by Rae Knightly
Laura took a step back, almost tripping over her own feet. Her eyes darted from one to the other, hoping for some sort of rebuttal. When none came, she breathed in disbelief, “Mesmo?”
Mesmo looked away. “It’s true. The Toreq have kept an eye on Earth for millennia. The Wise Ones keep track of human progress, and every two hundred years, an Observer is sent from the Mother Planet to collect their information.
“We have never forgotten that, once, the Toreq and the A’hmun were like brothers, and we have maintained the faint hope that maybe, one day, the A’hmun and their descendants would develop into a wiser, more respectful civilization–one that would allow us to put our differences aside and make peace.”
Bordock snorted. “That’s never going to happen, of course. Humans are on the brink of space travel. They are already reaching out to other planets in their solar system. Within the next two hundred years, they will have settled on surrounding moons and planets. By the time the next wormhole opens, humans will have the means to cross it.”
He grimaced. “The Toreq will never allow it. They can’t allow a species that is responsible for the loss of seventy percent of plant and animal life to spread to other galaxies. Pure greed lives in their blood. The A’hmun have not changed.”
Laura’s mouth fell open. She glared at Mesmo. “Is that why you needed Ben’s skill? To find out what the animals have to say about us? And he told you they are on the brink of extinction because of us?”
Mesmo nodded.
Bordock gave a hollow laugh. “Your son has basically doomed the human race. That is…” he hissed, his eyes boring into Mesmo, “…unless we stop this scum from getting away.”
Tears spilled down Laura’s cheeks. She couldn’t believe the treachery. “You said…” she sobbed. “You said you weren’t interested in Earth.”
Mesmo set his jaw. “Not Earth, no. But humans, yes.”
“I told you, Laura Archer,” Bordock quipped. “I told you not to trust him. But you wouldn’t listen.”
Laura’s cheeks burned. “Don’t you dare judge me! You are no better than he is when it comes to deceit. Release Ben at once and show me which side you’re on!”
A smile crept on to Bordock’s face as if she had just cracked a joke.
“She’s right,” Mesmo followed. “Which side are you on, Bordock? Are you A’hmun? Or are you Toreq?”
“I am both,” he said, sniffing. “My physical appearance has allowed me to blend into the Toreq world, but my A’hmun side has always been a burden. I have lived my life hiding my bloodline from the Toreq. So when the opportunity presented itself, I volunteered to come to this trivial planet to terminate the Observer’s mission, away from Toreq eyes. Because, you see, humans must be saved if they are ever to defeat the Toreq and occupy their rightful place on the Mother Planet.”
“Really?” Mesmo spoke sharply. “And who are you volunteering for? Who sent you? What did they promise you?” He paused, then gasped. “They promised you legal Toreq status, didn’t they?”
Bordock’s smile wavered.
Mesmo pressed on. “No Toreq in their right mind would have allowed you to do the vile things you did. And yet you show no fear in returning to the Mother Planet. Someone is protecting you. Whoever sent you must be powerful indeed.”
Bordock’s face hardened. “This conversation is boring me.” His hands began to glow again. “This is as far as you go, Observer.”
“Hey! Wonder boy!”
Bordock whirled.
Hao stood behind him. The Inspector swung one of his crutches at Bordock and hit him square in the stomach.
The alien keeled over, losing control of his power. Blue lightning burst out of his hands with a deafening bang, sending Laura and Hao sprawling.
Laura hit the floor with a humph. Her mind swam toward unconsciousness from the impact, but she forced herself to sit up, fighting the ringing in her ears. Through watery eyes, she registered that Hao was also coming to, though not fast enough.
The shapeshifter had picked himself up. His spikey, white hair disappeared, his neck twisted. By the time he had straightened, Bordock had turned back into the bald Connelly once more.
Hao cringed at the sight.
Connelly smirked. “You got me there, partner,” he panted, clinging to his stomach. “You should have stayed buried under that avalanche. But no matter, I’d rather finish you off myself.” He lunged at Hao, reaching for his neck.
Hao gagged and struggled.
Dazedly, Laura watched Hao and Connelly scuffling dangerously close to the hole that she had narrowly avoided falling into earlier. She could tell Hao was wearing out.
Something small buzzed before her face and landed on her arm.
Mesmo, who continued to pull at his legs to try and free them from under the slab, saw it, too. It was a bee. “It’s Ben!” he exclaimed.
Laura’s heart leapt. He’s alive!
Then, from out of nowhere, an angry hum came louder and louder. Laura lifted her head just in time to see a crazy mass of bees descend upon them at staggering speed. She ducked as thousands of them darted by her, heading straight for Connelly. The black tornado drowned the two battling men, who waved their arms in a useless attempt to swipe the insects away.
The shapeshifter screamed.
Then, in a heartstopping moment, one of the men teetered and slipped off the ledge while the other stumbled to the ground, succumbing to the angry mob of tiny attackers.
A cry stuck in her throat. Laura crawled to the edge and glanced over the side with dread.
Hao hung from the ledge with one hand, groaning under the effort not to let go.
“I’ve got you!” she yelled, reaching for his wrist. But doubt washed over her as she grabbed his arm and realized she wasn’t strong enough to pull him up. Far below Hao, she caught sight of a dark pit filled with sharp concrete blocks.
She lay down on her stomach and held on with all her might as Hao desperately tried to reach for the ledge with his other hand.
Suddenly, a strong arm lowered beside Laura, took over her grasp of the Inspector, and with one mighty pull, extracted Hao from his precarious plight. The Inspector clambered out of the hole, wincing, and rolled on to his back to see who had saved him.
Both he and Laura stared up at Mesmo, who hovered over them. The concrete slab that had pinned the alien’s legs had tumbled to the side, while Bordock lay unmoving in a heap a few feet away. Hao dragged himself up to the shapeshifter and felt for a pulse, then shook his head. “He’s gone,” he said. “Bees got him good.” He checked his hands and face. “I don’t have single bee sting,” he noted.
Laura winced at the sight of the shapeshifter’s swollen face. A dozen insects rose before her face and buzzed away. She lifted her hand, feeling bumps underneath it, only to realize they belonged to crushed bees. She glanced around as she stood in a hurry and found she was lying on a thin carpet of crumpled insects.
They died protecting us, she realized in horror. Ben must’ve sent them!
She glanced at Mesmo unwittingly, her palm raised to him with the dead bees cradled inside. But the sight of the alien who had once been her friend caused her heart to tear apart. Fighting anger and grief, she caught her breath and dashed past him.
“Laura, wait!” he called, his feet thudding after her.
She was no match for his long legs. He grabbed her by the arm.
“Don’t touch me!” she yelled, struggling. “I need to find Ben!”
“Ben is fine!” Mesmo said, holding her tightly. “Look.” He pointed at Bordock’s arm. The silver watch lay with its glass shattered, the tiny spirit portal broken in three pieces, their glimmer gone.
“Bordock’s power over Ben’s spirit is gone,” Mesmo said. “Ben will be waking as we speak.”
Just then a massive slab of concrete detached itself from the roof and crashed to the ground not far from them, sending rocks and dust flying. Mesmo rushed to cover her head with his arms, but she pushed him a
way.
“Leave me alone!” she shouted, her nostrils flaring. “You deceived me! And Ben, oh God, Ben! How could you?”
Mesmo responded, “Did I, really?”
“You lied to us! You used us!” she sobbed. From way up on the surface, she heard soldiers shouting orders, indicating that they were beginning their descent into the Dugout.
“Get away from me!” she yelled angrily. “Go, then!” She was no longer trying to save him. She wanted him out of her sight forever.
He watched her sob, then lowered his eyes and took a step back. He nodded slowly. Walking in a circle around her, he heaved Bordock over his shoulder, glanced at her once more, then turned his back, and left.
She watched him walk away, wiping at her tear-filled cheeks, then bent shakily to help Hao to his feet. They followed the alien from a distance.
Mesmo reached the spaceship, activated its door and dumped Bordock inside.
Laura could hear pounding feet resounding from somewhere high up, and a helicopter’s strong light beam swiped past them, its rotor blades causing more red mist to swirl to the surface. Mesmo stood illuminated by the inside of the spacecraft, glancing back at them.
Her heart leaping, Laura released Hao beside a column so he could lean on it and stepped forward, but he held her back.
“Don’t!” he cautioned.
Oblivious to his warning, she crossed the hangar with quick strides until she was facing Mesmo. Without taking defiant eyes off him, she pulled the two treble clef symbols from her pocket and shoved them into his hand.
Her chin trembling, she said, “Take these, and do with them what you will. If we truly are the terrible species you claim we are, then all my efforts will have been in vain. But at least, I’ll know I have nothing to be ashamed of. At least I tried.”
Mesmo jerked his head, giving her an incredulous stare as if she had said something significant. He set his jaw and took her hand. “Come with me,” he said firmly. “You and Ben. You have nothing to fear of the Toreq. I will speak a good word for you. You would be welcome on the Mother Planet.”
Laura recoiled. “You would save Ben and me, but destroy the rest of the human race–as if we were different from anyone else? How could you think I would ever accept such a thing?” She could tell her words hurt him. Good!
“Who said anything about destroying anything, Laura Archer? Don’t let the shapeshifter’s words play with your mind.” He lifted the side of his shirt and waved at the bare skin with a glowing hand.
Laura gaped as some of his skin became transparent, revealing a hidden row of treble clefs. He pushed the remaining two into place next to the five other ones, and they melted into his skin. “I don’t know what these contain. I have not analyzed their data yet. Nothing is set in stone.”
He glanced at her. “But one thing is certain: if the Toreq do not hear from me before the wormhole closes, then it is certain that they will send a military fleet to investigate.” He paused, “The only way to stop them is for me to return to the Mother Planet.”
Laura shut her eyes and shook her head. “And what will you tell them? That an A’hmun shapeshifter killed your wife and daughter, that a human held you captive, that my son told you the animals are sick and dying… How could the Toreq ever forgive us? How could you ever forgive us? We may have sealed our fate, but our fate is our own, and you have no right to meddle with it.”
“Yes,” he said. “What you say is true. Human greed is destroying the world we entrusted them. But then, there’s you, and there’s Ben, your father, Susan, Kimimela... I have met the best and the worst of your species. The Toreq will place all this in the balance.”
Laura hung her head, unable to hear more. In a broken voice, she whispered, “You broke my heart.”
She heard him catch his breath. His hands went limp by his side, and his voice came out thick and low. “Do you see, now, why I told you I cannot love you?”
Her eyes widened as she met his.
He stared at her meaningfully. “Now that you know the truth, knowing what you know, could you still love me, Laura Archer?”
Her lips trembled.
Strong flashlights swung past them from above. “Freeze!” voices shouted a couple of floors up.
“Goodbye, Laura,” Mesmo said. “Tell Benjamin I’m sorry.” He stepped back, his eyes on her the whole time. He entered the spacecraft, faced her and raised his hand.
For a split second, she thought he hesitated, but then he flicked his hand and the door shut between them.
Laura pressed a fist to her mouth as she edged away. “Goodbye,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face.
***
The door closed behind Mesmo. Sounds became muffled through the ship’s thick walls. He activated the front window and found a rain of whizzing bullets pelting the vessel. He caught a last glimpse of Laura as she sought cover.
Turning his attention to the inside of the vessel, Mesmo picked up the shapeshifter and dragged him into a cubicle at the back of the ship, then activated an electrical barrier to lock him in.
He took place at the front of the ship, his body and hands accommodating automatically to surroundings that were natural to him.
Pressing a couple of commands, he activated the departure mechanism and felt a satisfactory jolt as the spacecraft came to life. Without a sound, the vessel lifted from the ground, making the remaining red mist swirl around it. It fit perfectly through the hole, sending soldiers scrambling to upper levels. The dark ship emerged at the surface and faced a squadron of army trucks, tankers and helicopters.
Unfazed, Mesmo switched to hyperspeed and arrived in a layer of clouds in a matter of milliseconds. Human combat aircraft pursued him for some time but were no match for his speed.
He entered the outer atmosphere and floated there for some time, taking in the curve of the planet, the outline of the continents and the blue of the oceans.
Then, with a heart that suffered as much as when his wife and daughter had died, he checked his trajectory and sped off into space forever.
***
Laura watched from a safe distance as the spacecraft ascended into the night, her throat tight.
Hao hopped over to her, and they watched the gaping hole with the red mist swirling upward.
“You let him go,” he said in awe.
Laura bit her trembling lip. “If not Mesmo, then it will be another Observer. And whether now or in the future, eventually, humans will have to face the Toreq,” she replied.
Hao squeezed her shoulder. “We will be ready,” he vowed.
They turned and headed to the stairs leading to the last floor, making it down after some painstaking minutes. Hao clearly suffered from multiple injuries, but Laura guessed he wanted to see her through to the end.
“In here,” he said, pointing to the sealed room that contained the incubators.
She entered and squinted at the gloom, while emergency lights flickered on and off. The first incubators were empty. “Ben?” she called, rushing to the back, where she had seen him lying on a stretcher on one of the security screens.
The stretcher was there, but not Ben.
She frowned. Mesmo had said he would be awake by now. She glanced around frantically. “Ben? Where are you?”
There wasn’t a sound.
A wave of nausea washed over her. “No!” she gasped, cold dread gripping her. “N-O!”
She swivelled on her heels, rushed past Hao, and bolted up the stairs two steps at a time. She froze at the center of the gaping hole, lifted her head to the sky and screamed, “B-E-E-E-N!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Paradox
The spacecraft skimmed by Earth’s Moon, but Mesmo did not see it. He darkened the front window and concentrated on several screens that he had pulled up before him. Different coloured lights flickered, symbols scrolled down the sides, and intricate patterns turned on of their own accord.
He activated the hidden pocket that stuck to his skin, diagonal
to his stomach, making it invisible to the human eye. The neat row of seven keys appeared. He pulled out the first one and inserted it in a dashboard that contained slots designed to receive these types of keys.
Instantly, a waterfall of information gushed before him. Minutes turned into hours, and hours into days, as he analyzed the data on each key, the spacecraft speeding through the darkness towards its inevitable destination.
The equivalent of ten Earth days passed during which time Mesmo scanned six of the keys.
The information contained in them was not good. Once his people got hold of the data, he knew the Toreq would vote to put an end to the human race before they had time to spread to other galaxies like cancer. The risk of this species multiplying and depleting other planets’ resources before having learned to respect boundaries was real. The Toreq had seen it before and would not allow it to happen again. Clearly, banishing the A’hmun to Earth a million years ago to give them a last chance to better themselves had not been successful.
The Toreq would vote against the survival of the A’hmun’s descendants, they would sacrifice a handful of warships by sending them through the wormhole before it closed, and annihilation would begin.
Mesmo sat back and sighed, only too aware that, not so long ago, he would unequivocally have supported this decision.
But that was before he had met Ben and Laura…
He travelled back in his mind to the steps of the Kalasasaya temple in Bolivia. The Wise One called Amaru had delivered a scathing report on humans and yet, when Mesmo had indicated that the Toreq would save him should they attack, Amaru had refused. He preferred to remain on Earth and share the fate of humans.
Mesmo had not understood it then, but he did now.
Amaru had already seen the doubt. Mesmo’s judgment was clouded by having had too much contact with the A’hmun descendants.
The Observer is no longer neutral.
With that sarcastic thought hanging like a dirty smudge in his mind, Mesmo collected the last key and stared at it for a moment, then slipped it into the last slot.
