Lost in Amber

by Esther Rabbit

  Jasper’s face contorted. “What does it look like?” He turned to Zoey in complete dismay as Sam propped a hand on her hip.

  Her next question would have made Aretha Franklin proud. “Mhmm, for the sake of conversation, Jasper, does courtship on your planet involve dating, getting to know each other?”

  Oh my God, where is this coming from? Emma jumped to Sam’s side and pulled at her sleeve in a warning move. She’d witnessed her impulsive side on countless occasions and her mouth got the better of her every single time.

  Jasper shrugged, pulling his brows together in a confused frown. “Dating?”

  This is not happening! It’s not happening! Zoey’s face sunk in her hands. This would have been the perfect moment to be swallowed by the lushness of this floor. God dammit! Breathe…

  Sam’s hands were resting warningly on her hips now, her dagger eyes still demanding answers.

  Emma smiled awkwardly at Jasper, not really knowing how to justify the Kraken releasing on him like Mephistopheles on his worst hair day. Adding insult to injury, Lilou made her lively way into Jasper’s room followed by Mia and Alex not far behind.

  Contrary to Lilou, who’d come to check on Jasper, Mia’s catlike hearing caught Zoey’s voice, so curiosity increased her pace, leading them straight to the room where everything was going down.

  Emma threw a menacing whisper, her eyes landing on their silent, yet increasing audience. “Sam!”

  Sam couldn’t have cared less as she zeroed in on Jasper. “Allow me to rephrase: Do you have reproductive intentions with Zoey?”

  Oh wow, just when Emma thought it couldn’t get any worse. Her eyelids narrowed over her eyes as she exhaled, powerless. Seemingly, all clouds had aligned over Zoey’s head to rain a last drop of humiliation, this time under no less than six pairs of eyes.

  Mia noticed Jasper looked tremendously serene given the situation, almost as if Sam had asked about the weather forecast. “No, not at all, we are biologically incompatible and even so, I am unable to father offspring even with my own kind.”

  “How does that go?” Sam’s rigid expression was replaced by surprise.

  Lilou spoke as she walked by Jasper’s side, “Soldiers don’t have kids, Sam, that’s what we all signed up for.”

  “So they neuter you once you complete your training?!” She stared at them both, perplexed.

  Shit, even better with an audience! Zoey’s fingers parted slightly hearing Lilou’s voice.

  He shook his head, baffled by Sam’s reaction. “The Alliance does not force anyone to become sterile, but you have the option upon joining—so I took mine two years ago. You can resign at the end of any set mission. I couldn’t resign right now, for example, but when the Alliance decides to move me elsewhere, I’ll be given the option to move forward or to resign and go back to Opt.”

  “That’s a very bold choice.” She bit her tongue, knowing that was not what she really aimed to say.

  “Thank you!” Lilou and Jasper echoed, watching Mia’s mouth drop. Emma patted her shoulder as if saying, “you haven’t seen the half of it.”

  In an attempt to wipe away the awkwardness, Mia’s voice came through, “So, um, I guess this is as good a time as any—we’re here to confirm that I can portal just about anywhere in the universe with the right coordinates.”

  Zoey fought the embarrassment with a smile. “That’s amazing, Mia.” She pursed her lips and shrugged. “I almost killed your ambassador today, Alex. I’m sorry, guys…I…”

  “Why did you think I handed you over?” Alex winked and scratched the back of his neck. It was a relief to see he could joke and wink despite his aloof manner.

  Zoey swallowed hard, trying to ignore the limp knees. “I see Mia’s been a great influence.”

  “Can we brief while we eat? All this excitement is making my stomach sing!” Emma locked arms with Sam in a swift move and practically dragged her out of Jasper’s room. “We’ll be in your room, Zoey!”

  Sam seemed to be in slight shock, not really expecting one to give up the joy of bringing life into the world in favor of work.

  Lilou leaned to get a better look at her. “See you on the terrace in twenty!”

  Alarming shades of pink displayed on Zoey’s cheeks as she got a step closer to the door, registering Mia’s muffled grin.

  “What was that about?” Jasper stopped to look at Zoey.

  She scratched the top of her head, looking for the right answer to justify the Kraken’s outburst, but was cut short by Mia: “Well, I’m absolutely positive you have extensive knowledge about what hunger can do to a person’s brain. Now Sam has worked out—what?—nearly five hours without food—that’s messed up!”

  Zoey’s mouthed “thank you” without making a sound as she sneaked her way out. “I’ll see you there in twenty!”

  Back in her room, Zoey slammed the door hard enough to send a wave of guilt through Sam. “What the fuck is wrong with you? ‘Reproductive intentions’?!” she cringed and slammed a hand to her forehead, causing Emma to gasp.

  “Oh. My. Word.” Sam jumped from the bed, her eyes in complete revelation. “You do have the hots for Captain Spock!”

  “What? Because you watch too much Outlander or because I nearly killed him?!” She advanced, placing one foot forward in this tongue war she shouldn’t be having.

  “No, because you do that weird upper lip thing when I’m right and you don’t wanna admit it!” The Kraken brought her head forward, tilting it a little for effect.

  They were facing each other in a finger duel like teen musketeers, each holding their truth like a trophy.

  Emma facepalmed herself for the billionth time today. “Sixth grade, here we come!”

  “Remember how I always told you Anthony Bush was gay and you kept saying he was the private type—well, I was right! I can’t read Jasper yet but I can certainly read you!” Sam hissed, pointing her finger like a whip.

  “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation right now!” Zoey finally lowered her index finger, allowing some of the tension to disperse.

  “Well, in Sam’s defense, you never liked average.”

  “Oh, not you too, Emma!” Guilt rose in Zoey’s chest—she was outnumbered.

  Sam was quick to seize the opportunity. “So you don’t deny it!”

  “See, that’s exactly why I don’t have any friends my age, they’re all the boring corporate type.” Emma met Sam’s sarcastically raised eyebrow.

  “And you are?!”

  “Hey! I can be fun!” She lifted her hands in protest, met by the two evil smirks that made her life fun. Turning thirty-six was no picnic, but looking at twenty-four and twenty-six bickering sure helped the mood. It only took five aliens and two hybrids to make Emma feel alive again, and for the first time since chaos had taken over her reality, she began feeling purpose. Real purpose.

  “You can be fun, alright, especially in polyester!” Zoey winked, causing Sam to muffle a laugh.

  “Zoey, do you think I could grab a drink from your mini fridge for Miss Congeniality here? Them yoga pants deserve a toast.” Sam got down to properly scavenge the fridge. “There’s literally nothing that could spike a tea party in here. What the heck is this?” She held the small jar with the inquisitiveness of a child.

  “It’s rose petal jam.” Zoey launched herself to retrieve it, unaware of what five years of CrossFit and hours of training with Lilou could result in.

  “Why in the world would you have this?”

  “Jasper.” She exhaled, defeated by her own words.

  This was enough to set Sam’s cackle ablaze, echoing through the open windows and making birds in a nearby tree make a run for their lives.

  “Unparalleled courtship!”

  γ

  Rufus opened his eyes to a blur only to recognize the shapes of two heads hovering over him. He blinked twice, trying to regain focus.

  “Fuck!” He seemed to be swallowing thorns as his hoarse voice came out of a dry throat. �
�Water…” He couldn’t make out who handed him a plastic cup, helping his weak fingers get a hold.

  The second he emptied it, a medical pen light blinded him and he was in no state to fight back.

  “What the fuck happened? Where am I?” The fog gently lifted to reveal what looked like medical staff unstrapping wires from his head and body.

  “Good morning. My name is Doctor Trenton Beck, and this is Nurse Judith,” said the tan man at the foot of the bed. “Can you tell me your name?”

  The space suddenly felt small.

  Shit. Nurse Judith looked exactly like that Russian woman on Orange is the New Black. He couldn’t remember her name—heck, he couldn’t even remember his own. His heart accelerated, looking for that one answer which was supposed to make sense. Rufus felt his chest panting, the veins around his temples throbbing and pulsating under the pressure to remember.

  Shit.

  “It’s alright, it can take some time until it clears out. I can fill in the blanks for you in the meantime. Your name is Rufus, born on May first, twenty-nine years of age, and you’re an asset to our ongoing mission.”

  “I’m a spy?” Rufus looked puzzled.

  “You’re a soldier.” The male doctor said in a stern voice.

  It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. “Am I a smoker, Doc? Cause I sure am craving a cigarette right now.”

  Beck smirked and shook his head. “Sadly.” He dug in his lab coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “I believe these were retrieved off you when they brought you in.” He waved the pack at Rufus.

  “Doc, do we know each other? I mean, from before whatever happened to me?”

  “We worked closely together. You have a habit of breaking your limbs, and I broke a few of them myself—all for a noble cause, I assure you. I’ll allow one cigarette if you can hold yourself on your two feet and walk with me.”

  Funny how a cigarette spiked his motivation as he pushed his body forward and legs to the side. He swallowed his vomit down, determined to hop off the bed and onto the cold marble. Rufus fought against it all—his weak knees, the dotted hospital gown caught under his thighs, and the constant cloud hovering over his brain.

  “See, Doc, I can walk.” It took a titan’s effort to set one foot in front of the other. Beck offered a supportive arm to help steady him as they walked out to the balcony. He stepped out and allowed the green to sink in, taking a deep breath which resulted in a violent cough.

  “Still want that cigarette?” Beck raised an eyebrow as he helped him onto a built-in bench.

  “Bet you left my crotch exposed on purpose too!” He sank further on the cold bench. “Where are we, and why is it so darn cold?”

  Beck rested his arms on the cold handrail, brushing a glance over the green scenery on display. “We’re in Pamplona.” He then turned to hand him a cigarette and lighter. “And I’m risking everything for your goddamned cigarette because I need you sharp in less than twenty-four hours.” His eyes were dead serious as he scanned the green lying beneath them.

  “Pamplona—as in bull run Pamplona? As in Spain?” His eyes widened, inhaling the nicotine he craved so badly.

  You could read urgency in Trenton Beck’s eyes as he spoke. “Rufus, our priorities have shifted. Your former mission has been compromised and it was partly my fault. I took all necessary precautions in case it came to this. I am the person behind your current partial amnesia, but it was done with your consent.” His words flowed rapidly. “Finish your smoke, I have you on tape giving a full confession of your mission three weeks ago.”

  “You can wipe memories now? What year is this?”

  The professor slid a hand into his pocket. “In a state of confusion, your enhancements might have rendered us all useless. We couldn’t risk it, not before restoring clarity. We altered your memories before sending you off.”

  Rufus shook his head in disbelief. “I’m guessing you ain’t talking about the Carolina Reaper, are you?” One of his last vivid memories was of winning the Clifton Chilli Club Chilli-Eating Contest. He’d trained for over a year and arrived jetlagged yet notoriously determined in Bath, the southwest English town which held the competition he had set out to win.

  Thirty-nine peppers later, he’d won it all. The cheering crowd had carried him on their arms, elated at his Viking endurance. It was with great pride he’d shoved the fifty pounds in his chest pocket before collapsing face-down in the middle of his (short-lived) victory dance.

  Bath had very comfy hospital beds and nurses with extremely gentle hands and warm smiles. He turned to get a glimpse of Nurse Judith’s rigid expression on the other side of the window.

  You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. He took one last drag, allowing the nicotine to set in.

  γ

  “Pass me the butter, will you?” Sam made soft eyes at Lilou, who was up to her elbows in the chicken casserole. The round table on the terrace had transformed into a welcoming buffet for the hungry. Their plates barely fit on the bountiful table and, for the first time in a long time, Zoey’s nostrils did not cringe at the smell of meat.

  Jasper sat between Alex and Lilou, followed by Mia, Zoey, Emma, and Sam.

  Hunger took over, replacing the usual chit-chat with the munching slash nibbling ensemble playing their best accords to the beat of chicken wings and oven-baked veggies. There was music in the percussion of forks slamming onto steaming dishes, and art in the sonata of gulping humans, optans, and hybrids alike.

  In the midst of satisfying this burning primal need, Zoey found herself immersed in the movement of Jasper’s nose when he chewed, the smallest smile taking over her lips.

  Sam suddenly pushed her ego aside. “Jasper, I guess I owe you an apology.”

  He leaned back on his backrest folding his arms on his chest. “I can’t possibly take you seriously with that butter stache.”

  “How about now?” He watched her self-consciously wipe her mouth in a quick move.

  “Much better.” A devilish smile later, he tore through his sesame bun. Alex didn’t have eyes for anything but his chicken, uninterrupted by the exchange of words—contrary to Lilou, who was eyeing Sam and Jasper like the Grand Slam.

  “Apology accepted.”

  Emma folded her napkin and placed it gently on her left. “Now that that’s settled, I’m ready for some briefing.” It was like she’d read Mia’s thoughts: she needed to know something—anything—about Rufus.

  She watched Alex as he pushed his plate out of the way and steadied his elbows on the table. “Today was all about learning what the hybrids could do. I had my thoughts confirmed earlier today.” He cross-examined Zoey and Mia. “As you may or may not know, members of the Interplanetary Alliance a.k.a. I.P.A. with enhanced portalling skills are able to portal exclusively on the planet they’re on. Take us, for example—now, if Lilou wished to portal back to Opt from Earth, she’d end up lost in an eternal limbo and most likely dead before figuring it out.”

  Lilou quickly jumped in. “If I wanted to portal back to Opt, I’d need another portalling channel to complete mine, someone on Opt opening a portal for me to go through. It’s done like that for safety purposes.”

  Mia rubbed her chin. “You mean to avoid foreign trespassing without host consent.”

  “It’s common sense, really. How would you feel if someone dropped in on you unannounced?” Lilou toyed with her fork, trying to make a point. She sadly failed in her attempt, judging by the number of raised eyebrows.

  Alex brushed his dark hair back and continued, “We had a pretty clear idea Etienne had experimented on human subjects, but our initial conclusions were wrong. We thought he did it because he got bored on Earth and, given his background, science was all he lived for; therefore, continuing his same line of work in genome editing here—although completely unethical—made sense.” He suddenly turned to Jasper as if inviting him in on relaying the facts.

  Zoey saw Jasper’s jaw tense as he folded his napkin before he began. “The moment we me
t Rufus and realized how he’d been enhanced, we knew Etienne had violated every code of ethics he’d sworn to abide by and uphold. No citizen or member of the Alliance is allowed enhancements which might interfere with ethics or, as Lilou put it, common sense. I’m designed to lift things through telekinesis, but not living beings because that might go against their will.”

  “I can portal anywhere, but not uninvited,” Lilou continued. “And before you say anything, Zoey, yes, we can make you forget but that is a tool used only on host planets and solely to cover our tracks in case you witness something you shouldn’t have.”

  Zoey shifted in her chair as Alex took the lead. “We can’t manipulate your mind nor body because that’s considered an attack on your personal freedom—but Rufus has been enhanced to do just that. Mia is designed for interplanetary portalling without consent from the host. And Zoey can not only see but harness and duplicate energy. Now, what does this tell you?”

  They were all quiet, awaiting the confirmation of their thoughts.

  Jasper leaned forward. “You’re not just experiments for fun. Our former ambassador had purpose.”

  Emma quickly envisioned several scenarios. “Presumably, Beck himself has been altered. Do we know what his enhancements are?”

  “If Etienne wanted a partner in crime, I’m willing to bet my life Beck’s been given enhanced scientific skills and strategy, aside from the antigravitational bubble trick we’ve all seen,” Lilou confirmed.

  Mia sighed. “The bubble prevents us from using any enhancements we were given, it blocks out everything. That’s precisely why he used it on Rufus—to prevent him using his powers. I wasn’t able to access my portalling skills when he used it on me. He doesn’t have any portalling skills as far as I know, all my training was with Etienne. He gave me coordinates and I portalled there and back whenever he demanded.”

  Sam’s palms rested on her knees as she voiced her thoughts. “Jasper, is there any way you could get into Mia’s mind and make her remember the coordinates, or extract them somehow?”

  Mia’s fingers slid along her temples. “That’s not the problem, I know exactly how to get to Beck’s lab, I know the coordinates by heart. I could get you there anytime—but then what?”