Bloom

by Kenneth Oppel

  “Is this what you look like in your dreams?” she asked.

  He shrugged. She didn’t seem angry like Petra, but he didn’t know how much more he should say. She probably thought he was crazy now. “Sometimes. Some of it I just make up.”

  She paused and frowned at something at the bottom of the page.

  He followed her gaze. It was just a doodle, really. A curling vine with little bulging sacs, and sprigs of dark berries.

  Just like the black vines.

  His mouth went dry.

  “When did you do this?” Anaya asked.

  He said, “At least six months ago.”

  “ANAYA, WAKE UP, PLEASE.”

  She opened her eyes and saw Carlene Lee standing beside the bed, smiling apologetically. Across the room, Petra was sitting up, looking bleary.

  “What time is it?” Anaya asked.

  “Seven o’clock,” Carlene told her. “Dr. Weber wants to go over your test results.”

  “Is something wrong?” Petra asked, and Anaya felt her own heart give a thump.

  “I’m sure she’ll explain everything,” Carlene said. “She’s waiting in the living room. I’ll just put out some breakfast things.”

  She closed the door behind her as she left.

  “Well,” Petra said, “the good news is I don’t think I can get any more freaked out.”

  After Seth had shown them his dream drawings, it had taken Anaya forever to get back to sleep. She didn’t know what to think. The one that was supposed to be her didn’t look like any creature she’d ever seen. It was weirdly human and feline and kangaroo-like, and altogether otherworldly. Petra’s, on the other hand, resembled some kind of ferocious reptile. Anaya could totally understand why she’d stormed off in a fury.

  They were things from a comic book. They should have been easy to dismiss. But she couldn’t. And that picture of the black vine—if Seth was telling the truth, he’d drawn it months before they’d ever appeared on Earth. Which was beyond creepy.

  Anaya looked at her friend, saw the shadows under her eyes, and the fear inside them. For so long she’d thought Petra led a charmed life, and Anaya had never let herself imagine what it must really be like for her: how scary her water allergy must be. And now this.

  She gave Petra’s hand a quick squeeze. “Maybe Dr. Weber has some good news for us.”

  “She’d better. I’ve got a ton of questions.”

  Hurriedly they pulled on their clothes. They entered the living room at the same time as Seth. He had bed head, and wore his usual jeans and hoodie. In the living room, Dr. Weber sat in an armchair, a file folder on her lap. She looked like someone trying very hard to appear relaxed and normal.

  “Sorry for the early wake-up, guys,” she said. “Take a seat.”

  Anaya tried to guess what she was about to tell them. The doctor’s cheeks looked a tiny bit flushed. Carlene finished setting out some boxes of cereal and cartons of juice on the kitchen table, and now sat down in a nearby armchair and tapped her pen against her clipboard, before stopping herself.

  Anaya’s stomach jittered nervously.

  “We have your DNA results back,” Dr. Weber said. “And we’ve found—”

  “Before we begin,” Carlene interrupted, “I need to say that medical results should only be discussed in the presence of the children’s legal guardians.”

  “Yes, I apologize,” said Dr. Weber, “but we haven’t been able to arrange transportation for the parents yet.”

  “Is it possible to delay this conversation until—”

  “Just tell us!” said Anaya. “Please!”

  Carlene asked, “Are you all comfortable hearing these results without—”

  “Yes!” said Petra.

  “I’ll note that, then,” said Carlene, prissily jotting on her clipboard.

  Dr. Weber leaned forward slightly in her chair. “We’ve analyzed your DNA, and there are sequences in your genomes that we’ve never seen before.”

  “That’s what you were hoping for, right?” Anaya said. “The things that make us immune to the plants.”

  “Absolutely,” Dr. Weber said.

  “Great,” said Anaya.

  “What surprised us was the sheer number of unusual sequences in your DNA.”

  Anaya shifted uneasily in her chair. “How many?”

  “Millions. In fact, only half of your DNA is familiar to us.”

  “Familiar?” Petra said.

  Dr. Weber’s index finger traced the edge of the file folder, back and forth. She said, “Only half is identifiable as human.”

  “Whoa,” said Seth quietly.

  “So, what’s the other half?” Anaya asked.

  “I think,” Carlene Lee said, “that this conversation is upsetting—”

  “Shush!” Anaya told her.

  “The other half,” Dr. Weber said, “is highly irregular, but there are quite a few sequences we’ve only seen in one other place.”

  “Where?” Seth asked.

  “The cryptogenic plants. The black grass. The pit plants and their vines.”

  Anaya had the strangest feeling she’d floated free of her body and was watching all this from overhead.

  “I told you!” Petra cried, her voice panicky. “The water and those berries messed us up!”

  “Petra,” said Dr. Weber calmly. “There’s no way washing with the rainwater or eating the berries could have altered the DNA in every cell of your body.”

  “So, how else did it get in there, then?”

  “Well,” said Dr. Weber, “first of all, believe it or not, humans and plants share a lot of the same DNA. You might not have known this, but humans have sixty percent of the exact same DNA as bananas.”

  “Okay,” Anaya said, “but how did alien—I mean, cryptogenic—plant DNA get inside us?”

  “It was there to begin with,” Seth said.

  Anaya looked over at him in surprise. He’d said it with perfect calm, sitting very still and intent on the sofa.

  “What’re you talking about?” Petra demanded.

  “Dr. Weber,” said Carlene Lee, “I must recommend we stop—”

  “Shut up, Carlene!” Petra snapped.

  “Seth’s correct,” Dr. Weber said. “You were all born with it.”

  Anaya sat there, empty and wordless, feeling like her mind had been blasted clear by a gale-force wind. She didn’t know if she was beyond surprise, or simply not surprised at all.

  Dr. Weber continued. “Half your DNA is human and absolutely from your mothers. We know that from the samples they gave me yesterday. And, Seth, I’m sure your portion of human DNA is also from your mother.”

  “So the other half…,” Anaya began, and didn’t finish her sentence.

  No one had to.

  * * *

  “YOU’RE SAYING WE’RE aliens?” Petra demanded.

  Dr. Weber cleared her throat. “Petra, that’s not the language we’d use to—”

  “Right, whatever! You’re saying we cryptogens!”

  “No. Only half your DNA is cryptogenic.”

  “Oh, phew!” She gave a strangled laugh. “Only half. That’s great!”

  “This is extremely hard to hear, I know,” Dr. Weber said.

  “This is garbage!” Petra said. “I’ve had a million blood tests, and I bet Anaya has, too. Because of our allergies. How come no one’s noticed this before?”

  “Because no one’s ever sequenced your DNA,” Dr. Weber said. “It’s completely possible your blood would present as normal.”

  “So you’re saying our mothers were, what, abducted? And these…these cryptogens did something”—the images were so awful Petra banished them instantly—“so we were born half human, half cryptogen?”

  “That is my working theory, yes,
” said Dr. Weber.

  “No.” Petra looked at Anaya and Seth, bewildered. “You guys don’t believe this, do you?”

  Anaya just sat there in shock, and Seth looked weirdly composed. Petra turned back to Dr. Weber.

  “Your tests must be wrong. Do them again!”

  “We’ve run them twice, Petra.”

  “People make mistakes all the time, okay? My dad works in a hospital and the stories he tells…even brilliant doctors make mistakes.”

  “I agree absolutely, but in this case there’s no chance of error.”

  Petra looked desperately at the social worker. “Carlene, this is crazy, right?”

  Carlene didn’t even try to paste on a fake smile. She looked pale, and her eyes darted away nervously. She was scared.

  “Only nutjobs believe in alien abduction!” Petra said. “I want to talk to my parents!”

  “This is a lot to take in—” Dr. Weber began.

  Seth interrupted her. “It happened to you. Didn’t it?”

  Petra frowned, and felt even more confused when Dr. Weber said, “Before this week, I would’ve denied it. But after meeting you three, and seeing the test results, yes, I believe I was abducted.”

  “Okay, no,” Petra said. “This is—”

  “What happened?” Anaya asked urgently.

  “I was on a camping trip with my husband. I couldn’t sleep so I left the tent to look at the stars. My husband joined me and said, ‘You’ve been out here a long time. I got worried.’ And I said, ‘I just sat down.’ When I looked at my phone, I saw that I’d been out there over an hour.”

  Petra sighed impatiently. “So you lost track of time. Or you fell asleep.”

  “Let her finish!” said Anaya.

  “A few weeks later I discovered I was pregnant. And I gave birth to a son who had arms just like Seth’s. If he’d lived, he would’ve been the same age. The same age as all of you. His birthday was June tenth.”

  Petra swallowed uneasily.

  “Mine’s June eleventh,” Seth said.

  “Ninth,” said Anaya, then looked at Petra. “And you’re the fourteenth.”

  Petra felt a tight ball of fear in her stomach. “This still doesn’t prove anything! It could all just be coincidence!”

  She looked to Anaya for support, but her friend’s chest was rising and falling fast. When she spoke, her voice was shaky.

  “Mom has this story, about how she was flying and lightning hit the wing. Everything was fine, all the controls still worked, except for the clock, which got shorted out. When she got back, they told her she was forty-five minutes behind schedule. She found out she was pregnant that month. She joked I was born from a lightning bolt.”

  The ball of fear in Petra’s stomach spread like an octopus uncoiling. “But what about the other people on the plane? They would’ve noticed something, right?”

  “There was only one other passenger,” Anaya told her. “Your mom.”

  * * *

  A STRANGE CALM had settled over Seth.

  So many years of wondering, and feeling he was different and strange—and now finally having the answer why. He was stunned but also relieved. There was a reason.

  “I think I’ve seen the cryptogens,” he told Dr. Weber.

  “How?” she asked, leaning forward. She looked equal parts eager and frightened.

  “In my dreams. And I’ve dreamed that we become—”

  “They’re just dreams!” Petra said, giving him a furious look.

  “I don’t know,” said Anaya. “He drew the black vines before he even saw them. He showed me in his sketchbook.”

  “Seth, may I see this sketchbook?” Dr. Weber asked.

  Petra stood suddenly, fists clenched. She was shaking. “No way. I am not turning into one of those things, Seth!”

  “This isn’t my fault!” he shouted back at her. “I didn’t do anything!”

  With an unsteady voice, Carlene said, “I think we need to calm down and—”

  “Carlene, we can’t calm down!” Petra yelled. “We’re half alien!”

  “Petra,” Dr. Weber said.

  Just the quiet way she said it made everyone take a breath, Seth included. Petra dropped limply back onto the sofa.

  “What’s going to happen to us?” she asked meekly.

  “I don’t know yet,” Dr. Weber said, “but I’m going to find out.”

  “I don’t want any more changes,” she said. “Can’t you fix us?”

  Dr. Weber said, “Listen to me. I’m going to do everything I can to take care of you.” She looked at Seth. “All of you.”

  He nodded. Over the years, he’d taught himself not to trust grown-ups, but he couldn’t help it: he trusted her.

  “I’m going to get you guys in the MRI scanner today,” Dr. Weber said calmly. “We’ll do full body scans. That’ll give us an idea if we can expect any more physical changes.”

  “Oh my God,” Petra said, covering her face with her hands.

  Anaya moved closer and put an arm over her shoulders. She leaned her head against Petra’s and said, “It’s okay.”

  “Fine for you,” Petra snapped. “You get to be sleek and beautiful!”

  “I’m getting claws!” Anaya protested.

  “Oh, boo-hoo! I’m turning into a crocodile!” She stood up. “I’m calling my parents.”

  “Wait,” said Dr. Weber. She took a breath. “You can’t call your parents yet.”

  Anaya frowned. “Why not?”

  “Right now the only people who know about this are us, and my team. And we need to keep it that way for a little bit. You included, Carlene.”

  “Dr. Weber,” the social worker said, shaking her head, “my job is to ensure the well-being and safety of these children—”

  “And you will be, believe me.”

  Dr. Weber sat forward, looking solemnly at Seth, then Anaya and Petra.

  “We’re on a military base. If this news gets out, I’m worried you won’t be safe. If Colonel Pearson learns you’re cryptogen hybrids, he may only see you as enemies.”

  “DO YOU THINK THEY’RE going to invade?” Petra asked quietly.

  “Haven’t they already?” said Anaya.

  “Only with plants.”

  Anaya snorted. Only plants. “Yeah, well, those plants are pretty good at killing people. And if the black grass keeps going, it’s going to starve everyone to death.”

  She and Petra were waiting alone in a small examination room curtained off from Dr. Weber’s lab. Through the wall she heard the bangbangbangbang of the MRI machine scanning Seth. They’d been taking turns so no one had to stay too long inside the claustrophobic tube. So far, she’d done two shifts. The first with her head in a weird kind of cage; the second with her torso wrapped in coils.

  Petra nodded. “I guess you’re right. The plants are doing all their dirty work.”

  “They’re trying to wipe us out,” Anaya said. “And we’re part them.”

  She’d taken a long, hot shower earlier, but she knew she couldn’t wash away that fact. It was inside every cell of her body, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about that.

  “I just want Dr. Weber to fix us,” Petra said. “I don’t want to change any more.”

  “We might not.”

  Petra’s eyes were darting everywhere, and Anaya could tell she was panicking. “If I change into that thing Seth showed us, I’ll be a monster, and who could ever—?”

  Love me. Anaya knew those were the unspoken words. She’d wondered exactly the same thing. Petra’s whole body sagged, and she looked at Anaya with the helpless eyes of a small child.

  “Your parents,” Anaya told her. “Your friends. Me.”

  Petra was shaking her head. “I won’t be me anymore.”

  An
aya took her hands. “No matter what happens, we’ll still be us.”

  It seemed so ridiculous now, all the time she’d spent worrying about how she looked on the outside. How much pleasure she was taking in her new, prettier face. Who knew if it would even last? Even with normal people, your outside changed all the time. Maybe the you traveling inside your body was the only thing you had any control over.

  Petra seemed a bit calmer now. Anaya was glad it was just the two of them, without the social worker hovering around, asking how they were feeling about everything. Carlene had said she had to check on her grandmother, and would be back before noon. It was strange to think of people having normal family things to do right now: visiting a seniors’ home, buying food, taking care of a child with a cold.

  Anaya couldn’t sit still, so she paced. She peeped through the curtain into the lab. Dr. Weber’s staff were working busily at their screens and instruments. Decoding their DNA and blood. Mapping their mysteries. All the scientists had stared when they’d arrived this morning. They all knew. She wondered what they saw: kids, freaks, alien monsters? She hoped Dr. Weber was right, and they could all be trusted to keep secrets.

  Dr. Weber parted the curtain and came inside the waiting room.

  “How’re you guys doing? Do you need more juice or snacks?”

  “Did you see anything in my scans?” Petra asked, sitting up tensely.

  “We’re just logging images right now,” Dr. Weber told her. “It’s going to take time to analyze the results.”

  Petra sagged into her chair, foot tapping.

  Dr. Weber sat down, and Anaya recognized Seth’s sketchbook among her file folders. She thought, Seth must really trust her, to let her look at it.

  “It’s quite a collection of images, isn’t it?” Dr. Weber said, catching her glance, and patting the cover.

  Petra let out a big sigh. “Yeah. If that’s me in there, someone’s going to put me in an aquarium. Or harpoon me.”

  Dr. Weber rocked her head from side to side. “I’m not sure how much weight we should give these pictures.”