by Rae Knightly
Mesmo held up his hand. “Ben, listen to me.” His eyes were unreadable as he said slowly, “I came to tell you that I can help you no further.”
Ben shook his head as if to get rid of his words. “No, it’s ok. I’ve got it all figured out. You see all we have to do is…”
“Ben!” Mesmo interrupted. The boy stopped in mid-sentence with his mouth open. Mesmo repeated more insistently, “I only came to make sure that you were safe. But I can’t help you any longer.”
Ben stared at him, incredulous. “Yes, you can! Of course, you can. You’ve got all those powers. You’ve helped before. Why wouldn’t you help us now?”
When the white-haired man answered by remaining silent, Ben stood up hastily, casting him a furious look. “Well, go on then!” he yelled, tears flowing down his cheeks. “Do your disappearing trick! You’re so good at that! See if I care! My mom and I, we’ve gotten by fine without you before. It’s not like we need you now!”
He ran to the cabin, Tike close at his heels, ignoring Susan who had been observing them from afar. She dried her hands on her apron, glaring at Mesmo, before heading back inside.
***
That night Ben snuck into bed early without talking to anyone.
Susan finished cleaning up the kitchen when she noticed Mesmo in the doorway, looking out. She joined him, then stopped in her tracks, for she quickly realized what had attracted his attention.
Like a ghost in the moonlight, a huge, white moose stood quite still, close by the water. The skin from this proud, adult male glittered from the long swim it had just taken. Its large antlers crowned its head while steam came from his nostrils. Susan stared in awe as she stood silently beside Mesmo. “I’d heard of them–these albino moose. They are extremely rare,” she breathed, afraid to startle the animal. “I never thought I’d see one up close.” She glanced at the white-haired alien beside her, taken aback by the meaning of her own words. They observed the beast until it faded away into the nearby trees.
Susan Pickering stared up at Mesmo giddily, her voice coming in a whisper, “Did you make it come?”
Mesmo shook his head, “No. It wasn’t me. It was the boy.”
Susan started. “Ben? How? I thought he was…”
“…human?” Mesmo finished for her. “Yes, he is human. But my daughter passed on her skill to him. She passed on her ability to communicate with other species. He just isn’t aware he’s doing it. The moose must have sensed something, and couldn’t figure out what it was.”
Susan remained silent, pondering this information. After a while, she asked carefully, “What are you doing here, Jack?”
“Mesmo,” he corrected. “My name is Mesmo.”
“All right, Mesmo,” she repeated. “What are you doing here, exactly?”
He stared at her for a moment, before answering, “Why do you ask, Susan Pickering? The less you know, the less trouble you will attract to yourself. I know you know that.” He let his comment hang, before offering, “My task is to be an observer. My companions were going to help me complete this mission, but now that they are dead, I am not sure I will make it…”
Susan shook her head to indicate she did not want to hear any more. “No, no,” she argued. “That’s not what I meant. I wasn’t asking you what you’re doing here, on Earth. I don’t want to know about those things. I’m asking what you’re doing here, on my island, in my cabin.”
Mesmo shifted, showing unease at her question. Then he reached out a hand towards her. “Take my hand.”
She frowned suspiciously, wondering where this was going, then hesitantly lifted her hand to take his. Instead of touching real, solid flesh and bone, her hand slid right through his, as though it were made of thin air. She jumped back, holding on to her hand as if it had been burnt.
Mesmo gave her a small smile. Before she could find her voice, he said, “No. I am not a ghost.”
He gazed out at the night while Susan remained stuck to the wall, afraid to move an inch. “I can disconnect my spirit from my body and travel great distances in the blink of an eye. However, to do so, I must have access to a portal which will allow me to appear as you see me now.” He paused. “The boy has that portal.”
He turned to face her again, his eyes hidden under the shadows of his brow. “You see, I fell into a trap at the Toronto Airport. I was lured into a corridor away from other travellers. Several men attacked me, knocking me unconscious. When I woke up, I was strapped to a bed in a white room surrounded by machines and men in doctor’s coats. I do not know who is holding me or why. But they know who I am and that I am not from this planet.”
He spoke with a strain in his voice, “My people respect freedom above all. We do not do well in confined spaces. Being shut away from the outside kills us. If the boy had not activated the spirit portal, thus offering me a means of escape–even though it is only an illusion of sorts–my situation would have become unbearable. I would have died long ago.” He stared at Susan before finishing, “I am here, on your island, Susan Pickering, because the boy is keeping me alive…”
Susan regained her composure, the fear in her eyes slowly replaced by displeasure as he spoke. “So it’s exactly as I thought,” she muttered.
Mesmo stared at her blankly.
She approached him, pointing an accusing finger, though from a safe distance to avoid touching his non-essence. “You’re not here for the boy; you’re here because of him,” she hissed.
Mesmo shook his head, not understanding. “Is there a difference?”
“There’s a huge difference,” she said sternly. “The boy thinks you care about him, that you’re here for him. You’re not, you’re only using him to survive.” Since he didn’t react, she continued, “You’re torturing that boy! He’s forming a bond with you; he looks up to you. The longer you stay, the harder it will be for him to see you go. Because, one day, you will go. Or am I wrong?”
When Mesmo still didn’t reply, she sighed, exasperated at his seeming lack of understanding. “Don’t you see? If his mother dies, he’ll be on his own...”
They heard a clatter as someone closed the upstairs bedroom window. Susan glared at Mesmo angrily. She knew Ben had overheard their whole conversation.
The alien’s eyes were shrouded in the dark, his face expressionless. “Yes, Susan Pickering, I am using the boy to stay alive, as you say, and, yes, I will leave when I am done here. Where I come from, we do not give in to strong emotions the way humans do. I must remain neutral and impartial if I am to complete my mission…”
“Neutral and impartial!” Susan snorted. “You stopped being neutral and impartial the minute you fell from the sky! The minute you lost your daughter and met them.” She pointed indoors to show she was referring to Ben and Laura. She stepped into the cabin, away from the cold. “You call yourself an observer. Well, my alien friend, I think it’s time you opened your eyes.”
***
Mesmo gazed at the stars for a long moment, thinking of Susan’s words, for they resonated in his mind like an echo. Had his friend Amaru not said something very similar recently, on the high Andes Mountains of Bolivia? Something about having lost his ability to be the Observer? He struggled with this thought before Kaia’s beautiful face emerged in his memories, and he knew he must continue, no matter what. For her sake.
He stepped inside, then headed to the bedroom where Laura was fighting for her life. Her body was shivering. Her forehead glistened with sweat. Though he could not physically touch her, he could sense the water imbalance in her body as his hand hovered over her shoulder. He concentrated for a moment, sending a warm flow of energy from his palms into her body until the balance had somewhat been restored. She stopped shivering and rested more peacefully. He could not heal her, but at least she would be calm for a while.
Mesmo noticed how her hair had turned a dull, lifeless colour. It was a sharp contrast with the subtle halo of light that had formed around the contour of her head as the setting sun had shone through her ash
blonde hair back on the fields of Chilliwack. Her green eyes had stood out against the early autumn pallet of ginger, apricot and maroon-coloured leaves. He traced her fine features into his mind, closed his eyes, then let himself glide back to his physical body, which lay almost three thousand miles away.
As usual, he first recovered his hearing, which captured the low beeping of machines, then he opened his eyes to blurry, artificial light, and, lastly, he felt the pain. It always hit him like a brick wall, making him groan. Even though he knew to expect it, he could not get used to it.
Immediately, he heard the muffled voices of several men who rushed into the room in their pale green antiviral, protective suits and mouth covers.
One of them waved a bright light into Mesmo’s eyes, confirming, “He’s back.” While another ordered, “Check his vital signs.” A third one was pulling at the straps that pinned his arms and legs to the hospital bed.
“He’s good,” the second one said, after analyzing a heart monitor.
“Call the boss,” the first voice ordered through the only doorway leading out of the white, bleached room. “Tell him he’s back. Vital signs have returned to normal.”
The third man injected something into Mesmo’s arm, muttering, “Where’d our Martian go this time, I wonder?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Crossing
Inspector James Hao and Agent Theodore Connelly met in the hallway of the Vancouver Police Department.
Hao quizzed, “Well?” As they entered an elevator going up to the fifth floor.
Connelly reported, “Still nothing. All we have is Laura Archer’s attempt to register at the Comfort Inn in North Vancouver and the abandoned car at The Bearded Bear Diner. We’ve interrogated all possible witnesses. We’ve gone through all local traffic video cameras. We’ve found nothing. Not a trace of them.”
The elevator pinged when they arrived. They stepped out, headed down the corridor, then into an office with a desk strewn with documents. Hao searched through the papers, before pulling out a file.
Connelly said, “We have no reports from any units placed in the area. That guy you saw with Laura Archer outside the notary office in Chilliwack might still be helping them. We don’t know who he was.”
Hao growled, “Well, if you had actually been there instead of running off on your own wild-goose-chase, maybe we wouldn’t be asking ourselves that question!” He licked the tip of his finger to flip through the file as he glared at his partner.
Connelly’s mouth twitched.
Turning his attention to the file again, Hao said thoughtfully, “We know they are running out of money since we froze Laura Archer’s accounts. Plus the waitress from the diner said the boy paid for their food with change. We also know they no longer have a car. So they can’t be far. We have units controlling all major exits. They will have to come out in the open sometime.” He pointed at the report. “The waitress said Laura Archer didn’t eat, then left the boy alone to pay. Why did she do that?”
Connelly shrugged. “How should I know? What do we do now? We have no other leads... ”
Hao put down the report, smiling. “Oh, I think we do. It’s only a matter of time.”
***
Ben tiptoed down the stairs in the dark. He was fully dressed. It was not yet dawn, and a chill made it through his sweatshirt. He borrowed a plaid blanket which he put over his shoulders to ward off the cold. Silently, he peeked into the bedroom where his mother lay.
Ben took his mother’s hand, whispering, “Hang in there, Mom. I’ll be back soon.”
He gestured to Tike, who jumped happily into his arms, then the boy grabbed the boat key that hung next to the front door. The two of them ran swiftly to the pier where they hopped into one of the motorboats. Although fog clung to the water, Ben could make out the lights from Deep Cove and the outline of the mountains, as dawn neared.
The boy released the boat from the pier, then took an oar to maneuver it away from the shore. Once he was at a safe distance, he put the key into the ignition, then, his heart beating fast, switched the motor to life. It made a huge racket in the silent night. He looked around fearfully, certain he would wake up half the inlet. Everything remained peaceful, so he moved the motorboat forward slowly, his hands trembling as he learned to control it. He had to stretch his neck to get a good view over the front of the vessel, though in the end, it turned out to be quite manageable.
He was making good way when the mist cleared slightly, revealing a navy blue sky with some twinkling stars above. The pitch dark waters surrounded him, while the night sky went on and on into the void overhead. Although he had left the island several minutes ago, his heart still beat fast. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and found it glistening with sweat in spite of the cold air. His breath came in gasps.
What’s wrong with me?
With dread, he recognized the symptoms, but it was too late. The sky collapsed on him from all sides. His vision blurred. In a desperate move, he switched off the motorboat before dropping to his knees with his hands to his head. The vast, empty night swallowed him up, crushing him to the floor of the swaying boat.
He had a clear vision of himself standing in the field next to his grandfather, listening to the hissing noise just before the spaceship came crashing to Earth. Everything swayed, making him feel physically sick.
“Grampa! Grampa!” Ben begged.
Tike jumped up and down before him with his ears laid back, trying to pull the boy out of the panic attack that had grasped his mind.
“Ben!” Grampa called, as he stood silhouetted against the burning wreck.
“Ben!”
The boy heard his name loud and clear, except it wasn’t coming from his mind, but rather from the boat he was crouching in. He opened his eyes carefully, trying to comprehend how Grampa could have materialized onto the boat with him.
Mesmo stared at him from the back of the boat. The alien called his name; his hand plunged into the water as if he were testing its temperature.
Ben slowly uncurled his arms from his head. He noticed the boat was no longer rocking about aimlessly, instead, it felt stable as it advanced at a slow pace. He stood up carefully, his mind clearing. Behind Mesmo, the town of Deep Cove slowly receded. He turned to face the front of the boat. His eyes widened as he realized it was heading back towards the island at a steady pace.
“No! Stop that! You’re going the wrong way!”
Mesmo scolded, “It’s too dangerous! You can’t do this on your own!”
Ben’s eyes welled with tears. “What am I supposed to do then, huh? Who’s going to go with me?” He glared at Mesmo. “Are you?”
Mesmo stared at him intently without answering.
“Exactly!” Ben continued. “You’re not going to do anything about it! So go away! Mind your own business!”
“Benjamin!” Mesmo said sternly. “I need your help.” He lifted his hand out of the water. Immediately the boat began to rock softly to-and-fro.
Ben’s jaw dropped. “You need my help?” He stared, incredulous. “Is that supposed to be a joke?” He turned his head away, not wanting Mesmo to see the hurt on his face. Before he thought better of it, he snapped, “Why didn’t you say anything before? About being kidnapped?”
Mesmo answered, “My problems did not concern you. I had expected to get out of this mess already. But I have no access to water, so I can’t defend myself.” He wrung his hands together, saying in defeat, “I don’t think I can get out.”
Ben stared at the sea, a mixture of emotions bubbling inside him. “So, am I supposed to feel sorry for you now?” he snapped.
“No.” Mesmo answered matter-of-factly. “But I want you to understand why I said I am no longer able to help you. My abilities are limited. If you cross this inlet to try to get your mother’s medication on your own, I can’t guarantee that I will be there to help you. You need to go back to the island and find a solution with the Pickering woman.”
“I don’
t have time to sit around and chat with Susan!” Ben retorted. “I might be too late already!” He sat down heavily, pulling the plaid blanket around him. He hung his head between his knees, sulking.
After a long silence, Ben peeked over his arm, suddenly afraid that Mesmo was gone. But the alien had his head turned towards the stars, as though he were drinking in the fading night with his whole being. He closed his eyes as the first ray of sunlight cut through the horizon.
Ben couldn’t help noticing how Mesmo’s skin tone went from a light grey to a darker, healthier tan. “Why didn’t you tell me I was keeping you alive?” he muttered.
He didn’t think Mesmo had heard him, but the alien opened his dark eyes. “It wasn’t your burden to carry.”
Alien and boy stared at each other as a bright sun emerged between patches of thick clouds.
Ben said, “Look. You need me. I need you. Help me get my mother’s inhaler. Then we will help you out from wherever you are. Once we’ve freed you, you can go on with your precious mission, and my mom and I can go home.”
The white-haired man gazed thoughtfully at the boy, before stating carefully, “I don’t think...” He suddenly grimaced and bent over in pain, surprising Ben.
“What’s the matter?” Ben said quickly, but only the soft morning breeze blew over the boat in answer. Mesmo was already gone. Ben sat down again, disheartened. “Come back,” he begged to the wind.
***
After waiting in vain for Mesmo to return, Ben sighed, then said to his terrier, “It’s just you and me, Tike.”
He pondered the island for a while.
Should I go back?
Tike placed a paw on his leg encouragingly.
“I can’t face Mom with empty hands, can I?” He took a deep breath, turned on the motor, and navigated the boat towards Deep Cove again. He had enough worries on his mind this time to remember he was actually supposed to be afraid of the open skies. Somehow Mesmo’s presence had pushed away all thoughts of panic attacks. As he attached the boat to the pier of the quaint harbour, he breathed in deeply with renewed energy.