Alienation

by Jon S. Lewis

  Soon, just about everything he owned was in cardboard boxes, and each time he sealed one shut it felt like he was burying a part of his past. He stacked them neatly against the wall and pulled his sheets off the bed, but when he went to put them in the washing machine, his phone beeped. It was an e-mail from Danielle.

  She had stayed up half the night going through the files from Operation Nemesis. Colt was definitely on the same hit list that included Senator Bishop, along with a member of the CIA, a federal judge, and another senator from Massachusetts—the one who died from a heart attack while she was jogging last fall.

  According to the documents, the deaths were either accidental or the person died from natural causes. One was lost at sea after a boating incident, another drowned during a triathlon. There was a car wreck, a suicide, and someone lost a long battle against cancer. But there was no pattern, and none of them had been shot, stabbed, or dropped from the top of a building. Then again, as Colt had found out that morning, reports could be falsified if a person had the right connections . . . and there was no doubt that Lobo had connections.

  :: CHAPTER 24 ::

  Grandpa got a call just as they were leaving for the airport. Apparently an investigative team from the Department of Alien Affairs found traces of ozone and other particulates specific to portal travel near the motorcycle used in last night’s attack.

  They kept that stretch of freeway shut down all night and into the day, making the morning commute into downtown Phoenix a nightmare. But they couldn’t risk losing a potential lead, even if it was just a footprint, bloodstain, or even a broken fingernail. Search units scoured a ten-mile radius through the desert and into neighborhoods using equipment that was decades beyond what local crime scene investigators used or even knew existed. They still didn’t find anything.

  “Where do you think he is?” Colt asked, trying not to sound anxious.

  “Probably in a hole somewhere licking his wounds,” Grandpa said. “But don’t worry, he’ll be back.”

  Grandpa decided to take Colt to the airport in the pickup, just in case someone noticed the Cadillac and called the police. He didn’t say much of anything during the drive, not that he had ever been much of a talker. But he seemed distracted.

  “What’s wrong?” Colt asked as they wound around the airport, skirting the terminals until they came to an airstrip reserved for private jets.

  “I was just thinking about the day I dropped your father off at the academy,” Grandpa said, turning down a short drive that led to a chain link gate. Two men stood in front, each dressed in military fatigues and holding an M4 carbine assault rifle. Grandpa didn’t bother to open his window. He simply held up the CHAOS badge that he still carried in his wallet, and they let him through.

  “I thought he’d be nervous. After all, he’d never been gone from home for more than a week or two at summer camp. But when I drove up to the building, he shook my hand, opened the door, and marched right up those steps without looking back.

  “I don’t think your grandmother talked to me for a week,” he said with a chuckle. “She was furious, not that I could blame her. She knew the sacrifices involved with serving your country, and CHAOS is no different. I think she was hoping he would go to medical school, or become a shoe salesman—it didn’t matter, as long as he wasn’t a soldier. But when Roger got that invitation, there was no changing his mind. He was going to save the world and that’s all there was to it.”

  “Are you sure I wasn’t adopted?” Colt asked as he watched one of the jets race down the runway. The nose lifted into the air, and a moment later it was little more than a speck on the horizon. “I mean, I don’t mind serving my country, but I just got my driver’s license and . . . well . . . I don’t know. It’s just that so much has happened over these last few months that I was kind of hoping I could stay here awhile longer.”

  Grandpa turned to him and smiled. “I was hoping that myself,” he said. “But you’re going to do just fine. And besides, we’ll see each other soon enough.” He pulled into a parking spot next to Danielle’s parents, who were removing her luggage from the trunk of their car. Colt sat there, knowing that the moment he opened the door his life was going to change forever.

  “By the way,” Grandpa said, “you were right. I should have told you about the tests.”

  “It’s okay,” Colt said. “I probably would have done the same thing if I were you.”

  Grandpa pulled on the emergency brake and stepped out of the cab to great the Salazars. Danielle’s father shook his hand, and her mom wrapped her arms around his neck. Grandpa held her close, patting her on the back as tears ran down her cheeks.

  “Why do they have to be so dramatic?” Danielle asked, trying to sound exasperated despite her own red eyes and puffy cheeks.

  “You’re right,” he said. “I mean, it’s not like they’re sending their teenaged daughter away to save the world from an alien horde or anything.”

  “Whatever.”

  Colt grabbed his duffel bag from the back of the truck. “I thought we were supposed to travel light,” he said when he saw Danielle’s luggage.

  “This is traveling light.” She was standing next to two large roller suitcases and an oversized toiletry bag, not to mention her purse and the backpack that held her laptop.

  Across the tarmac, two men in dark suits stood next to a charcoal-colored jet with a white CHAOS logo painted on the side. Colt thought that it looked like a shark, with a pointed nose and wings that jetted from the back like pectoral fins.

  “I’ve never ridden in a private jet before,” Danielle said. “This is gonna be fun.”

  Colt shrugged. His dad had owned a charter company that catered to athletes, movie stars, and wealthy businessmen, and every once in a while he’d take Colt on a fishing trip to Seattle, or they’d fly to visit one of his brothers.

  “Sorry. I forgot that you’re used to traveling like a rock star,” Danielle said.

  “It’s not that.”

  “I know.” She walked over so nobody could overhear the conversation. “Look, if you mope around, Oz is going to know that something is up. So you have to act normal, okay?”

  “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Fake it,” she said. “And it probably wouldn’t hurt to sleep with one eye open until we know if he’s involved.”

  “Funny.”

  A few minutes later a black SUV with tinted windows pulled up next to Grandpa’s truck. The driver was Asian, with a shaved head and broad shoulders, and when he opened the door, Colt could see that his jacket had a CHAOS badge on the sleeve.

  Oz jumped out of the backseat, a broad grin on his face as he tossed his enormous duffel bag next to Danielle’s luggage. “Who’s ready to bash some alien skulls?”

  “Remember,” Danielle whispered to Colt. “Act normal.”

  One of the pilots took Colt’s duffel bag and placed it next to Danielle’s luggage in one of the cargo bays. She ran over to say good-bye to her parents one last time, hugging each of them before she ran up the stairs and into the jet.

  Grandpa stood there, his hands in his pockets as a strong breeze tousled his silver hair. “I’ll see you in a few weeks,” he said with a nod.

  Colt felt lost and desperate, like a bird being forced from the nest before it could fly. Without realizing it, he reached for the medallion that hung around his neck.

  “Wait until you see what I brought for the flight,” Oz said as he wrapped his massive arm around Colt’s shoulder. “It’s going to blow your mind.”

  :: CHAPTER 25 ::

  The exterior of the jet was the model of military efficiency, with sleek lines and a titanium airframe that protected against high temperatures caused by traveling at supersonic speed. Inside, it dripped with luxury. The jet was surprisingly spacious, with oversized leather recliners. Each had a monitor mounted to the ceiling, along with a small table that retracted into the wall in case any of the passengers wanted to use the footrest.

 
Danielle was already sitting down, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses as she stared out the window to where her parents stood with Grandpa. She was wearing earbuds, and the music was loud enough that Colt could hear it from where he was standing.

  “Can you believe it?” Oz said, taking the seat across the aisle from her. His knee was bouncing up and down, and his eyes were lit with anticipation. “By this time tomorrow, we’re going to be actual CHAOS agents.”

  “You mean cadets,” Danielle said. She pulled the earbuds out. “We have to graduate from the academy first, and even then we still need to finish college before they’ll consider our applications.”

  “Don’t be a downer, Salazar.”

  “What? It’s true.”

  Colt walked to the back of the cabin, checking every nook and cranny to see if Krone had somehow found his way onto the jet. He looked in the bathroom and underneath the conference table. He even checked in the fridge behind the bar, but all he found were soda, energy drinks, and bottled waters.

  “Is it okay if I take one of these?” he asked, reaching for a root beer.

  “That’s why they’re there,” Oz said. “Grab me one too, will you?”

  The pilot asked them to fasten their seat belts, and a few minutes later they were in the air. If the weather cooperated, they would reach Washington, DC, in a little over four hours. Danielle, who still hadn’t removed her sunglasses, sat there with her head against the window, sniffling as she watched the world disappear behind a bank of clouds.

  Colt tried to be discreet as he pulled up a picture of Lily on his phone. She was standing on top of Camelback Mountain as the sun set over the city. She hadn’t wanted him to take it, because she was sweaty and she wasn’t wearing any makeup, but Colt loved that picture. After their hike, they’d gone back to her house and he’d sat on the porch swing while she played her guitar.

  He closed the image and sat back in his seat, lamenting the way things had ended between them. Like a jerk, he’d never called her to apologize, and now it was too late. He doubted that she would take his call even if he tried.

  He was just starting to nod off when Oz tapped him on the shoulder.

  “Okay, so check this out,” Oz said as he unzipped his backpack. “I figured that we were going to need something to do, so I stopped by Greg’s Comics.”

  “We left a half-hour late because you went to a comic book shop?” Danielle said. “You’re impossible.”

  “Thank you,” Oz said. “Anyway, Howard—you know, the guy who runs the shop—he was at an estate sale last week and he picked up the complete run of Phantom Flyer and the Agents of Chaos.”

  “No way,” Colt said, sliding to the edge of his chair so he could get a better look. “How much?”

  Oz shrugged. “He gave me a good deal. You know, as a kind of going-away present. Anyway, some of the issues are in rough shape, but I got them to read, not to sit in Mylar bags and collect dust for fifty years.” He pulled out a thick stack and handed them to Colt, who forgot all about assassination plots as he flipped through them, drinking in every glorious detail.

  There was one called Attack of the Gray Aliens, where flying saucers flew as part of the Luftwaffe during the Blitz over London. Other covers showed images of wolf men with Nazi armbands and robots with SS emblazoned on their metallic chests; one even showed the Phantom Flyer standing over Dracula’s coffin holding a wooden stake and a mallet. Colt wondered how much of the stories was true. After all, the comics were supposed to be loosely based on actual events that took place. Did that mean vampires were real?

  “This is beyond incredible,” Colt said as he gently pulled one of the comics out of its protective bag. The corners were a bit rough, and the color had started to fade, but other than that it was in prime condition. As he cracked it open, he closed his eyes and drank in the musty aroma of the newsprint like it was a fragrant bouquet of flowers.

  “You realize that you’re smelling a comic book, right?” Danielle asked. She had removed her sunglasses now that her eyes were dry.

  “Don’t knock it,” Oz said. He tried to get her to sniff one of the books, but she squirmed away and pinned herself against the window with her arms covering her face.

  “I’ll pass!”

  “Do you think they’ll make comic books about our adventures one day?” Oz asked as he sat back in his chair.

  “Maybe,” Colt said, sounding disinterested. Danielle gave him one of those looks where he knew he had said the wrong thing, so he tried again. “I mean, if the Thule actually attack and we manage to survive, then sure. Why not?”

  “I wonder what we should call it,” Oz said, scratching his chin as he looked at the ceiling. “How about The Amazing Adventures of Oz and Colt?”

  “Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Danielle asked.

  “Sorry,” Oz said. “And their faithful sidekick, Danielle.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  As they quibbled about the title, Colt turned his attention to the sky, which had turned a strange shade of gray that bordered on purple. It reminded him of the summer storms back in Iowa where his mom had grown up. The clouds were thick, and rolling thunder followed a brilliant flash of lightning.

  The intercom crackled as the captain’s voice echoed through the cabin. “As you can see, we’re experiencing a little unexpected weather. We’re going to climb to about 38,000 feet to see if we can’t find some clear skies.”

  The jagged afterglow of lightning hung in the horizon as the thunder boomed. There was something in the clouds. It was only a silhouette, but whatever it was, it was enormous.

  “Did you guys see that?” Colt asked.

  “See what?” Oz asked, leaning over so he could look out the window.

  “I don’t know,” Colt said. “Maybe I was just hallucinating.” He lay back against the headrest as another burst of lightning filled the sky.

  Danielle’s eyes went wide. Then she screamed.

  There was no way that something like that could exist, yet there it was, not more than a kilometer or two away. The creature looked something like a jellyfish, although it was as big as a three-bedroom house. Its membrane was translucent, revealing a strange network of nerves that looked like a cluster of wires. Bursts of light flashed across the complex trails, firing in rapid succession.

  Colt watched dozens of tentacles undulate below its membrane like water snakes skimming the surface of a pond. “What is that thing?”

  “I don’t know,” Oz said. “Maybe it escaped from one of the CHAOS facilities in New Mexico.”

  Colt wondered what kind of facility was big enough to hold something like that. Was it in a warehouse? Some kind of bunker deep underground? And if there was a place that housed giant flying jellyfish, what other kinds of creatures were locked up there?

  Oz pulled out his phone and took a few pictures.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I want to put them on my Facebook page.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “No,” Oz said as he took another picture. “I’m going to send them to someone at CHAOS so we can find out what it is.”

  There was a flash of light followed by a loud clang. It sounded like somebody was pounding on the hull with a sledgehammer. The cabin started to shake, and the jet dropped. A tentacle slapped Colt’s window and made a sick noise, like rotting meat thrown against a hard surface. He scrambled to get out of his seat, forgetting that he was buckled in as something like suction cups latched on to the glass, leaving an oily residue.

  Danielle screamed, her fingers digging in the armrests as her eyes scanned the ceiling. A sound like metal being ripped apart echoed through the cabin as the monster latched on. It beat the glass, and Colt watched as his window started to splinter. Veins appeared like a spiderweb as they spread across the surface.

  “That thing isn’t alone,” Oz said. The sky was filled with the strange monsters floating through the storm like a school of jellyfish while winds sent waves across their m
embranes.

  The overhead lights flickered as the ceiling bowed. Colt didn’t know if the aircraft was right side up or upside down as the intercom crackled to life.

  “If we can break free from this thing, there’s a soft spot in the atmosphere,” the captain said. “I’ve called our coordinates in, and if we time it right we should be able to make a jump.”

  “Wait,” Colt said. “As in a gateway?”

  Random gateways weren’t exactly stable. They were there one second and gone the next, and even if they found one before it closed, there was no way to know where it led. Then again, if the only alternative was sitting there while a giant flying jellyfish ripped the jet apart, they didn’t have much of a choice.

  There was an explosion followed by a burst of light. White streaks ran across the hull and down the wings, crackling and swirling as they went. The creature let out a piercing cry, and the fiery current engulfed its tentacles. A moment later the jet was free. The pilot banked hard to the right, and as the plane wove through the field of hungry tentacles, Colt hoped the aircraft would hold together long enough to make the jump. He craned his neck and spotted the dark patch of sky. It was black against the deep gray, and clouds swirled like a living frame as lightning rippled across the surface.

  The jet shot forward, veering toward the gateway as the cabin shook and engines roared. But just when Colt thought they were free, a tentacle lashed out, hitting one of the wings. The jet dipped hard to the right, and his head smashed against the window. He blinked, trying to gather his thoughts as more tentacles wrapped around the aircraft, crushing the hull until the ceiling started to cave in.

  A second jellyfish moved toward them, its tentacles dancing with abandon. Colt closed his eyes, but at the last possible moment the pilot thrust the engines to full power and the jet went into a barrel roll. Somehow the pilot managed to break free from the writhing tentacles and into open airspace before the nose of the jet broke the surface of the portal.