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  “Paris, Sameel, and I checked every inch of this place twice. They went over to the security house to help monitor. Mrs. Rakhi and Hasan are secure upstairs. That’s all,” Jackson said firmly.

  “Then they’re hiding, or they left through the back door before you came in,” Keener said. “They sure didn’t go back through that tunnel.”

  “Sameel,” Jackson said in her headset, calling Security headquarters. “Have you guys seen anyone entering or exiting the house?”

  After a pause, Jackson spoke again.

  “Since there’s been no activity at the house besides us, coming and going, we should check the inside again.”

  “I’ll take the lab,” said Vincent.

  “I’ll check on Mrs. Rakhi and the second floor,” said Ms. Jackson.

  “I’ve got this floor,” Keener added.

  Hasan had heard enough.

  “Time to blur!” Hasan bolted for the back door.

  Cooper and Geri sprinted after him.

  Hasan looked back to check on them and saw Cooper barricade the back door with a bench from the porch. With just enough light to see their way around the side of the house, Hasan hopped into a hovercart and took the driver seat. As soon as Cooper and Geri jumped in, Hasan floored it.

  Heading for the transport house, they listened to the guards’ communications on the cart’s comlink.

  “They just escaped out the back door! There’s three of them! And one is Hasan!” Sameel shouted, from headquarters.

  “I’m right behind them,” Keener said.

  “The back door is blocked,” Sameel added.

  Hasan kept his eyes on the review mirror and watched Keener, Jackson, and Vincent sprint out from the front of the house and scramble after them in another cart. Then he saw a third cart join the chase.

  “Who’s that guy?” asked Sameel over the comlink.

  Everyone turned around to look.

  “You don’t know?” a guard asked.

  “Never saw him before. He’s not one of ours?” said another.

  “No. We’ll worry about him later. Just don’t let him get in front of you,” Sameel said. Then he made a general announcement to Security. “All guards, listen up! Hasan is to be protected at all costs!”

  Hasan smiled as he led the carts north of the infirmary, racing in a slow-speed chase.

  “Halt the transports!” Ray shouted to Manny. Ray and his head of Security had their eyes glued to the monitors in the security house, feeling helpless as he watched his prize run away. Clutching his chest, Ray gave an Ack! or Oh! at every jolt in the action. He might just have a heart attack. With all his stress, he was long overdue for one.

  “We can’t do that, sir. There are too many people trying to leave. We would have a riot on our hands if we delayed them any further. We barely have the crowd under control as it is,” said Manny.

  “Sir. Don’t worry. We can get him. Even if he pops, we can trace him,” a tech added.

  Ray looked down and shook his head. This can’t be happening.

  “Do you know who that guy is?” Hasan asked.

  “Beats me,” Cooper said.

  Squinting at the mysterious guy in the third hovercart, Geri took her time answering.

  “I have no idea.”

  Cooper eyed her for a second. She gave a weak smile and turned away. His internal lie detector went off, and he pocketed the information to ask her about it later.

  As they zipped past the infirmary, several androids rushed toward them. When the cart approached the laser fence, Hasan turned it off. As soon as they were past, he flipped it back on, sizzling the extremities of a couple of the droids.

  Cooper looked back to see how the other carts were doing. The third cart was inches from the guards, who blinked off the fence to get through and turned it back on quickly. Knowing he wouldn’t make it through, the mysterious guy jumped out of his cart and rolled into some bushes. The cart kept moving and the top got cut off.

  Geri gasped, then gave a relieved sigh. Cooper looked at her again with his eyebrows furrowed. Meeting his gaze, she shrugged.

  When they reached the transport house, Hasan shouted.

  “Jump!”

  They all jumped off the cart and it crashed into a tree.

  Cooper and Geri dashed after Hasan to the back door of the transport house. Hasan punched in a code and they entered an Employees Only hallway. Down the hall, two security guards came around a corner and intercepted them. Cooper surprised the guards with some rusty, yet effective, karate moves, just enough to disorient them. Hasan raced down the hall with Cooper and Geri close behind.

  Exiting through another door, they crashed into the large, domed waiting room. Guests congested in every nook and cranny, anxious to be transported home. With Hasan in the lead, the three of them blended into the masses, wedging their way through the crowd toward the entrance to the transport platforms. Flying around the frantic crowd, rumors about what might have caused the party to end so abruptly ranged from a bomb threat to World War III. The hysteria was contagious, with everyone acting as if the place were on fire, pushing and shouting, desperate to escape.

  When guests recognized the Creator, they squeezed out a path for him, then zip-locked back together after the three of them passed. Trying to force their way through, the guards could not reach the three escapees. The masses resisted the guards’ pressure. The androids had better luck. No one wanted to mess with them and cleared small spaces to avoid touching them.

  As the androids closed in, Cooper, Geri, and Hasan arrived at the door for transport departures. Standing firm, two guards barred their way, ready and waiting for them, armed with Taser guns. Before Cooper had a chance to challenge them, Geri took the comb out of her hair and stabbed one of them in the chest with it. He dropped. And for no apparent reason, so did the other one. What?

  Cooper didn’t stick around to figure out what happened as three droids broke through the swarm of people. Grabbing one guard’s hand, Cooper placed it on the scanner and cracked open the door. He lifted Geri as she plucked the comb out of the guard’s chest, and shoved her through, then Hasan.

  Before Cooper could follow, an android grabbed his arm. Wrenching his arm back and forth in the vise grip of the droid, Cooper squeezed into the doorway. The eager crowd washed over them, crashing on the door like a tidal wave. Cooper made it through with the droid’s arm still attached, broken off by the force of the masses shutting the door.

  Leading the way, Hasan found the closest transport platform.

  Two more guards appeared from around the corner.

  I’m getting tired of these guys!

  They looked smug, stopping in front of the door with their arms crossed.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” one of them asked.

  The other reached out to grab Cooper, but he ducked and gave him a hand stab to the abdomen.

  Geri kneed the other one and jabbed her sharp bracelet into his leg, taking him down.

  Slamming open the door, Hasan charged in. Geri and Cooper followed.

  As Hasan rushed through the pre-pop medscan area, he startled guests preparing for a quick pop home. The trio barged into the platform room. Hasan headed straight over to the tech station, as Cooper fortified the door with a couple of chairs.

  The tech had just sent a group off and begun preparations for the next. The guy backed away for Hasan, who punched in a destination code.

  “Get in a dock!” he yelled at Cooper and Geri.

  They jumped in.

  Hasan hopped into a dock as well.

  Guards shouted and banged at the door.

  “Give us the shots!” Hasan commanded the anesthesiologist.

  He nodded and gave them each the sedative.

  Hasan directed Geri and Cooper in a surprisingly calm and level voice.

  “Now, try to slow your breathing. Relax and be as still as possible.”

  Then he turned to the tech.

  “Do it,” Hasan ordered.
His personality had transformed back into the Creator. People were awed by him and obeyed.

  “What about the destination? They’ll track you. And you won’t be expected. What about overlap?”

  The guards hollered and clamored outside.

  The frightened tech looked at the door and hesitated.

  “You have to help me! Do the transmission! I know what I’m doing. Dooo the transmissssssionnn…”

  The tech caught the Creator’s reassuring grin with his last bit of consciousness. Nodding at the anesthesiologist, they sealed the docks. The tech trusted the Creator and pushed the send button.

  When the guards broke through, the Creator was gone.

  “So where is he?” a guard shouted.

  The tech tried to find out, searching for the traceable code of its destination left by every pop.

  “I don’t know. I can’t trace it,” the tech said and hid an impressed smile.

  “Say that again?”

  “It looks like he added an encryption to his code to disguise it. His destination can’t be traced.”

  “I wonder how long he’s been planning an escape. Manny is not going to like this.”

  FBI – Atlanta Division

  9:15 p.m., Friday, July 26

  here are they?” Ed asked Nate.

  “Geri’s tracking signal is weak. Her audio and visual are out of range.” Nate widened the map to show the rest of the world and searched until he found her blip.

  “They are in Mumbai, India.” Then he did a double take.

  “What?” Ed raised his voice in disbelief. He leaned over Nate and squinted at Geri’s signal. “Keep tracking them. Have we heard from Blake?”

  “He is still in the mass of people waiting to be popped. It could be hours. It’s a real mess over there.”

  “Send him a new destination code. He’s going to India,” Ed said.

  Malbar Hill. Mumbai, India

  7:15 a.m., Saturday, July 27 (9:45 p.m., Friday, Atlanta, GA)

  Geri grasped at sleep in the cab. Aching all over, she yearned to pass out. In an attempt to stay awake, she rubbed her blistered feet, which threatened to go numb if she walked much farther in her once-pretty, purple pumps. Thank goodness, Hasan said the apartment was on the first floor.

  After a slow ride through a light rain, they arrived at an impressive high-rise. Geri and Cooper followed Hasan inside and he rang the bell.

  When the door opened, a six-foot-tall man appeared with a stern expression and a small child attached to his leg.

  “Uncle Vilas!” Hasan exclaimed and embraced his uncle in a big hug.

  The man raised his eyebrows and cracked a smile.

  “Hasan? What a surprise! Greetings to you and your friends. Come in, come in.” He had a smooth, deep voice, and held his arms out wide for them. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  “Tanay! Come back here!” came a shout from further inside the apartment. The little boy released his father’s leg and ran inside.

  Geri smelled breakfast and her stomach growled.

  “Ah, uncle. It is so good to see you,” Hasan said as they passed through the sitting room. Hasan either didn’t hear or ignored his uncle’s question. Instead, he rushed into the kitchen and greeted the rest of the family.

  “Auntie Jagruti!” he shouted and gave her a squeeze.

  Geri and Cooper stood off to the side, staying out of the way. Geri shifted her stance from one foot to the other, itching to take off her shoes. With her muddied, torn evening gown and disheveled appearance, she gave up trying to conceal her discomfort.

  “Hasan? It cannot be!” said his aunt. “And who are your friends? They look like they have been through a battle. Please sit down.”

  “Oh, yes. My friends!” he said with an embarrassed smile. “These are my wonderful friends, Geri and…” He closed his eyes and touched his head.

  “Cooper,” Geri said for him as she took a seat.

  “Of course. Cooper!” He hit himself in the forehead. “They helped me escape!”

  “Escape?” asked Hasan’s uncle. “What do you mean, escape?”

  But Hasan ignored that question, too.

  “Geri and Cooper, this is my beautiful Aunt Jagruti and my honored uncle, Dr. Vilas Rastogi. He is a genius!” He elbowed Cooper and added, “It runs in the family.”

  His aunt smiled at them as she continued encouraging the children to finish their breakfast.

  “Oh, Hasan. Always the joker,” Dr. Rastogi said. “I am pleased to meet you, Geri and Cooper.” He shook their hands.

  “The pleasure is mine, Dr. Rastogi.” Geri gave him a weak smile. Cooper nodded.

  “Could I offer you something to eat?” Aunt Jagruti asked. “Or a place to freshen up?”

  “Oh, bless you. I’m famished,” Geri said. “Can I help?”

  “We don’t have much time,” Hasan said. “Just a quick bite, then we should keep moving.”

  Dr. Rastogi gave Hasan a stern look.

  “Time for what? Please, nephew. You must tell me what has brought you across so many miles. I am overjoyed to have you here, but what is going on?”

  “Of course, uncle. I’m sorry. My head is not on right. I will let Cooper explain. I’m too upset to make any sense.” He patted Cooper on the back and added to him, “But please be brief!”

  “Sure,” Cooper said.

  “I’m going to take the children to their lessons now. I am honored to meet you, Geri and Cooper. Hasan, I wish I could stay and hear your story. Will you be here when I come home? I will only be an hour or so, and then I can cook something,” his aunt said.

  “I’ll try, but no promises. We are in a great hurry.” He reached around and gave her a side embrace, cheek to cheek. Then he patted each of his cousins on the head, and his aunt shooed the children out.

  “Please. Sit,” Dr. Rastogi said.

  Cooper joined the doctor at the table.

  Hasan waved off sitting. He had been fidgety on the cab ride over as well, chattering about the scenery and bouncing around in his seat. He raided the fridge instead.

  Cooper looked from Dr. Rastogi to Hasan to Geri and back to Dr. Rastogi.

  “In the interest of time, I will get right to the point. Miss Harper and I wanted to meet with Hasan and discuss a serious problem I discovered with pop travel.”

  Hasan sprang upright from his ransacking, slammed the fridge shut, and erupted.

  “Yeah! My bosses are hounding me for ‘fine tuning’ but didn’t tell me about any problems to fix! They know I never completed my doctorate. They don’t care I’m trying to finish it. They just keep pressuring me to make improvements. And I’m not allowed to talk to professors, interns, or even students. No help from anyone!” He paced as he ranted, shaking his fist, waving his hands, and beating on his chest. “I have had no life, uncle! Sure, it was fun at first. But over the past couple of years, they have given me more restrictions and rules. It’s unbearable! I want to quit but I can’t! They tricked me into signing a deal and now if I quit, I lose everything! It’s my invention! And I must provide for my mother. I need you to help me find an answer.”

  He pleaded, clasping his hands at his heart. He had obviously kept everything bottled up a long time.

  Dr. Rastogi leaned back and raised his palms for Hasan to stop and settle down.

  “Peace, Hasan. Of course I will help you. If I can.”

  “And we can’t stay in one place for too long. We are safe for now because when we popped out, I added a new line of code to erase the destination as soon as we were sent. I’ve been working on that for a while. They may not know where we are yet, but they will figure it out soon. Plus, I need to get back to Mother,” Hasan added.

  “You sound as if you have broken the law. Do you believe my sister is in danger?” his uncle asked.

  “No. I’m sure she is fine. But she will be very worried.” Hasan bit his nails.

  “I see.” Dr. Rastogi put a hand to his chin. He turned to Cooper. “How do
you know there is a problem and Hasan did not?”

  “It’s complicated. I will have to show you. I have it on a stick drive,” Cooper answered.

  “Ah. Why don’t we go downstairs to my office? I have a secure Qnet connection,” Dr. Rastogi said. “And Hasan, I believe you should help me understand the process, so that I may be of better service to you.”

  They all got up and followed the doctor downstairs.

  “What exactly do you do, Dr. Rastogi?” Geri asked. Not many people were allowed to have a completely private Qnet.

  “I work at the hospital. I specialize in cybernetic prosthetics.”

  “That sounds fascinatin’.”

  Hasan’s uncle waved on the lights. They arrived at what appeared to be a simple office in a basement. As more lights came on, they could see past the tidy desk and large CC imager. The room opened up to reveal an elaborate laboratory.

  Hasan’s face lit up at the magnitude of the facilities.

  “You have added so much, uncle.” He took in the surroundings like a special guest at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. In addition to the expected laboratory workstations with test tubes, beakers, and microscopes, wall imagers hung around the room, displaying X-rays and collected data in tables, graphs, and charts. Ominous-looking machines lined the back wall. But the items drawing the most attention were the mounted extremities. Clear plastic-encased robotic hands, limbs, and feet, covered in flesh and pumping blood.

  After his initial reaction to the impressive lab, Hasan wasted no time gawking and jumped on the compucenter. He typed in some formulas to show his uncle. Geri joined the others gathering around to watch the imager. Hasan explained as he typed.

  “This is the formula for my biogen laser which I originally developed for removing and preserving lesions and tumors for study.” He stood up again and pointed at the large wall imager. Geri noticed Hasan had a hard time sitting still, like a kid with ADD hyperactive tendencies that increased when he got excited.