Paranormals (Book 2): We Are Not Alone

by Andrews, Christopher

  “No!” Shining Star cried in rage and frustration, firing again and missing. “He can’t get away!”

  The ship angled forward into a rapid climb, already several hundred feet in the air — in a matter of seconds, it would be out of sight.

  Vortex skidded to a stop next to him. “He’s not going anywhere.”

  Drawing a deep breath that made his broken ribs scream, Steve fired a compression vortex, catching the escaping ship and halting its rise in a lurching instant.

  But this was no rogue. This was a vessel capable of traveling the vacuum of outer space, of escaping planetary gravity wells, of navigating the cosmic planes of gas giants and of the stars themselves.

  The bounty hunter’s ship staggered under the assault, then it tilted further forward and sought to escape the vortex.

  “Oh, God ...” Steve reached out and placed a trembling hand on Callin’s shoulder.

  Callin, who had been rubbing his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision, tensed. “What’s happening?”

  “I’ve got it ...” Steve choked, “... I’ve got the ship in a vortex ... but it’s trying to break free ... Jesus, please ...”

  Steve grew weak in the knees; Shining Star steadied him. “Can you hold him?”

  “I ... Callin, I don’t know ...”

  This was like nothing Steve had ever attempted. He had thought that using his vortex on Powerhouse, on Isaiah Khalkha, on the Noctoponm aliens had been difficult ... but they were nothing like this.

  It was, at least, a two-sided fight. The ship above was not only attempting to break free, to continue its upward flight, it was also suffering the vortex’s crushing force. The bounty hunter was pouring more and more power into the prime field — Steve could feel it, feel every ounce of it.

  He couldn’t fail, he couldn’t. Too much was riding on this. Shining Star’s people, not to mention all of planet Earth, for God’s sake — who knew what the next bounty hunters might be willing to try?

  No. No, he wasn’t letting the ship get away!

  But he could feel his body reacting. If he let the vortex drop, even for a second, he wouldn’t be able to generate a new one. By keeping this constant attack, by maintaining this vortex, his eyes were draining his body’s natural, biochemical electrical field. His muscles were trembling, his heart began skipping beats, it was all he could do to stay conscious.

  Callin held him steady, but his voice sounded frustrated. “I can see a little now, barely. What would happen if I fired energy into your vortex?”

  “Don’t ...”

  “But I thought you said the Lieutenant shot the paint into it—”

  “Different ... just more matter ... you fire energy ... might disrupt vortex ...”

  The ship fought. Steve fought.

  I’m ... not going to make it ...

  NO! Get your act together, Davison, and hold that ship, damn it!

  The bounty hunter’s ship had been as silent as the Taalu’s and the Noctoponm’s, but it wasn’t silent anymore. The engines whined with such ferocity they could hear it from the roof below ... and another sound, too, a metallic squeal ...

  “It’s buckling!” Callin told him. “The hull is starting to crumple. Hold on, Steve!”

  Steve’s heart skipped more beats. His arms and legs grew numb. His body was cold, but his eyes felt hot in his skull.

  I’m ... not going ... to make it ...

  As the ship greyed out in his vision, Steve plunged into the depths within himself, seeking anything and everything to hold his focus. He used the pain of his injuries, the burning around his eyes, the lingering traumas racking up on his body as the hero Vortex, the frustration that more paranormals weren’t following his example, the heartache over the slaughter of his family and his brother’s having no body left to bury, his hatred for Richard McLane for murdering them and his conflicted guilt over turning that son of a bitch into a mental vegetable ... and his fear that none of it would matter if he failed to stop that ship!

  Steve grasped all these things with all his might and, roaring at the top of his lungs without realizing it, he rallied and sent one final surge into the vortex.

  The bounty hunter’s ship collapsed, crushed into a smoking ball of twisted metal half its original size.

  And Steve’s heart stopped.

  INVINCIBLE TEAM

  Steve awoke without ceremony. He didn’t struggle or fight his way to consciousness, his eyes were simply closed one moment and then open the next. He lay still a moment, blinking and looking around the room.

  I’m in a hospital, he thought. Déjà vu.

  He turned his head to the left and saw Michael Takayasu dozing in the chair next to his bed. This surprised him; not that Michael would come, but previous experience drove him to expect Alan Russell.

  Michael roused a bit, glanced Steve’s way, then perked up when it soaked in that Steve was looking back at him. “You’re awake.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “About twelve hours. You just missed your friend, Alan ...”

  Bingo.

  “... but he had some fire to put out at your company. I’m sorry he’s not here to greet you.”

  Steve shook his head. “It’s fine. The last time I woke up from a near-death experience, I was blind and Alan told me that my family had been murdered. I’m hoping this round isn’t so bad. What happened, exactly?”

  “Your body shut down, heart failure. The medics at the rogue pit stabilized you, then Callin flew you here.” Michael smirked. “In the interim, I arranged for Vortex to disappear into the night, while Steven Davison was admitted, suffering from heart arrhythmia induced by an electric shock. Your other injuries are getting swept under the rug.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. I would suggest you refrain from pushing your vortex that far ever again, but under the circumstances, I’m grateful that you did. And the Taalu now believe you walk on water.”

  Steve laughed, which in turn brought a wince as his ribs protested. “Hardly.”

  “You’ve been holding out on me. I didn’t know your vortex had that much kick.”

  “Neither did I, to be honest. Alan once told me it could punch through a mountain. I guess crushing an escaping alien spaceship ranks about that high.”

  “For what it’s worth, he’s already talking about ways to extend your energy reserves. Sounds like a good idea.”

  “No argument here.” Steve shook himself. “Hey, how’s everyone else doing?”

  “They’re fine. Mark’s under observation for his concussion, and the doctors are trying to figure out how to deal with Lincoln’s broken wrists. Density’s standing by in case they need her to soften his bones for resetting.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Lincoln would agree, I’m sure. He and Mark are sharing a room and are trying to out-injury each other.” He rolled his eyes. “I swear, it’s like that scene from Jaws.”

  “I know the one. So ... they aren’t trying to kill each other?”

  “No, they seem to have worked some things out. I’m trying not to jinx it by asking too many questions. Though Lincoln’s brother and sister are about to drive Mark bat-shit crazy.”

  “I imagine. What happened with Charl and Della?”

  “Della’s fine. She woke up about a minute after you and Callin left. I gather her energy recharges, like your eyes. She gave Callin quite a boost, though, so it might take her a while. Charl is a little worse off, but Larr believes that he’ll pull through, thanks to his paranormal condition.”

  Steve nodded, grateful that they all made it ... except for Pendler, of course. Poor Greg Pendler, whom they all dismissed so easily, until he was killed because of the one time he refused to abandon Lincoln.

  Willfully changing the subject, he asked, “What about the rest of it? I mean, you know, all the fallout from this past week?”

  “Oh, man ...” Michael’s cheeks puffed out as he exhaled. “Well, there are a lot of rumors flying fast and fur
ious about what the hell this was all about, and a lot of decisions to be made. Pictures of ‘the Shining Star’ are all over the Internet, especially a whole series of his glowing bright silver as he walks alongside the superhero Vortex. Looks like they were taken outside the pit. I don’t suppose you know anything about that?”

  Steve kept a straight face and said nothing.

  “Uh-huh. Anyway, now that the threat of the Noctoponm is past, the President has returned to bending over backward for the Taalu. He’ll be making a formal announcement soon, but even with our private circle keeping their mouths shut, there’s some concern about the Taalu getting blamed for the White Flash. You remember how Lincoln reacted even before Callin admitted the connection with his grandfather—”

  Steve cut in. “The possible connection with his grandfather.”

  Michael gave him a skeptical look, but allowed, “The ‘possible’ connection. The Internet was already full of ‘aliens did this to us’ conspiracy theorists. I hear that the current plan is to introduce the Taalu as having come here to save us from the evil Noctoponm, who wanted to take over Earth. And the Taalu will be asked to keep their mouths shut about the White Flash until further notice.”

  “How’d you get all this?”

  “Captain Brunn, mostly.”

  They fell silent for a moment, then Steve thought to ask, “So, are you ‘Lieutenant Commander Takayasu’ now? The last time we had one of these big shindigs, you got promoted.”

  Takayasu half-grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Last time we’d lost the entire regional headquarters. Besides, I think I pissed off a few too many people this time around.”

  “Oh. Sorry. Are you in trouble?”

  Michael waved that away. “Don’t worry about it. I’d do it all again. My next assignment is already in my Inbox; I’m supposed to figure out where the hell Asimov sneaked off to. But I’ll be waiting for Mark to get back on his feet for that. You know, just in case the robot-man makes a big stink. He’s not the most personable fellow.”

  “If you need any help ... you know.”

  “I know. I’m supposed to shine some ridiculous Vortex-signal into the clouds, right?”

  “Or just call me on the Vortex-phone.”

  As they chuckled together, a knock sounded from the door. Michael started to rise from his chair, but by then it was already opening to reveal Callin Lan. Someone had found him nondescript human clothing, and to Steve’s surprise, it really did downplay his physical differences ... or maybe he was just getting used to his Taalu friend? Steve thought it might be the latter.

  Callin smiled, flashing those all-molar teeth.

  Yeah, probably the latter.

  “I’m glad to see you’re awake,” Callin said as he closed the door behind him. “On behalf of the Taalu people, I want to thank—”

  Steve waved him down. “Hey, hey, I thought we’d agreed to cut out the thanking games. Am I right?”

  Callin bowed his head. When he lifted it again, he smiled once more. “We both rock?”

  Steve laughed hard enough to make his ribs complain, then nodded his approval. “I hear Della and Charl are going to be all right? That’s great news.”

  “And Della will be pleased to hear that you are recovering as well.”

  Steve’s heart fluttered at that, and it had nothing to do with his cybernetic eyes. He felt his cheeks warm, and so was grateful when Michael spoke up.

  “Since you guys are both here, and since you bring up how much you both ‘rock,’ I suppose now’s as good a time as any.” He reached into his coat pocket and produced a pair of PCA badges. Not the temporary kind, but real metal ones, like Takayasu himself wore. Except while the standard issue badges were gold, these were split — one was gold, the other was silver.

  “Shining Star has already been introduced to the public, and considering how you both went above and beyond the call of duty in stopping the Noctoponm and preventing the bounty hunter from escaping, Captain Brunn and I were able to convince Admiral Dunham and Defense Secretary McDermott that the two of you represent a positive influence on our nation’s paranormals and are indispensable resources for the PCA to reply upon. So ...” He stood from his chair and handed the gold badge to Steve and the silver badge to Callin. “Vortex and Shining Star are hereby granted the status of ‘independent consultants’ for the Paranormal Control Agency.”

  Steve wasn’t sure how to feel about this, with excitement and dread warring for first place. He opened his mouth to remind Michael of his reluctance to join the PCA.

  Michael raised a hand. “As I said, your official classification will be ‘independent consultants.’ So long as you don’t cross any lines, don’t trample any laws, and first and foremost, do not make the PCA look bad, Vortex is free to continue operating as he has for the past year. Some day, when we finally get a firm handle on how to deal with the paranormals, we might have to tighten your leash. But for now, the PCA would rather have Vortex on our side.” He pointed at the badge. “Given the fabric of your uniform, I’d recommend wearing it on your belt. That’s what Mark’s been doing. Callin, you could do the same.”

  Callin had been staring at the silver badge in his hand the entire time. Now he looked up and said, “I would be honored to carry your badge.” To Steve he said, “If your offer of learning to be a ‘superhero’ still stands ...?”

  “Absolutely!” To Michael, he said, “I can’t believe you were able to pull this off.”

  “It helped to remind the Admiral and company of the Grand Lord’s position regarding the PCA and Vortex. Plus, they were all treated to a satellite view of our last big fight, and a ton of eye-witnesses at the pit saw you stop that ship from leaving. The way the gossip’s rolling, everyone’s convinced we’re an invincible team. The higher-ups aren’t in a hurry to rock that boat.” To Callin, he said, “Grand Lord, I hope you like the silver. It seemed appropriate.”

  Callin eyed the silver badge. “Yes, thank you.”

  “Great. Okay, gentlemen, I’ll take my leave of you, then. Steve, I’m glad I was here when you woke up. I’ll give Alan and Ardette a call, let them know.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’m off to check on Mark and Lincoln and take a real nap, and, uh ... then I’ll be visiting Christine White at the pit.”

  Steve blinked. “Wow. Didn’t think I’d hear you ever say that without a grimace on your face.”

  Michael shrugged. “I’m trying to take into consideration that she’s just an ordinary, weak human being who gave in to temptation and made a terrible, terrible mistake, which she seems to sincerely regret. I can’t imagine I’ll ever truly forgive what she did, but ... I suppose she could use a friend. And maybe I can stop being so damned hard on myself about the whole thing.” He shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe ...”

  Once Michael was gone, Callin sat in the vacant chair. “I’m very glad to see you’re recovering, Steve.”

  “The feeling’s mutual. Your neck looks a lot better.”

  “It feels better, thanks to your friend, Jeremy Walker. If it weren’t for him, I might have died in Cheyenne, and all of this would’ve ended very differently.”

  Steve nodded, pausing for a moment before saying, “Callin ... a lot has happened in a short time, and I’m pleased that we’ll be working together. But I do still have a lot of questions — about your journey to Earth, the Verauns, the Cargaun ...”

  Callin nodded. “I understand. We have an idiom: ‘First goes first.’ The best analogy would be your saying, ‘Begin at the beginning.’ The problem is, the ‘beginning’ started before I was born, before my father was born.” He stared off into space for a moment, his silver eyes heavy and contemplative, and more than a little sad. “When we have time, once things have settled, I’ll tell you the whole story as I know it. I promise.”

  “I get the feeling something is bothering you, and it’s not the headache of getting things settled.”

  “Yes,” Callin admitted. “I’ve been consid
ering some of the things the bounty hunter told us. The Cargaun, offering an entire planet as a bounty on our heads ... I can’t believe the Verauns would honor such an obsessive surfeit, but ...”

  “But what if they would?”

  “Yes. And the hunter was right about something else: Stranding the Cargaun is not the same thing as killing him. He might still be alive out there, somewhere. The odds are impossibly long, but ...” He shook his head, Taalu-style. “I don’t want to see the people of Earth hurt because of my people’s tribulations. That possibility ... troubles me.”

  “Look at it this way, Callin,” Steve told him. “If the Shining Star is teaming up with Vortex, that means you’ll be helping us with our own ‘Noctoponms’ — the Class One rogues who have plagued my people for six years and counting. You’re going to be sticking your neck out for us, just like you did this time — let’s face it, the second I spotted that UV beacon, your people could’ve gotten the hell out of here, leaving us on our own. Maybe the bounty hunter and the Noctoponm would have just kept following you without hurting us, but maybe they wouldn’t have — the bounty hunter mentioned their love of ‘diversions’ to keep themselves entertained. Am I right?”

  Callin hesitated, then admitted, “That is true.”

  “All right, then. You will be helping us — dealing with rogues, sharing your technology, teaching us things about the universe ... and if other bounty hunters, or the Verauns, or the Cargaun himself show up, we will help you. It’s as simple as that. Problem solved.”

  Callin considered this, and a smile crept across his narrow face.

  Steve smiled back. “Besides, what’s to worry about? You heard Michael, right?”

  Callin cocked an eyebrow in confusion, a very human expression.

  Steve snapped his fingers. “We’re the invincible team.”

  And Vortex of Earth and the Shining Star of Taal-ceky laughed together.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHRISTOPHER ANDREWS lives in California with his wife, Yvonne Isaak-Andrews, their beautiful daughter, Arianna, and their Pug, PJ. In addition to his duties as stay-at-home Dad, he is working on his next novels, and continues to work as an actor and screenwriter.