by Mel Todd
She finished the other half of his statement in her head.
And if we don't live through the next two weeks, it won't matter.
That put a damper on her spirits at least, and she spent the rest of the ride looking out the windows, not sure what she expected to see and watching the kids who were animated, talking about the games they wanted to play.
"No shifting there. We don't need the attention. Okay?" she warned them, and they all agreed without hesitation.
She shot a glance at Toni who shook her head biting her lip. The kids were rarely bad, but their impulse control was normal for kids their age—very low.
They pulled into the parking lot and McKenna felt a bit of relief at only seeing six other cars. While she wanted to feel normal, she also worried about being recognized. They walked in, the kids arrowing for the ball pit and other games as the adults placed orders.
~Pepperoni pizza?~ she asked the kids, this at least made life easier sometimes.
~Yes, and cheese sticks?~ Charley replied promptly.
~How long have you guys been planning this?~ She felt the adults listen in.
~They play the commercials a lot,~ was his only answer.
McKenna fought back a smile, placing the order, getting beers for everyone and a cider for herself. The fact they had cider made her happy. Taking their number, they found a table near the tinted windows away from the other people, but close enough they could still see the kids. There were about five other adults and ten children. The kids all seemed about Nam's age, Charley being the oldest by a long shot. He and the twins were so much bigger than the rest of the children it almost looked funny, but Nam seemed normal compared to the others.
She checked out the adults, and they all seemed quiet, pensive. One table watched a tablet playing what sounded like news while the others just talked and checked their phones almost compulsively. The tension could be felt everywhere, even the employees seemed to move more quietly and glance at the TV often. It played the news silently, captions scrolling across the bottom.
McKenna took a sip of her cider and glanced at the others. The agents had declined to come in, and they could see them in the SUVs in the parking lot, facing the building, sitting and talking.
"This is much quieter than I expected it to be," Perc said as a shriek of laughter cut through the mostly silent room. He and JD flinched, the rest of them just smirked.
"Trust me, it is. I've taken my niece and nephew once or twice and normally you can't hear yourself think in here. You're getting off easy." Toni nodded lots, and Perc took a hasty sip of his beer.
"So noted. So we're all agreed McKenna and I do the New York thing. You guys all stay here?"
Toni chewed her lip but nodded softly. "JD can provide the legal weight we might need as he has power of attorney for McKenna, not to mention being a cop. And I really don't want the kids anywhere near New York when this all goes down."
McKenna couldn't help but agree, the idea of Charley being anywhere near these aliens that would regard him as a waste made her stomach churn and her blood pressure spike. Another thought started to bubble up when a shriek of rage had the heads of all the adults in the room looking towards the ball pit. It was quickly followed by two cries of pain from two different voices, and McKenna and two other adults were headed to the ball pit at a dead run.
A large man, close-cut hair wearing a Patriots football jersey, beat her only because he'd been so much closer. A tiny girl, even smaller than Nam and probably only about four, came running out of the ball bit. Pale blond hair in pixie tails on either side of her head, a pink dress, and blue eyes welled tears as she ran directly to the man.
None of her kids emerged, but all she could get from them was anger and an affronted feeling.
He dropped his knees as the doll of a girl threw herself at him crying, "Daddy, Daddy, she hurted me."
That sounds suspiciously like overacting and I think those are crocodile tears.
"Guys, come on out. What happened?"
The little girl was sobbing in her dad's arms, holding out her arm that had a light red indent on it. "The little monkey girl bitted me," she sobbed out as Jessi and Nam emerged from the balls.
Jessi had her lip out in her stubborn pose while Nam had paled and flinched back at the girl's words. The boys came out a minute later with thunderous expressions on their face.
"She what? She bit my little Linda Pea?" He turned eyes on her that held anger well over what the situation warranted. "I'll teach you to bring your mongrel kids in here and attack good Americans." He reached behind and McKenna grabbed the girls, pulling them behind her as he came out with a knife that he flipped open in a smooth move that told her he wasn't a stranger to fighting with a knife.
Oh, I so do not need this. I really, really don't need this.
"I'm sure it's not a big deal. Everyone is stressed." She tried to calm him down, but her sudden move had dislodged her cap, even as the others reached her side.
"You! You're that shifter bitch that started all this. It's your fault the aliens are coming. You're the reasons people are going to die, and we're going to war with an alien race!" The bellowed words caught her off guard, and she blinked at him.
"You think all this is my fault?"
The man sneered at her waving the knife. "You were the first to change. You started this. Hell, if aliens really are coming, you're probably a plant."
McKenna just couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth as she looked at him. In the mindscape she could feel the shock from everyone else. His lunge took her by surprise, the knife flashing forward. Without conscious thought, she shifted, flowing into warrior form faster than she'd ever tried. Between one heartbeat and the next she had changed, the heat waving off her. Her hand flashed up and caught the hand holding the knife.
With a quick twist, she snapped his wrist, and he screamed. Other people started to scream, and the man who'd been sitting at the table with him came charging at her, beer bottle in his hand. The little blond girl had run over to the women at the table holding on to them and screaming. Noise surrounded her as she pushed the man away and turned to face the other man.
But JD and Perc were there. Still in human form, They had him restrained and down, hands behind his back, the beer bottle laying on the floor.
Agents came boiling into the pizza place, guns out and looking everywhere.
McKenna stood in the middle, looking at the whimpering man holding his wrist, the other man under JD's foot, the screaming kids, and the shocked employees.
Why does this always happen to me?
[You will be paying for that. Shifting that fast has depleted almost all of your resources. Eating now would be a good idea.]
McKenna groaned and grabbed the pizza from the stunned employee, sitting down at the table with it as questions began to be shouted around.
This sucks.
The thought drifted through as she set to grimly eating the pizza, instructing the bots to process and build up her resources again.
Chapter 24 - Reactions
The world waits with bated breath as the ships approach our planet. Most schools have shut down, sending people home as we wait to see what this will bring. Sales of guns, ammo, and survival supplies have seen more shelves stripped, and bank accounts emptied. People are scared and watching the skies. If you have a telescope, you are now the most popular person in your neighborhood as everyone wants to see existence as we know it change. ~ KWAK News
By the time it had all been dealt with, McKenna found herself on the news again, the story flashing across most news outlets. In some places it competed with her speech and shifting to warrior form. Due to the amount of resources spent, she remained in warrior form, so of course the newsies got pictures of her walking out to the cars like that.
The agents just gave her flat looks, and she kept her mouth closed, at least where they could hear.
~Is it a bad thing that I'm ready for the Elentrin to get here, just to get
this over with?~ she asked, her voice wry in the quiet SUV.
~I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble.~
McKenna hadn't realized they could whisper in the mindspace but that was what Nam's voice sounded like. A teeny whisper from a frightened girl. She sat next to McKenna, so she ran her fingers through Nam's silky black hair. ~You didn't. Can you tell me what happened?~
~The little brat hurt her,~ Jessi blurted. She was in the other SUV with Toni, so McKenna couldn't see her, but had no doubt her arms were crossed and lower lip out.
~Nam?~ McKenna made sure her mind voice remained gentle, an oddly difficult thing.
Nam heaved a sigh and leaned her head against McKenna.
~She grabbed onto my hair. Wouldn't let me go. Jessi was too far away to help. I couldn't get my head up. So I bit her.~
McKenna felt there may have been a bit more than that, but she hugged Nam.
~Well, she should be glad that you didn't bite her in animal form. Your tiger teeth would have drawn blood. But we were right there. You could have asked for help.~
Nam shrank into her a bit more, not looking up. ~Forgot.~
Or didn't trust us. The more likely explanation.
"Oh, Nam," she said quietly as she hugged the girl to her tightly. No one spoke for the rest of the trip home and their group headed into the house as the agents stared after them, faces unreadable.
The kids grabbed Nam, and they disappeared up to their rooms, their entire attitude speaking of circling the wagons around her.
[You still need to eat more.] Wefor said, and McKenna sighed, going and grabbing one of the meal replacement bars. They didn't taste great, but at five thousand calories, it seemed easier to choke these down than anything resembling real food.
She came back into the living room, everyone else looking serious. JD appeared a minute later with drinks.
"We can't get drunk, but right now I want a drink or ten as what just happened scared the hell out of me. And not because I thought he might manage to hurt anyone, but by what it implies." He set beers, ciders, and wine down, knowing what each person preferred.
McKenna smiled at him as he gave her a straw. Drinking with the modified muzzle tended to be messier as they'd found out in Colombia. A straw helped. She curled up in a chair watching all of them.
"I'm surfing the net now," Cass said, her voice somber. "You're trending again, Kenna."
"Did I ever stop?"
"Not really, but now there's a bunch of monster or savior memes going."
McKenna groaned and washed a bite of the bar down with a sip of cider. "Should I care?"
Cass snorted. "Not yet. You haven't reached the level of Jekyll and Hyde some celebrities have. Just lots of questions."
"Any point in trying to explain what happened?"
Cass sat silent as she clicked on something. "Nope. The restaurant chain just released the video of what happened. I'd say the trending is going to flip quickly."
McKenna sagged and drained half the cider. "I hate social media."
"Awww, you don't like being famous?" Toni teased. "It got you out of trouble last time."
"It's back to three to one, so no, I hate it." McKenna shot back. "So kick back and ignore. I mean not much longer, and it's all coming to a head. I wish we had some knowledge of what they're planning, what's going on."
[Regarding that,] Wefor said, her comment almost hesitant. [While the ability to force these dream sequences, as you call them, has not been discovered, by changing the trans-harmonic frequencies it should have the effect of making you more susceptible to these dreams.]
"Can you do that only for us? Not the kids. I don't think they need any more encouragement for these dreams."
[Yes, that should be possible, but absolute assurance is not given. The children seem to be more predisposed to this sort of mental joining.]
Toni and McKenna looked at each other, and finally Toni sighed. "I can't protect them from what might happen if they attack. I suppose as much as it makes me grind my teeth, the best way to protect them is educate them. They know to run, to hide, and they'll look after Nam." She rubbed her face for a minute. "Maybe it's a good thing my two seven-year-olds look closer to nine. They're at the top of all the weight and height percentiles. Wefor, if you can't you can't. You still don't know why or how this is happening?"
[Correct.]
"I'm game," Perc and Cass said together, even as she closed the laptop.
[Very well. The necessary changes to the trans-harmonic system should be done by tonight.]
They spent a quiet evening avoiding anything to do with the news or social media, and the kids fell asleep against respective adults, while they watched a movie.
With the kids tucked in, McKenna lay in bed and thought about what might be headed their way. Her stomach twisted and turned, but she couldn't think of anything else to do. Falling asleep in warrior felt odd, but she didn't want to burn the calories to change back.
~Is this going work, Wefor?~
[Unknown. All you can do is try.]
~With your changes.~
[Perhaps. All your previous attempts have happened regardless of any interaction.]
~I have faith in you.~
Wefor didn't respond, but the feeling of warmth flickered across her brain. McKenna closed her eyes and tried to relax into sleep, and hope that she might find out more than she had before.
"Have you finished your review of the information, Commander?" a name followed, but she couldn't hear it, though she could hear the question. McKenna looked up and saw the same male she'd seen in all the dreams. He matched what the others had reported. The white tail striking.
"No, I am still reviewing it. Is there a problem?" Her head tilted as if listening to something. "There is still half a liad prior to landing."
His eyes narrowed. "True. Do you have any questions?"
"What is your name?" McKenna asked then blinked when the words came out of her.
Holy shit, my question was asked.
His tail quit moving and his strange whiskers twitched. She took the opportunity to look at the male and try to figure him out. Taller than JD even as a human, and the amount of muscle on his body made JD's human form look small. While he had a muzzle similar to hers, she didn't think he would be any Earth cat she'd ever seen. There was something more bulky, solid, like the bear JD resembled. And rather than the long white whiskers she had in this form, his drooped, but moved as if independent of his own desires.
He started to speak then stopped, tilting his head slightly, one half of his whiskers curled, then drooped again.
"You may call me Ash," he said finally, his tail darting to the side as if to emphasize the name.
McKenna felt her muzzle move in a bit of a smile.
Shit, I can interact, and I have no idea what to ask. Think, think, we talked about pulling this off, not what I was supposed to do if we did.
"Are more ships coming for the Kaylid we collect?" Her voice didn't sound like her which reinforced that this wasn't her, but a surrogate or something else.
Muzzle drew back from his teeth, body still tense, but he didn't move away, yell for someone, or try to kill her, so McKenna hoped that meant this was allowed. Getting her host killed would qualify as being an ungracious guest.
"Yes. They have requested three more transports due to the high volume of available Kaylid."
"So how many liad before they get there?" McKenna probed, hoping they had months or more.
"Less than one. With our lead ship being here, they are targeting their drive to pull them to this location. They should arrive outside the moon of this planet."
Crap.
She felt herself sag and glanced back at the information on the desk before her. It lay out the visitation plans and the projected landing spot in New York.
"Anything else?" Ash's voice had an odd quality to it, and McKenna felt her head jerk back up as she tried to think about what to ask.
Weapons. How can I ask about weap
ons?
"What happens if they resist? They may not allow us to take the Kaylid." McKenna tried to make the comment off-hand. She lifted her head to watch him, trying to read facial expressions with no idea how to do that. The whiskers seemed the closest to being reactive to his emotions, maybe.
"They will be eliminated per standing policy. The Kaylid stunned, loaded into the transports, then their minds reset to standard training. Normal medical processes will be fulfilled." His voice still stayed very neutral, but there was something about the way he held himself that made her pause.
"And if they resist?"
Both sets of whiskers curled this time, but he didn't move otherwise. "Standing policy will be followed." His ears twitched backwards, and he stiffened. "Finish the information review. The ambassador will not tolerate any failure on your part."
His words carried a warning she couldn't miss. With a sharp nod, he turned and headed out the door, the sound of voices rippling down the corridor as he left.
Well, wasn't that interesting.
McKenna turned, moving her attention back to the display in front of her. It didn't appear to be in English, but she still knew what it said. The information focused on her team's mission. Protect the ambassador, assess the skill set of their opponents, and evaluate the easiest way to eliminate any resistance.
She sat back, thinking about that.
Most of the glimpses I've seen of the Kaylid here, they are all warriors. The Drakyn I've seen are almost always avoiding. They come across as soft or pacifist?
The idea rippled around her head.
They don't know what to expect when they get here. What they see at the original meeting might drive their expectations. Can we use that?