Payback
Page 20
There could never be a better person to share DNA with.
Malik’s opinion: “Going from Bartholomew Glen to her is like upgrading to a Bentley.” From him, there could be no higher compliment.
There’s a catch, though: We have to pretend Project Osiris never happened. That means our parents, the other scientists, and the Purple People Eaters will go unpunished.
“Absolutely not!” is Amber’s reaction. “They can’t be allowed to get away with it!”
Ms. Dunleavy is patient. “I know it seems unfair, but you have to be reasonable. We’ve gone to great lengths to keep all this out of the media. If there are criminal trials of so many people, you kids will come to the attention of the whole world. The existence of eleven human clones will cause an instant sensation. It will put a spotlight on you that you won’t be able to get away from. Then you’ll never know the normal lives you fought so hard to have a chance at.”
“I hate the idea of Project Osiris getting off scot-free,” Tori muses. “But I can’t stand the thought of my parents in jail, even if they deserve it.” She flushes. “They were good to me. I can’t help thinking, someday—you know, when I’m an adult, obviously—I might even be able to visit them.”
We’re split on that idea. Amber is a definite no; Hector too. Malik isn’t so sure. He isn’t so high on his dad, but he still talks about his mother’s cooking all the time.
And me? I have no one. I never had a fake Serenity mom, and Felix Hammerstrom is dead. No one can argue that isn’t a good thing. Yet I can’t bring myself to celebrate it. He was the only parent I’ll ever have.
Except Tamara Dunleavy.
She’s not my mother, but we are related. In fact, our genetic connection is closer than any parent and child. I’m her and she’s me.
Two computer nerds in a pod.
We start school in September—real school, with real teachers and real facts. Malik, Amber, and I are freshmen at Jackson Hole High School, along with Margaret, Robbie, Aldwin, and Ben. Tori, Hector, Freddie, and Penelope are eighth graders at the middle school, which is basically on the other side of our athletic field.
Malik’s favorite part is the JV football program. “You’re not just allowed to hit people; you’re supposed to hit people, and as hard as you can. Man, we’re not in Happy Valley anymore!”
He’s definitely right on that score. When we learn about the American Revolution in social studies, I can’t help but think back to the web page on Serenity’s bogus internet about the Boston Tea Party:
On December 16, 1773, American colonists met with representatives of the British government in Boston to discuss turning the thirteen colonies into a separate country. Tea was served.
That’s honesty, harmony, and contentment for you. We weren’t allowed to know about wars, revolts, or violence, so all that left was a friendly conversation over hot beverages.
I start to laugh, not just a chuckle, but loud, barking guffaws.
“Eli Frieden!” the teacher exclaims, horrified. “Control yourself!”
Control is out of the question. My laughter has a mind of its own. Tears of mirth stream down my cheeks. My sides ache. My entire body shakes. My student desk rocks on its uneven legs, thumping against the floor.
I get kicked out of class. So much for my spotless behavior record. On the other hand, who cares? I’m not the principal’s son here.
Besides, laughing feels so good. I can’t remember the last time I completely lost it like that. With my friend Randy, maybe. Randy. He’s the only face from my former life I’d like to see again. It’ll be tricky, because his parents are former Osiris researchers. Still, one day, years from now, I hope we can be friends again. If nothing else, I have to thank him. If it wasn’t for Randy, I never would have taken the bike ride that turned into my first run-in with Serenity’s invisible barrier. That was a horrible experience, but I’m grateful for it now. Without it, I might never have stumbled on the truth about Project Osiris.
We could all still be lab rats in the experiment.
One holdover from our old life—the eleven of us can’t get enough information. After so many years in the Serenity bubble, we’re all hungry for any kind of news we can find.
America’s Most Wanted is doing a segment on none other than C. J. Rackoff, the notorious embezzler and con man. There are childhood pictures that look so much like Hector that everybody comments on it, even Ms. Dunleavy, who is watching with us.
No one knows where Rackoff is right now. There have been reports of him all over the world—including a recent sighting on the island of West Cay, Bahamas. That one, though, has never been officially confirmed.
According to the show, the most amazing thing about Rackoff is his spectacular breakout from the Kefauver prison in Texas. Corrections officials have no explanation for his escape, except to say that it must have been carried out by trained professionals.
That gets a big laugh in the TV room.
Well, I know for a fact that we’re not professionals, and nobody trained us. Whatever skills we had in that breakout must have come from the DNA of the criminals we’re cloned from.
That DNA is part of us, but it isn’t all of us. It’s something we’ve learned over these past months. If the point of Project Osiris was to prove that you’re more than your genes, then the results are finally in.
We’re not criminals. We’re regular kids, like everybody else.
Still, you probably don’t want to mess with us . . . just to be on the safe side.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GORDON KORMAN wrote his first book at age fourteen and since then has written more than eighty-five middle grade and teen novels. Favorites include the New York Times bestselling The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, Book One: The Medusa Plot; Ungifted; Pop; and Schooled. Gordon is also the author of Masterminds and Masterminds: Criminal Destiny. He lives with his family on Long Island, New York. You can visit him online at www.gordonkorman.com.
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ALSO BY GORDON KORMAN
Masterminds: Criminal Destiny
Masterminds
Ungifted
Pop
CREDITS
COVER ART © 2016 BY KEVIN KEELE
COPYRIGHT
Masterminds: Payback
Copyright © 2017 by Gordon Korman.
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Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
First Canadian edition
EPub Edition: March 2017 EPub ISBN: 9781443428811
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