by Imogen Rose
QUANTUM (Portal Chronicles Book Three)
Text copyright © 2010 by Imogen Rose
Website: imogenrose.com
Cover photograph and design by Imogen Rose. Cover photo copyright © 2010 by Imogen Rose
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Paperback ISBN-13: 9780982800201 (Printed in the United States of America)
Acknowledgements
My younger daughter, Lauren, continues to be my inspiration. She loves a good story and looks forward to my next novel, not just with enthusiasm, but also with high expectations. I hope I have delivered. Lauren, thank you. You started me off on this journey and you keep me on it.
What would I do without Sue? I met Sue Bernstein a few years ago. We share a passion for Champagne and shopping. When she offered to edit my first book, I’m sure she didn’t quite know how much of her (billable) time she was about to spend editing my stories. I’m indebted to you, Sue, yet again, for editing this novel and for your patience with me.
Similarly, I’m extremely grateful to my friend Andee Larkin for copy editing my work so carefully. Thank you Andee, you are a star.
I want to thank my beta readers, Al Kunz, Allirea Brumley, Frankie Sutton and Vickie Boehnlein, for their valuable criticisms and suggestions.
Thank you to all those who purchased and enjoyed PORTAL and EQUILIBRIUM, the first two books in this series. I am blown away by the enthusiastic support from all of you.
-Imogen Rose
A dreamer must dream
A storyteller must tell
I dream to tell
A STORY FOR LAUREN
prologue
Amadea glanced up at the wire-sculpted herald angels as she walked toward the ice rink looking for Inez. The breathtaking sight of the looming Christmas tree made her stop for a moment before she fought her way through the throngs to where she had arranged to meet Inez, smiling at her fondly as she walked up and gave her a hug. Inez laughed apologetically as she inadvertently smeared her lipstick onto Amadea’s gorgeous brown fur coat as her face was brought close in a tight embrace. Amadea looked down at the smear and shrugged; it was of no consequence, nothing that couldn’t be dealt with. She could tell that Inez was mortified, so she squeezed her shoulders reassuringly and gave her a not-to-worry look. Inez smiled gratefully–she would, of course, have the stain taken care of–and then pointed to the ice rink. Amadea followed the direction of her finger, looking down to see her young son glide effortlessly on the ice–it almost looked like he was floating. He was easy to spot, the only one wearing a helmet, she had insisted on it even though he’d been reluctant.
“Inez, thank you so much for putting us up. We really appreciate it,” she said, looking down at Inez gratefully.
“You are very welcome, my dear,” Inez smiled. “It’s been lovely having you, I’ve enjoyed the company. I’ll miss you both.” Christmastime in Manhattan was always magical, but it was even more so if you had someone to share it with. She could relax around Amadea, who knew her secret–that she was a Wanderer, a being who could travel through time and dimensions. Taking her guests to visit her favorite haunts, sharing the delight of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Rockettes show, and today, watching people skating around the ice rink at the Rockefeller Center was such a treat. Normally, Inez would have forgone these pleasures, opting to work.
Amadea hugged her and turned back to watch her son. He was crouching down on the ice. Had he fallen? She instinctively started walking toward the rink, but stopped as he stood up and watched him intently. He seemed to be fine. He was staring down into his gloved hand and then started skating again. Not casually, as before, but purposefully. Amadea watched him skate up to a little girl who was standing by the huge gold statue of Prometheus. He took his helmet off as he chatted with her. She was a pretty little girl from what Amadea could tell, very fashionably dressed in a beautiful, pink, wool coat. The little girl suddenly smiled as he handed her something. She took it, kissed him on the cheek and skated off toward her mother who was calling for her.
Amadea kept her eyes on her son as he skated off the ice and made his way up to find her.
“Mummy, that was fun! Can we come again?”
“We’re heading home to London tomorrow, but we’ll come again, I promise,” she smiled, looking at his flushed cheeks. “What was that you found on the ice, Rup?”
“Oh, it was this shiny necklace, said Quantum on it. Mummy, what does that mean?” Rupert asked.
“Quantum? Hmm, that’s unusual,” Amadea mused. “Did it belong to the little girl?”
“Yes, her name is Ollie and I’m going to marry her one day.”
This blows. Where the heck was he? I must have left him like a zillion messages telling him that I’d be back tonight. Let me explain. I was–yet again–waiting for Dad to pick me up. He was inexcusably late. It was particularly annoying since I was now alone in the school parking lot. The bus driver dropped me off last, but here I was–by myself. It was dark, not that I was the least bit bothered by that, but Dad should be, wouldn’t you think?
I walked over to the main building and let myself in. Thankfully, the door was still unlocked–a school concert, no doubt. The halls were quiet, but there were muffled sounds emanating from the auditorium. I put my ear to the auditorium door trying to identify the source, but gave up, gently prying the door open so I could have a peek. The debate team. Sigh.
As I made my way down the hallway, I ran into the janitor–Bob. I ran into Bob a lot. He was used to letting me back into school after hours to retrieve my hockey gear and other stuff that I habitually forgot. I wondered what drove him. He just seemed to go about his business, happy as a clam, not the least bit annoyed with me when I disturbed his routine. He smiled kindly and let me borrow his cell phone–I had forgotten mine at home–to call my dad. Dad wasn’t picking up his phone. It sucked, big time. I tried Monica next. Monica is my BFF, well one of them. The other one is Ariele. She moved to California last weekend. I was going to miss her.
Last weekend started early, way too early for me. Who schedules SATs early on a Saturday morning? That’s seriously warped. Then, after the SATs, I decided–on a total whim–to head off to an all-girls’ ice hockey camp–yes, weird, I know. However, I knew that there would be college scouts there. I figured that since I had totally screwed up my SATs–and GPA–I’d better try to get on the ice hockey scouts’ radar. So I went, although I had totally decided not to. I’d never played with a bunch of girls before and I thought it would really suck. But it wasn’t too bad. In fact, I sort of enjoyed it. So when the coach suggested I stay for the rest of the week, I jumped at it. Missing school for a week–awesome! Well, almost a week. It was only Thursday. Maybe I could blow off school tomorrow. That would make the week perfect.
I guessed that Monica must still be at lacrosse practice since she wasn’t picking up her phone. I tried Christian, the captain of our varsity hockey team. He had a new car and used any excuse to take it for a spin. “Hey, can you pick me up from school?”
“Sure, Arizona. Whatcha doing at school so late? I didn’t recognize your number.”
“Just got back from camp. I left my phone at home in my rush. I’m using Bob’s.” I had been ridiculed to no end by my varsity teammates for considering going to this camp. Christian had led the assault.
“Camp?�
�
“Oh, can you just drive over? I’m fed up waiting. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”
“Be there in ten,” he said, and cut the call.
I tried Dad again. To be fair it wasn’t like he could call me back. It was my own fault for forgetting my cell.
The silver BMW stopped at the corner of the parking lot, the regular spot where Christian always met me. I couldn’t wait to get a car of my own. This weekend would be a good time for some car showroom visits.
“Hey, A! What the heck? What happened?” Christian gasped as he looked me up and down.
So, I didn’t look my best–who cares? Christian had seen me in a much worse state than this. He was strangely dressed-up himself–I snickered to myself. New girlfriend, no doubt. “Hot date?” I couldn’t help but smirk.
He shrugged, appearing strangely embarrassed. “A, what happened?” he repeated again.
“Sheesh! Nothing happened. I just went to girl’s camp, that’s all.”
“Your hair?”
“My hair? What’s the matter with you? It’s a bit grosser than usual, so what?”
“I kind of liked it blonde….”
“Blonde?” I guffawed. “You lost your mind? Let’s go. I’m wiped.”
We rode in silence, though I had a nagging feeling that Christian was desperate to talk to me. However, for whatever reason, he decided not to. What was up with him anyway? So I’d missed a couple of practices. It was the end of the season, though. No biggie. However, best to have it out. I waited until we arrived in the driveway.
“What’s eating you, Christian?”
“Arizona, what’s going on with you?” he asked, rolling his eyes. “You came to school on Tuesday, resembling a blonde Barbie. You hook up with the new guy, David, and then missed school today. Now you’re pretending to be back from some camp, your usual self again. I don’t get it!”
Well, I obviously must have woken him up from some strange daydream, though he certainly didn’t appear to have just awakened. Or maybe he got hit in the head during hockey. “Christian, good grief! Get hold of yourself. You’re not on drugs, are you? That would be super stupid. I’ve got to go. Whatever is up with you, sort it out!”
“Yeah, right. There’s something up with me!” he sighed, and looked totally puzzled and annoyed. “There’s definitely something up with you!”
“Yeah, yeah… thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow, get some sleep,” I muttered.
I struggled into the house with my kit and luggage, waiting for Gertrude–the love of my life, a lazier-than-a-fat-cat Chihuahua–to jump up on me. There were no signs of her, which was not that surprising. Dad must have dropped her off with a sitter before he left. Well, he was supposed to have gotten back today, but there were no signs of him, either. I was totally exhausted. The day had started with a drill at six in the morning, so I was ready to hit the sack. I enjoyed the quiet of the house as I flung myself into the comfort of my bed and dozed off.
I was rudely awakened by the sound of breaking glass. Instinctively, I grabbed my hockey stick and readied myself. It was probably just Dad having forgotten his keys, but it’s always best to be careful.
~
Raj Sen felt euphoric. He knew that she would come back. There were no signs of the other kids, but all he needed was the one. Arizona would do. The blueprints to the portal were going to be his after all. The absolute and utter mess would be sorted out. All he needed to do was get this pesky child and then contact her mother, Olivia Darley.
The incident in Mountain View had been unfortunate. In hindsight, he should have come straight back up to Princeton and staked out the house, just as he was doing now. However, no real harm had been done. While Erica and Kevin had been hurt, he couldn’t bring himself to feel any remorse. They were both pains. If Kevin had just cooperated and Erica minded her own business… well, no point in thinking about all that now. Let bygones be bygones and all that.
Raj was happy to see the silver BMW–kids were so spoiled these days!–drive away after dropping Arizona off. He was glad that the boy who was driving hadn’t decided to stay. This show needed to get on the road. He knew that Dillard wasn’t home yet, so it was just the girl. There was no chance of him being able to seize her on his own. However, Dan could do so with no problem, he thought to himself, looking up to his right. Dan, towering above him at six-foot-five and built like a linebacker, looked decidedly sour.
“Ready, Dan? Let’s give it a few hours and then get her while she’s sleeping. I’ll have the syringe ready.”
“Dr. Sen, I want out. This wasn’t the plan. Sophie?” Dan queried, looking over to his sister-in-law. She was sitting waiting in the van, windows down, looking bored.
“You’re right, Dan. It wasn’t. However, we have to see this through. Or we get nothing after all this,” she explained.
“Yeah, well nothin’ is fine with me. I just need a beer.”
“Shut up, Dan. Just do what I say,” Sophie said irritably.
“Stop with the arguing,” Raj said firmly. “We need to concentrate. Let’s try to get it right this time. The end game is the same. We still need the blueprints. We’ll wait until she’s sleeping, then grab her.”
“Then what?” Dan asked, rolling his eyes. “What happens after you drive her from New Jersey back to California? Do you even have a plan?”
The plan, thought Raj to himself. The plan would be to take Arizona back to Mountain View and wait there until his daughter, Simla, made contact. This would be complicated for Simla if Erica was still indisposed after the unfortunate incident at the Sanderson residence where he had inadvertently stabbed her, but Simla was resourceful. She would find another way to transport herself over if Erica was unable to help her. Like Erica, Simla was a Wanderer after all, or at least had the potential to be. She really ought to be able to wander on her own by now, Raj thought irritably. His irritation clearly reflected in his voice as he responded to Dan. “We’re going to take Arizona back to Mountain View. I’ve made arrangements. We have a cottage just outside town and we’ll wait there until we hear from my daughter.”
Dan muttered under his breath.
“Dan?” Sophie challenged.
“Oh, nothin’. Let’s get this over and done with.”
~
I inched my way into the family room. The breaking -glass noise had definitely come from there and other noises were still coming from there–clunking and thuds. Where the heck was my cell phone? I clenched my hockey stick firmly and peered into the room. It was pitch black, so I reached over to hit the light switch. Before I could even blink, I was grabbed and pulled over toward a giant. That’s all I could tell in the dark. I felt a sharp pinch in my left arm as I struggled to get free from his grip. Then I lost it, overcome by a feeling of numb sleepiness. Then, nothing–I blanked.
~
Phase one of the new plan had been executed to perfection. Raj was pleased and couldn’t stop grinning as the van headed toward California with their new passenger in the back. She would be out for a while and although they would need to make a few stops along the way, Raj figured that they could take turns driving straight through, eliminating the need for overnight motel stops.
~
Are you flipping kidding me? My head pounded. What the heck was that? I was lying down being tossed about from side to side. This was unbearable. I tried to steady myself, finally managing to get some support by grabbing onto the sides of the mattress or whatever I was lying on. Whatever it was, it smelled like rotten cheese, seriously hurl-worthy. I lay on my stomach, holding on, trying not to inhale any more of the stench than I absolutely had to. In spite of my head feeling like I was having some kind of stroke, I managed to get up on all fours, carefully let go of the mattress with my right hand and extended my arm as far as I could, swaying it about, feeling around. I tilted my body as far as I could without letting the mattress go with the other hand, and my fingers rubbed against metal. I let go with my other hand and gi
ngerly moved toward the metal, running my hand up and down it. It was a wall of some sort so I crawled along it. It was a small area. The hum confirmed that I must be in the back of a van or truck. Shit.
Shit, shit, shit! This couldn’t be happening! Someone was kidnapping me? There must be some kind of mistake. They must’ve been after someone else. Or–could it be? Could my dad have gotten into some kind of trouble in Atlantic City and I was now being held hostage until he paid up? Double shit! One thing was clear. I needed to find a way to get out of here. After all, if I was being held hostage until my dad paid up some debt, well, that could be a long time–forever.
We drove for hours, I needed a drink pretty bad, my mouth felt like sandpaper. I was relieved when the van slowed down and we finally came to a stop. The door opened slowly. It was beginning to get light outside. The giant from before–actually a big Shrek of a man–waved his hands at me.
“Come on, Arizona. You can use the rest room here and we’ll get you something to eat and drink as long as you behave.”
He knew my name! Well that settled it. This must have something to do with my dad’s debts.
“What did you do with your hair? I almost thought we nabbed the wrong girl,” he chuckled. “I guess you were trying to disguise yourself.”
My hair? Why was this stranger going on about my hair? Maybe he did have the wrong girl. But he’d called me Arizona. It was probably a case of mistaken identity. “Look, I’m not who you want. There’s been a mistake. Let me go.”
“No mistake,” a female voice confirmed from behind Shrek. She had a gun. Priceless. If not for that, I could have easily taken her. I assumed she was my restroom company. I quickly decided that I needed to refuel, and since I really had no option, I may as well go along with this–for now. I asked once again, though. Just to make sure.
“Are you sure? I’m Arizona Stevens. I don’t have money or anything. What do you want with me?” I asked, confused.
