Mindsiege

by Heather Sunseri

  “What does it do?” Jonas asked. He held my hand up and examined the pearl.

  “It acts as a paralysis drug. When injected into a person’s bloodstream, within five seconds the person will be unable to move any part of their body.”

  “Paralyzed,” I whispered.

  Coach nodded. “Able to breathe and maybe move their eyes, but they’d be limp as a rag doll.”

  I held the ring in front of my face, examining it the way a newly engaged girl might stare at her engagement ring. This would totally work. I wouldn’t kill anyone, yet I could incapacitate someone if I needed to.

  “To close and reseal the chamber holding the drug, twist the pearl again in the opposite direction.”

  Seth had been standing against the wall. He pushed off and paced around the room. “Okay. So, let’s say you get into the IIA’s facility. What then? You just going to roam the halls looking for Addison, paralyzing people you come in contact with and hoping they don’t shoot you before you get close enough?”

  Jack and Jonas traded looks. It was Jack who stood tall and spoke first. “No. I’ll be armed, as will Jonas.”

  I fiddled with the ring around my finger.

  “And you’re okay with that?” Seth asked me.

  I scanned all of their faces. “Yes. However, with Jonas’s and my mind-control tricks, I’m hoping to avoid injuring any of the agents. And I’ve asked someone else to come along.”

  “Who?” Jonas asked.

  As if on cue, the door opened, and in sashayed Briana. She wore black leggings, a fitted black sweater, and black ballet flats. She looked like a stylish cat burglar. I wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed whose face Briana found first, but I sure did. It hadn’t taken long for Briana to set her sights on Jonas. And by the look on his face, I was pretty sure he was soaking it up.

  I shook my head. “Hi, Bree. You think you’re up for this?”

  “I think so. Between what Jack has shown me and what I’ve practiced, I think I can at least help.”

  Jonas cleared his throat and stood. “I’ve shown Bree how to operate a Taser. She’s armed already.”

  And when did you have time to do that?

  Jonas shot a quick glance at me. Jealous?

  Uh… no. “What about Georgia?” I asked.

  Jonas’s face fell slightly.

  “Nothing?”

  He shook his head.

  “What?” Jack asked, as if just understanding what we were talking about. “No one has talked to Georgia?” He looked me straight in the eye. “We can’t go in there without her. I won’t let you.”

  “You won’t let me?” My eyebrows shot up.

  “Lexi, be reasonable. If you can’t remove the tracker…” Jack stared at me until I squirmed. “You’re planning to go in anyway.”

  “Yes. And maybe it’s for the best. I’ll go in alone, find the tracker server, destroy it, grab Addison, and get out. With that computer destroyed, the other clones with trackers will have a fighting chance.”

  “Absolutely not. You realize what that would mean?” Jack ran a hand through his hair.

  I reached up and grabbed both of his hands in mine. “I know exactly what it would mean. It will be better this way.” I lifted one of his hands up to cup my cheek, leaning into his touch. “One way or another, you’re getting Addison back. And if I can’t extract the trackers, I’ll figure out a way to work with Sandra until I can.”

  Jack turned to Jonas. “And you’re okay with this?”

  “No, but her mind is made up.” He looked down at his feet. “She won’t be going in alone, though.”

  I eyed Jonas. “Oh, yes I will. You’re not going back in there if we can’t remove the trackers. If Sandra thinks you’re part of some plan to destroy her operation, she’ll kill you for sure.”

  “If Sandra wanted me dead, she would have done it already.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m fairly certain she thinks I’m still working to bring you in to her. When she sees that I have, she’ll trust me. She obviously needs me for something.”

  “This is crazy.” Jack came close to yelling. “What do we think has happened to Georgia?” He grabbed my forearm and turned me to him. His furrowed brows shadowed his already dark navy eyes. This was not the plan. You were supposed to take Georgia, find Addison, get rid of her tracker, and get out.

  “I left her a dozen or so messages on our very private voicemail,” Jonas said. “She hasn’t answered a single one. She and Fred have gone completely off the grid. Which is where we all should have gone.”

  I’ll be fine. I promise. I prayed I could keep that promise.

  “So, there’s a chance she’ll get in touch with you.”

  Jonas nodded, but it was not a convincing nod.

  “So, back to the plan.” Seth began packing away some of the weapons that weren’t chosen. “Cathy and Roger are out of town.”

  I glanced at Jack.

  They received an email from my father explaining that he had information about the journals, and asked them to meet him at the Louisville airport.

  I raised an eyebrow. Was it really from your father? Or did you send that email?

  He smirked, confirming that he, in fact, had sent the decoy. He still had no idea what had happened to Dr. DeWeese.

  “Coach and I will be with other select FBI agents on campus,” Seth continued. “We cannot interfere. The FBI has their own investigation into the IIA going on… but the feds know nothing about you. They’ve asked for our help in a case against my sister, and it just so happens they have a temporary mobile office set up in the middle of campus.”

  So the FBI was obviously watching the IIA. “How much does the FBI know?” I was sure there had to be Americans who predicted the existence of cloned humans, but I’d always hoped it was the same type of people who were certain aliens lived among us and that the government hid the aliens’ spaceships in Area 51.

  “So far, they don’t seem to have hard proof that the IIA is doing anything illegal, let alone harming Americans,” Coach explained. “And the federal government offers quite a bit of leniency to this rogue agency.”

  I couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing. I wasn’t ready for the public to become obsessed with the idea that people existed among them that “might” have the ability to cure their every ailment or injury.

  “So we’re ready, then?” I was asking everybody in the room, but only looking at Jack, who remained stoic.

  ~~~~~

  It was after two a.m. when we arrived on the University of Kentucky campus. We parked next to a bar that had closed an hour before. Beside the bar was a twenty-four-hour diner. It was packed.

  We climbed out of the SUV Seth had allowed us to borrow. The sounds of kids just slightly older than me were loud on the other side of the restaurant’s glass windows. I felt a sudden pang in my heart—the same twinge I got when I longed for normalcy that I’d never known, and just might never experience.

  Jonas laughed.

  “What are you laughing at?” Briana asked.

  “I was just thinking about what I would give to taste a good old-fashioned grilled cheese right about now.”

  “And that’s funny?” Briana didn’t look like she understood, but I sure did.

  “Not funny, but something most of the kids in there won’t even remember in the morning. Yet I’d cherish it.”

  “Okay, let’s go.” Jack placed his hand on the small of my back. “We need to keep moving. Hopefully, The Farm won’t be heavily staffed in the middle of the night. Maybe we can get in there, find what we need and get out.”

  You mean, hopefully we can find Addison, trash the IIA’s tracker server, talk as many clones as possible into leaving with us, and hightail it back to Wellington before crazy woman Sandra kills us all?

  A guy in love with you can hope, right?

  I reached around and grabbed his hand. I lifted it to my mouth and kissed each of his knuckles.

  He pulled on me. “You guys go
ahead. I just need to say one thing to Lexi.”

  Jonas grumbled something unintelligible, then urged Kyle and Briana forward.

  I studied his eyes. He and I had already had a long talk. We both had refused to say goodbye, and I wouldn’t say it now. This could go well—or this could go very, very badly. Neither of us wanted to put odds on the outcome.

  He brushed hair back off my face. “Promise me,” he whispered. “You’ll at least try to make it back out of there. If things get bad… if we get separated… I don’t know. Promise me you’ll do what you can to make it back to me.”

  I can’t believe you’re even saying these things to me. I mindspoke to hide the shakiness and fear in my voice. I will fight with everything in me to make it back out to you. If not tonight, then tomorrow. And every day after that.

  He reached down and planted a kiss on my lips, closing his eyes tight. I’m holding you to it.

  ~~~~~

  The University of Kentucky campus was beautiful at night. Ornate street lamps lit the sidewalks. Spotlights were strategically placed against buildings and under trees, providing additional aesthetic light. Shadows danced off leaves blowing onto sides of buildings in the cool autumn wind. Limbs creaked against each other, creating an eerie ambiance so close to Halloween.

  As we neared the agriscience building, we attempted to stay off the main sidewalks, walking along dark and less-traveled paths at this late hour.

  I reached down and zipped my fleece snug around my neck. Jack wrapped his fingers around my hand.

  How is it possible that a group of über-intelligent doctors are playing with human life right under so many people’s noses? I asked him. What is the FBI actually waiting on? Why not destroy this operation?

  The FBI doesn’t have enough proof that the IIA isn’t working on science or medical advancements that will help Americans—and the world for that matter. Jack squeezed my hand. It was no secret that he and Jonas were closer to embracing their identities and their special abilities than I was. They wanted to believe that our abilities to heal were part of something good—and while they hoped to destroy Sandra’s mission to hurt anyone who got in her way, they wanted me to embrace my capability to heal, too.

  Stop! Jonas yelled inside my head. We all froze mid-step.

  What is it? What’s wrong? I asked.

  Georgia.

  Is she here?

  Jonas nodded. “She’s close,” he whispered. “She doesn’t want to go in.”

  I squeezed Jack’s hand hard, and turned my frantic eyes on him. “We need her,” I said.

  “Where is she?” Jack asked Jonas. “Tell her to meet me.”

  “If you go,” Jonas said, “you won’t be here to shield Lexi from Ty or anyone else who wants inside her head.”

  Jack held onto both of my hands. “I’ll be back. And I’ll bring Georgia with me.” He pressed his lips to mine before staring hard into my eyes. Jonas will protect you.

  Jonas looked from Jack to me, then nodded.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “We can’t wait much longer,” Jonas said. “We don’t know how long it’ll take to get in there and find Addison.”

  Jack had taken Briana with him. Though she was just learning to use her supernatural abilities, she would still be a second set of eyes in case they ran into trouble.

  “Can Briana speak telepathically to you?” I asked Jonas.

  “I’m not convinced she can’t. She just doesn’t know how yet.”

  “So, you think I might be able to as well?” Kyle asked. He lay on a bench behind Jonas, an arm draped over his forehead. I was pretty sure this was his way to relax, while Jonas and I paced and fidgeted.

  “I don’t know.” Jonas sounded harsher than usual.

  I walked over to the bench and nudged Kyle. He raised his head, letting me sit, then placed his head on my thigh. “It would be nice to have some time when no one was trying to kill us to explore these abilities,” I said.

  Jonas raised a brow. “Now you’re interested in learning more?”

  “I’ve never been opposed to knowing, I’m just not convinced I want to use the unnatural powers.”

  Kyle lowered his arm. “What if we’re capable of healing people of some horrific illnesses?”

  I thought about that for a minute. Before I could answer, Jonas added, “We could possibly help people in ways that doctors and scientists have only dreamed of doing.”

  “I know, but how do you suppose we do that? Just hang up a sign that says, ‘Doctor Is In—Can Heal All That Ails You’? Do you realize the masses of people that would show up? Our lives would be in significant danger.” I almost laughed out loud at the irony of that statement. Our lives were already in danger.

  “I think that’s why Cathy is at Wellington.” Jonas continued to pace. “You think she’s trying to force us to do certain things against our will—”

  “I think she’s the reason my dad is dead,” I said through gritted teeth, interrupting Jonas with as much calm as I could drum up, which wasn’t much.

  “I’m just not convinced of that. I think she wants to protect us so that we have control over who knows we even exist. I also think that may be what your father had wanted. Then, we could use the powers for good, without the masses overwhelming us.”

  “If that’s the case, she sure went about it all wrong,” Kyle said.

  “Thank you,” I agreed. Cathy was at best an overbearing wacko.

  “You both are missing the point, though.” Jonas stopped and stuffed his hands in his pockets. This conversation was simply a diversion from what we were all truly worried about—getting in and out of The Farm alive with Addison. “The ball is in our court. We hold all the power. All the control.” He faced me. “Lexi, when you, Jack, and Kyle left Wellington, you opened their eyes. You opened my eyes in a way.”

  “Go on,” I said. See? I could be reasonable and listen.

  “When you guys bulldozed through their security, you told Cathy, Dr. DeWeese, and Dr. Wellington that they’re not in charge. You are.” He kneeled in front of me. Locked eyes with me. “We are in charge.”

  Kyle sat up and faced forward. “He’s right. We are in charge. And like it or not, our life’s purpose was put in place way before we were born. Now we get to choose how we embrace our destiny.”

  Lexi.

  At the sound of Jack’s voice, I stood and walked away from Kyle and Jonas. Yeah. I’m here.

  Georgia says she can see inside your head when Jonas lets her. They practiced this the day they found you on campus. But she has to be touching Jonas.

  What? They had no right—

  You can be mad later. Right now, I need you to focus. She refuses to enter The Farm. I’m going to see if she can see what you’re seeing by touching me.

  I gave my head a little shake. He was right. It wasn’t like she was the only one invading my mind these days. Okay.

  Jonas was standing practically on top of me when I turned. “I heard.”

  Of course he heard. I’m examining the tracker inside Jonas’s head right now, I mindspoke to Jack. The inside of Jonas’s brain was lit up with firing neurons. Unlike many of the other brains I had examined, Jonas’s head was filled with red fiery neurons. His tracker was lodged at the base of his brain, much like Danielle’s. The tracker looked like a robotic spider. The prongs curved like thin, fragile legs, but I knew the device was anything but fragile.

  I’m seeing what you’re seeing, Lexi. Georgia’s voice was quiet inside my head.

  Do you see the thin prongs?

  Yes. They look like they would break off easily.

  Well, I’ve held one of these in my hand. The prongs are very strong and gripping, especially when the device is moving backwards against resistance. If we pull this device out while the prongs are extended, it will grab hold of whatever it can. Those prongs could pierce the brain or the spinal cord in a millisecond.

  Georgia went silent. I still sensed Jack. Jack?

  I’m he
re. Georgia is freaking out a little. She doesn’t want to risk Jonas’s life.

  Well, it’s not up to her. And we’re not removing his right now anyway. I need her to help me remove Addison’s first.

  Jonas nodded. He had already insisted that Sandra would not terminate him yet.

  I’ll make sure Georgia’s ready.

  Jack wasn’t coming with us into the facility. I massaged the spot on my chest where my heart beat furiously. I could do this. I just had to focus.

  “I’ll be with you the entire time,” Jonas whispered. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. It will be better with fewer of us anyway. But we’ll need Briana.”

  I had no idea how Jonas could sound so calm. He was at risk of dropping dead any second with a single key stroke if Sandra chose. Also, Jonas was my ticket in and my ticket out of the facility. And I wasn’t completely confident in Briana’s abilities yet. “Why do we need her?”

  “She can confuse the agents. When they look at us, they’ll think they’re seeing Ty, Dia, and Lin. And with your mind-altering abilities, you can convince them that that is exactly what they’re seeing.”

  I turned the ring on my right hand round and round, careful to avoid twisting the pearl. I could do this. I had to. And if Georgia and I could figure out how to get the tracker out without killing or paralyzing the hosts, we’d be able to do serious damage to at least part of the IIA’s cloning program.

  “So, we’re good?” Jonas asked. I answered with a slight nod. “We can do this. Georgia can do this.” Besides you, I’d say she’s probably the most powerful of us all.

  Yes, but with the most severe side effect.

  ~~~~~

  “Last chance to turn back,” Jonas said. He, Briana, Kyle, and I stood at a back entrance to the agriscience building. “This is where I used to sneak in and out. Back when Mom…” His voice trailed off.

  I touched his arm. “It’s okay. She’s the only mother you ever knew.”

  “Right. You don’t really believe that it’s okay.”

  No, I didn’t. I decided it was probably better if I said nothing. He probably heard my thoughts anyway, despite my attempt to pocket them.