by V. E. Lemp
“Trust me, I will. Now, I suppose Alex is waiting for you outside. He’s always punctual, I’ll say that for him.” Mark surveyed her, his eyes very serious behind his glasses. “But first…” He leaned down to kiss her.
Several minutes passed before Karen gently pushed him back. “As you said, Alex is probably waiting.”
Mark sighed. “Come along, I’ll walk you out. I prefer him to see us together as much as possible.”
They walked, arm and arm, onto the front porch. Alex, leaning against his car, looked up at them.
“I thought I’d drive, if you don’t mind,” Karen said.
“As you wish.” Alex was wearing a pale-blue cotton shirt and faded jeans and looked younger than when he’d first returned. He’d gained a little weight, and there was some color in his face. He was, Karen had to admit, as handsome as ever.
“Well, you have the directions. Thought I’d have you navigate.” Karen turned to Mark and hugged him. “We’ll be back soon, hopefully with some useful information.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips. “Don’t worry.”
“Sweetheart, you know that’s impossible,” Mark said, before returning her kiss with a passion that left her breathless. He released her with a significant look. “Remember to call me.”
“Of course.” Karen walked down the porch steps, feeling Mark’s gaze follow her as she approached Alex, who appeared at ease except for the tightness of his smile. “Let’s go. The sooner we get this meeting underway the better.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Alex opened her door and allowed her to settle into the driver’s seat before he walked around to the passenger side and climbed in.
“So where am I going?” Karen turned the key in the ignition. She glanced out her side window as she backed the car down the driveway. Mark was still standing on the porch. She waved to him before driving away.
Alex detailed the basic directions. “I’ll give you more specifics when we get closer to Jasper’s cabin.”
“Cabin? Are we headed into the wilderness?” She glanced at Alex. He was staring out the window.
“Apparently. Well, not precisely the wilderness. But I believe it’s an isolated location. I suppose Jasper feels more comfortable meeting us far from Ian’s usual haunts.”
“You were in communication with him while you were gone, weren’t you? Vance, I mean. Through some kind of holographic technology?”
“Yes, how did you know?” Out of the corner of her eye, Karen caught his smile. “Never mind, I suppose it was through your dreams. Yes, I was in communication with Ian, at least for a while. Until we experienced some differences of opinion.”
“And that’s when you started working with Alice?”
“Oh, I’d made her acquaintance long before. She sent me a message through you before I even left the Earth, remember? But it’s true, at a certain point our conversations took a different turn.”
Karen shot him a glance. “She visited you on the ship?”
“Yes, a few times. And once I understood how to manage it, she communicated through my dreams.”
“As you did through mine.”
“Did you think I was a ghost?”
“That, or just my own mind, creating you from memories. It was some time after you disappeared before I remembered any of my dreams. Ten years, to be exact.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I did want to communicate with you sooner. But the Oneiroi were blocking your memory of dreams. It was for your protection. So Ian would leave you alone. It did work for quite some time.”
“Until, for some reason, I started remembering my dreams again.” She turned her head slightly to look at him. “I imagine Alice had a hand in that?”
Alex shrugged. “I suppose so. She did tell me I should try to speak with you through dreams again. Then it wasn’t long before you started working with Mark to uncover the truth behind my supposed death.”
“She seems determined to keep us all together. Like we’re the answer to her problems. But I can’t imagine how we can help her.”
“She wants the Oneiroi to stop their human experiments. That’s her goal. Or perhaps I should say spiritual quest, as it means more to her than you can probably imagine. But she can only do so if humanity actually understands what’s happening and stands up for itself.” Alex leaned back and met Karen’s sidelong gaze. “If we expose the truth, convince enough people of the Oneiroi’s existence, and what Ian and Exocorp are up to, she has more leverage with her own society. They won’t listen if they think we don’t have the strength or smarts to demand our rights.”
“You mean we have to prove we’re more than animals in their eyes?”
“Something like that. Most of them think of us as lesser creatures. We must prove them wrong before they will look at us with different eyes.”
“As Alice and her compatriots do.”
“Yes.” Alex laid his hand on Karen’s leg. “I really was just a lab rat to them, you know. To most of them. Only Alice and a few of her followers saw me as anything else.”
“That must have been humiliating.”
“My pride, although you know it’s not insignificant”—his voice held a hint of self-mockery—“was the least of my issues. It was the loneliness that was crushing.”
It was a moment before Karen trusted herself to speak. “Didn’t you expect that? When you agreed to go?”
“No. Fool that I was, I thought I would be part of a team. That I’d be working with the Oneiroi as an equal partner in their experiments. I was wrong.”
Karen lowered her hand to her leg. “You never mentioned this before.”
“I was distracted. Or hadn’t you noticed?” He curled his fingers around her hand.
“I noticed.” Karen cast him a quick glance. “As has everyone else, including my husband.”
“Yet he allowed you to take this trip with me.”
“Well, there are two reasons for that. First, he trusts me. And second, he doesn’t assume I need his permission to do anything.”
“Ah.” Alex released her hand. “There it is.” He was quiet for a minute before continuing in a lighter tone. “You’ll be getting off the highway in about two miles. Next exit.”
They drove on in a silence broken only by Alex reading the directions aloud. Each turn took them down narrower and rougher roads, until they finally turned onto a gravel track only wide enough for one car.
“This is out in the wilderness, isn’t it?” Karen carefully navigated the washboard surface of the road.
“Almost there. I believe the cabin is at the end of this road.”
The road curved and ended in front of a small, wooden building. The cabin’s shingled siding was streaked a mossy green with mildew, and one side of the covered porch sagged under the pressure of an overhanging tree limb. A small but expensive-looking gray sedan was parked in front.
“You said Jasper was wealthy now.” As they got out of the car Karen glanced about, noting the heavy growth of trees surrounding the cabin. It was dark and dank even in late afternoon. “I can see that by his car. But I’m guessing he hasn’t spent money on this place.”
“I imagine he hasn’t been here in years, which is probably why he chose it. Less likely for Ian to have it staked out.”
Karen picked her way up the rotting front steps. The railing, obviously broken at some juncture, swayed under her hand. “Does Vance keep even his closest collaborators under observation?”
“Ian keeps everyone under observation.” Alex placed his hand on her back. “Watch out, the porch seems less than stable.”
“So I noticed,” she said, as the front door opened slowly.
She barely recognized the man standing in the doorway. He was hunched over, and his bald head appeared to bob, as if were too heavy for his wrinkled neck. He looked like some ancient tortoise. Only his lapis-blue eyes retained the vigor of the man she had once known.
“Dr. James.” Karen held out her hand. “So good to see you again.”
“No time for that.” Jasper James’s voice still retained traces of its former resonance. “Please come inside. Quickly now.” He peered outside after Karen and Alex entered, then swiftly closed and locked the door.
The smell of damp wood permeated the dark interior of the cabin. A few battery-operated lanterns scattered about the main room created small pools of light around three moth-eaten armchairs. The rest of the room lay in shadow. Karen could barely discern the shape of an iron-frame bed against one wall and a small kitchenette on the opposite wall. There was only one door leading off of the main area to another room, where another lantern illuminated an ancient pedestal sink.
“Please have a seat,” Jasper said, choosing the most dilapidated of the armchairs for himself. “Sorry the place is such a disaster. It was my father’s fishing cabin. There’s a lake out back, just beyond the trees. I used to come here as a child, but haven’t been in years. Just couldn’t bring myself to sell it.”
“So, Jasper…” Alex vigorously brushed the cushions of one chair before sitting down. “You said you had some vital information for us?”
“Yes.” Jasper gazed intently at Alex. “I was surprised to hear you’d returned. Had enough of it, did you?”
“It seemed time,” Alex said calmly. “Now, about this information…”
“We’ll get to that.” Jasper looked from Alex to Karen. “Interesting to see the two of you together again. I wondered if you could convince her to come, Alex. I imagine”—Jasper eyed Karen with interest—“you were none too pleased to hear what our Dr. Wythe was up to all those years.”
“It was a shock.” The worn cushions sank under Karen as she sat, until she felt she was perched on the wooden frame itself.
“I’m sure. I didn’t like it, you know, Ian’s little plan. I thought you should be told. But I didn’t have the final say. I had very little say, in point of fact,” Jasper explained, with what sounded like real regret. “I was quite upset when you were injured, Karen, I want you to know that.”
Karen shifted in the uncomfortable chair. “I’m sure you were. But things turned out all right for me, in the end. I have my career, and even married recently. Mark Hallam—I suppose you heard that?”
“I did.” Jasper focused his gaze on Alex. “That must have been rather disconcerting for you. Though you can’t really complain, I suppose, disappearing the way you did.”
“Your information?” Alex demanded.
“Yes, I’m getting to that.” Jasper sat back in his chair. “I didn’t agree with a lot of things Ian was doing over the years. At first I believed we were accomplishing important work. Helping the planet with our research. But there came a day when I realized what we were doing was more detrimental than beneficial. I believe you reached that point as well, didn’t you? I remember how furious Ian was when you went dark.”
Alex stretched out his legs and studied the tips of his loafers. “Yes, no more transmissions from his favorite guinea pig. It must have driven him crazy.”
“It did indeed.” Jasper smiled briefly. “You came to it sooner than I did, but one day even I’d had enough. At that point I decided perhaps I should take some action to protect myself. Just in case, you understand. I knew what Ian, and by extension, Exocorp, were capable of. So I began using some of our appropriated technology for my own purposes.”
Karen scooted to the edge of her chair. “You have files?”
“Yes. Files, recordings, many things.” Jasper reached into the pocket of his cardigan and held up a flash drive. “All on here. I have a backup, of course, in a safe place. This copy is for you.”
Alex regarded him steadily. “To do with as we wish?”
“Of course. If you mean to expose Exocorp and the Oneiroi.”
“That’s the plan,” Karen said. “There’s actually someone working on a video right now.”
Jasper tapped the flash drive against his palm. “I am aware of Myron Tarrow’s plan. Why do you think I contacted Alex? I believe my information can significantly enhance his project. And I’d be willing,” he continued, straightening in his chair, “to appear in such a video myself, to provide further proof.”
“That could be dangerous,” Alex said.
Jasper shrugged. “I’m an old man. I have no close family. I have little to lose.”
“Just your life.” Alex rose to his feet, fixing Jasper with an intent stare.
“My life is not that valuable to me. Not anymore. I have a need, you understand, to expiate my sins. What I allowed to be done haunts me. I should have stopped Ian and the others long ago.” Jasper stood to face Alex, holding out the flash drive. “Take it and do what I couldn’t do. Expose the lot of them. Bring them all down.”
“We will certainly try.” Alex carefully pocketed the drive. “If you need protection, I believe Mark Hallam might be able to help. He’s quite skilled in such matters.”
Karen glanced at Alex with surprise as she stood up. She hadn’t expected an endorsement of her husband. “Mark does know people who could watch over you.”
James waved his hand. “No, no, I’ll be fine. But you, Karen, are you well? Of course it’s been years since I’ve seen you, but you seem rather thin and pale.”
“I’m fine.” Karen felt Alex’s gaze shift. “I’ve just been under some stress lately. We had to flee that epidemic in New Mexico, you know.” She glanced at Alex, who was staring at her, lines furrowing his brow.
“Yes, I heard. Terrible thing.” Jasper sighed deeply. “Well, let me walk you out.”
“We can’t thank you enough for your willingness to help.” Karen followed the older man to the front door. “It might make all the difference to our cause.”
“I hope so,” Jasper said, as they stepped onto the porch. Alex walked out behind Karen and took her by the arm. “Watch the boards, some are quite rotten.”
Jasper walked with them to the car, shaking hands with Alex and giving Karen a hug. She glanced over his shoulder at his sedan and frowned. She stepped back and stared. “Your tires are flat, Dr. James. All of them.”
“No, that’s impossible,” Jasper said, turning. “I just had them replaced.”
“They are.” She pointed at Jasper’s car, and then checked her own tires to make sure the rough road hadn’t done the same damage to them before she pulled out her phone. “I can call someone for you.” But the screen displayed no signal.
“Those things don’t work out here, I’m afraid,” Jasper explained as he approached his car.
“Then we’ll have to give you a ride into town. We do need to head out soon, though. I’d like to get off the back roads before dark.”
Alex’s fingers fastened tightly about her wrist seconds before he shouted, “Get down!”
She didn’t have a chance to react as he pulled her to the ground. He threw his arms around her, covering her with his body as they huddled behind the car.
A sound like large branches breaking reverberated through the clearing. Birds flew up from the trees above them. Around the front of the car, Jasper staggered and fell, his hands scattering the leaf meal that carpeted the ground.
Karen struggled to break free of Alex’s arms. “What the hell!”
He tightened his grip. “Stay still. Those were gunshots.”
She turned her head and looked up into his eyes, which were bright with an emotion she’d rarely seen on his face. Fear. “Why?”
“Someone followed Jasper, I expect.” Alex loosened his hold on her and sat back, still in a crouch. “They were waiting for us to come outside.”
“But why now? Why not attack when we got here?”
“I don’t believe they want to shoot us. At least not lethally. I think Jasper was their target.” Alex crawled to the front of the car. “We need to make a run for it. Back inside the cabin.”
“The car.” Karen felt as if her body were on fire. “We need to get out of here now.”
“They’d just shoot out the tires.” Alex glanced back at her. “
They don’t want to kill us, but they do want to grab us. Understand?”
“Vance’s men?”
“I believe so. Now listen, I don’t think they’d actually shoot to kill, but they may try to wing us. So we need to move fast.”
“But once we’re in the cabin we’re sitting ducks.” Karen scrambled to her feet in a crouch.
Alex fixed his brilliant eyes on her face. “Trust me. I have a plan.”
“You always have a plan,” Karen muttered, “until you don’t.”
He laid one hand against her cheek. “You need to trust me, my sweet. If we get inside, I can protect us. I’ll explain later. Now, make a run for the door. I’ll be right behind you.”
“What about Jasper?”
“There’s nothing we can do for him.”
Karen met Alex’s unflinching stare. “We don’t know he’s dead.”
“I know.” Alex leaned in and kissed her swiftly on the mouth. “Run, as fast as you can.”
Spurred on by the terror that shot adrenaline through her body, Karen placed her hands on the ground and pushed off from the balls of her feet, springing forward like a sprinter. As she dashed for the porch, she heard the crack of gunfire and fought the desire to turn around. She reached the porch and flew up the steps. But as her foot hit the top tread, the wood shattered, and her entire leg fell through, throwing her forward. Her head slammed against the floor.
“Up.” Alex grabbed her under the armpits and yanked her to her feet, raking her leg back through the splintered step.
Karen abstractly registered the pain as he shoved her across the porch and through the open door. She kept running even after he released her, collapsing against the metal edge of the kitchen counter. She turned in time to see Alex locking the front door. “That won’t keep them out.”
“No, but I can,” he said.
SIXTEEN
Karen braced her back against the counter and stared at Alex. “How can you keep them out?”
