by Teya Tapler
Two loud thuds came into his ear. The inside of his head echoed and hurt for one long minute, as if he was hit by a heavy dull object. The pain wrinkled his face and reminded him why he wasn’t a fan of using the miniscule microphones. Every air movement or light touch close to the microphones came to his end multiplied hundreds of times. Alex was about to abandon the surveillance for the day when Evan’s voice came to him unsteady but very clear.
“Would I be able to write to him when he goes back to his time dimension?” The surprise made Alex jump up. He remembered returning to the kitchen to search for his lost phone just to find it on the floor with the last message from the Chancellor flagged as read. Someone had accepted that message. It wasn’t Alex and knowing that he left Lin all alone in the kitchen he suspected her. It might be the one piece of knowledge that would decide her faith faster. Evan knew that he was after her. Alex closed his eyes and focused on his next move.
Chapter 10
“Zull, may I borough your reader for a day?” Alex turned to Mort.
The gang was relaxing in the living room. After discussing for hours the plans for their next steps, the 906 inquisitors have reached to an agreement to try the pearls on an extraterrestrial target. During the discussion Emil had suggested that they approach both the Taharnians and their enemies for ransom but Telagh had over shouted him with a suggestion to remove the Pluto colony, when Grakhun had a suggestion of his own impacting the Galactic Stock Exchange on several planets. The final selection of the exact target was left to Mort and Ranshen. One would identify it based on the pearl’s power the other would arrange the politics and make sure they were heavily rewarded. After that the rest of the group would play their roles until the grand finale which was already expected to be quite a big demonstration of power.
“May I come with you?” Kevin lift his eyes from the bikini clad girls in the magazine on his lap.
“No,” Alex cut him off.
“Da-ad?” Kevin sounded like a spoil brat asking for a pony.
Evan didn’t like the idea about going out with either one of them. She closed her eyes and prayed that Zull Mort does not let her leave the apartment.
“No, Kevin” Zull roared. Evan felt the warmth of the relieve flow in her body when Zull turned to Alex and continued with a calmer voice. ”Sure Alex, she won’t be needed here for couple of days at least; unless she has another one of her dreams. If this happens when you’re away bring her here immediately. It is very important for us to hear her next prediction.”
Evan’s heart skipped a beat. She was going to be alone with Alex. Was that the lesser of two evils? Oh, how she would prefer to stay there, in the apartment. Not that she favored Zull’s or Ranshen’s company but at least they were the more sensible ones from the group. Being along with Alex wasn’t going to be fun. Evan was sure he would try to harm her.
“Where are we going?” she asked innocently hoping to discover if it would be possible to take along some of the chemicals she had smuggled out of Mort’s lab.
“I’d like to keep that a surprise but I’m sure you’ll like it.” Alex said.
“How should I dress up?” Evan asked.
“Ladies,” Ranshen exclaimed prolonging the last ‘s’ and left the room as Amanda rolled her eyes in response to his comment.
“Dress up for the seaside.” Alex said.
“You’re not bringing her anywhere close to a wide water space. A river is okay but not the seaside.” Mort said sternly. “I need her reader powers at their full potential. Do you understand?”
“All right then, dress up for Boston.” Alex pretended to be caving in. “We won’t go close to Charles river either.”
“Oh, girl, you are so lucky.” Amanda whined. “Ranshen never takes me to places like that. Come to my room. I have a nice dress and a great pair of shoes.” Amanda headed toward the door.
“You heard her. Go get the dress! You should look decent.” Roared Mort, then when Evan left he turned to Alex and said firmly. ”Don’t forget that she’s a reader! If you try doing anything to her that could damage her powers you’ll deal with me. Is this clear?”
Alex nodded realizing that Mort’s request had just made his task harder. It meant that charming and kissing Lin was off the list.
“Is this clear Alex? Regardless of where you came from, and you being a spitting image of Amanda’s missing twin brother, and regardless of my brother’s fondness of you, if you try doing anything to Lin that could damage her reader powers you’ll deal with me. Is this clear?” Mort shouted.
“Yes, sir! It is.” Alex said.
***
When the blue haze disappeared Evan found herself in the living room… of the apartment she and Brittany rented back in the 21st century. Evan recognized the apartment and the view from the living room windows. It felt as if any minute Brittany would walk in with Josh. And yet there was something in their surroundings that didn’t feel right. There was something telling her that it wasn’t 2005 yet. She looked around: the room was arranged the same way, the curtains looking relatively new were the same weird blue color and the carpet was cleaner and thicker and didn’t have the huge coffee stain, that no amount of super cleaner could take out. Even the sofa was the same. Everything in that room seemed new, not like the day she and Brittany rented the place. Trying to find the right year Evan looked around. The calendar pinned on the kitchen door said 1974. They were still in the 70’s. She moved her eyes from wall to wall pretending to see the room for the first time. As Evan browsed around she met Alex’s eyes and lowered her sight.
“Is everything all right?” Alex stretched his hand for support.
“Yes… it’s the blue haze.” Evan lied. ”Transcasting makes me dizzy.”
“Sit down. Let me see if there’s ice in the fridge.” Alex said and headed towards the kitchen.
“Where are we? Is this Boston?” Evan asked.
“We’re at a friend’s apartment, and yes, this is Boston. If you look through the living room window to the right you might even see the Prudential Tower.” Alex shouted back from the kitchen between rattling some empty glasses and closing the refrigerator door. He was easily pretending being busy in the kitchen giving Evan enough time to recognize the place. He noticed her initial surprise but her reaction could be attributed to many factors. She could really be dizzy because of the transcasting.
“Here’s some cold water.” Alex placed two glassed with iced water on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Evan drank with slow sips holding the tall glass with two hands. Alex looked at her, measuring every one of her tiny moves, until she finished the last drop. Her hands stopped trembling and she relaxed her posture a little. She was still perched on the sofa but her knees were no longer that close to her chest. It was Evan’s favorite posture too. While he was spying on her he had seen her sitting like that on the same spot so many times. She had the tendency of curling up that way whenever she felt uncomfortable or threatened.
“Shall we go?” Alex asked after a while.
Evan nodded and left the empty glass on the coffee table. Alex got up and stretched his hand in front of her. She accepted it without hesitation and followed him outside.
The street where she lived on with Brittany in the 21st century looked almost the same in 1974. The trees were smaller and some of the houses were painted a different color but it was still the same street, one of her favorite places in Boston. Evan looked around and smiled.
“D’you recognize the place?” Alex asked.
“No, why?” She asked back.
“You look so relaxed. Have you been to Boston before?” He asked.
“Never.” She lied comfortably.
“Then you must visit Fenway Park.” Alex said and headed in the wrong direction. Without hesitation Evan followed him. They passed several buildings before he stopped and looked around. She knew that soon instead of Fenway Park they would reach the green area around the Muddy River.
“I might use some reader power
. Honestly I’ve never been to Boston myself and my friend’s directions, obviously are not good. We should be seeing the ball park by now.” Alex smiled.
“We’re called readers because we read our dreams and visions, not because we read other people’s minds. You know that, don’t you?” Evan said.
“Then you will have to rely on my not so perfect memory and probably never see Fenway Park. Let’s turn this way.” Alex said and made a sharp left turn. His move surprised her. She lost her balance and bumped into him. He caught her and intentionally pulled her closer. Their eyes met. He felt her breathing and sensed her heartbeats becoming more frequent. He waited for a second and then lowered his head towards her lips. Alex was almost sure that for a moment she wanted to kiss him too when she pushed him abruptly.
“I cannot do this.” Evan disappeared into the first coffee shop. After a few minutes she came back and looked at him. “I’m sorry for what just happened. If you buy me a hot chocolate I may forget about it.” Evan said with an apologetic voice.
Alex was stunned not by her pushing him away but by her doing what she did next. She did the same thing Evan had done when she was put under too much pressure at Analysis4All. She had ran into the first coffee shop looking for a hot chocolate drink. Lin might be Evan after all and her reaction in the apartment might not be due to the blue haze at all. She had already travelled that way before to still experience the dizziness.
“I’m sorry too. It won’t happen again. Do you want anything else with the hot chocolate?” Alex said.
“A bagel with cream cheese would be nice.” Evan said.
“Sure. Plain, sesame or everything?” Alex asked her when they entered the coffee shop.
“Plain, toasted.” She said.
Yes, that was Evan, the only person Alex knew that could consume hot chocolate and plain toasted bagel with cream cheese any time day or night. While watching her apartment he had seen her survive on that food during her finals. Lin was begining to sound and act more and more like Evan.
They took the food to go and continued their walk around Boston. Pretending he was misinterpreting the directions he had received, Alex brought her to Fenway Park, and then acted very surprised. Evan congratulated him and pretended to be seeing everything for the first time. It wasn’t that hard. Of course she had seen the ball park before but that was over 15 years later. For her that visit was a stroll in the past.
Around five Alex looked at his watch and said. “We should be heading back. My friend told me we could have the apartment until seven. It will give us enough time to return to New York.”
They headed back to the flat. That was the place from where they could transcast back to the New York City apartment without causing hysteria in the town and making the evening news on all of the local channels.
“Could we do this again?” Evan played well the role of the reader rarely getting out to see real people.
“Sure. If I could convince Mort to share you for another day.” Alex said.
“Is there anything I could do to help?” Evan asked.
“How about faking one of your visions?” Alex said but when she stopped in her steps he regretted the suggestion.
“What do you mean?” Evan asked. ”Are you suggesting that I lie or are you suggesting that my visions are fake? How could you say that?” She looked as if she was going to start crying in the middle of the street. The last thing Alex needed was a scene with so many witnesses.
“I was just joking.” He said apologetically.
“Try not to joke with this. My visions are serious and very real.” Evan said drily.
“I know. I’m sorry.” Alex held the front door of the apartment building for her.
“Sometimes when I get a vision,” Evan talked slowly and quietly like a real reader. Her soft voice echoed in the staircase as they went up the stairs,” I can even feel what I am seeing. If someone is hurt it hurts me as much as them.”
“I didn’t know that, I’m sorry.” Alex said. “How do these visions come to you?”
“They come whenever they want. I only have to keep my mind and soul open.” Evan said.
“Would you like some more water?” Alex asked when they entered the apartment. “It might help you with the dizziness. We have to travel back the same way.”
“Yes, please. Thank you.” Evan sat on the sofa while Alex rummaged in the kitchen again. She looked at the glasses on the table. Hers was empty while his was still full. Carefully listening to the noises in the kitchen Evan took her right shoe off and pulled a fingernail size piece of paper. She carefully unfolded it and emptied the yellow powder into Alex’s glass. The substance dissolved immediately without any sizzle, bubbles, vapor or smell. Evan was about to put the paper back in her shoe when Alex showed up with a glass of icy water in his hand for her.
“Here it is.” He said positioning the glass in front of her.
“Thank you.” Evan grabbed the glass with her right hand while her left hand hid the paper between the sofa cushions. She tossed off her other shoe and touched the glass in front of Alex with hers.
”Cheers!” She said and started drinking slowly holding the glass with two hands.
“Cheers!” Alex drank from his glass looking at her very carefully.
“What?” She said after a while.
“You’re beautiful.” Alex said focused on her eyes.
“Don’t start that again! You promised me.” She said seriously.
“I promised not to try to kiss you. I didn’t promise not to make you compliments.” Alex said smoothly.
Evan blushed, her hands started to tremble and the color of her eyes briefly changed from dark brown to bright blue then forest like green before returning back to their normal dark brown color. She felt the tremble of her hands and held the glass tighter attributing her reaction to the fact that she was alone with Alex.
“Is everything all right? Your hands seem unsteady.” Alex asked.
“It’s the excitement about the trip back.” She lied.
He knew that she hadn’t felt the tiny amount of penancola virus he had placed in her water, but her reaction was very vivid. The change of her eye color to bright blue was a typical reaction of the people born till the mid-21st century. Since the huge penancola epidemic in the 2050’s the penancola immunization of the newborns had become mandatory and no one born after that point in time would react that way. Lin was becoming more likely to be Evan.
To make the test even sweeter Alex had added a small bonus - a tiny particle of Evan’s DNA, a speck of one of the hairs he took of her hairbrush the day they were installing the cameras in her apartment. That addition resulted in her eyes changing to forest green. Lin was definitely Evan. Alex had found his target. He only needed to wait for the right moment to deliver the final blow.
His stomach churned and rumbled. Nausea slowly crept up his esophagus threatening to climb out of his throat. After a few seconds Alex ran to the bathroom to avoid the humiliation of emptying his stomach in front of her. While he hugged the toilet bowl his mind was reviewing everything he had eaten and drunk that day. It wasn’t much. He had had only a cereal for breakfast back in New York then the bagel and cream cheese with hot chocolate at Boston, and then he drank a little bit of water. It must have been the water. While he was just testing her, Evan had hit him hard. That witch had put something in his water. He never expected her to take the first step and defend herself.
“Are you all right?” her soft voice came from the direction of the bathroom door. Alex looked at her and tried to answer when another wave of nausea hit him and he lowered his head.
“Here drink this. It’ll help you feel better.” Evan said handing him over a glass of water.
Alex accepted the glass then his hands trembled and he dropped it on the bathroom floor. The glass didn’t break but the water spilled on the white tilled floor.
“Don’t worry. I’ll pour another one.” Evan filled the glass with cold tap water from the bathroom sin
k.
Alex drank in large gulps. The cold liquid cleaned his mouth and calmed his stomach. He got up and headed to the door.
“We have to go back...” he wobbled towards her and fell.
***
“Here, here. Don’t try to get up. You’re still too weak. If only my brother was here, you would finally believe me how much you do look like him.” Amanda’s voice came to Alex from a far. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on his surroundings. He was lying in his bed, among the crimson colored sheets. He was in his room at the New York City apartment. Amanda was leaning against the footboard, her red hair in a flattering up do and her hands crossed on her lap. Ranshen was pacing slowly between the window and the walk-in closet, hands behind his back.
“You can go now Amanda,” Ranshen said then propped Alex with two pillows and sat on the bed close to him. “Now tell me everything that happened.”
“What did she tell you?” Alex asked.
“That you visited a nice restaurant and that you might be having a strong reaction to the Chinese food you’ve eaten,” Ranshen hissed. “I doesn’t sound like there is much truth in that story.”
Alex closed his eyes to think for a second. Telling Ranshen the truth might accelerate Evan’s death when it was unnecessary. Alex had received clear directions to kill her but not before they obliterate the planet Taharni. The Chancellor was perfectly clear in his instructions about the timing of Evan’s death.