Max Baker: Guardian of the Ninth Sector (10 page)

With the two of them staring at the man, it didn’t take long for him to notice.  Without hesitation, he placed the book that he had been holding back onto the shelf and headed toward the table.  Kennedy turned around in time to see the man headed in their direction.

“Who is that guy?” she asked.

Max stood up to face the pursuer. Noah quickly followed suit.  Max didn’t know what was about to happen, but he knew that his week was about to get a whole lot worse.  After both of the dreams, and then Corey punching him in the stomach, some creepy guy chasing him around seemed to be the icing on the cake. 

“Mister,” Max said, a mixture of fear and anger coating his voice, “I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but you better start talking now.”

“Or what?” the heavily accented voice said.

“Or I’m calling 911 and telling them that there’s some creepy pedophile stalking my best friend up and down the streets of Forest Valley,” Noah snapped, whipping his cellphone out of his pocket.

“Wait, this guy is stalking you?” Kennedy asked, finally standing up and backing away from the man with the fedora.

As the man reached the table, he removed the fedora to reveal his face.  He was much younger than Max had initially thought; perhaps 30…35 tops.  He had spiky brown hair that was cut short on the sides. His face was clean shaven.  He was taller than Max and Noah, eclipsing them by at least half a foot.  He wasn’t a bad looking man, and Max felt a small wave of comfort wash over him.

“Sit down,” the man said as he walked around the table to the empty seat.  “You are calling unnecessary attention to us.”  The man waved off the librarian, who had stood back up and looked to be moments away from approaching their table again.  She glared at the group.  The man in black sat down without being invited.  He tossed his fedora onto the table and motioned for all of them to join him.

“Why have you been chasing me?” Max asked, nervously sitting down.

“Because I have been looking for someone very specific,” the man in black said.  “From the data that I have gathered, I believe that you are that someone.”  The man paused and looked up at Noah who was still standing at the table; Noah’s finger hovered over the send button.  “And as for you, Mr. Allman, would you please do me a favor and sit down.  I promise you that your threats of calling the local law enforcement are not intimidating in the least bit.”  The man talked slowly and, despite his heavy accent, pronounced every word perfectly. Max still couldn’t place the man’s origin and that bothered him.

“You as well, Miss Coleman, please sit down.”

“How do you know my name?” Kennedy asked, clearly offended.

“Look hombre, I’ve already dialed the nine and the one,” Noah said with his finger on the phone.  “You try anything and Forest Valley’s finest will be introducing you to a six by nine cell with your name on it.”

“The fat, little police officers that patrol this town do not frighten me my friend.  However, there is something on the horizon that is very terrifying, so please sit down. You are wasting our very limited time.”

“Well I see this has nothing to do with me, so I will be on my way,” Kennedy said. Her voice was shaking.  Apparently the stranger’s foreshadowing of something terrifying on the horizon had scared her like it had Max.  He watched as she closed her notebook and began gathering up her belongings.

“This most certainly does involve you, Miss Coleman,” the man said.  “At this point, all of you are involved. Unfortunately, our time here will be rather short.  So please, I need all of you to sit down and listen very carefully.”

“Again,” Kennedy’s voice now reflected a mixture of anger and fear, “how do you know my name, you freak?”

“That is not of importance right now, Miss Coleman,” the man sighed and rubbed his temples with his hands.  “What is important is that you sit down and you listen.  It is of the
utmost
importance that I am able to give you the information that you all need, so we can take the next step in this journey.”

“No one is taking any journey with you, Chester,” Noah said, waving the phone in the man’s face.

“Please, if you allow me just one moment I can explain,” the man said firmly.  He motioned again for Kennedy to sit. Reluctantly, she obliged.

“Go ahead,” Max said. His heart was racing with anticipation.  For some reason, this stranger no longer seemed threatening to Max.  Instead, he seemed like someone who might be able to explain the weird things that were happening to him.

“Thank you,” the man nodded at Max.  “Mr. Baker, your attention is especially important to me as I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Okay,” Max said hesitantly.

“Your mother is Evelyn Alice Baker, maiden name of Tyler, born in Atlanta, Georgia.  Is this information correct?” the man asked.  He removed a small notepad and pen from the top pocket of his black button down shirt under the trench coat.  He flipped the pad open to a blank page and began taking notes.

“Um.  Correct.”

“Your father’s name is Colin Alexander Baker?”

“How do you know about my father?” Max asked.

“Again, Mr. Baker, we have to move through these questions quickly.  I cannot stress how limited our time is here.  If I am correct, then I am not the only one who is searching for you.”

“Why would anyone be searching for me?” Max asked.

“I promise you that I will provide you with answers as soon as I can verify this information, and then get you three to the Council.”

“Woah,” Kennedy said, “I don’t know if you’re some sort of cop or if Max is in some kind of trouble, but I’m not involved in any of this, and I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I am not a cop,” the man said.

“Well, whoever you are,” Kennedy sneered, “neither Max, myself or anyone else for that matter is going to answer any more questions without an attorney or our parents present.”  She grabbed her backpack and began to stand up.  “We will be leaving now.”

The man in black looked at Kennedy.  He looked very annoyed.  He took a deep breath.

“My name is Donovan Reese,” the man said, “and I have been sent here on orders from the Council of Twelve to locate and secure Max Baker.”

“Council of 12 what?” Noah asked.

“The Council of Twelve is the governing body of the Ninth Sector.”

Max started to ask what the Ninth Sector was, but Donovan quickly cut him off.

“The Ninth Sector is a system of 12 planets, stretched throughout neighboring galaxies.  The planets are connected by intergalactic highways, or gateways from one planet to another.  I believe that they are referred to by your scientific community as wormholes.”

“An intergalactic what?” Kennedy asked, wearing a very confused look on her face.

“Intergalactic highway.  It is a portal that allows someone to hyper jump through space faster than the speed of light.  Earth is one of the 11 planets that make up the Ninth Sector.

“The Council of Twelve is the ruling body of the Ninth Sector.  It is a group made up of a representative from each of the inhabitable planets, plus three additional representatives that are voted on by the Council.  Planet Earth’s representative, Elder Moore, was the one who made us aware of the possibility that the Guardian was here in Forest Valley.

“Max Baker, you are believed to be the child that the prophecies were written about.  You are the chosen one.  Max Baker, the Council believes that you are the Guardian of the Ninth Sector.”

“Pause,” Noah said with a smile.  “Let’s play along with your little fairy tale for a minute.”

“I am not playing,” Donovan said angrily, “and this is not some fairy tale.”

“Right,” Noah said, cutting him off. His smile grew wider.  “Let’s rewind this back.  What you’re trying to tell us is that there is life on other planets, and there are ‘intergalactic highways’ that get you back and forth between these planets. Not only is Earth aware of this, but they are a chair holder of the ruling government of outer space.”  Noah started to chuckle, regained his composure and continued.  “And to top everything off, there is some prophecy floating out there that says that Max Baker is king of the universe.”

“He is not the king of the universe,” Donovan snapped at him.  “He is
the Guardian!”

Max, Noah and Kennedy sat silently, first looking at Donovan and then at each other.  They all burst into laughter.

“Oh my God,” Noah said, “Max, he’s not a child molester.  He’s a friggin’ mental patient.” Noah laughed and picked up his phone.  “I’m going to call Forest Valley Psychiatric Hospital to see if they are looking for you, bud.”

Max laughed, but couldn’t help but feel cheated.  For a split second, he had thought that this crazy person possessed some sort of knowledge that could help him understand what was happening.

“Please, put that down,” Donovan said.

“Hold on,” Noah chuckled, putting the phone up to his ear.  “Guardian of the Ninth Sector…that’s awesome.  Man, I thought you were going to be the dangerous type.”

Donovan sighed, staring at Noah contemptuously.  Max watched as the man’s hand turned a bright blue color. 

“Hey,” Max said, staring at Donovan’s hands as they grew brighter.

In one fluid motion, Donovan pointed at the phone and then to the wall.  The cellphone rocketed from Noah’s ear and smashed into the wall behind them. 

“What the hell, man?” Noah said, backing out of his chair.

“We do not have time for these games,” Donovan said. His hands were slowly fading back to their original pink color.

The doors of the library burst open. In the entrance way stood a creature on all fours.  It looked like an overgrown dog; its body was lean and muscular, reminding Max of a pit bull on steroids.  The creature was covered in a smooth black fur and wore tattered white rags around its torso and legs, almost as if it was wearing clothes.  Max stared in shock at the snarling monstrosity. Drool cascaded freely from its slack jawed snout.  It had the head of a dog, but the eyes of a cat; black slits centered in orange glowing orbs.  Whatever this thing was…it looked evil. 

“We are out of time,” Donovan said, staring at the creature.

“What is that thing?!” Max yelled. He jumped up from his seat.

The creature’s ugly head spun toward the group, and Kennedy let out a high pitched scream.  The monster revealed rows of razor sharp teeth; they were enunciated by two elongated fangs hanging from the top of its jaw.

Max, Noah and Kennedy began backing themselves toward the tall shelves of books behind them.  Only Donovan stood between the creature and them.  Max could hear the kids and parents screaming from the children’s section.  He had an uncontrollable urge to run to them…to save them.  But that was interrupted by Donovan’s screams.

“Head to the emergency door!” Donovan yelled at them, without taking his eyes off the creature. “I will meet you outside.”

Donovan threw his arms out to his side. Bright blue balls of energy engulfed his hands.  The creature lowered itself onto its haunches and let out a roar that shook the foundation of the building. The creature’s eyes darted toward the group.  It roared again, and Max knew in his gut that the creature had just changed targets.

“Go!” Donovan screamed to the group, the blue energy swirling around his hands.

Max felt Noah pulling on his shoulder, and he followed the two toward the rear of the building.  He could see the emergency exit just between the shelves marked Adult Fiction J-Ki and Ki-M.

Noah reached the door first and threw it open.  The library’s fire alarm immediately began blaring.  Max looked back into the library and could see that the alarm had confused the beast.  It looked frantically toward the ceiling as Donovan extended his arms outward in the direction of the beast.  The two separate balls of energy became one large one that the man held in front of himself.