Phantom Universe

by Laura Kreitzer

CHAPTER 10: IMPLANTS

  16 years old

  “Real funny,” Jaden says with a laugh. “You must really think we’re stupid, don’t you? We were slaves, not slow.”

  “It’s not a lie,” replies Gage, his voice unfaltering.

  “And next you’re going to tell me the Canadians have taken over.” She goes into a fit of giggles. “And instead of the mounties riding horses they now ride unicorns!” More laughter.

  Humorless silence greets her.

  Jaden’s laughter trails off as she meets the eyes of everyone around her. “What? There really are unicorns?”

  Summer is curious—unicorns are another one of those mythical creatures she believes in that Landon tells her aren’t real.

  “Hardly.” Paige snorts arrogantly. “The Canadians have taken over.” Her hand rushes through the air in welcoming. “This is the Canadian Federation. It has been for a hundred years after we fought those Yankees.”

  “Except New York,” adds Bruce.

  Jaden can’t speak; she mouths a few words, but nothing comes out.

  “Why is it that all of the Outlanders find this so unbelievable?” asks Cameron as she takes a seat in the sand next to Summer.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” says Jaden sarcastically. “Could it be because the Canadians are neutral and have no army? They just aren’t territorial!”

  “Of course we have an army!” disagrees Cameron.

  “Hah! Not one that could take the U.S.” Jaden sits in the sand across from Cameron.

  “When the American’s were destroying the world, one stupid bomb and war after another, we had to stop them,” Paige jumps in crossly. “World War Three? Disastrous! Add in the Fourth and Fifth and we couldn’t take it anymore! Everyone’s eyes were so focused on the U.S. that they didn’t even see us coming.” She places her hands on her hips with a huff, towering over Summer, Jaden, Gage, and Cameron.

  Summer looks to Gage for answers.

  “It’s true,” he admits. “We took Washington with no problems. There were even Americans who joined our side when they found out about our invasion.”

  “Prove it,” says Jaden curtly.

  “This was invented only twenty years ago, so maybe this will prove it, eh?” Gage leans forward and points at his ear.

  Jaden leans forward. “What am I looking for?”

  “You’ll know it when you see it.” He taps his ear again. Summer also leans in, holding onto his shoulder gently to steady herself as they stare into his ear.

  The sunlight catches the tiny piece of metal that looks as if it’s crawling out of his ear, its fingers stuck deeply into his skin. Summer can’t help herself as she raises her fingers to his ear, wanting to feel the thing. It actually appears to be a part of him. She touches the metal, and Gage jerks. She pulls her hand back quickly.

  “It doesn’t hurt—just tickled,” he says as he sits up straight, smiling.

  “What is that thing?” asks Jaden with awe.

  “It’s a neural implant so we can telepathically communicate with others,” he explains. “It’s also a tracking device and required when you join the Canadian League.”

  “Telepathically? Then why do you even need to talk to each other?” asks Jaden in an awe-struck daze.

  “Because—” Cameron rolls her eyes. “—Gage hates the technology and won’t accept our communications when we’re in talking distance.”

  “Well,” he defends, “I think it’s lazy to not just talk . . .” he trails off and chances a glance at Summer. “Sorry.”

  Summer shrugs and smiles at him. She knows it’s not because she’s lazy, but because of her anxiety. Actually, she’s quite interested in this technology—maybe she’ll never have to speak again. She can just mind-to-mind it with people.

  “Let’s quit playing games,” a male says behind her. She jumps, unaware that there is anyone else.

  “True, Gage, they’re Outlanders. We have to bring them in,” Bruce agrees, though a little more reluctantly.

  “I know,” he says grudgingly. “Let’s eat first, eh?”

  “And risk them running off?” snaps Paige.

  “Summer can barely sit up, and Jaden’s not going anywhere without her, are you?” Gage glances at Jaden who shakes her head.

  “I blew up a ship to save her—I’m not leaving now, especially if she’s going to basically be imprisoned again if I do.”

  “Blow up a ship?” asks Gage, but is quickly interrupted.

  “She’ll be a prisoner whether you stay or not—not that you’d be able to escape us,” says Paige smugly.

  Gage glances back to Summer, a frown etched into his face so deeply she can see it in his eyes. “It’s not like that,” he defends halfheartedly.

  “You know what I think?” the quiet male says sternly.

  “No, what do you think Max?” Gage’s eyes flip up over her head and turn from tender to irritated in a second.

  “I think you need to quit playing the game of rescuer when we’re here to take them in. This whole charade is getting ridiculous. So what if they were slaves? They’re still Outlanders—this chick even broke one of our laws!” Max’s voice holds so much fury she’s surprised Gage doesn’t catch on fire.

  “Way to show compassion,” says Cameron dryly.

  “You can’t blame Jaden for not knowing our laws if she’s an Outlander, Everfast!” Gage’s words are snarled out.

  “Here we go with the last name tolietsplash again,” says Paige, and Summer can practically hear the eye roll in her voice.

  Gage ignores them, leans into Summer, wraps an arm around her waist, and pulls her to her feet. He moves so fast this surprises her, and she immediately latches onto him. She wraps her arms around his shoulders as their bodies touch. It ends up being a lot harder than it looks because he towers over her. She lets go, though he keeps his arm around her waist. She’s positive her heart’s pounding out a song right now, her blood singing with joy at his touch. He stares down at her like he’s surprised by his own actions too, unsure of what to do next. He releases her. She stumbles and immediately grabs his forearms to steady herself. She glances down at her feet and then back up at him. He’s smiling at her, and she grins back, unable not to.

  “Can you walk?”

  She shrugs and tests the waters—or sand, as it is. She’s already dizzy from lack of food and water, but she’s able to take a few steps. On her fourth, her legs quit working, and she starts to fall. Gage catches her and sweeps her off her feet. The whole thing is so cliché she tries not to verbally chuckle. She knows this won’t last—she’s an Outlander (whatever that meant). They want to put them in prison. His expression is very serious when he stares into her eyes.

  “I guess that’s a no.” His eyes snap up, and he gestures with his head for someone to come forward. It’s Cameron, and her face is crestfallen as she looks Summer over. “Cameron, I need you to check her out. Even if she’s an Outlander, she deserves our care,” he adds before protests can start.

  “Of course,” she agrees in a sweet voice as her brown eyes meet Summer’s. “Is that okay with you?”

  She doesn’t know what to say—she’s not sure what “check her out” means. She bites her lip and frantically looks between the two until Jaden comes to the rescue again.

  “She doesn’t know what you mean.” Jaden sighs like this should be so obvious. “You need to explain to her what you want to do, if it’s permission you want.”

  The whole idea of someone asking Summer for permission is so mind-blowing she actually turns giddy with the thought. She can say no if she wants. She can deny them—but what if she is punished for it? She frowns, the giddiness gone.

  “Oh.” Cameron smiles kindly.

  Jaden sees Summer’s expression and hastily adds on, “If she says no, you won’t punish her, right?”

  Gage and Cameron both snap their heads in Jaden’s direction. “What?” they both say, disgusted.

  “Of course we won’t,” says Gage with
fervor.

  “As a slave, you either answer how your master wants you to or you are punished and eventually do,” Jaden tells them when they continue to look at her in horror.

  “That’s not what we’re about,” says Cameron, offended.

  “Okay. Explain away then.”

  “I’m going through school to become a doctor. I know back in the day it was rare for someone so young to already be going to school for it, but now they start when we’re children. I’ve been training to be a doctor since I was eight. I’m twenty now. I only have one more year.

  “What I’m going to be doing is checking you for injuries internally and externally just to make sure you’re okay. Understand?” asks Cameron.

  Summer nods and worries there might be something wrong with her now. She hasn’t been checked over by a doctor since before she was taken.

  “You want me to—” Gage gestures putting Summer down. Cameron shakes her head.

  “Not yet.” Cameron pinches the bottom of Summer’s ragged shirt. “May I?”

  Summer nods again and glances up into Gage’s face. He’s watching Cameron with a serious expression, his eyes steady and his mouth a straight line.

  Cameron lifts her shirt up above her belly button and folds her pants down a few inches. Cameron gasps and so does Gage. Summer’s eyes go wide at their reaction, and then she looks at her belly. She’s skinnier than normal, but not by much. She’s got a few bruises from tumbling into the ocean and being lost at sea, but other than that she can’t see what everyone is gasping about. She looks towards Gage first, whose eyes are closed tightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows thickly.

  Is something wrong with me? she wonders.

  She then looks at Cameron who’s shocked; her mouth’s absently ajar, and her eyes are frantically moving as she examines her. Cameron continues her assessment by pressing Summer’s belly down and asking “Does this hurt?” or “Is this uncomfortable?” She also traces scars on her belly and asks where she got them.

  Summer turns her head and puts it against Gage’s chest, tired of being put on the spot. She immediately soaks in his scent—it’s musky with a hint of fresh laundry and something she can’t describe. Maybe this is what cologne smells like, she realizes while taking another sniff of the stuff. He smells so good.

  “She doesn’t speak,” she hears rumble from his chest.

  “Of course.” There’s a pause.

  “What?” Gage asks.

  Cameron’s voice becomes a whisper. “These scars are old. Like several years old.” She raises her voice. “Jaden, how long has Summer been a slave?”

  “Since she was four—her birthday was just a few days ago. She’s sixteen.”

  Summer turns her head, realizing Jaden’s right. And she’s surprised that Jaden knows this much information, but then remembers that Jaden was originally sent to capture her and was probably told, or overheard, all this information about her. Thinking of her birthday depresses her because normally she and Landon celebrate by stealing chocolate bars from the kitchen.

  Cameron’s voice lowers again. “We can’t take her to the Outlander’s camp. She won’t last—think of the psychological scars that accompany the physical ones? She’s practically been starved! I can see every bone with more detail than I should be able to. This is the worst case of starvation I’ve ever seen.” Her voice lowers even more. “And damn them.” Her eyes flicker behind Gage. “She’s eating that rabbit! It’ll help more than the crap the League gives us to eat.”

  “How am I supposed to get away with not taking her to the camp?” Gage whispers, not really arguing, but asking for help.

  “I don’t know, but you’ve got to think of something. The poor girl can barely walk.”

  Summer’s tired of everyone’s attention being on her, and the anxiety feels like it’s ripping her apart. She places a hand on Cameron’s forearm. When Cameron glances down, Summer tries to give her a reassuring smile. Right now all she can think about is changing the subject. She’s taken a lot of crap before, and whatever is in store she can handle it. There is no reason to take anyone else down with her.

  Cameron lets out a breath and looks back to Gage. “I mean look, she’s about to be put in prison, and she’s conveying to me she’ll be okay.”

  Jaden pops up next to Cameron. “She’s had a crap week. This girl is a lot stronger then you two give her credit for.”

  They both give Jaden a disbelieving—and disapproving—look.

  Gage pivots around with Summer in his arms. “We’re going to have to camp out tonight,” he announces. “I can’t carry her all the way back, and she needs to eat to gain strength. She can’t even walk. We’ll leave tomorrow as long as she can handle the trip.” His tone is firm and says it’s final, no arguing.

  “Rabbit, anyone?” chirps Jaden cheerfully, completely unperturbed.

  Paige and Max are so bluntly pissed Summer’s surprised their hair doesn’t turn into snakes and strike. Bruce nods once, catching Gage’s eyes with a knowing look.

  “Jaden, I’d love some rabbit,” says Gage, his eyes not leaving Bruce’s. Tension rises in the group, but no one argues.

  “Great! I’ll start the fire again.” And off Jaden goes, Paige following in her wake like a creepy shadow.

  Gage moves toward the pile of ash that was once a great fire and gently helps Summer to the ground. The others make themselves busy, but his eyes are only for her.

  “Hope you don’t mind.” His voice lowers. “Paige and Max are like—” He pauses, thinking of the right metaphor. “They’re like an unpinned grenade, unstable and ready to blow at any minute. Does that make sense?”

  She nods and smiles at how uncertain he is.

  “If I leave you they might decide to continue with the Let’s Make Summer Speak game.”

  She visible shudders, and he raises his hand but then puts it back down, not sure what to do.

  “Is the story true? You know, about why you don’t speak?” His green eyes are horrified with the idea, and beneath that they’re hoping it’s a hoax.

  She reaches out for his hand and pulls it into her lap. She opens his hand, palm up, and taps once with her finger.

  His eyebrows come together. “What’s that mean?”

  She gives a tight nod and taps once into his palm at the same time.

  “Yes?”

  She repeats the movement.

  “Two for no?” he guesses, and she nods with a smile. “So the story is true?”

  She taps once into his palm, and he frowns deeply. “I wish I could kill the person who did that to you,” he growls low.

  Summer can’t keep up her “it’s okay” charade and lets her shoulders slump. It’s the worst thing she’s ever gone through. Punishment on the Cosmos was rare and never as bad as it was in that house, but the scars are not just skin deep.

  “So you were whipped. You weren’t . . . raped, were you?” He chokes out the last part, and she can see in his eyes a storm brewing. She must admit to herself what Jarvis did was so awful that she’d probably prefer to be whipped.

  She taps twice into his palm, and he lets out a long breath. Then she taps once. He looks confused. “They . . . tried?” he guesses.

  She taps once and lets out a breath of her own.

  “I’ll kill ‘em,” growls Gage again, and she finds this so charming she can’t help but lean against his shoulder. He stiffens for a second before he takes his free palm and holds her head against his arm. “I swear I will.”

  And she’ll let him.