Deviation (12 page)

Or at least the Australia she had created. Reesa's creative mind took over, answering the questions she hadn't asked yet. The ship had either gone under water or into space, which meant they had to systematically decrease the pressure in the Lothogy over the course of nine hours in order for their bodies to assimilate. Reesa couldn't remember the entire math, but it had something to do with the erosion of the ozone, depressurizing of gravity, and the balancing of the magnetic hull. It had looked very good on paper and gave the crew of the Lothogy several hours forced close quarters with each other.

Expelling an annoyed breath she muttered, "Yes, yes. It all looked so good on paper."

It appeared that Australia was in the middle of the dry season. Dust spiraled down a dry, cracked street, pelting against pyramid-shaped buildings made of cobalt steel. The pyramids were easier to keep cool, cutting back on the costs of energy. Reesa pressed a finger to her temple and prayed that she would wake up. She'd had visions of her created world before but nothing of this intensity.

For reasons she couldn't explain, her mind flashed to the first draft of the Lothogy series. She could remember, with vivid clarity, the feel of the laptop keys under her fingers. Everything had been poised, like the quick intake of a breath, holding and waiting to expel. Reesa could sense the waiting even now; it raised the hair on the back of her neck and arms, made her chest go tight and her fingers twitch with the need to write.

It wasn't always like that. The sense of disquiet, of basic need, only came to her every once in a while. More often than not she was writing and conscious of it, filling the page with color and detail because it was her craft, an obligation to years of selling novels.

But at that moment, nine years ago, sitting in her crappy little apartment, surrounded by two attention-hungry cats and a distinct lack of sunlight, the disquiet had come. And it had brought to her one name above all others; Hedric Prosser. The sense of him had been so strong that she had begun writing before she'd even decided on a theme or a genre. But for such a strong character to be interesting, she had to pit him against even stronger adversaries. So she'd mutated the natural life on Earth into something so terrifying that Hedric and his team of Field Arcs was not only wanted, but necessary.

"I wish I'd never written a word in my life," she said.

Kate snorted her agreement from the bed.

And then the door in the left wall opened.

Reesa knew she was in trouble when she saw the book in his hand. As Hedric stepped into their room, she spotted the yellowed and creased binding of the paperback and felt her heart jolt. Half of the title was hidden under his left thumb, but she knew it was one of her books. It was the latest installment of the Lothogy series, her fourth best seller, but more importantly, it spelled out the death of Mesa. Reesa wrote in third person, snagging tidbits of her stories from her chosen cast of characters, which meant that if Hedric had read the book, then he'd experienced his wife's death from her own point of view.

Reesa swallowed hard and forced herself to look him in the face.

He had read the book.

His blunt jaw was held tight, his lips pressed so hard that the edges went white with strain, and there was the tell-tale tick at the corner of his left eye. God help her, she knew him well enough to know that her life was in danger. Flawed characters made the best characters, so she'd made Hedric a mess of reckless behavior. He was an unstable, quixotic, volatile, walking bringer of death. Mesa had been his saving grace, a counterbalance, and now she was gone.

For long minutes he just stood there, probably hoping she would fall over dead with the way he was looking at her. Misery and torment contorted the long, jackal-like features she'd made him famous for. She needed to do something, explain herself, apologize, anything to ease him before he struck her.

When he finally spoke, hoarse and low, she felt fear like a rod of lightening in her spine. "You did this," he said.

Because she didn't know what to say, Reesa lifted her chin and fought for a brave glare.

"How could you?" he asked. When she still didn't respond he closed the gap between them, slamming a fist into the wall behind her with enough force to make it dent. "How could you?" he shouted again.

"It was a book! Fiction!"

Hedric gripped her tank-top and lifted until she lost footing, levering her body against the wall and bringing his face inches from her own. "Does this feel like fiction to you?"

"No," Reesa whispered, pain blurring her vision.

"Let her go," Kate's voice came out low and clear from just behind Hedric.

From the angle she was levered against the wall Reesa couldn't see more than her friends arm, but she recognized the position anyway. If Hedric didn't release her voluntarily, then Kate would make him. She felt mildly humiliated at having to depend on Kate for rescue, but reminded herself that her friend was trained for this sort of thing.

Very well trained, she thought, still feeling the ache in her jaw.

"Mesa," Hedric's eyes flickered with something dangerous as he glanced away from her. "Put your robes on."

"I'm not doing shit until you put my friend down."

Reesa felt a flood of relief at the word "friend." Kate was furious at her that was clear, but not so angry as to sever ties. She thanked whatever god was in existence for that small mercy.

Hedric dropped her. The metal floor did not agree with her deck shoes and she slipped to the ground, banging her knee on its unforgiving surface hard enough to make her yelp. With one last contemptuous glare, Hedric left them, shoving past Keats - who had entered at some point during the confrontation - and barking an order over his shoulder.

Hissing in pain and nursing her throbbing knee, Reesa nearly missed the order.

"Take us to Oahu," he'd said.

Keats appeared torn between following his Captain and lingering, but chose to leave in the end. The door closed and the hiss of the seal made a hollow sort of echo into the room. Reesa winced at the sound and shifted so that she could see her knee better.

The ache receded, fading from clear pain to low thrum, and she knew there was no permanent damage. Kate remained motionless a few steps away, staring down at her with a closed expression.

"We should really put the robes on," Reesa said to break the silence.

"I'm not going to feed their delusions."

The ship tilted and Kate reached to steady herself against the wall.

"... double strap if you can. If we run into Borden we'll need to play hard to get ... "

They both glanced at the intercom.

"... What about our guests, Captain? ... ."

Reesa frowned.

She really, really wished she'd never written the Lothogy Series. These men were perfect. Or near perfect; the mannerisms were correct, the physical traits were right. There was nothing to suggest that they weren't the real crew of the Lothogy. The thought made her glance at the porthole again.

Dream or reality, she asked herself.

"... Bring Mesa to the cockpit. To hell with the other one ... "

Reesa looked back at Kate. "Just put on the robes. Don't aggravate him more than you have to."

Kate moved to the outer door, ignoring her comment completely. A moment later they heard the hiss of the seal releasing and the door opened a bit. Reesa spotted Freeman as he started through the hatchway, and then Kate kicked the door shut against him. The unsuspecting Freeman was sandwiched between door and wall, breathing a dazed and surprised grunt. With a shout and a half growl, Kate thrust herself against the door and pinned him there. Freeman's nose broke on the corner of the door frame and he cursed.

"Tell your Captain I'll be staying right here," Kate hissed at him. Then she yanked the door open and pushed him out.

There should have been a satisfying slam of the door to complete the scene, but the magnets didn't allow it. They heard the door seal and then Kate moved to sit beside her.

"... She's being contrary ... " Freeman's suddenly nasally voice growled into the intercom.

"... Make her un-contrary ... "

"... Do it yourself ... "

Reesa almost smiled at the door. Freeman had always been her favorite crewmember. He was unpredictable, naturally curious, and lined with greed. While he had some deeper feelings for the Lothogy crew that he would never admit to, Freeman would leave the ship if there was a promise of better pay elsewhere. He wasn't bad looking, either. He just wasn't trustworthy unless you had deep pockets of wealth.

She could feel the rumble of the ships motors against her back and remembered Hedric's final order; Oahu.

Fear hit her hard. If by some god-awful fluke they really were on the Lothogy, if fantasy had somehow overlapped reality, then Oahu was exactly the wrong place for them.

"Kate, listen to me," Reesa half-turned to face her. "In the impossible chance that this is real ... "

"It's not real."

"On the off chance that ... "

"Reesa," Kate glared at her now. "Snap out of it. This is fake. These are crazy Lothogy fans and I need to know that I can count on you during our escape."

Grappling with Kate's command and the increasing sense of going insane, Reesa gazed at her friend. She wanted Kate to be right. She wanted it all to be fake, but in the pit of her stomach, she knew it wasn't. All her life she'd been chasing her dreams, closing herself off to the world and hunting for that one place where she would feel at home. Her fiction was an extension of that hunt, a desperate attempt to create the acceptance and comfort she'd been looking for. Reesa knew this, had always known it.

The painful fact was that she didn't exist in reality.

Not really.

The Lothogy crew was her family, her home. In the deepest part of her being, she recognized them for who they really were. The fact that Hedric hated her seemed ironic, but her focus was more on the danger of the moment.

He was taking them to Oahu, and if she knew Hedric Prosser, then she could already guess what he was about to do.

"Put your robes on Kate," she met her friends gaze and held it. "And listen to me very carefully."

Kate tried to protest again, but Reesa shook her head to stop her. "Keats and Freeman are your two best allies. Myron, maybe, but stay clear of Jellison. He's all soldier and owes Hedric his life. Freeman is bribable, but you have to be convincing. Keats has a soft heart so you can appeal to his better nature."

Kate frowned as Reesa continued; "When the Mavirus Carcinoma first hit, it had a ninety-seven percent fatality rate. Three months after contracting the disease, the patient would die and no amount of drugs could stop it or slow it down."

"Reesa ... "

She grabbed Kate's arm to keep her quiet. "In an act of compassion, the United Nations declared that all Mavirus victims were to be sent to Oahu."

Recognition flashed in Kate's eyes and she glanced at the door. Reesa slumped against the wall and tried to think. She knew that Kate would present another argument that the ship was fake, along with its crew, but had no way to contradict her. It was going to take something even more tangible than the Lothogy's internal workings to convince the girl otherwise. And when she finally did come to terms with the reality before them, Reesa prayed her friend had paid attention to the books. Because when they reached Oahu, Hedric was either going to toss Reesa off the ship, or outright kill her for the death of Mesa.

Reesa wasn't certain which option was more appealing, either.

"Kate. Put your robes on."

"Thirty years after the initial melting of the Martian core, the planet is now equipped with an atmospheric greenhouse. To help expedite the plant growth, astronomical engineers have built shifting, checkered sets of Plexiglas plates in the Martian Orbit, each the size of a football field. With the greenhouse in place, the crew of Voyager 87 is now to "seed bomb" the planet. Each bomb is packed with soil and nutrients designed specifically for life on Mars."
A.P. - April 22, 2244

Kate knew what she was seeing; her mind just couldn't catch up. The big man Jellison had her in a strong arm lock, her cheek pressed against the wall at a painful angle, and her wrist twinged with that distinct threat of further pain if she struggled. Just beside her, sticky warm air pushed through the open hatchway and she spotted a very familiar looking flower just outside. A splash of pink amid the deep jungle green of foliage and she knew they were in Hawaii.

Or hovering above Hawaii anyway.

Kate had never been to Hawaii before. She'd always planned to go, but life had a way of shoving necessity to the forefront. It was all right, though. She wouldn't have given up Quinn for a hundred trips around the world.

Quinn
.

Focused again, Kate caught a snippet of the conversation between Reesa and her main character.

"I didn't know ... " Reesa was saying.

Hedric cut her off by slamming the book into her chest. He did it with enough force that Reesa teetered and almost fell out of the ship. Her friend had donned the milky-brown robes that had been supplied for them, which Kate had argued with, but Reesa was determined. She'd been sucked into the insanity of their abduction.

Kate wasn't far behind. She refused to wear the robes, but there was something distinctly unfamiliar with the bob and sway of the ship - the hovering ship - that told her she was not on some amusement park ride. It was real; impossible, but real.

"Hedric, please!" Reesa tried again.

In response, Hedric shoved her out the hatchway. Kate watched, incapable of moving lest she break her own wrist, as Reesa toppled out of the ship. Three feet down Reesa met with muddy ground, which was on an incline and she immediately began an unsteady roll away from the ship, through brush and thick, large leaves. The hatchway closed before Reesa had stopped rolling and Kate's view was cut off.

Dread came before shock. Reesa had been right. Hedric really had just thrown her off the ship.