by Nick Braker
She nodded with a half-smile. Asher stepped out first, saw the hallway was clear and motioned her out. He closed his door and both of them started down the corridor toward the mess hall. They took about three steps when Greg stepped out of his compartment and nearly ran into them in his haste.
“Whoa, dude,” Asher said.
“Sorry man, in a hurry. I’m late. Wait, so are you--” he replied. “--two.”
Greg was surprised to see Jules on this side of the base.
“Hi, Greg,” Jules said.
“Yeah, we ran into each other, figured we’d head over for some food. Want to join us?” Asher asked.
Greg nodded while he finished putting on his shirt he had hastily grabbed while leaving.
“Hey, man. I need to talk with you.” Asher said.
“Yeah, what about?” Greg asked. “Oh, Jules, how’s Seph and the others?”
“They are doing great,” Jules responded, grinning.
Greg really wanted to know about Seph.
“Good, good.”
“She asked about you, Greg.”
Jules winked at him and Greg tensed.
“Yeah? Tell her I’m doing fine.”
“In fact, she wanted me to ask you if she could get together with you.”
“Dude, you are officially dead. Life insurance paid out. Death certificate. Burned up sorority and my Camaro. Closed coffin,” Asher said.
“Shut up, Ash,” Greg said quietly.
Greg was still going through some emotional pain. His friend had been putting on a face for the last few weeks but now his guard had dropped and he could see the pain in his eyes.
“Jules, would you run on ahead please?”
He motioned toward the galley. She nodded. Asher waited until she was out of earshot.
“You know I’m your best friend--”
“Shit, you can’t even say it right, can you?” Greg asked with a flash of anger.
Asher sighed. Greg needed him and he had to drop the facade he always kept up.
“You know you’re my best friend and that I would do anything to help you. Right now, I want to help. I really do. Greg, as a friend, I’m asking you to let them go before you get them killed.”
Greg looked down as they walked down the hallway.
“I know you’re right. I can’t ask her to wait for me until this is all over.” Greg looked up at Asher. “I miss them terribly,” Greg said, still talking. “Part of me is moving on but the larger part doesn’t want to let go.”
“What do you mean part of you?” Asher asked.
“Logically, I know I have to move on but I feel guilty every time I do because I think about--” Greg paused so long Asher thought he was done talking. “Seph. I love my wife and kid. My death is hurting them right now and I know if I act on my feelings I’m going to get them killed, so I try to move on and, when I do, the guilt overwhelms me. I’d rather see more of the crap we grew up with... all that death and shit we saw as kids, than experience this guilt. Alexandria did this to protect us and our families. I know that in my head but I dream of my wife almost every night.”
“You’re in mourning, dude. It’s normal,” Asher said.
“Yeah? Then why does the face I see in my dreams recently belong to Seph?” Greg’s throat went hoarse. “I feel like shit when I wake up from those dreams.”
Asher started to put his hand on Greg’s shoulder but decided to put his arm around him instead.
“Dude, because you’re tough like the rest of us and you’re moving on even if part of you doesn’t want to.”
“Please forgive me,” Greg said, whispering to no one.
Asher walked with Greg the rest of the way in silence. They entered the galley, spotting Jules sitting at one of the tables with Seph.
“Here’s your test, my friend. You remember the night you first saw Seph?”
“Yeah, at that first sorority we got tricked into stopping at,” he said.
“What you didn’t notice was that, out of all us, Seph’s eyes went straight to you, dude,” Asher said.
“Don’t shit me, man.”
“You know I might do that under ordinary circumstances but not right now. True?” he asked.
Greg studied his face as they sat down at the table with the girls.
“True,” Greg said.
Seph glanced back and forth between the two several times.
“What is true?” she asked.
“Yeah, what are you two talking about?” Jules asked, suspicion in her voice.
“That you two are the most beautiful women the two of us have ever seen,” he answered. “Now, what do we have here?”
All four spots on the table had food already prepared and set in front of them.
“Thank you to whoever prepared the food,” Greg said.
A perfect smile formed on Seph’s flawless face.
“You are most welcome, Greg.”
Greg’s face turned red. He grabbed his sandwich and took a bite, pretending not to have noticed Seph. His discomfort was clearly visible.
“So, Seph, what brings you here?” Asher asked.
His friend had always been shy around beautiful women but his shyness was magnified being in the presence of women like Seph and Jules.
“Greg,” she replied.
Greg stopped chewing in mid-bite. The sandwich slipped from his hands leaving a portion of it sticking out between his lips. He tensed again.
“Me?” he managed to say.
“Yeah, I need some help. You see, we four started playing table tennis on our downtime. Some of the guards started talking about the new guys that were so good. Seems you have quite the reputation, in many ways, as I hear it,” she said, continuing to smile at Greg.
Asher wanted to laugh. Seph knew what she was doing to Greg but at least it was genuine. It was working, too.
Damn, these girls are smart.
Greg sat up straighter and grinned. His face was beet red now and the girls were being polite enough not to say anything.
“Well, we play a lot and I guess no one else is really into it,” Greg responded.
“So, will you help me?” she asked, putting her hand on his.
“Yeah, sure thing. Tonight after training? Wait, are we even allowed?” Greg asked.
“Do not worry about that. I get what I want,” she said, watching Greg.
There was a long pause, so Asher felt now was as good as any to talk with Greg. Seph’s presence helped and with her here, it would be easier to get Greg’s cooperation. Asher took in a deep breath and let it out.
“I want to ask a favor of you,” Asher said.
“Save your breath. Last time you asked me to do you a favor, my life got turned upside down. I almost died on more occasions than I can count. I’m officially dead to the world. I have a security clearance so high I can’t even leave the base for R&R. On top of that, I don’t get any sleep at night because I can’t turn my brain off,” he said. “Yeah, somehow that is your fault.”
“Good. Glad you’re onboard then. Okay, here’s my favor. I need to see you up your game. I know you have more in you than you even realize and you need to show it. Focus on it and figure a way to bring it out.”
Greg’s jaw dropped open.
“That’s it? What is that, some kind of pep talk?”
Asher laughed.
“You want the fake stuff where I pretend to care and tell you how great you are?”
Greg’s look was stern but then he turned his face away. Greg knew what Asher was talking about.
“You have something you want to tell me?” Asher asked.
Jules and Seph watched in silence.
“You already know,” Greg said with some hesitation.
“Tell me anyway. What do you think I know?”
“We’ve changed and you’ve come to the same realization I have,” Greg said.
Seph and Jules both exchanged looks. Greg didn’t know why but he picked up on things like that so much easier
now.
My brain won’t turn off.
He screamed the thought in his mind trying to drown out the rush of chaos inside.
Jules will speak first.
“Greg, what do you mean, you have changed?” Jules asked.
“It’s hard to put my finger on it,” he said looking intently at the sandwich in his hands. “I can tell you the symptoms but not the cause.”
Seph will speak next.
“Continue then, Greg,” Seph asked.
She was looking at him intently, more so than before.
“I see things differently than I used to. I understand complex processes easier. I catch on so much faster than I ever could before. I learn so quickly and adapt so fast, I feel like I can beat anyone at anything given enough time,” Greg said with some concern in his voice. “I am a freak and it bothers me.”
Seph is up again.
“Greg,” Seph exclaimed.
She grabbed his hand and held it in hers.
“Absolutely not. You are experiencing what Jules and I experienced years ago.”
A flood of thoughts surged through his mind. Each one blasted their way into his consciousness, demanding to be heard. He was confused by the rush of thoughts. It didn’t last long and then everything instantly snapped into place for him, like a huge, complex jigsaw puzzle that he had just completed.
“Holy hell. Whatever happened to you is the same thing, or similar, that happened to us. You weren’t born with your gifts, were you?” he asked.
Once again, they exchanged a knowing look with each other and that was when it dawned on him. Both of the girls were the same and they had just decided to include them in on their secret. Something had happened to them as well and somehow it had happened to him and his friends. Asher looked confused.
Asher will speak next.
“What the hell are you three thinking? I can see you sharing information back and forth between each other and doing it without saying a word.”
“Ash, we have the same gifts the girls have. They got theirs years ago and we got them recently,” Greg said.
Seph will... stop predicting who will speak next!
“To answer your question, Greg, we were not born with our intellects. My mother tells me I was around five years of age when everything changed. Her words, not mine,” Seph said. “I slowly stopped playing with dolls and I was no longer interested in cartoons. I did not want to do the things normal five year old kids did. My mother said it happened overnight. I remember everything from that morning until now as if someone gave me a photographic memory and an intelligence to use it.”
“Holy shit. You two are still dumbing down your dialog. Even now with my revelation. Why?” Greg said.
Seph.
“You know why,” Seph said.
The answer came to him. It was Asher. Asher wouldn’t be able to keep up. He wasn’t gifted like that. Greg changed the subject quickly.
“I just realized something. You four have never used a contraction in conversation unless it was intentional.”
Seph.
“That is what you got from our revelation?” she asked, surprised.
Greg shrugged.
Jules this time.
“Guilty,” Jules said. “When I met Seph for the first time, I knew she was like me the moment she started talking. We have been discussing the nature of our change ever since. None of us though can remember any detail of the reason behind it. Nothing at all, in fact.”
Asher is next.
“Which means, we had the same thing happen to us but ours was more recent?” Asher asked.
Greg continued, excitement building in him.
“Which also means we will eventually reach some level of intelligence akin to you four girls.”
Asher will not be happy about this.
“Shit,” Asher groaned. “People are going to start calling us eggheads.”
Enough!
“Handsome eggheads,” Jules said. “Do not forget the adjective.”
“Why shouldn’t I? You forget the contractions,” Asher quipped, not finding any of this funny.
They all laughed except Asher. Their laughter started to fade when five MPs walked into the room. They stared straight at Asher.
“I’ll be damned,” Asher said. “She lied. That’s not a platoon....”
“Uh... they’re here for you, Ash?” Greg asked.
“Yeah, the good doctor did warn me.” He glanced at Jules and smiled. “It slipped my mind for some reason.”
He stood up, addressing the MPs.
“Okay, okay. You got me. I’ll go along with you but I’ll be doing all the talking.”
He winked at Jules and waved goodbye to Greg. The five MPs escorted Asher out of the room. Greg heard Asher ask something about them being sure five were enough as they left.
“Doctor Nance is not to be taken lightly,” Jules said.
Greg wanted to respond but Seph gave Jules another look and something exchanged between them.
I wish it would turn off.
“Well, I better run. You two should finish your lunch. I will see you later Seph,” Jules walked off, smiling at both of them.
“What’s up with her?” Greg asked.
“You will figure it out, eventually,” she said.
Greg was confused but he was glad Jules had left. He liked talking with Seph and she never seemed to mind sitting and talking with him.
“This is the first time I’ve seen any of you girls on this side of the base. What’s up with that?” Greg asked.
“We have been working on duplicating the technology from the alien ship. I am breaking the rules by telling you this but we have made great progress. You should soon see some amazing new technology get released into the field for our agents. Eventually, it will reach the general population but, by that time, we will have even more advanced technology. It is a never-ending cycle,” she said, smiling.
Greg couldn’t help himself, he loved to see her smile. Something she always seemed to do around him.
“Sounds really interesting. What’s coming first?” he asked.
“Implant communication devices. Currently, they can safely transmit just over halfway around the planet. I--” Greg interrupted her.
“Are you still dumbing down your dialog with me?” he asked.
“Yes, Greg. I am. I was thinking about giving you precise details regarding distance, curvature decay past the horizon, and well, you get the point. Are you interested in those details?”
“No,” Greg said. “Not really. I might be smarter but I’m still not interested in any of that. Is that weird?”
“No, it is most likely the difference between when we received our abilities and when you received yours. You are twenty now and your formative years are behind you. It will be harder for you to overcome your own self-imposed limitations. Simply put, you are who you are.”
She still hadn’t let go of his hand as she rubbed her thumb across the back of it.
“I love who you are and even who you will become. You are not a freak,” she said.
Greg took in every detail he could about her. His mind was in overdrive again and he was processing all of it very quickly. He started with her eyes. They were mint green and sparkled at the edges of her irises. He found them exquisitely beautiful, staring in awe at the intelligence behind them. In a flash of memory, his mind linked her eyes with the color of the car he remembered from the sorority. He was sure that one must have been hers. She must have had it painted to match them perfectly. He was impressed that she would go to such lengths. He chastised himself for thinking these things right now but his mind would not stop trying to link things together. He forced himself back to Seph. Her signature mark of beauty was her eyelashes. She almost always wore several artificially long eyelashes on her top lid just to the outside of both eyes. They were over half an inch longer than her natural lashes and the effect on her was stunning. Her eye shadow was lustrous green, even though it did not match h
er eyes, it complemented them. He forced himself to move to her hair. It was full length with naturally lazy curls, all a deep, rich auburn red. Her hair reached to the bottom of her shoulder blades, something he had remembered again from the night she wore her bathing suit in the pool. He could smell the aroma of sweet peaches from the shampoo she used. Next were her lips. They were covered with a glossy, natural pink lipstick. He stayed there longer than his mind wanted to. He had to take in as much as he could so he once again forced himself to move on. He marveled at her perfect skin and gorgeous bone structure.
Did I just think ‘bone structure’?
The thought came to him among all the others flashing through his consciousness.
Where does this stuff come from?
It was fleeting and he just as quickly returned his focus to her in her bikini. She had worn a matching two piece green ensemble. Everything she did was thoroughly calculated. Their conversation while making drinks confirmed that. He remembered how the two of them had set up the bar for the party. Just for sheer intellectual pleasure, they had sorted the various bottles by alcohol content, something he found fascinating then and now. Within each of those groupings, they set the bottles in reverse alphabetical order by manufacturer. They spent the rest of the night laughing at how silly the arrangement was but the sheer fun of remembering the recipe for each drink requested, where to find it by alcohol content and locating the bottle by maker had given them some funny moments. His mind was processing everything about her. He was categorizing and cross referencing all of it, some of it he could focus on consciously and the rest was happening in the back of his mind.
How?
“Greg?” she asked.
“Oh my god,” he said in both alarm and excitement.
“What is it?” she asked with concern in her voice, squeezing his hands.
“It happened at the hospital,” he said, stunned.
“What hospital? Do you mean your transformation?”
“Yes, I do not know when but it was while we were visiting Asher in the hospital. I can remember exquisite details but they get foggier the longer I go back in time. For some reason, that was when my mind started to kick into gear,” he said.
“I could not remember the day it happened to me until years later. It gets better and stronger as time goes by. You will know the day it happened but, if you are like us, you will not remember what happened, just when,” she said smiling at him.