Simulation: A Pop Travel Novel Read online

  As soon as they turned the corner, Slug ripped his arm free and took off, shouting at Cooper.

  “You’ll never take me back. I swear I will avenge Pedro! ¡Voy a vengar mi hermano!”

  Cooper sighed. He hated staking out funerals, but that’s where he’d probably find Slug next without the salve. Nothing Cooper could do but wait for the DNA proof he needed before he could drag the kid back home legally. Poor Slug.

  Atlanta, GA

  Friday, June 12, 2082

  ollowing the car’s directions, they came to a desolate part of town on the southwest side. Geri pulled over at their destination, Wilson’s Junk Revival. It looked condemned, with its rusty metal sign hanging by a lone hook on the bent chain link fence, and the entrance was firmly locked. When she turned off the car, she opened the console and slipped on a pair of shockproof gloves.

  “Come on.”

  “What are we doing? It’s closed and locked. No one’s been here in ages,” Aimee said, staring into the shadowy, decrepit darkness. Towering, bushy sassafras trees shadowed the drive, blocking out the sun, and kudzu vines smothered the buildings. Weeds were knee high around the fence and threatened to take over the lot, which had been transformed into a southern jungle.

  Geri put a hand on her hip and pointed inside the gate. “Look. There’s fresh tire treads in the dirt. Someone’s been here recently, maybe today. We’re investigating, rookie. Put on your big girl drawers and get your gloves on. And don’t drag your feet.” Geri headed for the locked gate, doubting Aimee’s grits again. She really needed to woman up.

  Aimee got out and hurried after her. “Okay, I’m ready.” Her QV was aimed to record everything, like a shield in front of her. Geri usually forgot to do that, getting caught up in the hunt. It wasn’t a bad idea for situations like this. At least the girl was good for something.

  Geri used her QV to scan for transmitting devices, like webcams or bugs left by anyone who might be watching over the place. Satisfied the area was clean, she threw an old can at the fence to test it for voltage. It clanked off without a spark.

  “Good thinking,” Aimee said.

  These were standard procedures the girl should already know, but Geri had to remember Aimee hadn’t been in the field before. She hoped the girl wouldn’t be cheerleading the whole time. Shaking her head, she stepped up to the gate and used her QV’s lock-pick gadget. The lock clicked open and she unthreaded the heavy chain.

  “Pause,” Aimee said to halt the recording. “Isn’t this B&E, since we don’t have a warrant?”

  “Not if it’s abandoned,” Geri lied. “Besides, there are extenuating circumstances. We have just cause. And we aren’t breaking. I promise to lock it back when we’re done. It’ll be as if we were never here. I’m pretty sure the owners won’t claim this place or anything we find here anyway. We’re looking for clues, not evidence to be used in court. Trust me, would ya?”

  Aimee pouted and nodded, then resumed her filming.

  Geri sighed. This rookie was turning out to be a good babysitter. Probably another reason she’d been assigned to Geri, to keep her in line. But Geri wouldn’t let the little girl slow her down with nit-picking protocol. She’d have no trouble leaving her if she fell behind. It would be a good learning experience for her.

  They slipped onto the lot and Geri took a survey. The office building on the left was a converted old shack of a house. The dirt driveway wrapped around it, leading to an open area in the back where an ominous-looking machine stood with an open maw, waiting to destroy innocent old cars who’d come to the end of the road. Behind that sat an open garage, which was more of a rickety lean-to with the leftover remains of a few rusty vehicle carcasses and spare parts resting in pieces.

  She stepped over to the office building and noticed the graffiti on it didn’t smudge when she rubbed it, but it still had a fresh paint smell. Some of the weeds poking through the rocks along the driveway had been run over recently, barely clinging to life. Another indicator someone had visited the place in the last day or so. A little staged dust and rust wasn’t going to deter Geri. It made the place that much more suspicious.

  The boarded up windows on the office building were so grimy with dirt they prevented her from peeking in through the cracks. That left using the door. She unlocked it and tensed for an alarm, but heard nothing. So far, the electricity appeared to be off.

  A musty odor greeted them when they stepped inside, most likely from the ancient, faded, olive green carpet. Geri and Aimee had their electroguns drawn and cased the rooms, ready for a surprise visitor to pop out or a booby trap to be sprung. At least, Geri hoped Aimee was ready.

  As they walked through the building, Geri pointed out indentations and sun-bleached patterns in the old carpet to Aimee. There was also the faint outline of a plant on the wall from the sun beaming in.

  With bright eyes, Aimee nodded. “Wow. So they were here recently, like you said. This place isn’t as deserted as it looks. I’m learning so much.”

  Geri swatted at her. “Please. Don’t be ridiculous. What do you see?”

  “How about up there?”

  In an upper corner of the ceiling, wires poked through where a cam had been. “Good.”

  “And over there?” Aimee pointed to a pile of rat droppings in the corner

  Geri wrinkled her nose. “What’s that tell you?”

  “Well, here. Look.” Aimee zoomed in on the turds with her QV and showed Geri. One of them glinted a reflection. A tiny turd cam?

  “It’s so small, my scanner must’ve missed it. Oh, well.” Geri walked over and stepped on it. She’d have to tell the tech geeks to amplify her scanner. “Good catch.”

  Aimee smiled and lifted her shoulders.

  “Come on. Let’s see what’s behind door number three.”

  Most of the rooms were open and bare of furniture or fixtures. But at the end of the hall, they came to a closed door with a sophisticated lock on it. When Geri picked the lock, it clicked open, then immediately relocked.

  “A defense mechanism. Guess I’ll have to get in the old-fashioned way.”

  “Pause. How’s that?”

  Geri noticed Aimee liked to ask her questions off-camera. She must have stage fright.

  “Like this.” She aimed the ruby stone of her ring at the lock. A small red laser shot out at it, and she cut around the knob. Then she kicked it with her sturdy black army boot. It took a couple tries, but the door finally cracked loose and she pushed it open. Fanning her arm out, she let Aimee go in first. “That’s breaking, but I’m not worried about it. Are you?”

  Aimee frowned at her sensible flats and shook her head, then walked into the room with her QV and electrogun held in front of her, scanning everywhere.

  Geri followed. This room was no office. The dingy white tiled floor had brown stains of grease and grime. She also noted strange outlets and ports halfway up the walls.

  Aimee went over to one of the ports. “Pause. See this? I think this room was some sort of laboratory.”

  “Keep recording. I’ll never remember everything,” Geri said as she stomped on all the rat droppings she could find.

  “Okay. Resume.”

  Aimee continued to film and described what she saw. When she crossed the room, she stepped on an outlet in the middle of the floor.

  Geri heard a creak. Glancing at the ceiling, she shouted, “Get out of here!”

  But it was too late. The roof cracked again and collapsed.

  Geri dove over to protect Aimee, tackling her. Aimee fell to her back and Geri landed on top of her. Boards and metal beams came crashing down on them, followed by a whoosh of dust and debris.

  Coughing from the clogged air, Geri breathed into her shoulder. She also noticed a sharp pain in her left leg. Something had gouged her. The weight on her back was heavy, but surprisingly, nothing landed on her head or arms. She blinked through the dust and spit some hair out of her mouth. After taking stock of her situation, she checked on her partner.

>   “You okay?”

  “Yes. Thank you for trying to warn me and push me to safety.”

  “Didn’t work very well, did it?”

  Then Geri noticed Aimee’s left arm was straight up, supporting a piece of the ceiling just above Geri’s head. The girl must’ve caught it before it crashed on them. It had to weigh a ton, if the pressure on her back was any indication.

  “How are you doing that?”

  “With my prosthetic arm. I’ve had it since I was a kid.”

  More surprises. Geri needed to dig into this girl’s background. She was like a superhero hiding behind a nerdy alter ego.

  “Wow. Okay. Well, this wreckage is unstable, but we need to get out somehow. I’m going to try to crawl free. Can you keep holding that up?”

  “Yes. For a few more minutes. I think.” Strain was breaking through her smile.

  While Aimee supported the large section of ceiling a few inches above them, Geri carefully rolled onto her side and pushed on the boards at their heads, hoping not to dislodge more debris onto them. After a few minutes, she realized she wasn’t making much progress and her leg was throbbing from the chunk of whatever was lodged in it. She was also worried how long Aimee would last.

  “Okay. I’m going to scoot out, then I can see what kind of mess this is from a better angle and lift the pieces off you.”

  Aimee smiled—amazingly, she smiled, even in this terrible predicament. “Good. My arm is feeling the strain.”

  Still disoriented, Geri tried to figure out which way to go. The dusty air made it hard to breathe and harder to see. Since there were only a few cracks of light reaching them, Geri assumed they had to be coming from the window, so hopefully, the whole roof hadn’t caved in, just the ceiling in that room. Aimee had been closer to the door, so Geri moved that way, squeezing through the wreckage, gently shoving pieces aside. She was glad she still had on her gloves, with all the broken bits and rough edges everywhere.

  When she finally made it to the doorway, she was able to stand in the hallway. She guessed right. The rest of the building still stood. Only the ceiling in that one room had been rigged to collapse. She went right to work lifting big pieces, throwing them to the far side of the room.

  “I’m coming, Aimee!”

  Soon Geri found the poor girl’s arm and was able to help her get up.

  “Thanks. I guess I set off a trap. Sorry.”

  Geri dusted herself off. “Forget about it. I should’ve been more wary and ready for something like that. Are you all right?”

  Aimee inspected herself. “I think so.”

  “How ‘bout your QV?”

  Aimee tapped her wrist imager and it opened. She swiped and grabbed at the 3D files, checking its functionality.

  “It seems to be okay.”

  With her hands on her hips, Geri frowned at the rubble. “They must have been doing something important in there.”

  “I bet it was the lab where Rage did his experimenting. Look.” Aimee showed Geri what she recorded before the ceiling fell and pointed out a few things. “These appear to be ports for gases. Probably O2 and anesthetics. There’s a drain in the floor for quick cleanup. And see up there?” She pointed at the ceiling, then at spots on the walls and floor. “More outlets and wires than the other rooms. My guess is for lab equipment and machines.”

  “I bet you’re right.” She scanned the wreckage with her QV. Every time the case took a turn to science, Geri felt inept. “I don’t see any traces of DNA except ours. I’m not surprised. That room was cleaner than the others. I’m sure they sterilized it. They were probably more worried about evidence being discovered than appearances. And doubled their insurance by setting up the trap.”

  Aimee nodded. “Nice deduction.”

  Geri looked down her nose at the girl. Was that last comment a little patronizing? “I think we’re done here. Let’s go outside.”

  When Geri limped past Aimee, the girl reminded her she was wounded.

  “Ooo. You’re bleeding. Can I take a look at that?”

  Glancing over her shoulder at the back of her left calf, Geri inspected her injury. She’d blocked out the pain from her aching leg until Aimee pointed it out. A sliver of rough wood the size of a railroad spike poked out of the flesh below her knee, just above her boot. It gave her a chill and she grimaced.

  “Yeah, I guess I should do something about that.” She grabbed a sterilizing patch from her pocket and ripped it open. The pain was intense, but she had to set a strong example for little Aimee. Twisting around from one side to the other, Geri had a hard time deciding on her approach.

  “Can I help?”

  Geri glared at her. Wincing, she gripped the chunk of wood, closed her eyes, and yanked it out of her leg. Then she smacked the patch onto it. After a hard gulp, she took a few deep breaths and glanced at the girl.

  “There. Nothing to it. We can take a better look at the car.”

  Aimee frowned but didn’t argue. “Okay.”

  With the back room a complete disaster, Geri didn’t bother locking the place back up.

  They kept their guards extra sharp, slinking around with extreme caution to the small clearing behind the house in the tree-shrouded back lot. The thick-leaved trees were great for shade on a hot day, but also great for blocking satellite views. Geri scoured the ground as she limped among the garbage, hoping to find something, anything, to make the case less depressing. It felt like such a waste of time. The place was nothing but a picked-over dump, and the lack of evidence bothered her. So far all they had were pictures of an emptied-out, condemned building and a gash in her leg.

  The monstrous car-eating machine lurked in the overgrown bushes next to the open garage. Closer up, it looked even more ominous than when she first saw it. Geri considered scrapping further investigation of it. After their cave-in encounter, all she wanted to do was go home and soak in a hot tub. If it wasn’t for Aimee, she might have. But then again, if it wasn’t for Aimee, she might be dead.

  “Keep filming. I’ll check it out.”

  Aimee nodded, looking a little scared herself.

  Geri straightened her shoulders to set a braver example and tried the power switch. Though it didn’t come to life, she remained wary. She wasn’t going to be caught by surprise again.

  She climbed up the ramp. At the top, she used her QV flashlight to look down into the toothy maw of the beastly device. Its deep throat was empty except for the gears and wheels. It looked clean, probably sanitized as well, but she wasn’t there to assume anything.

  From her pocket she pulled out a collection cloth and wiped along the opening as far down as she could reach, expecting the machine to come to life and chomp her arm off. Then at least she could get a cool prosthetic like Aimee.

  Just as she was pulling it out, a loud boom sounded and Geri scrambled down off the machine.

  Aimee tried to hide her smile. “I think it was just some thunder.”

  Geri searched the skies and spotted some dark clouds looming from the west. “Of course it was. Got a bag?”

  When Aimee fished out a baggie for her, Geri dropped the cloth inside.

  The dinky scrap was disappointing, but better than leaving empty-handed. Geri hoped some DNA or chemical residue might be on it.

  As she took a last glance around the overgrown lot, she shook her head. “I think that’s all we’re going to get. You ready?”

  She didn’t wait for Aimee’s response and plodded back to the car, still favoring her left leg. Their case was a wash. All circumstantial and lots of assumptions.

  “Can I help you with that leg now?” Aimee asked, taking off her gloves.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Geri leaned over the front of the car. Aimee had a light touch as she removed Geri’s boot and carefully raised her leggings up past her knee.

  “First aid kit?”

  “Glove compartment.”

  Aimee scooted to retrieve it.

  Heaving a sigh, Geri brooded while she wa
ited for Aimee to remove any remaining splinters of wood and patch up her leg. Luckily the girl seemed to get the hint Geri didn’t want to chat and kept silent while she worked. She felt a pang of guilt for treating Aimee like such an underling. The girl was doing a good job. It was just so frustrating having to tell her everything. And setting off that booby trap was a total rookie mistake. Geri shouldn’t have missed it. Holding Aimee’s hand was dulling Geri’s instincts.

  “Thanks, Aimee. Nice work.”

  “You’re welcome. Just make sure you get it checked out properly in Medical.”

  “Sure. But I know they’ll confirm you made a good doctor.”

  Aimee smiled, but Geri could tell the girl still felt bad for triggering the collapse.

  Geri sighed. Now she would have to put the girl at ease. Aimee would never get anything done if she let her emotions take over her sensibility. Geri wasn’t used to working with girly girls. Girly men, maybe, but not girly girls. As they drove back to the office, she tried to be nice.

  “So how’d you get that arm?”

  Just asking a personal question perked Aimee right up. “At a technology fair. When I was four, my parents took me and I wandered off. I was always curious and disappearing from them to see what I could discover. I loved to investigate things and usually got into trouble. At one of the exhibits, I slipped under the rope barrier and stuck my hand into a laser disposal machine.”

  Geri’s eyes widened. “That’s terrible!”

  “I guess I’m lucky to be alive. Though it really wasn’t so bad. I didn’t feel a thing. When I pulled out my arm, half of it was gone. I passed out from shock, and when I woke up I had this.” She lifted her arm and looked at it. “As I grew, I got replacements. I’ve had it so long, I barely notice it’s different from the other one.”

  And that’s why Geri didn’t want kids. She’d be worried out of her mind all the time. Aimee’s story gave her new worries, afraid she’d lose track of them and something horrible would happen, like losing their arm.

  “You seem fine now.”