Shelby and Shauna Kitt and the Dimensional Holes. P. H. C. Marchesi
don’t believe what I’m hearing,” said the president. “These are kids – kids can’t really do anything!”
“I believe your view is inaccurate,” said Lendox. “Our mission will not succeed without them – especially these next two.”
Lendox clicked the pen again, and the faces of a boy and girl appeared side-by-side in the middle of the room. The boy had curly dark brown hair, and vibrant blue eyes. The girl looked as if she were his exact opposite: her dark eyes shone brightly against the light brown, straight hair falling on her shoulders.
“Meet Shelby and Shauna Kitt,” said Lendox. “They are 13, and they live in New York City.”
“They’re twins?” asked Marina, mildly amazed. “I would have never guessed that.”
“What’s so special about them?” asked the president, unimpressed by the two goofy faces hovering in the middle of the oval office.
“Although they are not aware of it,” said Lendox, “together they have the highest individual concentration of positive energy on this planet.”
“How’s that possible?” asked the president, sounding slightly more impressed. “They look absolutely normal!”
“I am sure they are normal,” said Lendox, smiling. “They probably have no idea how unique they are.”
“What makes you think their parents will be willing to part with them?” asked the president, crossing his arms skeptically.
“Lendox will go speak to their parents,” said Astrax. “They are more likely to understand the importance of the matter if they meet a mirian.”
The president took a deep breath, and then gave Astrax a reluctant nod.
“All right,” he said. “But I would like Ms. Gibbs to go with him. If our governments are supposed to be working together, they might as well start now.”
“Very well,” the mirian consul replied. “It may be good to have her there. I have heard human children can be difficult.”
“They’re teenagers,” said Marina, chuckling. “They can be even more difficult.”
Astrax ignored Marina’s comment, and Marina decided that she definitely did not like the consul much.
“I shall return to Miriax,” Astrax announced. “Lendox will remain here to help you get started. May the universe enlighten us.”
Without waiting for a reply, Astrax bowed slightly, touched her bracelet, and was promptly sucked into her roomix right before their eyes. The shining sphere remained on the floor for a second, until it disappeared amidst a trail of emerald dust that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
“How soon can the two of you get to New York?” the president asked, turning to the vice consul and the aerospace engineer.
“If Marina does not mind leaving now, we can be there very soon,” replied Lendox.
A smile spread through Marina’s face. “What are we waiting for?”
“To New York, then,” said Lendox, taking her hand in his once more. “It is time to meet Shelby and Shauna Kitt.”
The Twins
Earlier that day, the world still seemed exactly the same to Shauna as she ran through one of the empty corridors of the Lamont Middle School building.
“Give it back!” she yelled, with as much determination as she could muster.
Tommy Clark, the biggest thirteen year-old bully in school, stopped and waved her notebook above his thick, red hair. Next to him stood Jesse Olsen, Tommy’s inseparable thug. Jesse was a sweaty, chubby boy who – whether on purpose or not – could not help spitting whenever he said anything. Shauna glared at both of them, and took a tentative step forward.
“What are you gonna do?” Tommy asked, grinning. “Call your brother?”
“I can take care of myself,” she said, trying to sound confident even as her eyes scanned the corridor for any sign of Shelby, who had gone back to the classroom for a book he had forgotten.
“Yeah, where’s your freaky brother now?” gurgled Jesse, enjoying his moment in the spotlight.
“He’s not a freak,” snapped Shauna, stamping so hard on Jesse’s foot that he spat in surprise. She tried to dash past Tommy, but he grabbed her roughly by the shoulder.
“Anyone who hangs out with his sister is a freak,” he yelled, angrily shaking her. “You’re both freaks! You think you can come to my school, and not pay me my protection fee?”
Shauna could have said that neither she nor Shelby had any money, but she knew it would not make any difference. What Tommy really wanted was to bully anyone he could – the money was just an excuse.
On that thought, Shauna decided she needed a more radical approach.
“Here’s your fee!” she cried, biting his hand as hard as she could.
Tommy cursed, losing the grip on her shoulder. Shauna was free – or at least she thought she was, but Tommy grabbed her hair with his other hand, and yanked her back. Now she really was in trouble.
“Leave her alone!” shouted a voice from the end of the corridor. It was Shelby, who had just turned the corner, and was marching in their direction, his eyes bright with indignation.
“What are you looking for, freak?” yelled Tommy, still hanging on to the scrambling Shauna. “This other freak here?”
Shelby’s cheeks flushed with anger, and he ran straight at Tommy, who never even had time to step aside before finding himself on the floor with a bloody nose.
“I warned you,” Shelby said, staring so intensely at him that Tommy, for the first time in that school, actually felt afraid.
“Get him, Jesse!” he whined, holding his bleeding nose.
Before Jesse could count to three – if he could count to three, that is – Shauna stamped on his sore foot again.
“Who’s the freak now?” she cried, as Jesse hopped around on one foot.
“Awesome, Shauna!” cried Shelby, giving his sister a high-five. No one messed with the Kitts. If you messed with one, you had to deal with both. Hopefully, Tommy and Jesse would remember that.
As Shauna scooped up her notebook from the floor, a shrill voice echoed through the corridor – it was Ms. Mould, the headmistress, who had just turned the corner and seen them.
“What is going on here?” she trilled harshly, the heels of her shoes echoing unpleasantly as she flustered forward.
“He broke my nose!” Tommy screamed.
“They started it!” Shelby shouted, defensively.
Tommy’s statement seemed to make a bigger impression on Ms. Mould, who had disliked the twins ever since their transfer from a school in Chicago a few months earlier. When the mother came in with them on the first day, Ms. Mould stared at Fran’s flowing hair and dark eyes, thinking that no regular mother should look that good. Every time she saw either twin, Ms. Mould still felt a pang of envy: the boy had Fran Kitt’s dark, unruly hair, and the girl had inherited those impossibly bright, black eyes.
Something else had bothered Ms. Mould on that first interview: the three of them struck her as far too happy for people in their horrible financial situation. Why were they not miserable, as was to be expected? Ms. Mould often replayed their first encounter in her head: she did not know why they had bothered to come in for a meeting, since she had already determined that there were no vacancies in her school. Their mother, however, had insisted on coming in and introducing herself and her children. As they sat there, in front of her, Ms. Mould suddenly felt unreasonably generous, and decided to let them enroll. What could