Free Keystones: Altered Destinies by Alexander McKinney Page B
Authors: Alexander McKinney
Tags: Science-Fiction
from Deklan. “I’m sure I have traps around here somewhere.”
“Or we could go to a pet store.”
“You are distinctly annoying,” she replied.
Leaving the sign on the office door, Susan and Deklan walked to the nearest pet store, a mere three blocks away. To Deklan’s mind, Susan paid far too little attention to their immediate surroundings. His eyes darting everywhere, Deklan perceived pigeons as an aerial menace. The noise of trash rustling on the sidewalk prompted him to make sure that it wasn’t caused by a rat or a dog. He felt the threat of danger looming everywhere.
As they approached the pet store, Deklan could see that something was wrong. The door was open, not because a shopper had left it ajar but because it couldn’t close anymore, the frame’s being badly bent. “Still think I’m crazy?” he asked.
“You’re jumping to conclusions.” Susan still sounded blasé. “This is probably damage from the riots. You know, when everything went dark for eight minutes.”
Deklan kept mum about how he had spent that time. “Fine. Just stay back and let me look first.”
Susan rolled her eyes. “No, we’re going to go inside, buy some rats, and you’re going to see that this is all one big overreaction on your part.”
“Humor me, okay? It’s not going to cost you anything.”
Near the damaged store’s front windows, Deklan peered from behind the concrete encasements so that only a small part of his face would be visible to someone or something inside. A scene from a science-fiction movie met his eyes. Cages were ripped apart. Bags of feed were spilled open, groups of animals eating from them like impromptu troughs. A dog was sleeping on a wall as though gravity didn’t exist. A tabby cat sat atop a goldfish tank with two tentacles extending from its jaws into the water as it plucked fish from their marine haunts. One small area of the store had an inexplicable white hemisphere that looked like nothing Deklan had ever seen.
“Take a look,” said Deklan as he pulled back from what he had glimpsed. “Then tell me that I’m crazy and overreacting.”
Susan mimicked his action and, faster than he had, pulled her head back. Looking at him with a wild light in her eyes, her breath coming in rapid bursts, she leaned against the wall and repeated, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.”
Deklan shook her, gently at first but then with greater urgency. “Susan!” he shouted. Focus!”
“That’s just one shop!” she replied. “How many animals are there in the city?”
Deklan ignored the question. “We should go. Do you have family?”
She shook her head, still in a daze. “No.”
“I do.” Deklan looked around. “We need to go, and I need to call them.”
Sitting in the waiting room at Susan’s veterinary practice, Deklan detached the earpiece from his Uplink and put it on before calling his parents. “Hey, Mom!”
“Deklan. How nice! Did you kill someone?” Deklan flicked an icon on his Uplink. It never failed: he always forgot to lower the volume when he called home. How his mother managed to be so loud he’d never figured out.
“No.”
“You don’t sound very sure.”
“Anyway I have some great news.”
His mother recited her wish list for his life, her voice more hopeful with each item. “You and Cindy got back together? You’re engaged? I’m going to have grandchildren before I die?”
“Um, no, no, and maybe.”
“Well, your news can’t be that great then. Wait, did you meet someone else?”
“No, but . . . . ”
“Not that great then.”
“I won tickets for a vacation on the Terra Rings.”
When she spoke again, his mother’s voice had slowed down and sounded cautious. “Okay, and how does that affect your father and me?”
“Well, it’s a vacation for four, and I want you and Dad to come with me.”
“Oh, I don’t know, honey. That’s a lot right now. What with the upset of that light thing and your
“Or we could go to a pet store.”
“You are distinctly annoying,” she replied.
Leaving the sign on the office door, Susan and Deklan walked to the nearest pet store, a mere three blocks away. To Deklan’s mind, Susan paid far too little attention to their immediate surroundings. His eyes darting everywhere, Deklan perceived pigeons as an aerial menace. The noise of trash rustling on the sidewalk prompted him to make sure that it wasn’t caused by a rat or a dog. He felt the threat of danger looming everywhere.
As they approached the pet store, Deklan could see that something was wrong. The door was open, not because a shopper had left it ajar but because it couldn’t close anymore, the frame’s being badly bent. “Still think I’m crazy?” he asked.
“You’re jumping to conclusions.” Susan still sounded blasé. “This is probably damage from the riots. You know, when everything went dark for eight minutes.”
Deklan kept mum about how he had spent that time. “Fine. Just stay back and let me look first.”
Susan rolled her eyes. “No, we’re going to go inside, buy some rats, and you’re going to see that this is all one big overreaction on your part.”
“Humor me, okay? It’s not going to cost you anything.”
Near the damaged store’s front windows, Deklan peered from behind the concrete encasements so that only a small part of his face would be visible to someone or something inside. A scene from a science-fiction movie met his eyes. Cages were ripped apart. Bags of feed were spilled open, groups of animals eating from them like impromptu troughs. A dog was sleeping on a wall as though gravity didn’t exist. A tabby cat sat atop a goldfish tank with two tentacles extending from its jaws into the water as it plucked fish from their marine haunts. One small area of the store had an inexplicable white hemisphere that looked like nothing Deklan had ever seen.
“Take a look,” said Deklan as he pulled back from what he had glimpsed. “Then tell me that I’m crazy and overreacting.”
Susan mimicked his action and, faster than he had, pulled her head back. Looking at him with a wild light in her eyes, her breath coming in rapid bursts, she leaned against the wall and repeated, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.”
Deklan shook her, gently at first but then with greater urgency. “Susan!” he shouted. Focus!”
“That’s just one shop!” she replied. “How many animals are there in the city?”
Deklan ignored the question. “We should go. Do you have family?”
She shook her head, still in a daze. “No.”
“I do.” Deklan looked around. “We need to go, and I need to call them.”
Sitting in the waiting room at Susan’s veterinary practice, Deklan detached the earpiece from his Uplink and put it on before calling his parents. “Hey, Mom!”
“Deklan. How nice! Did you kill someone?” Deklan flicked an icon on his Uplink. It never failed: he always forgot to lower the volume when he called home. How his mother managed to be so loud he’d never figured out.
“No.”
“You don’t sound very sure.”
“Anyway I have some great news.”
His mother recited her wish list for his life, her voice more hopeful with each item. “You and Cindy got back together? You’re engaged? I’m going to have grandchildren before I die?”
“Um, no, no, and maybe.”
“Well, your news can’t be that great then. Wait, did you meet someone else?”
“No, but . . . . ”
“Not that great then.”
“I won tickets for a vacation on the Terra Rings.”
When she spoke again, his mother’s voice had slowed down and sounded cautious. “Okay, and how does that affect your father and me?”
“Well, it’s a vacation for four, and I want you and Dad to come with me.”
“Oh, I don’t know, honey. That’s a lot right now. What with the upset of that light thing and your