Welcome Aboard

Giving him a handshake, I accept Lux’s offer to join the task force without wait. Miss Gray and some of the others clap with approval. Sorry, Dad, but I’m not going to deprive myself of this just because you can’t trust me enough. Besides, Ezri has already made me a target – it’s no longer possible for me to put myself at risk, when I already am.

“You chose wisely. I’ll deal with any complaints Anthony may have. Until then, have a seat.”

I sit in an empty chair besides Miss Gray, who gives me a proud smile as she pats my back. A few look at me skeptically, assumably because of my age and the fact I’m just a student. I can’t help but wonder if they know how much I’ve already contributed to this group without even being a member, but whatever. They’ll learn soon enough that Lux was right to recruit me.

“We’ve been secretly surveilling every woman who was at the Convention,” Lux says. “There’s obviously nothing ‘natural’ about Ezri’s appearance, so we’ve figured that she must have altered her looks later in life, and we estimate her age to be somewhere between late 20s to late 30s – though since half her face is covered and her skin is damaged, it’s not possible to know for sure.”

“Did my dad tell you about my deduction that she was an Admin?” I ask. When the others seem surprised at the knowledge this information came from myself, I hold in a triumphant smile. Wouldn’t want to be too cocky.

“He did. Even though all the Admins at the Convention were killed, it still allowed us to shrink the list to those in government only— them, and Shiloh Wilks.”

I straighten up when he mentions Shiloh. Shiloh, of all people. They’re wasting their time if they actually think she could even possibly be Ezri.

“Why is Shiloh a suspect?” I ask. “There’s no way she’s Ezri.”

“Shiloh is a female, attended the Convention, and is studying to be an Admin at the Institute of Laws and Sciences,” he says straightforwardly. “I get she’s your friend, kid, but we can’t take any chances— and if you want to work with us, neither will you. Got it?”

“Right, fine. But I’m telling you, she’s no threat. Except to my own sanity, maybe.”

“Sir,” one of the task force members speaks up after clearing his throat. “Would it not be problematic to have Calla here if her ‘buddy’ does, in fact, turn out to be Ezri? Can we be certain she’d stay loyal?”

“I’ve never heard something more insulting in my life,” I snap at him, to the alarm of the other members. “As if I’d betray my own country, not even for a friend.”

“That may be easier said than done,” another mutters. Are these people serious?

My head snaps to her direction, but before I can defend myself, Lux cuts in, “Calla, the team here is a bit on edge. None of us know who can or can’t be trusted. You can understand their concerns, can’t you?”

“I suppose…”

“If it helps, even you’re a suspect, Calla,” Miss Gray says. “We’re just trying to be thorough.”

Lux chuckles. I stare at Miss Gray as if she has three heads. How the heck would that make me feel better? If anything, it just makes me question what type of dumb logic is being used here.

“I’m a suspect? Me?”

“Calm down. The chance of you being Ezri is less than 1 percent, but if you match what we’re lookin’ for, then you get put on the list. Just protocol, nothin’ more than that,” says Lux. “If I really suspected you, you wouldn’t be here.”

I guess that’s fair, so long as nobody is actually believing that malarkey. My reputation has already been dragged through the mud enough as is.

“Anyway, let’s move on to your purpose here, Calla.”

He slides over a yellow folder across the table. It stops in front of me, and I flip through the papers inside it. Its contents are filled with profiles of each suspect. Their name and age, job, blood type… Below all the basic things are detailed notes on their day-to-day lives. Invasive? Maybe. Apparently a “Susie” caught her husband cheating on her yesterday, and a “Tina” is always buying beef jerky. I even stumble upon my own profile, and shudder. Was this really the best picture they could find of me? Come on, now.

“All that info we have, and yet there’s no indication of anyone on there being Ezri,” Lux says. “Maybe one of em will start showing signs eventually, but we don’t have time for that.”

Using the cameras to spy on the suspects everywhere they go is an effective strategy for gathering as much intelligence as possible, but it’s not a fast one. There’s no telling what Ezri is going to do next, or when.

“So,” Lux continues, “I came up with a different approach, one that’s infallible – her DNA. If we’re able to get Ezri’s DNA, everything would be solved in an instant.”

If only. The idea itself is flawless – I wish I had thought of it myself. But how would it be accomplished? Abduction is an option, except the IPU hasn’t even been bold enough to confront her face-to-face.

“That’s where Calla comes in. If Ezri wants her, then we’ll give her. Calla will get a trace of Ezri’s DNA, and we rescue her before anything happens.”

The whole room bursts into gasps and chatter. They’re all as shocked as me. I spent all day trying to avoid Ezri, only to be handed over to her by the IPU? What if they aren’t able to retrieve me? It’s not like they’ve been the most competent lately.

“Secretary, don’t you think that’s a huge risk? We still don’t know what Ezri wants with her. Anthony would be mortified,” says Miss Gray, evidently worried.

Lux shakes his head. “In the grand scheme of things, that’s irrelevant. If we get what we’re after, any plan she has will be made futile… And frankly, the president will just need to get a grip, for the sake of the IPU.”

“So, this is why you didn’t want to tell me anything beforehand. In case I said ‘no,’ right?” I ask critically.

“You’re catchin’ on quick, keep at it.” He stands up and travels to my spot at the table, picking up the folder. Waving it back and forth, Lux says, “All but one of the women in here will be let off the hook if you comply – that, and everything returns to normal. We all like ‘normal,’ don’t we?” He looks down at me, and adds in a more serious tone, “It’d be a shame if you got in the way of that, Calla.”

“Secretary, why pressure the poor girl!” Miss Gray scolds.

“The ‘poor girl’ agreed to be here, so I’ll treat her accordingly. If you’re going to coddle her, then perhaps you should—”

“I’ll do it. No problem.”

Nobody expected me to say that, apparently – they’re all astonished. Miss Gray can barely formulate a sentence, while the man who was getting snippy with me is in another world. Lux, on the other hand, couldn’t be more satisfied with my answer. He gives me a soft pet on the head, though nothing about the action is genuine, then returns to his chair.

“See that? That’s what I want to see, someone who isn’t a little wuss. I hope you all will follow her example instead of the ‘others,’ once we finally get this show on the road.”

The room’s ambience is transformed into dread. The gloom on everyone else’s faces, especially Miss Gray, tells me they’ve already planned my funeral and even picked out my coffin. I push away the feeling of unease beginning to creep onto me – there’s no point in getting cold feet now. If this is the only way to stop Ezri, then I’ll follow along, no matter the costs.

I refuse to disappoint the IPU, and I’ll finally regain my pride.

“Wooonderful choice!”

A tall, lanky man with wavy hair says gleefully after bolting into the meeting – Professor Katz. The last time I saw him was when he was a pitiful heap at the Convention, I assumed he was amongst those “put away.” His feet are quick as he approaches me, and shakes my hand so vigorously that it could probably rip my arm straight out the socket.

“I always knew you were a special one! Didn’t I say she was special, Lux?”

“How could I forget?” Lux mumbles. He looked exhausted as soon as Katz entered the room.

“You’re part of the task force too, Professor?”

“Well, yes! It was my Racer that started this mess,” he says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his unkept locks. “It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t help patch things up.”

“Uhuh. Didn’t Dad put the Racer project on suspension?”

“Oh, Calla! You and your jokes, I’m with this crew out of the goodness of my own heart.”

Yeah, right. Anyone who’s been around Katz long enough knows that he likes to avoid responsibility whenever he can. He’s lucky he’s a genius, otherwise nobody would tolerate him.

“You could start by showing up on time. For once,” Lux says.

“Why must we put such an emphasis on the frivolous things in life, Mr. Connell?” he says with a dismissive swat of his hand. His arm is then placed around my shoulder, and I’m pulled up to stand. “We should instead be celebrating this marvelous step forward into the mission! Music, drinks— non-alcoholic, of course, and a good time!”

Despite Lux’s agitation at the idea, the rest of the task force is easily swayed by Katz’s “charisma” and persuasive words that tug at their hidden desire for an enjoyable break from work. Like Lux, I couldn’t be less interested in any partying – the want to work myself to the bone on this case is overwhelming. Yet I still wind up at the professor’s condo against my will, since the team isn’t “comfortable” with me being alone while Ezri’s eyes are set on me, not until Lux decides to release me to her.

The night at Katz’s is filled with dancing, laughter, and for the first time in what feels like forever, hope. I watch everything from a lonely corner, eager to be brought home, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat alleviated from my constant thinking about Ezri, the little party serving as a helpful distraction. It also gives me something to tell Jasper about once I see him again – he’ll be so jealous about me going to Katz’s home.

I lift a cup of a cranberry drink to my lips, and hesitate. The red color brings back memories of blood. Suddenly I’m not thirsty anymore. But that’s not the only thing that reminds me of the Convention. There was something very— distinct about that night. Like it was familiar, and that familiarity brought on a looming sense of fear, one that I couldn’t get rid of no matter what.

That’s what’s going on with me right now, and once again, I can’t determine why.