“Okay, I’ll see you tonight.” He hesitated. “Mom? Everything all right?”
She tore her gaze away from the window. “Have a good day, Cam.”
Something has happened to Roen. Press her on it.
“What is it?” Cameron asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“I’m old enough now.”
Jill hesitated, and then exhaled before finally speaking. “A forest ranger found a bullet-riddled Oldsmobile on fire off the side of the road.”
Check for bodies.
Cameron’s heart skipped a beat. “Did they find anyone inside?”
She shook her head. “No. They also noted that someone had built a fire ring around the car.”
The site has been cleaned. The Genjix.
“We have to find him and Uncle Marco.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have anyone to spare at the moment. I just… I just have to trust that your father is all right.”
Cameron felt his heart slam against his ribcage, as if it was trying to break through his chest. His legs buckled, but Jill caught him before he could sit down on the floor. She looked at him with a renewed intensity. “Your father is fine, and you are going to school. Do you understand?”
“But Dad…”
“I will not operate under the assumption that my husband is dead until I have proof. For now, we have jobs to do. Yours is to go to school.”
“No way!”
“Tao, talk some sense into him.”
She is right. Anything could have happened. No need to jump to conclusions. A good agent continues his mission no matter what the cost.
“Get your butt to school, young man,” she said, grabbing him by the arm and leading him to the door. She looked up at the clock. “You’ve missed the bus. Bike to school and then bike straight home. I don’t want to get a call from Ms Federlin that you were late. Do you understand?” Then she pushed him so hard toward the door he stumbled.
Stone-faced and numb, Cameron turned around and looked at his mother. “Will you… at least let me know if you hear anything? I need to know.”
She shook her head. “Your mission today, as a Prophus agent, is to go to school. I will update you when you’ve completed your assignment and are safely home. Not before.”
Cameron curled his hands into fists. He felt his eyes well with moisture and his vision swim. “That’s so messed up. He’s my father!”
Jill kicked him out of the house before he could protest any further.
She is right. Otherwise, you will waste the entire day waiting for that message. Nothing you do right now will make a difference. Go to class. It is too early to panic. Now! Start moving your feet, Cameron Tan.
The rest of the day was a haze. He received a B+ on his History test, his first this year, but he didn’t care. He walked through the hallways like a zombie, numb and oblivious to what was happening around him. He didn’t notice the usual glances or the snarky laughs. When a group of the football jocks called him names, it didn’t register. All Cameron could think about was whether his father was alive or dead.
Cameron was sure this wasn’t the first time his father had been in danger. After all, the two of them had taken down the remnants of an IXTF squad just the other day. However, this was the first time that he could remember being unsure of Roen’s wellbeing. In all the previous missions, it had never even occurred to him that his father could have been injured or killed. Maybe it was because he was too young to realize it, maybe he thought his father was invincible, or maybe now that it had actually happened, all of a sudden it felt far too real. The waves of worry and fear were overwhelming.
Cameron, get ahold of yourself. Jumping to conclusions is the fastest way to drive yourself insane. What do I always tell you about intel?
“Three times a lady.”
Once you know she exists. Twice she has your attention. Three times a lady. Wait for confirmation of facts or lack of facts, and determine actionable items before you start to panic.
“I can’t help it, Tao. I can’t stop feeling this way. He’s my dad.”
If it helps, I am concerned as well. Roen is more than a friend to me.
“I don’t know how to deal with this.”
Focus on what you can control, and trust that your Roen is all right. In fact, I am sure he is.
“Really?”
Of course. I trained him.
Cameron was in gym class, standing far back in the outfield. No one ever hit the ball this far. It afforded him the privacy he needed to process all the conflicting emotions and try to tame his out-of-control imagination visualizing his father dying in a ditch or a prisoner of the Genjix. A hundred scenarios ran through his head, each one worse than the previous.
“Hey, Tan, heads up. Stop screwing around!” a voice yelled.
He looked up just in time to see a pop ball fly toward him. It made a lazy arc toward the center of the field. If he had been paying attention, he could have run and caught it. Heck, if he tried now, he might still be able to. However, this stupid gym class game was the last thing he could give a crap about. He stood there while the ball bounced off the grass and rolled toward the wall.
“You suck, Tan!” someone catcalled.
“Get your head out of your ass!” someone else joined in.
“Fucking loser!”
“Watch your mouth,” Coach Wannsik yelled. He looked over at Cameron. “Get the ball, Cameron. You’re not here to daydream.”
Cameron saw the white baseball poking out of the grass. What was he doing here anyway? This was all so stupid. His dad was missing! He had the urge to just walk away or kick the damn thing or throw it out of the field.
You are better than this. Get a hold of yourself. Find the calm.
Cameron closed his eyes and breathed. In. Out. Like how Tao had taught him, he tried to keep his wild emotions present, embraced them even, but still tried to find that calmness. Controlled. Manageable. This time, it didn’t work. He snarled and stomped to the ball. He picked it up and hurled it as hard as he could back at the group of students. The ball traveled long and fast, easily reaching the home base and bouncing off the back fence. Well, no one said his aim had to be good.
Nice throw.
“I surprise myself.”
Throwing a ball is nothing more than good t’ai chi.
“I could kind of see that.”
The rest of his day flashed by. All he could think of was getting home for some news about Roen. It wasn’t fair that Mom wouldn’t let him know. What if she had heard something by now? She was wrong. He deserved to know right when she found out. Well, nothing he could do about it now. He had to get home.
After the last bell rang, Cameron hurried to his locker and ran through the gym toward his bike. He bet he could cover the forty-minute ride in fifteen if he pushed himself. He nearly bowled over Coach Wannsik on his way out.
“Hang on,” Wannsik said, blocking his way. “Watch where you’re going, son. You’re going to hurt someone. Hey, Cameron, that’s quite an arm you have there.”
Cameron’s first two impulses were either to shout at Wannsik to get out of his way or to just bowl him over.
If I was cruel, I would teach you a hard lesson right now about spiting yourself with stupidity. However, knowing this situation, my advice would be to speak softly. Anything else will simply delay your trip home.
“Thanks, Coach,” Cameron said breathily. He tried to find the calm. Embrace it. Squeeze the calm. Truth was, he wanted to tear that damn calm apart into little pieces and stomp on it. However, he bit his lip and flashed Wannsik a smile.