Chapter 11

“We should go to London,” Grace said after a while.

Greg didn’t move, but said, “We’re descending right now. We’re almost there.”

Grace sighed and turned to look at him. “Look. I know it was tough seeing what happened to Gracie, but we’ve got a job to do here.”

Finally, Greg looked around at the surrounding land. Buckingham Palace was still there, as was Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. He had never seen any of the places, but wasn’t sure he wanted to now. His mind kept showing him what had happened to Gracie. His Gracie.

Some might consider it wrong, but they had a special relationship.

Almost as if reading his mind, Grace spoke. “I know you had something going on, and that’s your business. Not mine. I suppose it’s easier having a relationship with someone you know as intimately as you do yourself.” She didn’t say anything for a few moments as tears threatened to erupt out of Greg’s eyes.

“The thing is,” she finally continued, “we’ve got something to do. Something with clear consequences if we don’t do it.” Again she went silent as the car touched down.

She swung to face him, and the words erupted out of her. “If we don’t deal with this now, lots more of us will die. All of us will die. I need your help keeping that from happening.”

She opened the door and got out of the car. Glancing around, she saw him still sitting motionless. Shaking her head, she shut the door and headed for the elevator.

Greg didn’t move till she was going through the elevator doors, then he shoved the car door open hard, got out, slammed the door as hard as he could, and stormed toward the elevator to join his older self.

Grace observed Greg out of the corner of her eye as they dropped into the ground. She restrained herself from commenting on his temper, but wasn’t surprised in the least. She could easily explode, but had worked hard to keep her temper restrained. But she would need to show him that she had the situation in her control.

“Per my order, lockout the facility to all but me,” Grace told the computer through the elevator microphones.

“Facility locked,” it responded.

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. She didn’t even wait to see if anyone was around. She just moved forcefully ahead, intent on going right over anyone in front of her.

She made the turn into the office as the doors were still moving out of her way, and came to a stop right in front of the desk.

“Yes?” Gracie said, looking up with an amused expression on her face. “Are you the one who’s locked my facility?”

“I am,” Grace told her.

“Then I am going to demand that you unlock it right now.”

“No,” said Grace, and in that single word, her authority over the entire number of Graces and Gregs was felt.

It wasn’t lost on Gracie. She sighed heavily and the humor washed out of her all at once.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because of my experience with you and the rest of my sisters.”

“What about him?” she asked, indicating Greg with a flip of her wrist.

“He doesn’t control a facility.”

“That makes all the difference, does it?”

Grace sighed and handed over the recording of what happened to the previous Gracie. “Watch this,” she commanded.

“Will it self-destruct?”

Greg was getting more and more pissed with the byplay. “This isn’t Mission Impossible,” he said angrily. “Just watch the damned thing. We don’t have time for this.”

Gracie put the recording into her desk, and the scene started playing in the air above her desk. Greg turned away.

Gracie was confused. “There are many of us, but I’ve never seen any do this. Why, and how would she do such a thing?”

“She was influenced by one of the people from where we draw our power.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“We turn off our power. We stop drawing energy from the star.”

“And that will keep this from happening to any more of us?”

Grace sighed. “That’s what I’ve been told.”

“And you believe the person?”

“Should I not?”

Gracie shook her head. “You tell me. I’ve only seen them, but not talked to them.”

“We don’t know.” It was the first time Greg had said anything since Gracie started playing the video.

“So I turn off my power simply to placate a being who may or may not fulfill its part of the bargain?”

“If we don’t, it will kill us all.”

“So it says,” Gracie stated, flatly.

“Do you want to take that chance?” Greg asked.

“I want more evidence.”

“We don’t have time!” Greg exploded.

“Do you know what would happen to the human race if we cut off our power?”

“Should I care?”

“You’re one of us!” Gracie shouted at him.

She turned her chair a bit so she could reach some controls and touched a button. Another hologram came into being above her desk, and she reached up, putting her hands together, then spread them apart. The view zoomed in, and it filled the room.

In front of them was a star, filling their view in all directions. They were close enough that they could see the roiling surface. In front of him, Greg could sense the heat from the star, or thought he could. Perhaps it was simply his imagination. He wasn’t sure.

“Turn down the energy transfer,” he heard Grace say.

“No,” Gracie responded. “I want to hear it.” The energy transfer was filling their ears with a horrible noise.

“What?” Greg asked.

“What are you talking about?” Grace asked.

“Just what I said,” Gracie said. “I’ve heard it before.”