The Ascendants: Genesis (9 page)

Dr. Connors ignored Cayde and looked directly over towards Mia. His face was scrunched and his throat felt awfully dry. “What were you talking about just a minute ago? What do you know about the attack at the school?”

Mia had an apprehensive look on her face. As always when she felt unsure, she turned to James for decisiveness.

“The attack that took place at the school is the same place we just came from,” James said.

Dr. Connors raised his eyebrow. “Did you two have something to do with that?” He hated the fact that he even had to ask that question, but he knew anything could've gone wrong and the situation could've easily changed from casual to deadly.

“No, no, we had absolutely nothing to do with that attack!” Mia said shaking her head repeatedly. “Well I mean, we did have something to do with it, but not in the way that you think. Like, we didn't start the attack on any civilians or anything like that, but we were definitely involved.”

Dr. Connors stared at Mia with his mouth open in disbelief. “I have no idea what the heck you're talking about. What happened at the school?”

“We ran into some trouble. We found Lucas, and he had no interest at all in coming back with us or helping us in any way. Before I had the chance to use a more persuasive approach, we heard screaming. So I went to check it out and I couldn't believe what I saw.”

Cayde's ears perked up. “What did you see?”

“A monster,” Mia said.

James gave Mia a less than amused look. “An alien, we saw a seven foot, red skinned, long dreadlock wearing, massively built alien. The alien used some sort of staff weapon the likes of which I've never seen. He took on our combined abilities without breaking a sweat.”

The room filled with another awkward silence. Dr. Connors wet his lips and did his best to remain calm. “I honestly don't know what's worst. The situation with this G.U.A.R.D. agency or your so called alien.”

“You think they're covering the existence of this alien up?” Cayde asked.

“I don't think so,” Dr. Connors said.

“Actually, I'm pretty sure they are covering it up. I noticed the change in demeanor when he mentioned Post Human in conjunction with the school. He knew he was telling a lie, and it bothered him,” Christine said.

“Yeah, well it bothered me too. That staff weapon literally burned a hole right through the body of some unsuspecting teacher.”

“We are way in over our heads!” Cayde said. Cayde looked around the room. He looked at the bruises James and Mia acquired battling the alien, Tori's massive headache from using her telepathy and locating abilities too much. He noticed the weary expression on Dr. Connors face and the shaky hands Christine was trying to hide. The Ascendants were in complete disarray and it worried him.

“You're right Cayde, we are way in over our heads.” Dr. Connors reached in the breast pocket of his suit, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his glasses. He looked around the room. His eyes connected with each member of the group and smiled. “When I first started this group, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how I was going to find you or even more so, how I was going to protect you.”

Dr. Connors locked in on Tori. “Then I found Tori. Be it luck or sheer destiny, Tori's abilities allowed me to track down others. I was able to find people who based on her review were like-minded individuals. With every single one of you, my confidence grew, and I knew we had the makings of something really special. We stayed underground, we remained quiet, and we trained. Now granted, I've seen some pretty powerful Post Humans out there, but I've never seen a group as committed to one another as you guys are.”

Cayde rubbed his face. He knew Dr. Connors' words were supposed to be motivational, but after the day they had, he wasn't feeling too motivated. About the only motivation he had at that moment was to leave.

“What exactly are we supposed to do Dr. Connors? I mean your speech is all fine and dandy, but the fact remains we have a huge target on our back. How are we supposed to take on highly trained government agents and superior aliens?”

“We do it together,” a familiar voice said.

The group nearly broke their necks as they turned their heads towards the control room's entrance. They stared in disbelief and stood still.

Finally, James made a move forward. He studied the individual carefully. James raised his right hand forward and reached for the individual's face, but the intended target quickly grabbed James' wrist and twisted it downward.

“If you value that arm, then I suggest you keep your hands to yourself,” the individual said. The two shared an intense stare. Neither of them blinked or batted an eye.

“Is it you? Is it really you?” Tommy asked.

“Of course it's me, who else were you expecting?”

“Pretty much anyone but you,” Cayde said.

The individual looked at Cayde with a completely perplexed expression. “Why?”

Dr. Connors stepped forward. His face as white as a ghost and his mouth as dry as the desert. “Because Susan, you're supposed to be dead.”

Epilogue

After his battle with James, Mia, and Lucas, the red skinned alien safely retreated to his ship and returned to the dark side of the moon. He had a plethora of advanced technology at his disposal, including technology that concealed his presence from Earth's satellites and long range sensors.

While the alien's home world was several million light years away, the moon served as his staging area. For months the alien occupied the moon, monitoring human activity and recording all of it to his superior.

The alien grimaced slightly as he walked to his private quarters and took off his armor. He laid his stuff neatly on the nightstand next to his bed and strolled over to a small table on the opposite side of his bed. He reached inside the small compartment located on the right side of the table and took out two small devices.

The first device was in the shape of a square. It was see-through and on the inside were a number of intricate electronic parts that would've been difficult for the majority of the people of earth and the alien's home world to comprehend.

The alien pressed the small triangular button on the left side of the device and held it to his body. He relaxed as the device activated and quickly went to work repairing any bodily damage he suffered during his altercation with the Post Humans.

It took all of two minutes for the device to heal his wounds. Once the device finished doing its job, the alien returned the device to its spot in his drawer and picked up the other device.

The second device was slightly larger in size and shaped triangularly with jagged edges. Unlike the first device, this one wasn't see-through, but its insides were just as intricate as the first. The alien activated the device and waited patiently for a response.

Seconds later, a live holographic image of another red skinned alien emerged. “Supreme Commander, I bring news on the humans,” the alien said. He stood tall, nodded, and bowed before his leader.

“Rise Azir,” the Supreme Commander said.

Azir rose to his feet and waited patiently to be granted permission to speak.

While Azir was quite intimidating in stature and looks to the Ascendants, he was nothing more than a scientist on his home world. Azir stood near seven feet tall while his superior was nearly a foot taller and even larger.

“What news of the human world do you bring?”

“My lord, I have just recently returned from battle. I encountered three humans with abilities.”

The Supreme Commander smiled. Sharp jagged, brown stained teeth flashed. In the background what looked like hundreds more of Azir's kind stopped what they were doing and listened in on the conversation. “Go on.”

“My lord, I battled two of the male species and one female. They each possessed a different ability.”

“What sort of abilities did these humans possess?”

Azir thought back to his battle. “One male, dark skin and built rather strong for a human possessed increased strength.”

The Supreme Commander snickered. He felt there was no equal in regards to strength when it came to his oppositions. “How strong could he have possibly been?”

“Nowhere near as strong as you my lord and nowhere near as strong as the Genoshians.”

The word “Genoshians,” always evoked a strong reaction from the Supreme Commander. In fact, it evoked a strong reaction out of just about every Ashtarian that ever lived.

Azir continued. “I do need to say that while this particular human displayed a power set far less superior to ours, I have seen on the thing they call a television, others that certainly can rival our strength my lord.”

The Supreme Commander did not like the sound of that. He gritted his teeth and began to pace around the command center of his massive warship. “What of the other two you encountered?”

“The other male, he seemed to know the two he battled with, but from what I could tell, he was not with them. I do not know how to explain it, but I know that when the battle was over, he left alone.”

“What can he do?”

Azir thought back to his encounter. Out of the three it was Lucas that impressed him the most.

“He was able to manipulate ice. He produced ice from his body and used it to trap me.”

The Supreme Commander cocked his head slightly. He turned around and spoke in another language to the navigational officer before turning back to face Azir. “You were encased in ice?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“This human produced ice from within himself. There was no sort of technology used to aid him?”

Azir nodded. “As far as I could tell my lord, the human possessed no such device to mimic such abilities. He did it himself.”

“And what about the female?”

Azir thought of Mia and smiled. “The female, while little in stature, she possessed a big heart. She reminds me of our female warriors. This woman was able to move objects just by thinking about them. She would flick her wrist and objects around her would move however she decided to manipulate them. I believe they call it telekinesis.”

The Supreme Commander growled loudly and began barking out orders to everyone aboard the ship. “Is there anything else?”

“The humans without these abilities grow leery of those with them. As a result, the government of this world has formed an agency designed to battle these humans with abilities and put them away if need be. In my opinion, matters between these two groups of humans will continue to deteriorate to the point that a civil war of sorts will occur.”

The Supreme Commander nodded his head forward and smiled. He thought to himself for a moment and while he thought, no one on his ship moved a muscle. “So it’s true, the descendants of the Genoshians really do reside on Earth. The second generation walks amongst the stars and they have no clue the lineage in which they come from.”

Azir pulled up an image on his computer. Using sophisticated, stolen technology from an extremely intellectual race of beings, Azir was able to monitor all of Earth's satellites and communications without being detected.

“What is it Azir, what do you see?” the Supreme Commander asked.

“Opportunity.”

The Supreme Commander let out a loud and sadistic laugh. “Indeed Azir, opportunity indeed!”

“My lord, how shall I proceed?”

The Supreme Commander sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. His thoughts were interrupted when the weapons officer notified him of an incoming attack. Three long range missiles shot forward and attacked the Supreme Commander's vessel. “Shields up.” The ship rocked slightly from the impact of the missiles. “Status report?”

“Shields holding at ninety-nine percent my lord,” one of the monitors stated.

The Supreme Commander smiled. “Good.”

He moved forward and looked out the window at two hostile ships. One on the left and the other on the right. “Show these pathetic beings the might of the Ashtarian empire.”

The monitor smiled. “With pleasure my lord.” The monitor looked towards the weapon’s operator and nodded. The weapon’s operator nodded back and armed the ships primary weapons. With a click of a button, a red plasma like energy torpedoed out of the warship and headed straight for the two enemy vessels.

The red plasma hit the two ships and ripped through its defenses with minimal effort. The red plasma engulfed both ships and within minutes, the two vessels exploded into millions of pieces.

Satisfied with the outcome, the Supreme Commander turned back to face Azir. “The humans might have abilities now, but they have no idea what they're up against. Continue to monitor the human's progress and be ready for my signal. Soon we will destroy the Earth and repopulate it with our people.”

“Yes my lord, as you command it.”

The Supreme Commander stared out into the stars. His mind filled with thoughts of galactic glory. “Soon the Earth will be ours!”

Sneak Peek

Below is a sneak peek at one of the many adventures of two superheroes from the League of Protectors, Jackson Prescott and Shayne Tucker. Enjoy!