Enigma

by Tonya Kuper

  My mind wandered to my own friend, Santos. Santos—one of the few people I talked to in the last year and a half, my Resistance training partner I would’ve died for—who’d ended up a Consortium agent.

  Anger boiled in my gut. He’d tried to kill Josie for the Consortium. I’d never be able to forgive myself for not seeing who he truly was. And I wasn’t sure I could trust myself, either. Self-doubt burrowed through my gut like a parasite. If I’d screwed up that badly before, how could I expect to help Josie stay safe now?

  I let off the gas and steered around a hole that could’ve sent us flying. Accelerating again, the engine shifted as we climbed the steep grade.

  I wanted to know what had driven Santos to work with the Consortium. Power or glory was all I’d come up with over the last several days. I could see why the Consortium wanted the enhancement serum—it increased all Oculi powers. It would make anyone injected with it more powerful, and it would make an Anomaly nearly invincible. The serum was dangerous. In my opinion, it was so dangerous it shouldn’t have existed in the first place. If Santos failed to get the serum, he’d been instructed to take Josie back to the Consortium or kill her. But what had he been promised in return? The only thing that made sense was power, maybe a leadership role or something. No matter what his motivation was, he’d been willing to die for it.

  As I braked for a turn in the primitive road, Josie braced herself against the door and shoved one of her feet against the dash. Since leaving Florida, Josie had woken at night, screaming Santos’s name. She hadn’t meant to kill him—it was self-defense. I hadn’t made her talk about it yet, but she’d need to at some point. No one could be the same after taking someone’s life. I certainly hadn’t been, anyway.

  Josie concentrated on the path, gripping the door handle. One leg was bent to prop a black boot against the dash, ripped jeans exposing her knee. Her pale skin looked so soft and fragile compared to the leather and denim.

  I refocused on the dry dirt road. At least it wasn’t raining. Rogue boulders dotted the road to further deter possible trespassers. As we ascended, the size of the boulders increased, but then the tree coverage around us was so thick it didn’t allow the twilight sky to peek through. I knew we were close. Close to home. Close to one of the only people I had left to trust. Cohen.

  Cohen had been my friend since we were kids when he came to live with his uncle in the Hub after his mom passed away. Being the same age, I helped him adjust to Hub life and we became fast friends. Years later, my own mother died. Shortly after my mom passed away, I killed my friend Nick, Josie’s brother. My dad was still grieving the loss of my mom. It wasn’t that Dad wasn’t there for me or didn’t care, but he was going through his own shit. If it weren’t for Coe, I wouldn’t have made it through the darkest time in my life. Cohen was the one who suggested I get out of the Hub and train on the road.

  Cohen was one of the only people I’d kept in contact with since being on the road. He was going to get a kick out of Josie. He knew how I felt about her from years before. He wouldn’t say anything to anyone, though. We considered each other family.

  And now I was basically taking a girl home to meet the fam. Not that I’d ever done that before. I’d only had a few brief relationships on the road since I’d left the Hub to train around the country. If I could even call those relationships. I mean, they were Planck girls; I had to lie about everything. But taking Josie home, someone special, where someone might try to kill her or her family? Yeah, that was a whole other level of anxiety. I probably didn’t have the typical worries about taking a girl home.

  The last steep ridge came into view. Accelerating against the grade, the motor revved under us.

  I slowed the Jeep once we reached the Dead End sign. From this point on we’d be continually watched. From an aerial view, the vegetation completely camouflaged the entrance in the mountainside. The overgrown trail and rusted mining equipment weren’t visible from the closest road, miles away, either.

  Josie’s brows arched as the Jeep crawled toward the mining tunnel. The headlights illuminated multiple signs.

  Trespassers will be persecuted.

  Unsafe mine—Stay Out, Stay Alive.

  Danger.

  Concrete framed the entrance, 1893 stamped at the top. Most of the other original stamped lettering had eroded away. Wide, worn boards covered the opening, in front of a wall of massive boulders.

  “Let me guess,” Josie said. “This is more of the illusion to keep Plancks out. But this is where we go in.”

  Long ago some smart-ass Oculi named ordinary humans after Max Planck, a famous Nobel Prize–winning theoretical physicist, who came up with Planck’s Constant, which was used in physics equations. By definition, the constant was unchanging; it was boring.

  Jumping out of the vehicle, I took two steps to a rusty control panel. With half of the sky now dark, the bugs sang at full volume. I yanked the control box open and touched the top right screw in the back panel. A shiny metallic pad came toward me for a retina scan. I moved my head forward, and the laser passed in front of my eyeball. Two seconds later, the green light flashed. I typed in my passcode, closed the cabinet door, and climbed back into the Jeep.

  Now I’d be able to Retract the wall of boulders and boards at the entrance without being escorted off the grounds by a Ranger—Resistance in disguise—who would have been “checking on the site due to recent vandalism.”

  I Retracted, blinked, and the entrance was clear. The boulders, the wood, gone. Easing the gas pedal down, I pulled the Jeep into the black of the tunnel.

  If a Planck somehow made it into the shaft entrance, this would be as far as they would get. Hub troops would’ve been escorting Plancks away by now.

  The front tires hit the rails of the old mining track system. I Pushed boulders back in place, blocking the entrance behind us. The rock wall in front of us slid sideways in one solid mass. “Time to get out.”

  I shut off the motor but kept the headlights on. Leaning forward, I saw through the windshield two red dots near the ceiling. Cameras. Josie inhaled and reached for her door handle.

  “Hey.”

  She twisted toward me, startled and stiff.

  “We’ll get help finding the mole. We got this.”

  She faked a smile and nodded. I hadn’t said it just for her.

  We walked to the front of the car. It smelled like an old, dank basement. Dust and mildew. Josie stared at the rusty, cage-like elevator. A hanging light blinked on, and the wall slid closed behind us.

  I motioned to Josie to follow me to the elevator. The metal door moaned as I pulled it open. A dim, fluorescent light flickered on and off inside the elevator.

  Josie’s head swiveled to me. “Total horror movie vibe. This is the part where I usually yell at the people not to take the elevator.”

  “It’s safe. I promise. Security already knows we’re this far because of hidden cameras and alarms.”

  “Okay. But if I die in this elevator, it’s your fault and I’m so haunting you.”

  I smiled and urged her forward, my hand on her back. It wasn’t an affectionate touch because I knew cameras were already on us, recording our every move.

  I dropped my hand before it looked suspect. Josie faced me, hesitancy in her eyes. I lowered my mouth to her ear. “You are smarter and stronger than anyone in here,” I whispered. “You have nothing to fear. I’m always right behind you. You are not alone. Okay?” If we weren’t being watched, I would’ve kissed her. Not that she needed a kiss to reassure her, just because I wanted to. Maybe I needed it.

  The elevator bell shrilled. She whirled forward wearing a stoic mask, but intensity burned in her eyes. Steel gears grated and the cable screeched out, echoing wails like someone screaming, warning us. We moved downward. Once we were at about twelve feet under the surface, the iron oxide–stained rock in front of us transitioned to smooth concrete. The elevator stopped when we came to the shiny metal door at the Hub level.

  The door sli
d into the wall and the elevator door groaned open, creating a definite line between the dimly lit elevator and the dark hallway. With every breath of the cool, damp air in the mine shaft, fear stung my lungs—fear for Josie’s life.

  Josie took one step out of the elevator, into the darkness, her hands balling and flexing at her sides. Her one step cracked through the fear that had controlled me the last thirty seconds. I would give whatever it took to keep her alive and safe.

  3.

  Josie

  A blank concrete wall greeted us. Reid stepped into the empty, tomb-like hall past me and I followed. Surprisingly, it didn’t smell like a basement; the light lemon scent reminded me of a clean kitchen.

  Goose bumps skittered down my arms, but I wasn’t sure if it was from being in a place Indiana Jones would explore, or the cool air.

  On my right side was a dead end, so the only way to go was to the left, where a dim light beckoned.

  Two dark figures rounded the corner in front of the light, casting long shadows. By the shape of their bodies, one was male and the other female. My feet stopped without permission.

  Reid paused. “They’re Hub troopers. Stay next to me.”

  What he didn’t say was that one of them could be the mole. Stay next to me was his subtle reminder.

  I didn’t care if they were freaking Big Bird and the Cookie Monster. It was dark and I didn’t know them, therefore I didn’t trust them. I reached for his hand, but stopped myself before our skin touched. Not showing my affection wasn’t going to be easy, and I wasn’t even what I’d consider a “touchy” person. I’d become used to his closeness, though, showing we were a united front.

  Reid’s hands hung loose at his sides and his stance was wide. He was ready for anything.

  “Reid Wentworth,” one of the troopers barked, flashing a light in Reid’s face. He didn’t flinch away, though, only squinted. Good sign. If the light had been a weapon, Reid would’ve kicked their asses. And I would’ve, too.

  Reid held up a hand to the uniformed dude and glanced over his shoulder to me. “They’re confirming who we are. This is protocol.” He knew how my mind worked. Information always helped me cope.

  Reid turned back to the troopers. “This is Josie Harper, daughter of the Harper family, Resistance founders. We have an E3. An emergency meeting needs to be called immediately.”

  “Please follow us to the holding rooms,” the female trooper said.

  Reid nodded to me and we fell in behind the troopers, our steps echoing through the tunnel. “This is policy,” he said over his shoulder. “We’ll go into a room for a brief search, making sure you’re cleared for entrance into the Hub.” His head swiveled forward. “Can one of your troopers please radio in the E3 to the Eye in the Sky? Now?”

  “I will once we get you to your rooms,” the male trooper said.

  Rooms. Plural. Separate rooms. Meaning alone.

  Come into this dark dungeon where we’ll separate you from your eye candy and examine you. Yeah, like that didn’t sound like a horror flick.

  Reid stopped and I stumbled into his back.

  “Hold up.” Reid’s voice reverberated through the hallway. “No. Josie will not be left alone. I will accompany her, and you will communicate an E3.”

  The trooper squared his shoulders, the dim light behind him. “Mr. Wentworth, that is not protocol. I don’t have the authority to override that—”

  Reid raised his chin, stepping closer to the trooper. “I. Do. Make the call and take us to the same holding room.”

  Neither trooper moved.

  “Now.” Reid’s voice gained strength, the pitch low and smooth.

  Reid approached the troopers, but they turned and quickly marched ahead to keep the lead. The man pulled a phone out of his pocket then held the door open as we tailed the woman into a square concrete room with flickering fluorescent lighting. I could finally see our greeters better. They wore matching blue button-down shirts and blue cargo pants, along with a firearm on their belts. The young woman’s black hair was pulled back in a tight bun.

  Each wall of the small room housed a metal door. The door behind us banged shut, making me jump. The guy trooper moved to the door on the left wall, and the girl moved to one on the right.

  She tipped her head to the other trooper. “He’ll call in the E3. This way, Mr. Wentworth and Ms. Harper.” The girl, maybe a few years older than myself, opened the door, waiting for us to enter. Anxiety danced under my skin.

  Reid watched my face. “Stay behind me.” I was on his heels. A red light caught my attention, and a tiny camera in the corner of the room followed my movements.

  I stepped through the threshold onto white tile, and noticed two other doors on two of the four white walls. A white table and two clear chairs sat in the middle of the room. Sterile like Magneto’s prison cell.

  “Your exam will start in a moment.” The girl’s voice had as much warmth as the room.

  She disappeared through one of the other doors and returned immediately, pushing a cart. Empty vials, syringes, cotton, and alcohol wipes filled a plastic organizer. “I need to get a small blood sample.”

  “I know a blood draw and health exam are policy for new Oculi coming to the Hub.” Reid approached the cart. “But this can’t be done right now.” He paused, pivoting to look at one of the cameras perched in the corner of the room. “Do the body search and get us to that meeting.”

  Body search?

  The door to the unknown room swung open and I jolted. A middle-aged man in a white coat moseyed to the cart. Script letters embroidered the left side of the coat: Doc.

  “Mr. Wentworth,” he said with a grin, pulling on latex gloves. His salt-and-pepper hair swept over his forehead. “Good to see you, Reid.” The medical trooper stood behind him, hands behind her back.

  The corners of Reid’s mouth curled slightly, his stance still as rigid as when we stepped out of the elevator. “Doc.”

  The physician stopped a couple of feet in front of me. “I’m the lead doctor here in the Hub. Everyone just calls me Doc. We need blood.” He glanced to Reid. “Sorry. We have to know if she or you are carrying anything contagious. You know this is always done.” Turning back to me, he gave me a sympathetic smile. “This is a small community. A major sickness could have a devastating effect on us. We’re also going to do a body search for anything harmful. Reid, you can wait on the other side of that door.”

  I twisted to Reid, my heart suddenly in my throat.

  “No can do, Doc.” Reid didn’t move. “Josie’s in danger, which is why I called the E3. I’m not leaving her.”

  “He stays.” It came out loud and shaky.

  The doctor shrugged.

  A buzz sounded from the corner and a curtain dropped from the ceiling. “Please remove all clothing, besides your underwear, and put the gown on with the opening facing the back.”

  I looked to Reid. I didn’t want to leave him, even for a minute while behind that curtain. Instead of using it, I simultaneously Retracted my clothes and Pushed a hospital robe on my body.

  Doc let out a long sigh. “That’s one way to do it.” The trooper handed him the wand and he slowly maneuvered it around my head, close to my skin. When he pulled my hands away from my body to examine the rest of me, I peeked to Reid. He focused on the doctor but his gaze flickered to me. As soon as our eyes met, he looked back to the doctor and shifted his stance. His hand swept across his jaw, as he tried to avoid looking at my body. If I wasn’t mistaken, Reid was slightly uncomfortable.

  Doc stood. “Done. You may get dressed, then I’ll draw some blood.”

  I Pushed my clothes on and Retracted the gown. Moving the cart to my side, the doctor let Reid examine the needle and equipment he was using, pulled a stool out from the bottom of the car, gestured for me to sit, then he took three vials of blood. It was like any other time I’d had a blood draw. But it wasn’t, really. A killer, or at least an accomplice, was in here with me. They could have access to my blood,
to my personal records. Tingles up the back of my neck made me shiver.

  Reid examined another set of fresh equipment which would be used on him. He sat on the stool, and Doc tied the rubber band around his bicep then inserted the needle. Three vials of blood like mine.

  When it was over, Doc smiled. “Reid, you’ll be asked a few questions momentarily. Welcome, Josie. If you need anything, please know you can come to me.” The doctor was warm and gentle, in complete contrast to the rest of this place. Doc and the trooper left the room and a different woman marched in, her shoes clicking on the tile.

  The woman stepped to one side of the table. “Mr. Wentworth. Nice to have you back in the Hub. I’m from the Council’s office. I’m sure you are aware that you have disobeyed orders in the field and now back on Hub grounds.”

  “I’ve done so with good reason.” Reid walked to the table, positioning himself directly across from whoever this official was. “This is Josie Harper, daughter of Meg Harper, one of the founding families of the Resistance. There is a mole in the Hub that worked as an accomplice to my former partner, Santos. That mole helped Santos try to kill Josie. The mole wants her dead.”

  The blond woman held her palm up. “This will have to be written in your file, going on your permanent record.”

  “Miss, if you’d—”

  “Leadership may decide consequences are in order.” She talked over him and the muscle in Reid’s jaw flexed.

  Wait. Consequences for Reid? I don’t think so.

  “Fine!” He threw a hand up. “I don’t care if I face repercussions. The entire Hub is at stake.” He swung his hand toward me. “Josie is in danger. The daughter of a founder is in danger. Possibly the most powerful Oculi in history is in danger.”

  The official tipped her head to one side, and her finger rapped on the back of the chair.

  “We don’t know what the mole wants with her. If they’d prefer her dead or if they’d take out the entire Hub to kidnap her. But I don’t think that’s something we need to chance, do you?” Reid stared directly at the camera in the corner. “The spy who informed and instructed Santos is here,” he yelled. “Inside the Hub.”