1: Welcome Back
“Ed you can’t be you. You’re dead! I was there when they killed you. That night in Orlando … it’s haunted me ever since... You’re not Ed! ED IS DEAD! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?” I stared into his eyes, and then spoke softly, “But you are you… You are Ed.” The not natural looking red hair, the goofy John Lennon wire glasses, the tender eyes: this was Ed. My face grew hot. I screamed, “How dare you not die and not tell me!” “Victoria, I…” I interrupted, “Ed, why couldn’t you tell me you weren’t dead? How did you survive? How . you be here, on this side of the planet?” I started beating my fists on his chest. “I hate you, dammit! Why can’t you leave me alone?” Ed caught my fists and wrapped his arms around me. I moaned, “I love you…so very much,” I put my arms around him, my ear to his chest. “God how I missed you,” he said. “Tell me how you escaped. Whose body did they find?” Ed flashed the smile I remembered so well. “Hold onto your britches, girl.” He softly stroked my hair. “They killed Shrieese; I thought they killed all four of you. If you recall, we all left in a big hurry. You didn’t tell me where you were either. I couldn’t have told you I wasn’t dead, even if I tried.” I kissed his neck and I held him firmly. A wet spot appeared on his shirt, my tears. He bent down and whispered into my ear, “So, are you going to take the job or not?” No job had been offered. “Job?” I stepped back put my hands on my hips, “You know how it worked out last time I accepted a job from you. This time you tell me what I’ll be doing, why I’ll be doing it, and who I’ll
The Legacy of Venus
be doing it to.” I threw my arms around him again. “Couldn’t you tell me you survived?” “‘Who you’ll be doing it to?’ What a strange question— coming from you.” “Yeah, maybe I’ll do it to you if you don’t watch out.” I snickered. His brows knitted together, “Dr. Victoria Campos, I have the artifact from Venus which everyone’s being killed over. You will move here to Beijing. The People’s Republic needs your resourceful methods, and it’s the only place you’ll be safe.” Dr. Ed Mitchell disappeared from my life years ago, and then reappeared as Dr. Vladimir Orlov two years later. Pretending to be an illustrious Russian scientist, he was killed— so I thought—when his apartment in Orlando exploded. I was there minutes before, as were Shrieese, Gladys, and Ana. Now over a year later, Shrieese is dead and Gladys, Ana, and I are hiding. Ed is alive, here in Beijing, using the name Dr. Xiang and once again offering me a job. “How did you get out of Orlando?” I ran my fingers across the smooth surface of his ID badge, beneath his photo and name. “Wh-who bombed your apartment?” “It is a long story,” he said. “We need to talk, but not here.” I took a deep breath and said, “Do you really have it—you have the cube?” Was it possible? All business again, he blotted his shirt with his handkerchief and said, “Please go back to your American friends and finish your tour of Beijing.” Just like that? How could he dismiss me so brusquely? Hello, embrace, and I’m gone? What gives?
4
Welcome Back
“Ed, I…? “Young lady, my name is Dr. Xiang,” he said, tapping his badge. “The Peoples Republic of China has issued you an apartment. It will be the finest place you ever lived and near the laboratory. Finish your tour today, see your friends off in the morning, and Saturday we can hike the Great Wall, just you and me. I’ll tell you about your new life and mine too, and show you the apartment. If, after what you see—if you still want to go back to Nassau, I will make sure you get there.” For several minutes my mind raced at the possibilities. Without another word, I dialed my traveling companion, Gladys Ewing, also a survivor of Orlando. “Gladys, where are you? I’m ready to meet with y’all now.” “Well, that didn’t take long, Victor. Did you tour the lab?” Victor? Me? Yes, I am Victor, a frizzy-haired, five-foot-tall, one-hundred-pound Cuban American female. Victor is short for Victoria. In fourth grade I passed as a boy on the local baseball team. I was tiny, fast, a great hitter, and frankly, the best outfielder the guys ever had. As long as nobody else knew I was a girl, they wanted me on their team. My big brother was the first to call me “Victor.” He was being mean, but the name stuck, and I loved it. The guys kept my gender a secret into puberty, but there comes a time when a girl…. “I’ll drive.” Ed took my elbow and guided me out of the lab. “It has been a long time since I’ve seen Gladys. I’d love to show you Beijing like you’d never see it on your own…Uh, that is if Gladys can forgive me for not being dead.” She forgave him. The three of us had a fun afternoon discovering the hidden depths of the ancient city and celebrated well into the evening.