by Peter Telep
Meeka waves me on, and we race across one girder, leap off, and reach Highbloom, which I’m guessing is the Floran version of The Gap or Old Navy.
Here, a slightly younger Meeka stands with four dirty-faced little girls. They’re trying on some long, fancy dresses and model them in front of a wall of mirrors. They twirl and giggle and strut around like tiny princesses among the ruins.
The older Meeka and I remain just outside the shop.
“Watch,” she instructs me.
An explosion thunders and flashes in the back, scaring the hell out of me. Flames lick along the walls and thick clouds of smoke swell toward us.
A squad of four nomads wearing goggles and full battle gear rushes inside, sweeping their rifles left and right—but they seem a little twitchy. One even bumps into his partner as they advance.
The younger Meeka draws a pistol and begins firing as the girls scream and run toward us—
And it’s the most badass gunfight ever, with Meeka taking on all four guys. She runs and shoots like a true boss.
In the first few heartbeats, she takes out one nomad and pins down a second, who only gets off one more round before she catches him in the neck with a carefully placed round.
She ambushes a third by launching herself from an old display table and shoots her opponent in the face as he lifts his rifle to return fire.
With a grunt, she crashes onto another table, rolls, and comes up firing at the last guy, who ducks and retreats into the smoke.
Meeka climbs off the table and races toward the entrance, where one girl in a purple dress lies on her side, clutching her chest.
As the other girls emerge from behind the rubble, the younger Meeka drops to her knees beside the fallen girl, and so do we—
Because the older Meeka wants me to witness this.
The little girl—whose eyes seem so familiar—stares up at Meeka and trembles.
Meeka begins to weep, but the girl says, “No tears for me. Life is a celebration. And we’re all in this together.”
And then her eyes go blank.
I look at the older Meeka. “What the hell?”
“I know. When you told me what Mrs. Bossley said, I got the chills. This has been haunting me for years. No little girl talks like that—”
“Unless she was one of them,” I say.
“Yeah.”
“Ms. Martha said the First Ones live among us.”
“Not everyone believes that,” Meeka says.
“Do you?”
Her eyes widen. “I wasn’t sure till now.”
I shrug. “I guess they’re not all powerful, and they die just like us…”
“Did Mrs. Bossley say anything else?”
“I got the impression that she had to convince people to help me. Interference is like a big deal for them.”
“I feel like we’re being watched,” Meeka says, her gaze now scanning the ceiling.
“Yeah, and I don’t get this ‘life is a celebration’ thing.”
She lifts a crooked smile. “I know, right?”
“I wonder how many other people are really them?” I ask. “And if they influenced our society, maybe before they came up with rules against it.”
Meeka’s lip twists. “Maybe they did.”
“Yeah, what if they were scientists and explorers and inventors and doctors… maybe like kings and queens?”
“You mean like my parents? Now you think I’m one of them? Are we going to get all paranoid?”
I lift my palms in surrender. “I’m not saying you’re a First One, but maybe some of the arbors back at the Hall of Vines, right?”
She tightens her lips. “I don’t want to know who God is.”
“I don’t think they’re Gods.”
“Then what are they?”
“I don’t know, but I bet my father did.”
She smirks and takes my hand, ready to jump back.
“Wait,” I urge her. “I want to tell you something.”
“Please, Doc. Nothing serious. I can’t handle any more drama, okay?”
“It’s just...”
She makes a face. “If it’s about Julie…”
“Actually it’s not about her anymore.”
She studies me. “Then what?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I should say some things now.”
She lifts a brow and leans in closer. “Your idea is good. It’ll work.”
“Okay. I just don’t want to hurt you.”
“Doc, when I was all dressed up and ready to give my big speech to the Community, I looked back at you, and I felt something I’ve never felt before.”
My chest begins to warm. “Me, too.”
“Yeah, I felt really confused,” she adds quickly.
I look at her. “Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah, I’m confused about everything.”
“But I thought—”
“You thought what?” she asks.
I stand there, unable to meet her gaze. “I guess I screwed up. Again.”
“It’s not your fault.”
I glance up at her. “Really?”
Her eyes brim with tears. “It’s like one second I’m ready to let down my guard, and the next…”
“I feel like that, too.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
She grabs the back of the neck. “Have you ever kissed someone in your persona?
“Uh, no.”
She pulls me toward her. “It feels just as good. Sometimes even better…”
“Are you sure you want to?” I ask.
She nods.
And she’s right. The kiss is perfect, and I wish it would last forever.
CHAPTER NINE
Meeka and I return from her shopping mall memory and stand there in the temple’s basement, excited that our team’s made huge progress. The damaged engine has been repaired, and now the portal rumbles and paints lightning across the cracked ceiling.
Meanwhile, Keane sits at the quantum computer station, with my grandmother’s immortal shimmering at his side and whispering something in his ear. He stares wide-eyed at the machine and begins to smile.
He’s proud. And he should be. He and Tommy repaired the simultaneity vortex with my grandmother’s assistance. Tommy and Keane have already locked in the coordinates for the safe house—
So now we’ll take a leap of faith: I’ll send my persona through the portal and see if it’ll jump back to Earth.
If my persona arrives, then I can just pull it back into my body, and bam, I won’t die.
There’s just one problem. According to my grandmother, sending a persona through the engine is indeed possible but unpredictable, based upon how the person’s wreath reacts to the jump. My persona could wind up as a lump of Silly Putty on the other end. It’s happened before, but now it’s the only chance I got.
Tommy spots me and marches over, scratching his gray crew cut. “Son, you all right?”
“I’m puckering up.”
“Well, I have to tell you, your plan’s got some problems. First, this here’s a one-way ticket. Even if you make it, you still got no way to get back from Earth.”
I sort of knew that, but I figured I’d save my butt first and worry about getting back to Flora later.
He goes on, “Second, once you break that connection with your friends, you’re vulnerable again. The masks will see that and scoop you right up—unless you take some Wrrambien, but even then, we’re not sure how fast they can attack. They could get to you before the drug kicks in.”
He’s right. I curse.
“So you didn’t think it through,” he adds.
“Not all the way, I guess.”
“Well they did.” He points to Keane and the girls. “They’re going with you. And so am I. They’ll connect with you as soon as we’re all there. We’ll take some parts so we can build us another engine. Your old man did it the first time he went to Earth, so why can’t we?”
&nbs
p; “Hell, yeah, we can.”
Tommy winks. “Just one more thing—them.” He lifts his chin to Grace, who’s talking with Hedera, Rattle, and the other ivies who’ve returned to the temple. “Not sure what they’re thinking or what their plans are.”
“We can’t send them to Earth if Zach’s not there to help. Anyone find him?””
He shakes his head.
“So maybe Solomon was lying, and he’s still on Earth.”
“We can’t count on it,” Tommy says. “We have to assume everyone’s gone. We can’t leave those ivies all by their lonesome. Remember—operational security.”
I nod and hurry over to the Grace, who takes my hands. “Docherty, this is so weird but cool, too.”
“Mom, I told you who I really am.”
“I should’ve listened. Besides, most parents think their teenagers are aliens anyway, right?”
I smile. “Exactly.”
“And now I’m one, too.” She places a hand on her chest, where the Galleons implanted a wreath near her heart.
We’re not sure if her wreath (and the one Tommy has) is like ours or just something the Galleons created and grew in a lab. It could even be some cybernetic organ programmed by them.
We only know what Solomon told us—that the Galleons wanted to experiment on humans and implant wreaths so they could control them. And worse, we have no idea if Tommy and Grace were their only test subjects… or if they’ve already experimented on hundreds, even thousands more. I’ll have to check the news reports on Earth to see if there’s been an increase in reports of missing persons.
“You look good,” I tell my mom. “How do you feel?”
“Physically, I’m great, but my heart’s breaking because the people who cured my cancer—”
“Mom, don’t let them fool you.”
“I know what they are, but they still saved me.”
“So you can be their slave.”
“Yeah, and now I’m worried about Julie. You think she can ever get away from them?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, I need you to stay here.”
“You think I want to go back?”
“I don’t know. With the cancer gone I thought—”
“No way.” Her eyes widen. “There’s a whole new world to explore, and I’m ready.”
“Awesome. Well, uh, welcome to Flora.” I turn to Hedera, whose gaze seems torn between me, the engine, Keane, and the rest of the caravan behind her.
Technically, I can finally honor our deal and send her ivies to Earth, where they think they’ll be “normal”. It’s true that everyone on Earth is an introvert, an IV, an “ivy” since they don’t have wreaths or personas and can’t connect the way Florans and Galleons do.
But the ivies fight every day just to remain alive, and that’s had a huge effect on their personalities. They’re grateful for the little things. If they go to Earth, some might get homesick like Meeka and Steffanie did. I mean, how can you pull up to drive thru and order a Big Mac and fries when your friends back home are starving?
Plus, there’s operational security to consider. Who’s going to help them adjust? And what about a place to live? IDs? Registering for school? Having money for food, clothing, and the list goes on.
I share all these concerns with Hedera, who nods politely and finger combs her long, black hair. Once again, her silvery eyes shift from me, then back to Keane, then to Rattle, who’s at her side.
When I’m finished, she opens her palm, and her glowing head floats there for a moment before speaking to me: “Doc, I plan to stay. I told you, I think the Galleons can help all of us. The others tried to convince your stepmother to go back to Earth, but she won’t. And like you said, we can’t leave them there alone.”
“You’re making the right decision.”
“Yeah, but I am coming with you right now.”
“But you just said—”
“I just want to see it. Just once. Let me breathe the air. Let me taste Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice.”
I snort. “You’ve been talking to Keane.”
“Sort of.”
“That idiot. You want to taste something good, I’ll get you some pepperoni pizza.”
“Sounds great.”
It’s true that Hedera wants to come because of Keane, and if it’s just her, then why not? Her whole life has been about suffering and being an outsider.
And despite a million reasons to be bitter, she taught her people to be grateful and to lift themselves up “from ashes to bloom.” They risked their lives to help us, so if I can make her happy in one small way, then I’m doing it.
“Okay, you can come. But you know there’s a chance we won’t make it back, right? You’ll be stuck there. You’ll never see your friends again.”
“That won’t happen.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Her persona glows even more brightly. “I am.”
“Well, okay, then. You’re good to go.”
She smiles broadly. “Thank you.”
“Better say your good-byes. Even if this all works out, we could be gone a while.”
“I’ll let them know.”
I nod and head back to our banged up old engine.
Rific, the nomad with the blue bandana who we rescued from that sandstorm here on Flora, sits nervously at the computer terminal, preparing to send us back to Earth. He’s come a long way since serving in Solomon’s army. In fact, he worked security for Tommy and helped guard the rumms at the safe house.
When the Masks of Galleon came to Earth, they captured him, but we (in my humble opinion) kicked some ass and freed him from their ship. Now he’ll set up camp at the temple and guard the vortex until we return—if we can build that second engine.
Before the lab at Brandalynn was nuked, my grandmother sent three wreath-shaped portal pieces here to the temple in Verbena. She also sent three quantum computers that are about the size and shape of microwave ovens.
These components are the most important pieces of the portal, ones we can’t reproduce anywhere else.
We send a computer and a wreath through the portal first, and then it’s Tommy’s turn, followed by Keane and Hedera, Steffanie, and then Meeka, who grabs my hand and says we’ll jump together.
I tug free of her grip. “I’m going alone. Just in case.”
She sighs and finally nods.
Rific shouts, “Ready!”
Meeka gives me a reassuring look and then leaps into the pool of crackling energy.
I take a deep breath—
Just as gunfire rips into the temple behind me.
CHAPTER TEN
I squint through the darkness at a figure running between heaps of rubble.
Another guy joins the first and leans out with his rifle. He’s got the Q symbol with slash mark tattooed on his chest.
I swear under my breath. Despers. Tommy said they’d be back, and for once I wish he was wrong.
Rific screams for me to go as the ivies drop to their bellies and more gunfire clangs across the staircase just below me.
Members of Joshua’s caravan, who returned here after our rescue mission to the Galleons’ ship, unload on the despers with a barrage of automatic weapons fire.
Joshua, who died with my father and grandmother at the lab, was an incredible sage who made rare connections with plants and animals around the planet. His people are well-trained and fiercely loyal—
But this ambush looks really bad.
Across the basement, Rattle grabs Grace and drags her behind a wall of debris.
If only the grren were still here. Brave, Mama Grren, and Grandpa would broaden their green shoulders, extend their saber-like teeth, and then spring up into the air, raising their giant claws. With an ear-splitting roar, they’d leap into all six of their personas.
Three grren would become twenty-one.
And the despers would be shredded in less than a minute.
However, our ferocious allies already said their good-byes a
nd are heading up to their river valley in the Highlands.
And now I just can’t leave everyone like this, surrounded by a bunch of religious fanatics who poisoned their wreaths—
But Rific’s screaming that I have to go, that I’ll die, that’ll he’ll handle it...
So I leap into the puddle of energy, and as I slip through, pins and needles race up my legs and across my chest.
This feels wrong.
And not just because I’m leaving everyone in danger.
Something else is wrong…
Then again, I’ve never jumped through a portal in just my persona while my body was back on Earth.
I brace myself for one of those portal visions that blend memories with nightmares.
Instead, there’s just utter darkness while I’m drawn in two directions, like there’s a fork in the road and my persona wants to split in half.
The pressure increases. I try to scream but nothing comes and my persona shakes so violently that I doubt I’ll make it. And then, with another rush of chills, I’m free.
Pure white light flashes once, twice, a third time before my feet hit the ground.
We’re supposed to jump back to Earth, to Winter Springs, Florida—right into the safe house’s living room.
But hell no, this isn’t rug beneath my sandals. It’s way too mushy.
And yes, the gravity’s lighter, but the humidity’s horrible, like the air conditioner broke down, but I know it hasn’t.
Okay, what’s that smell? Like piles of freshly cut wet grass.
I collapse to my knees, and now it’s like I’m underwater and trying to break the surface. I snap open my eyes—
And it’s all blurry...
But then slowly, the landscape comes into focus.
“What the hell?” Did I say that out loud?
I’m kneeling on a mud-covered cliff overlooking a jungle of trees and shrubs and other kinds of enormous plants that hook and twist and coil through each other, mixing bright blues with pinks and reds and more subtle greens.
Off to my left, round leaves the size of trampolines sprout directly from dozens of tree trunks towering like skyscrapers and swaying in the wind.
