“What? You don't have a cell phone?” Asked Jack.
“I lost it and didn't have much time to get a new one, recovering in the hospital and all,” said Dan. I can tell this guy is gonna be prick. They exchanged numbers.
“Friday then? And then Monday here?”
“Yeah. Friday then,” said Mary. Anxiety was pouring off of her in waves. Mary is really nervous. Wonder what she's seen? He thought.
“What will we be doing Friday?” Asked Jack.
“Well, my idea is this: Map out every place we know these redshifters hang out.” All three filed out of the bookstore, planning the next meeting in hushed tones.
. . .
Andrew closed the door, locked it and flapped the sign around to indicate the store was closed. He turned down the lights.
“You think this will work, Trillion? We're up against something we don't fully understand yet.”
“We don't have time to wait anymore. We've waited too long already. We do understand enough to realize that the others are a threat to human existence, that they have failed in the past and have learned from their mistakes. They won't make the same mistakes again.”
“I wish there were more people in the world like them.”
“There are. My job is to find them, turn them into fighting machines or spies. Whatever it takes to win the looming battle.”
“Let's hope that doesn't take too long. The world is getting darker all the time and most people are oblivious to what is going on. We may already be too late.”
”I know,” said Trillion, buttoning up his long overcoat and getting ready to head out into the pouring rain. “I know.”
Episode 7 – Dark Horses
The map was criss-crossed with myriads of lines and decorated in strategic places with a few red pins or arrows. Dan paced back and forth with his arms folded.
“Think again guys. All of the places you encountered that odd feeling or even saw something or someone that didn't look right to you. Any place!”
“Even our own pl. . places?” Stammered Mary. Dan and Jack looked at her.
“Yes, Mary,” said Dan. “Especially your own place. What did you encounter there?”
“Well. . . about a year ago I was having a lot of trouble in my life and things got so bad that I was desperate to make them better. A friend at work, or I thought she was a friend anyway, she told me about this man who fixes things. Mr. Make-Right, they call him,” she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, to make a long story short, there's a box that he gives you. It's. . .well, it's red.”
“Creepy,” muttered Jack.
“It gets creepier. Before I took the box home – he said not to open it until you are sure you know you can handle the aftermath of whatever is fixed in your life – well, his words gave me second thoughts on the box. You know, I've had problems before that were pretty rough and I got through them without some magic box. I also got the feeling after a few days of owning the box that I was being followed and watched. Everywhere I went I got this bad feeling. I'd noticed a car following me home from work. At times, it seemed black and other times, dark red. Several times I thought I caught it trailing me.” Jack sat up straight and his eyes widened. Dan glanced at him but motioned for her to continue.
“And then, whenever I looked in the mirror my own image talks to me.”
“What?” They both exclaimed.
“Yes! It's no lie. She has tried to convince me to open the box and use it. Threatens me. Sometimes I can't go home unless I turn the mirrors over or break them.”
“I need to see this. . .box,” said Dan.
“No!” Mary shook her head frantically.
“Mary, Mary. Calm down. Right now we will continue using the map to find the enemy but we need to discuss the box. You said that your image harasses you about it while at home?” He asked. Mary nodded.
“Does this happen to you when you stay somewhere else?”
“I haven't noticed it, no. Only at home.”
“I've never heard of this,” said Jack.
“Me neither.” Seeing Mary's distress, Dan turned back to the map. “I met the group of punks on the waterfront, right here.” He marked the location where he was thrown over the waterfront with a red pin. His eye twitched involuntarily to even mention it.
“Ok, so we have nine places so far throughout the city where we have encountered The Others.”
“What do we do next?” Asked Jack.
“We can place listening devices around some of these places, bugs. I ordered some off an internet store in Japan. I see no reason to wait for Trillion to give us further instructions. Snooping is something we can do on our own. But, he gave me these pulses. They draw the redshifters, attract them like moths to the flame. We draw them out and we shoot. We won't be using these yet though until I hear from him.”
“What about people who serve them?” Asked Mary querulously.
“We stun them with pepper spray. Unless they try to kill us and indeed some of them will. It nearly happened to me. In that case, defend yourself. Look, we're not looking for fights – yet. We're studying where they are. Where they can be found. Redshifter hotspots, if you will.” Dan crossed the room, stood back and examined the map. He made a sound of startled surprise.
“What? What do you see?” Asked Jack.
“It's. . .it's a pattern. Or it seems like one. Look at the shape. It's like a circle with satellites all around it. Look!” The other two stood up and approached the map.
“You're right.” Indeed, it did seem interesting. The redshifter hotspots they had already found all circled around an old warehouse in the industrial district.
“It's not really a pattern yet, though,” said Jack. “For that, we have to find more and see if the other hotspots if there are any more, look like this.”
“That's true.” Dan looked at Mary.
“Mary,” he said in concern. “You're apartment is one of those satellites, if indeed it is one. I find it interesting that this person confronts you only at your home. Why don't we go to your place first?” Mary blew out a nervous sigh and nodded.
“Ok. My place first.”
“But what exactly are we looking for at any of these locations?” Asked Jack.
“Anything strange, weird, out of the ordinary. Anything that trips our red radars,” Dan said. “Right now all I've got is maybe. Maybe the hotspot in the middle is a power source. And maybe Mary's red box is a clue as to what kind of trouble we're up against.”
“Well, we've got one advantage right now,” said Jack. “They have no clue who we are and what we're doing. How long that lasts is another matter.”
Episode 8 – Burn It
Mary's hands shook as she unlocked the door and led them in. She turned on the lights.
“I turned all of the mirrors in the house over, as you can see. Anybody want something to drink?” No one answered.
“What about your bathroom mirror?” Asked Dan.
“That's the only one I can't control. It's also the one where this. . person. . .appears to me the most.”
“What about the box?” Asked Jack. Mary blew a hesitant breath out. She shivered slightly.
“Right. The box.”
“Before you bring the box out, tell us more about it. What do you think it is?” Asked Dan sitting down on the couch.
“Sort of like a Pandora's Box.”
“What happens if you open the box?”
“That's the thing. I'm not exactly sure. I just know from what other people have said that once you open it, some contract goes into effect.”
“You said someone was stalking you after you got the box.”
“Yeah. Like they expected me to open it immediately. And when I didn't that's when I noticed the feeling of being watched.”
“And harassed,” finished Dan. She nodded.
“You said the box was supposed to fix problems. Can I ask what kind of problems you were having? Or is that too personal?” Asked Dan. Mary's face paled.
“Alright, don't tell us. That's fine.”
“No, no. It's okay. It's just that it's hard to talk about right now. I'll go get the box.” She left, down the hall. Jack stretched out and leaned against the wall.
“A box that fixes things. First time I've heard about that. I never had anyone offer me anything like that.
“I think they approach each person differently,” Said Dan.
“It reminds me of those people that go to the crossroads and make a deal with the devil for some power or success for a certain amount of time.”
“It does sort of have that vibe. Like if you open it, it steals your soul or something. Except we aren't dealing with devils and magic. Something else is going on here.”
“I once heard someone say that technology that is sufficiently advanced looks like magic.”
“I think that's true.” Mary came out with a deep red, small, lacquered box and she set it on the table as if it were radioactive.
“Did you ever shake it?”
“Yes. There's nothing in there as far as I know without opening it.” Dan took it up and turned it around in his hands. It felt slightly too heavy for its size.
“I wonder what would happen if we burned it.”
“Burn it?” They both asked.
“I'm thinking if this isn't magic, and I don't believe in magic, it's a device that allows them access to you personally somehow or allows them to enter your mind, or. . .something.””But they already have access to us. They're here,” she said.
“Yes, but there is something more they want. Or else why give you this thing? What's the point? They need you to open it, Mary. It's like a drug dealer on the street corner or even a cartel.” Dan's thoughts were racing now.
“If no one took drugs they wouldn't have any business. They need people willing to take them I order to get them hooked and to make money. A steady supply. What if these aliens needed more from us than just our planet? What if they needed something from us?”
”Like what?” They asked.
“I don't know. What if they needed our permission to control us? They can watch us sure. They can send people to persecute us or kill us but those of us who can see them, like we can, what if they needed mental and emotional control over us in order to really do what they want to do?”
”And by controlling those of us with special powers they can have easy control over the entire population?” Asked Mary. Dan nodded.
“That's like when a nation colonizes another nation they use certain people from the conquered nation and recruit them as allies either by giving them some power or some other type of compensation, sometimes it's something as lowly as trinkets. Finding some way to control and work through them they can, in turn, have power over the rest of the population. What if that is what they need? The last key? I'm not saying that is the answer. But it could be.”
“Good thinking, Jack! I wonder what would happen if one of us came into the bathroom with you, Mary. If this person would appear again while we're with you.”
“I doubt it.”
“Well, we'll worry about that person later. I say we take this thing outside and burn it. See what happens. What do you guys think?”
“Let's burn it,” said Jack.
“Yeah. Let's burn it,” said Mary. They all went outside after sundown to the back parking lot of Mary's apartment building.
“Are you sure we won't get reported by somebody?” Asked Jack.
“The assistant manager is gone for the day. He doesn't live on the premises. We shouldn't have too much trouble. The night monitor gets here kind of late and he's kind of lazy. We shouldn't have too much trouble.”
“We just need to work quickly. Besides I have a theory. . .” said Dan.
“What theory?” Asked Mary.
“Shh!” He balled up the stack of newspapers they took from the stand out front and some torn pieces of cloth Mary gave him. Jack took the bottle of whisky and poured this over the pile. Dan lit the match and after the pile of papers and cloth had brightened into a bloom of fire, Mary put the box in the fire. She added a few pieces of twigs to feed it. The wood from the box crackled and popped and they all stood around watching it closely when they felt something like a small quake shaking the street.
“What was that?” Said Jake. It caught them completely off guard. And then there was a keening, blaring sound. An alarm was going off.
“Fire alarm?” Asked Dan.
“That's not the fire alarm,” said Mary. Then she pointed to the box in horror. The thing had burned quite quickly into ash and a widening crack was forming in the ground around it. The ashes of the burnt box were seeping into this crack and the crack grew like a widening wound in the earth.
“I think. . I think that box did this!”
“You think?” Said Jack. “Look at that?” He pointed. The ashes were turning blacker than black, like some live substance slinking away out of sight. As this substance disappeared into the crack, smoke rose up from it along with an acrid, metallic smell. The air took on the scent of noxious fumes.
“Let's get out of here!” Cried Dan. Neighbors and other apartment dwellers were stirring from their rooms to see what the commotion was. The alarm gradually became so loud that they thought their eardrums would burst and then. . .it stopped, as suddenly as it had come. The hole in the ground had engulfed the ashes of the box along with the substance left behind.
“So this box turns into black goo when burned. That's like nothing I know of on earth,” said Jack.
“I think the goo was in the box and it served a specific purpose. A directed virus, maybe?” Asked Dan.
'Or some kind of biologic implant or device,” said Mary.
Mary led them back inside as sirens began to call in the distance. Her bathroom lights were flickering on and off. Dan could tell she was nervous. They were all shaken. She started toward the bathroom door, but Dan put a hand on her shoulder.
“You don't have to go in there alone.”
“I'm not,” she said. “We started something. Kicked off an alarm.” She went to the bathroom and closed the door and then sat on the couch.
“So, my theory was half way right. I was thinking that if we destroyed that box especially within the circle of stations, that something weird would happen. I didn't think it would happen so quickly. But that box was mighty important if alarms were going off and the ground is opening up to swallow it.”
“I think you might be on to something about a biological or living device. I think it was designed to infiltrate the human body,” said Jack. “Now I've got an idea.”
“What is it?” Asked Dan.
“Before we check out some of those “hotspots” you mentioned earlier, I say we go find Mr. Fix-It, or whatever you call him, and have a talk with him.”
“And why would we want to do that?” Mary asked.
“We need answers. I want to know who this guy really is. Maybe I'll go alone. Case out his place for a while before I approach. You know?”
“I don't think it's good to confront The Others alone, Jack.”
“We can't all be together all of the time. Some of this work will have to be done when we're by ourselves. I want to know who this guy is. What he is. What if he's like us? An adept but for their side?”
“Either way, Fix-It guy is dangerous if he's giving out things like that red box. He's giving The Others access to humans. This is still new to us, warned Dan. Suddenly, there was a strange sound in the bathroom. It sounded like live wires and electricity, untamed. Under the door, they could see electrical lights flashing and blinking.
“Oh my God,” whispered Mary.
“Mary, I suspect your apartment building is connected to a power source of theirs. Remember the map? That box might somehow be related to that power source and when we destroyed it we alerted them to its destruction and perhaps cut off a line of power or even communication they had. Not only do they not have access to you but they don't have access to this device any longer. If i
t can even be called that. I'm thinking on the fly, so this may sound off the wall,” said Dan.
“It makes sense considering what we're up against,” said Mary.
“Jack, maybe you should check out this Mr. Fix-It guy who gave her the box. From afar. Case out his haunts, if he has any. Perhaps Mary and I will investigate the power source I suspect might around this area. Let me know what you find.”
“Will do,” murmured Jack, more determined than ever now. They all three stared at the blinking lights under the bathroom door. Jack turned to Mary. “Give me his location. I'm convinced now that he has some information we need.”
Episode 9 – Little Old Shop
Jack looked over the card she'd given him once more. The directions were scrawled haphazardly on the back. On the front was simply a phone number and the letters S. C. T. He'd called the number several times and got no answer. How Mary ever managed to find the place was beyond him. She'd said that the directions were those she'd written herself after finding it by accident. Or it seemed like an accident, anyway. How she managed to get anyone else on the other line seemed an impossibility. But at least he had an address.
Today he decided to ride his motorbike. Over the past weeks, he'd found that his sixth sense, his ability to detect those who were different was changing, becoming stronger. His body developed an odd sensation of fire sparks exploding. At first it seemed simply like stress but he was learning to understand when it came and went – when he saw one of The Others – and he was learning how to keep his responses under control from Trillion. He breathed deeply, calmly. As he passed by streams of traffic he did not find or encounter any of them on the ride there and for that he was thankful. He was still trying to get a handle on his own responses to things.
Turning up S.W. Ankeny Street, he slowed to a leisurely pace, looking for the address. He found it sandwiched between two business houses. It was a tiny, rather old, shabby Victorian-style house. Very shabby in fact. He rode his bike up the sidewalk and parked it at a smart park meter, paid the meter and stood in front of the house. It was early afternoon and the business crowd was out to lunch. It was quite busy and noisy on the other blocks. This one was strangely quiet. He felt outward with his sense to see if he could detect anything odd or unusual. He could detect nothing out of the ordinary. He walked up the small high steps and peeked in. It looked dark inside. Turning the doorknob slowly he opened the door and stepped inside.
The Blueshifters (Blueshifter Series Book 1) Page 3
