A Stand-In for Dying Page 14

  The nose of the car broke the water’s surface and he was surrounded by churning surf, but the vehicle bobbed back toward the surface, buoyed by the air still trapped within the cabin and the air in the tires. The roof and half the windshield cleared the surface before the car started to sink back toward the depths. Marcus groped for the window controls and managed to trigger them, but the windows lowered just a few inches before the electrical system cut out.

  He released his seat belt and scanned the passenger compartment for something he could use to break a window. His eyes went to the knob on the gearshift. He tried to unscrew it, but it wouldn’t budge. His hands were clumsy and weak. When he held one of them before his eyes, it was soft and pudgy. He brushed a hand across his face and it was rough with stubble. His head was covered with thickly matted hair. And when he looked into the rearview mirror, there was the ridged and mottled face of a stranger.

  He fought back panic as the possibilities began running through his mind. The last thing he remembered before this nightmare began was the rise of applause at the end of his speech in front of the Capitol steps. Corinne had been walking toward him to join him on the dais and in the next instant he was plunging from a height in an antiquated car within an aging body. He’d been in lots of tight spots before, some worse than this one, and had always managed to prevail, but something unfathomable was now occurring that reeked of doom.

  Water was beginning to seep over the edges of the cracked open windows and the passenger compartment was starting to fill. Marcus braced his arms against the passenger side door and kicked his left foot back against the driver’s side window at its front edge where it should have been weakest. It didn’t give. He kicked back with his right foot against the window’s rear edge, but still it wouldn’t break. He’d performed this maneuver before and had managed to handily smash similar windows. He could usually press hundreds of pounds with his legs, but now it felt as though all the strength was drained from his body.

  He pushed against the driver’s side door, but the water pressure was too strong. The door wouldn’t budge. The front of the car was nosing down as it continued to sink. He climbed into the back seat to get to the small pocket of air that remained only there and slowed his breathing to conserve the remaining oxygen. And as he waited for the car to take him to the ocean floor, it dawned on him that he must be there because he was already dead. The exchange had occurred. The owner of the contract must have died in the plunging car and was now in possession of Marcus’s body. And he was in this body to conclude its death and fulfill his destiny. His awareness that death was inevitable brought with it an unexpected calm. Time seemed to stop as the rest of the cabin filled and the car glided soundlessly to the bottom.

  Marcus held his breath and waited for the thud of the impact. His survival instinct prevailed. As soon as the car was at rest, he pushed on the rear door, which now gave way easily, placed one foot on the threshold and thrust himself toward the surface. This time, the pudgy body that he now commanded provided an advantage, buoying him easily to the top. Once at the surface, he drew a few gasping breaths, flipped onto his back, and floated until his breathing slowed to normal.

  His whole body ached. Clearly, his alter ego hadn’t been taking care of his body as well as Marcus had taken care of his and wasn’t accustomed to the kind of exertion to which it had just been subjected. Nonetheless, he seemed to be alive, at least for now. If he managed to survive, Marcus now wondered, would he be destined to live out the remainder of his days in this alien and pathetic incarnation? And who the hell was this guy, anyway?

  His body began to chill in the frigid water. If he were to survive, he would have to choose between the insulating effect of the clothing that clung loosely to his body and the superior speed of an unencumbered form. Shoes were a no brainer and he kicked them off first. He next stripped off the waterlogged trousers, but kept on the briefs and t-shirt. He surveyed his surroundings and could see in the distance the shoreline where the sea abutted the base of the cliffs.

  When Marcus rolled onto his stomach and began to swim, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that his new body seemed up to the task. Perhaps it was the strength of his will together with his experience and skill that enabled him to muster the strength. He was just grateful to have found it.

  Halfway to shore, Marcus spotted a boat a few hundred yards away and parallel to the shore. Should he make for the beach or turn and swim for the boat, which was closer? He was tiring fast and headed for the boat. As he got closer, it appeared to be some sort of patrol boat. For the first time, it seemed that he might survive this strange ordeal, whatever that would mean.

  As he got within hailing distance of the boat, he noticed the gun mounted to the bow. Suddenly there were bursts of gunfire. Bullets chopped at the water surrounding his body. He dove and turned, but when he broke the surface, the boat was bearing down on him and the bullets kept coming. He felt a bullet rip through his right shoulder, burning along its track. Another tore through the back of his left thigh and exited at his groin. And he felt three more in rapid succession tear a hole through the middle of his back and explode through the front of his chest. The water surrounding his inert form turned crimson as blood pumped for an instant, then oozed to blanket the sea around him. The boat swung around and sped away, leaving his body to the sharks.

  23

  CORINNE FELT Marcus’s body rising and falling rhythmically to penetrate her depths as she straddled him. He was moving more slowly and driving more forcefully than she was accustomed to and she found herself responding to the novel cadence with a level of arousal reminiscent of their first time together. His expression was intent, seeming to trace her face with his eyes as if he were trying to memorize it. She met his gaze and bent down for a lingering kiss.

  She rose again astride him. Their pace quickened and her arousal peaked and hung just at the edge of climax when something else remarkable happened. The muscles in Marcus’s face contorted into a grimace that bespoke more agony than ecstasy. His upper body lurched sharply forward, then dropped back to the bed. She felt the contractions as he ejaculated, but the disturbance had rattled her and interrupted her momentum, preventing her from coming, too. By the time she rolled off him, he was sound asleep, tears streaming down his face.

  Corinne opened her eyes as daylight began filtering through the shuttered windows. She saw Marcus standing naked in front of the full-length mirror staring at his own reflection, touching his face, and running his hands over the prominent muscles of his abdomen and thighs. The bull’s image glowed faintly on his chest, then faded away. His hands formed tight fists, relaxed, and clenched again. He shook his head. Then she saw his body shake ever so slightly. He was laughing.

  *****

  As Ray peered into the bedroom mirror, he was oblivious that anyone else was in the room. A cauldron of conflicting emotions washed over him: relief, exultation, disappointment, sadness, elation again. What was clearest to him was that he had never felt so intensely, had never been so alive. He reached up to his face and ran a hand over the crown of his head.

  “Honey...” came the tentative voice behind him.

  He turned toward the voice and saw in Lena’s face the same boldface question mark that had punctuated every one of his thoughts since he’d awakened that morning. He looked down at the strands of black and gray hair on his fingers, then back at Lena. She looked as exhausted as he felt. She hesitated another moment to be sure she had his attention before speaking again.

  “There’s a woman here to see you, Ray...a very young and very attractive woman. She insists on talking with you right away...says it’s urgent.” Every statement bore another question mark. Her voice was imploring. “Ray, who is she?”

  He threw on some clothes and descended the stairs to find a familiar redhead waiting in the foyer. He’d not seen her in a decade and a half, but she looked exactly as he remembered her. Unlike him and Lena, she’d not aged a day.

  “Hello, Terra,�
�� Ray said.

  “Hello, Ray.” she replied. “As you are surely already aware, there’s been a terrible accident. We must talk.” She glanced toward Lena, reminding Ray wordlessly that what they had to say to each other had to be private.

  “It’s OK, honey. This is business and it’s urgent. I’ll explain later.” He had no idea what he would tell her later. He would assure her that his relationship with Terra wasn’t romantic, but it would be all the harder to be convincing having made passionate love to another ravishing woman just hours before.

  Lena was already running Terra’s image through the Universal Data Base and came up empty. Terra was a ghost on the grid.

  “I know this was awkward,” Terra apologized once they were alone outside, “but given what’s happened, I figured I owed you an explanation face to face.”

  “Explain away, Terra. I’ve probably got lots more questions than you have answers.”

  “Nothing like this has ever happened before in the history of the program. We have so many safeguards and we’re constantly upgrading our security.” She hesitated, searching for words. Ray didn’t offer any help.

  “Someone hacked into our system. They found a vulnerability, accessed several of our clients through their MELD chips, and corrupted their perceptual fields with virtual scripts. When it first came to our attention, we could only monitor the scripts. It took a while before we found a way to terminate them. We stopped yours just in time. Another few seconds and we wouldn’t have gotten you back.”

  “What were they after?”

  “It’s not clear. But in each case, they created a scenario that was so terrifying that the subject’s heart stopped, triggering the exchange. When the...surrogates took over, the programmed scripts maintained their hold and the scenes played out. Until we regained control, we were unable to abort the exchange.”

  “It was that close?”

  “You were one of the lucky ones. We lost two other clients. Their surrogates were terminated virtually before we could get back in and their hearts stopped permanently.”

  “So they were trying to kill us all?”

  “We’re not sure. They may have been after one target and attacked the others as a diversion to keep us off balance. Any one of you could have been the primary target, or the program itself. Our technology is priceless. We have competitors hot on our trail.”

  “What happened to my surrogate after the exchange?”

  “His survival skills were strong. He managed to escape from the car after it sunk to the ocean floor, but he was shot while trying to swim to safety and was barely alive when we interrupted the script.”

  “And reversed the exchange?”

  “Yes, he’s back in his own body, at least for now. He’ll remember for a time what happened, but then it should fade and seem like a dream.”

  “What about the ones that didn’t make it?” asked Ray.

  “The exchanges had taken place, so our clients assumed their new lives when their surrogates...perished.”

  “So who were really the lucky ones?” wondered Ray. He’d tasted youth, power, perfection and the joy of an exceptionally sensual and energetic sexual partner. And he’d momentarily gone from being one of the most despised men on the planet to standing before an adoring throng. Did he really want to be back in an aging body leading a plodding life?

  “We are so very sorry this happened,” Terra continued. “We understand that what you’ve been through has been traumatic and...confusing. You’ve seen things that you weren’t supposed to see or know yet. And now you can’t unknow those things or forget where you’ve been.”

  “And if I want to go back?”

  “You know the rules. You’re not allowed to do anything to hasten your demise or the contract becomes void.” Terra moved a step closer and looked directly into his eyes. “And I’m sure that when you’ve had some time to think about it, it’s for the best that you’ve returned. It wasn’t yet your time...or his.”

  “You mean Marcus...Marcus Takana. That’s who I was...he is. That’s whose life I have to look forward to.”

  “You’d do best to forget that for now. Nothing good can come of dwelling on it,” said Terra. “Now I must go. I have lots of damage control to attend to.”

  When Ray returned to the house, Lena was sitting and waiting for him. She looked small and fragile in the oversized chair. He scoured her face, but her mouth formed a straight line without any hint of curvature that would signify either pleasure or displeasure. Her eyes were clear and followed him into the room. Her hands rested softly on the arms of the chair.

  “It’s not what you think,” he began.

  “I haven’t any idea what to think,” Lena replied, her voice as even as the line of her mouth. “Nothing’s made any sense since the morning began and I found you examining yourself in the mirror like a cadaver on a dissecting table.”

  Ray was almost relieved to hear the faint tremor in the last few words that hinted at the rage that she was struggling to contain.

  “Who the hell is she, Ray?” Lena exploded before he could get a word in. “Where did she come from? She’s not even in the UDB.”

  “Terra deals in...final arrangements. What happens after I die.” Ray stayed within the broad outlines of truth.

  “She doesn’t look like a funeral director,” Lena said. “More like a spy. Since when do funeral planners have emergencies?”

  “It’s not about my body,” Ray began straying from the truth. “She handles the future. You know our lives are complicated.”

  “You mean the money?”

  “That’s part of it. It’s important to plan ahead.” He had no idea where to go from there. It suddenly occurred to him that he should have bought a contract for Lena, too. He wondered what it would be like for them to reunite in youthful bodies. Would any tension that remained between them persist in their new incarnations or would the cynicism of age yield to the promise of youth and permit them a fresh start? More likely, they’d never meet in their new lives. And then there was Corinne…

  *****

  “Marcus?” Corinne said softly behind him. He turned to face her.

  “What are you doing? You’re acting so strangely. You haven’t been yourself since last night.”

  Marcus flushed from head to toe. He’d been unaware that she’d been watching him while his thoughts were in another world.

  “It’s a beautiful morning, sweetheart. It just feels good to be alive.”

  “No, Marcus. Things started getting weird last night...in bed.” Corinne scanned his body with her eyes, lingering a moment at his genitals. “You were so incredibly passionate,” she continued, “it was like we were making love for the first time.” She took a long breath. “But for just a moment I had the odd feeling that you were a stranger.”

  Marcus held his breath and felt his heart skip a beat. He was focused intently on her words.

  “And then, just before you came, your face screwed up like you were in excruciating pain and your whole body convulsed. It looked like you’d just been shot. After that you were gone, like I wasn’t even there anymore. You left me high and dry.”

  Marcus opened his mouth to begin an apology. Corinne placed a finger on his lips before any words could come out.

  “I was angry last night,” she said, “but this morning I’m just worried. I want my husband back. I need you to be OK.” For the second time in a matter of weeks, she feared she was losing him.

  Marcus’s thoughts returned to the night before. While he’d been lost in someone else’s nightmare, they’d been living his dream and making love to his wife. And she’d apparently enjoyed it. He felt the muscles tense in his temples and neck. Damn! It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Not just his body, but his life and everything he held dear. He’d always believed that Corinne was faithful. Now she’d been screwed by another man and she felt it even if she didn’t know it.

  That afternoon while he was on his daily run in the park, a woman ran up be
side him and kept pace. It was unusual for anyone to keep up with him. She was barely breaking a sweat when he caught his first look at her.

  “Hello, Terra,” Marcus said. “I was expecting you’d show up, given what happened.”

  “Hello, Marcus,” said Terra. “You’ve been next on my list.”

  “I want out,” blurted Marcus before she could say anything else. “I’ll give back the money. I just want my life back.” By now they’d stopped running and were standing by the side of the trail facing each other.

  “Which life, Marcus? The pathetic one you had when I found you or the one you’ve been enjoying for these past fifteen years?” She waited for her words to sink in. The corners of his mouth were twitching and tears welled in his eyes.

  “The money wasn’t a loan, Marcus. It was an investment in everything that’s changed in your life since the contract began. We...he owns you. You can’t turn back the clock and make it go away. If you could, there would be no knowledge, no fame or fortune, and definitely no Corinne. Your body would be slowly deteriorating in an inexorable crawl toward death. And the planet would probably still be overrun with HibernaTurf, growing hotter and more barren by the day.”