by Pearl Tate
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
- Desin
As Amy begins to cry, Mavin sinks to the ground with her, pulling her into his arms. “It’s okay, Amy. You didn’t know. This’ll work out.”
“What’s the ex-boyfriends last name? Brad what?” Mavin’s head tilts up to answer Payak, who continues shooting off questions. “And where are you from Amy? You said you lived together?”
Sniffing slightly, Amy pulls away from Mavin, squinting as she focuses on Payak. “Yeah, we um, we lived together in Oakhurst. It’s not far from here … are you sure? I mean, are you sure it was me? Or Brad that started this?”
Payak crouches down to eye level. Ash-filled air continues to blow over us, coating us in a fine film of dirt. “This is the best lead we’ve had so far. I mean …” shaking his head slightly, he looks up at me. “… I think we all suspected it tied back to you two. The timing was just … too convenient.”
Realizing we aren’t going anywhere and I’m already filthy, I drop onto my butt too. “Yeah,” I add, dryly, “The Ashen pulled us in for three days to make sure it wasn’t us carrying it. So, this boyfriend … he was moving to Kitimat?”
Amy scrunches up her face, rubbing her temples. “It’s hard to remember specifically. We talked about what he was doing on the phone when I was setting up to get my stuff. He was going to Kitimat for work, but he didn’t say he was moving there. Maybe?”
Mavin rubs her back, urging her, “Just take your time. You need to remember as much as you can.”
“That’s just because you plan to go kill him,” Amy mutters under her breath again.
Mavin shrugs, not concerned with the idea in the least. I try to put myself in his shoes. Just thinking about anyone hurting Jade—physically or otherwise—has my stomach clenching and my breathing picking up. There’s no reason I can’t be there to protect her from all the other bullshit that anyone could do.
“I’m positive he’s transitioned.” Payak’s saying what we all know. This Brad is as good as dead. Instead of looking upset, Amy just nods, looking resigned. “Do you two have one of these?” Pulling out the cell phone that he was given by Cameron, Payak waves it around in front of him.
“Yeah, of course.” Amy reaches into her pocket and pulls out a similar, albeit pink, device.
Holding his out, Payak asks, “Can you program yourself in? I should bring back the information you’ve given me so far, so they can start looking for this Brad. I don’t know if that matters, but I think everyone will let out a collective sigh just knowing it wasn’t intentional. There was a real concern that this was some kind of attack. At least now we know where to start, and we can trace his whereabouts and everyone he came in contact with. Maybe we can find out why it ended up in Iceland?”
“It’s in Iceland?” When Payak nods, Amy seems to brace herself. “His name is Brad Nixon, and he got a job with some kind of mining company? I honestly don’t remember the name of it. And when you go back, tell them I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t have any idea I could pass it along, you know?”
Payak nods, standing and tucking his phone into his pocket. “They’ll know, but you two should be prepared to come in. And if you’re still carrying it, you won’t be welcome here. Recovery from the virus is not something anyone has ever dealt with, but maybe it’ll help down the road having that knowledge? Knowing how long you’re contagious. For the first time, they’ll have someone who survived.”
Amy doesn’t look happy, but she doesn’t argue. “I’ll do whatever it takes. They’re welcome to stick me with as many needles as they need to if it helps make a cure. I just feel … so guilty.” Her voice breaks as tears well up in her eyes again.
“Hey,” Payak grips her shoulder, looking at Mavin over her head as he urges them both, “Just relax. I know you feel guilty, but I’m sure you were just defending yourself. Take your time and give Desin as much detail as you can with all the specifics. I’ll be back as soon as I can. We need to get down there and look for anything that may be left of Lana. While I’m gone, I’ll report the situation here.”
Before I realize it, Payak’s gone. Raising my eyebrows, I look at them as Amy asks, “Do you really think they can make an antidote and stop this?”
Swallowing hard, I consider the question. I’m not going to give her platitudes, although I can see Mavin behind her practically mouthing the words to say to make her feel better. That’s not fair, though. He can do that himself later. I think we all make mistakes—whether we intentionally do it or not. Life doesn’t always go the way we plan.
I’ve already seen people freaking out—like Teresa, Payak’s mate. She’s a perfect example of how these things could spread. She had mated to Payak, and when she found out her aunt was in a quarantine zone, she phased in and phased her out! Not only did she endanger her aunt’s life—because she had no guarantee that she’d live through the phase—but her aunt could have been carrying the virus. That’s the thing about mating an Earth woman like Jade—I still have so much to tell her.
“Well, if they do, it’ll be a first. But look at you! You’re the first person—or animal for that matter—that I’ve ever seen or known who didn’t transition. How long do you think you were exposed?”
Amy’s eyes widen as she shakes her head. “Honestly, I’ve no idea how long I was in that cage. Maybe a day that I remember?”
Mavin shakes his head behind her. “It’s really hard to say, but Trus has all those kinds of records. He’s waiting to hear from a contact he has on the import vessel that brought the humans to Teleplay. Since he wasn’t having any luck with our contacts and Teleplay’s caretakers, he’s working backwards to see what he can find out. Someone will talk eventually.”
“Alright, forget that then. Let’s talk about what happened with Brad. You lived together?” I nod along with her, hoping I’m not opening up a topic that Mavin and Amy haven’t discussed. At least he knew she had a boyfriend. “And you went over to see him. Tell me more about how that came about, and what happened.”
Amy closes her eyes, taking a deep breath from where she’s sitting with Mavin. “Okay, so … we got back here, and I called him. He was a total jackass. I guess he was super pissed because he was the main suspect when I turned up missing. Although from the sounds of it, he did have an alibi. Anyways … it was Jen—my friend who lives in Fresno—who reported me missing when I didn’t show up the next day after I was abducted.”
Shaking her hands in front of her, Amy drops her head in frustration. “Let’s see. So, then I talked to Brad, and he wanted me to call the police. In fact, he was so adamant, he made me sit on hold while he called someone he’d had multiple conversations with—a detective named Mark something …” Looking up, she smiles. “Is this the kind of stuff you wanted to know? I mean … I feel like I’m rambling.”
“No,” I assure her. “This is perfect. We can follow up with this detective because he’ll know all about your boyfriend if they were investigating him. Just tell me what you remember.”
Mavin’s hands rub up and down Amy’s arms before settling on her shoulders. She drops her own hands over his and squeezes, continuing, “Okay. So, I ended up on the phone on a three-way call. Only the detective didn’t answer, and we both left a message. Brad told him I was back, and then I left some contact information since I was using the land line at Jen’s house.”
Amy stops, but then shakes her head. “Okay, then I set up with Brad to go over and get my stuff the next afternoon. Mavin didn’t want me to be there alone, so he was going to come with me. And he did for the first little while. We went and phased in early to start pulling out my stuff, but then Trus needed Mavin, so he took off—”
“I should have stayed obviously,” Mavin mutters from behind her.
Amy just pauses, gritting her teeth as her eyes fill with tears. “Yes. Maybe so. Because it wasn’t long after that when Brad showed up. At first, I thought it was all good since he was sober. He told me about how he had this job all lined up, but then I d
isappeared, and he ended up under investigation. The police told him not to leave the area, but now that I was back, he had a flight out to Kitimat later in the day. Which was great, I thought. I told him congrats, and we talked about a few things like who was keeping what. It was going really well. I didn’t even have to lie to him because the asshole never even asked where I’d been! Just commented on how ugly my new color was.”
Fingering her hair, I notice there is a strange tint to some of the strands, especially in the front. The streaks from her temples are more of an orange than red. I guess that wasn’t what she was going for. “It wasn’t until we moved into the bedroom to start sorting through the jewelry he’d given me that things got weird. He started … you know … touching me and talking about how things ‘used to be’ and ‘how great we were together’. It was then I figured I better get out of there.”
Mavin’s breathing heavy behind her, and I know we need to wrap it up, but I don’t want to interrupt Amy’s train of thought, so I ignore him. “So, I told him I needed to go to the bathroom. I was planning on phasing out as soon as I was out of his sight. I know I’m not supposed to do anything to weird anyone out, but he wouldn’t even let me leave the room! He blocked the door and had me pinned to it before I knew what he planned. And when he tried to kiss me … that’s when I bit him. What else was I supposed to do?” She looks to Mavin behind her as she asks.
“Tell me!” He roars, pulling her into his arms to cradle her. “I would’ve ripped him limb from limb …” Burying his face in her neck, I watch as they comfort each other.
Amy’s voice is muffled as she continues, face still in the crook of his neck. “I probably scratched him. Definitely kicked him. It happened so quickly.” Pulling back, Mavin lets her get a little more turned around to me. “You know what’s kind of funny?”
She doesn’t wait for an answer, and her face contorts into a semblance of a sad smile. “That wasn’t even the worst. We’ve had way worse fights—verbally and physically—so I really felt like I got off lucky. Once I kneed him in the nuts, I took off into the hall and was outta there.”
“Desin!” Payak makes me jump as he phases in right behind me. “You need to get back to the base now! Jade’s been arrested and detained, but now she’s missing. There’s a good chance she’s in your shared dimension waiting for you!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
- Jade
When the locks click and the door bursts open into the room, I don’t even look up from where I’m huddled on the floor. I’m too afraid to move or try and phase into either dimension. If I could, I’ve have phased all the way into Desin’s dimension, but there’s something holding me back. The unknown.
I mean, it’s one thing to be there with him. He knows how to control everything there and make the artificial intelligence work so the bathroom is available. Even now, I can see the hazy fog that was originally in the bedroom. I’m positive when we left last night, we left it the other way. Why did it change back?
Could I be in the wrong dimension? It looks right, but the bedding is perfect, not rumpled and slept in the way we left it. Is it possible I fucked this up somehow?
“Jade!” Hearing Teresa’s voice, I look up to see her stumbling into the room. Behind her, two more reptile-headed guys walk in. It takes a moment, but I realize I’m relieved that Teresa still looks human! For a few minutes there while I tried not to dissolve into tears on the floor, I started questioning my own sanity.
Freezing in place, I watch to see what will happen. Are they bringing her in to join me? Or is this a ploy?
“I brought your clothes.” Teresa holds them up as she turns in a slow circle. It’s clear she knows what happened to me, and that I phased. “Jade, come on! No one’s going to hurt you! I know you’re probably freaking out about the Taxin,” she waves to the reptile humanoids behind her.
Ya think?
They’re both standing just inside the door with their backs to the wall as Teresa walks over to them, still speaking into the air over my head. “This is Cameron Smith, my boss. And Greg. You had to have known that was Greg, right?”
Putting her hands on her hips, she lets out an exasperated sigh. The alien closest to the door who she claimed is Cameron asks, “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, I’m sure. The first time I saw one of you guys after getting mated, I freaked out. I’m sure that’s what happened.” Turning to the other man, she adds, “I’m sure that’s why she couldn’t focus and didn’t answer you. She was panicking and wondering what to do. I did the same thing she did. I started phasing from nerves, but it’s her first time by herself. She doesn’t know how to control it.”
Sinking into the chair farthest away, Teresa places my clothes on the table, and I slowly climb to my feet, wondering if I walk around and focus on them if I’ll shift fully back into the room. And do I want to?
“I’m just going to keep talking. I don’t think she’ll phase back here, though. It’s a lot more likely if she phases back, it’ll be to somewhere she feels safe—like her bedroom.”
“We have your apartment being watched right now. If she ends up back there, we’ll get her.” Greg’s tone is dire and doesn’t inspire confidence.
“Great,” Teresa responds dryly. “You know, that’s not the kind of stuff she needs to hear. Turning away from them, her eyes bounce around the room looking for me. Moving in front of her, I wait and see if she can see me yet.
Nothing.
“Jade, Greg and Cameron are just another species of aliens called Taxin.” Glancing over her shoulder at them, she adds, “I know they look scary, but they’re still the same people we’ve been working with for years. I tried to contact Payak and Desin, but they aren’t answering. They’re out investigating what could be a Wen sighting, and as soon as they’re back, we’ll be able to get this sorted out.”
I notice Greg’s phone rings once before he grabs it, moving out of the room to speak with whoever called him. There’s no way to tell from his strange reptilian features what they’re discussing as the door clicks closed behind him. Cameron, Teresa’s boss stays in the room with us, nodding occasionally as she continues to talk to the air around her.
“For some reason, your sealed records from social services ended up getting sent to the administration staff, and that’s why this ended up getting flagged—about your pellagra when you were eight. We don’t know who did it yet, but I have my own suspicions.” Teresa’s voice turns hard as her eyes squint, glaring over my head.
I want to ask her who so bad! I want my clothes. Reaching out, I concentrate on picking them up. Nothing. My hand’s solid, but the material feels like vapor. Nothing in the room is solid except for the floor under my feet. I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Why is it like this for me?
The door slides open again, and Greg pokes his head inside, announcing, “Payak’s back. They’re sending him down here with news.”
“Jade!” Teresa’s voice has turned cajoling as she stands. “I’m going to just move into the hall and wait for him. Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Payak, and if you’re in your dimension gateway and can hear me, I’ll make sure Payak sends Desin in to see you. But don’t worry. Everyone around here says they’ll figure out what’s going on with your records, and true or not, we’ll get this worked out. Okay?”
I watch her moving to the door and decide to follow her and the men. I’m not getting left behind in the room. At least Teresa is willing to try and talk to me like this.
It’s interesting too because as I walk into the brighter hallway, following Teresa, I can still see the room and bed in Desin’s dimension. It’s as if it’s following me. How funky is that?
Payak appears down the hall and is immediately in front of Teresa, pulling her into his arms. “Everyone’s dead,” he states over Teresa’s shoulder. My knees give out as I sink to the floor, my heart stopping. “Some kind of weapon destroyed the entire valley, killing everyone but Desin and I because we phased just in tim
e.”
As my heart thunders back to life, I can barely hear the conversation over the buzzing in my ears. I know I’d be passed out on the floor if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m already sitting. How could he scare me like that?
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
- Desin
Sure enough, as soon as I phase into my dimension, I see Jade. Crouched down, she’s almost in tears as I pull her into my arms. As soon as she realizes I’m here, her arms tighten, and she begins to cry. “Oh, no! Don’t cry. What’s going on? Why were you arrested?”
It takes a little while for Jade to relax. Picking her up as she begins to explain, I carry her into the bathing room to clean up her face. She’s still in her pajamas, and I can tell she’s been sweating and freaking out.
Handing her a tissue, she blows her nose, laughing lightly. “It’s so fucked up. This morning a couple military police showed up and said they were taking me in for not reporting a medical condition to my recruiter when I entered the service over three years ago!” Her puffy eyes widen as she looks at me earnestly. “It’s true! That’s the bummer part. They’re right. I always knew there was a possibility they’d get into my sealed records, but it’s been almost four years!”
Bursting into a fresh round of tears, I pull her into my arms, rocking her gently. Kissing her forehead, I think about how odd this is. “Why now?”
Jerking back, she looks up at me exclaiming, “Right? That’s what I thought too!” Pulling away, she begins to pace. “That’s not even all of it. Then, they take me in, and everyone’s an alien! Teresa mentioned it and called them Taxin? What the fuck, Desin?”
Stopping in front of me with her arms out, I can’t help but pull her to me, running my hands up the back of her shirt. “I’m sorry too. That also freaked out Teresa. I should have mentioned it.”
