He checked his tablet as he returned to campus, the rising sun making it hard to read the screen. He paused in the shade by the back of the gym where a few other students were speaking on their phones, at least one in tears.
Tina had sent a message to him and the rest of the A.V. Club to meet in the electronics lab ASAP. There was also a message from the school informing all students that the national communication crisis was at an end and to check with their counselor. A one-week furlough was in effect, and starting today, at the school’s expense, students were to return home if possible. Arrangements for a light exploratory academic schedule were underway for those who would remain, but regular classes were postponed. An additional note at the bottom informed the students that the admin building was closed to students and faculty due to emergency repairs. Administration offices were being relocated to the humanities building.
A message popped from Guest 5414-0.
“Where are you?” it read.
He checked his history. Since leaving campus and going to the Bean, Guest 5414-0 had left him eight messages like this.
“Hi, Charlotte. Back of gym,” he replied.
“BRT.”
He half expected her to pop in from a shimmer in the air, but he saw her walking towards him, her hands tucked into pockets. The dawn air was chilly and he could see her breath. He hadn’t noticed the cold.
“You probably want your glove back,” he said as she got close. The partially dismantled glove with the imprint from the ring was still in his pack.
“I also wanted to see how you’re doing.”
“I don’t know what to say. I feel like we’re on thin ice here. If this technology is as dangerous as you make it out to be, no one should use it ever again. The school should be evacuated. Appleton needs the army here, not just campus security.”
“I understand. That’s why I’m doing everything in my power to make sure my father can’t progress beyond the first machine he built.”
“But you couldn’t resist making your own portal generator. And I heard you when you said yours is safe. But how can you be so certain? If there’s even a fraction of a chance you could deliver another earthquake to my world or another dozen worlds, that makes you just as reckless, doesn’t it?”
Charlotte flushed and set her jaw, but then slowly nodded. “I understand where you’re coming from. But my design is different, and it doesn’t punch a hole between worlds like my father’s. Think of mine more like building a bridge, rather than harpooning two balloons together.”
“If you say so. I’m hanging on to your glove.”
“You know I have another.”
“Yeah. But this one has the ring imprint stored inside. And maybe you need a cooling-down period, just like your father, to rethink the wisdom of the things you make.”
“He’ll be back. We didn’t stop him. Where is his ring?”
Again, there was something in her eyes even at the mention of the ring. If it was only a key to a first-generation portal generator, why was she so keen on having it?
“I don’t have it anymore. It’s in a safe place.” He didn’t consider Champ’s outgoing mail at the Bean particularly safe, but Charlotte didn’t need to know that.
“So why should you get to hold on to all of this? Shouldn’t you live by your own standards if it’s so dangerous, and destroy it all?”
“I didn’t set any of this in motion. But if you think it’s hypocritical of me to not outright smash your glove and melt down your father’s ring, then I can’t help you. Your father turned on a machine that killed thousands of people. You built another one that could have other consequences. I’m hanging on to all of it until I understand what can be done to make sure nothing else bad happens here, to my world. Plus if the machine ever gets turned on, I can make an attempt at rescuing Poser and Paul.”
She was thinking and didn’t look pleased. Perhaps my world had been too much. This was now her home. When she didn’t say anything, he began to worry. If she decided to attack him, could he defend himself? She had a couple of inches on him and probably a longer reach. If she had training or any special strength boost, she would have an advantage.
Then he saw her wiping her eyes. She took a moment to blow her nose.
“Fine,” she said. “Keep the stuff. But now you’re sharing the responsibility of stopping my father when he returns. And when he does, he won’t underestimate either of us.”
***
The A.V. Club was in session. Brendan invited Charlotte along. He pointed out that she had no reason to hide anymore. She remained sullen, but she accompanied him to the electronics lab.
The first news they shared was that the internet was back up. Vlad was busy texting his parents. Soren was poring over the video he had taken from the headmaster’s office. Little of it was useful, but it was now all backed up online. Brendan thanked him.
“What about Lucille?” Brendan asked Tina.
“I didn’t invite her,” Tina said, her face in her phone. “She’s not a member.”
“Didn’t she invent the club?”
Tina shrugged. But then she looked at Charlotte, and her face brightened. “She can join.”
“Everyone heading home?” Brendan asked.
Affirmative murmurs came from Soren and Vlad.
“Will you all be coming back?”
“Assuming the school will be open,” Vlad said. “If I told my folks about any of this, they’d pull me out and sue, not that I’m telling anyone anything. Besides, who’d believe it?”
Tina tilted her phone in Brendan’s direction. He’d thought she was talking to her family, but it was a video of a pack of costumed skateboard-riding girls terrorizing the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The group was named Delta Six, and a hero named Lunar Boy was on video conference with the news anchor, promising to intervene after the interview.
There came a knock on the open lab door. Tina paused the video. Poser stood there. Tina got up, took him by the hand, and seated him next to her and Vlad.
“Brian,” Brendan said. “How are you feeling?”
Poser made a vague gesture. He looked around the room, appearing ready to bolt. “Surviving,” he said. “The nurse has helped some.”
“We’re not giving up on getting you back home,” Charlotte said. She shot Brendan an accusing look.
Brendan flushed. “But we’re not going to do anything until we’re certain it will work. We experienced one disaster already. We can’t rush into another. We’re going to help you. Have you reached out to your folks?”
He nodded. “They’re…different. They’re not used to talking to me, or at least the me that belongs here. I can tell they’re not my parents. I’m not sure what to do.”
“You should visit them. It will give you something to do here on this world while we figure out how to get you back.”
“I’ll think about it.”
An uncomfortable silence followed, punctuated by Vlad loudly muttering as he tapped at his phone screen.
“So what do we do about the headmaster?” Tina asked. “Our real one, I mean.”
“What’s to be done?” Brendan said. “The headmaster from Not-Earth grabbed our headmaster, and he was responsible for everything, including the attack on the school. Our headmaster just needs to do his job. If the nurse can help, we can keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t get ambitious, because he wanted to control the machine as badly as his double. Somewhere along the line he learned enough to know that the machine can mean power.”
“I just find it interesting that none of us have even hinted that we’re not coming back to school here,” Tina said.
Vlad looked up from his screen. “Is someone not returning to school?”
“No…just…never mind. You weren’t paying attention.” Tina looked over at Charlotte. “And what about you?”
“When we’re done here, I’m going to see the headmaster,” Charlotte said. “I need to lay out what I know and what I need from him.
If you don’t trust me, any of you can come with. Personally, I think closing the school is the best thing to do, and placing guards around the admin building, but I’m guessing that’s not going to happen. A door is going to open here eventually. And if not here, somewhere close by.”
“You think your father will come straight after you?” Brendan asked.
“If he’s still alive, he might. But he has partners like your dad’s double. No doubt others as well. They’ll figure out how to get along without me. They will want to open doors between all the worlds, not just this one.”
“And you know how to do that.”
Charlotte nodded. “What my dad will want back is his ring. It’s not just a key to his machine, but to his vault. It’s the one thing I never had access to. The vault was the springboard to the rest of his research. I imagine it’s where he keeps his prototypes, and perhaps even whatever he used to program his gate to find your world. I had access to his lab where he built the gateway machine, but the vault is still a mystery to me. I’m afraid of what else he might have. He’ll want to take his ring back, I guarantee it.”
“Let him try,” Tina said. “But what about the cyberattacks? The headmaster can’t be behind everything, but it’s pretty suspicious.”
Brendan and Charlotte looked at each other. “I’m not ruling anything out,” Brendan said. “but I don’t think Charlotte’s dad was responsible. His machine put out its own radio distortion when in use. The school blocked signals after hours, which helped cover him when he used the machine after hours. Maybe Myron pushed him into using it more often, like during the attack. This increased the chances of being detected by staff and students alike.”
“I dunno,” Vlad said. “Sounds too convenient for him. We couldn’t call for help if we wanted to.”
“Think about it. We became more suspicious when we couldn’t use our phones. It worked against him because we started to investigate.”
Voices echoed down the hallway outside the lab. A group of four upperclassmen Brendan had seen around came in and looked around. The Paul from Not-Earth followed and pointed at Brendan.
“That’s him,” Paul said. “Told you he’d be here.”
Brendan got up from his seat.
“You’re Cesar?” one of the boys asked. His muscles looked like they were straining the stress limits of his T-shirt.
Brendan nodded.
“The rest of you get out of here,” the boy with the muscles said.
No one moved.
“What do you want?” Brendan asked.
“I heard you’re Drone King’s kid.” He put a hand on Brendan’s chest. Brendan swatted it away.
“You heard wrong.”
“I don’t think so.” The boy jabbed him with a finger. “I’m Tyler. My Dad’s Silver Eagle. My dad is going to wipe the streets with yours the next time he shows his face.”
Tina laughed. She was up in an instant, Vlad right behind her. “Silver Eagle? Are you kidding me?”
Tyler stopped and smiled. He almost struck a pose, as if he were used to being recognized.
“Is your dad out of the hospital yet? And isn’t he the crappiest hero ever to walk the streets of New York? Does he phone his agent before putting on his suit to make sure enough cameras are going to be there? Who’s his sponsor this week? Now that he was dropped by all the sports drink companies after his drunken bender and misogynistic rant, are his DARPA friends even talking to him? Maybe an undergarment company will consider him. If he wears those blue tights any tighter, he could go fight under the name of Captain Blue Balls.”
“Heh.” Poser was grinning from ear to ear.
“Shut up,” Tyler said. He gave Brendan a final finger jab before leaving. Paul and the others fell in and exited without a word.
“I guess the new Paul found some people to hang out with,” Vlad said.
Brendan nodded. “I wonder who told him about my father?”
“Lucille, probably,” Tina said. “Maybe she sent them. She’s bad news.”
***
They walked Poser back to his room. He had said he was tired and needed to sleep, and he hadn’t commented when Brendan offered to send the nurse. Then they went to find the headmaster.
His new office in the humanities building was crowded. A gaggle of students were waiting for their release forms to be cleared so they could get on the hyperloop and head home. The office had no lobby of its own, so students lined the outer hallway. Several members of the academy staff were helping. Brendan was content to find a spot and wait, but Charlotte pushed her way through, smiling, apologizing, and elbowing her way forward. He hurried to catch up.
Appleton appeared worn and tired but was patiently listening to a girl explain some grievance. When he saw Charlotte, he told the girl to wait and met them at the door. Then he escorted them back outside the building.
Once free of the crowd, he reached into his pocket and produced a student card and handed it to Charlotte. She examined it and put it away.
“You’re a student here now,” he said. “I’ve secured a dorm room. I also had my housekeeper prepare a room for you at my home if you decide you wish to stay there. It will take a few days, but I have…contacts that will draft the appropriate birth certificate so we can get you a social security card.”
“Thanks, Dad,” she said with little emotion. “Just so you know, we have footage of much of what went on backed up online. I know it wasn’t you, but no one else will know that. And perhaps you even helped him. If my father is capable of doing what he did, you are too. You understood immediately what he had built when he took you. Instead of trying to stop him, you tried to take control of his machine.”
He didn’t say anything. His lower lip quivered, as if he had words but didn’t have the courage to say them.
“I appreciate your doing this for me,” Charlotte said. “I don’t know if I’ll accept your offer of a place to stay, but I’ll think about it. But if my father ever comes back, if he makes contact—”
“I’ll never help him,” Sperry Appleton said. “It was a mistake. I’m not like him. I’m sorry about this, and about what happened to the boys who were taken.” Brendan saw something catch the man’s eye. He turned and saw the nurse seated by a small fountain. She had her eyes closed and appeared to be enjoying the sun.
“I’ll treat you as well as I know how,” the headmaster said. “I’ll make sure your needs are met, all of them. You’ll want for nothing, I promise.”
Charlotte thanked him. The headmaster looked back at the crowd of students, many of whom were watching them, no doubt wondering if Brendan and Charlotte had gotten to cut the line. She gave the headmaster a polite embrace, and he went back inside.
“What a bastard,” she said.
“Why?”
“He never once mentioned my mother. I looked her up. He was married to her for seven years. They never had me in this world, but still.”
“Have you tried to talk to her?”
Charlotte shook her head. “She remarried and has a couple of kids. I guess that makes me their sister once removed, or something like that? I think if I tried explaining who I was to her, she’d just call the police.”
“At least you’ll have a place to stay. Probably pretty swank. Has to be nicer than where you’ve been living all this time, right?”
“If you’re keeping my glove and the ring, I’m at least keeping where I go a secret, if you haven’t figured it out.”
***
Tina and Brendan got off the hyperloop at Bakersfield. It wasn’t Las Vegas or St. Louis or anyplace else his father had suggested, but rather a few short stops from the university. He reasoned his father could drive a little further, or get a private plane if he had the funds. Brendan had yet to see the central California city. Even though the school was closer to the Mojave Desert, it felt hotter here, the air heavy with rippling waves of rising air. He checked his phone for directions, and they walked about a mile to a row of restaurants on the Kern R
iver. Their route took them along a large park where joggers and bicyclists braved the midday heat.
They went in the ice cream shop first and each got a single cone. They ate inside the air-conditioned store. After a while, Brendan checked his phone. Over an hour had passed since they had arrived. His father was late. Tina didn’t say a word. She was studying the menu, about to make another purchase.
“Let’s go somewhere else,” Brendan said.
They tried the gourmet French fry restaurant. The garlic and cheese fries were soggy but Tina ate them anyway. Brendan stirred an iced coffee absentmindedly as he stared out the window. Another hour passed.
“Could be traffic,” Tina said.
“Maybe.”
A family of five came in, all wearing identical hot-pink T-shirts with some sort of logo. There had been similarly colored banners and balloons around the park advertising some charity event. Brendan tried to ignore them as they noisily debated what to order. The automated kiosk waited patiently.
Brendan stood. “Let’s get out of here.”
His phone pulsed. He checked it and looked up at Tina.
“Is he here?” she asked.
She followed him out the door and hurried to keep up. Brendan followed the signs to the Memorial Fountains. Five smooth arches of water sprayed over a large circular concourse, the center of which was a large black pentagon. Several people were walking the concourse. Among them, standing at an information kiosk, was his father.
Brendan fought the tug of anger and resentment that made him want to strike the man even as he raced forward for an embrace. His father wrapped large arms around him and kissed his head.
“My boy, my boy,” his father was saying.
When they broke off the hug, Brendan wiped his eyes. He pointed to his father’s midsection. “How are you feeling?”
“Hurts,” his father said. He lifted the shirt to show a large clean bandage above the beltline. “Lets me know I’m alive. And who’s this with you?”
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