by Susan Lain
"Yes, yes. Gas gremlins were the easiest mythkin to adapt to our existing transportation technologies."
Sounding irritable, Alek shushed Eliot with an impatient, dismissive wave to which Eliot quietly fumed, glaring at him. The man had the manners of a brute—a sexy, feral sort of beast.
Alek continued, oblivious to Eliot's ambivalence of him. "It is, however, conceivable that the original gremlins, before Loreblast, before modern day vehicles, were as the fables describe."
"Wait." Eliot stopped Alek by speaking over him with a higher voice. "Are you saying Loreblast somehow…changed the gremlins? Transformed the basic nature of mythkin? Is that even possible?"
Alek frowned but for the first time the look came off as lamenting rather than vexed. "Either that, or cars changed the way the gremlins manifest and function here, perhaps. You watched the few available news clips of Loreblast?"
Baffled, Eliot nodded. "Yes, same as everyone, I guess."
Alek paused briefly before stating, "I was there when it happened."
Eliot inhaled sharply. "Oh my God, really?" He'd never met anyone who'd personally set foot on the tainted soil at ground zero. He stared at Alek with a whole new outlook. This time it had nothing to do with suppressed attraction or less-than veiled vexation. This was closer to admiration tinged with a bit of envy.
"Yes. And if you had been there as well and seen what I'd seen, you wouldn't be so quick to dismiss any ideas as impossible or outlandish."
To that, Eliot had nothing to retort. How could he? Still, he had to act as the voice of reason to some extent. "That may be so…but what you're suggesting is pure conjecture. Without evidence it's a hypothesis, if even that."
All of a sudden Eliot had Alek's full focus. A rare lopsided smile lifted a corner of Alek's lips. "True. We need conclusive proof either way. So what would you say to some fieldwork?"
The idea of getting out of this small room and out into the real world again? Eliot perked up. "Now there's an idea."
*~*~*
"Why has MERF never made a public statement calling for the end of dirty energy use?" Eliot asked from the passenger seat of Alek's car, watching rapt at Alek's chiseled profile. "If it did, I think people would listen."
Alek shrugged. "MERF studies mythkin. We're not an authoritative organization."
"Like CEPA, you mean?" Eliot asked, immediately on the defensive.
Alek glimpsed at him, quirking an eyebrow, as if he were amused rather than offended by the accusation into his character. "If the failed republican administration taught us anything, it's that we need agencies like CEPA, now more than ever. I have zero problems with environmental agencies of any kind."
Shame made Eliot's cheeks flush with heat. "MERF doesn't have to be dictatorial to make a suggestion that could salvage at least something from the mess we're in." Eliot held onto his hope that, one day, the world would return to the state that had existed before Loreblast. Energy sources would return to normal again—and fossil fuels would be eliminated for good. Eliot couldn't relinquish his hatred, not even after a year in a transformed world. Maybe it was something that would never happen.
Alek shook his head slowly. "There's still too much we don't know about the mythkin. It'd be irresponsible for us to start issuing decrees of conduct with what he have so far. Especially now that fossil fuels no longer pose an imminent threat to humanity or the environment."
Eliot bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything more. He knew he was crossing a line into rude. And, for once, Alek hadn't said a single condescending thing since they'd jumped in the car.
Alek's car wasn't top of the line but Alek clearly maintained it on a regular basis. Spotlessly clean inside and out, a sweet pine scent hanging in the interior, the hybrid vehicle could garner anyone's appreciation. The threesome of mythkin—gas gremlin, voltaic devil, and oil hellion—purred in quiet and harmonized sync. Was this a reflection of or a testament to the serenity of the car's owner?
Curiosity got the better of Eliot, though, before the silence lapsed between them for too long. "I'm sorry, but I can't believe MERF doesn't have an opinion based on the numerous studies and research conducted into renewable energy mythkin. Sounds farfetched."
"We are very much in the dark as to how the mythkin…are formed," Alek explained, his tone as aloof as his expression. "We don't know how they're born, how they reproduce, etcetera. It seems they simply…exist. How? Who knows?"
"I'm not following you," Eliot commented, confused.
"Unlike the gas gremlins, coal ghouls, and oil hellions that are part of the very substance of their origin, the other mythkin have proven far more elusive." A hint of awe crept into Alek's voice. Eliot was surprised at this evidence that anything could impress the seemingly stoic man. "Solar sprites and wind wisps, for example, do not seem to exist before a machine is turned on."
"What?" Eliot had heard nothing of this. Then again, not a lot of information about these creatures was out there in open circulation. Despite working for CEPA, Eliot was as in the dark as the next man. It'd only been a year since Loreblast.
"When solar panels and wind turbines are switched on, the mythkin…appear, practically out of thin air."
"How is that even possible when we can't turn a goddamn thing on or off without them in the first place?" Eliot stammered, flummoxed at the new development.
Alek made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. "Unknown. But when the switch is flipped, they're just there." He ended his blurt short, as if he'd wanted to say more but decided against it.
"As if by magic," Eliot finished for him, incredulous but amused. Alek snorted dryly. Eliot chuckled. "Are you going to say that wasn't what you were going to say?"
Alek scoffed with disdain, his familiar sneer in place as a quirk of the upper lip. "I'd never utter anything so ludicrous and implausible."
Eliot suppressed a snicker. "I hate to break it to you, Agent Saroyan, but the whole world has become ludicrous and implausible. For all we know, we owe our thanks to magic, pure and simple."
Alek harrumphed. "I'll believe it when I see it."
Eliot gave him that one. Evidence one way or the other could sway even the most stout and inexorable scientist.
He considered another possibility; one that Alek seemed to have overlooked. What if the clean energy mythkin were just invisible or undetectable prior to machines being turned on? What if they existed out of sight of human instrumentation and sensory perception, only manifesting in a physical form in and around machines? The time interval between flipping a switch and a mythkin appearing could be so short that it might be impossible to tell which came first: the button or the beast? Food for thought.
"The only ones that defy the very idea of reproduction are the voltaic devils," Alek carried on, as if there'd been no interruption. "They also seem to simply appear when some machines are turned on. However, in more complex engines, like cars for example, the voltaic devils materialize as the result of gas gremlin and oil hellion synergy."
"Synergy?" Eliot repeated on automatic. It wasn't like he didn't know the word. Still, he doubted he'd ever had to use it in his entire lifetime.
"Yes, the interaction of two or more energy mythkin where the end result is electricity."
"Ah." Understanding dawned on Eliot. Up to an extent.
"Of course, that does not suggest that the voltaic devils could be construed as offspring of the other mythkin…" Alek prattled on.
Eliot was only half-listening. He glanced out the car window. The familiar wide, open streets of D.C. weren't as deserted during the weekends as they were on business days. Impressive neoclassical buildings accentuating the prestige and power of the government lined the major avenues.
"Where exactly are we going?" Eliot asked, suspicions rearing their ugly head.
Though he recognized the numerous streets of D.C. well enough, the city spanned a large area. Figuring out where they were headed based on street names alone was a fruitless endeavor.
It didn't escape his notice, however, that they seemed to be headed west, toward Georgetown.
Alek snorted. "Why? Do you want to drive?"
Eliot glared. "You giving me snark instead of answering my simple question makes me think you're lost and too embarrassed to ask for directions."
For a moment Alek said nothing. He cocked his head, as if he were listening to something Eliot couldn't hear. Then Alek asked, "Do you hear that?"
Eliot pricked up his ears but couldn't make out anything odd. "What?"
"How peculiar." Yet Alek didn't elaborate, further infuriating Eliot.
"Seriously, what?"
"The nature of the mythkin never ceases to amaze me," Alek mused out loud, seeming to speak to himself more than to his companion. "They are half out of phase with our world. If they wish to interact with objects here, they can. And if they want to be intangible, they are."
Alek stopped at a red light, as usual the traffic signals flickering. Eliot caught a glimpse of incandescent, iridescent wings fluttering. The photon faerie hovered and flew around the hanging light—and occasionally dashed right through it, as if the device wasn't even there.
It was a well-documented fact that all mythkin could pass through solid matter. There was no unanimous theory to explain it. Some thought mythkin existed in a multitude of phases. Others concluded that the creatures became indistinguishable from their energy source to the point that they merged with it on a molecular level.
Eliot had no opinion since he didn't know enough to draw any conclusions. He wasn't a biologist, nor was he an exobiologist.
"They can wreak havoc on us while we can't even touch them unless they allow it," Eliot noted dryly. "How do they do that? Is it an aspect of their unique physiology?"
Alek shrugged. "Unknown at this stage. MERF designates them as trans-phase lifeforms."
Eliot sighed. "We've had to invent a lot of new vocabulary thanks to these creatures." He glanced at Alek, curious and nervous too. His earlier idea about mythkin invisibility sounded a lot more probable all of a sudden. Funny how he'd never really spent a lot of time thinking about this, the mythkin's special nature. "If they're slightly out of phase with our world, is that to say they came from…another dimension?"
Alek pursed his lips, making a noncommittal sound at the back of his throat. "Possibly. Or they could inhabit an alternate Earth, one that we're not aware of. This dual-phase existence could be natural to them. Or it could even be multidimensional."
"If that's true, how come humans have never seen them before Loreblast?"
Alek gave him a pointed look. "Haven't we?" When Eliot merely stared at the man with a rather mystified expression, Alek smirked. "Gremlins?"
Despite his exasperation at the agent, Eliot chuckled at the callback. "Ah. Forgot." He puffed out a breath. "Although, to be fair, the gremlins of lore are dissimilar to the gremlins we know and…now love." Eliot rolled his eyes, amused at his choice of words. He'd almost said hate but changed his mind. He didn't hate the mythkin. He detested how humanity relied on them so heavily. But that wasn't the mythkins' fault; the blame for that fell squarely on humanity.
"Ah. Sarcasm." Alek grunted, clearly displeased, his teeth exposed in a grimace. "Humans shun the very creatures that allow their society to function. That aggravates me. Hypocrisy."
At first Eliot bristled, annoyed at the apparent accusation. But then he realized Alek wasn't referring to him specifically. Alek obviously would have preferred for humans to give mythkin the credit and respect they deserved. After all, the mythkin kept the wheels of the current world rolling onward.
Eliot studied Alek's profile. Stern and brisk, the agent had a sort of intense charisma that befitted a man of passion. Eliot had a hunch Alek was a consummate workaholic. In any case, any steadfast gaze from those cornflower-blue eyes did hot and ill-timed things to Eliot's nether regions.
Damn that infernal hunk.
Of course, locked gazes and frosty intensity didn't mean Alek was gay. For all Eliot knew the man was straight, married with children, asexual, or a celibate hermit. Eliot had no clue.
Then, like a bolt of lightning from a clear blue sky, Eliot replayed the last thing Alek had said: he'd used the word 'their' when speaking about humans. What was up with that?
Chapter Four
Like a wide blue ribbon, the Potomac flowed on their left as Alek parked on a street near Georgetown University. The main campus building stood on an incline with a view over the river.
As confused as Eliot still felt, he meekly followed in Alek's wake past two gatehouses guarding entry to the university. The Healy Gates opened to wide lawns on both sides still green despite the season. Dozens of student groups, creating a constant background chatter, dotted the grounds.
Trees in autumnal colors appeared everywhere Eliot looked, and the smell of fallen, rotting leaves dominated the crisp air. Gothic and Georgian architecture reigned in the scattered buildings, imposing monuments built for the ages. Blossoming flowerbeds and lush tree groves added a much needed touch of nature to the large manmade constructions. Sunlight peeked through the foliage and created shifting shadowplays on the grass.
Alek trekked across the southern lawn with a purposeful stride, clearly headed toward the University Library. Eliot buzzed with questions but was struck silent by the bulky concrete façade of the building. A sort of tower rose to the left of the entrance. If Eliot hadn't known better, he'd have thought he was entering a parking structure. He grimaced, definitely not a fan of blocky ugly edifices.
As soon as they stepped through the door, they were greeted by a guard station. Alek spoke to a uniformed guard with a hushed tone. Eliot couldn't hear so much as a syllable. When the guard moved off, Alek waved them back outside. Eliot caught a mere glimpse of the interior with its glass walls, bright modern corridors, and stacked bookcases.
"Why are we here?" Eliot asked, curiously.
Alek didn't bother meeting Eliot's gaze. "Waiting for someone, obviously."
"Who?" Eliot asked through gritted teeth, but held onto his patience. Why did Alek have to rub him the wrong way at every turn? Although, at this point, he thought maybe the confusion he felt made him shorter of temper.
"Doctor Irwin Howe," Alek replied absentmindedly.
Eliot frowned, trying not to overreact. The name jogged his memory. "He was the very first complainant about gas gremlins last week, wasn't he?"
"Indeed he was." Alek busied himself with checking his wristwatch every five seconds and tapping the tip of his shoe on the ground impatiently. His fidgeting made Eliot nervous too.
"We already have his statement on record," Eliot remarked, puzzled as to why they would require a personal meeting. "Details of his complaint and the repair log—"
"There's no substitute to firsthand communication," Alek cut in, his tone edgy and icy at once.
"Agent Saroyan?"
A refined man in a rumpled tweed suit exited the library. His brown curls spread about wildly. He had a trim goatee, a noticeable mole on his left cheek and flecks of dust decorated his elbows and shoulders. Did he work in an archive room or with a dust buster?
"I'm Agent Alek Saroyan," Alek replied and shook the man's extended hand. "This is my colleague, Eliot Tate." Eliot followed Alek's example. Doctor Howe's hand was dry and warm. His soft shake was almost limp. "Is this a bad time?"
Irwin Howe smiled congenially, if a bit absentmindedly, and shook his head. "N-no, not at all. One d-day is very much like the next. How can I help you, gentlemen?"
"We'd like to hear about your troubles with your gas gremlin," Alek asked.
Howe blinked. "Again? But I already—oh well, yes, of course, if it's necessary. P-please." With a sweeping gesture, he suggested they walk along the path through the lawn. "Yes, well, the story is rather b-boring, to be honest. The car belongs to the University. I borrowed it for d-dinner with a few of my overseas colleagues at The Hamilton."
Eliot was impressed at the doctor for having chosen a jo
b that entailed a great deal of public speaking despite his stutter. It seemed courageous or even therapeutic.
"Explain when and how you noticed the problem," Alek urged.
Eliot suppressed a smile. Alek clearly had no patience for irrelevant information or for social niceties no matter who he was speaking to. Or maybe he simply wasn't a friend of high class restaurants.
Howe nodded, threading a hand through his shaggy hair. "After the meal, I was driving back toward campus along Pennsylvania Avenue northwest when the g-gremlin began to growl awful loud. Even the oil hellion never makes such a racket."
"Where was this exactly?" Alek asked, his gaze dropping to his notebook where he jotted things down.
Eliot was tempted to take a peek but curbed his curiosity.
"I was smack in the middle of Washington Circle, if you must know." Howe harrumphed, his irritation obvious. "Before I g-got past the Spanish embassy, the car began to j-jerk and jolt. The gremlin clamored as if it were being tortured. It got so bad so quickly that I had to pull over. I called for a tow t-t-truck but by the time they arrived the gremlin was peaceful again. B-b-bizarre."
Eliot and Alek exchanged a glance. This story matched the other reports. The gas gremlins had made a lot of noise and the car had begun to stall but, after a brief moment parked, the creature calmed down. Eliot wasn't sure what to make of it even as the similarities were too great to be ignored.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Alek commented brusquely, put his notebook away, and wheeled around before the echo of his words had dissipated.
"Oh." Howe blinked and glanced between Eliot's embarrassed face and Alek's retreating back. "Well, if that was everything…?"
"Actually," Eliot hurried to say, "I was wondering, what is your area of expertise, Doctor Howe? Your name sounds familiar to me, but I can't place it."
Howe smiled bashfully. "For years I've conducted interdisciplinary research into oil spills, coal mining, gas drilling, frakking, and their long-term effects on the environment. B-basically I measure toxicity levels and p-p-pollutant stress on humans, animals, and plants."