by Nick Braker
“Yeah, but aliens? That shit is just crazy talk.”
Tess half believed him, but this had to be a trick. Aliens?
“Yeah, aliens. I’ve flown in one of their ships and killed several of them. Today, I have two small, electronic implants behind my ears capable of talking with anyone as far as the other side of the planet using technology taken from them. I’ve been shot by an alien that used an energy beam pistol, had friends of mine killed by these bastards, and countless others nearly killed by them. I’m tired of asking you. Life in prison, possibly the death sentence, or you join me... working for the good guys and we beat these assholes off our planet with their tails tucked between their legs. I recognize talent and ability which is why you got the offer. Now I realize you have something else even more special to add to the mix. If you accept, you’ll have to tell me about it and we’ll need to figure out how you got such an ability.” Magnus took a breath. “Those are the conditions. Personally, I see the only choice you have is probably the best offer you’ve heard in your entire lifetime.”
“Extraterrestrials?” she asked.
“Yes. Positively,” he said.
He was dead serious. If she took the job, she’d have to tell them about her ability. They wouldn’t believe her when she told them how she didn’t have a clue where it came from. Killing bad guys was good and he said she’d never have to kill the innocent again...
“My name is Tess.”
He beamed a smile at her.
Damn, he’s handsome.
Earth - Washington, D.C.
Saturday, October 24, 1987 - 07:00pm
Magnus
It had been nearly ten days and Magnus was curious about Tess’ progress. He put on some jeans, an old t-shirt and tennis shoes, grabbed an apple and drove to Alexandria’s office from his apartment knowing she would be working late. The nights in D.C. were always heavily trafficked, but at least it wasn’t rush hour. He’d finally had the time to get a personal car using the money built-up over his time with WSO. Since WSO pretty much took care of housing and food allowances, there weren’t many large expenses he had to cover. After buying a car, his life seemed a bit normal again. Twenty minutes later, he was seated in Alexandria’s office. Taria, her secretary, had gone home for the night.
“You know, we should try to get the Aliri to augment you so you don’t need as much sleep, too,” he told her, chuckling.
She grimaced. “Part of me wouldn’t mind actually, but I think I prefer to remain 100% me.”
“Ouch, are you saying I’ve been tainted?”
“From birth,” she said, trying to hold back her laughter. “Wow, I’m so tired, I’m giddy. Sorry, didn’t mean to say that, even in jest.”
Magnus laughed at her. “I know you were kidding, relax.”
“You want to know about Tess?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.
“Yep.”
“I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to run, but she’s doing very well. In marksmanship, she is scoring in the upper 99th percentile. She excels in tactics and a martial art style called Krav Maga. Magnus, somehow she received training in the Israeli combat form and she’s very good at it. Her other scores are high, generally in the upper 80s. She’ll make a fine agent. I just wish I trusted her,” she said. “To be clear, I don’t.”
“She’s a crack shot with nearly all types of weaponry, right?”
“She’s so good, even Fisk can’t hold a candle to her and he’s her instructor, having nearly 40 years of experience. She’s a natural at it, which explains, somewhat, why she fell into that line of work,” Alexandria said.
“Are you sure we’re getting accurate feedback?” he asked.
“Yes, I put several undercover female trainees in the loop who monitor her constantly. She cannot use her ability to influence all of them. As I’ve come to learn, she can only affect one person at a time. Magnus, humans don’t have such abilities,” she said, challenging him.
Magnus got up and sat on the right corner of her desk.
“I trust her.”
“Because she’s beautiful?” Alexandria asked.
“No, that just makes her easy on the eyes.”
“Because sex with her in the shower was exciting?”
“Don’t poke the bear. No, because I can read people. The goodhearted people are the easiest. Those that are deceptive, I still have trouble with. Tess was not being deceptive. I could read many things about her and I knew instinctively what to say to persuade her to join.”
“Which means if you can’t read the deceptive people correctly, you can still be fooled.”
Magnus ignored her. “Forgive me, I’m using my talent on you right now.”
“Yes, I realized that, which pretty much neutralizes its effect,” she said.
“Somewhat, but you trust my judgment, which is why she’s apart of WSO. Right?”
“Your methods are unorthodox, but effective, so I tolerate you,” she quipped.
“Alexandria,” he replied. “I’m hurt, deeply, here,” pointing to his heart. Her faced cringed and her body stiffened. Both actions were subtle. Her body language screamed at him that she was getting uncomfortable. The kiss was still on both of their minds and they were alone, together, and physically too close.
Not yet.
Magnus got up and walked over to the windowed wall. It was a massive wall made completely of tinted blue glass.
“Is this bullet proof?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it? D.C. at night?”
“Yes, I’ve often stood there looking out, before all this began, marveling at the beauty I could see and the corruption I could not.”
“Is it as bad as people think?” he asked.
“We’re all humans, trying to make it through this world. Some humans with money and power have strong ideas of how things should be and they like molding the world into their image.”
He pondered her comment, but remained quiet for a few seconds. “I never did ask you how you managed to smooth things over with the President.”
Alexandria didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she stood and joined him. The blue tint of the window and the late evening sky darkened the city enough that the lights of D.C. flashed like a busy carnival at night. People below moved through their lives unaware they were being watched. He paused, reflecting on the thought. Was he being watched? He believed so. The aliens certainly knew about him and WSO.
“Well,” Alexandria said, “shall I list the reasons? After destroying the portal, you spent a few days in the hospital recovering from severe radiation burns, broken bones, contusions, head trauma... you should have died but you healed and decided to leave... never mind, I got the impression you really didn’t care.”
“I don’t but, well, I can see the White House from here and it reminded me to ask why I’m not in jail for something akin to treason.”
“Well, you did break rank, disobeyed a direct order, broke the law, shot at a police car—”
“Okay, okay, and?”
She let out a short laugh, lightly holding her stomach.
“Even though you are not a public figure, everyone involved with the effort to stop the Kron knew what you did. He couldn’t go after the savior of Earth. The President wanted to end it by ignoring your actions, but several of us pressured him to pardon you.” She paused. “Never take a politician at his or her word. It’s meaningless, so you have an official document clearing you and your team.”
“Savior of Earth?” Magnus said. “I’m not sure I like that, but it does have a nice ring to it.” He smiled in return. “You make it sound like you stuck your neck out for me.”
“Nothing that dramatic,” she replied.
“Thank you,” he said. “Alexandria, I need to go.”
She nodded, clasping her hands in front of her.
“Have a good night,” he said.
Magnus reached the door, knowing she’d turn around to take one last look at him
as he left. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. He looked back, waiting.
Wait for it... wait for it...
“Goodnight, Magnus,” Alexandria said, not turning around.
Shit.
Chapter 6
RUTH
Earth - Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, October 27, 1987 - 09:00am
Magnus
Three days later, Magnus left the elevator, stepping into the hallway of the top floor of WSO’s headquarters. Ruth stood outside Alexandria’s office. Was she waiting for him? Ruth crossed her arms and grinned at him as he approached, studying the floor for a few seconds before looking up at him again. Alexandria had summoned Magnus to her office. He had tried to pry out what she wanted but all he knew at this point was the Kron were at it again. International tensions were high and Nicaragua had threatened military action and trade sanctions if anyone attacked them again. Alexandria’s superiors had to be sure the threat of global destruction was real and centered in Nicaragua. The Omarii possessed the ability to take over others, leaving them with a political nightmare if they pursued Miguel without cause, especially since it could be a simple diversion while the Omarii plotted something elsewhere in the world. Nothing was ever simple. Another race had declared war on Earth but greed and power trumped common sense. WSO had to wait until they had proof of a pandemic attack. Magnus rubbed his jaw. There had to be a better way to keep Earth safe. Hell, he could do a better job than some of the current world leaders.
“Have you been briefed on the latest Omarii attack?” Ruth asked, interrupting his train of thought.
“Dr. Thorpe’s planet buster bomb?” Magnus asked.
Ruth nodded as Joannah squeezed out of the same elevator doors and joined them.
“Yeah, we traced the nuclear material through Nigeria. It was delivered and picked up in Greytown, Nicaragua before we could stop it. They were ahead of us the whole time. The Omarii has the material, Magnus. We can only hope she does not have time to use it before we stop her. She got her hands on it within the last hour. Our estimates - based on arrival time, delivery and setup - put us at just under five hours before the bomb detonates.”
“Whose estimates?” Magnus asked.
“The augmented Einsteins gave us that number,” Ruth said, “so it’s probably as good as gold.”
“Is it a diversion?” Magnus asked.
“Possibly,” Ruth said. They both shrugged at Magnus.
“How the fuck do we stop them?” Joannah asked. “Right now, we’re only aware of two attempts to destroy Earth. There could be other global events these pieces of shit are working on. So, while we go after-”
Ruth put her hand on Joannah’s shoulder. Magnus knew what Joannah was feeling. Joannah blamed herself. She was always harder on herself than she needed to be. Alexandria had sent Ruth and her team to stop the plutonium shipment from a list of shipments that all turned out to be decoys. There were four shipments that WSO had intel on, each shipment was a decoy designed to throw them off. The Omarii had set all of it up so the real shipment could make it through unnoticed. It wasn’t the aliens’ only plan. WSO had stopped the viral material designed to destroy Earth’s food supply and now they had to stop the Omarii from putting together a bomb that could destroy an entire planet... Earth.
The Kron had Earth once again on the brink of destruction. The Omarii were placing bad intelligence and creating multiple pandemic events, some of them fake, with the intent for at least one of them to get through. One was all it would take.
Ruth glanced at Joannah, tilting her head toward Alexandria’s office. Joannah’s mouth opened in surprise. She hesitated and then reluctantly nodded, leaving the two alone in the hallway.
“I know Alexandria wants to tell you this personally but I figured... since we have... this thing between us, that I would tell you myself.”
Magnus and Ruth had developed a physical relationship; one that they would both enjoy while it lasted. Ruth closed her eyes, pursing her lips. Magnus wasn’t going to like this news.
“You know you can tell me anything,” Magnus said. He grabbed her elbow, gently pulling her closer.
“You won’t feel that way after I tell you this.”
“I trust you,” Magnus said.
She smirked.
Oh, shit.
“Even though Grep is still recovering, you know and I know, he’ll never work with you again. So, Alexandria has assigned me and my team to you.”
“Bullshit.”
Magnus started toward Alexandria’s door, but Ruth grabbed his arm this time.
“Stop,” Ruth said. Magnus stopped, but he didn’t turn around. “I know how you feel about losing people you love, but you’re not the only one-”
“Don’t go there. Please,” Magnus asked.
“-you’re not the only one who has experienced loss.” She spun him around.
“Everyone around me dies,” he said, “and I can’t stop it from happening.”
“You saved billions,” she said, pausing. “I know something haunts you. I see it in your eyes. I hear it at night while you’re sleeping. Something rages within you and the facade you put up for everyone isn’t fooling some of us. I don’t understand it, but I do think I know why it’s there...”
Magnus shook his head. Ruth couldn’t possibly know.
“I won’t talk about this, not even with you,” Magnus said.
Ruth’s eyes opened slightly and her mouthed pursed. His words stung her.
“I think the Aliri made you this way,” Ruth said.
Magnus laughed inside bringing his hand up to rub his forehead. The Aliri weren’t responsible. He’d already spiraled down the moment Beth died. Everything in life that meant anything to him ended there. The only thing getting him up in the mornings was revenge. He wanted to kill everyone responsible for her death. It was really that simple. He said nothing, standing there.
“Fine,” Ruth said. “Fuck the emotional approach. We’re working as a team whether you like it or not.”
She stuck her finger in his chest. She was pissed now. Magnus deserved it. How long would it be before Ruth left him too? Worse, how long before he got her killed?
“I don’t-” Magnus said.
“You don’t,” Ruth cut in, poking her finger in his chest again, harder this time. “I don’t want to hear any of that shit. We are a team now. Deal with it.”
Whoa.
She glared at him, stepping in even closer.
“Read me,” she continued. “You know I’m deadly serious.”
Magnus stepped back, hesitating. He didn’t like her little show, but he also knew Ruth would do whatever it took to get the job done. He’d known her for months now. Short of killing her, there was no changing her course. His mouth thinned.
“Fine,” Magnus said, turning away toward Alexandria’s office, “try not to get yourselves killed.”
“If we do, it won’t be your fault, jackass.”
Earth - Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, October 27, 1987 - 09:10am
Alexandria
Alexandria relaxed, leaning back against her desk facing the group. She kept her posture straight, fighting the fatigue running through her. The aliens’ plans were culminating into several threats, all at the same time. She reached back for her coffee, taking a sip from her cup. It warmed her hands. She hated the cold and the fall season had already set in with winter close by.
Ruth and Magnus entered her office. Joannah, Giselle, Li Xin, and Tom were seated around her desk waiting for the duo to join them. Magnus had his poker face on which meant Ruth had already told him. Alexandria knew he would be upset, but Magnus couldn’t be a one-man team. He would need help.
“Thank you for coming. Tom?” Alexandria said.
Tom stood and moved next to her.
“Agents. We have a team already in Nicaragua and they have confirmed that Dr. Thorpe’s prototype-”
“The planet buster bomb?” Li Xin said.
“Yes,” Tom continued, “a prototype that we designed for use against the Kron. The intent was to develop an attack option against the aliens if they did not relent in their pursuit to destroy us.”
“So, which government was fucking stupid enough to build a new type of bomb that could destroy a planet?” Li Xin asked. “Now those aliens are using it against us. Didn’t we learn last time?”
“It was a joint effort, Li,” Alexandria replied. “We couldn’t just wait for another attempt by our enemy with no option to respond. Dr. Thorpe was brought in to build a bomb capable of destroying a planet. According to Alara, we have no chance of building a fleet capable of defeating Kron’s armada. Our technology will never catch up to theirs in that fashion. Frankly, I believe her on that account.”
“Why don’t they just attack us directly then?” Giselle asked.
“Alara says Katerra will not risk her home world by attacking us directly since the Aliri are capable of destroying Kron itself if their fleet left their solar system,” Alexandria said. “It makes sense, otherwise they would have already done it. No, they will continue to attack us using our own people as weapons.”
“And why haven’t the Aliri finished them off directly?” she continued.
“She also stated the Kron are quite adept at fending off the Aliri. If she can be trusted, Alara confided in me that the Kron are an exceptionally resilient species. One attack, a hundred years ago, left Kron’s home world covered in a constant rain of black ash. Ash that breeds a deadly bacterium capable of killing their species within minutes of contact. It almost destroyed them and now they live inside, underground and on their ships in space.”
“Where is Alara?” Magnus asked. “Why isn’t she here?”
Alexandria exchanged glances with Tom.
“Magnus,” Alexandria said, “Alara is an ambassador, at best. No matter what anyone thinks of her, we cannot totally rely on what she tells us. She works for us in that capacity, nothing more.”
Alexandria knew that Magnus trusted Alara. Even Grep eventually said the same, but both Alexandria and her superiors could not afford that luxury. Alara would be tolerated and monitored closely. Besides, Alara was not one that her contact had confirmed as trustworthy.