by Adam Moon
He felt Sally and Hank hold him up as his body slumped, powerless. He heard Hank gasp and he felt Sally shudder uncontrollably.
When his vision returned, he saw a hellish scene all around him. Grey body parts jutted out of the ground at his feet. A head poked out here and a leg wriggled around there. Some were buried right side up and others upside down. He’d somehow managed to teleport them back to him, and fused them in the dirt and rocks at his feet. Most of them had died instantly, but a few still struggled weakly before succumbing to death too.
A single Grey figure hovered in the distance. It was the leader. He’d made a conscious decision to allow her to live to see the consequences of her betrayal. She hovered for just another couple of seconds and then she turned away and flew off.
Sally and Hank were speechless. Sally had to let go of Jack so she could vomit. She’d seen much bloodshed in recent days but she wasn’t immune to it yet the way he was.
He felt Hank’s body start to quiver. Their reactions brought him to his senses. He had just done an awful thing to dozens of intelligent creatures. The sight of the Greys lying dead at his feet didn’t bother him the way Hank and Sally’s reactions did.
He felt his senses flutter again as his vision blurred. And then he felt nothing at all.
Gory Intel
Shaylo watched in awe as those humans achieved the impossible. One of them could release some type of explosive emission; the other had an invisible shield that she used to cleave her opponents into pieces, but the one that interested him the most was the one who could simply appear wherever he wanted. Several times he disappeared from view as they watched. His First Mate was going nuts trying to pinpoint each new location.
They’d already ascertained that the humans had odd abilities and had even documented some of them, but to see them used in battle was altogether different.
Watching them kill his people supplied him with droves of information. He wasn’t too worried about the explosive human or the one with the invisible barriers. They would be easy enough to kill. The one who could teleport intrigued him. Teleportation was only theoretically possible and only for subatomic particles. He’d never before seen an object teleport.
That human would be troublesome, but hardly impossible to defeat. And if he couldn’t chase him down, he’d have to find a way to lure him to his demise.
He said to his First Mate, “That’s encouraging.”
She wondered if he’d been watching the same footage she’d just seen. What she saw was a being so powerful he could kill dozens without lifting a finger. “What do you mean?”
“He was shot and he fell. We can hurt them.”
“I see.”
“How soon can the troops deploy?”
She said, “They’re still recovering from stasis but I could send them now anyway.”
“No. Wait until they’re at their best before dispatching them. They’ll have their wok cut out for them.”
Enemies to Friends
Jack awoke in a familiar place, but it wasn’t his home in Ault. He was inside the Cheyenne mountain bunker in a hospital bed. He sniffed the air and was relieved to find out that he wasn’t still reeking of sweat and fear. He’d been cleaned and redressed.
Sally was in the room with him. She was wearing a white tank-top and shorts. The first thing Jack noticed was that she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath her shirt.
Then he gathered his senses and said, “What the hell happened?”
She dipped a folded cloth in a bowl of cold water and laid it across his forehead. She was gentle about it. Maybe she didn’t resent him anymore but he wasn’t hopeful about that.
“You passed out. We had no choice but to catch a flight back here. Luckily for us, we were stranded at an Air Force base so it was easy enough finding a plane.”
Then he remembered everything. He’d lost his mind and executed a retreating enemy. He was a cold blooded monster.
She said, “I had no idea you could do what you did.”
He waited for her to tell him how disgusted she was by what he’d done but instead she said, “You’re amazing.”
He was speechless.
She lifted the blanket and slipped into bed beside him.
Considering everything he’d been through all day, it was surprising that this was the most stressful. It caught him so by surprise he almost leapt out of bed. He was immediately glad he didn’t act on his gut instinct.
He didn’t even consider using his empathic ability to uncover her true motives the way he had with Melanie because nothing about her actions was ambiguous in the least. She knew what she wanted and she was taking it. Jack was more than happy to comply.
Sally snuggled into him afterwards and said, “I heard it’s your birthday today. Happy birthday, Jack.”
He sat up. “How long was I out?”
“Two days.”
“Holy shit! No way.”
“I’ve been your Florence Nightingale the whole time.”
“What does that mean? Who’s she?”
“She was a nurse who fell in love with her patient.”
“You’re not in love with me. You hate my guts.”
“Do you really still think I hate you?”
He smiled lazily. “I guess not.”
“It turns out you’re a lot more charming when you’re unconscious.” She laughed at her own insult which put a smile on his face.
She sat up and kissed him. She stood and said, “Get some rest if you can. My room is right next door if you need me. I’ll send your mom in when you feel up for it.”
“I didn’t know she was here.”
“We didn’t know if you’d pull through so she was sent for just in case.”
“Is Melanie here too?”
He detected a hint of unease in Sally’s posture. “You’re not seeing her, are you? Oh God, you are, aren’t you?”
Jack shook his head. “No. We’re just friends.”
“Oh good. I’d feel like such a bitch if you were already taken.”
She turned around and walked from the room with a spring in her step, saying over her shoulder, “I’ll just send your mom in now. I think you’re strong enough to handle it.”
Just half a minute later his mom walked in. She said, “You look good. Your complexion is back. It looks like you just ran a marathon.”
Jack hid his smile and said, “I feel like a million bucks. Sorry they got you so worried about me.”
“I saw you, son. You looked like you were on death’s door. You’re lucky to have a friend like Sally Hopkins. She’s a sweetheart. She barely left your side.”
“She’s growing on me.”
“I think she likes you.”
Jack refused to have that conversation. “Where’s Melanie?”
“She’s back home. She couldn’t make it.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Nothing. She just couldn’t make it.”
Jack shook his head. What possible reason could Melanie have for not coming? He would’ve been there for her if their roles were reversed.
His mom must’ve seen the confusion on his face. “Melanie’s going through a lot. Cut her some slack.”
He sighed. “I know. I guess I just expected more from her.”
“Sometimes the people we love let us down. It’s not their fault and you shouldn’t hold it against them. No one’s perfect. She’s a good girl and she cares about you.”
He changed the subject because he knew she was right. “I’m starving. Can I get something to eat?”
“Sally’s already on it. You really should thank her for everything she’s done. I thought you said she hated you. I just didn’t see that while she took care of you.”
“She did hate me. I think she had a change of heart.”
“Well, if you need a replacement enemy, I think that other soldier Hank will fill that role nicely. He mutters to himself every time he walks past your room. I think he’s jealous of how much attention she�
��s giving you.”
“It’s always nice to have enemies, I guess,” he said resignedly. “I wouldn’t know what to do without them.”
The truth was that he didn’t give a damn if Hank hated him because they’d never liked each other in the first place. It was no loss at all.
His mom patted him on the top of the head and then kissed his forehead. “Happy birthday. Get some sleep,” she said before leaving the room.
Sally entered as soon as she left, with a plate piled high with food. She had fruit jammed in her shorts pockets and two bottles of water clutched in her fist.
She locked the door and ate with him. She had a voracious appetite, and for more than just food.
He felt like he was in a dream when she left him. He drifted off into the most pleasant sleep of his entire life.
Heart to Heart
Watson was sitting in the chair beside his bed when he awoke, staring at his hands like he might find the meaning of life nestled somewhere between his fingers.
He looked up and said, “Oh, hey pal. Glad to see you awake.”
Jack coughed and sat up straighter, wondering why the heck Watson was there.
Watson cut right to the chase. “I noticed Ms. Hopkins has taken a shine to you.”
Jack felt immediately uncomfortable. “I suppose she has.”
Watson nodded and cleared his throat. “You should know that she’s been through a lot. She lost everyone during the first invasion. She’s a lost soul and she’s vulnerable to influence.”
Jack’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t know that. It explains why she’s so upset sometimes.”
“Just be good to her, okay? I don’t want to see her go through any more turmoil.”
Jack considered Watson’s concern, and realized he was right to be worried. He said, “I’m hardly consistent these days. I’m all over the damn place. Maybe I should take a step back if you’re worried…”
Watson cut him off. “She doesn’t need stability. She needs strength. I’m not here to tell you to back off. I’m here to tell you that you’re the perfect person for her. She needs someone powerful to look up to and you’re the most powerful man on the planet. But I want you to treat your role in her life with the respect it deserves.”
Watson was acting like Sally was his own daughter. Then again, most of the troops in his charge were young and most of them had lost someone so it was no wonder he’d stepped in as a sort of surrogate parental figure.
Jack still wasn’t convinced he could be trusted with someone’s feelings that were so vulnerable.
He said, “I don’t know, sir. If she needs someone to emulate, I’m not the guy for her. I killed aliens as they tried to escape. I’ve committed several murders in the past month. I know I’m a good person, but sometimes that doesn’t matter. I do terrible things anyway. I’d hate for anyone to think I was worth looking up to.”
“I disagree. You’ve done what was necessary. That makes you strong. And you’re not a bad person either. You don’t have to be perfect all the time to be a good guy. Let me tell you a story. I think it’s an ancient Native American tale or something. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.
“It goes like this: There are two wolves within all of us who fight each other for dominance over our lives. One of them is full of hatred and greed and lacks remorse. The other wolf is gentle, peaceful and kind. Do you know which one will win the fight?”
Jack shook his head, enthralled by Watson’s newfound demeanor but also by the story.
Watson said, “The one that wins is the one you feed.”
Jack smiled. He usually hated crap like that, but this time it was clever and appropriate to the situation.
“I promise to feed the good wolf from now on,” he said with a halfhearted smile.
“Good boy. Now get the hell up. You’ve been lounging around for two days and there’s shit to do.”
Jack chuckled and shuffled towards the edge of the bed as Watson got to his feet and left him to dress.
Abandoned and Alone
The female Grey captain tried to hail Shaylo’s ship one last time. She wasn’t surprised when he continued to ignore her. He hadn’t even tried to respond to any of the prior hails.
She’d lost everything. She was the one to order her people to surrender during the assault that had failed so miserably and now her men were all dead because of her ill-advised orders. Her one last shot at redemption was to liberate her brethren and now that wasn’t even an option now that the humans had ordered their deaths.
She took some solace in the fact that even though the super humans had beaten her and the entire first invasion, there was no way they’d survive an attack from General Shaylo. It was theoretically impossible to beat such staggering odds, even for the enhanced humans.
She dropped from the sky and took a seat on a boulder, far from watchful human eyes.
She would be executed when Shaylo got a hold of her, and she deserved her fate, but that didn’t mean she was looking forward to it. She decided right then that she’d take the coward’s way out. Even execution showed some measure of pride. Her decision was akin to admitting she’d given up. She would kill herself.
She took off her mechanized armor and allowed the Earth breeze to wash over her. The earth was one of the more hospitable planets for her kind and she’d taken a perverse liking to it.
She flexed her fingers and then concentrated on making her internal organs fail, one at a time. When her vision spun before her, she knew she was closing in on death.
Her last thought before embracing the void was this: I wish I could’ve killed more humans.
Tour of the Universe
Jack met his mom, Sally, Hank, and Watson in the base cafeteria. He grabbed a coffee and a bagel before sitting down to join them.
His mom patted his leg and Sally smiled across the table at him wryly.
Hank busied himself eating bacon and eggs like no one in the room even existed. But for all Jack knew, that was how he always acted.
Watson informed Jack that the second wave hadn’t shown itself yet.
Jack said, “That’s good. I don’t know if I’m ready for another fight just yet.”
Hank’s head shot up and he said through a mouthful of bacon, “You were great back there in Nevada. I had no idea you could do stuff like that.”
Jack smiled, afraid to acknowledge the reference because he didn’t want his mom to know what he’d done. Hank stared at him a beat too long and then got back to his meal.
The exchange was uncomfortable.
Jack focused on his empathic ability. He wanted to know what was going through Hank’s head. If he was jealous, did that mean he was a threat? He had too much to worry about without having to second guess Hank’s motives. He could know where the guy stood and then deal with it.
He felt the ability rise, and emotions swirled through him, but each one was hard to extrapolate from the whole. He felt sadness, ambivalence, joy, unease, relief, and regret, all at the same time, and he couldn’t tell which emotion belonged to which person at the table.
It was then that the ability took over with a surge that nearly made Jack scream out of fright. It swelled and grew, completely out of his control. He didn’t feel each of the emotions any more strongly; he just felt more of them. It was like he was casting his net farther and wider. He was picking emotions up from other troops stationed around the base. And then he felt every person from Cheyenne. The net cast wider, bringing him even more emotions. Soon there were too many to individually feel. They all swirled together into a huge ball of indiscernible feeling.
He stood up and stumbled backwards, gasping for breath. An arm went around his waist to steady him and hold him up.
His empathic net grew exponentially. He felt like he could tap into the human collective consciousness. But that’s when things went haywire. His ability exploded, unbound by distance or the laws of physics. He felt it wash over the entire universe, bringing back feelings he barely und
erstood.
His body started to shake as his friends sat him back down. He could hardly focus on any one of them.
And then, just as he grew accustomed to the feelings washing over him, he felt his body start to phase.
He yelled, “Oh, shit!” because whatever was about to happen was going to be bad, he just knew it.
His vision flickered as physical objects appeared and vanished rapidly. His skin tingled and his mind reeled.
And then he vanished.
He didn’t expect to arrive in a desert this time. He expected far worse, and he wasn’t disappointed. He saw the black of space all around him, dotted with pinpoints of starlight. He phased away, and saw a planet, up close, like he was seeing it from an orbiting space station. It was red and purple and the night side was speckled with unnatural light; there was a civilization down there.
He tried to breathe, but he couldn’t and wasn’t even sure he had to.
Then, without warning, he appeared above a different planet, this one smaller and darker. Soon, he was watching as planet after planet flickered before his eyes in quick succession. Some were bigger than others. Each was a different swirl of colors. One planet would disappear, only to be replaced by another. He knew that the planets weren’t appearing before him, he was appearing before them. Each time he saw a planet, he felt the emotions of its inhabitants. He was being given a personal tour of the universe by his own out of control abilities.
Then things got more personal. He started to see alien landscapes, all different, as he appeared on the surfaces of planets. Some of them felt familiar, in ways he could almost understand, while others were so alien he could barely wrap his head around what he was seeing. Before he had a chance to become familiar with any one, a new one would appear before him.
Just then, he started to see creatures. He saw a yellowish creature first. It was as tall as he was but it had no facial features he could make out and it balanced on a dozen spider-like legs except that the legs looked like they were woven of thick strands of black hair or some other type of fibrous horn-like material.