Chapter 21

Jamison extracted a nourishment packet from his dresser and toyed with it. He eyed Nessa's hologram in the corner. At some point, he glanced at his implant.

"7:30," he mumbled.

A knock rapped on the door, and someone spoke through it.

"Jamison, come on. Time for school."

"It's my mom," he whispered to Nessa's hologram.

"J, hurry up! You have a spelling test today," Enya yelled.

Jamison gathered his backpack and stuffed the nourishment packets inside.

The knocking repeated, and Jamison mounted his pack onto his shoulder. He waved to Nessa's hologram and said, "Be there in a sec."

He stepped into the teleport. He selected an option on his implant's menu. Transport now. Area 51.

A glimmer appeared. Jamison looked upward and stepped into a fire engine-red, needle-thin light. He leveled his implant toward the ceiling. A zap of blue smoked the security camera that sent the beam. Gunmetal-gray smoke wafted toward the ceiling.

Nessa dropped her jaw. It was almost unhinged. Jamison examined the passcode pad. He checked the doorway where security officers were known to emerge. He stared into the stillness for a second.

Then he typed a code into the pad.

"N377A," he said in a barely audible whisper.

In a nanosecond, the yellow tint that had surrounded Nessa and that had colored her world vanished.

She stood up.