Fractured | The Portal Series book 1

Chapter 30 - Jessica

4:02 p.m. SWT – 8/28/341 U.M.

7:02 a.m. BTS – 8/28/341 U.M.

I rush through the other door of the airlock, and quickly close it behind me. Hurriedly, I pull of the hazmat suit and take my blaster from its holster, just as the boy comes through.

"Wait—!" he starts, before seeing the gun pointed at his face.

"Who are you?!" I demand.

His eyes flick to the guard lying unconscious on the ground. Refocusing on me, he slowly raises his hands.

"Dylan," he gulps, "Dylan Locke."

"You're from Earth," I state.

"Uh, yeah," he says nervously, "Aren't you?"

I shift my weight and cock the weapon, weighing the question. "No."

"Aren't we on Earth now?" he asks.

"No," I say again, "What do you know about Object X?"

"What?"

"The portal," I tell him impatiently, "The one you just went through."

"What?" he says again.

I stare at him. Is he being deliberately stupid? "Never mind. Come on." I push Dylan in front of me, but he suddenly stops.

"Wait," he says, "Do you know a Claire Railstone? Any Railstone?"

"Never heard of her," I say shortly, prodding him in the back with the gun. Now that I have taken care of the mission, all that's left are the loose ends. Dylan is a loose end. Since he certainly is not going back through the portal, he will have to come with me.

"Milica, contact Tess," I mutter under my breath.

A few seconds later, Tess says, "Jessica?"

"Get out as soon as you're done. I took care of the objective."

"Roger. See you at Raindrop."

Once the connection shuts off, my trained ears pick up something Dylan's never will. I freeze, grabbing his arm so he will too.

"What?" he asks, "Hey, are you like, a spy?"

Bristling, I say, "Shut up," and listen hard.

Voices, indistinct, are approaching from a side corridor. The tone is conversational—they don't know that we have infiltrated the building.

"Back. BACK." I pull on Dylan's shirt while keeping the intersection covered with the CP. I yank the Earthling down another side corridor that we passed a few seconds ago.

"Who was that?" Dylan asks after the voices of the guards fade away. He looks almost giddy, like this is some sort of game.

I glare at him for an answer, and we start moving again.

"I'm outside," Tess tells me.

"Alright, but I have someone with me."

"What? Good or bad?"

"Not sure. He's an Earthling."

There's silence on the other end. Tess obviously has no response for that.