Ben Archer

by Rae Knightly

  Ben cleared his throat to come to the rescue. “Er…he was following us. Didn’t you notice?”

  Susan Pickering frowned at him angrily. “Was he now?” Then she sighed, adding, “Well, I don’t want to know. But since you’re here, might as well prove yourself useful. Help me carry this sick lady into the boat, would you?”

  Ben and Mesmo shot a glance at each other. The boy ran to Susan’s side, blurting, “I can help!”

  Ben and Susan struggled to pull a very weak Laura out of the car, then the three of them stumbled down to the pier while Mesmo watched from a distance. With some difficulty, they managed to place Laura on the back seat of the motorboat. Susan went back to her car to drive it into the shed, then closed and locked the door with a padlock.

  They all took a seat in the boat. Susan, who saw that Mesmo was not helping her by uncoupling the rope that held the boat to the pier, grumbled, “Men!” under her breath, before bringing the motorboat to life. Ben had to bite his lip to stop himself from grinning, while Mesmo stared at him in bewilderment.

  They headed off into the inlet, a bright, cold sun chasing away the night and the remaining clouds from last night’s storm. In spite of the low temperature, it was going to be a beautiful day. Susan had provided some thick blankets to keep Laura warm, which Ben struggled to keep in place as the wind tried to blow them away. All the while he couldn’t help gawking at Mesmo.

  Jeepers! This guy is some kind of phantom from outer space!

  He fought off the urge to laugh crazily and forgot that the sky had been weighing down on his shoulders only moments ago.

  They sped past one of the small islands, then approached another. Ben made sure he was out of earshot before mustering up the courage to sit near the alien, making sure not to touch him. He asked, “What is it like, where you come from?”

  Mesmo didn’t seem to mind the question. “It’s not that much different from this place,” he replied as he indicated the calm waters and surrounding mountains. “What I mean is, you’d have to fly at a very low altitude to realize that there was a whole city spread out under the forests, hills and snowy mountains. It is a very beautiful and…balanced…place. We have many laws to maintain this balance, we grow up with the deepest respect for them. Which is also why we do not have wars or hunger or suffering because we do not allow ourselves to experience strong, conflicting emotions like people on your planet.”

  He blinked as if realizing that Ben was wondering where all this was going. He cleared his throat, then continued, “Our lifespans are longer than Earth humans by about forty years. We have one sun and four moons. Our days last thirty-two hours. We have cities on the moons and in the oceans. We live where our skills are most useful. Our skills give us purpose in life.”

  Ben was intrigued and wanted to ask more questions, but Susan had turned around, gesturing for him to grab onto the rope. They were already slowing to a stop next to the wooden pier of a tree-filled island in the middle of the inlet.

  The chubby woman deftly maneuvered the motorboat next to another rustier one, which also lay docked there. A large patch of grass led to a fringe of tall fir trees. Ben could make out the shape of a log cabin tucked between them. It was quaint and inconspicuous.

  The perfect hiding place!

  “Where are we?” Ben asked.

  “Home,” Susan replied.

  “Oh…” Ben nodded, understanding why it had taken her so long to pick them up from The Bearded Bear Diner.

  With some effort, Susan and Ben managed to help Laura out of the boat. They dragged her to the cabin, with Susan muttering under her breath the whole way because Mesmo deliberately lagged behind. Ben had to suppress a nervous giggle again. If this woman found out that Mesmo wasn’t really there, but was some illusion or projected image, she would kick them into the inlet in a heartbeat!

  The cabin was surprisingly cozy. On the left was a small, functional kitchen with a white, countertop island, while on the right, a snug living room with an open fireplace. The walls and roof were made of logs, the floor was planked with wooden boards. Some sustaining logs crisscrossed the ceiling. Practically everything Ben laid his eyes on was made of wood, which gave the whole place a warm, camping-out-in-the-forest sort of feeling.

  Further in, Ben glimpsed a wooden dining table with four chairs, as Susan directed him through a door at the end of the living room which led to a bedroom with a large, thick mattress on an old bed frame. They placed Laura on top of it, and she moaned as she sank into the soft, plush duvet.

  No sooner was this done than Susan shooed Ben out of the room, ordering him to get the rest of the things from the boat. She did, however, allow Tike to stay quietly on the bed next to Laura. Ben did as he was told, then found he had nothing more to do but sit restlessly in the living room with Mesmo. An old cuckoo clock ticked loudly while they waited.

  Ben was glad to get another chance to interrogate the alien. “Where did you go last night?” he asked.

  Mesmo did not reply right away, as if pondering how much he should say. “Spirit travelling takes a lot of energy and concentration. Sometimes it is necessary for me to return to my physical body to regain strength.”

  Ben could tell that there was more to it than that, but since Mesmo offered no further explanation, he asked, “What about what you did with the rain puddle in the parking lot? And the boiling water? And the ice spikes on the rock? Those were real!” Ben insisted.

  Mesmo nodded. “My skill is not connected to my body. It is connected to my spirit. I take my skill with me when my spirit travels.”

  “You keep on talking about your skill. And last night you said ‘She gave you her skill.’ What did you mean by that?” Ben asked.

  Mesmo stared at him intently.

  “My skill is water,” he began carefully. “I can manipulate it in any way I choose. It’s a very useful tool on this planet and one of the reasons I was chosen for this mission. Bordock’s skill is shapeshifting. He can take on the shape of any being, though at a great cost in energy. Kaia–my daughter–her skill was…how would you say…” He searched for the word. “My daughter’s skill was translation. I was against her coming, but she knew how important she was to the mission. She would not back down.” His voice trailed off as he remembered.

  “Translation…?” Ben asked carefully, eager for an explanation.

  Mesmo ignored him and continued. “Bordock wanted to exterminate us, along with our skills, so we would not be able to complete our mission.” He stopped. “I don’t think he counted on my daughter leaving her skill with you.”

  Ben felt a chill run down his spine.

  I don’t want to talk about Bordock!

  “Wait a minute. You said your daughter’s skill was translation. What does that mean?”

  Mesmo searched for his words again. “Well, it’s when you understand different languages and can pass on meaning from one language to another so that different beings can communicate with each other.”

  Ben was utterly perplexed. “That doesn’t make sense. I don’t speak French or understand Japanese or anything like that.”

  Mesmo looked at him, amused, before answering. “Maybe not human languages. But languages from different species.”

  Ben continued to stare at him, confused.

  Mesmo added, “Those dogs who attacked Bordock in the parking lot–they understood you, didn’t they?”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Spirit Portal

  Ben sat opposite Mesmo in Susan Pickering’s living room, his mind bubbling with questions. Unfortunately, he did not get a chance to interrogate the alien further, as Susan appeared in the bedroom doorway. She glanced at them before busying herself in the kitchen. Within minutes she produced a peanut butter sandwich, which Ben accepted gratefully, although at this point he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

  “How is she?” Mesmo asked. Through a yawn, Ben still couldn’t understand how the alien could look so real.

  “Her fever is
high,” Susan stated, as she poured water into a kettle, then placed it on the stove. “I’ve given her something to bring down the temperature. All we can do is make her comfortable and wait for her immune system to kick in. Could be a couple of days.”

  “What about her asthma?” Ben blurted, his brain functioning in a haze.

  Susan glanced at him hastily. “Asthma?” When he nodded, she said, “What are you talking about, son?”

  “Last night,” he began, searching his memory, “she was looking for her asthma pump and couldn’t find it.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Ben caught the worried look that crossed Susan’s face.

  “What?” he asked fearfully. “We can get another one from the pharmacy, right?”

  Susan answered carefully. “We’ll see what we can do. Right now, young man, you’re going to take a hot shower and change out of those smelly clothes so I can give them a good wash.” She motioned for Ben to follow her up the stairs, where there was another big bedroom and bathroom across the narrow hall.

  “But,” Ben objected, following her. “I don’t have anything else to wear.”

  “Here,” she said, throwing a large, light blue shirt at him. It was obviously hers, so Ben blushed. Susan saw the look on his face, then scolded, “Come, there’s no one else here. You think he cares?” She gestured down at Mesmo who was still in the kitchen observing the boiling water in the kettle. “Towels are in the bathroom,” she added, heading down again.

  “Wait!” Ben called after her. She stopped midstride. “I still don’t know who you are! I mean, why are you helping us?”

  She turned back to face him. “I’m a witness, like you.” She said, staring meaningfully at him. “I had a small cabin in the woods in Chilliwack, not far from your grandfather’s house. Used to go there whenever I could, to clear my mind. I was a nurse at the Children’s Hospital, you see. Tough place.” She paused. “I was in my cabin, on the night of The Cosmic Fall. I heard the explosions in the forest, called 911, then ran with my first aid kit to see if anyone was injured.”

  She looked down at Mesmo, “That’s when I saw you, your…‘companion’…and the spaceships… I knew instinctively I wasn’t supposed to be there. Ran back to my cabin as though the hounds of hell were after me! I was terrified, I don’t mind saying. Didn’t take long for the helicopters and police to arrive. Then later the military. The area turned into a war zone! They brought me in for questioning, along with other witnesses, including your grandfather.”

  She stayed lost in thought for a while. “I guess they thought we might have been in collusion with the aliens, or infected with some extraterrestrial disease, or, worse still, that we were actually little green men in disguise…” Her voice raised in anger as she spoke, so she sucked in air to calm down, then added, “Let’s just say your grandfather was a very resourceful man. He managed to contact the Human Rights Commission, and suddenly we were released, a full three weeks later, when the news had died down at last! We thought we were free, but the police watched our every move like hawks. They bugged our phones. I even found hidden cameras in my elder son’s home. They were so afraid we would talk. It was because of the Chinese and the Americans, you see. They’re all involved in this, they all want to know the truth…”

  She glared down at Mesmo. “Anyway, to make a long story short, Ryan Archer offered me a chance to slip away and lay low for a while, away from prying eyes. So I took it, even though it meant not seeing my sons again.” After a silence, she finished, “I’ve been living here ever since.”

  She headed down the stairs. "I know you were there, too, Ben. Fortunately for you, they never found out. Your grandfather made sure of that. He made me promise, if you were ever in trouble, to help you. So that’s what I’m doing."

  ***

  Ben couldn’t remember falling asleep. When he opened his eyes, he was snug in bed in the upstairs room. After listening for sounds and not hearing anything, he tiptoed downstairs. He checked in with his mother, finding her fast asleep, with Tike stretched out next to her, guarding her. The dog opened a sleepy eye, then hopped off the bed excitedly. He rolled on the living-room floor happily, expecting a tummy rub, which Ben obliged to. Tike then pulled at Susan’s large t-shirt playfully.

  “Are you laughing at me?” Ben teased, chasing after the dog. He headed to the kitchen, grabbed an apple and was taking a bite when he saw the note. “Getting groceries. Your clothes are in the dryer. Susan.”

  Ben peeked outside, realizing it was still light. While munching on the apple, he found the dryer with his and his mother’s clothes clean and warm inside. He pulled on his jeans, the apple caught between his teeth, then folded his mother’s clothes as best he could before placing them neatly on her bed. He stood by her side for a while, noticing that her breathing was short. He wiped her face gently with a cold, wet cloth, then stroked her hand. She did not wake up. He roamed in and out of the house looking for Mesmo, Tike at his heels, but the alien was nowhere to be seen.

  Susan came back around 4 p.m., the motorboat full of groceries. She put him to work, carrying bags, putting away food in the fridge, boiling water in the kettle, making tea, cutting vegetables and setting the table. Although the woman was bossy, Ben was happy for the distraction.

  Soon the house smelled of hot vegetable soup and oven-baked chicken with mushrooms. Ben’s stomach rumbled. Susan made a tray with fresh bread, soup, some chicken and tea, which she brought to Laura’s bedside. With difficulty, they managed to prop up her head on a thick pillow so she could take a couple sips. She was so frail that she could not handle the bread or chicken. She tried to give Ben a reassuring smile, though the dark circles around her eyes told another story.

  Susan and Ben sat down for supper silently. Digging hungrily into his food, Ben asked, “Were you able to get her inhaler? I couldn’t find it in the grocery bags.”

  Susan glanced at him. “No, son. Asthma inhalers require a doctor’s prescription, which we can’t get at the moment.”

  Ben’s shoulders drooped as he stared at his soup.

  “She’ll be fine,” Susan said sternly. “Let her fight this. She’s strong enough.” She must have noticed he wasn’t convinced, because she added, “Asthma inhalers aren’t a cure for influenza, son.” She gestured towards his plate: “Eat! It won’t do her any good if you fall sick too.”

  Her words stuck in his mind, so he forced himself to eat, even though his throat was tight. He noted that she did not ask about Mesmo or why he wasn’t around anymore.

  ***

  On the third day, Laura’s fever still had not broken and her skin was whiter than the bedsheets. Susan watched her until deep into the night. Ben took over during the day while Susan tried to catch up on sleep, but the truth was Ben was not sleeping much either. He was beside himself with worry. He had already tried to convince Susan several times to take his mother to the doctor. She tried to reassure him, telling him that she was monitoring Laura’s temperature closely, and reminding him that going to a doctor or hospital was too risky.

  Ben sulked at the edge of the water where he sat down, staring dismally at his feet as they dangled from the pier. He touched his watch unconsciously.

  Grampa, I wish you were here…

  He was so deep in thought that he did not notice Mesmo poised on the lawn, gazing out at sea, his face turned towards the sunshine, like a flower that had been placed in the shadow for too long. Tike went to greet him, inviting him down to the pier. The tall man followed the dog, then bent down next to Ben. The boy sniffled and wiped his eyes as he turned away. Then he said angrily, "Where have you been?"

  Mesmo rested his arms on his knees. “I told you,” he began carefully. “I can’t be away from my physical body for too long.”

  “Well, why don’t you bring your body over here next time?” Ben snapped.

  “It’s not that simple,” Mesmo said.

  “I don’t get it,” Ben insisted. “Why are you here sometimes, and sometimes you’re n
ot?”

  Mesmo replied gently, “That kind of depends on you.”

  Ben stared at him, confused, then saw that Mesmo was pointing at his wristwatch. “Do you remember when Kaia gave this to you?” Mesmo asked, indicating the tiny, glittering gem at the centre of the watch. “I guess your grandfather had it placed in this watch for you. You used it unknowingly for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I was in South America then. I felt it call me. I thought it was Kaia! I immediately boarded a plane to Toronto by using the identity of Jack Anderson.” He paused, gazing into the distance. “I had hoped that, somehow, Kaia had survived and was calling to me. That was the only logical explanation. Then I reached your grandfather’s funeral, and found out it was you, all along…”

  He fell silent, so Ben had to push him on. “Me, all along, who did...what?”

  Mesmo looked at him with his honey-coloured eyes, “…you, who was calling me…” He pointed at the watch again. “…with this.”

  They both stared at the shimmering diamond-like stone.

  Mesmo explained, “You could call it a spirit portal. It’s a device that, when activated, allows my spirit to travel to it. When you touch the device and call me with your mind, I will hear the call and can then decide whether or not I wish to travel to you in spirit. A human from Earth could not activate it, but I guess you are more than a normal Earth human now...”

  Ben decided to ignore a quiver in the pit of his stomach and studied the shiny gem instead. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “My mom’s not getting any better. I know she needs her asthma pump. I’m sure she has a spare one at home. All we need to do is sneak into the apartment. I know where she would have kept it…”