by R. J. Ross
“Understood,” Dad says.
“NOTHING is going to happen to MY Aunt Skye,” I declare, shooting them both sharp looks. “Or I’ll deal with it, myself,” I add boldly, shocking a hint of a laugh from Century. What? Aunt Skye is adorable! “But what are you going to do with um—Mrs. Feldkin?” I ask.
“She’s starting to deal with what’s happened to her,” Century says. “It’ll be a bit of time, but I think we can set her up as a teacher once she’s gotten everything together. We might even rebuild her home, so she can live close to work. We'll get the cats fixed and have the students help take care of them. There tend to be a lot of rodents in cornfields.”
“That was your plan from the start, wasn’t it?” Rochester asks, abruptly.
“I was hoping, when I found out you were a psychic type,” Century says. “There are some that it would be a shame to lose. She’s one of them.”
“From what Mom said, I believe it,” Dad says. “I’ll be taking these three, then,” he says, pulling Rochester and Cisco over. I head for him, wrapping an arm around his waist even as Cisco starts objecting—
And then we’re standing in front of Grandpa, Grandma, Skye, and Doris. “Zoe!” Skye says, throwing herself at me with a happy grin. “You’re home!”
“Hi, Aunt Skye!” I say, hugging her back. “I’m back!” We pull away, smiling happily at each other, because, seriously, that sort of welcome is THE BEST!
“And where is my hug?” Grandma demands, holding out her arms—and promptly wrapping them around both of us. I laugh, enjoying the group hug until someone pulls me up and out of it. I feel like such a little kid right now, I think as I turn to grin up at Grandpa, wrapping my arms around his shoulders, since he’s holding me a good two and a half feet off the ground.
“Hi, Grandpa,” I say. “We have some stuff we need to talk about.”
“Your granddaughter flew for the first time,” Dad brags.
“I expected no less,” Grandpa says, still holding me like a two year old. “Did you get it on video?”
“I didn’t show up in time.”
“Bad Nicolas,” Grandma scolds him. “We will just have to do it again!”
“But Grandpa, we found a ship from your home planet,” I say, going to the point. “We’re having it brought up here—”
“No, we’re having it taken up to the Arctic Circle,” Dad says, much to my surprise. “The last thing we want is for it to have access to open ground.”
“But—it’ll die,” I say.
“We’ll bring in enough earth for it to survive off of, but no more, at least not for now. It’s too dangerous to let grow unheeded.”
“True,” I say, feeling a bit mixed up over the whole thing. “But it’s amazing—it’s a living machine, Grandpa! I’ve never seen such a thing before. But—well…”
“We’ll discuss it later,” he says. “First you need to get cleaned up and changed.” I abruptly realize I'm still in my pajamas, which look a bit tattered now.
“Yeah,” I agree, slipping out of his hold and looking around. The campus it to our left, the apartment building is to our right. “I’ll be right back,” I say, heading for the apartment building. I hide a yawn. I don't have time for sleep, yet. I have more important things to do.
CHAPTER FOUR
Rochester’s hand drops down on Cisco’s shoulder as they watch the girl that wiped out a space ship and several massive excavating machines with a single move get passed around like a child. “Dad?” Cisco says, looking up at him.
“Yeah,” Rochester agrees when he sees that look. “Looks like she’s the family's baby.”
Cisco nods, not saying anything else. Before Rochester can go, the one called Skye appears right up in his face, scowling.
“Who are you?” she demands, poking him in the chest. He takes a step back, holding up both hands in a placating move.
“I’m just a musician!” he says, instinctively.
“He’s a psychometric,” Nico says. “On loan from South Branch—we have to give him back when they’ve got the school built. Now—” he starts tapping on the air like a keyboard. “Rochester, Cisco, you’re both cleared to enter, so everyone inside. Touch the panel and step on the glowing footprints to get through the force field.”
“Oh, so he’s like a library book?” Skye asks, her scowl disappearing as easily as that as they all head in.
“Somewhat,” Nico agrees. “But if you go by that logic, you’re on loan, too.”
“I do what I want!” she declares dramatically, even posing. “I’m a super villain!”
“And she is family, so if anything, SHE is on loan to them,” the massive white haired woman says in a Russian accent. They’re standing on a cliff overlooking one of the biggest canyons Rochester has ever seen. He looks at her as she holds out a hand.
“It is nice to meet you, Psychometric,” she says. He doesn’t even hesitate—he shakes the hand. He expects to see a little, but the images come rushing into his mind like a torrent. He goes still, his silver eyes glowing faintly, not that he realizes it.
“Dad?” Cisco asks a second later, shaking him. “DAD! You zoned out!”
A tap hits his cheek and he finds himself staring into Tatiana’s amused eyes. “I see,” she says. “So that is what a psychometric is! It is very interesting!”
“Did you—um—see what I saw?” Rochester asks. "You shouldn't have, but that whole thing with Mimic--I think it might have--"
“Oh, yes, I am sure it did. I saw it all,” she says. “You will keep the more personal aspects to yourself, I believe,” she adds with a hint of steel.
“Abso-freakin’-lutely,” he says, stepping back and holding up both hands. “I didn’t expect t’see as much as I did, trust me. I'm pretty sure that run-in with Mimic made you a bit… more open psychically than y’should be,” he admits. “There’s ways t’fix that, though,” he adds helpfully.
“So what DID you see?” Superior asks, looking even more dangerous than his wife.
“Just a bit of the past, Clifford, it is nothing to worry about!” Tatiana says, patting him on the shoulder fondly. “Rochester will keep it to himself, will you not?” she asks Rochester.
“Won’t say a word—but uh, if y’could keep from touchin’ my kid, I think we’d both appreciate it,” he says, pushing Cisco behind him.
“Do me! Do me!” Skye says, squirming in between him and the others and grabbing his hand. He blinks as more images wash through him—her getting tossed out of her home, out of school, her living on her own so young--and he hauls her into a hug, much to even HIS surprise. She lets out a little squeak. “What??” she asks, starting to giggle a little awkwardly.
“Sorry—” he says, letting go as abruptly as he hugged her. “Sorry, I just—” he looks around, seeing some extremely dangerous people watching him like a hawk. “You an’ me—we grew up a lot alike,” he admits. “It’s good to have family,” he adds a bit more quietly, reaching behind him and pulling Cisco into his side. “I’m glad y’got yours, now,” he adds, looking at Tatiana and Superior pointedly.
A little smile pulls at her lips. “I have a HUGE family now,” she brags. “I’ve got a brother and a sister and nieces and a nephew and a pop and a mom and—I’ve even got a roommate! Doris, shake his hand!” she says, grabbing the long haired lady’s arm and tugging.
“No way I’m touching him,” Doris says.
“But it’s interesting!” Skye says.
“Not to me.”
“How do we know we can trust you?” Superior asks, making Rochester look over.
“I’m a South Branch Hall member now?” he offers, wondering if death by Superior is written off as a legitimate form of suicide. “And I don’t wanna die,” he adds, when Superior doesn’t even blink. “I got stuff t’do, y’know?”
“Have you touched him?” Superior asks Nico.
“Just his shoulder,” Nico admits. “But why not?” he says, holding out a hand to Rochester. Rochester hesi
tates before taking the hand. He jerks back almost as soon as he touches him, shaking his head.
“Holy crap, man, it’s like trying t’look into the biggest science fair in the universe—from the back!” he complains, trying to force all the random information and blueprints out of his head. The entire room starts laughing, even Superior.
“I actually expected that,” Superior says.
“Cisco—don’t touch him, him, or her,” Rochester says to his kid, pointing them out. “In fact, if y’can avoid it, try not t’touch any of them. It’ll give you a headache.”
“What about Zoe?” Cisco asks. “I didn’t get a headache with her!”
“She’s not fully grown,” Nico says. “Now, we need to get to Dad’s home base and deal with the ship—after that I need to do some research.”
“On what?” Skye asks.
“On where Herold grew up. I have a small lead, but I can't be sure until you confirm it. We’re going to see EXACTLY where he came from,” he says. “We already know where this ‘Mother’ came from, now.”
“Not all of it,” Rochester says. “We know the race was wiped out, but we don’t know who did it, or why,” he admits. “I suggested civil war, but I can’t swear to it. The ship didn’t know. An’ we don’t know why kaleidoscope lady is lookin’ for you, either,” he says, motioning to Superior. “But we know she crashed at Mrs. Feldkin’s place, made her a bit crazy with brainwashin', an’ left the ship.”
“In the thirties,” Tatiana provides.
“So she’s been here since somewhere around 1930,” Superior says, “and is only now coming to the surface. Why?”
“We don’t know, but we’re going to find out,” Nico says. “First, though, we deal with the ship.”
***
It’s cold up here. I tug the snow suit I borrowed from Aubrey a little tighter around me, just to block out the wind. Dad and Grandpa are standing to the side, the crated up ship floating above our heads. The thick green roots have already broken free of the wooden slats. We hadn’t asked the black suits to come up all the way to Grandpa’s house—which meant the past hour we’ve been getting the crated ship off of the truck down in a tiny Alaskan town, and bringing it up here. Sure people took photographs—but we made sure they didn’t turn out, at least most of them. This is going to add to the alien obsession up here, since the roots escaped through the slats of the crate and were flying around the entire trip. Grandpa’s alien legacy is still going strong.
He finds that amusing. No, he’s not said a word, but there’s this evil little grin on his face that says Mastermental will probably be hearing from Isotonic again. Yes, I know ALL about the transformer spaceship—Emily is my best friend AND cousin, after all!
“Will here work?” Dad asks as we reach a wide strip of ice far outside the normal reach of humans. Grandpa and Grandma’s mountain is within sight. “Should we tell Cosmic?”
“He’ll hear all about it later, I’m sure,” Grandpa says, taking to the air. “Hold the ship there, I’ll melt the ice.”
“Wait! We promised earth, too,” I say. “I don’t want it to DIE—”
“Fine,” Grandpa says. The ice below him turns into a pool of warm water as he holds out his hand. Dad pulls a massive bag off the top of the crate, tossing it to Grandpa. It promptly opens and pours into the water. The ship is lowered in, next. That hole I kicked into the side? It’s almost healed. I don’t know whether I’m relieved or shocked by that fact.
“It needs electricity,” I say. “Can we run a line from the mountain?”
“We’ll set up a generator,” Dad says, heading for the mountain to get the parts. It leaves me standing here over the buried ship with Grandpa. It feels like a funeral.
“Would you ever go?” I ask, the question that’s been bothering me escaping.
“Where?” he asks.
“Back to your home world, to Lerrestia.”
“Do you know, I never knew what it was called until you just told me?” he asks with a hint of amusement. “Has Sunny told you my story, Zoe?”
“No,” I say.
“I will. And when you’re done, you’ll understand why I consider Earth my home,” he says, dropping down next to me and placing his arms over my shoulders. “It all started before I even knew how to talk.”
***
Grandpa’s story is still spinning in my head as we appear in front of the school campus. He hasn’t told Dad. He’s told Sunny, and he’s told me, but no one else. I feel a bit humbled by that fact, honestly. I’m so focused on it, though, that I don’t notice Dad heading for the campus until it’s almost too late. “What’s going on?” I ask, chasing after him. “Aren’t we going to find out about Herold?”
“That’s exactly what I plan on doing,” he says. “But I also brought in a handful of students while you were out in the field, so I might as well do it where I can check up on them,” he explains.
“Oh, um, right,” I say, following. “Besides, you just ditched Rochester and Cisco in there, didn’t you?” I add a bit dryly.
“There is that, too,” he admits. He stops for a second, apparently listening to something--and then says, “You know them better than I do, so why don’t you check on them? Find out how the new students are doing, while you’re at it,” he says. “I’ll be in my office.” We head inside, going our separate ways. I should really insist on helping him find information on Herold, I think as I look around the campus. I mean, I’m a technopath, too—I’m perfectly capable of tracking down people on the internet! It’s one of the most basic skills in our bag of tricks, right?
But, a little voice whispers, I have a few tricks that my dad DOESN’T, and we both know it. Namely, I’m WAY better with people than he is. That’s probably why he was so quick to hand the job over to me.
Plus, I think as I hear familiar voices, he probably skipped out to avoid this. I head for the campus, where there seems to be a small crowd gathered around Rochester, Cisco, Skye and… “Justin?” I ask.
“Hey, Zoe,” the famous teen idol says. “You’re back early.”
“What, exactly, is going on?”
“It’ll be GREAT!” Skye says, bouncing on the air. “Rochester is a guitarist and Justin, you’re a guitarist, even though I’ve never SEEN you play—but this will prove you are one! It’s like that one scene from the movie with the dueling guitars and the devil going down to Texas—”
“Georgia,” Rochester says.
“Wherever,” Skye says.
“And that’s a fiddle thing,” Justin says. “Do you play a fiddle?” he asks Rochester.
“I could if I had one on hand,” Rochester says.
“NOT FIDDLES!” Skye yells. “Guitars!”
“And what, exactly, would be the point?” Justin asks blankly. “We’re supposed to be in class right now, right?” He looks over at Banshee, who’s the teacher for this hour, and she just grins cheerfully.
“It seems like a perfectly good music lesson to me!” she says. “I’ve seen you before,” she adds, jumping off the roof and landing in front of Rochester. She’s got a thoughtful look on her face. “You’re the guitarist for the Sundown Blues Boys, aren’t you?”
“I was,” Rochester admits.
“Was? What happened? How are they going to replace you?” she asks, looking honestly worried.
“Cisco, ah—”
“I got outed,” Cisco says, looking at the ground. “It went viral, too, so we had to run.”
“I’ve never heard of him,” Justin says.
“It’s from New Orleans' French Quarter,” Banshee says. “I like to go there when I get the chance. The music is amazing—and Rochester’s band was one of my favorites,” she says. “But Skye, it’s a bit mean to—”
“Duel!” Skye says, heading for the guitar case hanging over Rochester’s back and tugging on it. “Doesn’t everyone want to hear them play?” she asks the group.
“YEAH!” the students yell excitedly.
A bit mean? I l
ook at Banshee, who has a look of resigned amusement on her face. I look from Justin to Rochester, thinking about it for all of a second before Malina steps in front of Justin, her hands on her hips as she glares at the rest of the group.
“This isn’t fair, and we all know it,” she says. “Justin is a singer who knows how to play the guitar, it’s not the same as a guitarist who knows how to sing—do you sing?” she asks Rochester.
“Well enough to do back-up vocals?” he offers. “They threatened to fire me if I tried to be lead.”
“But—” Skye says, pouting down at Malina. “I wanted to hear them play.”
Rochester slings off the case, opening it and pulling out his guitar. “Do you know any blues?” he asks Justin. “Or are you strictly pop? I prefer blues, m’self, but I can do either.”
“I know some blues,” Justin says, placing a hand on Malina’s shoulder and grinning at her. “Thank you,” he adds quietly. I see her blush and can’t help but grin. “Do you know ‘Close to you’?”
“Which one?”
“Stevie Ray Vaughan,” Justin says.
“You’ve got good taste,” Rochester says, grinning.
“I’ll get Justin’s guitar!” Freddy says, racing off to the dorm. He gets back a second later with a well-loved acoustic guitar.
“Let’s head inside to the band room,” Banshee says. “I’ll play drums.”
I look at Skye, who’s looking from Justin to Rochester and back, excitedly. I get the strangest feeling that she’s making up her mind over something. I look up as someone bumps into my side and then drapes an arm over my shoulder. I glance up at my twin, my eyes widening with surprise.
