Super World Two

by Lawrence Ambrose

  "She drove that all the way from Duluth?" Jamie heard her murmur to Dennis, who just shrugged.

  Jamie joined her daughter on the porch when the happy couple had finished packing their suitcases into the pickup. Dennis hugged her and his girlfriend stooped for a kiss on her forehead.

  "We'll miss you, K," she said, mussing her hair. She shot Jamie a flinty look. "Take care of our girl."

  "Have fun in sunny California," Jamie replied. Dennis glanced back at her with an apologetic smile before he climbed in beside his red-haired girlfriend.

  That long awkward moment behind her, Jamie looked down at her daughter and wondered now what?

  "What would you like to do?" Jamie asked.

  "Can you take me flying?"

  Jamie responded with a short laugh. "I don't think your dad would approve."

  "Not if we didn't tell him."

  Jamie smiled at her and shook her head. Her Kylee hadn't reached the point of conspiring against her dad.

  "I don't know. It could be dangerous."

  "How?"

  "I haven't quite calibrated myself to people here yet. Anything else less risky you'd like to do?"

  "I like to visit Terry. Terry Mayes. He's a neighbor friend of mine. He's got this weird bone condition."

  "Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive? FOP?"

  "Yeah." Kylee turned her pretty little face upward to look at her. "He had it on your world, too?"

  "Yes, he did."

  "He would be so amazed to see you. He met you a few times..." Her face darkened. "I mean...you know, before you...she..."

  "Right. Have you told him anything about me?"

  "Just that you're my mom's twin sister."

  "The cover story your dad came up with."

  "Actually, that was my idea."

  Jamie peered into her daughter's eyes – twin blue summer skies with scattered dark thunderclouds. Jamie had always suspected that her daughter would be exceptionally bright. For a few seconds she quietly bathed in the satisfaction that she'd been right.

  "We could go there now," said Kylee. "He might be napping, but it's okay to wake him up."

  "All right."

  They climbed in Jamie's new van. She turned the key and the engine made an angry chipmunk chattering sound. Another couple of key twists and the chattering ceased.

  "I think your battery's dead." Kylee smiled at her with mischievous expectation.

  Jamie returned her smile. "Lucky it has a backup engine."

  She placed the shift in neutral. The van lurched forward under her telekinetic direction and gradually picked up speed. Jamie doubted anyone would suspect anything except that the van had an unusually well-muffled motor.

  "This is so cool!" her daughter gushed. "You could make this thing fly, couldn't you?"

  "I could, but that might attract some unwanted attention."

  Jamie didn't have any trouble splitting her thoughts as they rolled down the rural road – a small part of her mind devoted to powering the van while most of her thoughts concerned the upcoming visit. Terry Mayes had been an integral part of their team, and was on her recruiting list anyway. One of her happiest moments had been when the nanovirus had broken Terry free of his skeletal crypt. She hoped that would happen here, though she was beginning to have doubts. So far there was no indication that people were being infected by the nanovirus.

  Grandma Mayes greeted them at the door with a warm smile, her elderly but strangely unlined face glowing with pleasure.

  "I was hoping to see you today, Miss Kylee," she said. "And I'm happy to meet you, Miss –"

  "Jamie."

  "You have the same name as your twin sister?"

  "Ah" – Jamie hadn't thought it out this far – "yes. Strange as that may seem."

  "Life is full of strange events. That's the Lord's way of keeping us on our toes." They shook hands. "Please, come in. Terry's up. He and Kevin Clarkson are partaking of their daily chess battle."

  She led them down a hall to Terry's bedroom. Terry was sitting up in bed, eyeing a chess board mounted on a hospital-type serving table. Kevin Clarkson was hunched over the other side, chin resting in two hands. Neither showed much reaction to their entrance. Terry's bright brown eyes rested on her briefly, a faint frown forming, before returning to the chessboard. Kevin glanced back at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Terry raised one stiff hand and with great care launched his queen in a slow-motion shamble across the board. Jamie's heart contracted a little.

  "Boys, this is Miss Shepherd."

  Neither of them spoke. Kevin resumed his contemplation of the board. They never had me for a teacher in this world, Jamie realized. Not that either of them had a lot of social skills until the nanovirus had altered them. Emerging from their autism had for them been almost as monumental of an event as their physical changes, she thought.

  Kylee moved closer to the game, standing between the two young men.

  "Doesn't look good for black," she said.

  Terry, who was playing black, glared briefly at her. Kylee gave him a sweet smile.

  "Why don't you all take a break?" Grandma Mayes suggested. "It's a beautiful day out there, Terry. Nearly fifty. Spring's in the air. I'll bet Kylee would be happy to take you for a spin in your Terrymobile."

  "Ajax Multipurpose Personal Transporter, Model 244," Terry stated.

  "Like I said," his grandmother laughed.

  "But our game is not finished," Kevin protested.

  "There'll be time for that later, hon."

  Jamie consider offering to help, but Kevin and Grandma Mayes, with a small assist from Kylee, slid Terry's rigid body into the fancy wheelchair and bundled him up with blankets in a clearly practiced series of steps. She hung back with Kevin Clarkson, who resumed studying the chessboard as Kylee and Grandma Mayes eased Terry out the front door onto the long ramp that led down to the yard.

  "How are you doing, Kevin?" she asked.

  "Relative to what?"

  "Um, life?"

  "How could I occupy a position that is relative to life?"

  "I mean, are you doing well or...?"

  "Compared to what or whom?"

  Kevin shuffled some pieces around the board, frowning in fierce concentration, not looking at her when he answered. In some ways, Jamie's meeting with him and Terry was the most disconcerting encounter so far. As surreal as it had been talking to Zachary and Greg Horner or even Dennis, at least they didn't have different personalities. Kevin and Terry were completely different people here.

  "Does your mom work at the university?"

  "Yes."

  Kevin moved more pieces. It was as if they composed his entire universe – all that was meaningful to him at this moment.

  The front door banged open. Jamie turned, expecting to see Grandma Mayes, but instead the tall, muscular form of Thomas Mayes, Jr., her former nemesis, stood blocking the sunlight, his broad shoulders and narrow hips framed in the door like some dark action figure silhouette.

  He strode in, wiping his forehead with a bare forearm, the planes of his face hardening in disbelief. He stopped in front of Jamie, arms folded across his muscle-shirted chest, towering over her.

  "Hi, Thomas," she said.

  "We know each other?"

  "Not exactly. Did you know my...twin sister?"

  "I saw her around town sometimes. Never knew her or your family. Not until Kylee started coming around and playing little white nursemaid with my brother."

  Jamie crossed her arms behind her back, anger roiling up in her. Easy.

  "Adopt a black cripple. So touching and liberal. Sure as hell wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a healthy black man."

  Jamie stared to one side of him, her hands making balls behind her back. She didn't want to look at Thomas Mayes – to focus on him in any way – lest he end up buried in the nearest cornfield.

  "Still got the famous Thomas Mayes charm, I see," she said through pinched lips.

  "What the hell's that supposed to mean? You
don't know me."

  "Not technically. But I know who you are."

  "'Course you do. Just another uppity nigger who don't know his place, right?"

  "What is your place?"

  "I'm the head of this family. That's my damn place."

  Jamie frowned at him in surprise. "What about your dad?"

  "What about him? He died eight years ago."

  "Oh. I'm sorry." Jamie cleared her throat. "How?"

  "Heart attack. Mowing the lawn on a hundred degree day, the dumb sucker. Always had to keep the lawn like a goddamn golf course. Don't matter if it's hot enough to boil your brains or if it's rainin' lightning bolts."

  "So you took over his role? You didn't spend several years in prison?"

  "You think that's what happens with all young Afro-American dudes? The only prison I been in is here, taking care of a seventy year-old lady who thinks Jesus loves us so much he gave us a kid who can't even wipe his own ass."

  Jamie didn't speak for a few moments. She let her anger simmer as she allowed herself a glimpse into this volatile man's life from his eyes. It wasn't a pretty picture.

  "You should be proud," she said softly.

  Thomas cocked his head at her as if he knew he couldn't possibly have heard her right. Jamie eased past him to stand at the front door. Kylee was wheeling Terry along the asphalt driveway out toward the mailbox, chattering something to him, while Madeleine Mayes followed a few steps behind. Jamie wondered what had drawn her daughter to the older, bedridden boy. What did they have in common?

  "You're hiding something."

  Thomas's voice startled her. He'd slipped up so quietly behind her that she hadn't heard him. She turned to face him.

  "What makes you say that?"

  "That whole story about a twin sister who shows up out of nowhere sounds like a load of bullshit to me. Besides, you got a haunted look. Blondes don't have haunted looks."

  He gave her a cold smile over his dark mamba eyes.

  "Good point." Jamie hesitated. She'd been debating whether or not to include him on her recruit list, but considering her lack of luck with Zach and Greg Horner, her prospects with the truculent and bitter Thomas Mayes seemed dim. Still, she liked the idea of rattling his brains a little – of changing the way he looked at her. "You're right. I do have secrets, Thomas. I've even thought about sharing them with you."

  "You keep talking as if you know me."

  "I do. In another life."

  Thomas snorted. "I use that line myself sometimes. When I want to get laid."

  "Ha. But in this case it's literally true."

  He moved beside her, joining her in watching the trio on the driveway. Jamie imagined he was weighing her words and deciding whether to pursue their strange conversation.

  "All right," he rumbled, reluctance heavy in his deep voice. "What exactly happened in this other life?"

  "You almost became the supreme leader of the United States. You had the President himself in the palm of your hand."

  Thomas laughed. "Sounds like a better world."

  "Couldn't be much worse than this one."

  "I heard that. They say we're at war with the yellow and brown man – and the Muslims - but it was my black ass the TSA was beating on for two hours last time I flew on a plane."

  "You were a Muslim on my world."

  Thomas shook his head. "Ain't no way I'd join up with those crazies. Only purpose for any religion is to keep people down. Gran says I'm risking hell for not being a good Christian, but I'll take my chances."

  They watched Kylee turn Terry around and start back toward them – Kylee's happy voice and Grandma Mayes' laugh carrying to the porch.

  "What's your story, lady?" Thomas asked in a quiet voice. "The real story."

  "The truth is that I'm not Jamie Shepherd's twin. I'm Jamie Shepherd – one of many, possibly infinitely Jamie Shepherds. Have you heard of Hugh Everett's Many-World Thesis?"

  "Nope."

  "He was a physicist. The idea is that our reality is constantly splitting off into other realities. In the reality I came from, I was a high school math teacher, as I was here before the car accident. But there, I was dying of cancer...until one day an object fell from space into our yard. An object that eventually transformed most of the world's population into super-powered versions of their previous selves. Including me."

  Thomas let out a low laugh. "Thought you looked familiar. You that blond in that Supergirl show Terry's always watchin'."

  "I'm guessing there's no relation."

  "So you got super powers?"

  "Yes."

  "What are they? Can you correct math homework super-fast or something?"

  "No, unfortunately. Super-strength and telekinetics are my basic powers. I also have something like telescopic vision."

  "That be cool. How did you get here? Can't see the TSA letting that shit through."

  Jamie laughed. "Long story, but I had someone with teleportation ability help me get here. We managed to bypass U.S. Customs."

  "Funny. But just words."

  "I could give you a demonstration."

  Thomas chuckled. Jamie stared at him, her cool smile holding. After a moment, he stroked his chin.

  "Okay, tell you what, supergirl. Got me a fully assembled roof truss for a utility building out back. Building's all set – top's even color-coded to match the roof. Someone from White Boy Lumber's supposed to come out and drop it in place after the weekend. Save me sixteen hundred if it got up there on its own. Can your superpowers handle that?"

  "I'm not the most mechanical person, but if you show me where to set it, I don't see a problem."

  Thomas grinned at her and shook his head. "Girl, you almost got me believing you can do this."

  "I guess you'll find out soon enough."

  Kylee, Terry, and Grandma Mayes stopped before them. Madeleine's smile dipped at its corners as her sharp eyes traveled from her grandson to Jamie. Kylee had one proprietary hand on Terry's shoulder, beaming up at her.

  "How was the walk?" Jamie asked.

  "Great," said Kylee. "It's one of the best days we've had in weeks!"

  "Spring's just around the corner," said Grandma Mayes. "I can feel it."

  "Terry wants to go to MacDonald's for lunch," said Kylee. "They have a special van for him. Is that okay, Mo - " She caught herself with a small grimace. "Auntie."

  "Sure, honey. I'll just wait for you here."

  Jamie didn't acknowledge their puzzled looks. She nodded to Thomas, who took the clue.

  "Yeah," he said. "Just wanted her advice about the building out back. As a math teacher and all."

  "Okay," said Kylee, searching her eyes. "See you later."

  Jamie followed Thomas around the house.

  "I must be crazy," he muttered.

  The utility building was about fifty meters back from the house. The skeleton of a roof sat next to it: all wood and wood-joints arranged in a triangle. Its ends were marked by thick red and black lines that were matched by lines on either side of the walls. She thought she could see how it was supposed to fit together.

  "Just line up the red and black marks, Supergirl," said Thomas.

  "Superwoman," said Jamie. "I think I get it. But I'll go slow. Feel free to 'course-correct' me."

  "Yeah, right."

  One thing that wasn't getting old was wiping the skeptical smirks off people's faces, Jamie thought. And when Thomas Mayes' smirk disintegrated into freaked-out disbelief, this time was no exception.

  The roof truss rose in a smooth arc and after a brief pause – aligning its red and black marks with the building's – settled down and joined with the frame. Thomas Mayes' muscular body appeared to deflate along with his hissing exhalation. He stumbled back like a punch-drunk fighter.

  Jamie noticed movement in the back window – Terry's bedroom, she realized – and zoomed in to see Grandma Mayes, Kevin Clarkson, Terry and her daughter gazing out at them. Madeleine covered her mouth. Kevin and Terry's surprise was observabl
e only in the rigid intensity of their expressions. Kylee was pointing and appeared to be laughing. She'd assumed they'd be gone by now.

  "Oh, man," Thomas murmured, oblivious to the audience at the house, his gaze locked to the building. "Ain't no way am I seeing this right."

  "Your grandmother saw it, too. So did the others."

  Thomas turned woodenly toward the house, following Jamie's nod. He raised one hand. Grandma Mayes gave him a weak wave in return.

  "That's them at the window?" Thomas asked. "Can't really see 'em through the glare."

  "That's them."

  "So this is real." He eyed the roof again as if to be sure. "You put it up there."

  "Yes."

  "Then everything you were telling me is real."

  "Yes." Jamie found it somewhat surprising that Thomas seemed more willing to surrender to logic than either Zachary or Greg. "It's all true."

  "Then why are you here?"

  "The main reason is my daughter's here. So is my husband. They weren't alive on my world."

  "Just like you weren't alive here."

  "Right. I thought I might fit right in." Silly me. "Also, well, this world could be in danger."

  "From what?"

  "That could take a while to explain. I can do that later if you want."

  "Why are you telling me all this? You could've kept your secret."

  "Because you and I worked together in my world. Um...well, worked together when we stopped trying to kill each other." She smiled at his uncomprehending expression. "But once you were on our side, you were a good ally. You're intelligent and resourceful. I'm trying to bring my team back together. You're on my list."

  They started walking back toward the house. Madeleine, Kylee, and Kevin emerged from the backdoor, heading in their direction. Kylee had a worried look. Kevin wore a preoccupied frown, caught up in his private world of endless contemplation. Grandma Mayes' face, however, glowed with a near-beatific joy.

  She strode ahead, enfolding Jamie in a vibrant hug. Kylee was giving Jamie an apologetic shrug behind Grandma Mayes' back. What had she told the older lady?

  Madeleine thrust herself back from Jamie, eyes glistening with tears, her long-fingered hands clutching Jamie's arms like tree roots, while Jamie held her body still.