Then with a clap of her hands, music started playing. She grabbed his hand and flew him nearly to the ceiling and began to dance with him.
“I’ve never believed men should always lead in dancing. What about you, Hal.”
“Well, sure. I agree,” shouted Hal, “But can you understand something?”
“What?”
“This is a little hard for me up here. Remember, I can’t fly.”
“What?”
“I can’t fly!”
“Oh! Right. Gravity off!”
As the song played the pair danced in various creative, impossible choreographies. They did backflips, front flips, and slide flips. They kicked sideways in opposite directions. They held on to each other while turning in dizzily in every possible direction. Clearly Ms. Infinity had the advantage, since she could dive down and back up again with little effort. Hal still had to push off of the wall or ceiling to move, and when he did, he moved awkwardly. He was glad she was leading.
Either way, it was a thrill. Between the energy of the music, the freedom of being in the air, and most of all the joy of being together, away from outside interference, both companions were having the time of their lives. Hal was still confused as to who this woman really was. For now though, he could put that concern aside and enjoy the ride.
When the song ended, the gravity switched back on, and Ms. Infinity flew Hal back down to the floor. Both of them were laughing.
“What a rush!” shouted Ms. Infinity.
“I don’t dance much,” said Hal, “But I’ve definitely never danced like that before!”
“You can cross that off your bucket list! I’d love to continue talking, but I’ve got to watch the bridge.”
”I’ll follow you in a moment,” said Hal. He hoped to clean up, since the table looked like a war zone.
“You do that. Why don’t you make some coffee? I’ll have an iced latte, decaf, with skim milk. In a moment, I’m going to have to handle the first of those threats. After that, I’ll explain what’s going on. And maybe we can get continue getting acquainted.”
“Not a bad idea. I thought I was getting to know you pretty well, but right now, it’s looking like I barely knew anything.”
8. A Hero’s Tale
“I shouldn’t be more than a few minutes,” said Ms. Infinity to Hal, “You can come and watch me from the bridge.”
“So you don’t want your latte yet?” said Hal.
“Oh. Thanks. Just leave that here in the atrium, on the coffee table. I will now be handling the first of Misery’s threats. The thing is, I don’t think she really gets me if she thought that I couldn’t stop this.”
“Doesn’t get you? I don’t really have a clear idea of your power levels myself. I mean, for all I know you might be able to turn the entire universe inside out. So is she vaporizing the entire galaxy and challenging you to reshape the whole thing with your powers, or is she just throwing some foam balls around and trying to pass it off as the apocalypse?”
“Neither. This is just a meteor shower. It ordinarily would not be much cause for concern. Most meteors burn up upon hitting the atmosphere. But there are so many in this cluster, and they are going at an extreme velocity. I can also see that many of them are tremendously dense…”
“You can see that?”
“Sure. I’m looking at some of them right now.”
“How?” asked Hal in wide-eyed amazement, “You’re not even looking out the window!”
“Well, no. I can see through things.”
“Wow! That’s awesome. So, I take it these walls are not made of lead.”
“I’m sorry. Why should that matter?
“I…I don’t know. Never mind.”
“Anyway, this shouldn’t be much for me. I just need to work up an opposing force that’s big enough to knock it off course, and send it away from Earth’s neighborhood.”
Hal listened in awe. Just a meteor shower indeed, he thought. He loved the way she made it sound like something she knocked off like an email.
“So,” she continued, “You can watch if you want. The window over at the bridge should be the best view.”
Ms. Infinity flew up to the heights of the atrium, suddenly seeming to shoot out of an unknown exit. Hal wondered exactly how that worked; it was almost as if she disappeared into the ceiling without explanation. He ran to the bridge, then looked outward to see the heroine’s super feats. Sure enough, there she was outside. She was flying around in outer space without a spacesuit, just in her usual costume, as easily as swimming underwater at a city pool.
Then she blew a great wind. Now he was blindsided. He could only imagine how could pull off such a feat. Then she flew in circles, quickly reaching a speed so intense that she was rendered invisible. All Hal saw was a giant cyclone, a very strange sight for outer space.
Then he noticed the meteor shower. It was a majestic if frightening sight. There were many, many rocks moving in a huge cluster at a tremendous speed. There was something eerie about the sight of so many objects moving together in isolation. They reminded him of a stampede of horses running in the darkness, but they were silent in the void of space, and much, much faster.
The meteors had been a considerable distance away, how far he could not measure. Hundreds of thousands of miles he guessed? Maybe millions. Yet Ms. Infinity seemed undaunted by the scope of the thing. He wondered to himself, how fast could Ms. Infinity fly? How great a distance could she cover in a short time? She had taken him halfway across the Earth in a minute or two without breaking a sweat. Could she do even greater than that? Could she fly to distant planets in minutes…or seconds?
Suddenly the meteor shower was sucked up into the vortex of the great cyclone, piece by piece. It was a strange and tremendous sight. It almost looked like the storm was devouring the great rocks. Then the cyclone turned, seeming to jerk around like a power cord when it’s tripped on. All at once, the cyclone disappeared, and the meteors flew in the opposite direction.
“So what do you think?” asked a voice, suddenly behind him. It was Ms. Infinity, already back and seeming to live up to her title.
“I think,” stuttered Hal, “I think I have never seen anything like that in my life! I mean, how? That looked impossible! I would have thought that was against the all the laws of physics,”
“Oh yeah, laws of physics. I like to think of those as guidelines.”
“Wow! You really are amazing!”
“Nah. Just a little thing.”
Their eyes met. She looked at him invitingly, looking for a kiss.
“Wow,” said Hal, “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“Yeah,” she answered, “You try that, Mr. High Striker.”
Hal was stopped in his tracks. His face showed shock and disappointment. He looked away.
Collecting her thoughts, Ms. Infinity tried her best to save face. “So, I’ll just take care of a few things now…”
Soon the companions were sitting together in the atrium, in swiveling chairs by a coffee table. Ms. Infinity was sipping her iced latte, while Hal had an iced tea.
“So Hal,” said Ms. Infinity, “I wanted to tell you my story.”
“I would be honored to hear it,” said Hal.
“First there is something I want to clear up. I have heard various people elevate me to the level of ‘goddess.’ In fact, I even once heard you use that word. Let me state right now: No. I am not a god, goddess, anything of the sort.
“Where I come from, they have a state religion. They enforce it on the entire planet. In theory, it’s about awe for a higher being, the creator of all things. However, the reality is that it’s about worshiping the political leaders. It’s not said in so many words. In fact, I didn’t appreciate it until after I left. It took distance and time till I could look back and really appreciate that situation for what it was. And now that I understand that, it is something that disturbs me in a big way. It’s very dangerous when people are worshipped like that.
>
“And you know, when I came to Earth, I was actually surprised at the human conceptions of the creator. I mean, the fact that there are so many of them, the concept that there could be more than one answer. I didn’t get it at first, but when it did hit me, I nearly crashed into an asteroid!”
“Really?”
“Joking. Joking. I was home. But the whole concept really astounded and fascinated me. This is actually something I admire about humanity, that there is this question asked about the creator. I think it’s great that there are so many different religions. So many different possible answers, and that makes the discussion that much richer. It’s a shame that these differences so often have to lead to war. It’s also sad that religion is so often used as a pretext for oppressive politics in other ways. Religion can and should be a beautiful thing.”
Hal smiled. Her naiveté was disarming.
“You know,” she continued, “It’s something I particularly love about our country too. In America there is no state religion. Each of us worships as we please, and it’s none of the government’s business. It’s part of the pluralism that the country is founded on. Being American can mean coming from any culture. Whoever you are, if you’re American, you’re American, no culture more than any other. I mean, think of it. I’m American, and I’m not even from Earth.
“Anyway, don’t ever mistake me for more than I am. Just because I have a bunch of fancy powers, that does not make me a god, or any closer to the creator than you are. Let’s be clear on this. I am a living creature, that is to say someone like you, who has been created, not the creator. So please, don't bow to me. You may spill my latte.”
“Got it,” answered Hal. “I’ll stop using the ‘goddess’ tag.”
“Thank you. So now the big story, that being me. So by now you must have gathered that I’m from another planet. Now its name I cannot say, because its language is something that simply cannot work with human ears. It doesn’t even use sound. It involves the transfer of energy along a dimensional plane that humans cannot perceive. Don’t take it personally. But its name translates to Center, as in ‘Center of the Universe.’”
“Wow! So you’re from the center of the universe?”
“Well, that’s the thing. No. No it’s not. Not remotely. How could it be? It’s a planet. It’s not even the center of its own solar system. But the propaganda machine has everyone convinced that it is. And maybe the political leaders believe it too. I don’t know.”
“So then, what do I refer to you as, you know, besides generically ‘alien?’ You know, what would you call someone who comes from your planet?”
“Good question. I never know what to call myself. Since I had to give it a simple English name, there isn’t the fancy science fictiony name that other planets might have in a similar situation. So what am I? ‘Centerian?’ Or else I could be ‘Beaconian.’ The other name of the planet is that of the country that has now taken over the whole world. It translates to ‘Beacon of Freedom.’”
“Beacon of Freedom?” said Hal, eyes narrowed incredulously.
“Yes.”
“Let me guess. Dictatorship?”
Ms. Infinity looked at Hal with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. “And have you been there?”
“Uh…no.”
“You’re right. Total dictatorship.
“Actually before I start trashing the place, I should add that there are many good people there. I’ll go as far as to say that most people there are decent, and in fact there were some whom I may not have survived without. However I seriously doubt any such people are in charge.
“These are people with great powers, relative to humans, as well as (if you will understand) a certain type of intelligence that humans don’t possess. And their primary use of it is to conquer and subjugate people who are weaker. They have colonized many planets and exploited many other life forms.
“Look. ‘Beacon of Freedom’ does have meaning. Growing up there, I heard the many tales of our War of Independence. Our people once lived under an oppressive foreign leader. He was overthrown, and the nation started anew, becoming a powerful new light of liberty and justice. And so we spread our message to every other country on the planet, and every other planet within flying distance.
“My mom remembers when it wasn’t so bad. She knew a time when there were still working institutions with purposes other than spying on the public, or (more to the point) keeping the current president in power. She talks about times when there was still some belief in its ideology, its purpose. But there was a junta not long after I was born. Apparently the military was on the forefront of a reform movement, or so it seemed. It promised to fix some problems that were going on, some injustices. My mom knows the details of that. She used to tell a number of stories from that period. Anyway, the whole thing became nothing but a military government very fast, and all I remember is a life of oppression.
“If you ask me, this is a society that values power over everything else. I have enough experience to say that. There is still the talk of the old purpose, lots and lots of rhetoric about liberty and justice. Pretty much every leader will tell you that he is the champion of freedom, a man of the little people. Of course he does. It’s always what the public wants to hear. But it is just hollow talk. In practice, there is nothing but contempt for things like equality, and more so for individual rights. I would say that the value is for blind loyalty, but that would not account for the sheer number of times the presidency has changed hands, always by assassination.”
“That’s sad to hear. I always wondered how they get away with saying they’re about freedom when they’re obviously the opposite.”
Ms. Infinity laughed grimly. “Well Hal, it’s done on Earth too. You can have a whole system of laws, and even a constitution that on paper seems to be about fairness and liberty. But there are many ways of getting around it.
“Besides fixed elections, well you can even use laws. For instance, there are many laws that are ridiculously strict, but they’ll only enforce them selectively. You know there’s a grudge at work when suddenly laws pop up out of nowhere that you didn’t even know existed. It’s really about power. It’s a kind of persecution, often used when someone is saying the wrong things against the wrong person. The real goal is hiding something embarrassing to someone in power.”
“Oh,”
“Then we have the cultural element of this society. You see, this world is also an extreme patriarchy. Females are treated like property, and not given the most basic of rights. It’s so extreme that some girls’ names show absolute misogyny. Sure many human female names convey weakness, but at least there is usually some beauty to go with it. There are some female names on Center that convey nothing but contempt. ‘Misery’—that is as the name translates—is not named that because she’s a supervillain. It’s actually a fairly common name there for females.”
“What name were you born with?”
Ms. Infinity sighed. “The name I was born with was less bad than many, I think because my mother intervened. It translated to ‘Bland Beauty.’ Considering the culture, it was actually almost a compliment.”
“Wait a minute! Your name, Bon…”
“Yes. You’re right. Bonnie Boring. My earth name means essentially the same thing. That was my mother’s doing. She wanted us to continue being ourselves on Earth, and keep our real names, though they had to be adapted to human language. My mom’s name translated to ‘Bland Homemaker,’ so she became Betty Boring. Betty is a variation of Elizabeth, or it could also be Beth, which comes from the Hebrew for ‘house.’”
“So you really are Bonnie. I mean, you didn’t just make her up…”
“Oh Hal, of course not! Did you think I was just pretending to be Bonnie Boring? No. Bonnie is who I really am. I promise. The girl you’ve been dating is for real, I promise.”
“That’s a relief. As exciting as this identity is…”
“Aw, thanks. But yes. This is what is made up. I’m really B
onnie.”
“Now I understand.”
A name such as Bland Beauty was more powerful than Hal might have realized. It was the sum of all the expectations on a person from birth onwards. One expected it to have a tremendous amount of influence on a person’s character. Yet Bland Beauty proved to be the rare Centerian who seemed all-but immune to the consequences of her name. A rebellious spirit was in her from the start. This was one thing about her that was truly remarkable, and it portended more surprises.
“Anyway,” she continued, “Living in this society was not a whole lot of fun for me, because as it turned out, I’m a prodigy. Not to toot my horn, but my abilities turned out to be exceptional. As time went on, it became clear that I was the strongest, fastest, altogether most powerful person on the whole planet. And there that was a problem, since I was a girl.”
She paused. There was an uncomfortable look on her face, as if an unpleasant topic had come up. After a moment, she continued, now more tentatively.
“So, after a while, I had to leave. I had to find somewhere else to go. I escaped with my mother to a distant planet, meaning Earth.”
Hal thought a moment. “I’m thinking of our first date,” he said, “I remember you mentioned you live with your mother. So she’s an alien like you?”
“Yes. Another ‘Centerian,’ or ‘Beaconian,’ or whatever we are. I never said much about her on our two dates. She’s a physics professor at City College. You know, Lisa calls her ‘Mrs. B,’ which is not technically correct since…”
“Wait! What about Lisa?”
“Well no. She’s not an alien. She’s not a superhero either. Not unless you mean Captain Obvious.”
“But does she know?”
Ms. Infinity gave Hal a sly look. “No, Hal. As of now, you are the only human who knows my secret identity. Otherwise I keep it between me and Mom.”
“Hmmm,” said Hal, trying to hold back the self-satisfied look.
Ms. Infinity hesitated a moment, then went on. “Alright. So we make it to Earth. And since then, my mom has always been quick to remind me how fortunate we are. She always talks about our responsibility to those less fortunate. And the reality is that nearly everyone is that. So…”
Ms. Infinity (Book 1): Earth's Greatest Hero Page 9
