by Jason Parent
“Yes, Dr. Gaudreau,” Lieutenant Westfield interrupted. “I was told you might be here with a police escort, not with… who are those strangely dressed people behind you? Students of yours?” He squinted, his eyes struggling to make out the details of the shadowy figures behind Connor. “Is Officer Simpson with you? I saw a cruiser in one of the lots. Where is he? I should talk to him.”
Before Connor could answer, Lieutenant Westfield was shining a flashlight in Milliken’s face. “You there,” he called. “Step forward.”
Milliken did as instructed. Kazi took a few steps back. Tryst, Lenyx, and Connor stood their ground.
Lieutenant Westfield eyeballed every inch of Milliken. At first, he seemed confused. Never once did he appear timid or threatened. After his examination of the Symorian was complete, he shrugged and muttered what sounded like curse words under his breath.
“Son, are those Spock ears you’re wearing?” he asked with all the seriousness and severity in his voice of a judge issuing a death sentence. One of the soldiers behind Lieutenant Westfield started giggling. Milliken didn’t seem amused. He looked at Connor.
Does he expect me to answer for him? Connor shrugged, then remembered their agreement. Yes, I suppose he does. His lips flopped open, but before the words could form, Lieutenant Westfield voiced his own conclusions about Connor’s company.
“I knew this would happen,” he said. “Every goddamn time something falls from space, the wackos are first on the scene.”
“Lieutenant, if I may… please try to have an open mind about what I’m about to tell you,” Connor began, fumbling for the words. There was no easy way to say what needed to be said. He took a deep breath, knowing he was about to sound absolutely crazy. It couldn’t be helped. “The meteorite you are protecting is actually a vessel. When it fell from the sky, these four were on it.”
Lieutenant Westfield stared at Connor. For a few seconds, Connor found the awkward silence nearly unbearable. Had the lieutenant understood him? His soldiers did. They burst into laughter. The soldier standing near the Jeep was bending from laughing so hard. They couldn’t stop, all except Lieutenant Westfield. His face remained as straight as a ruler.
“That’s enough,” he said. A tense quiet filled the air. “Dr. Gaudreau, either you take me for an idiot, or these four have got you so brainwashed, you shouldn’t be allowed to teach our nation’s youth any longer.”
Lieutenant Westfield looked like he’d just seen a kid eat a booger. “Doctor,” he said. “I was hoping for a nice, quiet, uneventful evening. You and your friends are quickly stomping out any chance of that. Now, I’m no jarhead, but even if I was, the jar ain’t empty. Since that heap of shit over there certainly isn’t man-made, that leaves me with only one incredible conclusion to draw from what you just told me. Now, I want you to think long and hard about what you said and my soldiers’ reactions to it before you answer my next question. I don’t want to be here. I have no patience for games or stupidity. With that said, do you still want to tell me that the four freaks dressed up like S&M-loving vampires behind you came from outer space?”
Connor did think long and hard before answering, though his answer was never in doubt. He could sense the four Symorians growing restless. Lenyx shook his head. Connor took it to mean that he should forego the truth. He did not heed the warning.
“In a word, yes,” he said flatly, as if pronouncing it so would be enough to make it believable.
Lieutenant Westfield stared poker-faced at Connor. “All right, Dr. Gaudreau, have it your way. I don’t know what your angle is, but it’s time for you and your merry band of misfits to get the fuck out of here. Private Vicenza will escort you to your vehicles.”
Private Vicenza, the soldier with the dark eyes who’d been pointing his pistol at him since the two had met, grabbed Connor by the back of his shirt and pushed him a step forward. Vicenza then moved toward Lenyx, apparently planning to do the same.
“Wait!” Connor shouted, attempting to move in between them. He grabbed Vicenza’s sleeve and immediately wished he hadn’t. The pistol’s hard base cracked him across the jaw. He fell onto his hands and knees, spitting out blood.
He looked up just as Vicenza grabbed Lenyx by the arm. The soldier’s hand was firmly grasped around the alien’s bicep, yet Vicenza didn’t light up like a firecracker. Connor was shocked to see him still alive and well.
It must require skin-to-skin contact.
“Move,” Vicenza commanded, tugging at Lenyx’s arm like a bratty child demanding his mother’s attention.
Lenyx didn’t budge. His upper lip twitched at one side. A long, sharp tooth protruded from beneath it, hinting at the savagery Connor feared might come. He pitied Vicenza. The soldier was lining up dominoes; one more push would send them toppling.
Lenyx’s snarl transcended planetary boundaries. Maybe it’s already too late.
“I tried to warn you,” he said, the blood still pooling in his mouth. He slowly crawled backward, away from the group.
Perhaps a demonstration is needed. Connor gasped. No! That is exactly what shouldn’t happen. His face reddened, shamed by his own thoughts. God, I hope Lenyx isn’t reading my mind right now. He settled on the ground, hoping the tension would settle with him.
“I said move,” Vicenza repeated, this time kicking Lenyx in the back with his heavy boot. Lenyx staggered a bit, then turned to Vicenza with fangs bared, their enamel glistening in the moonlight.
“Are all humans this ignorant?” he asked, his gaze fixed on Vicenza.
“You’ve got some balls on you,” the soldier said, his childlike behavior evolving into the temper tantrum of a toddler who didn’t get his way. He circled Lenyx and gave him another boot. Lenyx again staggered, but when he turned to face Vicenza a second time, his teeth were gnashing.
Milliken rushed to his commander’s aid, but Tryst shot out an arm, halting his charge. Connor lay flat on the dirt. He rolled to his back to witness the impending carnage.
Lenyx opened his mouth wide. An animalistic roar escaped it. With his grisly fangs displayed in their entirety, saliva dripping from them like a drooling dog’s, the alien leader looked as though he might take a bite out of the soldier. He certainly looked capable of ripping the man to shreds as easily as a lion does a zebra.
The violent turn of events terrified him, but what could he do? Anything further meant self-endangerment. Connor was no hero; he preferred self-preservation.
Vicenza moved in for another strike. Raising his pistol high, he drove its butt at Lenyx’s nose. The alien was ready for him.
As the soldier’s arm plunged toward him, Lenyx caught it in his hand and twisted hard. The soldier’s yelp and the snap of bone brought vomit into Connor’s throat, and when he saw the bone jutting out of Vicenza’s forearm, he lost all control. He rolled to his side and let the putrid acid release. The soldier’s pistol fell to the ground. He dropped to one knee beside it.
“Move another inch, and you’re dead,” Lieutenant Westfield said.
Lenyx stared at his weakened prey but did not release the fractured remains of Vicenza’s arm. “You don’t know how to treat company,” he said amid unnatural purrs. He howled and thrust his free hand into the soldier’s throat. It pierced Vicenza’s neck as easily as a knife passing through butter, instantaneously cauterizing the wound as it passed through the skin. Not one drop of blood spilled.
From the point of impact, the infliction spread. In a matter of seconds, Vicenza’s entire body resembled the burnt tip of a cigarette. The rancid odor of scorched flesh filled the air. With a puff of his breath, Lenyx blew away the remains of the soldier, nothing more than ash in the wind. Lieutenant Westfield and his remaining men stood speechless, their faces wrought with horror.
Kazi emerged from the background. “It was much more efficient this time. Another side effect of the water? Interesting.”
Though not without sympathy, Connor was thinking the same thing. Matthew had died an agonizing death. He gri
maced at the thought of his final screams. Vicenza had been spared such a fate, his death quick, incinerated likely before he could even feel the pain. Still, he was dead all the same.
“Fire!” Lieutenant Westfield ordered. He had apparently broken from the snare of the alien magic.
His outburst broke shook Connor from the spell. Here we go. A barrage of gunfire flew over him, directed at Lenyx. The soldier with the assault rifle must have unloaded an entire magazine into the alien commander. Shell casings bounced off him and littered the ground around him. Those that connected with Connor burned his skin and sparked against his clothing. He covered his face with his arms and hoped it would be over shortly.
“Hold your fire,” Lieutenant Westfield ordered.
Connor peeked out from beneath the crook of his elbow. “Can I get up now?” he asked to whomever was still standing. Not waiting for an answer, Connor stood and brushed the dirt from his clothing. He looked around, pleased to see everyone else still standing.
But Lieutenant Westfield didn’t look defeated. He glared at Lenyx, a cold gaze that suggested he would never back down. Nearby, the soldier with the assault rifle looked as though he might run if Lenyx so much as raised his voice. The alien commander stood defiant, alive and unscathed. His clothes had fared much worse, riddled with bullet holes. He stepped closer to Lieutenant Westfield, hulking over him like a hungry bear. He would strike. The only question was why he hadn’t yet.
Lieutenant Westfield took advantage of his hesitation. “What is that? Some kind of body armor you got on? Well, it won’t protect you from this.” He raised his handgun and fired a single bullet straight into Lenyx’s face at point-blank range.
Connor cringed. He wasn’t worried that the bullet would harm Lenyx, but it sure as hell looked painful. The bullet tagged Lenyx in the forehead and bounced off as if it were made of gummy bears.
Lieutenant Westfield stared at his gun, then at Lenyx, then back at his gun. Did he think it had misfired? He fired again, the second bullet confirming what the first bullet had already proven.
As a third bullet left the handgun, Connor could see its movement slow to a crawl, then stop. It froze in midair inches from Lenyx’s forehead. Connor stared in amazement. Even Tryst and Milliken seemed confused.
The bullet started to move again, this time in reverse, its speed rapidly increasing. It hurtled back into the barrel of the lieutenant’s pistol. The impact jolted the gun free from his hand. Before he could pick it up, Lenyx trapped it beneath his foot.
“How did you do that?” Tryst asked.
“I didn’t,” Lenyx said.
“That was my doing,” Kazi said, taking a bow. “That’s not all I can do. Watch this.”
A giant pine shook beside Connor, and he scrambled away from it. The ground around the tree cracked, exposing its roots. The tree itself appeared to be growing taller. Its roots emerged from the ground and continued to rise, floating in the air with the rest of the tree. The pine turned sideways and glided over Lieutenant Westfield. The lieutenant raised his hands to protect himself, a useless gesture. The weight of the tree would surely crush him.
“Stop!” Lenyx commanded. “We will not kill another human.” Connor hoped he was telling the truth.
“But they tried to kill you,” Kazi said. He gritted his teeth. The tree remained in the air over Lieutenant Westfield.
“And they have paid a heavy price for it.” Lenyx stared at the pine. “How are you doing that?”
“That’s amazing, Kazi,” Tryst said, staring wide-eyed at the tree. Milliken nodded his agreement. Despite his fear, Connor had to admit he was also impressed.
“Simple mind over matter,” Kazi said. His voice boomed with pride. “The humans call it telekinesis, yet none of them can truly do it.” He turned his snout upward, glaring down the end of it at Lieutenant Westfield.
“How is it that you can, and we can’t?” Lenyx asked.
“I guess I just have more brainpower than the rest of you.” Kazi laughed. The zeal in his eyes betrayed more than just a fondness for his newfound power. “I’m sure you can do it, too. I just figured out how to first.”
“Well, put the tree down, away from the humans.”
“Yes, Commander.” Kazi frowned. He tossed the tree nearly seventy-five feet away from them, spinning it in the air like a bicycle tire without even lifting a finger. It landed with a thunderous crash against the bark of another pine, snapping both like twigs.
He looked at Lenyx, awaiting instructions. Lenyx looked at Connor.
What does he want me to do? After what had just transpired, Connor had little advice for them. No experience or amount of learning could have prepared him for this situation. He grimaced. At least I finally have everyone’s attention.
Connor choked down his fear and replaced it with cold logic. “As I tried to warn your men, these are, in fact, aliens. If you touch them, well, you saw what can happen.”
“We came here in search of your people’s help, but instead we are met with hostility and aggression.” Lenyx’s anger seemed to fuse with the words as they came from his mouth. He looked as though he still might lunge at Lieutenant Westfield despite his promise of peace.
“Easy, Lenyx,” Connor said. “On this planet, you can’t evaporate people for being stubborn imbeciles, even if they bludgeon you with their pistols.”
He turned to the lieutenant. “I suggest we start over. We need to figure out a way to end this violence.”
“Your friend here just killed a soldier of the United States Army.” Lieutenant Westfield stood straight, shoulders back, a proud man. He was either oblivious to the fact that his weapons were useless against the aliens or simply didn’t care. Connor couldn’t be certain. Did he still doubt their otherworldliness even after what his eyes had witnessed?
“Whether he is an alien or just exceptionally good at dodging, deflecting, and/or withstanding bullets, this asshole committed an act of war.” Even disarmed, Lieutenant Westfield remained full of fight. “If the five of you surrender now, I’ll take you into custody unharmed. If you are who or whatever you say you are, I’ll let those higher up the food chain than me decide what to do with you.”
“You mean to take us captive?” Lenyx asked. “That’s absurd. We will not allow you to poke and prod us while we rot in cages.”
Milliken and Tryst drew their weapons. Connor could only wonder what Kazi planned to use as his. He tried desperately to think of a way to defuse the situation. What the hell did he know about being a peace ambassador anyway?
Movement in the nearby bushes drew his attention. Connor glanced over the brush and saw a pair of eyes fixed on him. The rest of the soldier to whom they belonged was camouflaged and undetectable. Connor knew the cavalry had arrived, undoubtedly alerted to trouble by the multitude of gunshots and the flying tree. How many there were, he could only guess.
“We’re surrounded,” he whispered to Lenyx.
“I know,” Lenyx replied. Addressing Lieutenant Westfield, he said, “All your men will die here tonight if you do not lay down your weapons and offer us safe passage. We seek no animosity between our people.”
“It’s a bit late for that,” the lieutenant said. “Let me have my gun back, and maybe I’ll think about it.”
Lenyx removed his foot from atop the Lieutenant’s pistol and returned to the others. Lieutenant Westfield picked it up and once again aimed it at Lenyx. Connor shook his head. Stupid grunt. He’ll never learn.
Even Lenyx seemed amused by Lieutenant Westfield’s obstinacy. A sly smile breached his stern expression. “Don’t be foolish, Lieutenant. By now, you should be aware that your projectile weapons will cause no harm to us.”
“My friends’ guns are bigger.”
“I know what you’re thinking. You’ll be dead before you can give the command to fire.”
“Is that so?” Lieutenant Westfield asked. “You willing to give it a try?”
“Guys,” Connor interrupted, stepping between them
in a last-ditch effort to salvage civility. Seeing the anger on both their faces, Connor felt small.
“Everyone keep calm,” he pled. “Both of you need to reconsider your positions. Lenyx, if you harm them, you and your crew will be branded a hostile invading force and will be hunted down until you are all dead.”
“Or until we conquer the humans,” Kazi said.
Lenyx held up his hand. It worked to quiet Kazi.
“Lieutenant,” Connor continued. “If you open fire, you may single-handedly be responsible for starting a war with an alien race whose numbers and firepower are unknown to you. We could be slaughtered like cattle or enslaved by superior beings all because you couldn’t subdue your ego.”
“Watch it, Dr. Gaudreau,” Lieutenant Westfield warned. He rubbed his chin. “Here’s what I can do: the five of you will accompany me back to camp as my prisoners until it’s decided otherwise. If you promise to play nice, we won’t bind you. I’ll contact my superiors about the presence of these so-called aliens, and we’ll see how they want to handle it. Believe me, I’d be overjoyed to transfer this headache to someone else.”
Kazi burst forward. He pushed past Lenyx until he was face-to-face with Lieutenant Westfield. The lieutenant raised his pistol.
“Why should we agree to be your prisoners?” Kazi asked. “We could easily kill you if we wanted to. Maybe you should be our prisoner.” He peeled his latex-like glove from his hand, exposing his narrow but long fingers. Connor had seen Kazi’s skin earlier, when it had been as white as untouched snow. Now, its grayish hue made it look diseased, fetid.
“Milliken, Tryst,” Lenyx said. “Grab him.”
Milliken wrapped his arms around his crewmate, preventing Kazi from lunging forward with his outstretched hand. Kazi struggled briefly but could not escape. He relaxed in Milliken’s grip.
“We accept your proposal,” Lenyx said.
“Are you sure?” Tryst asked quietly. She shot the lieutenant a suspicious look. Connor shared the sentiment. But Lenyx had made his decision.
“Good,” Lieutenant Westfield said. “Let’s be on our way then.”