." I smiled, and reaching out telekinetically, whacked him across the back of the head, laughing quietly when I heard a light "'thwack' and a loud, "Ow, what the hey was that?" Mr Burgess continued. "As for the groups in which you'll all be in for the week, each boy dorm will combine with the corresponding girl dorm, the line your line is currently sitting next to, and that is your group. You'll be in that group all week, so get used to them." There was quiet murmuring throughout the room then, as everyone turned to see who they'd gotten lumped with. Mr Burgess continued, going through each group, telling them which members of the camp staff would be their leaders for the week and assigning that group a mascot. There were dolphins, sharks, fish, seagulls, turtles, you get the idea. When he got to us, however, he introduced our camp guide, Mrs Manderson, a tall rugged-looking woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail, before giving us our animal. "Your mascot," he began with a slight smile, "is the mud-crab. You guys are the Muddies." At this, Scott and I turned to each other and mouthed silently "'muddies?' with raised brows. This had suddenly gotten a whole lot scarier. <center>~*~</center> The meeting went on for a while, just rules and the various things we could and couldn't do during our stay. It wasn't terrifically exciting, so I'll try and give you the condensed version. Mr Burgess explained the basic format of the camp to us – on each day, a different group would be on chore duty, which involved getting up early, sweeping, wiping down tables and other fun duties, and a list of the groups was hanging by the entryway to the food hall. Every day, we'd all be woken up at six o'clock for a morning jog on the beach, followed by breakfast. We'd then all meet back here for the day's activities. If we were out all day, we'd be taking a packed lunch with us. If not, we'd return to the dining hall at noon. In the afternoons, we'd have about two hours of free time, and Mr Burgess pointed out the sports field bordering the campsite on the south (with the gravel driveway and Tallebudgera Creek on the north, the beach on the east and the highway to the west) if we wanted to play football, soccer or cricket. Finally, dinner would be in the evenings, followed by various games and activities, supper (and with the promise of hot chocolate and biscuits, I know that I started paying attention) and then bedtime and lights out at ten thirty exactly. Finally, he added as an afterthought with a grin, at night, several security guards were on watch, patrolling the grounds from late until early in the morning, so we were advised against any late night strolls or pranks. If we needed to go to the bathroom late at night, there was a call button located in every cabin – once pushed, it would send a guard over. "And that," he finished, "is all. Enjoy your time here on camp. And as I'm sure you're all quite hungry, dinner is now being served in the dining hall. You're free to go." He needn't have told us twice. Everyone quickly got to their feet, left the building, and walked over to the dining hall. Three rows of long, wooden benches filled the hall, and at the front was a counter that everyone automatically lined up behind, with plates, bowls and cutlery. Further along were trays holding roast pork, chicken, and various vegetables as well as bread rolls. Several camp staff stood behind the counter, and behind them we could see into the kitchen. I made sure to grab about four bread rolls, passing over pretty much everything else, and followed Scott to a table, sitting down beside him. Just as the two of us began eating, we looked up to see Brendan, Sarah and Teresa walking quickly towards us, all with plates piled high with food. "Hey guys," said Sarah, as the three of them slid onto the benches. "Mind if we join you?" Scott shook his head. "Not at all," he said with a smile. "Sit down, sit down." "Someone's happy," grinned Brendan, as Scott began eating in earnest. "Try ecstatic," I said. At this, Scott tried to pout, but with a mouth full of food, it didn't look convincing. Teresa giggled at the sight. "So, you two settle in okay?" "No problems," I nodded. "Our cabin's not bad, actually. We're sharing with a bunch of really cool Goondiwindi kids. How have you guys been?" Brendan groaned dramatically. "Between the bus ride and that welcoming speech, I'm ready to nuke something just for fun." Sarah shook her head, buttering a bread roll. "Ignore him. Our bus ride was pretty fun. Somehow or another, we started singing show tunes, and didn't stop until we arrived." I laughed at the image, and turned to Brendan. "Well, with any luck, you'll have to suppress any "'search and destroy' impulses. We know our job for the week." Brendan nodded wordlessly, currently halfway through a sizable piece of chicken, and Teresa glanced quickly around the hall. "You know," she began, "all these people here…" "I had the exact same thoughts," I nodded. "Heck, we might not have much time…" "But at least we got one break," finished Scott. "Listen to the three of you," began Sarah with a slight smile. "We're on camp people, let's at least try to have some fun. In between the life and death struggles, of course." "Sound advice," nodded Teresa. Dinner continued on for a while, and after everyone had gotten back up to get dessert, Mr Burgess, sunglasses still fixed in place, stood up from the teacher's table and told everyone that we had a half hour to have a shower and clean up, and then to meet back in the main hall for some games and activities, or alternatively, an outdoor game of spotlight run through the darkened campsite. Brendan glanced to Scott. "That sounds like a bit of fun. You up for it?" Scott nodded. "Heck yeah," he laughed, and turned to me. "Want to join us?" I shook my head. "Nah, I think I might give it a miss." "You're kidding!" exclaimed Sarah, surprised. "Mr Ninja-Stealth himself who could probably beat us all at spotlight with a blindfold on and both hands tied behind his back is going to sit it out?" I laughed. "Trust me, I'd love to, but with everything that happened today, I just don't have the energy. I'll just hang around with you and Teresa, I guess." "Actually," began Teresa with a smile, "we were gonna grab our torches and join up with the guys." I clutched my chest, as if mortally wounded. "I'm crushed!" I groaned melodramatically. Sarah waved her hand as we all gathered up our plates and cutlery, and stood to our feet. "Ah, stop complaining," she grinned. We all split up and went back to our respective cabins to get ready. Once inside, Scott and I changed into warmer clothes, while the others excitedly got ready. On the other side of the room, I noticed Ian and Lochlan gleefully putting on camouflage-gear, and grabbing huge flashlights, they both hurried outside. I have to admit that, right about then, my sleeping bag was looking pretty tempting, but I really wanted to get to know everyone, so turning in for the night wasn't an option. Plus, at that moment, Scott grabbed me and physically hauled me out the door. We met up with the others waiting amid the large group of kids standing under the flagpole, and wishing them luck, I wandered into the hall. The camp staff had set up board games and things through the room, and a lot of kids were just sitting and talking. Petey and Luke, two of the Goondiwindi kids in our cabin, were already there, and they invited me over to sit with them. I walked over and sat down, and almost immediately began blushing when I heard the jokes they were telling each other. In all honestly, though, I have to admit, I did laugh. Quite a lot. That was pretty much how the night progressed. Every so often, Ian and Lochlan would come inside to gain a short reprieve from the fast-paced game outside, and we'd all sit and talk for a while. I could tell that we'd all get on well during the coming week. Scott, Brendan, Sarah and Teresa came in every so often as well, and sat with us before heading back out with renewed enthusiasm. <center>~*~</center> It was about ten o'clock when Scott came into the hall carrying two mugs of steaming hot chocolate, and walked over to where the three of us were sitting. "Hey," I began, then smiled as he sat down and handed me a mug. "Ooh, a present?" Scott laughed. "They started serving supper on the landing of the dining hall a little while ago. Thought I'd bring you some." "Many thanks," I replied, and lifting the mug to my mouth, I took a sip. My eyes suddenly went wide, and my first thought was that I was in heaven. The chocolate milk tasted incredible, euphoric. It was creamy, thick and warm – in other words, almost indescribably good. We both lowered our mugs and exchanged glances. "Not so good?" asked Luke. I shook my head. "Exactly the opposite, take a sip," and I offered him my mug. He took one short drink, his expression remaining neutral, before lowering the cup and handing it back to me. Turning, he grabbed Petey's arm. "We are getting some of that right now," he said, and forcibly dragged his friend out of the building and towards the food hall without another word. Scott and I watched them disappear into the ever-growing crown of kids queuing gathering some supper. Apparently word was getting around. Scott took another sip. "Man, this stuff is awesome." I nodded. "No arguments here. How did the spotlight game go?" "It was pretty good," he replied. "The girls retired a little while ago, they said to say goodnight, and I think Brendan went to have a shower before heading in for the night." I yawned and glanced at my watch/communicator. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. The lights all go out in about fifteen minutes anyway." Scott nodded, and we stood up. "Sounds like a great plan," he said. "Wanna stop and get some more hot chocolate?" "I thought you'd never ask." The two of us quickly lined up for two more mugs of hot chocolate and downed them, before heading back towards cabin twelve. Once inside, we changed into our pyjamas and slid into our sleeping bags. I was suddenly very glad that my sleeping bag was so thick, as the temperature had long since gone right past "'cold' and was now definitely within range of "'freezing'. All the rest of our roommates eventually made it back to the cabin, and the lights around the camp visible outside the windows all switched off at exactly ten thirty. Everyone, I think, had hopes of sitting up late and talking until well after midnight, but not surprisingly, it didn't come to pass. We were all asleep within minutes. a.b£