Yet, with his mother and Neil coming up behind them, Shaun knew that using his visor or super speed were out of the question. He had to remain normal for the time being, at least until he could slip away.
“Do you think we should do it?” asked Mrs.Boding.
“Huh?” Shaun replied.
“Go down to the ground level? We’re parked in the garage. Might be a traffic jam, but at least we can make our way home and hopefully figure out what’s going on using the radio.”
Mae reaches out and took Shaun’s hand, squeezing it to nudge him into acting.
“Yeah,” he said at last. “I think that sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you and Neil go down and start the car, and Mae and I will join you.”
“You’re splitting us up?” said Neil with a frown.
Shaun’s voice caught in his throat for a moment. He honestly didn’t have an excuse as to why they needed to hang behind. Just then Mae gave an embarrassed laugh and said, “Shaun’s going to wait for me while I use the bathroom. Who knows how long we’ll be stuck in traffic?”
This proved to be enough for both Mrs. Boding and Neil. Mrs. Boding took the keys and started for the exit while Neil went over to the desk to see about paying for their meal. There was already a group of other people looking to do the same.
Shaun breathed a sigh of relief.
“That was a close one,” said Shaun.
“Tell me about it,” Mae replied. “I thought you were a writer! Do I need to keep bailing you out tonight? Where’s your spontaneity?”
“Sorry,” he said, lowering his voice. “Listen, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I need to go and check out the waterfront. Something tells me that this isn’t an earthquake, and we’re not dealing with just any old explosion.”
“Fun story,” Mae shot back in a hushed tone. “And what about me? You’re just going to leave me with your mother and Neil again? I can only do so much explaining for your disappearances.”
“And they usually aren’t this numerous,” Shaun cut in. “But, I don’t see any other option.”
“That’s because you’re having tunnel vision.” She took him by the arm and held him close to her. “The other option is that you let the authorities deal with the waterfront. Weren’t we just talking about taking it easy? You already put yourself in the line of fire this evening. I think it’s time you step down and think about yourself for once. Come home with us.”
He hesitated. What if there were something bigger going on? Already the sound of sirens moving through the streets could be heard over the sound of people talking. Shaun felt like he should be down there helping out, but Mae squeezed his arm.
“I’m being serious, Shaun. I want you to let someone else handle this. What can you possibly do against a fire, or even a chemical ignition?”
“I could get some people to safety,” he reasoned. Again, his answer was no good for Mae.
“Shaun, please. Come home with us. If we hear something on the news and you end up being useful, then you can go out after we get home. But, you can’t disappear again. I won’t let you.”
Seeing all the blue lights flashing on the streets down below gave Shaun anxiety. For so long he felt that he needed to help out the law enforcement as people’s crimes became more and more elaborate. Already his pulse was quickening out of his control and his breathing intensified. He couldn’t just stand around and no nothing. It was his duty to help out!
Then, like a calming blanket of warmth being draped around him, Shaun felt something in his mind soothing his nerves. A soft voice spoke to him.
Just calm down. Relax. You don’t owe anybody anything. Just focus on yourself for once. It won’t kill you.
The voice no doubt belonged to Mae. She had started to experiment with her mental abilities, pushing them beyond just trying to predict events and actually using the ability to communicate almost telepathically with Shaun when they couldn’t talk out loud. It was a skill that became especially useful during fights and other missions like that. Since Mae didn’t have any kind of strength abilities like Shaun’s Aberrant powers, she found that it was more useful if she observed the bigger picture and directed Shaun where he needed to go.
Shaun’s heart rate lowered back down to normal and he took in a deep breath, holding it for a few moments before streaming the air out of his lungs at an even clip. Glancing over at her, Shaun saw that the tiny vial of Vestige shards was glinting in the light. His eyes moved up to meet Mae’s comforting, determined expression and he let his shoulders slump.
“I’m trying,” he said at last. “I really am. You’re right. It’s not my job to do everything. I need to stick with my family and make sure they get home in one piece.”
“Alright,” Mae smiled faintly. “Let’s go.”
The two of them turned to head for the stairs when Mrs. Boding came walking back into the dining room.
Shaun frowned and called over to her.
“Mom? What are you doing back up here? I thought you were going to get the car ready?”
She shook her head, appearing frazzled and stamped down.
“The traffic is ridiculous,” she said. “Seems like everyone had the same idea. Even if I tried to start the car and merge into traffic, the line goes all the way through the parking garage, up to the top. It hasn’t moved at all, either. We’re probably better off waiting here until things clear up.”
Shaun groaned, but again Mae comforted him.
“At least we have a place to sit,” she said and led the way back over to their table. Neil joined them after another few minutes, having paid their bill.
“What a commotion,” he said, shaking his head. “Sorry, guys. This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go.”
“Tell me about it,” muttered Shaun, adding quickly after that, “It’s not your fault. I wonder what crashed. Maybe a helicopter? I don’t know what could have made such a rumble like that.”
Mrs. Boding tried to keep the mood light.
“I bet that’s what it was. A helicopter crash.”
They were all in agreement when suddenly the people who remained at the windows let out astonished gasps and began pointing. Shaun turned in his seat to see what all the excitement was about when he spotted what appeared to be a streak of light shooting out of the glowing crash site down at the waterfront.
“What the —?”
He stood up, trying to get a better look, but the light was gone in the blink of an eye. Almost like a shooting star. He pressed his lips together.
“That definitely wasn’t a helicopter,” he said.
What the heck are we dealing with? he thought. The idea was absurd, but could this be a spacecraft that had crashed? There was no other explanation for light streaking out of the crash site. He didn’t want to believed it — and he was a science fiction writer!
No, he tried to tell himself. That couldn’t be what it was. There was no such thing as alien spacecraft. That was all made up to divert attention away from other government projects.
Yeah? another voice said in the back of his mind. And there was no such thing as a superhero until a few years ago. Get real, Shaun. When things stare you in the face, it’s best not to ignore the obvious.
Mae stood beside him and leaned close to his ear.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
He kept his voice low as he answered.
“I’m thinking that we just saw the crash of a space craft,” he muttered. When Mae’s eyes widened, he nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but what other explanation can there be for something streaking out of the crash site like that? Another super villain? You don’t think someone got a hold of another piece of the Vestige and is causing trouble?”
Mae’s brows lowered, unimpressed with that idea.
“Shaun, come on. How many pieces of the Vestige do you think there are? We have them all right here around my neck.” He folded her arms. “If it is a space craft, then what do you think we can do about it? That’s som
ething for NASA, isn’t it?”
Shaun shrugged.
He started to doubt his idea. Maybe it wasn’t a space craft at all. Maybe it was just some wild fantasy that he had come up with. Yet, that small voice kept telling him not to overlook the obvious.
“Maybe it’s nothing,” he said at last, as if saying it out loud would make it so. “I still have this voice in the back of my head that says I should go check it out…”
Before Mae could open her mouth to reply, the onlookers at the window let out surprised cries. The two of them looked back at the windows to see the streak that they had just witnessed minutes before — the one that had shot out of the crash site. Now it was zooming through the air, arcing in a smooth, perfectly formed loop until it made a direct beeline for the restaurant. It was coming in so fast that Shaun couldn’t help but yell instinctively.
“Everyone, get down!”
The words were barely off his tongue when the giant window shattered and the streak entered the dining room. Bits of glass were blown clear across the room, and people dove behind chairs and tables, doing everything they could to keep out of the line of fire. Even Shaun, Mae, and the other two fell to the ground.
With the window busted in, wind billowed through the room, further scattering the debris as well as toppling lighter items from what little remained on the dining tables. Through squinted eyes, Shaun could see that the place had gone from beautiful to a war zone in nearly twenty minutes.
He gritted his teeth and stood, holding a hand out to shield his eyes as he searched for what had crashed into the restaurant.
As the dust settled it was obvious that something didn’t belong in such a place. A writhing pool of black liquid that appeared to be...sentient?
Shaun gulped.
As the black liquid continued to bubble and writhe, Mae got to her feet beside Shaun. She gasped at the sight before them.
“What the heck is that?!” she cried.
Shaun clenched his fists.
“Looks like the fun has come to us,” he said.
9
Alien Being
The commotion didn’t stop there.
Everyone in the restaurant exploded into action. Couples darting for the exits, and parents desperately trying to scoop their children up off the floor to get out of harm’s way. Shaun watched the disarray without feeling much. Why were they all scrambling as if a bomb was going to go off? The biggest thing that had happened was that the window had been busted in.
As far as he could tell, the black creature wasn’t doing anything to attack anyone.
Yet.
He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Neil.
“Shaun, what are you doing just standing around? Let’s get out of here!”
Shaun knew that fleeing the scene wasn’t really an option for him any more — especially when all of these civilians had no way of fighting back against who he believed was a creature from another planet, or at the very least, a bizarre government experiment. Still, he had to give his mother and Neil something to get them to leave him alone long enough to hold this creature at bay until the police arrived.
I hope they’re on their way, he thought with gritted teeth.
Locking eyes with Neil, who looked like he was trying to keep everything together for Mrs. Boding’s sake, Shaun nodded.
“You’re right. Go ahead. Mae and I will be right behind you.”
Neil didn’t stick around to see what happened next. Shaun was thankful for that. The man was proving to be good to his word, and he took Shaun’s mother by the arm and escorted her to the nearest exit which was already mobbed with people. It would be a moment before they were in the stairwell, but that was fine with Shaun. What mattered most was that his mother wasn’t eyeing him like a hawk and he finally had a chance to disguise himself as Fallout.
“Are you on board with this?” he asked, glancing at Mae as he pulled out his visor.
She looked defeated, but answered, “What choice do we have? It’s either run away, or figure out what the heck this thing is.” She pulled her phone out and used the emergency button. “The cops should be on their way soon.”
“Alright.” Shaun threw the visor on, activating its power button on the side, then yanked his hood out of the collar of his shirt. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
His visor was up and running within seconds. The pair of intel glasses, which Mae had designed, gave him plenty of information at a first glance. Shaun scanned the area where the window had smashed inward and little boxes highlighted the various hazards present. Jagged pieces of glass in the frame, as well as bits of debris and mangled chairs. Those were obvious. What wasn’t obvious was the jet-black creature, which continued to writhe on the floor, not doing anything.
At least, it didn’t look like it was doing anything. But, that was at first glance.
Shaun zoomed in with his vision functions and was able to get a pretty close-up, intimate view of the creature without moving an inch. To his surprise, the blob wasn’t liquid at all. It seemed to be made up of many tiny black spheres. They almost looked like a computer simulation. These spheres rolled around, collecting together to create the illusion that they were a body of liquid that was rippling in the wind.
Looking closer, Shaun noted that there was a strange glow between the tiny spheres. Was this some sort of electromagnetic field that kept them together?
“What are you seeing, Fallout?” asked Mae from her spot a few feet away.
Shaun grunted.
“It’s not liquid,” he called over. “Seems like tiny beads. There’s a light in between them. Could that be some sort of magnetic field holding them together?”
Mae considered this, then answered, “Possibly. Do you hear that humming noise?”
Shaun focused his attention on the sound around him. As the screaming people filtered into the stairwell, he could make out a static-like buzzing sound amidst the hissing of the wind through the smashed window.
“Yeah, I hear it,” he said. “Could that be static electricity?”
“Or some sort of force field protecting it.”
As the two of them were speaking, Shaun noticed that the inky creature was starting to rise up. The fluid puddle was taking form, morphing into a sort of plateau with a flat top, rising like an elevator.
What the heck is it doing now? Shaun thought.
He readjusted his visor and solidified his stance.
“I’m going to get in closer,” he said.
“Are you sure that’s wise?” asked Mae. “We still don’t really know what it is. What if it burns you or something?”
“I think I’d feel heat from here…” Shaun strained all of his senses, but the only thing he could feel was the faint tickle of static energy coming from the direction of the transforming mass. “Don’t worry. I’ll use my super speed. In and out before anyone can even blink.”
His curiosity was killing him. What would it hurt to get closer? If the thing was going to hurt anyone, it would have done so by now. Plus, it was true, he was insanely fast with his super speed. And if anything did happen, he had his other powers to defend himself.
“Alright,” he said at last. “Here goes nothing.”
In the blink of an eye, he stepped into his super speed. The world around him blurred horizontally, shuddering slightly as if he were experiencing a fit of dizziness. Then everything came to a freeze and he was able to move normally around the room.
Moving in this way would allow him to get close to the unidentified creature and not risk being attacked.
Alright, you freaky thing, he thought. Let’s take a closer look at you.
Striding forward as if he were doing no less than simply going for a walk down the street, Shaun came around the side of the creature and stopped with merely a foot between the two of them. Being so close now, he could feel the intense crackle of energy against his skin and hair. Bits of his arm hair started to rise up and stand on end, tickling him.
With everything slowed down around him, he could hear more clearly the sounds coming from the creature. There was an unmistakable clicking noise embedded amongst the whine of the energy emanating from the collection of tiny spheres. Almost like gears spinning, or perhaps more like the tiny motors inside a dentist’s drill, followed by stones being dropped into a pile under water.
Crouching down to get an even closer look, Shaun noticed that besides the light between the beads, there was also this shimmering layer of air surrounding the entire blob of pieces. Maybe he and Mae were correct that there was some sort of force field around the creature. He reached out his hand slowly, the same way that he would cautiously reach out to test a stream of water under a faucet, and felt for any temperature changes — or anything else of note.
As his fingertips came within a few inches of the creature it felt as if there were heavy vibrations catching his hand. It was as if he had brushed his fingertips against the top of a washing machine while it was on full blast. The effect tickled his hands and moved up his arms.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” he muttered after a few seconds and started pulling his hand away. Mae would kill him if he became sick with some kind of radiation infection or some other invisible ailment brought on by contact with the unknown substance.
He was about to step out of his super speed and tell Mae what he had experienced when something caused him to jump so hard that he thought he might have a heart attack on the spot.
The rising black creature, which had been flat and uniform up until this moment, suddenly lashed out at him! At full speed — even while Shaun was still moving as fast as a hummingbird’s wing!
The Aberrant Series (Book 4): Super Invasion Page 6