Page 8 of A Cyborg for the Alien Mercenary

She managed a smile from somewhere. Penny acted just like the young teenager she appeared to be, which made her feel like shit for doubting her. Surely no one would go to such lengths to fool her?

“Sounds good,” she said as she dropped into the seat next to Penny and reached for the popcorn. As the film started, she tried to force herself to relax. She needed more pieces to the puzzle, more clues to figure out who she was and why she was here… or whether she was, in fact, going mad.

3

The afternoon passed in a blur. Jesh smiled and laughed at the right moments during the movie, but she couldn’t have told you what the plot was about. All her attention was on Penny, sitting next to her. For each searching little look the teen threw toward her, Jesh swung between thinking she was overreacting and being absolutely sure that her family weren’t her caregivers; they were guards.

When the movie ended, Penny turned to her. “Want to go for a walk? Mom said the fresh air might do you some good.”

Jesh considered it. Getting out of the house would be nice. She didn’t think she’d actually been outside since she woke up. Even arriving back here… back home, the car had pulled directly into the garage.

So the idea of breathing free air was suddenly too tempting to pass up.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Heading to the back door, she found shoes that fit her next to Penny’s. They were battered, soft sports trainers that looked familiar, but when she put them on, they felt odd. As though they were worn in like they appeared but not by her. They were hersize, yes, but they pinched oddly at the toe like they belonged to someone else. And she felt oddly naked in them, as though she was used to wearing something a lot sturdier.

They stepped outside, walking down the drive and onto the street as the gates closed soundlessly behind them. The neighborhood was a quiet one. The tree-lined streets she’d seen from her window created a picture-postcard view that was almost too perfect.

Jesh shoved her hands in her pockets, her shoulders hunched as she looked around for anything that felt familiar. Anything that might spark a memory. Thankfully Penny was quiet. She’d stuffed earbuds in as soon as they’d stepped outside, playing her music. The trouble was, Jesh couldn’t hear any music, even muted, from the earbuds.

She ignored that little detail. The Hargroves were rich, so perhaps Penny’s earbuds were cutting edge or something. They walked together, and Jesh focused on the sounds of the town around her: the leaves of the trees rustling overhead, birdsong, and the distant hum of lawnmowers. It all seemed so…normal.

Yeah, she definitely had to be going crazy. This was all too normal and mundane to be anything other than reality. There was no conspiracy. She’d just taken one hit too many to the head during the crash, and who knew what a bad dose of radiation sickness could do to a person’s mind.

But then she realized people were watching her. The neighbor across the street was watering his garden, but his attention was more on her than his plants. A jogger coming the other way slowed down as she passed, her gaze lingering on Jesh for a moment too long. Drivers of the cars going past them stole quick glances at her, but not out of curiosity. No, this was more targeted. More focused.

The hackles on the back of her neck all went up. Somethingwasoff. She was being watched. No… this was surveillance.

Something clicked into place in the back of her head, and then she saw her surroundings in a different light. She glanced around, her mind automatically calculating the distance to the nearest cover… it was an oak tree ten feet away and then a parked car a bit down the street. Or she could head backward and duck into the alleyway they’d just passed.

She blinked as a thought hit her. She was mapping out where she’d run if soldiers suddenly burst from the undergrowth with guns drawn or piled out of a speeding van. What would she do first? Drop to the ground or make a break for the nearest cover?

She shook her head to clear it. What was she thinking? It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. But the instincts were there… as if they were hardcoded into her very being.

She realized she’d stopped in the middle of the path, her chest heaving as she looked around for enemies that weren’t there.

“Elena… are you okay?” Penny broke the silence, her voice soft but probing. Wise beyond her years.

Jesh swallowed and picked her words carefully. “I’m okay. I’m… adjusting. It’s strange, being back. Everything feels familiar but foreign at the same time. Like I’m looking at everything through a broken mirror.”

Penny nodded, sympathy written over her young features. She had a scar under one eye. Strange. Jesh hadn’t seen that in any of the pictures. It must be recent. “I can only imagine. It must be hard, trying to piece everything together.”

Jesh glanced at her sister. “Yeah, it is. I just wish I could remember everything, you know? It’s like there’s this wall in my mind, blocking me from getting to the truth.”

Penny’s gaze flickered, something in the backs of her eyes. But before Jesh could work out what it was, it was gone. “You will. You just need to be patient.”

Jesh snorted. “Never been very good at patience.”

But even as she said it, the words felt wrong. Was that what she really thought, or had she said that because she’d read her notes when the doctors weren’t looking.“Patient exhibits extreme impatience when treatment not going to plan.”

Penny chuckled. “Yeah, that’s about right.”

Jesh’s senses kicked into overdrive again as they continued their walk. Her eyes scanned license plates, noticed an older couple pretending not to watch them from their porch, and worked out the exact number of steps to the nearest house where they could take cover if needed.

A sudden breeze rustled the leaves overhead, and she shivered despite the warm day. It brought her back to the present, to the perfectly trimmed lawns and the peaceful suburban streets that now felt suspiciously like a cage.

Her comm unit buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it free. She saw a message from her doctor’s office.

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