One (One Universe)

by LeighAnn Kopans

  I shook my head. “What exactly do you expect to happen?”

  “Anything can happen,” she said with a frown, her glance flicking past me again. “Now really we need to get home. Will you please get in the car?”

  “Fine.” I yanked open the door and slid into the sweltering interior. Mom had us in reverse before I’d even slammed the door shut.

  I glanced at her from the corner of my eye as she drove. Her knuckles were white against the steering wheel, and a muscle jumped in her temple. Dread felt like a heavy hand on my chest and I stayed quiet until we pulled into the driveway. She switched the car off, but I didn’t move.

  “What’s going on?” I asked softly. “You’ve never lied to me before.”

  Mom turned to face me, her eyes serious. “I’m not lying. The gun is for protection. I want to make sure you’re safe.”

  “Safe from what? What did you see back at the mall?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing you need to worry about. I promise. Now let’s get inside before we melt in all this heat.” She used her firm tone of voice, the one that told me the conversation was over, even though I still had more questions. I had no choice but to follow her into the house and ignore the fear already twisting my insides into knots.

  *~*

  “Lexie, your Dad’s on the phone,” Mom called from downstairs later that night.

  I tugged my headphones off with a frown. The music was the only thing keeping me from freaking out about what had happened at the mall. Now Dad was on the phone? What the hell was going on?

  “What does he want?” I called back.

  “I don’t know, just pick up the phone.”

  I sighed and stared at the phone beside my bed. I hadn’t talked to Dad in over a month. He’d been away on some sort of top-secret research trip to Japan. And before that, he had been busy at work. Talking to his daughter had never exactly been a priority. Why would he choose now, of all days to call?

  A sudden lump formed in my throat. Even worse, what exactly was I supposed to say to him? About Mom? The gun? Or that weird flash of knowledge I’d had?

  Even worse, that hadn’t been the first time I’d felt that strange zap in my brain and had a weird surge of knowledge. It had happened just a few months ago, while I was taking a math test. All the answers popped into my head without even having to work at them. Yeah, it had freaked me out then too. But I thought it was a fluke. Now I wasn’t so sure.

  I pushed aside all of that and took a deep breath. “Hey, Dad.”

  “Lexie, honey. How are you?”

  I ignored the surge of homesickness I felt at his warm, familiar voice. “Fine. How was your trip?”

  “It went really well. I think Quantum Technologies is going to be opening a new branch in Tokyo.”

  My stomach clenched and I clutched the phone in my suddenly sweaty fist. “Are they sending you over to open it?”

  Dad let out a surprised laugh. “Oh no, that’ll be someone else’s job. I just went to scope out the location and talk to some of their scientists.”

  I forced my hand to relax. I barely saw Dad now, it wouldn’t really matter if he moved to Japan. Much. “Cool. So, um, what’s up?”

  “I wanted to see how you were doing.”

  “I’m fine.” Mostly. If I didn’t think too hard about what had happened today.

  Oh my god. Was what he was calling about? Had Mom said something? But that was unlikely, she never talked to Dad if she could help it.

  “Your mom said you’d been having some headaches lately. Are you still taking your ADHD meds?”

  Well evidently she’d told him something. “Yeah, of course. It’s nothing, I’m sure it’s just the heat.”

  “Just make sure to tell your mom if they get worse, okay? I worry about you.”

  I frowned at the mouthpiece. Mom had basically said the same thing earlier when she explained about the gun. My skin erupted in goosebumps. “Why are you guys so worried about me all of a sudden?”

  Dad paused, then said softly, “We’re your parents. It’s what we do.”

  “Not like this. It’s like you guys are watching for something. What, am I suddenly going to develop magical powers?”

  “Of course not. There’s no such thing as magic.”

  “It was a joke, Dad.” I rolled my eyes. Sometimes I wondered if the job description for rocket scientists had a no sense of humor requirement. “Just forget it. It doesn’t matter. I’m fine.”

  Another awkward pause stretched between us. “So how’s that little project of ours going?”

  I gritted my teeth. The little project wasn’t so little, especially after he’d abandoned me to work on it alone. “It’s just fine. No thanks to you.”

  “Sweetie, I’m sorry. You know how crazy it gets here at QT.”

  “I know that you dumped some circuit boards and project plans on my desk six months ago and expected me to take care of it. Well you know what? I did. The quantum sensor is up and running, I attached the thermometer to the heat sink, and it’s ready to start reading the gamma ray spectra of nuclear materials. If I had access to any. Look at me, I’m a freaking genius for figuring it out.”

  Dad cleared his throat uncomfortably. “What did you do about the infrared sensitivity?”

  “I re-designed the bolometer to measure the electromagnetic radiation.”

  “Wow. I’m impressed. That’s really advanced work.”

  And I’d figured it all out on my own. When he suggested the project, I’d thought finally we might have something to work through together. Something in common. Obviously, I’d been wrong.

  I didn’t bother to respond, and Dad finally cleared his throat before saying, “So I was thinking you could come visit me before school starts, and you could try out the sensor in my lab. I’d love for us to spend some time together. I haven’t seen you in months.”

  Whose fault was that? But I bit back my angry response. I learned a long time ago that the drama wasn’t worth it. “We’ll see. I have plans with some friends next weekend. And then school starts up again in a few weeks.”

  “Honey, I think….”

  “Anyway, was there anything else? Mom’s calling me for dinner.”

  The line between us practically throbbed with hurt feelings, but finally he said, “No, that’s all I had.”

  “Well, glad you’re home from Japan. Talk to you later.”

  “Love you, sweetie.”

  “Bye, Dad.”

  I clicked the phone off and threw it down on the bed. He couldn’t be bothered to visit more than twice a year. How dare he try to guilt me into feeling bad about our lack of relationship?

  My head throbbed even worse than usual and I rubbed at my temples. It was seriously none of Dad’s business if I’d been having headaches. He’d lost the right to care when he left us ten years ago. He meant well, but Mom and I were just fine on our own.

  Maybe I’d ask if she’d let me learn how to shoot her gun too.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Mom usually worked late on Thursdays, so I’d taken over making dinner for us that night. It had been a week since the gun incident, and I’d brought it up over and over, but Mom kept shutting me down. I’d poked in her closet, dug through her desk. Nothing. Not even a scrap of information. So I’d finally had no choice but to drop it.

  Tonight we were going to have pizza and watch a movie. Our usual Thursday night date. Hopefully we could get back to normal. I hated how pale she looked lately, the dark smudges under her eyes. I hated even more that she was keeping something from me.

  I pulled the ingredients out of the fridge for homemade pizza. Quick, easy, and my favorite. After a while, it had kind of turned into our thing, though Mom had made me add a salad to the menu. Parents and their vegetables.

  Tonight I was going to try something a little different - a new sauce. I needed the distraction of trying something new, and maybe the change would be good for both of us. I pulled the recipe up on my tablet and scanned through
it. Seemed easy enough for a white sauce. I put a couple of tablespoons of butter in the saucepan and then started to add the flour. I paused and chewed my lip. Was the milk next, or the garlic?

  A zap sliced through my brain again and the kitchen spun. I threw out my hand to steady myself against the counter and a second later, the whole recipe popped into my head, almost like I was seeing it on the screen.

  “Oh my god.” I dropped the whisk in the pan and moved to the sink. Sweat beaded on my neck and my heart thundered like I’d been running. I flipped the faucet on and splashed my face, but the words and images still floated behind my eyes.

  I sucked in a deep breath, then another, but my lungs still felt like they’d stopped working. Tears prickled behind my eyelids and I scrubbed at my face with the kitchen towel to keep them from spilling out.

  This was beyond headaches. It was like my brain was possessed. Maybe I had a brain tumor. Or cancer. My stomach clenched and I forced myself to think calmly. I was going to have to say something to mom. But not right now. Not upset like this.

  I folded the towel carefully and hung it back up. Then I went back to the stove to finish the sauce. Keeping busy seemed liked a good idea. If I could bring up the weirdness like it was no big deal, maybe we could talk about it rationally. The last thing I needed was for her to freak out. Because then I’d freak out too. It would be ugly.

  The pizza went into the oven a few minutes later. By then, my heartbeat had almost returned to normal. I glanced at the clock, then quickly set the table

  “I’m home,” Mom called, as if on cue. Her keys rattled on the hall table as she dropped them and she let out a sigh as she slipped out of her shoes.

  “Dinner ready yet? I’m starving,” she said, coming into the kitchen and snapping on the TV. “It smells wonderful.”

  “New sauce. Hopefully we like it.” I chewed the inside of my lip. I should say something now. Before she got distracted.

  She kissed me on the cheek and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “I’m sure it’ll be delicious. What did you do today?”

  I shrugged and pulled out the big salad bowl full of lettuce and put it down on the counter. Deep breaths. Play it cool. Get her into our normal routine, then slip in the possible brain tumor.

  “Not much. Finished a book. Watched some TV. Pretty typical summer vacation stuff.” I grabbed a knife out of the drawer. “Want tomatoes?”

  She nodded. “Sounds like a good day. Hey, Leslie at work said that new sci-fi film is really good. Want to go to the movies this weekend?”

  “The one about the robots? That would be cool.” I pulled another tomato from the bowl and started chopping. “Hey, will you pour me a glass of milk?”

  Mom nodded and poured two glasses. The soft murmur of voices on the TV filled the house. “Bad news from government facility Los Alamos today. Hackers broke into a classified server and downloaded a terabyte of top-secret military plans. An explosion rocked the facility, killing three…”

  Crash.

  One of the glasses shattered on the floor, but Mom stared at the television, her face as white as the spilled milk.

  “Mom?” I set the knife down on the cutting board as my heart jumped. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head and held up a finger. My skin prickled as I turned to the TV and watched as smoke billowed from a squat, nondescript building in the middle of the desert. A piece of paper fluttered against the wall and the camera zoomed into show some sort of logo. A rifle and a microscope crossed like an X on a field of pale blue.

  “Until the culprits are found and the records retrieved, the government is treating this as a matter of national security.” The news anchor turned the next story over to his co-host and Mom stepped through the puddle of milk and turned the TV off.

  Her hand trembled.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. She looked like she had in the mall last week. Like she was going to be sick.

  Mom shook her head. “Will you take care of the mess? I need to call your father.”

  My jaw dropped open. “Dad? Why?” I couldn’t remember a single time in the last ten years when she’d actually chosen to call him. Now she’d talked to him twice in one week.

  “Lexie, please. I’ll be back in a minute. Just clean up this mess.” She grabbed her cell phone off the counter, rubbing the back of her neck as she left the room.

  I did a few quick swipes with a handful of paper towels, dumped them in the garbage under the sink, and then tiptoed down the hall to the living room. I pressed myself against the wall so I could peek inside.

  “William, I just saw the news. What did they get from Los Alamos? That really was Grant at the mall, wasn’t it?” Mom paced between the couch and the window, her cell phone pressed to her ear. She moved stiffly, like all her muscles had tensed.

  Almost a minute elapsed as my dad spoke. My chest tightened as I waited for her answer.

  “Three days? That’s it?” She let out a soft sigh. “I understand. I wish it hadn’t come to this, but we’ve been lucky for the last few years.” Another pause. “I miss you, too. We’ll see you soon.” She clicked the cell phone off and then dropped it on the coffee table with a clatter before burying her head in her hands.

  My stomach hit the floor. Miss him? Mom could barely stand the guy. I leaned back against the wall and took a shaky breath. She needed to tell me what was going on. Now.

  A moment later, Mom sighed and marched out of the living room, spotting me in the hallway. Her gaze narrowed. “What did you hear?”

  I pressed my palms against the cool wall and tried not to lose it. “Enough to be completely freaked out. What is going on?”

  “We’re going to take a trip to visit your dad this weekend. How about you start packing?”

  I shook my head. “Uh-uh. You’re not getting out of it that easily.” Panic twisted my stomach into one big knot. Mom and I were close. I told her everything. And I’d thought until last week she did the same with me.

  Her brown eyes were full of worry, but she put on her best everything’s-okay-voice. “Nothing to worry about, but your Dad needs to see you about your ADHD meds. The clinical trial is almost up and they need to finish collecting data on you.”

  I blinked. “Why didn’t he tell me that when we talked last week? And what does that have to do with the news?”

  “Nothing at all. Just jolted my memory. Besides, it’s been a while since you’ve you’re your dad. He’s been talking about you coming to visit. Now’s a good time before school starts.”

  That was the last thing I wanted. I shook my head. Anger shot through me. I was tired of the lies from both of them. “I’m not going to Tennessee. I’m not doing anything until you tell me what’s going on. Now.”

  “Watch your tone, young lady.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her. I hadn’t even gotten started with the attitude. I could do this all night if I had to.

  And Mom knew it. She threw her hands up. “I can’t talk to you rationally when you’re like this. I need to go make a few calls. And since you can’t be trusted not to eavesdrop, I’m going to my room. Go ahead and eat without me.” She turned and walked away down the hall.

  I stared after her. Hurt and fear fought to take hold and my arms slid down to wrap around my waist. I could count on one hand the number of times Mom and I had seriously fought. But this was different. I’d never seen her like this before.

  She was scared.

  *~*

  I shoved the last of my clothes into my suitcase and glanced around my bedroom to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. My mini telescope and my Albert Einstein action figure were neatly positioned beside the T.A.R.D.I.S cookie jar I’d gotten for my last birthday, and the dust that had covered my bookshelf since I’d gotten my tablet was gone. Mom had made me clean while we were packing, so there was a distinct lack of Lexie-mess in the room. She’d even insisted I box up some of my other books and knick-knacks while I was at
it. A weird, forced spring clean in the middle of August.

  “Almost done?” Mom asked, leaning against the door. “Did you make sure to pack those extra clothes and books?”

  “Yep. I have a full suitcase, an entire box of stuff, my diary from third grade, and the kitchen sink. Seems a little overkill for a weekend visit.” I arched an eyebrow at her, but she shook her head, her eyes still shadowed and haunted. I knew I was being melodramatic, but I’d tried arguing, begging, pleading and tricking her into telling me what was going on, and Mom’d remained tight lipped.

  We were on the road an hour later. Mom’s Buick sedan was old but comfortable, and the passenger seat cushioned me as I watched the flat Ohio countryside slowly give way to the green hills of Kentucky. She drove with her lips pressed together, only the soft murmur of the radio to break the silence between us. The silence that had seemed to fill all the space between us since that little incident with the gun.

  My fingers drummed against my knee in time to the whirr of the tires on pavement. I’d never visited Dad in Tennessee before. He’d always come to us. First in Washington when I was little, then in Ohio when we moved here three years ago. Every time it got more and more uncomfortable.

  I couldn’t wait to deal with the awkward silence this time as we danced around the fact that we barely knew each other.

  I watched a pair of horses chase each other across a pasture. The soft hills of Kentucky grew into the Appalachian Mountains, their peaks lavender gray in the distance as we approached Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

  The Secret City.

  I’d done my homework, of course. As soon as Mom had let the name slip about where Dad was working, I’d dug around the internet and found Oak Ridge was one of the sites of the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort that produced the first atomic bomb. It had been a secret, government-run town until 1959. And then Quantum Technologies, the company Dad worked for, had taken over the former government buildings and science facilities, as well as added buildings of their own. Once, the whole town had worked for the US Government, now most of them worked for QT.

  The car slowed as we pulled into town. Gas stations and fast food restaurants lined the wide street, giving way to a several small strip malls and a grocery store. It all looked perfectly normal.