intoxicating.
Lips brushed mine—soft, full, extremely kissable.
I enjoyed that for a lingering minute, letting the suspense build. I was relaxing; the images from the “home movies” were
receding.
Then I took a peek to see who was in the room with me.
“What the?”
My eyes shot all the way open. The female figure lying beside me had shaggy blond hair, the most beautiful blue eyes, and
a face that was a dead ringer for that of my sister, Lucy.
That
was what was lurking deep in my imagination? Lucy? That criminal. A human? It had to be a fluke, I told myself. The idea was
only there because of what my mother’s clone had suggested in the kitchen.
But Lucy’s mouth couldn’t have tasted sweeter, and she definitely had a great body. And—she
wanted
me. God, I
was
vulnerable, wasn’t I?
Then I thought—how could it hurt? She was literally a figment of my imagination. Just a fantasy, a dream girl, harmless adult
entertainment.
“Tell me your name,” I said, curious about what she would say.
She gave me a sly look—like she knew what I was thinking.
Suddenly, a loud
bang bang bang
sounded. It took me a few seconds to realize someone was knocking on the window of the car.
Chapter 44
I YANKED OFF the mood helmet and rolled down the pod’s window.
Well, what do you know?
The real Lucy was standing there, watching me with a frown, or maybe it was a self-satisfied smirk. Humans were known to be
prudish, even puritanical, after all.
“You look like you were sucking on a lemon slice,” she said. “Playdate?”
“For God’s sake, can’t anyone have some privacy around here?”
Her face turned serious. “Let’s not hate each other for the moment. We got off to a bad start, I know, but we were just doing
what we had to.”
“I
had
to do what I did, yeah. But I don’t get why you and your thugs
had
to attack me.”
“Maybe we’re thugs to Elites—but to humans, we’refreedom fighters. Like I told you, we weren’t out to kill you—we just needed to make it look that way. Our object was to bring
you here…”
“Well, here I am. My life is a total wasteland now. Happy?”
She sighed. “Ecstatic. I’m on my way to go fishing. Want to come?”
Fishing? How crazy was that? But I did have a few questions for Lucy. So many questions, I didn’t know where to start.
So I put away the mood helmet, climbed out of the car, and walked with her toward the beach.
“Don’t take this as a compliment, but you know more about high-level Elite operations than any other human in the world,”
Lucy said. “That makes you extremely valuable to us. You’ve even been called ‘the Savior’!”
I snorted with amusement. “I’ve just found out that everything I ever believed is a lie—and that my parents are the ones who
started the lie. So now I should just take your side and join the human race in oblivion? I should help to
save
them?”
“I certainly understand your feelings, Hays, but you’d better believe they’re getting ready to wipe us out—soon. That’s right,
I said
us
.”
Actually, I couldn’t argue with what Lucy said. I’d heard it myself from President Jacklin.
“You’re probably angry at your mother and father,” Lucy continued. “But think about how hard it must have been for them. Performing
surgery on their own little boy, then sending him away into the enemy’s camp. Maybe to die.”
Suddenly, I remembered the home movie scene of Mom weeping inside the operating room.
Then it struck me how Lucy had phrased that last sentence.
“
My
mother and father?” I said. “So it’s true that you’re not really my sister?”
“My own parents were their best friends. My folks died when I was a baby, and they adopted me. But you and I do have a biological
connection. Your mom and dad enhanced me surgically, just like they did for you, beano. Our brains have implants from the
same chip set, and some of our organ tissue is cloned from the same
Lips brushed mine—soft, full, extremely kissable.
I enjoyed that for a lingering minute, letting the suspense build. I was relaxing; the images from the “home movies” were
receding.
Then I took a peek to see who was in the room with me.
“What the?”
My eyes shot all the way open. The female figure lying beside me had shaggy blond hair, the most beautiful blue eyes, and
a face that was a dead ringer for that of my sister, Lucy.
That
was what was lurking deep in my imagination? Lucy? That criminal. A human? It had to be a fluke, I told myself. The idea was
only there because of what my mother’s clone had suggested in the kitchen.
But Lucy’s mouth couldn’t have tasted sweeter, and she definitely had a great body. And—she
wanted
me. God, I
was
vulnerable, wasn’t I?
Then I thought—how could it hurt? She was literally a figment of my imagination. Just a fantasy, a dream girl, harmless adult
entertainment.
“Tell me your name,” I said, curious about what she would say.
She gave me a sly look—like she knew what I was thinking.
Suddenly, a loud
bang bang bang
sounded. It took me a few seconds to realize someone was knocking on the window of the car.
Chapter 44
I YANKED OFF the mood helmet and rolled down the pod’s window.
Well, what do you know?
The real Lucy was standing there, watching me with a frown, or maybe it was a self-satisfied smirk. Humans were known to be
prudish, even puritanical, after all.
“You look like you were sucking on a lemon slice,” she said. “Playdate?”
“For God’s sake, can’t anyone have some privacy around here?”
Her face turned serious. “Let’s not hate each other for the moment. We got off to a bad start, I know, but we were just doing
what we had to.”
“I
had
to do what I did, yeah. But I don’t get why you and your thugs
had
to attack me.”
“Maybe we’re thugs to Elites—but to humans, we’refreedom fighters. Like I told you, we weren’t out to kill you—we just needed to make it look that way. Our object was to bring
you here…”
“Well, here I am. My life is a total wasteland now. Happy?”
She sighed. “Ecstatic. I’m on my way to go fishing. Want to come?”
Fishing? How crazy was that? But I did have a few questions for Lucy. So many questions, I didn’t know where to start.
So I put away the mood helmet, climbed out of the car, and walked with her toward the beach.
“Don’t take this as a compliment, but you know more about high-level Elite operations than any other human in the world,”
Lucy said. “That makes you extremely valuable to us. You’ve even been called ‘the Savior’!”
I snorted with amusement. “I’ve just found out that everything I ever believed is a lie—and that my parents are the ones who
started the lie. So now I should just take your side and join the human race in oblivion? I should help to
save
them?”
“I certainly understand your feelings, Hays, but you’d better believe they’re getting ready to wipe us out—soon. That’s right,
I said
us
.”
Actually, I couldn’t argue with what Lucy said. I’d heard it myself from President Jacklin.
“You’re probably angry at your mother and father,” Lucy continued. “But think about how hard it must have been for them. Performing
surgery on their own little boy, then sending him away into the enemy’s camp. Maybe to die.”
Suddenly, I remembered the home movie scene of Mom weeping inside the operating room.
Then it struck me how Lucy had phrased that last sentence.
“
My
mother and father?” I said. “So it’s true that you’re not really my sister?”
“My own parents were their best friends. My folks died when I was a baby, and they adopted me. But you and I do have a biological
connection. Your mom and dad enhanced me surgically, just like they did for you, beano. Our brains have implants from the
same chip set, and some of our organ tissue is cloned from the same
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