Chapter 14
I took Josh’s advice to heart, giving myself much more than five feet between my spot and anyone else. Having an extra ability proved extremely interesting, but it didn’t make me any physically stronger or less vulnerable.
In a battle, my telekinesis would be much more valuable than seeing someone’s past or future, so I decided to focus on practical moves. I practiced levitating a branch and swinging it like a remote bat. I enlisted Cole for assistance levitating an opponent. I figured he needed the least practice of any of my friends.
Josh had acquired a few training dummies somewhere between Seattle and our current camp outside Portland. I watched Faith repeatedly torch her fire-retardant stationary adversary. Ilya and Jonah played a game of ‘blast the illusion’, which Josh had consented to as it didn’t really constitute sparring. Jonah seemed to be his old self as he shot fire-hose strength streams through Ilya’s various apparitions, a bobcat, a bear, Thorn, Ivan.
Watching Ilya dodge Jonah’s attacks in turn gave rise to worry that he was even weaker than me on a battlefield with individuals as deadly as Adelaide, Ralph, Nellie and Bruno. He wasn’t just my friend, he was my twin and the weight of that had been growing every day. Without Gemma, he remained my only family. I tried hard to picture Gemma’s face. I visualized her dorm building, thinking about what she might be doing right at that moment.
The field melted away and I stood in my parents’ Prince George kitchen. The drapes were different, a bright floral pattern. My mother looked almost as young as she had at the Roman ruins honeymooning with Ivan. This time, she stood over a high chair with a bright-eyed baby flailing in her direction–it must have been me! She placed pieces of chopped banana on the plastic tray in front of the baby, caressing her pregnant belly as she did so.
“It’s strange how this pregnancy seems so much like the last one. You’d think I was having twins again!” Mom said to Darryl. Her face fell for a moment, but she looked at me and her smile returned. She grasped a small black stone pendant hanging around her neck and tucked it under her shirt as she leaned over to kiss my forehead.
“I hate onions and garlic again. I get the same twinge in my gut when I eat strawberries. I’m back to having those weird fainting spells when I use any of the appliances or power tools. The doctor thinks I’m making it up or that something really serious is going on. I told him it was the same with my first pregnancy and I need to avoid those things. No blending or drilling for me any time soon.” My mother laughed.
I could still hear her throaty giggle when the Oregon wilderness materialized around me. I looked around to gauge how long my mind had been back in my parents’ kitchen. My friends had stopped practicing and were tearing down our camp.
“Hey, space cadet! Get your ass over here and help pack! We’ve got about six hours ahead of us, not including getting back on the highway,” said Faith from the back of Cole’s car.
I retied my ponytail and ran back to my deflated tent. Jonah stood over it folding up elastic core tent rods.
“Thanks, but you don’t have to do that.” I heard forced cheerfulness in my voice.
“Contrary to what you might think, I am not on death’s doorstep.” Jonah’s words dripped with bitterness. His pale teal eyes glared at me.
“Don’t be like that. I don’t want things to get weird with us. Can’t we forget about being together until we find a treatment for you?” I said.
“Sure, let’s forget about being together. That sounds like a great idea.” Jonah threw the bundled tent rods down into the pile of green nylon fabric and stormed back over to his own tent.
A lump quivered in my throat and subsided. Anger welled in my chest.
Fine, if that’s how it’s got to be.
I looked up at Cole’s car to find Faith and Ilya standing in front of the trunk, holding bags, staring at me. I frowned and they both turned away. A strong hand grabbed my shoulder and I whirled around to find Cole behind me.
“We’re on our way to Chico, California. Josh and Ilya agree with me that finding my buddy who works in the fracking industry could be a great lead.”
“As long as we’re still on our way to San Francisco, I want to check out the Berkeley campus as well as Innoviro’s office there. I have a feeling San Francisco is more significant than we’d thought.”
“You’re probably right. I’m learning to trust your gut as much as your visions now.”
Our convoy took over an hour to rumble back down the rough logging roads to the interstate. Once we were back on the highway, the ride felt like gliding onto satin sheets after rolling in rough canvas.
Adelaide had requested that I ride with her privately, so I had brought my backpack–including my tarot cards–along for the drive. When I saw Bruno, Nellie and Ralph piling awkwardly into Josh’s Jeep, I knew Adelaide must have something particular in mind for me.
In Adelaide’s van, the bumpy terrain of the logging road made even small talk difficult. Once we were on smooth pavement again, she wasted no time with me.
“What’s it like, having a vision? It must be different than a daydream or a memory.”
“Yes and no. So many of my visions have been about people I know, so it gets confusing. Being in a vision is much crisper than a memory. It’s like being in the real world, but through a hazy filter. Life looks fuzzier. A memory, well, my memories have always seemed, I don’t know, farther away. Especially when I recall a memory versus a vision. Once I’ve had a vision, I can reference it in exact detail like replaying a video. If that makes any sense.”
“In our world, all experiences make sense.”
“I’ve only been in the variant world for about six months. I’m still getting used to it.”
“I hear your visions are extremely accurate.”
“That depends on what you mean by accurate. I sometimes don’t understand the significance of my visions. It’s like my sixth sense is smarter than I am. The trouble is I can’t explain things to myself. I wish I knew for sure that the visions were given to me. You know, like a higher power. That way it would be a matter of figuring out what that higher power wanted me to know. Deep down, I don’t think it works that way though. My heart tells me it’s more akin to tapping into a rich vein of knowledge that’s simply part of the natural world.”
“That’s a very mature and thoughtful way to look at it.”
“I’ve had time to puzzle over this lately, given that I’m officially unemployed.”
“So have you surmised why I wanted some time alone with you?”
“It had occurred to me in the hour or so we spent bouncing down that old logging road that I was being retained for my services,” I said with a smirk.
“You’re funny. I like that in a girl.” Adelaide looked at me with something more than admiration in her emerald eyes. The expression on her face made me blush.
I tried to get us back on track. “So, what would you like me to try to see for you? I’ve been getting better at having visions on demand, purely by concentrating.”
“Nothing specific. No pressure from me. I was a teeny bit interested to see if you could peek into my future. I don’t hold the belief that we are not meant to see the future, only that we lack the capacity. Apart from you, that is,” said Adelaide.
“Can I ask? Your accent? Where are you from? I’ve been fighting to place it. You sound like you might be British, but not. Or German, but not. I’m sorry if it’s rude, but I’m dying to know now.”
“I am Danish. Specifically, my mother was Danish and we lived in Denmark for the first few years of my life. I spent most of my time there in hiding.” Adelaide paused and added, “But, I have lived all around the world. I identify more with my variant brothers and sisters than any particular country.”
“Cool. It sounds like you’ve led an interesting life.” I hoped I was treading as carefully as I thought. “You’ve certainly got an impressive variation.”
“It feels less impressive when I have to confine myself to a wheelchair to go out in human society. So tell me, will that ever change?” Adelaide extended one of her legs towards me. She kept both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road.
I took the tentacle in my hand, holding the smooth side gently. I closed my eyes. I felt Adelaide’s muscle expand and contract inside the tentacle.
The car disappeared and I saw Adelaide and Ralph in a dirty urban alley. Adelaide satin her wheelchair. Ralph wore a goofy sandwich board and a yellow fedora, holding a floating Mylar balloon. Adelaide looked anxious.
Ralph paced around her, although his expression appeared as reptilian as ever. “He’s not going to show.”
“We don’t know that. He responded to my text. They’re still interested in us.”
“Interested in using us.”
“Are we not also using them? Do you enjoy pretending to be in a costume to go out in public? I expect you feel less amused than I am in my chair.”
“In most cities, no amount of accessories allows me to blend in, so this is not typical.”
“All the better reason to join them.”
“We don’t have time to wait.” Ralph moved around behind Adelaide’s chair and pushed her forward. They neared the end of the alley when a dark hooded figure rounded the corner to face them. The figure drew back its hood and the terrifying tangled brown visage of Thorn sneered at them.
I jolted in fear and dropped Adelaide’s leg, transporting me back to the passenger seat of her van.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing. It didn’t work. I must be tired. I think I just about fell asleep there.”
Adelaide assessed me. If she could tell I lied, she didn’t say.
“Why don’t you climb into the back there and find somewhere soft to lie down? Get some sleep and we’ll try again later. We’ve still got several hours before we reach this town.”
Chapter 15
I nodded and climbed through the opening between the front two bucket seats. I found a rolled up sleeping bag and unfurled it on top of a bagged tent. I curled into a fetal position. Then, I ventured a quick glance up at Adelaide’s face in the rear view mirror. She wore a tiny smile as she surveyed the road ahead.
I awoke to the sound of Adelaide’s voice mingling with the sound of car engines and air brakes. “We’re outside Chico now, according to my GPS.”
“I’m up. I’m coming.” I crawled back into the front seat.
I looked over at Adelaide and she smiled. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and remembered the vision of Adelaide, Ralph, and Thorn. I shuddered at the image and covered it by rubbing my arms as though they’d fallen asleep with me.
The road ahead was flanked by crispy yellow grass and clusters of sage bushes. Early August sun baked the landscape. A hint of hazy smoke shrouded the horizon. Heat shimmered in waves floating above the pavement. We rounded a corner and a cluster of dusty desert towers came into view. Downtown Chico.
I picked up my phone, hoping to avoid additional conversation with Adelaide by communicating with Faith.
Ask Cole how close we are to his friend’s house
, I tapped furiously.
Faith didn’t leave me hanging.
He says it’s around the corner, past this next hill. Follow us.
I relayed Faith’s simple directions and we hugged the edge of a wrinkled green hillside. Cole’s car turned up a meandering driveway that disappeared behind a landing. We drove where Cole had gone and the road leveled out in front of a lone mobile home.
Cole knocked on the door while Faith, Jonah, and Ilya waited in the car.
“I need to check something with Faith quickly. I’ll be right back,” I said to Adelaide. My heart thudded hard inside my chest.
I hopped out and jogged to Cole’s car, taking his spot in the driver’s seat.
“Adelaide and Ralph will side with Thorn. And probably Ivan. They might have done it already,” I said breathlessly after I slammed the driver’s side door.
“What’s this now?” said Ilya.
“She asked me to look into her future, so I took her hand, I mean her leg, I mean one of her tentacles and I saw them all in an alley,” I said in a rush.
“An alley where?” said Jonah.
“I don’t know. Adelaide sat in her wheelchair and Ralph wore a sandwich board with a funny hat, so the rest of him would look like a costume.”
“If we knew what city you’d seen, we’d know whether this is something we can prevent or something we have to deal with now,” said Jonah.
“He’s right, if they haven’t done anything yet, we can’t pounce on them.” Ilya’s amber eyes brimmed with unease, mirroring my own.
“We can at least confront them. They know Irina’s for real. We can tell them point blank, this is what she saw. They can explain themselves or get lost. Ilya will listen in and he’ll know if they’re telling the truth,” said Faith, her hands waving wildly.
“It’s not that simple. If it’s far enough in the future, they’ll say they don’t know what she’s talking about and they’ll be telling the truth,” said Ilya.
“So what can we do?” I said.
“Sit tight and keep an eye on them.” Jonah adjusted his collar, dignified in spite of his fatigue.
“If they disappear for so much as an afternoon alone, we’ll know something is up,” I said.
“Do either of them have phones? They could have contact info for this Thorn guy and we don’t know. We just met these assholes.” Faith adjusted her eyebrow ring as she frowned.
“Relax. We’ll keep an eye on them,” said Ilya.
“I’m pretty sure neither of them has a phone,” I said.
“Then it’s settled,” said Jonah.
Cole appeared outside the window next to me and rapped on the glass. “Come on out. We’re having dinner with Parker tonight.”
Our group followed him inside while Adelaide and Ralph stayed behind in her van. Parker was a very tall, very skinny man who had a bad case of acne. His friendliness came across awkwardly as though he rarely hosted so many visitors. Or possibly any visitors.
I told myself he wasn’t actually a variant. His sparsely decorated mobile had a few bland watercolor paintings, a velvety floral sofa set, and a small laminate and chrome dining table with vinyl-padded chairs. It reminded me of Darryl’s parents’ house. But it was clean, with the exception of maps and large rolled paper tubes scattered throughout his kitchen and living room.
“Parker, these are my friends Jonah, Faith, Ilya, Irina, Nellie, Bruno, and Josh. We really appreciate you giving us a tour of the area. We’ve got a couple more out in the van, but they’ve got heat stroke, so they’re out of commission for now,” said Cole.
“Do they need to see a doctor? We’ve got a free clinic in town here,” said Parker.
“No, they need to rest. I trust their judgment,” said Cole.
“Fair enough. So what are up to while you’re in town? Anything more than the facility tour?” said Parker.
“Our road trip is only for a few weeks since we need to be back in Vancouver for Labor Day. We’re headed to San Francisco, but we want to see some places a bit more off the beaten path before we get there,” said Cole.
He had clearly concocted a somewhat elaborate cover story as to our background and our reasons for visiting California.
I better keep my mouth shut so the story stays straight.
Ilya looked at me and nodded.
“I hope you guys don’t mind freezer burgers and fries for dinner. I’ve been so busy with work the last few months, I eat out most of the time. Can’t keep a lot of perishable food in the house.” Parker’s voice had a slightly nasal tone, evoking sympathy in me.
“We’re just poor MSC students, so we’re happy to have whatever you’ve got.” Ilya shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled cheerfully.
My mouth formed the exact same cheerful smile. In addition to knowing what would set Parker at ease, my brother already knew whatever cover story Cole had dreamt up. At least one of us would be able to keep up with this little fiction.
“So when did you guys want to go for a drive? We should have light until around nine o’clock tonight. If you’re staying around here, we could do it tomorrow. I can’t offer you all beds, but you’re welcome to crash on the property. Cole told me you’re all doing a camping thing right now,” said Parker.
“Could we take you up on both? We’d like to have a tour tonight, crash and then get out of your hair in the morning,” said Ilya.
“Whatever works for you. I’ll fire up the barbeque,” said Parker.
We dined on Parker’s freezer fare and headed out for our tour directly afterwards. Nellie and Bruno elected to stay in the van to keep an eye on Adelaide and Ralph. Since our rationale for not including them was heat stroke, it made sense to leave someone behind to care for them.
I rode with Josh, Ilya, and Faith while Cole had Parker in his front seat and Jonah in the back. I pushed the thought of Jonah’s anger out of my head.
“He’s not going to stay angry at you forever,” said Ilya from the back seat. My eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror, at the perfect angle to see Ilya and Faith holding hands.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said.
“Then let’s talk about mining Parker for information. He works for a fracking contractor. He might be in the loop on Innoviro activities without even knowing it. That’s how Ivan works. He contracts out everything that doesn’t involve variations. He’s legit in ninety-nine percent of everything he does. He really does need real science and he’s got to be on the level to get the best researchers to work with him,” said Ilya.
“It seems like a long shot to me,” I said.
“We’ve gotta work with what we’ve got,” said Faith.
“Maybe we should let Cole do the talking. They know each other. Parker is more likely to be open and frank with his friend.” Josh turned, following Cole’s car down a rough rural road.
“Cole is planning to ask him about the science, not the politics. We don’t need to know what method of fracking Parker’s company does.” Ilya leaned forward as though sharing a secret. “We need to know what’s going on around here that shouldn’t be. Does this guy know anyone who’s into dodgy stuff?”
“He thinks we’re all geology students, right? We could be curious for career-related reasons,” I said.
“All the more reason to keep our mouths shut and let Cole do the talking. We could get into conversations we can’t manage. It’ll give us away and then Parker is a liability,” said Josh.
“A pretty small liability. I’ll keep a line into Cole’s head while I probe Parker. If I screw up, Cole’s thoughts will tell me,” said Ilya.
“I trust you, babe.” Faith kissed Ilya on the cheek, cradling his right hand in her left.
“Yeah, I vote for Ilya digging up dodgy fracking dirt,” I said to Josh.
“I couldn’t stop either of you if I tried.” Josh shot a cautionary glance my way.
In the confinement of the Jeep, Josh’s huge frame dominated the space. I doubted that he would have trouble stopping me from doing anything, but I decided to leave the discussion in the ‘win’ column. Josh’s eyes were trained on Cole’s back bumper as we ambled down the weather-beaten dirt road.
We arrived at a field surrounding a slim tower of white pipes. Cole’s car pulled up alongside a large brown pond behind signs that read: DANGER WATER HAZARD and RESTRICTED AREA. We parked beside Cole and got out.
“There’s not a great deal to see here, but I’ll take you where the public is allowed to go. I’ve seen them do media tours.” A thread of tension hung in Parker’s apprehensive tone, renewing my sympathy for this awkward man.
“This is pretty impressive so far.” Cole looked at Parker with genuine admiration.
“Obviously, the structure in front of us here is the drill rig and well.” Parker pointed to the pipe tower.
“We don’t have any fracking in the Lower Mainland around Vancouver, so I think this is the first time most of us have seen a well,” said Cole.
“This one is small compared to what you’ll see down in Texas,” said Parker. “And over here are the site generators." Parker gestured to two machine-like pieces alongside the tower. He started to walk and we all followed. “Over here, we have drilling mud tanks. The pond on our left is the waste pit for drilling mud.”
“I recently read an article that some fracking operators in California are experimenting with inducing earthquakes. Have you heard anything about that?” said Ilya.
“My employer, Eco Energy, is not involved in anything remotely like that. Maybe try the NCEDC,” said Parker.
“That’s one of our stops before San Francisco.” Cole frowned at Ilya.
“Are we allowed to take pictures?” I asked.
“Sure, but please don’t post them on Facebook,” said Parker.
“We really appreciate you bringing us down here.” The casual authenticity of Cole’s expression reassured Parker.
“No problem. I wish it was more interesting. We should probably head out soon. We
are
allowed to be here, but I’d rather not chat with security. They’ll make the rounds sooner or later,” said Parker.
We spent the night on Parker’s bare dirt lot and rejoined him for cereal in the morning. Luckily for us, we also had some groceries of our own left in the coolers in Adelaide’s van. We shared eggs, bacon, milk and orange juice to show our gratitude.
While I helped clear the table, I suddenly noticed that Parker was missing. “Parker’s been gone awhile. Do you think he’s not feeling well?”
“I’ll listen in on . . . SHIT!” shouted Ilya.
“What?” said Faith. Cole, Josh and Jonah looked up with anxious faces. Nellie and Bruno seemed less concerned.
“He’s gone outside to check on Adelaide and Ralph. He wants to offer them some breakfast.” Ilya rushed to extract himself from the corner behind the dining table.
Ilya ran outside and I followed with Cole at my heels. Parker reached the back of the van, knocked, and immediately opened the door.
“Sorry to bug you, but– UUGGGGLLLLE” said Parker as Adelaide’s oral tentacle shot out, wrapping around his neck before her beak sunk into his chest.
“NOOOOOO!” yelled Cole running to his friend. His beefy arms pumped and his thick legs pounded the ground.
“WHY?” I shouted angrily.
We reached the van as Adelaide released her grip on Parker. He dropped to the ground like a bag of potatoes.
I rounded the corner to the open doors at the back of the van. Adelaide and Ralph were still entwined in a mess of tentacles and scaly green skin. Parker lay dead on the ground, his face tinted blue, his tongue bulging out of his mouth.
“I’m sorry! He startled us! It’s a defense mechanism! Why did you let him come out here?” Adelaide untangled her tentacles from around Ralph.
“We need to get out of here,” said Ilya darkly.
“Can’t you help him? Do something! FIX THIS!” shouted Cole. His eyes were wet with rage and grief.
“There’s nothing anyone can do for him,” said Adelaide.
“Cole,” I said softly, putting my hand on his shoulder, “He’s already gone.”