But he’d be all right. He had made it through his time at A.H.D.N.A., the Conexus virus and being best friends with Erika. It would take more than heartache to break Ian.
She went back inside but left the sliding doors open. She liked the tropical breeze and moist air.
Erika poured herself another cup of coffee and began a fresh pot. Dr. Randall would be up soon and like her, he needed a good half pot in the morning before he was firing on all cylinders.
By the time the coffee was brewed and her toast was up, Dr. Randall sauntered into the kitchen in his bare feet. He was groomed and dressed but like the rest of them, they honored the Hawaiian tradition of not wearing shoes inside.
Erika grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured him a cup. “Ready for another day in paradise, doc?”
He muttered thanks and put coffee to lips. “Ask me that after I’ve drained this.”
Erika had not stressed much about what she’d do after graduation but it was a topic that had made her antsy. It seemed that everyone else had their futures figured out by the end of tenth grade. But even at the beginning of her senior year, Erika hadn’t a clue what she’d do with her life. She hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of college. The only thing she’d been sure of was that she’d wanted to get as far away from Ajo as she could.
But she could never have dreamed that her first stop after high school would be to work as a research assistant to a man she was pretty sure was bat-shit crazy on a top secret government project that did not officially exist. She and Ian were Dr. Randall’s hands and eyes as they took apart M’Uktah biotech and worked to reverse engineer it. As it turned out, she enjoyed the hands on work and on-the-job training more than she would have enjoyed the stuffy lecture halls of college.
They were very close to cracking the technology puzzle that allowed the M’Uktah to control the flow of information to and from their retinal nerve via their neural and optical implants. It had taken nearly nine months but they were closer than any of the other teams working on the issue. That meant they were likely going to be able to continue their work indefinitely and with little to no oversight. As long as they continued to produce, the powers that be didn’t care if they worked out of a beach house in Hawaii or a lab in Minnesota.
Since Anna, Jack and Thomas had personally seen to the destruction of not only William and Lizzy Croft but the dismantling of the Makers organization, Erika was fairly confident that the work she did with Dr. Randall was going to the right people. But even that was an idea fraught with potential contradiction. She once had thought that the government was the right people. Now she wasn’t sure who the good guys were.
Thomas helped Erika set up their computer system. Everything they did was saved not only to encrypted servers they were directed to by the government, but Thomas also built in a coded uplink that tracked where the information went once uploaded. He even offered to track it for them. That way if he saw anything of concern, they’d know right away so they could work to keep the information out of the wrong hands. So far they had encountered no problems. But Thomas kept an eye on it anyway.
Dr. Randall was on his second cup of coffee and Erika on her third when Erika’s cell phone rang. A quick glance at the caller ID and she swiped the screen to answer. “It’s Dr. Montoya,” she said.
Dr. Montoya’s voice was cheery. “Good afternoon. Oh, I guess morning there. So how’s paradise treating you?”
Erika chuckled. “Paradise? Who has time to enjoy it? Dr. Randall keeps me working 24/7.”
“Hey, you’re the taskmaster,” Dr. Randall said. He feigned a pout.
“I heard that,” Dr. Montoya said. “Don’t work him too hard.”
Erika laughed. “Oh, I let him out of the cage to play ocassionally. How’s your work coming?”
“You know we’ve had setbacks getting the anti-viral to some locations because of the destruction of infrastructure. But we’re making progress. Our current projections are that we’ll have ninety-percent of the population inoculated within five years and that will give us global herd immunity.”
“That’s amazing, doc.”
“Well, we owe a huge debt of thanks to the Sturgis Foundation. Their funds and dedication to the work have allowed us to move more quickly than we thought possible right after the alien conflict.”
Erika considered commenting on the absurdity of that statement. After all, Robert Sturgis had been a part of the Makers, a clandestine organization that had schemed for years to profit from the Conexus virus at the expense and peril of the population at large. And Commander Sturgis may not have known the full extent of Croft’s plans, but she had been a part of a conspiracty to siphon billions in taxpayer dollars to created hybrid beings to protect the Makers, not the people. Having the Sturgis name affixed to a pilanthropic endeavor was the height of irony.
But Erika held her tongue. Anna and Thomas were not Robert and Lillian. At least they were trying to right the wrongs of the prior generation.
After they finished their call with Dr. Montoya, Erika and Dr. Randall got back to work. She spent much of the day looking through a telescope at miniscule alien technology that worked like transistors. By late afternoon her eyes were tired and she needed a break.
“I’m heading down to the beath for a bit, doc. Wanna join me?”
Dr. Randall’s face was only a few inches from his computer screen. Even with the thickest glasses, it was difficult for him to see print or numbers. “I’ll take a rain check on that. It’s going to storm.”
The sun was bright and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky as far as she could see.
Erika planted a light kiss on scruffy cheek. “Don’t work too hard, doc. I’ll be back in a bit.”
He smiled but his eyes remained riveted to the screen as she left.
The wind whipped her loose-fitting pants against her legs as she walked down the grassy hill toward the ocean. By the time she got to the bottom of the hill, clouds had gathered to the south. Lightning danced from the clouds down to the sea. When she felt the low rumble of thunder, her hand instinctively grabbed for the locket she wore around her neck.
Before Commander Sturgis left the VLA never to be seen or heard from again, she had stopped Erika in the gravel courtyard of the VLA.
“Miss Holt. Wait a moment.”
Sturgis’ voice made Erika bristle. Sturgis may have been there for Tex in the end, but Erika would never forget how the woman had once ordered Erika to be put to death. Erika stopped though and waited to hear her out. “What?”
Sturgis caught up to her. “I have something for you. Please. Hold out your hand.”
Erika had no idea what Sturgis could possibly want to give her that Erika would want. She hesitated but finally put her hand out, palm up.
Sturgis pulled a lock of Tex’s white-gold hair from her pocket, placed it on Erika’s palm and closed her fingers over it. She gave Erika a wan smile and left without another word.
Erika wore that small remnant of Tex in the locket around her neck. Besides her memories of him, it was all she had left of their time together.
He never got to see the ocean.
“I think you would have liked the beach.” Erika spoke it out loud even though Tex wasn’t there to hear her.
She knew Tex was probably dead. Everyone seemed to think that he was. But she preferred to think of him alive somewhere. That the ball of light that had engulfed him at the end sucked him into another realm. That the ash pile left behind was not his remains but the residue of the plasma arch that he had created.
Erika smiled and rubbed the locket between her fingers as the waves washed over her feet. She dropped the locket against her chest and looked at the palm of her right hand. The compass tattooed there pointed north and she did too. Out across a vast seemingly endless ocean, imagining that on the other side, Tex did the same.
THE END
notE FROM thE AUTHOR
Thank you for reading H.A.L.F.!
Dear Reader,
> I hope you enjoyed H.A.L.F.: ORIGINS and the entire H.A.L.F. series. I truly appreciate that you spent some of your valuable time with my characters and you hung in there with them through to the end! To all of the readers who have loved the series, thank you. Reader support keeps writers writing, building worlds and creating characters that you love to love (and to hate).
When I wrote book one (The Deep Beneath), I had no way of knowing the support the series would get. But soon after The Deep Beneath released, readers began to contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook and my blog to talk about the story. I took to heart what readers said and your comments and opinions changed some of what I’d planned for books two and three. In fact, it was fandom for Tex that led to H.A.L.F. 9 (aka Bodaway) becoming the backbone of the story. Believe it or not, when I first conceived the story, Tex was a sidekick to Erika rather than a co-lead character.
Now that you’ve finished reading the series, tell me what you liked, what you loved, and even what you hated. I’d also like to know if you are interested in a spin off novella, novel or even series about the M’Uktah or Commander Sturgis and the clones. You can write to me at: [email protected]. You can also visit me on the web at www.NatalieWrightAuthor.com.
If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email newsletter. Subscribers receive access to exclusive content, subscriber-only giveaways, short stories, discounts and are always the first to hear about new releases. http://eepurl.com/gGHNL
Finally, I need to ask a favor. I’d love your review of H.A.L.F.: Origins. Honest reviews are always welcome as I appreciate any and all feedback. And reviews help other readers find books that they’ll love. Please take a few minutes to go to my author page on Amazon where you can find all my books to review: Natalie Wright Amazon Page. And don’t forget to follow me on Amazon so that you’ll be notified of new releases in the future.
Many readers have asked, “What’s next?” I have several intriguing story ideas in development. We’ll see which set of characters “calls” to me the most. But you can bet that whether my next story is high fantasy, space opera or a young adult dystopian, I’ll do my best to bring you an adventure set in a vividly detailed world peopled with intriguing characters.
Thank you for reading the H.A.L.F. series and spending your valuable time with my world.
In gratitude,
Natalie Wright
ABOUt THE AUTHOR
Natalie is the author of H.A.L.F., an award-winning science fiction series, and The Akasha Chronicles, a popular young adult fantasy trilogy. She lives in the high desert of Arizona with her husband, teen daughter, and two cat overlords.
Natalie spends her time writing, reading, gaming, traveling and meeting readers and fans at festivals and comic cons throughout the western United States. She is a frequent guest on blogs, internet radio and podcasts for writers, readers, geeks and book nerds. Natalie has appeared on shows such as Front Row Geeks, Speculative Fiction Cantina, The Creative Penn, iHeart Radio and others.
You can follow Natalie on Facebook (NatalieWright.Author), Twitter (@NatalieWright_), Instagram (NatalieWrightAuthor) or Pinterest (NatWrites).
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