Mirror X

by Karri Thompson

  After giving him a big clap on the back and handshake that turned into a hug, Michael’s chin rode over my shoulder as he came up behind me and looked down into Victoria’s sweet face. From atop my other shoulder, Trail did the same after introducing himself to Magnum.

  “Here, Trail. Hold her,” I said, giving Victoria to her uncle for inspection. He took her in his arms and stroked the back of her fisted hand with his index finger. “This is really Travel’s baby? His actual baby, blood-related and all?”

  Michael grinned. “Yes, she’s the first one of her kind, not a clone, and she can have babies of her own someday.”

  “I’m her real mother, and your brother is her real father,” I added.

  Another touch to Victoria’s hand triggered more tears as Trail cried into the sleeve of one arm while he cradled the baby in the other.

  “So you didn’t have any trouble sneaking here?” I asked Magnum as Trail transferred her back into my arms.

  “Not an ounce, but security has picked up everywhere. You guys need to catch your last flight to Sector Ten as soon as possible.” Magnum didn’t know the truth. Like Michael said, the less he knew, the better. “Everything you’ll need for Victoria during your trip is right here.” He gently kicked the bag he’d brought with him.

  Magnum and Michael clapped each other on the back, and when it was my turn, Michael held Victoria and cooed at her.

  “I’ll never forget you, rebel.”

  “And I’ll never forget you.”

  “You’ve covered your tracks, right? You won’t get caught?”

  “Me get caught? Hell no. I’m too cool for that, remember?”

  That was something I’d always remember.

  Before Magnum left out the front door with empty arms, he gave Trail a strong handshake, me a long hug, and Victoria a gentle kiss on the forehead.

  “Come with us, Trail, to Tasma,” I said after the door closed, my eyes damp with tears.

  “Yes, come with us,” Michael interjected.

  “No, I can’t.” He shook his head. “It’s tempting. It really is, but I’ve got something here I need to do in the regions. Something I can’t leave.” What that was, I couldn’t imagine, but Trail’s eyes told us not to ask. “Thank you, though. It means a lot to me that you’d want me to come.”

  “Of course we would. You’re Victoria’s uncle, after all.”

  Just as I was about to hand her to Trail for another hug, the birds at the back door went crazy, producing a frenzy of squawks and clanking metal. “Oh no. Who’s here? Why use the back door?” I asked, dashing across the room to get away from the window.

  “To the bedroom, quickly,” said Trail. “Maybe security officers questioned the neighbors and one of them reported seeing someone other than me come through the back door.”

  Michael grabbed the bag Magnum prepared for Victoria. “If it’s trouble, we’ll find a way out of here. Just remember, Trail, once we’re gone, call Saul, give him the code, and tell him one hour.”

  “Got it.” Trail threw us a thumb’s up behind his back as we ran to the bedroom and kept the door open just a crack.

  The bird’s quieted down, and we heard the back door slide open and closed.

  “Good morning, Mr. Carson,” said a male voice. “As you know, you’re home is Liaison non-compliant.”

  “Yeah, so?” said Trail. “It’s being upgraded on Wednesday.”

  “So, manual readings must be taken regularly,” said the other male voice, “to ensure the safety of the subdivision, of course.”

  “Yeah, so?” Trail repeated in a tone that was more believable than I would have had at that point.

  “L-Band readings from your house indicate there are three people inside, but thermal readings from the street show four separate life forms. A strange phenomena, something our security team hasn’t seen before.”

  Damn it! We should have had Magnum fix Michael’s band while he was here.

  “Why are you taking thermal readings of my house?”

  “It’s something we do on a regular basis in the older subdivisions.” Yeah, right. Whoever that officer was, he was a terrible liar. They suspected we were here, and maybe even Victoria.

  “We need to go. Now,” I whispered, collecting all of our bags. “Through the window.”

  The window slid open easily without triggering an alarm. Michael climbed out first. Then I handed him the baby and made my own pathetic climb over the window ledge and leaped to the ground, lacking Michael’s athleticism.

  “We’ll run to those trees,” he said, taking my hand.

  The Whimsy Birds made their third debut since our arrival, bursting into a chorus of eccentric shrieks as we sprinted toward the trees. Neither one of us dared to look over our shoulders but we heard a man shout, “Hey, I just saw two people running out of the backyard, a man and a woman.” At least they didn’t see Michael holding a newborn against his chest.

  Our run slowed to a brisk walk once we were several blocks away. “Do you think they’ll be able to find us?” I asked as Michael handed Victoria back to me and I deactivated her band and mine.

  “As long as we stick to Magnum’s map to avoid obscuras and stay behind the trees when we can, we should be okay. We can only hope Trail’s able to call Saul for us. If not, then I don’t know what we’ll do.”

  Victoria blinked against the harsh morning sun. I readjusted her blanket until a small flap of cloth folded over her head to cover her eyes, and then I looked at Michael. He, too, was squinting against the sun, his sensitive blue eyes trying to shield themselves from the glare as they worked to identify the buildings in the distance and scan the horizon for PATs.

  But his eyes also held fear. If something happened to him, I could never forgive myself.

  “Michael,” I said as he pulled me with him to cut across a tree-lined lot. “No one knows you’re involved in my escape. Magnum can cover your tracks, and you can come up with enough lies to explain where you’ve been. Stay here. Just show me where to go. I’ll find Saul. I’ll give him the code, and he’ll take Victoria and me to Tasma, no questions asked, just like you said.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, almost tripping on a curb.

  “This is your world. Not mine. You’ve dedicated your whole life to your career, to the program, and now if we don’t make it…”

  “My life has been dedicated to the program, but that’s not the life I chose for myself, remember? As far as I’m concerned, this isn’t my world, either.”

  “But if we make it to Tasma, we’ll never be able to come back here, right? You’ll be stuck there and—”

  “And I don’t care about that, as long as I’m with you.” We stopped our jog, and he held me by the shoulder, his words tugging on my soul.

  “I can’t let you give up everything for me. If something happens to you, it’ll be my fault. Please, stay here.”

  “I’m not leaving you.” He let out a big breath.

  “But what if you need an organ transplant?”

  “Don’t worry. After we get the Van Winkle Project started, that’s the next thing I’m going to do—start an organ cloning program, so transplants can be performed. Many lives will be saved. It’s something we can do together.”

  “Thank you,” I said with my voice and with my eyes.

  We broke into a sprint, darting in and out of trees. Victoria wiggled in my arms, made a sweet sound, and looked up at me when we re-entered the sunlight and jogged toward a busy intersection.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Quick.” Michael pulled me behind a parked transport mover as a PAT on a hoverscooter came into view. It rode by, slowing down when he passed, but with our deactivated bands, we were just another part of the car.

  “That was close,” he said. “I’m sure there’ll be more, but we’re almost there. If Trail made that call, Saul should be waiting for us outside the hoverbus terminal.

  A row of hoverbuses in the distance shone silver in the morn
ing sun, and just outside the entrance sat a miniature hoverbus with a single-bladed propeller attached to the top of its egg-shaped body. With its golden sheen and thin black stripe, it eerily reminded me of the helicopter I died in. A man casually leaning against the cabin door waved when he saw us hurrying toward him.

  “Hey, nice to see you again, Saul,” said Michael. “This is Dorothy, my assistant.” Michael had remembered my middle name. “And this is clone X-465382,” he said, pointing to Victoria. After exchanging handshakes, Saul opened the cabin door and took his own seat as pilot and we buckled into the seats behind him.

  We hardly spoke during the flight, but Victoria cried, and I did everything I could to sooth her.

  “How are you doing?” whispered Michael to me.

  “Okay, considering. We’re so high this time.”

  “This bus doesn’t have hoverment restrictions. Are you scared?”

  “A little. You know what happened the last time I flew this high.” The inside of Saul’s sky mover was angular despite its round exterior, and the lack of dashboard dials, switches, and what I considered a decent-sized steering wheel, made me especially nervous.

  Michael laughed and squeezed my knee. “It’s okay. A lot has changed since then.”

  It was difficult to interact with Victoria without accidentally saying her name, and just when I was about to slip and call her “my sweet Victoria,” an island came into view. She magically stopped crying as if she sensed my relief.

  “That’s odd.” Saul peered over the steering knob, trying to get a wider view of the sky in front of him. With a voice command, he activated the external obscuras and inspected the empty sky.

  “What is it?” Michael unbuckled his harness and slid into the seat next to Saul.

  “You didn’t hear that?”

  “No.” Michael put his hand to his ear. “I forgot my L-Bud in my hotel room.”

  “We were just ordered to return back to base.”

  Michael grabbed his arm. “But you can’t, Saul. Please, just drop us off. We’re almost there anyway.”

  “There’s nothing I can do. The blockers have been enabled. We have to go back.”

  “Blockers? But I thought this flyer didn’t have any blockers.”

  “No, it does, always had. They’ve just been disabled until now, and there’s only one man who has the authority to turn them back on.”

  “Who?”

  “Shen-Lung.”

  The flyer continued to hover within miles of Tasma. It rocked slightly, and its muted hum rose several octaves each time Saul tried to defy the fixed controls.

  Victoria’s pink lips curled into a frown, and she cried again, louder than before.

  “In Chinese mythology,” I said above Victoria’s cries, “Shen-Lung is a mythical dragon who controls the wind, clouds, and rain. He’s a weather-making dragon.”

  Shen-Lung had the power to manipulate the fate of farmer’s crops, giving it control over life and death in China, and now the man named after him, a clone, was holding our fate in his hands.

  Saul removed his L-Bud and jammed it in his pocket. “They keep calling me. If I don’t turn around, they’ll send out another flyer with a boarding team, and I won’t be able to stop them from entering this flyer.” Michael sighed. “Shen-Lung knows you’re on board with a woman named Cassie and a baby. I’ve been ordered to subdue you if you resist.” Saul put up his hands. “You know I won’t do that, but I have to turn back. Please don’t try to stop me. There’s nothing I can do.”

  Holding my wailing baby against my chest did little to stop her crying, and her hot, red cheek against my skin made me want to cry, too.

  “Saul, there’s something you should know. Cassie’s baby is not a clone—she’s biologically made. President Gifford tried to take her away from her mother, her birth mother.” Michael emphasized the word “birth.” “See why we can’t go back? Tasma is the only safe place for them.”

  “If I could, I would, but the flyer won’t go in any other direction. I’ve tried.” The flyer pitched, dropped several feet, and rose again like it was fighting to free itself from an invisible string. “And here comes the boarding team.”

  An unmarked flyer identical to the one in which we were riding hovered to our left and our flyer bobbled.

  “He’s right. We have to go back. It’s over,” I moaned, remembering the helicopter crash more vividly than ever. Hollow screams pierced my ears—first my mother’s, then Daniella’s and Ian’s, followed by my own final, frantic shriek. “Michael,” I cried, snapping back to reality.

  “I’m sorry, Cassie. I’m so sorry. I thought this would work. Go ahead and take us back, Saul. You won’t be reprimanded. You can’t be reprimanded for a code 42/147, and don’t worry. I’ll tell them that I prevented you from leaving right away.”

  The hoverbus steadied and rotated in its current position and retraced its course to Melbourne, Australia, in Region Three. Michael held me during the entire flight while the baby slept on my lap. This was the last time we’d probably ever see each other. We’d be separated for good, with him jailed and me a secret prisoner within the walls of GenH1. Travel was gone from me, and soon Michael and Victoria would be taken from me, too.

  “I’m sorry. I tried, I really did. I thought my plan would work.” Michael buried his face in his hands.

  “I know you did. You did everything you could to help me, from the beginning all the way to the end.” I patted the top of his thigh, and when I did, the memory pins in my sleeve pressed against my wrist. “Wait! It’s not over yet. We have a bargaining chip.” I beamed with joy. “The unclassified Van Winkle files.” The pins sparkled in the light from the window as I lifted my arm.

  “We do, we have the complete files, and that’s why there’s something else you need to know, something I wasn’t going to tell you until we actually reached Tasma.”

  Oh no. What was it—another lie, another cover-up, something to reawaken the anger I already had for him? Anger softly brewed deep in my soul.

  “What is it? Tell me now.” I demanded as I held Victoria against my chest and dug into the bag Magnum left for us and found a bottle. Once she clutched the nipple with her mouth, she relaxed and stopped crying.

  “In the files, you’re referred to as VW-1.”

  “Yes, I know that,” I interrupted, “and Victoria is VW-4.”

  He blinked watery eyes and sucked his lower lip into his mouth. Parting his lips was enough. He didn’t have to say anything else.

  “There are two more. I have two more daughters,” I said in a slow whisper. My whole body trembled.

  “Twins,” said Michael gently. “Born before you were awakened.”

  My throat tightened, making it hurt when I tried to swallow. A surge of panic swelled in my chest, and a sick, empty sensation expanded in the pit of my stomach. The hum and bob of the flyer, the delicate suck, suck sound of baby lips upon a rubber nipple—I momentarily felt and heard none of it.

  Michael took a deep breath and continued while I remained stunned, my heart racing, the pulse in my neck palpable. “After you were revived, we kept you comatose while your injuries healed, but it wasn’t for two months like I said. It was for almost two years.”

  Was I really hearing this? Victoria ate and squirmed, but her warm body wasn’t enough to counteract the chill developing in my arms. Her bottle almost slipped from my hand.

  “At the time, we thought a full awakening would be impossible. You were artificially inseminated, became pregnant, a C-section performed, and you gave birth to twins—VW-2 and VW-3—identical. Healthy and fertile.”

  I had a cesarean? I didn’t even have a scar.

  “Then Dr. Pickford made the decision that you would never be awakened, that you’d continue to bear children for us while in a comatose state, but your health started to fail. You’d been in a vegetative state for way too long. Our only solution was to proceed with your awakening. But before your awakening, and against my better judgment, you
were artificially inseminated a second time.”

  “Where are they?” I gasped, trying to catch my breath and clenching my free hand into a fist.

  “That I don’t know. But I do know this—they didn’t stay at GenH1. After they were born, they were taken away, and I’ve never seen them again. I checked the VW files, even the classified sections, and nothing. I don’t know what happened to them.”

  Their father, was it Travel? No, they’d want half siblings, not full. “The father? Do you know who it is?”

  “It’s me. I’m their father,” he said between breaths.

  My jaw locked. I couldn’t speak. My shoulders tensed, and my bottom lip trembled. This whole time, Michael was the father of two little girls I didn’t even know existed, a special connection to one another ignited when we contributed X chromosomes and created life. Now he was more than just my boyfriend.

  A crease formed between his eyes, eyes frantically searching my soul for a sign of forgiveness and love. He inhaled deeply, his whole body shaking.

  “But I didn’t find out until after they were born, and when I did, I almost threw Simon up against the wall. My sample was supposed to be used for research purposes, not to produce another genetics genius, something Simon had planned all along.”

  My face grew hot, and my legs grew heavy like an impulse-regulator patch was affixed to my spine. I could almost hear the patch clicking, ticking like a clock, and then I realized the sound was the beating of my heart.

  “Now do you understand why I’m so willing to leave the program at GenH1? Before Victoria, I didn’t think about our babies. They didn’t matter to me. I gave away my rights to them because they were born without my knowledge. It’s something I’ve regretted ever since. But then you were awakened and… I want our babies back.” He shook his head and blinked out a tear. “I was a fool to ever believe in the project.”

  “I-I…” But the words didn’t come.

  “I’ve been looking for them. While you were pregnant, I spent every spare moment searching files and questioning the staff. They’re three years old now. With the files, we can bargain to get them back. That’s one of the reasons I went along with the program, not telling you anything. I didn’t know what you’d let slip, and I couldn’t risk getting fired because I had to use all their resources. To find your daughters. To find our daughters.”