Gone (25 page)

FROM THE FILES OF OLIVER “LOKI” MOORE

THE MANY FACES OF FEAR

SUBJECT: GAIA MOORE

Experience of fear: None. Gaia Moore is born without the fear gene. Incapable of experiencing fear.

Result: Gifted with extraordinary traits; i.e., reflexes, strength, speed.

Treatment: Special training so as to allow her to use her talents to her utmost advantage.

Experience of fear: Gaia takes our experimental serum in order to experience fear.

Result: Panic and mental instability.

Treatment: Given medical treatment to reverse the effects of the drug.

Experience of fear: Gaia allows herself to be a subject in an experimental gene therapy program intended to create the sensation fear, conducted by Rodke Pharmaceuticals.

Result: Hyper-reaction. Terror, inability to cope.

Treatment: None needed. Effects fade in time.

SUBJECT: HEATHER GANNIS

Experience of fear: Typical—fraught with adolescent insecurity. Allows herself to be test subject of experimental “fearless” serum created from DNA taken from Gaia Moore.

Result: Temporary fearlessness, ultimately giving way to foolhardy and daredevil behavior. Delusions of immortality. Ultimately rendered temporarily blind.

Treatment: Both fearlessness and blindness faded over time.

SUBJECT: OLIVER MOORE (SELF)

Experience of fear: Typical, though often displaced/ suppressed by way of rigorous intelligence training. Manipulated through use of “fearless” serum to similar state as Ms. Gannis. “Subject” eventually lost consciousness, falling into a comatose state.

Treatment: Basic life-sustaining measures. Ultimately woke from coma independently. No permanent side effects have been noted.

“INVINCE”

A drug that acts much like the “fearless” serum, Invince can be ingested in tablet form. The subject experiences a profound high that begins with a basic lack of fear but usually develops into acute delusions of immortality and imperviousness. Presently widespread in downtown Manhattan, distributed by one supplier who refers to himself as “God” but who has, in fact, been identified as Christopher Rodke, of Rodke Pharmaceuticals. Prevalence of Invince in downtown neighborhoods has led to a vast increase in violent crimes and injuries.
FROM THE VILLAGE SCHOOL YEARBOOK

TAMMIE DEEGAN'S RAVES AND FAVES

Best place for a mocha-java fix:
Starbucks. But be on the lookout for a certain hulking blond with a bad sense of spatial relations!

Best location for a blind school benefit:
Pravda, of course!

Best place to work it out*:
Crunch! *(Best trendy workout: Pilates. Or cardio striptease, you fox!)

Best after-school activity (after Starbucks and shopping):
Bowlmor Lanes.

Best movie house:
Angelika, for the upscale café fare. But when are they gonna soundproof the walls?

Best reason to put on lip gloss in the morning:
Jake Montone (sorry, J—couldn't resist!).

Best venue for an inexcusably swanky impromptu bash:
The Mercer Hotel (thank you, Chris and Liz!).

Best reason to blow your diet:
Monster chocolatechip cookies at Grey Dog's Coffee.

Best cheesy date:
A horse-drawn carriage in Central Park.

Best place for a “DTR*”:
Sushi Samba. *(“Define the relationship” conversation)

Best defense of the “natural look”:
Do the initials “GM” ring any bells?
ON LOCATION

GAIA MOORE'S PERSONAL TRAVEL JOURNAL

They say
Paris, France,
is the city of love, and “they” weren't messing around! When Dad and I headed off there to spend some QT together for the first time since I was twelve, we were really feeling the love! We had barely set foot in the country when we were being followed by men—probably Loki's—who wanted us dead. But as I always say, a day without a barroom brawl is like a day without sunshine. Nothing like an attack at a local wine bar to take the bloom off the proverbial rose. Good thing I know how to take care of myself. Forget Paris—big time.

Of course, if it's sun, rest, and relaxation you're looking for, you can't do better than
Fort Myers, Florida.
Oh, sure, there's the pesky issue of electroshock therapy to contend with, and—oh, yeah—you just might encounter a long-lost brother you never knew you had. And then somehow find yourself wearing dresses and makeup and grinning at everyone like some moronic girlie-girl. But all you need is one square peg (think Angelina in
Girl, Interrupted
) to remind you of who you really are, and before you know it, you'll be busting out. All hell and whatever. Thank God for boyfriends with savior complexes!

Speaking of which, if you're going to go to
Siberia
(which, frankly, I can't recommend) and you hope to rescue your CIA agent father who's been captured by the enemy, well, then—and this I can't stress enough—you simply must be sure to bring along his borderline insane rogue agent brother. Bonus points if said brother has tried to kill you more than once. But I digress. The point I was making was that really, nothing brings two people together like a stint riding the rails in a foreign country under constant threat of attack. So if your boyfriend offers to come with you, by all means—bring him along!
FROM THE VILLAGE SCHOOL YEARBOOK

SENIOR SUPERLATIVES FROM MEGAN STEIN

Most likely to succeed:
Chris Rodke. Can you say “heir apparent”?

Most like to succeed without really trying:
Ed “Shred” Fargo. I mean, the boy will try anything twice. Just an all-around solid citizen. And cute, too!

Most likely to make a fabulous comeback:
Heather Gannis. I hear she's doing really well, and if anyone can turn things around, its our girl.

Most likely to become a top supermodel:
Tatiana Petrova. I mean, if anyone can find her.

Most likely to incite maximum heartbreakage:
Jake Montone. 'Nuff said.

Most likely to have fun no matter what:
Kai Katsura. Has anyone ever seen her in a bad mood?

Most likely to become stylist to the stars:
Megan Stein.

Most likely to become the next Joan Rivers:
Carrie Longman.

Most likely to become America's sweetheart:
Liz Rodke. That toothpaste grin. Those tawny locks. That sunny disposition. The disposable cash. The road is paved, my sister.

Most likely to be arrested/recruited by the FBI:
Gaia Moore.
SIBLING RIVALRY

(observed by Thomas Moore)

The Sibs:
Oliver and myself, Thomas Moore

The Issue:
I was the strong one from the time that we were small children. Oliver had a physical condition that made him weak, and later, in Agency training, it became clear that he didn't have my aptitude for code breaking and other paramilitary skills. Oliver met my beloved future wife Katia Petrova, but soon afterward she fell in love with me.

The Outcome:
Oliver ultimately shot Katia and killed her. He claims her death was accidental. He sees Gaia as his own rightful child—all the more so because he and I, as identical twins, share DNA. He has spent most of his adult life as a rogue agent, trying to bring about my demise and looking for ways to lure Gaia to his side. Despite moments of true remorse and regret, he is not trustworthy.

The “Sibs”:
Gaia Moore and David Twain

The Issue:
Though not technically Gaia's twin, David Twain was trained and manipulated by Loki. He developed strong competitive issues with Gaia, whom he saw as his sister. Once he came to the Village School, he posed as a would-be-suitor to catch her with her defenses down and destroy her.

The Outcome:
Obviously Gaia escaped. Furious, Loki disposed of David before he could do any further damage.

The Sibs:
Heather and Phoebe Gannis

The Issue:
Both Gannis girls were beautiful and popular, but as the elder, Phoebe took the pressure to an extreme. Where her mother and sister were “health conscious,” Phoebe developed an acute eating disorder, and the hospital fees she incurred while in treatment sent her family into debt.

The Outcome:
Heather was ashamed that her family didn't have the kind of money that her friends' families had and would go to any lengths to hide that fact. For that reason, when Ed learned of an experimental treatment to help him walk again, she discouraged him from exploring the possibility (doing so would have rendered him ineligible for a sizable settlement). Heather and Ed broke up over this issue.

The Sibs:
Ed and Victoria Fargo

The Issue:
Victoria felt ashamed of Ed when he was wheelchair-bound after his skateboard accident. But she got over it quickly once he was walking—and dating a social queen like Heather Gannis—again.

The Outcome:
Ed is not impressed by Victoria's fair-weather-sib attitude.

The Sibs:
Gaia Moore and Tatiana Petrova

The Issue:
Tatiana, actually Gaia's first cousin, was trained and groomed since day one to take over in the “Organization,” a terrorist group run by Gaia's grandfather, Yuri, that operated without the knowledge of Gaia, Tom, or even Loki—until Natasha and Tatiana blew the lid off the gig. Ultimately Yuri decided that Tatiana wasn't a worthy heir and shifted his attentions toward getting Gaia under his auspices. Consumed with jealousy, Tatiana and her mother, Natasha, concocted an elaborate scheme to undo Gaia and her father.

The Outcome:
Gaia and her father set up a sting operation to take Natasha and Tatiana down, resulting in the two of them being captured and imprisoned indefinitely.

The Sibs:
Chris and Skyler Rodke

The Issue:
The two boys are poised to take the mantle of Rodke Pharmaceuticals—but there can only be one right-hand man. Though Dr. Rodke fully intended to hand over a piece of the pie to each of his sons, Chris wasn't content with just a piece. He didn't want to be second runner-up and he resented his brother's status as firstborn and golden child.

The Outcome:
Dr. Rodke and Skyler assigned Chris the task of distributing a beta model of their
“Invince” tablets to the lowlifes in Washington Square Park, figuring it was a more efficient means of testing the drug's efficacy than any controlled environment. But Chris had plans to take his power position and abuse it. Either way, it looks like a stalemate….
CRUNCHING NUMBERS

(from a napkin found in Sam Moon's pocket)

Boyfriends Gaia has stolen from Heather Gannis: 2

Dresses Gaia owns: 2

Parties Gaia has attended since she came to the Village School: 5

Number of those parties that didn't end in socials disaster: 1

Long-lost relatives that Gaia has discovered: 4

Times Gaia has confused her father with her uncle: 2

Times Loki has confused anyone else with Gaia: 1

Times Katia confused Loki with Thomas: 2

People Gaia knows who have returned from the dead: 3

Times Gaia has undergone severe alterations in personality: 3

Boys who've pretended to be interested in Gaia in order to carry out plots against her: 2

Secret hospitals or labs from which Gaia has escaped: 2

People who've been able to match Gaia at chess: 2

People whom the FOHs don't rag on: 0

Girlfriends Tom has courted: 1

Girlfriends Tom Moore has courted who have tried to Kill him: 1

Girlfriends of Tom Moore who have turned out to be his deceased wife's sister: 1

Agents and colleagues who have turned against Tom; 5

Times a friend or relative of Gaia's has been kidnapped, killed, or otherwise threatened; 9

Times Gaia and her father have attempted to have a “normal life”: 3

Times Gaia attempted to forgive Loki for everything he'd done: 1

Times Loki betrayed that trust; 1

People Gaia trusts in the world: 1

They say whatever doesn't KILL YOU only makes you STRONGER. Which really tells you all you need to know about GAIA MOORE (who, it might be noted, was pretty freakin' strong to begin with). High school may be over, but GAIA'S ADVENTURES ARE CLEARLY JUST BEGINNING….

Turn the Page for an exciting sneak peek at:

FEARLESS FBI

Every
now and then, when I have absolutely exhausted every other possible option, I allow myself to look back on my teens. And I cringe with embarrassment. The word “lost” just wouldn't do those years justice. “Confused” wouldn't really cut it either. More extreme terms are required to describe me back then. “Cosmically depressed” maybe? “Tragically Misinformed” is more like it.

Of course, my teens only ended a year ago, but still, some of it seems so far away now—just a murky gray cloud in my head. Names and faces from the Village School in New York … Tammie Deegan and Megan Stein and the rest of the FOHs. I've already forgotten the details of their faces. With each year at Stanford they turned more and more into poorly drawn cartoons in my head; clichéd characters played by bad actresses in another mediocre movie about bitchy cliques and
high school growing pains.

But other memories feel so fresh in my head it's like my two years of college never even happened. The look on Ed Fargo's face when I turned around and left him for good in that dark alley on 47th Street. And of course, Jake. Watching the life fall from his eyes is not an image I will forget any time soon. In fact, it took until about a month ago to finally stop seeing those lifeless eyes in every one of my dreams.