“That’s amazing. My sister…” Akemi blinked a bit. “She’s one of the cadets. Maybe you’ll meet her.”
“Oh my goodness. What are the odds? Tell me all about her,” Shara said.
Chapter 11
Claudia woke when her cell phone buzzed under the pillow. She was stretched out on her friend’s couch and it took her a second to find the phone under the tangled sheet of her pallet.
“You should turn on the news,” Chris said, right away.
Claudia felt around for the remote. She flicked on the TV, and changed it to 4.2. Grainy footage of a burning stage covered the screen, carousel lights flickering in the background. The voice over said, “ – the riot, which some have alleged to be premeditated, erupted at 9:00p.m. last evening. The Spo fired on the crowd causing four fatalities and eight injuries. Others were burned and trampled, the total number of injuries is not known.
“This man, Robert Gravies, was there.” The screen flicked to a balding, white guy.
“Uh. Yeah, the cadets all crowded around the spooks. Looked like they were protecting them. Then one of ‘em said, ‘Fire!’ and suddenly there were bullets flying – ”
Claudia muted the TV. “Was he hurt?” she said. “Do you know what happened?”
“Sam wasn’t hurt, but several of his friends were. I’m betting he could use a visit from his sister. Are you ready to go to Malibu?” Chris asked.
“Will they let you leave the hospital already?”
“’Course they will,” Chris said. “If you pick up my car from my apartment, you can come get me.”
Claudia drove Chris westward on Highway 10. His arm was in a tight sling against his chest, the wrist in a temporary cast.
“I appreciate this,” Claudia said. “I know the Spo don’t want cadet families showing up yet.”
“Well, not to blow my own horn,” Chris said, “but I have a certain amount of influence with the Spo, or at least with all their security, which comes to the same thing. They’ll let us in.”
“Thanks for using your influence then,” Claudia said.
“It’s not a bad job.”
“You want to work for them?” Claudia asked. She couldn’t help it. Didn’t he care who he worked for?
“The Spo aren’t that bad. I know you probably hate them for taking your brother. But honestly, they’re not going away. It makes more sense to work with them than not,” he said.
“Like hell.”
“Maybe we should talk about this later.”
“I’m fine.” Claudia stopped at the light on the 10 on-ramp. It turned green and she surged forward, nearly hitting the minivan in the HOV lane. She tapped the break and got in behind the minivan, but that only made her angrier.
“You were attacked. You almost lost your hand to a spook pet. What’s the matter with you?”
“That’s a fair point. Working security for the aliens is the toughest, strangest job ever. I expect to get hurt. Not their fault.”
“What are those animals for anyway?"
“The trouncers? They use them in their spaceships. The Spo have some kind of advanced biocomputer technology; they use trouncer brain tissue in their jump drives. A friend of mine is a programmer and he says it’s incredible. I’ve heard they’re going to start breeding them here. They’re also looking into using dolphin and gorilla brain tissue.”
“So now they’ll start killing the animals too? Great.” Like many animal doctors, Claudia couldn’t stand animal testing. She should have guessed the Spo would start experimenting on animals, too.
“It’s not their fault the Earth was so messed up when they got here.”
“How about randomly kidnapping children and killing people? Is that their fault?”
“The kidnapping thing – I can’t argue with you. And I’m not saying this makes it okay, but they don’t see it as kidnapping. Apparently cross-species training programs are common on many planets. And I’ve seen Sam. He looks okay. And he seems – sorry, he seems pretty loyal to the spooks.”
“He. Was. Thirteen. Thirteen. His voice hadn’t changed. He liked Transformers and Monster Trucks.”
Chris was silent.
“He had to survive. Of course he would pretend to do what they wanted.”
Silence.
“He might have been brainwashed.”
“Might have.”
Claudia stopped at the next light. She exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry I picked a fight. It’s none of my business what you do.”
Chris was silent for a few minutes as she drove. Claudia finally looked at him.
“I know you’re doing me a favor, so I’m not going to yell at you any more.”
The expression on his face made her smile reluctantly.
Chris chuckled. “At least you calm down as fast as you get angry. My sisters can stay mad for weeks."
He pulled a note card out of his pocket. “You should take a look at this before we get there.”
They were almost to Pepperdine, driving along PCH, which ran next to the beach. Claudia pulled into a big parking lot across from the school.
The note card had a list of colors.
“This is our shorthand for Spo emotion,” Chris said.
Orange – Disgust
Yellow – Calm, tired
Pink – Pleasure
Lavender – Surprise
Grey – Anger
Green – Interest, arousal
Blue – Dead
“Dead?” Claudia asked.
“That’s just our joke,” Chris said. “Obviously if they’re dead you don’t need to know how they feel.”
“Okay, that’s funny,” Claudia admitted.
“The main ones to remember are orange and grey – those are bad. Though for you…” Chris gave her a once over. “Watch out for green too.”
Claudia didn’t have to look back at the card to put that together.
“Watch it,” she said.
Claudia drove them back to PCH and across to Pepperdine. A tiny gatehouse sat next to the road that led into campus. A Spo, obviously too big to fit inside it, sat on a giant purple beanbag in the middle of the road.
Claudia came to a stop in front of the Spo. A security guy, human, was in the gatehouse and he came up to Claudia’s window.
“No visitors,” he said. “You need to turn around.” He had a hand on a holstered gun on his belt.
“Hey, Mike,” Chris said, “It’s me. I need to go in.”
Mike hunched over to get a better look. “Chris! The trouncer didn’t get your arm, huh? Gustav was pissed about that. He wants to see you.”
Chris wrinkled his nose. “I know it. I’m going to try and avoid him for a few more days. His wife loved that animal.”
The Spo in the road hoisted himself off the beanbag and came around to see what was going on.
“Here’s the deal,” Chris said. “This is Sam’s sister. She saved my hand and she needs to see her brother. I want to take her in.”
Mike frowned. “Did you see the riot last night? Sam was in the thick of it.”
“I know, all the more reason. From what I hear, Greg’s got a lot of plans for that kid.”
Mike looked uncertain, but the Spo suddenly joined in.
“I saw Sam this morning. Kid’s melting. Let his sister go on in.”
Mike looked relieved. “Okay. Go on in. Sam’s in the Fieldhouse Dorm, room 308.”
Claudia and Chris went up the stairs and found their way to room 308. The place didn’t feel like a dorm. The doors should have been propped open, music blasting from one or more rooms, kids snacking and talking and avoiding homework. All the doors were closed.
They finally got to 308 and Claudia knocked, four hard raps.
An alien opened the door. Claudia pulled back. He looked surprised to see her too, turning slightly purple. Lavender, that is. Chris put his good hand on Claudia’s shoulder, pulling her back slightly.
“I need to see Sam,” Claudia said authoritatively, though
she did take another step back. “Is he here?”
“Who is it?” Sam asked from inside.
“Someone for you,” Downy said, swinging the door wide open. Claudia recognized Sam, but it was hard. A boy changes a lot from twelve to eighteen. Her little Sam was there, but drowned in this hard teenager. Sam was laying on his bed, in grey sweat pants and an orange shirt. His expression was forbidding.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “No press is allowed on campus.”
“I’m not press. Don’t you recognize me?” she said, stepping into the room.
“If you were at the carnival, I don’t want to talk.”
“Don’t be stupid, Sam,” said Downy, “it’s your sister."
Sam sat up slowly. “Claudia?"
She nodded.
“Downy, could you leave for a while?” Sam asked. Downy looked between the two of them, turning a little green now. Claudia was blank. Green was… shoot, it was gone. She glanced at Chris but he shook his head. To her surprise, the alien opened the door and left without arguing.
“What does green mean again?” Claudia demanded, when the door shut. There was no way to ease into this conversation. If the water is freezing, you dive in.
“Green?” Sam said
“On an alien – he turned green.”
“Oh. He’s curious about you. Probably because I told him you were in a 4H program and raised sheep.”
Claudia pulled out his desk chair and sat down. She did it to make the situation more informal, not only because she felt shaky and nauseated.
“I’ll just wait outside,” Chris said. He went out and stationed himself in front of the door, but left it cracked. Claudia wasn’t sure if that was so she could see him, or that he didn’t trust Sam with her.
“So that alien won’t cause trouble for you?” Claudia asked.
“Probably not. Or else he’ll tell my mentor you’re here and they’ll beat me and sterilize you.”
She gaped at him.
“But probably not. Why are you here, sis?” he said, weariness in his voice.
“I’ve missed you Sam. I wanted to know that you were still you. Or if you’re not, I need to know that too.”
Sam didn’t look gratified. “As far as you’re concerned,” he said, “I don’t think I am.”
“Is that – Sam, what’s wrong? I’ve seen you on TV a couple times. You never looked like this. What’s going on?”
“What’s going on?” he echoed. “Hell if I know. Did you hear about the riot yesterday?”
“I saw it on the news. But that’s not your fault. You can’t take responsibility for all their atrocities,” Claudia said.
“Oh, I don’t,” Sam said. “Only the ones I’m part of.” He ran a hand over his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ve thought about seeing you and Mom, maybe Dad… but you’re so different. I’m so different. I don’t think we have anything to say to each other.”
“Sam, we do. They’ve brainwashed you. Do you know how many people they’ve killed in the last six years?”
“Not specifically. But what if they hadn’t come? Would you rather have died from radiation or poisoned water supplies?” Sam defended them unenthusiastically.
“But that’s just the thing. Did they save us from that? Or did they cause it?” Claudia couldn’t help glancing at the door. She sure hoped his room wasn’t wired or anything.
“What.” Sam said. “You think the Spo caused the Hadron explosion and the devastation? That’s ridiculous. The Gamal terrorists took credit. There’s proof.”
“Proof, yeah, but lots of people are asking how some tiny terrorist group had the wherewithal to do that. It’s doesn’t make much sense."
“No. I’ll tell you what doesn’t make sense. If the Spo wanted to take over Earth, they could’ve blasted us out of the galaxy or dumped sasoikeo in the oceans.” Sam shuddered. “They didn’t need to destroy Europe with the Hadron explosion.”
“But wouldn’t somebody have been mad? I mean, isn’t there like a universal council or something?” Claudia swallowed. She knew she was on thin ice here. “This way it looks like they’re the good guys.”
“They’re not the good guys,” Sam said. “They do a lot of things, but lying about it, that’s not their way. They might destroy a planet but they’d tell them the truth about it.”
“Are you sure?” Claudia asked. She didn’t want to leave him angry with her, but this might be her only chance to make him think. She had half an hour, versus six years of indoctrination.
Sam rubbed his eyes, blinking at her like his vision was bad. Then he closed his eyes and stood up. “You’ve got to go,” he said. “They’re not too happy with me right now, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Gee thanks,” Claudia said. The pain of his dismissal wavered in her chest, a wave about to break. “Tell me about you, Sam, before I go.”
“It’s depressing,” Sam said. “And I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
“So? Nobody’s here. Talk to me.”
“I’m not supposed to.”
“What? You’re so loyal to them you can’t even talk to your sister? Can’t you talk to anybody? That’s why people don’t trust any of you.”
Sam opened his mouth to yell at her, but noise from the hallway broke in.
“Who are you?” a gravelly voice demanded. “Get out of my way.”
“Hold a minute,” Chris said. “I’m Chris, one of the security – I said HOLD on.”
Sam jerked the door open, and Claudia saw Chris blocking a big brown alien from entering the room.
“It’s okay Greg,” Sam said. “He brought my sister to see me. It’s no big deal.”
“No family yet,” Greg said. “You agreed.” His smell made Claudia’s nose burn.
Chris didn’t move to let Greg in. “Like I said, my name is Chris Tatlock. I’m chief of security for General Gustav and headquarters in LA.” He waited until Greg looked at him. “I’d like you to let them finish their conversation.” His words were polite, but his tone final.
To Claudia’s surprise, Greg backed off. He looked at Chris closely, then nodded. “Fine. I’ll return later.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Unexpected."
Claudia looked at Sam. “I wish I could – I don’t know. I wish there was something I could do. I thought if I could just see you - ”
Sam rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, this is bad timing. I’ve made several big mistakes this week and I’m just not ready… to deal with you. Maybe in a week or two, I don’t know if you can stay in LA - ”
Claudia grabbed his hand. “I can wait. But I’m not leaving here without a hug. I’m not doing that again.” She pulled him into a hug, but kept it short. She could feel tears building.
“Oh, a little girl asked me to get this letter to Nat. Nat’s sister,” Claudia said.
Sam’s eyebrows went up. “You know Akemi?” he asked.
“Well, I met her at the hospital, it’s kind of a long story,” she gave him the letter. She moved to hug Sam again but he shifted his weight away from her.
“Sorry,” she said. “Okay. I’ll see you again, little dude.”
As Chris escorted her back to his car she saw blood seeping through his temporary cast and the sling on his arm.
“You’re bleeding! What happened?” Claudia demanded.
Chris shrugged. “That big alien got in my face a bit, bumped my arm.”
“That’s terrible. How bad is the pain?"
Chris smiled. “Manageable. But you better take me back to the hospital. They might need to sew me up a little tighter.
Chapter 12
Greg woke Sam up from a nap that afternoon. He crouched in the middle of the little dorm room, almost touching both mattresses. His skin was dry and brown, a very bad sign. The Spo skin color varied during their waking hours, loosely connected to their mood. It dried out when they didn’t take care of themselves, or when they were stressed. The dryness helped them blend into the desert
s of their homeworld when they were pursued by a predator.
Sam rubbed crumbs out of his eyes and forced himself to sit up. His back was stiff from leaning over his friends in the infirmary yesterday.
“What?” Sam said. “Is it about my sister?”
“No. I don’t mind that she was here. It’s the press.” Greg used a claw to flick on their small TV.
An attractive Latina woman stood in front of Pepperdine, holding a microphone. “More of the Spo children are recovering from trauma today,” she said. “An inside source tells me eight of the cadets are in serious condition after the riot. Only two days ago Jonathan Ortega was taken to City of Hope hospital, suffering from dehydration and a possible drug overdose. His family has been allowed to stay with him, and they released a statement that an acute attack of amnesia has blocked out his entire six years with the Spo. Hospital officials have promised he will be given the best psychological care they can provide.
“Sadly, most of the cadets, returned only a week ago, do not have family or hospital care. None of the cadets have been allowed to seek psychological counsel or comfort from family. Several eminent psychiatrists have speculated that mental breakdowns, or fugue states, are a very real possibility for these traumatized children.”
The video cut to the July 4th carnival, showing the burning stage and giving a close up of screaming cadets. Then the video changed. It showed brief clips of the cadets at the Hollywood mall. One showed a group standing still, looking at the water fountain. The next was Marissa, running her hand over a huge bear outside the Build-A-Bear store. There were more, and with melancholy music playing, the whole thing looked nostalgic and pitiful. The video cut back to the reporter.
“We can’t help but wonder what other manifestations of their tragic experience will emerge in the coming months." She paused. "On a global scale, the Spo children seem to be taking the brunt of anti-Spo hatred.”
A shaky video showed Sam pushing Nat, with her clothes on fire, into the grass.
“Another four cadets were killed in the last two days, from the other groups. As angry as we all may be with the Spo, we at NBC urge you to recognize that these poor children are not Spo. They are human, and let’s remember that we are too.”
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