Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

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Project Integrate Series Boxed Set Page 57

by Campbell, Jamie


  I faced the principal alone, it seemed fitting. “We were just talking, nothing else, sir.”

  “Yeah right,” he snorted. Considering he had been a high school principal for forever, his lie detector was precisely honed. “Do we need to have a meeting about this in private?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Are you sure?” He tilted his head downwards so his eyes were wide and focused solely on me. It was probably meant to be the look, the one that should have had me shivering in my boots in fear of his wrath.

  “I’m sure.”

  He clasped his hands behind his back and cocked his head to one side as he studied me. I was so close to crumbling that I really needed him to walk away before my mouth starting telling him everything. Damn he was good at his job.

  “My door is always open, Miss Jones,” Principal Tobin finally said before starting his walk down the corridor. I breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone.

  There was nothing more to do than crouch down and start to gather all my things. With all the people moving away so quickly, they were now scattered from one end to the other.

  My day didn’t get any better. Even though a few people had stood up for me against Melody, the majority hadn’t done anything. I didn’t know how to convince them to accept me. What more did they want from me? What more could I do? Failing baking fresh cupcakes for them all every day, I was out of ideas.

  My mom picked Garrick and I up from school. Lochie had basketball practice that was meant to run late and I didn’t want to linger any longer on school grounds than I needed to.

  As we walked into the house, my stomach dropped and dread washed over me for the second time in one day. Krom sat in the living room with my dad, that couldn’t have been a good thing.

  They both stood as we approached. “What’s going on?” I asked, filled with trepidation. I put my backpack down and perched on the side of the lounge.

  “How are our members this afternoon?” Krom said in his usual booming voice. Even without it echoing off the walls, I still winced with the sound. I hoped everyone on Trucon didn’t speak at that volume.

  “Fine,” Garrick replied for us both, he seemed equally as worried as I was. I wished Krom would just get it out already. My nerves didn’t have time for pleasantries.

  “And the project is going well?” He looked at me pointedly and my conscience was screaming at me that he knew about my little incident at lunchtime in the corridor. How did he find out? I hadn’t even told Garrick or Lochie. Did he have some kind of psychic power or something?

  I refused to speak, letting Garrick field the questions. “It’s going as good as can be expected. We’re trying our best to win everyone over.”

  “Excellent,” Krom replied. “Have you given any more thought to returning to Trucon?”

  I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. He wasn’t there about my little meltdown, he wanted to know whether we were prepared to accept his mission. It was almost as bad.

  A whole new wave of dread rushed through my veins. I had placed that particular decision in the too hard basket and now it was coming back to bite me – hard.

  I exchanged a look with Garrick, he wasn’t giving me anything. There was no way he was going to come to my rescue. I knew he had already made up his mind to go, with the catch being I was to go with him.

  I stared at the four faces staring at me in turn. My parents didn’t want me to go, they had told me as much when I first told them about the mission. With only just getting me back, they were hesitant for me to go anywhere, let alone a whole other planet.

  Then there was the pro-mission advocates, Krom and Garrick. They were my kind, of course they wanted me to go and help our people. I felt like I owed them that, considered my birth parents had made the ultimate sacrifice of giving up their daughter to send me to Earth.

  My mind went back and forth, swinging like a pendulum. One minute I would make up my mind and in the next it would be reversed again.

  The truth was, I didn’t want to go to Trucon. Sure, I was curious about it and it would be good to escape from Earth for a while, but it meant leaving everyone I loved. Garrick couldn’t take the place of everyone I would be leaving behind.

  But then there was my obligation and duty as a member of the project. I should go to Trucon and help them be prepared to come down to Earth. They needed the information Garrick and I could provide. We could make a difference to their transition. I was sure they were all worried about the integration, we could make it easier for them.

  Everyone stood expectantly awaiting an answer. I wasn’t ready to give them one. I needed more time to agonize over the decision. “Do you need an answer now?” I asked Krom, crossing my fingers and hoping for some good luck.

  It wasn’t to be. “Yes, I need to make preparations. We can’t wait much longer to bring them here, there have been… developments with the Department. I need them to be prepared.”

  “What kind of developments?” Garrick interrupted, concern crossing his face.

  “They wish to have us all leave,” Krom explained. “They are making quite irrational demands. Time is of the essence now.” His mouth twisted into a grimace. I hated to think what the demands were. If they were enough to fluster Krom, I didn’t want to know the details.

  Garrick snorted, displeased with the news. “The Department is full of idiots. They should be helping us, staying true to their word.”

  “That is what I wished too,” Krom commiserated. “I gave them a week to reconsider and they only took five days to confirm their position. So, can I count on you two?”

  My heart was pounding in my chest and throbbing in my eardrums. I was a deer caught in headlights, unable to move while they were all staring at me. I didn’t want to let any of them down, yet half of them were going to be disappointed no matter what I decided.

  “Amery?” Krom prompted.

  At the end of the day, I couldn’t ignore my responsibility. Ever since I was born I had a duty to my home planet, I couldn’t start ignoring them now. Especially not when it was more important now than ever before.

  “I’ll do it, I’ll go to Trucon,” I finally replied, so quietly I wasn’t sure if anyone would be able to hear.

  “I will too,” Garrick added.

  “Excellent, I’ll make the arrangements. The ship should be here within two weeks and you’ll leave immediately,” Krom said happily as he headed for the exit. “Be ready.”

  Krom collided with Lochie at the door, he had to dance around him to get out. One look at Lochie told me he had caught the end of the conversation. His face was a thundercloud, the redness matching his basketball tracksuit.

  “Lochie, I-”

  “You’re leaving?” He demanded in disbelief. “How can you do this?”

  I stole a glance around, my parents and Garrick were witnessing my humiliation. I couldn’t do anything right then to please them all but the person I most wanted to was now angry with me. Maybe I was just a liar after all.

  Lochie cast a scathing look my way before stomping out. I chased after him, unable to ignore the hurt in his eyes. I caught him on the stoop before he could leave. Photographers waited by the road, hungry for a scandal like this.

  I grabbed Lochie’s arm. “Let me explain, please.” He didn’t shrug me away but I’m sure he wanted to. I felt all the muscles on his arm tense with the touch.

  “You’re leaving again, what’s there to explain?” His voice caught on the last word. At least he stopped walking away from me.

  “I don’t want to,” I started, talking way faster than I normally did before he decided he’d had enough of listening. “Krom needs someone to go back to Trucon and prepare everyone for when they come to Earth. I’ll only be there long enough to do the job and then I’ll come back. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier but I didn’t even know if I was going to go. I was trying not to think of it, really.”

  “Did you even consider talking it over with me?”

 
I didn’t think I needed to, I already knew what his answer would be – a big, fat no. Thinking about it though, I guess I should have at least told him about the possibility. I was never going to get the hang of being in a relationship.

  “I thought you’d say no,” I replied honestly.

  His jaw clenched even tighter, the muscles contracting. “Why does it have to be you?”

  “Because we’re the only members sane and healthy enough to do it right now.” He stared at the wall, refusing to look me in the eyes. He was shutting down on me. “Lochie, please talk to me. I don’t want to go but I have to.”

  “Krom gave you a choice, you didn’t have to agree to it.”

  “No, I didn’t. But I have an obligation and I can’t just forget about my responsibility.”

  “What about your responsibility to me? To us?” He hissed.

  “It won’t be forever, it’s only for a while.”

  “How long?”

  I wished I had all the answers for him, I guess I should have asked Krom the same thing. “I don’t know, not very long?”

  “A week? A month? A year? Two? What? How long am I going to live without you, Amery?”

  “I don’t know,” I repeated.

  “Are you even going to come back?” His eyes snapped around to meet mine. There was nothing but sadness reflected back at me. I desperately wanted to throw my arms around him but the fear of rejection was all too present.

  “Of course I’m going to come back. I don’t want to leave here, I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Make it that simple,” he pleaded. My heart contracted in my chest, I thought for sure it was shriveling into the size of a raisin and would just disappear altogether one day. Perhaps the pain would follow it.

  “I wish I could,” I replied sincerely, staring at the floor and unable to hold his gaze any longer. I wished I was a better girlfriend, I wished I wasn’t an alien, I wished I could be normal. If wishes were coins, I’d be rich.

  Lochie ran his finger gently across my jaw, stopping underneath my chin. I heard the shutter of cameras, remembering the photographers on the street. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad for them to see some humanity from an alien. Lochie lifted my head slowly so I didn’t have a choice except to look at him. I ignored the cameras. “I’m scared you won’t come back.”

  “I promise I will. It’s only going to be a trip, not a permanent thing.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t get it. I’m worried something will happen to you so you can’t come back. It’s got to be dangerous going into space, visiting another planet. I won’t be able to protect you.”

  “You can’t always protect me.” His honesty was making butterflies buzz in my stomach, causing me to forget about what we were talking about. I had to concentrate to continue. “But I promise I’ll do everything in my power to return safely. I won’t take risks, I won’t do anything stupid.” I stopped myself from adding that Garrick would be there too, somehow I didn’t think that would go down so well.

  “It feels like every time I get you back, you have to go again. All I ever do is miss you.”

  I knew exactly how he felt. Some stability would be good in my life right about now. I had to remind myself every day I was fighting now for that in the future. “I miss you too. I still have two weeks before I go. We could make the most of it?”

  He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him. I was finally able to sigh and relax. In his arms was where I belonged, not out roaming in the universe somewhere. All I could do was wish.

  CHAPTER 16

  “This can’t be good,” I moaned, my eyes fixated on the television. Just once it would be nice to get up in the morning and not be slammed in the face by something even worse than the day before.

  The head of the Originals, Alonso Ferguson, was plastered over all the television channels. There was literally no way of avoiding him as his latest informational video made the rounds of the news updates.

  “…these parasites have the sole intention of wiping out the human race. They want to live on our planet, use our resources, and take over. Nobody is going to escape these alien’s murderous intent…”

  Images of little green men accompanied his face as it twisted with rage and disgust. He spat when he talked but nobody else probably noticed. Not when footage of mass murders and bloody streets flashed behind him.

  “The government has allowed it all to happen. They are in on this, perfectly happy with sacrificing their own people to perpetuate the demands of aliens. Aliens! They want us all to die, they want our race to die…”

  That didn’t even make sense. The government consisted of humans, why would they want to kill themselves off? My anger at the Department was growing the longer I watched. All they had to do was address the claims, explain about the project, and they could attempt to clear up the mess.

  “We must rise up and fight these parasitic demons. We have to prove to them we won’t die without a war. We our fighting for our survival, don’t fool yourselves that this isn’t a life or death matter. All aliens need to be destroyed…”

  Once the pre-recorded video stopped, the news reporter returned to the screen. He looked solemn and serious. “Following the release of the latest video from the organization known as the Originals, riots and protests have broken out across the globe. People are demanding answers, taking the law into their own hands in the name of survival.”

  They cut to a series of images from around the world. Angry mobs in London storming the US consulate, police in the streets of New York throwing smoke bombs at protestors to keep them at bay, riots in the middle of the streets in Sydney. The Originals had done a great job of stirring up hatred.

  The news reporter continued. “The number of UFO sightings are flooding police departments and military organizations. A source inside the army states they have been inundated with reports of low flying crafts of alien origin.”

  Now they were seeing UFO’s everywhere? There was only one I knew of and it hadn’t come near Earth since it dropped Krom off. People seemed hysterical, probably imagining things all over the place that didn’t exist.

  “Turn it off,” Garrick ordered from the lounge. I hit the off button on the remote, happy to be done with the whole thing. “This is bad, you know that, right?”

  “Of course I do. The moment we step outside that door, we’re as good as sitting ducks. Those pitchforks will be pointed directly at us.”

  “And yet we’re still supposed to be good little citizens.” His voice was full of sarcasm, it was rarely without it these days. “At least it’s only for another two weeks and then we’ll be gone.”

  I didn’t want to be reminded of that. “We have to do our best until then.”

  Mom hurried into the room, turning the television back on. “You’re missing Krom, he’s on the news.” She sat at my side, her eyes glued to the screen.

  I heard Krom before I saw him. He was standing at a podium, Kyle’s house behind him and a few satellites flanking his sides. “We are not here to harm anyone. Our planet will be destroyed by a catastrophic asteroid collision before the next ten years is out. We must leave or we will all be killed. I speak for all our people when I say we only want to integrate into your planet. We will not hurt anyone. All those lies the Originals are spouting are just that: lies.”

  “Go Krom,” I mumbled.

  “Does he really think a speech is going to convince anyone?” Garrick groaned.

  “At least he’s saying something,” I shot back. I was sick and tired of everyone sitting back and letting the Originals take up all the airtime.

  Krom continued on the television. “I only ask for the opportunity for us to prove ourselves. Speak with us, engage in conversation instead of resorting to violence. What is happening now is exactly the opposite of what we had hoped for. You know our people, they have walked amongst you for seventeen years, they are one of you
now. Don’t shut them out because of fear. Let them in so we can have peace in the universe once again.”

  He answered a few questions thrown at him from the scrum of reporters camped out on the front yard. Krom may be an alien but he knew how to talk to humans now. I was mildly impressed with how well he handled himself.

  Mom flicked off the television and stood. “If you’re going to school, you should leave now or you’ll both be late. I can give you a lift?”

  I inwardly groaned and pulled myself to my feet. There was no use sitting around feeling sorry for myself. If I let the fear keep me hidden away, the Originals won. It was more important today than any other day to continue on like nothing had changed. Even if I did want to curl up under the bed and not come out again.

  Garrick wasn’t as keen but we eventually made it to school. Walking through the corridors, everyone averted their eyes when they saw us. I guess it was better being ignored than being attacked.

  I found Lola at her locker. “Hey, Lol.”

  She gave me a hug before saying anything. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m alright.”

  “The Originals suck.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “I have to agree with you there. Did you see Krom?”

  Lola nodded. “He kicked some butt.”

  “Do you think he did any good?”

  “If the idiots who believe the lies were listening, it might eventually sink in. I don’t know though, the riots are horrible.”

  I sighed, remembering the violent images on the screen. How could they hold such hatred in their hearts to go on a rampage like that? Fear had to be the strongest emotion possible, nothing else could invoke such a reaction. And the Originals were playing it for all it was worth.

  “Are you sure it’s safe for you to be here?” Lola finished, I’d tuned out what else she had been saying.

  “I’ve got to keep up appearances,” I shrugged, the choice really was out of my control. I knew what my role was and it hadn’t changed because of the Originals – it never did. “I don’t want the Originals to win. The people from Trucon have to come here, they don’t have any other choice. If I give up, it’s letting them down.”

 

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