The Twinning Project (16 page)

Eddie was different these days since he fell at Boy Scout camp. He looked thinner. He talked faster. And the violin—where did
that
come from? Eddie had never said he could play.
How could he keep something like that from me, his sidekick?

Ronnie fell asleep.

When he woke up, the car was moving.

NEARMONT, N.J.

2011

 

T
HE
door to Dr. Traum's office was closed, but Alessa and Britzky could see a light through the pebbly glass. They heard low voices. They sat down on the bench in the hall to wait.

“What are we going to say to him?” asked Britzky.

“Tell him everything we think.”

“He'll think we're nuts.”

“He's not like that,” said Alessa. “He's very sympathetic.”

“How do you know?”

“From orchestra. And he cares about Tom, too.”

“But maybe he's not into paranormal stuff,” said Britzky.

“He's a psychologist—he'll listen to us.”

“About alien abduction and replacement?”

“Replacement?” said Alessa.

“Tom is suddenly different, right? He turns nice, he gets people to like him, he's a great basketball player. Alien replacement is a big deal.”

“I hadn't thought of that.” Alessa felt a shiver of excitement.

Britzky's face was getting redder. “There's too much stuff you can't explain any other way. And the government doesn't want us to find out about it.”

“Why not? So we don't freak out?”

“No, so they can make deals. If, like, China makes friends with the aliens before we do, we're toast.”

Alessa rocked back. She hadn't thought of that, either. “You think Tom is an alien?”

Britzky shrugged. “Or is under some kind of alien mind control.”

“You just think of that?”

Britzky shook his head. “I think about this stuff all the time.”

She wanted to grab Britzky's arm. “You think Tom could be in trouble?”

“Trouble?” said Dr. Traum. They hadn't heard his door open. He was smiling. “I'm sure we can work it out together. Come in.”

Alessa glanced at Britzky. He looked as nervous as she felt. Something wasn't right.

Dr. Traum closed the door behind them and said, “The young heroes are here, Merlyn, straight from the pages of Marvel comics.”

Merlyn was sitting in Dr. Traum's swivel chair, laughing.

What's she doing here?
Alessa thought.

“Actually, Traum,” said Merlyn, “it's not comics—it's computer-generated images from Pixar. You need to keep up with the times.”

“I'll leave that to you. These times disgust me,” said Dr. Traum.

Merlyn reached into her backpack and pulled out a spray can. Alessa wondered if it was some kind of beauty product.

Britzky yelled, “Look out!” but Merlyn was already spraying a sour-smelling liquid in their faces.

THE UNION COUNTY (N.J.) HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE

1957

 

R
ONNIE
was afraid to move. The dust on the blanket tickled his nose. He held his nose between his thumb and forefinger so he wouldn't sneeze. He tried to breathe softly through his mouth.

Dr. Traum was talking. “Traum here. I am driving back to the asylum. You can bring the station down as planned.”

Who could he be talking to?
Ronnie wondered.

“The boy and the girl are on their way from EarthOne with Merlyn. I don't think the twins know where their father is. But I'm convinced he'll try to save them or give himself up for them. He was always a little too human. End for now.”

Something clicked, as if Dr. Traum had turned off a switch.

Ronnie burrowed deeper into the blanket. The car was moving fast, so they must be on a highway.
To where? What boy and girl? What twins? What does Merlyn have to do with this?

After a while, the car stopped, and Dr. Traum had a quick conversation with someone. Ronnie could hear the scrape of metal, as if a steel fence was sliding open. The car started up again.

There was a click. “Traum again. I'm sending Earl back to the school to pick up Ronnie. Should have thought of it earlier. The little mouse is harmless, but we should have everyone involved in custody before we proceed. End for now.”

Click.

The car stopped again. This time, Dr. Traum shut off the engine and got out. Ronnie counted to a hundred before he carefully crawled out from under the blanket and peeked through the window.

It was night. He could dimly see a big gray building with towers. It was surrounded by a high chainlink fence. Beyond it was nothing but vacant lots and what looked like factories in the distance.

We're back at the asylum, all right.

“The little mouse is harmless.” Ronnie felt anger bubble up in his stomach.
I'm stupid, too. How could I have believed Dr. Traum, that I was helping him help Eddie?

He peered over the front seat. The keys were still in the ignition.

If Dr. Traum was that careless, he might just think he left them somewhere.

Maybe I'm not so harmless
.

Ronnie climbed onto the front seat and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He pushed them deep into his left pants pocket—the one that didn't have a hole in it. He opened the front door as quietly as he could and slid down into the parking lot. He pushed the door mostly closed without slamming it.

Staying low, he crept to the edge of the asylum. The windows were barred and high off the ground. He circled the building twice before he saw light through a window. He found stones to make a pile high enough so he could peek in. It looked like the cell in which he had spent that awful weekend.

Eddie was in there talking to a guy.

When the guy turned around, he was Eddie, too.

THE UNION COUNTY (N.J.) HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE

1957

 

E
DDIE
was happy to see Tom until he got a good look at him. Tom's face was pale and sweaty. He was shaking all over. Earl had pushed him into the cell with a laugh and slammed the door so hard, the clanging echoes rattled Eddie's brain. It felt like another football hit.

Eddie hugged his brother. “Are you okay?”

“We're in trouble,” said Tom. He slumped into a corner and slid down the wall. He was clutching his backpack like a teddy bear.

“That's a big tickle.” Eddie gave the little laugh he used when the team was behind and needed a boost. “We're together now. We'll come up with a way to win.”

Tom shook his head slowly. “We can't win. The monitors got us. But Dad is alive. He must be in hiding.”

“How do you know?”

“Dr. Traum said so.”

“Like we trust that creep?” said Eddie.

“He'd have no reason to say it if it wasn't true,” said Tom. “He's using us to find him.”

“Why?”

“Because Dad's one of the good guys,” said Tom. “He's a rebel leader out to defeat the aliens.”

“Captain John.” Eddie was grinning.

“What?”

“Okay,” said Eddie. “We need to get out of here. Up and at 'em.” He pulled Tom to his feet.

“What are you doing?” said Tom.

“I've got a plan.” Eddie was bouncing a pink rubber ball. “I'm gonna get Duke in a game of Chinese handball. You can sneak out and get help.”

Tom said, “That's stupid. How am I gonna get past Duke? And where am I going to go for help?”

“Don't think so much—just do it,” said Eddie. “Did you bring that invisibility thing you showed me?”

“The CloakII? It's never worked for me. And even if it does, it only works for about five seconds.”

“That's plenty of time,” said Eddie. “Once I scored four points in five seconds, a jumper and two free throws.”

“This isn't a game, Eddie. And even if I get out, where do I go? I don't know where we are.”

“Coach always says, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going.'”

“That's dumb jock stuff,” said Tom.

“You're smart and tough, Tommy. I know you can do it.” Eddie began bouncing the ball against the stone wall. “I know you don't want to just sit there and cry.”

“I'm not crying.”

“Then just do it. The team's counting on you. Must be something.”

Tom took a deep breath. There
was
something.

“There's going to be a tornado, but not really. I read about it online.”

“When will it happen?” asked Eddie.

“I don't know. Soon, if we're lucky. The patients were right, it
was
a spaceship, not a tornado. And there's a hidden tunnel here somewhere. I read that, too.”

“I knew you'd come up with something, Tombo,” said Eddie. “Let's go for it.”

THE UNION COUNTY (N.J.) HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE

1957

 

B
RITZKY
was scared, but watching Alessa try hard not to show how scared she was made him feel braver. The two of them sat in opposite corners of the cell, which was so small that their feet touched when they stretched their legs out. He let the bottom of his shoes touch hers, as if by accident. She didn't pull hers away.

The sandwiches tasted like paper, and the milk was starting to turn sour, but they finished everything. Even the green Jell-O. Britzky's sick and dizzy feelings were gone, but he could tell that Alessa was exhausted.
She needs my help.

“Where do you think we are?” said Britzky, for something to say.

“Abducted by aliens makes as much sense as anything else,” she said. “But why would they want
us?
”

He didn't want to scare her, but it made him feel tough to say, “You kidding? Suck out our brains, steal our blood, send us back with pods. Loads of reasons.”

It didn't scare her. “Where do you get stuff like that?”

“Mindblender.com. It's the best site for alien intel.”

“Intel?”

“Intelligence.” He felt good, on a roll. “The government's been keeping all this stuff a big secret.”

“Sounds paranoid,” said Alessa.

“You're not as dumb as you look, Todd,” said Dr. Traum.

Britzky turned so fast he banged his head against the wall. The cell door was open and Dr. Traum was standing in the doorway. “Actually, I've never liked that word,
alien.
It marks people as not belonging. Who is to say who belongs and who doesn't?”

“What are you going to do to us?” said Britzky, trying to keep his voice steady.

Dr. Traum waved his question away. “Talk to me about Tom. Did he ever mention his father?”

“His father disappeared two years ago,” said Alessa, “in a plane crash.”

“Don't tell him anything,” said Britzky.

“Did Tom ever think he heard voices? His father's voice?”

“Tom's not crazy,” said Britzky. He liked the way Alessa looked at him, scared but admiring.

“You're right,” said Dr. Traum. “Tom's not crazy.”

His voice was soft, almost gentle, Britzky thought.
Stay sharp
.

“Tom doesn't know the truth about his father, who is the most dangerous man in the universe. If we don't find John Canty in time, we may not be able to save the planet.”

“From who?” asked Britzky.

“Who's ‘we'?” asked Alessa.

“I'm hoping you can persuade Tom to tell us what he knows,” said Dr. Traum.

“He's here?” said Alessa.

“He's here with his twin brother.”

“Twin brother?” they both said.

THE UNION COUNTY (N.J.) HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE

1957

 

S
ITTING
between the twins on the cell floor, Alessa felt small and useless. She was surprised that she didn't like feeling small. She had gone back and forth so many times between feeling scared and feeling excited that now she was exhausted. She looked from one twin to the other. They were dressed alike—wrinkled dirty blue shirts and chino pants—but if you looked hard enough, you could see differences.

The one on her left sat up straighter and filled out his shirt. Bigger muscles. The skin on his face was tanner, as if he spent more time outdoors. There was a tiny white scar above his right eyebrow. His hair was shorter. He spoke a little more slowly. He was the nicer one, the basketball player, the one running for class president, the one who had come up with Tech Off! Day.

The one on her right—the thinner and paler one— talked faster and tougher. He was the Tom she had met first, the one who had been on YouTube, who had bombed Britzky, the violinist, the smarter one.

She wondered which one she liked better. Why was she thinking that?
What's going on?

“What's going on?” she said.

The twin on her left said, “I'm Eddie. I'm sorry I lied to you, and . . .”

“C'mon, Eddie,” snapped the twin on her right. “Just answer her question—if you know the answer.”

“Tom!” said Alessa. “Now, you cut that out. We need to work together here.”

Tom's mouth shut.

Alessa was surprised and a little thrilled at her power. Britzky gave her a wink. “Go on, Eddie,” she said.

“Dr. Traum is an alien,” said Eddie. “He thinks we know where our dad is. Dad's a rebel leader against the monitors, which is what the aliens call their scouts on Earth.”

“Wow,” said Britzky. His eyes were wide. “I knew it. I knew it! Is your dad an alien, too?”

Alessa thought Britzky had never looked so happy.

“Yeah,” said Eddie. “Dad quit the monitors when the alien scientists started talking about destroying the Earths.”