by Jill Cooper
A brown she recognized.
The glistening used his strong jaws to take her cell phone from her and with gentle precision she thought such a monster was incapable of he shut the phone and slid it back down onto her lap.
He spoke, but his mouth barely moved. The voice seemed to boom all around them. “There’s much that must be said. But another time. Right now, I need you to listen.”
Tears welled in Rebecca’s eyes and she nodded, feeling like she was walking through a dream. A shaking hand extended to the glistening and she stroked his face. “Jake?” Her voice whispered with a tremble.
The glistening closed his eyes with a nod.
She knew what was in Jenna’s report, she knew Jake could turn into a giant, speaking glistening but to see it….Rebecca was in awe and felt in the presence of a great prince. “Oh my God, Jake. I have so much that I…”
“Another time.” Jake’s voice was big, seemed to take hold in every part of the room. “Now I need a favor from you. One I hope you will not decline.”
Rebecca nodded, taking a shaking breath.
“This killing, this war needs to stop. Glistenings are not the enemy of the humans. I need to be heard.”
She licked her lips. “All right. Be heard by who. Reporters?”
“The Senate.”
Rebecca’s breath caught in her throat in a halfhearted laugh. “You think you can just walk in and change their minds?”
“You’re a senator now, aren’t you Ms. Seers?” The way he said her name, with no respect, no love, made her skin crawl. Jake’s eyes narrowed and he studied her with malcontent. In that one instant it was clear he did not view her as a friend. After everything she tried to do for him….
Rebecca swallowed hard. “They won’t listen.”
“Make them.” Jake said simply.
“They’ll kill you as soon as you set foot in the capital.”
“Get me a security detail. What I have to say they’ll want to hear. If I die, glistenings will go to war. A war maybe they can’t win, but the killing has gone far enough. Don’t you think?”
Rebecca nodded. “Who? Who can I trust to protect you? I can’t just hire someone off the street and New Haven, they can’t be trusted. They’ll throw you back into captivity so fast, your head will snap off.”
“Jenna Morgan. Get me Jenna.”
Her blood rain ice cold. “Jenna Morgan?” Rebecca laughed, running her hand through her hair. “You know what she did? She can’t be trusted. She…”
Jake moved his face right against hers so they were nose to nose. His wide brown eyes studied hers. He huffed a breath and Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut, trembling. “I trust her more than I trust you.”
He pulled his head back. “I’ll return in two days. Make the senate listen. If they don’t, there’s no other course for us but open war. Glistenings will no longer be caged. It’s not what I want, but I will no longer be able to control the others.”
Rebecca’s mouth went slack. “All…all right. I’ll do what I can.”
Jake backed up into the yard and Rebecca crawled after him. “Jake, what happened to Wendy…It wasn’t my fault. I did what I could. I didn’t mean for her to…”
His jaw stiffened and anger flashed in his eyes. For a moment, Rebecca was terrified. The air was tense, drawn together like a fight was about to erupt between them. But then it changed. Jake turned on his giant hind legs and with one great push and a flap of his wings, was back in the air.
Gusts of wind whipped around Rebecca’s hair, she gripped the wrecked patio block that surrounded her pool. In the sky she saw the silhouette of a dragon flying against the backdrop of the moon light.
A shaking hand covered her mouth and tears lodged in her throat. Rebecca glanced down and was pretty sure she had wet herself.
“Great,” she mumbled. What a hero she was. She thought the glistening had come to kill her, but instead he was there to use her just like Rebecca tried to do to him.
Once.
Apparently no one used Jake Monroe.
But Rebecca had no choice then, or now. She picked up her phone and dialed. “He’s made contact, Gerard. What do I do?”
The sound of tea cups clinging in the background masked a gentle laugh. “Good. Now use him to find that baby. Do whatever it is he wants within reason. I didn’t buy you that senate seat just so you could make a difference, Rebecca.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Guilt washed over her, but it was too late to back track now. It was too late the moment she broke Jake and Wendy out of New Haven 56.
“I’ll do whatever I have to. When can I see you again?”
Chapter Nine Jenna
New Haven 57
63 Sugar Plum Way
The police arrived in squad cars and Jenna was pushed to the side. It was expected, but it didn’t sit well with her. Reduced to a spectator, all she could do was watch from the sidelines with Dirk while the police went about their business; investigating the body, containing the crime scene, and interrogating the suspects.
They were so calm. Jenna stood in the kitchen as the glistenings were questioned. The husband, Tim, was so cool, collected that Jenna thought he must have had some sort of psychotic episode where his mind snapped.
Dirk slid against the wall beside her, sticking his head over her shoulder to get a better view of the suspect. Tim still sat at the dining room table. The plates were slid back and his hands were folded on his lap. He sat to attention with proper eye contact with the police. Rarely did he blink.
There was no fear.
He was a suspect in the murder of his wife so why wasn’t he afraid? He was wired with a kill harness around his neck. Hell, Jenna would be afraid in his shoes.
“I always like to put my peas on top of my mashed potatoes before I pour the gravy on top. Kate knew that. But this time,” Tim’s voice changed. His voice dropped and there was an echo of fear and disbelief, “there were no peas.”
Jenna shifted and held her breath.
“So are you admitting you struck your wife? With the pie server?”
“She left it on the table.” Time said. “We weren’t going to have pie for another hour so why did she leave the pie server on the table? Wasn’t like her at all. I just really wanted my peas.”
The officers exchanged a quick glance. Dirk leaned in and whispered the old theme song to the Twilight Zone against Jenna’s ear. It was strange. Damn strange. Jenna couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was going on, it was New Haven’s fault.
What wasn’t their fault?
“Can we go back to dinner now?” Tim asked. “The Davidsons have little league in the morning so we need to wrap up soon.”
“Sure…” the officer said before turning to the others. In a hushed voice he said. “Let them finish and then bring the husband to Outpost. They want to inspect his collar.”
Jenna stood up straighter and followed the officer outside to the patio. “Wait a second.” He didn’t stop but continued down the path toward the street. “What’s wrong with the collars?”
With a sigh, he finally stopped. “I didn’t say there was something wrong with the collars.”
“No, you said you wanted to inspect it. You want to look at it which leaves me to believe you think there’s something wrong with it.”
“We have this. Don’t worry.”
Jenna’s eyes narrowed. “I always worry.”
“Listen,” Dirk trotted down the steps of the porch, “if you don’t tell her we’re going to have to sneak into Outpost. We’ll raid your files, we’ll interrogate your men. Then, you might throw us in the brig, and then--.”
Jenna stepped up to the guard. “I’ll have to kick your ass in my escape.”
“So it’d be easier,” Dirk smirked, “if you just tell her. You think I want to go through all that?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, we’re supposed to be retired.”
From the sourpuss expression on the officer’s face it was safe
to assume he wished they were retired. He nodded. “Listen, I know your rep. I know what you did. A lot of officers are good with it, but some don’t trust you.” He took a deep breath, his jaw set tight. “But I’m going with trust. You seem like good people.”
“Clearly you don’t know her well.” Dirk muttered and Jenna swatted his arm without glancing at him.
But Jenna felt an opening, a weakness. So she took it. “I’m guessing the collars are more than a promise of a quick death in a gaudy looking necklace. More than a bomb strapped to their fleshy necks?”
“The harnesses are hardwired through the base of the skull, connected to the [] cortex. It controls their impulses. Keeps them calm, docile.”
“And when the light blinks on the front. What does that mean?” Jenna hadn’t seen that before and it chilled her the way they all blinked in time. The way the glistenings all looked at her together.
“It means a strong emotional response was triggered. The harness kept it in check. Passion, anger, fear, any of it can trigger a response.”
Jenna narrowed her eyes as she tried to make sense of what she just heard. “So let me see if I get this straight. This glistening in there is acting calm, like nothing is wrong because of the harness?”
The officer nodded. “It’s working as it should.”
“Except the wife is dead because she forgot her dear husband’s missing side dish. It wasn’t working when he shoved a pie server through her chest.”
The officer’s chest puffed out and his eyes flashed with anger. One of his eye lids even twitched. It was that type of response that Jenna liked best. “There could be a glitch, but we won’t know more until we get him to Outpost.”
“A glitch?” Dirk asked, scowling. “They were scooping imaginary peas into their mouths while the wife bled out on the rug and the daughter is out here crying by the fence? I’m all for controlling glistenings and making sure what happened at 56 doesn’t happen again, but a glitch?” He snorted, shook his head.
Jenna hadn’t seen him that upset in a long time. She didn’t know if she should want to tell him to relax or take him to bed. It was a tossup.
“We’ll get it worked out. Besides, after five hundred dead glistenings, what’s a few more.” He glowered at them over his shoulder and headed to his squad car.
Jenna narrowed her eyes and chased after him, catching the door to the cruiser before it slammed shut. “Get in Dirk.”
He rushed in and Jenna closed the door after them. The officer grated his teeth together. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Outpost. When you test this thing, I want to be there.”
“You have no right--.”
“Bring me to your chief,” Jenna demanded. “He’ll clear me.”
That or his ass will be mine.
****
Testing Facility
Outpost
Behind a two way mirror, Jenna peered inside a sterile white room with padded walls. It was a standard reconditioning room, except for the chair in the center. Fully white and resembling a dentist’s chair, the headrest was donut shaped with a gaping hole in the middle. Jenna had to wonder what it was for as Tim was ushered in.
He offered no resistance and sat in it. A look of peace, calm on his face. His ankles were restrained in clamps and his wrists were strapped to the side. Tim didn’t make a sound, his eyes wide open and directed at the glass. It sent a chill down Jenna’s spine even though she knew he couldn’t see her.
The technician in the room wore a white coat and green latex gloves. They tilted his head back and it fit perfectly into the donut shaped headrest.
Then the harness was unclamped from the back like a giant USB cable. There were prongs and clamps on the end. When a machine was wheeled over with a giant vacuum hose attached it was only then did Tim’s eyes fog over with terror.
Only then did he start screaming.
“I want to see my wife. Where’s my wife!”
Jenna held her breath, unaware until Dirk put a hand on her shoulder. She let out a shaking breath as the hose was attached to the base of Tim’s skull directly wired into his brain.
He fell silent, almost like he was dead. Except a smile crept on his face. His pupils dilated like he was given drugs, a relaxer instead of a stimulant and the flat panel screens in the room began to be flooded with images.
Images of waking up in bed. His wife, the now dead Kate, smiling at him as they laid together. But her eyes were glazed over and the happiness on her face didn’t reach them. They held hands and talked.
Then the images flashed forward to the kitchen. Tim helped set the table. The doorbell rang and he greeted his guests, showing them to the dining room.
Kate brought the food to the table on a serving tray. Beside the beef and gravy boat was a shining metal pie server. The images swept across the table and Tim spoke with a raising voice. “Pie server? Where are the peas?”
Her voice was melancholy. There was no rise and falls that would indicate something was wrong. It was like she was reading off cue cards. “Oh, I forgot the peas. I’ll try to get some defrosted.”
“Defrosted?” Tim’s voice was filled with stress. His hand gripped the pie server. He stood and then the final act was taken.
The pie server was plunged deep through her sternum. Tim gave her a shove and she fell backwards, the hand breaking off in his hand.
No one spoke. Her body thudded to the ground. Tim didn’t watch as he sat back down. His voice was again happy. The stress was gone. “May I pass anyone the gravy?”
The images were cut off and bile rose in Jenna’s throat. These weren’t the glistenings she knew from New Haven 56. Everything was all wrong. These glistenings were like…mindless robots. Maybe she shouldn’t have cared. But if things were different, that would be her living in that house, wired with a kill harness that not only governed her life, but controlled her emotions. Robbed her of who she was.
Absently she rubbed her neck. Her thoughts flashed to baby Travis, the growing cells in her uterus that would one day be a baby, if she went through with it.
If.
Dirk shifted beside her and tension wafted off him. “This is…”
“Crazy.” Jenna murmured, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the glass. The room was now swarming with technicians. Tim was examined, his harness under close inspection.
“How did they develop this thing? How did they know what it could do?”
Jenna didn’t have an answer. Not one she was comfortable saying out loud. She was supposed to be retired, damn it. But the more she saw. The more she knew, felt, that retirement was getting further and further away. New Haven wasn’t hers to fix, but if not her, who? Glistenings were monsters, but did that mean they deserved to be treated like anything less than living creatures?
Rats in a maze were treated better.
The door latch was open and Jenna jumped. Startled, she turned her head and saw Al Briggs. She turned toward him. “Chief.”
His gaze didn’t meet her eyes. “Morgan, while I appreciate what you alerted us to, I can’t say I’m happy you disobeyed a direct order to stay in your quarters.”
“Needed to stretch my legs.” Jenna said.
Briggs went ‘hmmf’ with a nod.
Dirk crossed his arms. “Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room? News reports and briefings all told us the harness was nothing but a failsafe. But what we’re seeing here, it’s obvious more than that.”
“In other words,” Jenna’s eyes flashed with the anger growing in the pit of her stomach, “what the fuck is going on here?”
Briggs wiped at his mouth. “It doesn’t leave this room. If it is leaked to the press or your friend Seers in the senate--.”
“She’s no friend of mine.” Jenna sneered.
Dirk agreed. “Jenna would kill her for fun if it wouldn’t get her arrested.”
“Happily.” She sneered.
There was a moment of silence. Jenna could see the wheels of B
rigg’s mind spinning in the reflection of his eyes. “The harness plugs into the amygdala in their brain. When they are happy, content, the harness does nothing. It allows them to continue on in their lives. But when they feel intense emotions…it triggers and returns them to a docile state. Anger, passion, it’s no longer allowed in New Haven.
“After what happened in 56, we can’t risk any more uprisings. The harness is supposed to keep them docile.”
“Except it failed.” Jenna sighed and glanced back at Tim.
“A bug.” Brigg’s corrected. “But we’ll get it worked out.”
“Worked out.” Jenna echoed with a haunt to her voice.
“How did you even get this thing tested? How did you know this had any hope of working?” Dirk asked.
“There’s only one way.” Jenna said. “You’ve been testing it on living glistenings. Or well, at least once they were living.”
Brigg’s face fell and his cheeks reddened.
“Which is why you don’t want the senate to know.” Dirk said. “Glistening test subjects were outlawed a long time ago.”
“They’re animals.” Brigg’s teeth gritted. “Monsters. So yeah, we damn well tested it on them. And we’ll do it again. We’ll keeping doing it until we have the system perfected.”
“Tim will never get out of here.” Jenna faced the window. Tim was sedated and a technician put an oxygen mask over his face. He had an IV running from his hand and she wondered what was being pumped through his veins.
“I’m not the bad guy here. I respect what you stand for. The both of you. But I’m not the one who sanctioned the testing. I’m not the one who came up with the pilot program.”
“But you’ll defend it. Keep it secret from the public. Make sure the government never knows what’s really going on here?” Jenna sighed and shook her head. All her adult life she believed the New Haven project to be the answer to the world’s problem. The infestation of the glistenings, but now…
Now she didn’t know what to think.
Why did humans keep looking like the bad guy? Why was her gut telling her she was on the wrong side? Humans weren’t the blood suckers so why did she care so much about what was happening to the glistenings?
