I Am Phantom (3 page)

“They
couldn’t make it,” I said.

Cody
nodded agreeably. “That’s not so bad. Makes the transition easier. My mom and
dad are over there.” He thumbed towards an older man and woman who looked like
marathon runners. “Love ‘em to death but they need to give me some space, you
know?”

“Yeah.”

We
walked a bit farther. We passed another dining hall and Blondie again
catapulted into a lecture about how healthy their food was. Cody rolled his
eyes, which I assumed meant she was lying.

“Cheeseburger’s
probably the healthiest thing they have in there,” he said.

“A
what?” The summer American missionaries had never mentioned anything like that.
 

 
“A cheeseburger? Probably the
health—”

 
“No, I mean what’s a cheeseburger?”

 
Cody shot me an incredulous look. “Dude,
what planet are you from?”

“Bhutan.
I just arrived in America today.”

Cody’s
eyebrows rose. “No way! I have no idea where that is, but cool! So you don’t
really know what anything is? Is this weird?” He pulled out his cell phone and
shoved the screen up to my face. What was with these kids and acting like I was
some exotic animal?

“Shockingly,
I have seen a cell phone,” I said. “I’m not that out of touch.” This set Cody
off on an exciting game of
What’s New to
Drake?
He wasn’t being mean but after a little while he got the clue I
wasn’t interested in playing. He turned his attention back to the tour, which
had just stopped on the outskirts of campus in front of an onyx colored
building rising above everything around it. It was so sleek and refined that it
reminded me of a rocket pointed towards space.

We
began to walk away from it, but Cody nudged me and nodded towards the rocket-shaped
building.

“You
want to take a closer look?”

“Shouldn’t
we stay with the tour?”

          
Cody started walking the opposite direction. “They’ll be at the dorms
eventually and we can catch up with them there.” When I still seemed unsure he
said, “College is about breaking away from parents. This is as good a time as
any.”

He
had a point. Together we headed for the front doors.

Before
we got there, they slid open and a girl about our age and an older man came
out. They looked like they were just finishing up a conversation.

“Thanks
for looking over it, Mr. Carlyle,” the girl said. “I’ll turn it in—” She
noticed us standing there and smiled widely.

“Hello!
Can I help you two?”

“We
were just looking,” I said, pointing to the building.

“Are
you part of the program?”

“Nope,”
I said.

“Uh…”
Cody said.

“Hold
on,” the girl suddenly said, pointing at Cody. “You’re Cody John Brown. I
remember your picture from when we were reviewing applications.” She offered a
hand and Cody and I both shook it. “Melanie Marks. And this…” she motioned to
the man beside her who stepped forward. Though he was smiling, his squashed
bulldog-like face gave nothing away. It was as languid as a deep, dark lake. He
could have hid anything behind that expression.

“Clayton
Carlyle. I’m the director of the program here. The students just call this
place the Lab.” He chuckled, though it didn’t sound like he found it amusing.
“So you’re one of the few kids we accepted this year, Cody?”

“Yes,
sir,” Cody mumbled, obviously not enjoying being singled out. Carlyle smiled
more deeply at him.

“Well
I can hardly wait to see what talent you bring to the program.
Congratulations!” Cody thanked him and Carlyle nodded to Melanie and then
stepped back inside. Before the doors snapped shut his eyes focused on me so
briefly I thought I had imagined it. And then he was gone. There was something
off about him. Something disconcerting, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

 
The three of us all stood awkwardly for a
second.

“So
what is the Lab?” I finally asked.

“Cody
knows,” Melanie said, motioning to him. When it appeared Cody had no intention
of opening his mouth, Melanie said to me, “It’s an elite science and
development program sponsored by the government. A select few get chosen each
year to participate. Over the course of the year, participants are required to
create a project that is original and advances science, then present that
project at the end of the year.”

“Cool,”
I said.

“It
is cool,” Melanie agreed. She checked her watch.

“I
need to go, but I’m sure we’ll see each other again, Cody.”

Cody
mumbled something that might have been a ‘later’. The corner of Melanie’s mouth
twitched. She went back inside. Cody and I spun away and headed to the dorms
where we would hopefully meet with the tour group.

 
“You ever met that Carlyle guy?”

 
Cody glanced behind us, probably
wondering why I had brought him up. “The director of the Lab? Nah. He was
probably on the board of directors that chose me for the program, but I’ve
never actually talked with him. Why?”

“Nothing.
Just curious.”

I
spied the group just ahead. They appeared to be finishing up.

“So…the
science program, huh?” I asked as we neared them.

“Yep,”
Cody said. “You look surprised.”

“You
don’t look the part,” I said.

 
“That’s the point. I don’t want to look
the part. I was so happy when I got in, though. My parents convinced me to do
it. I just submitted my application and two months later got a response.”

“So
why aren’t you with the other science kids? I met a guy earlier that was with
them.”

“That’s
the last thing I want. Trust me, I know how to get by being super smart as
undetected as possible. I don’t feel like being labeled at Queensbury for the
next four years because I’m part of their big shot program. That was high
school. This,” he gestured grandly around us. “is a whole new level. It’s a
place to rid the shackles of what was.”

I
wondered if Matt knew that. From what I could see he looked well on his way to
being labeled, and that wasn’t just from being part of the science program. He
needed to lose the bowtie.

“So
what do they let you create in the Lab?”

 
“Anything, really.”

“Anything?”

“I
mean, not
anything.
The government
can give you most of the materials, a lot of them, actually, but not weapons
and you have to have clearance and show them what you’re going to make before
they’ll let you start.”

“Still
seems pretty free reign.”

Cody
grinned deviously. “Yeah, I guess it is. Maybe that’s why they only let a few
kids in a year.”

He
looked so excited about the prospect of inventing, like a kid with a new toy. I
guess having the backing of the U.S. government could make you feel like that.

* * *

We
finally got to our rooms.

“And
here’s where the fish—I mean freshman—live!” Blondie said. “I’m
sure your bags have already been moved in.” She directed us through the double
doors and to a front desk where we were each handed our keys. Mine was 149.

“Nice!”
Cody said, holding up his key, number 150.

Blondie
led us to our hallway and we each found our rooms. I could hear heavy rock
music coming from farther down the hall and Cody cocked an eyebrow.

“Good
luck with whoever’s your roommate,” he said. I opened my door. There were two
sides, one in the front and one in back. Both were empty.

“Excuse
me,” I called to blondie who was still outside our room. “Where’s my roommate?”

Her
nose wrinkled in confusion and she checked over my shoulder, and then again on
a piece of paper she was holding. “Huh. I’m not showing you have one. Oh well!
I’m sure they’ll sort that out soon, but enjoy it while you can!” And then she
was back off down the hall. I shrugged and found my stuff already in the room
near the back. The walls and furniture was blank, bland and dirty. Better than
I had expected.

I
dropped my backpack and took a seat. The bed squeaked dryly beneath me and some
dust rolled on to the floor. I wanted to relax, to take a deep breath and calm
down. But something that had been nagging me all day kept coming up: whoever
had sent me the note was out there right now, maybe even somebody I had met
today. They were out there and they were waiting and watching.

Chapter
Three
 

The
Lab

The
next morning it took me five minutes longer than I thought it would to get lost.

Fortunately
I had gotten up super early, and since classes didn’t start for another couple
hours, I got ready and set out to explore the campus a little more. Outside was
chilly. Everything was confusing. The street names were weird and misleading
and I swore there were ten different libraries. I did manage to find the Lab on
the outside of campus again. Up close it didn’t look like anything too elite, but
if they had only let in six kids this semester then they meant business.

Maybe
that’s where the person who sent me my note was. A Lab sounded like a good
place to uncover the truth about renegade super human abilities.

By
the time I was done trying to orient myself I realized it was almost time for
my first class, Political science. Why I needed political science for a
Psychology degree was anybody’s guess, but nevertheless I hurried to get
un-lost, find the building and room and slide into a class of thirty something
kids at exactly eight. I was pretty sure it was the right class. All the kids
looked half dead and some had gone back to sleep, their heads on their
backpacks. I didn’t know if that was because of the class being early or if
this was how education in America looked.

Our
professor walked in, decided the brain-dead mass in front of him was his
students, and started handing out a thing called a ‘syllabus’. I threw it into
my backpack and tried to pay attention.

I’ll
admit, after the first ten minutes I began to grow disheartened. I knew the
whole point of me coming to a university was to learn more, but this guy was
making it difficult. His voice was so hypnotically boring I thought I was going
to pass out if he kept talking. Back home, with my parents teaching me, it was
way more interesting. Maybe because of the things I was learning or the fact
that it was my parents and I felt obligated to listen. Or maybe it was my dad
smacking me upside the head every time I tried to close my eyes.

I
almost wished my dad was here to smack this guy upside the head.

“
Hey!”

 
What little part of my brain was still
conscious roused a bit.

“
Hey!
Drake!”

I
looked to my right. Cody John Brown sat three seats down from me. He grinned
and mouthed ‘
how boring is this?
’. I
glanced at the teacher to make sure he was distracted by his fascinating
syllabus and scooted down to sit next to him.

“I
see you’re also stuck with the ever enlightening Mr. Bachman,” Cody said once
I’d settled in. “I heard not to take him but he was the only one open and I need
this class.” He finished a doodle on his syllabus. “Hey, meet my roommate.” He
leaned back and I almost laughed aloud.

“Hello,
Drake,” Matt Warner grumbled. He scrunched his chin lower up against his
bowtie.

“You’re
roommates?” I said.

“Yeah,”
Cody said. “Since we’re both in the science program and all that.” He stiffened
as Mr. Bachman looked our way. “Tell you later.”

With
Cody, and yeah, even Matt—the kid was okay once you learned to ignore his
complete lack of social skills—the class went by quick and we were
finally released.

“You
find any clubs you may want to get involved in?” Cody asked as desks slammed
and people grabbed their things and made for their next class.

“I
haven’t really had time to look.”

Cody
hefted his backpack over his shoulder and we walked down some stairs and
outside. “What do you usually do for fun?”

“I
do a lot of Kung Fu.”

Cody’s
eyes grew wide. “No way! I’ve never met anybody that does that. You any good?”

           
“I’m okay.”

Cody
scoffed. “That’s just modesty. I’ll bet you’re amazing. Tell you what, I saw a
flyer for a gym just off campus. It said they teach a whole bunch of martial
arts. I think the first class is tonight. I’m not gonna do it but you want to
try that?”

I
would be lying if I had said I wasn’t a little interested in fighting again. I
had actually enjoyed my ‘fight’ with Sonam. I was sure I could control my
abilities enough to not draw any suspicion. The last thing I needed was people
here to think I was a freak.

“Sounds
good.”

Cody
snapped his fingers. “Awesome! Sometime tonight. Matt, you’re coming with us.”

“I’m
afraid not,” Matt said. “I have more important things to do than physical
activity.”

“No
you don’t,” Cody said. “I checked your planner. You have nothing written down.”

We
continued to our next class, Matt behind us, grumbling something about personal
privacy.

The
second I had the time, I headed to the library to search for anybody with the
initials L.S.. I was amazed at how easily accessible everything was here.
Needed a computer? No problem. An excessive amount of caffeine? Easy. Space
away from everyone? You could hide in the library for weeks and never be found.
I logged in to a computer and started searching. Three hours later I had found
nothing. Granted, a couple initials weren’t much to go off, but still.

What
was the point of the note bringing me here if whoever wrote it didn’t want to
actually meet me? I gave up for the time being, logged off and wandered back
onto campus.

I
eventually wound up on the campus green, just across from the Lab. With its
tallness and onyx colored siding, it was a good reference point. A familiar
figure hurried past, head down, eyes glued to the sidewalk.

“Matt!”

Matt
looked to the sky as though some heavenly being had just called him.

“Down
here, Matt.”

“Oh.
Hello, Drake.”

“Where
you going?”

Matt
pulled the straps of his backpack up higher. “Forward.”

“You
mind if I join you?”

Matt
gave me a look like the very suggestion was foreign to him.
 
“I…suppose. I’m going to the Lab.”

“Great.”

Matt
stood there for a second longer, then heaved his pack up again and continued
walking. We stopped at the front doors to the Lab. Matt had begun to awkwardly
shift from foot to foot.

“I
don’t really know if I’m supposed to—but if you want you can come look
inside—for a bit. Actually, I don’t really want you to, Cody just said I
should try to be more friendly—”

“That’d
be cool,” I said. His blubbering was painful to watch.

That
seemed to make up Matt’s mind and he led me inside. The sliding doors clicked
softly behind us. The inside floor and walls were a deep black marble inlaid
with white chips of something. A reception desk sat on the left under
glittering lights. Matt waited until the lady behind the desk wasn’t looking
and shuffled quickly, head down, to a painting-lined corridor just beyond and
into an elevator. He pressed a button. We started up and he let out a sigh of
relief.

“The
things I do for friends,” he lamented.

“Thanks?”
I tried.

“I
make such noble sacrifices,” Matt continued, oblivious to me.

Before
he could congratulate himself anymore, the elevator dinged and the doors
opened.

             
We stepped into what I could only call a super secret science lab. Now,
I didn’t get to read many comic books when I lived in Bhutan. The only one I
saw was when a friend of my mom’s stowed
Space Explorer Defeats Dr. Nefarious
in one of the care packages. In one
scene Space Explorer bursts into Dr. Nefarious’ lab, full of exotic gadgets,
flashing lights and springy things. That’s pretty much what this place looked
like.

A
long white hallway stretched before us, slicing straight between glass panes on
either side. Rooms filled with mechanical arms, test tubes, bubbling beakers
and kids in lab coats scurrying around behind glass sliding doors and broad
windows. Before I could drift off and watch a kid moving a mechanical arm with
only wires pasted to his skull, Matt led me towards one of the rooms near the
back with a keypad panel on the wall.

“We
get our own rooms to work,” Matt said. “Good thing too. I couldn’t possibly
work with those imbeciles.” He grimaced as the robotic arm swung around and
knocked over another kid. “Imbeciles,” he repeated. He punched in a code and
the door opened.

There
wasn’t much in their room. Parts to something littered one corner, a large
black telescope sat in the middle, and piles of crumpled papers layered the
floor. Posters of equations and famous scientists hung on the back walls.

Cody
looked up from working on something when we walked in. “Drake, my man! Welcome
to our humble laboratory. Don’t mind the mess.”

Matt
didn’t say anything, but immediately put down his backpack and started working
on the telescope thing.

“He
seems to like this place,” I said.

Cody
shrugged. “I’ve noticed he zones out when he works on something. Zones out more
than normal, I mean. I swore I was having a conversation with him last night in
our room. Turns out he was talking to himself.”

“And
if I adjust this…” Matt turned something on the telescope and it began to hum.
Cody hurried over.

“What’d
you do? I ran full diagnostics on the front brace coupling. Scans showed up
fine.”

“Circuits
for the rear molecular stabilizers were shot. I noticed it last night.”

“And
you didn’t leave a note?”

“No.
Stop talking and hand me—I’ll get it.” He reached over and grabbed a
wrench off the table.

“It
looks cool,” I said.

Matt
paused in his work, then reemerged from under the telescope thing, his face
scrunched in confusion.

“Are
you being sarcastic?”

“What?
No, I’m being honest. It looks cool.”

Matt
continued staring at me like if he did long enough I would say I was lying.
Then he returned to tinkering with it. “Thanks,” he muttered, so quietly I
almost missed it.

“But…I
didn’t know telescopes had rear pulse stabilizers,” I said. Cody shot me a
guilty look, like a dog that had been caught doing something bad.

“Try
to keep this under wraps, but it’s not a telescope.”

“I
figured that. What is it?”

“Technically
it’s a—”

At
that moment the sliding door, well, slid open, and the same girl who had
stopped us in front of the Lab during our tour came in. Now that she was closer
I saw she was a couple years older than us. She still wore a strict lab coat
and a clipboard dangled from one hand. The calming scent of pumpkin wafted in
when she walked over and looked at me over her floral print glasses.

“Hello.
And you are?”

“Drake,”
Cody said, rushing to my side. “His name is Drake, Melanie. Drake, you’ve kind
of met Melanie, our floor supervisor, and Melanie, this is Drake,
our…scientist.”

Melanie
rolled her eyes. “Does he have permission to be up here?”

“He
does,” Cody said.
“I don’t,” I said.

Melanie
opened the sliding door and motioned towards the hallway. “I admire your honesty
but as acting floor supervisor I’m going to have to ask you to leav—”

“Come
on, Melanie!” Cody said, giving me a playful punch. “This is Drake Sinclair.”

 
Melanie didn’t move.
“He’s from Bhutan,” Cody added.

One
of her eyebrows perked. “You’re a foreign exchange student?”

“Very
foreign,” Cody agreed, flashing a huge grin. “And he won’t touch anything while
he’s here.”

“No
promises,” I said.

“Not
helping, Drake buddy,” Cody said out of the corner of his mouth, his smile
never wavering. Melanie looked torn between throwing me out and giving in.
Finally, she dropped her arm and the door shut.

“Don’t
make me regret this,” she said. “Dr. Carlyle, the director of this program,
sometimes comes up here, so watch yourself. If you’re caught by anybody other
than me then I can get in a lot of trouble.”

I
recalled the man with the face squashed like a bulldog’s who had greeted us
during the tour. I would definitely try to stay out of his way.

“I
appreciate it,” I said. “You’re here to make sure nobody does anything too
crazy?”

Melanie
adjusted her glasses and nodded. “Yeah. Since the people in the Lab are allowed
to work on pretty much whatever they want then there’s got to be somebody to
monitor.”

Cody
handed Matt a tool he was floundering for. “Every student has the entire year
to work on a project and have something to show for it,” he said.

“So
what is yours?” I asked.

Cody
suddenly looked sheepish. Matt paused tinkering with the bottom of the
not-telescope. “Ours is not finished yet,” Matt said.