The Samantha Project (37 page)

I thought about the dream I had had on the bus about Erik. I hadn’t even met him, so I certainly wasn’t tapping into a memory or a plan for a future event. The dream didn’t fit Jack’s explanation. But there was no way I was going to ask him about it. It would be way too embarrassing.
 

Erik came down with the coffee as Jack continued. “Tell me about one of the dreams and we’ll try to figure it out.”

“No, that’s all right. We can talk about it later.”
 

Erik looked over at me. I was sure he was thinking about the dream he had about me. He knew I had the exact same one because he read my thoughts at the diner. We both knew it wasn’t normal. Two people having the same dream? Obviously it hadn’t happened yet. So what did it mean?
 

“Okay, well since you’re both here now, I might as well tell you what I’ve found so far. I’ve been comparing your DNA, Sam, with Erik’s. You both have this very unique sequencing. Hey, are you two listening?” Jack asked, looking at us both. We were still dazed from thinking about our shared dream.

“Yes,” I said. “You compared my DNA to Erik’s.”

“There are similarities in the enhanced genes, of course, but you were both given different abilities in some areas. I don’t know what all those are, yet, but I can see the differences. That’s not the unique part though. There’s this one part of your DNA, Sam, that I can’t figure out. On one of your genetic markers, the software seems to indicate some type of timer function. It seems like the timer is going through a cycle of some kind. Since Erik doesn’t have those markers, I looked closer at his DNA and found that this timer software was embedded into Erik’s enhanced genes in the exact same spot.”

“And the other markers don’t show that?” Erik asked.

“No. It’s very odd. This timer thing has got me intrigued. I need to get back to work on it.”

“Dad, don’t you want to take a break? You didn’t even sleep last night.”

“I took a cat nap for a few hours. I feel okay,” he said, stretching side to side. “We’re running out of time, Erik. I’m trying to learn as much as I can about Sam before we have to leave. Once we’re on the road, who knows when I’ll be able to hook up the equipment again.”

“We’ll keep working, too, then,” Erik said, looking over at me.

“Oh, and Sam. I want you to try to get that scenario sequencing to work again. Like when your mind showed you those maps?”

“But you said I have to be under stress for that to work.”
 

“I’m sure Erik can make you stressed.” He smiled over at Erik. “He’s stressed me out plenty of times.”

“Real funny, Dad,” Erik said, as Jack left.
 

“What does he mean by that?” I asked.

“When I was younger. You know, boys doing stupid stuff. Falling out of a tree and breaking my leg. Driving the truck without him—when I was 8. Running away when I was 13.”
 

“You ran away?”
 

“I was mad at him for making me stay here all the time. I wanted to be with people my own age. I wanted to play sports and go to a regular school. I wanted to meet girls. So one day, I packed a backpack and left.”

“When did he find you?”

“About three hours later.” Erik laughed thinking about it. “I was dumb. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. I hadn’t planned that far ahead.”

“So you learned your lesson after that?”

“Hell, no. That was just the beginning. When I was 14, I really drove Dad crazy. I met some kids in town, a couple years older than me. They’d come pick me up when I knew Dad would be gone, or sometimes I’d sneak out in the middle of the night. We’d go hang out and do stupid stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Race motorcycles, drink beer, chase girls, whatever. Then around 15, I met this one girl and we started hanging out. She was older than me so, well, I learned some things.” He smiled to himself. “After that ended, I met some other girls and long story short, I made my dad’s life miserable for a couple years. I’m pretty sure he hated me during that time. I wouldn’t have blamed him. I was a real jackass back then.”

“You seem different now. What changed?”

Erik smiled. “You don’t know me that well, Sam. I can still be a jackass sometimes.” His face got serious. “But I straightened up when I almost got caught one night. I was 16 and hanging out with this girl and a few of her friends. We’d been drinking and the cops came and busted us. I barely got away. If they had caught me—well, so much for staying under the radar. My dad was so pissed. I’d never seen him like that. He wouldn’t even talk to me. And then something just clicked. It’s like I finally realized what could happen if they ever found us. And I felt bad, because here my dad had worked all those years to hide me and then I almost screwed it all up in one night. Sometimes I think he wishes he’d never taken me from that lab.”

“Erik, you know that’s not true.”

“Yeah, I guess. But his life could have been so much different. And if his wife hadn’t died—”

“Jack was married?”

“When he was in college. Well, right after graduation. He married some girl that he’d dated in high school. Seems weird, doesn’t it? Getting married at 22? Anyway, he doesn’t talk about her much.”

“Did they get divorced?”

“No. She died suddenly. I guess she had some heart problem that she never knew about. It was genetic. They think her mom had it, too, but for whatever reason, it didn’t affect her mom the same way.”

“That’s so sad.”

“Yeah, and she was pregnant. They had just found out that they were having a boy.”

“When did she die?”

“About a year after they got married. My dad was working at some small lab and applying to grad schools. Oh, and get this. GlobalLife was trying to get him to work for them even back then. Said they would pay for his Ph.D. program. He was actually on a job interview the day she died. The interview went on for hours, and when he got home, he found her.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Don’t tell him I told you. He doesn’t like talking about it.”

“Okay. So after it happened, what did he do?”

“Well, he turned down the GlobalLife job. And then a few months later he found out that he got into MIT and he moved to Boston. Then he ended up working for GlobalLife after that. His wife’s heart problem was really what pushed him to study how computers could fix genes.”

“You’re lucky that you found each other, Erik.”

“Yeah. It’s a good thing I ended up in his lab. He’s been a great dad—way better than my real father would have been.”

It was the first time I had heard Erik talk about his biological father. “How do you know that, Erik? You didn’t even know him before . . .”

“Before what?” Erik looked at me.
 

I didn’t want to mention his father’s death because I wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk about it, so I waited for Erik to continue.

“Why are you looking at me like that? My parents aren’t dead, Sam. Did you think they were?”

“Well, yeah. I thought they had an
accident
like mine did?”
 

“No. As far as I know, they’re alive and well. The records my dad found didn’t have any names. Just said ‘donor x’ and ‘donor y’ and some generic stuff, like their age, hair color, eye color.”

“Well, maybe they didn’t know about you. Maybe they were just donors. You were a test tube baby, like me. They could have just put you into a surrogate, like they did with Brittany.”

“The report described the pregnancy, Sam. There were medical records. They mentioned a married couple who lived overseas—somewhere in Europe. My dad thinks that they were probably desperate for money so agreed to have a kid, knowing that it might be taken away. When it was—when
I
was—they must not have been too attached to me because they never came looking.”

“You don’t know that, Erik. Maybe they’ve been looking for you all these years.”

Erik seemed uncomfortable. “Can we change the subject? Let’s get back to work.”

We spent the afternoon on more sensory training, with Erik showing me how to use my enhanced eyesight and hearing in different situations. He talked a little about our heightened sense of touch and how we could combine that with our keen sense of intuition to figure out if a situation or person was a threat or not. But the conversation was awkward because neither one of us wanted to acknowledge the electrifying effect our touch had on each other.

By early evening, we broke for dinner. I went in to check on Brittany, who was finally awake. “Are you hungry? Erik and I are going to eat if you want to join us.”

“Sure, I’m starved.” Brittany’s mood seemed to be much brighter. I wasn’t sure if it was all the sleep she had had or if she’d finally accepted her situation. “What are we having?”

“Probably leftover pizza,” I said. “So how are you feeling about all of this? Being here?”

“I get it now. If I leave, I risk getting killed. If I stay, I might be safe. What choice do I have?”
 

“You
should
have a choice, Brittany. That’s the problem. These people—the ones who are after you and me. They’ve taken our choices away. Now we’re stuck with this. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

“It’s all right, sis. It’s not your fault. Now let’s eat.” She swung her arm around my shoulder like we were suddenly good friends. I sensed her touch and focused on how it felt, just as I had in the training that Erik and I had practiced an hour before. Something didn’t feel right with Brittany. Her happy tone didn’t match the feeling I was getting from her. Brittany was hiding something.

At dinner that night, Erik explained our plans for the following week. How we would drive to California and meet up with one of Jack’s old friends. Brittany seemed oddly okay with us leaving town and not coming back. She sat quietly and listened while Erik told us the details of what Jack and he had discussed.
 

Brittany even seemed excited about leaving town. “I’ve always wanted to go to California. We’ll probably see celebrities! I’ve got to get some better clothes. I can’t show up there in that.” She pointed to the faded blue jeans and navy t-shirt I was wearing that Jack had bought.

“I think clothes are the least of our concern, Brittany.” Erik seemed annoyed that Brittany wasn’t taking this seriously.

“Clothes make the girl, Erik. If you took more interest in girls, you would know that.” She leaned over the table toward Erik, trying to strategically place her cleavage in his view.

“We’re not going to Hollywood, Brittany. We’ll probably end up staying in a place like this. Small town. Out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Well, I guess any place is better than here.” Brittany sighed, sitting back in her chair.
 

“You seem to be taking this whole situation a lot better than yesterday,” I said.

“I thought about it. And I figured, why not? Blake’s hanging out with that bitch, Amber. I have no money to buy a decent dress for prom. I’m flunking out of school. And even if I graduate, then what? Go sweep up hair at the salon where my mom works? Or be a waitress? I might as well go with you guys.”

I studied her body language, trying to tell if she was being truthful. Brittany got up from the table. “Are we done here? I wanna watch some TV.”
 

“Sure. Go ahead,” Erik replied.

When Brittany was out of hearing range, I brought up my suspicions about her to Erik.

“I think you’re worrying too much,” Erik said. “She seems genuinely happy to get out of here. Given the future she described, I can see why.”

“Yeah, that makes sense, but I got a strange vibe from her when I touched her. Like she was just saying what we wanted to hear.”

“That’s because we just practiced that whole intuition thing. Sometimes when you try to read your intuition, your own feelings or wants get in the way and it gets you off track. Maybe deep down you don’t want her going with us so you’re projecting that onto her.”

“Okay, Dr. Erik. I don’t need psychoanalysis here. And I’m not upset about her going with. I’ll admit that I don’t like her all that well, but she is my sister. And I do want to protect her.”

“Then stop worrying about her. It’s good that she’s not putting up a fight. That’s the last thing we need right now.” Erik got up and starting clearing dishes. “I have to do some more packing tonight, so can we move our training to the morning?”
 

“Sure. I know it’s still early, but I’d like to get some sleep if you don’t mind keeping an eye on Brittany.”

“I don’t think we need to. But, yes, I’ll keep an eye on her. Go to bed.”
 

I brought my dishes over to him. Before I could walk away, he wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me toward him, so close I could feel his breath.
 

“Hey, great job today. You learn fast. Or maybe I’m just an excellent teacher.” He smiled and I wanted to kiss him so badly that I almost gave in. But I couldn’t. I had made it clear that we were friends and only friends.
 

But I didn’t fight him so he waited for me to make the next move. “Yeah, I’d say you’re a pretty good teacher.” I smiled back at him, remaining in his arms. “And you’re persistent, I’ll give you that.” My comment referred to his flirting, not his training. He got the message and let me go.
 

“Nothing wrong with persistence, Sam,” he hollered at me, as I left down the stairs.

Even if I would never see Colin again, it was too soon to start something with Erik. Still, I couldn’t deny the intense spark that Erik and I shared the minute we met. And our attraction to each other was getting stronger by the minute, no matter how much we fought it.
 

When I woke up the next morning, I found Brittany sleeping in the chair next to me. Erik was upstairs in bed, a sign that he assumed Brittany was no longer interested in trying to run. Brittany was rolled up in a ball, still wearing the same outfit she had on two days earlier. She had washed the makeup off her face, making her look even more like me. Her face had so much of Mom and Dad in it. I could literally see them in her, and it made me sad. She would never meet them. Never hear Mom’s laugh. Never taste Dad’s famous pancakes.