The Indestructibles (Book 4): Like A Comet (17 page)

      The foursome stuck together in
their search, following a once-again wolfed-out Titus as he ran across the
hillside behind the RIETI institute on Doc's trail. The fight had begun to
catch up to Kate. She was feeling the bruises in her arms and legs, a
tightening in her back from being thrown about. Emily struggled to keep up, and
Kate found herself hanging back a little, as if to stay side by side with the
younger team member.

      There are times I hate being
human, she thought, watching the tirelessness of Titus and Bedlam a few yards
ahead of them.

      They found Doc on the edge of a
wooded area. The grass all around him had been scorched and blackened. His
glasses were gone. He held a sword in one hand—where he got a sword out here,
Kate was almost afraid to imagine—which he had thrust into the chest of the muscular
alien on the ground in front of him. As they approached, he put one foot on the
creature's torso, where another parasite had latched on, and yanked the sword
out of both host and parasite in one pull.

      Doc turned his head as he heard
them approaching and his left hand lit up in blue flames. His eyes became balls
of indigo fire as well, a rare image without his red glasses to hide them. He
looked tired, and older than he usually did, and very angry. Recognizing them
immediately, he tossed his sword to the ground, where the tip of the blade
pierced the earth and stayed upright.

      He wiped his hands on his pants,
caught his breath, and looked them up and down, clearly searching for injuries.

      "Well, magic works on them,"
Doc said, his lip curling in disgust.

      "Was that a question?"
Emily said.

      Doc looked at her impatiently, but
his face, as always, immediately softened.

      "I honestly didn't know,"
Doc said. "Magic is funny. It can be the most powerful thing in the
universe, but when it decides not to work…"

      "Are you okay?" Titus
said.

      Doc looked himself over. His
clothes were scorched and covered in blood and dirt. Kate realized they hadn't
really ever seen him after a fight before. He was so quiet, so gentle, it was
easy to forget that he was as much a warrior as any of them were, and had been
fighting terrible things longer than many of them had been alive.

      Instead of answering Titus's
question, Doc countered with one of his own. "Where's Jane?" he said.

      "Right here," came Jane's
voice from the forested area behind Doc. Seconds later, she appeared. Jane
looked as worse for wear as he did, a bruise growing on one side of her face,
dirt and leaves in her hair and stuck to her uniform, which had been trashed as
well. One whole sleeve had been ripped off at the shoulder, revealing scratches
on her upper arm. Her cape was gone. She'd lost a boot.

      And yet, she was dragging a
still-breathing alien body behind her.

      "Is that what I think it is,"
Kate said, not asking.

      Jane threw the unconscious
creature onto the ground between them. Its parasite was still whole as well,
its plantlike carapace rising and falling with shallow breaths.

      "That," Jane said. "Is
a captive."

      "Why didn't you just burn the
parasite off?" Emily said. "Like a tick? Seems like you might have
saved yourself a little trouble. Or at least, y'know… not lost your shoe?"   

      Jane wobbled a bit on her feet.
Doc leaned in, put an arm around her waist, and she draped an arm over his
shoulder for support.

      "Two reasons," she said,
eyes bleary like a boxer's after a long fight. "One, I want answers."

      "Well, I mean, we can try.
Maybe see if he speaks Esperanto or something," Emily said.

      "And two: I am so tired of
killing things," Jane said. "I wanted to try at least once to talk to
these creatures before we have to go to war with them."

      Doc looked at the two bodies, one
living, one dead. He turned his gaze off into the distance. At first he seemed
to be staring at nothing, but Kate watched his expression, and saw something
there. Anger, and very targeted anger at that. Doc Silence was focusing on
something very specific, Kate knew. What are you looking at, Doc? She wondered.
Or who?

      "Let's make sure he's locked
up tight," Doc said, turning his attention once more to the alien on the
ground. "He may not want to talk, but you're right. It's worth a try."

Chapter
27:

Not
made of cheese

I never believed I'd have a reason to
say this, Billy thought as the Earth grew blue and bright in the sky, but I'm
so happy to see my home planet again.

     
Everyone likes to go home,
Dude said.

      Well, this wasn't exactly a
pleasure cruise, Billy mused. Also I've been wearing the same clothes for like
a week. I can't wait to shower.

      Between them and home, the moon
hung shadowy and gray, disconcertingly big in Billy's vision. Close enough to
touch.

      Hey Dude. Can we swing by the moon
and look at the American flag there?

     
You realize we're trying to
save your home planet from destruction,
Dude said.

      Yeah I know. But when am I going
to do this again? Can we just drive by? I won't even get out of the car, just
roll down the window.

     
We are not in a car, Billy
Case.

      I'm speaking metaphorically.
Please? Billy pleaded. Come on, it'll be fast.

      As always, Billy could sense Dude's
reaction like a temperature shift as the alien acquiesced.

     
We can't go looking for the
flag, but there's no harm in flying in lower on our way by,
Dude said.

      Billy smirked, banking in like a
landing airplane, arms outstretched, as they flew in for a closer look. Billy
found himself marveling at how complex the surface was, more uneven and varied
than he expected. He thought it might be like a beach, just gray sand untouched
by tide or footprints.

      Hey, it's not made of cheese after
all.

     
Do you have any concept of how
ridiculous that old myth is?
Dude said.

      I always figured if the moon was
made of cheese I didn't want to see the cow involved in making it, Billy
thought. He dove in closer, reaching out, almost touching the surface of the
moon with his fingertips, but resisted, as if afraid to leave a mark on the
untouched surface there.

      What if I wrote my name? In the
dust. 'Billy Case was here.'  

     
That would be extremely mature
of you,
Dude said.
Truly a legacy to leave behind with pride.

      I kinda feel like I should take a
scoop of moon dust home. Emily would like that. I could put it in a mason jar
for her, be all crafty like.

     
I don't believe there's any
rule against taking dust from the moon,
Dude said.

      Are you approving petty larceny?

      I see no harm in it.

      Billy found himself strangely put
off by Dude's lack of protest. Maybe we've been alone for too many days
straight. I haven't had the opportunity to annoy anyone else for too long and
he's giving up.

      Billy let himself coast a bit,
drifting in the low-gravity of the moon, suddenly very annoyed he never put
pockets on his uniform.

      I didn't think this through, Billy
thought.

     
Now you know why I didn't argue
with you,
Dude said.

      Billy was about to fire off a weak
retort when he saw something drifting nearby. Spherical, it looked like a
miniature moon itself, but shiny, reflecting the light of the sun off the curve
of its surface.

      What's that? Billy said.

      Before Dude could answer, Billy
flew up toward it, taking a wide, playful arc to get a full view of the object.
Maybe it was something left behind by a space mission. Or a satellite that
wandered off too far. Something cool.

      He coasted in closer and saw that
its surface was essentially clear, like a bubble, with an oily sheen to it.
Inside Billy could see something twitching, spasming like a dog kicking its leg
as it dreamed. Billy scooted in even closer. Inside the bubble were piles of
crablike legs or plant stalks, segmented, pale green, too tangled to count.

      What the… Billy thought.

     
Don't touch that,
Dude
said.

      What is it? Billy said.

     
Please don't touch—

      Billy ran his fingers along the
surface of the bubble.

      The bubble burst.

      And suddenly the entire nest of
things inside sprang to life.

      I have made a mistake! Billy tried
to yell in the silence of space as a half-dozen creatures the size of small
dogs reached for him, looking like a cross between enormous crabs and potted
spider-plants.

     
Shoot them!
Dude said.

      I can shoot them? Billy silently
yelled.

     
Just shoot them!

      Instinctually, Billy blasted one
of the creatures with a burst of energy from his hand, sundering the thing and
sending globes of blackish fluid into the vacuum around them.

      What are these things Dude? Billy
yelled. He could feel his vocal cords trying to create sound, scratching in a
silent scream. The remaining alien creatures grabbed at him. One engulfed his
hand, but he unleashed another blast of light and the critter fell away.
Another took hold of his leg, and one more wrapped claws around his throat.
Holding the limb as it pressed down on his neck, he found himself wondering,
simultaneously—can I suffocate in space? And can I hurt myself with my own
light blasts? Billy was shocked when Dude answered both questions, reading his
mind.

     
You can't hurt yourself with
your own light blasts, and yes, you can suffocate if one of these things chokes
you to death, but they don't want to kill you.

      Billy, unable to form the words to
question how Dude knew this or what the creatures wanted to do if
not
kill him, seized the one around his neck and fired with both hands. The grip
around his throat tightened and released, and he threw the spidery thing away.

      Then he looked up at the burst
bubble they'd emerged from and watched more scrambling out like tarantulas made
from flower stems.

      Oh you gotta be kidding me, Billy
thought, trying to shake one creature off his leg while another latched onto
his upper arm. The newly hatched aliens joined them, attacking with the blind
aggression of insects.

      Dude, what do I do, what do I do
Dude.

     
Starburst,
Dude said.

      What? Billy said. We're talking
about candy now? Candy will kill them?

     
You need to send a light blast
out from your entire body,
Dude said.
Every direction at once.

      I can do that? Billy thought.

     
Yes, you can.

      And you're only mentioning this
now?

     
Focus, Billy Case.

      I'm focusing on the fact that you
keep me in the dark about all the most awesome things I can do until I actually
need to do them and can't.

     
Pull yourself together,
Dude said.

      I'm not hysterical! I'm perfectly
calm! Billy thought.

     
I mean literally you fool!
Fetal position!

      Oh, Billy thought, curling up into
a ball as the little aliens pig-piled onto him. This is seriously the weirdest
most awkward thing I have ever…

     
Gather all your strength up
into yourself,
Dude said.
Center it. Let it build up in your chest.

      I have no idea what you're talking
about, Billy thought, but he clenched his limbs in, tightened his chest
muscles, gritted his teeth, trying to pull all the tension and fear into his
belly. He'd started to glow brighter, and Billy could feel his powers humming
inside his bones like electricity.

      Now let go,
Dude said.

      Not knowing what else to do, Billy
flung his arms and legs out violently. Not sure what else to say, he silently
screamed.

      Cowabunga! Kiai! Billy tried to
yell. He knew no one would hear it, but it somehow felt better to try.

      Dude's advice worked; instead of a
single burst of light from his hands as he usually used, a vast explosion of
luminosity flared out all around him, brightening up the darkness. Billy felt
the tangled limbs of the small aliens not just loosen but break away, releasing
him immediately. All around him, the bug-plants drifted motionless and
lifeless, destroyed by his blast of energy.

      Hey, that worked, Billy thought,
automatically nudging himself away from the bodies of the creatures and toward
Earth.

      He felt incredibly tired suddenly,
the urge to sleep landing on him with the weight of a sledgehammer. When was
the last time I slept? he thought, feeling control over his flight fading. His
limbs felt loose and bendy, his vision blurry. He struggled to focus on
anything—flying, looking for straggler aliens, anything.

      I should get home, Billy thought,
even the speech in his mind slurring. He pointed his body toward Earth and
tried to kick up the speed. I'll get Em some moon dust 'nother time.

      You should rest to recover from
the fight,
Dude suggested.

      You afraid I'm going to fall
asleep at the wheel? Billy thought. How much farther do we have to go anyway?

     
Two hundred thirty eight
thousand, nine hundred miles,
Dude said.

      Oh I got this, Billy thought. He
pushed all of his strength into propelling himself toward Earth. His vision
swam. He felt vaguely nauseous. Dude's voice sounded hollow in his head.

     
Please do be careful, Billy
Case.

      Don't worry, Dude, Billy thought.
I know a short cut.

      Flying faster and faster, the stars
began to swim around him, and Billy Case, like a trucker on a the last leg of a
long journey, gritted his teeth to stay conscious, with home close and bright
right in front of him.