by Sean Platt
“So I’ll go home. I doubt they can extradite me. Eden’s not a nation, is it?”
“How are you going to get back to the states?”
“Plane?” But Ephraim wasn’t sure. He hadn’t been able to reach Fiona the last time he’d tried. He’d just sent those pics and hoped she received them.
“Don’t you think Eden will notice a plane landing? If what you said is true, do you honestly believe they’ll just let you get on it and go?”
“Well,” Ephraim said, “how do you suggest I get away?”
“I told you. Don’t. Stay on Eden and get the treatment. Tomorrow Gene guests are VIPs. We’re above even Eden’s law. You should see the contract. I showed it to my lawyer before signing it in LA, and she said, ‘Why do you need me to look at this? It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card.’ Like I said, a Bitch Clause. We can’t kill people or stage a mutiny, but everything else is fair game.”
“But I can’t get the Tomorrow Gene.”
“Of course you can. I can declare you my guest, and that gives you bitch powers, too. Among them is the ability to shove your way to the front of the line and decide, right here on the premises, that you want the Gene.”
“I mean, I can’t afford it. It’s—”
“A half-million credits. And two hundred K a year for as long as you want it to stay effective. But there’s another phrase people in LA use to quantify a half-million credits. Do you know it?”
“What?”
“‘The loose change in my couch,’” Sophie recited. “Don’t worry about the money. It’s on me.”
Altruance laughed.
Ephraim started to protest, but Sophie raised a definitive hand to stop him.
“I don’t mean to be an asshole, Ephraim, but it’s true. It’s just not that much money to me. I made twenty-four million credits on my last movie, on the front end, and I did that at 47 years old — not exactly prime earning age for actresses out there in La La Land. Once I turn back the clock a few decades, I’ll make even more. It’s not fair, but that’s Hollywood. And besides. I already told you. I’m here to give the finger to some people. I want to drink, eat foods my nutritionist and trainer won’t let me eat, and spend my money no matter what my manager says. I should be thanking you. It’s hard to spend extra money here, given how all-inclusive the Tomorrow Gene package already is. I’ll jump at the chance to spend more.”
“Sophie, that’s very generous, but I can’t—”
“Yes means yes,” she said, shaking her head. “You should see how much money I give to people I hate. I like you. I want you to find your brother. I want you to know what happened to him. This is something I’m excited to spend money on.”
Ephraim looked back and forth between Altruance and Sophie, trying to digest this rapid-fire chain of events. There was another objection in his mind, but raising it now felt like spitting in Sophie’s face.
“What?” she said. “Be honest.”
“I don’t want the Tomorrow Gene.”
“Why not?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I just told you that I think Evermore is up to something. Fiona is sure of it.”
“But didn’t you say that she wants the Tomorrow Gene treatment for herself? To cure her paralysis or whatever it is?”
“Well …”
“If she wants it, how can she think there’s something wrong with the procedure? Evermore is one thing. The Tomorrow Gene’s another.”
“Yeah, E,” Altruance said. “You ask me, it sounds like your girl Fiona wants to steal Eden’s secrets so she can sell them at her company, not discredit or expose them.”
That was true. “Connolly is up to something” was Fiona’s code for “… and I want in on it.”
“But if they’re after me -”
“If they’re after you, why won’t they say so?” Sophie said. “They’re following behind you, cleaning up your messes. Even if you dreamed some of that stuff, those guards on the dock didn’t say anything about us rowing to the Denizen, which was supposedly the reason we were remote-piloted back to shore. I’m not even sure they knew about it. If you did something so wrong that someone’s out to get you, why are they so coy?”
“I’ve been sorta thinking the same thing, E,” Altruance said. “Even if one hundred percent of what you told us is real, it don’t explain why they’re so cagey. Why not confront you? Why not demand to know who you work for, or arrest you and get you to fess up? Tell the truth, I think they’re afraid of you. One Todd already disappeared on Eden. Another disappearing would raise eyebrows. You know GEM?”
“What’s GEM?” Sophie asked.
Altruance shrugged. “Some government agency in the US — something to do with genetics or genetic engineering or who knows what. Don’t have any official power out here, but the guy running it, Hershel something-or-other, he’s running this campaign I’ve seen on the news. Thinks he can get global support and past Evermore's ‘international waters’ thing holding them back. I guess lots of people wonder why folks disappear. They send word back that they’ve decided to stay, but Hershel’s not so sure.” He turned to Ephraim. “That’s gotta be making them think, E. You vanish and GEM comes for a visit, that’s two Todds in a row.”
Ephraim wasn’t convinced. “But that’s—”
Altruance cut him off. “If you’re really in trouble, they’d’a grabbed you already. Hell, if someone wanted you dead, they’d’a killed you a long time ago — not covered up the killing you might’ve done yourself.”
“It’s not just that. I don’t understand why you would want to get the Tomorrow Gene if you believe half of what I said!”
Sophie scoffed. Altruance shot her a look that said, he’s so naive.
“You need to get it because being an Eden VIP is your only choice if you want to find out what happened to your brother,” Sophie said, “but I’m going to get it because I’ll be lapped if I don’t, personally and professionally.”
“But you don’t even know how it works!”
“So what! I don’t know how my Doodad works either. I just know I have this little magic box in my purse that lets me talk to anyone anywhere, look up any information I want at any time, and a billion other things that would have been considered witchcraft a few hundred years ago. I don’t even understand electricity. Or how I could turn on the TV in the other room, right now, and see my face on the juke. How can that be me on-screen? I’m right here!” She pointed theatrically at her chest.
“This is different. It could be dangerous.”
“Honey, Botox was dangerous. Half the crap women do to stay beautiful hurts us somehow. What’s the difference? I know a few people personally who I think had early versions of Tomorrow Gene treatment, though they can’t admit it because of their NDAs. That was the old treatment. Now people are starting to pop up who look like old stars’ kids. Or their grandkids. They’re fine. They come home, go to their doctors, get clean bills of health. You can read all about it on the Internet. There’s even a site dedicated to tracking people the world thinks may have had the treatment, monitoring them for side effects, all that.”
“TomorrowGeneRumors.com,” Altruance said, nodding.
“Well, what about you, Altruance?” Ephraim asked. “Does it make much sense to hide me from Evermore, then line up for their treatment that shuffles your DNA?”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Altruance said.
“Whatever. Point is, you don’t need to be young and pretty for your career.”
“I worked hard for this, man! I want to be young and pretty for my own reasons.”
Ephraim’s head slowly shook, not quite believing his ears.
“Look at it this way,” Altruance said. “If you’re in trouble, we’re all three in it now. I lied for you, Sophie stood up for you when they wanted to take you in, and we all tried getting to the Denizen. If there’s a list, three of the spots belong to us. Like Sophie said, only thing keeping their noses out of our business is the fact that we’re VI
Ps, including you now. And let’s not forget, there’s a big reason that it’s in Evermore’s best interest to keep us happy.”
“What’s that?”
“1.5 million credits among us,” Sophie answered.
“Which you said was pocket change. Especially for a company as rich as Evermore.”
“Maybe. But what do you think happens when two high-profile clients—” She touched her chest, then looked at Altruance. “—come home and start bad-mouthing Eden? Saying the Tomorrow Gene is bad news? Don’t you think that might damage their sales?”
“What if you didn’t come back at all?”
“I think the world would notice that, too, E,” Altruance said.
“Lots of people don’t come back! My brother didn’t come back!”
“So, what … you’re saying Evermore is having them killed? The folks who want to be recluses move to the Denizen, son.”
“Vanished is vanished. You just said that GEM is looking into—”
“Big difference,” Altruance cut him off. “Remember, I’m not planning to go back right away no matter what. Take a year off; might move to the Denizen myself until the world forgets a little about Famous Altruance Brown. But do you think I’m never gonna leave? That I won’t call my moms while I’m there?” He shook his head. “Even when people vanish, they’re here. Famous folks, anyway. If my family doesn’t hear from me, the press will hear from them. If you think that it’s in Eden’s best interests to botch our procedures or have us killed and swept away or something, you’re not thinking straight. I don’t care how mad they are at you; they won’t mess with us, and we won’t keep quiet if anything goes wrong with you, either.” Altruance sat back. “No, it’s best for Eden just to do what we paid them to do. Collect our money. Have us go home, looking fabulous. Because if any of that doesn’t happen, forget about Eden. They’ll be finished here.”
“But …”
“You’re worrying for nothing, Ephraim,” Sophie said. “Just accept the treatment. You’ll be fine. You’ll be better than fine; you’ll be brand new.”
“Just be cool,” Altruance echoed. “Chill out, and enjoy the Gene.”
“The one thing,” Sophie said, giving him a smile as wide and white as Elle’s, “that could change everything.”
CHAPTER 37
JUST US
“You ready, E?”
Ephraim blinked up at Altruance, knowing the answer, unwilling to say it.
It had been 48 hours since the confrontation on the dock outside Sophie’s. 48 hours of vacillating back and forth, of deciding in one minute that things were working out better than he’d ever hoped — and then deciding in the next that he was signing his own death certificate.
He didn’t want to undergo genetic refurbishment, mainly because he didn’t know what it entailed — something that for slightly different reasons didn’t bother Sophie or Altruance at all.
But it bothered Ephraim. For one, he’d grown up with the science fiction definition of gene play, which was that it created mutant frogmen. For another, he didn’t feel the need to be young again. Ten years ago, he’d lost Jonathan, and his sister Damaris not much more than ten years before that. He hadn’t lost his father; he’d just never had one. He was content enough now, and it felt like bad juju to shuffle the deck. Intellectually he knew it was only a younger body, not time travel. But it sure didn’t feel that way.
He’d spent the past 48 hours searching his memories, trying to decide if the things he’d seen had been real after all. Were the ghosts faceless or had that, in defiance of what he’d told Sophie and Altruance, been a drug-induced delusion? Had he run afoul of Nolon’s twin, who he’d killed before the body had vanished without a trace — or had that, too, been a hangover from the drug?
When alone, Ephraim sometimes felt like his memories were lies as well. Had he broken into a computer system on the Reef and found someone chasing him? Had he and the others taken a boat to the Denizen and failed? If so, why had nobody said anything to any of them since? Had he avoided arrest before being saved by Sophie?
It all felt like delusions of persecution when his mind was quiet.
He’d had 48 hours of fitful sleep.
48 hours of trying to contact Fiona, finding her unable or unwilling to answer.
48 hours of radio silence on the messages he’d sent with all those damning photos — which he’d erased from his Doodad before obscuring all record of sending them. No way to prove it now. No way to make sure any of it had happened and wasn’t just another paranoid fantasy.
Stop being ridiculous. Stop making this harder than it has to be. And stop being a pussy. You jumped in to stop a mugging once. How is this — taking a risk to find out what happened to Jonathan and possibly expose those responsible for his death — any different? You owe it to your brother to be strong, Ephraim.
And now this. Now, as he felt so uncertain, Altruance was here to get him, asking if he was ready.
Of course he wasn’t ready.
But Altruance was waiting just beyond the barely-open door. Ephraim wanted to invite him inside, but it felt like a bad idea. If Altruance came in, he might see the chairs Ephraim had pushed behind the door. Each was stacked high with pots, pans, glasses, and just about anything else that made noise when it fell. He couldn’t protect all the windows, but Ephraim could at least know if anyone sneaked in the front.
Who says I’m paranoid? I’m not paranoid.
He’d slept on the couch, its back to the wall of windows, drapes pulled, lights off, the kitchen’s biggest knife beneath his pillow, just in case.
Altruance put his hand on the door and pushed. The chair just behind it rattled. Another inch and glasses and pans would start falling.
Without turning, Ephraim said, “Don’t come in.”
Altruance stepped back. The chair he’d disturbed rocked, fell back into place. “You okay, man?”
No.
“Yeah.”
Ephraim rolled to sitting, then moved to the side so Altruance could see him through the crack. He tried on an ill-fitting smile. He’d barely slept through the nightmares, mostly about Jonathan. It felt like something was bending inside, on its way to breaking.
“You’re dressed?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go. They sent a car.”
“They sent a car?” As far as Ephraim knew, there were no cars on the islands. Only golf carts and neutered, silent boats. And planes that came and went on Reception’s airstrip. But good luck getting away in those, especially if your mission was to avenge your brother with a bit of espionage.
He turned to the window, pulled back the drape, and looked. A three-row cart was parked at the end of his front walk. Sophie, Pierra, and Gus were all inside. Gus was behind the wheel, jockeying it back and forth like a kid with a scooter.
“What are they doing here? Don’t we have to -”
“Gus said he’s going to get on the tram and ‘see what happens.’ He drove up in front of Pierra’s place in that thing and started honking, shouting, ‘Get in here, baby’ until she was laughing so hard that she did it just for kicks. They’d already grabbed Sophie when they came for me. She’s been shooting daggers at Pierra the entire time, though I don’t think Pierra’s noticed. She keeps smiling back. Most of the time Sophie is looking at her tits. It’s hot. Are you coming out or what?”
Ephraim was looking out the window, watching the cart. Before this adventure, he’d never even met a celebrity. Now here he was with the world’s most famous athlete on his stoop, his favorite actor driving a golf cart on his lawn, and two hot actresses along for the ride. It was as if he’d never woken up. As if this was also a dream or another drug-induced hallucination.
Maybe it is.
Maybe you’re dreaming.
But Ephraim shook the thoughts away.
“I’m not sure I want to do this.”
“We’ve been through this, E. Sure you want to do it, unless you wanna get kicked off the i
sland or arrested. I thought you’d come around.”
“What if Sophie pays for the treatment to get me the VIP thing, but I don’t get it done? They might like that, right? Get paid without having to do anything? And if they think, in any way, that I’m a spy, they might be relieved not to give me what they’ve got.”
“That's a shitty way to thank Sophie,” Altruance said.
“She just wanted an out. She didn’t want me to be ‘refurbished.’”
“You know what I mean. Besides, they might not grant you status without the treatment.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, man. There are ongoing payments, for one. You don’t get the Tomorrow Gene, they don’t have you on the hook for 200K a year.”
“That’s a good thing! I was going to let it lapse the first year anyway. I can’t ask Sophie to—”
“You can’t back out on this, man. She stuck her neck out for you. So did I.”
“Whether I get the Tomorrow Gene or not won’t affect you.”
“Sure it will. Sophie said you’re her guest. Now her guest is being flaky and drawing suspicion. They already thought you were up to something, so what they gonna think now? And besides. Why wouldn’t you want a body that was ten years younger? Twenty years younger? Or more?”
“Why does it matter to you if I feel younger?”
And why is everyone pushing for me to get this treatment?
Ephraim had moved most of his burglar alarm out of the way, but now his hand was gripping the doorframe as if meaning to hold him in place.
Gus honked the golf cart’s horn.
“Just relax, man. Everything will be fine.” Altruance reached through the gap, took Ephraim’s arm, and moved to steer him toward the cart. “It’s safe, E. Half of the A-list has been through this by now. Everything I’ve heard says those folks come back perfectly healthy. You think I didn’t do my research before coming here? You think Sophie didn’t do hers?”
Ephraim met Sophie’s eye. She waved from her second-row seat.