Evolution (17 page)

S
ara stared
at the computer screen. The damn thing kept freezing up. Not that she wanted to read, for the hundredth time, about how children were supposed to obey their elders. Repeating the same words over and over didn’t constitute education. But brainwashing had about as much to do with learning as abstinence had to do with sex.

She banged on the side of the monitor. It never did any good, but it didn’t hurt either. The image split, then recombined, but this time with words that scrolled along the edge. “Talk Jonathan into seeing Jillian.” They lasted just a moment. Anyone looking over her shoulder would have thought the words had just been from a previous screen shot. She stared in fury at the monitor, as if the words were its fault.
I don’t want to talk to that dickhead.

But as she returned to her studies, she realized the words hadn’t been meaningless. Seeing anyone from the outside again would make a nice break in the mind-numbing monotony. She played the words “mind-numbing monotony” around in her head like the chorus of some cheesy children’s rhyme about church. Yet another idle thought she’d need to keep to herself.

As she left the lab and headed back to her room, Jonathan just happened to run into her. Somehow, his schedule managed to cross paths with hers far too frequently. At least he’d stopped making marriage proposals at every opportunity.

“How are the studies?”

Why would he care? Except maybe in the hopes that her brainwashing would lower her resistance to the strong, protective man.

“Informative.” But mostly at how repression had replaced intellect.

“Well, you seem to be fitting in better. Give it a month or two, and you’ll start to feel at home here. It’s really not so bad, you know.” Jonathan’s words never ceased to amaze her in revealing his ignorance.

Still, she had a mission. “You and Jillian seemed to be talking again. It couldn’t have been easy.”

“She’s a wild one.” He looked around at the cold stone walls. “I can only imagine what she’d have been like with more of a moral compass. We might have had a future.”

“Sounds like you give up on people. I think I read something about turning the other cheek in my church studies.”
Lord knows the village gave him plenty of second chances.

“You think I should contact her?”

Sara shrugged, attempting to look noncommittal. “Of course I’d like to see her again. If she happened to stop by. She’d probably want to see me too. It might help ease the whole situation if they had more proof I was okay. You could use the opportunity to find out if her feelings have softened toward you.”

“You’re a clever girl, Sara. I’d have to clear it with Father Damien. If I could just talk to Jillian, I’m sure I could get her to see our side of the situation.”

The way he said
our
side made the hairs on the back of Sara’s neck stand on end. Why he thought Jillian had so little intellect as to be convinced by a controlling ex-lover of the value of monogamy—really, why he thought anyone would listen to anything he had to say—was baffling. Sara had done her job. That was what mattered. Hopefully, whatever someone out there was planning didn’t rely on Jillian getting back together with Jonathan-the-asshat.

* * *

T
he next day
, Jonathan grabbed Sara around the waist as she headed for breakfast. “You were right. She wants to see me. I can’t thank you enough for recommending I try again. Father Damien’s even agreed to a private meeting. You’ll have to skip breakfast.”

His unsolicited touch made her body go rigid. That, combined with his exuberance, made her lose whatever appetite she might have had for the daily bowl of gruel. But slugging him for the physical contact would only result in another trip to Father Damien’s punishment bench. For a moment, she weighed the cost.
Still not worth it.

Nora shot her a nervous look as Jonathan directed her down the long hallway toward Father Damien’s office. Sara did her best to nod reassuringly at the girl. The promise that Jillian was on the other side of the massive doors to the dreaded room was the only thing that drove Sara forward. With Jonathan at her side, they could just as easily open to a shotgun wedding.

As Sara stepped into the office, Jillian ran full force into her, nearly knocking her down. The open mouthed kiss lasted for only a moment—just long enough for the capsule to be blown into Sara’s mouth. She swallowed without realizing what had happened.

Jonathan crossed his arms with a look of disgust on his face. “Such shows of affection aren’t welcome here. A polite peck on the cheek would have done just fine. It’d be best if you remember you’re not in that bordello in space anymore. Even accepting a kiss like that could send Sara back over Father Damien’s whipping bench. And rightly so.”

Jillian pulled away from Sara and clasped her hands behind her back. “I didn’t mean anything by it. You know I look on Sara as a sister. There are a lot of people who miss her, and they all told me to kiss her for them. That’s all I was doing—expressing the love of the whole village.”

Sara liked the subtle, unspoken message. No one would have told Jillian to give Jonathan a kiss. Jillian’s eyes didn’t leave Sara’s. A quick, barely perceptible wink gave Sara her only clue about what was to come. The capsule burst open as it traveled down her throat. She caught her breath as it sparked in her stomach as though a glitter bomb had gone off. She forced herself not to react. Any coughing or throat clearing would only result in suspicion.

As the estranged lovers got down to their conversation, the glittery feeling extended to every part of Sara’s body. The sensation was less tingling than shiny—as if every cell in her had become one of the images that floated in a Tobe’s eye.

Mira’s teachings about body control helped Sara stay on her feet even though she feared she’d lose feeling in her extremities. But it wasn’t just her arms and legs that suffered from the weird sensations. Thoughts took on a déjà vu appearance as if everything in her mind was mirrored back to her. She couldn’t shake her head—that would draw attention. Tears welled in her eyes. Hopefully, the others would just see it as her being overcome with emotion at seeing someone from the outside.

“So does this mean we’re getting back together?” Jonathan’s question pulled Sara out of her attention to her body.

Jillian didn’t give the definitive
No
Sara had expected, but that answer had to be coming sooner or later. “You’ll always be a part of my life. But we’ve a long way to go before we start talking about being a couple again. I just didn’t want to leave things as messed up as they were last time we talked. Your church and my connection to the village put us in a unique position to try and heal this divide.”

Jonathan cast an embarrassed look at Sara. “Well, see for yourself that Sara’s unharmed. Then we can chat in private.”

Jillian took Sara by the shoulders and peered deep into her eyes. “How are you?”

Sara knew the question had less to do with how she’d been treated than the pill that had been spit into her mouth. “All bright and shiny.”

Jonathan might think the comment just another of her snide sarcasms. That would work just fine. He’d assume that if she still showed that much spunk, Jillian would think she was okay.

Jillian gave Sara a sly wink and squeezed her hands. The pressure increased the glittery feeling. “I’ll let everyone know you’re okay. They’re all very anxious to see you again. I’m sure it won’t be much longer. Just hang in there.”

Sara could tell Jillian wanted to say more. Something was being done. That was all that mattered.

* * *

“
S
ara
, get up.” Joshua’s whisper woke Sara out of another nightmare. But this time, she wasn’t waking up to a worse reality.

His dark silhouette was accompanied by a much larger figure blocking the door, someone she knew all too well—Ed. Every confused night’s sleep in the penthouse had been accompanied by that protective figure watching over her.

“Just lie still for a moment. How’s that pill doing? Has the weird sensation died down yet?” Joshua asked.

She could still feel it in her fingers and toes, but otherwise, her body didn’t seem any different than every other morning on Earth. “I’m okay.”

“Good. That was just the first step. We don’t have much time, but I need to explain what we’re doing. That pill infected every cell in your body. We needed to do that to counteract the virus they gave you. The next step is to establish something like the lens. But it’ll be unique for you. Instead of just sitting on top of your skin, it will permeate it. We’ll become a permanent part of you.” Joshua looked worried. His eyes, the tone of his voice, and the way he kept his hand close to her arm all expressed his concern. And it wasn’t just because of the clandestine nature of the meeting.

“So I’ll be like Dad?”

“No, it’ll still be different. But closer to what your father experiences than the lens. We can only do this for you and maybe your sister because you’re his daughters. But it’s okay to say
no
. We can figure out another way to rescue you.” Joshua’s face said more than his words. There was something dangerous in what he’d proposed. But if she didn’t go along, the rescue wouldn’t be tonight.

Sara wasn’t so sure they had another plan. “You know I trust you. If Dad thinks this is the best way to save me, then let’s do it. I don’t want to stay here a minute longer than I have to.”

Joshua’s smile gave her courage. He opened his hand to show her a capsule. But he didn’t give it to her. Instead, he closed his fist tight, breaking open the container. His hand glowed so bright she could see the virtual bones and blood vessels under the skin. As he opened his fingers, he pressed his hand to her heart.

Each shiny cell in her body tingled as the light from his hand spread about her—a wave of white, like the ripple in a pond, that touched every part of her. She never felt so alive or so fully loved.

Joshua lifted his hand off her. She looked at her hands, arms, legs. Everything had returned to normal. But she knew it wasn’t. Or more accurately, this was to be her new normal. Joshua and Ed no longer looked like dark silhouettes. She could see not only every aspect of their bodies but also what they were thinking. The plan for her escape drew lines from these two powerful Tobes to Jillian, Dr. Shot, and all the others who had a hand in the operation. But the future was still shaded.

Joshua’s hand rested on her arm. It felt solid, comforting, warm, and more human than she’d ever remembered. “You’ve done wonders with Touch. That skin feeling is closer to human than some people I’ve encountered.”

Pride made the little mirrors in her cells light up.

“Want to see the next addition? Right now it’ll only work for you. We call it Fly.” Joshua’s eyes twinkled with excitement as he pulled forth one of his juggling balls and levitated it playfully.

“You mean you can levitate me?” Sara nearly bounced off the bed. She had to be quiet, but it wasn’t easy. Were they really just going to fly out of the church? She wished they could do it at mealtime. It would freak the hell out of Father Damien, seeing the disobedient, nonsubmissive, sexually impure girl fly like an angel.

“Let’s go outside and see.” Joshua grabbed her hand, practically pulling her out of bed.

Ed walked boldly into the corridor. “They can’t see me or Joshua, but we’d better get moving.
Invisibility
is still a long way off from being the next add-on to the lens.”

Sara followed Ed’s instructions—staying low and against the wall, hiding for a moment behind a statue of some long-dead church icon, squeezing through the slightly cracked-open door. The night watchmen would be looking toward the exterior doors. But the trio wasn’t headed for the outside wall. Ed directed her toward the center of the compound. The familiar doors to the garden squeaked open on massive hinges. But they were so close to freedom the sound wouldn’t matter. No one could catch them at that point.

The cold dirt felt good on Sara’s bare feet. Her mind told her the organic compounds and nutritive value of the plants. The soil needed more magnesium. That was why the fruit looked so small. Too bad she hadn’t known that last week.