Sleeping Jenny (25 page)

C-7 dropped the cloth on the floor and walked over. “May you find what you are looking for.”

Stick to business, Jenny, or you'll lose it
. “Listen, I don't want to get you into trouble. I left a note for Valex, Len, and Pell on my wallscreen. They'll know this is my decision alone.”

“Do not worry about me. Life will go on as planned.”

I stepped toward him and held out my hand. The very first day I hadn't wanted to touch him, but now I needed to reach out. He'd done so much for me. “Thank you for helping me.”

His silver fingers closed over mine. “It was my pleasure. Thank you for being my friend.”

I smiled, feeling way more emotional than I should. To me, C-7 was like a person, not some household appliance. “Give it some time with Pell. I know she'll come around.”

C-7's mouth snapped shut as if he didn't agree. He shook his head, gears buzzing. “It took bringing someone back from a lost generation to truly understand.”

I couldn't stay with him forever and, as much as I wanted to take him with me, I couldn't steal Valex and Len's robot. “You do a fine job for this family. Take care of them for me.”

C-7 nodded, the plates bending in his slender neck. “I will.”

Not looking back, I left the apartment where I'd spent most of my time in this futuristic world. I jogged to the platform and waited for the hoverbus, checking my miniscreen every minute as the time grew closer to eleven-twenty-one. A black hovercraft pulled up right on the money, and the hatch opened like the gate to my destiny.

Maybe I was being overly dramatic.

My hair fanned out around me as I stepped on the ramp. The hovercraft hummed so loud it rumbled in my gut, but at least it had panels to block the rush of air buoying it up. Yara's slender face poked out from the shadows. She wore a black jumpsuit, much like Jax's. Would I get one, too?
I'll probably look more like a janitor than a ninja
.

Yara gave me a sour curve of her lips and nodded her head in acknowledgment. “Jennifer.” “Nice to see you, too.”

Figured she'd be the one to pick me up. I settled into a seat in back where I couldn't see out the sight panel, then folded my hands in my lap. Would I miss this high-rise world? Only time would tell. The adrenaline coursing through my veins burned away the melancholy, and all I could do was think about Paradise 15. The next time I woke up, I'd be on standing on a new planet, getting ready to bring animals back to life. I had been willing to travel to the ends of the earth to save creatures that couldn't save themselves, and now I'd travel to the ends of the galaxy. The stakes were higher, and it only made me crave adventure even more.

We drove for so long that I unbelted myself to check the sight panel. The wall surrounding the city came up, patrolled by government troops with laser guns and hovercrafts.

“Where are we going?”

Yara sneered. “You didn't think we'd take off from underground, did you?”

Actually, I hadn't thought about it. A spaceship needed a launchpad and tons of room. Where would we find that in a land crammed with high-rises?

“Will they let us through?”

“They should. We have the correct codes. It's easier to leave the city than to get back in.” Yara's voice was steady, but her fingers tightened on the railing, knuckles turning white.

The wall rose up so high and so thick I couldn't see past it. “What's on the other side?”

“More high-rises for miles, then the barrens—land that's been farmed to dust. It's a wasteland. Nothing survives.”

As our hovercraft approached, the men raised their lasers in our direction.

The pilot must have handled the exchange, because Yara and I stood frozen, watching the hovercrafts buzz around us like giant wasps.

I whispered, as if they could hear me through the thick glass, “Do they know who we are?”

“No. We're under the guise of civilians visiting family outside the city.”

“What's the difference between being on this side or that?”

Yara sighed as if she had to explain the world to a two-year-old.

I was annoyed, but my curiosity won over and I waited for her to get over herself. “Well?”

“There are more greenhouses here, more food.”

“Those poor people.” Casting a glance at my backpack, I suddenly felt like I should have packed more soybean wafers. Why didn't they teach me important survival stuff like this at Ridgewood? Instead, I spent all those hours recalculating Einstein's equations and drawing light bursts on my miniscreen.

“Don't worry. Our base is equipped with everything we will need. Besides, we won't be there for very long.”

The guards brought their guns down, and the hovercraft sped forward. Yara's face softened as we held on to the railing to avoid falling back. “We got clearance.”

Outside the wall, the high-rises stretched on for another thirty minutes, like too many pencils shoved in a jar, each one capped with a greenhouse. Most of those glass tops looked empty; the only plants I could see appeared to be shriveled brown or dead. As we drove farther from the city, the buildings shrank below us. At first I thought we flew higher in the sky, but the structures weren't as tall. Some of them almost looked like skyscrapers from my time.

The buildings grew farther apart, too. Wide alleys stretched in between them, filled with garbage and heaps of sandy dirt. The spaces grew until only small shacks appeared on a dusty-brown landscape. It could have been the great Sahara. “Where are all the buildings?”

Yara raised her voice to be heard over the hum of the engines. “Since you've been frozen, Earth's climate has grown violent and unpredictable. Terrible hurricanes down south, volcanos erupting on the Hawaiian Islands, tsunamis on the West Coast, dust storms in the nation's interior.”

Now I saw why we needed a new planet. “The world's gone to

hell.”

Yara snorted. “Leave it to people to ruin the world.”

Who'd run Paradise 15? The animals? Yara? Tightening my lips, I decided not to comment.

The hovercraft's engines rumbled below my feet, and we descended to a patch of flat, dry dirt. “We're in the middle of nowhere.”

Standing up, Yara laughed like I was an idiot. “That's what we want you to think.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Legacy

T
he hatch opened, and I covered my mouth with my sleeve as a blast of sand stung my skin. I followed Yara down the ramp, covering my eyes from the searing gusts that seemed to want to rip me into pieces. After the wind died, I glanced up at two adobe buildings the same color as the sand. Invisible from the sky, they stretched out, low to the ground. Yara led me to the first one and we stumbled in through a glass doorway. Only after the doors sealed behind me could I breathe again.

A woman with dark curly hair looked up from a gray plastic desk, regarding us like we had just walked in from off the street. “Can I help you?”

Yara ran her fingers through her hair. Sand particles sprinkled onto the dark green carpet. “We're here to see Doctor Sparks.”

She sipped from an overly large coffee mug. “I'll buzz him.”

While we waited for the doctor, the hovercraft took off. We really
were
stranded in the middle of nowhere. All those visions I had had of my family or Maxim running to stop me were put to rest. There was no way any of them could get to me in time to change my mind. That thought made me melancholy but gave me an exhilarating kind of freedom.

A bearded man, framed by scientists in white lab coats, entered the lobby. The scientists gave me a questioning look as I passed, reminding me of the cold eyes in my dream. I shrugged it off and stared back at them with pride.

“Doctor Sparks.” Yara shook his hand and smiled with familiarity. He acknowledged Yara with a nod. “Is this her?” “Yes.” Yara dusted off her shoulders. “Jennifer Streetwater, final member of team Centauri Beta.” “Excellent. You're right on time.”

The scientists led us into separate rooms. My room looked like a doctor's office, with strange medical equipment hanging from the walls and a white, sheet-less bed in the center. Panic rose up in my throat. Had I been tricked?

“Remove your civilian clothes and wear this.” Dr. Sparks handed me a black ninja suit like Jax's and left, along with the rest of the scientists.

Holding the suit to my chest, I thought of Jax, and my racing heart calmed. He wouldn't trick me into anything. Checking for hidden cameras, I slipped off the tunic Valex and Len had given me. I couldn't fit it in my backpack, so I'd have to leave it behind. The fabric clumped on the floor and I felt like I'd rejected their goodwill.
I hope they forgive me
. I also felt as though I was breaking free of a fake persona—Jennifer the future girl. I wasn't meant for this over-populated, high-rise world.

I stepped into the uniform and zipped the front all the way up to my neck. A starship flying over a green planet was embroidered on the right breast. The symbol of the Timesurfers? I ran my fingers over the rough patterns of the helm against the blackness of deep space.
That will be me
. It did look pretty cool.

A middle-aged woman with gray hair tied in a tight bun came in. Although she wore the same blank white lab coat as the other scientists, her eyes were warm. “Hello, dear. I'm here to take your vital signs.” She checked my eyes, ears, and blood pressure. All normal things. I was thankful for her gentle nature. Jumpy as I was, anyone else would have made me scream.

She held a beeping device up to my face and a blue light flashed in my eyes. “Let me explain the cryogenic procedure—”

“Don't.” I blinked away the blue flash of light. “I've already been through it once. I don't need to be reminded again.”

“Okay, dear. You know you need to sign this disclaimer…”

She handed me a screen stating the possible side effects of cryogenic sleep. I couldn't recall ever signing something like this before, but then again, I was underage last time. My parents probably signed it for me.

I took the plastic pen and squiggled my name over the screen. My signature never looked the way I wanted it to.

“You are aware it's illegal to freeze anyone deemed healthy, correct?” The nurse gave me a meaningful stare.

I shook my head. “I had no idea. Why?”

“The survival rate is fifty-three percent. It's not high enough for the government to endorse it. Some see it as suicide, others as a crazy recreational activity—living longer to see what will become of the world. Surfing through time, if you will.”

“So that's why they picked me. I've lived through it before.”

She scanned me with some handheld machine and checked the readings. “That's one of the reasons. Yes, hon. You have proved to be especially hardy.”

She smiled as if I'd just won a prize in a talent show. Then, in another heartbeat, her face hardened back into a serious frown. “For us to freeze you, we have to tamper with your records, make you look like you've been sick.”

She clicked on the screen and handed it back to me. “You'll need to sign a document stating you're okay with this.”

Signing a disclosure form seemed superfluous considering they could all be arrested for illegal activities. But if I wanted to be on this mission, I had to follow orders. I glanced at the screen, feeling I was exposing myself to some form of cruel punishment.
This is for Thunderbolt and all those animals driven to extinction
.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and signed my name. When I handed the screen back to her, I felt I'd already accomplished something. I'd faced my fears.

“Come now. You have a meeting with a lawyer to ensure the survival of your estate and settle any unresolved debts.”

I followed her into a meeting room with a large desk, the plastic made to resemble rich wood. It reminded me of my dad's. An elderly man with wispy white hair, dressed in a tunic suit, shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, Jennifer. My name is Reddic Halefern, and I'm

here to discuss how you'd like to leave your estate. You have quite an estate to dictate, Ms. Streetwater. Please, have a seat.”

I'd been planning for this ever since I heard Jax's message saying I was on the team. I'd researched my bank account with the help of C-7. I knew exactly how much was in there. Plopping into a cushy chair, I crossed my legs. This would take some time.

“First of all, I'd like to leave thirty million credits to Maxim Fairweller. Enough to ensure the well-being of his entire family and especially his younger sister, Rainy.”

Reddic Halefern raised an eyebrow and began to type. “Very well.”

“Make sure he can't refuse the gift. I'd like the following message attached.”

Mr. Halefern glanced at me. “Go ahead.”

I shifted in my seat and the plastic cushion creaked under my butt. I felt weird saying such personal things to this elderly man whom I'd never met, but I had something I had to say. “Tell him, ‘Now you're free to follow your dreams.'”

He nodded, and it took me a few moments to swallow my raging emotions before I could speak again. In a way, telling Maxim to follow his dreams was a way of letting him go.

I counted on my fingers to make sure I didn't leave anyone out. “Next, I'd like to leave fifty million credits to my legal guardians, Valex and Len Streetwater, and twenty million to their daughter, Pell.” It wasn't that I didn't believe in Pell. She definitely could make it on her own in this competitive high-rise world, but having a little buffer couldn't hurt.

He continued to type. “It will be done.”

The old man pressed a few keys and looked over the screen. “Anything else?”

“Yes. Martha Maynard needs a new cat.”

Mr. Halefern's eyebrows rose and he leaned his head to the right, as if he hadn't heard me correctly.