Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  He removed his hand and the cold blade of the knife replaced it. As he cut through the skin on my shoulder, I tried so hard to stay still and quiet. But the pain was the worst I had ever experienced. I don’t know if it hurt going in, but it sure as hell did when it came out.

  I tried to switch my mind off, distract it with good thoughts but it wasn’t going to be tricked. I felt every stab, every slice, and every move Lochie made as he levered out the microchip.

  “There’s a lot of blood,” Lochie said, his voice shaky.

  “Keep going,” I ordered through gritted teeth. I had come this far, I didn’t want it to be for nothing. Even though I could feel the blood trickling down my back, I knew we didn’t have a choice. I felt a pop from my shoulder blade.

  “It’s out.”

  I held up my hand, palm open. “Give it to me and I’ll dispose of it.” The bloodied little silicon chip looked so harmless on my hand. You would never think it was able to lead my enemies straight to me. It was never intended to be used like that, the Department should have been the only ones able to track me with it. The men weren’t just organized like Rob had said, they were hackers too. Their reach could be boundless.

  “I have a first aid kit in the car, wait here while I get it,” Lochie said before rummaging around in his trunk. It didn’t surprise me that he was organized enough to have the kit, he seemed to be prepared for anything these days.

  He returned and crouched over me, his breath on my bare skin making me shiver. I had to clamp my mouth shut again as he padded the wound and then taped it up with gauze. Lochie finished by using a wet wipe to clean up the blood.

  “That’s really cold,” I said, as my skin recoiled from the sudden change in temperature.

  “Baby,” he teased. “I’m done, you can get up now.”

  I wasn’t sure if my legs would hold me but Lochie offered his hand to pull me up. I slipped my top back on with one hand, unwilling to use my left shoulder just yet. Not when it was still throbbing with pain.

  Lochie waited by the car as I jogged into the bush and threw the chip as far as I could. I never wanted to see it again. I was officially off the grid now and I couldn’t have been happier.

  CHAPTER 18

  I returned to the car and climbed in, trying to find a comfortable sitting position with my wound. After so many years of doing exactly what I was told, it kind of felt good doing something I wasn’t allowed to do. The Department threatened me with all kinds of unspeakable punishment if I ever removed that chip. Now I had done it, I somehow felt lighter.

  “Where to?” Lochie asked as he started the car engine.

  “I still need to get to the Department. Maybe if we looped around and found the original road? If we don’t double back, they might think we’ve given up.” Okay, so I may have felt a rush of freedom, but I was still in a situation that required the Department’s help. When they realized why I had removed the chip, they would understand, right? I needed them to so we could go get Lola and my parents.

  We followed the deserted road until we were able to turn right a few times and get back on the original road we had been on. I kept looking around, paranoid we were being followed again. Thankfully there were no other cars in sight.

  I tried calling my parents again on Lochie’s phone. Every time I had called that morning, they weren’t answering the home phone and I couldn’t leave a message. I was certain the organization didn’t know who Lochie was so they weren’t tracing his phone, but if they heard my voice, they would be able to put two and two together.

  When I dialed this time, however, their line didn’t answer. Instead, a robotic voice told me the line was disconnected. I tried again, double checking I was inputting the right number. It was my home phone alright, but it was disconnected. “That’s weird.”

  “What is?”

  “My home phone’s been disconnected.” I tried dialing again, for the eighth time, and Lochie’s phone went dead. The battery had died. “And now your cell is dead. Do you have a car charger in here?”

  Lochie shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t really have a need for one, I don’t use my phone very often.”

  “Then how do you make all those booty calls?” I joked, hoping it was just a joke.

  “I send up a bat signal. It’s much more effective. And cheaper.” The grin across his face betrayed his teasing. When Lochie wasn’t being completely annoying, he was actually kind of nice to be around. Who knew he could be so… pleasant. Even under the current circumstances.

  “I’ll have to keep an eye out for the signal then,” I replied. The freedom from the chip must have gone to my head. It was the only excuse I had.

  “So you’d come running?”

  “Nah, I’d just know a poor girl was having her heart broken. But she’d be keeping you out of my hair so win-win.”

  Lochie grinned and stared at the road, pretending to concentrate harder than the driving needed. We drove in silence for another hour before Lochie started to slow down. My head shot around, checking to see if we were being followed again. “What’s wrong? Why are you slowing down?”

  “There’s a gas station coming up, we need to take a detour. The car needs a fill up and I need an empty.” That was way more information than I needed. He could have just stopped at ‘we need gas’. He pulled off the road and met up with the highway, the service station only a few more miles further.

  I waited in the car while Lochie fuelled up. He popped his head in when he was done. “Do you want anything from the shop? Some food, a soda, or something?”

  “I’ll have whatever you have.”

  He closed the door again and I watched him slink into the shop. Even though neither of us had slept since forever, and we were on the run from people who really wanted to get their hands on me, he still managed to smile for the shop attendant. If I was being completely objective, I would have to admit he had a way about him. A charm that, until recently, only seemed to work on other people. The thought made me both smile and want to stab myself in the eye.

  Lochie returned and threw a paper bag at me. “There’s cookies in there.”

  I didn’t need to know anything else. I reached in eagerly, handing him one of the chocolate chip cookies before taking one for myself.

  “There’s also some antiseptic type cream. You should put some on your shoulder. Just try not to get blood on my seat.”

  When I was done with the cookie, which took all of two seconds, I fished around in the bag and found the cream. It was actually really sweet of him to think of it. I didn’t know he had it in him.

  I pried back the gauze, sitting forward so I wouldn’t get his precious seats dirty. I could only go by feel so I hoped I was putting the cream on the right spot. I think the entire area was numb with shock.

  “Thank you for the cream,” I said, breaking the silence. “And for everything else you’ve done. And are still doing.”

  “I couldn’t just throw you out,” he replied, like it was no big deal. He was risking his life, it definitely was a big deal. He deserved to know the truth, I was surprised he hadn’t demanded it from me. He certainly had cause to.

  “You probably want to know what’s going on,” I started, testing the waters and wondering if I was ready to tell him yet.

  “I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

  “You aren’t curious?”

  He laughed. “Curious doesn’t even begin to describe it. But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s none of my business.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that it’s complicated.”

  “Tell me when you’re ready to,” he said, stealing a glance at me to show he was serious. He was being so sweet and kind I almost wondered whether I was ready to.

  But in the next moment, I thought about the men trying to kill me because of what I was. There was no saying Lochie wouldn’t agree with them once he knew I was an alien. We didn’t exactly have a good reputation. Most people a
ssociated us with abductions and probing. Not quite a nice thought.

  I could do the next best thing. “I promise I will tell you everything one day.” He nodded, understanding. I expected some retort about stringing him along but he kept silent. It was strange, perhaps he was the alien and I was the human. That would make more sense.

  It took only a half hour to reach the Department after the gas station. We were stopped at security and I had to be confirmed with Rob before they would let us into the parking lot.

  From there, we had to pass through another set of security guards who patted us down and waved us over with a metal detector. We waited until Rob escorted us through to his office. He looked oddly at Lochie but didn’t question him.

  “Mind waiting here?” I asked Lochie, indicating to the seats outside Rob’s office. My parents and I had spent a lot of time waiting on those chairs.

  “Are you alright on your own?” He threw the question back at me. I nodded and he planted himself on the seat. I followed Rob inside and waited until he closed the door before we spoke.

  “Who’s the guy?” Rob asked, like that was the most pressing issue at the moment.

  “He’s a friend, but he doesn’t know anything,” I explained, launching into the story before he could ask anything else. “Someone’s taken my best friend and I haven’t been able to contact my parents all morning. I think they might have got to them too.”

  “Your parents are fine, they’re on their way in.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  Rob did his usual dodge of all my questions. “Tell me about your friend. Why do you have blood on your shirt and bruises on your face?”

  The tale of the last twenty-four hours flooded out of me. I told Rob everything, trying to make my report in the most thorough way possible. The Department always wanted details, they didn’t believe in too much information. They always said the devil was in the details.

  By the end of it, I was breathless and on the verge of tears. While I gasped for air, Rob rubbed his chin and thought about everything he just heard. I waited for the verdict, a plan, all the answers and help I needed.

  “You shouldn’t have removed the chip, soda pop,” Rob finally said. That was the takeaway from the entire story? My chip? I wanted to scream with frustration, he wasn’t taking me seriously.

  “I really don’t care about the damn chip,” I started, sounding only a little hysterical. “My best friend and my parents are missing. You have to do something to find them.”

  “Your parents are okay, I told you they’re on their way in.” I stopped huffing, looking Rob in the eye. He looked serious. So that was one thing off my list of concerns. At least my parents were unharmed. I could only feel the relief for a moment before remembering Lola. “We’re going to have to work out what to do with your friend in the hallway.”

  “We’re not going to do anything with him. So far, he’s the only one that has actually helped me.”

  “There’s still protocols, rules that need to be followed-” I cut him off before he could launch into the lecture I had heard a thousand times before.

  “I don’t care about the rules, I just want my best friend back. They could be doing anything to her.”

  Rob took a step closer, getting up from his perch to stand tall. I didn’t like the way he was so calm about it all. A missing teenage girl was not something to be calm about. It was something to induce panic. His next words sent a chill through me. “Amery, we need to talk.”

  I looked around his office for the first time, it looked different. There were boxes piled up on his desk and scattered on the floor. It did nothing to calm my nerves. “What’s going on, Rob?”

  “The project has been put on hold.”

  They were the words I desperately didn’t want to hear. It was also the sentence that could make the whole situation even worse. “Is that why my parents are coming in? Because they’re no longer in the project?”

  Rob shook his head, at least that was something. My mom and dad weren’t abandoning me in my time of need. “All agents have been called in to discuss the future. Some will be reassigned.”

  “How long will the project be on hold for?” I asked, my voice shaking.

  “Indefinitely.”

  “Indefinitely? It might not ever be finished?” That meant my biological parents and everyone from Trucon would never be able to get to Earth. They would eventually all die when Trucon became uninhabitable.

  “It’s too dangerous and costly to continue on,” Rob tried to explain, although I think I only picked up half of what came out of his mouth. “The heads of the Department don’t see the value in expending so many resources.”

  A sudden realization hit me. They were pulling the plug because of money. Integrating the people of Trucon with Earthlings didn’t benefit Earth in any way. They would make no money from the integration.

  When the Department first agreed to the project after negotiations with representatives from Trucon, the benefit was going to be the knowledge that my kind would bring with them. Knowledge of space travel, technology, and the science of their eco system. I guessed the Department now found it difficult to put a dollar figure on that kind of thing.

  “What’s supposed to happen to us?” I asked grumpily. How dare they make a decision like this without even consulting everyone in the project? There were thousands of us in the community, surely our seventeen years of hard work should have counted for something.

  “You will be permitted to stay in the community but will also need to continue to follow the rules.”

  Oh my God, were they serious? They would no longer be helping or protecting us, but we still had to follow the rules? I wanted to yell and scream at the injustice but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. The Department didn’t care what I thought – clearly.

  “Please don’t let them do this,” I begged instead. “We need the project to be successful – we all do. There is more at stake here than just money.”

  “Amery, I understand you’re upset but there is nothing I can do.” He picked up a box and started filling it with the files on his shelf. “You’re going to have to get a new chip and then take that boy home. You should then wait for your parents to see what they’re going to do. Some of the agents are choosing to stay with their charges and leave the Department.”

  “No! You need to help me find Lola and rescue her. That is the only thing we are going to be doing. You owe me that, Rob.”

  “I can’t do that without authorization and I know I will be refused. Tracking down some teenager and getting tangled up with the men who want to expose the project will only expose the Department. I’m sorry, Amery, I really am but my hands are tied.”

  I had never felt so alone before. It seemed like everyone had completely abandoned me. I was totally by myself. Nobody else was going to be looking for Lola except me. It was all up to me.

  But there was one person who was still sticking to my side. Hopefully Lochie was still seated outside and he hadn’t run away when he heard us discussing things rather loudly in the office. He was literally all I had right then and there.

  I headed for the door. If I couldn’t talk Rob around, then I was wasting time and my breath. I thought we had a special father/daughter type relationship but I guess I was wrong. I was just another case file on his shelf, not enough to worry about. I guess I was stupid to think otherwise.

  “Where are you going?” Rob asked, stopping me mid-stride.

  “I’m going to find Lola.”

  “You need to get your chip replaced.”

  That was never going to happen. “Perhaps I don’t want the Department to know where I am anymore.”

  “You’re still federal property, Amery. I can still tell you what to do.”

  “Property? I’m federal property?” For a moment there, I wondered whether I had stumbled into some weird dimension where nothing was supposed to make sense. Because I sure as hell couldn’t make sense of anything anymore. “I’m a person, Ag
ent Bower. I don’t belong to anyone.”

  “That’s not how the Department sees it,” he said quietly. At least he had the sense to pretend like he didn’t want to say those things to me. It was probably all just an act. Nothing would have surprised me anymore.

  I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile. “Fine. I’ll go get my chip put in and then I’ll go home to wait for my parents. I guess I’ll see what their plans are and then get back to work being the perfect citizen.”

  He studied my face, probably trying to tell whether I was being serious or sarcastic. I tried hard to keep the attitude out of my voice, I really did.

  Finally, he sighed. “Good. I’ll give you a call later and check in to make sure everything is okay.”

  “Do they still do the chip implants on level five?”

  “They do, ask for Agent Williams.”

  I took a tentative step and he didn’t stop me. I opened the door, half expecting to see Lochie gone. Yet he was still sitting there, exactly where I had left him.

  “Everything okay?” He asked, standing. I nodded and hurried past him. I didn’t stop until I was down the corridor and pressing the Up button on the elevator. Out of the corner of my eye, I could still see Rob standing at the door of his office watching me.

  “Where are we going?” Lochie asked.

  “Get ready to run,” I said in response. “You might want to have your car keys handy.”

  CHAPTER 19

  The second Rob retreated back into his office, I knew I had to move. “Run, Lochie, go.” I didn’t wait around to see if he was following me. I ran through security, out the doors, and across the parking lot.

  As I approached his car, Lochie overtook me, his keys already in his hand. It took him only moments to open the door and jump in, gunning the engine another moment later. I flew into the seat beside him.

  “Drive and don’t stop for anything,” I ordered him, my heart pounding so hard in my chest I thought it might break several ribs. I gasped for air, hoping and praying we would be able to get out in one piece. The Department tended to be a bit gun happy, shooting first and asking questions later.