Learning To Fly

by DeMaris, Charles

  “Do you think you could be wrong?” Franklin asked.

  “This has been their pattern throughout their history. They set their sites on a planet and they suck it dry. The only reason they didn’t take ours is that we fought them to a stalemate.”

  “When was that?”

  “Three hundred years ago. They rolled in with a larger army, but we had better tech. Things were rough, but eventually we stopped their advance, but we gave up nearly half the planet. Now it’s a tentative truce at best, but they keep going after other worlds. We’re stretched too thin. We just don’t have the forces to defend every planet they go after.”

  “I mean about the target. They attacked you, even though you weren’t a pushover. What makes you think they won’t attack here?”

  “They’ve only gone after weak people since then.”

  “But earth is different. We have hundreds of countries, and not all of them have a big brother to stand up for them. Look at Africa. Nobody gives a darn about them unless it’s a country that supplies us with oil. They go after the countries that don’t produce oil and there might not be much resistance.”

  “Yeah, look at the news coverage whenever something goes on over there. The cable channels hardly notice, unless an American is killed,” Kendra said.

  Mike thought about that for a moment and then replied, “You might have a point. As much as I’ve studied your planet, I have to admit I often look at it like mine and I forget that your political entities are more varied and don’t always look out for one another.”

  “Well…if these folks attack here, what can we do to prepare?” Walter asked.

  “Hope your military sees the threat for what it is, or hope they don't come.”

  19

  Trent Salazar knocked once on the door and waited to be told to enter.

  “Hey boss, you wanted to see me?” he said, walking in the room.

  “Yeah, Trent, just wanted to say you’ve done an excellent job keeping Walter busy these last few days.”

  “It’s not that hard, really. He's a sucker for helping people. You don’t always need a crime to get him to show up.”

  “Whatever you’re doing is working. I haven’t seen him yet, and things are going quite well, which brings me to why I wanted to see you.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I’ve had a pretty good run, and we have quite a bit that needs laundered. I trust you’re up to it?”

  “Sure, how much you talking about?”

  “I haven’t added it up, but probably eight figures.”

  Salazar whistled. “You’re kidding me.”

  “No, with Walter busy here and the new abilities our friend has given me, I can hit several a night without any fear of being caught. I’ve been spotted a few times, but nobody can catch me.”

  “What’s it like?”

  “Like any other heist, just without the anxiety.”

  “No, the other part, the abilities.”

  “Like nothing you can imagine. I can’t even explain it. The flying alone is amazing. Way better than the dreams.”

  “Where do I start?”

  “The cash is on the pallets at the end of the room there. I know it will take some time, so just be careful. Don’t try to move too fast and raise any red flags.”

  “Good deal, boss. I’ll put the clean cash on the other end.”

  “That will work, Trent. You may go now.”

  “Come in,” Larry Wilkins said in answer to the knock on his door.

  Walter walked in and plopped down heavily.

  “Easy on the chairs, buddy,” Wilkins said, “What’s up?”

  “You’ve seen the reports about another powered individual around lately?”

  “Yeah, who hasn’t?”

  “Well, this puts me in a bit of a quandary. I think the increased crime around here is a distraction to keep me away from her.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “I met the dude responsible for me being like this. He thinks someone else like him is around here and did the same thing to this woman to keep me occupied for some reason.”

  “That is certainly interesting. What could this other person be up to that he would want you out of the way?”

  “That’s the thing. We’re not sure, but I have no idea how to proceed. Do I go after this other person, and let things slide here, or do I keep up what I’ve been doing and let her keep getting away with what she’s doing?”

  “What do you think?”

  “That's the rub. Some of the things happening around here, innocent people have been in harm’s way, but she’s just out there robbing a boat load of money. My heart wants to protect people, but the other part of me wants to stop her. Either way, there’s a bigger picture here. If what Mike said is true, there’s maybe something larger at stake here and whatever I do, it’s exactly what the bad guy wants.”

  “Hold on a sec, before you lose me. Who’s Mike, and who’s the bad guy?”

  “Mike is the guy who zapped me. He’s…not from around here. And Mike isn’t his real name. You’d never be able to pronounce his real name.”

  “He’s a foreigner?”

  “Uh…not exactly. He’s from a little farther away than that.”

  “You mean he’s…”

  “Yeah, space and everything.”

  “Now I’ve heard everything.”

  “Yeah, now you can see what’s got me up in the air.”

  “Well, I wish I had an easy answer for you, but I really don’t. It’s not like we have a lot of history with superheroes around these parts. Speaking as a cop, anything you can do to help is appreciated. You’ll just have to use your best judgment on that one and help out where you think you can do the most good. It would be handy if there were more of you around.”

  “I see where you’re coming from. Just wanted to give you a heads up. There’s an increase in crime lately and I think it’s her doing. Might want to alert everyone around here.”

  “I don’t see any harm in doing that. If you come across anything else, just let me know.”

  “Will do. Catch you later.”

  Franklin had just poured the beat up eggs into the skillet when the doorbell rang. He checked the video feed on the laptop, saw Kendra standing on the porch, and ran to open the door, running back into the kitchen.

  “What’s the hurry, dude? Can’t even greet me properly?”

  “Don’t want to give you burned eggs.”

  “Well, I don’t suppose that would be too good. I thought we would go out for breakfast.”

  “Walter’s been teaching me to cook. I can manage simple stuff. Have a seat.”

  Kendra sat down at the table just in time for Franklin to remove the skillet from the stove and ladle a pile of scrambled eggs onto her plate. A minute later he lifted the lid on the Foreman grill proclaimed the bacon done and brought it to the table.

  “Whatcha drinking? Got juice, milk, and maybe coffee. Walter drinks a ton of coffee, but I don’t care for it much.”

  “Juice will be fine, thank you.”

  Franklin came back to the table with two glasses of juice and started on his eggs.

  “Man, these aren’t bad,” Kendra said between bites, “You surprise me.”

  “Surprise…why?”

  “Don’t know. Didn’t figure you for a cook.”

  “Like I said, Walter’s been showing me basic stuff. I think I got a hang of eggs. Pretty simple really. Just move ‘em around until all the gooey stuff is gone.”

  “My dad likes them with gooey stuff.”

  “That’s gross.”

  “I’m with you there. Where’s Walter, anyway?” She looked around. “Come to think of it, where’s Mike?”

  “Walter went to the police station and Mike…I don’t know where he went. Just said he’d be back in a bit.”

  “What do you make of Mike?”

  “Seems like an okay dude, why?”

  “I don’t know. Something seems off.�
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  “Of course. He’s an alien.”

  “No, not just that. I don’t know. Woman’s intuition maybe…or maybe I’m just paranoid. Just seems weird.”

  “What makes you think that way?”

  “I don’t know. A lot of little things. You don’t think he’s awfully vague about a lot of things? The bit about the politics of his planet. He just gave us this “It’s too complicated for you” BS and went on. Think about it. If you went to another planet, or even just another country, you’d explain everything in as much detail as you could. You’ll tell a stranger everything you can, especially one as curious as we are.”

  “I don’t know. I’m not much into politics.”

  “Think about it, Franklin. Even you wouldn’t be that vague. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I don’t know if I like the guy much.”

  “I don’t know much myself. How long have we known him?”

  “Well, I’m all for keeping our eyes open. You never know.”

  “I’m all for finishing this breakfast and getting out of the house for a bit. Where we going?”

  “Wanna shoot some hoops?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  A couple minutes later Kendra made a right turn on McMillan and headed east toward the highway.

  “Whoa, get a load of that car,” Franklin said, pointing to the car ahead of them in traffic.

  “What about it? Can’t be the first time you’ve seen a Prius.”

  “Look closer. See the logo on the back?”

  “Yeah…wait a sec…a Prius with a Honda logo? Who would do that?”

  “Don’t know. Doesn’t seem right. Light’s red. Think you can pull up next to him?”

  “I don’t know, Frank, it’s probably nothing.”

  “I’m not so sure. Back of his head looks familiar.”

  Kendra pulled up next to the Prius at the red light and stole a quick glance.

  “It’s Mike.”

  “You think he saw us?”

  “Don’t know. He didn’t show it, if he did.”

  “Man, I’d love to follow him, see what he’s up to, but…”

  “Could be dangerous.”

  “Be a good way to prove your intuition.”

  “Maybe…I’ll stay a couple cars back, like they do in the movies.”

  “Sounds good.”

  The Prius passed the ramp for the highway and kept going, eventually turning right on Victory Parkway.

  “Where you think he’s heading?” Franklin asked.

  “Could be any part of town, heading this way.”

  Kendra turned the wheel to make the right turn, but nothing happened. Instead of turning right, the car lifted off the ground and rose into the sky.

  “Hey, what gives? I thought you said Walter was at the police station.”

  Franklin dialed a number on his cell.

  “Hey kid, what’s up?” Walter said a moment later.

  “Hey Gramps, whatcha up to right now.”

  “Still at the police station having a talk with Officer-”

  “Still at the police station? You sure?”

  “Yeah, what’s up?”

  “We’re up, that’s what. Car’s flying. Thought it was you for a sec.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Walnut Hills. Or we were. We’re moving kind of fast and I can’t see a darn thing out the window.”

  Walter disappeared so fast all Larry Wilkins could do was shake his head and pick his phone up from the floor.

  The car descended as fast as it took off and before Franklin and Kendra could get their wits about them, they were inside a warehouse. Two men moved to either side of the car with drawn assault rifles and awaited instructions.

  “Put them in my office for now, until I decide what to do with them,” Cat Mixon said to the men.

  “Come on you two,” one of the men said, “Don’t cause any trouble now.”

  “Where are you taking us?” Kendra asked, “and where are we?”

  “You’re in no position to ask questions. You’re at the boss’s office, and that’s all you need to know.”

  “It’s your fault,” Kendra said a moment later when they were locked in the room.

  “She might have nabbed us, anyway.”

  “Maybe, but if we hadn’t been following Mike.”

  “Either way, we’re here now. Might as well keep our eyes open.”

  “Or our ears,” Kendra said, picking something up from the top of a filing cabinet.

  “Whatcha got there?”

  “Don’t know. Look at them. Some kind of ear buds, but nothing like I’ve ever seen before.” She handed them to Franklin.

  “Weird. Something high tech. I’m gonna try ‘em out.”

  He put them in his ears and then took them back out.

  “Not hearing anything. Wonder what they’re for.”

  “Hey, look out there. Is that Mike?”

  “Yeah, looks like it.”

  Outside Cat’s office, they could see Mike and another man they had never seen before, and they were deep in conversation. They could also hear them speaking, but could understand nothing of what was being said.

  “Wonder what they’re speaking,” Franklin said.

  “Their own language,” Kendra replied, “their alien language.”

  Franklin took another look at the ear buds and a realization hit him. He put them back in his ears and all of a sudden Mike and his friend were speaking English, clear as a bell. He took them out, and the language was gibberish.

  “Whoa, put these in,” he said, handing them to Kendra.

  “That is cool,” she said a minute later.

  “You gonna give ‘em back?”

  “Hold on a sec. You should hear what they’re saying.”

  “What are they saying?”

  “You got your phone on you?”

  “Yeah, still in my pocket,” he said, pulling his phone out, “but no signal in here.”

  “Their voices are carrying this far. Can you record them?”

  “Sure, guess I don’t need a signal for that.”

  20

  The two men spoke for five more minutes and then walked toward the other end of the warehouse. When their voices were no longer reaching them, Franklin stopped recording and put his phone back in his pocket.

  “Man, we have to get the news to Walter,” Kendra said, “This is some serious stuff.”

  “First thing is getting out of this room. I don’t figure Walter knows where we are, and without a signal, we got no way of telling him.”

  “How do you figure we’re gonna get out of this room?”

  “That’s the easy part. I just need tools.”

  “What kind of tools?”

  “Couple long thin pieces of metal should do. Let’s see what we can find.”

  Franklin began going through the filing cabinets and Kendra searched the desk drawers. Both turned up empty, but a minute later, Kendra came from a small wardrobe in the corner of the room and approached Franklin with a triumphant smile on her face.

  “Will these do?” she asked, holding up two hair pins.

  “Those should do nicely.”

  “What are you going to do with those?”

  “Something I learned on the streets. Never thought it would come in handy like this.”

  Franklin took the pins and started to bend over the lock in the door, but froze when he heard footsteps and voices outside the room. These two were speaking English, so Franklin sat down against the wall and listened.

  “Is anyone going out soon? We’re about out of food in here,” one man said.

  “I got a list from the boss. I’m headed out shortly. It’s quite a list. I’m taking the van,” the other man said.

  “You getting that much food?”

  “Not just food. Look at this list.”

  He whistled when he looked at the paper.

  “That’s a hell of a list. What’s she need all that for?”

&nb
sp; “I didn’t ask. I’m just glad to be getting out for a bit.”

  “You need any help?”

  “I should be okay. You might need to hang around here in case she comes back and needs something…and we have those guests locked in her office.”

  “But they’re locked in. Not much we need to do about them.”

  “No, just look in now and then, make sure they’re not up to something.”

  “They’re just kids. What could they be up to?”

  “Probably not much. Just keep an eye on them. Shouldn’t be hard. The girl’s not bad to look at.”

  “I hear you. I’m just gonna have a sandwich and then I’ll come back here and babysit. You leaving now?”

  “Just gotta go take a pee and grab the van keys. Should be back in a couple hours.”

  As soon as the men walked away, Franklin got to work on the lock and had the door open in no time. They stuck their heads out of the room, saw nobody around, and spotted a white Chevy Express van parked about twenty yards away.

  “Ma’am, your chariot awaits,” Franklin said with an exaggerated bow.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Can you think of a better way out of here?”

  “What do we do if he opens the back door?”

  “Let’s pray he doesn’t do that before he leaves. Come on.”

  They looked around again to make sure they weren’t spotted and then ran to the van, opening the back door and climbing in the cargo area. There was a wall separating the front seats from the cargo area and there was a furniture blanket hanging on the wall, cutting off any visibility from the front seat. They had just sat down and closed the back door when they heard footsteps approaching. A moment later, the front door opened and closed, and the engine started. The van began to move, but only for a minute before stopping. Then they felt a sensation like they were on an elevator going up, which was exactly what was happening. The van was going up to the street level on a freight elevator large enough to take vehicles. A moment later, the van picked up speed, and the ride got bumpy.

  “What road is this?” Kendra asked in a whisper.

  “I don’t even know what part of town we’re in, but this road is horrible,” Franklin replied, “Hey, I got a signal. Gonna send Walter a message.”