Red: What do you do when the rules cannot help you? (Rule Number 3)

by Teya Tapler

  Evan looked around the starship corridor thinking about the tiny cabin she shared with Amanda, the explosion, and the location of the ship close to the Taharnian graveyard. She didn’t bring anything. She had nothing else except the clothes on her back.

  “I’m all set.” She said.

  Zull Mort abruptly grabbed her hand and transcasted them to the lab in their New York City apartment. Once there he threw the red notebook on the table next to the waiting red pen and pushed Evan towards the closest chair. Since he discovered her beautiful handwriting Mort started asking her to document everything instead of him. Yes, there were keyboards, printers, and electronic books but Zull Mort was in love with the old fashioned way of writing: with a pen and paper. He thought that as every other famous and genius scientist in the world before him, he was obliged to follow suit by documenting his research and discoveries that way.

  Evan took her seat and looked at Mort. Even thought he was not facing her he knew when to start dictating.

  “The pearls are highly sensitive to the human emotions. They charge from the words and thoughts of their handler… Their handler is the one for whom they glow. There could be only one handler at any given time… It is the feelings that spring from that person’s behavior and his hidden insight that influences the pearls.

  New line…

  The touch and the emotions could transition from one person to another and the pearls handler should not interact with any mild natured individuals close to the ignition as their nature could prevent the pearls to do any harm.

  New line…

  The pearls sense the subconscious mind of the handler and only certain minded people should take care of them”

  Evan gulped quietly as she wrote. Mort’s statement clearly indicated that the pearls were considering her a handler. She didn’t think she had that certain mindedness but she was starting to seriously doubt that. Deep inside, she was sure she wasn’t like Mort. His thoughts were about destruction and devastation while her heart was full with love. Love for her parents and her sister and love for him who she won’t see soon.

  The pearl shone, didn’t it?

  “To prepare them for action,” Mort dictated with a flat tone, making pauses after every couple of words to give her enough time to catch up, “one should fill them up with the right negative energy. Talk to them about blood, killing and carnage… Tell them that the world hates them and if they don’t attack they will be destroyed…Make them insecure and afraid from their own shadows… This will make them glow in the crimson red color and produce the best destructive light ray.

  New line…

  After each use you need to lock the pearls in a quiet place and avoid all contact”

  New line…

  Note.” Mort dictated with his roaring voice. “Underline the word note… Avoid positive energy and contact with emotionally unstable people at all cost.” Mort suddenly stopped.

  “Yes,” Evan said without looking at him.

  “Give me the notebook, I need to draw a diagram,” Mort grabbed the red notebook from across the table. “I need to document something that’s hard to dictate.”

  Evan got up and headed towards the window to see what season it was that time. They had taken her on many travels through time and space without telling her where they’ll land. She didn’t know what year it was anymore. She could only recognize the top floor apartment overseeing Madison Square Park. It was a bright sunny day outside. The sky was blue and there were only a few puffy clouds chasing each other in the distance. Memories of simpler and happier times filled her mind. She followed them back to the days during the Mexican dig when she met Zander for the first time. In front of her eyes he smiled and said that it was nice to meet her.

  “Hhm,” Mort’s loud cough made her warily look at him over her shoulder. He was still leaning over the red notebook, longer than any other time.

  Evan got curious. Pretending to be occupied with the landscape outside she focused at Mort’s reflection on the big window. Starting from the center of the next blank page he had gradually added a diagram with devices, people and plenty of descriptions.

  “I was thinking,” Mort said still focused on the diagram, “that you can show me the charts of the data before and after the explosion.”

  Evan sat down at the table, evoked the virtual keyboard using the computer bracelet nailed to the table and adjusted the invisithreen screens so that Mort could see two of them while she was writing the queries on the third one. Being the latest technology craze in the 25th century, those screens were both flexible, holographic and displayed the same information at both sides in a way that made the screen frame seem invisible or non-existent. Mort yawned and lazily followed Evan with his eyes as she set up the displays. She had become his right hand when it came to looking at the data and providing the analytics.

  They compared the results from the last three times the pearls have been used, then Evan fine-tuned the model that was forecasting the pearls destructive power based on their preparation level and type.

  “It is still too early for any conclusions.” she said.

  When Mort didn’t reply to her statement with the usual growl she changed the topic and said, “You’ve had an exhausting day do you want me to read you the last few pages with notes instead? This way you’ll see what’s missing.”

  Mort yawned in confirmation. Evan turned to the notes before the day they annihilated the Taharnians.

  “January 3rd, 2424” she started reading with her soft voice.

  ***

  Finally Mort became exhausted from looking at the data on the tri-fold screens; tired from extrapolating, forecasting and adjusting. The big and muscular man was asleep, half laying on the table and half dripping off his chair. It was a question of time when he would fall on the floor and wake up. His big ginger-haired head lay on the top of the coveted red notebook.

  Evan got up from her chair and came to his side of the table.

  She carefully lifted his head with two hands and gently placed it away from the notebook. Mort snored and moved. His arms raised and Evan stepped back stifling her surprise with hands over her mouth. Her mind frantically looked for an explanation of why she was standing there instead of punching numbers on the virtual keyboard. In horror, with eyes wide opened, she quietly watched Mort… as he put both of his arms under his head… and continued sleeping.

  Evan let a silent sigh of relief. Her hand sneaked past Mort’s arms and snatched the red notebook. Then gently and very slowly she pulled it under his elbow and put it in one of the big pockets of her maroon lab-coat.

  It was in her possession now. All the details about how to recharge, use or keep the pearls from being destroyed has been recorded. The only thing left was to find Emil and deliver the journal.

  Evan opened the door and tiptoed into the corridor then turned right and headed to the common area. Emil should have returned from the starship by now. She entered the room and poured herself a cup of coffee, added sugar and creamer and focused on stirring the liquid.

  Just like clockwork at three pm, Emil entered the kitchen, following his habit of frequenting the place for afternoon snacks.

  “How are you?” he greeted her and for a second she thought that his bight green eyes were smiling. There was no one else in the kitchen. She could give him the notebook right there. Evan nodded and he moved closer.

  “Come with me I’ve something to share with you,” she said suddenly with an inviting voice and he felt her hand touching his. “I had a dream you need to hear about.”

  Wandering what might be the reason for that surprising change in her behavior he decided to play along and took her hand. She pulled him towards the door and when Emil turned to leave the kitchen with Evan he saw Ranshen in front of the fridge. He must have followed him into the kitchen. The red-haired leader of the Inquisitors was contemplating what else to add to the big sandwich he had pulled out of there.

  Evan led Emil to her room. Once the door close
d behind them she quickly let his hand go, bolted the door and moved to the opposite end of the room. She pulled the notebook out of her pocket and threw it on the bed. The elastic band wrapped piece bounced twice before settling down.

  “Here it is. Take it!” She said looking at the red book.

  “I’d rather replicate it,” Emil said. “I need only the content, not the original.”

  “We don’t have the time. Mort’s asleep on his chair and there is a chance of him waking up in the next five minutes. The replication takes at least half an hour.” Evan said. It seemed too risky to forego the current opportunity for a future one with an uncertain probability. Evan made a long pause as if rethinking her reasons behind the idea of giving the red notebook to Emil then said, “Just take the notebook and go.”

  Emil took the notebook and looked at her. She had been his ally ever since he joined the group. He shouldn’t leave her there alone.

  Return with a book first then bring back your friend. The words of the reader reminded him of the task at hand. Ignoring them he looked into Evan‘s eyes and said, “Come with me,” trying not to think what the 906 Inquisitors might do to her if they learned she was the one who had stolen the diary.

  “Not yet,” Evan said as if to herself, then looked Emil in the eye and added with a louder voice. “Go ahead and leave now. They’ll be here soon.”

  “What will you tell them?” He asked.

  “That you hit me and stole the notebook,” she smiled innocently hiding her sadness well. “Would it be okay? You won’t be visiting that time and place soon, will you?”

  “I hope not,” Emil said and then seeing how her eyes darkened added, “I meant…”

  “No need to apologize,” Evan interrupted him. “Just go.”

  He stood in the corner of her room and shot his thigh with the transcaster gun. When the blue flash engulfed him and the transmission started, Evan looked at Emil through the blue haze and said softly, “Tell Zander that I’m here.”

  ***

  The blue haze dispersed quickly and then Evan was alone. Emil left taking her wish for normal life with him into another time and space location. She could only hope that he had heard her last words and somehow in his time he would remember who she really was. Probably they will meet there again, soon after his return.

  What would be the best way of telling Mort and Ranshen about what had happened? It sounded easier when she told Emil what her lie was going to be. She wasn’t that sure anymore. She had to be very creative and extremely careful as Mort would remember that she was with him in the lab.

  Evan braced for what was to come and hit her face with two hands. The self-preservation instinct prevented her from hitting harder. She curled her fingers into fists and tried again. Nothing; her hands slowed down as they approached her face.

  She closed her eyes and walked towards the wall. That seemed like a good way to get bruises that would help her story sound more convincing. But she knew how many steps were there from her bed to the bathroom. She had walked that distance with the light off so many nights that her feet stopped before she could hit anything.

  The impossibility to hurt herself aggravated her and she moved closer to the bathroom door. She tied her eyes with a t-shirt and lowered her head to touch her toes. Evan made seven full circles around her toes, then stopped and rapidly raised her head. Her stomach protested and she felt dizzy and nauseous. That was good; she wouldn’t know what was to her left or to her right or how far was anything around her.

  Holding her head up, Evan rushed straight ahead and hit the corner of the bathroom entrance with her face. The pain pierced her head. Wobbling on her feet she pulled the t-shirt off her face and without opening her eyes, with hands at her back she continued walking ahead. Her feet soon hit the toilet seat and her body moved forward until her forehead met the shower floor.

  ***

  “Sh-sh-t! Quiet! She’s waking up,” Evan heard Amanda’s voice and slowly opened her eyes. The blurred images of Telagh, Amanda, Grakhun, Mort, and Ranshen were standing around her. She blinked a few times but still couldn’t distinguish their expressions.

  “Nothing’s broken.” Mort roared. “You’re just badly bruised.”

  Evan tried raising her right hand to rub her eyes when a sharp pain stopped her midway. She puffed angrily and squint her eyes instead: she was laying on the red sofa in the living room covered with a throw, a pillow tucked under her head and everyone around her was worried and concerned.

  Instinctively Evan started putting her story together. It took her some time to remember what had actually happened. The memories of her giving the red notebook to Emil and him returning to Zander and the rest of his team were vague. She wasn’t sure if all that was something that had happened in her dreams or she was really part of it. Carefully analyzing the faces around her she tried to come up with a plausible explanation.

  “What happened to you?” Amanda asked the first question, itching to hear all the details.

  “I-I don’t remember,” Evan started. She didn’t have to pretend she was dizzy. Her eyesight wasn’t blurred any more but she felt her head unsteady even though she was lying down. She casually looked around as if acknowledging everyone’s presence and concerns. Emil wasn’t there. That had happened. It wasn’t a dream. He had left with the red notebook.

  “I heard the fight and came to your room?” Grakhun said interrupting her thoughts.

  “You’re lucky he was close by,” Mort said and patted Grakhun’s red suit on the back.

  The thought that she owed her life to that monster shocked her but Evan decided to worry about Grakhun, after everyone was convinced in her innocence. The latter was more important. The gratitude to her savior could be expressed at any time and in many different ways.

  “We’ll fix the door tomorrow,” Mort interrupted her thoughts. ”don’t worry about it. You’ll stay here tonight. You should not be moved again.”

  “He won’t have the guts to revisit when we are around,” Ranshen said with his hissing voice. “I disliked him from the start.”

  “We couldn’t find him anywhere,” Telagh licked his scarce teeth, regretting that he hadn’t tasted Emil’s flesh between them.

  Evan froze. She hadn’t thought of how to address that. At the time it was more important to help Emil get into the gang. She was the one who had made the prediction that having him with the group was their best option. Now, she might have to use the predictions and dreams as an excuse too. The brothers seemed to be very superstitious, especially after finding that her readings were spot on.

  Evan’s heartbeat accelerated. The time had come for her to say something to distinguish herself from Emil and keep her place in the group.

  Just breathe. Evan took a deep breath. Just breathe.

  “What d’you say to him?” Ranshen asked her point blank.

  Noticing that no one was mentioning Emil’s name she followed suit and said, “That he had a much better opportunity elsewhere. I didn’t know that he will react… like that,” Evan’s arm felt heavy as she raised it and touched her head.

  Everyone stared at her obviously not understanding her rationale.

  “I-I had a dream,” Evan continued with her soft voice, ”that with his next choice of target he would do more damage to our group.” She spoke quietly making everyone come closer to hear the details. “In my dream after we hit the Fearsome Nations he directed us towards the Galactic Headquarters…where,” Evan had never been to the Galactic Headquarters. She wasn’t entirely sure if such a thing existed. She looked around verifying if anyone was buying in. To her surprise Ranshen looked tense; the kind of tense that indicated that once more she had hit the right cord with him. His scar was pulsating and he looked afraid. “When we try using the pearls,” Evan said slower than before and made a longer pause before delivering the punch line, “they’re destroyed and we’re captured.”

  “Why didn’t you come to me first?” Mort asked in his usual way that sounded mo
re like giving orders.

  “I didn’t want to spoil the celebration at the starship.” Evan indicated she had the dream around the time when the pearls were last used. “I thought that if I could ward him away I’d achieve the same result,” she said and lowered her eyes trying to look embarrassed.

  “When did you give him the notebook,” Ranshen suddenly asked her, “before or after the reading?” In his mind he hadn’t separated her from Emil yet. Obviously he was fighting with the idea that Evan and Emil were working together. His hand crumbled a piece of paper in his pocket. It said that he had to kill the girl after their third success and not trust Emil. Ranshen had written it and yet he had no memories of writing it. The thought that he might had warned himself from the future about all that was making him restless.

  “I didn’t give him anything,” Evan said looking into his eyes, without changing the tone of her voice. She had become the perfect liar. Lying on the sofa, looking so fragile and innocent she didn’t have to play it up too much. “He must’ve followed us to the lab,” she continued with her soft and quiet voice looking at Mort to support her assumption. “When you fell asleep I headed to bring you a pillow, but seeing him in the kitchen reminded me,” Evan swallowed heavily then continued, “about the dream, and then he hit me the moment we entered my room.”

  “Your door was locked and then when I came in you were all alone,” Grakhun said. “He must’ve transcasted from there. He looked like one who didn’t like our rules.”

  “He eluded all my trials to genetically die his hair,” Amanda chimed in. “I heard so many excuses.”

  Everyone started saying why they didn’t like Emil, that they knew something wasn’t right about him, yet no one mentioned his name. Seeing all the anger directed towards Emil, Evan wandered whether she was safe and back at her position as a trusted reader.

  “I should’ve confronted him when he was still here,” Telagh said between two grinding movements of his teeth. “There was something in his eyes that really bothered me.”