by RS McCoy
By the time he released her, she knew her cheeks were flushed. She pulled a few lost strands of hair behind her ear and tried to recover, trying to remember what she had intended to tell her new researchers.
All three sat motionless and wide-eyed in wait.
“Good morning, everyone,” Vincent began. “My name is Vincent Frederick, and I’m an Untouchable parasite researcher. I’ll be here working alongside you, but the esteemed Dr. Aida Perkins is your superior. You’ll be answering to her as you work to find the next habitable planet for human population.”
Aida stared at him in shock that he would say so much to these Scholars. But his green eyes only shone brighter. “Dr. Perkins and I aren’t married, but we are romantically involved, and she’s pregnant. If anyone has a problem with that, now’s your chance to request reassignment.”
The room was perfectly silent as they held their collective breaths, but no one said a word.
“Excellent. Then I’ll let Dr. Perkins introduce you to the procedures here.” With that, Vincent headed toward the door.
“Where are you going?” she called after him.
“To get started on my research. I have a telepathic hive theory to get started on.” He beamed that winning smile at her before he headed down the hall, and she noticed, back to her office. He’d be there for her when she was done here.
Aida looked at the trio of fresh faces at the conference table. “Now that we’ve had a chance at introductions, let’s go ahead and begin. First, each of you will research potential homeworlds, and each week you will submit a report with your findings. The template report can be found on the network drive, and the database of identified planets is there as well. You’ll be working in open cooperation with each other, so I expect you to get out of your offices and complete your research in a collaborative manner. Once a week, we’ll meet here as a team and discuss any exoplanets that seem eligible. Any questions?”
None of them spoke, but Aida didn’t miss the burning questions on their lips, though of course, she knew none of them were about the work they would do. Still, she didn’t want to get into it at the moment. She had a job to do, and there was a certain man in her office she was eager to see again.
“All right, then. Go ahead and get going. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.” Like humanoid robots, they rose in unison and filed back to their offices. It would take a while for them to adjust to life outside the Academy, but she would make them see the merits of her strategy. And Vincent would help her. She knew with certainty; he would always be at her side. He always had been.
THEO
SPRING STREET, BOSTON, NORTH AMERICA
SEPTEMBER 29, 2232
“I don’t see what this is all about,” Theo complained as he set out the thousandth candle.
Okay, there were only four-hundred-something, but still, too many.
“I told you. We’re having a party.” Mable smiled wide, really excited for the first time since before. Even after the move to their new facility, she’d had a hard time. A lot of hours sketching, curled up with Dasia in bed, sleeping a lot. Her arm was covered in tattoos again, and metal piercings sat on both corners of her mouth, like he remembered from the first time he saw her. Just another form of armor. Theo knew it would take months, if not years, for her to conquer the immense grief of losing her brother and son. They all did their best—they were patient, they let her work her way through it as slowly as she wanted. A lot of days, her walls were up. She’d pretend she was fine, only to breakdown again a few hours later. But not today. Theo could easily see she was in brighter spirits, he just didn’t know why.
“A party for Osip?” Theo knew Mable and Osip would always share a unique bond through their mutual love of Dasia, but he didn’t see what the big deal was.
With Ramona too sick to travel and Knox staying behind to care for her, Mable had cooked up all the food herself—online recipes, some files Silas found, even some from memory. She’d been cooking for two days with only momentary jaunts to find an outfit for Dasia.
Their first week in Boston had been a busy one.
The new facility was actually ancient, an old brick thing with creaky pipes and strange noises at night. It lacked the sterility of a Scholar clinic, but Silas said that was the point. No one would guess they were quietly watching for another alien infestation that threatened the human race.
“Your timer’s going off,” Jane called from the kitchen. “Want me to take them out?”
“Yeah! Thanks!” Mable jogged in and rearranged some pans. There was enough food to feed at least a dozen people, rather than the six of them, assuming Dasia and Osip ever woke up. They’d been asleep—or at least in bed—since their arrival earlier that morning.
Sometime around dusk, Silas popped in to check on their decorations. Strings of light criss-crossed the ceiling in every direction. Candles in all the windows and across the tops off the counters, tables, and shelves. Theo still hadn’t lit them all.
“The eagle is in route,” Silas told Mable.
“What?” Theo asked. Eagle?
“You’re pretty much the worst secret agent of all time,” Mable said without looking up.
“Says the girl that blew cover after two weeks.”
“Uh, you blew my cover. That one was your fault.”
“Fine.”
“How long do we have?”
“Fifteen.”
Mable walked over to Theo. “I’m going to run upstairs and get Osip and Dasia, okay? You just finish the candles, and then I think we’re ready.” She disappeared around the corner.
Theo looked out at the sea of candles still unlit. How was he supposed to light them all in the time it took her to get Osip and Dasia? And why was there the sudden rush? What was going to happen in fifteen minutes?”
He didn’t understand, but he lit the candles as fast as humanly possible. Jane emerged from the kitchen and helped him, though she maintained a sly smirk the whole time.
Maybe they were playing a trick on him.
Mable returned ten minutes later with her hand in Dasia’s. Osip followed up behind them and said, “Damn. Who knew you could cook, Mable? Smells amazing.” He rubbed his palms together and licked his lips at the impending feast. When he saw Theo, he walked over and shook his hand. “Hey Kaufman. Heard you did pretty good up there.” Osip pointed to the ceiling, through clearly he meant the moon.
“It was pretty much all Dasia,” he admitted. She had been the one to solve it.
“Still, they told me what you did. Thank you.”
Theo shook his hand again and nodded before turning back to his unending candle-lighting. He was only half done when he heard, “They’re here!”
When he turned, he saw two figures in the doorway. Two people he never would have thought to ever see again. Two people he cherished.
Nate rushed him and all but tackled him into the shelf before Theo could process it. His beard was longer and his hair had streaks of light blond, but it was him.
Across the room, Casey stood with his hands over his mouth. He had at least ten bracelets on each wrist, and his hair tied back behind his head.
“What are you doing here?” Theo said in shock.
“They said we needed to come right away.”
“Who did?”
“Some high-brow Scholar. Arrenstein or something.”
Theo embraced his friend for a good long while before he walked over and hugged Casey. “He’s missed you. He’s really missed you,” Casey told him.
“You did this?” Theo asked Silas.
“Well, yes, but it was Maggie’s idea. One of her ‘conditions’,” he said and rolled his eyes.
Theo looked over at her. She stood beside Dasia with a huge smile on her face, her blue eyes shimmering in the candlelight.
“I wanted to meet them,” she said as if that explained it all.
“Come on then.” Theo took her hand and pulled her over. “Mable, this is my oldest friend, Nate. N
ate this is Mable. Mable, this is his boyfriend Casey. Casey, this is Mable.”
“Actually, we’re engaged now,” Casey offered. He held up his hand to show a band on his ring finger, though it was nearly hidden in the fistful of rings he already wore.
Nate’s arm appeared across Theo’s shoulders. “We would have told you, but you know, you kind of disappeared for a while there.” In the depths of his beard, Nate’s lips turned up into the same laughing smile Theo remembered.
It didn’t seem real.
“I know. I wanted to tell you. I tried to comm you so many times,” he said.
“It’s not important. We’re here now. Who are the rest of your friends?”
Theo felt the quiver in his chest, his heart near explosion. He had to take several deep breaths before he could tell them. “This is Mable’s girlfriend Dasia, and her boyfriend Osip. Back there is Jane, she’s the assistant director of, well, of this thing. Anyway, that’s Silas. I guess you know him, already.”
Nate and Casey moved about the room clutching hands and hugging people they’d only just met. They were all smiles and kind remarks. It was single-handedly one of the best moments of his life.
MABLE
SPRING STREET, BOSTON, NORTH AMERICA
SEPTEMBER 29, 2232
Theo pulled her aside as the others chatted. “I can’t believe you did this.”
Rarely did Mable have the opportunity to profoundly surprise someone, to pull off something this big. She smiled to think that she’d pulled it off for Theo. “They’re important to you. Arrenstein said we could start to ease up on security, so I didn’t see why you shouldn’t be able to see them.”
“Seriously. Thank you.” He pulled her against him, and she happily melted against his chest.
She looked up at him. “You’re welcome.” It had been a long time since she’d seen him smile so bright.
“You think Dasia will let me have you tonight?” His hand crept down to the small of her back.
“I think she’ll be a little preoccupied.” They both looked over to see Osip and Dasia intertwined, their arms around each other in much the same way as Mable with Theo.
“Do you hate having to share?” she asked.
Theo smiled and shook his head. “No, I get it. She was lonely without Osip. As long as you come back to me, I don’t care how long I have to wait.”
“How come you’ve never asked to join us?”
“Was I supposed to?”
“No, I think most guys would, though. You know, why have one girl when you can have two?”
Theo laughed. “Look, I love Dasia. She’s a great person and you love her, and she’ll always have a place in our lives, but she’s not the girl for me. You are. And you are plenty.”
Mable pretended to be offended as she laughed and smacked his arm. “Don’t try to make it out like I’m the difficult one.” She tried to squirm from his grip but failed as always.
“Oh you are. You’re by far the most difficult person I know.” Theo pulled her hips against his, hard and sure. “I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Arrenstein coughed. “But I need to borrow Maggie for a minute.”
Mable groaned and looked over. Arrenstein looked horribly uncomfortable as he watched her peel her hips from Theo’s.
“What?” she asked.
“I have something to show you. Outside.”
“I’ll be right back,” she told Theo as Arrenstein led her down the hall and out the front door. “What is it?” she whined, more than a little eager to get back inside with Theo and Dasia.
Then she saw her.
There, in the front drive, was Hadley. Her hair was shorter, shoulder-length, and she wore a limp hat over the top of her head, but there was no mistaking her.
Hadley squealed as she loped up the steps and wrapped her arms around Mable’s neck. “Oh my god. I can’t believe you’re here. In Boston!” Hadley screamed in her ear.
Big fat tears fell into Hadley’s hair. Mable couldn’t get a word out. She could only squeeze her tight. Mable held her out at arm’s length and looked her over to be sure she was real. “Hadley?”
“Is Theo here?” Hadley looked over Mable’s shoulder and tried to get a look in the front door.
“Yeah, but—what are you doing here?”
“Uh, I live here.”
Mable looked over at Arrenstein where he stood on the top step, hands in his pockets as always. “She’s been in a Youth program here for the last few months,” he explained.
“Well, except for when he made me go on some ridiculous vacation to the mountains in Washington a few weeks ago. Zero hot guys there, let me tell you. A total desert.”
Mable laughed so hard she bent forward and clutched her stomach.
“So are we going in or what?” Hadley smiled.
Mable wiped her tears away. “Yeah, come on.”
Hadley ran into the house, and a chorus of squeals and cheers sounded a moment later.
Arrenstein remained at her side. “It’s called the Ares Protocol,” he explained, though she hadn’t asked. Mable stared up in awe as he continued, “Alex was the first. We set up an escape procedure in case we needed to get someone out. Hadley was the first since. But Boston wasn’t attacked, so I was able to get her back into her classes without issue.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Mable couldn’t help but ask.
Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as he answered. “Because I loved Alex like he was my own. And I—I wanted you to know that he didn’t die for nothing. He put together the foundation of this program. None of this would have been possible without him.” He squeezed her shoulder in one of his large hands and shot her a sad smile. “Go on in. She’s been waiting for weeks.”
Mable waited until she had her tears and breathing under her control. Then, she followed Hadley inside. Theo was introducing her to the others. Nate and Casey chatted with Osip over the table of appetizers. Jane and Dasia made drinks.
When Dasia saw her come in, she set down the cups in her hands and hurried over. “Hey. You okay?”
Mable swallowed the last of her sobs and smiled wide. “Yeah. Did you meet her?”
“Yeah, she’s sweet. I didn’t realize she was so young.” They both looked over and laughed at Hadley fawning over Theo’s muscles. “Oh, uh, Osip wants to play that horrid card game. Jane and I were setting out the drinks. You want to play?”
“Yeah, but I’ll get my own drink.”
Mable walked over to Arrenstein and crossed her arms. “Hand it over.”
“What? Now?” he fussed.
“Yeah. You agreed. This is my final condition, and I want it now.”
Arrenstein whined a while longer but eventually fetched a bottle of brandy from a drawer. “That’s it. Just one. Now I have to move my hiding spot.”
Mable grinned as the cool glass bottle hit her fingertips.
“Did you blackmail Silas for a bottle of his prized brandy?” Dasia asked with an incredulous laugh.
“Sure did.” Mable twisted off the top and dipped a few ounces into Dasia’s glass.
Dasia ran her fingers through the ends of Mable’s hair. Then, she sank in close and kissed Mable. She had to work not to drop the bottle. Her free hand crept over Dasia’s back and held her near.
A round of cheers went up around the room. When Mable’s eyes opened, they had the attention of the entire group. Dasia kissed her lips again and laughed. Mable took a swig straight from the bottle.
“All right, who’s ready to lose?” Osip asked as they sat at the table.
“You’re going to lose, comrade.” Arrenstein rolled up his sleeves and poured his first glass.
“Shit, Dr. A. You’re playing again?” Osip shook his head. He’d already lost. They all had.
Arrenstein smiled a big, satisfied grin. “And there’s no more cleaning. You’ll have to live with the error of your ways. Burn it off the old-fashioned way.”
Dasia ran a hand over Mable’s thigh under the table. “I’m so going to lose,” she said with a laugh.
Hadley slid into the seat on her other side. “I have no idea how to play. And Theo looks way hotter with long hair. Please don’t let him cut it again.”
Mable smiled and kissed her head. “Agreed.”
Across the table, Theo looked over at her and winked. She’d get to him later.
As expected, Arrenstein was a professional. Casey, too, was an exceptionally skilled drinker, but the rest of them were gone by the second round. They were all too drunk, laughing too hard. After Dasia knocked over her glass, Osip managed to convince her to call it quits and head upstairs.
Nate and Casey retired to the couch with Theo. Jane and Hadley chatted easily, something about Scholar boys they knew from before. Mable sat back and watched the revelry. By far, one of the best nights of her life.
Then she saw Arrenstein collect his glass and sneak out the front door.
Mable followed him into the cool dark. “What are you doing out here?”
Arrenstein spun at the sound of her voice. “I just needed a minute.”
“To do what?” She crossed her arms and stood beside him.
He laughed and sipped his drink. “To process.”
“Because you’re not looking for bugs anymore? At least, not like you used to.”
“It’s a little weird. But no, that’s not why.” On the steps, Arrenstein handed her a small, wrinkled piece of paper. On it, the lop-sided heart she’d drawn for Hadley a lifetime ago.
Mable traced its torn edge with her fingers. “You know, I think I was wrong about you.”
Arrenstein put his hand in his pockets. “Did you really think I wouldn’t take care of her? I told you I would.”
“No, I know. I mean, I think I had you all wrong. From the very beginning. You were always in my corner.” Mable leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. For everything.”
End of The Lethal Agent.
