by Adam Moon
Molly had hand-knitted sweaters awaiting them when they arrived and Dan had started a humungous bonfire out back.
The hikers were speechless, shivering uncontrollably, with blank stares and stiff legs. The girl’s left hand was black and one of the guys had a nose that had given in to necrosis. They were in bad shape. But they were safe now.
Molly and Dan tended to them as Jack and Melanie sat at the kitchen table.
Melanie said, “I was surprised you agreed to go. I thought you’d come back a month from now with nothing to show for your troubles.”
“I couldn’t let Molly down.”
“How’d you get so lucky? Everest is huge.”
Jack shook his head, not sure how to describe the new ability that had helped him out.
Molly rushed in and said, “They’re from Nashville. Can you get them to a hospital there?”
“Of course.”
“You should do it right away then. They all need medical treatment.”
“Okay.”
Hero
It took no time at all for the news stations to pick up the story. It didn’t help that Jack had been spotted by dozens of onlookers when he’d dropped off the hikers in the emergency room lobby.
They immediately concluded that the costumed man was Jack Peterson, the superhero teenager from the news.
The hikers would all pull through eventually, according to their doctors. They said another few days in the elements would’ve probably killed them.
Jack was in deep shit when he got home. His mom was going to be mad as hell that he’d risked his life for strangers. But it was worth it. Molly gave him a big bear hug when he arrived back at the farmhouse and told him that he was her hero.
Hank and Sally
Hank Beltran saluted Commander Watson as they passed each other. He spat at his own feet in a half-assed kind of defiance as soon as the Commander was out of sight. One of these days he’d work up the nerve to give the Commander a piece of his mind.
Hank and his fellow soldiers had nearly died fighting the aliens and instead of receiving accolades or even a thank you, he was stuck in this stinking, cold mountain bunker. His parents had been killed and his sister too, but that didn’t mean the military gave a damn.
When he’d approached them about a discharge, he was told that things had changed and that everyone had lost loved ones in the battles, so his loss wasn’t significant. No one would be discharged based on personal tragedy any longer.
He got to bury his sister but he had to make do with cremation for his parents because their bodies were too ruined for a respectable burial.
Given half a chance, Hank would slap the Commander in his old, ugly face, and then find a way into the holding room and slaughter every last alien within with his bare hands. He’d been told that the aliens were of more use to humanity alive than dead, but he’d yet to see any merit to keeping them around.
Sally Hopkins, Hank’s only real friend on base, nodded as he approached and said, “The Commander’s sending out a team to try and round up those kids from the news. I asked to go along but he said I still had to prove to him that I could obey orders.”
Hank said, “That’s a bunch of crap. Watson wasn’t there when our commanding officers ran off like cowards and left us to fight alone last month. He has no idea how inept his men are. I won’t be taking any more orders than I have to.”
Sally shook her head and sighed. “I’m the same way. I’m just counting the days until my term is up.”
Hank nodded. “It’s funny how an alien invasion changes everything, huh?”
Sally snorted and said, “I don’t think it changed a damn thing. I think our superiors were always worthless cowards, but it took something of that magnitude for them to show us what they were really made of. Did you hear that Pilkington got a promotion?”
“No way? I heard that oxygen-thief ran like a gazelle when the aliens attacked.”
“It’s lucky for him that none of his subordinates survived to tell the truth about him then.”
Hank shook his head. Before last month, he loved the military. He loved the way his life was unfolding. But now he was seeing the world clearly, warts and all. Humanity was corrupt, maybe even as much as the alien invaders, and the realization soured his stomach and poisoned his thoughts.
Sally was a kindred spirit. She’d lost her entire family, including grandparents and extended members like nieces and uncles. What was worse though was that her twin brother had died fighting the big-headed Grey aliens. That haunted her daily; causing nightmares and panic attacks that grew worse as the weeks progressed.
In a fit of anger and delirium, she’d even tried to trick her way into the alien holding room with her sidearm clutched in her fist.
Watson et al kept close tabs on her ever since then. She was losing it, but for good reason.
In the old days, soldiers like Sally would get carted off and dishonorably discharged but the military could no longer afford to lose any more good men and women.
They were prisoners, stuck in a mountain with the enemy living side by side with them. It was a powder keg just waiting for a match to light it. And what was worse was that those superhero kids would be brought in soon, if the Commander had his way. That could very well be too much chaos for one mountain bunker to contain. It would be entropy in action; the barely contained order would unravel into chaos immediately.
Hank hoped it played out that way. He yearned to kill; to release his demons upon the world and watch it squirm and wither and die, just like his soul had done ever since the invasion had taken everything from him. He would take Sally by the hand and they’d skip into the alien holding cell and laugh as they executed every last one of the bastards.
The Military
The first thing Jack saw when he got home was the Humvie idling in his driveway. That could mean only one thing: the military was here to abduct him and experiment on him, just like before. He considered running away but his mom was inside with the soldiers. If she was in trouble because of him, he had to save her.
He jammed his eyes shut and felt his molecules flutter. His equilibrium faltered as he phased out. He appeared at the top of the stairs inside the house.
He crouched down, ready for the attack, but he heard only laughter from downstairs. His mom was asking his would-be abductors how they liked their coffee.
Jack tiptoed downstairs and opened the kitchen door with his powers at the ready just in case he needed to use them in a hurry. He could easily teleport the soldiers anywhere he wanted. He could make them appear instantly in the center of the Earth or in the deadly abyss of outer space. But none of that was necessary.
A kindly looking man in his early fifties stepped forward with a smile on his face and held his hand out. “I’m Commander Watson. Pleased to meet you, Jack.”
A female soldier stood silently behind him, watching eagerly.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Watson let his outstretched hand fall by his side. “We saw the news footage. We know you saved those hikers. We know you and your friend Melanie were responsible for defeating the aliens and we’d like your help.”
Jack didn’t bother mentioning that his best friend had died helping him, even though he thought it was important that people should know what he’d sacrificed.
He leaned back against the countertop and asked, “What do you want?”
“We’re working on our defenses. Just because we thwarted the invasion doesn’t mean that we won. We’re worried that the invasion was just a first wave and that more are coming.”
Molly’s prophetic dream wherein she saw an evil alien leading his troops towards Earth for a second sweep was a fear others held to be true as well, because it was a logical conclusion. Maybe if he had the might of the U.S. military at his back, the prospect of a follow-up attack wouldn’t frighten him as much as it did.
“What do you need me to do?”
“We want to bring you in and hear
your story. We need answers that only you might possess. We want to see what you can do. We want to run DNA tests to see if we can replicate whatever it was that changed you and Melanie. We want to put you in the same room as our alien captives to see how they react.”
Jack nodded. The Commander was asking a lot but at least he was being forthcoming and honest about his intentions. “If you try anything suspicious you’ll regret it. The military has tried to screw me over before and it didn’t work out so well.”
“What do you mean?”
“When we first started to exhibit our abilities, we were quarantined and experimented on.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Liar!”
“I’m not lying. We’ve lost so much since the invasion including our previous intel. Some of it survives but most of it was lost in the mayhem and devastation. I had no idea that you were approached by the military in the past.”
Jack believed him, despite his initial reservations. “Their tests didn’t work on us though. Our skin is too strong for needles. You can’t even take a scraping.”
Watson nodded and looked at Jack’s mom. “Everything he does for us will be voluntary. Will you give us permission to work with your son?”
His mom looked at him for confirmation. Her look was pained because the last time the military had gotten involved in their lives they’d been separated and Jack had feared her dead in all the confusion.
He nodded and said to Watson, “You’re wasting your time.”
“Maybe.”
“Where are we going?”
“A mountain bunker in Cheyenne.”
“Oh God. Not another frickin’ mountain. Let me get my stuff.”
Into the Abyss
Jack watched from inside the Humvie as Watson gave over his clearance badge to the armed guards outside the mountain bunker. When that was done, he drove right into the gaping hole in the mountain face. The heavy blast doors slowly closed behind them as they parked.
To his surprise, Melanie was already there waiting for him. He hadn’t realized that the military would go after her too, although, in retrospect he should’ve figured they would.
He jumped out of the truck and she ran over and hugged him. “I tried to call but I was told not to bother.”
Jack didn’t want to admit that he hadn’t even considered calling her so he nodded, hoping she wouldn’t ask.
“They have Grey aliens held in this mountain. Did you know that?”
He didn’t know that because the public wasn’t privy to where the aliens were being held. He was a little surprised by it though. He had always thought they’d be executed for what they’d done.
He asked, “Did they tell you what they want from us?”
“They just want the full story.”
“I was told they’d run some tests too.”
“They can try. If they go too far they’ll regret it.”
Watson walked away from the truck and yelled over his shoulder, “Follow me.”
They chased after him, passing armed soldiers along the way. They walked through a door and then down a series of corridors until they got to a large office complex. Commander Watson led them to the largest one and let them inside. He took a seat behind the desk and bid they sit too.
“I want the whole story, from start to finish.”
Melanie looked at Jack and then said to Watson, “It all started when the alien artifact fell out of the sky. We chased it down and then it blasted us with a bluish mist. It knocked us unconscious and when we woke up the next day, we had changed.” She made certain to leave out the fact that the older couple, Molly and Dan, had found it with them and were equally affected by the alien mist because of their insistence in maintaining their privacy.
Watson asked, “Why would the aliens grant you the abilities to defeat them? That makes no sense.”
Jack had thought about that for a long time too and he had some theories. “Maybe different, opposing aliens gave us the abilities so we could defend ourselves against the attack. Or maybe a warring faction within the Grey population gave us the chance. Or maybe the mist wasn’t supposed to enhance us the way it did. What if it was supposed to poison us and it somehow backfired?”
Watson nodded and asked, “How many people were affected by the mist.
Melanie said quickly, “Me, Jack, and Scott. Scott didn’t survive the invasion.” Her voice pinched off at the end because of the frog in her throat.
“Where did the alien device land? I‘d like to bring it in to study it.”
“When we woke up the next day, it was gone. It was like it had vanished.”
Watson sighed and leaned back in his chair. “When you’re ready, would you mind showcasing your abilities for me? I’d like to see what you can do. Maybe the military can complement your powers.”
Jack said angrily, “We don’t work for the military. You presume too much, sir.” He said it to rock the Commander back on his heels. He was getting far too familiar with them and the last time that had happened, people died.
“If the aliens ever return, I bet you’ll decide to help us. Let’s just assume you’ll do the right thing, ok?”
Jack slumped in his seat. Watson was right. No matter how much he distrusted the military, he would side with them in a heartbeat if the situation required it.
Melanie asked, “Is there a wide open place around here where we can show you.”
“Sure. Follow me.”
As they left the office in Watson’s wake, Jack whispered to Melanie, “Don’t show him too much. He might use it against us.”
Melanie kissed him on the cheek and said, “You worry too much. We’re on the same side.”
Jack couldn’t help but notice several soldiers turn their way as they followed Watson. And he could swear some of them had suspicious, fearful looks on their faces.
Proof
Watson led them into an unfinished cavernous room with water dripping from the rocky ceiling. Aside from the puddles and dim lighting, the room was empty.
Watson stepped back, leaned against the wall and said, “Whenever you’re ready, go for it.”
Melanie smirked and her brow wrinkled in concentration. Her hands swelled with blood and shook uncontrollably.
She floated in the air as though suspended from strings. Then she started to fly around slowly, winking as she passed Watson, whose mouth had dropped open. She gently came to rest on her feet and said, “I can move things, including my own body, but I can destroy them too. It feels like I’m moving one thing against itself, like pushing it from all sides.”
She rustled around inside her clutch purse and retrieved a compact. She tossed it in the air. It floated before her face and she strained as she concentrated. The mirror in the compact crackled and snapped and then the compact started to crumple into a plastic, smashed ball. When she was done, she held out her hand and allowed it to drop into it.
She tossed it to Watson but he dodged it like it was radioactive. He must have realized how cowardly he appeared because he quickly righted himself, bent down and picked it up.
Jack said, “Is that enough or do you need to see what I can do?”
“I’d like to see it with my own two eyes, if you’re up for it.”
Jack saw his surrounding flutter, phasing in and out. Then he vanished, appearing behind the door to the room. He opened it and stepped through, to Watson’s surprise.
But his surprise was short-lived. “What else can you do?”
Jack asked incredulously, “Isn’t that enough?”
Watson shrugged as if he wasn’t as impressed as he had been with Melanie.
Jack shook his head and concentrated on the rock wall behind Watson. He teleported a chunk as big as a car away, and Watson stumbled backwards into the newly created void. He caught himself in time to see the piece of rock get deposited instantaneously across the room.
Jack said, “I could’ve teleported that anywhere. I could’ve put it on the surface of
the sun if I wanted.”
Watson’s face drained of color so much so that it was obvious even in the poor light. He said, “Ok, that’s enough.”
Any more would have been too much for the old man to handle.
“Let’s take a break. Then, if you’re up for it, I’d like to introduce you to our captives.”
Jack shuddered. Melanie’s mouth fell open. She said, “We didn’t agree to that. The last thing either of us want is to have to see one of those bastards again.”
Jack nodded in agreement.
Watson said, “That’s ok. But let me know if you change your minds. I think you can handle it. They’re no threat to us without their technology.”
The Other Shoe Drops
As they walked back to the office, Watson explained, “We’ve been trying to reverse engineer their technology but we’ve gotten nowhere with it. And they’re no help to us. It’s a shame because we’ve seen how the technology gave them an unfair advantage over us. It would be nice to acquire it.”
Melanie remembered the technology. The aliens wore armored suits that enabled them to fly around like whizzing bullets and it protected them from harm while they wore it. The aliens who’d given themselves up to her a month ago had sloughed off their suits before surrendering. She was grateful they’d done so because at the time, she wasn’t sure she could beat them.
Watson said as an aside, “You’ll be spending the night here. Your parents gave us their permission. I insisted that they refrain from telling you in advance. I apologize for that.”
Jack’s eyes turned to slits. “You can’t keep us here against our will. If you try, you’ll see what happens.”
Watson held his hands up defensively. “I just didn’t want to have to drive you back home in the middle of the night.”
