The Indestructibles (Book 4): Like A Comet (28 page)

Chapter
49:

Some
great beast

From a distance, the fleet might appear
as one single entity, a writhing, shimmering plant, extending outward with
stalks and spiked leaves. The closer you crept—though few survived a closer
inspection—an onlooker would see ships, each unique, the fleet like a monstrous
garden, living machines great and small, all moving with a singular purpose,
walking like an angry god across a deathly silent galaxy.

      No one knows where the Nemesis
fleet—the name given to it by the Luminae centuries ago—originally came from. It's
been said that once, a historian had tried to communicate with the fleet's
brain-ship, its core, and asked what the creatures called their own species.

      "We" was the response.

      Over the centuries, planets fought
back. Some battled well. The Nemesis fleet lost many ships, like fingers from a
hand, or more aptly, like hairs from a head. The fleet grew more ships, tearing
apart the living matter of inhabited worlds and turning that substance into
extensions of itself.

      And like some great beast
shuffling off to be born, the fleet would move on, looking for its next meal.

      To call it a fleet was, in many
ways, not accurate. Alien philosophers and scientists had pointed out over the
years it is not composed of ships and commanded by a hive-like mind, with only
very specific parts of the whole able to act with true autonomy. It did resemble
a fleet, with its little fighters and its mother ships, but these were living
creatures, extensions of a greater biological presence, depending on and
supporting each other like organs and cells.

      It became a swarm of locusts,
moving as one creature, feeding one hunger, pursuing one relentless goal.

      While no one knows where or how
the Nemesis fleet came to be, survivors of their attacks have long speculated
about its origins. Some claim it was a biological weapon, created by some
ancient race, destroyed by their own creation, the fleet's first meal and
victim. Others wonder if it began as a singular creature, eating its home world
until all of its resources were gone, and then took to the stars for more.
Still others suggested it was a disease, a cancerous growth, forever
multiplying and destroying, death through biology.

      The more esoteric sort saw
something darker in it. The remorseless hunger of the creatures making up the
fleet felt demonic to them, the fleet itself some sort of hell-spawned devil.

      But few worlds that encountered
the fleet had time for such speculation. Planets which had not yet taken to the
stars, for whom the arrival of the Nemesis fleet marked both their first and
last encounter with an alien species. These beings soon watched the stars
blacked out in the night sky, or saw the shadow of a great beast rumble in
front of their sun, and all they had time for was terror and death.   

      The deaths of these worlds
silenced those philosophers who sometimes spoke up, among the Luminae and
others, and postulated that the fleet was some sort of immune system for the
cosmos, a natural thing, destroying worlds that no longer served a purpose,
cutting off dead limbs from the tree of life. And some worlds destroyed by the
fleet were in fact dark and horrible places, where the living committed
atrocities upon each other all the while citing culture and courage. There were
even times the Luminae wanted the Nemesis fleet to take those worlds.

      But others were just babies in the
blanket of the universe, young children beneath stars they had not yet named,
innocent of what occurs in the galaxy above them. When the fleet took one of
those worlds, it snuffed out all its potential. All its hope.

      These were the fears of Straylight
and of Horizon, and of all their human partners, looking up in the night sky,
waiting and watching. Wondering if their world, their home, would be one that
never reached for the sky, one that died in ignorance, or one that, through
violence and brutality, seemed to earn the cold and silent wrath of the Nemesis
fleet.

      And in quiet moments, both Luminae
would pray that, like a swimmer who never senses the shark that brushes under
his feet in the ocean and returns to shore blind to the danger he had been
susceptible to, the fleet would swim by an unaware Earth in favor of a
different meal.

      But Earth glowed blue and bright
in the crosshairs of the fleet, the singular attention of the vast many-mouthed
beast. This planet had been prepared by children of the fleet sent ahead to
scout, to make ready, to find the things they would want to keep and the things
it should consume. They travel a great distance on their journey to this world.

      Hungry, it was unstoppable and
more than ready.

Chapter
50:

All
in one place

Some day, Billy thought, I'll figure out
why I still get nervous when knocking on my own parents' door.

He rapped his knuckles softly. Staring
up from shin-level, Watson gave him a disapproving look.

      He knows what I'm doing, Dude,
Billy thought.

     
Of course he does. Canines are
particularly perceptive Earth creatures.

      He knows what I'm doing and he's
giving me the guilty eyes, Billy thought.

     
You say that like you've never
done the same thing to me.

      I can't look you in the eyes!
Billy thought.

     
You have, in fact, looked in
the mirror, making sad puppy dog eyes, to try to manipulate me in the past,
Billy Case. Don't act like you haven't.

      A potential argument was quickly
adverted by Billy's mom yelling from inside.

      "Are you seriously knocking
on the door? Just come in! What is wrong with you. I've failed as a parent,"
she said.

      "I just want to announce my
arrival," Billy said, opening the screen door and letting Watson take the
lead. The little dog charged forward, hitting the end of his leash, straining
against the harness. Billy unclipped him and the terrier sprint deeper into the
house.

      "Announce your arrival,"
Lori Case said, walking into the living room from the kitchen.

      "Hey, I don't know what you
guys are up to when I'm not here," Billy said.

      "Oh you wouldn't believe the
things we do," Lori said.   

      "Mom!" Billy said,
appalled.

      She just smirked.

      His father walked in, looked at
the dog, glanced up at Billy, then down at the dog again, before returning his
eyes to his son.

      "Is that an overnight bag you
have in your hand?" Al Case said.

      "Maybe."

      "An overnight bag for your
dog?" Al said.

      "Don't judge me," Billy
said.

      "I'm your father, I'll judge all
I want," Al said. "Your dog has a
Star Wars
themed overnight
bag."

      "Emily wanted him to have a
Hello
Kitty
bag for irony's sake, but I vetoed that," Billy said.

      "Somehow, that would have
been better."

      "I'm guessing you have your
dog and the bag because…" his mom said.

      "Yeah, things are about to
get bad. I'll feel better if he's here with you guys," Billy said.

      Watson whined. Al sat down on the
couch. The dog leapt into his lap and curled up comfortably.

      "You've been in bad spots
before," his father said. "Are you just being melodramatic, or should
we be concerned?"

      Billy shrugged. "Your only
son is a superhero. I'd rather you not worry, but I don't think anyone would
blame you at this point."

      "Where's Emily?" his
mother asked.

      "She's checking in on
Melinda," Billy said. "You guys still have Sam Barren's number?"

      "On the fridge," Lori
said.

      "I'm serious about calling
him if you need help. He knows you have his contact information, so don't be
shy about it."

      "You really think I'm going
to be shy about anything?" Al Case said.

      Billy smiled.

      "So this is where I say I'm
really sorry about not growing up to take over the hardware store for you,"
Billy said.

      Al laughed.

      "Are you kidding? I was going
to sell it to pay for my retirement anyway. You were never going to inherit the
business."

      "What?" Billy said.

      "He's kidding!" Lori
said, shooting Al a dirty look.

      "Are you sure?" Billy
said.

      "I'm always kidding," Al
said. "Your mother blames your sass mouth on me, you know."

      "Apple, tree," she said.

      "Besides, if you do what you
seem to be planning on doing, it'll be because of you and your friends I'll
still have a store to care about next week," Al said.

      "Yeah," Billy said,
looking at his parents and his silly little dog coiled on his father's lap. "If
we don't blow it, maybe everyone will get to keep their normal lives."

      "And if you do blow it?"
his father said.

      "Well, I don't think anyone
will have the time to complain about our collective incompetence," Billy
said.

Chapter
51:

The
talisman

Jane opened up the storage closet in her
room and pulled out a drawer resting along the bottom of the space. Inside lay
shirts sweaters, and winter clothes she rarely needed, because her powers
caused her to run so hot most of the time that the cold never bothered her. She'd
wear warm clothes in order to fit in, winter coats and scarves and wool hats,
but the same elements that allowed her to create fire with her hands also kept
the chill away from her skin. And so she had drawers full of nice clothes
during the winter months she never really bothered with.

      Folded neatly on top of these
sweaters and flannel shirts was something else entirely: the uniform of her
future self, the older, wiser Solar she'd met when the team traveled into an
alternate future.

      In that timeline she hadn't
survived the final battle and sacrificed herself to save the world from an out
of control version of Emily. The remaining teammates had given Jane her older
self's spare uniform as a keepsake. A white bodysuit framed in black on the
sleeves, chest, and back, with a golden sunburst emblem on the front, it stood
as a far cry from her usual costume, the red and gold outfit, complete with
cape and skirt designed to be a nod to an earlier and more innocent sort of hero.

      The Jane in that dark future had
been more utilitarian, and the black and white felt more symbolic of a world on
the verge of collapse.

      The suit they'd given her on that
occasion had never been worn. An old spare costume, held onto—just in case—and tucked
away for safe-keeping. The future heroes thought Jane might like it, in case
she ever had a need to be inspired.  

      She kicked off her shoes and
undressed, pulling on the black and white costume carefully. She was surprised
when it fit perfectly, though, she mused, that should be the least surprising
thing in the world. It seemed strange to be in a one-piece, and she felt
somewhat incomplete without her cape as well, but she looked in the mirror; the
simple colors of the suit contrasted with the flame-like nature of her hair and
she did, in fact, feel inspired. It was as if she were seeing that future
version of herself, who'd been so brave and self-sacrificing.

      Emily revealed during their time
in that dark tomorrow that she had seen only one Jane. A hero.   

      She turned and headed down the
hallway, seeking out Doc's lair. She found him mulling over that strange book
he'd obtained from the Lady.

      "Find anything good?"
she asked.

      Doc placed a silk bookmark on the
page and closed it.

      "There are spells in there
that I never want to see cast on this planet," Doc said.

      "Good thing you're going to
practice them in outer space, huh?" Jane said.

      Doc folded his arms across his
chest and leaned back on his table.

      "You're determined to do
this, aren't you?"

      "I think I can buy us some
time," Jane said. "And believe I can sneak in and out of there safely.
If I can get them talking…"     

      "We don't know if they'll
even understand you, but… I get it. You meet with them, maybe you can assess
what their defenses are," Doc said. "I'd like to go with you."

      "You and I both know it'll be
easier if things go bad for me to just punch my way out," Jane said. "And
If I'm captured you'll come save me."

      "Our track record has you
rescuing me a lot more than me saving you, Jane," Doc said.

      "Well then, you owe me,"
Jane said.

      Doc pushed himself away from the
table and went over to another part of the room, covered in trinkets and small
magical items. Emily called it costume jewelry, but Jane had, over the years,
seen Doc use these items like magical tools, conduits for arcane powers. Doc
called them shortcuts and talismans. He picked one up, a golden pendant on a
thin chain, a large opal dominated the center of the circular design.

      "Take this with you,"
Doc said.

      "Parting gift?" Jane
asked.

      "No," Doc said. "A
get out of jail free card."

      He turned the item over in his hands
a few times then gave it to Jane. Cool to the touch, strange runes covered the
metal.

      "Do I talk into it?"

      "I meant to make one for
Billy before he left, actually, but he took off before I could put the
materials together," Doc said. "Lucky for us, I had time to finish it
without you sneaking off."

      Jane ran her thumb over the opal,
trying to figure out how to activate it.

      "You crush it," Doc
said.

      "I crush it?"

      He nodded.

      "If things go bad, you crush
that opal in your hand. It contains a teleportation spell. One use. A free ride
home," Doc said.

      "A teleportation spell,"
Jane said.

      "Simple as that. If you break
that stone, the spell will activate. I've set it to bring the user back to
Earth."

      "Here, in the Tower?"
Jane asked.

      He shook his head.

      "I didn't know what might
happen to the Tower, if we have to move it or ground it. You'll appear in the
Labyrinth parking lot."

      "That is so not the
homecoming I want if I have to use this thing," Jane said.

      "It's the one place I know
where you'll have allies and that won't go floating away somewhere," Doc
said.

      "The parking lot?"

      "You'd rather it be inside?"

      "No," Jane said. "Parking
lot works."

      "Plus just in case you're…
hurt in any way. You'll be near help."

      "I want to give you a hard
time for being such a pessimist about this, but you're being too thoughtful
about what could go wrong," Jane said.

      Doc opened his arms graciously. "It's
what I'm here for," he said.

      Jane wrapped him in a hug.

      "You'll get everyone ready?"
Jane said as he returned her embrace.

      "Of course. And you'll be
careful."

      "Sure," Jane said. "What
possibly could go wrong, flying directly at an invading alien army?"

      "I can't imagine," Doc
said.

      Jane stepped back. They stared at
each other for a long moment.

      "This never gets easier,"
Doc said. "When I brought you all together, I thought I'd eventually just
come to understand you're all good at what you do, and you know what you're
doing, and you'll all be safe."

      "But then we wouldn't have
you worrying about us all the time," Jane said. "And frankly, as the
resident worrier around here, it's nice to know someone else is in a state of
perpetual anxiety as well."

      Doc took the pendant from Jane's
hand and draped it over her head

      "Don't forget that," he
said. "You leaving now?"

      "There's not a lot of time
for dawdling," Jane said.

      "Walk you to the landing bay?"

      "You better."

      She took his hand.

      Doc looked down at their entwined
fingers, his expression confused, sad and nostalgic all at once.

      Jane beamed a smile, doing her
very best to fake as much confidence as possible.

      "This is what you taught me
to do, Doc," Jane said.

      "I know," he said. "It's
just . . . sometimes I wonder if I did too good a job."