Fusion (20 page)

“We need to keep it on until that red button changes to green, which it will do any minute. You might fall asleep. I might as well.”

“I don’t want to.” Ella yawned. “Mommy, look, the button is green now.”

Olivia smiled reassuringly and removed their needles, putting a bandage on Ella’s arm. Ella fought to stay awake, holding up her eyelids with her free hand.

Olivia waited for their pod to move. She’d have turned her monitor on to watch it all unfold in front of her but didn’t want to worry Ella. She’d watched many times before, and it sent her into a euphoric high every time. Even just the transport out to the Portal when the metal doors slid open to reveal the cavernous dark entry was surreal. She felt excitement rise in her as the pod moved slowly to the Portal entrance. Ella stamped her feet in delight.

“Ready, honey?” Olivia asked.

“Yes. When is it going to start going fast?”

“Very soon. Get ready. You are going to feel a very strong pull into your seat, like you do when you take off in an airplane.” That’s all she really needed to say because, after those first few seconds, they’d all fall asleep.

Her control panel started counting them down—“10, 9, 8,—”

“Here we go, Ella!” She grabbed her daughter’s hand as she was pushed back into the chair.

“Take off.”

“S
hrimp, wake up.”

I nuzzled closer to Kellan as I struggled to open my eyes. Honestly, why fight the awesome, heavy, delirious feeling? I put my arms around him and let myself drift back to emptiness.

“Boy, those drugs knocked you out, didn’t they? We’ve arrived.”

Arrived? I forced my eyes open and looked up. It was dark. “Where are we?” I whispered, feeling totally disoriented.

“Still in the pod, but we’ve stopped moving, so I guess we’ve arrived. I take it that the door will open on its own?”

As I shrugged, the door started sliding up. The sudden, blinding light burned into my pupils until I covered my face with my hands. I gave it a few seconds, then parted my fingers slightly and peeked through them. Right at Dr. Fox.

“You guys okay?” he asked as he leaned forward and undid my restraints.

“Yes,” Kellan replied. “Where are we?”

I stretched, shaking the stiffness from my legs and arms while Dr. Fox moved on to deal with Kellan’s seat belts.

“The same place we started but in another dimension. We’re in the Portal antechamber at Ames.”

“So we like traveled through a wormhole?” Kellan asked.

“Something like that.”

“Are we in the past or future?”

“We haven’t changed time zones.” Dr. Fox stepped back. “I am going to get the others out now. Take your time—stretch, find your balance, and then drink these.” He handed us a couple of Gatorades and left.

“I wonder how long it took us to get here. I don’t think I’ve ever been this stiff before. I feel like an old lady.” I laughed.

“Me, too… old, not a lady,” Kellan chuckled. “Whaddaya say—should we try to get up? I’ll go first.” He grabbed on to the armrests and stood up, bending slightly so he wouldn’t bang his head on the pod ceiling. He climbed out, balancing himself by holding onto the outside of the pod. He smiled. “Boy, serious case of noodle legs. Anyhow, I’m fine now. Gimme your hand. I’ll help you out.”

I leaned over and grabbed his outstretched arm and pulled myself up as he steadied me. Not only did the drugs turn my muscles into jelly, I also felt woozy. “Whoa.” My brain decided to do a couple of spins. I closed my eyes, feeling Kellan pull me to him while I tried to focus.

“Sit back down, Shrimp, and drink some of this stuff. You’re probably dehydrated.” He put me down on the seat and opened the blue bottle for me.

“Hey, Arizona! That was cool!”

Cool
seemed to be Ella’s word
du jour
. I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. I had fallen asleep even before we left and totally missed the whole experience.

“OMG, the lift off!” Her hand swooshed into the air like a plane. “Better than any airplane. It was awesome!” she babbled, her face beaming with excitement.

I checked out the pod while she gushed. I couldn’t remember a thing, apart from a shot of excitement as the silver pod jerked and started to move. That was it. “I fell asleep,” I said, slightly peeved that I had missed everything.

“I tried really hard to stay awake. I had to hold my eyelids open, but I think I fell asleep after we took off,” Ella said, nodding sympathetically.

“Sucks. Wish I had been able to see the whole thing,” I said, imagining what it must have been like to hurtle through a wormhole in a silver pod. “Is everyone here?”

“Yes. Come on, let’s go!” She grabbed my hand and tried to pull me up, almost falling backward.

“Here, let me.” Kellan held out his hand again.

“I’m fine now. I can do it myself.” I stood up and stepped outside and saw everyone else hanging out by their pods. Mom spotted me and waved.

“Okay there?”

I nodded.

“Let’s go, then.” She waved at us to follow her. Ella linked her arms in Kellan’s and mine and walked between us.

“That was…
cool
, as Ella would say,” Ariele whispered into my ears.

The door to the chamber opened, and a man in a white lab coat appeared. Larry shook his hand, and we followed them into the laboratory area, which was pretty much identical to the one we’d just come from, apart from a few pictures on the wall. This lab had been decorated by someone into vintage cars. Dozens of large canvas prints of various old Fords and other makes and models I didn’t recognize covered the white walls. We followed the man into the lounge area, which was very different from the one in the other dimension. This one was very much a boy’s den, with a pool table as the central focus.

The lab guy smiled at us. “Larry, Olivia, nice to see you again. Welcome, everyone. I was only expecting seven of you, but I see there are two more?”

Mom made the introductions.

“I suggest you take a couple of hours to debrief and catch up with the news before you head off. I have pizza and drinks for everyone.” He pointed to the bar. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No, thank you,” Dr. Fox said. “I’ll take it from here. The van’s outside, right?”

“Yes, it’s parked in the regular spot. The keys are on top of the pizza boxes, along with five pre-paid cell phones. If you need anything else, just call me. I am speed dial two or Ames1 in your contacts.”

“Great, thanks,” Mom said, and we all echoed her.

Kellan walked over to the pizza as soon as Ames1 left. “Anyone else want some?” He moved the keys off the boxes and opened the lids. “Plain or pepperoni?”

We dove in, hungry from the travel, munching silently—even Ella didn’t stop to chat. Once we were done and Larry brought us our suitcases, we left the basement lab, headed upstairs, and out the service entrance at the back of the building. We followed Larry to a white minivan, parked near the entrance. He unlocked the doors and turned to us.

“It’s going to be tight, and we’ve got about a half- hour drive, so get cozy.”

We piled into the van, getting more than cozy with each other, like sardines in a can.

“Where are we going exactly?” I asked, as we headed out of Mountain View.

“Not far,” Mom replied. “Just outside of Morgan Cave.”

“Aren’t we going to Universal Studios?” Ella asked.

“Tomorrow. Right now we’re stopping in to visit a friend of mine.”

Ella didn’t look too happy, but she didn’t argue, laying her head against Harry and closing her eyes, still tired from the drugs. I felt like doing the same, but I didn’t want to miss anything, so I kept my eyes peeled.

“Does your mom’s friend know that we’re all coming?” Ariele whispered.

“I don’t think so, but feel free to ask her yourself.” I yawned, rubbing up against Kellan.

“Mom, you ask,” Ariele said.

“Olivia,” Dr. Moreau said.

“Yes.” Mom didn’t turn around, keeping her eyes on the road.

“This friend of yours, is she expecting us?”

“Yes. I called her as soon as we arrived in the pods.”

“She didn’t know before then? I don’t mean about the three of us, but you too?”

“No, but we were very close friends in London.”

“Oh? Did I know her?”

“No, she’s not in science. Her husband works for Google now. Nice people. You’ll like them.”

“Do they have enough space to put us all up?”

“Six bedrooms. Only one is in use, so we’ll have to fit into five. If we need more space, they have a fully finished basement with a couple of pull-out beds.”

“Good. I hope we won’t impose too much. The three of us will find somewhere else to stay as soon as we can.”

“Don’t worry about that. We have a lot to talk about. Let’s just get settled in first.” Mom pulled off of the highway into a paved entry road flanked by pine trees. She drove slowly up a road that seemed to last for miles, and after we turned a corner, a large, modern-style mansion loomed in the distance. We drove up to the gate, which opened as we approached, and parked by the house.

“Ollie!” A blond lady with a sharp bob ran up to Mom and then stopped short in front of her, looking at her strangely for a moment before kissing her. She turned to us. “Welcome, everyone,” she said with a very proper English accent. Scanning our faces, she said, “Ella! Love the outfit, and your hair looks lovely like that.”

Ella flicked her hair and smiled.

“Let me introduce you to everyone,” Mom said.

“Yes, but please come inside first. It’s humid out here.”

Celia’s house was very simply decorated, like a show house in an Ikea catalogue. Everything was in neutral shades, with no knick-knacks scattered about. We followed her to the back of the house, which contained an indoor pool surrounded by deck chairs.

Once Mom made the introductions, Celia turned to me. “I knew you when you were still in your mother’s belly, and look at you now. You look like a young Ollie.” Her smile saddened somewhat, and I remembered about her daughter. “And Ella,” she continued, “what a beauty.”

Ella beamed.

“And Harry is your son?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Mom nodded. Yep, she sure had some explaining to do to her friend, but later when they were on their own.

“I guess you’re tired and want to freshen up before dinner? I’ve got five bedrooms. Two of them have king-sized beds, the rest have two full-sized each. Ollie, will you take care of assigning them?”

“Absolutely. Obviously, Glenda and Pierre will have a king, Kellan and Harry will share, Arizona and Ariele will share, Larry a king, and Ella and I will share a double. That works out perfectly. Thank you so much, Celia. We all really appreciate it.”

“No problem. How long are you staying?”

“I’m not really sure…”

“Is everything okay, Olivia? I am thrilled having you here, but if you are in any kind of difficulty, I would like to try to help.”

“I’m good. But I’d love a proper catch-up, just the two of us, sometime.”

Celia nodded. “Okay, let me show you to your rooms.” We walked back to the main part of the house, passing the kitchen on the way. A lady was in there cooking. “That’s your bedroom there, Arizona and Ariele.” She pointed at a door on the left. “I’ll see you in about an hour in the dining room, which is just off the kitchen.”

We went inside, shutting the door behind us. I flung myself down on the bed next to the window, sighing loudly. “Heaven!”

“Don’t you find it a bit awkward just walking into a stranger’s house and making ourselves at home?” Ariele mused.

“Well, she’s a friend of Mom’s, so no worries. She seems nice.”

“Yeah. Does she have any kids? Or pets?”

“No, she had a daughter, but she’s dead… car crash.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” Ariele said. “What happened?”

“Don’t know.”

“How old was she?”

“No idea. Mom didn’t say much, but I am guessing she was older than us. She was done with college, I think.”

“That’s sad, but I guess we better not mention it.”

“Yep. I’m going to jump into the shower. Is that okay with you?”

“Jump away.”

Ariele lay in bed, half asleep, when I got out of the bathroom feeling fresh and awake from the shower. “Hey, go ahead. I’m all done.”

“Nah. Maybe later.” She yawned but opened her eyes and turned onto her side to face me. “So, what next, do you think?”

“You tell me! I’m still shocked from you telling me that you’re not going back. What exactly are you going to do? Head back to Princeton?”

“I heard Mom and Dad talk about it last night before I went to bed. I think Mom’s hoping to work at Ames in Mountain View, like she originally planned. Dad wants us all to move back to Princeton but agreed that, for now, we’ll have to go where Mom can find a job. Dad should be able to get a job anywhere.”

“What does he do?”

“French teacher.”

“What do
you
want to do?”

“Go back home to Princeton, to my old school and old house, although that’s probably out. We sold it before we moved to California.”

I nodded. “Have you called… what’s her name… your other best friend?”

“Monica. And I was going to, but Mom told me not to call anyone, yet. We haven’t even called my Granddad.”