tone of the policeman's voice was a warning shot. I began to
tell Brand to cool it down, but a cold feeling of dread started in my stomach
as I realized that we were about to have worse problems. I looked at Brand. I
knew he was going to hate this.
I said, “Uh, we don’t have to talk to reporters, do
we? We only have to talk to the government— am I
right? I mean, how pervasive is this whole Avatar thing? If it’s local, maybe
Alex’s stunt was something that the government can cover up. I’m sure they
don’t like having to explain the idea of a superhuman being existing. It
doesn’t fit into their daily schedule. Maybe they can get YouTube to
remove the videos, get a campaign to call it all CGI bullshit?”
Looking at Brand, I saw my mention of reporters had soured his
expression considerably. Hector and Chief Sinclair laughed for a moment. Then,
looking at me, Hector said, “Vaughn, I know you’re kidding, but seriously, it’s
too late for anything like that. Even if we had kept our mouths shut, he was seen by what you could call an unimpeachable
witness. And that went public five minutes after Shaw blew apart Yama!”
Sinclair sighed, “The International Space Station. The thing was
in orbit above us, and the astronauts saw Alex.”
I dropped my head back to my pillow. I said, “Crap. I remember , they were recording where Yama would hit. They got it
all didn’t they?”
Chief Sinclair said, “It’s a beautiful shot. In fact, you
couldn’t write a better scene for a movie. You can even hear the astronauts
tell each other it couldn’t be happening. But, glowing even brighter than
what we saw when he took off, Alex flew up
from Earth and went directly past the ISS. They followed him as he headed
straight into Yama’s flight path. Boom. There’s
a bright flash of light that split that damn rock into two pieces, and now we
have Yama and Yami, with no sign of Alex.”
I didn’t say anything, but from the way he talked about Alex’s
final act, I got the feeling that Chief Sinclair liked the guy. The tone of
voice he had left me feeling tense. I didn’t want to deal with Alex’s loss
right now.
To distract myself, I said, “Yama, that’s the Hindu God of
death. Yami is the name of the Hindu Goddess of Death. And Alex is the Avatar
who brings them into full being. Wow, talk about something being aptly named…”
The other three people in the room looked at me. Brand rolled
his eyes at me and said, “Geek.”
I gave him a wry look and made a sarcastic comment, “Well it
can’t be that he’s big, blue and a hybrid of a human and an alien, or that he’s
some kid with an arrow tattoo running down his forehead.”
“Super Geek!” Brand
retorted.
Hector laughed. Then, he said, “Vaughn’s right, though. That’s why
they gave him the name. Even his father calls him that. Well, after he says how
much he’s been devastated , by his son’s death.
Dr. Kirksten coughed. I looked at him, and he nodded towards my
monitors. I glanced over and saw that my heart rate had sped up by more than a
few beats at the mention of Alex’s father. I couldn’t help what I knew, or how
it made me feel. Alex didn’t have a good family life. His mother, Claire, had
divorced Brian Shaw some years ago, and then she had died. Alex had been placed with his father. Unfortunately, Brian
Shaw remarried. And his second wife hated Alex. And Brian was cold towards Alex
because he didn’t want to be reminded of his
life with Claire.
Funny, I knew something as personal as that, but I had never had
a clue about him being able to fly. Then again, maybe that was why he was so
into comics about super heroes. Hmn…something to think
about later. Right now, though, I said, “Okay. The government, yes. The news media,
um, no. I really don’t want to deal with them anymore than Brand
does!”
Dr. Kirksten said, “Indeed! And as long as you two are
under my care, I’ll be
tell Brand to cool it down, but a cold feeling of dread started in my stomach
as I realized that we were about to have worse problems. I looked at Brand. I
knew he was going to hate this.
I said, “Uh, we don’t have to talk to reporters, do
we? We only have to talk to the government— am I
right? I mean, how pervasive is this whole Avatar thing? If it’s local, maybe
Alex’s stunt was something that the government can cover up. I’m sure they
don’t like having to explain the idea of a superhuman being existing. It
doesn’t fit into their daily schedule. Maybe they can get YouTube to
remove the videos, get a campaign to call it all CGI bullshit?”
Looking at Brand, I saw my mention of reporters had soured his
expression considerably. Hector and Chief Sinclair laughed for a moment. Then,
looking at me, Hector said, “Vaughn, I know you’re kidding, but seriously, it’s
too late for anything like that. Even if we had kept our mouths shut, he was seen by what you could call an unimpeachable
witness. And that went public five minutes after Shaw blew apart Yama!”
Sinclair sighed, “The International Space Station. The thing was
in orbit above us, and the astronauts saw Alex.”
I dropped my head back to my pillow. I said, “Crap. I remember , they were recording where Yama would hit. They got it
all didn’t they?”
Chief Sinclair said, “It’s a beautiful shot. In fact, you
couldn’t write a better scene for a movie. You can even hear the astronauts
tell each other it couldn’t be happening. But, glowing even brighter than
what we saw when he took off, Alex flew up
from Earth and went directly past the ISS. They followed him as he headed
straight into Yama’s flight path. Boom. There’s
a bright flash of light that split that damn rock into two pieces, and now we
have Yama and Yami, with no sign of Alex.”
I didn’t say anything, but from the way he talked about Alex’s
final act, I got the feeling that Chief Sinclair liked the guy. The tone of
voice he had left me feeling tense. I didn’t want to deal with Alex’s loss
right now.
To distract myself, I said, “Yama, that’s the Hindu God of
death. Yami is the name of the Hindu Goddess of Death. And Alex is the Avatar
who brings them into full being. Wow, talk about something being aptly named…”
The other three people in the room looked at me. Brand rolled
his eyes at me and said, “Geek.”
I gave him a wry look and made a sarcastic comment, “Well it
can’t be that he’s big, blue and a hybrid of a human and an alien, or that he’s
some kid with an arrow tattoo running down his forehead.”
“Super Geek!” Brand
retorted.
Hector laughed. Then, he said, “Vaughn’s right, though. That’s why
they gave him the name. Even his father calls him that. Well, after he says how
much he’s been devastated , by his son’s death.
Dr. Kirksten coughed. I looked at him, and he nodded towards my
monitors. I glanced over and saw that my heart rate had sped up by more than a
few beats at the mention of Alex’s father. I couldn’t help what I knew, or how
it made me feel. Alex didn’t have a good family life. His mother, Claire, had
divorced Brian Shaw some years ago, and then she had died. Alex had been placed with his father. Unfortunately, Brian
Shaw remarried. And his second wife hated Alex. And Brian was cold towards Alex
because he didn’t want to be reminded of his
life with Claire.
Funny, I knew something as personal as that, but I had never had
a clue about him being able to fly. Then again, maybe that was why he was so
into comics about super heroes. Hmn…something to think
about later. Right now, though, I said, “Okay. The government, yes. The news media,
um, no. I really don’t want to deal with them anymore than Brand
does!”
Dr. Kirksten said, “Indeed! And as long as you two are
under my care, I’ll be
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