Who on earth designed this whole fear thing? And are they trying to get us all killed?
A few more steps and they’d be right on her.
This was supposed to be the moment when Gaia zinged into focus. This was when her heart rate used to slow down in preparation. Now it was pounding its way out of her chest. Focus, she scolded herself. Overcome it. You said this was what you always wanted, remember? To overcome fear. So you damn well better do it right now.
The first man lunged for her stomach and, thank the Lord, even though she’d heard herself let out an embarrassing gasp, her reflexes still kicked in. She dodged the knife, clasping her hand around the platinum asshole’s wrist and flipping him over her shoulder. He was a lightweight compared to the other two.
Her heart was still pounding way too quickly, annoying beads of sweat leaking all over her palms. She could actually feel her legs begging her to run. Her legs wanted no part of this battle. But she willed them to stay planted to the ground.
The bigger Guido swung next, and Gaia was barely prepared. She just managed to sidestep to her right and crouch low to the ground. Even her eyes were locking up on her. It was harder to see the angles, harder to pick her moments. She wished she’d met up with these losers before fear had been introduced into her life. They were amateurs. She should have had them flat on the ground twenty seconds ago. But everything was taking longer with all her heart palpitations and hesitation. She was moving too slowly to win.
Finally the angle came clear to her and the best combination presented itself. Gaia worked quickly and desperately before she could manage to screw herself with all this sweaty hesitation. Staying low to the ground, she launched a sweeping kick to the legs of the biggest thug, sending him toppling straight into the knife of his leather-clad twin. He let out a throaty scream that terrified both his partners and sent them running at full speed.
Thank God, she groaned to herself. She knew she hadn’t had much left. If that move hadn’t worked, this pathetically fearful fight might very well have been her last.
After a few more seconds of writhing around, the remaining thug finally lumbered his way off the ground, trying to grab at the minor wound on his back as he turned and followed his buddies.
Of course, Mr. Streaks and Tips shouted out a bunch of vengeful yammering as he ran, employing the word bitch at least twenty more times. But Gaia was so relieved to be alive, she barely even noticed. And fearful or not, she’d still managed to plant the seed in his mind that his “bitch ass” wasn’t so invincible. That was something.
More important, the girl in black was alive and still fully clothed. Whatever he’d hoped to do to her tonight, he’d failed. Gaia walked back to the girl, trying to catch her breath as her heart rate finally began to return to normal and the knots in her stomach began to untangle.
Even the aftereffects of this fear thing were a pain in the ass. Obviously she needed to understand it a hell of a lot better than she thought she had. Was her uncle’s injection for real or not? Given that she had no idea how to reach her uncle or her father, that was something of a moot question, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to think about it, anyway. What was the point of trying to figure something out when there was no way you could get the answer? Don’t think. That was still the new policy.
“Are you okay?” she asked, crouching next to the girl, who was still sitting on the rock.
“Yeah,” the girl said, sighing with frustration. “Thanks. Thanks a lot. That was some serious Karate Kid Five shit. Where’d you learn that?”
“I just watch a lot of Bruce Lee movies,” Gaia muttered.
“Yeah, well, you gotta teach me that flip thing sometime. That shit would really come in handy.” She pulled out a pack of Marlboros and popped one in her mouth, offering the pack to Gaia. “I’m Genevieve,” she said. “But no one calls me Genevieve.” The girl was awfully relaxed for someone who’d just almost gotten raped. In fact, she seemed more pissed off than upset.
“Gaia,” she replied, trying to catch her breath. “I don’t smoke,” she added. “What do they call you?”
“Gen” the girl replied. “Gaia? What the hell kind of a name is—”
“Don’t ask,” Gaia muttered.
Gen shrugged and shoved the pack back in her pocket. She leaned her face closer to Gaia’s. “Hey… are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Gaia said, breathing heavily, trying not to feel quite so woozy. Throwing fear into the mix had made the fight a hell of a lot more exhausting, even if it had only lasted a minute. But something about this Gen girl had already made Gaia not want to appear weak in front of her. She just seemed to have more balls than the average female. Who did that remind her of? She reminded Gaia of someone. Someone besides herself, that is.
“You’re sure you’re all right?” Gen asked again. “You look a little messed up.”
“Oh, yeah,” she replied, lying through her teeth as her vision began to dim. “I’m fine. But, uh… if it’s cool with you… I’m just going to pass out for a minute.”
“Cool.” Gen nodded, taking another puff on her cigarette.
Who did Gen remind her of? Well, no time to figure it out now. Gaia nodded her thanks and then watched as Gen’s face turned an ugly shade of brown. And then there was just blackness.
“PLEASE TRY TO REFRAIN FROM YOUR inane questions tonight,” Loki warned as he sat down in his chair with his laptop. “We have a great deal to cover, and I’ve only got a few minutes for this briefing.”
* * *
Imperfection
* * *
Josh handed Loki his coffee and then walked across the wide bare floor to the leather couch. “Understood,” he said with a whimsical smile as he plopped down on the couch.
His childlike demeanor made Loki pause with annoyance before sipping his coffee. He waited impatiently for Josh to appear more attentive, but the Cheshire-cat grin wouldn’t leave his face. It was as if Josh had told himself a joke that he simply couldn’t get over. Not only was it unprofessional, but it was also rather offensive, given the seriousness of all the various matters at hand.
“Would you like to wipe that childish grin off your face?” Loki finally requested.
Josh widened his eyes as if he’d been unaware that he was smiling and quickly shifted his expression to something more appropriate. “I’m sorry,” he murmured with compensatory seriousness.
Loki made sure to glare at him for another few seconds just to be sure Josh would rid himself of any further distractions. “Can we proceed?” he asked, disgusted by the need to act as Josh’s kindergarten teacher.
“Yes, of course,” Josh assured him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware I was smiling.”
“Fine” Loki said, sipping his coffee and turning one of the few lamps in his sparsely furnished loft closer to his laptop to examine his notes. “Now… the matter of the Fargo boy seems to have been handled.”
“Yes,” Josh agreed. “I understand she hasn’t made contact once since early this morning.”
“Yes, well, after your debacle with Sam Moon, I thought it better to nip this in the bud.”
Josh lowered his head in shame and gulped his coffee. “I’m sure you’re right,” he mumbled, still much too childishly as far as Loki was concerned.
“Besides,” Loki added, “there’s no reason Gaia should have to suffer through another painful situation like the mess with Moon. This separation is going to be far better for all parties involved. Excessive attachments would only complicate matters.”
“I agree,” Josh said.
Loki froze again before sipping his coffee, flashing Josh another disapproving glance. “I didn’t ask for your opinion,” he said flatly. He kept his eyes locked with Josh’s until he was confident that his point had been received. Josh let out a brief, uncomfortable sigh and scratched the back of his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said, not so convincingly.
Loki eyed Josh for another moment, trying to assess what might have
gotten into him this evening. His lack of decorum was disheartening, to say the least. And his smiles could be described as nothing other than “goofy.” Loki had spent just about all of Josh’s life training him and his “brothers,” and while he understood that one must always leave room for error, Josh had been chalking up more than his usual share lately. Particularly with the Moon fiasco. There was no question that Josh’s usual perfection had taken a serious dip as of late, and it had left Loki with a needling sense of concern. It was more than just the errors; Josh had also displayed a few unfortunate bursts of attitude. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but still, given the scope of the new operation and Josh’s significant role therein, his mild foray into imperfection would need to be remedied immediately.
“Josh,” Loki said, leaning forward in his chair, “do you think we’re developing a problem here?”
Josh sat up straighter in his seat and dropped the lighthearted air from his expression. “Absolutely not,” he stated.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,” Josh stressed with emphatic assurance. “As a matter of fact, I think things are moving along quite smoothly.”
Loki shared one last silent moment of intense eye contact just to be sure. “All right,” he said kindly, removing the excess tension from their conversation. “Tell me how smoothly they’re going. What’s our progress with the Gannis girl?”
“Well,” Josh said, rising to refill his cup, “I think this one is going to be a piece of cake.”
“Is that right?”
“Absolutely.” Josh smiled. He took the long walk to the kitchen area. “I, uh… I really think I should take my time with this one, though.” He kept his eyes glued to his coffee cup. “You know… just to be sure there are no mistakes. I think we may have rushed the Moon situation. I think that may have been the problem.”
Loki rolled his eyes slightly. “Yes, I’m sure you’d love to take your time with this one, but we’ll be doing just the opposite.” He turned back to his notes. “I want to move far more quickly. That’s the entire point of changing the plan.”
“I don’t understand,” Josh said as he sat back down on the couch.
“Yes, you rarely do lately,” he muttered, looking over the latest batch of reports from the geneticists. “You do recall me asking you to refrain from inane questions?”
Josh slammed his coffee cup down on the floor and stood up. “Well, with all due respect,” he complained, “I don’t know how you can expect the best out of me when you keep me in the dark half the time. Maybe if you provided a little more information to begin with, you might see my margin of error decrease. Not to mention those little ‘bursts of attitude’ you’ve mentioned.”
Loki removed his reading glasses and looked up at Josh’s indignant and somewhat demanding expression. He felt ready to pounce on yet another display of insubordination. But in truth… Josh had a point. “Perhaps you’re right,” he conceded.
Josh’s expression relaxed, as did his breathing, from the look of things. “Thank you,” he said, sitting back down in his seat. “So… why the rush?”
“Because the doctors are ready,” Loki replied, unable to mask a very slight proud smile.
“They are?”
“They are.” Loki sat back in his seat more comfortably. “The preliminary tests on Gaia’s DNA samples are done. And the doctors have already engineered the serum.”
“Already?” Josh replied with wide-eyed amazement.
“Already,” he confirmed with a smile. “So you ask me why we’re rushing? My answer is because we can. You understand now? This is precisely why the shift in plans. We no longer need to invest years of laborious effort and training into a complicated cloning experiment that could only develop at a snail’s pace. If we’ve captured what we need in this serum, then we’ll have the proverbial ‘lightning in a bottle.’ The financial possibilities would be limitless. Not to mention the political possibilities.”
“So… you’re abandoning the second-generation experiment altogether?” Josh’s eyes suddenly looked rather hollow.
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
“Yes… but I thought—”
“Yes, I know what you thought; that’s why I’m filling you in, as per your request, yes?”
“Yes, but…”
Loki was beginning to get impatient. He’d wasted too much time trying to educate Josh. It really wasn’t necessary. Josh’s task at hand would be the same regardless.
“The missing piece is really in your hands,” Loki stated, giving Josh his most serious and demanding glance. “As I said, the serum is ready. The doctors are ready to test a genetic transfer on a new subject. So, you tell me… how long before the Gannis girl agrees?”
Josh still seemed preoccupied or troubled by something.
“Josh,” Loki snapped. Josh quickly shot back to attention. “Do I need to ask you again? Are you and I having a problem?”
Once again Josh adjusted his demeanor accordingly, ridding himself of distractions and childish expressions. “No,” he said. “No problem. No problem at all.”
“Then how long?”
“Well, all your intelligence on Heather was right,” he replied, relaxing in the couch and beginning to act much more himself again. “She’s obviously insanely jealous of Gaia. I think she’d absolutely jump at the chance to be like her in any way she could. It’ll take a little bit of finessing, but I’m willing to bet she’ll take the bait in two weeks, maximum. Probably less.”
Loki was extremely pleased with the estimate, and he let Josh know so with a smile. “Fine,” he said, leaning back comfortably. “That’s fine. Then we’ll move ahead now with the plans for the Caymans.”
“Okay.”
Loki looked back to his laptop, making sure they’d covered all the necessary bases. “Good,” he said, trying to suppress the wave of excitement running through him. “That’s very good. Everything seems to be very much in order.”
“Definitely,” Josh said.
“Regarding Tom and Gaia, our new field agent is now firmly in place. We should now have full inside access to both of them. When the time is right, our agent removes Tom… and we have no further impediments to this operation.”
Memo
From: G
To: L
Subject is still unconscious in the clearing behind the Met. Should some action be taken? Please advise.
Memo
From: L
To: G
Be patient. As long as the subject is under your supervision, everything will be fine. Obtain as much information as possible and provide a full report.
FIRST THERE WAS JUST THE DIRT under her nails. That was all she could feel. And then against her face, scraping her cheek and her ears, crusty dirt crawling into the corner of her mouth. The smells were green like earth and spoiled like garbage. But as her eyes began to flutter open…
* * *
Four
* * *
No, that’s certainly not possible. That’s not right. More hallucinations? Oh God, please tell me I’m through with the hallucinations. Maybe a dream?
The more her eyes began to focus, the less she was able to deny it.
Ancient Egyptian ruins were towering over her. They were glowing in golden shades of sand and stone. Somehow she was floating between two worlds. All around her it was night, and she was surrounded by grass and filthy earth. But in front of her… sand and Egyptian temples lit up by the sun.
Welcome to La La Land, Gaia. You’ve finally lost it.
No, wait. Glass. A huge wall of glass between her and the Egyptian ruins. What did that mean? A wall of glass… was that some kind of symbol? She knew she should have studied those goddamn Freudian dream books.
Her focus improved a little further. It was about thirty more seconds before she branded herself an idiot.
The museum, you idiot. You’re staring at the back of the museum.
Of course. The Temple of Dendur at the back of t
he Metropolitan Museum of Art She must have seen it at least five times from the inside the museum. She’d just never seen it from outside the huge glass wall of windows. She put the pieces together as she rolled herself over in the filthy grass. That had been the light coming through the trees when she’d first heard Genevieve screaming. They obviously left the lights on in this part of the museum overnight The scariest thing was that she hadn’t even noticed this huge Egyptian temple the whole time she’d been dealing with Genevieve’s Guido would-be rapists. Get a clue, Guia. Maybe you need to look around you once in a while.
She took her own advice and opened her eyes a bit wider, checking in her immediate vicinity. The first thing she saw was Genevieve, still sitting on her rock, drinking a bottle of something. How long had Gaia been out? She couldn’t believe Genevieve had waited with her the entire time.
“Hey,” Gaia croaked from the ground. “I’m back.”
Gen had one of those pager/text messenger things open, and she seemed to be totally engrossed in the message she was reading. She slammed her pager closed and shoved it in her pocket. “Hey,” she said, taking a swig from the bottle and making a face of utter disgust. “Ugh. Man,” she complained, spitting into the dirt. “Couldn’t they drink a freakin’ beer just once?”
“Who?” Gaia asked as she picked herself up and dusted the dirt off her already filthy clothes.
“The richies,” she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her pack of cigarettes. “All the Upper East Side private school kids like to have their little ‘hide from Mommy and Daddy’ parties behind the Met. They think it’s way cool. But they never drink any good freakin’ beer. All they ever drink are wine coolers. I mean, man. Come on, people. Leave me something I can drink. Have you ever had one of these things?” She extended the bottle to Gaia. Gaia was still pretty queasy, and the sight of the bottle alone almost made her vomit.
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