The Sovereign Era (Book 1): Brave Men Run Read online

  The server brought our food and relieved me of the little plastic number. I willingly surrendered it in favor of a triple cheeseburger, which I set to devouring instead of answering Lina. I was too hungry for my throbbing lip to slow me down.

  Mel bit open a ketchup packet and said, “I don’t see why either one of you would be freaked out.” He looked at Lina. “Imagine the two of them teamed up, running around Abbeque Valley like a couple of mystery men, or government spooks…”

  I spoke with my mouth full. “What did you say?”

  “Huh?”

  “That word – ‘spooks.’ What’s that mean, anyway?”

  “Oh, like, Roger Moore, or Maxwell Smart.” Mel spoke through his nose: “Missed me by that much, Chief.” He popped a French fry in his mouth. “You’d be Maxwell Smart, my friend. It’s the hair.”

  “I just remembered Denver Colorado used that word to describe my dad.”

  Mel cocked his head and frowned. “Uh, non sequitur, Nate. Tallahassee Florida used the clock to climb the swimming pool?”

  Lina laughed and bumped her shoulder against mine. I told them both about meeting Denver at the cabin in Kirby Lake. “He called my dad ‘that old spook.’ I didn’t think anything about it, then.”

  “Wild,” said Lina. “You think your dad was some kind of CIA agent?”

  “I don’t know…” I shoved the rest of my burger into my mouth and wolfed it down while I thought. “My mother never said anything about it. Just that he died in a work accident.”

  Mel said, “Maybe she’s been sworn to secrecy if she wants to keep the unmarked Swiss bank account?”

  I allowed him a quick grin and slid out of the booth. “Lina, can we go back to my house? I want to ask her.”

  From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Nineteen

  It was just after eight when we walked through the door of my house. I found my mother working out of her briefcase at the dining room table.

  “You’re home early,” she said. She looked up, saw my friends. “Hello, Mel… Lina, nice to see you again.

  Lina held out her hand and my mother took it, which was strange to see. Parts of me still didn’t get that I had a girlfriend.

  My mother finally saw me. She paled, and rushed out of her chair.

  “What the hell happened to you? I told you to stay out of trouble!” Automatically, she shot an accusatory glare at Mel, who held up his hands and stepped back.

  “I’m fine, mom.” I looked away from her stern inspection. “I… I got into a fight.”

  Her eyes widened. Her scent acquired a mild tang of alarm. “Is everyone all right?

  “Everyone..?” That threw me off. “Yeah, I guess so. It was a draw, pretty much.”

  Her shoulders slumped and she expelled a short breath. “You’re much stronger than kids your age, Nathan. You can’t go around getting into fights. You know this.”

  “I didn’t plan on it!”

  She looked at the three of us. “This had already happened when you called me, hadn’t it?”

  I looked at my shoes. “Well, yeah.”

  She shook her head. “I knew we shouldn’t have come back so fast. My own fault for listening to Denver.”

  That was an opportunity to shift the attention away from my fight with Teslowski, and I took it. “Actually, I wanted to, like, ask you about Denver.”

  “What do you want to know about Denver Colorado?” Her left eyebrow shot up.

  Mel couldn’t pass it up; he never could. “What’s the annual snowfall there, anyway?”

  My mother was used to ignoring him. Lina froze the involuntary smile on her face. She hadn’t known Mel long enough, but she was learning.

  I said, “Well, there was something he said when we were up there.”

  My mother was impatient. “What? What did he say to you?”

  The whole vibe made me very nervous. I swallowed.

  “Did my dad work for the government, or something?”

  “What? No.”

  Her answer was automatic. So was the change in her scent.

  I looked at Lina. She took my hand.

  “Mom. Why are you lying?”

  Her eyes widened. “You’d better think about what you just said, Nathan.”

  I blanched. Her tone demanded that I back down, but the messages in her scent supported me.

  It had been a weekend of new things. I was a bona-fide freak with a new label for what I was. I had a gorgeous older girlfriend. Why stop short of defying my mother?

  “I – I know you’re not telling the truth, mom. I can tell. You told me he was an independent contractor. For the government?”

  Her eyes flashed. “Among other clients,” she snapped. “I won’t have you calling me a liar, Nathan. I don’t care if your friends are here or not.”

  Lina squeezed my hand and let go. I kept my eyes on my mother. “That Denver guy called my dad ‘that old spook.’ Doesn’t that mean ‘spy?’”

  She snarled the name. “Denver Colorado. You don’t know him.”

  I looked at Lina and Mel. Mel bunched his shoulders and looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Lina hugged herself and met my eyes, unwavering.

  “I think you’re leaving something out, mom.”

  My mother’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Lina and Mel.

  “You two should leave. Now. This is a family matter.”

  Mel went directly to the door. Lina nodded at me and followed him out.

  Once the front door closed, my mother sat back down at the table and made her paperwork into a neat stack. “Now it’s just you and me.” She put the stack into her briefcase and closed it. “Now we can talk.”

  I sat across the table from her. “Good.”

  She pointed at my bruised face. “Tell me what happened here.”

  “I thought we were going to…”

  “This first.”

  I sighed.

  “There’s this kid. Byron Teslowski. You know. He’s been on my case for, like, forever. When I was out with Lina last night, he showed up at Belltower Plaza and said he wanted to meet. I said yes.”

  “You made a date to fight.” My mother crossed her arms over her chest.

  “No..! He said he only wanted to talk, and we did. He told me… he said he thought he might be a Sovereign, and since I probably was, he wanted to, like, talk about that and stuff.”

  “What makes this kid think he’s a Sovereign? And what makes him think you are?”

  I looked at her. “Mom. C’mon.”

  Her mouth turned down. “We’ll leave that. What makes him think he’s a Sovereign?”

  “We didn’t have time to get into that. He’s got these friends. We call them his Wingmen, ‘cause they’re always hanging around with him, getting into stuff. They saw his car on the street and came up into the park. They kinda egged him on.”

  “Peer pressure.”

  “I guess; whatever. Thing is, when we started to fight, he was just like anyone.” I tensed up just thinking about it. “I mean, I was way faster, stronger, all that. But as it went on… he got better.”

  She leaned forward in her chair, elbows on the table. “What do you mean, ‘he got better?’”

  “I mean, he ended up just as fast as me, and just as strong.” I touched my lip. “Better, maybe. I really think he’s like me… it was too weird.”

  My mother looked away for a second. I saw a million thoughts pass over her face before she collected and stored them. She looked back at me. “You can’t go around getting into fights, Nathan.”

  “I wasn’t!” I knew I sounded like a little kid.

  She rubbed her temples. “You should have walked away.”

  I clicked my tongue and threw up my arms. “Why? I am always walking away, mom. Always.” I shook my head. “I’ve let Teslowski and Felder and all the rest of those jerks say whatever they want, do whatever they want – I’m always turning the other, whatever, the other cheek, just because I’m not supposed to act like I’m any diff
erent.”

  “It’s the best way.” She reached across the table for my hand.

  I stood up before she could get to me. “Why? Since when is it okay to run away and let assholes get away with shit?”

  Even through my anger, I instantly regretted using profanity with her. She must have known I was seriously upset, because she let it go. “Because you have a responsibility. You’re better than everyone else in so many ways – you’re stronger, faster, you know that – but you’re smarter than most, too, Nate. Smart enough to rise above.”

  I choked on bitter laughter. “Oh, sure. I’m so far above it no one ever even talks to me, aside from a few people.”

  My mother’s expression softened. “A few people like Lina?”

  This disarmed me. I blushed automatically.

  “Do you know what she said to me, first thing?”

  “I don’t.”

  “She said I had beautiful eyes.”

  “She’s a smart girl.”

  Thinking about Lina drained the anger out of me. I knew there was a good chance my mother had done this deliberately, but I didn’t mind all that much.

  “Last night… you know how my eyes, like, catch the light, and stuff?”

  “Right.”

  “She loves that.” I sat back down. “She likes how I’m different, mom. Why should I bother to act like I’m not? Why can’t I just be who I am?”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  There was so much going on in her head she wasn’t saying. I didn’t understand it.

  “So, about my father..?”

  She rubbed her forehead and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ve told you that your father was a scientist, a researcher. He worked for the Department of Defense. He was a consultant on a number of projects.”

  “So why would Denver call him a spook? A spy?”

  “Your father couldn’t talk about the work he did. A lot of it was classified.” She stared off into elsewhere. “He would spend weeks out at Rachel, in the desert, and I had no idea what he was doing.”

  “You said he had an accident.”

  Her eyes regained their focus. She looked at me, folded her hands on the table, and sighed. “There was some kind of industrial accident. He was… burned.”

  She was still avoiding something, but I couldn’t tell if it was just because the memory was painful. I didn’t need my crazy senses to know she hated talking about it.

  “You never told me that part.”

  She nodded, looked at her hands. “He never even got to see you.”

  “Yeah.”

  I squirmed a little in my seat. “Did he know about the… the stuff when I was born?”

  “Oh, of course.” She smiled. “It’s not unheard of for an infant to be born with a little tail, or body hair.”

  “It’s pretty rare to have both, though, isn’t it?”

  “Well…”

  “Yeah.”

  I let her take my hands.

  “Nathan, your father loved you. He was counting the days until he could come back home. He didn’t care about your little… accessories. He thought you were perfect.” Her mouth went shaky and she looked away. “You were just what he’d hoped for.”

  I felt bad, making her remember it all. I put on a smile. “Thanks. I really don’t know why I’ve been thinking about it.” I knew I still didn’t have all the answers, but I was coming away from our talk with more than I’d had. “It’s just – with this whole Sovereign thing, and Teslowski, and Lina, all at once – it’s been crazy.”

  She smiled. “I know.”

  I yawned, slow and long.

  “You’ve got school tomorrow,” my mother reminded me. “It’s going to be a big day.”

  I hadn’t been to school since Thursday. Declaration Day.

  “Yeah. I know.”

  “You don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.”

  I wondered how many kids had mothers hoping they’d ditch class. I laughed, stood up, and stretched. “No way, mom.” I kissed the top of her head. “I’m totally ready to deal with whatever.”

  I suddenly realized this had been a really cool long weekend.

  “And everybody’s gonna have to deal with me, too.”

  From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Twenty

  I woke up on Monday morning before my alarm went off, fueled up with my usual giant breakfast, and was the first kid to the bus stop. School’s not the friendliest place for me, but that day, I was looking forward to being there.

  The other kids at the bus stop didn’t say anything to me, but that was nothing new… most of them were nervous freshmen, for one thing, but let’s face it, I’m me – no one really goes out of their way to say “hey.”

  Getting on the bus, though, thing were definitely out of the ordinary. The other kids watched me, whispering, which was the norm, but the mocking giggles were missing. Eyes were on me, but there was no derision, no cold stares. They were confused, and curious, maybe. Definitely freaked out.

  I didn’t need my sensitive senses to know that I disturbed them.

  I admit it. I liked it.

  I made my way to the last seat on the bus, the long bench where Mel and Jason waited. Jason hadn’t seen me since Claire’s get together last Thursday, when I met Lina, and a lot had happened since then.

  Mel must have filled him in. He held his hand up for me to shake and said, “Dude,” with a little nod and smile.

  I clasped hands with him and sat down. “How’s it going?”

  Jason snorted. “You tell me, kicking Byron Teslowski’s ass, and whatever!”

  I touched my lip, which was already almost healed. “It was more like a tie,” I said, and looked at Mel.

  He shrugged. “He didn’t cut you with his bare hands, is all I’m saying.”

  Jason laughed, and shook his head. “That’s too cool.”

  I nudged Mel with my shoulder. “What did you tell him?”

  “That you and Teslowski got into it, and he left before you did.”

  “And that you tore him up with your fuckin’ fingernails, dude!”

  I sighed. Somehow, my friends celebrating all of this made me uncomfortable, even if I dug the fact that the rest of the kids on the bus seemed mellow.

  “He got his licks in,” I mumbled.

  Fortunately, Jason had the attention span of a dog. “Oh, hey, dude, what’s up with you and that Lina chick?”

  Again, I looked at Mel. He shrugged and held up his hands. “What? We’re sitting here; Jason asks me what’s up, I’m gonna tell him!”

  “So, are you guys, like, going together, or what?”

  My involuntary Lina smile slipped onto my lips. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Jason punched me in the shoulder. “Sweet!”

  “Yep.”

  Jason looked thoughtful, but his eyes were full of mirth. “Of course, if you hadn’t been there that day…”

  Mel laughed. “If Nate hadn’t been there, you would have had your face slapped, minimum.”

  Jason took it with a sideways nod. “No, I’m totally stoked for you, dude. Pretty big weekend, huh?”

  “No doubt,” I said.

  The bus pulled into the school parking lot. Mel nudged me and pointed out the window.

  “Look who’s here.”

  Terrance Felder stood on the curb. He watched kids as they got off the bus. His fists were clenched and a big purple vein bulged on his bull neck.

  My stomach quivered automatically. I swallowed and remembered what I was, what I could do, and what I’d learned over the last few days. I thought about Lina, and the pale look on Byron Teslowski’s face when I’d cut him.

  Jason said, “Dude, he’s totally waiting to call you out.”

  I shrugged and shouldered my backpack. We got off the bus.

  Felder barreled up to me. “Charters! You’re dead meat, freak!”

  He reached out with a flat hand to push me. He was slow. I grabbed him by the wrist and held on.

&n
bsp; His face scrunched with confusion. “What’re you doing, faggot?”

  I tightened my grip, just a little. His arm was cold and soft, covered with freckles. I never knew he was more fat than muscle. It made me cocky.

  “How’s Byron, Terrance?”

  His face went red. “Fuck you, asshole.” He swiped with his free hand. I ducked and twisted his arm behind his back, then gave him a push. He stumbled forward a few feet.

  A crowd gathered. They formed a tight ring around us.

  “…check out freako…”

  “…thinks he’s all bad ass…”

  “…Felder’ll mess him up…”

  “…fuckin’ thinks he’s Bruce Lee, or whatever…”

  Felder twisted around. “I’m gonna kick your ass, Charters.”

  Over his shoulder, I saw the discipline advisor, Ms. Elp, striding toward us as fast as her Tartan skirt would allow. “Not today,” I said.

  Felder rushed me. All I had to do was step aside; momentum took care of the rest. He fell right into the ring of kids. They pushed him back.

  People laughed, and they weren’t laughing at me.

  Someone said, “Lay off, Terry.”

  It was Byron Teslowski. The crowd let him through.

  Our eyes met. He nodded.

  “Byron, dude,” Felder whined, “what’s the deal?”

  The circle of kids recoiled from Ms. Elp like they were afraid to touch her. “The deal,” she said, “is that you two are done.” She pointed a long finger at the spot between my eyes. “In my office, Nathan. I want to talk to you.”

  To me?

  “But I…”

  “In my office.” She turned her back and started toward the school. “You too, Terrance.” She didn’t break her stride. She knew we would follow.

  From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Twenty One

  I was first in. I’d been in Ms. Elp’s office before, but I was never the one who was in trouble. The framed prints of Scotland on the walls always reminded me of a travel agent’s office.

  With a sharp glance, she indicated a chair, and I sat down.

  “I wasn’t…”

  “It’s my office,” she interrupted. She sat down behind her desk. “I get to go first.”

  My adrenaline still flowed. The muscles of my thighs jumped. I took a breath.