by C. C. Bolick
“You did great,” I shouted at her over the rising noise.
Dad approached where I stood and Mama steered him around me to the door. She gave me a sad smile, but he stared straight ahead.
With one last look at Travis, I noticed he stared straight at me. He sat in the chair while watching the wall behind me. It was too much to hope he could see me. If only I could get him asleep.
Who was I fooling? With the world ending in less than a day, he wouldn’t get any more sleep than the other agents.
I followed Mama out of the door and to the elevator. When she stepped on behind Dad, I jumped in before the doors could close. The elevator started a descent. Dad put an arm around her and kissed her forehead.
“Is she here?” he asked.
Mama looked at me. “Yes.”
“Tell her I’m sorry.”
“She can hear you, Donald.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” Agony laced his words. “I’ve known about this day for the last thirteen years, ever since Noah disappeared. I’ve kept his secret. When Travis asked me to tell him what happened that night, you’re the reason I couldn’t.”
Although Dad’s face remained calm as usual, hearing the pain in his voice went straight to my chest. “I forgive you.” The words came out before I realized what I’d said.
“She forgives you,” Mama said.
Dad stared at the ceiling. “She shouldn’t. No one should forgive me. If Travis kills me before this is over, I wouldn’t blame him.”
I laughed nervously. “Travis won’t kill him. I’ll make sure of that.”
“There’s one more thing we need to do,” she said. “Your brother doesn’t know what happened this morning.”
The thought of seeing Alfie’s face at that news brought tears to my eyes. “Do you have to tell him now? Maybe you could wait—”
“He needs to know,” Mama said. “It’s our duty to tell him.”
I swallowed the aching in my throat. “Alfie will be devastated.”
A single tear slipped down Dad’s face. I reached for it without thinking. Electricity tingled across my fingertips.
The only sound was Dad’s sharp intake of breath. “Did she touch me?”
“Yes,” Mama said.
Another tear slid down Dad’s cheek. “You should hate me, Regina. I stole your life by drinking my own away. Now you understand the burden of the secrets I’ve carried.”
The secrets he carried… “Is he saying he drank because of me?”
Mama squeezed his arm. “Regina wants to know if you drank because of her.”
He nodded. “Because I knew what would happen after my return to the agency. I knew one day she would die as you did. For a while, I was lost.”
The doors opened and Dad stepped out onto the floor with Dr. Greene’s suite. Alfie had spent most of his time with Dr. Greene’s family since our arrival at the base. Mama held his hand as they stopped at the familiar door.
Dad knocked. The door opened and Dr. Greene stepped out. “I can only imagine what you’re going through.”
“Does he know yet?” Dad asked.
Dr. Greene shook his head. “I haven’t told him. Carmen and I decided it was best to wait for you.”
At the sound of her name, Carmen walked to the door and waved them inside. I followed before Dr. Greene could close the door.
Tears stained her face. “Alfie is in Samuel’s room. They’re playing a game… This must be impossible for you to bear. Samuel doesn’t know yet.”
Skip and Tyler’s younger brother was twelve, the perfect age for Alfie to look up to. They spent most of their time playing video games. That and planning how they would one day reach agent status.
“Bring him out,” Dad said.
I found a place to stand next to the aquarium in their living room. It gave off the brightest light in the dim space. Somehow this light felt comforting.
Dr. Greene disappeared down the hall and reappeared with Alfie a few moments later. Alfie had a wide grin until he noticed Carmen’s face. He glanced from Dad to Mama with fear in his eyes.
“Sit down on the couch,” Dr. Greene said.
Alfie didn’t move. “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk,” Mama said.
“As a family?” When she nodded, he asked, “Where’s Rena?”
“That’s what we need to discuss,” Dad said.
Alfie’s hands began to shake. “Where is she?”
“Alfred—” Mama started.
“No,” he screeched. Alfie ran to the couch and buried his face in the cushions.
Dad sat down next to him and Mama to the other side. Mama rubbed Alfie’s back like she did when he had nightmares about monsters in the tiny space under his bunk.
“She’s dead, isn’t she?” he asked. “Rena went on a mission and she didn’t come back.”
“You’re right,” Dad said, his voice broken. “She’s dead.”
“How can she be dead?” Alfie wailed.
“Your sister didn’t feel any pain,” Mama said.
“I wanna know how she died.”
“A laser,” Dad said.
Alfie’s body shook as he cried. Mama looked my way as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She wrapped her arms around my brother and let the storm of tears flow out of him.
Even when I died, I didn’t feel as much pain as I did while he cried.
Eventually, the sobs subsided. Dr. Greene watched from the doorway. Since he was a psychologist, why didn’t he offer words of wisdom?
Alfie pulled away from Mama and wiped his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. “You died and you’re still here. Rena didn’t leave, did she? She can’t be gone.”
“She’s gone, son,” Dad said.
“I didn’t say goodbye. Please tell me she’s still here.”
Mama looked in my direction. Dad lifted his eyes. Even though he couldn’t see me, I felt his stare.
“You can’t see her,” Mama said, “but Rena is here.”
Alfie looked up. “In this room? Right now?”
“She’s standing to the left of the fish tank.”
Dad looked in my direction and so did Dr. Greene.
“Tell her I’m sorry for not saying goodbye,” Alfie said. “I’m sorry she had to look after me.”
“Regina can hear you.” Mama pulled Alfie close and put an arm around his neck. “Why are you sorry she looked after you?”
“Because she spent so much time with me when Dad couldn’t.”
Fresh tears filled Dad’s eyes.
Alfie stood and walked toward me. He stopped about a foot from the tank. “I love you, Rena.”
“I love you too,” I said.
“She said she loves you,” Mama said.
“How does she look?” He rubbed his eyes. “Does she shimmer like an angel or does she glow like a flashlight?”
“She looks like she always has,” Mama said.
“Can she come back?”
“She’s already here, Alfred. Regina’s not going anywhere.”
“But I can’t see her. Can she return like you did in someone else’s body?”
Return? I hadn’t thought about coming back in someone’s body. That would be weird.
But useful.
* * * * *
Travis
When Rosanna followed Agent Mason out of the door, I watched for any sign of Rena. Other agents left the room including Sylvia. Angel stood and walked outside with Agent Lockhart. Those in green remained seated. Before I could stand, Erin leaned against the table next to me.
“No need to stare,” she said. “Rena’s gone.”
“Where?”
“I’m not sure,” Erin said. “She followed her parents out of the room.”
“How does she look?” I asked.
“Like Rena.”
“We need to talk,” Tyler said to me. “Don’t leave yet.”
Still in shock over Rena returning, I nodded.
He shifted his gaz
e to Erin. “I didn’t know you’d taken a job here. Sylvia didn’t tell me.”
“Well,” Erin said, “she wasn’t upfront about you either. I thought you died in Afghanistan. I didn’t know you were alive until I met Skip.”
“Skip knows who you are?” Tyler swore. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me you were here. When did you arrive?”
“Three weeks ago. Sylvia offered me a job as genetics specialist.” The courage in her voice surprised me. “She came to Chicago and asked me to interview for a government agency. I had no idea what I was getting into.”
“How long have you known?” Tyler asked me.
“Since before I went to Golvern.”
He studied me. “You didn’t think I should know?”
I shrugged. “It never came up. With your new job, would it have changed things?”
“Yes,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Erin said. “I planned to leave this morning and that hasn’t changed.”
Tyler gave her a strange look. “You’re still going back to Chicago?”
Her voice wavered. “Didn’t you hear anything I said to Sylvia?”
“I heard what she said to you, loud and clear. You’re taking her place.”
Erin shook her head. “I’m not taking that job. It was all for show.”
Tyler motioned to the door. “It didn’t look all for show when Sylvia was leaving. She wasn’t joking about taking back her old agent job. You’re now acting director.”
“I can’t be director of this agency.”
Voices around us stopped and the remaining people looked at her. Erin put a hand to her face. “I just shouted that, didn’t I?”
“You’re my lifeline to Rena,” I said. “Please don’t leave yet.”
Her shoulders slouched. “Rena’s my friend. She asked for my help, but I didn’t agree to take a job I can’t perform.”
“You can do the job,” Tyler said. “I know you can. You run that wing of the hospital like you own it.”
Her lips parted. “How do you know about what goes on at my hospital?”
“Because I’ve visited Chicago for years and sat outside that hospital with the hope of seeing you.” Tyler smiled up at her. “Unhealthy, I know, so don’t give me that look. When I took this new job and left Earth, I decided it was time to let you go.” He leaned back in his chair. “It’s always been you, babe. I’m not afraid to call this what it is.”
“For more than a year, I’ve thought you were dead.” Erin shook her head. “I can’t go back—”
Tyler’s phone rang and he answered the call. He watched the queen as he listened. When he hung up, he looked at me. “That was your dad. He thinks he’s found Paleris’s trail. He’s picking up residuals too advanced for humans to make, possibly an inbound nuke.”
“You sound like one of them,” I said.
He frowned. “I’m doing my job.”
“Like you did your job and nearly got me killed?”
“Enough,” said the queen. “The two of you can fight tomorrow. For now, we’ve got to prepare to protect this planet. If Rena and her mother can’t stop the nuclear warhead, we’ll have to use our firepower to stop it.”
“You can just nuke a nuke?” I asked. “Forgive me if I don’t understand technology that’s a thousand years more advanced than Earth’s.”
“One day,” she said, “you’ll depend on that technology.”
Man, I wished she’d stop with the cryptic talk. Even when I could see the future, I didn’t talk like that.
Tyler stood. “We could make this a team effort, one last time.”
This was the friend who betrayed me. He worked for the people who took Rena away. I couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t look at him without thinking of how they’d killed Rena.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said as if reading my mind. “You know I didn’t want Rena to get hurt.”
“You knew what Van was going to do?”
“I did.”
I stood. “Our friendship is over. What you do next is your business.”
With those words, I left the room.
* * * * *
Rena
I followed Dad into the operation center for the base. This room was filled with computers and agents doing their best to keep the world safe. Several monitors showed views from satellites circling the globe. Some showed feed from cameras including military operations underway.
Dad stopped next to Erin, who watched a screen that Skip controlled. She was back in her black agent clothes. “Congratulations on the new job.”
Erin gave him a helpless look. “I really thought Sylvia was joking.”
“She doesn’t joke about these things,” Dad said. “If you need any help, let me know.”
She nodded to him. “Thanks, I think.”
“Like the suit,” I said. “You’re back in black. Now I’ve got to figure out how to make you stay.”
“I’m not staying.”
“Yes, you are,” I said. “You promised to help me figure out how to get my ghost certification. If you go back on your word, I’ll haunt your dreams every night.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“I think it’s hilarious.”
She glared at me. “Shut your mouth.”
Skip raised an eyebrow. “Is it just me or is our new boss as crazy as the old boss?”
Dad shook his head. “Don’t ask that question unless you want an answer.”
“Who wants answers?” Angel asked as she walked up.
Travis was nowhere in the room. “Did you see where my boyfriend went?” I asked.
“He didn’t want an invitation to this party,” Erin said. “Maybe he was afraid I’d take notes from Sylvia and lock him in a coma.”
Angel looked from Erin to Dad to Skip.
“I assume she’s talking to my daughter,” Dad said.
“Rena’s here?” Angel asked. “Where?”
Erin pointed to where I stood. “She can hear everything you’re saying. No one can see or hear her but me.”
“I’m sorry,” Angel said in my direction.
Skip looked up from the monitor. “Me too.”
“Please tell everyone to quit saying they’re sorry,” I said.
Tyler approached with a person I didn’t recognize, or maybe I did. He stood next to the queen in the conference room right before Van shot me.
“Who are you?” Erin asked.
“Meet the king of Golvern,” Tyler said.
“Okay.” Erin held out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“King?” I asked. “He’s one of them.”
“We don’t have time for this,” he said with aggravation. “Our scans have the nuke.”
“It’s not showing up on our radar,” Skip said. “Are you sure it’s live?”
“It’s in the sky,” Tyler said. “We have about ten minutes before it reaches U.S. soil.”
“You’re sure it’s coming here?” Angel asked.
“Castillo has it aimed for Atlanta,” Dad said. “He hates this agency and can’t let a certain personal matter between us go. Why choose any other target?”
Skip shook his head. “I still don’t see it.”
Tyler handed him a memory stick. “Install this on your PC, bro. They’re using a special program to hide the nuke. It turns one energy signature into eight to get below what’s detectable. We call it a spider program.”
Mama appeared at my side. “Time to go to work.”
“They said we had ten minutes.”
She smiled. “I’ve got something to show you before we deal with the bomb.”
“I’m going to stop the bomb,” I said.
Erin nodded in my direction before turning back to where Skip loaded the file.
Mama took my hand. The light around us faded and we appeared in the darkness of space looking down at Earth. Wispy white clouds moved across continents that looked vaguely like the ones from a globe. I’d seen all of these shapes but never from
this height.
“When we flew before, we never left the atmosphere.”
The soft shades of blues and greens were truly beautiful. “I could watch this for days.”
“We don’t have days.” Gripping my hand, she pulled me closer to the atmosphere. “There. See the glow?”
I didn’t notice any special glow.
She pointed at a section of ocean. “Don’t you feel the movement, the power of a weapon that could destroy lives? You’ve defused Louis’s bombs in the past.”
I thought back to when I controlled the neutrons. Yes, each bomb had a special feel. I flew closer to the surface until I felt the ripple of power through the air.
This was different than when I defused Louis’s bombs. None of them went off. I stopped a stationary bomb from exploding and destroyed the control unit to keep it from ever blowing up.
What I felt below was already alive with power. The neutrons hummed as they called to me. Without my help, they would cascade exponentially to destroy everything in their path. Life, property, and Earth itself.
“Are you going to help?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “This one is for you.”
I held out my arms and called to the neutrons. It didn’t matter if I felt fear or if blue sparkles appeared along my palms. The same rules no longer bound me as before.
The power started as a tiny dot within me, but grew like a fire fed with the driest wood. I made the fire because I knew I could. It grew because I commanded it.
The nuke flew at breakneck speed, but I controlled time. I made the bomb slow until I flew at its side. Mama appeared on the other side and we flew with the bomb between us.
“Have you figured out how to stop it?” she asked.
“Same way as before.”
“Before the bomb wasn’t moving. You destroyed the device but not at this rate. You’ve got some calculations to do.”
Finally, I could use some of the physics I learned in school. By slowing time enough, I had days to do the calculations within my head. Days to figure out the exact point to start the neutrons and stop them.
I saw the cascading lights in my mind. In an endless array of colors, the neutrons bounced around. My favorite rainbow of colors. Mama was right. Each individual neutron was moving, which meant I couldn’t base my thinking on previous attempts. With each move, there must be a counter move.
