Cornered: Episode Two of the Sister Planets Series

by Leviticus James

  “Mika,” I groan without lifting my head or opening my eyes.

  “Oh, God. Henry, calm it down with the hopping.”

  “Do you wanna live or die?” he asks. Even in my misery, I take the time to be surprised that his voice has a Midwestern twang.

  “Do you want a clean car or one with vomit all over the floor?”

  “Is she sick?”

  “Don’t blame her. Slow down.”

  A calm beeping tone fills the cab.

  Henry sighs. “Vomit it is. Just make sure she catches it in something.”

  He accelerates.

  I throw up everything I ate at the party. My eyes are closed, but I hear it splatter. The overwhelming smell of stomach acid fills the car. It’s strange, but I’ve noticed no matter what a person eats, it smells like tomatoes when it’s thrown up.

  I hurl again as Henry takes a sharp left.

  I open my eyes just a little. I see Mika, grimacing with his nose upturned, holding something under my mouth.

  “Girl, hold your own bucket. I don’t have time for this anymore. Henry, stop thrashing this car around, or I swear I’ll break your fingers.”

  “Don’t tell me how to drive!”

  I series of pings ring throughout the cab. My nausea evaporates. “Where those bullets hitting the glass?”

  “They sure weren’t happy thoughts. Dummies are either using plastic bullets or high-powered guns and old-fashioned metal bullets. Neither are going to penetrate this car.”

  I summon my courage and sit all the way up as Henry continues to weave in and out of traffic. Based on the neon blue, pink, and green versions of the outside environment flashing on the glass dome around me, I think we’re in the Power & Light district. Few places in Unity City are this busy this late.

  “Which one shot at us?”

  “The one three cars back. Henry, next time you can make a hard left, do it. I’m gonna shoot and try to slow them down.”

  “One coming up in ten seconds. I’m runnin’ the stop regardless of whose turn it is.”

  “Will bullets work against their cars?” I ask.

  “Who said anything about bullets?”

  Mika raises his hand. He’s holding a handgun with what appears to be a miniature rocket affixed to the top.

  “Where did that come from?”

  Mika winks. “You’ve been busy throwing your guts up. Don’t worry.”

  He hits a button, and a section of the glass dome opens. He sticks the gun out the newly formed window and—as we make our hard left—fires behind us. A red dart streaks across the black screen and collides with the blue outline of the car that’s following us.

  There’s a burst of orange and the car stops moving.

  “Don’t worry, the explosion isn’t strong enough to kill anyone,” Mika says as he rolls the window back up. “It’s just really good at incapacitating cars.”

  “I don’t really care about the well-being of people trying to abduct me.”

  Before Mika can smile, three streaks of red zip toward our car before veering off in different directions.

  “Two guys on the street up ahead, off to our right. I can’t turn before we reach them,” Henry says. “They’re using bullets now, but they may switch it up by the time we get there.”

  “How close are they?” I ask.

  “Five seconds.”

  I hit a button, and an opening appears in the dome on my side of the car. Mika starts to protest, but we reach the two men before he can chastise me. I only see their outlines in the darkness, but that’s all I need.

  A heartbeat after we pass them, I toss the vomit bucket out the window.

  I don’t have to ask if I hit them or not. Mika’s side-splitting laughter is answer enough. I turn toward the front and see the corner of Henry’s mouth raise in a grin.

  We aren’t pursued any more. At least not that I can tell. We’re silent as Henry zips through traffic, looping back down obscure streets.

  I sit back, close my eyes, and enter the In-Between. My body is finally relaxed, and the tension once winding through my body is gone.

  I don’t know how long I’m there. When I decide to open my eyes, I find Mika watching something on an old-fashioned tablet. He looks comical holding the tiny black square, like Atlas with the world on his shoulders binge-watching a sitcom or reading classic literature.

  “So, what’s the plan?” I ask.

  Mika answers, but doesn’t take his eyes off his screen. “We’re waiting to hear from Norah. They’re still prepping your new place. They’ll let us know when it’s safe to arrive.”

  “I feel so fancy.”

  “You should. That’s who you are now. You need the digs to match.”

  “What are you looking at?”

  Mika doesn’t answer. I’m assuming the sound of whatever he’s watching is playing through a cochlear implant, so I say a little louder, “What are you looking at?”

  He looks up with a furrowed brow. “Why are you shouting?”

  “Aren’t you listening to it with some kind of ear tech?”

  He turns his attention back to the screen. “No, I don’t have any.”

  “Really?”

  “Neither does Henry here. Same with Jacob and Esau. Part of being in The Red Hand is being tech-free. It’s not allowed.”

  “Really? I feel honored to even be in your presence.”

  “You should. We usually rip tech out of people before we let them join.”

  “Wow. Thanks for letting me keep my kill-switches?”

  Mika chuckles, still engrossed with whatever is on his screen.

  A small beeping comes from Henry’s direction.

  “Those the coordinates?” Mika asks.

  “Yep.”

  Ten minutes later, we pass a sign welcoming us to the West Bottoms. I snort. “Seriously? The West Bottoms? Could you pick a more conspicuous spot to put me?”

  Mika comes out of his trance. “It’s a nice part of town, which fits your new lifestyle. Plus, it’s close to the river if we need a quick getaway.”

  “It’s too nice. Everyone’s going to know where I live. There’s no way I can keep a low profile here.”

  “Quit worrying. You have an entire team here to help you stay unseen.”

  I hear what he’s saying, but all I can envision is a wave of perverts in tuxedos driving up to my door.

  At the same time … this is the West Bottoms. It’s one of the ritziest locales in the entire country. I’ve only ever known Scarlet’s dump and my studio apartment, and I can’t help but feel excited about living somewhere nice.

  I must have spaced out, because Mika leans into my line of vision. “Girl, you okay?”

  “I—I’m sorry. I’m just really tired.”

  Mika reaches over and pats my knee. “I can understand that. Just checking.”

  Henry interrupts. “We’re here.”

  He hits a button, and the tint on the windows vanishes. I look through the clear dome of glass that now surrounds us, and my jaw drops.

  “Noooooooo.”

  Ahead is one of the tallest buildings in Unity City. It’s a blue-tinted glass tower that rises one hundred stories above the riverfront. During the day, it stands shimmering in the sunlight like a cobalt glacier. At night, it’s lit from every level. Its official name is boring—Sky Towers—but most people call it “The Ice Pick.” Despite the jokes, no one can argue it isn’t awe inspiring.

  “There’s no way. I’m not … wait, are you sure? I’m staying in The Pick?”

  Mika chuckles. “Well, I mean after what you said about it being too conspicuous, we can always request somewhere else.”

  “No! Don’t you dare.” I keep watching the building as it gets closer and closer. Henry darkens the windows again, then stops the car.

  “You ready?” he asks.

  “Yes.” I smooth out my dress, grab my clutch, and make sure my shoes are strapped up.

  Mika gets out and closes his door. Three seconds
later, he opens my door and offers me his hand. I step out into the muggy darkness. Henry’s pulled up to the entrance. The entire front of the building is glass, revealing a lobby that looks more like an art museum than an apartment complex. I’m not even sure where I need to go to get inside.

  “Keep walking,” Mika says from behind me. “Chin up. Confident face on. The act isn’t over until we get to the room.”

  I pull my shoulders back and shake my hair out as I step out of the car. My heels click on the concrete and echo through the overhang as we approach the glass wall.

  Sure enough, ten steps before I get to the glass, a portion of it falls from the ceiling through a slit in the floor. I wait for the glass to shatter or bend as it falls, but it never does. Instead, it disappears into the ground.

  We enter an empty lobby. I look around. “Where’s the security?”

  “Who says there isn’t any?”

  “I guess I was expecting guards in tuxedos and cameras all over the place. This is where all the ritzy people live.”

  Mika chokes down a laugh. “Just leave all of that to me. Don’t worry your sweet little head about it.”

  “Don’t patronize me, you—”

  “Good evening, Ms. Martinique,” another voice says.

  The voice comes from all around me. I jump and spin around, looking for the person it belongs to. Mika laughs, and I give him a dirty look. He points at the elevator. “Aren’t you going to say hello back?”

  “Uh, hello?”

  “Allow me to introduce myself,” the voice says again. “My name is Kate. I am the attendant of Sky Towers, and it is my pleasure to welcome you. Before I can allow you to go to your room, I’ll need to do a security check. Please extend your hand for scanning.”

  “Good evening, Kate,” Mika says. “I’m Ms. Martinique’s security detail. She doesn’t have a sub-dermal chip. I hope it’s all right if she does a bio scan.”

  “Ms. Martinique, is this man your security detail as he claims to be?” Kate asks. There’s no delay after Mika speaks. Normal AI, like the kind they use on the transportation system, take at least a second to process what’s being said to them. This one is flawless.

  “Yes, he’s telling the truth. And he’s correct about my lack of a chip.”

  “Not to worry. Please place your left hand above the button and look straight ahead so I can complete the dermal and retinal scan.”

  I do as Kate asks. I half expect some cheesy red laser to shine into my eyes or a green one to go up and down to scan my hand, but nothing like that happens. Three seconds after I step up to the elevator, Kate says, “Thank you. You are cleared to enter the elevator. Have a wonderful night.”

  “Thank you, Kate. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other.”

  The AI doesn’t respond.

  We step into the spacious elevator. Mika presses the top button.

  The penthouse.

  I’m about to scream in excitement, but Mika puts his fingers to his lips and shakes his head. I put a cork on my excitement and put my hands over my mouth to keep the shout from coming out.

  We’re in the elevator for a couple of minutes as it flies to the top floor. I feel all my insides lurch upward as it slows to a stop. The door opens into a room—not a hallway or a vestibule. A room. I’m living in a place with its own elevator entrance.

  Mika turns to me and smiles. “Welcome home, Mav.”

  Chapter 7

  Mika, can I speak freely now that I’m in the apartment?”

  “Yep, we’ve done a clean sweep, and this room is off the grid. Kate can’t even—”

  I inhale and start screaming before he can keep talking.

  “What!”

  Everything that’s tangible is either a shade of white or black: off-white couches and chairs, gray carpets, a black Steinway concert grand piano. All the furniture looks like a Martian designer made them. A granite slab hovering over a magnet functions as a coffee table, and a funky chandelier hangs from the twelve-foot ceilings. The chairs hover, too. At first, they look like hard, plastic pods. Then I see the plush cushions and padded backs.

  “Shall I give you the tour?” Mika asks. I turn to see him grinning at me.

  “Oh God, yes.”

  All the exterior walls are glass and look out over the city. I dash to one and see both the pulsing illumination of the Power & Light district and the towers of downtown—the Silicon Valley of the Midwest. I can see Google’s multicolored display, Microsoft’s pale green lights, and Amrian’s angular Splinter Tower, which is the sibling to the building we’re in now.

  Mika nudges me away from the window. “Come on. You can gaze out the window all you want later. I want to show you the rest of the apartment.”

  “I never in a million years thought I’d get to see the city like this, Mika.”

  “If this is blowing your mind, then you’re about to lose it completely.”

  He walks me back through the main sitting area. The interior walls are either covered with art pieces three times the size of the bed in my old apartment or enormous screens that display static designs and moving, three-dimensional shapes.

  He leads me into the kitchen, which is situated at the corner of the penthouse. I run through it like a kid in a toy store.

  “Oh my God, these granite countertops are amazing. Where is the stove? Wait, that’s the stove? I didn’t even see it! And that’s the fridge? You just press the wall and the door opens? Oh my God, this breakfast bar looks right out over the West Bottoms. Can I sit here?”

  We walk through another sitting area where the screens display a moving picture of a prairie at night lit by the moon. Stars twinkle, and the stalks of wheat rustle in a non-existent breeze.

  “And this,” Mika announces, “is the bedroom.”

  “What!”

  The bed is the size of a small swimming pool. I run to it but sit down reverently. I don’t want to mess up the beautiful bedspread. I sink my fingers into the luscious sheets and sigh.

  “I want this bed to swallow me up.”

  “It’s amazing.”

  I pat it and give Mika a very unsexy come-hither look. “You can stay in it with me tonight if you want, big boy. I could show you a good time.”

  Mika rolls his eyes.

  I look back out the window in front of me. “I’ll wake up tomorrow morning to a sunrise lighting up the city. Then I can come back at dusk and watch the sunset. It’s so perfect.”

  “We’ve got one more thing. Come here and see this.” Mika walks through a door attached to my new bedroom.

  I follow him and gasp when I see the bathroom.

  It’s all gray granite, the shower is big enough to park a car in, and the sinks are magnificent. But the thing that I can’t hide my excitement over is the standalone tub and its tiny clawed feet.

  Hugging its left side is a floor-to-ceiling window that gazes northward over the West Bottoms. Just past the river is the suburb sprawl. Miles and miles of solar arrays and wind turbines line the edges like an invading army. I feel like God looking down on Earth, observing the tiny bits of humanity I’ve created.

  “This is a dream.”

  Someone speaks from behind us.

  “Hate to kiss you and wake you up, princess, but we need to debrief before you go to bed.”

  It’s Norah.

  “It can’t wait until morning?” I ask.

  “No. Non-negotiable. You’ll walk me through your observations every day no matter how late it is. Get used to it.”

  I sigh. I hope it makes me look ugly, because that’s how I feel.

  “I’d rather not talk in your bathroom. Come on.” She turns and leaves.

  “I’m so tired,” I say as I stumble toward the bathtub. If I throw myself inside, maybe Norah will just leave.

  Mika grabs me by the waist and hoists me over his shoulder.

  “No! Put me down!” I shout.

  He ignores me and walks back through the bedroom, the kitchen, and into the sit
ting area. He tosses me unceremoniously on the couch and sits down in an oversized armchair that’s still a little too small for his frame. Norah sits with crossed legs in one of the pod chairs.

  She crosses her arms. “Well, let’s hear it.”

  Scenes from the evening tumble around in my head. Stupid Trevor. Villa the Perv. Gwen and her awful face. The way Ali looked at me in my dress.

  I rub my eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m just exhausted. Can I have a glass of water?”

  “Mika, would you please?”

  Mika struggles to lift his enormous frame from the low sofa and walks into the kitchen. The second he’s out of earshot, Norah asks, “Are you all right, Maverick?”

  “Yeah, I’ve just got a lot going on in my head right now.”

  “There’s a lot to think about.” Norah’s fingers are steepled in front of her mouth. She’s looking at me over them. “Why don’t you share those thoughts so we can get to bed.”

  “I think Greenstreet buys that I’ve worked for Merkatz this whole time. At least he’s convinced enough that he didn’t kick me out or have me arrested.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Most of the time, yelling at a senator gets you thrown out,” Mika says as he rounds the corner with my water.

  Norah looks at me with her eyebrows up.

  “What?” I ask.

  “You shouted at the senator?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That was impulsive. Control yourself, or we’ll tighten up on your freedoms.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Drop the act with me, Mav. I know you intimidate others with your forward brashness, but it doesn’t work with me. Control your need to shock, or I’ll pull you back.”

  I scoff. “What happened to me working better when I’m light on my feet? I seem to remember you saying those words not twelve hours ago.”

  “And I stand by that. That doesn’t mean you do it perfectly, though. You’re not as good as you think you are.”

  I lean back in my chair and skulking behind my glass of water.

  “So, Greenstreet is buying your story for now. What else?”

  I don’t answer. Mika squirms, then says, “She did an excellent job brown nosing all the party guests. She was the hit of the night.”