“I love you!” Ivy said. “I love you, I love you, I love you!”
“I love you too.”
“There’s something I need to tell you, something you need to know—”
The Supervisor yanked Ivy off me and pressed a device to her neck.
“Yes, yes, yes. It’s all very lovey-dovey. But if you don’t mind, we’re not hanging around here. The guards will come and they will finish off what the others failed to do. Nothing has changed.”
He backed away, toward the padded room where they’d been keeping Ivy.
“We’re going to wait in this room for the guards to arrive now, thank you very much. I think you and your girl have made quite enough of a disturbance today.”
I struggled onto my feet.
“Ah-ah,” the Supervisor said, pressing that device harder into Ivy’s neck. “If I pull this trigger with a whole bunch of nothing in the canister, you’ll have to watch your girl and your baby die.”
That made me blink.
“Baby?”
Tears rolled down Ivy’s cheeks.
It was true. It was what she wanted to tell me a moment ago. She was pregnant and… was that what this whole plan was about from the beginning? To have my child?
“Why?” I said. “Why my baby?”
“Because you were a failure and you didn’t have any special abilities. At least, that’s what I thought. Now I can see you’re much more powerful than I ever expected. You and your species. Your stories were only half true. Your species don’t only have one ability, they have them all! They adopt the powers of others around them! I should have seen this before but every time you performed your ability, our machines mistook it as coming from the original alien! This is just what I was looking for. A way to complete my work.”
He was a foot from entering the padded room now, and then there would be no chance of getting Ivy out of there.
Ivy
I hated that damn device pressed to my neck. And I hated even more that the damn Supervisor had ruined my surprise pregnancy revelation to Kren.
We were heading into that damn padded room again.
Damn, damn, damn!
I refused to enter it. I had already assumed the calm the ability my baby wielded inside me, and felt that familiar throb in my belly.
Up for it again, little buddy? I said. You can sleep until you’re ready to come out and say hi to us. Okay?
There was no response, save for a warm throb in the pit of my belly. I took it as confirmation.
“See you soon!” the Supervisor said, and he eased us inside the room.
I threw my arm out and slammed my palm on the control box. Sparks hissed from the little box—meager and pathetic compared to the bolts of lightning Kren could summon—but it was enough.
The wall hissed shut, splitting the pair of us apart, hurling me forward and the Supervisor back into the room.
Kren caught me before I hit the floor. He scooped me up in his arms and hugged me tight.
“Are you all right? Are you okay?”
“I am now,” I said, smiling up at him.
“Is it true? About the…?”
He didn’t need to specify. It was clear from the expression on his face.
“Yes,” I said. “Are you mad?”
Kren approached me and I should have looked away. I didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes…
But there was no disappointment. He broke into a grin and his eyes sparkled.
“Of course I’m not mad!”
“You said you didn’t want any kids.”
“I said I didn’t want any kids in here. There’s a big difference.”
“I agreed to a plan with the Supervisor. He said you’re from an extinct species. You’re the only one left and that if I had your kid then—”
He pressed his finger to my lips.
“Sh. We don’t want the baby to know the truth about how it was conceived.”
“You think I’m going to tell my kid how it was conceived?”
“We could include positions and diagrams. Or maybe even a demonstration—when they’re old enough.”
“You’re sick.”
“It must be what being in love feels like. I’ve felt sick ever since I met you.”
“I… take that as a compliment. I think.”
“Please stand back,” Computer said. “Opening cell door now.”
The cell door.
The Supervisor was getting out.
Kren took me by the hand and led me up the stairs to the Supervisor’s quarters. We reached the top and darted across the room to the door that led out onto the platform where the shuttlecraft sat.
Kren placed his feet and braced the door to force it open. His face turned red at his effort.
“Computer. Open this door.”
“Negative,” Computer said. “You lack the authority to open this door.”
“There’s a fire!” I yelled. “We’ll die if we don’t get outside!”
“I have alerted the fire services,” Computer said. “Please find a safe area to wait while they arrive.”
My shoulders fell.
“We’re not getting out of here, are we?”
“We will,” Kren said.
He placed his hands on the door and focused. I could see it now. The way he accessed that ability buried deep inside him. If anyone could get us out of here, it was him.
“Hold it right there!”
We spun around to find the Supervisor standing in his tripped-out armor. It was no longer cut up into pieces but welded together somehow.
“Why can’t you just let us go?” I said.
“Because you are carrying my property,” the Supervisor said, jabbing a finger at my stomach.
Kren stepped in front of me.
“If you want her, you’re going to have to go through me first.”
“Fair enough.”
The Supervisor swung out an arm. It struck Kren so hard, he flew across the room like there was no gravity. He collapsed to the floor in a mound of body parts.
“Kren!” I screamed.
I ran to him and fell to my knees.
“Are you okay? Kren?”
He muttered under his breath and struggled onto his feet.
“You were the missing piece in my Ability Armor,” the Supervisor said. “You were the link that tied everything together. Without your ability, I couldn’t fuse the pieces together. Have you ever tried to bring molten fire and shards of ice together? It’s
