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Chapter Twenty Four

August 1, 2014


Yolo, California

“It’s been more than a month. I want to go home. You promised to tell me everything if I cooperated. I’ve cooperated. You can’t make me stay here. I want to go home.”

“Court, calm down. I have good news. You’ll be sprung in a few hours. You just have to do one thing first.”

I’m instantly suspicious. I have been poked and prodded more in the last thirty days than I’ve ever been before. My only contact has been Kal. Even my TV, I suspect, has been carefully programmed to allow me access only to shows that won’t cause me any undue stress.

“You have been requested to show a high profile visitor the bare minimum of the lab.”

“Excuse me?”

“You have been--”

“I heard you,” I snap. “Are you really telling me that after a month of living in a bubble that I'm being asked to show someone around? Are you telling me that suddenly I’m not some sort of freak alien to all of you?”

“You were never a freak alien, Court,” Kal says calmly. “There were precautions to take and studies to be made. Your travels are revolutionary. Here’s some clothes. Our guest will be here in twenty minutes.”

“Who is it?”

“I haven’t been told.”

If looks could kill, she would have been smoldering on the ground from the invisible lasers of my retinas. Instead the door closes behind her and I hold up the clothes, a simple black pantsuit. It was what a female version of Will Smith would wear if there was a female version of Will Smith and she was about ready to step onstage to film a new Men in Black.

I carry the clothes to the tiny bathroom and stare at myself in the mirror. I have lost weight in the last month. My color is one step above alabaster. My hair seems duller.

Knowing that only one simple tour stands between me and leaving propels me to get ready in record time. I pull my hair back into a simple ponytail and smooth the crease out of my pant leg.

Kal, ever punctual, comes back fifteen minutes later. She smiles brightly.

“You look fantastic.” She holds out a lab coat. “Ready?”

“As long as you haven’t changed too much in the last month, I’m ready.”

“I haven’t changed a thing.”

I slide on the white lab coat. It feels foreign on my shoulders. My whole life has been lab coats and gloves and plastic vials and yet everything about it now makes my skin want to crawl.

It’s too lonely of an existence.

“What sort of official is this?”

“It’s not an official.”

“No one but officials are allowed here. What do you mean?”

“It’s for a show.”

We are at the door. My mouth is dry. “What do you mean a show?”

“I wasn't lying to you earlier. All I know is that it's a conspiracy theory show. Our superiors feel it is safer to just let them in and discuss the bare minimum. All you have to do is explain that we are measuring speed between several new planets and potential black holes that we’ve pinpointed in the last year. Any questions asked should be answered vaguely.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Kal doesn’t turn to look at me. “You’ll be fine.”

Every fiber of my being tells me that it is some sort of trap. As I follow her through the labyrinth of hallway twists and turns, I don’t know what type of trap it could be, but my mind tries to think of the worst thing in the world. Perhaps it is a trap to get me to say something that will keep me here indefinitely. Maybe it will be their way to justify my death. I wonder, for the umpteenth time, if that is what happened to Josh.

Two men wait for us near the entrance. My exit to the real world.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. Dr. Standiford will be escorting you around. I take it that all of your identification is in order?”

“Absolutely. Thank you Dr.--

“Strimble,” Kal supplies. She touches my arm and steps aside. “Courtney.”

“Dr. Standiford, we’ll be following at a distance. I’m Mike Fratowski, executive producer of Weird World. This is Joe, our cameraman.” He looks at his watch. “I apologize that our host is running l--”

“I’m here. I got caught up with the ID. Where’s the scientist?”

The moment I hear that voice every hair on my body stands up straight.

Mike smiles at me. “This is Dr. Standiford. She’ll be your guide today. Dr. Standiford, this is our host, Nick Carter.”

I can’t breathe. Nick is smiling at me, his blue eyes sparkling. He’s dressed in a black tank top and a pair of black jeans like he should be meeting the guys of Ghost Hunters rather than walking around a pristine white and silver laboratory. He tilts his head and I’m sure that I will faint. Or cry.

Or both.

“Have we met before?”

The question stabs me right in the heart. How can I begin to tell him?

But then again, how could he even know?

“N--no,” I stammer against every fiber of my being.

“Are you sure? You look so familiar…”

“Nick, they’ve cleared us only for forty-five minutes. If we’re going to make a half hour go of this thing, we better let Ms. Standiford lead the way.”

I can feel Kal behind me. I want to turn around and dig my nails into her shoulders and shake her. How could she do this to me? What sort of test was this?

“Absolutely,” Nick’s smile deepens. “It’ll give me time to think about how I know the good doctor.”

“Alright Court, why don’t you start in the main lab and then show them the testing center?”

Only by the grace of God do I manage to smile and regulate my heart enough to turn away from Nick. I stare down the hall towards the main lab. This is a test and I have to pass it. I can’t fall to pieces. I’ve had thirty days to mourn the loss of a son that has never existed in this universe. I’ve even convinced myself that Nick Carter could never be as perfect as I had begun to believe he was.

“Allow me,” he says as I punch the security code and the lock releases. He pushes open one half of the wide paneled double doors. It’s the first time I have stepped into the room since Josh brought me back. I step in and he is close behind.

“Wow,” Nick whispers softly.

“This,” I say through the large lump in my throat. “Is our main lab. We are currently studying several new planets discovered in other solar systems and a few black holes that have piqued our interest. Our main project is determining the distance between and the travel time based on our algorithm for the speed of light.”

It is all coming out in monotone. Nick’s gaze travels from map to map pinned on the room-length white boards. The camera follows his movement. After a minute, he turns to me, his eyes locking onto mine.

“It’s been rumored that this particular laboratory is a test site for possible time travel experiments. Is it true?”