Not Your Backup by C. B. Lee

Author:C. B. Lee [Lee, C. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Interlude Press
Published: 2019-05-07T15:02:46+00:00

Ch. 11…

“She looks nervous,” Bells says, peering through the binoculars. He hands them to Emma. “What did you say?”

The intrepid reporter is at least twenty minutes early to their meeting. Farha adjusts her headscarf, looking around. Taking everything in, her eyes dart to the top of the roller coasters, then to the snack carts. Two small cameradrones buzz about her head while Farha speaks into her DED as if she’s recording notes for herself.

Emma likes her immediately. She’s smart, planning for a meeting with an anonymous source, looking for all the potential ways to escape should the meeting go wrong. It’s what Emma would do.

“Maybe I was a bit too cryptic,” Emma says. “But she’s here!”

It was easy enough to find Farha’s direct line; her citizen ID number was listed on the Broadcast News Network holopage. She’s scheduled today to livestream the opening of a new ride at Roaring City Adventures, one of the many theme parks in New Bright City. Emma wasn’t sure Farha would even respond to her message, but she agreed to the meeting.

Now to just talk to her.

“Should we go over there?” Christine asks.

“Let’s stick to the exact time, otherwise she might mistake us for someone else,” Emma says, handing the binoculars to Christine.

Christine hums in agreement, watching through the binoculars.

With Christine’s generous wardrobe and Bells’ shapeshifting skills, it’s easy for them to adopt any number of disguises. Today Emma is wearing a long, flowing, blonde wig, over-sized sunglasses, and a bright yellow dress Christine designed. It was fun, at first, having long hair to throw around, but the wig is itchy, and she keeps wanting to scratch her head.

“Here, lemme fix that,” Christine says, tucking one of Emma’s escaping curls under the wig cap. She also opted for a more modern look today, nixing the petticoats in favor of a long tunic and leggings.

“Thanks,” Emma says. She glances at the time on Christine’s watch; they’re still early. She adjusts her earpiece. They probably won’t need the short-range radios, but it’s always good to be prepared.

Bells pulls out his sketchbook and doodles as they wait. He’s shifted into a boy with a wide nose, an easy smile, and sandy brown hair that falls in waves across his eyes. It’s another one of the faces he’s been using, and Emma almost has to smile because, despite whatever shift he’s using, he’s still so clearly Bells. Maybe it’s the way his eyes squint in concentration or his slow, easy smirk when he realizes she’s watching him.

Emma peers over Bells’ shoulder, and he shuffles over to make more room and flips the pages for her to see.

There’s Jess’ face, her broad smile emerging from the smudged lines of Bells’ sketches, and Abby tilting her head with her eyebrows lifted at a calculating angle. The page is wrinkled and a bit torn from erasures, as if Bells has been drawing and drawing, trying to remember their faces.

“I miss them,” Bells says.

“Me too,” Emma says. “I hope they’re okay.” She looks up at the sky, at the city, and beyond.

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