Doppelganger Girl Read online

  DOPPELGÄNGER GIRL

  STARGAZER SERIES – BOOK 2

  T.R. WOODMAN

  BEAUTIFUL

  The lake shimmered like shards of glass in the sun. It was enormous, but the water was strangely calm, and she felt like she could cast a stone into it from the shore and watch the ripples roll out for miles.

  She knelt, letting the tips of her fingers touch the cool clear water, feeling the ever-so-subtle shift in the water rise over her fingernail and then fall back down to the tip. She pushed her fingers deeper into the water, touching the salt-white sand, and noticed the flecks of black, as if someone had sprinkled pepper in it. The sand felt coarse, sharp against her skin. She pushed her fingers deeper, packing the cool, heavy wetness of the sand into her palms, squeezing, and looked out into the water.

  Quickly the shore fell away, disappearing into the blue and then blackness of the lake, and she could see the twinkling movements deep within its darkness. Not a second later, thousands of tiny, almost-transparent fish came to greet their strange visitor. They swirled around her hands for a moment and then, perhaps tiring of the novelty of their ten-fingered guest, left just as quickly.

  Waving her sandy hands in the cool water and then shaking them gently, she stood, turning to look behind her.

  The plains stretched out lazily for miles—fifty miles or so by her estimation—and while she couldn’t see where the plains ended and the forest on the other side began, she could most certainly see the mountains beyond. At such a distance, they looked like someone had painted them on the side of a great wall, leaving them to bleach in the sun until they were little more than a fading memory. The mountains were tall, with the one in the center soaring over forty thousand feet into the icy pale grayness above. Even so far away, it was intimidating, and she couldn’t help but feel that if the mountain ever toppled over, it would crush everyone who dared to look at it, purely out of spite.

  She had never seen anything so breathtaking anywhere on Earth. But then again, this wasn’t Earth.

  “Evelyn, will you hurry up?”

  Evelyn turned away from her mountain, glancing over her shoulder at the interrupter of her moment, returning her gaze quickly to the granite monolith on the horizon.

  “Yeah … coming,” she replied under her breath, almost out of respect, as if the mountain might be listening, disturbed by her—the intruder.

  “We have a lot to unload here,” the interrupter said, breaking the silence again.

  Evelyn shook her head and turned to walk across the sand.

  “I said I’m coming, Jane,” she barked, annoyed at losing the last bit of her fleeting moment. “Give me a break, will ya? I’m sixteen years old, and I’ve spent a grand total of twenty-seven minutes standing on actual land.”

  Glancing up at Jane, Evelyn could see the glare soften in her eyes. Jane set down the crate she was holding, the thin corded muscles in her shoulders and biceps relaxing enough as she did that they no longer looked like tension cables.

  “Right,” Jane said, smiling and chuckling. “Forgot about that.”

  Evelyn watched Jane turn and disappear up the ramp into the belly of the shuttle, reappearing a few seconds later with another crate just as big as the first.

  “Tell you what,” Jane started, dropping the crate with a sigh. “Help me out with the smaller stuff before it gets too hot out here. Then we’ll take a break and go for a swim … That’s something else you’ve never done,” she added with a mischievous grin.

  “Right,” Evelyn said, a smile flickering on her lips. She knew that going for a swim would be too dangerous, no matter how refreshing the lake looked. They knew nothing about what might be lurking in those waters, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment.

  “Great idea, sis,” Evelyn said, following Jane up the ramp. Stepping to the top, her eyes quickly adjusted from the unfiltered brightness outside, and she watched Jane grab another of the large crates full of supplies for their camp. The muscles in Jane’s shoulders and arms rippled, and Evelyn couldn’t help but admire her older sister. Six years on a floating space boat eating mostly manufactured food hadn’t affected her at all. She was still beautiful and probably fitter than when they left Earth.

  Evelyn reached to pick up a smaller crate, looked down at her own biceps, and was quickly disappointed. They may have shared the same DNA, but Jane was obviously putting it to better use than she was. I’ll have to work on these, Evelyn thought, flapping her elbow and looking for a hint of tone in her arm. Frustrated and shaking her head, she walked back down the ramp with her box.

  “Are you really sixteen, Evie?” Jane asked, setting her crate down.

  “Yup, sixteen … or somewhere close to it,” Evelyn replied.

  Jane put her hands on her hips and furrowed her brow. “Close to sixteen … you don’t know for sure?”

  “Well, not really,” she added, shrugging her shoulders and setting down her box. “Biologically speaking, I’m sixteen. But I guess technically, my body is only eight, because my tissues grew to about nine years old in the first year. You know that expression about growin’ like a weed? Well, that was definitely me. But, yeah, biologically, I’m about sixteen.”

  Jane quickly put her hands to her mouth. “My God, Evie. I just realized we’ve never celebrated a birthday for you. I don’t even know when it is!”

  Evelyn giggled and turned to walk back up the ramp into the shuttle. “That’s okay, Jane. Don’t feel bad. I don’t really have one,” she said over her shoulder, and as soon as she did, a shudder flitted up her spine. It was another reminder that she wasn’t like everyone else. She glanced down at the boxes, and felt as if the coolness of the metal floor had crept up her legs into her chest.

  Jane jogged up the ramp, and Evelyn heard her footsteps halt. “Evie?”

  Evelyn clenched her jaw. Not wanting to linger on the moment any longer than she had to, she picked up the box and tried to take a wide loop around the bay. “Just forget it, Jane. It’s okay.”

  As Evie tried to scoot around her, Jane grabbed her arm. “No, Evie …” she started as she stepped in front of her. Though she was only two inches taller—another flaw Evelyn knew would be corrected in due time—Jane knelt slightly to look her in the eye. “It’s not okay. Sometimes I forget you’re different—”

  “Yeah … but I’m reminded of it every day,” Evelyn interrupted, tucking the small box under her arm, refusing to look her sister in the eye.

  “Oh …” Jane sighed, letting go of her arm. “I get it.”

  Relieved to be free, Evelyn gave her a half-hearted smile and walked down the ramp with her box.

  “Well,” Jane called down after her, “there’s one way to fix this … We need to pick out a birthday for you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Jane,” Evelyn said, rolling her eyes.

  “No, really … how about today?”

  “Well, that’s a little arbitrary, isn’t it?”

  “Not really. It’s a special day … It’s the day we arrived here …” Jane waved her arms around, gesturing to the open spaces around her “… It’s the day we arrived at the planet you found for us. Why not make today your birthday? What day is it anyway?”

  “Jane, we’re not on Earth anymore. Our days are a little longer on this planet … Our year is a little longer … We don’t have the same number of days in a month or months in a year …”

  Jane crossed her arms and cocked her eyebrow, obviously not appreciating Evelyn’s explanation.

  “It’s June first.”

  “Great,” Jane said, relaxing her arms and smiling. “There you go. June first is your birthday. Today is your sixteenth birthday.”

  “Can I be seventeen?”

  “No, you can’t. Sixteen it
is.”

  “Great, another year of hormones.”

  “Trust me, I’m doing you a favor. One day you’ll be glad to be a year younger. Plus, you really don’t want to miss your sweet sixteen. And what are you talking about … hormones? You have the clearest complexion I’ve ever seen.”

  “Jane, my body went from zero to nine in a year, just in time for a training bra and puberty. I’m going to be seventeen—”

  “Sixteen, Evie,” Jane corrected.

  “Okay, fine. I’m going to be sixteen—today. I haven’t known anything but hormones.”

  Jane nodded, curling her lip. “Yeah, I get your point, but today we can celebrate your sixteenth birthday … and I’m sorry we missed the others … really, Evie.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And you know, being different isn’t so bad. If you weren’t different, you never would have found this place for us. You never would have made it possible for us to travel here … Geez, Evie, if it weren’t for you, all the colonists up on Vista would have died before we even had the chance to leave Earth. Millions of people owe their lives to you.”

  “Let’s not go overboard here. Hundreds of people, maybe. Not millions.”

  “No, Evie … millions. We’re going back at some point … to bring people here. Maybe millions will come … you never know. And it wouldn’t be possible if you weren’t different. You’re brilliant. You’re beautiful—”

  “Jane, we have the same DNA.”

  “Like I said … beautiful,” Jane added, emphasizing the word again with a grin.

  Evelyn blushed.

  “Just remember, you’re different, but you’re perfect just the way you are.”

  “Thanks, Jane.”

  “Hey, what are sisters for?” Jane added with a shrug of her shoulders. A moment passed, and Jane scooted around to grab her around the shoulder, leading Evelyn down to the water. “So, to celebrate your sweet sixteen, let’s go for a swim.”

  “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  “Yes, it is. You’re thinking too much.”

  “That’s usually the case,” Evelyn mumbled to herself.

  Letting go of Evelyn, Jane walked down to the edge of the water and stripped off her clothes down to her underwear, gently tossing them up the beach. Evelyn looked at her sister’s perfectly toned body as she waded into the cool water, and then watched her disappear into a ring of ripples as she dove into the lake. Well, eight more years until I’m twenty-four, she thought. With genes like that, I guess I have something to look forward to.

  “Come on, Evie,” Jane said, coming up for air a good ten yards out from the shore.

  Evelyn walked down to the edge of the water and, less confidently than her older sister, peeled off her own clothes, tossing them next to Jane’s. She blushed, wondering why she felt embarrassed to be in her underwear on a planet with almost zero people on it, but she couldn’t help herself.

  Quickly Evelyn waded into the water and was surprised at how comfortable it was on the surface. The beach underneath fell away even faster than she thought it would, and she quickly realized that the water temperature underneath got cold fast. In seconds, she was treading out to where Jane was floating on her back, trying to keep her feet from dipping too far down into the darkness underneath.

  Evelyn felt another shudder run up her spine, but she didn’t know if it was from the chill of the water or the fact that she could no longer see anything deeper than a few feet below her toes; she still wasn’t sure what might be down there. Keeping her head above the surface, Evelyn swam out further.

  “You sure you haven’t been swimming before?” Jane asked, obviously offering her a compliment, given she already knew the answer.

  “I’m a quick learner. It’s one of the few benefits of being me,” Evelyn replied with a nervous smile, her teeth starting to chatter at the chill. “But let’s go back in closer to the shore.”

  “Just relax, Evie. We’re fine. Float out here with me for a minute, and then we’ll go back if you want.”

  Jane pulled her head back again, letting her body float to the surface. Shaking her head, Evelyn did the same, trying not to think about what might be below her. As her body came to the surface, she closed her eyes and felt the warmth of the sun on her cool skin, the feeling giving her goose bumps. She breathed deeply, gently moving her hands and feet to stay in place, and she felt her skin relax as the sun continued to warm her body. Maybe I can get used to this, she thought.

  Not a second later, something brushed her arm.

  Evelyn’s scream was muffled as her head sank under the surface. She felt her chest constrict as she pulled up, spitting out a mouthful of lake water. Shaking the water from her face, she heard breaking branches behind her. Jerking her head around, she looked into the trees flanking the northern edge of the lake and then just as quickly started looking down, hoping not to see anything slithering through the water.

  “Geez, Evie … a little jumpy?” Jane asked.

  Evelyn whipped around to see her sister grinning at her not two feet away.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Jane added.

  “I felt something in the water and heard something in the trees,” Evelyn said, wiping water out of her eyes with her fingers.

  “Yeah, I know. I touched your arm,” Jane said, turning and swimming toward the shore. “Come on, Evie. We better get back or the boys are going to catch us.”

  EXPOSED

  The sand underfoot was fine, but the burrs and scrub beyond it dug into Evelyn’s heels as she scrambled toward the shuttle’s ramp.

  “Great idea to go swimming, Jane,” Evelyn said dryly, stepping lightly to the top of the ramp and dropping her clothes on the floor of the bay.

  “I didn’t know they were coming back so soon,” Jane replied with a hint of irritation in her voice, though Evelyn couldn’t tell if it was because their swim was interrupted or because Evelyn was giving her a hard time about it.

  “Well, they are,” Evelyn said, watching her sister peel off her wet clothes as she tried to do the same, though with far less grace.

  Neither of them had dried off any more than the breeze between the shore and the shuttle allowed, and the combination of cold, wet underwear and sand against her clammy skin was one of the worst sensations Evelyn had ever felt. Another first, she thought to herself, noting that on the whole, her first time swimming had been a total bust.

  “Jane, Evie,” she heard from just outside the shuttle.

  Jane quickly pulled up her shorts and whipped her shirt over her head. “In here, Marcus,” she replied, giving Evelyn a mischievous smile.

  Evelyn’s eyes went wide. Realizing her time was up, she buttoned her shorts and tugged her shirt down over her head, trying desperately get her wet arms through the sleeves. Pulling it down more in the front than the back, and unable to locate her underwear, she snatched her bra off the floor and tucked it behind her just as the boys turned up the ramp.

  “How was your swim, girls?” Marcus asked, sauntering up the ramp with a grin and laugh. He paused a moment at the top to look at Jane. “Looks like the water might have been a little chilly,” he added, a smirk creeping across his chiseled jaw, and a sparkle in his gray-blue eyes.

  “Pig,” Jane said, crossing her arms over her chest and raising a disapproving eyebrow at him.

  Evelyn felt the blood rush into her face, and even in the dimly lit bay of the shuttle, she was sure everyone could see her blushing. She quickly crossed her arms across her chest, fumbling with her bra and trying to hide it somewhere in her armpit.

  A boy stepped from behind Marcus, tucking his hands in his pockets. “Hey, Evie.”

  “Hey, Joseph,” Evelyn replied, casting a look back and forth between the two intruders.

  “You’re just lucky we caught you and not a hundred colonists … who will be here any minute, I might add.” Marcus turned to walk back down the ramp, and with a flip of his hand, almost singing, he added, “And all yo
u had to do was say ‘wait.’”

  Jane laughed and winked at Evelyn. Grabbing her sweatshirt off a jump seat in the bay, she put it on and zipped it up. “So, did you and Marcus find what you were looking for?” she asked, coming over and combing his hair away from his face with her fingertips.

  Joseph grinned, brushing his own fingers through his dark hair like a reflex. At sixteen, he already had a couple inches on Jane and probably still had a couple more inches in him. His hair was always a mess, and he was forever having to brush it away from his mossy-green eyes. Ever since Evelyn first met him in the orphanage, his hair had been a mess. And in the six years they had spent together on the space station Vista, his hair had always been a mess. But the funny thing about it was that no matter how disheveled he looked, Evelyn still thought he was cute. His hair could be sticking straight up like the comb on a rooster and she was sure she’d still find it charming.

  Jane had done a great job taking care of Joseph, acting as his mom after they had all escaped from Earth, but now, with Joseph sixteen and Jane barely twenty-four, he was too old and she was too young for the mom-son relationship to stick. She still treated him like a brother, though, and never missed a chance to tussle his hair. Most of the time, Evelyn got a laugh out of it, but with sand in places it had no right being, a wet T-shirt, her bra on the wrong side of her shirt, and her underwear missing in action, Evelyn was too worried she might reveal more than a blush if she laughed.

  Taking her eyes off Jane and Joseph, Evelyn scooted to the back of the bay, looking for something else to wear.

  “The beacon Evie had Marcus leave in the forest was exactly where he left it two years ago,” Joseph replied. “It seems like it’s okay too.”

  “Well, that’s great news,” Jane said, a note of sarcasm in her voice. “What exactly does it do, Evie?”

  Relieved to find her sweatshirt, Evelyn put it on quickly and came back around the crates. “Oh, that?” she said, remembering the bra in her hand and stuffing it into her pocket. “It records environmental changes. You know, things like temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, the length of days and seasons, the levels of inert and toxic gasses in the air … tremors. Most of those things we couldn’t track from Vista on our approach, so having the sensor here made it possible to relay the information back.”