Come Alive Ch. 21

'Yes. Is that possible?'

'I don't think so. At least, not in any way I know of.'

'This is strange. When humans gather and listen to music many tend to become one with the structures within the music, and it is here that we have experienced many encounters recently.'

'Encounters? You mean, as in reaching out?'

'Yes.'

'So, you think it is people changing, or something within the structure of the music changing people?'

'We are uncertain."

"I see,' Taggart said knowingly. 'And so you think you have discovered something new...'

'Yes, Henry. Something new, but also something quite unexpected.'

+++++

He saw the women one morning while out walking; he watched them make their way out to the water's edge and disrobe, then most surprisingly, he stared - utterly amazed - as the two women stepped into the icy water and simply disappeared. Not at all sure what to do, he grew concerned when they did not reappear after several minutes, so he pulled out his phone and called the town's rescue services.

Within minutes divers and helicopters were scouring the waters north of Bergen.

21.7

Rolf was aft now, down on the swim platform helping a thoroughly flummoxed Anton back onboard, while both Mike and Dina stood, transfixed, after 'Pinky' merged with Henry. Moments later Anton and Rolf were back in the cockpit, Rolf's face an open book, Anton's a vivid mix of confusion and paranoid fury.

"What the fuck is this shit?" the Russian aviator bellowed, pointing at the shimmering amber-pink aura pouring out of Taggart's every pore - yet by this point even a few passersby on the canal tow-path had stopped - and were gaping - at the bizarre spectacle.

"Be quiet!" Dina snarled. "Don't interfere - don't say another word!"

Anton took the towel Rolf handed him and shook some stray water from his ears, all the while never taking his eyes off Henry Taggart - until, a few minutes later the swirling sphere emerged from Henry's face and simply winked out of existence...

...and as suddenly Henry seemed to phase back into the present...

He saw Dina and reached out for her - and she intuited that Henry was now suddenly very unstable and about to pass out. "Mike! Help me!"

Yet it was Anton who reached out for Henry, Anton who caught him as he started to fall, and Anton who helped Henry onto the helmsman's seat and held him there while Henry caught his breath and regained his bearings.

But even so, everyone could see the change that had come over Henry.

He seemed physically diminished, palpably weaker now, and Dina rushed to his side and began a quick assay of his vitals even as Henry seemed to wilt into her gathering strength. "Rolf, some water, please," she said to her grandson.

"That was some seriously weird shit," Henry muttered.

"Da," Anton echoed, "you no kidding..."

"Henry," Dina said, sudden concern clear in her voice, "this must not happen again. Your pulse is now very low and you are as white as a sheet..."

"I didn't exactly ask her to do this, you know?" he sighed.

"What happened?" Mike asked. "Did she tell you why?"

"I'm not sure. She had a bunch of questions and she's looking for answers..."

"Did she know how this would effect you?" Dina asked.

"I don't know. Next time you see her why don't you ask...?"

"What is this?" Anton asked. "You speak of woman, yet I saw no woman...?"

"Well, believe me, she is," Henry smiled wistfully. "And she has an attitude, too."

"But," Anton barked, "what is she?"

Mike chimed in now: "She's not from around here, Anton."

"No shit she's not from around here," Anton growled. "Question is, anyone know where she from?"

Mike pointed at the sky, which caused an audible gasp from the startled crowd of onlookers still gathering on the tow-path...

...yet as if on cue a gust of hot wind blew threw the crowd, reminding everyone of the approaching danger, and even Henry sat up and took note of the change in temperature.

"Rolf, let's get the latest weather updates pulled, okay?" Henry said, ignoring the questions written all over Anton's ruddy face, as he took a bottle of water from Rolf. Henry looked at the compass and then tried to visualize their physical orientation to the English Channel - and he figured they were almost bow-to the north, so tied-off to the west bank of the canal. So, they would be beam-to any gusts that came up the Channel and hit the Belgian coastline.

Not good.

And then fragments of the dream returned. The red skies, the coiling clouds and the rows of medieval buildings burning...and that goddam music... 'Yes, just like those right over there,' he said to himself as Rolf bent over the plotter and pulled up a new page.

Taggart looked at the dock lines Rolf had set, and while most were well-placed he could see a few weak zones that would need reinforcing if the winds were truly apocalyptic. Then again, if the storm was packing both extreme heat and wind speeds probably nothing would save them - aside from fleeing to the south and east.

Pages started appearing on the plotter and he leaned forward, fought through the light-headedness and the pulsing light that rattled his vision; he saw Epsilon's eye was now in mid-channel, about halfway between Brighton and LeHavre and headed directly for Calais - and just beyond, Bruges.

And he wondered then... 'Should I send them away? Get them to the train station and send them to Geneva?'

"What are you thinking, Henry?" Anton asked.

"It might not be safe here."

"Da, no kidding. Maybe we go south?"

"Maybe."

"And what about you, Henry?" Dina asked. "You won't leave, will you?"

Henry shook his head. "No, I don't think so. There's something I've got to see here."

"Well," Anton said quietly, "that is that. We stay."

Henry looked at Rolf, then Dina...

"Don't you dare say it, Henry Taggart!" Dina hissed before she turned and went below.

Taggart nodded and looked at Rolf: "Get some more line ready to go, son. We've got some work to do..."

+++++

The large female was with Eva when she felt the disturbance growing along the shore across the bay. Men were gathering in the water and in the air and in an instant she knew who the men were looking for. She reached out to Eva and passed along images of her concerns...

As Eva processed these warnings she reached out to Henry, but she felt danger gathering all around him and pulled back. Not knowing what else to do, she wondered what would happen if she reached out to one of Them - the pink one, perhaps?

And a moment later a pinkish orb appeared in front of her, a fiercely glowing shimmer perhaps a foot beneath the water's surface. She ducked under the water and almost instinctively placed her hands on the sides of the sphere, and in the next instant she felt Pinky probing the deepest reaches of her mind.

And when she felt traces of Henry in this new place she closed her eyes to the warmth as it enveloped her. She turned and looked around, saw that both she and Britt were no longer in the sea. Then she realized she had been holding her breath, so she inhaled - slowly - until she relaxed as fresh air washed through her lungs.

And then she turned to Britt...

...who was clearly not amused.

"What happened?" Britt cried as she struggled to move, before she began screaming "Where are we?" over and over again.

Eva went to her, reached into her mind, let her feel Henry all around this place until she felt Britt relax.

"Do you know where we are?" Britt finally whispered.

"No, but I think Henry does."

"I don't know if I can do this anymore, Eva," Britt said to Eva while clutching frantically at her belly. "I don't understand what's happening to me...to us..."

Eva grabbed Britt, pulled her close and told her everything would be fine, but she could feel Britt's trembling uncertainty. "You have to trust Henry. You know he wouldn't let anything bad happen to us. Trust him, trust him..."

She felt Henry just then, felt his probing thoughts, then he felt her moving-on to Britt, then Britt growing warm and soft again as his thoughts caressed her...

...and only then did she pull back and look at her surroundings...

They were in a tank of some sort; huge, smooth and cylindrical, made of some kind of resinous material, but one area was full of viewing ports. She focused there, on the ports, and she tried to move but found she couldn't, then realized they were weightless and had nothing to push against.

Then the cylinder began spinning, very slowly at first, but faster - until gravity began to assert itself and they both began drifting to what must have been purposed as a floor. Once she felt something solid underfoot, Eva walked over to the wall of viewing ports...

...in the space beyond the ports she saw dozens of glowing orbs moving about some sort of control room, all heedless of her presence - aside from one pinkish orb spinning there just on the other side of the port.

Then she felt Britt standing by her side.

"I'm okay now," Britt said.

"I know. How is Henry?"

"Worried. That storm, Epsilon. It's coming right at them..."

Then Eva cocked her head to the side a little as a gentle stream of music came to her...

+++++

Henry and Rolf stood on the tow-path looking over the web of lines they had wrapped around Time Bandits, hoping they would be strong enough to secure the boat to the canal. Both banks were lined with small craft now, and crews were frantically running lines to every available tree or bollard in sight. Henry looked at the mess and shook his head, knowing that if even one or two boats cAME loose the end results would be ugly - perhaps tragically so.

"I wonder how mother is doing?" Rolf asked.

"She's fine," Taggart sighed.

"How do you know that, Henry?"

"Good question. Someday I might even know the answer myself."

"So?"

Taggart looked around, saw a bench in the shade of an old Linden tree and he walked over and sat there; not knowing what else to do, Rolf followed and sat beside him.

"Do you think we've done all that we can do to secure the boat to the tow-path?" Henry asked.

"I think so...yes."

"So, your mind can be at ease about that? Is that about right?"

"I suppose so."

"Fair enough. With your mind at ease, can you imagine going to a place where you can think of nothing at all?"

"Nothing? No, not really."

"Close your eyes, Rolf."

"Okay."

"Concentrate on the blackness you see now, and only that."

"Okay."

"Just listen now. Don't think, don't even try to answer me. If you feel something strange, just concentrate on the blackness and ignore everything else."

And just as Winky had shown him once, he reached inside Rolf's mind until he could feel the boy's uncertainty gathering all around them...

"Listen to the wind in the trees," Henry whispered. "To the sound of my breathing, even to the earth breathing."

He could feel Rolf relaxing, letting go.

"Your mother is here, Rolf, in this place, in this darkness. Imagine reaching out for someone in the dark, someone you know is there, only use your mind to reach out, not your hands."

He felt an image of Britt forming in Rolf's mind, watched the image resolve and grow.

"There she is. Keep reaching, reaching until she is close enough to hear you..."

He could feel Eva with them now too, and then Britt and Pinky were there - all of them watching Rolf, willing him on.

"Mother?"

"I'm here. Come to me, my son."

Dozens of wildly spinning orbs were gathered at the viewing ports now, watching this next most important phase of their ongoing experiment as it unfolded.

"Where are you?"

"I'm with you, my son. You've made it to me and we are together now!"

"How is this so?"

"Take my hand. See? I'm here with you..."

Henry watched as Rolf reached out for his mother's hand, then he opened his eyes.

Even before he heard Dina's screams he knew Rolf was gone, then he took a few deep breaths before he tried to stand. He pushed himself up from the bench, then the earth started spinning wildly and he fell to the ground, grabbing at the earth with his fingers to slow these new gyrations.

He heard them running for him even as the darkness came for him, then he was under the cool blue light of the vast ringed planet, only this time everything felt different...

21.8

She saw him falling, but he was still too far away. She was concentrating on his head and the way it bounced off an exposed tree root, and she winced as she imagined his brain bleeding after the impact. Yet she was by his side within moments, feeling for a carotid pulse, checking his neck, then his pupillary responsiveness. Getting him on his left side, putting her jacket under his head while she watched his breathing, counting his respiratory rate.

Then Anton was there by her side, though clearly now more confused than ever. "Where is boy?" he asked in his heavily accented English.

But she was looking past the burly Russian, looking for Mike - and she spotted him running off the boat with her 'go-bag' - which contained everything she might need to treat Henry in a crisis just like this - and he was by her side a moment later. She opened the bag and handed Mike a pack of alcohol swabs while she asked him to clean up the skin around his port. She took out an IV bag and handed this to Anton, and she told him to, above all else, hold it above Henry's head. She hooked the line to the port and then set the flow-rate, checking his heart rate from time to time while the fluid stabilized his electrolytes.

"Okay, let's get him to the boat," she said after a few minutes, and both Anton and Mike helped lift and carry him back to Time Bandits.

Only now there was a small band of thugs on deck, and it appeared that several had already been below - ransacking the interior by the looks of things scattered about the deck.

"We need to get this man below," she said to one of the teens standing by the gate in the lifelines.

"Mange moi, beetch!" he replied as two other hoods came over to join their leader. "Dees ees my boat now, so fock off!"

Taggart's eyes flickered a little, but they did not open...

+++++

He was sprawled out on the white road, staring up at the ringed blue planet as his fingers clawed at the white sandy soil...

"Why...why am I here again - now?"

He pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked around, fighting off waves of nausea and disorientation as he looked around these eerily familiar surroundings.

'Yes, there they are. The shadows. The shadows and that brilliant white place in the forest...'

He heard cries in the air now, almost like birds but more like feral cats...weird, screeching calls - that seemed to be reacting to his return.

Then one of the shadows was on him, gently pushing him down into the sandy dirt, yet as he was looking through this spectral form he saw that this shadow also had substance.

Almost humanoid, yet the skin was an iridescent matrix of textures that might have been scales, perhaps even feathers, and while the creature within at first seemed more or less androgynous he began to make out a startling pinkness to the iridescent shimmer along the edges of the creature's scales-feathers.

"Pinky?" he asked aloud.

The creature reached inside his mind: "Yes."

"Is this you? What you really look like?"

"There is trouble. I feel I must intervene, but to do so I must use your form once again."

"Okay?"

"There is great danger to you if I do so. You may not survive, Henry."

"I understand," he said as she sent images spiraling into his mind, images of thugs and of a terrified Dina. "We must do what we can do."

"I will do what I can for you after, but it may not be enough. I wanted you to be prepared for what may happen."

He reached up and put his hand on the side of her face - yet she seemed to physically swoon from his touch, rocking from side to side - and the iridescent edges of her scales-feathers began pulsing brightly in concert with the movements of his fingers. Her androgyny melted into pure femininity, and what he felt next was unmistakable; he took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "I understand, my friend. Let's go..."

+++++

Dina was by his side now. He was resting on the bench, his breathing ragged, his flesh a waxy-sallowed sheen when the change began.

Muscles redefined before her eyes as the pinkish aura began pouring from his skin again.

Anton shook his head: "This too fucking weird," he muttered as he and Mike stepped back, and as Dina placed her fingertips on Henry's carotids. Moments later Henry was sitting up and looking at the rag-tag assortment of trash on his boat.

"Take this thing out of my chest," he said to Dina, his voice now an odd, almost synthetic version of the original. She struggled to remove the line even as Henry stood and began walking towards Time Bandits...

One of the thugs pointed at Henry as he approached and the leader returned to the gate in the lifelines, this time pulling a small pistol from his coat pocket, letting it dangle by his side as Henry came close.

"Leave now," Henry said, his voice still a strange mix of human...and something else, "and I will allow you to live. Remain here and you will cease to exist."

The leader was staring at the vibrant pink aura radiating from the few visible patches of Henry's flesh, almost mesmerized by the sight - until Henry's words registered - then the pistol began swinging up until the barrel was leveled at Henry's face...

Dina saw the boy's finger contracting on the trigger in slow motion, then primer detonation followed by a shockingly bright flash of light, then the pistol simply disappeared - and with it half of the boy's right hand.

Henry raised his right hand and made as if to squeeze the air in front of his face - and in a mirror reaction the boy's body began to implode in agonizing horror, his shattered body falling to the deck in sundered stillness. One of the other thugs took out a killing knife and dashed for Henry, raising the blade as he came: Henry raised a finger and lifted this assailant a hundred meters into the air, then slamming this body down onto the ancient stone tow-path - with predictably gruesome results.

"Leave - now, and you will live," Henry said quietly to the remaining thugs, and no one doubted the wisdom of fleeing when they heard this last warning. "Leave everything," he added, but one of the thugs kicked Clyde as he started to leave and Henry responded by sending this boy into the upper reaches of the earth's atmosphere, leaving the remains to burn-up slowly on re-entry. He walked over to Clyde and placed his hand on the pup's ribs, sending radiative warmth into the bruising bones, then Henry collapsed onto the deck beside Clyde...his eyes wide and his body now very still.

+++++

He opened his eyes, looked up into Pinky's eyes.

"You know, for a benign pink alien you sure can be a mean sonofabitch."

"I could not bear to watch them hurt you and your friends."

"Oh?"

"I am no longer an impartial observer, Henry Taggart. I have feelings for you."

"Feelings? What do you mean, like love?"

"I have known of this word, but the meaning was never clear to me until you reached out to me."

"And now you understand?"

"I think so, yes."

"I see."

"Does this trouble you?"

"No, not at all."

"I know you can not love me. You do not know me. But perhaps one day this will change."

"That is the nature of love."

"You must return now. Be strong for your friends."

He nodded as pain washed through his body, then overwhelming weakness came for him...

+++++

Dina was kneeling over his inert body, hooking up the IV to the port once again then injecting adrenaline; she took her light and checked his pupils and shook her head.

"What do you need?" Mike asked.

"Bring a mattress up here, would you? I'm afraid to move him now."