Wild-Side
My ears popped with a familiar change in elevation, my stomach flip-flopped, and the Doppler effect of a low, resonant gong echoed deep within my skull. I fought the urge to vomit and rolled onto my side. That’s when I felt the long, dry blades of grass crunch beneath me. It all added up to one thing.
I’m back on Wild-Side.
I squinted against the sun and took a deep breath. Sunlight meant no Seeley. Well, it didn’t mean I was entirely out of danger, but they were far more dangerous at night. There had only been rare attacks during the daytime, and no one had reported an attack in broad daylight. No evidence indicated they were a nocturnal race, but they certainly seemed to prefer the night. The worst of the creepy crawlies always seemed to share that trait, so I guess there was some degree of predictability there.
Have I mentioned that my mind tends to spin right after crossing?
The sound of someone coughing and retching snapped me back to alertness. I vaulted to my feet, spinning on my heels before digging my bare toes into the loamy soil and assuming a defensive stance. Admittedly, one loses some of his imposing edge while standing completely naked in a field of knee-high grass with his fists balled, no matter how aggressive the fighting posture.
That’s when I saw Piper sprawled face down in the same grass, gasping for breath and dry-heaving. She lay flat, her hands spread wide, just lifting her face out of the grass and dirt. Like me, she was completely naked. But unlike me, she wasn’t supposed to be there.
No one else had ever crossed over to Wild-Side before.
“Piper,” I said, rolling her over and pulling her into my arms. Her eyes fluttered, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Her body seemed to tremble from head to toe. “Piper, can you hear me?” I tapped her gently on the cheek, but it didn’t seem to matter. Pressing two fingers against the side of her neck, her racing pulse was unmistakable.
We found ourselves in the middle of a meadow that spanned maybe five or six square acres. I didn’t like being out in the open, but I wasn’t sure the distant tree line looked any better. Piper just shouldn’t be here. This wasn’t right. Me landing here was problematic. Her landing here with me like this…it was—fuck! I didn’t know how to protect her in a place like this.
My HUD flickered to life, but communications were still down. Luckily, cartography loaded quickly this time. There was a farm with an active transport platform 2.8 kilometers northeast of my location. I was just about to grab Piper and head for the farm when I felt her pulse slow and saw her eyes begin to stabilize.
She took a deep breath and looked up at me from where she lay cradled in my arms, blinking slowly. Squinting, she said, “What the hell? Turn the lights down.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. That only made her more confused. She rubbed her head and attempted to sit up. It must have hurt because she sagged back into my arms. I think that’s when she noticed the grass and grime beneath her. She turned to stare at me. There was confusion in her eyes. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused but seemed to settle on my lap.
“Huh…” she mumbled. I think it was to herself, but she was still sort of out of it, so I wasn’t sure. “My sex dreams are usually more creative.” Her eyes finally left my crotch and found my face. “And you’re always having more fun than that,” she tipped her head back to my groin.
Starting to object, I realized I was about to bury the lead. “Wait—you’re saying your sex dream frequently involves me?”
The comment drew her eyes to sharp focus. She gasped for breath and began looking frantically left and right. “Gray? Why am I naked in a field? This isn’t a dream.”
“No dream,” I confirmed as I got to my feet. I extended a hand to help her. “If you were dreaming, there would be more action. I’d make sure of it.”
It took a long second for my sarcasm to break through what was clearly a growing sense of panic. And while we were miles away from being safe, I needed her to remain composed. Honestly, having her go through the Transition with me left me confused and concerned. Panic wasn’t locked away in a box in the corner of my mind as it usually was. I couldn’t let her lose it, but I didn’t know how to explain what had just happened either.
“You’re not letting that go, are you?” she grumbled, glaring at me. Still, she took my offered hand, and as I pulled her to her feet, I noticed a break in the tension in her eyes; a smile threatened to fracture her scowl. She rubbed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. I knew there must be a hundred questions running through her mind. She simply said, “Care to explain?”
“Piper Hudson, welcome to Wild-Side.”
She chuckled at that but stopped suddenly. She turned in a slow circle to take in the rolling field of grass and the impenetrable woodland that surrounded the meadow. It looked like we had stepped back to a time before mankind had ransacked Mother Nature. “Oh my God,” she mumbled.
Piper’s eyes roamed the vast, untamed land. Rolling hills of grassland spread in all directions, meeting walls of unyielding wilderness. She studied the distant tree lines but found no hint of a road—no path or trailhead suggesting a route to civilization. The sky overhead was blue, patched with billowy white clouds.
Her eyes returned to what appeared to be Kentucky bluegrass. It was surprisingly pleasant beneath her bare feet. The tips of the long blades were feathery soft as she waved the palms of her open hands over the primeval vegetation. It was about to go to seed, and what was likely usually coarse blades had become soft. Looking at her bare legs and feet, she was relieved she didn’t have to walk through the rougher version of this field.
She could see slight disturbances in the distant texture; thin trails of discoloration were visible as the surface swayed in the cool breeze. She concluded that these paths belonged to recent wildlife, not humans. People would be more destructive and leave far more obvious trails in the pristine greenery.
“Wild-Side?” she said, arching her brow skeptically. “Looks a lot like home.”
Gray shrugged. He was studying their surroundings much like she had, though he seemed to be doing it with more intensity. His defenses were up. She could see tension in the way the muscles of his bare shoulders bunched and strained. “Only at first glance,” he said after a few long seconds. His words were quiet, and there was an edge to them. His eyes continued to roam the distant tree lines. “Taste the air and breathe it in. There’s a quality to it that’s completely unlike home. It’s fresh in a way that’s unique to this place. The air is cleaner. It’s unpolluted—nearly pristine in toxicology. There’s not a place left on Our-World that still feels the same.”
Piper grinned, initially thinking he was having fun at her expense. This was all some kind of trick. Yet he was still far more concerned with the distant tree lines. She turned her attention back to the rolling hills and pondered how the shade of green was slightly different from anything she had ever encountered. A glance at her bare toes and a quick wiggle reminded her once again that the texture of the grass was softer and more pleasant than any she had ever experienced. Perhaps she was making assumptions about this grass being softer than she knew back home. This biosphere could have subtle differences.
Eyeing Gray now more quizzically than skeptically, she took a deep breath. The air was crisp and cool as it filled her lungs. She exhaled slowly and took another. By the time she released the third, she saw his point. Her chest felt full and invigorated in a way she had never experienced.
A lightheadedness overtook Piper, but it had nothing to do with the deep breaths she’d just been taking. She placed a hand on Gray’s arm to draw his attention. “You’re not messing with me? I’m really here?”
He nodded. “I just don’t know how,” he paused, staring into her eyes. “Or why. I thought I was the only one who could cross. Well, me and Breslin.”
Piper glanced at herself and then at him. “Gray, why are we naked?”
His gaze darkened. “I told you about this. Every time I cross, only I make the Transition. No clothes, no weapons—bare-ass naked.”
Piper felt her cheeks grow warm as she averted her gaze. She had heard this and knew it, but experiencing it firsthand was an entirely different matter. “I guess, well… intellectually, I just assumed you meant you always felt defenseless in a strange world.”
Gray grinned as he stepped back and waved across his completely nude form. “Nope,” he laughed. “Literally, about as exposed as a man can be.”
Laughing, Piper shook her head. “I get it. I guess I knew that. I just never thought I would see this. Having you explain it is very different from experiencing it.”
Gray nodded and began tapping the fingers of his right hand against his left arm. “You’re right. But if you’re feeling better, it’s time to move. It’s never wise to stand still after arriving.” His eyes took on a distant look, as if he were seeing something in the air that was visible only to him. “We’re a couple of kilometers from transportation. We’re lucky it’s daytime. The Elend don’t come out much during the day.”
Piper felt her skin prickle at the mention of the bloodthirsty creatures she knew were stalking Wild-Side. Until this moment, she had somehow failed to connect them with the strange wilderness surrounding her.
“Transportation?” It was the only thing she could think to say. “What about clothing?”
Gray took her hand and set off at a brisk pace. His departure was so abrupt that he was nearly dragging her along at first. “Transpo first,” he said over his shoulder as she struggled to match his stride. “My team will have gear waiting.” He seemed to think better of his statement, then eyed her up and down while walking. A grin spread across his face as he took in her naked form. “Well, they’ll have clothes for me. They’ll have to sort something out for you. You’re my unexpected plus-one.”
The flash of light stabbed at Piper’s eyes. She blinked away blinding stars and felt her skin prickle with the sudden shift in room temperature. A weakness in her knees sent her off balance. It felt like the earth beneath her had shifted ever so slightly.
“Steady,” Gray said, slipping an arm around her waist.
The room was bright, and Piper raised a hand against the glare. That’s when she realized they weren’t alone. The empty stage of the abandoned facility had been replaced by a similar structure with concrete walls, low ceilings, and half a dozen gaping observers.
Painfully aware of her naked form, Piper took two quick steps back in an awkward retreat. A shocked, mewling gasp escaped her throat. Gray instantly stepped between her and the rest of the room as voices erupted in a rush, each trying to speak over the others. Gray raised a hand in an attempt to halt the verbal assault from everyone around, but they all continued to speak. Piper couldn’t comprehend the words; however, the body language and expressions of those present were easy to interpret. While everyone expected to see Gray, it seemed Piper’s appearance shocked them just as much as they had her.
Piper leaned to the side and peeked over Gray’s shoulder. Six figures occupied the far side of the room. Two sat behind an inclined glass console, while three were positioned behind a wide rectangular glass table that stood just over waist high. The sixth was a wizened, balding man who froze in the doorway at the corner of the room. While the five others peppered Gray with questions or comments in some strange language, the older man remained frozen mid-step, seemingly studying her and Gray as if he had seen something that had altered his worldview.
Uncertain of what to do, Piper stepped closer to Gray. She felt cold and exposed, and no matter how frightened she had been appearing out of nowhere in the woods, that was nothing compared to this. Just as she was about to ask who these people were and what was happening, Piper suddenly noticed that Gray was speaking with them in the strange language the strangers were using for their verbal assault.
“What language is that?” Piper whispered in Gray’s ear before she could think better of it.
He cocked his ear toward her but kept his eyes on the unmoving figures on the far side of the room. “What?” he whispered back. “English. What are you talking about?”
Piper ground her teeth and shot another glance over Gray’s shoulder. She scrutinized the figures, then surveyed Gray’s profile. She wondered why nobody was moving. Everyone appeared anchored where they stood or sat, yet still talked all at once. Anxious, if not understandable.
“That is not English,” Piper hissed in a whisper.
“Enough,” the old man said in a raised voice. But when the five others on his side of the room continued to squabble, he finally clapped his hands. This drew their attention. “That’s enough. Leave them alone.” He shook his head in frustration and glanced back through the doorway he had just stepped through, muttering something to someone unseen.
Piper pressed against Gray. “That was English,” she explained.
The old man turned to Gray and Piper with a smile. “Indeed,” he said, grinning. “Gray tends to forget he’s using our technology to translate English to Delsh. It becomes so natural that it’s hard to distinguish between the two.”
“Delsh?” Piper asked, her mouth moving as if tasting the strange word.
A younger, blonde woman walked through the door next to the old man, her arms cradling a pair of folded blankets. She appeared to glide across the room, approaching her and Gray with none of the hesitation that seemed to anchor the rest of the room in place.
Piper watched as the young woman smiled brightly at Gray, an amused gleam of familiarity dancing in her eyes as she passed him a blanket. Gray turned and draped the heavy wool–like material over Piper’s shoulders and wrapped her tightly. She then noticed that he didn’t seem the least uncomfortable standing nude before all of these people. Before she could ask about this, Gray finally accepted his own blanket, swung it over his shoulders, and swaddled himself. While Piper was still trying to figure out how to hold onto the wrap, keep it closed, and not trip over it, she noticed Gray had already managed to keep it free from tangling his feet, all within about two seconds.
She understood then what she’d missed in the stress of her experience. He’d been through this dozens of times. If any part of this was new to him, it would be the verbal assault they had suffered when he arrived with a guest in tow.
Gray walked to the edge of the platform and eyed the old man. “You’re saying I’ve been speaking Delsh this whole time?”
The old man shrugged. “Since your second week, maybe your third. You didn’t know?”
It was Gray’s turn to shrug.
The old man smiled and walked closer. He was about to speak but stopped short. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the other five people still staring at Gray and Piper. The old man shook his head and waved his arm. “Back to work,” he grumbled. “We’ll sort this out in due time. There will be answers for everyone, but badgering our new friend won’t help.”
The old man eyed Gray and said, “That was right, wasn’t it?” Badgering?”
Gray chuckled and nodded. “You’ve been studying.”
The man grinned. “Your vernacular has always fascinated me.” He waved a hand and turned his attention to Piper. “I’m assuming this is the young lady you’ve told me so much about?”
Piper realized she was still hiding behind Gray and suddenly felt silly about it. She stepped forward and shook the man’s offered hand, though it was a clumsy effort on her part as she continued to struggle with her death grip on the blanket.
“I’m Victor Cormac,” the old man said. “I must admit, I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to meet you in person.”
“Cormac?” Piper whispered, her brows arched. “Gray has told me a lot about you. He says you’re a genius. It’s amazing to finally meet you.” Despite herself, Piper felt awed in the presence of the older man. From everything she had heard from Gray, it felt like meeting Albert Einstein before anyone knew who he was or what contributions he would make to the future world.
“Genius? Oh, hardly.” The man shook her hand and smiled broadly. Mirth danced across his face, but there was something deeper in his eyes. Piper could see an almost limitless intelligence behind them. Even beneath the glimmer of his excitement, he was already pondering the mystery of her arrival here.
She was proven correct when Cormac shifted his gaze to Gray and asked, “How? You’re the only one who can Cross. How did you bring her over?”
Gray rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “You’re asking me? I thought you could answer the question.”
Cormac’s gaze shifted from Gray to Piper and then back again. He nodded. “We’ll figure it out.” He looked at Piper and gave her a wink. “Not to worry. We’ve learned a lot in the last four years. For now, this is a great opportunity for me to practice my English,” he laughed.
Four years? That didn’t make sense. Gray had only been bouncing back and forth to Wild-Side for a fraction of that time.
The young blonde returned, eyeing Piper as she approached. However, just before she spoke, her gaze shifted to Gray. “I laid out an extra jumpsuit,” she said with a smile. “I guessed the size, but it should be close.” She extended her hand to Piper. “I’m Lacy.”
“I didn’t exactly leave much to the imagination, did I?” Piper said, shaking Lacy’s hand. She nearly let the blanket slip and cursed under her breath as she caught it. “I’m Piper,” she said through clenched teeth, her cheeks turning from pink to red.
“Gray calls it ‘arriving on the free ball express,’” Lacy said with a grin. “I’ll admit, it took me nearly six months to grasp what that meant. As far as I can tell, nudity doesn’t carry the same stigma here.”
Piper glared at Gray and shook her head. “What about his sense of humor? How does that fit in here?”
Lacy bit the corner of her lip and briefly eyed the floor before looking at Gray. She glanced back at Piper and smiled. “There was a bit of a learning curve.”
Gray shrugged and wrapped an arm around Piper. “That learning curve is universal. It doesn’t matter what world you come from.”
Cormac met Gray’s eye. “May I have a word with you in private?”
The thought of being left alone made Piper’s heart race. The concern must have shown in her expression, as Gray turned to face her fully. He looked her directly in the eye and paused long enough for her to take several breaths. “I’m not leaving the room,” he said. “I’m just stepping over there. I won’t leave you alone until you’re comfortable. It’s my fault you’re here. These are good people, but I don’t expect you to trust them. Not until you’re ready.”
His hand squeezed hers, bringing with it a bracing sense of confidence. “I’m good,” she said. “Do what you need to.” A smirk crossed her face. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere, right?”
Doctor Cormac led Gray to the corner of the room. He studied Gray and tried to control the trepidation that fueled the migraine forming behind his left eye. The stress headache was induced only by the most dire circumstances, and the last six months had tested his coping mechanisms. But if Gray had found a way to bring others across the veil, he’d gained exactly the kind of ability Breslin needed to bring the bulk of his people to this world.
“What is she doing here?” Cormac whispered in a hushed tone, his eyes blazing behind the crooked frame of his glasses. “What have you done?”
Gray shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s not my fault—” He paused, reconsidering his words. Waving a hand in the air, he lowered his voice and said, “Well, it probably is my fault…but I have no idea what I did—or how I did it.”
Cormac took a breath and studied Gray. Of course, he didn’t do this intentionally. The girl was Piper Hudson. The boy cared for her in ways—well, in ways Cormac knew he wasn’t equipped to fully appreciate. Bringing her here put her in danger. It was the last thing Gray would ever do on purpose. Finally, he huffed a sigh of resignation. “Right. So tell me what happened.”
Turning his back on the rest of the room, Gray looked at Cormac. “Not a clue. We fell asleep. We were together, but that’s happened a hundred times before… and she never ended up here!”
Cormac nodded. “So, what was different this time?”
Shaking Gray said, “Not a damn thing. We haven’t been together for a long time. But what difference would that make?”
Though he pondered the point, Cormac didn’t see the relevance. Surely something more was different about this experience. Maybe something had changed about Gray. If that were the case, there were too many variables to consider in those moments. The best place to begin would be an examination of the boy’s bioscan results. If he had changed biologically over the last six to twelve months, the scans would reflect it.
“If Breslin learns of this,” Cormac whispered.
Gray nodded. The look on the boy’s face confirmed that they were completely on the same page in that respect. “We’ll need to prepare a nano treatment for her,” Cormac explained. “She won’t be able to understand us or use our technology until we address that.”
“The same thing you did for me? It’s not a big deal, right?”
“Not quite. The technology is calibrated for each individual. While I’m not sure what to expect from Piper, I’m confident that a significant amount of customization will be necessary. Unique brain chemistry, endocrine system, metabolism, and so on. It won’t take long. We just need to conduct a few scans.”
“For now, I have some news.” Cormac motioned toward the large display on the far wall. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
They crossed the room, and Cormac activated the massive AR display with a wave of his hand. All heads turned as the high gray walls encircling the city of Oakland illuminated the screen. An aerial view of the city appeared, shifting and panning to reveal the five- and eight-story buildings within the expansive perimeter wall, along with the three pedestrian footbridges connecting the wall to a ten-story tower at the center of the small city.
“Mara has regained consciousness,” Cormac said.
“What did she say?” Gray followed the older man as they walked back to the room’s center to rejoin the rest of the group.
“We don’t know,” Cormac admitted, nodding to Lacy, who picked up the thread.
“We received word about Mara about thirty-two hours ago,” Lacy explained. “Doctor Cormac planned to send me to interview her in person, but I never had the opportunity. An ion storm struck the plains almost immediately after we were notified, preventing me from teleporting. Communications have been disrupted ever since, so we haven’t been able to interview her from here.”
Gray nodded. “What’s the status of the storm?”
Cormac spread his hands, and the view of the city shrank to a fraction of its former size as the perspective zoomed out. The camera’s point of view shifted southeast until Oakland appeared as a thumbnail in the top left corner of the screen, while Portland was similarly represented on the right. Rolling hills, jagged moraines, and hundreds of miles of dense forest separated the two cities. An overlay was activated, revealing an amorphous blob positioned almost equidistant between the two cities. The representation was cloud-like and massive, perhaps forty times the diameter of the city at its narrowest point, and seemingly impossibly long at its widest. It was vaguely rectangular, though with softly feathered edges. It stood like some kind of wall between the two cities.
“Almost like it had a mind of its own,” Piper said as she studied the screen. “I thought you said it was a natural phenomenon?”
Cormac grinned. “It is, but the timing and positioning make that more suspect than ever.” His words trailed off as he spoke, his mind drifting with the thought.
“What is it?” Gray said.
Cormac just stared at the screen.
“Doc?” Gray said again.
“Sorry,” Cormac said. He waved his hands in the air. With a flick of his wrist, they were once again looking at Oakland. “How would you feel about going there personally?” Cormac asked, glancing at Gray. “You need to talk with Mara, and the sooner, the better.” The view on screen quickly spun until the camera was positioned directly above the center of the city, looking down. The unique shapes of each building were more apparent from this angle, but he manipulated an overlay to highlight a rectangular structure near the city’s center. It was one of the largest buildings within the perimeter wall.
“This is the infirmary,” Cormac said. “The hospital, if you prefer.”
I shook my head, feeling my teeth grind. “It’s a good idea, but I can’t leave Piper. It’s my fault she’s here. I need to find a way to take her home.”
“It’s okay,” Piper said. “If it’s important, I can wait.”
This was my mess, and I had to fix it. She was here, a stranger in an unfamiliar place, and it was my fault. My first responsibility was to ensure her safety. I was about to explain all of this when Doc Cormac interrupted by stepping between me and the rest of the room.
“Excuse me,” Cormac said, angling himself toward Piper as he spoke slowly. His bushy gray eyebrows appeared to bounce with each deliberately enunciated word. “Piper? Are you saying you can understand me?”
The older man’s words were slow and clearly enunciated, causing my stomach to sink with instant understanding of his intent. Piper, on the other hand, was confused. She pulled the woolen blanket tighter around her shoulders and shot a puzzled glance at me before returning her gaze to Cormac. “Yes. Why are you talking so slowly?”
Cormac’s pallor seemed suddenly more grim. He motioned to the AR display on the wall. “And you can see…that?” he said.
Piper simply nodded.
“What exactly do you see?”
Piper furrowed her brow but must have decided to play along. “An aerial view of a futuristic walled city. There are no skyscrapers or anything—no people, for that matter—but the highlighted rectangular building is labeled as a medical center.” She paused and turned a piercing gaze at the Doc “Why?”
Cormac looked at Lacy and said, “Did you—” but Lacy was already shaking her head.
I pulled Piper aside and quickly stepped between her and the rest of the room. “What’s going on? You all are making me nervous. I thought we agreed that my getting nervous isn’t good for anyone.”
Cormac rubbed his eyes. He hooked his glasses on the collar of his shirt and looked at me through tired, glassy eyes. “She can understand Delsh and see the augmented reality displays.”
Gray nodded. “So?”
Lacy added in a quiet voice, “We haven’t given her the nano injection yet. How is she doing it?”
