Trespassers: a science-fiction novel (40 page)

“
Maybe it
’
s better if there isn
’
t.
”
They gave each other one last squeeze and finally released their hug. There was no room for this trip down memory lane to go any farther.

Sara
’
s leg moved. Web sat up in his chair to get a better look. She groaned, and her eyes fluttered. Web
’
s hand shot in the air to get Jeremy
’
s attention.

“
Get the others,
”
Web whispered.
“
She
’
s waking up.
”

“
She is?
”
Jeremy jumped to his feet to see for himself.

“
Go get them,
”
Web insisted.

Jeremy rounded up everyone, and within two minutes, the whole gang was collected in a semicircle around Sleeping Beauty, hanging on her every twitch.

“
Can we shake her or something?
”
Mindy whispered.

“
No, it
’
ll happen naturally,
”
Web replied.

Sara
’
s eyes were slowly opening and closing, taking in little doses of light at a time. Blurry images were beginning to come into focus. Her senses were returning. She saw a gallery of curious faces gazing down at her. It didn
’
t make sense, yet.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn
’
t imagine what to say.

“
How are you feeling?
”
Web asked.

Sara slid herself into a seated position and took a deep breath.
“
I
’
m fine.
”

“
Which way
’
s up?
”
Lyntic asked. When Sara pointed to the ceiling, Lyntic nudged Tobi and flashed a smile.
“
Eighty percent, huh?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Tobi laughed. He was ecstatic that he hadn
’
t destroyed her memory. He had guessed right, but he didn
’
t have the heart to tell Lyntic that he had switched to the 20 percent method at the last second.

“
Do you know your name?
”
Web asked.

“
Sara,
”
she replied. There was a collective sigh of relief.

“
You were on an exploratory research mission,
”
Dexim said.

“
Yes,
”
Sara confirmed.

“
You stumbled across what you identified as possible evidence of the location of the Adari Metraball.
”

“
Yes.
”

“
You came under attack by the Mundle, after your transmission of this information,
”
Dexim continued.

“
Yes.
”

“
And you
—”

“
And I used a memory blocker to block everything about alien culture, in case I was detained by the authorities. I didn
’
t want to take any chances. This was too important, and I didn
’
t know who I could trust.
”
She smiled.
“
And you
’
re the fire unit
—
Dexim and Lyntic. I recognize you from the news articles. I suppose I
’
m safe now.
”

“
Yes.
”
Dexim nodded.
“
But we need to know what the situation is
—
everything you can remember.
”

She looked to Jeremy who was now kneeling beside her, clutching her hand.

“
You
’
re Jeremy Borden,
”
she said.

“
Yes.
”
He nodded with a huge grin, though he didn
’
t remember telling her his last name.

“
And we must be at your house,
”
she said.

“
Yes.
”

She pulled her hand from his grip and stood.
“
Did we find the Metraball?
”
she asked Dexim.

“
Let
’
s not get ahead of ourselves,
”
Dexim said.
“
There
’
s something you need to know. But we should probably start with what you can remember.
”

“
I remember doing the block
—
I didn
’
t really think it was going to work, but apparently it did
—
and I remember that I thought a Mundle operative might be after me, so I was trying to find a place to go to sleep.
”

“
The memory block doesn
’
t kick in until the subject falls asleep and wakes up,
”
Tobi explained.

“
Right,
”
Sara continued.
“
So I ducked into a changing room at a department store in the mall and tried to go to sleep. Apparently, I did .
.
. and I woke up here.
”
She shook her head.
“
It feels like it was five minutes ago.
”

“
Do you remember anything between falling asleep at that store and waking up here?
”
Dexim asked.

Sara thought about it and shook her head
no
.

“
But you remember
me
,
”
Jeremy said, getting to his feet.

“
Yeah
—
Jeremy Borden,
”
she replied.
“
I was watching you. I had determined that the Metraball was most likely on your parents
’
property. So, my plan was to get close to you to gain access to the land so that I could verify the findings.
”

“
You think the Metraball is here?
”
Dexim asked.

“
What do you mean you were
surveilling
me?
”
Jeremy asked.

“
Yes,
”
she said to Dexim. To Jeremy, she just shrugged.

“
That
’
s very interesting,
”
Lyntic said, pointing to Jeremy.
“
How did you guys meet?
”

“
I saw her at the hardware store, and we started talking.
”

Lyntic pointed to Sara.
“
And you don
’
t remember that?
”

Sara shook her head
no
.

“
When she saw him in the store,
”
Lyntic said,
“
she must have recognized him subconsciously. And she must have had a subconscious instinct to follow the plan.
”

“
The plan?
”
Jin asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Lyntic explained,
“
when she saw him, she knew she was supposed to get close to him, but she didn
’
t know why.
”

“
It didn
’
t feel like that,
”
Jeremy retorted.

Everyone in the group was nodding, now. It made sense. Sara had managed to carry out her plan without any conscious awareness of it. That
’
s why they were on this property where she expected the Metraball to be.

“
Amazing,
”
Mindy said. The others agreed.

“
Do you have any idea how long you were under?
”
Dexim asked.

“
Well
—
like I said
—
it feels like five minutes,
”
Sara said.
“
I suppose it was about a week though.
”
She saw a crowd of blank faces looking back at her.
“
More?
”

“
Sara,
”
Dexim said,
“
it has been eight months.
”

“
Eight months? I
’
ve been under for
eight months
?
”

“
The transmitter on your delayed broadcast malfunctioned,
”
Lyntic explained.
“
The signal wasn
’
t sent until five days ago.
”

Sara sat back down.
“
So what have I been doing for eight months?
”

“
Working at a hardware store,
”
Stewart replied.

“
Nathans,
”
Sara recalled.

“
Apparently, you wrote yourself a note,
”
Tobi said.

Sara nodded.
“
Yeah, I said to wait a week
—
that someone would contact me.
”

“
And here they are,
”
Stewart quipped,
“
only eight months late.
”

“
So, what
’
s the plan, now?
”
Sara asked.

“
We have a transport ship on the way,
”
Dexim said.
“
It should be here in thirty minutes, and we
’
ll take you home.
”

“
No, I mean with the Adari Metraball.
”

“
You can file a report from the ship, and when we get back to the base, there will be a debriefing.
”

Sara shook her head.
“
No, I mean .
.
. it
’
s here. It
’
s on this property.
”
A silence fell over the room.
“
We can go get it.
”
An adventurous smile slid onto her face.
“
We
have
to
go get it.
”

Dexim wasn
’
t convinced. His idea of a rescue mission didn
’
t include digging around in the dirt for a long-lost artifact.
“
We have a schedule to keep.
”

“
Twenty-two minutes,
”
Lyntic added, checking her watch.

“
What
’
s more important than the Adari Metraball?
”
Sara said, getting to her feet.

“
The Mundle are tracking you,
”
Dexim explained,
“
and our mission is to get you out of here safely. The information you have is valuable, and we have to get you back without delay. It could take years to pin down the exact location of the Metraball, if it
’
s even here.
”
He shook his head decisively.
“
We can
’
t put you at risk, feeling around in the sand for
—”

“
We have twenty minutes then,
”
Sara interjected.
“
Let
’
s get started.
”
She pushed past them and left the whole group standing in the living room.