Simulation: A Pop Travel Novel Read online

  As Cooper slowly reached to disconnect, Hasan waved his hand at the imager.

  “Wait! I might be able to dig up some old notes. I have some boxes with storage drives I haven’t touched since I got back from India. Wow, it’s been about a year now.”

  “Yes, quite a while. You were saying?”

  “Right, right. Pop over for dinner Saturday night at 5:45 and I’ll show you my stash.”

  Hasan and his lingo made it sound like he was going to give Cooper some primo poppers–the latest drug giving users that rejuvenated, just-popped feeling. Cooper could live without that and didn’t want to pop anywhere, anyway. But since he might have to get Hasan’s cousin arrested, the least he could do was pop in to see him.

  “All right. Fine. I’ll be there.”

  Hasan’s face lit up. He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Great! Perfect timing, wing man!” He winked at Cooper before disconnecting.

  Cooper scratched his head and stared at the blank imager for a few seconds. Wing man? Is that a pilot reference for me? No telling what’s going on in that kid’s head.

  Beasley Hills Plantation

  Albany, GA

  Saturday, June 20, 2082

  eri sighed as she stepped out of her dock, not happy about being back at the plantation. Especially for another case. She remembered Hasan’s transport house all too well.

  Hasan, also known as the Creator for his world-changing pop travel teleportation invention, had four transport rooms, each with eighteen docks for receiving and transmitting guests. Popping was the best way to reach the remote plantation compound about two hundred miles from Atlanta. Hasan used to throw extravagant parties all the time, like the one where Geri manipulated Cooper for her first assignment. It was the beginning of their thrill-ride case and a doomed relationship.

  “Welcome, Geri and Aimee! What a treat! So glad you could come.”

  The oblivious genius greeted them over the shoulder of the reception nurse on the platform.

  “Nice to see you, Hasan,” Geri said through a yawn. She stretched as the nurse scanned her vitals.

  After helping Hasan escape his corporate captors and exposing the deadly glitch of pop travel two years ago, Geri had accompanied him to India to oversee the enhancement experiments and testing. She also traveled to transport stations all over the world with him to help supervise the installation of the improved workings and implementation of more stringent safety procedures. She’d been relieved not to visit the plantation again since returning to the states. Too many bad memories. Good, but bad. The whole place had a Cooper aura about it.

  And now she was back.

  Aimee hopped out of her dock looking refreshed and perky, even in the harsh light shining up from the floor of the platform. Of course, she had a goofy grin on her face. Then she curtsied to Hasan as if he was royalty.

  “Thank you for having us. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

  Ugh.

  “Hasan. Please call me Hasan, my little munchkin.” He pursed his lips at her, looking like he wanted to squeeze her cheeks.

  Aimee blushed. “Sorry. Hasan.”

  They both giggled.

  Double ugh. I think I’m gonna be sick.

  “So what’s for dinner, Hasan?” Geri strode to the exit. Let’s get this over with.

  He put a hand to his chin and looked at the ceiling. “Oh, it’s a smorgasbord surprise or filet mignon. I’m not sure.”

  “Then it will be a surprise either way,” Aimee chirped.

  “That’s right! Geri, she’s quick.” He linked arms with the girl.

  Geri shook her head and held the door open for them.

  Once outside the transport house, Hasan led them to a waiting hovercart.

  Taking the backward-facing rear seat, Geri let Aimee sit up front with Hasan. Far be it from her to stand in the way of young love. Gag.

  Hasan started right in on her, “So Aimee, tell me about yourself. How long have you worked for the FBI? What’s your area of expertise?”

  Geri tuned them out, focusing on the impressive scenery. She breathed in the fresh air and listened to the birds merrily chirp. She’d forgotten how mesmerizing the plantation grounds could be. Reveling in the storybook views of towering old trees dotting lush, green grass, she drank in the scent of magnolia blossoms. The majestic manor house raised three stories high from behind the saluting row of oak trees, lining the drive leading up to it. A historic oak alley of years gone by.

  They drew closer to the remarkable home—the brilliant white columns of Greek revival architecture transported Geri back several centuries in time. The wind whispered with each breeze, teasing her with indecipherable gossip, as if echoing memories of an old Southern ball.

  Jerking to a stop, the hovercart jolted Geri back to the present and the annoying tittering of the young twits in the front seat. It was going to be a long night.

  “Ah, here we are. After you, ladies.” Hasan hopped out and spread his arm, offering the women access to his extravagant wonderland.

  A servant android opened one of the double front doors, allowing warm light and delicious aromas to invite them inside.

  Geri took the lead up the stairs. When she stepped into the foyer, a wave of nostalgia broke over her senses as she recalled her daring romp with Cooper through the secret slave tunnel that led to the kitchen and how they traipsed through the house, avoiding the guards, to rescue Hasan. It replayed in her mind like it was yesterday. That had been exciting.

  Hasan escorted Aimee into the parlor, and Geri absentmindedly followed, wondering how Cooper was doing.

  And there he was, lounging on a couch, grinning at her.

  Geri’s heart stopped. Then it fluttered back to life, bringing an unsummoned smile to her lips. She soon returned to her senses and remembered how she and Coop ended things. A foul mood flooded over her, cursing her fond smile, twisting it into a frown. What was he doing there?

  “Nice to see you too, Geri.” His grin broadened.

  He had on the same clothes he always wore, jeans with a golf shirt and sport coat. And after all the shopping she’d done to spruce up his wardrobe. He looked like he’d gained a few pounds too. Not surprising. He was a lazy couch potato.

  Geri sniffed at him.

  Hasan opened his arms, pleased at his reunion bombshell. “Ah, here we are. Together again. And this time I have a friend as well. Cooper, this is Aimee, Geri’s new partner.” He squeezed Aimee’s arm.

  “Quite an improvement from the car salesman and the meathead, eh, Geri?”

  “Mmm.” Every muscle in her body tensed up. She had to get herself under control and not let him see how affected she was by him, so she stepped over to examine the knick-knacks on the mantle, showing him her back. It was bad enough she had to endure Aimee and Hasan’s flirtations, but worse to have Cooper there and surprise the crap out of her. And bringing up her embarrassing ex-partners was too much. She wished she had Santa powers to fly up the chimney. Most uncomfortable situation ever.

  Hasan took up the slack from the dead silence, “Aimee, this is Cooper. He’s a great friend. We’ve had many adventures together.” Hasan rocked onto his toes and back, beaming.

  “Nice to meet you, Cooper.”

  In her peripheral, Geri saw Aimee stick her hand out and walk over to him, and she huffed again.

  “Likewise. So what brings you two out here?” He was enjoying her discomfort. She could hear it in his casual greeting.

  Geri knew Cooper’s eyes were on her, and she spun around, catching him. Darn that adorable smirk of his. And those soft blue eyes. She sneered at him and pointed at their host.

  “Hasan brought us here. What about you?”

  “Yeah. Me too. Looks like we’ve been set up.” Cooper matched her gaze, but he held no anger in his eyes. He would easily win a staring contest, because nothing bothered him. Not even his girlfriend leaving him, then showing up out of the blue.

  “Isn’t it great? We are reunited. After al
l this time!” Hasan raised his arms, proud of his accomplishment.

  “Sure. Special. But we have business to discuss. Sensitive business.” Geri tilted her head at Hasan and raised an eyebrow. It was just like him to arrange something like this on a whim. The assignment was already challenging enough without having to deal with ditzy Hasan and giddy Aimee on what was looking like their first date. Now she was being forced to socialize with her ex. The things she did for her job.

  Cooper leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Oh, secret spy stuff? Well, I have some sensitive business to discuss with Hasan too.”

  Hasan ignored their jabs at each other. He seemed determined to bring them back together. Even if it might spark World Crisis Four.

  “You each have important cases. And the happy coincidence is, the information you both seek stems from the same despicable person. My horrible cousin, Rajul!” Though he disliked his sleazy cousin, he smiled.

  The estranged couple locked eyes. He couldn’t hide his astonishment, and neither could she.

  Geri voiced her shock first, “What? That’s ridiculous!”

  “No way.” Cooper turned to Hasan. “That guy wasn’t open to discussion this morning. And by the way, Hasan, the personal force field needs a little work. The second static shot shorted it out.”

  “You were at Rajul’s garage today?” Geri didn’t appreciate the coincidence. Her hackles rose defensively. What case could he possibly have that would lead him to her suspect?

  Cooper sniffed. “Yeah. The turd sic’d five goons on me.”

  Aimee brightened and piped in. “We were there too!” So helpful.

  Geri scowled at her with a quick headshake. She would have to teach her little canary when to keep her beak shut, and mentally added it to the extensive list.

  Then she realized what Cooper just casually mentioned to Hasan.

  “Did you say a personal force field?” She knew Hasan gave Cooper little gadgets and accessories to try out once in a while, but a personal force field was big. The FBI didn’t have anything like it yet, except shockproof clothes, which were limited. Maybe Hasan has a shockproof helmet. I’d be happy to shoot Cooper in the head and test it out.

  Hasan raised his eyebrows. “Yes, I don’t know why no one thought of it before. I guess I need to strengthen the absorption on it. Cooper, did you bring it with you?”

  As Cooper started to answer, Geri cut him off. There was so much wrong with that scenario.

  “He could’ve been killed! That’s very irresponsible of you both! Hasan, you of all people should know better than to send out a prototype and test it on a person in the field!”

  “Cooper volunteered.” Hasan pointed at him, showing at least a little remorse in his pout.

  “Aww. You do still care.” Cooper smirked at Geri again.

  She shook her head and turned away. Geri refused to let him get under her skin, reaching deep within herself to resist punching him in the face. She considered using Aimee’s flip move on him.

  Cooper chuckled. “So what’s your case about?”

  “Sorry, that’s classified.” Geri kept her back to him with her arms crossed and her nose in the air. The nerve of him, asking about a sensitive FBI case.

  “DNA mutation,” Hasan spilled without giving it a thought.

  Geri spun back around. “What the hell, Hasan!”

  He spread his arms, giving a defensive shrug. “Hey. This will be much easier if we work together. Obviously Rajul is using my discoveries for his own personal, illegal gain. We should find out who he’s working for. I bet both your investigations will lead us to the same person.”

  Hasan displayed surprising depth and intelligence sometimes. This was not one of those times.

  “I know who I’m after. I just need some validation,” Cooper said with a smug nod.

  “Who?” Geri asked.

  “It’s classified.” That darn smirk again. He really needed a good smack, and she was ready to give it to him. Instead, she threw her frustrated hands in the air. Impossible as ever!

  Aimee scooted away from the tension, closer to Hasan, and whispered to him. “Now I see why they broke up.”

  Hasan nodded.

  “Much as it baffles me, Hasan, I agree with Geri. Just because Rajul is breaking the law with the discoveries he stole from you doesn’t mean our cases are related. He could be working for several different bad guys, breaking many different laws.” Amazingly, Cooper made sense.

  Geri couldn’t believe he admitted she was right. “Exactly.”

  Hasan pouted again. “Oh. I was just… I see. My apologies.”

  Ever-ready to force sunshine into a cloudy moment, Aimee interjected. “Why don’t we eat and then you can meet with each of us separately after?”

  A few simple words from her and Hasan sparked right back up. He put his elbow out for her and smiled when she took it.

  “What an excellent idea. Geri, she really is a delightful girl. Right this way, everyone.”

  “I know. A real treasure.” That needs to be buried.

  Cooper nudged her arm on his way by. “What’s wrong, Geri? Is she stealing your spotlight?”

  How dare he say such a thing? Geri stuck her tongue out at his back.

  Dinner dragged on for hours. Well, it felt like hours. Several times during the meal, Cooper wanted to douse Hasan with his fancy crystal goblet of water. The young wolf made ridiculous goo-goo eyes at Aimee all through dinner, picking up her well-timed dropping of the napkin, and offering to fill her glass every five minutes. Their behavior was disgusting, yet fascinating. Like watching a bizarre mating ritual on the nature channel.

  Worse, Cooper sat across from Geri and those electric green eyes of hers. She caught him lingering on her tight, shiny jeans as she sat down. And several times he had to force his gaze away from her snug, V-neck t-shirt which brought back recollections of fondling embraces. Fortunately her tongue was sharp as ever, keeping him from getting too deep down memory lane. One minute he wanted to grab her and kiss her, the next, she’d open her mouth and he wanted to strangle her.

  Then there was Aimee. A cute girl with an optimistic personality that complemented Hasan’s. Listening to their getting-to-know-each-other conversation, Cooper saw her naiveté in the ways of the world, but she understood what Hasan was talking about scientifically. A perfect pair of innocent sharpies who finished each other’s sentences. The highlight of the evening was the fact Geri couldn’t stand her younger counterpart. Cooper enjoyed watching her wince and squirm at every coo and giggle. That made the rest of it worth sitting through.

  When Geri had had enough, she made it clear she was ready to get down to business. “Okay, Hasan. You told Cooper why we’re here. Now you can reveal his secret. It’s only fair.”

  Hasan paused, mouth poised to chomp into his steak, and raised his eyebrows at Cooper, getting his permission.

  He had nothing to hide from them. “Go ahead.”

  Cooper smirked when he heard Geri grumble to herself, “He didn’t ask if it was okay with me.”

  Hasan shrugged. “Simulations,” he said and finished his bite.

  Geri whipped her head around, flaunting her thick, auburn locks as she focused her intense gaze on Cooper. “Really?”

  After swallowing, Hasan continued, “Yes. That’s the big business my cousin has gotten himself into. His other jobs for demolishing or fixing up old cars are just fronts. Whoever is funding him is allowing him to experiment behind the scenes. He always loved to test the limits. I thought he was just making specialized android guards and weapons. But with what you two have told me, I know he’s stolen my experimental data, which I thought he’d lost access to. He’s really a terrible person. I don’t know how I didn’t see it.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe he’s related to me. We used to be so tight when we were kids.”

  Geri reached over and patted his shoulder. “No one wants to admit a loved one is bad. You overlooked his flaws.” Even though she always compl
ained about Hasan, she had a protective soft spot for him.

  The naïve man-child held his pout, eating up her attention. “I guess.”

  Before Geri could dig into Hasan in his vulnerability and ask him more questions about Cooper’s case, the detective changed the subject back to hers. He also knew how manipulative she could be.

  “So what’s DNA mutation?”

  Despite Geri waving her arms, trying to get Aimee’s attention, her young apprentice rattled off a textbook definition, as if Cooper had asked the question on the Qnet.

  “DNA mutations result from environmental agents, nuclear radiation, or chemical reactions. These factors damage DNA by changing the nucleotide bases or breaking bonds in the DNA’s oxygen-phosphate structure. The mutations occur when the DNA separates and reproduces. It tries to correct the damage, producing altered, mutated strands.”

  Hasan applauded. “I couldn’t have said it better myself! Geri, where did you find this gem?”

  While Aimee beamed, Geri whispered under her breath, “In a basket on my doorstep?”

  Cooper chuckled. He missed her sarcasm sometimes, very much like his own. Their banter relaxed him. Only two people who felt completely comfortable around each other could volley insults back and forth so naturally. Exchanging playful jabs with her made him wonder why he let her get away. At the time, he told himself he was setting her free to see if she would come back. Maybe this was his second chance.

  “What are you lookin’ at?” Geri snapped at him. Maybe not.

  “The clock behind you. It’s getting late.”

  She swiveled her head around to check his story. “That’s right. It’s getting close to your bed time, isn’t it, old man?” She never let up.

  Taking a genuine glance at the time, Cooper decided to get back home and do some more research for his case, especially if this was how the rest of the evening was going to play out. The more he hung around chatting with Geri, the more she dredged up the past and painful memories. He had no desire to fool himself with false hopes of a possible future with her. He’d been doing just fine without her. And apparently, she’d been doing just fine without him. One last question for Hasan and he’d be out of there.