“Rae.”
My skin prickled as the air charged with expectation. Right. He wasn’t going to drop the subject until I conjured up an answer to satisfy him. “Everyone had a job but me. Really aside from crunching numbers, what can I contribute? Especially now that those I was supposed to protect are dead or worse.”
There. I’d said it. I flopped against the seat back and closed my eyes. Now what was he going to do? Perhaps, I should have allowed the CeeBees to finish me off.
Tobias squeezed my fingers. “So you want me to kill you now?”
My heart thumped against my ribs. I glared at him from under my lashes. “That’s not funny.”
“You’re part of my team, Rae. Just like, Layla, Minor, Kuma and a trusted few that are not even lights in the night sky.”
I was? Wow! I’d never been part of something. All the jobs I’d ever held had been white-board jobs. There for a little bit then erased as if I’d never existed, not even a faint trace of me left.
He released my hand to rest his on the steering wheel as we turned the corner. “And you have far more to contribute than crunching numbers.”
I leaned a little forward in my seat. Why had Layla taken this turn? It just led deeper into the industrial park.
“You have an advantage over all of us, including Victor and Ulla. You grew up here, know the ins and outs that off-worlders couldn’t even imagine. In that respect, your contributions are the most valuable of all.”
That was sweet, reassuring, and maybe even a little true. I’d always been able to pick out foreigners by some little idiosyncrasy and those folks had the home planet advantage. Outer-space humans should be very easy to spot. Like when they took a wrong turn. Right. Time to use my expertise to help the team. My team. My skin tingled and I smiled.
“You should tell Layla she took the wrong turn. This dead ends around the bend.” I pointed to the curve in the road marked by a lone spastic streetlamp. The light flickered like a hungry bug zapper then fell dark as Layla rounded the corner.
Tobias tapped a few dashboard buttons and a large satellite map pushed the spy gnat map to the bottom of the console. The rectangular-shape of the buildings filled the screen. “That makes it the perfect Beta camp. We will be safe from our enemies, yet still be able to watch them when they show up at Alpha camp.”
Embarrassment blazed through me. So much for my mighty Earth human skills. “Won’t they be able to see your equipment blazing away with their nifty computer screens?”
“They’ll see a poorly maintained research call center with a small staff working inside.” Tobias’s fingers flew over a few more buttons. Seven blazing white human silhouettes sat behind equally white squares. One in the center stood and stretched before raising a hand to his ear and pacing a very small space.
Ahh, life in the cubicle penitentiary. I straightened my stiff and torn tank top then ran my fingers through my hair. Wincing at the pull on my scalp, I stopped at a matted lock. I hoped they weren’t too horrified by the return of dead chic look I sported. “How many people are on our team?”
Our team. That wouldn’t get old anytime soon.
“Just the five of us.”
Layla drifted to the left side of the road and turned into the parking lot of the cream-colored stucco structure. The clunky sign sprouting like a barnacle from the side of the single-story building and proclaimed it as property of Imperial Research. Behind the half open blinds, shadows flitted in the fluorescent lighting.
Tobias, Layla, Minor, Kuma and I made five. Yet obviously there were people in the building. I had a hard time swallowing that an alien subculture was operating underneath the noses of call jockeys. Even the US government kept their secrets, well, secret, and had nebulous men in black carry out their nefarious deeds.
“Then who are all those people? Window dressing?”
“Yes, actually, they are.” The front fender brushed the steep curb with an odd thunk and Tobias winced. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands as the big rig in front crept toward the parking lot behind the building. “UED owns a few businesses on Earth. What you see are holographic and infrared projections of one of our operations.”
A projection? The side door swung open and a female employee strode under the portico. Metal studs winked from her ears, nose and eyebrows. Propping a foot against a round pillar, she stuffed a cigarette in her mouth, cupped her hand over her silver lighter and lit up. Her kohl rimmed eyes seemed to follow us as we passed.
I resisted the urge to shrink in my seat. “No way is that a hologram.”
“Sure it is. All the lights in this lot can project them.” When we pulled into the back lot, Tobias stopped the HHR.
The semi continued on, coasting through a parked Volkswagen, then beat-up corvette, and a monster truck before nosing into two empty spaces. The air brakes belched as the semi stopped. As soon as Layla killed the headlamps, the big rig disappeared, leaving only the cars behind. A moment later three more cars sprouted from the nothingness to cover the spots where the front of the semi had been.
Tobias winked at me before backing into an empty spot at the edge of the row.
One of these days, I’d be wearing that know-it-all smirk on my lips. Unfortunately, today wasn’t that day. Sighing, I reached for the safety belt release. “Okay. Okay. I believe you.”
Douche.
When I stepped out of the car, humid air wrapped around me. In the distance, the light show continued, accompanied by the faint sound of thunder. The hair on my arms stood on end. When I tried to brush them flat, static electricity crackled under my palms. “What in the world?”
“It’s a side effect of the projection.” Tobias slammed the HHR’s hatch closed and swung his duffle over his shoulder. “You’ll get used to it.”
Yeah. If we won. With this kind of technology, I couldn’t see how we could lose but… Frustration clawed at my control. But, I got the feeling I was trying to land a jumbo jet without having a single flying lesson. “I hope so.”
While I waited for Tobias to join me by the passenger side, the back door opened and two women sashayed out. Laughter followed them as they swung their oversized purses and headed for the monster truck. The overhead lights sparked off the blond streaks in the right one’s hair and off their matching gold necklaces. The brunette shook her head and looped her scarf around her neck.
“They look so real.” I could even see the crow’s feet when they laughed.
Tobias set his hand on the small of my back and pushed me toward Layla.
The gray-haired doctor’s face looked green from the tint of her Smartphone screen and her path headed right for the two laughing workers.
“Look out!” I raised my hand as if to push back Layla.
Without looking up, she strode through the two women. Neither the projections nor Layla missed a step but continued on their journey as if the collision had never happened.
I shivered. Guess they only looked real to me.
“Layla,” Tobias snapped, wedging his hand through his hair.
Stopping, the doctor glanced up from her Smartphone and blinked at us.
“Pay attention to your surroundings when you’re outside the building.” He pointed to the truck that was backing toward Layla. “Walking through the projection is the best way to give our position away.”
“Oh, yes. Yes, of course.” She scurried forward as the monster truck eased into the spot where she had been. She stopped half into the bumper of the Volkswagen before jumping out of it. Dropping the cell in her pocket, she set her hand on her throat as nervous laughter bubbled out. “I have to adjust to life outside of an energy barrier.”
With the rumble of bass, the trunk trundled by.
I watched it turn the corner of the building. My toes tapped the ground. “How far will the projection travel?”
Tobias ushered us to the parking spot near the Volkswagen. “If the sensors detect someone following the car, it will turn into the parking lot of the grocery store up the street and get lost in an algorithm of traffic. If no one is watching, the projection will fade out once the car reaches the access road running parallel to the interstate.”
I nodded. Slowly, I was learning this Sci-Fi speak. Maybe the CeeBees had made me smarter.
Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Layla stood next to us. “Should we begin unloading or would you rather we wait until the others join us?”
Swinging the duffel on his shoulder to the ground, Tobias dug out a red MP4 player and tapped it on. “The area is clear. You can begin unloading your items then—”
“Then begin the inventory. I know the drill.” Layla sighed and patted the gray bun unwinding at her neck. “This constant moving is enough to make me wish I hadn’t requisitioned so many devices for this mission.”
Excitement spiraled to my toes. Inventory? That involved counting and who better to do that than an accountant? At least then I could be useful “I’ll help if you wish.”
Layla’s eyes narrowed for a moment before all emotion drained from her face. “That is very kind of you.”
“I’m afraid not, Rae.” Tobias aimed his MP4 player at the side of the VW. The cargo door of the semi rolled up revealing its packed interior meshed with the car interiors and floating in the air above their roofs. “Each officer must personally verify their equipment and report any missing or broken items.”
“Oh.” So much for my good idea. I boxed up the budding disappointment. I would find another way to help. Surely, there was something I could do. I stepped back as the silver tongued ramp unfurled from under the semi’s bed.
Layla whistled and her train of four carts lurched onto the ramp before rattling down. “Thanks for the offer anyway.”
I nodded as two more holographic people strode out of the building. They diverged at the sidewalk—one headed toward the Volkswagen the other to the Bondo-colored Corvette. Both walked through Layla’s carts.
She glanced back at Tobias. “Sorry, Colonel.”
He waved away her regret and tromped up the ramp. “As I said the area is secure, just be aware of it in future.”
Nodding, Layla trotted toward the double doors while her carts trailed obediently behind her.
The Corvette backed right through her.
I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep from calling out to her.
It’s just an illusion, Rae
. Just an illusion. A frickin’ real looking illusion. Tingles raced across my skin as the Volkswagen pulled out in front of me. I rubbed the hairs that stood on end. God only knew would it felt like to have these projection people actually walk through me. “Uh, Tobias.”
I glanced at the building’s open double doors. The small tiled foyer dead ended at a wall with a vase of flowers sitting on the entryway table and Impressionist print hanging above it. Layla marched right through everything without stirring a silk leaf and disappeared. I hugged myself tighter. Definitely nearing the top of the creepy scale.
Tobias appeared at the edge of the truck towing his cart of duffle bags behind him. “Yeah?”
“I’m not going to have to walk through holographic people, am I?” That would definitely blow out the creep scale and inch into spooky things I never wanted to do in my lifetime.
The pierced and tattooed Gothic Lolita clomped from the building and propped one of her platform boots on the low wall of the planter. Red tinted her face as she played with her lighter before spanking another cigarette from the pack in her leather jacket pocket.
“Don’t worry.” Tobias steadied his cart down the ramp then joined me in the empty parking lot. “They only look real on the outside. You won’t be able to see them once you walk through the back door.”
“Oh.” I smoothed my stiff tank. “Okay then.”
My brain sputtered when it tried to puzzle out how that could be. Right. I still hated science. The CeeBees hadn’t changed that, at least. I skipped to keep up with him as he pushed his pile of bags toward the door. “So if I can’t help unpack, what do you want me to do?”
“First,” he wrinkled his nose as he looked at me, “get cleaned up. You smell like death warmed over.”
My jaw went slack then fury clenched my muscles. Of all the nasty, low-down things to say, that had to be the tops. “You are such a douche bag.”
“One day, I’m going to look up what exactly a douche bag is and you might want to avoid me for a week or so afterward.”
I snorted. Like he didn’t know he wasn’t being insulted. A deaf monkey would know that. Tobias was far from deaf, even if he did exhibit knuckle-dragging tendencies. “I’ll take my chances.”
He slowed the cart as we approached the back porch where the Goth blew smoke rings at the gum-drop light hanging from the roof. Tobias planted his hand on my back and shoved me past the open double doors. “Get inside.”
The skin on my neck prickled. Grabbing the front of the cart, I lugged it toward the safety of the building. “Stay safe.”
He tossed me an odd look then pointed at the light in the ceiling. Silver flashed in his hand then darkness invaded the porch. Goth Lolita disappeared in a blink. Shortly there after, Tobias dove into the bushes. The doors swung shut behind the cart and for a moment, a soft sucking sound crowded the entry. Footsteps. Behind me. My heart slammed to a stop. Holy Toledo! Someone was inside the building.
I spun on my heel.
Layla strode down the long hallway toward me, a folded blue uniform draped over her arm. “Rae? Are you well? You look pale.”
I thumped my chest to get my heart started again. God, I’m such an idiot at times. Of course someone else was in the building. I’d watched the doctor and her train of carts enter. “Fine. I’m fine.”
“Where is the colonel?”
I turned back toward the door. Head lamps cut across the dark parking lot. Aw snap! We had company and Tobias was out there. Alone. Some team player I was.
“Outside. Inside the bushes.” I reached for the door handle before pulling back. Right, Rae and just what do you think you’re going to do to help? You hadn’t even heard them coming.
“Relax. It’s just Kuma and Minor.” Layla thumped my shoulder.
I locked my jaw. Good heavens, the woman needed to know comfort was soft pats not bone jarring ones. Still, it was something. She had accepted me as part of the team. I leaned against the warm glass. Kuma’s large bulk dwarfed Minor’s lean form as they crept forward in the darkness. In their hands, silver key fobs glittered in the rays of moonlight filtering through the clouds.