by Jay Cannon
Malcolm crossed the street and watched while Adar ran alongside the crowd shouting in Euclidian, “CHEOILI, I KNOW YOU’RE HERE. I CAN SMELL YOU. WHEN I CATCH YOU, I’M GOING TO RIP YOU TO PIECES.” Adar continued to shout while monitoring Malcolm for a signal.
Finally, Malcolm ran up to him. “Back there, a guy looked at you real scared like. He turned the corner and started walking away real fast. He went down that street along the river.”
“That’s him right there in the blue jacket. You stay here, while I go get him,” said Adar, placing a restraining hand on Malcolm’s chest.
“How can you tell who that is and what color jacket he’s wearing way over there? I can barely see him at all from here,” said Malcolm, astonished at Adar’s confidence. “Do you have some sort of high-tech vision?”
“I see things the same way you do, just better. I can make out things that are far away even in the dark. Now stay back in case there is trouble.”
Adar raced around the corner, caught up with Tatan and threw him through the air against a parked car.
“Daloi, Dholi—where the hell are you?” Tatan pleaded to the air, hoping they would see him. “This guy is going to kill me.”
“Hello, Cheoili,” said Adar. “You must be Tatan, the male one. Where are your friends?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, buddy,” Tatan stated, hoping to fool Adar.
“You know what I’m talking about,” said Adar in Euclidian, grabbing Tatan by the front of his shirt. Tatan grabbed for Adar’s face with his hands. “No, you don’t, Cheoili,” said Adar, throwing him against the railing by the river. “You try to touch me again with those magic fingers of yours, and I’ll rip your hands off.”
Adar walked over to Tatan, who cowered on the sidewalk against the railing. Malcolm caught up with Adar, but kept his distance.
“Tell me where your friends are, or I’ll throw you into the water piece by piece.”
“You’ll kill me anyway.”
“No, no, I promise I will send you back to the ship alive and whole,” said Adar, leaning into Tatan and using a soft voice. “But don’t try my patience.”
Blam, blam came the sound of blasts striking Adar, pushing him against the railing and away from Tatan.
“I’M WEARING MY PERSONAL SHIELD, YOU IDIOTS!” shouted Adar, standing up and looking for the source of the blast. “YOUR BLASTER WON’T HURT ME.”
“This will!” said Daloi, hitting Adar in the chest with a baseball bat, sending him over the railing and into the water.
“Let’s go,” said Dholi, rushing up and activating the personal transporter. Malcolm stood transfixed as the three Cheoili disappeared in front of him.
***
Malcolm ran down the riverbank to check on Adar.
“Are you feeling okay, Adar?” he asked, helping the alien climb out of the water.
“I feel fine,” Adar hissed at Malcolm. “I just don’t like being wet. Especially when it’s the result of being knocked off a bridge. If I had my weapons that confrontation would have turned out differently.”
“If you had your weapons, you would not have made it into the arena.” Adar only grunted, then took a moment to look out over the Chicago River. It didn’t have the clean smell of Lake Michigan, but still he enjoyed the sound of the waves as they lapped against the cement banks. Small boats cruised by, some silent, some with small parties of revelers enjoying their drinks in the night air.
“What is it?” Malcolm asked, seeing Adar lost in thought.
“As much as I dislike being in the water, I do like looking out at it. Wylyy, can you tell where the Cheoili transported?” asked Adar, speaking Euclidian into his UCD.
“It’ll take a few seconds,” Wylyy replied, checking his monitors.
“Why is it taking so long?” prodded Adar.
“Because we don’t have legal access to that data. Krystyy added a hack, but it takes time to get the data. Okay, they landed in front of a building not far from you. I’ll send you there now.”
Adar vanished from his spot next to Malcolm and arrived at the location to see a line of people at the entrance of a hotel getting into cabs, with no evidence of the Cheoili. He cursed the sky, then rejoined Malcolm by the river.
“What happened to you? You could at least tell me where you’re going and if you are coming back. I didn’t know if I should wait here for you or not,” said Malcolm, sounding frustrated and more than a bit frightened.
“I went to find those people that attacked me, but I lost them,” Adar explained apologetically. “Then I decided to come back and look out at the water again.”
“It’s just a smelly river,” Malcolm said, crinkling up his nose.
“You are describing a solitary, collective scent without breaking down its parts. I smell fuel, fish, fiberglass, different types of wood, chemicals, tobacco smoke and the food people are eating. They are not all pleasant, but they are each interesting in their own right. You make a binary judgment, while I seek to unravel the intertwined, disparate aromas.” Adar punctuated his lengthy explanation by waving his hand toward his pointed nose as if to pull the river’s bouquet into his nostrils.
“Why would an assassin care about how the river smells?” asked Malcolm, with genuine curiosity.
Adar looked at the teen, perplexed at why he would view him as a one-dimensional figure. “Because it helps keep me calm and focused. Embracing one’s environment accentuates one’s talents. Open up your senses. Don’t just see something, smell it, hear it and feel it. You should find something that helps you relax and open up your senses to it.”
“Being around my friends relaxes me.”
“Friends don’t last. You should find something more permanent and readily available.”
“I’ll work on that,” said Malcolm, wondering what Adar was like growing up. “What does getting beamed around feel like?”
“The short-range transfers don’t feel like much of anything. It’s the interstellar transfers that shake me up,” Adar replied, shivering.
“Your transporter can send you to distant stars?” asked Malcolm, surprised at the thought.
“Yes, in an instant,” said Adar, looking up at the night sky.
“I would love to do that one day,” Malcolm said, lifting his gaze upward at the few stars he could see through Chicago’s light pollution.
“That’s probably not going to happen. At least not in your lifetime.”
Maybe I’m wrong, Adar thought. I grew up in a more primitive environment, and here I am.
“Let’s get moving,” he urged. “I want to put on dry clothing. You did a good deed tonight, but I am no closer to capturing my prey,” Adar said, walking away from the river and back toward the house he had acquired.
“You are pretty wet. I can even hear your boots squishing.” Malcolm laughed. “See, I’m opening up my senses.”
Adar just ignored him and kept walking. Tonight is a good night to visit Yolanda, he thought.
***
The Cheoili sat in Mike’s condo thinking about the attack by Adar. “I did not risk my life stealing that loot and getting to this planet to be killed by an Ossie,” said Daloi, pacing the floor.
“We all risked our lives to get here,” said Dholi.
“I am the only one here who has been beaten by that Ossie,” said Tatan. “I’m sure the human talking to him in the arena is the same one that caused the problems at that school.”
“At least there only appears to be one person after us. Tomorrow, we kill the Ossie,” said Daloi. “Then we’ll assume new human identities and avoid the Euclidian as best we can. If they harvest this planet, we’ll lay low until they’re gone and run what’s left of it. The most important thing for us is to not forget what we mean to each other. We’re family, and together we can conquer any foe.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Dholi, grabbing her sister’s hand. “I’m with you all the way.”
“Me too,” Tatan said, huggi
ng his two sisters.
“Tatan, tomorrow you cash in some coins. We should find another place to stay on the other side of town. Now let’s talk about how we kill that Ossie,” Daloi said, pounding her fist into her hand.
***
On the way home with Malcolm, Adar placed more sensors along the area around the Gold Coast and near coin shops on the north side of Chicago. Adar waited at the sidewalk near the front door to Malcolm’s apartment building to make sure he got inside safely.
“Malcolm, the aliens I’m after have seen you, which may place you in danger. Try to be more careful when you are walking around. If anyone bothers you, just chop them in the throat. That will take them down no matter what planet they’re from,” Adar said, placing a hand on his chest.
“Thanks Adar. I had a great evening. The fights, meeting Jennifer and Common, and most of all being part of a real alien battle,” Malcolm said, making fighting noises and punching his fists in the air as he had seen Adar do.
Interesting kid, thought Adar. Makes me want to have a kid someday. Speaking of which, I wonder how Yolanda is doing.
“Just go inside and get some rest,” insisted Adar. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waved to Malcolm, picked up a bag at his place, and walked to Yolanda’s.
***
Who the hell is that at the door? Yolanda heard a knock and opened her door.
“Adar, I was hoping you would show up.” She greeted him with a big smile and a hug. “You really should call before dropping by. What if I was entertaining someone else tonight?”
“Then I would toss the unfortunate jerk into a dumpster,” Adar said, demonstrating his throwing technique with his arms.
“I prefer you save that strength for lifting me up against the wall again,” she said, taking a deep breath and sighing. “A girl never gets tired of that. And no beer this time. I want you to finish me against the wall.”
“I have one request before we get started,” Adar said, giving her a sentimental look. “Could you teach Malcolm to become an MMA fighter? In return, I would like to give you this briefcase full of cash, which you can use to find a safer place to stay and to have the time you need to focus on your fighting. Are you okay with that?”
“Hell yeah, I am.” Yolanda beamed. “That Malcolm is a special kid. I’m going to enjoy working with him. Now how about you pin me to the wall like you promised?”
“I would be delighted to.” Adar grinned. “You’d be surprised at what I can do when I’m at full strength.”
“Oh, surprise me, baby. Surprise me.” Yolanda grabbed Adar’s hand and led him into the bedroom, where they spent the rest of the evening roughhousing.
***
Around noon the next day Adar received an alert from one of the sensors. Aha, it’s near a coin shop. I knew they would be looking to change money eventually. Adar went to the shop, cloaked, and walked to the window to see a man exchanging Alpha coins.
Tatan walked out of the shop where Adar waited to attack him. Adar threw Tatan against a nearby wall, and the impact forced the Cheoili to struggle to remain upright. “Changing your looks doesn’t change your smell, Tatan,” Adar cried angrily.
“You know my name. You’re Adar the Ossie right?” Tatan asked, working to buy some time.
“Yes, why is that important to you?” Adar puzzled over the question.
“I just want to know what to call you when I kill you and your friend, Malcolm.”
“What?!” yelled Adar, turning quickly to look behind him to see who had just thrown a brick at his back. Though his shield protected him from being hurt, the projectile still stunned him. Seeing no one, Adar spun the other way with his spear in his hand just in time to see Tatan had been joined by Dholi, who stood next to him.
“Bye, Adar,” said Tatan, as he and his sister disappeared.
“Wylyy, can you tell me where the Cheoili went?” asked Adar.
“Somewhere near your friend’s school,” Wylyy answered promptly.
So that’s what Tatan meant about Malcolm. “Wylyy, place me there, on top of the school.” Adar materialized at the elevated location and cloaked before surveying the area. No Cheoili, but why are there so many gang members just hanging out across the street? I bet the Cheoili have something to do with this. Adar waited for the children to leave the building at 3:00, hoping to assess the danger before anyone could get hurt.
The bell rang and students poured out of the school. En masse, the gang members crossed the street and started attacking the students. One by one, Adar stunned the gang members, but didn’t kill them since the students weren’t in mortal danger.
There’s Malcolm. “Malcolm, go back in the school!” shouted Adar from the roof, realizing that he actually cared what happened to the young Earthling. Malcolm never heard Adar. Instead, he felt searing pain when Daloi scored a direct hit to his chest with her blaster. The teen fell to the ground, and the gang members cheered. Adar stood up, screaming. He also uncloaked, which gave Tatan the opportunity to grab Adar using the personal transporter and shift him to a spot high above the Earth.
“Die, Adar,” said Tatan, releasing him in atmosphere too cold for most living beings to survive.
Adar turned towards Tatan and fired his weapon, but the blast hit empty space. “Wylyy, send me to the ship now.”
“Wait a minute,” said Wylyy.
“I don’t have a minute!” Adar’s voice wobbled as his body began shivering violently.
“Take a deep breath.”
“What?!” From one moment to the next, Adar went from extreme cold to extreme wet, as he found himself under water and out of air. No sooner than he began to drown, he felt the deck of Wylyy’s ship beneath him as he gasped for life-sustaining oxygen.
“Have you–lost your–damn mind?!” Adar demanded, coughing up water. “You know I hate being in water.”
“At your downward velocity you would have been crushed if I brought you straight to the ship,” Wylyy explained calmly. “Putting you in the water slowed your descent enough to transport you safely to the ship. You should expect that if it happens again.”
“I don’t ever expect to be hurtling through space like that again,” Adar growled, wiping the water from his face.
“Should I send you to Tatan’s last location?”
“No, I’m sure he’s long gone by now. What happened to that kid I’ve been working with?” Adar asked, concern in his voice.
“He had been burned pretty badly so I sent him to Valera. We told her he is a friend of yours.”
***
Adar had Wylyy transport him to the Andrea where he watched Valera finish up with Malcolm.
“Looks like you got that trip you wanted, after all,” said Adar, watching Malcolm move his fingers over Valera’s face.
“We can’t keep him here long, Adar,” said Valera in Euclidian. “The captain won’t be happy about bringing someone from a planet we may be mining aboard the Andrea.”
“What’d she say to you? Tell her I like the way her face feels.” Malcolm continued to touch surfaces around him, as he tried to take in the textures, rigidity and smells of everything near him. He also stared at things beyond his touch, marveling at the array of devices he’d never seen before. I wonder why that light looks so funny.
“She said I need to get you back. I think she knows you like feeling her face,” Adar replied, uncharacteristically patient with the youth.
“Can I see other aliens before I go? And what it looks like outside the ship?”
“Let me check. Valera, how is he doing? Is he well enough to take back?” Adar asked, switching to Euclidian.
“He’s fine. He suffered some bad burns on his chest. I fixed that and gave him a shirt to wear. Just don’t over exert him.”
“She said you can go home now, Malcolm.”
“Please let me see something before I go,” the teen pleaded.
Adar decided to indulge the youngster just this once. “We’ll take a short walk to where you can se
e some more people and look outside the ship.”
Coming aboard the ship felt like visiting heaven to Malcolm. It was a dream come true for him to be in an alien ship on the far side of the galaxy, communicating with aliens. Adar led Malcolm to a nearby lounge. Along the way, he described the different species and devices they encountered. In the lounge, they took seats near a viewing screen.
“What is that planet?” asked Malcolm, pointing at the screen.
“It’s our home planet of Euclidia. It’s just outside the ship. You can zoom in and see some of the cities if you like.”
“How do I do that?” Malcolm asked, turning to Adar.
“Just make gestures in front of the screen like this to zoom in and out and move around,” Adar explained, giving Malcolm a few examples.
“Wow, everyone is moving. Is this a live feed?”
“Yes, you can call it that. Two Tammarian grogs, Vikktor.” Adar ordered drinks from his favorite bartender in Euclidian.
“Coming right up, Adar,” Vikktor replied, smirking at Adar’s nurturing moment.
“What is this?” asked Malcolm, when the drinks arrived.
“It’s one of my favorite drinks. Try it. It will help you relax.”
“Wow, this is amazing. My skin is tingling.”
“Yeah, it has that effect on me, too,” said Adar, smiling.
Malcolm got up and walked around the lounge, touching everything he encountered, including the clientele.
“Adar, I think your friend needs to take it easy. He’s being a bit disruptive,” Vikktor murmured.
“Okay, I’ll take care of it. Malcolm, let me show you another part of the ship,” Adar called as he headed toward the exit.
“Oh boy, I can’t wait,” Malcolm said, skipping towards Adar.
“Finish your drink and we’ll go.”
Malcolm chugged his drink and walked out the door with Adar, who led him to the transporter room. “Krystyy, could you send my guest and me to Wylyy’s ship?” Adar requested, in Euclidian.
“Wow, that person is big,” said Malcolm, pointing at Krystyy. “What is she doing? Whoa, how did I get here?” Malcolm asked, looking around the attack ship.