by Sybil Nelson
If the kidnapper was smart, she would have just waited a few more seconds and snatched Elizabeth after the power outage. Unless, that was part of the plan. She wanted to get on camera. Someone definitely wanted to frame me and they had done a pretty good job. The kidnapper looked exactly like me from the red hair and skinny stature to the fact that I was left handed.
"It's possible," my dad said in response to my mother's question. "I guess it's possible it's a fake. But if it is, it's a really good one. I'll spend some time analyzing it. If it's a fake, there'll be a misplaced shadow or an incorrect reflection or something that'll give it away."
I stared at the paused image of myself on the computer screen. The kidnapper's eyes were creepy and vacant. How could someone look so much like me but be so...not me? Anyone looking at this girl would immediately think it was me. Hey, wait a minute!
"Dad, if anyone sees this tape they're going to think I'm a criminal. I'll never be able to show my face in public again!" I leapt out of my seat.
"I've thought about that," my dad said after letting out a sigh. "According to Jim, the Secret Service doesn't want to release the tape. It's pretty embarrassing that they got bested by a twelve-year-old girl."
"Hey, I'm thirteen!" I crossed my arms and plopped back down in my seat. "And I didn't do it."
My dad nodded. "I know, Priscilla. But there's nothing we can do. Hopefully, we'll get all this figured out before the video gets leaked to the media."
"I think I have an idea," Will Smith said suddenly. He stood from the table and went over to Dad's PC. "What if we created a virus that initiated by use of face recognition technology?"
Dad stood and joined him in front of the computer while saying, "Right. We could make it disintegrate the hard drive of any device that showed Priss' face. That should keep her identity secret for at least a couple of days until someone figures out the encryption key."
Will Smith and Dad started working on their computer virus. I felt a little better that my identity would be hidden for at least a little while longer. But part of me was mortified that millions of computers were about to die just by looking at my face. Talk about a blow to my self-esteem.
My mom continued the meeting.
"Josh, do you have any insight into the situation? Does this have anything to do with what happened in UAE a couple of days ago?" she asked.
Josh stared at the table and nodded.
"Well, what?" My mother slammed her fist on the table. Everyone jumped a little, but Josh didn't budge. He didn't react at all. He just kept staring at a nonexistent spot on the table. Josh had been avoiding my mother all day, immediately leaving any room she entered. The looks my mother had been giving him could melt the iceberg that took down the Titanic. Maybe she was still upset that he had put Marco and me in danger unnecessarily by not stopping us from going to United Arab Emirates.
Marco, the flying twins, Kat, and I stared between Josh and my mother for awhile. I think we were all a little confused about how they had been acting around each other lately. My mom seemed like she was developing split personalities or something. One second she was a sweet loving mom and housewife and the next second she looked like she wanted to take off Josh's head. Thankfully, she hadn't shown any hostility to me or the twins. Just to Josh for some reason.
Josh shrugged. "I don't know," he said.
I might not be telepathic, but I knew when my brother was lying. Oh, he definitely knew something.
Chapter 18: Is that a Jet
"Is that a jet?" Kyle asked as I disengaged the cloaking device. Unfortunately, I was going to have to cut Tai and Kyle's trip to Missouri short. There was too much going on and I didn't want to put them in any danger. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something ever happened to them. I decided to take Katya with me and fly them both back to River's Bend that night. That way, once we got there, she could erase his memory and he wouldn't remember anything about a jet. The memory erasing thing worked pretty well. I mean, Kyle had been in this jet three times already and he was now staring at it as for the first time.
"Yeah, it's a jet, Kyle. Hop in and I'll take you for a ride." I opened the door and gestured toward it like a flight attendant.
Kyle just stared at me with his mouth hanging open. "No way. Really?" he finally said. "You're joking right? You can fly a jet? No way."
"Yep, sure can. I can also bench press a car and shoot fire out of my fingers." I didn't feel like coming up with a creative lie. It didn't really matter since he wouldn't remember tomorrow anyway.
Kyle laughed. I mean he really laughed. He clutched his stomach and threw his head back like I had just said the funniest thing he'd ever heard in his life. I hadn't seen him laugh this hard since Principal Warner accidentally farted during the sixth grade awards assembly.
I got tired of waiting for him to enter the jet so I just walked in. Kyle followed behind me still laughing. He must have thought this was some sort of elaborate prank.
When he got control of himself he started throwing questions at me so fast I didn't have time to respond.
"Seriously, Priss, what's going on? Why can't I stay for a little while? Why are you being so secretive? And why in the world does your family have a jet? Am I on Punk'd?"
When he finally paused to take a breath, I said, "Why don't you sit in the co-pilot's seat and I'll explain everything on the way." Tai and Katya gave me concerned looks as they took their seats behind us in the cockpit and buckled up.
"Priss, you can't," Katya said.
Tai raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What do you think you're doing? You can't tell him."
I knew they didn't think it was a good idea for me to reveal everything to him. I just shrugged. What did it matter? "He won't remember anyway," I said.
"Who me?" Kyle looked around and pointed to himself. "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to forget the fact that you can fly a jet." Kyle sat in his seat but didn't buckle up. He stared at me like a puppy waiting for a Scooby snack. He was super excited.
"You should probably put your seat belt on," I said.
"Okay, yeah, whatever, I will. Just tell me why you have a jet."
I took a deep breath and went into the story.
On the way to River's Bend I explained everything to him. I told him all about the Selliwood Institute and how my mother was an experiment and my dad was a guard there. When they fell in love and my dad helped my mom escape almost twenty years ago, they lived in hiding. They had no idea that I would inherit some of my mother's genetic mutations.
When I finished with the story, Kyle just stared at me with his mouth open. Great, he thought I was a freak. He was going to dump me or something.
"That's the coolest thing I've ever heard in my life," he said finally. "You should write that down and make it a book or something. It'll be a best seller. You'll be rich."
Great. He didn't believe me. Not that it mattered if he believed me or anything. He was about to get his memory zapped anyway.
"Sure, Kyle. I'll write a book about it." I shrugged off his disbelief and concentrated on flying the plane.
He kept staring at me. "Wait a minute. You really think you can shoot fire out of your fingers, don't you?"
I whipped my hand out and shot a flame about three inches long with my index finger. Kyle fell out of the seat and bumped his head on the console. Tai shook her head. Katya chuckled.
"I told you to put your seatbelt on."
"You...You...You..." He stuttered while rubbing his head and trying to climb back into his seat.
"I can shoot fire out of my fingers. That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past thirty minutes. Now put your seatbelt on. We're landing in five."
Kyle got off the floor and quickly obeyed.
"Is Marco...is he...one of...I'm...I don't know exactly what to call you anymore."
"You can still call me, Priss," I said a little annoyed by his tone. "But, technically, I guess you can call us...mutants for lack of a better word."
> "What about genetically enhanced Americans?" Tai volunteered with a smile.
"Oh, I like that. We can be GEA's for short, no?" Katya said. They both giggled. I'm glad they could find the humor in this.
"What about them? Are they..."
"I'm not, she is," Tai said indicating Katya.
"So Tai has known all along, but you never told me?"
I looked over at him. I thought I noticed a little hurt in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kyle. I wanted to tell you, but my parents wouldn't let me."
He looked away without responding.
After five minutes of complete silence with Kyle grabbing the armrests so tightly his knuckles turned white, we landed. I hopped out of the seat as quickly as possible and headed for the exit. I didn't want to have to deal with any more questions from Kyle and I didn't want to see that look in his eyes. The look that said I was a freak.
We loaded out of the jet and stood silently in the woods for a second. Kat, Tai and I stared at Kyle trying to see how he was processing the information.
Finally, he said, "Is that why you had to move away? To keep you and your family safe from this Colonel person?"
I nodded.
"I still don't understand. Why didn't you tell me? I can keep a secret too. Don't you trust me?"
"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that...If you know the truth, then you're in danger too. I don't want that."
Kyle nodded. "I get it. But what happens now? I know everything now."
I sighed. "Not for long."
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"Kat, do it." I turned away as Katya reached out and touched Kyle's arm. I asked her beforehand to erase all his memories after the movie theater and replace them with memories of a hand in hand walk through a park in Kansas City.
Kyle shook his head like he was trying to get water out of his ears. He looked around for a second then said, "Is that a jet?"
Chapter 19: Air Raid
We ended up taking Kyle and Tai to the train station and then erasing his memory again. Then after Katya and I left, Tai convinced him that they had left my house together and boarded a train back to River's Bend.
As Kat and I flew back to Missouri, I shook my head at all the deception. Was this really worth all the lying and mind erasing? I had to be the only girl in the world who had to go through all this just to keep a boyfriend. Maybe Marco was right. Maybe I should just stick to my own kind.
I looked over at Kat and noticed her nodding off. I felt kind of bad for constantly draining her powers for my own personal needs. I wonder if she minded.
"I don't mind," Katya said suddenly. She opened her eyes and sat up in her seat. Great. She was in my head. I would never get used to that. "In fact, we can call it an even trade if you like."
I looked at her suspiciously. "Trade for what?"
"Information," she said leaning toward me.
"About?"
"Your brother."
I rolled my eyes. In exchange for erasing my boyfriend's mind all the time, I was going to have to set her up on a date or something with my brother. Could my life get any more weird?
I sighed. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, I find your brother rather good looking. Sometimes when I look at him I feel...odd and my heart speeds up. I do not know what this means."
"It means you like him."
Katya cocked her head to the side and thought about this for a moment. "But I like you and you do not do this to my heart. And I like Marco, but he does not have this affect on me either."
"It's different."
"How?"
"It's a different kind of like. You're attracted to my brother. Look," I paused and put my head in my hands. I so did not want to have this conversation. "Hasn't anyone ever had the sex talk with you?"
"You mean procreation? Yes, we are thoroughly educated in this. However, I am not scheduled to donate my eggs until next year."
"Okay, gross. This conversation just took an unexpected detour and I'm gonna have to abandon ship."
Katya stared at me with her patented confused look. She totally didn't understand my metaphor. Or was it a simile? Well whatever it was, she didn’t get it. And she really didn't know why talking about her feelings for my brother one second and then about her woman-eggs the next would gross me out.
"Well, can you at least tell me why your brother behaves so strangely?" she asked after a few minutes when I didn't say anything.
"What do you mean?"
"Last week he asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I had no idea why he would want to walk when he owns a car. When I went into his head to find out what he was thinking, he just started singing this ridiculous song about being a genie in a bottle. What does this mean?"
I started laughing hysterically. See back when my mother had her powers, she would always pop into our heads uninvited. Josh figured out that by singing Christina Aguilera my mom would immediately retreat. She hated pop music. I guess the same method also worked for Katya.
"And do you have problems with laundry?"
"Why?" I asked through the laughter.
"Because I often see your brother without a shirt."
I laughed harder. There were seriously tears coming out of my eyes. That was another trademark Josh move. He had a pretty muscular body so he always found any opportunity to show it off. If there was any chance a cute girl would be nearby, Josh would find a reason to whip off his shirt.
"Why are you laughing?" Katya asked.
I wiped the tears away and tried to control my breathing. "My brother has a crush on you."
"He wants to crush me? This is crazy. I am stronger than him."
"No, Katya. It means he likes you too." I shook my head. And I thought I was naive about boys. "Look, this is what you do. The next time he asks you to do anything whether it's go for a walk, watch a stupid movie or even hold his t-shirt, just do it, and he'll be all yours."
Katya smiled and sat back in her seat. I didn't want to think about what was going on in her mind as she stared off into space. Thankfully, the holophone beeped and pulled her out of her thoughts. It was a message from the safe house. Kat clicked the receiver button and a hologram of my dad appeared.
"Is everything alright, Dad?" I asked a little worried. He never called the jet during a flight. Considering I was only thirteen and hurtling five tons of metal through the air, he didn't want to add any distractions. I'm surprised he didn't completely disengage the holophone.
"We're fine, Priss. We just wanted to fill you in on the latest development. Colonel Selliwood just held a press conference. I'll send the transmission."
After a few seconds of static, a holographic projection of Colonel Selliwood appeared on the jet's console. Even though he wasn't really there, Katya still tensed up at the sight of him. As she blinked rapidly, a tear spilled down her cheek. She was terrified of him.
Colonel Selliwood stood behind a stand with a whole bunch of microphones. A specimen stood to his left and several soldiers were in the background. I noticed that Dr. Witherall was absent from the ordeal.
Colonel Selliwood adjusted the mic then began his speech.
"A great tragedy has befallen our nation. Fifteen year old Elizabeth Gonzalez, the First Daughter, was taken from her school, a place where she should have felt safe and secure. I'm sure everyone in the nation is searching and praying for the safe return of this child. I would like to personally offer the President my assistance in this matter. I have at my disposal the finest soldiers on the planet. We have already begun investigating the matter and have determined that the culprits behind this attack on our nation are an American based terrorist group with ties to Saudi Arabia. They are a vicious and heartless group that often uses children in their attacks. We spotted one of their aircrafts on Saudi Radar just two days ago. We are hot on their trail."
Katya and I looked at each other. If they were able to pick up the jet on the radar two days ago when I was going to United Ar
ab Emirates, who's to say I wasn't on their radar right now. I checked the cloaking device program to make sure that it was active.
"I can guarantee that the President's daughter will be returned within the next twenty four hours," Colonel Selliwood continued. "In exchange for my assistance, I hope President Gonzalez will reconsider how he allocates funds for the defense of this country. Our freedoms and lives are at stake." Colonel Selliwood stared into the camera as if daring the President.
So that's what all this was about. He wanted his government funding back and he was using the First Daughter to get it. He was definitely behind the kidnapping. If his soldiers could save the girl that he himself had kidnapped, he would be deemed a hero and be able to get any amount of money he wanted. If he didn't get the money, he'd just kill the girl and point the finger at this made up terrorist cell that I was apparently a part of.
Selliwood wasn't finished.
"And now for a demonstration of just what a Selliwood Specimen can do," he said with a smile.
The camera moved to a shot of a tall, blond, stern-looking man.
"That's Specimen Alpha," Katya said. "He has super strength like you and he can fly like Peter and Ryan."
Specimen Alpha stood in the middle of twenty guards. They all tried to attack him at once. Specimen Alpha subdued them all in about 15 seconds only using karate moves. He didn't even use any of his powers. It was actually pretty impressive.
