The Gemini Effect Page 22

  “Hello?” came a tiny voice from somewhere inside. A picture of the Chairman appeared on the screen.

  “Hello,” they answered in unison.

  “Zeke? That you?” said the Chairman. “Giving it a try. All right. Enjoy the new house, and we’ll catch up, talk a little business after things settle. Check.” The phone went silent and dark again.

  “That was awesome,” said Virgil.

  Nate handed the phone back to Zeke, who tucked it into a pocket in his pants.

  “Surprise!” His mom appeared from the kitchen, carrying a full plate of warm cookies. They disappeared before she could put the plate down on the low table in front of the cushy green sofa.

  “Hey, where’s Margaux?” asked Zeke.

  Schrödinger answered by barking in the direction of the staircase.

  Margaux stood near the top, half hiding. Zeke wasn’t so sure his mom understood her style, and he hoped no one would laugh at her.

  “Margaux,” said Zeke, “are you coming down?”

  “She’s being a little shy,” Mom said.

  And then Margaux came down the stairs. No one said a word. It wasn’t that she was wearing anything fancy; in fact, it was kind of the opposite. She wore the clothes Zeke’s mom had given her when they were hiding in the school basement, a skirt and blouse, although she still had her big scarf dangling around her neck. None of them had ever seen Margaux in any colors other than black and red, but she had her own look, and even in his mom’s clothes, she was unmistakably Margaux.

  Still, it wasn’t her clothing that caught their attention. She was smiling. She looked at them with bright eyes as if she was actually happy to see them.

  “You don’t look like a ghost anymore,” said Zeke.

  Schrödinger walked around her. She still seemed to be the same girl he already knew—no big difference here. He jumped up on an upholstered chair where he could be closer to eye level and join in the fun.

  Doc spied a particularly scrumptious-looking cookie sitting on a plate all by itself, but when he reached for it, Zeke’s mom touched his hand. “David, I’m afraid that’s not for you. This is a gift of thanks from Lucy to someone very special.” She presented the cookie to Schrödinger. “I baked it with special good-dog flavors.”

  Doc cleared his throat and clapped his hands. “Young ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a very busy time for all of us, and it’s starting to get cold out there, so I think it’s time we all returned home.”

  “Doc, where will you go?” asked Margaux.

  “Home?”

  “But your house . . .” said Margaux.

  Doc answered with a quote from the Dhammapada:

  Through the round of many births I roamed

  without reward,

  without rest,

  seeking the house-builder.

  Painful is birth

  again & again.

  House-builder, you’re seen!

  You will not build a house again.

  All your rafters broken,

  the ridge pole destroyed,

  gone to the Unformed, the mind

  has come to the end of craving.

  “What does that mean?” asked Zeke.

  “Sounds like something about not actually needing a house,” said Doc. “Dhammapada was a cool dude, but clearly never spent a winter at high altitude. Time to build another house. For now, Principal Fairchild said the Professor and I could stay in the trailer at the school. It’s not a shabby pad.”

  Everyone thanked Zeke’s mom, bundled up, and filed out. Margaux stayed behind.

  “Zekie,” Mom said, “Margaux is going to stay here with us for a while. She has no place to go, and we have lots of room now.”

  He hoped she would forgive him for how he’d shoved her to the ground at Doc’s workshop. He carried all the memories of both of his selves now, and he knew he’d been cruel.

  Margaux hugged him and whispered, “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”

  A vibration in Zeke’s pocket startled them both. The phone was buzzing. He took it out, but he wasn’t sure what to do, so he started pushing buttons until a voice came from the tiny speaker.

  “Hello?”

  He held it up to his ear.

  “Hello? Zeke? Are you there?” It didn’t sound like the Chairman.

  “Zeke, I need your help.”

  “Who is this?”

  There was a long pause.

  “Hello?” Zeke wondered if it was still working.

  “Zeke, this is your father.”

  <<<<>>>>

  About the Author

  About the Author

  I was born in Chicago, IL, raised in Phoenix, AZ, and now live in the Seattle, WA area, with my family, including a lazy dog and one rambunctious chicken.

  After publishing a series of books on Internet software development, this is my first novel. To learn more about me and share my interests in some of the most fascinating things happening in the worlds of science and science fiction, visit my Web site at:

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