On and on it went for what felt like a tiny blip in time, but in reality she experienced the visions over a span of five minutes. Shaun and Ed continued watching her, though she barely registered them while in the midst of capturing the sketches. For them it must have felt like an eternity to wait.
But, at last, the visions came to a climactic and abrupt stop, flashing light before her eyes that only she could see, and her hand jerked away from the page and dropped the pen. It clattered to the desk and rolled over to the edge where it sat precariously.
Ed locked his eyes on her.
“Is it finished?” he asked.
Mae was so exhausted that all she could do was nod before falling back against the leather chair. She motioned for Shaun to come over and collect the papers, so he did.
With the sheets of paper in hand, Shaun started arranging them back into a stack. It was like a handmade slide show of Mae’s visions.
Immediately he began trying to make sense of what he was seeing while Mae recuperated. Most things were obvious. Buildings, doorways, and people. But, there were bizarre looking objects that he didn’t recognize.
“Alright…” he started, looking through the pages with his grandfather. “This first one is clear. That’s some sort of town square.”
“Is it?” asked Ed, leaning closer to squint at the scribbles.
“Yes. See, the fountain and the pond?”
After he made an outline of the objects, guiding his grandfather’s eye through the sketch with his index finger, Ed finally got it.
“Oh, of course. There’s the roadway. But, what does this have to do with defeating this alien?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what it is.”
Mae, having rested enough, spoke up.
“You’ve got that one out of order. That one goes near the end. It’s the one right there that you want to put first. I saw them in this order. Let me see…”
He handed her the pages, and she rearranged them. He had only made a few mistakes, but in his haste he forgot that these were Mae’s visions, and it was her job to tell them what these all were. Only when they knew what they were looking at could they collectively figure out how the pieces all went together.
“Here’s what I saw,” Mae explained, flipping through the pages. “First, this one is obvious. It’s Zolyn. She was moving through a bunch of trees, so I took that to mean that she eventually follows us, or at the very least, she leaves the city.”
“That lines up,” Shaun nodded. “Xara told me before she died that Zolyn would be able to track us using the pieces of the Vestige, or, in my case, the power from the Vestige that was implanted in me after defeating Bill Flagrant.”
Mae placed that page down and explained the next one.
“I saw us fighting her in this random town square, with her pieces being spread out. We couldn’t get a foothold on her. It happened so fast, but I saw us being beaten down. It didn’t matter what we tried. Nothing we did under our own energy would make a dent.”
“Of course not. She wants us to use our energy so that she can absorb it. It’s like no matter how many heads we cut off, two more will always grow back.” He felt disheartened.
Mae gave him an empathetic look.
“Don’t lose hope yet,” she told him. “We were being pummeled, but then the tide turned.”
She flipped the page over, and there was one of the drawings that Shaun didn’t recognize. It didn’t have people, or even a place on it. It was simply a drawing of a capsule-like object. How big it was, or what it did, was beyond Shaun due to the fact that it was apart from anything to suggest scale or function.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Our salvation,” Mae answered, tapping on the page. “Or, at least a part of it. From what I saw, this is some kind of device that opens a portal. To where, I’m not sure.”
The mention of a portal caused Shaun’s ears to prick. He shot a glance at Mae.
“What did it look like?”
“It was very bright, almost blinding. I couldn’t really see inside.”
“I know what that is,” he said, jabbing at the drawing. “It’s a doorway to a detainment center.”
“How do you know that?” asked Ed.
“Remember how I told you about Xara, and how she helped me?” Ed nodded. “Well, when we talked, it was in one of these chambers. She opened it up in between her body’s spheres and I was dropped inside. At first I thought I was going to be kept there to be experimented on — you know, how Zolyn had me and Mae trapped. But, it was actually for the better because while we were in that secret room, nothing could get us. I also couldn’t get out of it without her allowing me out.”
“Is that the same kind of portal we saw on the news earlier?” asked Mae, to which Shaun nodded.
“That’s how these aliens trap creatures and transport them. Once the portal closes, it’s like they can move around without leaving their prisoners behind.” He examined the drawing of the capsule again, fleshing it out in his mind. “So, this is what they are using to generate those doorways. Do you know how big it is, Mae?”
“Small,” Mae replied. “Probably the size of a pen cap.
“So, it can be hidden easily, and transported the same.” Shaun nodded. A plan was beginning to form in his mind. If we can use one of these portal-capsules against Zolyn to trap her, maybe we can imprison her for good…
“You’ve got an idea?” said Ed.
“I think so. I’m just remembering my conversation with Xara. She told me that we couldn’t take down Zolyn on our own. We’re either too weak, or we’re too strong. Either way, she will dominate us. But, what if we didn’t need to defeat her?”
“What do you mean?” said Mae. “You mean, we don’t destroy her the same way that she killed Xara?”
“No. We don’t need to kill her at all. We simply need to imprison her, then throw away the prison. It’s clear we can’t do anything with Zolyn flying around, reading to capture us at any turn. We just need to find one of these capsules, get her inside, and close it. Then we can focus on rescuing the people that Zolyn’s captured so far. Mae — did you see anything about where these capsules are stored?”
“Not specifically. On the crashed ship.”
Shaun snapped his fingers over and over. “That’s too vague. We need a hint, some kind of landmark inside to guide us. That ship was pretty big for only transporting two living beings.”
“Well, it was designed to bring back a bunch of supplied from wherever there Xantherians plundered, so that makes sense,” Mae reasoned. Then she closed her eyes, focusing. “Let me try again for a second. Sometimes I get a little bit more…”
She held Xara’s heart in her hand this time, closing it completely in her fist. The visions must have come on more quickly this time because it was only a few more seconds, her eyes turning a glowing white with the images, and then she was back to normal.
“I saw it,” she said. “There’s a cabinet where these capsules are stored. It’s kind of like a miniature library where she keeps her imprisoned beings. It’s going to be tricky, no matter what I can tell us. When me and Shaun were trapped in the ship, everything looked basically the same. Sleek lines with everything minimal.
Finding this cabinet will be difficult with just the setting we have to look through.”
“But, it can be done,” said Shaun. “I have super speed. All I need is for you to keep an eye out for Zolyn, then it will give me a chance to search every room in the ship. If she’s coming, you can alert me with your telepathy. Remember, she can move as fast as me, so once we see her, we need to get out of there whether we have one of the capsules or not.”
Mae nodded, absorbing this plan.
“We need to be extremely cautious. There’s always a second try if we need it.”
“Assuming you two aren’t caught and imprisoned again.” Ed played the devil’s advocate for a moment. He looked at them sternly. “If you are captured again, there’s no one who c
an match Zolyn’s power to help you. Xara is dead, and she used her last moments to free you from the ship. Going back in there is one of the most dangerous things you two can do right now.”
“It’s the only way to put an end to this,” Shaun argued. “Neither of us can do it alone, but together we have a chance.”
It was such a huge discussion, and such a combination of information and processing, that Shaun felt exhausted at the end. But, he was determined. If they sat back and did nothing, they would lose. Humanity wasn’t going to get its old way of life back. Even if they won, there would be a new status quo. So many things had changed in such a short amount of time…
Ed shook his head for a moment, looking off into space.
“Imagine that,” he muttered. “After all these years of living with what I saw when I discovered the Vestige, second guessing myself and telling myself that aliens don’t exist…and here they are. I wish I had known more. We could have had a better warning.”
“What’s done is done,” Shaun told him. “We have to stay hopeful. At least there’s me and Mae to challenge this menace. Without us, this would be a quick extermination of our people.” He took in a breath, held it, then exhaled quickly to pump himself up. “This is going to be tense.”
Mae laughed for the first time in a while.
“That’s the understatement of the century, Shaun! We were supposed to be taking a break!”
“That’s what happens when you make plans,” Ed added to the chuckles. “The universe has a way of interrupting your plans…literally. Well, if you two are going to be going into the lion’s den, you have one thing left to do. I know it’s something you don’t want to do, Shaun.”
When his grandfather’s eyes came to rest on him, Shaun blinked.
“What are you talking about, Grandpa?”
Ed nodded to the doorway.
“Your mother,” he answered simply. “I think you owe her an explanation if you’re going to go running off to save humanity.”
Shaun’s heart nearly stopped in his chest. His skin prickled and the hair stood up on his arms.
Tell my mother?
His voice caught in his throat and he tried to swallow the lump that was rapidly forming.
“I…I can’t do that!” he said in a hushed tone. “Everything’s crazy enough as it is!”
“Shaun,” said his grandfather with a knowing expression. “It’s time. You couldn’t keep this up forever. Your mother has a right to know what you’re doing since she worries enough about you. It doesn’t have to be eloquent, but an explanation needs to be made.”
This was the last thing that he wanted to deal with. There were so many times where he ran through the scenario of telling his mother about his Aberrant powers in his head. Would she get mad? Would she be disappointed that he had lied to her for all this time? And what about his father, now long dead? Even he never told her about his powers.
“Grandpa, I really can’t,” he tried to argue. “Even Dad didn’t tell her about his abilities. Why do I need to do it?”
“Shaun, your father died before he ever got a chance to be honest with your mother about his powers. If he had come back from that meeting and stepped off that plane, I am sure that he was going to tell her about the Vestige. I know it weighed heavily on his heart that he had to keep that part of his life a secret from her for so long. In the end, he never got the chance to have that conversation. But, you on the other hand have an opportunity to clear the air. Make that closure for both you and your father.” He paused as a thought came to him, causing him to smile. “I dare say that this conversation will be less dangerous than sneaking into the space ship of an alien from space.”
Hearing it said out loud made Shaun realize how stupid he was being. A laugh forced its way through all of his anxiety.
Am I just being stupid? he asked himself. All this time, I have made excuses. Can this really be put to bed right now, before the possible end of our lives?
After considering all of this, he returned his grandfather’s comforting look.
“I guess you told Grandma about your own abilities way back when.”
“That’s right,” replied Ed. “And that was a long time ago. She didn’t leave me, or judge me. She might have been a little hurt at first because I didn’t tell her about what was going on, but that’s only because she cares about me. Your mother cares about you, too. Get her on the same page, and then we can focus on saving humanity.”
It was settled.
24
Familial Power
Even with his newfound courage, Shaun still had a bit of fear and doubt in the back of his mind as he followed his grandfather and Mae down the steps and into the living room where his mother, Grandmother, and Neil were sitting, still glued to the television. Things weren’t getting better out there, from what Shaun could tell. The only way they were going to get better was if he and Mae did something to put a stop to Zolyn.
That would be his main objective soon enough. For now, he needed to get his mother away from everyone else so that he could talk to her in confidence.
“Mom?” he said, stopping beside her spot on the couch. “Can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” She got to her feet, a hint of confusion on her face before she saw Ed standing not far behind Shaun. He gave her a simple nod, and with that, Shaun’s mother knew that whatever Shaun was going to say to her was serious. “Want to go outside?”
“That sounds good to me,” said Shaun, and he led the way out into the back yard.
They came to a stop far enough away that the sound of the television was only a faint murmur. Shaun looked around himself, at his surroundings. The cheerful trees. The singing of the birds, and the soft wind through the grass and leaves. Peacefulness.
If only his insides shared that same sense of calm.
He sighed, even though it didn’t do much, and went for it.
“Mom, I need to be honest with you about something,” he started. It was blunt, but there was no way to soften the blow.
“Honest about what?” she asked gently. “I had no idea you weren’t being honest with me.”
“I have been dishonest…for a while now.” He swallowed. “All those nights that I’ve been out late, and all the times that I’ve left you and everyone else waiting for me…well…that wasn’t because of my work.”
“You mean, your comics,” she added.
“Yeah, that’s right. I wasn’t ‘missing’ all the time because I’m working at the office, or at my art studio. It was for another reason.”
A bemused smile appeared on Mrs. Boding’s face as she held out her arms in a half-shrug.
“Well, I can’t say I haven’t noticed that you’ve been distant lately, and always busy. But, I never really worried too much about it. I just want what’s best for you. True, I thought you were just focusing on work, but if it’s something else, then know that you can tell me what it is. Anything.” She chuckled self-consciously. “Just as long as you’re not part of a gang, or the mafia, or something like that!”
“No,” Shaun grinned back. “Nothing like that. But, it’s not normal. I suppose I should just come out and say it.” He readied his stance for the waves of shock and disappointment. “Mom, I’m different from other men my age. I have powers unlike any other human being.”
She blinked.
“Powers? You mean, you’re stronger? I know you’ve been going to the gym -”
“No, not like going to the gym. I don’t know how to describe them.” He ran a hand against the back of his neck, which was covered with sweat. “Let me just show you. Don’t be afraid.”
Standing so that his mother was out of range, Shaun reached up a hand towards the sky and focused all of his energy. In a moment he had generated enough electricity in the palm of his hand so that it pooled like a disc. Then, with a flick, he launched the electricity into the air with a massive CRACK!
The sound was so loud that it caused
Mrs. Boding to jump, bringing a hand to her face.
Once the sound was over, she rushed forward, reaching out for his hand to check it.
“Are you alright?” she asked, sounding like the mother he had always known growing up, racing across the playground to see if he was hurt.
As she examined his hand, Shaun tried to calm her nerves by remaining steady.
“Mom, I’m fine. When I say that I have powers, this is what I mean. I can do things that normal people can’t. See?”
He stepped back and levitated in the air. His mother’s eyes widened and she fell back to a sitting position on the grass, staring up at him in disbelief.
“I must have been knocked around harder than I thought!” she said.
This got Shaun to laugh as he settled back down on the grass. When his mother collected herself, she looked over at him, ready to talk.
“How is this possible?”
Shaun took out his phone then, even though it was battered, and started looking up something to show her. Once it was pulled up, he handed the phone to his mother and explained.
“You know Dad’s comics? Well, those weren’t just taken from his imagination. He actually based them on some of his personal experiences.”
“You mean your father had these powers too?” There was a look of dawning on her features now. The fear was gone, and she flipped through the list of covers for the Super Guy series.
“Yes, Dad had them, too. And so didn’t Grandpa. All three of us did…in a row. Grandpa found this strange stone a long time ago and it ended up giving us these abilities. None of us really understood it until it came to me.”
“When did this all start?” Her voice was soft. She lowered the phone.
“A little while after Dad died,” Shaun answered. “I found a bunch of letters he left for me in his archives. I guess he wanted me to have this power someday. Maybe he even planned to train me. We’ll never really know for sure. But, what I do know for sure is that he left me these abilities, and I’ve been using them ever since to stand up for people.” He paused, then added, “So, when I’ve ran off, or when I arrived late for a dinner, that’s probably what I was doing.”
The Aberrant Series (Book 4): Super Invasion Page 15