Page 56 of Invincible
Tyler climbed over him, sitting on a life jacket on the other side, facing him.Reaching out, Knox pulled the door closed, sealing them inside.Luckily, there was a small vent that allowed a little light inside.
“So far, so good,” she whispered.The little cabinet didn’t have much in the way of ventilation and Tyler could already feel the sweat starting to run down her back inside her work shirt.As hot as she was, she couldn’t imagine how Knox was surviving.
“This is ridiculous,” Knox whispered.Pressing his feet against the far wall next to Tyler, he slowly wrestled the zipper down on his coveralls.She guessed he wasn’t surviving after all.After shushing him several times, she finally maneuvered onto her knees to help him get it off over his shoulders.
“Can you please untie my boots so I can get this thing off?I’m going to pass out soon from heat exhaustion,” he asked.
Sitting back down, she untied and pulled his boots off.Wiggling it down his hips, he finally managed to get the thing down far enough she could pull it off over his large feet.
“If you don’t stop banging around, you’re going to give us away,” she growled quietly at him for what felt like the tenth time.
“Then help me get my boots back on.”When she had Knox redressed, they settled in to wait.
“What were you laughing at on the way to the ship?”
“It was nothing.I just got to wondering if our father was a big man.Don’t ask me where that thought came from because I have no idea.”
Knox sat in silence for so long she was beginning to think he had fallen asleep when he finally leaned forward.
“He looked a lot like Memphis.They’re about the same size, tall, but not my size.My mom has a picture of him.He had the same dark hair and green eyes.I’ve tried for years to track him with no results.It’s like he just disappeared or never existed in this case.Except there are at least three of us that prove he did.”
“Do you think there are more of us out there somewhere?”Somehow, she hadn’t thought of the possibility.It would make sense that, if there were three she knew about, there could be more.A whole lot more.
“I don’t know.Maybe.I found you and Memphis by accident, so who knows.”
Tyler sat back thinking about what Knox had said.There could be a whole horde of half-sibs out there somewhere.Did she want to know if there were?She wasn’t completely sure.She didn’t think she would actively hunt for them, like Knox seemed to be doing.However, if they each had a superhuman ability, that would be worth knowing about.
“Do you think, if there are more of us, that they all have some special gift like we do?”
“I have no idea.Maybe.”Knox grew silent as Tyler mulled the possibility around in her head.She rolled her eyes when she noticed Knox had fallen asleep this time.
Tyler studied Knox for a few minutes in the shadows.He had moved the toolbox between his legs so he could sit on the floor.His head was propped in the corner of the cabinet with his long arms folded over his chest and his feet planted on the floor next to her hips with his knees bent in the air.He looked miserably uncomfortable.
With a sigh, she settled in to wait for Dex’s text, letting them know they could begin.Providing they weren’t discovered first.
By the time she heard from Dex, she had decided she was going insane.She didn’t want to take a chance of using up the battery in her phone, so she did everything else she could think of instead.So far in her head, Tyler had repeated every piece of literature she could remember from school, sang every song she knew, repeated the recipe for every cocktail she could mix and explained the skills necessary to receive a 6G welding certificate to an imaginary friend.
She had gotten some satisfaction out of kicking Knox every time he threatened to snore.Finally, her phone vibrated.
Dex: How are you holding up?
Tyler: I’m going crazy.You just saved me from asking myself trivia questions then answering them in the form of a question like I’m on Jeopardy.What’s happening?
Dex: Not much longer.I’ll be in touch soon.
Tyler sighed.She guessed from that answer, he was done texting.At least it had been a small diversion.
“Are we about ready to move?You’ll have to give me some warning so I can work at getting feeling back into my legs,” Knox whispered, making her jump.She just managed to prevent the startled squeal from escaping.
“Dex said it wouldn’t be much longer,” she whispered back.
Knox sat up straighter, trying to give his legs some more relief.When he finally lifted them above her head for a few minutes to straighten out his knees, she laughed.
“How did you ever qualify for the Navy?The sleeping accommodations couldn’t have been that great for you.”
“About like this,” he said, lowering his legs again.“So, you and Agent Tanaka, huh?”
“Yeah?”The words came out in the form of a question.Tyler wasn’t sure what to think about Dex yet.She did know she would really like him to stay around a little longer so she could figure it out.She had given up on the idea of ever getting him out of her system, he was permanently implanted there now.
