“I’m sorry, Rose,” her father said, catching his daughter’s attention. The car ride home had been quiet. Even the usually boisterous Danny hadn’t made much of a fuss. Rose herself had been staring into the distance, not engaging anyone. Her meeting with Macauley had left her with much to consider.
“For what?”
“This whole weekend vacation was a harebrained scheme from the start,” her father said, rubbing his thick mop of hair. Because he was still recovering from a concussion, his wife had taken the wheel instead. “I’d hoped for better. You all deserved better.”
“Hey, Dad, don’t beat yourself up,” Sophia replied. “You couldn’t have known. I still had fun. We need to do this more often, without the alien part, of course. I won’t see you as much when I leave for college.”
“Yeah! I had fun too!” Rose said, giving her father an emphatic nod. “Besides, the attack worked in our favor. We’ve learned something about the enemy! Besides, I’d rather Okab attack me out in the open instead of at home or at school. ”
“I suppose.” Her father still didn’t seem that happy. “You three are growing up so fast, and I fear I’m not seeing enough of your lives. And now this Altair nonsense? I’m out of my depth! There! I admit it!”
“Oh, Dad.” Rose sympathized. She barely felt in control of anything anymore either, any sense of normalcy was slipping from her grip like wet soap.
An idea struck her. While the future remained dark and uncertain, she would enjoy today with everything she had. She refused to let that stupid Altair ruin her vacation. “How about we sing some songs?”
This earned a smile from her father. “We haven’t done that since you were in second grade, Rose.”
“I thought, what the heck?” Rose replied.
“I’m up for it,” Sophia said.
“Songs!” Danny said, enthused by the prospect.
“What about you, Mr. Gauss?” Rose asked her bodyguard, whose massive frame took up much of the van’s backseat.
“If I must,” the man said begrudgingly. Unlike Brown, he didn’t seem to like children as much. Still, he took his role as guardian seriously, willing to go the extra mile if needed.
Her mother laughed, pleased. “Should I start? ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.’”
“We’re starting with that one?” Rose had hoped for a pop song, but she didn’t complain and continued the chorus.
They laughed, sang out of key, and made general fools of themselves, but Rose loved every moment. She wanted to end this vacation on a high note, if just to spite Okab and his monstrous kin. For this brief moment, she forgot about them and her troubles. Today was a family day.
---
“You will be most pleased,” Doctor Vasiliy Idelson said in his thick Russian accent. “We have made a major breakthrough.”
“Oh?” Sandage asked, intrigued. He’d welcome some good news. He needed it after the Minneapolis debacle.
The higher-ups were hopping mad over Rose’s close encounter with death, mostly blaming him. Not that Sandage disagreed. He’d approved the trip, after all. Still, it wasn’t a total loss. The revelation that the Altair were intelligent, thinking beings had sparked a wildfire in the scientific community. Some politicians were hopeful about a possible diplomatic solution to the crisis. Sandage himself wasn’t holding his breath.
“We’ve gained a better understanding of the Altair’s structure,” Doctor William von Fraunhofer said. “We’ve discovered the Altair are digital creatures.”
“What?” Sandage said, his voice flat. “We don’t live in The Matrix, Doctor von Fraunhofer.”
“No. But the Altair are alien beings beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. They literally come from a different reality,” von Fraunhofer replied.
“Okay, but digital beings?” It made Sandage’s head spin.
“It’s a far-out theory, but a credible one,” Idelson said. “Using a sample of their cells, we were able to digitize it, a perfect copy. It ruined the computer we uploaded it onto by becoming an unstoppable virus, but it worked.”
“What?! No one told me about this dangerous experiment!”
“We were careful,” von Fraunhofer quickly added. “The computer we used wasn’t connected to any network. Anyway, it explains much about their structure that we didn’t previously understand.”
“I suppose it explains the pixelation when they die.” Still, this revelation was beyond absurd. “Can we use this against them? Like design a computer virus, or some counter agent?” Sandage said, throwing out random ideas.
“We’re not sure,” Idelson replied. “But we’ll look into it.”
“Keep at it. Good work.” Any lead was welcome, in Sandage’s opinion, even if it was totally bonkers crazy. He paused as he noticed Cecilia watching them. “Perfect, exactly the person I was looking for.”
Cecilia gave him a stilted nod, ushering him over. “Can we talk somewhere in private?”
“Sure.” A pit gathered in Sandage’s gut as he guided the cloned girl to an office room and locked the door. “What’s wrong?”
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“In the next fight, Rose will die,” Cecilia replied, her visage pale.
“You said that before, but…”
“I got another vision. My first one was brief, but this one had greater detail. This one showed a digital clock on a nightstand. It displayed 4 PM on October 9th.”
Sandage released a startled gasp. That was only six days away.
“Thanks to my time with Rose, I recognized where it will happen: right outside her house. Okab was there, standing over the ruined remains of her house.” Cecilia shuddered, clearly having seen something unpleasant.
“Okay.” But Sandage didn’t despair. Instead, it only made him more determined. He gave Cecilia a confident smile he didn’t feel. “That just gives us the perfect opportunity to ambush him. Excuse me.”
“Yes, hello. I need to speak with General Kuiper. It’s urgent.” Sandage wasn’t sure how he’d explain his future knowledge, but he’d devise something. It was best Cecilia’s odd abilities remained a secret. “Sorry to bug you at this late hour, but we have a situation.”
Convincing the general was the least of his problems. They needed an effective strategy against the Okab. Luckily, inspiration had just struck. “I have an idea how we might make Project Bird Bath more effective.”
---
“Why is everyone staring at me?” Rose asked as she passed through her school’s front door.
“You’re a double hero now. It should be expected,” Vera replied.
“Okay.” Though Rose had to admit, the looks of expectant awe were making her queasy. She’d known she’d gained a reputation since becoming Luyten V’s pilot, but this was getting crazy.
“And if I fail them, they’ll hate me!” Rose thought, fighting back panic. But she kept her expression cool, doing as Brown had advised her. If she pretended to be confident, real confidence would come.
“A lot of suited types have been hanging around here lately. One might assume you’re the president or something,” Georges said, warily eying the black-suited men scattered across the halls.
Gauss followed close behind them, eyes on constant alert. Not that Rose could blame him. They’d learned the terrifying truth that Altair could steal human form. Rose’s eyes constantly scanned faces, searching for any hint of another secret monster.
“Ignore them. Consider them as, um, wallpaper,” Rose replied. Instead of calming Georges’ worries, it only increased his anxiety.
“Cecilia!” Rose waved to the taller girl, who responded with an enthusiastic wave back. It was a major improvement from their more awkward interactions when Cecilia first joined their school. Unfortunately, they didn’t share their first class together, but they’d speak later at lunch.
It amazed Rose how calm everyone was when the latest Altair attack was only yesterday. Were they trying their best to pretend everything was fine so they wouldn’t always be afraid? Rose envied them. She didn’t have that luxury. Sandage had announced they’d do a Luyten V training session later tonight.
The day passed without much incident, though Hans had invited himself to eat at Rose’s table, most unlike him. Despite his typical silence, Rose sensed his worry for her. Despite herself, she liked his company. Shame Vera saw it differently, making insinuations that caused Rose’s cheeks to blush despite her protests. Georges was huffy the entire time, making his displeasure known. He shot Hans scathing glares the entire lunch period. Cecilia watched the scene with amusement, exchanging a few words with Hans. Despite their lack of conversation, they appeared to get along.
“Hey, Rose, mind if I join you?” Cecilia asked as she walked with Rose to the LUVOLT facility. Gauss trailed her as usual, thankfully not butting into her personal life.
“Uh, sure. But I won’t be able to hang out much tonight,” Rose replied. “Agent Sandage is having me do drills in the Luyten V all night.”
“I don’t mind,” Cecilia said. “There’s something I wish to ask you.”
“Oh?”
Instead of replying, the taller girl began to figit. Clearly, she didn’t want to ask what was on her mind.
“Is something the matter?”
“I just… please promise me you won’t freak out. That you won’t think of me differently.”
“Never. As long as you’re not secretly an Altair, or something,” Rose joked. Much to her surprise, her levity only made her friend more anxious. They walked in silence for several minutes as Cecilia gathered her courage.
“This is something serious!” Rose thought, making her more curious. She cursed as they approached the warehouse that had become LUVOLT’s makeshift headquarters. “Sorry, but here’s where we part ways. Agent Sandage isn’t patient about delays. You’ll have to be quick about what you want to say.” She waved at the guards, who greeted her with a nod.
Much to Rose’s surprise, Cecilia walked confidently forward. “Don’t worry. We can speak inside.” She gaped as the guards allowed them both inside without protest.
“Cecilia, what’s going on?” Rose asked, a million questions ready to flow out.
“It’s complicated, but I’m a member of LUVOLT, too.”
“What?!” Rose gaped, lost for words.
“It’s a long story. My past is complicated.” Cecilia paused, steeling herself for her next confession. “I was designed in a lab as a prototype super-soldier—that was the plan, anyway.”
Rose’s eyes only boggled, disbelieving her own ears. She remained speechless, her brain sluggish as she processed this information.
“Rose, Cecilia. Good,” Sandage said, walking up to them. “There’s a lot to do tonight.”
“So… Cecilia is a designer baby?” Rose finally asked.
“You told her?” Sandage said, raising an eyebrow.
“She needs to know,” Cecilia said, her tone defensive. “I’m sick of keeping secrets from Rose. And she needs to know she might die in five days!”
“Okay, what’s going on now?” Rose rubbed her temple. “Please explain from the start!”
Rose listened again, hoping her ears were working properly. “Okay, I think I understand where you’re going. It’s a lot to take in.” Cecilia was an unusual girl, but a clone? And she caught glimpses of the future? How was this her life now?
“So you’ve told her everything. Are you sure this is a good idea?” Though, Sandage hadn’t tried to stop Cecilia from spilling her secrets.
“I had to! I’m tired of keeping it from Rose,” Cecilia said defiantly. “Besides, Rose needs to know what’s going to happen!”
“Okay, just keep this between ourselves, okay?” Sandage replied. “Your origin is a national secret.”
Rose gathered the thoughts, putting everything together. She threw out a stab at the dark, but guessed it was probably the truth. “You say I’m about to die? Let me guess, in my next fight with Okab, I’m toast?” Rose said, her words calm despite the dire pronouncement. When she caught Cecilia’s surprise, Rose only laughed and shook her head. “It wasn’t hard to guess. It’s written all over your face!”
“How are you so calm about this?!” Cecilia sputtered.
“Since Luyten V arrived, my life has been nothing but one long horrible rollercoaster. It’s just another bump on the ride. Rose wanted to live day by day. Let future problems work themselves out.
Cecilia only stared at Rose, unsure she’d heard her friend properly. “But—”
“Besides, the future can change. Luyten V is proof of that. I mean, it came from the future, after all. I was the one who designed it.” It was nice to spill that secret. If her friend was going to be totally honest, so would she.”
“You designed it in the future, Rose?” Cecilia bit her lip. She muttered to herself, more confused than alarmed. “I knew Luyten V was from the future, but this…”
“Again, please keep this between us! That’s a national secret too!” Sandage said, exasperated.
“Still, this isn’t the same thing. The Altair Records…” Cecilia tensed, biting her lip harder. “They are the archive of the universe.”
“Books can be wrong,” Rose replied.
“Not these,” Cecilia shot back, more insistent. Rose’s unimpressed huff only incensed her further.
“Girls, girls,” Sandage said, calming the tense air between them. “We can worry about changing the future later. Let’s focus on our current problems first. Okab’s coming, and we need to be prepared.”
“Right,” Rose said, nodding. While not happy, Cecilia gave a reluctant nod. “Mr. Sandage, you know more about operations than I do. Will Luyten V’s new weapon be finished before Okab attacks?” She had overheard the engineers talk about it.
Sandage flinched, pained to give bad news. “I’m not sure. We’ve finished construction, but the circuitry is complex for something of that size. The military is on high alert, but we all know their limited effectiveness.”
Rose pondered this, frustrated. There must be some way to use this knowledge to their advantage. There was Luyten V’s Full Sync mode, but its abilities were untested. Five days gave them a tight window to learn its capabilities. Worse, even Macauley was unsure if Rose’s young body could survive the process.
“I’ll just have to push harder, train harder.” If everything else was out of her control, she’d focus on what she could affect.
“Rose?” Sandage asked as his charge stood up.
“Keep thinking. I’ll be in Luyten V training,” Rose said, her voice full of determination. If she was about to die, she’d make Okab pay for it.
“Rose,” Cecilia said, her voice concerned.
“Just keep your eyes open for more visions, or however it works. Let me do my part. Five days isn’t much, but I’ll make it work,” Rose said, feigning more confidence than she felt.
“You aren’t alone in this, Rose” Sandage said. “We have some experimental weapons we plan on trying out.”
“Cecilia, we got this, okay?” Rose said to her friend’s worried expression, grabbing her hand and squeezing. “We’re changing fate. That’s why Luyten V exists.” By God, Rose swore she’d do everything in her power to save everyone. The future wasn’t written. Or at least, Rose prayed to God this was true.