by Sarah Carter
“She said water look like Minna.”
“There. Right there!” Ariel gasps, coming over. “Right there.”
Mommy come!
“Is that where the institute is?” Claire asks.
Lexi go away. Mommy must come. Collector take Lexi away!
“Okay, okay, we will come. I promise, we will come.”
Mason. Must get Mason. Tomorrow.
“We have to get Mason tomorrow?” Claire asks.
Wagga Wagga, Wagga Wagga, Wagga Wagga
“Are you singing?” Claire asks, totally confused.
Wagga Wagga Mommy. Lexi go. Lexi love Mommy.
Claire steps back. “You love me?”
Lexi love Mommy. Mommy love Lexi. Bye!
“Lexi?” There is no answer. “Lexi?” Still nothing. Claire turns to Damien. “She’s gone.”
“Scan that area,” Damien demands.
“I’m putting in the sensors and here we go,” Mr. Paulson says. Suddenly, a blue light appears on the map. It’s at the base of a mountain. “I think we have it. Let me zoom in.”
When it completely zooms in. Everyone stops. “That’s the institute,” Xander says.
It is a giant U shaped building. There are a large group of blue lights moving around in one area. “That has to be everyone,” Ariel chokes out, putting her hand to her chest.
“She said we had to get Mason,” Claire says. “Tomorrow.”
“Did she say where?” Damien asks.
Claire shakes her head. “She started to sing.”
“What did she sing?”
“Wadda…wacca…wabba…something like that.”
“Search Australia,” Damien instructs, going over by the computer screens.
Mr. Paulson punches in a few things. “Right there. Wagga Wagga. It’s a city.”
“What a bizarre name,” Ariel says. “Can you imagine telling people you live there?”
“We need to send out a fake video of that area,” Damien says. “Make it as realistic as possible. Screaming people and all.”
“Bigfoot…in Australia. No one will believe it.”
“Oh, they will. Our videos are more realistic than even Jurassic Park. They will believe.”
Ariel steps forward. “Then we need to go to Australia.”
“We will need debrief the guard, Claire and you,” Damien says, nodding his head towards Ariel.
“Why can’t we know?” Aurora gasps.
“The less people know the better,” Damien replies. “This needs to be kept as top secret as possible.”
“She’s my sister. My twin! I have to know,” Aurora cries out.
Damien puts his hand on her arm and looks in her eyes. “We need this to work, correct?” Aurora nods. “Do I handle missions like this all the time?” She nods again. “Then trust me. We know what we are doing. We have executed battles with thousands. We will have thirty guards and Claire against one guy.”
“You don’t know what he is capable of,” Aurora says.
“We realize that and we are taking as many precautions as possible. We have one back up plan.”
“What’s that?”
Damien shakes his head. “We definitely can’t tell you that one, but we do have a backup plan. It’s risky but we have to get him to talk to us.”
“Are you going to tell me?” Claire scoffs.
He rolls his eyes. “Of course.”
“Just making sure.”
“Alright, Xander, Aurora, you will be escorted to the commons area. Ariel and Claire will be leaving in an hour.”
Aurora leaps over and grabs her sister. “You’re taking her in an hour! No. We have to say good-bye.”
“It’s not like you’re never going to see her again,” Claire says. “We have plans to out maneuver him if things go south. I will stay behind before I left her get taken. Trust me. She is our number one priority for safety. I still say I shift into her, but Ariel is right. We need him to trust us and if we trick him, that won’t happen.”
“No, it has to be me,” Ariel says.
“But we really need to go,” Damien says. “This is time sensitive. We have to release the video and then stage the scene.”
Looking at her sister, Aurora says, “Are you sure about this?”
“I have to see if I can get to him,” Ariel replies. “For my own well-being. I have to see if he really cares. Also, he knows the ins and outs of the institute. If we can get him on our side, it would make a huge difference.”
She pulls her in for a tight hug. “Please, be careful.”
“I will be with her every step of the way,” Claire says, stepping up to them. She puts her hand on Aurora’s shoulder. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Claire!” Dr. Galliger says. “Back away from them.”
The pressure in her starts to build and she stumbles backwards. “Oh crap!”
“Everyone out of the room!” Damien commands.
“Master Damien,” Dr. Galliger replies. “It may not be a good idea.”
“How else is she going to expel the energy?” He snaps. “Leave the room!”
Everyone scrambles out. When the door shuts, Damien steps up to Claire. “It’s horrible,” she whines.
“Okay, see if it will pass,” Damien murmurs. He puts his hand on her back and then pulls it away. “Holy crap.”
“It’s getting unbearable,” Claire groans.
He pulls her up and brings her face to his. “Kiss me Claire.”
“What if I break you?” She gasps.
“What a way to go,” Damien laughs. He brings his lips to hers and this inferno of energy hits them both. It makes them both stagger backwards. They hit a table. Damien reaches back and brushes everything onto the floor. Claire grabs him and slams him down on the table. “Claire,” Damien gasps.
She growls and looks at him. “What?”
“Gentle remember. I’m breakable.” He says. Claire climbs onto the table and reaches for his pants. “We can’t leave this room naked. We need to take our clothes off.”
“Then quickly,” Claire hisses, closing her eyes from the pressure. They quickly strip all of their clothes off. She pushes him down on the table. “Ready?” She gasps.
He nods. With that, Claire lets her energy loose. It collides with Damien’s at full force. Damien actually gasps for air. Claire ignores him and puts her lips against his.
A half an hour later, Claire opens the door, blowing out a whistle of air. Dr. Galliger and Mr. Paulson are there. “Are our energy levels back to normal?” Claire asks.
With wide eyes, Dr. Galliger nods. “Yes…you expelled your energy.”
“Did you get any readings as to why that happened again?” Damien asks, tucking his shirt into his pants.
“Master Damien, you’re injured,” Dr. Galliger declares
He licks his busted lip. “Yeah, I know. It’s alright. Totally worth a few injuries.”
“Damien Blakely!” Claire exclaims.
Damien shrugs. “It’s the truth. Totally worth it.”
“I realize we, as a species, mature faster but sometimes you have the mind of a teenage boy,” Claire laughs.
“A teenage boy? Claire, darling, you will learn this about men. We are always going to be like this. Right guys,” he says to Mr. Paulson and Dr. Galliger. They both just stare at him. “Work with me fellas.”
“Master Damien, I don’t feel comfortable having that conversation with you,” Dr. Galliger says.
Mr. Paulson looks at Damien, Dr. Galliger and then Claire. “It’s true.”
“See!” Damien exclaims.
“Ewww, we don’t need to be talking about this,” Claire gags. “Now, did you learn anything about what was going on with me?”
“It seems if you come into close contact with one of them, near their disc, you start to create energy. Your cells start to create it. It’s fast. Faster than a normal Neturu. We usually have to sit in Shima. We can’t create energy without sleeping for a while
or going to Shima. You on the other hand create energy on a cellular level at a rapid rate. There has to be something within that disc that you are reacting to. The only way we could understand it more if is we had a disc to look at. So, we don’t have much to go on.”
“Maybe we will come across some information at the institute,” Claire says.
Dr. Galliger says, “I would be interested if we could build something similar that would let you create small amounts of energy. Kind of like wearing a battery pack you could turn on and off. Then you wouldn’t have to absorb from other people.”
“But that’s the cool part of being me,” Claire exclaims. “You can’t take away my kick ass super power.”
“I don’t think it would take it away,” Dr. Galliger says. “But, if you were on a mission and you couldn’t absorb any energy, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to create some?”
She narrows her eyes in thought. “Good point. I wonder if with all that energy I can shift into someone for the whole day. It’s a lot of energy. Imagine that. Imagine if I could harness it. I could go on entire mission as a single person without having to shift back. I could go on entire dates with other guys and they would never know it!” She grins at Damien.
“Well, I don’t have to shift into anything to get a date. I pretty much could choose anyone.”
“Full of yourself much?” Claire replies with playful attitude. “I bet I could pick up a guy faster than you could pick up a girl.”
“You think so, huh?” Damien says.
Claire gives him a glowing smile. “I know I could. Then what would you do?”
“Make the other guy disappear,” Damien states. “Do you forget who I am?”
“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, Mr. ‘I rule the smartest race in the solar system’.”
“I am not one to be trifled with.” He crosses his arms.
She laughs. “Your father isn’t one to be trifled with. You are not yet in charge,” Claire points out.
“Yes, well….” Damien starts. Claire walks up to him. She pulls him against her and Damien glares at her.
“Ah, poor baby,” Claire murmurs. “Am I teasing you?”
Damien suddenly gets a shocked look but then starts laughing. “No need to tease. I am secure. Go ahead hit on a guy. You won’t do anything. I trust you.”
“That’s very true. I want to come home to you and curl up in your arms at night. No one else’s. Though wouldn’t it be cool if I could stay as one person for an entire day?”
“It would be very beneficial if you could,” Damien replies. “It’s something we have to keep in mind. Look through whatever records we come across at the institute. Speaking of which, you need to go get ready.”
“Are you coming with?” Claire asks.
He shakes his head. “No, it’s too risky. I won’t even be on the same ship.” He bats his eyelashes and twirls his hair. “I’m too special and nothing can happen to me.”
“Oh my god,” Claire drawls out. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“You want one hundred percent masculine Damien.”
She pulls him against her and kisses him. “I just want Damien. Whatever way I can get him.”
“So, if I started painting my nails pink, that’s okay?”
Spinning around, Claire starts walking down the hallway, “Walking away and ignoring you! Meet you at the ship.” All she hears is laughter behind her.
A half an hour, she’s standing at one of their larger runner ships. “So, are we ready?”
“This makes me so nervous,” Aurora says. “We’ve never been separated. I’m going to be sick with worry.”
“I will be here with you,” Xander replies.
“You will also be on the other ship with me and I will keep you updated with what I can, okay?” Damien says to her. She nods. “Alright, Claire and Ariel, you know your mission?” They both nod. “You will go over it one more time before we get there.”
“We are going to stay high in the atmosphere until the moment when we have to place everyone down there. If this collector is as advanced as they say, they will sense the ships.”
“Why can’t you just beam us down there?” Claire asks.
“That is our plan, but we are going to still bring the ships in a lot closer when you confront Mason. If we have to pull you quickly we want nothing to stand in our way.”
“What would?”
Damien shakes his head. “I don’t know, but I want to make sure this goes perfectly and no one gets hurt.”
“I don’t think he would hurt anyone,” Xander says. “It’s usually disable.”
“Disabling anyone sounds painful,” Claire says.
“True.”
“You have also never seen him interact with enemy forces. He may not be the person you think he is. We have to take every precaution.” Xander nods. Claire looks at Damien. “Are you ready?”
He pulls her close and says, “Yes, please, be safe.”
“I will be fine Damien. I got this.”
“You’ve never gone up against anything that could beat you. I’m very nervous.”
“Remember when I went on my first mission,” Claire says. He nods. “I can’t have you as a distraction. Mission. I need to zero in on the mission. That’s all I can concentrate on.”
“Okay, go out there and kick ass,” Damien says, before he gives her a deep kiss.
“You’ll be with me the whole time,” Claire says, pointing to her ear.
“Let’s do this,” Damien cheers, clapping his hand together.
Everyone disperses to their appointed ships. Once inside, Claire and Ariel walk into the back to a meeting room. There is a large circular table with eight chairs around it. A computer screen spans most of the back wall. They each take a seat and silently wait. Mr. Grandin walks in with the usual leader to the red squadron. “Claire. Ariel,” Mr. Grandin says with a nod.
“Hey,” they both reply.
“So, do you want to see the video we sent out,” Mr. Grandin asks, stepping up to the computer screen.
“Hell yeah,” Claire cheers.
He presses an icon on the computer screen. There is video of a park. Lots of people are walking around, picnicking and playing with their kids. Suddenly, someone starts screaming and running from the right side of the screen. More people look up and start screaming even more. A second later, bigfoot comes walking out from behind a tree. People are grabbing their kids and running. Bigfoot puts up his hands and roars.
Claire is laughing so hard she nearly falls out of her chair. Ariel points to the screen. “That looks so real.”
“That’s the best part!” Claire cries out in laughter. “Oh my god. Why aren’t we making more viral videos?”
“Claire, that is not the purpose behind the video,” Mr. Grandin says.
“But, it’s hilarious.”
Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Mr. Grandin continues. “Tomorrow morning, we are going to send out a message on social media saying bigfoot was seen again. We are hoping there will be a lot of people there so nothing can go too array. We are going to find a quiet area and place you two there. Claire you will extract as much energy as possible and then shut down. He will think you are human. Ariel, we need you to be as calm as possible. You can’t give anything away. Just talk to him. Try to get him to see your side.”
“Do you want me to say I have encountered the Neturu?” Ariel asks.
“Yes. Emphasize how nice we are. Be honest. Tell him what you have experienced. If you start to go overboard he will sense it. Tell him why you think he needs to come to our side.”
“Tell him how happy you are,” Claire urges.
“Tell him how safe I feel,” Ariel replies.
“Yes.”
Mr. Grandin slides a box across the table to Claire. She opens it and pulls out the gloves. They are very thin black leather with bright white stitching. A skull and crossbones is etched into the backs. “These are badass,” Claire exclaims. “Can I keep them
when we are done?”
“No,” Mr. Grandin snaps. “They are weapons.”
“That’s makes it all the better. Every time Damien gets lippy, I can shock him.”
“You may not shock the son of the Merjyet line. Girlfriend or not, you do have your limits on what you can do. He is the future leader to our species,” Mr. Grandin notes.
“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah,” Claire groans. “When he’s my husband then all bets are off. Then I can have these.”
“No, you may not.”
She looks up at him and shakes her head. “You are absolutely no fun Mr. Grandin.”
“I’m the leader to the guard. I don’t do fun,” he replies.
“Grandpa did fun,” Claire counters. Mr. Grandin’s eyebrows rise. “Okay, maybe not.”
“Anyway, the thing behind this mission is everyone must keep calm. Even you Claire. He is something you haven’t come across yet. Be very careful.”
Claire slides the gloves on. They are a perfect fit. “How do I activate these?”
“Press your pinky and thumb together,” Mr. Grandin says.
She does and she feels an instant electrical tingle across her whole hand. “Whoa,” she exhales. Claire looks up. “Who am I going to try these out on?”
“They’ve been tested. They work,” Mr. Grandin states.
“But I haven’t tried them,” Claire says, stretching her hand around. “I have to see how they work at least once.”
“Alright, Paul,” Mr. Grandin says.
“Seriously?” The head of the red squadron counters.
“Yes, seriously. The effects only last around twenty minutes. This will give us enough time to bring him aboard and place the cuff on him.”
Paul growls and walks over to Claire. She stands up and starts bouncing from side to side. “We should spar!”
“So you can humiliate me and then shock me?” Paul laughs.
Claire puts her fists up. “Bring it bitch.”
“Just shock him Claire,” Mr. Grandin groans.
“You guys are absolutely no fun. I can’t keep the gloves. I can’t shock Damien. I can’t spar. But I can do this.” She reaches over and grabs Paul’s arm. He jerks around and then falls down. “Oh my god!” Claire yells. She squats down and reaches for him, which shocks him again.
