Aberrant Trilogy 1: Super Charged (17 page)

“But -” I start to say, until my voice catches in my throat.

Kimberly comes walking down the front path towards Robby. She’s wearing cutoff jean shorts and a tank top. As she walks she ties her hair out of her face.

Robby gives me another smile.

“Kim said we can hang at her place,” he says.

I look to Grandpa and he gives me a wink.

“Like I said,” he goes on. “I think it would be a good idea.”

I gulp. Can’t argue with that.

___

“Just jump in!”

I am standing on the edge of the wooden dock, staring down into the green water of the lake. I don’t hesitate because the water looks dirty. It isn’t - I know that the green is the reflection of the trees all around us. But, the water is cold. I dip my foot into the water and quickly pull it back.

“This is freezing!” I say. “I can’t just jump in.”

Robby and Kimberly are already in the water. Robby has no qualms with swimming, though he is wearing an oversized pair of swimming shorts and a baggy t-shirt that clings to his chest. Kimberly, on the other hand, looks much more comfortable in the water. She’s sporting a two-piece swim suit that screams confidence.

Getting in the water seems like it could be a bad idea.

But, Robby splashes some water up at me. I jump back, crossing my arms over my bare chest.

“Hey!” I say. “Cut it out!”

“Just jump
in!
”

I roll my eyes.

He is being way too forceful, especially to someone who doesn’t know how to swim yet.

Kimberly, thankfully, is a bit more tactful.

She comes over to the edge of the dock and looks up at me.

“You can climb down if you want,” she says, pointing to the wooden ladder that extends into the water. “It’s not deep out here. Only up to my chest. So, it’s safe. I promise.” She stands up and shows me how high the water is.

This eases my nerves a bit and I nod, deciding that climbing into the water is much easier.

Slowly, painfully, I step deeper and deeper into the water.

I let out a shocked groan as I step off the ladder and my feet come to rest on the sandy bottom. The water is definitely up to my chest, and I hold my arms out to my sides, keeping them out of the water. The top of the water makes my skin tingle as the wind catches the areas of my skin where the water has just lapped. Goose bumps break out on my arms.

Kimberly and Robby both laugh.

“See?” says Robby. “Not so bad, is it?”

My jaw is quivering in the chill, but I nod, just to get them to stop beating me with how “easy” it is.

“Yeah,” I say. “Piece of cake.”

Kimberly makes her way over to me and, to my great shock, reaches up and takes my arms, guiding them into the water. She holds them there.

“You’re ninety percent there,” she says. “We just have to teach you how to get around. Are you ready to learn how to swim?”

As long as my lower half stays in the water
, I think uncomfortably.

I nod.

“Yeah,” I say. “Let’s do this.”

I hate to break it to the two of them, but I doubt I’m going to be a master swimmer after only a few hours of trying. Still, it doesn’t stop Kimberly from giving it her all, and Robby from cheering me on.

She teaches me how to float on my back, which is easier said than done, and I’m able to stretch my arms out ahead of me and pull them down to travel head-first across the water. This, she says, is the most crucial move to know because it’s the one to use when you’re exhausted. I have to admit, it’s the easiest.

The most energy-consuming swimming technique is treading water. I hate that with a passion.

I am guided out until the water is up to my chin and then instructed to kick my feet in a bicycle pedaling motion while I move my arms and hands horizontally near the water’s surface in a figure eight motion. This is supposed to keep my head above the water, but boy is it tiring.

I’m thankful to head back into shallow water after a good fifteen minutes of treading water.

Next I’m taught the traditional overhanded swimmer’s stroke. This one is kind of fun, and it gives me an excuse to be close to Kimberly as she helps me to stay horizontal in the water.

I really don’t know how Robby is able to be friends with Kimberly without it being awkward. If it
is
awkward, she doesn’t let on that she notices. The tone of the entire morning is easy-going and fun. There is a lot of laughter and joking around.

After a while Robby stops us in our horsing around.

“Hey, who’s that?” he asks, pointing up to the shore.

I look up past the dock to the spare-tire steps that are built into the hillside and am surprised to see Mae coming down them.

“Oh boy,” I say, suddenly self-conscious that one - I’m in nothing but a bathing suit in front of her, and two - how did I lose track of time so quickly? I was supposed to meet her at the house when Grandpa got home.

Mae gives me a wry smile when she spots me in the water and is holding my pair of shoes in her hands. As expected, they look pristine. She is quite a craftsman.

“Forgetting something?” she asks as she makes it to the dock.

Kimberly and Robby look at me, and I give them a sheepish grin.

“Who’s this?” asks Kimberly.

“I’m Mae,” Mae replies, not waiting for me to introduce her. “Shaun’s friend from Boston. He was supposed to spend the day with me.”

Robby, who has swam up beside me, gives me an elbow in the side, nearly knocking me completely into the water, and smirks.

“Spend the day, huh?” he says. “Sounds like a lot of fun.”

I give him a stern look and reply, “We’re working on a project together.”

This doesn’t quell Robby’s innuendo, and he keeps at it.

“Sure, sure, sure…” he says.

I go to get out of the water, but Mae stops me.

“Oh, don’t get out on my account,” she says. “It’s pretty hot out here. I think I might join you.”

“But, you don’t have a bathing suit,” I say.

In response, Mae reaches down and pulls off her shirt, revealing nothing but her under armor. She drops the shirt onto the dock as Robby’s and my own jaw drop as well.

That is the most daring thing I’ve ever seen Mae do, and I’ve seen her do some daring things. She’s in front of complete strangers and here she is stripping down to go swimming.

She’s already wearing shorts, so she kicks off her sandals and perches on the edge of the dock near the deep end. Without hesitating she dives off and slices into the water, disappearing for a few seconds.

Then her head breaks the surface and she blows the air out of her lungs, gasping for breath.

“It’s pretty crisp!” she says. “But, refreshing.”

She swims back over to us in the shallow end, brushing her dark hair out of her face.

“You must be Robby,” she says.

“Ah, so you’ve heard about me,” says Robby, giving me a wink. “Good things, I hope?”

“Of course,” says Mae, playing along. “If they were bad, I’d have to check with you to see if they were true.” She turns to Kimberly. “I haven’t heard of you, however.” I can’t tell if it’s just me, but there sounds like there’s a bit of bite in Mae’s tone as she addresses Kimberly.

“Kimberly Parker,” Kimberly replies, not holding out her hand to shake, understandably, since we’re all swimming. “Did Mr. Boding tell you how to get to my place?”

Mae shrugs. “It wasn’t too hard. I could hear you all from the road, actually, so I partially just followed the sound of your messing around.” She looks around. “This is a really nice place. We don’t have nice open areas in Boston. You’re really lucky.”

“Well,” I say, not wanting to give the impression that we weren’t lucky in the city. “We have the ocean, but that’s not the same thing.”

“I’m glad you made it,” says Kimberly, putting on the air of a gracious host. “We’re probably getting out in a bit, though.”

“Fine with me,” Mae replies. “Shaun and I have some work to get done anyway.”

Again, there’s that bite in her voice.

We all continue to hang in the water for a while longer than expected until one by one we each get out. I’m glad to be out of the water now since my skin is now wrinkly and my hands are pretty sore from all the cold.

Robby heads over to the stack of towels and hands one to Kimberly. Then he goes to hand one to me and looks at Mae.

“Whoops,” he says. “We only grabbed three towels.”

I go to hand my towel to Mae, but she walks past me.

“That’s okay,” she says, reaching down to take my t-shirt off the bench. She pulls it on and shrugs. “I’ll be fine with this.”

I am still holding the towel out to her, but she doesn’t take it. This is seriously a side of Mae that I have never seen before. What has gotten into her?

When she doesn’t take the towel, I use it to dry my hair and drape it over my shoulders.

“I guess we should probably get going,” I say to Robby and Kimberly.

“Hey, it was fun,” says Robby, drying off his arms. “It was really cool to meet you, Mae.”

“It was nice meeting you, too,” says Mae. “Both of you.”

Then she motions for me to follow her up the steps. She grabs the shoes off the bench and we head out for my grandparents’s house.

29

Break-In

“The last place I expected to find you was at the lake,” says Mae as we both dry off with fresh towels from Grandma’s bathroom cabinet.

“Yeah, well…” I say, finishing off my damp hair. “Grandpa sort of forced me to go.”

Mae folds her towel and drops it in the hamper.

“I can’t exactly blame you, considering how attractive your swim instructor was.”

She gives me a look, and I feel my face and neck turn red.

“It was nothing,” I say.

Mae grabs her spare change of clothes and walks past me, using my bedroom to change.

“Sure it was,” she says, then closes the door.

I throw my own fresh clothes on while I wait for her to be done. At last she opens the door and emerges with my new shoes in hand. She tosses them to me and I catch them, nearly fumbling.

“Try these on and tell me how they feel,” she says, giving me a smile. I can feel the tension in the room subsiding and I head for my bed, sitting down and trying on the new shoes. Mae watches me from the doorway.

“They feel great,” I say. I tie the laces and they fit snug against my feet. I have plenty of toe room - perhaps more than normal, and they are very roomy. I tilt my foot up to see the bottom of the soles. “And they have airways for my flight energy?” I ask.

“Check it out,” she says and crouches in front of me. She takes my foot in her hand and runs her fingers along the shoe, starting at the toe and ending at the heel. “There are three sets of openings on each shoe. Two at the toe, two in the arch, and then two at the heel. There are flaps that will open and close automatically depending on how much energy you use. I tested it with some hair dryers. Give it a shot.”

She gets to her feet and steps back a few paces.

I hesitate, not sure how this will go over indoors, but I end up obeying and take the Vestige out of my bedside drawer, string it around my neck, and stand in the center of the room. Focusing my energy I manage to lift a few inches off the floor and feel the flaps open on my shoes. The energy escapes smoothly and I hold my hands out to steady myself. Then, when I release the energy, the flaps close and I return back to the floor.

“Wow,” I say. “That is amazing!”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” says Mae with a wink. “I see you’ve gotten much better at controlling your flying ability.”

“Yes, actually,” I say and walk over to my night stand and retrieve the visor. “I had a lot of help from this.” I click it on and show it to her. “I know you already saw it last week, but I did some tests and saw that it monitors the energy coming out of my hands and feet. I can control how much pressure I use, and have gotten pretty good at navigating myself around in the air because of it.”

“Not bad,” says Mae. “We make a pretty good team.” She sits on my bed and sets her bag in her lap. “Besides working on the shoes,” she goes on, rummaging through her bag until she takes out her phone. “I did some compiling of the research we did last week and managed to put together some theories when it comes to The Drone, or, if you like, our good friend Bill Flagrant.”

“Really?” I say, taking a seat beside her. She nods.

“Indeed. Take a look. I went back through your father’s notes and saw that while he didn’t spell it out completely, it’s clear that there’s a connection between himself and The Drone. Even when I read through the origin issues where The Drone is first introduced, it’s clear that there are undertones that Super Guy knows The Drone before he’s a super villain.”

She pulls up her own spreadsheet of notes and shows it to me. It has a list of all the pages of information my father wrote in his files, and then connects them all together. She has also made note of each issue number of the comic and typed out different bits of information that were revealed about The Drone in each.

“This is intense,” I say, scrolling through the information. “Where did you have the time to put all of this together?”

“Study hall,” she says simply. “So, the real question is this: Did your father completely make up The Drone, or is he based on Bill Flagrant? If he
is
based on Flagrant, how deep does their history go?”

I shrug.

“It couldn’t have gone too far because I never once heard my father mention Bill Flagrant.”

Mae takes back her phone and turns it off.

“Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions,” she says.

I make a mental note not to.

Then I pick up the visor once more and turn it on.

“I’ll do my best,” I say. “But, I have been meaning to ask you what you make of this.”

I hand her the visor and tell her to put it on.

“Alright,” she says, securing the visor on her face. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

We both get up off the bed and I stand in front of her.

“When you look at me, do you see anything? A glowing symbol with text?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I can see your name and your outline is glowing. Does this show people’s heat signatures or something?”