The Taking 02: Hover (4 page)

My eyes dart up from the tiny tree figurine in my hand. “My mom. What has she said? Does she sound okay? Wait, did you say tonight?” I repeat, unable to keep the excitement from my voice. I love all my family and friends, all of them, but I miss my mom the most. I miss knowing someone was around who supported me no matter what, who thought I could do anything. I miss the straight love I felt when I was with her. I miss smelling her simple, clean perfume long after she released me from a hug. “Can I talk to her now?”

Jackson’s face softens. “We have our first meeting tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

I smile. Tonight, I get to talk to my family.

Chapter 4

“Hey, there’s food,” a voice calls from down the hall.

Jackson and I step into the main room and the smell of cooked food wafts through the air. “We eat outside. Is that okay?”

I nod and we head outside. It’s dark now, the sky peaceful. Three chairs sit in haphazard order around the front porch, one already full. The boy looks younger than I imagined. He has black hair and olive skin and a look about him that suggests he’s always thinking.

“You must be Vill,” I say, walking over to greet him.

“Indeed. And I know who you are.” He looks at me as though he knows much more about me than just my name or my face. “It’s nice to meet you, Ari.”

Jackson pulls up the other two chairs and hands me a plate of food. It’s full of some cooked greens that look like grass, more bocas, and something else that might be meat—or it could be charred bread. And while the food is different, it’s still food, which again seems odd. I’m not sure what I expected them to eat. Honestly, I’d never given much thought to what they ate.

“It’s real food, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Jackson says, answering my unasked question.

“So what is it?”

“Our diets consist of the vital nutrients necessarily to sustain our bodies. Nothing more. Nourishment over taste, if you will,” Vill says, and I realize that for whatever reason I like him already. He has something pure about him, like he’d never think anything but the most genuine thoughts. It’s refreshing.

Jackson goes back in to grab us drinks, and as soon as he’s gone, Vill leans in close to me. “How are you holding up?”

Good. Horribly. Both answers seem appropriate. I settle on, “I’m okay.”

Vill nods. “The transition can be unsettling.”

Unsettled is the perfect way to describe me, and again, I get the feeling Vill understands me on a deeper level than our solo introduction would suggest. “I like your work,” I say, hoping to change the subject. He looks away, and I sense that he doesn’t like attention.

“My mind operates on a continous cycle. It helps me focus.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I think of my trainings back home with Dad. He required me to train with him personally each morning at six a.m. At first, I worried over what he thought, how I was doing, would I make him proud. But eventually, I learned that if I dropped all thought and let my body take over, that my mind became more focused on the task at hand. Doing something, activating my muscles, helped me in that way. I guess Vill is the same, though our outlets are different.

Jackson comes back with our drinks and takes a sip of his. A single drop remains on his lip and he licks it away. A warmth moves over me, my mind replaying our first kiss, the way his fingertips gently slipped down my face as though I was too delicate to touch with anything but a light hand. I can almost feel them on me now.

I jump up, shaken by the memory, and realizing my error, glance over at Jackson. His eyes burn into mine. He knows what I was thinking, felt my reaction to the memory. I have to control my thoughts around him, now more than ever. I don’t know if I can ever truly trust Jackson again and I won’t allow myself to get involved with someone I don’t trust. Besides, I have more pressing matters at hand, like Cybil, like finding the humans.

Still…the kiss hits in my mind again, this time followed by a sharp stab in my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut and reopen them, pushing the memory as far from reach as possible.

“Are you all right?” Vill asks.

I glance up, embarassed that I’ve allowed my mind to drift so far from reality. “Uh, yeah. Yes, I’m fine. I could use a shower. Do you have showers here?”

“Of course,” he says.

“Can I take one?”

Jackson sets down his plate. “Sure. After.”

“After what?”

His eyes balance on mine. “The call. Our meeting is in less than five minutes.”

Suddenly, everything inside me is awake and alert.

I follow Jackson back inside and into the kitchen, though all I can see is two stone pits and a silver square that I suppose is a refrigerator. Behind and to the far left of the pits lies a door with thick bolts at the top and bottom, securing it shut. Jackson unbolts it to reveal a set of stone stairs that descend into pitch-blackness. He nods for me to go ahead of him. As soon as the door closes, a light pops on above us, and then Jackson starts down the stairs. We round the corner at the bottom and into a room so alive with technology it makes Dad’s office back home look archaic. Three large screens hang on the back wall, the desk below them full of various tiny figurines, some complete, others unfinished. To the right and left of the screens are various silver boxes, each with green and red lights that take turns flickering on and off. It’s the most advanced room I’ve witnessed since coming here.

“What is this place?” I whisper.

“My office, you could say. It’s where I do research and where I communicate with Earth. No one knows it’s here other than Vill. He practically lives down here, as I’m sure you can tell,” he says, pointing at the figurines. “He actually helped me build it. He’s brilliant. Really brilliant. He’s also the one who figured out how to tap into Earth’s intergalactic satellite frequency. That’s how we can talk to them.”

I take a seat in one of the chairs in front of the main screen. “But how can you send a message to the satellite without Zeus seeing it?”

Jackson smiles. “That’s all Vill. Years ago, Zeus sent a satellite into orbit to create a wormhole that would allow superluminal communication with Earth. Earth did the same, so once both were activated, we had a way of sending a message, using our satellilte, to the wormhole, which then propelled the message directly to Earth’s satellite. As you can imagine, we continued to work on the technology and created a more advanced satellite and a new wormhole a year ago when Zeus began questioning Earth’s leaders’ willingness to coexist. That original satellite was still in orbit, unused, so Vill hacked into it. Zeus will eventually find out, but for now, we have a means of communicating with Earth that is virtually undetectable.”

So Vill is more than an artist, he’s also something of a genius. “How does the satellite create a wormhole?”

Jackson pushes his chair away from the desk. “It uses dark matter to send rotating lasers to a specific place in space. The lasers stir up space until the energy changes and a wormhole is created. The wormhole then allows us to communcate at faster than light speeds. Superluminal communication.”

Jackson flips on the screens, which resemble a T-screen back home but more advanced—much more advanced. The main screen seems to detect what he wants from it without him having to do anything at all.

“It’s like it senses you or something,” I say, edging closer to the screen.

“We tapped into RES transmitter technology so the communicator is sensitive enough to pull from our thought waves. See everything, including thoughts, produces an energy that once released into the reality around us, changes the energy of our surroundings. So, if you’re able to harness it, then virtually anything becomes possible. It’s metaphysics.”

I shake my head. “I’m lost. But it sounds amazing.”

“It is. I’ll teach you, in time. Or Vill can. He gets it on a much deeper level than I do. I tend to rely on my strength, where as Vill leans completely on his mind. He believes the mind can overpower strength.”

“And you don’t agree?”

“I think we need both, but I have a hard time buying the mind over matter thing, at least as a fighter. We need our minds, sure, but strength closes a fight. Anyway.” He points at the screen. “There’s a small delay, but we should be receiving the feed any moment.”

The screen is black except for a tiny yellow dot that flickers in the center. After a while I assume nothing is going to happen, then the screen shifts and I’m staring at a long table full of people in business attire or all black Engineer clothing. I glance from one to the other, taking them all in, when my eyes find the far left side of the table and it’s all I can do not to hug the screen. Seated at the end is my dad, dressed in his usual Engineer attire. His commander pin glints in the light. He smiles a bit when he sees me, then washes it away and threads his fingers together on the table, all business. My mom is beside him, wearing her Chemist lab coat, and unlike my dad, she doesn’t try to surpress her joy. A hand goes to her mouth and I can see tears in her eyes. She smiles and I smile back.

I don’t want to look away from them, but I can tell this is a formal gathering of important people, and the Operative in me rises to the surface. I take a seat beside Jackson and eye the rest of the group. There is one empty chair on the opposite side and left from my dad. Jackson notices the chair as well and nods toward it, but before either of us can ask if we should wait on the person to arrive, a door behind the table opens and Lawrence enters the room, only he no longer looks like the Lawrence I remember.

His easiness has been replaced by a rigidity that is so foreign on him I have to look twice to be sure it’s really him. His hair is cut short and gelled, and he’s wearing the standard Parliament suit—crisp white shirt, black coat and slacks, red tie. He doesn’t look at me as he takes his seat, and suddenly I’m aware of the mood in the room. Everyone is tense. Some nervously glancing around. Others tapping their fingers together. It’s as though this conversation holds tremendous importance and must be handled with care.

Lawrence nods to an older, balding man beside him, seated across from my dad at the right end of the table. The man is dressed exactly like Lawrence and half the other people at the table. He stares forward, glancing from Jackson to me. “Thank you for joining us.”

Jackson sits back in his chair. “Of course, though we didn’t realize this was a formal meeting.”

I’m impressed with Jackson’s forwardness, though the look on the gentleman’s face says he doesn’t share my opinion.

“I am Kelvin Lancaster, Lead Chemist and acting President of the United States.”

“Wait, President?” I say. “Law, what happened to—?”

Kelvin interrupts. “All will be explained in time, but for now, we have important matters to discuss.”

Jackson tenses beside me and I know he’s thinking what I’m thinking. Who does this guy think he is? I eye Dad to find him staring at me, a hard look on his face. His head twitches almost imperceptably. He’s telling me to wait. I straighten in my chair, forcing patience. “Very well.”

Kelvin nods. “Thank you. As Mr. Castello has informed you, I’m sure, we are communicating through a satellite frequency that taps into an unused satellite orbiting Loge. The frequencey is secure, for now, though we have no way of knowing how long that security will remain. For that reason, it’s important that we discuss all important matters and actions immediately.”

I glance briefly to my parents, and then say without pause, “Mr. Lancaster, we appreciate the urgency of the situation, but I have to ask why you expect us to assist in whatever plan you’re about to offer? Your people created execution bases for all infected humans, sentencing them to death, including myself. Why would I trust you now?”

Dad sits up to answer, but Kelvin raises a hand to stop him. “Your point is valid, Ms. Alexander, but please understand that we witnessed one of the fastest epidemics in human history. We had no way of knowing why people were becoming infected and felt it necessary to quickly act to protect humankind. It was a tough decision. As all decisions such as this are hard. But we now know our error and have acted accordingly.”

“Meaning you are no longer killing the infected?”

Kelvin motions toward my mother, who speaks. “Ari, we have treated all who remained on Earth, and are happy to report that we have suffered no more casulaties. It took three experimental healing serums to develop the cure, but we found one, and all execution bases were destroyed. I think we agree that those early measures were rash, if not horrendous.” Whispers of assent sound around the room. “We will not be making the same mistake twice. We want to get our people home.”

“And that brings us to you.” Kelvin leans forward, his eyes squarely on me. “We have reason to believe that Zeus Castello plans to attack Earth in two weeks time. We would like to prevent this from happening, while simultaneously bringing all humans back to Earth.”

Jackson sits up. “And what about the Ancients who want nothing more than a peaceful life? What are your plans for them?”

“We are prepared to allow them to come to Earth permanently,” Kelvin answers.

“If…?” Jackson asks.

Kelvin returns his gaze to me, and Law speaks up for the first time. “Ari, we have devised a plan that we believe will work, but for that plan to be successful, we need to remove our greatest threat.”

“Which is?”

Mom looks down, and Dad shakes his head, both clearly upset.

“What is it?” I ask, glancing from them back to Law. “What are you asking me to do?”

“You won’t be alone,” Law says. “We have two Operatives on Loge to help you, both undercover.” I picture Cybil, wrapped in cloths. She must be one of their spies, but how can she be of help if she’s all but comatose? “It’s dangerous, we know that, but we can’t think of another option. It’s either this or—”

“Just tell me.”

Everyone’s eyes land on me, but it’s Kelvin who speaks. “We need you to kill Zeus Castello.”

Chapter 5

We sit in silence for a long time, staring at the now black screen. They want me to kill Zeus.
Zeus!
I run my hands over my face. “What do you think?” I ask.

Jackson stands and starts sorting through a stack of paper on the table beside him, his look distant. “I don’t know what to think. Honestly, I’m surprised they mentioned it in front of me.”

“Yeah, that surprised me, too, though what choice did they have?”

“True.”

“What do you think of what they’re asking?”

He draws a long breath. “I think it’s a death sentence.”

“I thought you may say that.”

He turns around, his eyes on mine. “But if you have to do it, surprise is our best defense. He’ll ask to see you tomorrow. I’ll give you a gun.” Jackson starts for the stairs. “I’ll make sure I’m closeby just to be safe. It could work. He might be expecting something, but he would never expect you to try something so soon.”

“Wait. Tomorrow? You can’t be serious. We should plan this out. Think it through. Tomorrow is too—”

Jackson laughs, the sound so cold it sends a shiver down my back. “Is there really a good time to try to kill someone like Zeus? The best chance we have is to catch him off guard. He’s arrogant. He’ll believe that you are too afraid and vulnerable right now to try anything.”

I swallow, letting his words and the logic in them sink in. He’s right. I take my hair out of the elastic I had used to pull it up, and then pile it on top of my head and wrap the elastic around it again, my mind focused on what I have to do. I need to think.

“I need a shower.”

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

I follow Jackson back into the house. A shower is exactly what I need to clear my head so I can think through how to make this happen. We walk down the hallway to a door at the end of the hall I hadn’t noticed before. He pushes through and we step out into what can only be described as paradise. Absolute paradise.

The backyard is small, tiny even, but it’s fenced in by walls of large flowers, all different colors. Situated in the back center of the yard is a circular, stone something, about the size of a closet, with an open top and a metallic showerhead hanging from one end to the center.

I hesitate. “That’s the shower? Outside? What about the bathroom in general?”

He grins, though the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t worry. That part is inside, along with a cleansing drum, which is what most use. I had them add this shower out here after I’d spent so much time on Earth. Somehow I no longer feel clean unless I’m bathing in water.”

“So, I’m guessing a cleansing drum doesn’t use water? What does it use?”

His grin widens. “Nothing crazy. I’ll show you tomorrow. For now, this has everything you need. Step inside and the water will turn on automatically. There are towels in the bin beside it. Take your time.”

I wait for Jackson to go back inside. I don’t want him to see how uneasy I feel. Once I’m sure he’s gone, I reach for the small latch that keeps the shower door closed. I unhook it and step inside. The floor of the shower is the same stone as the walls. One wall is lined with shelves containing liquids and solids that I can only imagine must be soap and shampoo and other toiletries. A second passes, then the water turns on, sending a warm shower over me—and my clothes, which I wasn’t willing to take off in the open.

I slip out of my clothes and embrace the water, standing there for several seconds with my eyes closed, letting it soak me through and through. Wash away the aches of my mind and heart. It feels good, almost freeing. With my eyes still closed, I let my mind focus on Zeus. I think through everything I know about him, which isn’t much. It would be better if I were planning to kill someone I knew more about. His daily activities. His strength and weaknesses. Zeus appears to be elderly, but something about the way his eyes never leave you makes me think he’s more agile than he looks.

I stay in the shower much longer than is appropriate, and I wonder if there are rules about things like this. Time constraints or something. But no alarms sound, and no one comes knocking on the door. So I stay as long as I can handle it, until my fingers and toes wrinkle from the overexposure. Then I drape a towel around me and move back inside, glad the halls are clear, and slip into Jackson’s empty room.

I take my time combing my fingers through my hair, then search the room for some clothes. Behind the beaded curtain is a small closet with one rack of clothes and lots of tiny drawers built into the walls. Inside the right-hand side drawers are clothes, all my size. I can’t differentiate the pajamas from the everyday clothes, so I just pull out something that seems comfortable enough and slip it on.

I sit down on the bed, my legs crossed, and wait for Jackson to come back. I wouldn’t say I feel ready for what I have to do tomorrow, but I’ve prepared my mind that I have no choice. Now, I need to see the gun he wants me to use. Feel it in my hand. Practice pulling it from where ever I plan to stow it.

I hear a knock outside the door, then Jackson’s voice. “Dressed?”

“Yes,” I call.

He slips into the room and sits in a chair beside his closet. His eyes sweep over my face, my wet hair, down my body, then back. He swallows hard.

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?” he asks.

“I’m ready. Where’s the gun? I need to practice.”

Jackson watches me for a moment. “Ari, maybe I should—”

“No. It has to be me.”

He sighs heavily before going to his closet and opening the third drawer from the top. He sets the clothes all on the floor, pops out the wooden base, and reaches in and grabs two guns, placing each on the bed beside me. “One of these should work.”

I pick up the one on my left. It’s small, about the size of my hand, polished silver and black exterior. I lift it up, close one eye, and peek through the sight at one of Vill’s figurine’s on Jackson’s shelf. “Are all those drawers loaded down like that one?” I grin up at him. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were a spy among spies.”

He doesn’t return the smile. “This is serious.”

“I know.” I return my attention to the gun, letting it balance in my hands. Pointing it at various things around the room. I wish I could shoot it. Only then would I really know, but there is no way I could fire a gun at this hour without drawing some attention. “Does it have a laser?” I ask, not seeing one affixed to the weapon, but it could be built it, like a trick knife that can do numerous things.

“No. Most of our guns have lasers, so the screening at Zeus’s office will be set to detect the laser. This one should get you through without a problem.”

“And what about the sound? Lasers are quieter than bullets.”

He reaches back into the drawer, pulls out a tiny cylinder, and screws it onto the tip of the gun. “Not when you have a silencer.”

I point the gun at a small tiger on Jackson’s shelf and fire. “True.”

Jackson laughs, the sound producing such a change in the air that I stop to look at him, mezmerized by his smile. “Vill’s going to kill you,” he says. “That was a favorite.”

“Yeah, well, he has thousands around here. He’ll live.” I place the gun down gently on the bed and pick up the other. It’s heavier than the first, feeling almost twice as heavy in my hands. I let it balance, eyeing another one of Vill’s creations, but I don’t shoot. I can tell it’s not the right fit. “I’ll go with the first.”

“Okay.” The playful expression from before disappears from his face, and he returns the unwanted gun to the third drawer. He sits down in front of me, his demeanor serious, controlled, like he was back in the Panacea. Was that only today? It feels like weeks ago now.

“This is what you’re going to do,” he says. “You’ll go see Zeus as he’s requested. Act natural. He’ll want to see you in his office with no one else around, though of course he has surveillance watching. He likes to face his windows while he talks, leaving you behind him so you can’t see his face. Ask him how he came to control Triad. It’s a lengthy story that he loves to tell. When he gets to the part about building the Healer’s Wall, he’ll go to his windows to look out over Triad, to look at his creation. That’s when you shoot.”

I crack one of my knuckles, planning to stop at just the one, but before I know it, I’ve cracked all the joints in my left hand. “How do you know he’ll tell the story? He might say it’s none of my business or something.”

“Oh, he’ll tell it. Zeus’s ego is too large for him to
not
tell it. Just remember to wait until he gets to the part about the wall. I’ve seen him tell this story a thousand times and he always goes to his windows when he gets to that part.”

“Okay.” I reach behind me and slid the gun under one of the pillows. “For good luck.”

“Ari, you don’t have to do this. We can tell them no. We can figure out a different way.”

I fumble with the hem of my shirt, pulling a loose thread until it unravels much of the hem. “No. They’re right. There is no other way. As long as Zeus lives, we’re all in danger.”

Jackson starts to argue, but seeing the resolve on my face, goes for the lights instead. “Well, get some sleep. You’ll need it.”

I slip under the covers and instantly smell Jackson on the sheets. They smell earthy and clean and I find myself burying deeper into one of the pillows, comforted by the smell. Jackson turns out the light, and keeping to his word, slips down onto a makeshift bed on the floor. After that, silence finds us and soon the ringing in my ears is replaced by Jackson’s smooth breathing. I lean over the side of the bed and watch him sleep. His right arm is drapped lazily over his head against the pillow, his hair scattered in a mess, shading his closed eyes. His chest rises and falls in easy rhythm, and for a moment, I forget who he is and what he’s done and remember that aside from all that, he’s only a boy…and I’ve just agreed to kill his grandfather.

I lay back down and close my eyes, allowing my thoughts to drift in and out of focus. Before long I’m asleep, my thoughts replaced with a nightmare—the same nightmare I’ve had since arriving here. I’m back at the site of the execution base where President Cartier had ordered all infected humans be brought to be killed. Jackson comes for me. And then I watch from a distance as a bomb drops over the site, killing everyone in one devastating blow. But this time, someone enters the dream. Red fills my mind, growing so dark it’s almost black, and while I can’t see him, I know it’s Zeus. The bomb drops, as it always does, but instead of me waking, a chilling laugh echoes all around me, growing louder and louder until I’m left with nothing but the screams of the innocent…and the laugh of the wicked.

…

Sirens startle me awake, pulling me from the nightmare. I cover my ears with my hands, and Jackson leaps from the floor and goes to the door, listening, then jerks it open. “You stay here, understand?”

I shake my head. “No. I’m coming.”

“Stay here.”

“No.” I’m up and to him before he can argue and I know I’ll hear about this later. I’m not the sort of person to wait to hear what might be happening. I want to see it. And when we reach the front porch, I see I’m not alone. Everyone is outside, most disoriented. Vill walks up beside me. I look around for Jackson. He’s already down the street, edging toward the source of the sound.

“What’s happening?” I ask Vill.

“Someone’s breached the border.” He points to the Healer’s Wall that surrounds Triad, where a flying craft has someone pinpointed below a strobe light. I can’t tell what’s happening or hear anything beyond the siren. We all stand on our porches or the street, frozen, watching as the light grows closer and closer to the man. And then just like that, the man is sucked into the craft and the light disappears.

I stumble back, my hands to my mouth. “What did they just do?”

“Back inside,” Jackson says, rushing toward us. “Now.”

I hear the sound of footsteps coming down the main street and see armed men and women marching, others continuing to the other streets. This is nothing like what Jackson had said about Loge, all peaceful beings who wanted happiness for everyone. This is madness and terror.

The Ancients on the streets all head back into their homes like us. Jackson closes the door behind Vill and me but remains on the porch. I edge over to a nearby window and peer out as one of the armed guards walks up our steps to Jackson. They exchange words I can’t make out, then the guard continues on down the street.

“What was that about?” I ask, as Jackson comes through the door.

He glances behind him as though the guards can hear him through the door. “One of the infected humans escaped.”

“Escaped? I didn’t realize they were being held captive. What aren’t you telling me?”

Jackson rubs his eyes and sits on the table in the common room. It’s another one of Vill’s creations, the legs shaped like folded wings, the face of the table a girl weeping. “The humans are growing restless. There have been some uprisings. Zeus is planning to give them all injections if it doesn’t get better. I’m hoping we can stop him first.” He gives me a knowing look.

“What sort of injection?”

Vill sits down on one of the chairs. “It’s a control substance, allows certain responses to go into hybernation and others to rise to the surface. Basically, it makes it easier to control the person.”

“And they’re going to give all the humans the injection?”

Vill glances at me, and I realize Jackson has told him the plan. “Unless we stop him first.”

Jackson runs a hand through his hair. “I’m gonna shower and head over to see Zeus, now. Be ready in an hour. Your first day as an RES begins today. Remember the plan.”

…

Jackson arrives back at our house an hour later, his look lethal. He motions for me to follow him without a word, and once outside releases a long exasperated sigh. “Well that was a complete waste of time.”

We make our way back to Gaia Road, the main street of Triad, and turn left past the rest of the homes and up toward the Vortex. It’s a cool day with a light breeze, the open air comforting after being inside all night. I glance over to where the hovercraft had taken the man just hours before. “What did he say?”