Hero Born: Project Solaris (3 page)

The machine began to hum more loudly; the pulses of light came in a wild staccato. Definitely new behavior. I squinted, wanting to look away but also wanting to see what was happening. There was a sharp burst of light in the tube, far brighter than our lasers should have been able to produce.

Another burst of light, this one even brighter. I staggered backwards, grabbing the edge of a chair as I nearly fell. Someone had just shoved an icepick through my skull, and now they were sending current down it. The final burst of light was even larger, filling the room with emerald brilliance. The icepick exploded, and I vaguely remember my coffee falling to the floor.

Chapter 4- Hospital

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed, mouth drier than the Sahara and body thick with sweat. A heart monitor beeped steadily; I sat up, blinking rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the soft halogens. The walls were sterile white, and there was a curtain screening off the other bed in the room. A TV hung from the wall across from me, though it was off at the moment. Was I in the hospital?

Someone was seated in the visitor's chair: a woman with casually elegant brown hair and dark eyes. She wore blue jeans that could have been painted on, and a cashmere sweater popular at colleges far more expensive than mine had been. She was gorgeous. Her legs were toned like a dancer's, and her posture backed up that impression. Her back was straight, but relaxed at the same time. That, combined with her sun-darkened complexion, gave her an exotic look, the kind that drew every male eye in a five-mile radius. She was peering down at an iPad, scanning intently.
 

It was only then that I realized I knew her. It was Jillian, and I could only gawk. When Jillian and I were growing up, she'd been even poorer than my mother and I, and we couldn't even keep the power on. The reservation was the scary place that most of our parents forbade us from going, for good reason. Tuolumne had a serious meth problem, and that problem had originated on the res. Back then, Jillian's newest clothing was third-hand, and a lot of it was older than that. She'd patched it herself, but there was only so much she could do. The kids had made fun of her every day, especially the girls. I'd been her male equivalent, teased mercilessly by the boys, which was part of why we'd bonded.

The days of hand me downs and too-big shoes were definitely over for Jillian.

"You look incredible," I croaked. Speaking was unexpectedly painful, and I tried swallowing to ease the pain.

She eyed me frostily, not the slightest hint of anything approaching a smile.

"Here," she said, rising gracefully and picking up a glass of water with a straw in it. She maneuvered the straw between my lips. "Don't drink it too quickly."

I gulped it down greedily until it was gone, and found myself breathing heavier afterwards. "How long have I been out?"

"Four days," she said, sinking back into the chair. She shifted her legs, drawing my gaze. I was staring, and I knew that she knew it. Her expression didn't look displeased, but then it didn't look pleased either. "Apparently you passed out in the middle of some lab. Paramedics brought you here and had no explanation for why you'd fallen into a coma."

"Coma?" I asked, more than a little confused. "I've been in a
coma
?"

"Yes, they're mystified," Jillian said. She looked more concerned than I'd have expected after that frosty glance just a moment ago.

"Not that I'm not grateful, but what are you doing here?" I asked, struggling to sit up. I finally noticed a little white remote for the bed and raised the back until I was sitting almost straight.

"You weren't answering your phone," she said, giving a quick shrug. Something flashed through her eyes. Anger, maybe. "Your mother is dying, David. I wanted you to be there before the end."

"Dying? What are you talking about? She can't be. I just talked to her," I said, swinging my legs off the bed. A wave of vertigo knocked me back into the pillows.

"Don't try to get up yet. Take a minute," Jillian said, rising again. She pushed my legs back onto the bed and covered me with the blanket. I felt naked in the flimsy hospital gown. "You talked to her four days ago, David."

"How?" was all I could muster. Mom couldn't be dying. I refused to accept it.

"We don't have time to talk about that here. We need to go." Jillian brushed a lock of hair from her face. "You and I both know what did this though, David. They've come back."

"
They
don't exist, Jillian," I snapped. "We were kids. We made it up." The heart monitor began beeping more quickly. "Neither one of us belonged, and it was a cry for attention. Something we convinced ourselves was true, because we wanted to be special. It's time to grow up, Jillian. Aliens
don't
exist."
 

"Do you seriously believe that?" she asked, tone unreadable. She paused for a long moment, studying me with those heavy brown eyes. "You do, don't you? You've convinced yourself it never happened, repressed the ship, the abduction. All of it. My god, your mother was right."

"My mother has been
committed
." I leaned back, trying to breathe deeply. I'd gone lightheaded, and was more than a little queasy. "She's been committed twice, and just because they released her doesn't mean she's sane. What I can't believe is that you're buying into her delusions. Jillian, I made it out. From the way you're dressed, it looks like you have, too. We've made something of ourselves. I can't afford to get pulled back in, and I can't believe you'd allow yourself to."

"Pulled back in? David, we don't have a choice," she replied hotly. She stalked over to the bed, withdrawing something golden from her pocket. My skin went cold when I recognized the little boomerang. It dredged up the terrible chittering, and the too-thin grey limbs, from the dark recesses of my mind. "You recognize it, I see. Your mother took it from a grey man. If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will. Take it."

I stifled the urge to say something I'd regret, instead accepting the golden device. It was warm to the touch, more than it should have been. I rested my free hand on the metal arm of the bed, swinging my legs over the side. A vibration passed through me, like touching a live wire. I had no idea what it was, but an arc of current shot from my hand. It was like a spark of static electricity, but a thousand times worse. The electricity jumped, sending a bolt into the heart monitor next to the bed.

The heart monitor gave a brief scream, then went dark. Smoke poured from
 
the top. What the hell had just happened?

"We really need to get you out of here. Right now," Jillian said, throwing an arm around me. "Can you walk?"

Heels clicked on the linoleum outside, and Jillian released me as a tall blonde walked in. A tall black man trailed in her wake, dark dreadlocks spilling down his shoulders. He wore a trench coat, with his hands tucked into deep pockets. Not at all the type I'd expect a woman of Summers' bearing to keep company with.

"Ahh, David," she said, giving me a predatory smile that was probably meant to be friendly. Her artfully coiffed hair framed her face like a lion's mane; her lipstick was like blood. "I see that you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Jillian leaned closer, whispering. "Get ready to run."

"What are you doing in my hospital room?" I asked, raising shakily to my feet. "And who's your friend?"

"Marcus here is my associate. We're only here to check up on a potential investment," Summers said, raising a hand in a placating gesture. "Mohn Corp has decided there's merit in Initech's work, and you're an integral part of that. Doctor Usir has asked me to ensure that you will continue to remain a part of the project, before we send your CEO a term sheet."

"And if I've already received a better job offer?" I asked, clutching Jillian's arm for a moment. I released her when the shaking in my legs stopped. There was still a chance I was going to topple, but damn it if I wasn't going to preserve some shred of my dignity.

Summers stiffened, but it wasn't the words that had caused the reaction. She was staring at the golden device still clutched in my right hand. "Where did you get that?"

"None of your goddamn business," Jillian shot back, stepping protectively in front of me. "You need to leave. Nurses will be here any minute to check on David." She nodded at the still-smoking heart monitor.
 

"You're Phasic." Summers narrowed her eyes, and she took a threatening step toward Jillian. The word had an immediate effect on Marcus, who adopted a combat stance similar to the ones I had seen Jillian use during sparring bouts back when we were teens.

I wasn't sure what happened. Maybe it was instinct, or maybe it was something implanted by the grey men, but my hand shot up of its own accord. An arc of pure electricity shot out, tagging Marcus in the chest. He was hurled into the wall hard enough to smash the TV, much to our mutual surprise.

Summers danced backwards, raising both hands. The first pointed at Jillian, and an arc of electricity identical to the one I'd fired shot into her chest. Jillian was flung backwards, back arched and face locked in a rictus of pain. Summers' other hand pointed at me, and an unseen force lifted me from the ground. I dangled in the air, invisible fingers squeezing my throat hard enough to cut off the flow of air. Black spots swam across my vision as I choked and sputtered.

"The device," Jillian cried from somewhere far away. "David, use the device."

I was dimly aware of the golden boomerang still clutched in my hand, and I raised the device in Summers' direction. Her eyes widened, and the pressure on my throat disappeared. Summers dove for the doorway as a wave of green light erupted from the golden boomerang.

The lower portion of the door and the wall next to it simply ceased to exist, though Summers
'
rolled safely into the hallway. I toppled to the ground in a heap, shaking like I'd run a marathon. Whatever had summoned the electricity and activated the device apparently took quite a toll.

Marcus was already rising, extending an arm in my direction. His face was locked in a grimly determined expression, though there was no animosity there. He was a professional, doing what he needed with no personal feelings clouding his judgement.

Jillian, on the other hand, charged, launching a low kick at Marcus's ankle. He tried to evade, but Jillian was blindingly fast. The move spilled him back to the ground, and Jillian darted across the room back to my side.

"Hold on," she murmured, seizing my shoulder in a tight grip.
 

Something like ice washed through me, and I felt somehow lighter. Then the floor rippled around us, just like it had when I'd entered the grey men's ship all those years ago. We passed through the floor like it was water, dropping into the room below us.

Chapter 5- Flight

The room we landed in was occupied by an obese middle-aged man, who blinked wordlessly as we tumbled to the ground in a heap. The fall was painful, but thankfully adrenaline shielded me from the worst of it.

"What the fu--" the man began, but Jillian was already up and turning in his direction.

"Pain meds can cause hallucinations," she said, yanking me to my feet and pulling me toward the doorway, pausing to scan both sides of the hallway. "They'll be after us. We have to move quickly."

A strange sound like butter in a hot pan came from behind us, then Summers and Marcus tumbled into the room in the same manner we had.
 

"Crap," Jillian snapped, darting into the hallway. I stumbled after, a cocktail of fear and adrenaline somehow keeping me on my feet.

Several nurses were already staring at us, though most had the disinterested gaze earned over a twelve-hour shift.

"David, I need you to kill the power," she said, spinning to face me. "Can you do that?"

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" I asked, risking a glance back into the room. Summers and Marcus were getting to their feet. We only had seconds.

"Just like you did upstairs, only stronger," Jillian explained in a rush. She rested a hand on my shoulder. "Grab the wall and feel the wiring inside it. Just add a lot more power and you'll trip the breakers."

"Won't that turn off life support for the patients?" I asked, horrified.

"Not on this floor. We're not in the ICU, so these people will be fine. Backup generators will come up quickly. They'll be fine." Jillian's eyes widened, and I didn't need to turn around to know why.

Something unseen picked her up and hurled her nearly twenty feet, Jillian's body sliding across the linoleum into the nurses' station across the hall. I slammed my palm against the wall, closing my eyes. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was out of time.

Sure enough I could feel the wiring within, long lines of humming power carried across copper wires. I willed an arc of electricity into the wall. Nothing happened.

"David, there's no need for this," Summers said, striding into the hallway. She raised a hand, and I was pinned against the wall, unable to move. "Come with us, and we'll protect you from the grey men. We aren't your enemies."

"Like hell you aren't," I snarled, anger rippling through me as I focused on Jillian's battered form trying to regain her feet. Blood dribbled down her face.

Energy exploded from within me, pouring through my hands and into the wall. The lights flickered, and then died. Chaos erupted as nurses and patients alike began yelling. I heard an 'oof' from Summers, then the pressure holding me disappeared. I caught a flash of blonde as Summers was flipped through the air, then Jillian loomed from the darkness.

"Come on," Jillian hissed from a few inches away. She grabbed my wrist, and we once again rippled through the floor.

This time we fell into a dark room that smelled of bleach. I felt around in the darkness, eventually reaching a metal shelf. I used it to get to my feet.

"Janitor's closet," Jillian said in a low voice. "Take a second to catch your breath while I figure a way out of this."

I wasn't the only one out of breath. Jillian's breathing was ragged too, and I could smell her sweat. If she was anywhere near the kind of exhaustion I felt, then we were in serious trouble.