by Peter Telep
My father takes us to a penthouse apartment overlooking the City of Violet. That broken wreath I saw in the ruins now hangs tall between buildings and blazes across the afternoon sky. The city bustles with life—pedestrians down below, air traffic between the buildings... you can almost feel the pulse.
“Where are we?” Julie asks.
“Your old home.”
“It’s amazing. But what happened? Why did my mother take me away?”
“Because of him,” I answer, pointing at the persona.
“Doc, what’re you talking about?”
“He’s not my father, Julie.”
“I’m not?” my father asks.
I shake my head. “If I was taking prisoners, I wouldn’t let them use their personas. That would be stupid, right? They could tell people where they are. So I’d give them drugs and turn off their wreaths.”
Now Julie takes a step back.
And I glare at the persona. “I know who you are.”
He smirks and dissolves into someone else.
Someone familiar... and unfamiliar...
A shockingly handsome version of himself. The devil in a designer suit, hair slicked back, boyish face.
“Dad?” Julie asks. “Is that you? What’s happening?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“But how?”
“He has skills,” I say. “Just like the thorns and arrows.”
Solomon raises his brows. “Exactly. We studied the mawzz and how they can project a persona that’s different from their bodies...” His persona flashes back to my father’s image, and then returns to his own. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to my daughter alone.”
You can almost see the evil dripping off his lips as he smiles and takes Julie’s hands.
She’s confused, shocked, I don’t know what...
I press forward, screaming her name—
But I’m locked out, the same way Keane was locked out of my conversation with Meeka.
I pound on an invisible door.
Julie looks back at me. I mouth, “Don’t listen!”
And then I’m alone in the penthouse—
While he shows her anything he wants.
Any lies he chooses.
And if he can make his persona look like someone else, what can he to do to his memories?
What story will he show her?
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Trembling with frustration, I pull back into my body.
Faint light. The ceiling. Okay, I’m lying on the floor next to the sofa. Someone must’ve put me here.
I sit up. Meeka and Steffanie peer through the window.
“We got soldiers posted outside,” Meeka says.
“Yeah, they’re nomads.”
She curses. “I thought coming here would save us, not put us back in the fight.”
“I know. Where’s Julie?”
“She went to the bathroom.”
I hurry across the living room, down the hall, and swing open the bathroom door.
The window’s open, the curtains flapping in the breeze.
I race back to the girls. “She’s gone.”
“Are you kidding me?” Meeka asks.
“That wasn’t my father. It was Solomon. And I think she ran off to find him.”
Meeka snorts in disbelief. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m telling you, he can make his persona look like anyone he wants. Julie’s connected to him now, and he’s lying to her about everything.”
“But she won’t believe him, right?” Meeka asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer. “I hope not.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, we didn’t plan to fight.” She faces the window and lowers her head.
“Meeka, I know this sucks. Believe me, I do. But let me show you why we need to fight. Please…”
She turns around and shrugs. We jump into our personas. I take her to my house. She says how pretty it is, and then I take her inside.
She watches Solomon stab my mother to death. I show her every gruesome detail.
And then I take her back, through my mother’s life... she sees this woman, this angel—
Who winds up sleeping with Solomon.
We return to the living room.
Meeka’s stunned, as in wide-eyed, hand over her mouth, major curse words stunned.
She grabs me by the head. Here comes a violent kiss.
Instead, she takes me into her arms and just hangs on. I wonder if she’ll ever let go. Finally, when she does pull back, her eyes are heavy with tears.
“Are you all right?” I ask.
Her voice has tightened and she can barely speak. “You’ve been carrying that around for a while.”
“I guess so.”
“And I guess you do know about real pain.”
“Maybe just a little.” I take a chance and wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Hey, I’m sorry. I used the secret weapon on you. It wasn’t fair.”
She smiles weakly. “But it worked.”
I sigh. “So… we need to get rid of those nomads. Got any ideas?”
“Are you serious? We’ve been dealing with these bastards forever, but that doesn’t make it any easier. One mistake and someone dies.”
“Then I vote for no mistakes.”
* * *
The jumps must be perfect.
Everyone knows that, and the rumms are far more skilled than I am, but I’m going anyway—because I won’t let them risk their lives without risking my own.
The guards around the house and along the mountainside have been marked and targeted. We thought there were only four, but we found two more along the back road. Six in all.
“We good to go?” I ask, sounding like Tommy.
They nod.
“On three, two, one!”
I leap in front of a solider.
He smiles like I’m easy prey.
Behind him, Meeka appears and slides her arm around his neck while Steffanie pulls the “stunner” from his gear belt. It’s standard issue nomad gear, and the girls would know: they’ve stolen dozens of them over the years.
Steffanie gives our soldier a shock to the chest, and he slumps before he can even resist. He’s unconscious and can’t project his persona.
Target eliminated.
We are swift, silent, and deadly: the motto of the Marine Corp’s Force Reconnaissance community. Tommy taught me that during our many hours of gameplay.
One by one, we take out each guard. By the time we jump in front of the last one, we’ve got it down to a science.
After that, we regroup behind my house.
“What’s the plan now?” Keane asks.
“We go up there and get them.”
“So you don’t have a plan.”
“I just told you.”
Keane laughs under his breath. “Not that I care anymore.”
“Look, dude, we’ll be all right. And I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m not. So far Earth sucks.”
* * *
We reach the paved road and wooden guardrail snaking up the hillside toward the observatory. I raise my fist to call for a halt. “We’ll need to get away from this road and come up from the south. It’s a big hike, but we should be there in a few hours.”
“What’s he got up there?” Meeka asks. “Uh, I mean, what’s the size and composition of this enemy force?”
“Good question. Tommy would say do a recon.”
She nods. We jump into our personas.
“We’ll be right back,” I tell the group.
I close my eyes and project myself to the pyramid-shaped building.
Once there, Meeka and I crouch near a whitewashed wall. We scan the area.
The place looks deserted. I take her hand and jump to one of the other buildings. No one outside. No cars. No guards waiting for us, either. Nothing.
But this can’t be right. Scientists from all over the world work here seven days a week. Dad showed me how they
take calibration images at sundown. Where are they?
The humming of tires and clunk of a driver shifting gears breaks the stillness.
A few seconds later, a Jeep parks outside one of the largest buildings. A huge solar telescope lies beneath the building’s domed roof. It’s pretty awesome.
Meeka and I jump closer, right behind the Jeep.
Julie’s escorted inside by two nomads. No handcuffs. No guns pointed at her, either. So she did run off to find her father…
Meeka looks worried. I am, too.
I nod, and we return to our bodies and alert the others.
As we resume our hike, Meeka rushes to my side and asks, “So, do you love her?”
“That’s random.”
“I’m asking you for a reason.”
“You looking for a boyfriend crazier than you?”
“I’m looking to kill Julie’s father. And I don’t care if that hurts Julie’s feelings.”
“This is Earth. You kill someone, you go to prison for a long time. Or maybe they kill you.”
“Perfect. Same rules on Flora.”
“We’re not here for revenge.”
“Uh, excuse me, we’re not? We’re not here to get payback for everyone’s who died? You already forgot about them?”
I just look at her and pick up the pace.
I haven’t forgotten. I want Solomon dead—probably more than she does.
And that’s what scares me.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
With the rumms positioned outside the observatory, I take Keane, Meeka, and Steffanie to the solar telescope.
Of course the door’s open.
He wants us to find our way inside.
The girls go first, sweeping the entrance with their rifles.
Keane has a pistol and tried to give me one, but I worry that I’ll accidentally shoot someone. Besides, I feel like if Julie sees me with a gun, she’ll turn me off. She’ll think I’m there to murder her father. So I’m unarmed.
And maybe we can do this without violence.
Or maybe I should put a bullet in the bastard’s head.
But then I’d be just like him, right?
The telescope sweeps up like a Death Star cannon toward the curving panels above us. A band-shaped opening in the dome allows the night sky to filter through. Hazy light from computer screens shines across the floor.
It’s eerily quiet. Just our footsteps.
And then a sound... like squeaky wheels. And a smell. A stench, really... oh, I know what that is.
From behind the telescope comes Solomon—
Hair sticking out like a troll doll’s.
Cheeks heavily scarred.
Left temple swelling with a tumor.
More tumors around his neck.
And hey, that’s my dad’s Kennedy Space Center T-shirt... My dad’s ripped jeans, his flip-flops.
And there it is, the source of that nasty smell:
A lit cigarette dangling from Solomon’s lips.
He squints through the smoke as he pushes a wheelchair carrying my father. Weirdly enough, Solomon’s humming a song, maybe something he heard on the radio. I remember some of the scientists liked to play music as they worked.
Meeka and the others raise their weapons.
“Don’t shoot!” I warn them.
A back door slams open—
And at least ten nomads surround us with their rifles ready to rock.
It’s all part of Solomon’s master plan.
Well, it was coming down to a standoff no matter what we did. Might as well cut to the chase.
“Dad?”
I rush over and grab my father’s shoulder.
Yes, it’s him, but he’s like Tom Hanks in Cast Away after being on the island for all those years.
I didn’t think we were gone that long. Maybe there’s some time difference when you travel with the engine.
He glances vaguely at me through cracked glasses. “Doc?”
“What did you do to him?” I ask Solomon.
“Oh, it’s nothing permanent. He’s just more cooperative this way.” Solomon leans over and mutters in my father’s ear: “You see, Thaddeus? No one’s hurt your precious boy.”
“Where’s Julie?” I demand. “And where’s her mom?”
“We’ll get to them. But right now, we’re all leaving.”
“No, we’re not,” Meeka says, lifting her rifle to Solomon’s head. “I don’t care if I die, as long as you do. Believe it.”
I raise my hand. “Meeka, please...”
“Boys and girls, I’m very sorry, but you can’t kill me. If my heart stops, the bomb explodes.”
He sounds bored with his explanation.
“What bomb?” I ask.
“He’s got a nuke,” my father says. “It came from Flora. And now he’s got entangled particles all over the world.”
I face Solomon. Hatred burns my eyes. “Why’re you doing this?”
He frowns. “You think I’m some deranged maniac?”
“I think you’re worse.”
“Doc, let me show you the truth. The real truth.”
I step back. “I know you can make lies look like the truth. That’s what you did with Julie. You won’t do it to me. Why don’t you just let us go?”
“I will. I didn’t come here to hurt anyone.”
“Doc?” Keane calls out. “Why do I not believe him?”
Solomon puffs on his cigarette. He thinks a moment, and then comes around the wheelchair. Slowly, he raises his hands in surrender. “I just want to live.”
“He’s dying,” my father says. “Terminal cancer. He thinks he can push his entire essence into his persona. He thinks he can live forever, and he’s been forcing me to help.”
“Otherwise, you’ll nuke the planet,” I finish.
Solomon shrugs. “Your father’s the smartest man I know. And I strike a hard bargain.” He gestures to a nomad who opens the back door—
And Julie comes forward, her eyes swollen.
She arrives next to Solomon and puts an affectionate hand on his shoulder.
The father-daughter resemblance is shocking.
At first she won’t look at me—but then she glares and says, “He showed me everything, Doc.”
“No, he showed you his version of the truth.”
She wipes off a tear and shakes her head. “I can’t believe what your family did to us. I can’t believe it.”
“Then don’t! He’s reading your thoughts. He knows how badly you’ve wanted a father for your entire life. He’s using that against you. Don’t believe him.”
She stares off into a thought, like I’ve gotten through to her, but then, suddenly, she says, “You’re so wrong, Doc. So wrong.”
“Julie, are you insane?” Meeka screams. “Look at him. He killed Doc’s mother. You want to see it? I’ll show it to you right now!”
“Meeka!” I scream.
“He told me you’d lie about that,” Julie says. “But I know what happened.” She stares at my father. “I know who really killed her.”
“Where’s your mother?” I ask Julie. “Talk to her! She was there. She knows the truth!”
“I will,” she answers. “When we get back to Florida. She’s waiting for us.”
“And she’ll tell you the truth! Right now, don’t go with him. Don’t leave us.”
Julie looks at Solomon. Then at me… and now… she’s torn…
“Everyone, please, no more drama,” Solomon says. “We can all sit in therapy another day. Right now, listen.”
He lifts a finger.
In the distance comes the whomping of helicopters.
“That’s our ride off the mountain,” he explains.
Behind everyone, near a computer station along the back wall, something flashes.
I might be the only one who sees it:
A persona dressed as a nomad from Flora, with his leather kilt and goggles. He’s even covered in dust. He’s definitely not one of our
rumms from outside but still familiar and wearing a bandana... possibly a blue one.
He glances around, and then disappears.
Solomon motions to his guards—
Just as a creaking, rustling, thumping sound works its way across the dome.
But then it’s different, like the pitter-patter of feet.
Or, more precisely, paws.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
They glow in the dark and roar.
They could tear me to shreds in two seconds.
And I’ve never been so glad to see them.
Twelve grren personas leap through the rectangular slit in the dome—
And plunge into observatory.
Some land on the telescope itself, climb down, and then lunge toward their prey.
Others soar with fangs bared, talons extended, and crash into the nomads, even as they lift their rifles.
Weapons boom and rattle, stinging our ears.
Rounds ricochet off the scope or sew across the ceiling.
And then come the first of many blood-curdling cries as the grren sink fangs into flesh.
“Doc!”
I glance up—
And there’s Tommy riding on Brave’s back, with the grren taking full advantage of Earth’s lighter gravity. They bound along the telescope and spring onto the floor.
Tommy dives off and breaks into a roll, coming up with his pistol and firing at a nomad nearest the door.
He scrambles to his feet, and, hunched over, rushes to me and shouts, “Sorry I’m late. The engine got hit after you left. It sent us way down the beach. Anyway, I said the hell with it and took everyone.”
“You’re crazy!”
He grins. “I know! It’s like a big ole alien shindig!”
At the same time, Julie and Solomon flee toward the back door, shielded by guards and the personas of guards.
The grren slash at them, and I rush to connect with Brave and call off the attack. We can’t harm Julie or Solomon.
“We’ll get him outside,” Meeka says, grabbing the back of my father’s wheelchair. Steffanie covers her.
“Thanks!”
Just behind me, Keane fires at a pair of nomads crouching behind the telescope.
Even as I turn, a round punches his shoulder and knocks him to the ground.
He groans and rolls onto his side.
