Between Two Minds: Revelation

by D C Wright-Hammer

  Martin was always self-deprecating to some extent. But for some reason, it struck Campbell in a new way this night. It seemed like he had no clue how important he was to her. While she didn’t have mental cycles to discuss their future together, she thought actions would speak louder than words anyway.

  She stood up, walked over to him with a mischievous smirk, and took him by the hand. Like he was lighter than air, he floated behind her as she led the way to the bedroom. She whipped him around and forcefully pushed him onto the bed. He loved when she initiated because it meant she was focused on him and not work. Martin clumsily moved up the bed, playfully pretending to be scared of her aggression. Campbell leaned onto the bed to chase her prey.

  Meticulously, she went to work kissing his lips and neck while her hands were busy unbuttoning his shirt. As she finished the last button, she sat up and ripped open his shirt to reveal his solid chest. She moved her hands across it and leaned in to plant gentle kisses all over. She spent a little extra time on his nipples for good measure and then let her hands wander down to his belt. Again, she made out with Martin while her hands did the work. His pants came loose, and they both went to work getting them off.

  Even at his age, Martin had stayed in good shape, and he had no problems getting and staying at attention. Her hand snuck down to tease him while still giving attention to the rest of his body for several minutes.

  Ironically, the bedroom was the one place where Martin had no insecurities. When he decided to be with someone, it was from the heart, and that allowed him to not only release all his inhibitions, but also focus on pleasuring his partner. Remembering this, he decided he’d spent enough time on the receiving end. He gently pulled her up to his face and rolled her over, then started a similar top-down approach, focusing on kissing her neck and ears. He pulled off the straps to her dress with his teeth and began peeling it off centimeter by centimeter, following the fabric with kisses trailing down her body. Once revealed, he gently played with her perky breasts, and Campbell gasped in ecstasy.

  Martin teased her stomach and hips ever so gently with his hands and mouth. He snuck his hands under her to caress the small of her back as he grabbed the dress and began slowly pulling it down over her rear. His lips were in hot pursuit as the dress came to her feet. Campbell panted in delight. He intermittently massaged and kissed her ankles and calves for several moments before heading back up. He rubbed his smooth face across her inner thigh, knowing he needed to make her wait a little longer for it to be the kind of night they both were aching for. He inched ever closer to her special place, and Campbell let loose coos of anticipation.

  Finally, Martin began working Campbell’s favorite spot. She grabbed the sheets, and her eyes rolled back. He incorporated his hands and fingers in various ways, and she was surprised, like always, at how Martin seemed to know exactly what she wanted without her needing to say a word. It became more and more miraculous as the minutes ticked by, and Campbell was on the brink. She begged, “Don’t stop, don’t stop…”

  Martin didn’t let up because he knew that Campbell was at her best after she’d gotten her first out of the way. If she had had thin walls, the neighbors would have been concerned because she was terrible at containing herself. “Oh my God! Yes!”

  As round one ended for her, she immediately wanted more. She friskily grabbed Martin by the ears and pulled him up to eye level, then dotted his face and neck with kisses and threw him to the side. “I want to be on top.”

  Martin was even more excited than he would have anticipated given how long they’d been together. He smiled at her when she looked him in the eye and got into position. They both gasped with pleasure as she sat down on him.

  Campbell grinned as she established the rhythm of her deliberate ride and asked a rhetorical question. “You like that, Rex?”

  He smiled as he reached up to cup her breasts, and the intimate routine went on for many minutes as the two doctors enjoyed each other’s bodies.

  In the throes of passion, a strange notion took hold of Martin. Campbell and he had never made love in this position before, and while he enjoyed it immensely, it reminded him of something from his past, something he had not recognized until that moment.

  It must have been Lana’s favorite position. Lana and he had always assumed it, the last time being just a week prior to her passing. He’d noticed that she was acting oddly that week, and he was ready to jump in and diagnose her. She worked with radiated materials and her lab had a strict protocol for diagnosing their own. When Lana died unexpectedly, he’d melted down. Even though there was no way he could have known about her brain tumor, he’d still felt somehow responsible. If he’d have spoken up at all, maybe she’d have had another day. A week. A month. Anything.

  Back in the same position, he felt like the next victim of his inaction was right in front of him. If word of their relationship went public at the wrong time, Campbell’s career could be ruined. Martin couldn’t bear to have that on his conscience, on top of Lana’s death.

  Campbell was about to finish again, and as conflicted as he was, Martin was able to go through the motions all the way to the end.

  “Oh yes,” they both expressed simultaneously.

  Panting, Campbell collapsed next to Martin. She nuzzled him and smiled. “You never cease to amaze me.”

  Martin feigned a laugh. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

  They kissed each other once more and then Martin spooned Campbell as she pulled the blankets over them. She was asleep in an instant, and even in his depressed state, Martin passed out quickly. They each slept soundly for a couple of hours.

  Beep, beep, beep, beep!

  The doctors’ netphones blared, and a hologram of a message lit up the room.

  Dr. Martin was furious. “Goddamn the office and their late-night bullshit!” He rolled around to swipe ignore in the air without reading the text.

  Beep, beep, beep, beep!

  Dr. Campbell sat up and gathered herself while turning off the alarm and reading the message.

  COME TO THE LAB IMMEDIATELY.

  URGENT SITUATION.

  THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

  She squinted in disbelief. “What the hell?” She turned. “I think this is real, Rex.”

  “Son of a bitch! It’s the damn weekend.”

  Disoriented, the doctors began haphazardly finding and throwing on their clothes. They got themselves groomed as best they could and headed to their respective cars. Campbell determined that it would be best if they didn’t show up at the same time. “I’ll wait ten minutes before leaving.”

  Martin immediately came to the same conclusion and nodded. “I’ll see you there.”

  As the tired doctors drove in the moonlight, neither of them cared about the lab situation. Instead, they thought about each other.

  Campbell couldn’t deny just how well Martin and her worked together, both professionally and romantically. She’d begun doing the very thing that Dr. Martin had asked about over dinner—thinking about their future.

  Eventually, her current project would end, and she’d likely have her pick of what she’d do next. Maybe they could start their own lab together. They could be open about their relationship, pick their own projects, and set their own hours. It was the type of life she’d always dreamed about. While she was ambivalent toward marriage, she definitely wanted kids. They would need to have that conversation. Even though he was considerably older, Martin’s age had never seemed like a problem, though she knew there’d always be a stigma given their age difference. Regardless, she couldn’t think of anyone better with whom to spend her life. With that truth in mind, she felt it was silly to delay the inevitable. In that moment, she made a promise to herself. She was going to talk to him. She wanted to make their relationship public. It would put to rest all the sneaking and scuttlebutt.

  In a drowsy stupor, Martin’s thoug
hts were not nearly as optimistic. They weren’t even as content as they had been before dinner. Instead, he continued doubting his future with Campbell. He swore to himself when they started dating that she would be the one to dictate when they went public with their relationship, but it seemed inevitable to him that even if they timed the disclosure of their relationship just right, her reputation would still forever be in question. With that, he was certain it was time to break it off for good, for both of their sakes.

  As he pulled into the parking lot of the newer Oceanic Laboratories building, he thought it was also time to part ways with the lab, so Dr. Campbell could finally get out of his shadow.

  He parked his car, grabbed his bag, and walked toward the main entrance. The building was unusually dark even for that hour. Stranger yet, there were two large silhouettes standing outside the door. Martin became instantly nervous, and he cautiously approached. One of the figures flashed the brightest light in Martin’s direction. It was then that he caught a glimpse of the automatic rifles being pointed at him.

  “Halt! Present identification now!”

  Terrified, Martin flinched hard at the light and threw his hands in the air. “I didn’t do anything wrong! I work here!”

  “Present identification now!”

  Martin’s gasped and trembled.

  “Present identification!”

  He took a deep breath, trembling. “Okay, okay! My badge is in my right front pocket. I’m going to get it now. Don’t shoot!” He steadily dropped his hand and obtained his ID, then slowly raised it into the air.

  The guard pressed a button on his light and it changed to red, scanning the identification. Then, it turned green and back to white. “Thank you, Dr. Martin. You may now enter.”

  After passing the guards, he discreetly pulled out his netphone and messaged Dr. Campbell.

  Something isn’t right. Armed guards at the door. Turn around.

  Martin dropped his netphone back into his pocket and entered the building. After he got through the doors, another set of guards immediately pointed their weapons at him.

  Again, he threw his arms up, but this time he was just pissed off. “Guys, what the hell?”

  “Permission to pat you down, Dr. Martin?”

  Martin squinted at the guards in utter disbelief. It all felt like a bad dream. “What?”

  “Permission to pat you down?”

  Realizing it was going to be a pain-in-the-ass night whether he fought back or not, he decided to take the easy route. “Fine.”

  One guard groped Martin all over. He eventually stopped at Martin’s front left pocket and nodded at the other guard. They both stepped back and pointed their weapons again.

  “Dr. Martin, please hand over your netphone.”

  Martin snapped back. “Really, guys? If we’re being shut down, why the show? Let’s shut this hell hole down already.”

  The guard barked at him again. “Your netphone, sir!”

  With a sigh, he complied.

  “Thank you, sir. The building is under quarantine, and you may not leave until your work here is done. You may proceed to the neural transfer lab.”

  “You gotta be bullshitting me! This is ridiculous.”

  “Please proceed to the neural transfer lab.”

  Martin scampered past the guards, heading in the right direction. When he was out of the guards’ view, he turned into one of the offices that had a holo-pad and tried to message Campbell again, but the building’s net had been disconnected.

  Campbell had been so deep in thought on the drive that she’d ignored the message from Martin. She got out of her car and threw her bag over her shoulder. As she made her way to the building, she remembered the chime of a message.

  She brought up the hologram as she got to the main walkway, mindlessly reading it out loud. “Something isn’t right—”

  “Halt! Present identification now!” The guards flashed the light, but it didn’t quite shine through the hologram.

  Campbell shoved her phone in her pocket.

  “Present identification!”

  She thought quickly. “Oh, I’m sorry. I must have forgotten it in the car. I’ll be right back.” She turned around.

  “Halt! Do not leave the walkway or we will apprehend you with force.”

  With ire in her eyes, she turned back. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”

  “Identification, now.”

  Huffing and puffing, she jammed her hand in her bag as the guards steadily pointed their weapons in her direction. She pulled out her badge and waved it in the air. “Here! Are you happy now?!”

  Red.

  Green.

  White.

  “Thank you, Dr. Campbell. You may now enter.”

  She too was given the same hostile treatment by the inner guards but made sure to give them as much attitude as she could as they violated her and stole her personal electronic device. She walked through the hallways and took the elevator to the second floor. Heading down a narrow corridor, Dr. Campbell saw yet another pair of guards standing outside the door to the neural transfer lab.

  “Let me guess. You guys want to take my clothes or something.”

  One of the guards couldn’t hold back a smile, but the other stayed in character. “Dr. Campbell, please proceed through the doors. You will be briefed on the nature of the work that begins tonight.”

  She rolled her eyes as dramatically as she could, then headed into the lab. Looking down at the expansive main area, her view was obscured by the tall curtains that the night crew erected when they disinfected the lab once a month. She was about to go down the stairs when Dr. Martin burst from the near side of the curtains with a loud greeting.

  “Good evening, Dr. Campbell!” The curtains receded behind him.

  Heading up the stairs, he talked through his teeth while intermittently looking over his shoulder. “Dammit. I had hoped you got my message.”

  She scowled. “Thanks, but a gun was already in my face when I read it. What the hell is going on here?”

  Dr. Martin shrugged. “They haven’t told us. The lab assistants…Armando, Jamal, Phil, and Cindy have been here for two hours prepping the lab within the curtains. But the guards haven’t told us anything.”

  She exhaled hard out of anger and yelled loud enough for everyone in the lab to hear. “Who can tell me what the hell is going on in my lab?”

  Martin stood wide-eyed, shaking his head without an answer. As Campbell’s echo subsided, the sound of the large, rear doors opening filled the space. The two entrances were used to bring equipment and oversized shipments into the lab, so that meant someone, or something, would be coming in.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Martin said, “It must be an auto-van. Let’s get down there.”

  Martin and Campbell went down the steps and passed through the near curtain. All the assistants were standing, startled by the noise coming from behind the curtain. They perked up when they saw Campbell, only to watch her and Martin step to the far curtains and pulled them wide open. The two large doors had been opened and wind blew their hair about.

  As Martin had suspected, a black van was docking against one of the doors. When it became flush with the building, there was space on both sides for everyone to see. Men dressed in black jumped out of the driver and passenger doors. Everyone in the lab stepped back as the men hopped into the building, but they headed straight for the van’s rear doors. They opened them, revealing the back of another man in black who was straining to pull something out of the van. He jumped down, continuing to pull, and metallic clicking could be heard. Then, there was a loud clank against the lab floor. After a few more steps from the man, another bang echoed through the lab. It then became clear what the men had brought in. Everyone was shocked, but one assistant took a short step forward, eying the body.

  �
��Oh my God, is he dead?” Cindy gasped.

  A giant specimen of a man was lying lifeless on the widest stretcher the staff had ever seen. Even though he was pale and rigid, Campbell remembered him from when Mr. Grant had paid her a visit in the old lab. “What happened to him?”

  After the gurney was clear of the van, a tall, thin man with thick dark glasses emerged from the darkness behind. He was very old and moved very deliberately for having such a wiry frame.

  “Good morning, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Martin. I’m Dr. Thompson. My apologies for the theatrics, but we didn’t have a choice. He was shot in the leg and lost a lot of blood, but we’ve stabilized him.”

  Martin had the strangest feeling when he saw and heard this Dr. Thompson, but in that moment, he couldn’t do anything with the notion.

  Campbell chided. “Take this man to a hospital!”

  The other men wheeled the stretcher to the center of the neural transfer area and began hooking the patient up to the medical devices to read his vitals.

  “He doesn’t need surgery, Dr. Campbell. He needs his mind transferred into a new body.”

  She shook her head violently. “That’s impossible! The program hasn’t been sufficiently tested to attempt something like that.”

  Dr. Thompson seemed unfazed by her comments. “Dr. Campbell, I’ve compiled and run the latest program myself. It will work.”

  She continued to press. “And just where the hell am I supposed to transfer his mind? We don’t have any viable hosts!”

  The vibrations and sounds of another vehicle interrupted the conversation, seemingly on cue, and another black auto-van docked onto the other lab door. Like before, the doors flew open and more men jumped out. They, too, headed for the backdoor revealing another gurney. However, this one held a woman covered from the neck down with a blue blanket. The scientists and staff were stunned.

  After all the commotion, Thompson responded to Campbell’s question. “My colleagues and I will handle obtaining the proper hosts.”