by A. L. Knorr
"Start talking." My voice sounded calm and I was grateful for that. Inside, I was a storm. I knelt on the carpet in front of the documents but I didn't touch any of them, almost afraid of what I'd discover if I opened another one. "I'm listening."
"Your father, Tareq Gogha, was a Euroklydon who worked for TNC. As far as I can make out, they picked him up in Libya, his native country, and contracted him on the spot. I haven't yet found the original contract but I'm confident it was for an insane amount of money and it was either a lifetime deal or spanned decades. I don't know whether he signed it under duress or not." Jesse's shoulders lifted. "Either way, he worked for them and came to regret it."
Jesse picked up another folder and opened it, taking another photograph and handing it to me. "This is your mom."
I took the photo and stared at the woman central to the image. She was unaware she was being photographed. She had one long-fingered hand reaching toward the handle of a car door as she looked over her shoulder and smiled at someone who was not in the photograph. She wore a long skirt and a wrap sweater around her curvy frame. Her long dark hair was in a bun at the nape of her neck, but wisps of it had escaped and were blowing fetchingly around her face. She was beautiful; with high cheekbones, smooth skin, straight white teeth, and a high brow. Big gold disc earrings swung beside her jaw and the one hand that was visible was encrusted with rings. She looked well cared for.
"Her name was Tala Kara, Tala Gogha after she married your father." Jesse plucked a swath of papers from another folder. On the pages were mostly text and some had been blacked out with a marker. "I've been digging through TNC documents for months and have pieced together a rough story. I think your father violated his contract when he married your mom. I can't say for sure, because I haven't found the contract. TNC's files are multi-layered, well encrypted, and organized in a confusing way."
"Then why do you think the marriage violated the contract?"
"Because after he got married, TNC's behavior changed toward him. They put more surveillance on him, on his personal life, even. Whatever was going on inside your parents’ marriage, TNC felt it was relevant to them and spent a lot of money to make sure they knew a lot about your mom's health."
"My mom's…health?"
"More specifically, whether or not she'd become pregnant."
"Oh." Ice felt like it was coating my stomach. Why had I ever trusted this corporation? And now, I was under contract to them too. Thankfully, I'd only signed for a year, but looking at my parents’ images, a year was still a year too long. "And they cared about whether she became pregnant because…"
"Read this and see for yourself." Jesse handed me a single sheet.
I took it and scanned it, understanding in a few seconds that it was a report written by either a researcher or a doctor to a corporate authority. It had been stamped CLASSIFIED & PRIVATE. It looked like a copy of a copy of a copy. There was a phrase circled in red that drew my eye.
Our discovery confirms that there can only ever be a single Euroklydon alive at any given time. The power is genetic and may or may not pass to a child from either parent. Our attempts to create two living Euroklydon have failed repeatedly [see article 137-B]. Upon conception, should the fetus have acquired the gene, the parent immediately loses 98% supernatural capacity. The remaining 2% is limited to low-grade telepathy and may or may not include some low-grade telekinesis as well. Their usefulness to the corporation being greatly diminished, we recommend contractual obligations include a commitment to refrain from conceiving a child until such time as the corporation allows, perhaps when the asset has passed prime. We recommend continued research into sperm and oocyte cryopreservation; until which time it is successful, this is our recommendation to the board.
The words burned into my skull as I read them silently three times over. I noticed a number code in the top right-hand corner which included the number 1956. "Is this the year this document was created?" I asked, Jesse, my voice hoarse. "1956?"
"Yes. Thirty years before the first successful pregnancy done with a frozen egg."
I had so many questions about this paragraph alone that I didn't know what to ask first.
"But I wasn't conceived this way…" I stumbled over the words. I had always been told I'd been born to an eclamptic mother in the Saltford hospital. But at this point, with everything Jesse was showing me, I didn't know what to believe anymore.
"No." Jesse shook his head. "That's why I think TNC became upset with your father, because he didn't wait for their permission. This document is the only thing I've found that suggests the agreement to wait before conceiving a child might have been part of his contract. If it was, and he signed it willingly, he also broke it willingly. Your mom and he decided to have a baby in spite of TNC." He canted his head. "Or she became pregnant by accident. It's impossible to know for certain.”
I let out a breath. "Why would he sign such a contract in the first place?"
Jesse shrugged. "We don't know how old he was when he signed, or what his state was. He might have been poor, desperate, very young. He might have thought he didn't want kids anyway and then later on, changed his mind. TNC would pay a Euroklydon at the very highest scale. It's tough for anyone to turn that kind of wealth down, let alone someone who might have grown up impoverished."
"Did he grow up impoverished?"
"I don't know that either, I'm afraid. It's just little old me doing all this digging. I haven't had time to delve into his past before TNC. I've come to you with everything I've found, because you're running out of time."
"Time? Does this have to do with Project Expansion?"
Jesse nodded. "It does, but there's more before we get to that."
"Low-grade telepathy and telekinesis," I read out loud from the pages I still held.
Jesse nodded. "That's what you had before the cave in Libya, right?"
"I never told anyone that, only my therapist."
"Yes, Noel Pierce." Jesse's mouth formed a flat line. "They got to him, too. The moment he became your therapist, they paid him a little visit. He resisted, but they got him eventually. They intimidated him into being their eyes on you while you grew up."
"He resisted," I echoed. My eyes shuttered closed as the day I revealed myself to him in his office, the day I'd seen a memory of someone beating him with the butt of a gun.
Jesse nodded. “Yeah.”
"They had him ratting on me all the years he was my therapist." Cold sorrow filled my empty spaces like ice-water. "He died only a few days ago."
My throat closed up and I looked at Jesse, a question in my eyes that couldn't quite make it to my lips. I took a breath.
"Tell me he actually died of an aneurysm,” I said. “Please. Please, tell me that's really how he died."
Jesse shook his head and his shoulders slumped. "We're dealing with a hydra here." He shifted to sit beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "But you're not alone. We're going to do something about this. You and me."
"What did they do to him?"
"Petra, don't do this to yourself."
"What did they do, Jesse?" I spoke around clenched teeth.
"They knew his family history. Genetically, Noel might have eventually died of an aneurysm anyway. His grandfather did, one of his uncles did, as did his great grandmother. They just gave nature a little push." Jesse swallowed so hard I could hear it. "Then they bribed the coroner. Path of least resistance. Noel wasn't of any use to them anymore. I'm so sorry, Petra. I know how much you cared for him."
Jesse put a hand on mine. Hot tears blocked out my vision. They poured over my cheeks as I squeezed my eyes shut. I rubbed my sleeve across my nose, which had begun to run.
Jesse fished in a pocket and handed me a crumpled tissue. "Sorry, I'll get you a fresh one."
He got up and disappeared through a door. I heard the click of a light-switch which also turned on a fan, the rustling of plastic, and he returned with a travel-pack of tissues.
I took it and
fished one out to clean myself up with. Oh, Noel, I thought. Murdered because of association with me.
Who else had TNC interfered with because of me, or my father?
"So, my mother became pregnant," I said, crumpling the tissue and tossing it in the small wastebasket under the desk. "Then what?"
Jesse leaned back and pulled his legs into a cross-legged position. "They put your parents under house-arrest. Every move they made was monitored. Your mother's pregnancy was monitored, probably closer than any pregnancy had been monitored before. Even royalty doesn't have check-ups like your mother did. Poor Tala was very stressed, as you can imagine, and TNC found itself with the very tricky objective of helping your mother to have a safe and successful pregnancy, while keeping her and your father under lock and key.”
“All that monitoring, and they couldn’t prevent her eclampsia?”
Jesse let out a sigh. “They probably did know and chose not to do anything about it. Knowing TNC, they might not have minded if your mother died after you were born anyway.” He made a disgusted face. “It might have even crossed their mind to allow you to die, too, just to see if the powers returned to your father.”
“That would have been a huge risk,” I said.
Jesse nodded. “And they did decide to keep you alive, so I guess they thought so, too. You were conceived in Jordan, where your father had been doing a job. TNC moved your parents to Saltford because they had a well-equipped facility nearby, and because it was easy to bring them both into the country. What they were planning to do with your folks after you were born is anyone's guess, but"—Jesse scratched his jaw and the rasp of his stubble made me notice that he hadn't shaved in quite a while—"TNC is very good at appearing to be altruistic while having devious goals. If I were your father, I would have done what he did, too."
"Let me guess," I interjected, bitterly. "They tried to escape?"
Jesse nodded. "Your father caused a diversion so that the guards watching them were drawn away from the house. Then your mother snuck out while security was diminished. They'd planned to rendezvous at a point, I'm sure." He inhaled. "I'm sure they didn't think TNC would take it as far as they did."
"They killed my father?" They'd killed Noel, what would stop them from killing Tareq once he was useless? Jesse's answer was still like a bowling ball to the gut.
"Yes. When they found out what your father had done, they shot him. Your mother—"
"Was picked up by strangers and taken to the hospital." This was where the story that I knew picked up, and seemed to fit.
"Yes, where TNC found her," Jesse said. "Since they knew where you were, and you were just an infant, not to mention an orphan, they decided the best thing to do would be to let child services put you into a foster home where they could stay out of your life but keep an eye on you."
"Okay, but then what? I grew up, but I wasn't a Euroklydon until after what happened in Libya. They were waiting for me to go to Libya? That might never have happened."
"But it did happen." Jesse looked at me, his eyes reticent and regretful.
"Are you saying I was bound to come into my powers at some point regardless? Even if I hadn't gone to Libya and fallen into that cave?"
"No, I'm saying they knew that going to Libya was what it would take for you to inherit your abilities. They orchestrated Libya."
I let out a disbelieving laugh. "They couldn't be that good. They might have money and technology, but they don't know the future. They might have known that I love archaeology and would want to go on a North African excavation, but they couldn't possibly know that a dig would come up in Libya. It's more than unlikely, it’s preposterous."
Jesse’s eyes were full of pity, and I felt a surge of anger at his expression.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Then it clicked. My eyes widened in horror. My voice croaked as I said, "No."
"I'm so sorry." Jesse's eyes were on the floor, his head bent like he couldn't bear to look at me.
"Tell me it's not true, Jesse."
Tears pricked my eyes and I covered my face with my hands. But the evidence was there. The whole thing had been faked, the entire dig. I could hardly process it. That day in the classroom when I'd read Ibby's mind and she was wondering why they were doing what they were doing to a nice girl like me. It hadn't made any sense given what I’d thought was going on, but it made sense now.
They were actors.
"All of you?" I spoke from between my fingers, tears in my voice. "TNC hired all of you? Staged the whole dig?"
"Yes," Jesse answered miserably. “The site was real, your finds were genuine. But all the rest…” He swallowed and didn’t go on.
My face burned with shame and my eyes wouldn't stop streaming. But the anger, oh the anger, the deep and utter betrayal—it was all-encompassing. I pulled my hands away from my face and let the tears flow.
I looked at Jesse. "Are you even an archaeologist? Is your name even Jesse?"
"I'm not an archeologist, I'm a hacker. I worked for TNC until…" He reached for my face, but I pulled away from his touch. "Until you, Petra. My name is Jesse, and I can't even tell you how sorry I am, how much I want to make things right."
"You can't," I whispered, staring at him through vision blurred by moisture. I brushed at my eyes angrily. "How do you make this right? Why did you even agree to it?" My voice grew harder.
"TNC was my employer. I never questioned my projects until yours came along." Jesse went to his knees and reached for me, his warm fingers encircling mine. "I met you, and…I fell in love with you, Petra."
His admission of love may well have fallen on deaf ears. My mind was whirling. “What about the kidnapping? The fight? That was all TNC, too?”
Jesse shook his head. “That’s where TNC lost control and got scared. It’s why they ended up calling the whole thing off the day of the fight. The locals knew what you were and interfered. I heard that Miss Marks destroyed her hotel room in anger when she learned you were taken. If it weren’t for Molly, you’d probably have been executed.”
I felt myself tense up with the memory of being held captive.
Jesse continued, “They sent a team out from Ghat but they arrived too late to rescue you, arriving instead just after you stopped the militants.” He shook his head. “Miss Marks played it so cool, but trust me, she was freaking out. Why do you think they shoved you into a vehicle and got you out of there so fast?”
"Why didn't you tell me?" I choked out.
"I couldn't, Petra." Jesse's voice cracked. "I was sworn to secrecy. You know how TNC is. They wouldn't allow me to talk to you afterward, and they ordered me to cut off all communication. I hated it, I hated them for that. That's why I started digging and why I’ve been digging ever since."
I put a hand up and he stopped talking. Silently, and with angry tears still burning tracks down my cheeks, I got up.
"Where are you going?" Jesse got up and followed me. "Petra, please don't leave."
I headed down the stairs, pulled on my boots and jacket, and put my hand on the doorknob.
Jesse sounded stricken. "I know you're angry. I would be, too."
"Jesse," I whirled to face him, my hand twisting the door knob. "Just stop talking."
"Petra…"
I opened the door and left the storm inside the house for the one outside.
The wind-driven rain pummeled me as I took the steps down to the sidewalk. I ignored Jesse yelling my name from the house, until he came out behind me while pulling on his jacket.
"Come back inside, Petra. There's more to explain. I know you're upset, you should be, but I've risked my life to find you–"
I turned back to him, my mouth an angry snarl. "Jesse."
The look on my face was enough. Jesse's own face changed from desperate to fearful. He staggered backward, one arm half coming up to shield his body. It was as though he'd never believed I could lash out at him but suddenly realized he was wrong in one earth-shaking moment.
; Shame flooded me. He genuinely thought I was going to hurt him. I closed my eyes and took a breath. When I opened them, Jesse was watching me, eyes darting over my features.
"Just, give me a minute," I said.
"Of course." He nodded and held out my umbrella. "Take this."
I ignored the umbrella and marched down the walk into the black rainy night.
As I walked, unheedful of where I was headed and feeling like it didn't matter anyway, memories came at me like bats swooping out of the dark. They battered my brain and shook my emotions. I remembered the way Jesse, Ethan, and Ibby had all reacted when I'd told them the vision of my father who was telling me to run. The way I had caught Ibby and Jesse repeatedly watching me, their expressions full of guilt. Noel's reaction as I pushed the glass across the table at him—he'd not known why TNC was keeping an eye on me until that moment, I was sure of that now. Jesse and me, kissing passionately in my tent. Being grabbed in the middle of the night by a people who were so terrified of me they may well have murdered me.
I barely registered the cold water trickling down my face. Rage and humiliation made my head feel hot and my fists clench. I had been played for a fool by the corporation I was now bound to. They'd murdered my father, and as far as I was concerned, they'd killed my mother, too. They'd destroyed my family and then hid it from me. They'd exploited people in my life to keep me under their thumb. They'd been manipulating me since birth, all so they could position themselves as trustworthy and earn my loyalty.
I wondered if they'd ever controlled my foster mom, Beverly, or even had a hand in her death. TNC had manipulated me on a scale that was almost impossible to comprehend. How much had they spent to secure me? What was I worth to them now?
A growl of frustration escaped my throat when I thought about the Elemental girls. What had I done getting them involved with TNC? It was crystal clear to me now that my father had been telling me to run from this corporation, and I'd been too blind to see it; their ruse had been too thorough.
I stopped walking and looked up, realizing that I had come down to the harbor where the water churned and washed over the docks. Thoughts and emotions were so stormy and tangled I could hardly tell which was which, but one thing I did know, as clear as a cloudless day: I had to get out of TNC and keep the Elemental girls from falling into their hands, too.
