Tekgrrl (6 page)

“Oh, it’s just allergies,” she said, waving a hand dis-missively and taking a sip from her bottle. But I noticed her hand shaking. She might fake a cool demeanor, but I could tell she was upset.

Kate and I had never exactly been close. Her beauty and powers of attraction and love meant that men flocked to her, so she wasn’t exactly popular with any ladies, and she did nothing to mend that fence. In fact, she seemed to almost delight in her gift, like she was a queen and we were nothing but her ladies-in-waiting. But seeing her upset and trying to hide it, well, that put her back on the ground with the rest of us mortals. And with how she and Paul were acting earlier, clearly nothing was right with them.

I could have been mean and dug further, but I decided to let it go. Frankly, my head hurt too much to cope. “They can be bad this time of the year.”

“Yeah,” she said in a quiet tone. Then: “Your hair really looks nice, Mindy. Very sophisticated.”

“Thanks. Everyone seems to like it. I hope you feel better.” I hoisted my packages and started to go.

“Thank you,” she echoed quietly, and disappeared down the hall.

Part of me wondered about her situation, but my pounding head was telling me that my teammates’ drama would have to wait until a time when every sound didn’t seem extra loud and when Kate’s perfume didn’t make me nauseated. I made it to my room, dumped my packages down—the poor clothes would be wrinkled forever—and went into my bathroom. As I removed my makeup I could smell Kate’s scent on me, and it was making my headache worse. I gulped down a migraine pill and some water and hit my bed without even bothering to take my clothes off. Pulling the sheet up over me, I soon fell into a fitful sleep.

I was back on Kalybri, in a small but well-lit room that was almost too bright for my eyes. I was dressed in a white linen wide-sleeved unisex shirt and pants, the requisite uniform of every other student. The golden color of the other students’ skin made the uniform look almost ethereal on them; I looked like a ghost. But I was used to not fitting in.

I stared at the holo-pad in front of me, mentally translating the Kalybrian script into English, the swooping curls and symbols into letters and numbers. This was history class, and if Earth students think learning native history is boring, they should try learning a whole other race and planet’s.

I wasn’t the only student whose mind was wandering. Kalybrian students sat in holo-pad chairs, all lined up in a row, facing the teacher. They were supposed to sit up straight, but I could see the delicate slump in the shoulders of the student in front of me and hear the subtle shift in the chair of the one behind. I was sitting next to the open window, and the exotic and spicy scents wafting on the breeze practically begged me to fly outdoors and explore the alien flora and fauna.

“Man-dei.” The teacher spoke my name in her odd accent that turned it so foreign. “Do you know the answer?” Once again, she spoke in Kalybrian, but my mind translated the words into my native tongue as easily as Spanish or French, the two other languages I’d been fluent in since I was ten.

“That was in stardate twenty-three, one-hundred-eighty-nine, madam,” I responded.

She nodded. “Thank you, Man-dei.”

Satisfied that I wasn’t going to be called on again for a while—generally everyone in the class got called once per topic—I sneaked a glance to the outdoors. What I saw made me gasp.

The bright light of the warm day was gradually disappearing, as if a giant shadow was covering all. Like the sun was being taken away. A harsh wind replaced the previous delicate one, whipping the trees into a violent frenzy. A distant rumble could be heard, like thunder, but the sound was almost metallic. A rotten smell of death and decay blew in through the open window, causing me to gag. I rose to my feet with a cry.

The rest of the class continued as if nothing was happening: The teacher called on students and they recited back to her random dates. Outside of the window, wrenching screams of torment and agony could be heard, like they were gushing up from the bowels of hell, and yet no one in the class paid them any mind.

Shaking, I started to move to the door, to look for escape, when my arms were seized from behind and I was forced back into my seat. I looked up to see my teacher standing over me, clamping my arms down into shackles that hadn’t been there before.

“It’s time for your treatment, Man-dei,” she said in her heavily accented English, and held up a large drill.

I screamed, thrashing against the restraints, feeling them bite into my hands even as the drill came closer and closer to my temple, and then there was the blinding white pain as it entered my flesh and skull—

I sat up in bed, gasping for air and holding my head with both hands, feeling the ghost of the bit at my temple. I shuddered.
A dream, it was just a dream.

I heard a knock on my door.
“Gamji,”
I responded automatically, feeling a metallic taste in my mouth. Had I bitten my tongue and drawn blood?

Luke peered in from the hall as the door slid open. “Pardon me?”

“I said come in!” I responded, touching my tongue to my fingertips. Sure enough, I found blood.

“I don’t know what you said, but it wasn’t ‘come in’ in any language I know,” Luke said, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“Yes, I did. I said…” I trailed off, realizing that what I had in fact said was
gamji,
which was “come in” in Kalybrian. I was speaking Kalybrian again, a language I hadn’t given a thought in so many years. But I was dreaming in it again.

“Were you asleep?”

“Yeah. Bad dream.” I was still shell-shocked. Why was Kalybri haunting me now? I had put it behind me, out of my mind, the minute my foot returned to Earth’s soil.

“Must have been. You said you wanted to go on patrol with me tonight. It’s about time to get out there.”

“Okay.” I nodded, numb. “Give me a minute to get dressed.”

“All right.” He looked me over again. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Just having migraines today. And nightmares.”

“You sure you’re up to patrol?”

“I’m fine!” I snapped. Seeing him visibly recoil, I softened my tone. “I’m fine. Just give me a few minutes to get ready and I’ll meet you outside.”

“Okay.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll see you out there.” Turning, he walked out of the room.

I lay a hand on my shoulder, where his had been, seeking comfort from that simple touch to remind me that I was in the present, not the past. I was safe here with my friends. I was not back in the grip of the people who had run experiments on me like I was a lab rat. Or the people who had given me over to them in the first place.

It was dark by the time Luke and I were ready to go on patrol. Standing on the rooftop of our building, looking out into the city, I found the night had a surreal quality, like a monster: The buzz of traffic and people below were almost like its snores, the lights of cars and buildings like its many half-lidded eyes, the smells of exhaust, smoke and cooking food like its breath.

Or maybe it was dream residue giving me a healthy dose of creep factor.

I shivered, some from the cold and some from the memory of a drill bit in the temple, and rearranged the small weapons and random technology I kept attached to my belt. Lainey had made a joke earlier about how many female superheroes dressed like they were wearing lingerie, and my uniform was hardly an exception—though I knew I didn’t pull it off as well as some. Created by a noted fashion designer right when I joined the team, my suit seemed to serve hardly any function except showing off as much of my body as possible. Made of a midnight blue fabric that was supposed to keep you warm or cold depending on environment, the one-piece outfit clung like a second skin on my slim frame and almost nonexistent curves. The suit rose out from my waist in a literal
X
, crossing my breasts and finally turning into long sleeves. A large portion of my midriff was exposed, and my neckline too. I always had the vague feeling that, whenever I bent over, people looking got a show.

Luke got one just then if that was the case, as he glanced over and said, “Maybe you should see a doctor.”

“Excuse me?” I was lost in thought about why I hated my uniform, especially in comparison to his fully concealing, samurai-looking black shirt and pants.

“You said you were having migraines again. Maybe you should go see a neurologist, make sure it isn’t anything serious.”

I frowned. “I’ve had enough doctors in one lifetime, thanks.”

“At least talk to Paul about it.”

“No more doctors!” I snapped. “I’ve had practically every MD and PhD in this country ready to slice and dice me—and that was after I came back from having the exact same thing done to me off-planet. My parents let them run test after test to make sure I was safe for other people to be around. But no more. Just. No. More.” I turned away, feeling again how real the experimentations had been. The further I got away from those times, the less I’d thought about it.

Until today.

Luke was studying me, looking strained. “I’m sorry, Mindy. I didn’t mean to bring all of that up.”

“It’s not you, it’s these dreams I’ve been having,” I said. “Of Kalybri.”

“Is that what language you spoke tonight?”

I nodded. “I thought I’d forgot all about it. Now it seems I remember. More than I want.” I gave a halfhearted and inappropriate laugh. “Forget about it. I know I want to. Let’s concentrate on patrol.”

Luke looked like he wanted to say more but instead changed his mind. “We’re supposed to cover Sector Nine.”

We’d lucked out. Instead of getting the drug alleys and the crack houses, we had pulled the cushy straw: the theater and nightclub district, where the posh went to party, to see and be seen.

I held up my left wrist, which contained a small teleportation device that I had designed for each of our team members. Dialing coordinates, I motioned for Luke to do the same. “Let’s try to keep our teleportations at a minimum. The area isn’t that big, and it’s taxing to both the machines and us.” Having my atoms scattered and put back together after I already felt like hell did not sound like fun.

Luke nodded. “I prefer the on-foot approach myself.”

A cool, tingly feeling washed over me as the teleport took effect, with only the mildest uncomfortable sensation, almost like a rug burn, and then we were standing atop the roof of a building clear across town. I flexed my hands to make sure everything was still in its proper place, as I’d seen the results of a faulty teleport once. That’s why the government still doesn’t use them.

Luke motioned to a ladder. “We can get down here and then follow the backstreets and the alleys. If there’s going to be any action to be had, it will likely be back there.”

I followed him, skimming down the ladder easily and dropping to the dirty ground. Yuck. The pungent odor of trash filled my nostrils. Letting him take the lead, I next followed him down several side streets. Our footsteps echoed softly around us.

Wanting to break that silence and yet not tip off any criminal element, I spoke softly. “So, what do you think of the new girl?” Why I chose that topic, I don’t know; I must be a glutton for punishment.

“Selena?”

“Unless there’s another new girl that I’m not aware of.”

“She seems like she’ll be an asset to the team. We can always use another heavy hitter.”

“Uh-huh.” I skirted a puddle, not wanting to walk in soggy boots for the rest of the night.

Luke smiled. “You don’t like her.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Only to those who know you well,” he said. “You should really give her a chance. You weren’t like this with Lainey.”

I shrugged. “Lainey’s different.”

“Why is Lainey different?”

Lainey never had her sights on you,
I thought. Though I was all right with letting Luke go, I wasn’t all right with letting him go to a Glamazon. At least, not yet.

“She just is.”

“Is it because Selena’s Lainey’s friend and you’re Lainey’s friend?”

“No, it’s nothing like friend-envy,” I growled. Frankly, Lainey was too busy being a newly married mom and hero to spend any time hanging out. Sad, it was still a fact of life. And, to be honest, I hadn’t known Lainey long enough to miss her. Our friendship roles could still adapt.

“Let’s just drop it.” I continued down a side road.

“Is it because you think she’s prettier than you?”

I whirled. “Oh, and now she’s prettier than me, too? Thanks. Any other insults you want to hurl in my direction, Luke? Does this outfit make my ass look big? Do I look like I’ve gained weight? Do I have a zit you want to point out? What’s next?”

A movement caught my eye, and I turned to see two shadowy forms disappear down the alley ahead of us. Luke put a hand upon my arm in warning, and I could tell he had seen them too. A finger to his lips, he motioned for me to move forward. He’d go down another side street to catch and hem them in.

I crept toward the alley. One of the figures attempted to break away, heading back toward me, but I still couldn’t see either clearly for the darkness. The other figure followed, grabbing the first by the arm and shoving her roughly against a brick wall, eliciting a shallow feminine cry. “Please,” I heard, and then the unmistakable sound of cloth tearing.

That sent me into motion. I wasn’t going to stand there and witness a rape and do nothing. I charged forward, paying no mind to my loud footsteps. The two figures didn’t pay them any heed either, and as I neared I heard feminine whimpers mixed with male grunting.

I pulled a small Shocker out of my pocket, enough to temporarily stun an adult male, and put it to the back of the rapist’s neck. Just at that moment the man said, “You like that, don’t you?” Ew.

“I like
this,”
I replied. “Let go of her. Now.”

The rapist paused. “What the hell?”

I jammed the Shocker farther into his neck. “Move away from her, right now.”

He moved back from the woman, not bothering to hitch up his pants, which were around his ankles. “Listen, bitch…” He started to turn to face me, but that’s when Luke came out of the shadows and grabbed him, locking up the arm he’d swung in a punch I hadn’t seen coming, driving the guy to the ground in pain.