by J. T. Bock
“Who are you?” Sean demanded.
At his left, Kali’s mom peered over the table’s edge then ducked again when the intruder spun on his heels and stalked toward them.
On the man’s back was a small metal backpack with red and green lights flashing along its center. Tubes and wires branched out from the oblong unit and wove into an exoskeleton that ran down his arms, spine and thighs. Kali couldn’t be sure from her angle, but the exoskeleton appeared to be embedded in his skin through holes in the uniform. A dark red liquid pulsated through the transparent tubes.
“Are you Max Martin?” the man asked Sean.
Sean fisted his hands in response. She gave him props for not giving Max away, unlike the others, including Mia, whose heads snapped toward the CEO.
“You’re not the bloke, are you?” The man bent forward to inspect Sean’s face. “Nah, Max isn’t a Jap.”
Korean. Kali refrained from screaming. Sean was Korean American, not Japanese.
Double props to Sean for not decking the jerk for that slur, offensive on many levels.
“I’m looking for Max Martin,” the man addressed the room. His left hand rested on top a dagger strapped to his pants. A green beret with a gold insignia sat jauntily atop his head and dipped to the side of his sun-weathered forehead. She noticed a red emblem sown on his sleeve. He pivoted away from Sean, and Kali watched as her boss’s eyes zeroed in on the electronic device strapped to the man’s back. Sean flexed his fingers. Veins under his skin on the backs of his hands lit an electric blue. The silver conductive pads on his fingertips glowed.
The soldier lifted his right hand above his head. “Just raise your hand, Mr. Martin, and no one will get hurt.”
Once more, a group of heads turned in Max’s direction. This time the intruder noticed it too. Heavy steps rattled the remaining silverware along with Kali’s unraveling nerves. He stalked to the middle of the table where they sat. He crouched down in front of Max so close Kali could read the name stitched above his right breast pocket: “Stockwell.” Scars crisscrossed his cheeks and neck and disappeared under his shirt like he’d been cut apart then pieced back together.
Max stared at the intruder as if he were speaking an alien tongue. Kali figured that was one way to deal with a situation where a strange soldier demanded to see you. Play dumb.
“You’re Max Martin, aren’t you?” Stockwell squinted his dark eyes. “You’re younger than I expected.”
The familiar, twisting energy continued to tug at her core. Although it had faded as the portal closed, Kali experienced it again, this time coming from the device on Stockwell’s back. Heady vibes pressed against Kali’s skin like tiny fingers. She was certain Stockwell used the same power she tapped into when traveling across dimensions. Except his power didn’t originate from inside his body like Kali’s did. It came from the electronic pack.
How did he travel? Did he focus and picture a place and then project himself like she did? And, most important, where did he come from?
“Step away from Mr. Martin,” a woman ordered. Security personnel stationed outside had made their way into the dining room. Kali recalled at least three men and one woman guarding the perimeter of her mother’s home and gardens. Two of them positioned themselves not far behind Kali’s chair.
Stockwell lifted his gaze from Max to the newcomers. His fingers drummed against the handle of his dagger. Kali could guess what he debated and the conclusion he made. The security detail wouldn’t shoot. They couldn’t risk taking a shot surrounded by all these dinner guests.
A wine glass shattered to the floor as Sean jumped onto the table, which creaked and shook under his weight. Stockwell glanced over his shoulder to find Sean lunging into him. Sean’s hand slammed onto the computerized pack, pushing Stockwell into a bowl of mashed potatoes and away from Max. They skidded along the table, bunching the tablecloth and knocking the remaining plates, holiday tchotchkes and silverware over the edge. With the intruder distracted, guests jumped from their seats and ran from the room. Heavy chairs tipped over and landed with a thud during the mass exodus.
Sean’s fingers splayed over the electronic pack. A neon spark arced from his fingertips and streaked along Stockwell’s metallic exoskeleton. Stockwell bellowed. His face contorted into painful lines.
Stockwell threw an elbow into Sean’s face. Her boss grimaced and rolled onto his back, setting Stockwell free to crawl from the table. To her surprise, Max shot to his feet. He threw his body into Stockwell and pinned him down on his stomach.
Bad idea for Max to be near Stockwell let alone touching him.
Kali stood. Ions, growing in intensity, buzzed along her skin and swirled past her toward the two men. Stockwell was opening another portal.
Max shoved his forearm into the back of the soldier’s neck to keep him down. He twisted Stockwell’s arm back and held his wrist while the security team disarmed the intruder.
Stockwell’s knife wasn’t what they needed to disarm.
The power tugged at Kali. Harder. More forceful. If she didn’t dig her heals into the polished wood floor she’d be sucked into the energy whirlpool.
Only one thing to do. When Max stood back to let the security detail and Sean, nursing a bloody mouth, handcuff and detain the intruder, Kali focused on her office and the safe circle sewn into the carpet. She called forth the power from deep inside. It bubbled up from her gut until every cell vibrated with a frenetic energy that formed an invisible sphere around her, pushing Stockwell’s power back. Kali sensed the universe opening up around her.
Her bones shaking with the raw, heated power, Kali threw herself against Max and wrapped her bare hand around the back of his exposed neck. The wooden floor evaporated underneath her shoes. The dining room, Sean, Stockwell, and remaining guests stretched out and up like an image transferred to silly putty before it broke apart when Max and Kali entered the dimensional space in between universal planes. Her body light and buoyant, Kali held onto a human-shaped balloon, floating in the black void. Random streaks of gray light cut through the darkness. The mental image of Kali’s office guided them through the ether. She dug her nails dug into Max’s neck. If she let go, Kali had no idea what would happen to him. Max might remain in this gaseous plane or drop off at a random point in space—and die if he materialized in the wrong place or time.
The blackness retreated and Kali’s office appeared, first the floor under her feet, then the flaming red lip couch. Automatic track lights flickered on, illuminating the Warhol print on the wall facing her. Kali released Max’s neck, and he sunk onto his knees to the carpet. The dead weight knocked her off balance, and Kali fell to the floor as the rest of the room came into focus.
Kali rolled away from Max’s slumped body. Her head spun. She hadn’t eaten enough today. The paltry calories from the few bites of turkey and veggies were used up during reentry. Kali stretched her long limbs until she felt a relieved crack from her tense joints. She threw off her wig and hairnet and pushed a hand through her sweaty strands.
Bent over, Max kneeled in the circle with his hands planted on the floor. Kali hoped he didn’t vomit on her new carpet. Traveling between planes could induce motion sickness in those sensitive to it.
Before she could hand him a trashcan, Max lifted his head. He reached out to her desk and pulled himself up to his feet. Max patted the glass-top desk several times as if trying to determine it was solid. He pivoted on his heels and looked up at the ceiling and walls then spun fully around before his gaze landed on Kali sprawled out on the floor.
“You’re welcome.” Kali flapped a hand at him when he gaped at her. His mouth opened but nothing came out.
Finally, Max sputtered loud enough for the floor above to hear, “How did ...? Where ...? Did you kidnap me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, babe.” Kali rolled her eyes.
Max’s chest lifted and dropped with every stressed out breath he took in. He clenched his hands.
Kali watched a confused expression cross his lightl
y sun-kissed face. His gaze shot from the beanbag chairs in front of her desk to the holiday decorations to the lip couch to her U-Sec uniform hanging on a hook from the door. Then his eyes settled on Kali again. After noting these objects, his breathing evened out and his hands relaxed, probably confirming that a kidnapper would not have such eclectic tastes in office decor.
“This is UltraSecurity. I’m an UltraAgent.” Kali motioned to her uniform. “And I just saved your butt. So, I’d appreciate it if you used your inside voice. I’m not deaf.”
He held up a finger in a silent command for her to wait.
She propped up onto her elbows. Max patted his pockets, searching for something. His wallet, maybe?
Geesh. This man had a low opinion of her.
“I didn’t steal your wallet. Although you can buy me dinner when you find it. I’m starving after this transference. Takes a lot of energy to transport another person, especially one as surprisingly solid as you.” Shoulders were wider than she realized. Muscular biceps pushed against the confines of his suit jacket. Not too shabby in the body department. Too bad he was confirming her initial assessment of him.
Her head dipped back. Kali closed her eyes to fight off the exhaustion blanketing her bones.
“I can’t hear without these, and I’m horrible at reading lips.” Max spoke in a soft timbre at odds with his bellowing voice.
Kali opened her eyes to find him pointing to a clear device, the size of a small clam, in his palm. He’d hooked another one over his left ear.
“You’re deaf?” Kali exclaimed, mortified about her retort about not being deaf.
At least he didn’t hear it.
“I am.” Max fitted the other apparatus over his right ear while his large gray eyes bored into hers as if challenging her to comment about it.
Kali shrugged. She wished someone would’ve warned her before she made a fool of herself trying to speak to him at dinner.
“I’m guessing this is UltraSecurity.” Max nodded to her uniform on the back of the door. “How did we end up here?”
“And I thought you were being a total douche,” Kali tossed out.
“Excuse me?” His light brows arched.
“For ignoring me at dinner. I thought you were being a douche, but it was because you didn’t have your hearing aids in.” She sat up and crossed her legs.
“My cybernetic audio implants failed before dinner. I tried to troubleshoot via an app on my phone that’s synced with them, but the levels wouldn’t even out. Too much background noise and feedback. Mia didn’t want my backup hearing aids,” he pointed to the plastic devices covering his ears, “to show up on camera.”
With an arrogant lift of his head, Max crossed his arms and peered down at her. “Now, can you please tell me what happened?”
“Fine. I will. But only because you asked nicely.”
Max’s puzzled expression made an encore appearance. Most likely, he wasn’t used to people teasing him like that. Like her mother’s ex-husband whose family owned corporations, along with Senate seats. Demanding and arrogant, with a pole fused up their asses from years of getting whatever they wanted.
“Quantum transference. Otherwise, known as alt-jumping, which is my new slang for it. Essentially, I opened a doorway to a dimensional plane through which we traveled to my office at UltraSecurity in downtown Baltimore. The safest place I could think of on such short notice.” Kali looked down at her vintage Halston, now covered in dirt and dust with spots of red wine, turkey gravy, and an undetermined greenish stain over her midsection. No amount of detergent was getting this mess out.
“I don’t believe it. This isn’t possible.” Max scrubbed a hand along his jaw and shook his head.
“Is it because you don’t believe a woman saved you, or because someone like me has the power to do this?” Kali brushed the dust off her arms and uncovered red dots along her skin where the debris had nicked her. She pressed a palm against her forehead and found more blood.
“I don’t know how to respond to that.”
Kali shrugged.
“You just did the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced, let alone heard of.”
“It’s not great, really. A normal life is out of the question. I hide it from most people, even family. Everybody wanting to know—”
“How did you do that?”
“Yep, exactly that.”
Max titled his head and stared at Kali like so many in his position had done before—seeing possibilities, strategic possibilities, and dollar signs.
“I’d heard rumors that UltraSecurity’s parent company, TransGen, had made developments in this area, but I didn’t know they’d succeeded.”
Kali snorted. “Pfft, they’re still trying. You’re looking at the sole development in that area. We still can’t figure out how my power’s possible.”
“Just you?”
“Little ole’ me.” Kali lifted her hands.
Max stared down at her. His intense appraisal made her touch her dress to check for a nip slip or another faux pas.
He blinked, coming out of his daze. “You’re bleeding.”
In one long stride, Max stood next to her and squatted down.
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Looks like it missed your eye. Your glasses must’ve stopped it.” Max removed a burgundy handkerchief from his breast pocket and blotted her face. “You should put antiseptic on it.”
“Whoa, there, fella.” Kali pulled back on instinct, not used to men invading her personal space without prior permission.
“Stay still. I want to make sure it’s not deep or embedded with any glass.”
Now Kali was the one confused. Max’s gentle touch and concern didn’t compute with the data she’d already processed about him. She remained glued to her spot, unsure what to do. He pressed the silk handkerchief into the cut. Kali winced from the sting. The fabric covered her eyes, veiling his expression. She got a whiff of Max’s cologne from his wrist, a nice earthy scent, not overwhelming, but subtly masculine.
“It doesn’t look deep.” Max removed the cloth and sat back on his heels.
“You’re hurt too.” Up close and personal, Kali noticed small cuts above his eyebrows and nose along with laugh lines around the corners of his mouth. Green flecks added warmth to his gray irises and reminded Kali of leaves set against a cloudy sky.
A wet film covered her arms and a bead of sweat rolled down between her breasts. Was the heat set to high? Her office felt like the inside of a furnace.
“I have a first aid kit under my desk,” Kali said, although she didn’t move.
“You should get it.” Max’s hand dropped down and rested on her thigh.
“Hmmm, what did you say?” Kali wiped her moist palms over the short weave of the carpet.
“The first aid kit?” he prompted.
“Oh, yes, right.” Kali tried to stand, then lost her balance.
Max steadied her before she fell back onto her rear. He helped her to her feet.
“Thanks.” Kali’s face flushed as she put distance between them. Damn, that last alt-jump screwed with her system. Must’ve been the extra weight she carried through the other plane.
Along with the first aid kit, Kali found a cosmetics mirror in her desk drawer. She took out rubbing alcohol swabs and antiseptic packets and handed them to Max. “There’s a mirror on my wall over there.”
With a nod of thanks, he took the items and walked away.
Disturbed at how rough she looked, Kali frowned into the compact. Large white circles surrounded her eyes where the glasses had shielded her. The wound between Kali’s brows, the deepest cut, burned when she dabbed the alcohol against it. Other smaller cuts, some crusting over, some still bleeding, appeared at random intervals along her forehead and cheeks, which looked even paler than normal. Kali assumed it was from the dust, but when she cleared the dirt away, her skin was a deeper shade of pale. She rooted around her snack drawer and found a package of Ho Hos, although a pr
otein bar would be better. Kali wondered if the office of Sean’s business partner, Pax, was open. He kept a stash that rivaled a vitamin shop and ate frequently because of his increased strength.
Max finished at the mirror and adjusted the collar on his suit jacket. Besides bits of dust clinging to his hair and a few scrapes scabbing over, he looked fresh and ready for a night on the town. Somehow that didn’t seem fair, given the hot mess staring at Kali from the compact.
“You mentioned saving my life, how so?”
Kali took a moment to catch up to Max’s question. “Oh, yeah, right. You couldn’t hear. That soldier was asking for you. Looks like he wanted to pull you into another universe.”
“The man who smashed the chandelier was planning to kidnap me into ...?”
“Another universe,” Kali finished his question. “And he didn’t smash the chandelier, the energy from the portal did. Usually, if a large object is in my way, it will cause me to shift to a nearby empty space. When I travel, I push back the universe’s drapes and step through to the other side. His power ripped a hole through our universe’s fabric with a force stronger than mine.” She gave up on her appearance and snapped the compact shut.
“He’s like you then.”
“Sort of. I tap into my power from inside my body. I believe his ability comes from the pack he was wearing.”
“Was UltraSecurity aware that someone was after me? Is that why you wore a disguise?” Max gestured to the limp wig strewn on the floor.
“No, I wore this getup to protect my identity from the cameras.”
“Did you know that man?”
“Contrary to popular belief, not all alt-jumpers have met each other.”
“What’s an alt-jumper?”
“A term I plan to trademark, so don’t think about stealing it.”
Max’s forehead creased. Was it just Kali’s imagination or did he resemble James Dean when he did that? “Can we get back to the main problem, here?”
“Oh, right, you.”
“How can you joke at a time like this?”
“Who said I was joking?”
Max hung his head and let out an exasperated breath.
