Essence: Book 1 - Septima

by Nick Braker

  “You wanted my help?” she prompted, moving to examine her partner lying on the bed.

  “Cienna didn’t hurt him permanently,” Troy said. “I simply needed to be sure this situation didn’t escalate into a gunfight. I hope you feel at ease enough to listen to what I have to say.”

  “I’d feel better if I had her weapon too,” she said, pointing to Cienna.

  Cienna wouldn’t give up her weapon as she didn’t trust anyone but herself. Troy was certain of that.

  “Cienna, Septima, step outside please while we speak,” Troy ordered.

  “If he wakes up...,” Cienna said, letting it trail off.

  “You have his weapon. Let me talk with them,” Troy said.

  They left, shutting the door behind them. Troy pulled a chair over for Kima and then took a seat at the one near the desk.

  “I am here on a diplomatic mission,” Troy said.

  “What country?” she asked. “It certainly isn’t third world with technology like this.”

  “You’re certain it’s real, aren’t you?” he asked.

  “Call it a hobby but this is not a toy. The components are singular and are assembled together appropriately. This is not fabricated out of a mold to look like a weapon, it is one. The question is... does it work?”

  She pointed it at Troy, continuing.

  “You claimed it was set to stun so if I were to pull this trigger...”

  Troy held up his hands.

  “Please don’t,” he said. “It is quite real as you have surmised and I assure you, it is painful to be shot with one of those, even on stun.”

  “You’ve convinced me. Proceed,” she said, still holding the gun on him.

  Troy slowly reached over to the desk and retrieved his comm-device.

  “I used this to hack into the wireless signals around us. From there I broke into several highly secured servers, all to convince you I was someone else. I needed to get you here, in person, because that would be the only way to convince you of my mission.”

  “You have something crazy to tell me?” she added. “Like the President’s life is in danger and only you can save the day?”

  “No,” he said, sighing. “Our world is in danger and we will save the day.”

  Troy kept his eyes locked on hers as he set the small device Ghetti had given him on the bed at the feet of the unconscious detective. He activated it and it projected its video in 3D between them. The image grew larger, showing a fleet of spaceships attacking a snow covered planet under an orange star. The largest of the ships had a central section shaped with a flat, generally hexagonal design with hundreds of subsections on each side’s facing that acted as launching platforms. The hull was dark metal with thousands of tiny specks of light scattered around it from interior sources. The design was foreign and Troy was sure Kima had never seen anything like it. The main ship was surrounded by other ships of varying sizes that were too numerous to count.

  The video continued showing fleet specifications, weapons, shields, and various other military capabilities. It showed the Reptauran’s alien form with both strengths and weaknesses highlighted. The bulk of the video was highly technical and revealed intricate details of fundamental science mechanics that Earth could use to understand technology hundreds of years more advanced than present day. The video ended with instructions for accessing the data Ghetti’s device contained and a final message from Ghetti warning Earth to prepare and to remember the Piran people should they succeed.

  “Dear God,” Kima said.

  “Kima, you have to believe me. This is quite real. This is not a movie trailer. Something like this would take millions of dollars for Hollywood to create. I didn’t build this in my garage, no one could. I was told we could have weeks to years before they arrive because they simply do not know.”

  “Bullshit,” her partner said, sitting up and rubbing his head. “I was awake enough to see nearly all of it but it doesn’t prove anything.”

  The man rolled out of bed and moved to the doorway, locking the room’s door.

  “And that makes you a fake too,” Kima’s partner said.

  He rushed Troy.

  “James. Wait,” Kima said.

  “You’re under arrest,” James said, grabbing Troy by the arm and spinning him around.

  He tried to force Troy over the desk while pulling his wrist back. James pulled his handcuffs out. Troy spun farther, facing the man again and breaking the detective’s grip. Troy deflected the man’s hands away while shifting to the side and backing away from him.

  “Detective,” Troy said. “I can easily defend myself regardless of your training or skill.”

  James attacked again, throwing a punch at Troy’s face. Troy sidestepped and used James’ momentum to push him past Troy and deeper into the room. Troy backed away toward the door. Kima was on his right. She hadn’t moved.

  “James,” Kima yelled. “Stop.”

  The man regained his balance and turned back to Troy.

  “There are no aliens,” James said. “This is a trick. I don’t know how he pulled this off but it is a trick. Kima, get a grip. He’s playing you. You are a sucker for hard luck cases and it makes you vulnerable.”

  James rushed him again, this time bringing a kick up to Troy’s midsection. Troy had anticipated several moves and this was one of them. He blocked downward with both arms crossed at the wrists. James’ foot was easily blocked which threw him off balance. Troy pulled three blows to James’ face while sidestepping around him. The detective recovered his balance and spun to swing at Troy’s face. Again, Troy blocked and pulled three more punches, this time to his abdomen.

  “I can do this all day,” Troy told him.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “Everything okay in there?” Septima asked.

  “Stay out of this please,” Troy yelled.

  In the background, Troy heard Cienna mutter something about getting himself killed and they would have to go back alone. Kima pointed the blaster at Troy.

  “Shoot him,” James said, seeing the move. “Pull your own weapon out and take him down. They assaulted a police officer and are conspiring--”

  “James, listen to me,” Kima said. “What did you tell me long ago that was the most important thing to remember in police work?”

  James’ face was a mixture of surprise and confusion.

  “What--”

  “What was it?” she demanded.

  “Observation,” he responded.

  “Have you looked around?” she asked.

  “I was unconscious!” he yelled, ready to attack Troy again.

  She pointed around the room.

  “You saw the holographic projector. Do you see that electronic device on the desk? What about the blaster in my hand? And what about the food on the desk that neither of us have ever seen before. This is not a hoax.”

  Troy had forgotten about the food. Alta had suggested bringing it along from Pira because Septima and Cienna would not be able to eat most Earth food. Cienna had taken several of the items out of the bag earlier and now Kima was using it to prove Troy’s case. She was completely convinced it seemed, perhaps she trusted Troy.

  “It doesn’t matter because we know this crap doesn’t really happen. If you buy into this, you’re no better than the trailer trash that claim they’re pregnant by alien abduction.”

  “Is this thing really on stun?” she asked, looking at Troy.

  James moved towards Troy again. Kima still had the gun pointed at Troy.

  “Yes,” Troy said.

  Kima shifted the gun at James and fired. The blaster’s energy beam hit James squarely in his back. His face was a myriad of expressions. This time it was shock, turning to surprise, then pain and finally a blank look as he fell to the floor like a rag doll. Troy was already moving and caught James, laying him down on the floor gently. The room’s door near the latch splintered as Cienna kicked it in.

  “Hold your fire!” Troy ordered to both Cienna an
d Kima.

  Troy’s hands were splayed out in front of him, frozen in that moment where he knew anything could go wrong. Kima and Cienna had their guns aimed at each other and Troy couldn’t trust that Cienna wouldn’t have hers set to kill. All of this could end right here.

  “Lower... your... weapons,” he ordered.

  Kima and Cienna faced each other, both women’s eyes locked on the other.

  “She shot her own partner,” Troy said.

  Cienna lowered her weapon but kept her eyes on Kima.

  “Yeah? But she changed the setting on her weapon as I came in,” Cienna told him.

  Troy’s eyes widened. There was obviously more to Kima than he had imagined. Kima shrugged, lowering her blaster too.

  “What do we do from here, Troy?” Kima asked, flipping the blaster around and handing it back to him.

  “You need to convince--” Troy began.

  “Don’t worry about James. He’ll come around. We’ve known each other a long time.”

  “Uh, you shot him,” Septima said.

  “My partner is trained in hand to hand but Troy demonstrated he wasn’t here to hurt anyone even when he obviously could have. I didn’t want James to get hurt so I stunned him. Besides, during my training at the academy, he was the one that tased me. I told him that one day I would get him back.”

  Kima’s comment made Troy smile inside. She had attitude.

  “Why would you trust Troy that much?” Septima asked.

  Kima hesitated.

  “I, uh, I don’t know,” she said, staring at him. “I... just do.”

  ____

  Earth - 12:50pm

  It was almost an hour past lunchtime. They had roughly 16 hours left to accomplish their goal or, in Troy’s mind, at least get it set in motion. Kima sat back down in the chair Troy had offered her earlier. She eased back, taking a relaxed pose. Her trust wasn’t blind as she was way too smart for that. No, Troy had assessed Kima correctly. She examined the facts, removing emotion from the equation, and had concluded there was some measure of truth to Troy’s story. He also surmised she was adept at reading people. Her actions and decision making were based on logic and simple observation. She believed him.

  Septima tried putting the door back together enough that it would close but Cienna’s hasty entrance had made that impossible. Cienna rolled her eyes, grabbed Troy’s chair at the desk and jammed it up against the doorknob, wedging it closed.

  “That’ll keep it shut,” Cienna said.

  “True but the door still looks bad from the outside,” Septima added.

  “I’ll bill it to the department for you,” Kima said, keeping her eyes locked on Troy. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll file it as we had probable cause.”

  Kima was still assessing Troy. Her stern expression didn’t waver from him.

  “Kima, after all you’ve seen... I have stranger things to tell you. One of which I can only prove 16 hours from now.”

  “I’m still all ears,” she said, bringing her hands out, palms up.

  “The three of us have to leave in 16 hours. We were sent here via a machine from the very planet you saw in the video. We’re the--”

  “Wait, wait,” she said. “That is nowhere near enough time to get this moving. It will take weeks for this to work. Why so short?”

  Troy paused, looking down at the carpet where James still laid, unconscious. He had been so focused on formulating his plan, he hadn’t stopped to think about why Alta would only give them 24 Earth hours. He looked at Septima.

  “We’ve never stayed longer than 20 minutes before this trip,” Septima said, answering Kima’s question. “Alta wanted to give us enough time to make contact but keep it short enough that, if things went wrong, we’d not have to spend weeks in hiding waiting for our return trip.”

  “If things did go wrong, we could easily be on the run from the law or your governmental agencies,” Cienna added. “This way, we could hide out for a short time and then meet up at the rendezvous point.”

  “Fine, fine,” Kima said. “So, are you all three human?”

  “I am but those two are Pirans,” he said.

  Kima pulled out a small notepad and started taking notes. The motion seemed natural and practiced as if she had done this her whole life.

  “Pirans...,” she said, writing it down. “For aliens from another planet, you look very human to me.”

  “Our DNA is almost identical. We would pass for humans, even if tested with your current technology,” Cienna said.

  “How did you get involved with them then, Troy?” Kima asked.

  Troy relayed a portion of his story starting from the train station. He told her about the war with the Reptauran species and why the Pirans visited Earth. Troy talked about the Piran culture and their technology, focusing mainly on their simple, pacifistic nature and all that they had achieved as a species. He included their current predicament of being stuck behind an electronic shield wall that housed the last of their race.

  “And these Reptiles--”

  “Reptaurans,” Cienna corrected.

  “--are on their way here next,” Kima said. “And you think we have a chance which is why you are here. You want to get this technology into the hands of our government so they can begin preparing for an invasion?”

  “Yes and no,” Troy answered. “Yes, I am here to help Earth but it will not be a simple invasion. They will come to conquer us, plunder all that Earth has to offer and--”

  “--and then they will destroy the planet when they have used it up.” Cienna finished.

  “Your home planet will eventually be destroyed then?” Kima asked.

  Kima finally broke her gaze from Troy and looked into Septima and Cienna’s eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” Kima added softly.

  Cienna took a quick step forward, opening her mouth to speak but Septima quickly put a hand on Cienna’s wrist. The action stopped Cienna from responding. Troy jumped in too, seeing Cienna’s red face. What was wrong with her?

  “Which is where you come in, Kima. I want you to take this device to someone you trust higher up the ladder. Your police chief perhaps or a commissioner, someone you know who will believe you. From there, they can take it higher. The mayor would be ideal if those involved can trust him.”

  Troy paused.

  “This plan,” Troy said, continuing. “Depends on this moving up the chain to people that can be trusted. If I didn’t know you enough to trust you, you could use this information to your advantage. Greed is a powerful motivator for evil. The world depends on this getting to the right people with the resources to see this through for the survival of the human race.”

  “Which means, I’m the one who’ll have to put everything on the line since you three are going back to this other world.”

  “Pira,” Septima answered.

  “Fine, fine,” Kima said. “James and I need to check back in and I might as well meet with the chief, see if he buys into this. I trust him so it is my best starting point.”

  Kima moved over to James and knelt next to him.

  “Hey,” she said, smacking him gently on the cheek several times. “Get up rookie. You’ll be fine.”

  James opened his eyes.

  “Ya shot me,” James said, struggling to focus.

  “I told you someday I’d get you back,” she said, smiling down at him.

  “Aye, you finally made good on your promise,” James said, still laying there. “I guess since I’m still alive they are certifiably crazy believing they are from another planet or they really are...”

  James let his comment trail off, unfinished. His face cringed in pain as he tried to sit up. Kima helped him to stand but his legs shook with the effort. He leaned on the wall for support with Kima still at his side.

  “Detective,” Troy said, speaking to James. “I’m sorry for all of this. I didn’t want to--”

  “I’m still not sure I believe you, well, the crap about aliens, but I’m at least willing t
o listen now. That shit was powerful,” James said, pointing the blaster. “A Taser doesn’t deliver that kind of shock. Something weird is going on.”

  “What’s weird?” Troy asked.

  James glanced at Kima and then locked eyes with Troy.

  “I’ve never seen anyone with reflexes that fast. You... you handled me like a child in that fight. How?”

  Troy hadn’t thought about it. It seemed natural to him as if he’d been doing it his whole life.

  “Alien training,” Troy said, shrugging.

  James raised his arm holding out his index finger like he wanted to ask a question but he lowered it, shaking his head.

  “I don’t wanna know,” James said. “Look Kima, we need to check in, an’ I need some aspirin, or better yet, morphine.”

  “Detectives,” Troy said. “We’ll be around for another 16 hours. We cannot expose ourselves. Advanced technology and alien reflexes aren’t foolproof.”

  Troy held Ghetti’s device out to Kima. She hesitated, hovering her hand over the device. He could see doubt in her eyes but she took it.

  “This has got to work,” Troy said.

  Kima nodded, helping her partner out the door that Cienna had opened for them. Kima paused outside the doorway.

  “What is it about you?” Kima asked.

  “Huh?” Troy said.

  Kima shook her head, turned and left. Troy closed the door of their motel room, grabbing the chair and moving it back to the desk.

  “You know we can’t stay,” Cienna said.

  “Yep,” he said. “And we’re not. I trust Kima but the other detective is a different story.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. You trust Kima?” Cienna said. “Why? Because she’s a beautiful, sexy woman?”

  Troy kept working on his comm-device. Cienna’s comment gave him pause but only because of how she said it. Did Cienna find Kima attractive?

  “No, because I’m good at reading people,” he answered.

  Cienna laughed.

  “You have no idea,” Cienna told him.