Strangers and Shadows

by John Kowalsky

  “Of course, Jack. Have a pleasant rest.”

  Jack could hear Wizard resume his previous topic as he walked down the hall to his apartment. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of the old man giving Asher the birds and the bees speech. Only he guessed it was more like the robots and computers speech when it came to the Seventh.

  Celia was still asleep as Jack crawled into bed. He could smell her hair. It was wonderful. He was more than a little afraid of how much he loved having her here, lying next to him. She seemed so perfect. He kept waiting for the hammer to fall and shatter that perfection into a million pieces. Enjoy it while you can, he thought. He rolled onto his side so he could watch her sleeping, and some time later, he too, fell asleep.

  It was the middle of the night. Celia sat straight up in bed, startling Jack.

  “Celia? What’s the matter? Everything okay?”

  Celia didn’t say anything, she just got out of bed and walked out of the room.

  Alarmed, Jack sprang up and followed her, wearing only the pair of shorts that he had been sleeping in.

  Celia went down the dimly lit hallway and into her father’s office. She sat down at the desk and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil.

  “What’s going on?” Jack asked as he caught up to her.

  “I forgot.”

  “Forgot what?” Jack was beginning to get worried. Was the infection coming back? Did they not get all of the nanites? He looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

  “I forgot that I had to draw a picture first,” Celia explained as she doodled away on the page. “When I was still a girl, I tried to find one of Dad’s notes before, but I never could. After giving up, I left him one more picture to end the game. When I went to hide it in his desk, I found a note from him. I never put it together until now, but that was the only time I tried to find the note before trying to hide the picture. Dad must have linked the two somehow.”

  “How would he have done that?”

  “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be his daughter, would I? You learn a lot of tricks over a few hundred years.”

  Celia finished the drawing and held it up for Jack to inspect. There were three stick people and a house with flowers and a tree and the sun above them all.

  “This is the first picture I ever drew him,” Celia said. “That’s me, and him, and my mom outside the house we lived in before we moved to Cairo. I was sad about leaving it, that’s why I drew the picture for him in the first place, because I saw how much he loved his new job here and I didn’t want him to forget our house.”

  She took the picture and opened one of the desk drawers. Jack couldn’t see what she did with it, but when she came up, she held a different piece of paper.

  “When this is all over, remind me to find out how he does that,” Celia said.

  “Is that a note?”

  Celia nodded as she began to read.

  Hey Silly,

  If you’re reading this, then I’ve either accomplished something very brave, or attempted something very foolish. You probably wouldn’t approve regardless. At any rate, I’ve come to grips with the fact that I’ll most likely never see you again.

  I’m going to go see your mother in the Seventh, to offer myself in your place. A hostage exchange, if you will. I know it’s stupid, but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t bear to watch you laying there anymore without doing something about it.

  If I should somehow succeed, I don’t want you coming after me. There’s no guarantee that I’ll even make it to your mother alive. I just hope that she hasn’t lost the last little bit of humanity that she was once so full of.

  Well, that’s it, I guess. I’m sure, after I leave the Verse, I’ll think of a million more things I wanted to tell you, but for now, know that I love you, more than anything.

  Love,

  Daddy

  Celia wiped the tears from her cheeks as she explained to Jack. “He went to the Seventh to offer himself as a trade for me.” She handed the note to Jack to read.

  When he finished reading he took her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, Celia.”

  “Don’t be.” Celia sniffled. “We’re going to get him back. And Kid, too.”

  “But your father said not to come after him.”

  “And if it were me who told you not to come after me, would you listen?” Celia asked.

  “Point taken,” Jack said. “I’ll wake Wizard.”

  In The Belly Of The Beast

  Storm the front door or try to sneak in the back? Desmond had wrestled with the pros and cons of each, but in the end, he couldn’t decide either way. Should he jump in and try to find a cure for Celia on his own—poking around what was sure to be a fiercely guarded facility, or should he just jump in and demand to see Julia? In the end, he decided that he would decide later, and with nothing more than the clothes on his back, Desmond jumped to the Seventh.

  He should have arrived in Julia’s inner chambers, but he wasn’t surprised to learn that he landed elsewhere inside the large Embassy building. There had been rumors of a jump shield that was being developed. He just hadn’t been made aware of the completion of such a shield. I’ll have to remember to commend her on her secrecy, Desmond thought.

  He was already reaching out with his mind as he arrived, trying to get a layout of the building. He could barely pick up anything. The whole Embassy was riddled with EM fields. Here and there, however, were pockets of unaffected space—places where the fields didn’t connect.

  He picked a direction and started walking, more concerned with moving anywhere than somewhere. Three steps into his journey, a young man in an aide’s uniform walked around the corner. He seemed to be in a hurry. The aide started, not expecting to find anyone here, let alone someone out of uniform. “Uhh...” the young man stammered.

  Desmond made his cheeks flush red. “I’m a bit embarrassed… I was supposed to deliver a message to Lady White, in person, and I’m afraid I’ve forgotten the directions I was given at the front desk.”

  The aide’s brow furrowed as he weighed the truthfulness of Desmond’s lie. This went on for several moments and Desmond was beginning to think something was wrong when the aide suddenly relaxed. “No problem at all. I’m heading that way right now. Why don’t you join me, Desmond?”

  Desmond’s gut sank. He didn’t know how, but he was made. He thought about running for a moment—he could find a pocket in the EM fields and jump out, but then that wasn’t what he was here for. He took a deep breath and let it out. He gave a slight bow and sweep of his hands, waving the aide in front of him. “After you.”

  The aide began walking and Desmond walked alongside him. “So, how have you been, Julia?” he guessed.

  The aide let out a small gasp. “How did you know it was me?” The words came out of the aide’s mouth in the sound of his voice, but they were not his words.

  “It was the way you said my name,” Desmond replied. “And, I wasn’t completely sure, until now, but I guess somethings don’t change.”

  “Yes, and those things that don’t change become dead things, Desmond. You of all people should be able to see that.”

  “Come now, Julia, I’d hoped we could put off the lectures until we’re in person, at least.”

  “I suppose it’s only fair,” the aide spoke. “I’ll see you in a second.” The aide shivered and then shook his head. “What happened?”

  “You were escorting me to Lady White’s office,” Desmond told the young man.

  “I… I was?”

  Desmond just nodded, giving the man some time to get his feet back under himself.

  “Well then—right this way,” the aide said. He led Desmond further down the hallway.

  They turned the corner and Desmond saw the entrance to Julia’s office at the end of the hall. The hallway was about three hundred feet long, with a pair of guards stationed against the wall every fifty feet or so.

  As they walked past each pair of guards, Desmond nodded to each�
��a small bow of respect. Not that he respected what they did, but he might be seeing them again very soon, and on much different terms. It never hurt to be respectful. Especially since respect had to start somewhere.

  They reached the large double doors which had guards stationed on both sides. The doors opened as the aide drew near, and Desmond walked through with the young man in tow.

  The office was large and circular. There was a bustle of activity as men and women hurried to and fro, all talking, seemingly, into thin air. Even though Desmond knew that they were on their comm units, it was always a little unsettling to see and hear people talking to someone you couldn’t see.

  Behind him, in the hall, Desmond saw a large troop of soldiers in full battle gear walking down the hall toward the office as the office doors closed in front of them.

  Julia’s inner chambers were located above the office.

  “Best be off, then,” Desmond said, not waiting for the aide to respond as he walked toward the lift in the center of the office.

  There were no stairs to Julia’s office. The lift was the only way in or out. Desmond had only been here once before. It wasn’t a pleasant memory. Right after Julia had left him and their daughter, Desmond had come to try to talk her out of it, but he quickly learned that the woman he had loved for so long no longer existed. Julia had changed. If there was anything of the woman he loved left in her, that part wasn’t in control anymore. Still, he had to hope that some part of her still cared for their daughter, if not for him.

  The doors to the lift opened and Desmond stepped in. The aide did not follow, but gave Desmond a wink as the lift ascended.

  It was a short ride, only a few seconds, but during that time, Desmond traveled several hundred feet. The doors parted and Desmond stepped into the brightly lit inner chambers of Lady Julia White, Prime Minister of the Seventh Verse.

  The chambers were laid out in a semi-circle. The walls and ceiling were made of glass, showing the vast city below them. Outside, hovers flew back and forth in their predetermined flight lanes. There were several couches, on one of which sat a young woman with straight, short hair and sharp features. Desmond would have thought it was a younger version of Celia, except for the darkness that seemed to hover around her.

  Julia White sat behind her desk, ready to begin, like a cat who has caught her prey and is about to play with it. She had a twinkle in her eye. She stood as Desmond approached.

  “So good to see you, Desmond.” She walked up to him and tried to kiss him on the lips. Desmond turned his head, and she relented. “Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying.”

  “You’re not a girl anymore, Julia. In fact, I’m not sure what you are anymore.”

  “Well, that makes two of us, dear,” Julia said. “Come, sit down.”

  “I’m fine, thanks. You know why I’ve come?”

  “Something to do with that rather nasty bug our daughter has come down with, I presume.”

  Desmond bit his lip, attempting to prevent an angry outburst. If it was anybody but her, he would be an ocean of calm, but with all things concerning his wife, he was as emotional and vulnerable as the next man.

  “That’s why I’m here, yes,” Desmond said. He noticed how raptly the young woman on the couch was paying attention to the proceedings.

  “That’s the danger of traveling abroad, I’m afraid—you never know what manner of thing you might catch.”

  “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we, wife,” Desmond said. “Cure our daughter and use me for your science experiment instead.”

  Laughter spewed forth from Julia’s lips. “Come now, husband, you can’t be serious…” She went to the window and stared out. “I’m giving our daughter a wonderful gift—the same I’ll give to you and eventually your people.”

  “What gift is that?”

  “Do you think I would harm Celia?”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past you these days, Jules,” Desmond said with a hint of sadness around his eyes.

  “Do you know why I left you, Desmond?” Julia asked. “Did you ever manage to figure that one out?”

  Desmond was silent.

  “It was because one day, I realized that I would never be able to have the kind of connection that you and Celia had. You were such an amazing man, with talents I could only ever dream of—super powers. I couldn’t stay and be content, knowing that I would never be your equal in our relationship.”

  “But we had love, Julia. That’s all we could ever need.”

  “You say that now, with the way things have gone, but if I’d have stayed, you would have grown tired or bored with me. Now, though, our peoples are almost equals. Now, we will not have to play second fiddle to your powers. We will be one race, living under one law.”

  A tear streaked down Desmond’s face. “What have you done, Julia?”

  “Come, I will show you my designs for the MultiVerse.”

  Julia led Desmond out of the inner chamber, through her office, and back into the maze of halls that made up the Embassy. The young woman, Ava, followed from a distance, along with a small contingent of armed guards.

  “I assure you, Desmond, no harm will come to our daughter… She will just be made normal, as the rest of us are.”

  “There was nothing unnatural about her to begin with,” Desmond said.

  “Nothing unnatural? You call superpowers natural?”

  “Every human has the potential for them, so, yes, I call them natural. Nothing, aside from being born, has ever been done to Celia or any of my people for these abilities to be made manifest. We simply live as we were created to live—”

  “So you claim, Desmond.”

  “You lived among us, Julia! How can you not see the difference in our two cultures?”

  “That’s what’s wrong,” she said. “The differences are too great. Our peoples must be made one.”

  “All we’ve ever wanted was peace between our two verses, Julia… It was your verse that pulled away from us.”

  “No! You will not lay the blame for this on us, Desmond. I won’t allow it! This began when your people shamed our use of the nanites. You couldn’t stand that we had developed our own version of your telepathic abilities. Tell me, how could we not pull away from that kind of rejection?”

  “Shamed is a very strong word for our reaction. We only ever warned about the danger of the nanites. You are well aware of the ease with which they can overtake a person if their programming were to be damaged or influenced.”

  “No more so than your ability to mind control others!” Julia defended. “We’ve made leaps and bounds in the technology since I first left you and Celia.”

  They had arrived at one of the many observation rooms that the Embassy held. It was stationed high above the large room that it overlooked. Through the sizable viewing window, Desmond could see a ring with a diameter of about fifteen feet or so. The ring sat in the center of the room. There was a bundle of cables running from the ring to a clear glass chamber. The chamber was empty. The cables connected at the uppermost corners of the chamber.

  “This is the beginning, Desmond,” Julia motioned at the ring. “This is what will bring us all together. First the Sixth Verse, and then in time, when they’re a bit older, the rest.”

  “What exactly am I looking at?” Desmond asked. He was nervous. Whatever Julia had planned, he had a bad feeling about it.

  “The Portal Ring, or PR, as we like to call it…” she giggled. “Is a little thing we had developed to solve the transportation problem we’ve been having with the EM fields.” Julia appeared to be quite pleased with herself. “With the EMF generators up and running, your people in the Sixth will not be able to stop us from deploying the nanites.”

  “That’s what you did to Celia, isn’t it?”

  “You’re finally getting it, Desmond,” Julia said. “Unfortunately, the virus takes about a week to finish its transformation—longer in the more powerful cases, such as you and Celia, but we hope to improve that in time
.”

  “You really have lost it, haven’t you?” Desmond realized that whatever part of himself that had held out hope for Julia had just given that hope up. She was a stranger now, through and through. He couldn’t recognize any part of her anymore. It was as if someone had taken over her mind and body.

  “Lost what?” Julia laughed. “Desmond, we are on the verge of history. Soon, all of humanity will be equals, and thanks to the Mother Brain Construct, even the problem of death will have been solved.”

  “Not this again, Julia. It all comes back to your parents, doesn’t it?”

  Julia’s face twitched slightly as she looked down and away. She said nothing.

  “Julia, they’re gone, and there was nothing you could have done to prevent that. You were in a different universe when the accident happened.”

  “I know that!” Julia was angry. There was fire in her eyes. “If the Mother Brain Construct had existed back then, then they wouldn’t have had to die. They could have uploaded their consciousness and then waited for their bodies to be cloned.”

  Desmond scoffed. “And have you figured out how to provide bodies for all these disembodied souls?”

  “We’re nearly there. We have successfully transferred back and forth between the body and the Mother, so we know it’s possible.”

  “Let me guess,” Desmond said. “You’re having problems with the soul-less bodies dying on you…”

  Julia looked unnerved for a moment. “Yes, that’s right… How did you…?” She shook her head and cleared her mind. “I don’t know why I still get surprised when you do that.” For a fleeting moment, she felt something resembling the feelings she once had for this man, but she didn’t have time to focus on that right now. “Bring him in,” she said to the guards.

  Two guards left and returned moments later with a boy.

  “Kid!” Desmond hadn’t expected to see him. He appeared to be in fine health, if not slightly scared and bewildered.

  “You’re the man from the restaurant,” Kid said. He looked to his mother. “What’s he doing here?”