Chapter Twenty-Six

The team landed back in the basement. I knew, the minute we arrived, why Samuel had settled on this date and time. It wasn't a coincidence that the basement had been cleared out and provided cover for us. Knowing Samuel, he'd even put extra white suits down here for us to use.

Samuel looked around the room. "Where are you, Theo? I know you're here somewhere. I can feel your energy."

"I'm sitting in the chair. By the way, I don't like your mother. Just had to say that before you found me."

"Did you really see Troy and Luther at Artek?" Samuel asked as he approached the chair. It was odd knowing that he was there but being unable to see him.

"Yes. They were being held in a room down the hallway," he said. "I swear guys, I saw them. Luther was not invisible; it was definitely him. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was wearing the same outfit we saw him in outside of NorthStar the day we blew the facility to pieces."

"Why would they be there?" Audrina asked, tapping her fingers against her lips. "It doesn't make sense."

"It's probably one of the reasons we couldn't find Luther: Paul already had him. He set us up to destroy NorthStar, bringing Luther and Troy into the open where he could catch them. I guess we were being good soldiers. We had our orders and achieved our mission." Samuel glanced down at his clasped hands. "I know what you're all thinking: if this has happened, what else aren't they telling us. I'll be honest; I just don't know."

"Do we care that they have Luther and Troy?" Gave asked as he walked over to another chair across from Theo. "Let's think about it. It might be a good thing that all of them are in one place...away from us. It will also be easier to destroy them all."

"That's a good point," Samuel said. "I don't think we do. We just need to figure out what they've done to us and how we can destroy Project Merak. Obviously, it's not Troy's project any longer...it's Dr. James', and she has strong intentions of going back, I mean leaving this planet and going to Merak."

"What if Merak is the answer for our survival?" I looked around the room to blank faces. We needed to think about all sides of this story. Maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe it was a way for us to live.

"You may be right Esa. Merak may actually be the answer that we've all been looking for. I've seen information about Merak. It looks like a strong choice. It has plenty of oxygen and vegetation for us to survive for many years," Samuel said. "However, I've tested this planet as well. We're fine. Civilization will once again populate. We just have to make some changes. I'm not really ready to just give up on Earth."

I spun back to face him. He was confusing. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we need to make some changes. The current arrangement doesn't work out so well for all of us."

Finally, I cleared my throat. "Samuel, what do you really mean? Tell us honestly."

"We need to get rid them, Esa. Our parents are not like others. They don't care about us. They only care about their science. I think we've protected them for too long," he said as his head drooped. Soft sobs escaped his lips. I couldn't tell if they were real or fake, but either way he was my brother and very rarely had I seen him so vulnerable. It was weird seeing Samuel cry. "They've done this to us. They've manipulated us into doing their work and we really haven't gotten any credit for anything we've done."

The sound of the word "parents" caused me to take a deep breath. I wasn't sure I would classify them with that great a word. They were horrible human beings who only cared about themselves and how they could advance on their agenda. We were simply pawns in their weird game.

Suddenly, Theo's voice filled the space. "I agree with Samuel, we've got to get rid of both of them. Sometimes I wonder if you and Samuel are not also in on it." A thump, and a brief depression in the chair's arm, suggested he had punched the leather.

"Calm down, Theo. Don't worry, we get it. Didn't you just hear Samuel?!"

"Really? Do you get it?" he asked, as if he was unsure that Samuel had even spoken a few minutes ago.

"Yes."

"I don't believe you," he shot back. "I don't believe any of you. I'm starting to have serious doubts about this team. We were close at one time, but now I'm not sure we're all on the same side."

His words caused my heart to sink.

"Theo, what happened to you at Artek?" I asked, walking toward the chair where he was allegedly still sitting.

"Oh, not much. They just stuck me with needles and then decided to make it so no one could see me. It's been really fun. Super fun," he said. "I'm sure you are all jealous of me right now."

"I know I'm jealous," Gave said with an evil little smile, obviously trying to lighten up the mood in the room. "I keep thinking about all of the cool things I could do if I was invisible."

"Shut up," Samuel said. "Now is not the time for us to get distracted."

Gave's body rose off the ground. "Theo, put me down," he said matter-of-factly. "Seriously, dude, I was just joking around. You've got to lighten up just a little bit and stop pushing me up against walls. After all, Esa is finally back with the team. So, I really don't get why you are still angry?"

"Theo, put him down," I commanded. He didn't immediate respond. After what seemed like way too long he responded. "Fine."

Suddenly, Gave was back on the floor.

"Ouch!" Gave yelled, holding his arm. "I swear one day I'm going to make you pay for that."

"You deserved it." Theo huffed.

"That's not fair. You can't just go and hit someone, especially someone who has no way of fighting back. There are certain rules of engagement that we should follow," Gave said, stepping back from where he assumed Theo was still standing. "Wait a minute. We can't see you, but can you see the other invisible thing that has been hunting us?"

"No. I've looked, but couldn't find anything," Theo said. "I'm waiting for it to come back around to really see."

"But we now know it's not Luther." Audrina joined into the conversation.

"True," Samuel said, shaking his head. "Very true. Theo, did Dr. James send you on any missions before we found you? Maybe it was you traveling through time."

"That doesn't make sense. Why would I want to hurt you guys?" Theo's voice echoed. "Why would I want to hurt myself? Don't you recall, I fought off the thing too?"

"You were pretty mad at us just a little bit ago," Audrina said. "Besides, it doesn't matter. It could have been another version of you."

"Theo, it could have been you," I added, looking around the room.

I felt his body close to mine. "Esa, that thing hurt you. It really hurt you. I would never do something like that. I wouldn't do it."

"Maybe you didn't have a choice."

"I wouldn't have hit you."

"Esa's right, Theo. You may not have known what you were doing. Dr. James may have sent you out to find us and destroy us."

The entire room grew even quieter. It was eerie as we stood there and let the reality soak in that we were being targeted by several people, and, unfortunately, those people knew a lot about our hideouts and capabilities.

"The one thing I remember is Dr. James saying she wanted to make the team stronger. She said it over and over again, that we were weren't ready for the trip," Theo said.

Gave laughed. "Oh, I get it. She wanted to make us stronger, so she sent you to fight us, to see how strong we really are. Very nice. She's quite the peach."

"Theo, if it really was you, then you tried to drown me," Audrina said. "You tried to drag me to the bottom of the ocean."

"Aud, I swear, I don't remember any of this. You have to believe me," Theo pleaded. "I don't know what happened. All I remember is falling into the freezing cold water and then Esa coming to get me."

"There was a lot of time between those two moments," I said. "Anything is possible. Dr. James would have had time to send you on some of her personal missions. It's definitely possible."

"It is possible," Samuel said. "And I have a feeling we are right. It wasn't Luther. Dr. James wouldn't waste her science on him. She would want to use one of us, and I bet Theo was hand-picked for the job. You would never have accidentally fallen into that water. You're too strong and fast. Something pulled you in. Just like something led me to build a shelter in that location. I had no clue we were anywhere close to Dr. James or her facility. Everything seems so coincidental. Maybe she has been planning all of this and has guided us to make certain decisions."

"If that's true, then what's next?" I asked. "Do we wait and see if Dr. James sends us some sort of cryptic message?"

"It's time for us to get serious and figure out what Dr. James is really planning, and then we need to stop it," Samuel said.

Gave looked over at him. "Dude, if there's anyone who can stop it, it's you. I think we need to do some recon, but first we need to eat. I'm starving. Samuel, what are the odds we could sneak upstairs and get some food?"

Samuel laughed. "I think the odds are good since we have Theo."

"That's right! Theo, please go upstairs and pull out some leftovers. I'm sure I have something for us to eat hidden in the refrigerator."

"Fine," Theo huffed. "I'm glad to see my invisible body is good for something."

"Don't get caught," Gave said, looking over at the door. "I'd hate for something to lift your body up against a wall."

Samuel put up his hand to stop Gave from saying anything else. "He should be fine. I think the house is empty right now. I don't feel the presence of any other energy."

"Let's give ourselves a few hours to rest, but tonight we are going back to Artek," Samuel said. "It's time for Dr. James to realize she is not going to be running this show any longer. She gave us a unique skill set and its time that we used it."