by Sybil Nelson
“My mom totally took care of that. She scrambled some electrical wavelength or something so that cell phones and cameras wouldn’t work during the whole ordeal. There were only word-of-mouth reports, and by the time the news cameras arrived, half the people said two robots were fighting and the other half swore it was two aliens. The news just wrote it off as a ridiculous publicity stunt from the museum. My mom is a genius.”
***
Tai was right about another thing ,too. Square dancing is just wrong, period, no matter who’s doing it. Kyle and I spent the first half hour just pointing and laughing at our neighbors in their pioneer outfits. Amazingly, both of us had shown up in regular clothes. I wore a cute, ruffly, red baby doll top; a pair of straight-leg jeans; and my favorite white knit sweater with little red embroidered hearts on the sleeve. Kyle looked like he just stepped off the cover of a magazine in his black button-down shirt, loose-fitting black jeans, and pale yellow tie.
“You want to get out of here?” he asked after we couldn’t laugh anymore. “Let’s go for a walk.”
I smiled and nodded, unable to utter a sound. Is it going to happen now? I thought he would wait until the hay ride after the dance, but now that I think about it, that wouldn’t be a good idea. I’d probably set the hay on fire. No, a nice walk under the stars would be perfect.
“I’m glad you came. I was afraid you’d stand me up. You’ve been pretty weird lately,” he said as we headed toward town square. I knew exactly where we were going. The gazebo at the center of town was decorated with twinkle lights for the River Day celebration. It was the absolute perfect spot for a kiss.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I got kinda sick after the Ice Cream Challenge and I didn’t want you to see me puke.”
“I wouldn’t have cared. I’ve seen you puke before.”
“Really, when?”
“Easter. Fifth grade. We raced each other to see who could eat the most marshmallow Peeps. You won, but then you puked all over my brand-new saddle shoes.”
“Oh my God, I forgot about that. Sorry about the shoes.”
“Are you kidding? I hated those shoes. That was the biggest favor you could’ve done for me.”
We both laughed as we stepped inside the lighted gazebo. That’s when the nervous silence came. And now with my mind full of memories of chocolate ice cream and marshmallow Peeps, I was starting to get nauseous again.
“You’re really beautiful,” he said after a few minutes.
“Me? Beautiful?” I couldn’t believe he’d said that. No one had ever called me beautiful before.
Kyle reached for my hand and pulled me close to him. “You have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen on anyone ever.” He touched the side of my face with his free hand. He still smelled amazing, and his hand was so soft and warm. I hoped my hand wasn’t too warm. I didn’t want to burn him. Just in case, I slipped my hand out of his and jammed my fingers into my pockets.
He closed his eyes and leaned toward me. It was happening. It was really happening. I was going to have my first kiss. Amazingly, I wasn’t nervous anymore. I felt … comfortable, like Kyle was the best friend I never knew I always had. We’d known each other our entire lives, and though for most of that time we were fighting, I think that was because we were so alike.
I searched my mind to check my fire switch. The closer Kyle got to me and the more his sexy scent filled my nostrils, the harder it was to keep the switch in the off position. He kept turning me on. My fingers burned a hole through my jeans. Think cool thoughts. Think cool thoughts.
I closed my eyes and could almost feel his soft lips on mine when suddenly I heard my mother yell my name frantically. I gave an annoyed groan and opened my eyes. How was I supposed to kiss a boy with my mother talking in my head?
Kyle continued leaning forward, and his lips landed in my ear after I’d turned away. “Is something wrong?” He breathed into his hand for a breath check, thinking that was the reason for my sudden disinterest in kissing.
I thought about that question for a moment. My mother’s voice sounded panicked. My mother never panicked. I felt as though something was wrong.
I pushed Kyle away and searched my brain for my mother’s voice. Nothing. There was nothing. I called Josh’s name in my head, hoping maybe he had the same type of telepathy as my mother and could tell me if something was wrong. Once again, nothing. I tried not to panic. I mean, it’s not like I’d ever communicated with Josh telepathically before. Why would I suddenly be able to now? But, for some reason, I just had a really bad feeling. I had to get home.
“I gotta go,” I told Kyle, running out of the gazebo.
“Go? Why? What did I do?” he asked, but I was already in a full sprint back to my house.
I knew something was definitely up when I saw a helicopter circling in the sky, but it was so much worse than I ever imagined.
Chapter 25: Gamma Girl
I ran into Tai’s house so I could get a good look without being seen. Two black Hummers were parked in front of my house. Men with guns stood beside the vehicles: guards from the Selliwood Institute. I watched in horror as they dragged my father through the front door with a gun pointed to his head. Next they forced my mother out. She had a glowing collar around her neck like one of those flea collars you put on dogs. I assumed the collar kept her from using her powers. Otherwise, all those men would be lying in a pile of pain.
Next my brothers were escorted out. How could they point a gun at five-year-olds? Tears swelled in my eyes.
“Just do what they say. Everything will be fine,” Josh whispered to the twins. But my little brothers were never known for their obedience. As soon as they could, they broke free and ran towards the guards who held my mother and father. They kicked the guards in the shins and pelted them with little punches.
The guards raised their guns and aimed. I gasped. They were going to shoot my baby brothers!
Then an ominous figure emerged from between the Hummers. He was dressed in a black uniform with gold shiny buttons. He raised his hand, and the guards immediately dropped the weapons aimed at my brothers. “Not here,” he said.
Not here? What did he mean by that?
“Gregory and Quindolyn Sumner,” he said so loud I had to tone down my super hearing, “you are hereby under arrest for treason and terrorism.” Whoa, wait. I recognized that voice. When I was tied to a chair at the Selliwood Institute, a male voice said I had to die. This was the voice.
“That’s a load of bull, Selliwood, and you know it,” my father yelled just before a guard rammed a gun into his stomach. My dad fell to his knees. My mother tried to punch the guard, but her arm froze in midair. She too fell to her knees. I thought I saw her grimace in pain.
“Colonel Selliwood, we have a problem,” a guard said, standing in the doorway of my house. “When we went for the girl, we found this instead.” He presented a scared and shivering Tai.
“Great,” Colonel Selliwood said sarcastically.
“How would you like to precede, Colonel?”
“Specimen Gamma!” he called. After a series of flips across my front lawn, a lean figure dressed in a dark blue spandex outfit with jet black hair down to her waist landed in front of the colonel. She looked about twenty years old.
“Find her and meet us at the institute. And don’t underestimate her. She’s probably just as powerful as you.”
“Yes, Colonel Selliwood. I will not fail.”
I almost wet myself.
Then something strange happened. One by one the guards turned their guns on Colonel Selliwood. Maybe my mother had figured out a way to override the collar and was now controlling them.
“What’s going on?” Colonel Selliwood asked, a hint of terror in his voice. “Stand down; that’s an order.” The guards didn’t listen.
“Sir, it’s the boy,” the Gamma Girl volunteered after staring at Josh. “He’s a telepath. He’s using some sort of hypnotic suggestion.”
“Restrain him.”
G
amma did a back flip over to my brother. After a kick to his face sent him reeling backward, she placed a knee into his chest, pinning him to the ground, and slapped a collar around his neck. The guards immediately dropped their weapons. After shaking their heads a couple of times like wet puppies trying to dry off, they went back to tormenting my family.
Josh groaned and rolled around on the grass. Poor Josh. His first attempt at really using his powers had failed painfully.
My mother closed her eyes and turned her head, not able to tolerate the sight of her son bleeding and writhing on the ground. My father tried to lunge forward and attack, but given his handcuffs and broken leg, he was quickly subdued.
I ducked below the window, afraid that any second the scary Gamma girl would spot me. As I blinked away tears, I tried to calm my brain and think rationally. What would my mother do? Tell me what to do, Mom. Please tell me. Though I’d told her repeatedly to stay out of my head, I now wished with all my heart that I could hear her voice in my mind.
I heard the cars drive away with my family and best friend, but I couldn’t move. I tried not to even breathe too loudly for fear the killing machine standing outside my house would hear me and come after me.
After what felt like forever, I was finally able to calm the wild beating of my heart and formulate a plan. I had to go save my family. There was no way around it. This Selliwood creep would kill them if I didn’t do something. I had to get to the jet, fly to the institute, break in, rescue my family, and then break out. Simple, huh? Not quite. I had no way of even getting into the jet. It was invisible right now. The only thing I knew that made it appear was the button on my mom’s silver utility belt. And where was that belt? I closed my eyes and remembered the last time I saw the belt was that morning on our trip to Canada. I remembered exactly where she put it when we came home. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I knew what was happening next. It was time for me to go where no Sumner child had ever gone before.
Chapter 26: In the Basement
I lifted myself up slightly and peeked out the window. No sight of Gamma. I tried to imagine what my run-in with her would be like. She was a bit older than Xi. Did that mean she would be even meaner and more trained? I wondered if I even had a chance. I tried not to dwell on it, though. Nothing would stop me from saving my family. I tuned my ears and tried to listen for whatever a killing machine was supposed to sound like. Nothing.
I took a deep breath and dashed out of Tai’s house, toward mine. I decided to go to the back door in hopes of avoiding Gamma in case she was staking out the front door.
I slipped into my house as quietly as possible in case she had super hearing as well and then focused on the ominous basement door. All my life, the basement had been completely off-limits. At different times growing up, that place scared me more than the Boogieman and that scary guy with the hockey mask in those horror movies put together. But now my family’s survival depended on me going into that terrifying place. I had to swallow my fear.
I touched the doorknob and twisted it. Amazingly, it was open. Hmph. Maybe this is going to be easier than I thought. But when I opened the door, I found a metal wall. I didn’t see another doorknob or button to push or anything that might move the wall.
Great. Now what?
I’m sure given an hour or so to study the door and its surroundings I would have found the secret box and figured out the secret code to open up the secret wall. But I didn’t have that kind of time. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I took a few steps back, got a running start, and rammed into the wall. It moved. A lot. And though my shoulder was pretty sore, I took another few steps back and did it again. This time I got through and ended up falling down the stairs into the basement.
Instantly, an alarm started blaring. My father’s face appeared on the huge wall-sized computer. I heard his voice saying, “Intruder, prepare to surrender. Intruder, prepare to surrender.” Then the floor underneath where I sat lit up and I heard what sounded like an engine beginning to rev. I looked up and a huge, I mean mega-huge, gun hung from the ceiling and pointed at me.
“Intruder, prepare to surrender. Intruder, prepare to surrender.”
“I’m not an intruder. I’m your daughter,” I yelled, thrusting myself off of the floor and to a new location. It didn’t matter where I stood, though; the floor beneath me lit up and the gun repositioned itself directly at my head.
To my left, I saw what I guessed was my father’s gun collection. Dozens of guns of every shape and size were on display in a glass case. Straight ahead, underneath the big computer screen, was what looked like a laboratory with microscopes and test tubes. To my right, my mother’s cat suits in white, red, black, and blue hung in a line on the wall. And at the end of the wall was her silver utility belt. I just needed to grab it and get out as fast as possible. As I ran and lunged for the belt, two things happened almost simultaneously. The gun fired, blowing up the place where I was just standing, and Gamma girl flipped into the basement.
I secured the belt around my waist and then took my attack position in preparation to fight Gamma. The beautiful Latin-looking warrior stood about ten feet away from me and whipped out a long stick that had been tucked into a strap on her back. It kind of reminded me of Darth Maul’s double light saber, except it didn’t glow. She started twirling that thing around, flipping through the air like some sort of acrobatic samurai, and somehow avoiding the blasts coming from the gun in the ceiling.
When she thrust her stick at me, I dodged it and then flipped out of the way, all the while keeping one eye on the gun above us and the other on her.
She shoved her stick at me again and this time nailed me in the nose. God, it was painful. My vision got all fuzzy for a second. I thought I was going to pass out. I felt something warm and wet dripping from my nose. I looked down and saw the blood stains on my cute white knit sweater. Oh, no you didn’t. It is so on.
The floor beneath me lit up again. I reached up to stop the bleeding with one hand while doing a standing back flip to avoid a sweep technique from Gamma.
I pulled out a throwing star from my mother’s utility belt and chucked it at her head. She dodged left, ducking her head right into where I sent a stream of fire. I scorched her hair. Needless to say, she wasn’t too happy about this. With a nerve-racking war cry that could make Attila the Hun pee his pants, she came at me again.
This time her stick landed in my gut, causing me to double over in pain. I landed on my hands and knees. I quickly rolled out of the way to avoid a kill from Gamma. I scurried underneath a lab table, trying to catch my breath and get my bearings. That’s when I noticed something … strange. When I fell to the ground, I’d left a bloodied hand print on the floor. That hand print literally dissolved before my eyes. It was like the sensory floor absorbed my blood. The floor powered down. The gun disengaged.
“Priscilla, get out of the basement,” my dad’s voice said through the computer. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid.
Dad must have built in a safety that turned off the gun if the computer sensed one of his kids in the room.
I leaped out from under the table and attacked Gamma. I hoped since I didn’t have to worry about getting shot anymore, I could put all of my concentration into defeating her.
I blocked each thrust of her stick with my arms. When I saw an opening, I aimed for her nose with an upper cut just like in Josh’s old Mortal Kombat game. Blood streamed out of her nose and dripped to the floor, lighting up where she stood. The gun revved again and pointed at her. It must have tested her blood and realized she wasn’t a Sumner.
“Priscilla, get out of the basement. You’re in danger,” my dad’s computerized voice said. Well, duh.
Gamma flipped away from the lit up floor and landed behind me. She kicked me in the back, sending me face-first into the wall. I turned around just in time to see her aiming that stick right for my head. I grabbed the end of
it and flung her against the wall. Then I picked her up by her right arm and leg, spun around, and threw her to the other side of the room.
She hit the wall with a thud. Apparently shocked by how strong I was, she took a second to clear her head and get herself together. That one split-second hesitation was too much. The aerial gun aimed at her and fired. I was already up the stairs when I heard her cry out in pain.
I didn’t have time to feel sorry for her. I took off running toward the jet. I had a family to save.