Love, Lattes and Mutants

by Sandra Cox

  The young girl is hanging back. He pulls her forward. “Piper, this is Amy. Amy, Piper.”

  “Hi.” She smiles shyly.

  “Hi.”

  “Joel says you’re like us.” She takes a hesitant step into the room. She’s a beauty with shiny straight black hair, olive skin and…turquoise eyes. She has the melodious voice of a dolph.

  I point at my eyes and nod. “Come in and sit down.” I motion toward the cream-colored leather couch against the wall.

  Amy sinks down, draws her legs together, and hunches her shoulders. Joel sprawls out.

  Chewing on her lip, Amy glances down.

  I have so many questions. I should be trying to figure a way to get out of here, but there’s so much I want to know. To be able to talk to another dolph, someone I didn’t even realize existed. It’s like thinking you’re the last person on earth and discovering you’re not. It’s almost worth being captured, almost. “Do either of you have any dolphin characteristics? Besides the turquoise eyes and lyrical voice that seems to be unique to dolphs?”

  She looks at Joel questioningly. He bends his head toward her and nods.

  “I have stereoscopic vision. I can see well in water or on land.” She clears her throat, self-consciously. “Where I’m different is in the dark, or at night, a layer that glows comes down over my eyes. In bright light, I have a brownish filter over my irises, kind of like wearing contacts.”

  “Wow.” I lean forward, enthralled. “Can I see?”

  She looks around. “Do you have a flashlight you can shine in my eyes?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Check your nightstand. There’s probably one in there for emergencies.” Joel chimes in.

  I do as he says. Sure enough, there’s a small penlight. I flip it on. For a small light, it’s powerful.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind me shining this in your eyes?”

  She laughs. “It’s okay.”

  I grimace then shine it at her left eye. As I watch, a brown filter comes down like a shade and covers the iris. “Cool.” I whoop. “Anything else?”

  She points in the direction of her sandals. For the first time I notice her feet. “They’re webbed. Amazing.”

  “It doesn’t bother you?”

  “Bother me? To find I’m not alone in the universe? You’ve got to be kidding.”

  I turn to Joel. “Your turn for show and tell.”

  “I am an extremely fast swimmer and I can leap in the air like a dolphin when I swim.”

  I lift back and forth on my toes and nod. “Anything else?”

  “Isn’t that enough?” He gives me a slow wicked grin.

  My knees grow weak and the pit of my stomach goes soft. What’s wrong with me? I’m in love with Tyler. I shake my head.

  “Well then, Miss Greedy, I can detect chemicals in the water with my taste buds.”

  I twist my head to the side and study him; my eyes narrow thoughtfully.

  As if reading my mind, he nods. “Exactly. Oil slicks, chemical spills.” He shrugs. “I’m worth mega bucks.”

  “What do you mean?” Goose bumps stand up on my arms. I rub them.

  “We’re bred or created, as the case may be, to be sold.”

  For a moment, I’m speechless. I don’t know which appalls me more, what he says or the matter-of-fact manner he says it in.

  “Doesn’t that bother you?” I demand.

  “What’s the point? It is what it is.”

  I start to protest. His mouth thins and his eyes narrow. I swallow what I’m about to say and ask instead, “How long have you been here?”

  “As long as I can remember.” He crosses his legs at the ankles. He looks comfortable, at ease.

  I turn to Amy. “You?”

  “Since I was born.”

  “You were born here?” I shift on the hard chair.

  “Yeah. Our mother was a lab rat. She was artificially inseminated with human sperm and her germ line altered with dolphin DNA. “

  “Oh.” What can I possibly say? “How old are you?”

  “Fifteen.”

  What she said dawns on me. “Our mother?”

  “Joel is my brother.”

  I look at Joel. He nods.

  “Is your mother here?” I dance my fingers along the desk.

  “She died having me. They think it was something in the Dolphin DNA that her body was trying to reject.”

  “I’m sorry.” My blood roars through me, first hot, then cold. How can they live here? Live with people that killed their mother? Joel looks out the window. A shadow crosses his features. Amy’s shiny hair drops across her face as she lowers her head. Who am I to judge?

  Joel clears his throat and looks at me. His smile looks forced. “We showed you ours. Now you show us yours.” He wiggles his eyebrows.

  I laugh. “All right.” I rise, walk over to them, turn around, and pull the back of my shirt up.

  The sofa sighs as they push up. They stand close to me. I can feel Joel’s warm breath on my shoulder blade. It makes me shiver.

  He’s the first to notice. “Oh my God, an honest to God blowhole.” His voice is filled with excitement.

  “Where? Where? Let me see.” Amy forgets her shyness and hops around me.

  Joel places a warm finger just below my blowhole. Nerves ripple under my skin. His finger slowly traces circles down my back before he removes his hand.

  “That is so cool.” Amy’s voice is filled with awe. Light as a butterfly, she touches it.

  When she removes her hand, I pull down my shirt.

  “Has anyone ever seen it?” she asks.

  “Outside of my immediate family you’re the first. Since it’s between my upper shoulder blades, my hair hides it. But if I’m feeling particularly paranoid I punch holes in one of those round bandages and cover it. That way if anyone asks, I tell them I’ve scratched the mole on my back.”

  They laugh.

  “I get webbed-toes and you get a blowhole. It’s so not fair,” Amy complains.

  Commiserating, I pat her shoulder. I feel at home with them. Dolph-children like me. It fills an empty space deep inside me.

  “Come on and we’ll show you around.” Joel motions me toward the door. Amy tags behind.

  “Are there any more of us?” I ask as we walk through the lounge and head down the hall to the elevator.

  “Not at the moment.” Joel punches the button for the first floor.

  It glides down. The door opens. A middle-aged man with a shock of red hair, wearing a guard’s uniform, sits at a desk with security screens behind him. There must be at least twenty videos running. I’m mildly relieved to see there’re no pictures of my bedroom. “Hello Amy, Joel.”

  “Hello, Ed.” Amy says.

  “Ed.” Joel nods.

  They hold out their arms and a scanner is run over them.

  He looks at me. “And who might you be?”

  “This is Piper,” Joel responds before I can say anything. “She’s one of us.” He turns to me. “Have you been chipped?”

  “What?”

  “No, she’ll need a wristband,” he tells the guard. The guard studies my turquoise eyes and nods. He pulls out a band, activates it, and slides it onto my wrist.

  “It has a tracking device in it,” Amy explains.

  Fury floods my system. “A freaking tracker. What am I, a damn dog?”

  “Piper.” There’s warning in Joel’s voice.

  Amy’s head is down, her face red. They’ve chipped her, for God’s sake.

  “It’s the rules, ma’am.” Ed leans back in his chair and motions us forward.

  We walk through the entryway and into a lab that’s eerily quiet. I punch back my anger and look around. I need to get the lay of the land. The lab jogs my memory. “What did you mean when you said not at the moment?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I asked if there are more of you and you said
not at the moment.”

  “Jacob, Noah, and Sophia didn’t survive the surgeries.” Amy wraps a strand of hair around her finger as we walk.

  “Didn’t survive the surgeries?” I stumble. Joel rights me. Again, icy sweat pops on my skin.

  “Other species’ body parts aren’t always compatible.” She continues, her voice devoid of emotion, “Patrick, Marshall, and Marta were sold to other countries.”

  “Sold?” I jerk my head up. My eye begins to twitch.

  “We are some of the most sought after people on earth.” Joel points to a door ahead of us. Barely aware of what I’m doing, I push it open, my mind reeling.

  “But people don’t sell people,” I protest, then add, “well if you discount black market babies and sex slaves.”

  He shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets. “They do here. And since I’ve never been in the outside world I couldn’t say. Besides, we’re well looked after. We get the best of everything. We’re too valuable not to be taken care of.”

  I stare at him, not believing what I’m hearing. “But to be treated like a favorite puppy instead of having the freedom of a human being.” I shake my head trying to make sense of it. I lift my hand and glance at the sleek leather band on my arm. “It’s like an underground electric fence for a dog.”

  “Excuse me?” Joel raises an eyebrow and tilts his head.

  “Never mind.”

  We walk down another antiseptically-clean hallway. I count the security cameras. There appears to be one every six feet. I stow that fact away, in case I need it later.

  “What’s it like in the outside world?” Amy asks as we shove through another set of doors.

  I shake off my swirling emotions and pay attention to Amy. “For one thing, you have to pay for your own lattes,” I say lightly. I look down at my shorts. “And you have more clothes options.” Unless you’re a dolph-girl trying to maintain a low profile. “To sum it up, it’s frustrating, heartbreaking, and wonderful.”

  “Who’d want frustrating and heartbreaking? Although, the clothes options sound interesting.” Her ponytail bounces around her shoulders, except for the escaped wisps she plays with.

  “No one wants frustration or heartbreak, but it’s part of a package deal. We all want the freedom to make our own decisions whether they’re right or wrong. Wouldn’t you like to be in the outside world?”

  Instead of answering she points. “They would.”

  We go through another set of double doors. On the other side is a huge tank. My heart lifts then crashes. Three dolphins swim back and forth.

  Chapter 29

  I run to the tank and place my palm against the glass. My pulse races, beating hard and fast against my wrist. The dolphins circle listlessly. They swim up to the glass to look at my hand. One’s tail starts to twitch and it chatters.

  “She recognizes you.” Amy’s eyes widen.

  I study her. She’s smaller than the rest, younger. Is she one of my rescues?

  “Can we swim with them?”

  Joel points to a side door. “Suits are in there.”

  “Let’s go in.” My heart is beating so hard, I swear it will tear through my ribs. I’ve got to interact with the dolphins, even if it’s just swimming in a tank. To be in the water again with my friends is a form of freedom.

  “Sure, why not.”

  In the next room is a row of swimsuits and trunks, organized by size. I grab a one piece and head for a changing room. I hear the rustle of clothes and shuffle of feet as Amy and Joel follow.

  I change quickly and head out. Amy and Joel are waiting. Amy looks cute in a yellow two-piece. Joel looks hot in Hawaiian-style turquoise trunks.

  He points to a set of stairs. We take them and climb to the top of the tank and slide into the pool. Heaven.

  Still chattering, the small dolphin swims to me. She pushes her snout against me. I pet her slick rubbery side.

  This is one of my dolphin friends. She must have been captured in my waters, under my watch. Indignation almost chokes me. Fighting it back, I blow bubbles and croon, which comes out chatter similar to hers, “It’s all right. It’s all right.”

  We swim together for nearly an hour. Joel and Amy play in the water, doing somersaults and chasing each other and me. The other dolphins begin to play with us. By now the drug I was given has completely worn off. I move with ease.

  Joel’s play is flirtatious. He tugs gently at my legs and pulls me down deeper. When he slides his arms around me and starts to draw me to him, my little dolphin swims between us, her head pushing us apart. I laugh in delight. Joel grins and mouths, “Foiled.”

  Amy slips on the back of one and rides it around. The dolphins’ lethargy vanishes with playmates.

  At one point, the dolphin and I go to the surface to chuff water. Amy and Joel watch fascinated. Without the blowhole, they have to surface more frequently, but still they seem able to stay underwater nearly fifteen minutes without requiring oxygen.

  Finally, Joel points to his wrist then the top of the tank. I nod reluctantly and pet the dolphin one last time. I kick upward.

  “I’ll be back,” I bubble to her before I throw my arms around the lip of the pool and pull myself up.

  Joel and Amy do the same. Water streams off their sleek bodies. Fluffy white towels lie along the rim of the pool. We are being monitored. I loathe it. “Just like a reality show.”

  “What?” Joel shakes his head and water flies.

  Amy giggles and wipes droplets from her face.

  I point to the towels. “Are we being filmed?”

  Amy looks confused. Joel makes the connection. “Yeah.”

  “Lab rats,” I mutter.

  He gives me a long stare. I see warning in his eyes.

  “What did you call us?” Amy stops toweling.

  I smile and shoot for reassuring. “Just making a dumb joke. It’s not even funny.” Not funny at all.

  “I’ve worked up an appetite. Let’s get some pizza.” Joel tosses his towel on the ground and walks into the changing area.

  “Joel’s always hungry. But pizza does sound good.” Amy pats the towel against the back of her neck.

  “Sounds good to me too.” I feel like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. We’re acting like normal teenagers, when we are so not normal and in the most abnormal situation possible. Maybe it’s what keeps Amy and Joel sane.

  We follow Joel into the changing station. I glance at the doors, trying to remember which one I’d used to change. They each have a different colored circle at the top. I suppose to help you remember which room you used.

  There are a total of ten rooms. Whoever runs this establishment either plans to add more lab rats or has had more in the past. I wonder idly if Dr. Stranger is in charge.

  Green. I used the dressing room with the green bulls-eye. I open the door. Yup, there’re my clothes. This time I take a moment to look around. There’s an aqua indoor-outdoor carpet on the floor with dolphins woven into it. A full-length mirror is hung on one wall. A shelf next to it holds an assortment of combs, hair ties, lotions, and deodorant.

  “Just like staying at a five star hotel.” My hands on my hips, I look around, checking for a camera. If there is one, I don’t see it. I step out of the bathing suit and reach for the crisp shorts. “This is so not me.”

  I shrug and shimmy into them. I run a brush through my hair, reach to grab the wet strands, draw them back, and put them in a scrunchie before I remember I no longer have to do that. It doesn’t matter if people here see me as I am.

  Amy and Joel are waiting for me. Amy smiles shyly. I believe she’s glad there’s another girl around.

  Joel holds out his hand. I take it. We walk to the stairs and head down. My dolphin friend follows me on her side of the tank. My heart turns over. My eyes fill. I hastily dash a hand across them. When I get to the bottom, I place my hand against the thick plate of glass. She noses it. “If there’s a way, I�
��ll get you back to the sea,” I whisper.

  “Where does the dolphin recognize you from?” Joel takes my hand again.

  “I swam in the ocean near my home. I’ve either played with her or rescued her at some point in time.”

  “You swam in the ocean?” Amy’s eyes are big.

  “Every day.” My heart swells.

  “Wow.”

  We walk through the doors and back to the security station. Ed nods and we take the elevator up.

  Back in the suite, Joel presses a wall intercom and orders a large pizza with everything. He walks to the stainless steel fridge in the utility alcove. The cherry wood cabinets have a black and brown-splotched granite countertop. Curious, I open a door. My stomach growls in response to the contents: chips, nuts, cookies, candy bars, granola bars, you name it. It’s a junk food mecca.

  Amy pulls sodas out of the fridge. “Coke?”

  “Yeah.”

  We head for the lounge and the big screen TV that’s more the size of a movie screen. There’s a portable table with movie seats.

  Joel pops in a movie that’s only recently hit the theatres. I stare in amazement. What is this place?

  “Cool, huh?”

  I want to shake him for his complacency. “Don’t you want to get out of here?”

  For a brief moment, anger burns high and hot in his eyes. I take a quick step back. The look disappears as quickly as it came, replaced by his habitual indolent attitude. “And what do you suggest we do about the trackers, cut them out of our arms? I was told that process could be particularly unpleasant. They were fitted to attach to a nerve.”

  A shudder glides down my spine like a spider. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

  He shrugs.

  The elevator dings. An attendant steps off balancing a large pizza. She places it on the table along with disposable plates and napkins, then goes to the alcove. She also wears a Taser. Joel and Amy dig in. I’ve lost my appetite.

  Under cover of the movie, Joel leans toward me. “What you said about the outside world, frustration and heartache, would you go back to it if you could?”

  “I will at the first opportunity,” I whisper fiercely. My thoughts turn to Gramps. Has my disappearance put too much stress on his weak heart? And what about Tyler? Is he frantic with worry or thinking good riddance?