by Jaime Mera
Albert looked at him with wonder. “Thank you for being real.” He stood back next to Aaron. “Oh, say bye to anyone I forgot with both our apologies.” Albert said. Seconds later, he and Aaron faded away from everyone’s sight.
Steve walked up to Gus patting him on the back. “It’s okay big guy, I guess Master and I will be here with you for a while.”
“Thank you Star.” Gus whimpered.
Steve turned to Riva. “Sorry, but for such a big lug, his heart is delicate.”
“Yes, I can see that.” Riva smiled with understanding.
Ben walked up to Gus. He was like a child in front of a giant, but he took his hand and dragged him away with Io following them. “I’ll take care of him, you two go on your date.”
“How does he know...?” Riva asked.
“The paper thin walls!” Ben yelled back as he, Gus and Io were lost in the crowd heading back towards Cindy and her group.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind flying, I think it’s time we go to a nice quiet place to eat.”
Riva’s eyes lit up with joy as she jumped on Steve with a tight hug. “Really, I always wanted to fly with a superhero.”
Steve flew up above the treetops and away from the massive crowd holding on to Riva’s physically fit body.
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the Monocle Restaurant, northeast of Capitol Hill. They landed at the back of the building, in the U-shaped parking lot. If anyone saw them, it didn’t create a commotion by a blatant sighting of a flying superhuman.
“Wow, that was awesome.” Riva’s rapid heartbeat was pressing on Steve’s chest.
“I’m glad you liked it. Unfortunately, Gina was passed out when I flew her to safety.”
The two continued to embrace each other as they spoke. “My mom told me she remembered bits of it as the warm air was pleasing, until you laid her on the tarmac.
“I wish I could have told her what happened to me, I’m sorry.” Steve gently pulled her away from him.
Riva almost didn’t want to let go of him, but relented. “Well, I guess we both have a lot to talk about.”
Steve stared into her eyes, not too low from his. “Shall we?” He smiled with an offering arm to escort her to the front of the restaurant.
“Yes, we shall.” Riva and Steve entered the establishment waiting only a short while.
The news was all over the few monitors recently placed to watch the historic event less than a mile away.
Steve started the conversation explaining the long tale about him and the legendary Five Ghosts. They ate slowly as she paid close attention to the almost unbelievable story.
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought it was a book you were talking about.” Riva finally said as Steve ended his story by adding a few details about his childhood.
“You know my mom told me she loved you.” Riva paused as she watched Steve smile. “I always wondered how she could fall in love, when you guys only spent a few hours together and really didn’t know each other very well.”
“We saw a lot in each other’s eyes.” Steve replied. “You look very much like her, but honestly, your personality is uniquely different, but yet, just as attractive.”
“So you think with your super vision, you can see into my soul?”
Steve moved uneasily in his chair. “You know. The more I think about it, you never mentioned what you do for a living.”
“Would you believe I’m unemployed now?”
“Why is that?”
“When I heard your name came up on the database after Max released it. I returned home and turned in my resignation.” Riva looked away as if in thought, then returned to his stare.
Steve could have looked into her body to find her heart beat faster and an extra long swallow in her throat; but he didn’t need to because the familiar spark in her eyes told him she was very nervous about his next response.
“So, you’re saying, you used to be in an alphabet agency and now your services aren’t needed anymore.”
“I spent most of my life hoping… is that bad?”
Steve stood up. Riva likewise rose quickly. “Did I say something wrong?”
Steve moved next to her. “No, you said everything right.” He leaned in and kissed her.
There were a few applauses by patrons as they kissed for a long moment. Riva sat back down as Steve moved his chair next to hers. “Do you believe in fate?” Riva asked.
Steve smiled. “Gina asked me those same words.”
“No, I didn’t. She never mentioned that.”
Steve’s glaze moved to one of the screens near them on the wall. His glare almost scared Riva as she turned around. “What is it?”
“It’s the list of the people who left on the transport.”
Riva turned back around facing him. “Is there someone you know?”
Steve smiled. “Yes, there is. His name is Joshua Alex Marks. And yes, I do believe in fate.” He passionately kissed Riva’s consenting soft lips with sheer happiness.
Author Notes
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Thank you all for such an enriching experience in writing this superhero series. I initially started to write the superhuman series out of a desire to put the stories on paper for my friends to read. But after the first book, I wanted to write because I loved writing and also saw that the storyline was meant for more than just my friends, but the world. Many people have come to me and told me how much they enjoyed the stories, characters and the superhuman universe. I tried to make this book wrap everything together so the reader can see why things happened a certain way in the past books. I particularly wanted to develop a romance in this book which is sort of glazed over in previous books. I also wanted to show the development of mature heroes who don’t question their actions and take a stance, instead of worrying about who will agree with their actions or in action. Mind reading powers change many things in the aspect that people can’t lie their way into leadership or have a basis for spreading lies or subversive half-truths.
I tried to stay away from political ideology which could be construed as mine or other stances I do or don’t agree with. However, I didn’t want to make it look like any action would not be met with a reaction. So when the War of the Caribbean happened, I needed to show what a US response might be and how it might have been ended without superhuman intervention or nuclear weapon usage. The blackout of the country and the entire continent of South America were intended to show how a country full of people would have to do things to prevent outside influence from going back and forth. So immigration was alluded to but not outright stated as certain people were allowed enter and leave a country. If you have read the previous books, you will see that the blackout was made to isolate bad people, find them, and to educate everyone else into one common cause. Educate them to do what’s right and not steal, cheat and destroy the country or community they live in. So, terrorists, drug lords, thieves, killers or other evil people would not be able to exist in a world where telepaths with accountability could spot them, turn them to good or simply execute them. The lines of right and wrong are clear when it comes to real mind reading, where a court is used but people can’t say I didn’t do it and rely on a system that cannot see true thoughts. Anyways, my point is privacy is important, but when you don’t have it, proper management of truth and justice is just as important.
The idea that a person would change the world if they knew what other people were thinking is not new, but I wanted it to be believable in the aspect of the superhuman world. I hope people can appreciate the complexity of being able to read minds and how that doesn’t mean they can do anything worthwhile. Telepaths are a common thing in the superhuman universe, which made it harder to come up with a way mind reading could be used in such a global scale. It also didn’t guarantee a relationship could easily be developed or maintained. The amount of information the brothers have is too vast to quantify because what is important is how they use the information and organize f
acts, errors, made up perceptions and emotional influences like people committing crimes, being victims and experiencing all of a person’s range of emotional and physical memories in a lifetime. On top of that, the brothers had to retrieve information at will and use it properly, like speaking a language. I tried to show this with several scenarios for each brother, but focused mainly on Estabon instead of going through all of their challenges and solutions.
My intention with the ending of the book is more on the future possibilities with many questions unanswered. The band of androids and humans escaping into space with the Pylaxian spacecraft opens up many scenarios where they or their off-spring can return to conquer Earthlings or just create their own separate existence away from Earth. The Seer Spirits are thought to be extinct, but if they’re not, it is likely they will not enter the Milky Way galaxy as long as Quatris or Cyer are alive. The departure of many superhumans away from Earth and unity of the planet leaves the future open to interpretation. I tend to envision an ending where the human race will live on in space and mix in with many planets in the universe.
I’m not sure if I will continue to write about superhumans, but if I do, it will more than likely be sub plots and groups extending out of the book series; time will tell. My focus after this eighth book is on a fantasy story I had over twenty years in the making. It will be called ‘Calax’s World’ and also has a potential of becoming an ongoing epic storyline. In addition, I have been working on assisting my son on a fantasy story named ‘The Scholar of Hulea,’ and co-authoring a sci-fi space series with one of my best friends, Scott Quint, named ‘Tales of the Frontier.’ Aside from science and fantasy, I am slowly working on a compilation of short stories with a young target audience, called ‘The Day Short Stories.’ I am also working on writing a script for a television pilot about angels and demons.
Thank you once again for reading the story and I hope you enjoyed the adventures.