Sleeper Cells

by Sandra Y. Desjardins

  “No,” Jason looked at her then back at him. “That wasn’t her—”

  “Shut up!” He backed away with Vanessa pinned against him. “You’re married to this freak so you’re gonna defend her! You probably have some kind of voodoo, Vulcan mind shit implanted!”

  “Okay,” Kat pushed Jason aside. “Tell me what you want and I’ll do it, anything if you just let her go—”

  “Tell her!”

  “Okay,” she cried when Vanessa screamed in agony, the gun drawing blood as it dug into her skin. “I’m an alien!”

  “Tell her about Florida!”

  “I was in a car accident,” she said quickly. “My dad died and your dad was my doctor—”

  “Not like that,” he shouted. “You tell her, or else!”

  “Jeremy, she’s telling her!” Jason said as he took a step toward him. “Let’s all just try to calm down, put the gun down.”

  “Back up, pod boy,” he aimed the gun at Jason. “I’m gonna make you believe.” Jeremy turned the weapon toward Kat and fired two shots.

  The first bullet pierced her abdomen and before she could even register the pain, the second bullet ripped through her shoulder. The force of the impact spun her slightly and lifted her off the ground. She slammed painfully on to the floor. Then the pain started. An agonizing pain radiated through her entire body and made her shiver. And coldness overcame her in the most intense way.

  She lifted her head off of the ground to look at herself and was somehow shocked when saw that she was covered with blood. Oddly disconnected from her body, she had to tell herself that she was shot, over and over again, because some part of mind didn’t want to believe it. She looked up at Jason when he cradled her in his arms. He was crying. For some reason she couldn’t hear him because there was a ringing in her ears that drowned out his voice, but she saw him clearly. And she saw when Vanessa leaned over her.

  “Don’t,” she knew he had every intention of getting her up to the regenerator. If he did then they would be exposed because there would be no way to explain to Vanessa and Jeremy how she survived what they had just witnessed. “Don’t.” She brought her hand to Jason’s face and wiped his tears.

  She felt him try to lift her so she gripped his arm and used the last of her energy to force him to lower her to the ground. Then she begged him to let her go, to not expose himself. She pushed away her own fears so she could somehow try to keep him calm and make sure that he was at least okay before she was gone.

  “Don’t,” she whispered when he hugged her against him and cried. “I love you,” she looked at him for what she knew was the last time, a small smile coming to her lips as she ran her thumb across his lips.

  And as much as she didn’t want her eyes to close, she couldn’t fight against it anymore, her entire body peacefully numb. Her eyes closed, then flew open when a surge of energy filled her body. Her teeth clinched together painfully as her back arched, which crushed her head painfully against the floor.

  Another surge of energy coursed through her and she felt her body convulse violently. Then she screamed out when another jolt overcame her as Jason scooped her into his arms. The crackling electricity overwhelmed her just before everything went black.

  When she opened her eyes again, she was beyond disoriented, and it took her several seconds to realize that she was lying on the regenerator. The lights shone and the familiar humming surrounded her for a moment then went out. Jason lifted the lid and scooped her into his arms. Her head lolled to and fro before she could manage the strength to hold it upright.

  Then a familiar smell reached her nose. The offensive odor somehow cleared her mind enough to put everything together. Jason hadn’t listened. He had exposed himself to save her.

  He dropped her feet gently to the floor and stood her upright. He held on to her until she was steady on her feet, then started punching coordinates on his watch. She grabbed his wrist and stared at him for just a second before she bolted to the door.

  Her feet were unsteady, so she fell down more steps than she stepped on, but she caught herself on the banister and made it to the landing. Vanessa was whimpering as she stared down at Jeremy. He was somehow still alive but burned badly. His skin was charred, and there was still smoke coming off of him, almost like he had just managed to get the fire out.

  Kat slid by Vanessa, which startled her. She looked at Kat with a horrified look on her face as she scrambled away from her. The scream she elicited was so loud that it drowned out the nearing police sirens. Sirens, Kat realized, that were way too close for comfort. Not even bothering to try and rationalize with her, Kat grabbed Vanessa’s wrist and pulled her toward the stairs.

  Jason was there as Kat turned. He lifted the still-screaming Vanessa over his shoulder and grabbed Kat’s hand. They ran up the stairs and got to his office within seconds. Kat held Vanessa in place as he punched in the coordinates and when he nodded, she released Vanessa so they could teleport.

  Kat looked around to ensure that no one was around the second they materialized at their destination. They hadn’t been able to scan for life forms, so she made sure the New York flat that belonged to the Agency was empty.

  Vanessa’s scream had been cut off mid-teleport, but when she looked around, she screamed again. Jason slapped her. She stopped screaming for a second, and then started again when she looked at Kat. Jason grabbed Vanessa and covered her mouth with his hand. Vanessa struggled against him.

  “Shut up!” Jason yelled at her. “Listen to me; you need to stop yelling because all of our lives depend on it!” He shook her violently. Kat wasn’t sure if it was what he said or the violent shake that calmed Vanessa enough for her to nod her head. “Good,” he slowly lifted his hand off of her mouth.

  “Vanessa,” Kat pulled her into a hug. “Are you okay?” She smoothed the hair out of her face.

  “You’re alive,” her voice trembled. She pushed away from Kat and backed away from them. “You’re shot,” she cried pointing to the still bloodied pajamas and bathrobe.

  “Shh,” Kat reached for her. “I know you’re scared and confused. I promise I’ll explain everything once we get out of here,” she turned to Jason. “Let’s change so we can head out—”

  “No, Kat.” He grabbed her. “We’re leaving now. I don’t want you to change.”

  “Jason, it’ll be easier for me to run around in uniform and you can grab some stuff—”

  “No,” he looked at Vanessa. “Vanessa, promise me you won’t ever tell anyone that she’s alien.”

  She shook her head from side to side, “You set Jeremy on fire.” Jason advanced toward her, and she started screaming again.

  “Promise me!” He gripped her arms and shook her. “Promise me that after everything Kat’s done for you, with as much as she loves you, you’ll keep her secret—”

  “Jason,” Kat pulled him off of Vanessa. She slapped her hand over her sister’s mouth, and then forced Jason to look at her. “What are you talking about? I’ll watch her while you change. Come on, we don’t have much time.” She shoved him toward the closet. “Get dressed. We can hide out in this city for months before they can find us—”

  “No, I’m not gonna have you live the rest of your life as a fugitive! I’ve thought it through. I’ve always known that if something happened, I would take you to my parents, they’ll protect you—”

  “No,” she shook her head violently from side to side. “I won’t let you do that—”

  “Dammit, think it through! They’re gonna come after us once they see what I did. They’re gonna be able to trace us here because none of the teleporters are set up the way I set up Tennessee and Russia! So I’m sending you to my parents’ house. I’m going to tell them that Jeremy shot you, and a weird energy came over me when you died. They won’t hurt you as long as you pretend that you never knew how I felt about you, as long as you—”

  “No!” Kat yelled. Glad that Vanessa had fallen silent, Kat grabbed Jason and pulled him toward the closet. S
he pulled the door open and started pulling clothes off the shelves. “We’re gonna change and grab what we can and run—”

  “With her?” He asked pointing toward Vanessa.

  “She’ll be fine. She just has to call Mom and she’ll come and get her! They never even have to know that she was there!”

  “We’re running out of time,” he pulled her toward the teleporter. “You’re going with my parents—”

  “No!” She pulled away from him. “You can’t ask me to just abandon you after you healed me.” She cried. “Then you should have let me die!”

  “No, I wasn’t going to stand there and watch you die!”

  “Then shut up and get dressed!” She wiped her face then shoved him toward the room. “This discussion is over; you saved me, so we’re running together—”

  “Kat—”

  “Damn it, Jason, quit wasting time. We’re leaving together and that’s final.” She pulled her pajamas over her head and dropped them on the floor as she made her way to the closet.

  He caught the shirt she threw at him, and went to argue, but there was something in the way Kat looked at him that convinced him to surrender. She wasn’t leaving without him, and she was glad he realized that.

  He pulled the shirt over his head, then ran to the closet and pulled cargo pants on over his boxers. He caught the pair of socks Kat tossed at him. She grabbed boots for him and dropped them by him as she dropped on the floor to pull hers on. She looked over at Vanessa, who was rocking back and forth, and whimpering. Kat was amazed she was still functioning at all with everything that had transpired.

  “I’m sending you home, Vanessa.” Kat stood. She pulled Vanessa on to her feet and maneuvered her so that she was standing center of the beams. “Just push the button on the wall and it’ll open into my old room. I’m begging you to not tell anyone anything and not to trust anyone but Mom, please, Vanessa.”

  “Are you an alien?” She stared at her with fear and awe.

  “I’m a Hybrid. Part human and part alien, but Vanessa, I’m more human than anything, I promise you. All Jason and I want is to be left alone so we can live normal lives. Can you please keep our secret?” Kat begged. “Please.” She hugged her. “I love you, more than anything, take care of Mom and Dad for me. Don’t ever tell anyone you came over tonight—ever.” Kat stepped back and hit the teleport button before Vanessa could respond.

  She cried as she made her way to the weapons locker and pulled out knives, handguns, and ammunition. Jason pulled money out of the safe and stuffed it into a bag. She helped him into a vest then secured hers. They put long sleeve shirts over them and she pulled a black beanie cap on over her bun. Jason grabbed the bag full of money and ammo then headed to the teleporter. He set up the self-destruct mechanism, while Kat used the butt of her knife to smash their locators.

  After Jason activated the self-destruct program, they ran out the door. They took the stairs down to the street, and just as they emerged from the building, the explosion ripped through the night air and caused widespread panic. They got into a cab that had stopped to observe the scene and Jason tossed two hundred dollar bills at him.

  The cabbie looked down at the money then started driving. His interest in the explosion diminished when he realized he was receiving such a large fare to a relatively close destination. He stopped right outside of Penn Station and they purchased tickets to Chicago. Neither one said as much, but both knew they were going to try to make it to their house in Tennessee.

  The plan was to throw the Agency off their trail, so they would make it seem like they were heading west when they, in fact, planned on going south. They walked with the crowd toward the station and got onto the Number Two train headed toward the Bronx. They would steal a car when they got there then head toward New Jersey.

  They made it onto the train and took seats in the far corner. Because it was so late, they had the one half of the car to themselves. After several stops they began to relax. She pressed herself against him and forced him to look at her, his eyes instantly glazing over.

  “I told you not to,” she whispered. “You would have been fine—”

  “No,” he stared down at her as he shook his head. “I will never be fine without you. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” She ran her thumb along his cheek, then wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest.

  She closed her eyes. He was rubbing his hand up and down her arm in the most soothing way, and because she was exhausted, the rhythm of the train rocking her gently nearly put her to sleep. Then, the train started to pick up speed. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but when the train blew by its next stop everyone took notice.

  “Jason,” she looked out the window then back at him.

  “Yeah,” he pulled her closer. “I think they found us.”

  “Come on,” she stood and they walked to the door of the car. The lock bolted into place as they neared it. They walked to the other end of the car and the locks engaged there. Jason pulled the knob on the conductor room door. It was locked.

  “Hey,” he pounded on the door. “Is anyone in there?”

  The screams from some of the passengers almost drowned him out. He looked down at her, and then pounded on the door once more. When he got no response, he ripped the door open. He pushed her onto the seat while he went to work on the controls. After hitting several buttons, and pulling on the emergency brake, he screamed in frustration.

  The Agency had overridden everything. Kat grabbed onto him when the car teetered precariously on its side and he slammed into the wall. She steadied him and he pulled the door shut then locked it. He pulled her onto his lap, and she tucked her head onto his shoulder, and pressed her face against his neck.

  “Hang on tight, babe. When we crash, we need to protect ourselves by forming a barrier around each other, okay?”

  “Okay,” she nodded against his neck, his arms squeezing her against him.

  They felt it before it happened, the slight tilt giving their stomachs enough of a sensation to know that the car was going to tip over, which meant disaster at their current rate of speed. He squeezed her tighter and she clung onto him and managed to keep her hold on him even as the car fell over and they went from sitting upright to be tossed around the small room. They were on the ceiling in one second, and then slammed into a wall as it tumbled again.

  She felt his energy surge, and it triggered hers. She somehow regained her grip on him so that the two of them came together securely. Then the car tumbled again, and crashed into something that must have torn it apart, the force of which jarred them apart, and slammed them into the opposite wall.

  Then glass shattered. A shard penetrated her leg and sent an intense pain through her body. It was nothing compared to the gunshot wound, but was horrific nonetheless. He grabbed her and she had just pulled herself against him and channeled her energy to combine with his when the screeching metal of the car on its side came to halt with a huge bang. The impact jarred her so badly that everything blurred just before it went black.

  Chapter Eighteen Close Encounters

  Kat woke up slowly. Her head slumped back and forth each time she reached consciousness. Her body was disoriented again…and sore, which was nothing compared to the pain in her left thigh. She heard voices and looked toward them. She could make out two figures but her eyes hadn’t fully adjusted.

  There was a throbbing pain in her head that was surely responsible for her blurry vision. She blinked several times and went to rub her eyes but couldn’t, her hands secure on each side in thick metal cuffs that were attached to the table that she was on.

  The table was tilted at an angle, so that she was nearly standing upright, and was just shy of the ninety-degree mark. Her waist and feet were bound with the same thick metal bands, which held her in place. She shook her head and blinked to clear her vision. She was in a small room with several machines and monitors pushed against one wall. The table she was strapped onto wa
s in the center of the room. The walls were all made of a Plexiglas-type material, so she could see beyond her small room. The area directly outside of the room was a much larger lab…one she knew well. It was John’s lab at Stellar Industries.

  “Good morning, Princess.” Eric came into her line of sight.

  “Leave her alone,” Jason shouted from somewhere behind her, his voice causing her a combination of relief and dread. She was glad he was alive, but there was fear etched into that statement, which made her even more anxious than she already was. “I told you she’s pure and didn’t know about me until she woke up less than an hour ago in the regenerator—”

  “Son,” Eric laughed as he studied Kat closely, then turned the table slowly so she could see John and Michelle. “What kind of fool do you take me for? Maybe you could have fooled these young ones…maybe.” He turned the table enough so that Kat could see Jason from the corner of her eye, “But me, no way.”

  “She is pure,” Jason fought against his cuffs. His room was beside hers and he was in the same predicament as she was. “Let her go, she doesn’t have anything to do with this—”

  “Oh, but she does. Because we are going to use the two of you as our little guinea pigs to see if we can figure out what keeps going wrong with your bodies, and when I say your bodies, I mean every Hybrid. There’s something faulty with them, which makes some of us fine…what did you call us, purebreds?” He chuckled. “I like that; I think I’m going to use it. And then they’re you two. Broken. Defective.” He shrugged, “For lack of a better word.”

  “Get your hands off of her,” Jason yelled when the senator ran his hand along Kat’s face and down her arm.

  “Oh, but she doesn’t mind,” he continued tracing his hand down her arm as he stepped closer to her. “Because a purebred would do as she was ordered despite having personal space issues. Isn’t that right, Katarina?”