A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3)

by Karpinske, Stephanie

  “So where do we go from here?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, wishing I had never gotten out of bed that morning.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lectures

  “Samantha, I need to talk to you.” Dave had returned from taking Colin away. “And Erik? Your father would like to have a word with you.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Erik got up and went down the hall to see Jack.

  Dave took his place next to me. “So, it sounds like you left out a few things when we talked last night. Do you want to tell me about it?”

  “No, not really.” I kept my eyes on the floor, not wanting to see Dave’s expression.

  “Samantha, look at me.” Dave waited for me to lift my eyes back to his. “You know I won’t judge you. Or scold you. Or whatever you think I might do. I just want to know what’s been going on with you.”

  “I don’t even know what’s been going on with me, Uncle Dave. I’m confused. I don’t know how I ended up here. It’s not like me. You know that. I’ve always been Miss Perfect. Never does anything wrong. And now my life is a complete mess.”

  “Let’s just step back a minute here. Obviously you’ve developed a close relationship with Erik, so let’s—”

  “Yes. But I love Colin. I really do. I don’t even know what it is that Erik and I have together. I care about him. And we were attracted to each other the second we met. But we’re programmed to be that way.”

  “Wait a minute. Who told you that?”

  “The researchers in the lab at GlobalLife. They said the software in Erik and me makes us attracted to anyone who has these alien base pairs in them. That way, people with the enhanced genes don’t end up with normal people. They don’t want to dilute their superior gene pool with inferior genes. Their words, not mine.”

  I could see the software developer side of Dave imagining how that might work. “Hmm, that’s interesting. But I’m not sure if that’s possible.”

  “At first, Erik and I thought they were making it up. But it made sense. Because before I even met Erik, I was drawn to him. I was standing at the bus station in San Antonio and I just knew that I had to go to that town. I’d never even heard of Comfort, Texas. But it’s almost like Erik was calling me there. And then when I saw him, we had this instant connection. We both did. I felt like I couldn’t leave him. Like I had to be with him. And I had no idea why.”

  “So you got involved with him then?”

  “No. I mean, kind of. We talked a lot and became friends. And, well, we kissed. Once.”

  “And then Colin was back?”

  “Yes. Colin came back and I told Erik that whatever we’d started back in Texas was over.”

  “Then you’re saying that you and Erik developed this relationship during your time at GlobalLife these past few weeks.”

  “Yes. But it’s not like I planned that. You don’t understand. They made Erik and me stay in the same room. The same bed even. It was like one big setup to get us to … you know.”

  “Um, okay.” Dave wasn’t convinced.

  “Uncle Dave, I’m telling you. It’s true. It was a setup. And when we didn’t cooperate, they told us we had to. And they said that if we didn’t, they would take more drastic measures, whatever that means. They said they needed a baby. They needed to see what happens when our enhanced genes are combined.”

  “Well, I guess that would make sense. So you and Erik … did what you needed to do in order to avoid having GlobalLife intervene?”

  “Well, not exactly. We didn’t know about their plan when this happened. But the night of the gala, neither one of us remembers doing anything.”

  He looked at me skeptically.

  “Okay, we did some things. But not the thing that’s needed to make a baby! We had champagne that night. And things went farther than they should have, but we didn’t—you know.” I felt my face blushing trying to explain this to Dave.

  “Then why would you think that you’re pregnant?”

  “Because I can’t remember what happened after I went to sleep. Neither can Erik. But in the morning, it kind of looked like we might have done something.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I felt my cheeks getting even redder. “Well, we kind of woke up without—without our clothes.”

  Dave looked embarrassed. “I see.”

  “So then a few days later, Mrs. Taylor comes in and tells me I’m pregnant.”

  “Mrs. Taylor?”

  “Yes. Allie’s mom. Didn’t Owens tell you anything?”

  “Owens hasn’t been here much. He’s either been at GlobalLife or at his private residence in Reykjavik.”

  I took a few minutes to fill Dave in on Eve Taylor, the mom of my close friend, Allie. While at GlobalLife, I learned that Allie’s mom had been in on the genetic enhancement project since before I was born. She told me that my friendship with her daughter was never real. That it was just a way for her to spy on me for GlobalLife.

  “So now I don’t have Allie or Colin. I lost my two closest friends. One was probably never my friend and now the other one hates me.”

  Dave sighed. “Come here, honey. You need a big Uncle Dave hug.” He held me tight, making me feel a tiny bit better. Uncle Dave could always make me feel better. His hugs were the best. And as promised, he didn’t judge me. Even after all that I’d told him.

  “Colin and I are over, Uncle Dave. Back in Minnesota, I told Colin that I loved him. It was the first time I’d said it to him. It was that night of the winter formal.”

  “So that’s why you were so giddy when you came home?”

  I smiled, remembering it. “Yeah. It was a great night. Perfect. I knew then that Colin was the one. I was sure of it.”

  “Even with your rule of no serious relationships before age 30?”

  I rolled my eyes, thinking how silly that sounded now. “I was going to break that rule. But now, I’ve screwed everything up.”

  “Colin just needs time. He’s just feeling hurt right now.”

  “This won’t get any better, Uncle Dave. It’s bad enough that he knows about Erik and me, but now with the baby—”

  “I’m not so sure about this baby, Sam. I want one of the doctors here to verify this pregnancy. The way you described it, I just can’t imagine how—”

  I interrupted, not wanting Dave to imagine anything about how it might have happened. “Did you talk to Colin at all when you took him away?”

  “Yes. I had a brief talk with him in his room.”

  “And? What did he say?”

  “Well, he doesn’t feel he can trust you anymore.”

  I sighed. “That’s proof that our relationship is over. You can’t have a relationship without trust. What else did he say?”

  “Sam, I don’t think he means anything he’s saying right now.”

  “Just tell me what he said. I can handle it.”

  “No. I’m not going to be the messenger here, Sam. You two need to work this out between yourselves. I need to focus on getting this timer stopped in you and Erik. Speaking of that, Jack and I have our meeting with the medical team soon, so I need to get going. But I’ll catch up with you later this afternoon.” He gave me a peck on the forehead. “And don’t worry, honey. This will all work out.”

  I nodded as he got up and left. Erik came back looking like he’d just been yelled at.

  “How was it?” I asked as he sat down.

  “Pretty bad. I got the whole lecture about not being responsible, not thinking, not treating you with respect.”

  “Not treating me with respect?”

  “He said I should’ve been a gentleman. Slept on the floor all those nights. Not made you feel uncomfortable.”

  “I didn’t feel uncomfortable.”

  “Well, he thinks you did. He said I’m older and I’m the man and I should have known better.”

  “I find that insulting! And sexist. Does he think I didn’t have a say in any of this?”

  “He’s old-fashioned, Sam. Yo
u know that. He still uses pay phones for crying out loud. He’s not saying that I forced you into anything. He’s just saying that I shouldn’t have tried stuff. That I should have respected the fact that you have a boyfriend.”

  “And what did you tell him?”

  “I didn’t tell him anything. He knows me. Even if he’d given me that same lecture back in Texas, he knows that it wouldn’t have changed things. I am who I am. I take risks. I go for what I want. And I wanted—well, you. So I went for it. I figured you’d probably go back to Colin, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying. It’s not like you’ve got a ring on your finger.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. Erik had basically admitted that he was competing with Colin all along. And that he hoped he’d win. Yet he acted like he was friends with Colin. He’d even given me advice to get Colin back, many times. I couldn’t figure him out.

  “Did you explain to your dad how the GlobalLife software makes us attracted to each other?”

  “Yeah. But I’m not sure he believes it.”

  “Ms. Andrews?” The voice came from the hallway as a man in a lab coat approached us. “You have an appointment with our physician in a few minutes.”

  “Is this for the procedure tomorrow?”

  “No. This is to confirm your pregnancy. Shouldn’t take long. The tests for the procedure will be run on both of you later this morning.”

  “Yeah, all right.” I nudged Erik. “Can you come with me? You don’t have to go in the room, but maybe just wait outside?”

  Erik got up. “Sure. Let’s go.”

  “He can come with me, right?” I asked the man.

  “Yes, of course. Do you mind escorting yourselves to the medical office? Just go to the very end of the hall, turn left, and keep going until you see the sign.”

  We headed down the hall. On the way there, I stopped at Colin’s room. “Colin?” I said it loud enough to be heard through the door, but there was no response.

  Erik put his arm around me, turning me back toward the hallway. “Come on. It’s too soon.”

  A doctor and nurse were waiting for me at the medical office. The nurse drew some blood, then I went in a room to see the doctor while Erik waited outside.

  “So how’d it go?” Erik asked after I was done.

  I sat down on the chair next to him, staring straight ahead.

  Erik turned to me. “Sam? What did he say? Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

  “He has to wait for the lab results to be sure.”

  “Be sure of what?”

  “He said that from the physical exam, he’s almost positive that—”

  Erik grabbed my arm. “That what, Sam? You’re freaking me out here.”

  I finally looked at him. “That I’m not pregnant. We have to wait for the blood test before they know for sure.”

  Just then, the nurse walked by carrying a digital notepad. She went into the room where the doctor was and shut the door.

  “It’s the test results, Erik. But don’t listen in. Wait for them to tell us.”

  With our enhanced hearing, we could easily hear someone in another room unless we purposely tried not to listen.

  Within minutes, the doctor came out. “Well, the lab results are back. And just as I suspected, you’re not pregnant, Samantha. So you’re not going to be a father, Erik. I guess I’ll say congratulations since neither one of you seemed to want a baby right now.”

  The doctor’s attempt to lighten the mood didn’t work. Erik and I were too stunned to respond. GlobalLife had lied to us. And their lie had caused more damage than they would ever know.

  The doctor and nurse left. Erik and I remained in the hallway chairs that served as a waiting room.

  “Good news, right?” I said quietly, still trying to process it.

  “Yeah. Great news.” Erik’s voice lacked enthusiasm. He’d never admit it, but I knew that he wanted this baby. I could feel the disappointment in his mind as the doctor told us the news. Maybe Erik assumed the baby would make me choose him over Colin. Or maybe he just wanted a son or daughter, thinking that this was his only chance. It’s not like he could ever marry and have kids with a normal girl. Doing so would mean telling her about the alien DNA in him. Knowing that secret would put her life in danger. Not to mention the fact that it would completely freak a girl out.

  As much as I didn’t want to be pregnant, a tiny part of me felt sad. Like I’d lost something, even though there was nothing there to lose. I was so convinced that Erik and I were having a baby that I’d already mentally prepared for it.

  Erik must have sensed my feelings. He held my hand and switched to telepathy. “It’s exactly what we wanted, Sam. Now we can stop worrying about this. And finally people will believe us when we say we didn’t do anything that night.”

  “They still won’t believe us.”

  “They’ll be able to get past this now. They’ll forget about it. This is good news.”

  “It’s not going to change anything between Colin and me. He knows you and I were together. He knows we did things. And he can’t forgive that.”

  “Then he’s stupid. Because he’s going to lose the best thing that ever happened to him.”

  I smiled at him. “You’re just trying to make me feel better. But thanks.”

  We heard talking and looked up to find Dave and Jack walking toward us. I quickly let go of Erik’s hand.

  “Just heard the news,” Dave said. “So you two must be relieved.”

  I got up from my chair. “Yeah, just another GlobalLife lie. I should’ve known it wasn’t true.”

  Erik stood up next to me. “But why would they lie about that?”

  “I don’t know, but the good news is that now they can do the procedure on both of you tomorrow,” Jack said. “We just came from our meeting. If Sam had been pregnant, she would’ve had to wait.”

  “With a pregnancy, there would have been too many unknowns regarding possible complications,” Dave explained. “There’s already enough risk involved with this procedure. More than I initially thought.”

  “What do you mean?” Erik asked. “I thought you said there wouldn’t be any problems since we already have these base codes in other sections of our DNA.”

  Jack nodded. “Yes, that’s true. Your body shouldn’t reject them. But there are other issues that came up in our meeting. We’re not sure what will happen once they fill in that DNA fragment with the missing base codes. Filling in that section of DNA could result in you both getting new abilities, or it could cause a glitch in your other abilities, or it could—” he stopped.

  “What Dad? It could what?”

  “Well, it could lead to the start of some type of destruction sequence. This is just a theory, so don’t panic. Given what they’ve done in the past, we’re thinking GlobalLife could have built another destruction code into the software in case someone else tried to stop the timer. If GlobalLife did the procedure, they would be able to prevent whatever might happen. But if we do it ourselves, there are some risks.”

  I felt hopeless. “So you’re saying we could die either way? That putting the base codes in us could kill us faster than the timer?”

  “It’s just a theory, Sam. There’s a very small chance of that happening. Very small.” Despite his attempt to reassure me, I could tell Dave was worried. “Jack and I are already working on ways to stop any possible reaction that might occur. But because there is that risk, you both need to decide if you still want to do this or if you want to wait to see if we can find another solution.”

  “I’m doing it,” Erik decided. “I’m not waiting. I know for sure what will happen if the timer runs out. We’re only guessing what will happen when we put in these base codes. I’ll take the risk.”

  Dave looked at me. “Sam? What do you want to do?” I waited for him to offer some advice, but he wouldn’t. “You need to decide this for yourself, Sam.”

  “All right. I’ll do it. I want the timer stopped. And I don’t think we’ll
ever find another way to turn it off.”

  “Okay. Then we’ll tell them to go ahead and prep for tomorrow,” Jack said. “They want to see you both in an hour to go over everything and run some tests.”

  Jack and Dave left. Erik and I walked back to our rooms. “You should probably talk to Colin,” Erik said when we got to my door.

  “About the pregnancy? Yeah, I know.”

  “That, and the procedure. He should know what could happen tomorrow. The risks.”

  I shrugged. “Why would he care? He’d probably be glad if it killed me.”

  “Damn, that’s harsh, Sam. And you know it’s not true. Do you want me to tell him?”

  “No, don’t. He doesn’t need to know.”

  “Wouldn’t you want to know if it were him instead of you?”

  I considered it. “Yes. Okay. I’ll think about it.” He started to leave, but I stopped him. “Hey, do you want to wait with me? I don’t really feel like being alone.”

  Erik and I hung out in my room until it was time to meet with the scientists and doctors who would be doing the procedure. At the meeting, we learned that it would take about an hour, but that Erik and I would be in and out of consciousness the entire day as our bodies adjusted to the changes. During that time, the doctors would monitor us and make sure the genes inserted themselves properly and the timer did indeed stop.

  After the meeting, the doctors ran a series of tests on Erik and me. Then we were free to go. We headed over to the dining room, where Jack and Dave were having lunch.

  “Have you seen Colin?” I asked Dave.

  “No. He’s been in his room. You know, you should probably tell him about—”

  “Tomorrow,” I finished his thought. “The procedure. I know.”

  We heard some commotion in the other room. We all got up to see who was there. It was Mr. Preston Owens, the powerful billionaire who’d helped Erik and me escape from GlobalLife. He was an older man, but he looked good for his age. Dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit and deep blue tie, he stood there talking to some of the lab techs. He waved them away when he saw us enter the room.

  “Success!” Owens exclaimed. It was the first time Erik and I had seen him since our escape. “How about that? Right under their noses!” He came over and shook Erik’s hand and then mine. “Congratulations, you two.”