Project RM: Genesis, Peter Schoemann [rosie project txt] 📗

whispered, “Trust me, when you get to know me…you won’t be interested.”

“But…”

She giggled again. “Trust me. But now that you’re finally talking to me, you need to focus on the second thing: how to figure a way out of this mess.” She kissed him on the cheek and leaned back.

The professor reappeared at the bottom of the staircase. “So, how are my two lovebirds getting along?”

Joseph blushed, but was already planning their escape in his head. From the position of the sun, he knew they were continuing to travel east. Hopefully, they would keep to their current course. “Where are you taking us?”

“For now, we’re going to a small uncharted island far away from the Florida coast. The fallout shouldn’t reach us there. If it does, we have a well-stocked shelter. We can live there until we’re safely extracted.”

Joseph smiled. He knew their way out.

The professor reciprocated his smile. “I know you better than you know yourself. I watched the president’s address too, and I’m aware of his so-called naval quarantine. No, they won’t spot us, thanks to you.”

Joseph slumped.

“I’ve already tested your radar-jamming system. You should be proud. It works. Without their technology, they’ll never spot us in this vast ocean. We’ll sail through the largest gap in that blockade without anyone knowing we’re out here.”

Defeated, Joseph said, “And, to avoid detection from the air…”

“We’ll use that fun fog machine you designed last year.”

“Why didn’t you just fly us out?”

“Suffice it to say that would have been too risky. This boat was the safest means of escape. Besides, I’m just following my comrades’ orders.”

Joseph asked, “What are you, a Russian spy?”

“Da,” the professor said, smirking.

Joseph couldn’t speak or move.

“My parents emigrated from Russia to England in 1925. They taught me the value of communism. When I was old enough, I joined the party, then the KGB. My sole life assignment was to work with a few of my comrades to change the balance of brilliance between our two countries. Just like what our countries did to Germany at the end of the war.”

“You’re kidnapping us to change the balance of intelligence?”

“Something like that. Although, I’d prefer it if you’d come willingly. Just listen to what I’ve got to say.”

“What could you say that would make me want to turn on my country and become a slave?”

“You’ve been brainwashed. We’re not slaves. Unlike your so-called land of the free, where everyone is out for himself, in the Soviet Union we all work for the benefit of the whole. All abilities working together to satisfy all needs.”

“You can’t be serious,” Joseph said. “You and I both know none of that’s true.”

The professor shook his head. “Well, maybe this will convince you. Can you guess who works with me?”

He scoffed. “Who? My parents?”

“No. Hers.”

“What?” Joseph said, looking at Laurel. His mouth dropped open.

“That’s right. I know how you feel about her. If you play this right, she’s yours.”

“As much as I like him, no one owns me,” Laurel said, looking away from both of them. “Yes, my family’s from Russia.” Joseph felt as if the bottom had fallen out of his stomach. “No, I no longer believe what my parents believe from their comfortable home in Moscow.”

“Please, comrade. You’ve been on assignment in my class for the last two years. And you’ve done an impressive job. Mr. Solomon was going nowhere until we added you to the mix.”

Still in the fog of learning Laurel’s true identity, Joseph barely heard these last words. When he finally focused on them, his face flushed. He mumbled, “You knew from that ridiculous letter I’d written.”

“You mean that sweet letter to that girl. What was her name, Kelly? How you told her she motivated you to achieve great things and that you credited her with all of the opportunities you had.”

For the last two years, Joseph had tried to block the memory of the day he’d met the professor at his high school. He’d been too shy to talk to Kelly Johnson. Not only because she was a junior and he was a freshman, but also because she was beautiful and he…was a nobody. As silly as it sounded—even to himself—he had thought that if he could build the most amazing science fair project, she might like him. Joseph worked almost every hour outside of class. He barely slept, but in the end, he had presented a working computer the size of a desktop. Still too shy to talk to her after he’d won and even gained the interest of several prominent universities, he poured out his feelings in a letter. But before he could muster the courage to give it to her, Jason Berksen had snatched it and read it aloud to her and the rest of the lunchroom. Kelly and everyone else cracking up had almost sent Joseph running from the room. That is, until the professor—who had come to the school to interview Joseph for early admission to college—walked up to Jason, snatched the letter out of his hand, and stared the crowd down. It had ended their fun, but not before Joseph’s nervousness around the opposite sex had intensified into paralysis.

The professor said, “It’s all right. We don’t have to discuss the past. It’s painful. Yes? The point is we understand what motivates you. Since we included Ms. Lyons in our plans, you’ve really tapped into your potential.”

Joseph refused to meet Laurel’s gaze as she now pleaded with him. “It may have started that way, but it’s different now.” She turned to the professor. “He’s a genius, but there’s so much more to him that you don’t see. I’m done with this assignment.”

The professor scoffed, expelling the air loudly from his chest. Joseph didn’t know if he could trust her, but he saw an opportunity. “Don’t worry about it.” He smiled. “I don’t know what you see in me, but I’m glad you do. You’re no one’s possession.” Turning toward the professor, his expression again serious, he said. “I’ll go willingly.”

“I’m glad to