“Technically, I got out because –”
Sewell put his hand on her thigh and he gave it a squeeze. She turned to look at him, and Sewell shook his head. She was not sure what the gesture meant.
“Sure. Shut her up, Sewell. I get it. Top-secret bullshit. Look, I don’t care what excuses you’ve got and what lies you’re going to tell Sturgis to save your own ass. All I know is that we were told we’d be safer with you on our team. But you’re here and Lopez is dead. You weren’t much of an asset to him, were you?”
“Are you inferring that I caused the death of Sergeant Lopez?”
“No, he’s not saying that. Right, Cooper? You’re not accusing Alecto, are you?” said Sewell. Sewell’s voice quivered and was somewhat higher than it had been before. The change was so slight that Cooper may not have noticed it. But in the dry desert air, Alecto was easily able to identify the frequencies of each person’s voice and notice any fluctuations.
Cooper continued to glare at her, but after a while, his anger was replaced with an emotion Alecto did not know. He looked away from her abruptly and shifted himself back further into his seat as though he was trying to get away from her. He was acting as Lopez had. I have made him uncomfortable too. Perhaps it was her hairless head or her overly large eyes. Or maybe Cooper disliked the alien in her altogether. As she sat in the chopper cabin, she wished she had never seen herself in that mirror.
They flew in silence, each keeping to him or herself. The only sound was the whir of the rotors and the pft-pft-pft of the blades chopping the air.
As they got closer to A.H.D.N.A., Alecto’s chest tightened with anxiety. “Mr. Sewell, will I be punished for failing the mission?”
Sewell remained silent.
“Did you hear me, Mr. Sewell?”
“Yes, Alecto. I heard you. I just … I don’t know how to answer your question.” Sewell did not look at her. His eyes roved back and forth over the words he appeared to be reading on his handheld.
“Is it because you do not know the answer?”
Sewell looked up from his device and sighed. “No. It’s more because I don’t know how to tell you the answer.”
“Sometimes when someone don’t answer, it’s ’cause you ain’t goin’ to like the answer. Best to let sleeping dogs lie,” Cooper said.
“Sleeping dogs? We do not have dogs at A.H.D.N.A. I do not understand your advice.”
Cooper laughed. “Good luck, Sewell.”
Sewell did not join the man in laughing and he did not smile. His face continued to wear its dour expression until the copter landed steps away from the cave entrance to A.H.D.N.A.
__________
Alecto sat in the briefing room where she had met with Commander Sturgis earlier that night. Though she was once again in the controlled environment of A.H.D.N.A., her senses remained heightened from her time in the dry air. The air around her felt thick and full of water. It was almost as if she could reach her hand out and grab air and hold it like a handful of dirt.
Her teeth buzzed. The space between her eyes tingled. There was a change in the air molecules, and it caused a chill to run up her legs and into her spine. Someone is coming.
Commander Sturgis’ heels clicked as she marched down the hallway. She burst into the room, her brow knitted. Her light pink lips were pulled into two thin lines. Dark circles had formed under her pale blue eyes. Her hair, normally tightly coiffed, was marred by a few strands of hair hanging loose on either side of her face.
Sturgis sat in the metal chair across from Alecto and stared unflinchingly into Alecto’s dark eyes. Sturgis sucked in a deep breath and let it out. For a minute or so, she said nothing and only stared. At last she said, “You have failed me miserably.”
“I apologize, Commander.” Alecto attempted to control her quickening pulse but could only calm it by a few beats a minute. She made a mental note to work on her ability to speed up and slow down her heart rate.
“You are a sorry example of a H.A.L.F. I clearly overestimated your loyalty to the program and to me. Did you not even try? You are stronger than him. I made you to be stronger. I am …” Commander Sturgis shook her head. “I am utterly disappointed in you.”
Alecto did not know what protocol required her to say. She had apologized and she had meant it. She did feel regret that she had not been able to complete the mission she’d been given. She considered making a suggestion that she be sent out again to retrieve 9, but she remembered her training. It was not up to her to determine the course of action. That was the commander’s job. Her job was merely to obey. She remained quiet.
Alecto sensed a shift in Commander Sturgis’ attitude. The commander’s brows smoothed out and her energy level lowered. She tried to reach out with her mind to read the commander’s thoughts, but the humidity had already dampened her ability to read the thoughts of humans. Alecto felt a momentary twinge of regret that she was no longer in the arid environment up top, but she did not allow her mind to stay with the thought and brought her attention back to Commander Sturgis.
“I should have known that an emotional outburst would have no effect on you. After all, I specifically engineered you to be immune to emotional manipulation. It’s nearly impossible to sway one who lacks emotional commitment.”
Alecto remained still and silent.
“What happened out there? Why did you fail?”
“9 has the ability of complete temporal translocation. He translocated not only himself but his companions as well.”
Commander Sturgis’ eyes searched Alecto’s. “Temporal translocation,” Sturgis said. Her voice was a whisper. “I’d never considered this as a potential ability. It’s inconceivable. It’s … can you do it?”
“I attempted it but was unable. It is such a large amount of matter to manipulate. It does not seem feasible –”
“But he did it, so clearly it is possible. Are you telling me you gave up?”
“No, Commander. It is not a skill that I possess.”
“I see.” Sturgis sat still and quiet for a while, then leaned forward, steepled her hands and rested her chin on her upright fingers. “Then how did you escape the crash?”
Alecto explained how she’d fled the collision.
“Escaping on foot. How banal.” The commander’s voice was filled with an emotion that Alecto could not place.
“Banal?”
“It means ordinary,” Commander Sturgis said. “Here you sit, genetically engineered to be superior to humans in every way, and you – what did you say – you threw yourself and scrambled to freedom?”
“I attempted to save Lopez.”
“Yes, yes. I’m sure you did. But temporal translocation. I almost wish Dr. Randall were here to hear about this. He’d be so … proud.
“Though you failed in your mission, this is wonderful news. General Bardsley will be pleased. This is beyond what I promised from the H.A.L.F. program. I must brief the general at once.” Commander Sturgis rose, smoothed her skirt, and turned to leave the room.
“Commander Sturgis?”
“Be quick. I am in a hurry. You and the other one have created quite a headache for me to sort out.”
“Will I be punished, Commander? For failing the mission?”
“I am disappointed in you, Alecto. Not only for failing the task I gave you, but also for showing this sign of concern over your own self-preservation. You clearly need additional training on how to put your own needs behind the needs of your team and your commander.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Punished? You should be. But in the end, you brought back intelligence that may well save this program. Besides, it has been a long night and one that is still not over. I need to find a way to recover 9 and create the necessary lies to cover up what has happened out there tonight. So no, Alecto, you will not be punished. This time. That is, not unless you view spending several hours being debriefed in detail by Sewell a punishment.”
“Commander?”
“Never m
ind. I’ll send Sewell in to get the details. After you’re done with Sewell, he’ll take you to Dr. Dolan to go through medical debriefing.” Sturgis opened the door. She turned back to Alecto before she exited. “One last thing. Do not fail me again, Alecto. I am a forgiving woman. Once.”
11
HOW TO TAME YOUR HYBRID
Erika wanted to curl into Jack and allow him to enfold her in his arms. But if she allowed herself that comfort, it would give Jack the impression that everything she’d said about ‘just friends’ was a fleeting idea. She’d bounced into his arms earlier. Even more reason to patch the holes in the wall I’ve built between us. Erika sank into the cushy leather on her side of the backseat, laid her head against the side of the car and tried to sleep. Despite exhaustion, rest did not come. Her conflicted mind raced with unanswered questions. And fear.
Though Tex had commandeered Jack’s car, he’d saved Jack’s life. He’d also kept them from ending up in the hands of Commander Sturgis. Twice.
But he can kill me whenever he wants. A shiver ran up her spine. Erika had to get her mind off of the danger that rested slumped over in the front seat. She whispered to Jack, “Are you awake?”
“Wide awake,” he said.
“I’m not,” said Ian.
Erika would have playfully punched Ian, but she decided it would take too much effort. “What the heck happened back there? I mean, how did we –”
“Switch places? Hell if I know,” said Jack.
Erika’s mind replayed the image of Jack’s Jetta engulfed in flame. She hadn’t actually seen two burning bodies, but that’s how she pictured it in replay. “I’m glad we got away, but I wish they hadn’t died for us to live.”
“She is not dead,” Tex said.
Though Tex was short and slight of build for a guy, his voice did not match. It was deeper even than Jack’s, but wooden not melodious. I thought he was asleep. Erika’s heart beat faster.
“No way anyone lived through that,” Jack said. “The car was a ball of fire.”
“H.A.L.F. 10 is not just anyone,” Tex said as if that somehow explained the impossible.
Erika tried again to rest, but she couldn’t help but think about Tex. She replayed all that she had observed about him from the moment they met. Was that just earlier tonight? It seems like a lifetime ago. Erika was repulsed by how easily he was able to kill yet drawn to know more about him. He was entirely unlike anyone she’d ever met before. And it wasn’t only the strange eyes or his powers. He was unpredictable. Exciting.
Screw sleep. She doubted any of them could rest anyway. “We’ve still got a long drive ahead of us. None of us can sleep. I want to hear more about you. What else can you … I mean, what are your powers?”
“I wish that I knew,” Tex said. “Being in the human world for the first time, I find that I am still learning.”
“But they must have tested you out the wazoo when you were in that lab and found out what abilities you have.”
“They kept me subdued. I was unable to test my own strength while there.”
“Why keep you sedated?”
“He’s a threat to them,” Ian said. “If they keep him sedated, they can control him.”
“That is exactly right, Ian,” Tex said. “They had not always kept me in that state. But there was an unfortunate incident when I was seven.”
Erika wasn’t sure she really wanted to hear what had happened. She’d seen enough of Tex’s abilities to know that he was capable of death on a large scale. But he was only seven. How much damage could a child do? She knew she may regret it, but her curiosity got the better of her, so she asked. “What kind of incident?”
Tex looked out his window. “This vehicle is higher above the ground than the other one,” he said.
Changing the subject. But it was the second time he had mentioned the ‘incident’. Whatever had happened, it was the event that made them want to keep Tex permanently sedated. It happened when he was seven and he’s now seventeen. That means he’s been sedated for nearly ten years. “Tex, what happened?” Erika lightly touched his shoulder as she had earlier.
This time, he glanced down at the hand but didn’t flinch from her touch. “It was a regrettable occurrence. I do not think that you will enjoy the story, Erika. And if I tell it to you, you will likely think even less of me than you already do.”
“No offense, but, dude, you killed a guy, almost did in a half dozen more and commandeered Jack’s car and us. I don’t think we can think worse of you,” said Ian.
Tex continued to look out his window. “As I said, I was seven when it happened. An attendant came every morning to bring me my breakfast tray. I was not asleep when he came that day, but I pretended I was. He said, ‘Wake up, mutant.’ But still I remained on my bed with my back to him, my knees curled tightly to my chest.”
“Why didn’t you answer him or get up?” asked Erika.
Tex turned and stared at her without a hint of emotion on his face. He shrugged. “I do not recall why. Perhaps I was merely being defiant.”
“What did the attendant do?” asked Ian.
“He kicked me in the back. Oh, it was not a hard kick. They never hit me hard. If they had bruised me or caused me to bleed, they would have been fired. No, that attendant found other ways to show me that he had power over me.”
Erika hesitated to press him for more information. It seemed likely he would reveal something she’d wish she hadn’t heard. But her need to know his story won out. “What did he do to you?”
“The night before, he had replaced my usual meal bar with one crafted from … well, something that is generally the result of what one eats.”
“No!” said Erika.
“No wonder you were giving him attitude,” said Jack.
Tex turned his gaze back to the window and stopped telling his story. Erika fell silent as well. She hated it when people tried to pry into her private business. Maybe I should let it go. He doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.
But Ian couldn’t leave off. “What happened when he brought you breakfast?”
“I got up and went to my table to eat the cereal bar and orange on my tray. I also get a thick liquid called ‘juice’ though I do not think it compares to what humans think of as juice. It contains no added water but is a mixture of vitamins, minerals and vegetables to keep my system in balance.”
“Sounds disgusting,” Jack said.
“It is not as good as the red candy that Ian shared with me, but until this night I had never had anything else. As I sat to eat my breakfast, the attendant taunted me about my ‘dinner’ the night before. I wanted to hurt him as I felt he had hurt me.”
Erika thought that was an understatement. “I’d like to throw a punch at him too.”
“That would not be possible because he is dead. I killed him.” Tex admitted to the killing in the same tone of voice one may use to talk about math homework.
Blood rushed in Erika’s ears. Two dead men. She wondered how many others the man in the front seat had killed.
“You killed him back then? When you were seven?” Ian asked.
“Yes, that morning. And it wasn’t because of the night before either. He took my container of special juice and went to my bathroom. He poured it out and replaced it with another liquid.”
“Don’t tell me,” said Erika. Her stomach flip-flopped. She held her hand to her mouth.
“As you wish. I will not tell you the remainder.”
And Erika believed that he wouldn’t tell more either. He looked forward, his eyes on the road, his face placid. “No, no. You take everything so literally. I meant I didn’t want to hear it because it sounds awful, but I do want to hear it because I want to know what happened. Does that make sense?”
“No. But I will continue anyway. As soon as he came back from the bathroom, I smelled the foul odor and knew what he had done. The man shoved the bottle toward me and told me to drink. But I had no intention of drinking the fetid liquid. And then he
said what he should not have said.”
“What was that?” asked Ian.
“He threatened that if I did not drink it, he would tell Commander Sturgis that I was being uncooperative.”
As Tex told the story, Erika’s stomach filled with bile and she teetered on the edge of puking. “Were you frightened?” asked Erika.
“Of course he was. You’ve met that woman,” said Jack. “Did you hit him?”
“No. I was much too small to be able to damage him with my fists. I used the only weapon I had.”
“Your mind,” said Jack.
“The attendant’s smug smile disappeared as he fell to the ground. He tried to pull off the invisible cord, but it didn’t work. He thrashed around. The container of urine that he had intended for me fell with him. It spilled. As he rolled around, he mopped it up with his body. His eyes bulged and his face went from purple to blue. His legs jerked; then he was still.”
Erika’s hand had involuntarily gone to her throat, checking for a rope. When she noticed it, she put her hand back to her side. “You killed him the same way you killed Nacho,” said Erika.
“Yes.”
Jack’s voice sounded hesitant, but he asked the inevitable question. “What happened then?”
“I ate my breakfast.”
“With him lying there, dead on your floor?” asked Erika. She could not imagine eating so much as a grain of rice if a dead person was in the same room as her.
“He was dead. I could not bring him back to life. And even if I could, I would not have. I was hungry, so I ate.”
Erika looked over to Jack, and he held his stomach and pretended to gag.
“They increased the humidity so you wouldn’t be a danger?” asked Ian.
“Yes. It worked quite well. Until tonight, that is.”
“What was it like? The humidity, I mean,” Erika asked.
Tex did not answer immediately but then said in nearly a whisper, “It is like a waking sleep.”
Erika tried to imagine what Tex meant but couldn’t quite get her head around it. She liked that her mind worked like pistons in a Hemi engine. Strong and solid. If her mind had been filled with cobwebs, she probably would have tried to end her life rather than live in a fog bank. I wonder if he ever tried to kill himself.
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