Found in Amber

by Esther Rabbit

  Sam pulled at her pink and yellow striped socks and jumped in. “Yeah, Lilou was saying that there’s really no guarantee the former Chancellor’s going to help us. If he sees that we’re not held against our will and all the evidence, I mean that’s gotta count for something, right? He needs to see it!”

  “We do what we can with what we have, right?” Zoey shrugged, quoting Margaret. Happy moments were short lived lately and for what it was worth, the fact that her moms were not anywhere close to this madness, gave her a sense of peace.

  “It’s like berry picking in the dark, that’s what it is.” There was no break in the clouds for Sam, no obvious light at the end of the tunnel and much as she hated being the Debbie Downer in this situation, she feared the worst. “Do you really believe in James’s intentions? I mean, how do we know he’s not trying to ambush the rest on his home planet and pull up a surprise card there?”

  “Where would that leave Lilou’s sister?” Emma kept her voice down. “No, it’s certainly bigger than any of them had hoped.”

  “I know it’s weird, but I… a part of me trusts him,” Zoey confessed, half assaulted by Sam’s arched brows. She knew that face too well. “I’m not gonna lie and say all my feelings for him have vanished but—”

  “So you still love him?! After everything he’s done?” The very thought of James turned Sam’s stomach upside down. The evidence of who he really was lived on Mia’s skin. “And Jasper?” She couldn’t hide her disgust if she tried.

  “It’s complicated, okay?” Zoey jumped, unsure how to puzzle the pieces together. “James and I have history. I can’t just erase two years like they never happened. I can’t erase the lies and death and damage either, but underneath that thick skull, James is not a bad person!” The way Sam looked at her was the definition of disappointment. Zoey sighed, defeated by her own words. “Look, he could’ve killed everyone, but he didn’t. He’s right here, fighting on our same side against the same enemy.”

  “For as long as it’s convenient!” Sam scowled. “Look, you can’t do the things he did if it’s not rooted in your core, you know they beat Mia up, they tortured her to see how her enhancement reacted to stimuli, James and Beck kidnapped and altered people, I mean how are we not speaking the same language, Zoey? This is not the British travel blogger; he’s the fucking alien psychopath who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted! And Jasper?”

  “Jasper what?” It was Zoey’s cue to get frisky.

  Sam bounced off the bed, propping her hands on her hips. “You’re such a hypocrite!” She turned around waving a finger in the air. “I bet you’re fucking enjoying the reverse harem you got going on there!”

  “Enough! How is this conversation helping any of you?” Emma’s arms went up and her voice cracked. “We’re all tense, neither of us have any real clue if we’ll live or die, win or lose—have you stopped to think that maybe, just maybe this is our last day together?!” She brought her fingers to her collarbone like she did whenever she was stressed, tapping away.

  Seeing her like that scared both of them since neither stopped to even consider the possibility of not making it out alive. Emma spun around, brushing her fingers from her forehead upward, trying to hide her glossy eyes on her way up. “It made me think, you know” her voice broke down in sobs “it made me reconsider life, and what I want—who I want.” Dumbfounded, Sam and Zoey followed her every move, seeing how she stormed into the en suite and propped her hands against the sink before taking a big gulp of air. Watching Emma of all people trying to calm herself down was unsettling, but Sam moved closer and sat beside Zoey at the foot of the bed.

  “You want Frank.” The words slipped out of Zoey’s mouth with a gasp, realizing she thought it out loud. “Shit.” Sam elbowed her and made a face in an attempt to keep that mouth shut.

  Emma spun around, leaning against the vanity. Since the door was open, she had a clear view of the most confused looking audience she’d ever seen.

  “What? That’s all it took to shut you two up?” She forced a smile and walked toward them. Funny how vulnerable she felt now, in a foreign home, dressed in clothes she’d never wear again if she had a say in it and confessing something so… raw. She did miss Frank. And she hadn’t worn a decent skirt in too long.

  “Oh wow,” apparently, Zoey could talk and sigh at the very same time. Could it be that Emma’s been pulled out of her comfort zone too abruptly, that so many things had happened, so she only craved the peace and stability of Frank? Zoey couldn’t know for sure and she couldn’t voice it either.

  Sam on the other hand, had no resemblance of a filter. “Look, neither of us have our shit together right now, it’s like a darn limbo we’re all in and maybe you just miss that… having your shit together.” And that’s why in some weird way, Zoey felt like Sam was her better half. She spoke her mind regardless and voiced her thoughts as if they couldn’t turn into knives. Maybe she had indeed been a hypocrite for not saying it. And for going too easy on James.

  “I mean…” Sam continued, “when I look at Mia and Rufus—Carlos and I never had that… that longing that’s so pure and beautiful and perfect.” She brought her fists to her chest. “And I know now, I know it in my heart that it wasn’t meant to be, that it wasn’t the real deal.”

  “What is the real deal though?” Emma curled a hand around her elbow, looking rattled and edgy. A nervous kind of energy buzzed through her limbs making it difficult to stay put. Sam and Zoey shared a glance as if daring each other to go first.

  Sam shrugged. What she was about to admit made her uneasy. “I—I’m actually starting to think I’ve never had the real deal, like the whole package. I had the great sex, the good vibe and awesome conversation, the supercompatible brainwaves, but not all in one. More like scattered among different individuals. Carlos was amazing in bed but we never clicked on an emotional level. And our sense of humor was so different but hey—if Zoey hit it off with not one but two aliens, I mean cultural differences can’t be it!” A devilish smirk pulled at Sam’s lips and Zoey resisted the impulse of sending another cushion for her face.

  This definitely lightened the mood for Emma who took the floor, facing the two with half a smile. “Did you and James have the real deal?”

  “It would be kind of hard to be completely infatuated with someone for over two years, don’t you think?” Would it? Zoey wasn’t so sure herself. Not anymore. “James was my first real boyfriend, not a fling, not a high school crush but the move-in-with type of guy. And it was good.”

  And Sam felt the need to be Sam. “Well your fairy godmother sure turned that carriage around didn’t she? Pure poppycock if you ask me!” She waved her ever-knowing nose in the air.

  “James taught you that word!” Zoey snapped, and this time, Emma’s half smile turned full. “I actually think it’s sexy.” She swung her nose in the opposite direction like an Aristocat.

  Sam crossed her arms with a temper. “Excuse me?! You wouldn’t know sexy if it bit you in the ass!” She joked, rolling her eyes in another signature move. Poking Zoey had to be among her favorite things, right there with the ‘rainbows on roses and whiskers on kittens’.

  And Zoey was not one to shut up either. “Real knee-slapper there, Sam.”

  “You know I love ya.”

  “I wouldn’t let you bully me otherwise.” Zoey head bumped her, again, like a cat.

  “I hate to break up the romance,” Emma said, “but where does Jasper fit in? Have you guys talked? Having James gravitating around you like this can’t be easy on him.”

  Zoey sighed and pulled herself further on the bed. “I told him I loved him.” Before Emma’s mouth hit the floor, she rushed. “Okay, I know it’s weird, it’s too soon, we have a lot on our plates and we don’t know each other that well, but I said it and it’s true...” A knock on the door startled her enough to grab onto Sam’s arm and dig her fingers in.

  When Lilou’s voice chirped from the other side, the three of them released their breath. �
�Guys, you know I find knocking pointless, right?” Emma jumped to her feet and opened the door.

  Still geared up, Lilou’s footsteps made their way into the room.

  γ

  “So tomorrow’s the day, man.” Rufus poked a finger against Jasper’s shoulder, not particularly fond of his ambassador uniform. “Is it weird I’m not even a little freaked out?” If anything, his voice went up a notch.

  Jasper shot him a glance over his shoulder, throwing in a reassuring smile. “It’s weird alright.” The crisp evening air became visible in the shape of small goosebumps on Rufus’s arm, but he’d been stuck to Jasper all day and wasn’t planning on leaving. Not that Jasper didn’t enjoy his company. In fact, hanging out with Rufus on the terrace was far better than listening to Etienne filling Alex in with the latest details in the office downstairs and vice versa. He’d give about anything not having to watch him rub his palms like he made a habit of whenever he came up with something.

  He was a damn good strategist, Etienne. Not admitting the hybrids actually progressed in their training would’ve been nuts, yet even so, he wasn’t getting a pat on the back from Jasper. He sighed, shifting his weight on his hands that were now propped on the stone rail and fixed his gaze on the gardens ahead. The fog had dispersed in the evening, replaced by a breeze that was making Rufus’s chin quiver.

  “You should head inside, be with Mia.” Jasper urged. “Unless you plan on bringing boogers into our pristine optan atmosphere tomorrow.” His brows shot up jokingly as he spun around.

  Rufus crossed his arms over his chest and pulled himself up into a sitting position on the sturdy rail. “You’re so full of it, you know that? Why don’t you open up, man, talk to me. You haven’t said a damn thing since the enemy’s been sleeping under our roof. How are you holding up?”

  “It would’ve been a lot easier to hate Etienne if I doubted his intentions.” Knowing how much they needed him was frustrating. In fact, Etienne’s actions seemed more certain to him than Zoey’s feelings right now.

  “So you’re what?” Rufus scratched his beard, zeroing in on Jasper. “Waiting to see if she’ll give in? If she’ll fall for him again?” Etienne had been anything but discreet since he arrived.

  “This is a particularly complicated context.” Leave it to Jasper to give a board meeting type of reply, just when Rufus thought he softened a little.

  “Would your Excellency care to pontificate a little less and maybe cut the crap altogether? What gives?”

  “It’s not about what she deserves; it’s about what she wants. If you ask me, she deserves a normal, healthy relationship with someone of her kind, not me and certainly not Etienne!”

  “So since Mia and I are both hybrids, we’re a good fit then, is that what you’re saying?” For someone who always said humans lived on hope, Jasper sure looked like he could use some right about now. “Do you think Mezin regrets faking her death to be with the one she loves—which by the way is not of her kind? No, man! Because you’d risk everything and Etienne has the winning hand only because he understands that! Look, Mia’s probably going to kick my ass if she finds out I told you this, but fuck the rest man, fuck walking on eggshells because that bastard’s here, fuck putting the rest of us and our planet first, you get your woman!”

  A smile pulled at Jasper’s lips. Rufus had painted quite the picture. “I’ll tell you what—if we actually get a standing chance tomorrow, I might just bust her door down, throw her on my shoulder and be done with it.”

  “What if we don’t, though?”

  “It’s no use going back to yesterday,

  I was a different person then.”

  Lewis Carroll—Alice in Wonderland

  Sam took a good look at the crew about to depart and swallowed her worst fears. They were all grouped together, Lilou at the center of it all, Jasper, Rufus and James behind her, Mia and Zoey at her side. They shared the symmetry of a 90’s band, the optans geared up in their uniforms and the girls in their navy blue sweatpants, white t-shirts and matching hoodies.

  If circumstances were different, Sam would’ve come up with a corny band name to say the least. Now however, she had to pull a confident face to mask the turmoil. Beside her, Emma and Mezin followed something Alex was showing them on the intersat, and by the looks of it, each dot represented a member of the crew about to take off. You didn’t need to be an expert in optan tech to realize James’s kalenium implants served the same purpose as the fancy bands they were given on their first time around the time loop. Every hybrid blinked in a different color on the intersat, their heart rate and other shenanigans coming alive under Alex’s touch.

  Zoey hated having all eyes on her like that, even if it was just to check the latest technicalities. Her fingers twitched with a nervous energy as she glanced at Lilou with the corner of her eye.

  Looking anything but nervous in her superhero-like outfit, Lilou busied herself adjusting her sleeves. “Ready when you are, Alex.” She nodded playfully as if she didn’t top the most wanted list on her home planet.

  Alex was quick to nod back as he placed the intersat on the improvised station in the ballroom leading to the terrace and took a seat. “Mezin was nice enough to provide us with earpieces that are supposed to work for intergalactic communication and all this tech.” The coffee table was full to the brim with equipment projecting images for all to witness. “This is all new,” Alex said referring to the intersat he was working on “but I trust Mezin for technical support, so you guys should be in good hands. It’s not advised for the hybrids to wear any earpieces outside of the must moments—it can be quite distracting if you’re not used to one.”

  “Anything else?” Mia was getting impatient.

  Alexandre’s eyes locked on hers. “Just be careful. You’re all set.”

  With the exact coordinates in mind, Mia’s hand sunk in the pale green rug.

  γ

  Rufus had been told they’d land directly into the former Chancellor’s house but the room they found themselves in looked nothing like a home. He was able to identify a bed though, levitating close to one of the room’s almost translucent walls. Even the floor and ceiling looked foreign, evolving in what seemed like a watercolor pattern in shades of green.

  The more he looked around, the less he recognized—no switches on the walls, no light fixtures, no sockets, no furniture… no doors. The glass wall though, stretched from side to side revealing a glimpse of the most unexpected view.

  “Is that… your moon?” Rufus couldn’t help himself. Hanging low on the horizon was the perfect outline of a single planet under a violet sky, so close that he could make out every single crater.

  “We have a binary planet system, so we share an orbit with planet Zii.” Jasper patted his back.

  Eyes wide, staring at the impossible, Rufus couldn’t seem to detach himself from that sight. “Isn’t that technically impossible? I mean with the gravitational pull and all?”

  “Not for billions of years to come.” Lilou kept her voice low and gave Jasper a nod. “Keep your voice down, Rufus.” Next thing, a door slid out of nowhere, and a plump optan lady in her forties pushed through. It took one look at the unexpected guests to drop the many folders she was holding and take a couple of clumsy steps back. Thanks to the earpiece carefully jammed in his left ear, Rufus was actually able to understand the lady’s words.

  “I—I know who you are.” She broke, keeping her eyes pinned on them. A hot flush swept over her, observing one-by-one the optans responsible for her partner’s demise. “It’s your fault they took him! They said you’d come and finish the job.” Her eerie gray eyes fell on Lilou. “Finish it!” She dared, visibly shaken. Droplets of sweat gathered at her temples, and much to her surprise, her body language was anything but in tune with her words. She was scared.

  Lilou whispered her name in her thoughts and her startled eyes locked on Lilou’s. “I worked with your partner for a long time and we’re not here to hurt you. The current Chancellor is cor
rupted, many officials of the Alliance as well, we suspect.”

  “Don’t you think I know?” The lady’s voice erupted with dread, “why would they frame him otherwise? You’re all on a different side of corruption. Except him. His only fault was getting caught in your sick crossfire!” Although her mouth didn’t move in tune with her words, there was no doubt in Zoey’s mind she believed in her partner’s innocence. ‘Life partner’ had been the words Richard used when trying to convince her to go against James. The lady jerked, her pace coming to a halt when the ambassador spoke.

  “We’ll get him out, you have my word.” Jasper’s voice rang with the same authority he exercised. “Where is he?”

  Somehow, the woman lifted her head, suddenly intrigued by his words. The way she looked at him, at his uniform, showed that she knew exactly who Jasper was. “They just took him.” She shook her head, powerless. Her voice however, softened a little. “I was told to call the Minister directly if you made an appearance.” Her kalenium band projected a string of symbols the earthlings couldn’t decipher.

  “I know exactly where he is.” Jasper’s eyes met Lilou’s in a silent stare. She nodded in return, taking a step closer to the optan woman.

  “We’re not the enemy and we have the evidence needed to clear your partner’s name,” Lilou said. “I know you’d be risking a lot by not exposing us, but please, give us a chance. They’ve tried to frame us all, just like they’re doing with the Chancellor.”

  The woman’s gray eyes jumped from Lilou to the rest of the hybrids and lingered on Zoey and Rufus. “They’re not our own, are they?” Zoey gasped, swallowing hard. Optans didn’t have gingers, this much she remembered Alex saying. Between Rufus’s staggering beard and her untamed curls, they were bound to be walking targets. It dawned on her like an aftershock: here, they were the aliens.

  A soft smile crept at Lilou’s lips. “They’re not. They’re here to help us rescue your partner.”