by Jon S. Lewis
“I guess you’ll never know, will you?”
“You’re sure they won’t see the virus?” Oz asked.
“They shouldn’t,” Danielle said, “but even if they did, they won’t be able to trace it back to us. Besides, it’s not like Gretchen is going tell Koenig that she gave some random high school student access to their servers. She’d probably lose her job.” Danielle reached into her purse to pull out a small envelope.
“What’s that?” Colt asked.
“SIM cards. As long as we don’t stay logged on for too long, we should be fine. Just in case, I’m going to switch these out every ten or fifteen minutes. That way nobody will be able to track the connection back to us.”
“You’re going to start looking for the files now?”
“Well, yeah.”
: : CHAPTER 46 : :
During lunch Danielle was able to download a database with the names and contact information for all the people who were implanted with Trident biochips. She switched out the SIM card in her phone before finding a second database of people who were scheduled to have the operation over the next few months.
“What about documents that show how they control people’s minds?” Colt asked.
“There are so many folders in their network, it could take months to find what we need,” Danielle said.
“We don’t have months.”
“I understand that. Look, we’ll find it, but it’s going to take some time. I got us this far, didn’t I? Trust me.”
Apparently it didn’t take as much time as they thought it would. Between lunch and the end of school, Danielle had forwarded six different documents to Colt’s phone, including a confidential memo about the mind control program from Aldrich Koenig to the Trident Industries board of directors, and a document outlining something called the Eden Project. It amounted to the complete annihilation of the human civilization so the Thule could use Earth as their new home—their garden of Eden.
Colt was too tired to do much of anything after school, so he sat down on the couch and watched an afternoon baseball game. “Don’t you have practice with the Westcott girl tonight?” Grandpa McAlister called from the kitchen where he was mixing up a pan of macaroni and cheese. “What time do we need to leave?”
After the excitement at Trident Biotech, Colt had almost forgotten about the song he was supposed to play with Lily. Grandpa McAlister hadn’t been crazy about the idea, but he relented once Colt told him they were going to be performing at church— but only on the condition that he drove them to and from their rehearsal. If Colt wanted to go, he didn’t have much of a choice.
They were a few minutes late because Colt decided to take another shower and change his clothes. He spent nearly twenty minutes in front of the mirror trying to make his hair cooperate, and switched shirts three different times. In the end, he settled on a long-sleeved T-shirt with a distressed Celtic cross, his darkest blue jeans, and a pair of black track shoes.
He debated whether or not to use cologne, but he ended up erring on the side of caution. He didn’t want to make it come across like they were going on a date. It was important to find that balance between caring and not caring.
When Lily answered the door, Colt could tell that she hadn’t expected to see Grandpa McAlister sitting in the driveway. “It’s a long story,” he said as she looked over his shoulder.
Thankfully she didn’t press for any details, because Colt wasn’t sure what he would have said. It wasn’t like he could tell her that he was on a strict curfew because a race of shape-shifting aliens was trying to kill him.
He carried her guitar down the steps before setting it in the bed of the old pickup with his, and then he opened the passenger door for her. Lily slid in next to his grandpa, and Colt joined them for the most uncomfortable ride of his life. The church wasn’t far from Lily’s house, so it was only a few minutes before they arrived.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Colt asked as Grandpa pulled into a parking space.
“I thought I might grab a cup of coffee in the café, if that’s okay with you.”
Colt wanted to tell him that it wasn’t remotely close to being okay, but he swallowed the words and grabbed the guitars out of the back. They agreed to meet back up at eight o’clock, and Lily led him to the conference center.
It was a large multipurpose facility filled with hundreds of chairs. The church used the room to help with overflow since the sanctuary wasn’t big enough to hold everyone. They showed a closed circuit broadcast of the sermons on three large screens.
“This place is amazing,” Colt said as he walked up to the stage.
“And just think, in a few days it will be packed with all the girls from Chandler High chanting your name and screaming for more.”
“Yeah, right.”
“So you’re telling me you don’t see the way they melt when you walk by?”
“You must have me confused with Oz.”
“I don’t think so,” Lily said. “When they hear that you’re going to be playing the guitar this weekend, they’re going to go crazy. You’re definitely the most eligible bachelor at school.”
Colt could feel his neck turning red, so he decided to change the subject. “I’ve never actually performed in front of anybody before.”
“Never?”
“Not like this anyway. So don’t blame me if I ruin your music career before it starts.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she said. “Besides, that’s why we’re practicing tonight.”
Colt followed Lily up the steps and onto the stage. It was all set for Sunday morning, with microphones and stands, a drum kit, two stacks of amplifiers, an electric keyboard, a bass, and a rack of guitars, including a vintage electric Gibson with a sunburst finish.
Colt flicked his case open and pulled out an old acoustic. The finish was coming off around the bridge and the sound hole, but it had been a gift from his parents and he wasn’t about to trade it in no matter how worn it looked.
“I don’t have an input for the amplifier,” he said.
“You aren’t getting out of this, so you might as well stop trying.”
A door opened, and a large man with a beard entered without a word before slinking though the shadows and into the sound booth. Colt frowned.
“That’s just Tim. He runs the board,” Lily said.
Colt narrowed his eyes, but then he relaxed. “Sorry, I guess I’ve been a little jumpy lately. It’s probably all that UFO stuff they keep talking about on the news.”
“Mr. Pfeffer is rubbing off on you, but I don’t think we’ll have to worry about little green men tonight. Want to get started?”
Lily took her guitar out, threw the strap over her shoulder, and reached down to plug a cord into the amplifier’s input jack. She strummed a few chords and the sound came out of the speakers before echoing through the empty hall. Lily took a moment to tune her strings. Colt decided to do the same.
“Can you turn his mic up a bit?” Colt heard her ask.
“Sure thing,” Tim said.
“Play something,” she said, turning back to look at Colt.
“Like what?”
“Anything. We just need to do a sound check.”
Colt ran his fingers down the strings. It made a screeching noise that reverberated through the speakers before he launched into the first few notes of “Dueling Banjos.”
“Okay,” Lily said, after laughing. “Anything but that.”
He smiled before turning back to his guitar. Then Colt tapped his foot and counted, “One . . . two . . . three . . . four.” He picked a gentle melody that repeated for a few bars.
“I think we got it,” Tim said from the back.
“Okay, you’re going to start it out with the intro, and I’ll come in before the first lyric. We may have to make some adjustments along the way, so don’t get upset with me if I stop.”
“You’re the boss.”
“We’ll see how you feel about that once we’re d
one with rehearsal.”
It didn’t take Colt long to figure out that Lily was a perfectionist. She would stop frequently to adjust the harmony or experiment with an a cappella section, only to go back to full accompaniment. He sat patiently, taking her instruction, and in the end they were both happy with the progress.
“Not bad,” she said as she unplugged her guitar. “So what time can you be here Sunday morning?”
“It’s not like I get to sleep in. My grandpa starts banging around in the kitchen at five thirty, so I’m up pretty early.”
“Can you meet me at seven? That way we can go over everything before the service.”
“Sure,” Colt said. The phone that Oz had given him rang then, and he reached into his pocket to shut it off. “Sorry about that.”
Lily looked up at the clock that hung on the wall over the sound board. “We still have half an hour. Do you want to grab a cup of coffee?”
: : CHAPTER 47 : :
At first Colt was relieved that Grandpa McAlister wasn’t in the café, but then his imagination kicked in. He pictured his grandfather fighting six-armed aliens, and the barista’s eyes flaring red as she attacked him.
“Are you okay?” Lily asked before she ordered a mocha cappuccino. “You seem distracted.”
“Sorry,” Colt said. Then he turned to the barista. “You didn’t happen to see an old guy in here earlier, did you?”
“Mr. McAlister?”
“Yeah. He’s my grandpa.”
“He left a few minutes ago, but he said he’d back.”
Colt felt relief, but then his phone vibrated again. He looked down and saw a text message from Oz: Call me. It’s about Dani. The last thing Colt wanted to talk about was Oz’s budding relationship with a girl who was practically Colt’s sister, so he put the phone back in his pocket and followed Lily to a table.
The café had vaulted ceilings and an entire wall of windows that opened up like garage doors to a grassy area. There were a few college students gathered at one of the tables, but other than that, Colt and Lily had the place to themselves.
The music was soft, the lights were dim, and each table had a lit candle that was flickering as the air-conditioner blew. It would have been romantic if it weren’t for the fact that Lily was dating someone else. Then again, if Colt cared about that he wouldn’t have been alone with her to begin with.
“Are you ready for Nashville?” he asked as Lily stirred her drink.
“I’m a nervous wreck.”
“Why?”
“This is my shot, and I don’t want to mess it up,” she said. “I mean, what if my voice cracks, or . . . I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’ve worked so hard. I just want my parents to be proud of me. They’ve done so much to help make this dream come true.”
“Relax,” Colt said. “Your parents are going to be proud of you no matter what. Besides, you’re only sixteen. I’m not in the music business or anything, but I’m pretty sure that you’ll get another chance if it doesn’t work out.”
“I doubt it.”
“Your biggest problem is going to be deciding which offer to accept.”
Lily stared at him. Her lips were on the verge of a smile.
“What?” Colt asked.
“It’s just that whenever I’m around you it feels like everything is going to be all right.”
Colt frowned. “Are you in trouble or something?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” she said. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”
Colt swirled the bottle of water he had ordered as he stared at the flame on the candlewick. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Does it ever get easier? I mean, in some ways it seems like my parents have been gone for years already, but I don’t know. I could be sitting in the middle of class and I’ll think about something stupid, like how my mom used to make such a big deal about my birthday. She’d wait until I was asleep and then stay up half the night decorating. Then she’d wake up early the next morning to make me those pancakes with the smiley faces.”
“The kind with bacon for the mouth?”
“Yep, and sliced banana for the eyes. She’d even add raisins for eyebrows. Then she insisted on reading my birthday story, and as I got older I complained because I thought it was embarrassing, but now . . . well, I’d give just about anything to hear her read it one more time.” Colt turned away, afraid that Lily might see the emotion he was feeling. “It’s just that I miss them so much, and I’m afraid I’m going to forget them.”
Lily reached out to grab his hand. When he finally looked up, he could see her eyes were misted over.
“You’ll never forget them,” she said. “And I promise, it will get easier.”
“I hope so.”
“What were they like?”
Colt shrugged. “My dad was the most generous person I’ve ever known. When he retired from the navy he started his own charter service. In the beginning he was the janitor, secretary, mechanic, and pilot. He worked around the clock to make it successful, but I think he ended up giving away more money than he kept. Anytime somebody needed a loan, they’d call him. I don’t think he said no once.”
“What about your mom?”
“She was amazing,” Colt said, smiling at a forgotten memory. “I have no idea how she did it, but she managed to raise eight sons, go to all of our games, feed us, and still have time to be a writer. We used to say that she was a vampire, because we didn’t think she ever slept.”
“You should write some of your memories down.”
“Have you been talking to Dani or something?”
Lily raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry,” Colt said. “It’s just that she got me a journal so I could write my feelings down, and I wasn’t exactly receptive.”
“I’m not conspiring with her, if that’s what you mean.”
“Good.” Colt took a sip from his water bottle. “Can I ask you another question?”
“I suppose.” Lily brought the mug to her lips, but her eyes never strayed from Colt’s.
“Does Graham know?”
“Know what?”
“That you’re with me tonight,” Colt said. “I mean, not with me, but . . .”
Lily smiled and set her coffee mug back on the table before licking a bit of foam from the top of her lip. “I don’t think he’d care.”
“Really?”
She sighed. “We broke up.”
“What happened?”
“He’s been cheating on me.”
That wasn’t the response he expected. “I’m sorry.”
“He met up with his old girlfriend after my party,” Lily said as she ran her finger in a circular pattern around the lip of her mug. “I can’t blame him. She’s beautiful.”
“Are you sure?”
“That she’s beautiful? Yeah, I’m sure.”
“No,” Colt said. “That he was cheating on you. Maybe they were just hanging out or something.”
“I don’t think so. A friend of mine saw them over at the Coffee Rush holding hands. Well, that and they kissed good-bye, and it wasn’t a peck on the cheek.” Lily took a deep breath and exhaled before forcing a smile. “Oh well, it’s not like it was going to last anyway. Graham is going to Idaho State next year, and long distance relationships never work, right?”
“It’s funny you should mention it, because I just broke up with a girl who goes to Idaho State. Maybe I could introduce her to Graham.”
Lily laughed. “You’re a dork.”
“What can I say?”
“So do you have your eye on anybody?”
“I don’t know,” Colt said. “I mean, I met this girl in one of my classes, and she’s—”
“Are you two ready to go?” Grandpa McAlister asked from the other side of the room. It was loud enough that he drew the attention of the barista and the table filled with loud college students as well.
Colt lingered a moment, looking at L
ily before he stood up. Then he smiled. “We better get you home.”
: : CHAPTER 48 : :
The ride to Lily’s house was fairly quiet. There wasn’t much to say—at least not with Grandpa McAlister sitting in the truck with them. The windows were rolled down and, as always, the radio was tuned to a local news station. Distracted by his own thoughts, Colt hadn’t been paying much attention until he heard an update about a missing person. He reached across the cab to turn up the volume.
“. . . Again, Dr. Albert Van Cleve, the Nobel Prize-winning research scientist credited for Trident Biotech’s breakthrough biochip technology, has been reported missing. According to police, he was last seen on the night of September thirteenth at his home in Chandler. He was expected to speak at a conference in Vienna the following day, but he never made the flight . . .”
Colt turned the radio down before looking over to his grandfather, but Grandpa McAlister kept his eyes on the road.
A few minutes later they pulled into Lily’s driveway. Colt got out and walked her to the door. There was an awkward moment where he didn’t know if he should hug her, shake her hand, or just turn around and walk back to the truck. Thankfully Lily made it easy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled Colt close. It wasn’t a long embrace, but it felt like the perfect end to the evening.
“What’s going to happen now that the police are involved?” Colt asked once he was back inside the cab. “Am I going to be a suspect?”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Grandpa McAlister said.
“I’m probably the last person who saw him alive.”
“You don’t know that he’s dead.”
Colt knew he was going to have a hard time falling asleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about Lily. After a quick shower and a bowl of butter pecan ice cream, he was about to sit down on the bed with his guitar when the phone rang. He looked at the caller ID hoping it was Lily, but it was Danielle. “What’s going on?”
“Colt . . .”
“Dani, is that you?”
“I . . . I’m so tired.”