MAXIM: A New Type of Human (Oddily Series #2) (5 page)

“Yes…someday.”

“But not tonight?”

“No. Not until the timing is right.” Maxim watched the tension begin to drain from Oddily’s sweet face after he sat down next to her, but she continued to bite at her nails. Maxim covered her fingers with his hand, realizing that something was still on her mind.

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know. I was just figuring that it’s going to be a long time before…I’m ready?”

“I will wait,” he whispered in her ear. “We have the rest of our lives to be together.”

Maxim tried to ignore the sudden wave of sadness coming over him, but couldn’t—not when he knew that Oddily would someday grow old and die, and not him. The advanced genetics Maxim inherited from Nero had the ability to keep him forever young now that he had reached full maturity.

“Hey.” Oddily tried to get Maxim’s attention, but his mind seemed to be elsewhere. She became alarmed over the sadness in his eyes, and rested her hand on his thigh. “Are you disappointed in me?”

“No…not at all.” Maxim stared down at Oddily’s hand for a moment, and then grabbed it interlocking his fingers with hers. Then slowly, his face came close to hers and his lips met hers. The love Oddily experienced was so strong she began to tremble.

“I’m sorry,” Maxim pulled back, battling with his desire. “I can’t do this right now!”

“No, please! I like it when you kiss me.”

Maxim felt the tenderness of her lips on his and savored the sweet taste of her kiss. She was stirring up physical responses in him—an intense sensation that rippled through his body. He drew back slowly, gazing into her eyes. He brushed his hand against her cheek with a touch so light she scarcely felt it. He had a desire to protect her from harm— to defend her from anyone who threatened her happiness; and above all else, he needed to keep his physical urges under control.

Oddily’s cheeks became flushed, her eyes large and starry under Maxim’s gaze as he playfully growled, “Come here, you!”

Maxim grabbed Oddily and laid back on the bed, bringing her with him. He began to kiss her face, neck and arms while she continued to squirm with irrepressible giggles.

“You feel so small and fragile in my arms.”

“No I’m not!” She sat up and whacked him with one of the pillows.

“Oh, is that how it is!” Maxim was trying to wrestle the pillow away from Oddily when, without warning, the music that filled the air stopped, and along with it came an eerie silence.

“What happened?” Oddily glanced around the room while watching the lights dim.

Maxim lay back down and reached for Oddily. “This is Nexa’s subtle way of saying we are too noisy.”

“That reminds me,” Oddily whispered, “why aren’t there any doors to close around here?”

Maxim already knew the answer. Because of him and his sister’s telepathic connection, there was no need for the pretense of privacy. However, he and his sister’s mind-reading link wasn’t something he was willing to share just yet, so he said, “This is the way our father built the place.”

Maxim snuggled with Oddily until she dozed off. Unable to sleep, he watched her in the dim light from the moon. So far, he was pleased by her willingness to trust him. He knew the day hadn’t been easy for her and, unfortunately, what was to come would be harder.

Nexa?

What?

Did you take care of the situation with Starla?

Yes, she thinks she fell asleep and had an awful dream. What about Kip?

I blocked the experience from his mind, including his encounter with Tinley.

Is that all?

No, but I want the rest to be a surprise.

I can’t wait!

Maxim began to ponder over Nero’s mysterious visit and the dark haired female who showed up on his property. He suspected that there was a connection between the two encounters, which would explain the girl’s unusual strength.

Then, there was the fate of Oddily. Did his father, with his extraordinary abilities, have the ability to keep her young and alive? He finally dozed off, a much needed escape from his whirlwind of thoughts.

6

Oddily was the first to wake up and look over at Maxim who was sleeping next to her. For a long time, she laid there enjoying the sight of him; but school awaited, so she finally had to climb out of bed.

Without disturbing Maxim, she had managed to get dressed and creep downstairs to wait by the front entrance for Nexa. She made it as far as the bottom step of the stairway before Sweeper zoomed forward and began to scan her body.

“Good morning, Oddily.”

Oddily bit her lip. Was she supposed to answer the contraption?

Maxim had awakened when he heard Sweeper greeting Oddily, and jumped out of bed—meeting his sister half way down the stairs.

Well, you look happy this morning.

I am, sis.
He kissed her cheek and hurried down to the main floor skipping several steps at a time. He jogged over to where Oddily stood and grabbed her up into his arms. She inhaled sharply when he did, then after a sweet kiss he set her back down on her feet.

“Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?”

Oddily smiled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Let’s go!” Nexa grabbed Oddily by the arm and led her out the front door.

Wait a minute, what about Oddily’s breakfast?

She’s a big girl, Maxim.

Oddily glanced over her shoulder with luminous eyes and gave Maxim a playful wave goodbye. She seemed charmingly at ease. There wasn’t a trace of awkwardness in Oddily’s manner, though a fair amount of her cute shyness remained. He smiled as he recalled his first meeting with her and realized how far she had come since then.

* * * * * *

After the girls had left for school, Maxim headed for the dungeons underneath Stafford Manor in hopes of finding the girl with her unusual strength locked up. He knew that, for the time being, Oddily was safe with his sister, but the questions remained. Who was this aggressive intruder and what did she want with Oddily?

Maxim had reached the tunnel and entered when something caught his eye on the rock wall. Driving through the dimly lit roadway had allowed the object to remain inconspicuous all these years; but now with him traveling on foot, he spotted the small metal protrusion.

Maxim brushed his finger across the green sensor hidden within a metal design, and watched in fascination when an opening appeared. As he peered inside, lights began to flicker on exposing an immense cavern filled with expensive equipment—obviously Nero’s secret laboratory.

Remaining cautious, Maxim entered, wondering what technology his father had kept from him and his sister. From the appearance of all the unusual futuristic equipment, he suspected there was a lot more to Nero than he had imagined.

He walked over to one of the tables and stared at the simplistic keyboard. Unlike the maze of switches and flashing lights he was accustomed to, this streamlined technology fascinated him. In fact, the entire cavern reminded him of a wonderland full of mysterious gadgets waiting to be discovered.

Maxim became distracted when a holographic screen appeared before him, most likely activated after his arm accidentally brushed against the table. He recognized his father’s work—a formula for traveling through wormholes. Maxim moved the screen with the stroke of his hand, and something else showed up. This time, a mathematical formula for…who knows what appeared.

Maxim moved on. He began to roam through the cavern, taking mental pictures of everything until he spotted Willa, the android that housed the memories of Oddily’s mother. Her metal body had been carelessly tossed in a heap along with other robotic parts.

“No!” Maxim rushed over to the remains and tried manually to eject the memory disk, but the chamber was empty. Did this mean that the memory data for Oddily’s mother had been destroyed?

Maxim felt weak at the knees and sat down to clear his mind. Was this a blessing in disguise? Oddily had already come to terms with the loss of her mother, so what was there to be so sad about?

Maxim’s attempts to cheer himself up failed as a sense of sadness seeped in; but the feeling became short lived when a dome materialized over the chair, trapping him inside. Maxim didn’t have time to react. The unusual sensation in his head was too overwhelming, as if he were being forced to travel beyond the perimeters of his ordinary everyday thinking. It felt uncomfortable, as though a dull fog was seeping in, threatening to take over his mind and destroy him. And just when he started to struggle in fear against it, he suddenly found himself inside the head of someone else, looking out through their eyes.

He stared out of a car window at a bunch of screaming youngsters while uniformed men on motorcycles kept them at bay allowing the vehicle to slip behind a building.

Maxim tried to read the minds of some of those screeching teenagers, and found that their enthusiasm was for the one whose body he invaded! They loved looking at him—his physique and the way he moved on stage. They also liked his face, especially his eyes, believing he could set a girl’s heart racing with one glance.

The car arrived at the back of the building where kids exploded with raucous howls of Grayson, Grayson!

At least now Maxim had a name for the body he invaded, and he could sense Grayson’s anxiety mounting as a pack of youngsters broke through the police lines and pressed their bodies against the car. Again and again, the kids fought to peer into the windows before they were swept back allowing Grayson to emerge. Through a crush of guards, Grayson ran into a heavily secured room while kids grabbed at his clothes and hair.

After Grayson had entered a dressing room, Maxim eyed musicians warming up on their instruments. The guitar player flew through some fast scales while nearby, another loosened up his fingers on a headless bass. The drummer joined in soon after, banging away on his practice kit.

As he listened to the excited crowd, waiting in another area of the building, Maxim realized that Grayson belonged to a musical group. He tried to take in as much as he could from his vantage point while Grayson wandered around searching through wardrobe cases. He was deciding on what to wear when a song began to blast over the speakers.

Maxim was beginning to loose himself inside Grayson’s world. To think that he could be someone else in this elaborate game was exciting, and he couldn’t help but wonder what other pawns were available?

“Be ready in two minutes!” a familiar voice warned the band members.

Maxim couldn’t make Grayson turn to look at who had spoken, and his frustration mounted while waiting, but when it finally happened, Maxim saw who it was.

“Kip!” Maxim unintentionally shouted the name out of Grayson’s mouth and immediately, a wave of shock went through Grayson before Maxim’s mind slipped back into his own body.

Maxim’s dome-like prison had vanished, and he now stared up at Tinley who was somehow responsible for removing the shield. “How did you know I was here?”

“I have been programmed to guard Nero’s laboratory while he is away. You must leave.”

Maxim stared into Tinley’s eyes that he swore belonged to a real human. “But this place is incredible, Tinley. Why did my father want to keep this technology from me? I have never experienced a virtual game like that before.”