by Rae Knightly
Mesmo shook his head. “No, not like Bordock. Bordock was not born with a skill.” His eyes darkened. “So he took hers.” He wrung his hands together. “She did not survive.”
Laura straightened in the chair, a shiver creeping up her spine. “What? Are you saying that Bordock forcefully took Sila’s shapeshifting skill? Why would he do such a terrible thing?”
Mesmo sighed. “I will tell you why.” He held her gaze the whole time he spoke. “My people are called the Toreq. We have spread into the Universe for billions of years and are accustomed to meeting new species and interacting with them. We respect their growth and search for identity and strive to maintain a balance between helping out and interfering as little as possible. The Toreq have created many alliances and trade fairly, though mostly we are satisfied with our home planet and strive to maintain a healthy balance on it.
“Many generations ago, the Toreq discovered a new species who called themselves the A’hmun. We were astounded by their likeness to us, though they did not possess highly developed skills like ours. Still, we took a liking to them, and them to us. We felt as if we’d found distant cousins and were no longer alone in the darkness. We accepted them into our lives; they settled in our cities, in our homes, and made their way up to the ring of decision makers of our civilization. They, in turn, accepted us in the same way.”
He paused. “By the time we realized they were not what they seemed, it was too late. They had infiltrated us to the highest ranks; they had blended into our families. We had been blinded by our joy at finding a kindred species.”
“Why?” Laura frowned, fascinated. “What did they do?”
“The A’hmun were jealous of our skills and of our peaceful, balanced lives. They were impatient and wanted to reach the same results without understanding that only respect and long-term dedication could bring them our affluence. Things went from bad to worse and in their haste to get their hands on what we had, they began to exterminate us from within our very ranks. It took a while for us to realize what was happening. We could not comprehend that our brothers could turn against us like that. But too much jealousy had crept into their hearts and they began to scar the land and snatch things with greed. In spite of all our negotiation efforts, we were not able to avoid the Great War of the Kins.”
Laura gasped in horror.
“Both our people ended up broken and barely surviving. Yet the Toreq prevailed. In one of the most painful and shameful acts of our history, we extracted the remaining A’hmun from our cities and banished them by force. This happened countless generations ago and we have grown strong again since then. We have not forgotten our past and have grown wiser than before.”
He paused long enough to make Laura squirm, then stared away as he continued to speak. “It has come to light recently that some A’hmun managed to remain hidden among us. The majority of my people live in ignorance of this danger, though a small group of us has become aware that dissidents exist. The A’hmun survivors must have found out that I knew of them. That is why they sent a soldier to silence my family and me. And what better way to do that than far away from home?”
“Bordock?” Laura breathed.
Mesmo nodded.
She closed her eyes. How was it possible that she and her son had got caught up in this mess? She thought of Ben and her skin crawled. Her son had one of these alien skills now.
Mesmo must have noticed her face going pale, because he said, “You see, now, why I do not tell you much? I don’t mean to frighten you.”
She breathed in shakily, then leaned forward with determination. “There is only one thing I will ask of you.”
Mesmo waited expectantly.
“Keep Bordock away from my son!”
CHAPTER 12 Viral
Ben was cleared from hospital the next day, though he found out that Kimi had to remain there as she had contracted pneumonia and had to be put on antibiotics. She was reacting well to them, however, and doctors counted on a speedy recovery.
Ben, Laura, Thomas and Mesmo spent the rest of the weekend at home, flipping through TV channels and radio stations to make sure there were no reports of the incident at the lake. Thomas said that he only heard a quick mention of it on a local radio station, but the conversation revolved more around the danger of people ignoring warning signs near frozen lakes or ice skating on their own.
By Monday morning, Laura told Ben that she had spoken to Dr. Hughes, who confirmed that his staff hadn’t had any queries from curious reporters and that he had dealt with the police himself. She and Thomas decided it was safe to go about their usual activities. So, Laura headed to Tim Hortons, while Thomas dropped Ben off at school.
Alice, Joelle and Kimberly, the three popular girls of his class, were the only ones still removing their snow gear and rearranging their hair in front of his classroom when he arrived. While he hurriedly took off his toque and gloves, Kimberly turned to him and said shyly, “Hi, Ben.”
“Uh, hi,” Ben replied, taken aback by the greeting. She had never directed a single word at him before. He realized that all three were looking at him with bambi eyes and smiles that he could not interpret. Ben blushed and concentrated on removing his snow boots.
As he hung up his jacket, a sixth grader slapped him on the back. “Thumbs up, dude,” he said as he hurried by.
Ben stared at him, confused, but the boy had already disappeared down the corridor. Was it his imagination, or were several students staring at him while giggling behind their hands? He felt his cheeks go hot and wondered whether there was breakfast cereal stuck to his face. He checked to make sure he hadn’t put on his clothes back to front, but everything was in place. He shrugged and decided he was probably part of some practical joke, then picked up his backpack and entered the classroom.
Ms. Evans had already started class, so Ben slipped into his seat and hurriedly copied the instructions on the blackboard. He was late as well when the lunch-bell rang because he lost time separating his and Kimi’s notes and assignments. He was still organizing papers when he reached the lunchroom, which was packed with noisy students.
He became aware of the stares by the time he was halfway across the hall. He slowed and saw students chatting behind their hands with their eyes glued on him. Some nudged each other and pointed.
A whole group of his classmates were gathered together, focused on something happening in their midst. When they saw him approach, he heard them whisper, “He’s here!”
Some of them began to clap. Then, to his dismay, the cheering spread to the rest of the group, and all the way to the other tables. In no time, the lunchroom burst into clamour: there were whistles, exhilarated yells and hands slapping against the tables.
Goosebumps rose on Ben’s arms.
What the heck is going on?
From the center of the group, Wes and Tyler grinned happily.
Ben’s face must have been livid because Tyler exclaimed, “Holy moly! Hang on a second! He hasn’t seen it yet. Hey, Ben, come check this out!”
With dread in his heart, Ben made his way to the center of the group, where Tyler sat with an iPad in his hands, which he held up for all to see. He punched the screen and a YouTube page appeared. He selected a video and pressed the play button. The person who had filmed the video was not a professional because the image swayed from the sky to the white ground, then back and forth. Wes appeared briefly in the corner of the video, making everyone laugh.
The white background turned out to be a hill covered in snow, and when the camera peeked to the side of it, a frozen lake bordered by trees appeared. The camera stopped at the edge of the hill and focused on the boy and the dog standing before the lake, then on the girl who ice-skated in the middle of it.
“It got twelve thousand views over the weekend, dude!” Tyler announced proudly. “It’s gone viral! You’re a star!”
As if struck by lightning, Ben froze to the spot. He already knew what he was going to watch. There he was, trying to convince Kimi to
get off the lake, then, just as he turned around to walk away, she fell through the ice and disappeared. There were gasps from his companions. Ben ran back and forth over the screen, then around the lake and across the ice to the place where Kimi had fallen. Soon he had removed his jacket and scarf, then plunged into the water. Utter silence fell on the group as they waited for the protagonists to reappear.
By some incredible miracle, Mesmo was nowhere to be seen in the video, as he had been standing on the other side of the hill. Ben’s head resurfaced a couple of times, though he was empty-handed, and there were murmurs of worry from his classmates. But when he broke the surface with Kimi in his arms, wild cheers and applause broke out around him.
Crippling fear, anger and despair washed over Ben in multiple waves.
Twelve thousand people watched this video! Jeepers! Twelve thousand!
The adrenaline of the past days boiled over. Overcome with despair, Ben reached over to snatch the iPad from Tyler’s hands, but missed. “Make it stop!” he shouted, as the video continued to play.
By the time Ben had dragged Kimi out of the water, Ben’s worst fear materialized when Mesmo appeared out of the corner of the screen. The alien turned his face briefly towards the camera, his distinct features appearing under his fur hat.
“Stop it!” Ben cried in panic. He crushed Wes as he reached over him to grab the iPad.
“Hey!” Wes protested from his chair. He shoved at Ben who lost his balance and fell to the ground at the boy’s feet, his back pushing the lunch table aside.
Ben sprang up again, his mind bursting with one thought: Get the iPad! As if that would stop the video from playing all over the world, from Timbuktu to the CSIS headquarters. This time he got ahold of the device, but Tyler had it in his grasp too tightly.
“What’s the matter with you?” Tyler yelled at him angrily.
“I said shut it down!” Ben cried, pulling at the tablet. Both boys fell to the ground in a heap, pulling and shoving at each other. It didn’t help when Wes joined the scuffle.
Like ants drawn to a piece of sugar, a chaotic circle of students formed around them, cheering as the fight unfolded.
Ben yelped when he received a punch in the eye. He must have kicked Tyler really hard because the boy groaned in pain. Boys and girls shouted them on excitedly.
A firm hand grabbed Ben by the collar and untangled him from the other two boys. He kicked and punched at the air, even though Joe, the school caretaker, had managed to get a hold of both Wes and Tyler. The circle widened as they were pulled apart.
Tears streamed down Ben’s face. “You had no right!” he shouted furiously at Tyler.
* * *
Ben sat in front of the Principal’s office with an ice pack over his black eye—something he was thankful for because he could hide his feelings behind it. A sense of utter despair threatened to engulf him, making him want to weep his heart out. But he couldn’t.
Opposite him, next to the office door, Wes and Tyler glanced at him glumly. They had been told to sit quietly while Ms. Nguyen talked to their parents.
“Hey! Psst! Ben!” Tyler whispered.
Ben ignored him.
“Come on, man!” Tyler insisted. “We’re sorry. We had no idea you’d feel like this. We thought you’d be proud of what you did! You’re a hero, dude!”
Ben pressed the ice pack really hard, concentrating on the pain in his eye rather than the pain in his heart. How could Tyler ever begin to imagine what he was going through? His fear of Bordock and Inspector Hao, which he had managed to bottle up since his arrival in Canmore, cut through his body.
What if they saw the video?
The very thought paralyzed him.
Wes pressed a Kleenex against his bloody nose, and Tyler examined the big bump on his leg. Ben heard him note how ‘cool’ it was. The bruise had turned purple, green and yellowish.
Like my eye.
Wes bent over to whisper something to his friend, to which Tyler replied, “Yeah!”
“Boys!” the assistant at the front desk warned.
The pair stiffened, suddenly taking a quiet interest in the carpet. Several minutes ticked by before Tyler ventured to catch Ben’s attention again. “P-s-t! Hey, Ben! When this is over,” he gestured to the Principal’s office, “Let’s do a revenge snowball fight.”
Wes joined in excitedly. “Yeah, next Saturday, when Kimi’s better. We can meet up at the Millennium Park.”
Ben couldn’t believe his ears. These boys, who were in deep trouble, were already planning their next stunt. He wished he could have felt that laid back.
Tyler added, “We can sled there, too…” He was cut off when the door to the Principal's office opened and Wes and Tyler's parents emerged. Immediately, the two boys hung their heads in apparent shame.
Ms. Nguyen nodded Ben over, but just before he entered her office, he saw Tyler mouth Millennium at him.
As soon as the door closed, Ben fell into his mother’s arms gratefully. He was intent on hiding behind his ice pack for the rest of the day and let her do the talking. But that didn’t seem to be on the Principal’s mind. The small woman played with her eyeglasses on the desk, staring at him intently. Ben ended up lowering the ice pack, wondering if she needed to see his two eyes before being able to speak.
A look of concern crossed her face when she saw the damage. “Ah, Ben!” she sighed. “What am I going to do with you?” She leaned back in her chair, her eyes boring into him. “I don’t know whether to suspend you or give you a gold medal.” She paused long enough for Ben to wonder what her verdict would be.
Her face broke into a smile. “Honestly? I think you’re the bravest boy I’ve ever met in my entire career! You put another student’s welfare before your own. You risked your life with no second thought as to the danger you were putting yourself in.”
She turned her attention to Laura. “Ms. Anderson, your son truly deserves the highest praise. I’m sure there must be some kind of Canmore medal for outstanding deeds to society. This could go much further than you could ever imagine…” She paused for effect, before finishing, “…but only if you want it to.”
She focused on Ben again. “Seeing that video and reliving that horrible experience must have been quite a shock for you, Ben. It’s essential for you to understand that those boys had absolutely no right to be filming you or posting that video online for all to see, without your consent. That was a fundamental breach of privacy. And I want you to rest assured that the video was taken down at once.”
At her words, Ben breathed a little easier. He glanced at his mother, who squeezed his hand.
Ms. Nguyen proceeded very seriously. “Now this unusual event has sent shock-waves through the school and will continue to do so for some time. It is crucial for me to know your mind on this matter so that I can act appropriately. Would you like to share any thoughts, Ben?”
Ben crossed eyes with his mother, then said, “I just want this to go away. I want everything to go back to normal.”
Laura added, “We’re not looking for the limelight, Ms. Nguyen. We strongly insist on keeping our privacy intact and would appreciate any help you can give us.”
The Principal nodded. “Yes, of course. You can count on my full support. In that case, if we are to avoid any interviews, filming, naming, handing out rewards, or such, I suggest you stay at home for the rest of the week, Ben. You are not grounded, but it’s best you’re not at school until I can calm the situation down. I will hold a staff meeting and instruct the teachers to talk to the students about the dangers of sharing private information on the internet. Goodness knows, we need that kind of debate in this day and age!”
Ben frowned. “But,” he objected. “I have a civics exam on Friday.”
Ms. Nguyen smiled. “Well, in that case, you can return on Friday if you feel up to it. I’ll have Ms. Evans send you her notes and homework by e-mail this week so you can keep up. Does that sound fair?”
Ben nodded. He glanced at his m
other, but he could not read her expression.
“The other question I must ask is something you need to weigh very carefully because it can affect the future of certain students.” She crossed the fingers of her hands before her and said, “Will you be pressing any charges?”
Ben saw his mother straighten in her chair. “Charges?” she asked.
Ms. Nguyen pursed her lips. “Yes. Charges against Wes and Tyler for posting video material of Ben and Kimi without their consent. There’s no need to answer right away, of course, but I’ll need to know if you are going to want the police and lawyers involved.”
Laura and Ben glanced at each other in alarm. “No, no!” Laura said quickly. “Of course not! These boys were just fooling around. I’m sure their parents will talk some sense into them!”
Ben nodded vigorously in agreement.
Ms. Nguyen’s relief was visible. “I’m glad you see it that way. I’m not defending their reckless actions, but, after all, they did call 911 without delay. At least it shows their hearts are still in the right place.”
Ben echoed her words in surprise. “Wes and Tyler called the ambulance?”
Ms. Nguyen nodded. “Yes, Tyler sent Wes for help as soon as they saw Kimi fall through the ice. You can hear it in the video. Kimi was very lucky to be surrounded by so many good-willed people that day.”
Ben sat back in his chair, fighting a grin. Those two boys would never cease to amaze him!
CHAPTER 13 Breakthrough
They got home by late afternoon. Ben told Laura he wanted to rest, which suited her well because she needed to consult with Thomas about the day’s developments.
Thomas arrived one hour later, followed by Mesmo not long after that.
“Sh!” Laura shushed the men when their voices rose at the news. “I don’t want to wake Ben,” she said.
Thomas pulled out a dining chair and sat heavily, while Laura finished filling Mesmo in. The television flickered with the volume down.
