Walsh Estate Winery

12:07 PM

“He can’t hold his drink. Every time he’s in the warehouse, Katie’s family is losing money, Brill,” Scott said, loud enough to grow my headache.

“He starts fights for no reason,” Katie said, compounding my headache further.

The back-and-forth banter from them started ever since the video call started. Us reaching Brill without issue was a sure note that I lost any luck on this planet. Sitting on the couch facing the Slipspace transmitter case on the coffee table, the veins in my skull pulsed. The ice pack pressed to my right temple wasn’t helping. The pain pills from my med kit haven’t kicked in yet.

“He never picks up after himself.”

“He scares my brothers and parents. Robert is visiting friends in Louisiana because of him.”

“Jaruka nearly stabbed a guy at the camp with a beach chair. Who does that!?”

I groaned. “For the last time, he didn’t die,” I said.

“He could’ve.”

Katie leaned forward over the couch. “We went from selling wine to being a doorstop for people to see him. He is literally hurting my family’s business. If anything else, he’s caring off our loyal customers.”

Although, I was fortunate her parents weren’t in the same room. It was Katie’s wish. They were still out dealing with the little one’s school issues. Seriously, that kid needs some self-defense skills.

“Oh, and just to make matter worse,” Scott said, “he just puked up merlot and God knows what he ate into the backyard fire pit. Hundreds of dollars wasted!”

Arana spoke up from the left nightstand. “The unruliest person ever, more so than Jacob,” she said. “The level of disrespect is just sour and toxic. How you or Nova Company put up with him is a mystery.”

“He never says my name,” Keeji said, a couple of feet from my face, sobbing. “It’s always, ‘move it, mutt!’ and sometimes shoving me away. I hurt.”

I rolled my eyes.

The case’s top screen displayed Brill, staring me in silence since the call. Not even an eye flinch from the Remuzen. He rested his chin under his folded hand. The Endeavour battleship captain, owner of Nova Company, and a close friend of mine for years, giving me the father’s stare. His Modalan assistant, Irna, stood by him in battle-ready regalia, her twin scabbards on each hip. She shared the same reaction as her captain, only standing and holding her touchpad to take notes.

After the locals finished talking, Brill sighed and blinked, slow. “Anything else?” He asked.

“Pretty much all of it,” Katie said.

Brill leaned back and said, “Ms. Walsh, Mr. Dunne, nothing you said is new to me or Nova. It’s how he is on bad days.”

“Only bad days, Brill. Everybody else tolerates me,” I said.

“Neither does Kantra. However, your presence on Terra Firma is… embarrassing. I’m with them, old friend.”

I dropped the ice pack. The Goru Slipspace Drive was embedded in the bottom case. It glowed purple as the three rings circled and cracked the crystal to open the portal between this dimension and Slipspace itself, enabling instant communication with him. I leaned forward with its purple glow on my face. “Come on, this is all because of Benali. This planet is causing the worst cabin fever imaginable.” My stomach churned again and I held it down. Damn hangover. I leaned back.

“Seriously, how do you and the others deal with him?” Scott asked.

Brill shook his head. “Now’s not the time to discuss that. This call was just to complain? Slipspace crystals aren’t cheap you know.”

The Slipspace crystal in the drive, what made the instantaneous comm link possible, was not my ration from the Republic. I still have a stash from Benali back from the stupid survey mission, hidden away.

“What else is there to do, Brill,” Scott said. “We need him out, far from us. At least try to renegotiate with Denverbay and dump him somewhere else.”

Brill shook his head again. “Even if I could, Denverbay made up his mind. You two and the Walsh family are the only ones he trusts.”

Or that I annoyed Denverbay so much about the job or where my new ship is, he’d rather ignore me and focus on Council stuff. Dunderhead. That Creosian gets my skindreads in a bunch.

“But we're sick of being his babysitter. This agreement is driving everybody crazy!”

I sat up and faced Scott. I got dizzy a little. “Just get over it. I’m stuck. You both are stuck. Deal with it.”

“Jaruka, when I get my mana heart filled, I’ll have no problem squaring off with you.”

“You think you can beat me?”

“I know karate.”

“Like to see you try. I’ve studied some martial arts. I can counter every move you make and pin you under my ass!”

“Magic can enhance it,” Scott said. “I can out-strong arm you.”

A slight curl in my lips formed. “Still want a fistfight? I’m game! Let’s throw down, pacifist!”

“Gunslinger Teal, stand down,” Brill ordered, but his command meant nothing to me. He’s off-world. He had no power over me.

I was inches from Scott’s face and my hot breath made him wince. “Terran magic can be strong and unpredictable, but I can get by. Let’s settle this; crippled mutant versus off-worlder. That’ll give those camp leeches something to gossip for a week.”

“Bring it you selfish asshole!” Scott yelled.

“Guys, cool it!” Katie screamed, then a high-pitched sound of a dozen Zizel Beach gulls attacked my hearing. My hands covered my earholes, but the sound was so much I collapsed to the floor nearly hitting my head on the coffee table. I thought my temples would pop out from so much pain. It lasted for a few seconds so that I can collect myself. If you never heard those birds after agitating one of them, don’t.

I looked back and noticed Katie Walsh removing her thumb and finger from her mouth, both glowing with tattoos then quickly disappearing.

“Enough with the damn whistle spell!” I snarled. “Another one of those and my head will pop!”

Scott gathered himself from behind the couch, shaking his head and popping his eardrums. Keeji was affected, whimpering out the back door. Arana stood unfazed and emotionless.

“What the gods was that?” Brill asked. He and his assistant were clearing their ears. “Irna, get on the horn and settle the crew.”

“What?!” Irna yelled.

“I said calm the crew down!”

“On it, sir!” Irna walked out of view.

Brill pulled his pinky from his right ear hole to restore hearing. “Walsh, was that you?”

“Sorry but I had no choice,” Katie said. “You okay, Scott?”

Scott raised a thumb.

“Look, what Scott and Jaruka are saying is right. Either he has to leave Temecula or we force him out. And him staying here gathering information about the terran issue is driving him crazy as much as us.”

“Don’t forget the station manager,” I added. “He still won’t talk to me.” Not only he is the overseer of the Titan Spire network around Terra Firma but also oversees the Slipspace waygate, a direct line from this planet to Creos.

Brill shook his head. “Fighting to not do the job is what’s driving you nuts. Listen, Jaruka, I’ve also seen what you said to Xi’Tra since you landed.” He pressed several light bars on his desk to load up holoscreens of data. “Even though nobody outside doesn’t know what is happening to Terra Firma besides the Endeavour, Denverbay, and authorized Archive members, secrecy is all our priority. Now this place. Am…A…Amst.”

Groaning, I said, “Amsterdam.”

“Right,” he beamed. “Says here a prostitute’s leg, cut off from a gangrene infection when she was little, grew back during her terran transformation. Rapid limb regeneration. Must be painful, considering the shitty video you sent.”

Why bring that up? I thought.

I didn’t take the video, I had to retrieve it from the planet’s internet (strange name). I was still on probation to not leave Temecula until last month, and the dropship was unflyable for reasons. Had to figure out the technology by myself then send it to Xi’Tra. It was the first piece I ever sent. Most of it got corrupted during transmission.

Brill read one. “Then the New York raids. Droves of humans injuring and killing terrans and tattooed humans in sight, demanding a terran free city and total isolation. President Winchester had to assist the state’s National Guard. The few gathered articles and videos were nothing compared to thousands of pieces picked up from the station, fed directly to the Archives. Come on, Jaruka, Nova and the Academy trained you better.”

“Still landlocked,” I said and showed him my ankle bracelet on my left leg.

“And you didn’t talk to anybody, even rejected Denverbay’s request to leave the town.” Brill shook his head. There were moments in my report that I picked out humans with blood-red eyes, but I was sure he glazed over that.

Reapers were part of the raid, I was sure of it.

“And the mass genocide in Africa and the Middle East? We barely have anything on their religious or political views on terrans besides the Utah Massacre you know much about.”

The terran couple cringed.

“And that church incident I just read about?” Brill continued. “There’s barely any reason why you wanted to provoke them.”

“Oh please, I wrote it in plain sight,” Jaruka said. “They were exercising a terran boy with laughable techniques. You know, I’d be better off if Xi’Tra was down here doing the work, not me.”

“She hates traveling,” Katie said.

I glanced at her. “Thank you,” I said with disdain.

Xi’Tra, much like her father (complements to you because I’m not spineless), is great at her job. A true hunter of the truth. She has the means to research it all. Unlike me, I still have the outcome in my sight in the next two years: a council trial and firing squad.

“Three months,” Brill said, tapping a thin finger on his desk. “Three months on Terra Firma and this is all the Archives got. An Academy scholar can do a better job than this.”

I took that as an obvious ploy. “Let’s hire one. A magic-born one too to help translate Scott’s spellbook.”

“Aren’t you done with it yet?” Scott asked.

“Can it.” Since I relocated the dropship, I’ve borrowed Scott’s spellbook to read from. He has no mana to use, and he could read from Katie’s spellbook without issue.

“Still considered classified,” Brill said. “Even I don’t know what any of it means.”

“Come on, Brill, be reasonable.” I jammed a finger to the back of my head, to the stump. “Where’s my help when I asked? I told Denverbay this is not a one-man field job. This needs a team.”

I could feel the terrans and totem’s eyes on me. Why I haven’t included them for help are very many reasons. The top reason is I don’t want them touching advanced technology, like the transmitter case, or the dropship. Foolish humans can get curious without a second thought. Katie is a journalist and Scott was studying to be one, but even they wouldn’t gather what I was looking for.

I’d rather work with someone I know, or a species that is Republic-included.

“You really are selfish,” Brill said, and he was right.

“Old news to me.”

Scott scuffed to the side. “But are others coming? We were told that long ago,” he said.

Brill stretched his neck by tilting his head, a long day it seemed. “Look. I wasn’t gonna say this until after the mission, but you let me no choice,” he said, and I forgot about my headache and the ringing in my ears. “Denverbay told me a GMT specialist cleared customs.”

I grabbed the case with both my hands. “Please Goddess, tell me it’s Balcusten!” I demanded.

Brill didn’t react, but he nodded. “The one you requested.”

“YES!” I yelled. “The system works!”

“Who’s that?” Katie asked.

“Domoja Balcusten. An old friend of mine. He can get this GMT event figured out.”

“Like finding a cure?” We could all hear how worried Katie got. Whereas everybody on the planet is looking for a cure, some like Katie accepted their gifts.

“But it’s only one. There was a second DEM scientist but that was canceled. Denverbay hasn’t told me why yet.” Brill rubbed his hands, but how he said it was he held back.

“Did Denverbay say when they’re coming?” I asked, wishing it was in an hour.

“Paperwork and immunizations take time,” he said, and that’s universal. An alarm from the Endeavour sounded off and Brill’s room shook.

“Captain, we arrived in the Meljan System,” Irna said through the comms. “You are needed on the bridge.”

Brill set his hand on his large head. “Sorry, old friend. Frontier disputes with three species are happening and we’re hired for defense.”

“Oh bull, Brill. We just started the call. When is my new ship coming?”

“It’s coming with the GMT expert, but again, I don’t know when. Look, Jaruka, I’m out of time. Once we have this mess secure, I’ll contact you again. Just remember to stay out of the gutter for a while.” He got closer to the screen as he stood. “And above all, remember your promise.”

I craned my jaw. “Still do,” I said.

Then he cut the feed. The Slipspace Drive in the case shut down, letting the Slipspace crystal collapse into itself, closing the rift.

Okay. Good news. Domoja is coming to Terra Firma. My new ship is arriving. Don’t know who’s piloting it, wish I could ask about that, but Brill had other issues to deal with. I badgered Denverbay for updates to the point he flat-out ignores me, and that call was the only glimmer of hope for a new home.

More so, when he talked about the paperwork, he sounded nervous. Man if the hanger crew screwed up the ship’s paint job I’ll be pissed.

“Okay, bye,” Keeji said grinning, seconds later.

Scott sighed and said, “Well great. We’re getting new aliens, Jaruka gets a new ship, and we’re still stuck with him.”

“Ah shit.”

We all turned to the front door. Jonathan Walsh, Katie’s father, stood there with his keys and wallet being placed in a dish on a table. “Sorry,” he said. “Don’t mind eavesdropping?”

Katie shrugged.

“Listen all you want,” I said. “Nothing about it concerns the family. All I know is I’m getting a new home and a familiar face to be with.”

"Just go back to the camp, Jaruka,” Scott said with heavy disappointment in his voice.

I scoffed and packed up the case. I went to the door, with Jonathan stepping aside, and turned to Scott saying, “Sometimes you’re a real folgon dick.”

Scott folded his arms. “Look who’s talking. Whatever… what you just said.”

Not compelled to teach them the meaning, I left without another word.

I rode my Howler Cycle fast through the valley toward the east, fast enough for those crazy humans at the gates to miss me. It was hot that afternoon. I didn’t care to follow the local traffic laws, but I was aware enough to avoid other drivers.

Ten minutes from the winery to the campsite. The same amount of Slipspace travel from the plane to Creos. What a reminder. The off-worlder nutbags were still camped outside the refraction shield dome. Like clockwork, when they hear my fusion engine, they have the decency to let me through. All of them were fanatics, crackpots, drug addicts, and spiritual nutjobs all looking for answers from me as if I’m a demigod messenger or a demon.

And the local governments and military can’t do anything to jeopardize my presence. Whatever.

I sped past them and through the refraction shield. It’s designed to allow any being registered to enter and repel anything that is not, even bullets and explosives. Air and water are standard. As long as that shield is active, I’m alive I suppose.

I parked the Howler Cycle by the dropship. The headache was gone at that point.

I took off my helmet and shook my head. Humans and a few terrans outside the shield watched me in awe like a rare animal in a cage. I got off, grabbed the case, and gave off the only gesture I accepted from them. The bird.

The dropship was brand new four months ago. Now it was a junkyard relic, most of the damage from my rage and frustration. All the portholes were smashed. Three AG-pads were damaged. I set up space behind the dropship—a chair and sofa I salvaged from a local dumpster, a cheap firepit, and loads of trash—just to not look at the humans but the small hill east of me.

Inside the dropship, it was worse. Trash was all over the place. My cot was held up by two crates under the only dark spot to sleep. The far-right corner was covered with a brown sheet. The center row of seats for soldiers to sit while being carried from the battleship to the battlefield and back, was my “table” in a sense, covered with trash.

I set the comm case on the desk by the rear door. I’ll have to install the Drive back into the cockpit’s console later.

My new home is coming, I thought. It felt like a real win.

I went for a ration pack box. One bag was left in it, a vacuum-sealed fruit. Cracking it open, the sweet and vinegary aroma calmed my nerves. The fruit can dull the hangover feeling within minutes of consumption, which was a good thing I asked for two cases when Xi’Tra visited me last.

I split the fruit with my hands and ate the first half, skin and flesh, and spit out the white seeds to the side.

“Come on, new ship. Come on, Domoja. I need you both,” I said, munching on the fruit.

4:17 PM

Later that day, I was still ticked off from the video call. We closed the store and warehouse early to clean up, but more so with Scott to clean up my cluttered bedroom. I asked for his help. I was folding and hanging my clean laundry in the closet. With a clearer head, I thought about what Brill said.

“Maybe the aliens will change him,” I said again. “They are his friends, I think. I mean, yeah, Jaruka is a stubborn brick wall, but he sounded happy hearing whoever’s name that was.” I snapped my fingers to an idea. “What if they’re not like him?”

“Katie, the last thing me or your family needs is another publicity stunt,” Scott said. He finished his share of the cleaning and was sitting on my bed browsing my sticky note-covered and dog-eared spellbook.

“New aliens will help his situation,” he said. “Imagine a tour guide like ‘Here you can sample the finest wines Temecula Valley offers...or go down the street toward Lake Skinner and watch the single most important discovery of human existence embarrass himself on the five o’clock news. The choice is yours, but the free zoo is worth it.’”

“They stopped doing that,” Arana said. I glanced at her, sitting on my de-cluttered desk.

“No, but I bet it’ll happen again.”

Three tour businesses sprung up just to drive by the campsite, some staying for hours to stare at the ship and Jaruka himself. Who knows if any copied the ship’s technology just several yards away?

“You think he won’t change when they come?” I asked, then leaned out to look him in the eye. “You did when I and others helped you, right?”

“He’s not human.”

“And us too.” I finished hanging my shirts. “We can let his friends deal with him. He knows one of them. Do… Domo…”

“Domoja Balcusten,” Arana finished.

“Right. If he can change his attitude and keep him out of trouble, there could be hope things turn around.”

“Maybe for your family business and normalcy if the fanatics staff off.”

I heard Keeji whimper and said, “But less friends…”

I started putting away my stacks of clean altered pants. Outside of having magic, being a terran has drawbacks.

“Remember what Jaruka said? Domoja is a GMT expert,” Scott said. “He sounds important.”

“You know, he mentioned that before, Brill too.” We’ve heard bits and pieces from Denverbay and others, but not much as to what GMT meant. “He might teach us more about magic.”

Scott paused to make me notice. “Or cure us.”

I finished stacking my pants in the cubie, but I looked back to that serious look on Scott’s face, looking back at me with concern.

“People will ask for it. Your parents will. Governments will.”

“Do you want to be cured?” I asked, staring back.

Scott shook his head. “It’s hard to say. I know if Dad was still alive he’d embrace it. He was a bigger nerd than Mom ever was.”

I smiled. “I bet he would, Scott.” I walked to the bed and flopped beside him. “But still, we need help. They might bring a whole army to help.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, Katie. Who knows what Denverbay is thinking?”

Scott is a cautious man and the last member of a military family. He can overthink things to the point of going in circles. With his parents gone, it can grow.

If Arana was his host she would offer straight logic to settle his mind. For instance, Denverbay hasn’t ordered to invade earth. He couldn’t have the will to destroy this planet just for the sake of protecting the Republic.

“We are figuring things out so there is a chance we can get some real guidance. Come on, Scott. This world needs help. Have some trust in them.”

All the alien talk was depressing me so I had an idea. I set my hand over his and said, “Speaking of trust, wanna see my project’s final form?”

Scott raised himself onto his elbows. “Wait. Let me get the fire extinguisher.” He started getting up from my bed, but I pushed him back a little. “Katie, I’m being serious.”

“Don’t be like that. I’m serious too and I promise this won’t explode,” I said and got up from my bed.

“At least summon a shield first.”

Previous attempts to create enchanted items caused explosions and unexpected reactions, making Scott and my family doubtful of my abilities, but I’m persistent. I took my sweatshirt and flung it into his face with him making an ‘oof’ sound. “I said shield, not shirt.”

I smirked. If there is any doubt in my abilities, it would be me. “Just see what I got. I’m positive this will work. Arana triple-checked the structure this morning. And if it does blow up,” I bit my lip a little, “I’ll set it aside. And maybe some other terran more capable than me create something to get YouTube famous. I promise this is not a weapon. We have enough of them already.”

Scott considered my words, then looked at his totem. “Got any objections?” Scott asked him. Keeji tilted his head, his ears flopping over. The totem said nothing.

Arana flapped her wings to skip from the desk and landed on my bed. She curled her talons in to not puncture my comforter. “Trust us, Scott. This will work. Hope for the best, Katie.”

He sighed and said, “Okay. I’ll let you do it, sorcerous, but don’t come crawling to me when it blows again.”

I smiled. “Perfect.”

On my decluttered desk I cleaned myself, the fragile cube of paper and wooden chopsticks sat. The cube’s bottom was open, while the four sides and the pyramid top had paper panels. Each square and triangle side had the pain-staking work of a dozen black sigils copied from my spellbook arranged and linked to designate the enchantment. If one line was misplaced, if too much or too little ink was applied, or the lines and symbols weren’t clean drawn, the spell could fray and fizzle.

Every edge was hot glued together (I burned my fingers on the hot glue gun a few times) then wrapped with four copper wires to wrap around a quartz crystal. The first few attempts were a Wave Crystal, but that tripled my charged mana’s reaction output. Quartz turned out to be safe.

I picked it up from the top by a copper loop in my left hand and the crystal in my right. “The final, final prototype.”

“Out of how many again?” Scott asked, looking at my item with skepticism.

I rolled my eyes. “Party pooper.” I then closed my eyes and focused.

Years ago and young, I grew an, let’s say, an unhealthy obsession with magic and New Age things after my brother, Robert, got me interested. I spent my free time at home reading magic books, fantasy novels, and pretending to be a witch was the highest level of closet dorkiness I ever reached. I didn’t express it out, that would be crazy.

I didn’t let it run my life. I knew it wasn’t real. A little part of me hoped and wanted it to be real, but the reality was absolute. I wised up, joined the high school volleyball team, went to college for journalism, and packed everything in a huge luggage truck at the foot of my bed. I kept it, reminding me of the good times.

Asteroid Helen and The Wave changed that. Once magic became real, the drive and passion exploded within me like a corked volcano. The tail, the ears, the armor plating, and the strong, healthy body took time to adjust, but nothing compares to the new organ in my chest—my mana heart.

I clasped over the quartz crystal and focused my awareness toward my hand, on the crystal, blocking out the surrounding sounds. A tingling sensation started in my palm.

I cleared my head of all unwanted thoughts. No pressure.

“Luchtaigh,” I whispered.

I felt my mana heart squeeze a little in my chest. A huge jolt of energy hit my spine then it traveled up to my shoulders, down my right arm, and to my clenched hand. My eyes opened seeing my whole arm blazing with Celtic tribal tattoos. The pattern changes every time I cast spells.

Every terran’s tattoos are different based on their heritage and casting magic has the be done in their heritage’s language. I’m Scotts/Irish, event Scott, so I hoped we have some Celtic history in our family trees, but I haven’t gone around to uncover it. Terrans from Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, and native tribes have their own patterns, and it just excites and puzzles me that terran magic can express that. No one is sure why, but someday someone will figure it out. Hopefully me.

As wisps of blue smoke emanated from my tattoos, I focused on the crystal and whispered, “Insileadh,” The blue light infused into the crystal, and the energy was carried from the copper wire to the black sigil network.

This part was tricky. Too much mana and the copper wire burns the sigils and catch fire. Too little and the mana doesn’t stick to the sigils. I steadied my breath. Too many times I’ve practiced, to know and feel how much mana to use in a spell, I had to be precise.

The box felt lighter in my left hand. I held my breath. Holy shit.

It started resisting my left hand’s grip, and I let go.

The box floated upright, even pulling the crystal from my right hand. “Okay. Steady, steady.”

“Watch yourself, Katie,” Scott said. I glanced over and he was as nervous as me.

“I got this.”

I cut off the mana supply, letting my tattoos die off. I felt the crystal pulling from my grip. A little at a time, when only my index and thumb held it, I held my breath, and let go.

The box flew before my face, the sigils lit with the familiar blue glow. It didn’t descend or ascend at all, just stayed in place. I exhaled, then smiled with laugher. “Holy shit. It’s working!”

“Holy shit,” Scott said too.

A rise of excitement hit me that I could’ve cried. “Ta-da! The one-and-only Walsh Mana Lantern.” I went on laughing and smiling.

“Wow. So it just floats? What else does it do?”

I steadied myself from the head rush to speak. “It just floats, but…” I walked to the balcony doors, turned to the lantern, and with my finger, asked it to come. I wasn’t sure if that worked, but I squeed loud as the lantern floated to me. I went to Scott and it followed me. Then I commanded it to stop and float a foot away from me. “Oh god. This is so cool!”

“Now that is impressive,” Arana said. “Nicely done, Katie.”

“So you made a decoration?” Scott asked.

“It’s less threatening I believe. Magic can be beautiful, so I thought that if I could make enchanted decorations, that could attract people back to the winery, including late-night parties. We can save a boatload of money off the electric bills.”

“But uses your mana. I mean, not everybody can use them as lighting. I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.”

Being right was true; I was tipping my toes into enchanted items. The lantern was my first and I had to back off.

“But I’m still showing Mom and Dad.”

“Tell them when they are ready,” Arana said. “They’re still worked up from today.” Keeji nodded.

“Eventually. But, man, look at this! It’s not blowing up in my face anymore!” I got onto the bed to sit by Scott. “Okay, I had a thought. We need to check your mana heart.”

“Don’t you think you should like… turn the lantern off or something?” Scott asked.

“If the math is right, I gave it enough mana to last for a few minutes. But I don’t want to lose this high. Let’s check that heart of yours.” I then poked him in the chest.

“Well, I…” Scott started, but I pushed him to make him lay back on my bed. “H-Hey now.”

“Patience, Scott. This test will need some focus,” I said and closed my eyes.

“At least warn m-”

I shushed him and continued.

I found this spell in the spellbook but had to refine it just for the mana heart. Scott was still injured when we got home so it wasn’t ideal to cast it, or practice casting it. I had to wait a month until he wasn’t breathing hard or not wincing from weight on his sternum. I lifted his shirt to expose his bare chest. The scar was still visible.

Both my arms lit up with blue tattoos with a simple thought. I spread my hands and pressed on his warm upper chest. I then connected the charged mana with my mental sight. Mana wisps and liquid danced over my hands and Scott’s chest.

There were many Celtic words I had to sound out to make it work, all recited from memory. Once done, I linked with Scott’s nervous system.

“I’m in.”

I saw his body in my mind. Every organ, every nerve, every blood vessel. Scott’s other scars on his arms and neck. I focused on his chest, the mana heart itself. It’s hard to describe feeling an organ with your mind but think of an invisible hand cradling it, examining it. I traced its surface, feeling the leathery flesh and veins over it. I felt the scar with my mind. It felt solid.

“Well, doctor,” Scott said. “Am I clear to be trained by my girlfriend?”

I paused, then smiled, just to see him smile as I opened my eyes. “Clean bill of health, Mr. Dunne.” I said then leaned down and kissed him. “Keeji can turn on the mana heart, as long as he turns it off at the slight instance of pain.”

Keeji barked. “We can do magic again!” He rolled too much and fell off the bed with a grunt.

Scott and I shrugged it off and laughed.

But I did it. I made an enchanted item. I wonder what else I can make?

Hampton Inn

Alexandria, Louisiana

6:42 PM

My cellphone rang from the hotel room’s nightstand. I shot up from daydreaming every conceivable way my trip back home could be ruined, from Reneé calling the cops on me still, to some random person recognizing my face. Four out of five the cops barge in while I took a piss. I answered the phone.

“Hey, Todd, took you long enough,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “What’s Tabitha doing? Is Reneé still crazy?”

“Who?”

The voice was different but familiar. I reoriented myself and checked my phone, noticing the Caller ID and picture. A mute curse left me before I talked. “Oh. Sorry, Mom. I thought you were someone else.”

“Wanna talk about it?” She asked. I picked up heavy exhaustion in her voice. There are only a few things that could exhaust Mom: a wine sale, an event on the patio but we haven’t had one in a while, or the asshole by the lake. Guess which one was obvious these days.

“No, it’s fine, really,” I said. “I heard the news. I haven’t had time to call. Is everything calmed down?”

“Still a bit worked up.” She sighed heavily. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Same here.” I rubbed a kink in my neck. Hotel pillows are terrible for me. “Hope that is not what you’re calling me about.”

“No. Just want to ask when you’re coming home.”

She knows to not bring Jaruka up around me, or on the phone. I have issues with him like everybody else, but he sure does have issues with me. The first time I met him, I thought he was some Wave mutant, not an alien. I clobbered his head with my lucky shovel and that was before finding out the Titan Spires. I swear, he raises his fist at me whenever I’m near him either by accident or purpose. Pisses me off every time. He hasn’t attacked Scott, Katie, or the rest of the family, but I’m always suspecting I’ll be the first to get brain damage from his fists.

“Soon,” I said, sighing after.

“How soon?”

“Tomorrow morning. I…”

I stopped myself. Katie has more interest in magic and the supernatural that she now lives in it, but my parents can be defensive and protective of sudden changes they don’t or won’t understand. The media feeding them fear and misinformation about it is a hard battle for her and Scott. Even me.

Then me, hunting ghosts as a hobby, calling myself a spectrologist with a crazy theory. Or found it. Those memory cards in my messenger bag had much evidence and sifting through them will be a while. It would be inconceivable if Mom or Dad found out.

“Robert?” She asked me.

I blinked. “Yeah, sorry. Just a bit tired. I’m flying out tonight.”

“Discovered anything?”

Sighing, I said, “No, I haven’t found anything useful.”

“Look, I know this hobby is important to you, but you didn’t have to storm out like that.”

No matter how much she wanted me to stay, I needed to breathe. Jaruka was the obvious reason and being cooped up in the winery was beginning to get mind-numbing. Getting far away from him felt better, for a little while.

“Mom,” I said with seriousness. “Ask me why?”

“What?”

“We’ve been over this. Jaruka was driving me bonkers and I needed out.”

“You bonkers? What about us?” Her voice rose with snapped syllables. “It’s been crazy here if you haven’t heard.”

I nodded without talking.

“He consumed and puked a full case. A thief nearly robbed us. Katie did her best until Jaruka put the thief in the hospital.”

“Punched his lights out?” I asked.

“A half-empty wine bottle to the face, Katie said.”

“Jesus.”

I glanced at my phone with a glimmer of a chance Todd was calling. Come on, call back already.

“Now I really need to hide my face,” I said to Mom. “Can that asshole ever behave?”

Mom scoffed. “As if.”

“Anything else I should know?” The talk was helping me forget that monstrosity at the plantation.

“We just had dinner,” she said. “But… Katie also shared her creation, despite Scott’s wishes.”

“Oh dear God, she didn’t.” Fearing the worst what she meant was a real wake-up call. Too many times Katie created something and have it blow up in her room or outside, almost a bomb incident. Surviving it, yes, but still dangerous. She never told me what she was making, but there were times I checked without knowing. Crystals, glue, and paper all over her bedroom desk.

“She didn’t blow things up,” Mom said, and that was surprising to me.

“What?” I raised myself in the bed.

“She showed it off after dinner in the backyard, to be safe, and it turned out to be those Chinese paper lanterns you know at festivals and such. It looked weird.”

“Enchanted it. I think you meant enchant it.”

“Whatever.” Even she has trouble saying those words. “The thing floated on its own and followed her wherever she went. She was smiling so wide and I was unsure how to react. It all just… you know.”

“I know.”

Katie worked her butt off to make the item work without blowing up the house. How about that? I went for my bag and pulled out a small black notebook of mine, scribbling on a blank page near the end.

Magic Paper Lantern-Ask Katie.

“So does his mean you’re accepting magic?” I asked while putting my notebook away.

“No just… not yet.”

“Well, it’s a start.” I checked the time on the nightstand’s alarm clock. I was far from boarding my flight, but I have to be there early. “Look, my flight is coming up soon and I gotta run.”

“Oh, okay.” She sound sullen at that, then went on. “Oh, before I forget, I overheard Katie, Scott, and Jaruka talking to Brill about…”

“Nah, not right now,” I said. “I don’t want him in my head right now. I’ll figure out tomorrow.”

“Right. Sorry. Take care, Robert. Call us if any trouble happens.”

“I will.” I then hanged up. A stillness was felt through my hotel room, packed suitcases ready for me.

With the time, it was pointless to wait for Todd’s call any longer. I had to get to the airport.

I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder. My duffle bag was strapped to the pullout bar of my Pelican equipment case. I took a few calming breaths before I opened the door to the hallway. I still felt a little paranoid if anybody listened to my call with Mom. To my luck, the hallway was deserted.

Once in the elevator and pressing the lobby button, I got startled by the phone ringing in my pocket that I dropped my roller case. The caller ID was Todd’s. Perfect timing. “God, finally. It’s about time, Todd. I waited all day for you and I’ve been unable to reach you too. Please tell me Tabitha is alright.”

A short cough from the caller was familiar, but it wasn’t Todd’s raspy cough.

“A simple high would suffice, Mr. Walsh,” she said.

“Sassel?”

“Yes.”

I picked up my roller suitcase as I shuffled my messenger bag to the other arm. “Hang on, where’s Todd?

“Obviously you’ve been panicking since then, Mr. Walsh. Todd is fine, for now. He’s distracting Reneé at the moment,” she said. “Just so you know, Tabitha is okay now.”

The news would have been great if Todd said it, but Tabitha’s totem is okay. “Oh, thank God. Thanks, Sassel.”

“She’s still groggy after waking up but her health is the same before things went bad.”

“Yes, that, I’m so sorry I put you and her in danger,” I said.

“Stop repeating it, you did enough apologies already.”

“But what about Reneé? I’ve been worried sick if she called the cops on me. I spent all night looking out for myself.” The elevator was almost to the lobby and I had to lower my voice.

“She was about to,” Sassel said, and my heart sank. “But Tabitha woke up a few minutes after you left. She begged her sister to not go forward. Tabitha also feels responsible for causing it. So if you want to know how to remove the blame, thank Tabitha for keeping you out.”

The elevators doors opened.

“Oh well, uh, thank you,” I managed to say. I dropped my key and grabbed the bill at the front desk as a spoke. “So there’s nothing to worry about? Is it as what I predicted?” I nodded at the receptionist, mouthing thank you to her.

“Oh please, you’re still after that?”

I stuffed the bill in my bag. Even with all of it going on, I had to settle my nerves over this theory. “It’s really important. How did she pass out? If there’s any pattern to figure out, Tabitha might have it. This can help other terrans, my little sister, even.”

The driver glanced at me from the rearview mirror. I turned away to not make eye contact.

She could hang up any moment. Just thinking about a cat pressing the smartphone’s buttons is comical. But I know one thing: totems are part of their hosts. Katie is a study horse, the same as Arana. Scott and Keeji are different, but I’ve seen others act the same. Tabitha is a helper, a voodoo priestess that helps the community, and Sassel can react the same.

“Fine,” she sighed.

I smiled. I then asked the hotel shuttle driver to take me to the airport as I set my bags in the back.

“After we split,” Sassel started, “we searched the living room, kitchen, dining room, and found nothing. That coward Frank kept his distance from Tabitha.”

I nodded. I got into the shuttle and it drove off to the airport. “Thought so. You know the rest from me, but what from you and Tabitha?” I kept myself aloof from the driver in case he caught wind of our talk. I could know if he was anti-terran or not.

“We saw no floating candlesticks like you, but we saw shadows. Moving shadows. It was… unnerving to say the least.”

I recalled no shadows from me or Alex’s search. A new piece to the puzzle. Nothing that I remembered from other stories mentioned shadows. Sassel explained there were multiple shadows. Some were blobs. Some were full-figured humans. What scared Sassel was they congregated more around Tabitha, growing in numbers and size as they walked from room to room. Sassel told them it was time to move out just as I and Alex saw the candlestick crash in the master bedroom.

In the living room, Tabitha was spooked by a shadow.

Sassel explained Tabitha charged up for self-defense, but lost control of her active arm. She could feel Tabitha’s fear and pain. Her charged mana, just like all the other stories I’ve read, ejected from her African tattoos. Every ounce of mana Sassel said plummeted through the floorboard cracks. The amount of that trauma was enough to make Tabitha pass out and collapse to the floor until Sassel called for me.

“Jesus,” I said. “Did she say any word or a finger flick?”

“No, not a word, not even chaje. Just reflex. She said that… like her life was being drained from her, her chest felt compressed. It scared her. I felt her fear, Robert. Nothing like her transformation.”

Just like the other stories, I thought. “You sure Tabitha is okay?”

“I’m her totem, Robert. I know everything about her. Anything else you want from me or Tabitha, because I think I said enough.”

I glanced up to see the airport terminal approach. I told the driver thanks before he stopped at the checkpoint. Security checked me and the driver for glowing tattoos before the driver drove through.

“I think I got everything. Tell Tabitha thank you and call me if anything else happens.”

“With Reneé keeping an eye on her, I don’t think so. Goodbye, Robert.” Sassel then hung up.

The abrupt end didn’t cause any stir of anger within me. Nothing else to say that I’m done with Tabitha. End of story. But I still felt in some way wanting to speak with Tabitha in person. Going against Reneé and Sassel is no option. I couldn’t leave Tabitha all the blame, but for real, if they don’t want me involved anymore, then so be it.

At least the cops aren’t involved. That’s for sure.

I got off the shuttle with my things and entered the small international airport. I already checked in. My digital ticket was on my phone.

Since The Wave, every airport in the world increased security to high if not ridiculous levels. Alexandria International Airport installed a higher fence a few hundred yards around, twice at the runway ends, along with around-the-clock National Guard security keeping every terran out. It was unanimous that terrans were banned from flying to the point of gunpoint. And I mean literally. Any terran can attack a plane and commit genocide, people said.

At security, it got more personal. Scanning my bags, going through the full-body scanner, then had to deal with the guard’s physical inspection. “Have you experienced any pain on your body,” the guard said and I shook my head. She checked me anyway, looking for any sign of glowing tattoos. Some smart guy found out that mana emits radiation so a Geiger meter was on every guard’s hip. When I was cleared and putting back on my shoes, a family was ruthlessly escorted, at gunpoint, out the airport. The teenage boy had a tattoo on his left hand, crying. Downgrading to traveling by car was their only option. Like I said, you get a tattoo before the flight, you get grounded.

Airport attendance was hit. There were several people waiting to board the plane to Ontario when I arrived. It was so bad that the early ones, even me, were offered first-class upgrades. I passed the chance.

The crew was on edge. Everyone kept an eye on the passengers and themselves for any signs of terran tattoo pain. If I got one during the flight, or the other passengers, or the stewardess, or hell the pilot, game over. We turn around, land in the next available airport, or keep going, depending on how long the person has before transforming and ripping the plane apart. Thankfully in the five-hour flight, nobody got one.

I arrived in Ontario before sunrise just as a terran attack was stopped at baggage claim. My luggage was retrieved without issue. Two terran bodies were covered in white sheets, one was still smoldering in ash. I had to walk a bit faster to my Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot before more emergency personnel cleaned up the mess. I texted my Mom I’ll be arriving home soon, then drove down the 5 freeway then the 15.

Mom texted back the 15/91 intersection was “fixed.” The overpass was still under construction and not obstructing my route as it did a week ago. Freeways were still being fixed, or not maintained at all from The Wave’s damage. Purple crystals were still in the ground. No terrans were in sight, either nowhere or in disguise as they drove.

I got home safe a few hours later, thankful that no paparazzi were around. The winery looked the same as I parked. Dad was still asleep when Mom saw me come in, grateful and hugging me, then told her to leave me alone to sleep for the rest of the day. I carried my luggage to my room without disturbing the rest of the family.

I passed out once the pillow touched my head.