A Cure for Chaos
Book Two of the Mother-Earth Series
by
Alan Tucker
Smashwords Edition
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialog are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright ©2011 by Alan Tucker
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address MAD Design, Inc., 212 Fair Park Drive, Billings, Montana 59102.
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ISBN 978-0-9826864-2-3 (ebook)
For Mom
‘Nuff said!
A glossary and pronunciation guide, as well as a cast of characters list are included at the back of the book. Beware, however, of possible story spoilers when using these references.
For maps, news, reviews and other fun stuff, please visit:
http://www.mother-earthseries.com
Acknowledgements
The praise and words of encouragement I’ve received after producing the first book have been extraordinary! I couldn’t have continued without the support of so many wonderful people.
Kudos, once again, go to my alpha and beta readers: Linda, Jaimie, Ellen, Liz, and Mercedes — you guys rock! Your efforts and input are much appreciated.
Special thanks for this installment have to go to Clint Thorne, my truest friend over the many years, and incredibly talented artist for creating the fantastic painting used on the cover. His handiwork usually graces the big screen in movies such as Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, and Happy Feet, and more examples of his abilities can be found at http://www.lostdispatches.com.
Previously …
Jenni Kershaw and her eighth grade science class went on a field trip to a lake in the forest outside their home town of Boise, Idaho. Everyone fell asleep after a picnic lunch and soon discovered they’d woken up in a different world. Jenni’s classmate, Deena, was bitten by an unknown creature and another classmate, Todd, took ill after eating some poison fruit. Jenni’s teacher, Ms. Pap, and the student teacher, Mr. Kain, did their best to care for the class along with the two chaperone mothers that had come along, Mrs. Osorio and Mrs. Minch.
A small, gnomish-looking person, who called himself Crank, introduced himself to Jenni one morning a couple of days after the class’s transference. He cared for the injured Deena, and Todd, and showed the group how to harvest Tolenton’naie, a magical fruit that was a whole meal in itself. He then warned them of potential danger and offered to lead them to his village for help.
On the way, the class was chased by a band of savage creatures Crank called Gobinstratstorai. Jenni and the others barely made it in time to Crank’s home where they were able to repel their attackers. Mrs. Minch, Mike, and Scott were injured before the Gobinstratstorai were turned away.
Crank’s people, called Nomenstrastenai, cared for the sick and injured, but told the rest of the group they must seek help from a city far away from the village, and Crank would serve as their guide. Reluctantly, the class left their fallen in the hands of villagers and began the long journey to the city the Nomenstrastenai named Seren’naie.
During the trip, changes began to occur in the class. The world they had entered, known as Mother to its inhabitants, was transforming them into people and creatures more familiar to it, but completely alien to Jenni and her friends.
The class was attacked again, outside the massive forest called the Lodir’naie, by the band of Gobinstratstorai they had run from previously. Brandon, who had separated himself from the class and turned into a black dragon, returned to fend off the Gobinstratstorai, but then left with several members of the class who didn’t agree with the decisions Ms. Pap had been making. Brandon had been visited in a dream by someone calling himself Mogritas, who had offered to help. Alisha made the decision to go with Brandon and forced Mr. Kain to accompany her using her newfound power to influence another person’s mind.
The members of the class that remained, including Jenni and her best friend, Sara, were left to defend themselves from the Gobinstratstorai once more. Mrs. Osorio saved them by finishing her transformation into a festri’i, an elemental spirit of fire, and fighting off their attackers so the others could flee into the forest.
Brandon and his group made it to Mogritas’s castle, carved directly from a mountain, and Jenni and her group eventually made it to Seren’naie, after leaving Ms. Pap, who became part of the Lodir’naie forest. The final leg of their journey was made possible because of a boat made of stone created by Denny and Matt.
After taking time to recuperate and discovering a vast library of knowledge hidden in a cave he now called home, Brandon went back to Crank’s home to retrieve his friends, Mike and Scott, only to find the village destroyed. He tracked the perpetrators and found his friends and Mrs. Minch, who had acquired the power to communicate with and control elemental spirits. Brandon took the three of them and some of the band of Gobinstratstorai back to Mogritas’s keep.
Jenni and her group learned more about themselves and their abilities in Seren’naie. Jenni and Crank were received by the Mayor of Seren’naie, named Ba’ize, who discovered Jenni’s ability to shapeshift. He explained to her the only other being known with that power was Mogritas. Ba’ize helped Jenni to practice and control her ability and they also discovered that the elemental spirits in the city, thought of as simple tools by the inhabitants for centuries, not as sentient beings, would soon break free of their bonds. Ba’ize did his best to prepare the populace for the occurrence, but few heeded his warnings.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Osorio and Lori, one who had left with Brandon’s group becoming an air spirit and imprisoned by Mogritas, found their way to Seren’naie and met up with Jenni and the others. Lori explained what happened to Mr. Kain, controlled by Alisha and subsequently also imprisoned by Mogritas, and Jenni and her friends decided to attempt a rescue. Jenni left the city with Crank, Mrs. Osorio, and Lori, along with Bonnie and Matt, two others who turned into elemental spirits — water and earth respectively. Lori had also brought news of an army led by Mogritas that was marching on Seren’naie. Sara, Marco, Carrie, Denny and the others stayed behind to help defend the city.
Mogritas had convinced Mrs. Minch into helping him with a plan to attack Seren’naie by leading her to believe her daughter Carrie was being held captive. With Mrs. Minch’s guidance, a group of elemental spirits had the capability to open a doorway between worlds. Mogritas asked Brandon and Mrs. Minch to go back to Earth and obtain some dangerous substances to use against Seren’naie.
Jenni and her party arrived just as Brandon and the others made the doorway and left for Earth. After freeing Mr. Kain, they discovered what Brandon and Mrs. Minch had gone to do and decided to follow in an effort to stop them. They chased them across the upper Midwest, all the way to Washington state, then back to Idaho, only to be a step behind the entire way. Late in their chase, they discovered Crank had begun to grow and change. Brandon and his group, minus Alisha who ran away at the last second, made the trip back to Mother with many barrels of toxic waste, just before Jenni’s group, and the U.S. Army, could catch them.
While the others were on Earth, Mogritas moved his army into position outside Seren’naie. The bonds restraining the elemental spirits in the city broke, one by one, causing major damage and injuries. Brandon flew Mrs. Minch and as many barrels of waste as he could carry to meet with Mogritas and his army, while Todd drove the truck with the rest of the waste as far from the lake as he could.
Jenni and her group made the transit back to Mother and discovered what had happened. Mr. Kain and Crank convinced her to fly back to Seren’naie as fast as she could while they would try to take care of the truck full of waste. Jenni flew to the limit of her abilities and arrived just as Mogritas had flung the barrels at the city walls from a catapult. Jenni feared she was too late to help, but then realized the waste was something from Earth that she could manipulate, unlike substances from Mother. She managed to bring all the waste into herself and render it harmless, saving the city, but nearly at the cost of her own life.
Mrs. Minch, after realizing she’d been lied to by Mogritas, defied him, only to be cruelly swatted aside after Mogritas shapeshifted into a dragon form. With her dying breath, Mrs. Minch commanded the elemental spirits in the area to attack Mogritas, and they drove him from the field of battle, then set upon the rest of his army.
In the aftermath, Mr. Kain and Crank, who had begun to turn human during their trip to Earth, discovered the truck and had Matt create a protective dome of dirt and stone around it. Todd, however, was nowhere to be found. Jenni rested and healed. Mr. Kain then made the offer to Jenni to send her back home. She accepted and Crank accompanied her to finish becoming human in hopes of being able to fit in better somewhere.
Chapter 1
“Jen, how do you do it?”
Jenni leaned against her open locker door and watched the receding back of Ty Harrison move down the crowded hallway. She had to admit it was a lovely back to watch.
“Tell me,” Rissa insisted behind her. “How do you do it?”
Snatched from her reverie, Jenni turned to her — compatriot? acquaintance? hanger-on? — “friend” definitely didn’t seem the right word to describe Marissa Cowan.
“Do what?” Jenni asked.
Rissa looked at her in disbelief. “Turn down all these amazing guys that ask you out! You’re a freshman, and you just had the star of the soccer team — who’s a junior I might add — ask you to the Sweetheart Dance on Friday. And you told him, ‘No’. How do you do that?”
Being beautiful and popular was nice, but being beautiful, popular and a shapeshifter was a lot more complicated than Jenni had thought it would be.
“My, uh, foster parents, won’t let me date yet.” Jenni paused to check herself in the mirror hanging inside the door of her locker. Her shoulder length blonde hair seemed stable — as did her perfect nose, model-quality cheeks and the not-quite-Angelina-Jolie lips she had fashioned for herself. She tended to lose focus when under stress, and between rejecting Ty’s advance and being interrogated by Rissa, Jenni was beginning to feel stressed. The last thing she needed was to lose her shape in front of everyone at school.
“I suppose having a hottie exchange student around 24/7 makes it easier, but come on, girl! You’re not going to do much better than Ty in this lifetime.”
Jenni had to giggle to herself. It had taken just over a week for Crank to complete his transformation after they had returned to Earth. He had topped out at five foot ten, a far cry from the foot and a half he was when Jenni had first seen him — what? Nine months ago? So much had happened to them it seemed like much longer. He had kept his blonde hair, but it had become softer and curly. Jenni had eventually convinced him to shave his beard to fit in better, but he hadn’t been happy about it. His body was strong and athletic, though he was still adjusting to the huge difference in size. He had also kept his kind, blue eyes. Jenni smiled thinking of them.
Crank, or Frank as he was known at school, had adapted well to his new world. He learned how to read and write with similar speed as he’d picked up English when he and Jenni had first met. They had enrolled him as a foreign exchange student from Finland. It was a stretch, but helped account for his occasional odd turn of phrase and unusual mannerisms.
The bell rang, accompanied by a grunt from Rissa. “I’m gonna be late! See you later Jen.”
Jenni waved and nabbed a notebook from her locker.
“Oh, I’m glad I caught you!” Mrs. Wrightson, one of the school counselors, said from behind Jenni.
Jenni closed her locker and turned to face Mrs. Wrightson. A girl stepped out from behind the counselor and Jenni’s heart tried to climb out her throat.
“Jen, this is Alisha Hester. She’s just joined us here at Lewis High and I thought you might show her around.” A look of concern flashed across Mrs. Wrightson’s narrow face. “Jen, are you all right? You look like you saw a ghost!”
Alisha smirked and Jenni forced herself to relax. She hoped she hadn’t let any of her features slip.
“No,” she said after exhaling slowly. “I’m fine. But I have to get to English —”
Mrs. Wrightson presented her a slip of paper. “Here’s a hall pass and I’ll let Mr. Feller know where you’re at.”
“Um, okay. Thanks.” Jenni took the hall pass and stared at Alisha as Mrs. Wrightson hurried off. Alisha hadn’t changed — unless someone could become more perfect. Her blonde hair curled in ringlets over her shoulders and framed her delicate neck. Alisha’s designer top and jeans accentuated every curve flawlessly, and pedicured toes peeked out from her Italian pumps.
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”
Jenni blinked. “Sorry. So, um, are you new to town?”
Alisha laughed. “You’ve done all right for yourself, Kershaw.”
Blood rushed to Jenni’s face. “W-what do you —?”
“I mean you still need some major help in the fashion department. Who would wear those shoes with that outfit? But, everything else is a definite improvement.”
Jenni was speechless. Her carefully constructed world was crashing down before her eyes.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Alisha continued, “your secret is safe with me. It took me months of work to get back to a normal life. I’m not going to throw it away by blowing the whistle on you.”
“I don’t understand.”
Alisha leaned in close. “After I ran away from Brandon and the others, I was taken into custody by the Army. It took me forever to find someone who could get me released. I just want my life back.”
Jenni considered this. “So, you’re okay with me being here … like this?”
Alisha flashed a smile. “Yeah, we’re cool, Kershaw. Now, why don’t you show me around this dump?”
Jenni giggled. “Sure.” She had to admit it would be nice to have someone to talk to who knew. Even if it was Alisha. Mr. Kain and the others had brought Sara for a visit on Halloween, and she and Jenni had a great time catching up. Just to sit and be able to talk about everything and nothing in particular with her had been so nice — but that had been months ago. Jenni had Crank, of course, but he was a boy. It just wasn’t the same.
She replaced her notebook in her locker and they wandered the halls of the school.
“So tell me,” Jenni asked. “What gave me away?”
“Well, when the counselor told me ‘Jen Kershaw’ was going to show me around, I was kinda expecting it.”
Jenni laughed. “I actually have a cousin on my Dad’s side whose name is Genevieve. So we came up with this story that she, came to live with my parents for a while. Since our names are similar, it made it easy not to mess up when someone shouts my name from across the room.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“Yeah. Crank was a little tougher to fit in but —”
“Wait. Crank is here?”
Jenni nodded. “He started to change when we were here, chasing you guys. Then, after everything was over, he came back with me and finished turning human.”
“You followed Brandon and Mrs. Minch back to Mother?”
Jenni shuddered, recalling memories. “When I finally got back, Seren’naie was destroyed and Mogritas’ army had launched some of the barrels of waste … I was able to clean it up — make it harmless — but it almost killed me.”
“Wow. So what did Mogritas do then?”
“Actually, Mrs. Minch finally realized he was just using her and she fought him off with a bunch of the elemental spirits. Mogritas ran away, but Mrs. Minch died in the fight.”
Alisha’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t reply.
Then Jenni asked, “Why did you guys do it anyway?”
Alisha shrugged. “It seemed like the only way to get home.”
They turned a corner and entered a long hallway with a glass wall on their left. A central courtyard, covered in a light blanket of snow lay beyond. A weak February sun did its best to penetrate a layer of misty gray clouds. Farther down the hall, the smells of what passed for lunch at the school drifted their way.
“Over there,” Jenni said, “is the site of many attempted murders: the cafeteria.”
Alisha giggled briefly. “School lunches were one thing I didn’t miss.”
“Down here,” Jenni pointed to the right, “is the gym.”
Red, pink and white streamers adorned railings and sports equipment all through the gymnasium in preparation for the dance on Friday. Jenni thought again about Ty and whether she might be able to trust herself on a date.
A sharp sting on her neck interrupted her. She reached up and felt a small object protruding from her skin. She plucked it out and saw it was a tiny dart with red feathers.
The world tilted and Jenni found herself on the hardwood floor. Dimly she saw several men in suits and dark glasses running toward her.
Darkness.
Chapter 2
Crank stared at the page in frustration.
He had picked up on the written language in short order, but this “algebra” confounded him.
Crank attempted to follow along in the textbook while his instructor, Mr. Henderson, worked through a problem on the board, his back to the class. Crank understood the basics of arithmetic — adding, subtracting and so on — but the idea of substituting letters for numbers had him baffled.
A boy on his right snored softly, using his open book for a pillow, while Mr. Henderson continued writing on the board.
A piece of tightly folded paper landed on Crank’s book. He glanced behind him, and met the anxious, smiling face of Kendra — no, Kenzie — Miller. She nodded eagerly and gestured toward the paper.
Crank smiled uncertainly and turned back to unravel the complex origami. Inside was a simple note that read, “Will you take me to the dance on Friday?” The “i’s” were dotted with hearts.
He closed his eyes and sighed. He felt so awkward and clumsy in this enormous new body, yet so many of the girls in the school seemed utterly fascinated with him. Jenni had called it the “mysterious foreigner effect”.
Turning to Kenzie again, he shook his head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
The light in her eyes died. She nodded and slumped back in her seat. Crank felt awful for hurting her feelings, but none of them understood there was only one girl he wanted to go to a dance with — or do anything with for that matter.
The bell sounded, startling Crank’s sleepy neighbor awake. Mr. Henderson listed problems for their homework and everyone packed up and moved to the crowded hallway.
Crank shuffled to his locker and put his books inside. His stomach reminded him it was time for lunch. He still couldn’t believe how much food his body required. Times like this made him long for Tolenton’naie — if nothing but for the feeling of being full after just a single fruit.
Passing by the gym on his way to lunch, Crank noticed several men hustling out the rear doors. His growling stomach and the press of the hallway crowd forced his attention elsewhere.
Jenni didn’t meet him in the cafeteria, which troubled him. He ate his lunch mechanically, constantly glancing around in search of her. He could recall only one other time she hadn’t met him for lunch: Jenni had been late on an assignment for English and had to spend her lunch time finishing it. Perhaps it happened again. Crank, however, didn’t remember her having any homework the night before.
He discarded his trash and returned his tray, focusing himself on his afternoon classes. His favorite, Mythology, came right after lunch and that brought a small smile to his face. Crank had become fascinated by the old stories and fables of Earth. So many of the creatures described were familiar to him, it made him homesick at times. But realizing that almost every story has a kernel of truth, he began to see patterns. The stories of fairies, dragons and goblins originated, for the most part, a thousand years or more in the past. Even the names for these creatures bore a striking resemblance to those of his home. Nomenstrastenai were called gnomes, and fairies and goblins seemed rooted in Faerstrastenai and Gobinstratstorai. There were too many coincidences for Crank to ignore.
The fact most of the stories originated in Europe fascinated him even more. It meant the world was much larger than he’d understood before. The Mother he was familiar with was likely only part of something much bigger.
Anxiety flared anew when he couldn’t find Jenni anywhere after school. He got off their bus when it was clear she wasn’t coming and asked around in the school.
There was no record of her leaving the school in the office, but none of her afternoon teachers recalled seeing her. One of the counselors, Mrs. Wrightson, vaguely remembered talking with Jenni before lunch, but that was the only clue Crank could come up with.
He asked to borrow the phone and dialed Jenni’s cell, then the home number. No answer. He left messages and exited the office.
Dejected and worried, he began the long walk home.
He trudged through slushy sidewalks under gray clouds that reflected his mood. Much as he tried, he couldn’t come up with a scenario where Jenni wouldn’t have gotten word to him somehow that she had to leave. His hopes lay solely with Jenni’s mother — that she had some simple explanation he had missed. Crank picked up his pace.
He was still several blocks from Jenni’s house when a gray van with no windows pulled along side him. Its sliding door opened to reveal men in cool gray suits and dark glasses, surrounding a familiar looking, blonde-haired girl.
“Crank, is that you?”
“Alisha! What are you doing here?”
“I know where Jenni is. Get in.”
Crank hesitated only a moment before climbing in the van. One of the suited men offered a hand, then twisted Crank’s arm behind him and bound his wrists, forcing him onto a bench despite his struggles. Looking up, Crank saw Jenni’s mother, similarly bound but gagged as well. The panel door closed and the van sped down the street.
Crank found Alisha’s eyes, then nervously averted his gaze, remembering what Mr. Kain had told them about her powers.
“You turned into quite the hunk, Crank.”
“What’s going on Alisha? Who are these people?”
Alisha sighed. “They’re with the government. Just be a good boy and everything will be okay, you’ll see.”
Crank doubted that very much, but didn’t see many choices.
He looked back to Jenni’s mother, Nadine. Her dark, disheveled hair shrouded her eyes, wide in fear, and she fiercely bit into her gag. Men in sunglasses sat on either side of her. Crank didn’t understand how they could see in the gloom of the van; nevertheless, they seemed calmly alert. Another man sat on Crank’s right.
Sitting on the floor, Alisha steadied herself with one arm while the van swerved through the streets of Boise.
Jenni’s father, Dan, was away on business. He sold supplies to hotels all across the Northwest and was on the road more often than not. Crank wondered how long it would be before Jenni and her mother would be missed.
After careening around a final corner, the van straightened out and gained speed. Crank did his best to collect the pieces of his stomach and put them back in some semblance of order. Perhaps a minute later, they screeched to a stop and their guards guided them outside with firm hands.
The drone of several massive engines assaulted his ears while his eyes fought to adjust to unexpected brightness, despite the cloud cover. Crank blinked away tears and saw they were being led to an enormous airplane, idling on a vast field of concrete.
Though he had flown dragonback with both Jenni and Brandon, Crank was apprehensive about flying in a machine, and tried to slow his steps.
“C’mon,” his captor growled next to him.
“Wait!” Alisha shouted behind Crank. “Where are you taking me? I’m supposed to be going home!”
“Take it up with the Colonel,” one of the men replied.
The back end of the mechanical beast had been lowered, forming a ramp. A group of people, dressed in the mottled greens and browns Jenni had once termed “camouflage,” pushed a large metallic object up the ramp. Eight or ten feet long and cylindrical in shape, a number of hoses and wires stretched from one end. The middle portion was clear and Crank saw a shape lying inside.
It was Jenni!
Crank fought his guard who tightened his grip painfully on Crank’s arm. “Easy there, Cowboy. Don’t make me put you down.”
Crank relented and watched Jenni disappear into the back of the plane.
They mounted a set of steps at the side of the green monster and were forced into seats and strapped down. Jenni’s mother sat next to Crank while Alisha was secured beside two of the guards in the next row.
A short time later, the door closed and they rumbled down the runway. Crank’s innards scrambled once again on take off and he struggled to keep his lunch to himself. Thankfully, his nausea eased once they leveled off.
The guards seemed to relax a bit after they were airborne, and they released the bonds on Crank and Mrs. Kershaw.
“What is this about?” Jenni’s mother asked after her gag was removed.
“We’re not at liberty to discuss it ma’am,” one of the suits said from behind his shades.
The guards refused to say anything more and Crank spent the next several hours in frustrated silence.
— — —
When the plane finally touched down, they were bound again, and escorted in darkness to a van identical to the one they’d left in Boise. Crank wished for a heavier coat and looked up at a sky full of stars before having to duck his head inside the van. Despite his best efforts, Crank dozed off once or twice during the ride.
They exited the van after passing two different checkpoints, and stopped in front of a concrete and stone building with a single metal door. A placard next to it read, “USAMRIID, Building 4.”
“Where are we?” Jenni’s mother asked.
Her question went unanswered, and they were led through a maze of white corridors and stairwells within the sterile smelling building. Eventually, they came to a gray door and one of their captors swiped a card and punched a string of buttons on a keypad. The door buzzed and Crank, Alisha, and Jenni’s mother were herded through, into a hallway with many more such doors along the walls. Each of them were guided to separate rooms, Crank’s being one of the last in the hall.
One of the suited men gave Crank a shove into the small room and the door buzzed shut behind him. Inside was a simple cot, a white porcelain sink, and a toilet in the far corner. Crank only had a moment to gape at his surroundings when the lights overhead shut off, leaving him in darkness. He fumbled his way to the cot and sat, head in hands, feeling more isolated and alone than ever had in his life.
Chapter 3
The lights in his room flared on, jolting Crank awake.
Disoriented, he blinked and shielded his eyes. Then the events of the day before flooded his mind. Nothing made sense. Why would Jenni’s people treat them this way?
He rose and used the facilities. Afterward, he splashed some water on his face from the sink, trying to clear his thoughts.
The door buzzed and a man in dark glasses stepped in. A green military uniform had replaced the gray suit Crank had become familiar with. He had no idea if this man was one of those who had brought them in or not.
“Come with me,” the man ordered.
Crank sighed and moved into the hallway. Another, similarly attired man met him there, and the two escorted Crank to a different part of the building.
They entered a small room filled with a plain table and two chairs. A mirror covered most of the wall on one side. His captors forced Crank to sit in the chair opposite the mirror and one of them poured him a cup of water from a pitcher at the end of the table. That guard then left the room while the other stood stoically next to the door.
Crank sipped his water and did his best to wait patiently.
A few minutes later, the door opened again for another man dressed in military fashion. The guard at the door gave the new man a crisp salute and stepped out, closing the door with a firm click. Crank realized this fellow’s uniform was more formal and was decorated with small bits of color on the left side of his chest. Other pieces of shiny metal adorned his shoulders and wrists.
The man studied Crank before extending a hand. “Colonel Bertrand Stephenson.”
Crank hesitated, then stood and shook hands. The man had a firm grip to go with his hard, narrow eyes. His head was completely bald and reflected the lights above.
“What have you done with Jenni?”
Colonel Stephenson’s eyes searched Crank’s face before he replied, “Not much for small talk where you come from, huh?” He released Crank’s hand and sat with his back to the mirror. “Take a seat, Son, and we’ll have a chat.”
Crank sighed and sat uneasily.
“I’m in charge of keeping this country safe from biological attacks,” Colonel Stephenson began. “You and Jenni’s family have been quietly monitored for some time, given your abrupt appearance and lack of history and documentation. After discovering what your friend Miss Hester could do, and listening to her story, I felt it necessary to bring Jenni in for testing.”
“Testing?”
“We need to determine if she is a threat.”
Crank stared at the man, dumfounded. “A threat? Jenni wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
The Colonel stared hard at Crank. “I’m sure you believe that, Son. However, I’m not in a position where I can be so trusting. She has a remarkable and powerful ability. My job is to determine whether she poses a danger — consciously or not.”
Crank understood little of what the man said. Jenni’s people seemed to overcomplicate everything. “Can I see her?”
“Negative. We have to keep her isolated until we’ve finished running our tests. Now, I have a number of questions I need to ask you about where you came from ….”
The interview lasted an hour or more. The Colonel asked questions about Mother, many of which Crank didn’t understand, and had no idea how to answer. Both he and Colonel Stephenson became increasingly frustrated until the Colonel finally had called a halt to the questioning and had Crank taken back to his cell.
Crank sat dejectedly on his cot after listening to the lock on the door click shut.
— — —
Three artificial days and nights passed with only served meals and the dimming and brightening of the lights in his cell to mark the time. The guards who fed him refused to answer any questions.
At first, Crank spent his time exploring every detail of his room, searching for anything that might help him escape. Heroes in television shows he and Jenni had watched always seemed to find something to get them out of a predicament. Crank decided he must not be a hero.
The first few weeks after he and Jenni had returned to Earth and he had completed his transformation had been the happiest of his life. School had been intimidating at first, but he had learned so many interesting things, and Jenni had always been there to help him. Outside of school, he was able to spend nearly all his time with Jenni. Crank couldn’t imagine a better life.
Lately though, Jenni had grown increasingly distant. She even seemed unhappy at times and Crank had no idea why. Everyone at school liked her, and Crank never tired of her company. He had been unsure of his perceptions and hadn’t figured out a way to ask her about how she was feeling.
Now, everything had come crashing down and he might never have the chance to talk to her.
Noise in the hallway interrupted his thoughts. He didn’t think it was time for a meal. Crank cocked his head and listened intently.
“Where are you taking me? I demand to know what this is about!” Crank recognized the voice. It belonged to Dan Kershaw, Jenni’s father.
Crank heard a door open in the hall and close again shortly thereafter. Footsteps faded away.
One thought that had kept desperation at bay for Crank was that Jenni’s father would discover them missing and find a way to free them. Something broke inside Crank and tears escaped his eyes like little pieces of hope running down his cheeks.
— — —
Crank opened his eyes later to something less than total darkness.
He stood in a large room with a ceiling far above his head. Machinery whirred and hummed all around and, scattered throughout the area, lights of red, green, and yellow blinked in differing cadences. Crank turned slowly, wondering how he had arrived in such a strange place and what all the machines were for.
His eyes landed on something familiar, standing apart from everything else in the room. He took a few steps toward the object and realized what it was. The long cylinder, with many wires and tubes poking out its far end, still held a motionless Jenni in the transparent center section.
“Jenni!” Crank cried, then clamped a hand over his mouth in fright. He didn’t want to alert anyone that he had managed to leave his cell.
He quietly circled the metallic sarcophagus, looking for a lever or a latch — some way to open the monstrosity and free his friend. Nothing presented itself until he reached the end with all the hoses and other items looping down to the solid base. Several small displays that Crank couldn’t see clearly sat above a small keypad. Other switches, knobs and dials decorated the end of the device. Crank silently wished for the words “Open Here,” or “Release,” to appear, but nothing so helpful presented itself.
Crank was hesitant to touch anything. Jenni had been especially upset with him one time when he had first been learning to read and write. Crank had watched Jenni pushing buttons on her computer, seemingly at random, and words appeared on the screen magically. He had tried it himself when Jenni had left the room to get a drink and accidentally deleted the paper she had been writing for English. He hadn’t yet understood the connection between the symbols on the keys and what showed up on the screen; to him it had just seemed like magic.
Strangely, the symbols on the keypad in front of him shifted in and out of focus, even changed completely at times. He had no idea what to make of it.
“Whatcha looking at?”
Crank nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun around to the voice behind him.
Jenni held a look of surprise at his reaction. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Jenni?” Crank glanced back at the form lying in the cylinder. “How did you …”
“How did I what?” Jenni stood before him in faded jeans and a T-shirt, looking perplexed. Crank was equally perplexed by the second Jenni sleeping in the large tube beside him.
Crank beckoned her forward and pointed at her unconscious double inside the machine. “How did you get out here when you’re still in there?”
Chapter 4
Crank watched Jenni’s eyes expand in surprise. “Oh! Is that me?”
“Well, I thought so until a few moments ago.” Crank had to chuckle at their predicament to keep from pulling his hair out in frustration.
Jenni reached out to touch the machine but her hand passed right through.
Crank stared in amazement beside her.
“What’s going on here?” Jenni asked.
Crank paused in thought. What had he been doing before he found himself here? Then he turned back to the keypad. “Jenni, can you make any sense out of this?”
Jenni pulled her gaze away from her sleeping double and focused on the instruments on the end of the machine. “Well, it’s a number pad with a small display above it, but I don’t know what it’s for.”
Crank looked down again at the pad whose symbols had been an unfocused jumble before. The numbers one through nine, with a large zero at the base were clearly visible. They remained steady as he stared at them.
“I’m dreaming,” he whispered.
“What?”
“I fell asleep and I’m dreaming,” Crank said, louder, turning to Jenni in excitement. “Mogritas is able to communicate with people through their dreams. Brandon confirmed it before we came back to Earth. The last thing I remember before showing up here is lying on the bed in the room they have me locked up in. Jenni, you brought me here through my dream!”
“I did? How did I do that?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
Crank watched Jenni’s mouth squeeze and cock to the side like it always did when she was deep in thought. It created a dimple on her left cheek that Crank found irresistibly cute. Stop that! Focus!
“I was showing Alisha around school. We were in the gym and something poked me … Oh! I remember, it was a little dart! Then … well, then I was here. Where is ‘here’ anyway?”
“I don’t know exactly. Your government captured us and brought us here in a big airplane. They brought us here, along with your mother. That was three or four days ago. Before I fell asleep, I heard your father’s voice in the hall. They’ve captured him too, Jenni.”
Jenni’s face went through a series of emotions. “Why are they doing this?”
Crank sighed. “They found out about you and your abilities somehow. I think Alisha told them.”
Jenni’s eyes pinched in anger. “That weasel! I shouldn’t have trusted her.” Jenni sighed and sunk down to sit on the concrete floor. “She seemed nicer though. Different. Like maybe we could be friends.”
Crank sat in front of Jenni and wrestled with his thoughts. Why would she want to be friends with Alisha? Jenni already has lots of friends. He shook his head. “Well, whatever Alisha did, I think she got — what do you say — double-crossed? She was brought here and locked up, just like your parents, and me.”
“She told me it had taken her months to get out of wherever she was,” Jenni said. “Maybe I was part of that deal, but it backfired on her. Serves her right.”
Crank nodded. “Our problem now is how to get out of here.”
Jenni glanced around the room. “Well, if this is your dream, then is any of this real? You said you were locked in a room, right?”
Crank nodded again. “Yes, I think it’s my dream, but you have an influence on it. That keypad on the machine was just a jumbled mess to me before you looked at it. You made it clear. Changed it.”
“Okay, so I can change your dream and make a hole in the wall and escape. That doesn’t help us — we’re still in your dream.”
Crank sighed. “That’s true. But at least we can talk. And now you know what’s going on. Maybe you can wake yourself up.”
Jenni looked at him skeptically, then closed her eyes in concentration. Perhaps a minute later she shook her head and refocused on him. “Everything’s … I don’t know … fuzzy. Slippery. It feels like I’m walking through an ocean of cotton balls, trying to grab fish that are swimming by.” She looked up at the machine her body lay in. “From the looks of it, they’ve got me pumped full of drugs constantly so I can’t wake up.”
“So, we need to figure out a way to get the drugs turned off in the real world.”
“Yeah, but how are you going to do that locked in a room?”
Crank had no idea, but at least he had something he’d lost before he went to sleep: hope.
“Jenni, I’ve been completely alone the past few days. Now that I have you back — at least in my dreams — I’m not going to lose you again.” A smile reached her eyes. “You keep trying to wake yourself up and I’ll see what I can do to find us some help. I have so many things I want to talk to you about. Jenni, I —”
Crank woke on his bed in darkness. Love you. He pounded the bed in frustration and tried futilely for the next few hours to get himself back to sleep. While sleep was a lost cause, he did use the time to form the beginning of a plan in his mind.
Chapter 5
Alisha scowled at the food on her tray.
Once again, she had been used and lied to.
Colonel Stephenson had promised if she helped bring Jenni in, Alisha could return home and not be bothered by the government any more. Deep down, she hadn’t really believed it but, just like with Mogritas, she had taken the chance that maybe, just maybe, he was telling the truth. It wasn’t like she’d had an overabundance of choices either.
Alisha sighed and tossed the tray to the floor in disgust. Mashed potatoes sprayed across the tile and onto the door.
It had taken so long to move through the chain of command. Starting with the silly Sergeant that had interviewed her after her escape from Brandon and the others, she had controlled and discarded over a dozen people, trying desperately to find someone with the authority to release her without being questioned by someone higher up. She became careless when she’d come to Colonel Stephenson and he’d discovered her secret.
From then on, anyone who came in contact with her wore dark glasses. If she couldn’t make eye contact, she couldn’t get her power to work.
She’d railed against it for weeks, staring down guard after guard in hopes of forcing her will past the simple shields they wore, to no avail. Alisha became so frustrated, she physically attacked one, tearing the glasses from his face before she was unceremoniously subdued and handcuffed to her bed — not her finest moment.
Eventually things had settled into a routine. She sat in her cell alone and every two or three days, she’d be subjected to different kinds of medical tests performed by sunglass-wearing doctors and nurses. Once they were done poking her with needles or attaching electrodes to her skin, they’d escort her back to her room where the process would begin again.
It had slowly been driving her insane.
Then, one day, Colonel Stephenson came asking questions about a girl they’d been tracking. They had suspicions, but nothing they could prove, and needed someone to get close to her and verify her identity. If successful, the Colonel assured Alisha she could return to her family. She had, of course, jumped at the chance, slim as it was. She’d never really liked Jenni anyway.
So, Alisha had done what was asked and delivered Jenni to them. Yet, here she was, stuck in the same place as before, only this time, they were paying even less attention to her.
Alisha knew she wasn’t going to be able to escape on her own.
The thought made her almost physically ill — or possibly it was the sight of the mashed potatoes congealing on the floor — but she was going to have to find a way to contact and free Jenni. One last time, Alisha vowed. One last time I’m going to ask for help from someone.
She plotted and schemed until, finally, the guard came to retrieve her meal tray. A disgusted sigh escaped the soldier on seeing the mess.
“I’m sorry,” Alisha said. “It slipped.”
“Uh huh. Right. I’ll get something to clean this up,” the guard said as he shut the door.
Alisha carefully stepped around the mess and tried the handle. Locked. Not surprising, but an open door would have been a pleasant bonus. She returned to her bed and sat down to wait.
The guard returned a few minutes later with a bucket, mop, and some rags. The water in the bucket smelled strongly of cleaning solution. After putting the tray in the hallway and closing the door, he set to work on the floor with the mop.
“I really am sorry,” Alisha said again. “At least let me help.”
The soldier looked at her from behind his sunglasses and pursed his lips. “All right. Here,” he said, handing her one of the rags. “Wipe up the wall.”
Alisha flashed him one of her best smiles and dipped the rag in the bucket. The hot water prickled her fingers as she removed the rag. Fumes from the cleaning solution stung her eyes, but she did her best not to react. Alisha methodically cleaned the sticky mess while keeping her attention on the guard.
He finished with the floor and bent down to rinse and wring out the mop. Alisha turned back to do the same with her rag, but this time dunked her hand fully in the bucket.
“Ow!” she cried in pain, quickly flinging her hand and the soaked rag out of the bucket — splashing a good deal of the scalding water in the face of the surprised soldier.
The man dropped to his knees and yelled, hands clawing at his face. His glasses dropped to the floor and Alisha snatched them up.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” Alisha said. “Are you all right? Let me see.”
The guard managed to find one of the dry rags and wiped his face. He met Alisha’s gaze briefly before she handed him his sunglasses. His eyes grew wide and he gratefully accepted them and hastily replaced them on his face.
Embarrassed, and in pain, he quickly finished picking up the utensils shortly before another guard came and opened the door.
“Lytle! You all right? What’s going on?”
“I’m fine, sir. Just an accident. It’s nothing, sir.”
The newcomer looked around the room and at Alisha before helping Lytle out the door. Alisha listened as the latch closed and locked, a small smile forming on her face.
She hadn’t held his eyes for long, but it was enough to begin a connection. Alisha had learned a lot about her power over the past months, and had gained precision and control. It would take time — a day or two perhaps — but she’d form a bond with Mr. Lytle. Then she could see about getting out of this mess for good.
Chapter 6
Crank questioned the guard who brought the morning meal about a meeting with Colonel Stephenson. “Please tell him I’m willing to cooperate.”
The guard made no response, but Crank sat back, eating his breakfast with an air of hope.
Later in the day, after the evening meal, Crank heard shouts and activity in the hallway, but things quieted down quickly thereafter. No word came from the Colonel.
Sleep remained elusive. Crank was still too excited at the prospect of contacting Jenni again. He did catnap a few times during the night, but he did not remember dreaming and Jenni had not appeared.
Morning was abruptly announced by the flare of the lights in his cell, as it had been since their capture. Crank relieved himself, then did his best to wash his face in the tiny sink. Breakfast arrived, along with a visitor.
Colonel Stephenson unfolded a small stool and placed himself near the door while Crank sat on the bed with his breakfast tray. The Colonel nodded to the guard who saluted and closed the door, leaving the two alone.
“I was told you were willing to part with information.” Stephenson said without preamble.
Crank set the tray beside him and nodded. “I apologize for my behavior in our last meeting. I was frightened and upset.”
“Understandable. How are you feeling now?”
“Tired,” Crank said in all honesty. “But I want to help you in any way that I can.”
The Colonel eyed Crank, skepticism plain on his face. “All right, Son,” he said finally. “I’m willing to work with you for the time being — largely because I’m running out of options.” He paused and rubbed his bald head. “Tell me everything you know about Jenni’s ability.”
“Well, she can make herself into pretty much anything she wants. With some practice,” Crank added. “She doesn’t always get it right the first time.”
Stephenson nodded. “What about other things? Things outside her body.”
Crank hesitated. He didn’t want to give away too much information, but he needed the Colonel to trust him. “She can change other things. Rocks. Water. But nothing living.”
“How do you know that?”
“She had to practice a lot so she could keep up her disguise at school. During the time I was finishing my transformation, we experimented with her abilities. She found she couldn’t do anything to plants or bugs and such when she tried.”
“I see.” The Colonel stood then and folded up his stool. “Thank you for your help. I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions.” He rapped on the door which opened promptly and he left without another word.
Crank sighed after hearing the lock snap back into place. He hoped he had played it right — Crank wasn’t the type for subterfuge. He hadn’t lied to Stephenson. In fact, Crank didn’t think he’d said anything the Colonel didn’t already know or at least suspect, but it was impossible to know for sure.
— — —
Over the next few days, Colonel Stephenson visited Crank several times. He stayed only long enough to ask some pointed questions, then left Crank alone again to ponder whether his plan was working at all. Jenni did not reappear in his dreams, causing him some doubt whether it had actually been her and not just a vivid dream of his own making. Still, reliving that night in his mind over and over, he had to believe it was her.
After a knock, his door opened and a guard stepped in with Crank’s dinner tray. Crank accepted it and walked back to his bed to sit and eat. As the door closed, the guard said, “Be sure to try the biscuit.”
Startled, Crank looked to the door, then down at the biscuit on his tray. The guards hadn’t said a word to him since they’d arrived that he could recall. Why now? Crank picked up the biscuit, revealing a slip of paper underneath. Quickly, he set aside the food and opened the note, which read, “This one is mine. Alisha.”
Thoroughly confused, Crank folded the paper and slid it under the covers of his bed. He then retrieved his tray and began to eat.
What could it mean? Had he received it on accident? What “one” did it refer to? Not the biscuit, surely! Crank puzzled some more as he chewed. The note sounded as though it had come from Alisha, but the handwriting didn’t look like that of a girl. He’d seen enough passed notes in school to note the differences. If it was from Alisha, what was she trying to tell him? And, furthermore, could he trust anything she said?
Crank finished the meal and impatiently waited for the guard to return. Finally, his door reopened and Crank stood to hand over his tray and utensils. The guard looked at Crank from behind dark glasses and gave a slight nod. Crank studied the man’s features and was relatively certain he was the same one who had delivered the food and the cryptic message. The guard accepted the tray and locked Crank inside once more.
This one is mine. Crank wondered again about the note. Then a thought occurred to him: did she mean the guard himself? But how is that possible? Crank shook his head. Whatever the meaning, the knowledge did him little good while he was still locked inside a cell. He needed to convince Colonel Stephenson to let him see Jenni.
Crank decided it was probably about time for his lights to go out for the night so he made preparations for bed. He had just removed his shirt and shoes when his door opened again.
Colonel Stephenson stepped inside with another guard. “Get dressed and come with me, please,” the Colonel said.
Crank hurriedly complied and they escorted him down the hallway.
They took a different path through the barren, white corridors than he had for his first interview with Colonel Stephenson.
Plain white-washed concrete gave way to clear walls that contained a hive of activity. A dozen, or more, people in white lab coats manned computer stations or scurried to and fro performing tasks that were a complete mystery to Crank. Colonel Stephenson swiped a card along a keypad and ushered Crank and his guard inside a clear entryway leading into the busy room.
A light, dry mist sprayed them from head to toe. The Colonel waited impatiently for the process to finish, then led them through a second door, into the room and up a set of metal stairs along the wall to their left. The sound of many conversations bounced dully around the large room and the air held no smell; lifeless. Once above the bustle, Crank saw that the centerpiece to the room was the sarcophagus that held Jenni. It appeared the same as it had, but the room was nothing like what he had dreamed.
At the top of the stairs, they entered a darkened control room with more banks of monitors and computers placed in front of windows that revealed the room below. Three more people sat at these workstations, speaking occasionally through microphones on their cheeks. Crank’s guard closed the door behind them, shutting out the sound from outside. Crank moved to the middle of the long, narrow room and looked down at Jenni inside her cylindrical prison. Wires and tubes sprouted from her head, chest and arms, and her body was covered in a simple white sheet.
“Status,” Colonel Stephenson said.
“Subject’s respiration, heart rate and brain functions all slowly increasing as before, sir,” the technician sitting in front of Crank reported.
“Crank,” the Colonel began, “I have a problem. The sedative we’ve been giving her is losing effectiveness, in spite of dosage increases. My options are limited. I don’t wish to harm her, but I’ll do what’s necessary to maintain control of the situation.”
Crank kept his eyes focused on Jenni. His heart raced. Jenni must have found a way to counteract the drugs they were giving her!
Stephenson continued, “I need to know what she’s going to do if she wakes up. What is she capable of?”
Puzzled, Crank turned his attention to the Colonel. “What do you mean? I’m sure she’ll be scared and confused. You’ve kept her asleep for many days.”
“I understand that, Son. What I want to know is if she would be able to break out of the container.”
Crank laughed. “Of course she could!” As soon as the words escaped his lips, he realized his mistake and despaired.
Stephenson nodded and leaned over one of the keyboards, pushing a button. “Change the sedative to detomidine,” he said into a microphone.
A woman below stopped and looked up to the control booth. She pressed a finger to a device attached to her ear and her voice sounded from a speaker to Crank’s right, “Sir, that’s used for livestock, horses.”
“I’m aware of what it is, Major. Do it.”
Crank gaped at the Colonel. “What are you doing to her?”
Stephenson sighed. “We’re switching to a stronger sedative. I can’t afford to allow her to gain consciousness. We haven’t been able to perform any tests. All the blood or tissue samples we take disappear shortly after we remove them from her. She’s still a completely unknown quantity.”
“Why didn’t you just talk to her?”
“Take him back to his cell.”
“No! I want to be with her!” The guard grabbed Crank’s arm sharply, dragging him toward the door.
Crank twisted and tried to pull away. He realized his plan to gain the Colonel’s trust was never going to work. They would never be allowed to leave this place.
Crank managed to break free and stepped back from the guard who had assumed a fighting stance.