She tried the door handle and found it locked. She banged on it, hearing her mom in the kitchen. “Hugo, hurry up! God, do you ever leave the bathroom?”
The toilet flushed a minute later, and Hugo emerged, a grin on his face. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You realize it’s lunch time, right?”
“It is?” Jules was supposed to meet Patty an hour ago. “If Patty calls, tell her I’ll be right there!” Jules shoved Hugo out of the way and closed the door, locking it. She couldn’t wait to move to Terran Thirty. She’d have her own room. And Dean would be around…
“Jules, do you want something to eat?” her mom asked through the door. She could picture the woman standing, hands on hips, frowning in the hall. Jules loved her mom to pieces, but all she wanted at the moment was some alone time.
“No, I’m fine.” Jules started the shower and ignored the muffled reply.
Patty was leaving in a few weeks, and Jules would soon be with Magnus at the new training site. Everything was going to change, and that was one thing she’d found was a constant in her life. Change. There was an amusing irony to it.
She took her time, enjoying the heat of the water, and used every product she had, realizing she needed to ask Patty’s advice on that front. Everything in the shower seemed too large, too utilitarian, like Papa had sourced it at a bulk store rather than a girly specialty one. She’d spent her entire life worrying about others and never about herself. Maybe now was the time to enjoy the little things.
She dried her hair, annoyed with how thick and curly it was. Her mom adored her hair, saying it was every girl’s dream, but she didn’t have to deal with the unruly mess. Jules dried and brushed it, letting it hang low. She pulled it into a ponytail but hated how it fell. After another five minutes, she settled with a top bun.
With a huff, she darted across the hall in a towel and changed into casual clothing. Years of unflattering uniforms and spacesuits had left her closet something to be desired. Another thing she needed to remedy.
“There’s no time like the present,” she muttered.
“For what?” her mom asked from the doorway. Hadn’t she closed that?
“Jeez, can I have some privacy?” she blurted.
Her mom had a sandwich on a plate, and she reached it out. “I made your favorite.”
Jules seethed at the intrusion, but glanced at her mom’s half-smile and exhaled her frustration. She took the offered food and set the plate on her dresser. “Mom, I love you, but when I say I’m not hungry, I mean it.”
Mary’s expression shifted, along with her posture, and Jules sensed a lesson coming. “You slept in; you don’t want to eat. I know you’re going through some stuff, but don’t forget that your health is—”
“Mom, we had a long night yesterday. And now I’m late to meet up with Patty, my friend I haven’t spent enough time with in years. We both need some healing, and today, we’re having a girls’ afternoon.” Jules glanced at herself, wearing light jeans and a white t-shirt. “I have nothing to wear, and I don’t even have make-up. Why did you let me go around like this?”
Her mom seemed affronted. “You didn’t show any interest in it.”
“Then you should have given me the option.” Jules stormed past her mom, through the hall, and outside. The screen door slammed behind her, and she kept moving until she landed on the path leading to Auntie Natalia’s house. She peered back eventually, seeing her mom sitting alone on the deck, staring at the yard. She’d been too harsh on Mary. Jules almost turned around, but didn’t.
By the time she arrived at Patty’s, Jules wished she’d brought a jacket. Patty was on the front steps, talking with Magnus, and the big man rose when he spotted Jules.
“Hey, kid,” he said.
“Magnus. Sorry I’m late, Patty. I slept in, then Hugo and my mom…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Patty said casually. “Magnus and I were just chatting.” Patty beamed at the man that wasn’t her father, and he returned the look. It was sad but uplifting at the same time.
“Ready to go?” Jules asked.
Magnus walked to the door, holding it open. “Where are you two off to?”
“A much-needed shopping trip.” Patty twirled, her dress spinning behind her.
“Can you pick me up some deodorant?” Magnus asked.
“Ew. It’s not that kind of trip,” Patty said.
“No problem. I’ll buy you some,” Jules told him.
“You ready for the tour tomorrow?” Magnus directed the question at her.
Jules nodded, craning her neck to peer past the big man and into the house.
“If you’re looking for your boyfriend, he’s not home. He went into town for something,” Patty advised her.
“I wasn’t…”
“Liar. Okay, let’s go. We’re losing light, and there are only so many shopping hours left.” Patty grabbed Jules by the arm and directed her to the waiting transport. “You’re flying.”
Jules laughed, taking the pilot’s seat. “Fine, but you’d better hold on.”
The trip was quick, and she landed the craft near the downtown core. Before they exited, Jules took her friend’s hand and stared at her. “I’m scared.”
“Of what? Shopping?”
“Of everything. What if I can’t do this without my powers? What if Dean doesn’t like me anymore? What if I’m useless at this academy we’re setting up?” Unbidden tears flowed, and Jules hated how childish she was acting.
Patty actually laughed, making Jules angry for a second. “Jules, you are the strongest person I’ve ever met. Without you, I’d be a Zan’ra, and I’m pretty sure we’d all be dead from some dimensional overlapping, and here you are acting scared? Compose yourself! You’re Jules Parker, and those abilities were just a small part of who you were.”
“You mean it?” Jules sniffed, wiping her tears.
“Of course. You’re a freaking Gatekeeper, the youngest ever. What does everyone else do to survive? How do you think your Papa kicks ass? With his own inner strength. You have that too,” Patty assured Jules.
Jules pulled her into a hug. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being my Patty.” She laughed.
“Can we continue this later? I need to be the most stylish student on Shimmal. Let’s move.”
They walked down the street, and the first place Jules saw was a salon. “I need to make one stop first.”
____________
Nick had overtaken unused space in Terran One’s largest medical facility. The majority of New Spero-related research was performed in this location. Nick didn’t often use the place, but he’d been known to visit on request when a research doctor was struggling with a problem.
As simple as it seemed to me to be dropped into a colony planet, there were millions of things to consider biologically. New Spero had countless microorganisms that we hadn’t been exposed to before, and numerous missing ones that our bodies had grown accustomed to on Earth.
In the end, a lot of people had fallen ill in the first year after relocating to New Spero, with hundreds eventually dying. The medical team in charge of the project had done a wonderful job escalating their speed to market, and now each resident received a single booster shot each year, which assisted the patient’s adaptation to New Spero.
We had a few people return to Earth with adverse effects, but for the most part, we were safe to move between our Alliance partner worlds with ease and efficiency. There were so many things the average person didn’t contemplate, me included, and I was thankful for the fact that we had extremely capable minds overseeing the wellbeing of the population. People often looked at me like I was a hero, but the real heroes were the ones behind closed doors, ensuring the very survival of our residents.
Slate walked ahead of me, his long legs carrying him quickly through the quiet hallway. “I think they said 2B.”
“That’s the room.” I pointed to the right, and Slate stopped, moving
for the door. It was locked, but when Nick recognized us through the glass, he buzzed us in. His wife Clare concentrated on a computer screen across the room, while Nick leaned over the skeletal remains of Carolyn.
“Gentlemen,” Nick said. “I received your present. Doesn’t anyone send fun gifts anymore? Say, a good cigar?”
“We knew you preferred to run scans on bones,” Slate joked as we settled beside Nick.
“What are you finding?” I asked.
“The same thing Reed had. This is clearly a human woman who had a defect that changed her DNA. Look.” Nick showed us a tablet with a swirling double helix. “This is a normal human sample. And this is hers.” The other image seemed identical to me.
“I see it. Her nucleotides are longer, with a different sequence in the lower tenth,” Slate said, tapping the screen.
“What the hell are you guys talking about?” I asked. “They’re the…”
“Very good, Slate. With some time, I might be able to determine what this means, but I don’t specialize in genetics,” Nick told us. He was in a white lab coat, with thick black glasses tucked into the front pocket, and he removed his gloves, setting them on a tray. “I’ll be sure to pass the data on to a colleague here at New Spero’s research headquarters, but it’ll take time.”
“For now, we need you to test Slate against it. See if there’s been an error with the device Clare worked on,” I told him.
This piqued Clare’s attention, and she hollered from her seat across the room. “I didn’t screw up. Slate’s an alien.” She said it with a smirk, but I saw Slate’s face grow somber.
“It’s not funny, Clare,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Zeke. I’m confident in my results, but Nick comparing the two is imperative.” Clare’s ponytail hung over a shoulder, and she adjusted her glasses.
A realization struck me, and I laughed. “Did you know that we’re almost all here? Remember that first mission, chasing Leslie and Terrance from the base?”
“Do we remember it?” Nick asked. “I think about it every night in my dreams. It was the craziest time of my life.”
“But you met me,” Clare said with a grin.
“That’s true. We’re only missing Mary and…” Nick stopped, not saying the hybrid’s name.
“It was a long time ago,” Slate said, wringing his hands.
“Twenty years or so,” I mumbled.
“Were we ever that young?” Nick asked.
“I’m still that young,” Slate said. “You know… at heart.”
“How about we focus on testing?” Nick motioned for Slate to follow him, and I waited, chatting with Clare while the doctor gathered his samples from Slate.
We all piled behind Nick ten minutes later while the computer sorted through the bloodwork and hair follicles. It beeped, and Nick glanced behind him with a sour expression. “It’s a positive match. You’ve been affected by the mutation, Slate.”
Slate’s shoulders slumped, and he slid onto a chair, setting his hands over his face. “This is no joke. We have to find out why and how this occurred.”
“We will.”
____________
“I was hoping he wasn’t a match. What does this mean?” Mary asked. She was in our bedroom, packing the few clothes she’d brought, and I set a hand on her suitcase.
“Why don’t you leave these at the house?”
“The clothes? Why?”
I glanced around and sat on the bed. “This was our home. I know we haven’t lived here for a while, but I kind of like it. It reminds me of an easier time.”
Mary shook her head but smiled. “Obviously your mind has blocked all the hardships and turmoil we were experiencing then. The brain tends to do that as time slips by.”
She wasn’t wrong, but she couldn’t change my mind so easily. “Fine, but leave the clothes anyway. I might be a while with Slate, and I’ll use this as my home base.”
“You’re not going to Haven with me?” she asked, clearly insulted.
“Magnus. I have to keep an eye on him, not to mention that Jules will be at Terran Thirty. I feel responsible for this entire project, so running off before it’s completed wouldn’t be honorable.”
It was obvious she wasn’t buying it. “Dean, no one is going to notice if you’re at the groundbreaking, which, frankly, has already passed by. But I do understand you wanting to keep tabs on Magnus, and Jules,” Mary finished. She folded a few blouses and pants into the dresser. “I’ll leave them, but you have to promise you won’t be away too long. I thought we were done with this kind of separation. Wasn’t it nice sleeping in the same bed while on Light?”
It had been heaven, and I told her so, pulling her close as she finished her task. She fell on top of me and kissed me, just as a scream filled the halls. I half-shoved Mary away and darted for the door. Before I could react, I stopped, pulling a gun from my nightstand, and rushed out, chasing the scream.
“Jules!” I shouted, heart pounding heavily in my chest.
“Papa!” she called, and I kicked her door open, the wood splintering near the handle. She cowered on her bed, arms wrapped over her bent legs, and she had such a fearful expression on her face, I expected to face a real-life monster when I aimed my gun into the corner of the room.
I didn’t see anything. “Jules, what are you screaming about?”
She pointed to the floor with a shaky finger, and I spied the arachnid relative. It was New Spero’s version of a tarantula, with eight lengthy fuzzy legs and a squat abdomen. We’d seen them a few times in the yard, but with the place being empty for so long, we should have been more thorough.
“It’s a bug. I’ll get rid of it,” I told her. They weren’t exceedingly dangerous, but you didn’t want a bite from those fangs. I set the gun on her desk and opened her closet to gather a box. I emptied it and shooed the spider-like creature inside, flipping the lid over. “Good?”
Jules was pale as she nodded. “I’m sorry, Papa. I don’t know what happened. I know I shouldn’t be afraid of them, but I couldn’t help it.”
“Let’s go outside and release it,” I said, leaving her to take the lead.
“What’s in the box?” Hugo asked. Instead of a video game, he had a tablet with schoolwork on it in his hand, and I couldn’t have been prouder of the kid.
“A larch,” I told him.
“Larches are cool. Can I see?” he asked.
Jules rolled her eyes as we neared the back door. “Boys.”
“Boys indeed,” I muttered. “Sure, Hugo. You take the box to the field and release it. Don’t let it touch you, okay?” I finally gazed at my daughter and noticed her hair was different. It was cut above her shoulders, slight bangs framing her face.
“Okay, Dad.” Hugo accepted the box like I was giving him the world’s best Christmas gift, and ran off. Maggie chased his heels, barking as she went.
“Your hair looks great,” I told Jules, but she didn’t acknowledge the comment.
“What’s wrong with me?” Jules’ eyes were wide, and it took a second for me to recognize them. They were green and seemed to grow darker each week.
I glanced at Hugo, who was tipping the box and leaning too close. “Hugo, be careful!”
Maggie watched the larch climb out, but she was more wary than my son. The dog barked, and the crops rustled slightly as the larch escaped. Hugo peered at us with a massive grin on his face.
“Sorry, honey bear,” I said. “Nothing’s wrong with you.”
“Papa, I’m not a kid anymore. I’m going to be eighteen.”
“In almost a year. And you’ll always be my little angel, you know that.” I kissed the top of her head, and she sighed heavily.
“Is Uncle Zeke okay?”
Mary stepped outside, the screen door squeaking in front of her. “What was all the commotion?”
“Jules had a larch, and I set it free!” Hugo yelled. Maggie ran ahead of him, climbing the deck steps to settle in the shade.
“God, you guy
s are so frustrating. Can’t we finish one conversation before starting the next?” Jules turned away, storming inside the house. I almost went after her, but Mary grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“Let her go.”
“Why’s she in such a mood?” I asked. “And the hairdo?”
“She just returned from another timeline, Dean. She’s gone through traumatic events and has seen far more than anyone should ever experience. Not to mention, she’s a teenage girl. She and Patty went out today and treated themselves.” Mary smiled as she said the last bit. “She’ll get through this.”
“She’s been a teenager for a long time.”
“True, but… she’s never been a human teenage girl. She always had her powers, waiting to be used. She thought she was an Iskios, then a Zan’ra, then there were the Deities… can you imagine? Not only does she have an identity crisis, her abilities disappeared. But she does look super cute with the hair.”
I hadn’t considered most of this yet, not since she’d returned a few days ago and we’d found out about Slate. “What would I do without you?”
“Let’s not find out.” She kissed my cheek as dust rose from an incoming vehicle. I spotted the familiar form of Magnus walking from the driver’s side, and Mary turned to me. “I’ll start on dinner.”
“I thought you and Hugo were heading to Haven.”
“I’ll go tomorrow. I think you and Jules could use a good meal before we take off.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “How about we make a setting for Magnus too?”
She smiled from behind the screen door, and I went to meet the stranger who looked so much like my old friend. “Hey, Magnus.”
“Dean, good to see you. Hope I’m not coming at an inopportune time,” he said.
I took stock of the man, noticing how he’d already put on weight. His hair was longer than before, and his scars were less pronounced. I assumed Doctor Nick had given him a salve to help heal the tissue. “Not at all. We’re starting dinner soon. We have lots.”
The Survivors | Book 15 | New Beginning Page 2