Ionic Attraction

by D. R. Rosensteel

  “Do not call him that.” Jane’s face heated. “Piper was watching. I had to push her. Anyway, I let Mr. Parker know what was going on. He was okay with it.”

  “I hope Zach is,” Anna said. “He totally panicked when he found out we had lost contact with you.”

  “And I feel terrible about it.” She did, too. It seemed the right thing to do at the time, and certainly spawned the proper reaction from Zachary to convince Piper. But now, after the dust had settled, she wished that she had warned him.

  “He did pretty well for a caveman, didn’t he?” Mina said. Then her eyes sparkled.

  “He’s not a caveman,” Jane said. “He’s actually a gentleman. Never saw that coming.”

  “I wish we had seen Benson coming sooner,” Anna said. “Are you okay?”

  Jane took a breath. “It all came back when I saw him. I started to have a panic attack, but when Zachary put his arm around me, it helped. Another thing I never expected. He can actually be very calming.”

  “He’s so protective of you, girlfriend.” Mina leaned in close.

  “He’s not,” Jane said. “He just doesn’t like Benson.”

  “You couldn’t see his body language like we could. He protected you like a neutrino blast shield. He all but threw himself between you and Benson. I think he’d take a bullet for you, girl.”

  “I doubt it.” Jane frowned and shook her head. “I called him a Neanderthal.”

  “Did he club Benson?” Mina chuckled.

  “No.”

  “Then he’s not a Neanderthal.”

  “That was his argument.”

  “Tell him you’re sorry,” Anna said with a sly grin.

  “Kiss and make up!” Mina knuckle-bumped Anna.

  Jane’s face grew warm. “He kissed me on the cheek.”

  “We saw!” they said in unison.

  “It was just part of the act.”

  “Of course it was,” Mina said. “You keep telling yourself that.”

  “I noticed you got a little touchy over Piper Dane,” Anna said. “Should I read anything into that?”

  “That was the plan.” Jane closed her eyes and smiled. “There’s nothing to read.”

  “Maybe a little between the lines?” Anna rubbed Jane’s arm.

  “Like Zachary to the rescue?” Mina’s voice got high. “That is so hot! Y’know?”

  “I know, right?” Anna high-fived Mina.

  Just then, Zachary and his brothers burst through the classroom door.

  “Are you all right?” Zachary said, and he headed straight for Jane. Before she knew what was happening, he lifted her out of her chair into a quick hug.

  “I’m fine,” she said after he lowered her into her seat. Wow. That was unexpected.

  Mina did a side glance at Jane and whispered, “You’ll have to slap him more often.”

  Jane blasted a look at Mina, then, “Zachary, I’m sorry I left you stranded like that. I can explain—”

  “It’s okay, Parker told me what happened,” Zachary interrupted as he took a chair beside Jane. He didn’t seem angry.

  Her father called Zachary? He didn’t say anything to her about it.

  “I never saw Piper following me,” Zachary said, “but I guess you did. You left the parking lot without telling me so I would panic and she’d think it was all real. That was…that was a brilliant move. I hope it worked.”

  “Don’t worry, Zachy won’t lose track of Jane again.” Nolan sat by Mina and jerked a thumb at his brother.

  Zachary grunted. “Ignore him.”

  Michael plopped down next to Anna. “We purged him. It’s a procedure Nol and I developed. Sometimes Zach’s brain builds up too much stupidity.”

  “Shut up,” Zachary said. But he was smiling.

  “He’s got this one section between the hypothalamus and the medulla oblongata called the Meatball Zone. When it fills up, Zach acts like his brain’s been replaced with ground beef. We have to flush it for him.”

  “The therapy is intense, but effective,” Nolan said. “And fun. For Mike and me, at least.”

  “They reamed me for not following you home from the parking lot.” Zachary turned to Jane. “What’s the plan now?”

  “Same as it has been.” Jane smiled. “You did well, Zachary. Piper took the bait. She’ll be in contact.”

  “I gave her my number,” Zachary said.

  Jane had absolutely hated watching him do that. “I know. Nicely played. Anna, any luck hacking HAVOC’s system?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Anna said, jumping right in. “Michael and I found a tiny little hole in their firewall. We still don’t know what the weapon is, but it looks like they plan to use it before the end of this month.”

  “How do you know?” Zachary asked.

  “Found a timeline on their system.” Anna stretched out her long body and faked a yawn. “Thought they had it in a secure place.”

  “Didn’t count on the Dream Team,” Michael said, fist-bumping Anna.

  “That gives us three weeks,” Jane said.

  Zachary glanced at her. “Piper said they’re building a machine to heal the ozone. I know she’s lying, so—”

  “But what if she’s not?” Jane interrupted. “What would that mean?”

  “The profile was right. She’s a liar. There’s no truth to her story.”

  “Zachary, we’re all scientists. Scientists test hypotheses, right? Not truth. Truth doesn’t need to be tested.”

  “You want to test the hypothesis that the hole in the ozone is still growing?” Zachary shrugged. “All the data says just the opposite.”

  Jane shook her head. “Pretend that Piper is telling the truth. I want to test that hypothesis. I make connections better when I hear all the possibilities.”

  “Assuming that there is a particle of truth in what she told me, they would have to wait until conditions in the space atmosphere were perfect before they could heal the ozone. That’s not something that can happen using only the Earth’s atmosphere.”

  “Why?” Jane asked.

  “Ozone is produced in the stratosphere when highly energetic solar radiation strikes molecules of oxygen and splits the atoms. It’s called photolysis.”

  Jane thought for a moment. “So what do we know about changes to the space atmosphere in the next three weeks?”

  “Big solar flare in five days,” Zachary said. “Enormous. They’ve named it MegaFlare. The geomagnetic community is all over it. It’s unique because it’s happening during a routine meteor shower.”

  “Routine?” Anna asked.

  “Yes, meteor showers are common because of the way the asteroid belt moves through the galaxy. But a solar flare of this magnitude is rare. And potentially dangerous. When a solar flare happens, it disrupts every layer of the solar atmosphere. If it’s accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, it will trigger geomagnetic storms that can disable satellites and knock out electric power grids. Plasma is heated to tens of millions of Kelvin. Cosmic rays are accelerated to near light speed. Two days later, it hits the Earth’s magnetosphere and produces streams of super-energized particles in the solar wind. But the geomagnetic community already knows how to handle that. It’s no big deal.”

  “What if the super-energized particles were concentrated into a beam?” Jane thought back to Professor Reddington’s presentation. “Could a Large Hadron Collider do that?”

  “With the right quark generator.” Zachary was silent for a moment then his eyes widened. “Wow. The pulsed particle beam would have a gigajoule of kinetic energy.”

  “Meaning?”

  “It wouldn’t heal anything. Just the opposite. That’s how you build a proton cannon.”

  Jane glanced up at the classroom cameras. She knew her father would be watching. She hoped that he would see clearly now that Zachary
was the perfect addition to this team. Maybe he would change his mind about him. Maybe he would change his mind about her. “And if you fired it into the ozone?”

  “I don’t like where you’re going with this,” Zachary said. “HAVOC plans to build a machine to burn a bigger hole in the ozone, not heal it. They want to blow a hole in the sky. We’re talking teraelectron volts of concentrated energy. Not even a nuclear warhead can do that.”

  “But an LHC would certainly have the power,” Nolan whispered.

  “They’re building a proton cannon,” Jane said. “What will that do?”

  The color drained from Zachary’s face. “By the time the unfiltered sun rays hit the Earth, it would be like a magnifying glass on ants with a fifty-mile radius of total destruction.”

  “Are you serious?” Jane felt numb.

  Just then the teacher waltzed into the room. “Hello, class. I hope you’ve read your Canadian History homework. It’s pop quiz time.”

  Jane barely noticed him. A fifty-mile radius. Not a small village off the grid this time. She winced as she made the connection. We have five days to save a city.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Zach

  “How did you do on the pop quiz?” Zach plopped down in the simulation chair.

  Jane shrugged. Her eyes were slits, her mouth a tight line. Zach could almost taste the stress.

  “Probably aced it,” he said quietly. He had a sudden desire to put his arm around her and tell her it was okay, that they were just theorizing. Problem was, the theory they had come up with was scary and, Zach feared, possibly accurate. Maybe he would try to take Jane’s mind off it. Distract her. Lighten the mood. “What are we learning today, sifu? Arm bars? Choke holds? Elbow strikes? Want me to show you how to beat multiple opponents using only my pinky?”

  “No.” Jane slowly glanced over at him from her seat. “I’ve been thinking. You say you know how to defend yourself, but I haven’t seen any evidence. Just the opposite, in fact.”

  What? “That’s what you’re stressed about? Whether or not I can fight?”

  “Stressed? Why do you think I’m stressed?”

  “Your face. Looks like you bit a lemon.”

  Jane arched an eyebrow. “If you’re trying to flatter me, it’s not working.”

  “You’re worried about the proton cannon. I can see it.”

  “No.” Jane smiled softly. “Zachary, we were only theorizing. It’s how I make connections. The only thing I’m certain about is the timeline. Right now I’m trying to concentrate on your training.”

  “So you’re stressed about me, not the proton cannon.” Interesting.

  “Not stressed. Concentrating. Trying to decide if my lesson plan will work.”

  “To do what?”

  Jane gave him a “duh” shrug. “Make sure you are prepared before we go.”

  If she only knew. “Believe me, juvie prepared me. But I’ll humor you. What’s your lesson plan?”

  Jane smiled. “Mind control.”

  “You’re gonna teach me the Vulcan mind meld. Cool.”

  “I’m going to teach you how to concentrate through distraction.”

  “Distraction has never been a problem for me, but go for it.” Zach relaxed, leaned back into the big cushy chair, and let the simulator do its thing. Instantly, Jane stood before him in a fighting stance.

  “Attack me with everything you have,” Jane said. “I mean it. Don’t hold back this time.”

  He knew it was just Jane’s hologram in front of him, but the idea of hitting her… “Give me a minute.”

  “Zachary, we don’t have time for chivalry,” she said. “HAVOC is on the move. This simulation is important.”

  “Okay, got it.” Zach forced Jane out of his mind. He imagined Ace staring at him from outside his cell, and Benson inside with him, flexing his muscles. But this Benson was taller than him, heavier, stronger— Benson tensed, ready to strike. Zach never gave him the chance. Without warning, he attacked.

  Then Jane’s face came into focus and he skidded to a dead stop.

  “Dammit,” Zach said.

  “Concentrate, Zachary. You’re letting me distract you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t distract me. Benson distracts me. Put me in a simulation with him and I’ll show you.” Zach slammed his fist into his palm.

  Jane’s lip began to quiver, and she unexpectedly flung her arms around Zach and buried her cheek in his chest.

  “Are you okay?” He gently wrapped her in his arms, totally disgusted with himself. Why did he have to mention Benson?

  Jane nodded but wouldn’t look at him.

  “I’m sorry. That was insensitive. My brain malfunctioned.”

  “You’re so easy.” She grinned and backed away.

  Zach abruptly found himself on his back, the wind knocked out of him once again, and Jane sitting on his chest.

  “That’s cheating. You hugged me. I wasn’t ready.” He caught his breath and looked up at her. “Why did you hug me?”

  Jane smiled. “I know how to distract you. You need to learn to control your focus.”

  Yeah, she knew how to distract him, and it was beginning to get annoying. “Well, aren’t we full of ourselves?”

  “You’re just mad because you know it’s true.”

  “The hug caught me off guard, that’s all. You have no idea the extent of control I have over my mind.”

  “Then show me. Or are you afraid I’ll distract you again?”

  “Okay, you asked for it. Let’s fight. This time, there’s nothing you’ll be able to do to sidetrack me. I will stay absolutely focused on kicking your simulated butt even if you”—he reached deep to come up with something totally implausible—“even if you kiss me.” Crap! Too implausible. He slapped his palms to his forehead. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

  “Not gonna happen,” Jane interrupted. She jumped off his chest and offered him a hand.

  “I didn’t mean it.” He took it and pulled himself to his feet. What an idiot. What was he thinking? “That just came out. Meatball Zone. No, of course you’re not gonna kiss me. I know that.”

  “I meant you’re not going to stay focused.” Jane turned her soft gaze on him.

  Zach’s heart jerked to a halt. “What?”

  Jane nodded. “Won’t happen. I know your weakness.”

  “You mean you’re not mad? That’s good, ’cause my brain really did malfunction. I was annoyed because you keep kicking my butt. All I could come up with was that stupid idea to prove I can concentrate.”

  “Not mad. Disappointed.” Jane frowned, dropped her gaze to the floor.

  Oh man. “Disappointed?”

  “That your concentration isn’t stronger. And…”

  “That I couldn’t think of a more rational way to prove it. I get it.”

  Jane looked up. “That you think the idea is stupid.”

  Was she playing with him? Zach moved closer, but she didn’t back away. He dropped his eyes to her mouth. Her lips were slightly opened. “You don’t think the idea is stupid?”

  “No.” Jane blinked. “But I don’t want to embarrass you again. Even in a simulation.”

  “You actually think you can distract me.”

  Jane said nothing for a minute, just stared at him. Then, “I know I can.”

  The way she gazed up at him, locking onto his eyes like a tractor beam… He leaned his mouth toward hers, testing. Jane slowly tilted her chin up, closed her eyes. Zach felt her breath on his face. Just as their lips were about to touch, he dropped to the floor and wrapped his arms around her knees, buckling them. She collapsed and he was on her, pinning her onto her back.

  “Ha! Undistracted.” Zach held Jane’s shoulders to the floor. He bent close to her face. “I win. I’ll let you up if you admit that my powers of co
ncentration are amazing.”

  “I don’t know if that’s the word I’d use.” Suddenly Jane scissored her legs around his neck and flipped him over backward. Zach’s head cracked off the floor. He saw stars, and Jane was once again sitting on his chest, smiling down at him.

  “Not there yet.” Jane lowered her face. “But you’re getting close. Very close.”

  “How close?” Zach swallowed hard.

  She blinked. “You didn’t need your brothers to purge the Meatball Zone. Did it all by yourself.”

  Right. He was about to blurt out a joke about brain damage when she pushed her bangs out of her eyes and flipped her head back. That would have been totally hot if Zach hadn’t noticed a long, thin scar running across her forehead, just below the hairline. “How did you get that?”

  Jane frowned and pulled away, and Zach was suddenly out of the simulation and back in the cushy chair.

  Wow. Don’t mention the scar. He rubbed the back of his head as though nothing awkward had just happened. He noticed it was lump-free. Again. “That’s amazing. I would have sworn my skull was shattered.”

  “How often do I have to tell you we can’t hurt each other?” Jane grinned and quickly touched her bangs. “You were still holding back.”

  Why so touchy about the scar? Must be more to the Benson story than she had told him. Another reason to pound Benson first chance he got. Zach threw his hands up. “Simulated battle isn’t really working for me. Any chance we can try something else?”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  Zach rubbed his arm, feeling for imagined injuries, still amazed that he was unharmed. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the fourth floor of the Quantum City U Astronomy Building. It’s hidden for a reason. I want to go in.”

  “I thought we decided that was a bad idea,” Jane said.

  Images of the North Korean village pinwheeled through Zach’s head. “I changed my mind.”

  “No. You’d go right back to juvie if you got caught.”

  “That village…those poor people. Going to jail would be worth it if I could have prevented that. I can’t let that happen again. Isn’t that the whole reason ORDER got me out?”

  Jane said nothing. Zach thought he saw a flash of pain on her face, but it disappeared quickly. After an eternity of awkward silence, she said, “We don’t have infrastructure data. We know the layout of every floor in that building except the fourth. You can’t go in blind. You need to know the location of every entrance and exit. And I want a better extraction plan in case things go south. Because they will go south.”