Chapter Twenty-Six

Trail did not own a house bot. In fact, he thought all bots were spies and was detained once last year and fined five thousand credits when his neighbor’s GROW came too close to the edge of his yard and he smashed its face with a shovel. Trail was my kind of guy.

“Good morning,” I said. He was already dressed for work, wearing thick canvas trousers and a shirt that read “L-Energy Plant” in red letters that matched the puffy spots under his eyes. “How are you doing? Are you holding up okay?”

“Yeah, I think I’m ready to face the day. If anyone asks why I look like crap, I’ll tell ’em I’m sick, ran out of anti-virals, and was too tired to go to the dispensary and get some, so I didn’t sleep very well. They know I don’t own a house bot.”

“We’re so grateful that you agreed to help us. I don’t know what we’d do without you. Thank you.”

Trail made the coffee himself, pushing buttons and watching the brown liquid flow, hot and savory, into mugs before setting them on a tray he positioned in the middle of the kitchen table. A plate of scrambled eggs and toast he pulled from the food heater joined the mugs in the middle of the modestly set table.

The coffee was thin but creamy, coating my throat on the way down as I drifted back into the bedroom to give Trail some alone time. Michael emerged from the shower wearing only one thing—a towel wrapped around his waist. When he gave his head a quick shake, a spray of water droplets hit my upper arm and he smiled apologetically. He sat down next to me and leaned his cheek against my shoulder, making a wet spot with his hair.

His damp skin was cool against mine, and as I eyed a bead of water trickling down the contour of his abs, I couldn’t help but set my hand on top of his thigh. From under the towel, his muscles moved against my palm as he scooted even closer.

“It’s almost nine, Michael,” I said. “Magnum’s not here. We’ll have to stay here another day and wait for him.”

“I know,” he said in the same disappointed tone. I turned my head and walked to the window while he dressed.

The clouds hung low in the sky, draping across the building in the distance as a peek of sun broke the horizon. My eyes, blurred by a ray of sun, refocused, and from the corner of my eye, there was a flash, something dark and quick, and a body stood mute behind the largest tree beyond Trail’s backyard.

“Check this out,” I said excitedly.

Still pulling up his jeans, Michael hobbled to my side as the figure made a second dash to the back gate. It was Magnum, and Victoria was in his arms.

“He made it,” I cried, running to the back door to momentarily turn off the Whimsy Birds and meet him. “Magnum’s here,” I shouted as I passed Trail, who was taking a long sip from his coffee mug.

“I told you I’d make it,” Magnum said as he presented Victoria to me and let a canvas bag slip from his shoulder and land on the floor.

“My baby girl,” I said through a smattering of kisses to first her forehead and then the tops of her hands as my heart swelled with love.

After giving him a big clap on the back and handshake that turned into a hug, Michael’s chin rode over my shoulder as he came up behind me and looked down into Victoria’s sweet face. From atop my other shoulder, Trail did the same after introducing himself to Magnum.

“Here, Trail. Hold her,” I said, giving Victoria to her uncle for inspection. He took her in his arms and stroked the back of her fisted hand with his index finger. “This is really Travel’s baby? His actual baby, blood-related and all?”

Michael grinned. “Yes, she’s the first one of her kind, not a clone, and she can have babies of her own someday.”

“I’m her real mother, and your brother is her real father,” I added.

Another touch to Victoria’s hand triggered more tears as Trail cried into the sleeve of one arm while he cradled the baby in the other.

“So you didn’t have any trouble sneaking here?” I asked Magnum as Trail transferred her back into my arms.

“Not an ounce, but security has picked up everywhere. You guys need to catch your last flight to Sector Ten as soon as possible.” Magnum didn’t know the truth. Like Michael said, the less he knew, the better. “Everything you’ll need for Victoria during your trip is right here.” He gently kicked the bag he’d brought with him.

Magnum and Michael clapped each other on the back, and when it was my turn, Michael held Victoria and cooed at her.

“I’ll never forget you, rebel.”

“And I’ll never forget you.”

“You’ve covered your tracks, right? You won’t get caught?”

“Me get caught? Hell no. I’m too cool for that, remember?”

That was something I’d always remember.

Before Magnum left out the front door with empty arms, he gave Trail a strong handshake, me a long hug, and Victoria a gentle kiss on the forehead.

“Come with us, Trail, to Tasma,” I said after the door closed, my eyes damp with tears.

“Yes, come with us,” Michael interjected.

“No, I can’t.” He shook his head. “It’s tempting. It really is, but I’ve got something here I need to do in the regions. Something I can’t leave.” What that was, I couldn’t imagine, but Trail’s eyes told us not to ask. “Thank you, though. It means a lot to me that you’d want me to come.”

“Of course we would. You’re Victoria’s uncle, after all.”

Just as I was about to hand her to Trail for another hug, the birds at the back door went crazy, producing a frenzy of squawks and clanking metal. “Oh no. Who’s here? Why use the back door?” I asked, dashing across the room to get away from the window.

“To the bedroom, quickly,” said Trail. “Maybe security officers questioned the neighbors and one of them reported seeing someone other than me come through the back door.”

Michael grabbed the bag Magnum prepared for Victoria. “If it’s trouble, we’ll find a way out of here. Just remember, Trail, once we’re gone, call Saul, give him the code, and tell him one hour.”

“Got it.” Trail threw us a thumb’s up behind his back as we ran to the bedroom and kept the door open just a crack.

The bird’s quieted down, and we heard the back door slide open and closed.

“Good morning, Mr. Carson,” said a male voice. “As you know, you’re home is Liaison non-compliant.”

“Yeah, so?” said Trail. “It’s being upgraded on Wednesday.”

“So, manual readings must be taken regularly,” said the other male voice, “to ensure the safety of the subdivision, of course.”

“Yeah, so?” Trail repeated in a tone that was more believable than I would have had at that point.

“L-Band readings from your house indicate there are three people inside, but thermal readings from the street show four separate life forms. A strange phenomena, something our security team hasn’t seen before.”

Damn it! We should have had Magnum fix Michael’s band while he was here.

“Why are you taking thermal readings of my house?”

“It’s something we do on a regular basis in the older subdivisions.” Yeah, right. Whoever that officer was, he was a terrible liar. They suspected we were here, and maybe even Victoria.

“We need to go. Now,” I whispered, collecting all of our bags. “Through the window.”

The window slid open easily without triggering an alarm. Michael climbed out first. Then I handed him the baby and made my own pathetic climb over the window ledge and leaped to the ground, lacking Michael’s athleticism.

“We’ll run to those trees,” he said, taking my hand.

The Whimsy Birds made their third debut since our arrival, bursting into a chorus of eccentric shrieks as we sprinted toward the trees. Neither one of us dared to look over our shoulders but we heard a man shout, “Hey, I just saw two people running out of the backyard, a man and a woman.” At least they didn’t see Michael holding a newborn against his chest.

Our run slowed to a brisk walk once we were several blocks away. “Do you think they’ll be able to find us?” I asked as Michael handed Victoria back to me and I deactivated her band and mine.

“As long as we stick to Magnum’s map to avoid obscuras and stay behind the trees when we can, we should be okay. We can only hope Trail’s able to call Saul for us. If not, then I don’t know what we’ll do.”

Victoria blinked against the harsh morning sun. I readjusted her blanket until a small flap of cloth folded over her head to cover her eyes, and then I looked at Michael. He, too, was squinting against the sun, his sensitive blue eyes trying to shield themselves from the glare as they worked to identify the buildings in the distance and scan the horizon for PATs.

But his eyes also held fear. If something happened to him, I could never forgive myself.

“Michael,” I said as he pulled me with him to cut across a tree-lined lot. “No one knows you’re involved in my escape. Magnum can cover your tracks, and you can come up with enough lies to explain where you’ve been. Stay here. Just show me where to go. I’ll find Saul. I’ll give him the code, and he’ll take Victoria and me to Tasma, no questions asked, just like you said.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, almost tripping on a curb.

“This is your world. Not mine. You’ve dedicated your whole life to your career, to the program, and now if we don’t make it…”

“My life has been dedicated to the program, but that’s not the life I chose for myself, remember? As far as I’m concerned, this isn’t my world, either.”

“But if we make it to Tasma, we’ll never be able to come back here, right? You’ll be stuck there and—”

“And I don’t care about that, as long as I’m with you.” We stopped our jog, and he held me by the shoulder, his words tugging on my soul.

“I can’t let you give up everything for me. If something happens to you, it’ll be my fault. Please, stay here.”

“I’m not leaving you.” He let out a big breath.

“But what if you need an organ transplant?”

“Don’t worry. After we get the Van Winkle Project started, that’s the next thing I’m going to do—start an organ cloning program, so transplants can be performed. Many lives will be saved. It’s something we can do together.”

“Thank you,” I said with my voice and with my eyes.

We broke into a sprint, darting in and out of trees. Victoria wiggled in my arms, made a sweet sound, and looked up at me when we re-entered the sunlight and jogged toward a busy intersection.