“Let me put it to you this way,” I state. “For the plan to succeed, we need the Hollow.”
“President Hope never wanted her favorite advisor arrested,” says the Scythe. “Could Meimi’s scheme also clear the Hollow’s name?”
“Absolutely.”
“In that case, I’m interested. Tell me more.”
“You can ask Meimi yourself.”
I’ve already pushed things to even let Fritz and the Scythe know that her secret plans exist. If Meimi wants to hand over more details, that’s her call.
Fritz’s thin mouth quirks with a smile. He likes the idea of seeing Meimi. “And how will that work?” asks Fritz.
“Meet us in the Underground two days from now. Simulacrum level. Eight a.m.”
“Agreed,” states the Scythe.
“One last thing,” I add. “If you fail her, I will track you down no matter where you hide.”
Rising up, I open another drift void in Fritz’s office. Within seconds, a loop of black particles turns into a portal that leads directly to the hotel. I must say, Fritz looks suitably shocked. That’s exactly the effect I was looking for.
“Wow,” whispers Fritz.
“Remember what I said about failing Meimi.” I meet his eyes and deliver my iciest glare. “Because I know what you did to her before, and you’ve no idea what I’m capable of.”
For emphasis, I punch through the void. Stepping through the new opening, I once again enter the main room of our hotel suite. Meimi’s curled up on the couch, fast asleep. Her new little spider bot buddy crawls back and forth before her. It’s automatically gone into guard mode.
I slip closer. The bot stops, rounds on me, and raises two of its pincer legs as weapons. That’s sweet.
Anyone who guards Meimi is a friend of mine. I hold my arms up, palms forward, a sign the bot should read as surrender. “I’m not going to hurt her. She just got out of the hospital. Meimi needs to rest in a proper bed.”
The bot lowers its pincers and moves back.
“Thanks, buddy,” I whisper.
Scooping Meimi into my arms, I carry her back into her room. As we move along, she looks up dreamily into my eyes.
“Did we have a good time?” she asks.
“The best.”
Meimi smacks her lips and closes her eyes once more. “That’s nice.”
Stepping into her room, I tuck my girl under the covers. The spider bot follows us inside. Once Meimi is set, the bot takes up its patrol routine again, this time pacing around the bed. For her part, Meimi doesn’t so much as flinch, she’s so out of it.
My poor transcendent. She definitely needs more sleep.
And she’s not the only one. I could use a bit of rest myself.
With that thought, I head off to catch some snooze. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep in another room, though. Someone could open a drift void in Meimi’s chamber and attack.
Someone? Who am I kidding?
When it comes to Meimi’s safety and drift voids, it’s my father I need to worry about. There’s no way I can be too far from her, so I grab some blankets and set up a makeshift bed on the other side of her closed door. That way, if anything happens, I’ll be the first to know.
And with that thought, I drift off to a peaceful sleep.
17 Meimi
Opening my eyes, I wake up to find myself not in a hospital bed or uncomfortable cot, but in a fancy hotel. I peep under the covers. I’m still wearing my black dress from last night.
Oh, sweet mother of science.
Last night.
A memory appears. Thorne raises his hand, black particles lift from his skin, and he opens a drift void in our hotel suite. There are no monoliths involved. No software. Zip. Thorne just—whoosh—opens a drift void. And here’s the frightening thing.
The sight wasn’t all that scary.
If anything, it seemed natural.
Thorne even asked me if I wanted to join him in a little jaunt through the mini drift void to go yell at Fritz.
What the ever-loving WHAT?
Now, I’ve learned one fact about this memory-loss thing. If something doesn’t surprise me, then it was probably part of my life before Godwin monkeyed with my head.
Did Thorne and I go traipsing through drift voids together?
And that question leads to the other startling revelation. Thorne really is an alien. And not only that, but at one time, I must have known he was from a different planet. Because I’m oddly cool with this whole thing.
By now, I know how my memories knock around my unconscious. Whenever they direct me that someone is good, that’s what they’ve proven to be. And right now, my memories say Thorne is okay.
Even so, the idea of trusting Thorne feels like lightning bolt to my already over-zapped internal power grid.
Case in point: last night after Thorne left, I just passed out on the couch.
Now it’s the next morning, and I’m still in a state of shock.
My head stays fuzzy as I get ready to leave the hotel. Thorne gives me more clothes. In this case, it’s jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Both fit and are cute. He tries to chat a few times. Every time he asks a question, I give a one-word answer.
At least I have my project to distract me. And my spider bot Rakkie.
Every so often, I review plans on my data pad. At some point, Thorne and I get into the hovercar. I sleepwalk through picking up Chloe and Zoe. Thorne spends a ton of time loading their stuff into the back. Rakkie decides that’s a good nesting spot, and hangs out atop their pile of supplies.
Eventually, we hit the checkpoint to reenter the Boston Dome. Vargas is there, as always. Can’t say he looks great, though. He isn’t wearing his helmet this time, probably because his face is all bandaged up. Thorne really did a number on the guy.
Sorry not sorry.
Vargas scans me, Chloe, and Zoe carefully while Thorne idles the hovercar.
“Three girls now, eh?” asks Vargas.
“You want another broken nose?” asks Thorne.
Ignoring that comment, Vargas points to Chloe. “What’s your name?”
“Bite me,” says Chloe.
Vargas winks, which looks especially weird on a black eye. “Maybe when you’re done with Thorne here, you can—”
“Stop it.” Thorne kills the engine and opens the door a crack. “You want part two, keep right on talking.”
Vargas lifts his chin. “They need wrist cuffs. Humboldt’s rules.” He hands Thorne the silver loops of metal. I explain the situation to Chloe and Zoe, who put the cuffs on their left wrists.
With that done, Vargas steps back from the hovercar. “You’re free to go.”
The incident with Vargas perked me up a little, but not too much. I barely notice the ride through Boston Dome and ECHO campus. There’s no missing the excitement from the back seat, though. Chloe and Zoe have never been in the city before. They comment on every building, hovercar, and drone.
We park in a concrete bunker at ECHO Academy. There’s a long elevator ride down to the Underground, with Chloe and Zoe chatting the entire time. We then pass through multiple security checkpoints and reach our dorm floor. Chloe and Zoe declare that the place looks like a prison.
I counter that I need another nap.
The sisters go off to check out the laboratory. Normally, that would be like catnip to my inner scientist-feline. But all I can think is that I misjudged Thorne … and this entire situation. If there are outer space characters in this scheme, how does that affect everything?
If I’m being honest, a big part of that everything is my heart.
I’m already falling for Thorne. Romance and science don’t often go together, even when aliens aren’t involved.
As Zoe and Chloe hit the lab, I slog back into my little concrete room, curl onto the bed, and try to sleep.
I barely notice Thorne and Godwin walking off together. The doctor asks my guard rapid-fire questions. Thorne appears calm as he answers each one. I can’t hear what
they’re saying, but in all honesty? I’m not sure I could process their words, even if I could hear them.
Everything has suddenly turned upside-down, and I don’t know how to right it again.
18 Thorne
“Never trust those who say they are your friends. Rely only on those who show it.” – Empress Janais, The Fifth Age of Umbra
The morning starts off badly and goes directly to hell. It’s clear from the get-go that Meimi is overwhelmed. Not that I blame her. In fact, it’s amazing she’s stayed focused through all this.
So that was the bad part.
The directly to hell stuff happens the minute I walk off the elevators with Chloe, Zoe, and Meimi. Because Godwin grabs my arm. “We need to talk.”
“Yes, sir.”
In truth, I’d rather ensure that Meimi settles in. Although it’s understandable she’s out of it, I still worry. The more time I spend with her, the more deeply I sense her moods. It’s not like the mental connection we shared when we first met. Still, it’s enough to put my senses on alert.
Godwin marches off to the Simulacrum. He spent so much time in that place, building out his plan, I suppose he feels like it’s his home base. Once we’re inside, he claps his hand on my shoulder.
“The two new scientists seem happy. How did they handle their first meeting with our little patient?”
I shrug. “Chloe and Zoe idolize Meimi. They’ve always wanted to team up with her on something. The twins know Meimi’s lost her memory, but they’re rolling with it.”
That’s the best explanation I can give Godwin. He’d never understand something like loyalty or friendship coming into play.
“Perfect,” says Godwin. “You did well.”
“Thank you.”
“The Scythe wants to visit here next week. He’d like an official review of his plans with Meimi. Says you made quite an impression on his minion, Fritz.”
“Good to know.”
What I don’t add is that the unofficial review of Meimi’s plans takes place in a few days. We’ll need to hide that from Godwin, of course. Now that we have Meimi’s spider bot, that process will be a lot easier.
Godwin jams his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. “I’m moving forward with my schemes regarding Luci.”
“And what are those?” I ask.
“Still in process. You’ll know when they’re final.” He asks a ton of questions about the trip. Why did the comms short out? Where did we go? How did Zoe and Chloe react to joining the team? What was my trick to convincing Fritz and the Scythe?
I answer all his questions with as few words as possible. An electrical problem messed with the comms. We went to the resort and the garage, as requested. Chloe and Zoe are excited to work on top tech. And the Scythe isn’t convinced yet. He needs to see the full plan first.
Once Godwin’s questions die down, I decide to approach another key topic. “There’s another team member we need to bring in.”
“More than Chloe, Zoe, and the Scythe?”
“Yes. We need the Hollow.”
“What?” Godwin frowns. “Why?”
“The highlight of your Engine is the cleansing. People need to see that happen on live video feed. But no one’s done that before. How do we choose the best cleansings to show? Can we broadcast all of them at once? Perception is reality, Godwin.”
“I fail to see how this relates to the Hollow.”
“She’s forgotten more about how to manipulate Authority info feeds than anyone else knows.”
Godwin rocks on his heels for a moment. “Perhaps she’d be minimally useful. But I can’t get her for you.” He shrugs. “I put her in jail, after all.”
That’s when it hits me. Godwin’s so casual about the so-called treason from the Hollow. That can only mean one thing. “The Hollow is innocent, isn’t she?”
Godwin rolls his beady eyes. “The Hollow is one of those brilliant minds without the sense to look out for herself. Always trying to help President Hope. Never looking over her shoulder for who might be an enemy.”
“If she’s innocent, and you set her up, what makes you think she’ll help Meimi?”
“We’re calling her Meimi, now?”
“That’s what she decided.”
“Once the Hollow realizes that Meimi will die without her help, she’ll step in and do everything she can. Her kind is predictable in their idiocy.” He wags his finger at me. “That doesn’t mean I can spring her from prison. Even I don’t have that kind of pull.”
“The Scythe has it.”
Godwin steeples his fingers under his chin. For the record, the doctor totally has the power to bring in the Hollow, he just doesn’t want to waste his juice. But making the Scythe do it? It’s clear that might be interesting.
“Yes,” says Godwin slowly. “The Scythe could do it.”
“Right,” I say. “We just need to convince him when he arrives for the review.”
“Agreed,” states Godwin. “Also, I checked the vid feeds. Meimi came in wearing an outfit that was not an approved coverall.”
A pang of resentment moves up my spine. I loathe the idea of Godwin peeping in on Meimi. “Your coverall attracted unwanted attention outside the dome.” Not true, but plausible.
“Fine,” says Godwin. “Why don’t you tell Meimi that you got me to allow her and her friends to wear whatever they want? That will help you build closer bonds with her.”
“All the ladies would like that option. Thank you.”
“And?” Godwin bobs his brows.
“Not sure I understand what you mean.” Although with the brow-bobbing routine, it’s pretty obvious what Godwin wants to know.
“How did your seduction fare? Successful?”
“What else?” It’s a non-answer answer, but I hope Godwin accepts it.
“Perfect. I’m putting you into the cell that adjoins hers. That will keep things nice and cozy. You can even turn off the recording capabilities in both rooms, if you like. Or not.” He bobs his brows again.
Rage boils inside me. Godwin is disgusting, pure and simple.
“That’s all for today.” Godwin waves his hand airily. “I have more meetings with the president now. I’ll be back in touch when I can.”
“Excellent, sir.”
As the doctor speeds out the door, I make a silent vow.
No matter what, Godwin will get what’s coming to him.
19 Meimi
Any minute now, Fritz will arrive for our secret review of my plans. As I pace around the laboratory, two thoughts strike me:
This lab was awesome.
And then, we “fixed” it.
Here’s the situation. While the rest of the floor is modeled after a Turkish prison, the Authority built our lab to be all things metallic and cool. Picture a spaceship interior from an old Earth movie, and that’s the idea. All the surfaces are sleek. Burnished glass and steel decorate each workstation, fancy gizmo, and storage locker. And the entire place is long as a city block. Gorgeous.
Then Chloe, Zoe, and I did our thing.
It began when the sisters entered the lab. I let them divide up every Bunsen burner, glass beaker, or stick of furniture into either chemistry or engineering. Zoe’s chemistry stuff got dragged to the left-hand side of the room, while Chloe’s engineering supplies became stacked on the right. Now the lab looks like a cross between a spaceship and the twin’s old garage, with one key difference.
I’ve set up a table in the middle. Neutral territory.
Although Chloe and Zoe are sisters, they’re used to working alongside each other, not teaming up on things. My hope is that if I sit between them, I can help them get along.
We’ll see.
Tweet, tweet!
Rakkie lets out a few short electronic beeps. No question what that means. Fritz has entered the building. I speak into my smart watch, which I’ve hooked up to the lab’s speaker system.
“Chloe and Zoe,” I announce. “I need you at the conversation pit.” Th
is is another one of my additions to the room. Thorne found us a few couches from other places in ECHO Academy. Our hope is that we can hang out here and brainstorm.
Thorne. Just thinking his name makes my pulse go berserk.
I haven’t been purposely avoiding my guard. The other day, when he approached me with some way to replace the Lacerator with another alien, I said, sure. And that’s just for starters. Recently I’ve also said yes, no, and soup to him. Although, I wouldn’t have said soup if the other choice for dinner hadn’t been tacos.
Never eat the Authority’s spicy food.
Plus, I really have been busy.
Zoe, Chloe, and I only got here two days ago. Ever since then, it’s been nothing but a whirl of activity. I’ve been revising my plans. Chloe and Zoe have been settling into the laboratory. Thorne’s been off doing guard things, like working with Rakkie. Now our spider bot can short-circuit all the tracking feeds on our floor. Whenever one of us wants privacy, we just tell Rakkie. The bot then loops videos of us typing away at our workstations or whatever. Handy.
I stare at the door. Will Thorne walk through soon? Or will he fly in using his alien jetpack while shooting laser beams out of his eyes? For some reason, I’ve segued off the whole whoa, he’s an alien thing and wow, he can replace the Lacerator to nonsensical brainstorming about what his otherworldly powers are really like.
Turns out, I can spend hours imagining alien powers. It’s not healthy.
Shaking my head, I refocus on the task at hand. Thinking about Thorne is still not a great use of my time. It only leads to more alien jetpack scenarios.
The door swings open. Both Fritz and Thorne step inside.
Thorne looks tall and swoony in his black body armor. Per usual, he has his Mr. Unreadable face on. I try not to obsess about what he’s thinking. That vow lasts about two seconds before I start to wonder anyway.
Is Thorne frustrated? Could he be acting standoffish to give me space? Both?
Move on, Meimi.
For his part, Fritz looks like a mountain of a man in his denim overalls, spikey white hair, and ice-blue eyes. He marches precisely two steps inside the door, stops, and folds his arms over his hefty chest.
Alien Minds: Dimension Drift, Book 1 Page 10
