by Sarah Carter
“Get yourself some too,” Trinity instructs.
He kisses her again. “I will.” He meanders his way to the food line. He puts a variety of pancakes onto plates and then makes his way back to Trinity. Dr. Galliger is talking to her.
“So, you go to Shima,” he starts.
“Yes, there I sense the person. I feel their energy.”
“You can differentiate the energies?” Dr. Galliger gasps.
She nods. “It’s how I jump into them.”
“You jump into them…”
“Yes, I literally walk into them and I disappear, just to reappear in their head,” Trinity says. “I didn’t know I could do it until I did it by accident.”
“I thought they didn’t have to be in Shima for you to do it.”
“They don’t,” Trinity replies. “It’s like everyone has doorways. That’s how they get in and out of Shima. I feel their energy through these doorways. I just walk through them.”
Dr. Galliger leans in, obviously very interested in what she’s saying. “So, the Neturu each has a doorway in which we come and go.”
“Yes,” Trinity replies. “It’s not like a door. Knock Knock.” She giggles and squishes up her nose. “It’s just like a whole in the wall and I walk through it. Swoosh. And then I’m in their head.”
“So, you couldn’t do multiple people at once then,” Xander says, bending over to cut up the pancakes for her.
Trinity shakes her head. “I’ve never tried and I don’t know if I can.”
“Lexi can go to multiple people at once,” Dr. Galliger says.
“I am literally in their heads,” Trinity replies. “I doubt I would be able to go through different doorways at once.”
“This whole doorway thing is fascinating. There have been minimal studies done on Shima since we can’t do any tests while in Shima, other than externally. If what you say is true, that opens a thousand new theories. I cannot wait to scan you while you are projecting yourself inside someone’s head.”
“We can do that today, but I’m really hungry,” Trinity states.
Xander puts the plate of pancakes in front of her and puts a fork in her hand. “There you go.”
“Thanks honey,” Trinity says. She reaches her hand out to feel the plate. With that she takes a bite. “Mmmmm,” she hums. “That’s so good. Which one was that?”
“That was chocolate chip,” Xander replies. “Move to the right and that’s blueberry.” She takes a bite and hums in happiness again.
Dr. Galliger stands up. “Whenever you are ready today, I would like to do some tests on you. I personally am handling you, Lexi and Jennifer. The other kids are with different capable sets of doctors and scientists.”
“Will Mr. Paulson be there?” Xander asks, taking a bite of pancake.
“He’s seeing what data got retrieved from the hard drives. It’s in code and we are working to break it. We do have the most intelligent code breakers on the planet working on it, so I don’t think it will take that long. They are already starting to deconstruct it.”
“That’s good,” Xander says. “We will come and find you when we are done eating.”
“Very well, come into the main room,” Dr. Galliger says. “I will set up a few tests to do.”
“Okay.” Xander smiles and Dr. Galliger walks away. “Eat up babe. There’s lots to do today.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she replies. They silently eat and hum happily. Finally, Trinity puts down her fork. “That was so good, but I’m stuffed.”
“You ate almost seven pancakes,” Xander laughs. “Of course you are going to be full.”
She rubs her stomach and smiles. “It was just so good. We’ve never had food like that before. You must remember how awful the institutes meals were.”
They hear, “You just wait. You have no idea what you are in store for.” Xander looks up to his right. Mason is standing there with Ariel and Aurora. He grins at Xander. “So, how’d you guys sleep?”
“Dude,” Xander growls. “Shut up.”
“I slept like a baby,” Mason sighs, resting his hands on top of his head. “Ariel wore me out.”
“MASON!” She screams.
Aurora makes a gagging face. “I seriously don’t want to hear about it.”
“We did not have sex,” Ariel snaps.
“It wouldn’t matter if you did,” Trinity says. “We are on our way to do more testing. Would you like to come with?”
“Umm, yeah,” Aurora replies. “I want to know everything on what makes us different.”
“Then let’s go,” Xander suggests.
They make their way to the exam room. Dr. Galliger is at the computer panel looking at some charts. “What ya looking at?” Mason asks.
Dr. Galliger turns around. “Oh, hi guys. I’m looking at the charts of some of the kids.”
“Any news?” Xander asks, leading Trinity inside the room. He walks her to a chair and she sits down.
He nods. “Yes, most of the kids are full Neturu. So far, four are half Kenga and half Neturu.”
“Does that mean they are going to get powers?” Trinity asks. “What could possibly more happen?”
“There’s no way to know. We haven’t done enough tests to see if there are markers for your abilities. That’s why we want to do as many studies on your powers as possible.”
“How are you going to do studies on Aurora and me?” Ariel asks. “We won’t fit into the scanner.”
“There’s nothing you can turn into that’s smaller,” Dr. Galliger counters. “Nothing at all.”
Ariel shrugs. “We haven’t found anything yet. The whole point behind us is that we turn into things twice as big.”
“We will have to do some trials,” Dr. Galliger mutters, looking at her.
She furrows her eyebrows and gets a worried look on her face. “Trials?”
“Oh, NO!” Dr. Galliger exclaims. “I’m so sorry. We won’t do anything you don’t want to. We just want to figure out why you guys are so different. We would never force you to do anything. If at any point you are uncomfortable, please tell us. We will stop.”
“Really?”
“Of course. You will never have to go through that again. You are safe. You are safe and independent. You make your own choices. All of you kids. Well, to certain extent with the little ones. They are going to need some parent figures.”
Aurora puts her hand to her chest. “We are their parents.”
“Don’t you think it would be good for them to have real families,” Dr. Galliger says. “We are looking to pair them up with couples that want children. Councilors, doctors, people who know what’s going on. The Neturu take care of their own. They will be well taken care of.”
“Really?”
“Yes, of course,” Dr. Galliger. “We are going to pair up some of the children. We have noticed that there are kids that are closer to ones more than others. Our councilors know what they are doing. We have had a thousand years of being an advanced race. We know what we are doing.”
She smiles. “That sounds amazing. For them to have real homes. To be safe. That is all we have ever wanted.”
“You also will be put up with families,” Dr. Galliger says.
“Us? Why would we be put up with families?” Trinity asks, sitting up, looking confused. “We’re all adults.”
“Who don’t know much about the outside world. You would not be parented, more like sponsored. You will need some guidance.”
Trinity reaches out for Xander and he takes her hand. “Will we be paired up together?”
“I would believe so,” Dr. Galliger replies. “You’re adults in adult relationships.”
“I want to be with my sister,” Aurora declares nervously.
“Of course, I wouldn’t think otherwise. This will all be done in steps. For now we are going to keep you on the ship. It’s the best for everyone until we figure things out.”
Suddenly, they hear, “Uncle Mason!” squealed fr
om the hallway.
He bends down and scoops Lexi into his arms. “Hi honey.”
Claire and Damien come running into the room. “Lexi,” Damien gasps. “We said no powers.” He bends over. “Holy cow.”
“Sissy,” Claire snorts. “Honey, no powers. Remember?”
Lexi squeals again. “Uncle Mason!”
“We are sort of partial for each other,” Mason laughs. “Right honey? Who’s going to spoil you rotten?”
“Uncle Mason!”
“Who’s going to come and get you when you get suspended for being sassy?”
Grinning, Lexi yells, “Uncle Mason!”
“Who’s going to bail you out of jail?”
“Uncle Mason!”
“WHAT?” Claire and Damien scream.
Mason laughs and Lexi giggles. “We are only teasing. We rehearsed that like a hundred times.”
“Not funny,” Damien snarls, though a smile is twitching on his mouth. Mason just wiggles his eyebrows in response. “Anyway, she was desperate to see you.”
“Auntie Trinity,” Lexi says, squirming around. Mason sets her down and Lexi goes running to Trinity. “Auntie Trinity, scammer.”
“We were going to get there,” Dr. Galliger says.
“Auntie Trinity scammer,” Lexi says again. “Then Auntie Trinity comes to Lexi.”
Everyone turns to her. “What do you mean she can come to you?” Claire gasps. “You can go to Shima?”
“Uh huh,” Lexi hums, playing with Trinity’s hair. “Lexi go just now. Lexi so small.”
“Yeah, we don’t start going to Shima until we are older and shift,” Damien replies. “What happens when you go to Shima?”
Lexi hops down and runs into the scanner. She sits down and crosses her legs. Closing her eyes, she becomes perfectly still. Dr. Galliger hits the screens. The energy graph pops up and a hissing sound can be heard. “Oh my god!” Claire yells. The energy point is at the top of the screen, maxing out levels. “Is she okay?”
“She seems to be fine,” Dr. Galliger stutters. “The energy she is producing…is out of my realm of possibility.”
“Go to her,” Xander tells Trinity. “Quickly.” Trinity nods, closes her eyes and becomes still.
There is only silence as they watch the graph. The hissing sound from the scanner gets louder. “Pull her out,” Dr. Galliger instructs.
Claire jumps forward and lifts Lexi out of the scanner. Little Lexi opens her eyes. “Mommy! Mommy come to Shima?”
“I can’t. I can’t without energy sweetie,” Claire replies.
“Mommy sit down. Mommy hold Lexi. Mommy go to Shima.”
She looks at her apprehensively, but Claire sits down. Lexi closes her eyes again. Claire looks at Damien. “Well, try…” he snaps.
Claire closes her eyes. “Here I go.”
Chapter 19
Claire
She closes her and takes a deep breath. Claire harnesses her energy and then relaxes. The vacuum backwards starts but then she is yanked forward and thrusted into Shima. Claire lands on her hands and knees. Looking up, she sees Lexi. “Mommy!” Lexi squeals.
Claire stands up. “How am I in here?”
“Lexi bammery for Mommy,” Lexi yells, jumping around.
“You’re a battery for me?” Claire gasps.
“Uh huh,” Lexi says, still hopping around.
“Claire,” she hears from beside her. Trinity is standing there. “I didn’t think you could come to Shima. Xander told me.”
Claire shakes her head. “I can’t, but Lexi just told me she was a battery for me. The discs make me create energy, but it’s too strong. Usually, I maul Damien.”
“What maul Mommy?” Lexi giggles.
Her eyes widen and Claire says, “We play chess.”
“What Chess?”
“It’s a game,” Claire replies, looking at Trinity. Trinity is obviously trying to not laugh.
Lexi beams up at her. “Lexi loves games.”
“This game is too old for you,” Claire states. “So, you can charge me huh?”
“Mommy full charge,” Lexi replies. “Mommy take energy from Shima.”
She shakes her head. “I can absorb energy from here?”
“Uh huh,” Lexi says. She jumps at Claire and Claire picks her up.
Their surroundings suddenly change. “Where are we?” Claire asks.
“Jiub,” Trinity replies. “The ruins of Asna.”
Claire spins on her. “I realize we all have a hidden memory of this place, but how do you know where we are?” She looks down at Lexi. “How do you know where we are?”
“We were taught,” Trinity says. She walks over to the far wall. “This is the great temple for the Kenga. It was destroyed.”
“By Neturu?” Claire gasps.
Trinity nods. “Over two hundred Kenga died. It wasn’t on purpose. We were at least taught that. It was a misfire, but still, this temple was over a thousand years old. It lays in ruins now. Much like most of Jiub.” She turns and looks at Claire. “We left them there. The least intelligent of the species. We left them there to die. They wouldn’t know the first thing about healing the planet.”
A sickening feeling stirs in Claire’s stomach. “I had never thought about that.”
“They were simple,” Trinity says, running her hands down the engravings. “They found what would kill us but it was their ruler. Sharnak. He started the war. It always takes one in power.”
“The council tried to negotiate with him. He just had the guards killed. Thusly, why our guards started to train. They weren’t originally an army at all. They were ambassadors.”
Crossing her arms, Trinity says, “It’s a big game of he said, she said. We will never know the truth.”
“Lexi Kenga!” Lexi squeals.
“Yes, you are honey,” Claire whispers, hugging her close. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Lexi no want to go to Jiub,” Lexi murmurs, looking down.
Claire pulls her head up to look her in the eyes. “She will never get to you again. We will do whatever it takes to catch her. I will always protect you honey. Always.”
“Daddy come.”
Suddenly, Damien is next to them. “You are fully charged,” he gasps. “You created energy without overloading.”
“She’s a battery for me,” Claire replies. “What the discs do but it doesn’t amp me up to dangerous levels.”
“Lexi show Daddy.”
“Lexi show Daddy what?” Damien asks.
Their surroundings are suddenly a room. It’s lilac purple. There is a rocking horse in the corner. A purple canopy bed. Toys everywhere. A giant doll house in the opposite corner. “Put Lexi down Mommy.” Claire sets her down. Lexi goes running over to the other wall. There’s a door. She opens it. It leads to a small room. There are art supplies everywhere. “Uncle Jackson makes Lexi stumio.”
“An art studio of your very own,” Claire laughs. “How cool.”
“Uncle Jackson teach Lexi paint.”
“That’s so neat,” Claire replies. “Are you going to paint me pictures?”
“Uh huh,” Lexi replies. “Put up in kitchen. Daddy look when he cooks.”
Damien gets down on his knees in front of her. “We can put your art all over the house. Daddy will always love to see it.” Lexi beams. “So this is your room in the future? You’re showing us the future?” Lexi nods. “Can you show us other stuff in the future?”
“Lexi not supposed to,” Lexi whispers. “Future Lexi tell little Lexi.”
“Anything, because this is incredible.”
Suddenly, the room disappears and they are in a crowd of people. They stand up. Claire bends down and picks Lexi up. “Oh my god,” Claire gasps. She watches an older Kayla walk down the aisle to a waiting Jackson. “This is their wedding. I can’t tell them.”
“No tell Mommy,” Lexi instructs seriously.
Claire scans what’s she’s seeing. Tracy is the maid of honor. Damien is the
best man. Claire is standing there, holding a 5 years old Lexi’s hand. “You’re the flower girl,” Claire laughs.
“Lexi spreads the flowers alllllll over the floor. Lexi take too long and people push Lexi while laughing.”
“This is incredible,” Damien gasps. “We are seeing the future. We can’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”
“Time shift Daddy.”
“Yeah, it would create a major time shift. Who knew I would end up as Jackson’s best man. Like, really? We hated each other.”
Smiling, Claire says, “Not anymore.”
“No more Shima Mommy,” Lexi states.
“Okay,” she replies, setting her down. “Let’s go back.”
A few seconds later, they all open their eyes. “So, what happened?” Dr. Galliger asks.
“We were in Shima. She showed us the future. We actually saw it with our eyes. It was incredible. Damien says I’m fully charged,” Claire declares.
“You are. It’s incredible. I know I have probably said that a hundred times, but this whole situation is mind boggling. So much data to collect.”
“Auntie Trinity go in scammer,” Lexi instructs. “Come to Lexi.”
“Alright,” Trinity says. Xander helps her up and leads her to the scanner. He stops her in the center of it and she sits down. “Do you want me to come to you?”
Giggling, Lexi says, “Auntie Trinity come. Lexi show all.”
“Okay.”
Claire is standing there and then Trinity appears before her. “Oh, you were supposed to go to Lexi.”
“Umm, I think she came to all of us,” Damien exhales. “Can you all see her?”
“I can’t,” Dr. Galliger says.
“I can,” Xander says.
“I can’t see either,” Aurora says.
“I bet she can project to multiple people through Lexi, but they had to have had contact with Trinity first,” Mason says. “Holy crap. She is a HUGE power source.”
Lexi walks over and yanks on Dr. Galliger’s shirt. “Fix Auntie Trinity’s eyes.”
“Oh yes,” Dr. Galliger says. He turns around and presses a few things on the screen. “Well…it looks like a nerve is missing behind each eye.”
Trinity sighs. “So, I stay blind.”