On the trail of the chronal radiation residue, Drake had
arrived at the park. He was following the path when he looked up and saw Brandy
with Gemma and Mackenzie. He blinked, as if to clear the image from his eyes,
thinking he was seeing double. The girl beside his sister was her identical
twin. He knew that wasn’t possible, since he was Brandy’s lone sibling, but
then the epiphany hit him: Brandy’s twin could only be her clone.
Drake jogged toward them. “Brandy!”
“Drake! What are you doing here?”
“This is the spot I told you about, where there was a large
burst of chronal radiation yesterday. But that’s not important now. What’s your
clone doing here?”
“Her name is Gemma. We’re spending the afternoon together
here at the park and then I’m going home to get ready for my date with Zack.”
“Have you gone nuts? You’re either hanging out with that
dodgy character or strolling through the park with a clone. And not just any
clone… Your clone. Who let it out? Suppose it runs away?”
“Drake, Gemma’s not an it… She’s a person. She’s family.”
“Brandy, you’ve been out in the sun too long. That’s your
clone… your only clone. She’s the insurance policy your grandmother took out
for you when you were born. If you have another attack, she’s the only thing
that will save your life. That clone must be returned to the institute
immediately to ensure your continued well-being.”
“I told you, Gemma is not a thing, and there’s no way I’m
letting her be taken back to that horrible place.”
Drake grimaced. “You’re my sister, and I’m determined to
protect you in spite of yourself.” He pulled out his phone. “I’m calling Dad to
have the clone picked up.”
Hearing Drake’s intentions, Gemma became visibly frightened,
and turned to Mackenzie.
Mackenzie felt as protective of Gemma as Drake did of
Brandy. “I won’t let you do that.” He lunged at Drake, knocking the phone from
his hand. The two boys clashed, each defending the girl he cared about. Gemma
and Brandy watched helplessly, concerned, as the two boys wrestled on the
ground.
“We’ve got to do something,” Gemma said, seeing Drake climb
atop Mackenzie. “Drake is older and bigger than Kenzie.”
“I’ll pull my brother off him to give you two time to run
away. We’ll meet again after you upload what I gave you.”
Gemma’s eyes reflected her appreciation. “Promise we’ll meet
again.”
“We will,” Brandy promised, before rushing to pull Drake off
Mackenzie.
With Brandy’s help, Mackenzie was able to kick Drake away
from him and he scrambled back to Gemma. “This is ridiculous,” Mackenzie said.
“We’re leaving now.”
Drake stood and peeled his sister’s arms from him. “You’re
not going anywhere with that clone.”
With his left arm wrapped around Gemma’s waist, Mackenzie
reached for the controls on his wristwatch. “Sorry to disappoint you.” He
pressed the watch stem and twisted it clockwise. Mackenzie and Gemma slipped
into Q-Time, but to Drake and Brandy, they appeared to have vanished.
“They disappeared!” Brandy exclaimed.
Drake’s app pinged wildly on his discarded phone, as it lay
in the bushes where it had landed. “I thought he looked familiar; he’s the kid
from the jewelry store!” Drake exclaimed, realizing Mackenzie was the time
traveler he’d been seeking. “Brandy, who is he? What’s his name?”
“I don’t know,” she lied.
“Why are you protecting him? Don’t you realize the danger
you’re in every minute your clone is missing from the institute?” Drake crawled
through the bushes and recovered his phone.
“You’re not going to call Dad, are you? There’s no point,
now… There’s no one here for him to capture.”
“I don’t need to call Dad yet. I’ll wait until I have the
clone within sight, and as a bonus, I’ll deliver Dad his time traveler, and
maybe even the Fox, within the hour. Whoever he is, that kid made a big mistake
using his time travel device this close to my app. It’s already processing the
data and giving me the real-time longitude and latitude coordinates. It’ll take
a second to cross-reference the geo-coordinates with a city map of Serenity
Valley and… Presto! Now to zoom in on the map. They’re downtown. I recognize
that building: Mortimer Enterprises.”
“Drake, please don’t…”
“You’d better head back home or you’ll miss your big date.
And don’t try to warn them I’m coming; I know where they’re based. They won’t
be able to hide once Dad finds out. I’m going there first to try to get them to
turn the clone over to me before Dad has the cops storm the place. I don’t want
your clone damaged by some trigger-happy rookie cop, otherwise I would call Dad
right now. But if you warn them and they run, your clone could get killed.”
Brandy shivered. “Drake, please don’t let anything happen to
Gemma. I won’t contact them if you promise not to let Gemma get hurt.”
“Neither of us wants that. Once I confront them and reveal I
know who they are, they’re bound to give me the clone. I’ll keep her safe and
get her back where she belongs, even if it means losing my chance to snare the
time traveler for Dad. You’re the one who matters most to me, Brandy. Now go
home. I’ll bring back the clone, and with any luck, in a few hours, I’ll be
able to tell Dad who the time traveler is and where to find him.”
