“But, spunky!” The voice chimed in from speakers all around the room.
Niri laughed, “Room, you know you could ask to be downloaded into an android body.”
“Pshaw! Then I wouldn’t know what to do with myself! Besides, I can’t leave Corrine’s place all undefended from that twit!” The voice replied.
Niri nodded, “Well, this is Annette, please take care of her.”
“Do I have to feed her? Water her? Please tell me she is litter box trained!” The voice asked.
Annette’s eyes opened wide, Corrine’s room was making fun of her! She didn’t know what to do, so she let her mouth go, “I’m housebroken, if you please! And, if it’s so horribly inconvenient for you, I do know where the cafeteria is to feed and water myself!”
“Hmm, so I’m not the only one that’s small but spunky! I don’t think there will be a problem here Ms. Everett! You may go.”
Niri smiled, patted Annette on the back, and left. Annette stood in the middle of the room for a while. She couldn’t decide whether she was awake or not. Here she was alone in Corrine Dayton’s old room, she might have heard her foster parents’ minds earlier and shock beyond the other shocks, she might even get to be a factor after all. If this was a dream, she was going to go with it!
- - - - - - - - - -
Yllera tossed another cd into the shimmering event horizon of her stasis loop. Then dropped four on her mattress. She’d already promised them to her roommates. She glanced at her shelves. All that remained there were the required textbooks the bookstore wouldn’t buy back. She would donate them to the book exchange shelf downstairs, maybe they’d save someone else the expense next semester. Her closet was bare of all but the clothes her roommates had asked for. Yllera glanced around the room, essentially she was packed. She reached over and un-clamped the loop from its hover module and disengaged the clasp. The shimmering puddle-like event horizon collapsed and she tucked it into the appropriate pocket of her factor pack. Then she pressed the button on the back of the hover module to disengage the mechanism and retract the supporting arm. It joined the loop in the pocket which she zipped closed.
Yllera gathered the books up in her arms and unlocked her room. On her way out the door she felt light headed. She leaned against the door jamb for a moment, and the feeling passed. It was probably just nerves over the recall to Sanctuary. Yllera stepped out into the common study room she shared with her three other roommates. They all looked up at her she smiled back at them. “Have at it, I’m packed!”
“Aren’t you taking anything?” Heather asked eyeing the small knapsack Yllera used for a factor kit-pack. Heather was an ex-cheerleader who’d had the good sense not to pledge a sorority, deciding to get educated not inebriated.
Yllera thought briefly about telling her friends that she’d packed what she wanted in the extra dimensional pockets of her bag, but she knew they’d just laugh it off as another of her oddities. “I sent most of my stuff on ahead.”
“You mailed it? You should’ve just carried it. Shipping is a pain. Besides it’s just a government scam to get a look at our private possessions,” Grace quipped. She was the one Yllera would miss the most. Grace was a big sci-fi fan, of the three she was the only one who might even half believe the truth.
“I trust the post office more than airline baggage handlers,” Dawn scoffed from the corner. Dawn was the antisocial one. She was the biggest mystery to Yllera.
Yllera felt like she was on the verge of tears. They’d been her friends for a year now and now she was headed home to Sanctuary, and would probably not see or hear from them again. Yllera pulled herself together. She knew she would have to move now that she’d graduated. She just hadn’t thought she’d be recalled to Sanctuary. That wasn’t true, she’d been dreading the possibility since she filed her last report.
“I’m gonna miss you guys,” Heather said finally breaking into tears. Yllera rolled her eyes, although she felt the same way.
“It’s okay, we can write each other, and the world isn’t as wide as it used to be, what with air travel and trains and cars. I mean we can visit each other in practically no time,” Grace said joining in on the waterworks.
Dawn scoffed and went into her room muttering, “Saps.”
“We love you too,” Heather and Grace, cried in unison, mocking their own tears.
Yllera felt her pop-pad vibrating in her hip pocket. That meant her transportation had arrived, “Gotta go, I can’t leave my ride waiting for forever.”
“Yeah whatever!” Dawn hollered back, over a fresh round of sobs from Heather and grace. Yllera knew she heard the raw tones of someone trying not to cry, in Dawn’s voice.
With a smile and a shake of the head Yllera darted out the door and down the hall to the elevator. She was having an unusually hard time shielding out the raw emotions all around her, but a sudden creeping feeling of dread brought her suddenly, fully alert. She tapped the elevator button and adjusted her hold on her armful of books. Yllera used the motion as an excuse to glance around herself. Three college age men, all dressed to blend with the dorm’s normal inhabitants, were approaching Yllera’s position from the three converging halls. There was nothing casual or collegiate in their manner, other than their clothes. They were dark.
Somehow, Yllera wasn’t afraid. All emotion had just drained out of her leaving her with a clear mind. She adjusted her grip on the books and leaned against the wall next to the elevator, affecting the unconcerned pose of someone impatiently waiting for an elevator. The men continued to converge on her position. Just as the two coming from both sides reached textbook range they turned down the hall towards the third, who had slowed further down that corridor. Yllera let out a sigh of relief, finally seeing they weren’t after her, but that dropped out of her thought as she realized they wouldn’t be there without a target in mind.
Yllera ran through her memories of the other people living on her floor. She wasn’t aware of anyone particularly important, but saying who might do something important in the future was difficult. She watched casually as the men converged on a door three doors down from her own dorm room. Who lived there? Yllera racked her mind, three geeks, into sci-fi. Their pasty zit filled faces all ran together, but their majors sprang to mind. One was into the computer sciences, the tallest was into astronomy or was it astrophysics, and the shortest was a bio-chem major. Any one of them or perhaps the combination of all three had potential for future greatness. Yllera heard the elevator on final approach. It was decision time, again. Yllera plucked her still vibrating pop-pad from her pocket and tapped a call for immediate assistance. She tucked her pad into the appropriate pocket of her pack and pawed through it briefly. Then she started back towards her dorm room.
“I can’t believe I forgot my teddy!” She mumbled out loud, quickening her steps.
Yllera could feel the men spoiling for attack, and all too willing to go after her if she seemed prepared to remain for long as an unwanted witness to whatever they had planned. They were definitely dark. Her lips flashed a half-frustrated smile at the slightly perturbed dark operatives and, Yllera focused on projecting hurried thoughts of running late, bad luck, and a waiting cab. She had barely entered her hallway proper when she heard hurried footsteps behind her. Yllera shifted the textbooks again and prepared her good arm for flinging them.
“Lera, wait up! You weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?” Yllera spun, shocked to hear Max’s voice again. She felt a twinge of fear that perhaps he was a dark operative after all, but his smile melted her fear in an instant. This time his suit was gone and he wore the tattered jeans and t-shirt of a college student. He jogged down the hall and caught up with her just a few steps from her door.
Yllera felt the dark operatives bristling behind her, “No, I was going to stop by. I just forgot teddy, and I’m already running late. Someone is going to steal my cab!”
“Then I’ll steal you someone else’s. Just so long as I get my goodbye!” Max ben
t forward and planted his lips on hers. Yllera threw herself into the kiss, surprised by how much of her enjoyed it. Then she heard his silent voice in her head, “I thought we’d already had this discussion!”
“Sorry, I was on my way out. It’s not like I looked for this. Are you armed? If not my books make good projectiles,” Yllera answered him silently. Behind her, she felt the pressure of three dark minds to go find a room for copulation.
Max straightened up flashed a strange smile at her then took her books, “These are just too heavy for a lady.”
Yllera watched as he adjusted his grip on them for a moment, before all flew out of his arms at once slamming into the heads of the three dark operatives from at least two directions. The assault was enough to knock all but one of the men completely unconscious, the third slid dazedly to the floor along the wall. Max sprang on that one, grabbing him by the collar.
“What do you think you were doing?” Max asked the slowly recovering man, “Your boss didn’t think he was going to get away with killing Nobel laureates on my watch, did he?” When the man didn’t respond, Max pulled out three marbles and threw one at each man. On contact the marbles expanded and swallowed the men whole before shrinking back to marble size with their captives. “I hope you don’t mind Ms. Vllett, if I take credit for the collar. After all, this is strictly speaking my jurisdiction.” Max picked up the marbles and turned to Yllera.
“No, I guess not. It’s not like it’ll make much difference. I’ve been recalled to Sanctuary,” Yllera answered. On one level she was pessimistically analyzing her chances of reinstatement. On another level she was wishing she were permitted to carry containment fields like his. On a third, completely personal level she was wishing she could go back to the kiss and make it last just a few seconds longer.
“Really, why?” Max asked, sounding half relieved, and half frustrated.
“I think it’s the thing with the kidnappings,” Yllera blushed. Behind her the elevator door sprang open and Erica rushed out of it, with a stun pistol in hand. Yllera’s blush deepened as she faced her mentor. “It’s okay, we have matters in hand.”
“What was the emergency?” Erica asked tucking the pistol back into her purse.
Yllera started to answer but Max beat her to it, “Three dark operatives were just about to permanently eliminate three future Nobel laureates from contention. Yllera was first on scene, she recognized the danger and called for backup. I got here first.”
Erica raised her eyebrow and examined Max, “And you are?”
“He’s Max, the catalyst I mentioned in my report,” Yllera answered quickly.
“Okay, where are the operatives?” Erica asked. Max showed her the palmful of containment spheres with their captives. “Okay, so do you need her any longer? For follow up or anything?”
“No,” Max admitted, “but I might like to contact her later.” Glancing in Yllera’s direction and leaving her with the feeling he too would like to revisit the kiss.
Erica fished through her factor-pack and handed him a small com-pad, which would allow him to contact Sanctuary. Then she turned to Yllera, “Coming, Yllera?”
Yllera nodded and flashed another smile at Max before grabbing Erica’s elbow. Erica activated the recall function on her >porter and Yllera found herself in good old room 52. Room 52, also known as the middle of nowhere by tertiary factors, was the main port of entry to Sanctuary for all incoming refugees and most factors returning from the field. Usually arrivals were met by med-teams waiting to do scans to make sure that nothing dangerous had made it through the shields. Yllera almost found it disturbing when Erica ignored procedure and started towards the exit, especially since her lightheadedness had returned.
“Are you coming?” Erica asked.
“But what about the med-scans?” Yllera asked, for once actively concerned she might have brought something with her.
Erica glared at the ceiling, “Gene wants a full medical work up on you in the clinic.”
Yllera grimaced, despite her passing concern the prospect of an exhaustive checkup wasn’t what she was thinking of. She’d been through more medical tests and scans than any five other factors, even ones who had years more of field experience. “Again? What, does he think? I’m going to bring the plague here?” The room spun briefly, sharpening the sarcastic edge to her voice.
“You know that he has concerns that your physiology may allow things through the shields which otherwise might not get through,” Erica ducked out the door and Yllera lost the rest of her words, but it didn’t matter she’d heard them all before, several times. Yllera sighed and followed Erica out the door to the first transport pod in the hall.
The only surprise left was that Tina, not Gene, was waiting for them in the clinic. Erica waved farewell and left Yllera to the pokes and prods of innumerable medicals scans, blood tests, and the inevitable Everett meter. For whatever reason, just thought of the Everett meter left Yllera feeling dizzy, more precisely thought of the meter made her notice that dizziness was getting worse. Since Yllera had made no move in the appropriate direction, Tina smiled and gestured towards the exam table.
Yllera took two steps and almost fainted, as for one moment all of her senses fluctuated to the “loud” setting. She managed to keep on her feet, but her stomach was stirring in entirely the wrong direction. Quickly she lunged for the table and managed to sit before another surge of sensory vertigo overwhelmed her.
Tina helped Yllera lie back on the exam table, telepathically radiating waves of concern. Tina’s hands felt like acid, even through Yllera’s shirt. Yllera couldn’t help but scream. Tina immediately withdrew her hands clearly having plucked the source of the screams from Yllera’s mind. Yllera painfully heard Tina tapping away at a pop-pad. Suddenly all of Yllera’s senses fell mercifully silent, suspending her in a foggy silent dimness. Yllera tried to move but couldn’t. Panic flared at the lack of sensation until slowly the reality of the clinic faded in over the edges of the fog.
Tina’s voice drifted in from the edges of Yllera’s reality, “Yllera, you’re having something resembling a metamorphosis. I need you to relax and remain as calm as possible. I’m not going to lie to you, this could be very serious, or maybe it’s a simple metamorphosis. I can’t tell yet. The important thing to remember is that you need to stay calm. I’ll do my best to keep you comfortable. For now I’m going to make you sleep.”
Yllera felt a warmth spreading through her from somewhere near her shoulder. With it came a pessimistic sort of peace and an indefinite state of consciousness which faded rapidly into a strange and troubled sleep.
- - - - - - - - - -
Angela paced around the conference room, glancing from the clock to her children, Mario and Maria, and back to the clock. The twins were the pictures of relaxed patience. It took a lot to upset either of them. They had so much of their father in them. Or maybe it was that neither of them felt the pressure of time and duty upon their shoulders yet. They almost took life as a game, and that scared Angela, seeing as they were both already going out into the field with their father, on small field trips.
Angela used the wasted time to look at them both carefully. They seemed younger than Erin and Caroline were at their age, but older than Evelyn and Stephen. They also seemed more distant. Sure, Mario and Maria seemed interested in what she did now, but that would probably fade with time, just like it did with Erin and Caroline. Neither would stand up and take the weight from her shoulders. Angela could see it in their eyes, neither of them would be chief after her. Angela glared at the clock like it was at fault for her lack of successor. Then she glanced at her preparations, there were only four chairs. Two were occupied by her children and two left empty to see who would fill them. Other than the chairs, the clock and the transport pod, the room was empty.
Finally the door chimed. “Come on in, we’re ready here,” Angela said, a little too quickly and a little too eagerly for her own tastes. Mario raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. He was too mu
ch like his father.
At Angela’s word, Sinclair entered with a boy, and Niri entered with a girl. Angela raised an eyebrow. Catching Niri and Sinclair’s eyes carefully, she glanced at the clock. “Welcome, please make yourselves as comfortable as possible.” Angela said flatly.
Sinclair grimaced and nodded, gesturing for his boy to take a seat. Niri smiled a tenuous greeting. Her girl glanced at the one remaining chair, then sat without need of gesture or chair. She sat nimbly on the floor in front of the chairs, folding her legs and looking up at Angela.
Sinclair, all bluster and preamble, stepped forward, “This is Anthony Simmons, he’s expressed an interest in becoming a factor, and I feel he is uniquely qualified. He’s a Tanerian Agurian hybrid with an Everett rating of 1686. Three of his older brothers are currently running solo in the field acting in the capacity of tertiary factors.” Angela nodded in Sinclair’s direction then glanced at Niri.
Instead of hearing from Niri, the girl leapt up to introduce herself. “Hello Mrs. Daniel’s, My name is Annette Peterson. I’m basically human,” The girl glanced at Sinclair then back to Angela, “I don’t have a measurable Everett rating, but I do have a brother who’s working in the field with his wife as a tertiary factor. Not that what he can or can’t do really tells you about me, because he’s briaunti. The dark did something to him on our world before the factors came and brought us here. Personally, I want to be a factor, because you help people who need it, and I may have been young, but I remember what it was like to need help.” The girl fell silent and sat back down on the floor.
Angela examined each of them carefully. Anthony, seemed only marginally interested in being there. Annette on the other hand couldn’t have radiated more intense interest if she had an amplifier on. Angela rubbed her temples, and sighed. The twins took that opportunity to rise.
“My name is Rupert, and this is my sister Becky. We’re here to take this test in the hopes that this time, at least one of us will make it as a factor. Angela offered since we didn’t quite get a fair shake last time, seeing as how they’re going to do it anyway.” Mario said on cue, briefly glaring at Sinclair for effect.
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