Numbered: Episode One of the Sister Planets Series Read online

  “God, I can’t stand him. Change the clip,” Jacob says as he rubs his face with both hands.

  We switch to another news feed. This one has Senator Greenstreet’s face on it, complete with that awful, crooked nose.

  He’s standing in front of his mansion. I recognize the front door. His hair looks perfect, and his suit fits him masterfully.

  Bile rises in my throat as his awful fake smile comes on screen. It has a tinge of sadness in it today. I hope he’s sad because the tests came back and yep, sure enough, it’s gonorrhea.

  “Good morning,” Greenstreet starts. “I’m not going to waste any time. A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours.

  “First, I’d like to address the two fires that took place this morning in the Unity City metro area. Neither seem to be related, and both were accidents.”

  “Liar,” I mumble.

  “The first took place in Independence in an old abandoned hotel. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but it looks like it could have been a sophisticated case of arson.”

  I throw my hands in the air. “Oh my God. Arson?”

  Everyone shushes me.

  “The other took place in Liberty and was a residential natural gas fire. No one had lived in the house for several years, and it looks like the fire was due to a lack of maintenance. As I stated before, when the fires occurred and their proximity to each other are coincidences.”

  He takes a deep breath. “As many of you have already heard, Don Merkatz died in his home last night from an aggressive autoimmune disease. His death is an especially difficult blow for me and my administration as we get closer to election day. Don was an irreplaceable cabinet member and mentor. I’m still dealing with his passing and will for several days.”

  “It’s the same crap no matter what channel you’re on,” Mika says. He reaches down to press another button when Esau shouts.

  “Stop!”

  Mika’s hands fly up like someone’s drawn a gun on him. “Whoa! Chill out Esau. I won’t change the channel if you don’t want me to.”

  “Look,” Esau says, pointing at the screen.

  Flashing along the bottom is one continuous announcement: “Governor Erich Greyson to make announcement at Chicago’s Union Station.”

  “Find that,” Jacob says.

  Mika starts rotating a dial on his console. The current channel zooms out and becomes a square in a circle of squares, each one playing a different broadcast. He flies through them until he finds one with Governor Erich Greyson’s face on it.

  Greyson is an attractive black man with darting eyes and a bald head. Behind the podium is the Illinois flag, comprised of a star-spangled shield, an eagle, and five stars representing the five former states it now encompasses.

  “What’s this?” Mika asks.

  No one else in the car says a word.

  The governor clears his throat. “It’s with a heavy heart that I announce the end of my run for vice president.”

  I don’t hear what he says next. I see his mouth moving and hear noises my brain should interpret as words, but I hear nothing. I’m not in the In-Between, either. The In-Between is comfortable.

  This is hell.

  A sound permeates the fog my brain is marinating in. It’s familiar. Close. Like I should know what it means. I realize someone is saying my name.

  “Mav. Are you ok? Mav?”

  It’s Jacob. I look into his eyes, searching. His gaze latches on to mine and drags me out of my daze. It’s a struggle, but he gets me there.

  “Hey girl. You ok? Mika, turn that off.”

  The screen goes back to swirling colors on a black abyss.

  “He’s quitting?” I ask.

  No one says a word, but they all nod.

  “He’s stepping out as the only person keeping Greenstreet from becoming ‘Keeper of the Earth States’?”

  “Yeah,” Jacob says.

  The cab starts spinning like the colors above my head. “And the person running against him in November is Mingo Zimmerman? Oh God!”

  I grab the door latch. I don’t know what will happen next, but I have to get out of this car. But before I can liberate myself, Mika grabs my wrist with a vice-like grip.

  “Girl, what’s your problem?” he shouts.

  Mika pulls me away, but it’s Jacob who subdues me. He throws his right shin across my lower half and pins me to my seat. He grabs my hands to keep me from flailing. I fight him, but he’s too strong.

  “Shhh … hey, hey, hey. Calm down. It’s ok.”

  I give up and go limp. I’m spent. Despite my panic subsiding, my anxiety stays at a ten.

  “Jacob, he’s going to be the next vice president,” I gasp.

  “Hey, we don’t know that.”

  “Are you kidding me? He’s never let anything stand in his way. He will move earth and sky if that’s what satisfies him. Hell, he’s already done it. Somehow he convinced Greyson to quit. I know it.”

  “There are other people running.”

  “His chief rival is Domingo Zimmerman,” Esau says with his head down. “The senator’s chances of winning are good.”

  “Why the hell would you say that?” Jacob and I yell in unison.

  I flinch in surprise when the same words came out of our mouths. He looks back at me with the same look. We begin to laugh. It starts low and slow and builds until we’re giggling so hard we cry. Mika joins in, his loud booming laugh filling the car like a drum. Esau grins, but that’s all.

  Jacob has let go of me by now. I wipe away my tears and try to breathe. “My God, Esau, we need to get you into a class or something. Your social skills are terrible.”

  “I may have heard that before.”

  I swipe my hair out of my face. “This is bad.”

  “It’s not great, mademoiselle,” Mika says as he offers a pathetic smile of sympathy. “But why did you go crazy over it?”

  “It’s all part of that thing we can’t tell you,” Jacob explains. “But it’s safe to say Maverick has seen the senator’s dark side. She understands the enormous problem we would have if he were in charge of Earth’s states.”

  A droning chirp fills the car before Norah’s voice fills the cab.

  “Did you get them?”

  “Safe and sound, Norah,” Mika answers. “All three of them. We were watching the news.”

  Silence.

  “Unfortunate, isn’t it Maverick?’ Norah asks.

  “You could say that.”

  “Once you get here, we’ll discuss our next moves. I’m sure it’s all too fresh for you, but we need to talk today about whether or not you’re up to this.”

  I can feel Mika’s eyes on me, watching. I wish to God he’d stop.

  “Ok,” is all I say back.

  “Good. Mika, get them here safely but as quickly as you can.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  It’s quiet again in the hovercar.

  “He’s our target, isn’t he?” Mika asks.

  I look back at him and sigh. “Yeah. We’re gonna try and kill the next vice president of the United States.”

  The adventure continues in Episode Two, Cornered.

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  Like Numbered a lot a lot? Buy Cornered, Episode 2 of the Sister Planets series, available February 2020!

  So many exclamation points!

  Acknowledgments

  You guys … WE DID IT. Mav’s journey needed to be shared, and I’m convinced that you—whoever you are—needed to read it. I can’t describe how grateful I am that we could connect over this story.

  Readers, you finished my book, and it makes me want to dance. Other people downloading or purchasing this book makes the hours I spent writing and editing worth it. You also supported a newbie. Without you, I’m just a guy writing down the stories in his head. You made me an author. It’s the ultimate gift. Thank you.

  Eternal
thanks goes out to the ridiculously talented Laura Kemp of Designs by Laura. Your cover designs for this series are aMaZiNg. Tjamls!

  Writer friends, your help and support is truly invaluable. Without your feedback and critiques, this project would have never made if off the ground. Members of the Indie Pub Grindhouse, our weekly meetings are the reason why this book is available in 2020 and not 2200. I never would have had the stamina to make it this far without you all. To Ana Tan and Victoria Perez, your beta reads made this book sooo much better. To the unwavering Roman Burleson, I don’t care what you say—you are a reader, and the way you see the world helps take my writing to another level. I’ll never be able to say thank you enough for all the time you’ve spent making this series the very best it can be. To Scott and Becky Minor and all those at Realm Makers, your conference keeps me encouraged year after year. The connections I’ve made and the things I’ve learned as a Realmie are unmatched. Thank you for being dedicated to your vision.

  Friends and family, you stuck by me as I’ve tried to make this dream happen. To Mom and Dad, your support means so much. Thanks for laughing and grimacing at all the right spots in my stories and for fostering my love of writing. To all my beloved familia, you’re sincerely some of the best people I’ve ever met. It weirds me out a little how great you all are. I can’t think about how lucky I am for too long or my chest starts to hurt.

  God, you have the weirdest imagination, and I’m so glad you let me tap into it as I write. It’s bizarre to have you be a part of this process, but also the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced.

  The Wife—to you most of all—thank you. Thank you for believing with me that someday I’d write something for someone other than you to read. Thank you for letting me hide in my writer’s burrow for hours on end so I could do this thing I love. Thank you for being the sounding board when I ran into a problem, the launch captain I so desperately needed, and my perfect match. You believe in me. You care about me. You love me. Thank you.

  Oh, and you’re the mother of my child. That’s amazing, too.

  About Leviticus James

  Author. Husband. Father. Klutz. Master of forgetting keys and remembering every stupid thing he’s ever done. Writing is how he joins the song that story sings. Tortured ISFJ. The Sister Planets novellas are his first published works.

  Let’s get to know each other.

  Visit my website at teamawesomepress.wixsite.com/ljames for more info!