The Euclidian: Alien Hitman Page 9

  “Excuse me,” said Malcolm, pushing his way to the front of the group and standing on the top of the stairs. “What Adar means to say is, EZ Smooth took his money and moved to Miami because he prefers the weather down there, and he liked the offer of a bigger piece of the pie from a local mob boss. His second-in-command is supposed to take over his territory here.”

  “That works for me,” said Philly, the second-in-command, speaking up. “Who gets the house?”

  “I do, unless one of you wants to fight me for it,” said Adar.

  “I’ll fight you for it, punk,” said Jimmy, a six-foot-four boxer standing behind Philly. Adar leapt from the stairs and knocked Jimmy out with one cracking blow to his face. The others stood in shock as he fell to the ground.

  “Anybody else want to challenge me?” the alien asked, looking around the group.

  One man reached for a gun, but Adar put the tip of his spear to the guy’s chest before he could retrieve his weapon.

  “I think we’re good here, Adar,” said Philly, slowly moving Adar’s spear away from the man’s chest.

  “Do not come back,” said Adar, walking back into the house.

  Malcolm entered the house after Adar and closed the door behind them. “Here, I got you some wraparound shades so you will look more normal.” I guess I wasn’t going crazy yesterday. At least I remembered to get some glasses.

  “Do I not look normal?” Adar asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

  “No, and you talk funny,” said Malcolm, twisting his face expecting some backlash.

  “What do you mean, I talk funny? I speak perfect English,” said Adar, perplexed by the comment.

  “Yes, but you are speaking too proper, without contractions. No one speaks like that around here. Where are you from?”

  “A long way from here,” Adar said evasively.

  “Did you call there with that device last night?” Malcolm asked, hoping Adar would clear up some of his suspicions.

  “No, I spoke to a colleague named Wylyy. He’s the commander of a ship not too far away.”

  “Does Wylyy look like you?” Malcolm asked, wanting to know more. He sat on the edge of the couch and listened intently to Adar’s every word.

  “No, he is a Euclidian guard that is here to help me find the Cheoili that escaped from our ship. He’s assigned to the Andrea, just like I am. His specialty is piloting space vehicles. Mine is killing people.” The alien thought he might be telling Malcolm too much, but it felt good to share.

  “What’s a Euclidian? Were you trained to be good at your jobs?” asked the teen, eagerly. He wanted to learn as much as he could about this strange person who had saved him from being beaten and robbed the night before.

  “The Euclidian are a species from the planet Euclidia. They are generally much taller than I am, have beige skin, with sharp ridges on their face. Their eyes are more like human eyes, but they don’t have hair on their heads like humans. The Euclidian developed the technology to transport us to different planets as well as transport us around this planet. One day they came to our planet, and my people joined their alliance. I was a warrior on our planet, and I was asked if I wanted to be paid to kill people. How could I say no? Wylyy was trained to be a good pilot.”

  I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Malcolm tapped the toes of his tennis shoes up and down on the wooden floor with excitement, startling Adar. Now what do I ask him? “Which species are you?”

  “I am an Ossie from the Ossuary System. I get the impression you are enjoying our little session here,” Adar said, smiling at Malcolm and shaking his head.

  “Yes, this is the best time I’ve ever had in my entire life. Before you change your mind, I want to know more. The Cheoili, I guess they are another species. Do they look human? Are there humans on other planets?” Malcolm thought back to the time that he watched all six of the Star Wars movies back to back. He looked at the movies with wonder. The magic of cinema filled his mind with ideas of what alien life could be like, but he never dreamed he would experience such moments in real life. But here he was. Wow.

  “No, just Earth as far as I know. The Cheoili are able to change their appearance to look like humans. Enough talk,” said Adar, a little perturbed by Malcolm’s barrage of questions. “The more you know, the more likely I may need to kill you later.”

  “No problem, I don’t want to die. Just tell me what can I do for you? I need to leave soon to go to summer school.”

  “Let us go. We can talk on the way,” Adar suggested, moving towards the foyer.

  “You should say ‘let’s go’ instead of ‘let us go’. We can go whenever you’re ready.”

  “I am ready. Let’s go,” Adar replied, trying out the contraction.

  “I’m ready,” said Malcolm, continuing to give him grammar tips.

  “I’m ready,” said Adar, a bit embarrassed at the corrections but happy to be improving his English so he could blend in better.

  “We should hurry up, I need to meet my friends so we’re safe getting to class,” said Malcolm, heading out the door.

  “What do you mean, so you are safe?”

  “Gang members hang out near the school and will hassle us if we walk alone.”

  “You should fight them,” said Adar, shoving his fist at Malcolm. “Fighters earn respect and can become heroes.”

  Adar thought about growing up on his planet of Ossuary. Kids were taught from a young age how to fight and take care of themselves. Adults were often killed in battle or by animals. One was expected to be self-sufficient at an early age. Those that failed to meet the challenges of life did not last long. No one was coddled.

  “I’m not a fighter or a hero. I wish I could be,” Malcolm said, his youthful face suddenly sad.

  “Should not the police help?” Adar asked.

  “Shouldn’t the police help? Sure, but they have too much to do to escort us to school every day. They don’t come around until after someone is hurt.”

  “Don’t, hmmm. I will escort you to school to keep you safe.” That settled, Adar changed the subject. “Can you tell me where people mostly hang out in this city?”

  “Most people stroll along Millennium Park, Navy Pier, or the Miracle Mile,” the teen replied.

  “I have been to those places already and haven’t detected the people I am looking for.” Adar sniffed the morning air as they walked along the busy street, catching whiffs of cooking human food, ammonia and carcinogenic smoke intermingled with exhaust fumes from combustion engines.

  “There are the museums, the baseball park, and the beaches up north,” Malcolm ventured.

  “Okay, I will check those places,” said Adar.

  “See those bus stops there?” Malcolm pointed ahead of them. “That’s where most of the kids get off of the city buses for school, which is a block away. There’s another big bus stop on the other side of the school. We usually walk around the block together, pick up our friends along the way, and head to school in a large group. That helps keep us from being attacked.”

  “Hi, guys, this is my friend, Adar,” Malcolm said, as he approached several teens standing on the sidewalk. Adar grunted. “He doesn’t talk much,” he added, falling into step with his friends as they moved forward.

  Adar followed the students to school, listening to them chatter along the way, trying to pick up their speech. The group soon arrived at the school’s front doors, and Adar turned to Malcolm. “I’m going to go visit those places you mentioned. Where would I go to convert this gold coin to local money?” asked Adar, showing Malcolm a coin of the kind that would have been stolen by the Cheoili.

  “A gold shop or coin shop. There are several around the Washington Metro Station. Do you know where that is?”

  “I can find it. I’ve been briefed on the area.”

  “Please don’t attack or kill people in public. Even if you are in the right, the police might arrest you anyway, that could be a problem for you.”

  “I will keep that in mind. Wh
en will you be available to talk some more?” Adar asked.

  “At 3:00. Listen for bells from that church over there chiming three times in a row. I’ll meet you right here,” said Malcolm, pointing at his feet.

  “Okay. I may have a solution to your problem,” said Adar, before turning and walking away.

  ***

  “Michael, this is my sister, Daloi, and our brother, Tatan,” said Dholi, walking up to her siblings in the park. “Everyone, this is Michael O’Leary. He is visiting from Dublin, Ireland and says he would like us to join him in his penthouse overlooking Lake Michigan. He’s renting it for the summer so he can enjoy all of the crazy activities here.”

  Michael, a tall, rangy man in his mid-30s, wore his beet-red hair in a longish crew cut that complemented his muddy green eyes and pale, freckled complexion. A venture capitalist who worked on funding for startups, he looked into expanding his company’s reach into the United States and found that Chicago appeared to be an overlooked market for nurturing startups. Being single and looking for an adventure, he decided to spend the summer in Chicago to broaden his portfolio and take advantage of the festival season.

  “Please call me Mike. I don’t know anyone in this town, and I would love to have you lovely ladies, and of course Tatan, join me if you like. Dholi hinted that you can be quite accommodating with the right stimulus.”

  “Oh, we can be more than accommodating, Mike,” said Daloi. “We can be downright generous. Isn’t that right, Tatan?”

  “You bet,” said Tatan. “I’m willing to do whatever I can to make this trip memorable for you.”

  “I don’t usually swing that way, but I’m willing to try anything once.” They all laughed and headed to Mike’s place.

  ***

  “Has anyone been in here with a coin similar to this?” asked Adar at the counter of a coin store.

  “No, I’ve never seen a coin like that,” said the clerk behind the counter. “Is it gold?”

  Adar left without responding. That’s eight places so far and no luck. I need to find some paint. Adar purchased two cans of gold paint, some brushes, and headed to Malcolm’s school.

  “What’s the paint for?” asked Malcolm, walking up to Adar who waited for him outside his school.

  “It’s for placing a protective shield around the school.”

  “Right. How does that work?” asked Malcolm, thinking Adar was confused about how paint works on Earth.

  “You paint the edge of the curb around the block with this paint. If anyone attempts to harm someone who is inside the protective shield they will be dealt with by an invisible force.”

  “Ha, ha, ha,” Malcolm laughed, holding his belly.

  “Why are you laughing?” asked Adar, his expression bewildered with a hint of annoyance.

  “Because it sounds ridiculous. I mean, I’m not sure how it would work,” said the teen, his chuckles subsiding.

  “Take the paint and start painting the curb. If someone bothers you just point at the person and say ‘go to sleep’.”

  “You are killing me with this,” said Malcolm, erupting in another fit of laughter.

  “Just do it!” shouted Adar, losing patience with the youth.

  “I want to be a hero, but this seems like a dangerous way to become one. The first gang member that comes along is going to beat me up, if I tell him what I’m doing.”

  “Heroes are built out of conflict, not calm,” said Adar, seeking to enlighten Malcolm.

  “Fine, I’ll do it.” Malcolm shrugged his shoulders and opened a paint can. Adar cloaked himself and stayed close to the youth.

  Where’d he go? Now I’m certain to die, Malcolm thought.

  Being an Ossie, Adar could use a type of mental energy field to cloak, or make himself invisible, for as long as 15 minutes before suffering brain fatigue. A person could stand right in front of a cloaked Ossie and even touch one without registering his or her presence. Ossies also could distort light reflecting from their bodies to make them appear as grey blurs to any monitoring devices. The randomness of the distortion also made it difficult to target the beings during combat.

  “Malcolm, what are you doing? Aren’t you going to walk with us to the bus stop?” asked Lauren, one of the teen’s classmates. Lauren was the rebel to Malcolm’s conformist. She wore a short afro with one side of her head shaved. Her left ear had five piercings, while her right ear had none. She loved wearing Betsy Johnson fashions, while most students wore more demure clothes.

  “No, I need to paint a protective coating on the curb so we’ll be safe from people hassling us.”

  “That is the dumbest thing I ever heard. But I guess we’ll get a chance to see if it works,” said Lauren, noticing a menacing character approaching them.

  “What are you doing, kid?” asked a gang member, walking up to Malcolm.

  “I’m putting this protective coating on the curb so students will be safe from bullies attacking them,” said Malcolm, hoping the hulking fellow would just walk away.

  “I don’t know what they teach you in that school, but crap like that don’t work. What’s going to stop me from kicking you in the face?” asked the threatening man.

  “Go to sleep,” Malcolm said, pointing at the gang member, who promptly fell to the ground. Everyone gasped, even Malcolm. “I guess it works,” said Malcolm, who continued painting.

  “Let me help,” offered Lauren. Placing her Gucci backpack on the ground, she took a brush from the bag and dipped it into the can Malcolm held.

  “Will it work, if I say it?” Lauren asked, hoping to get a turn at using the phrase.

  “I guess. Only one way to find out,” said Malcolm.

  “What did you do to my friend?” demanded another man, who approached the two.

  “Go to sleep,” said Lauren, pointing at the man, who immediately crumpled to the ground.

  Other kids began to cheer.

  “Let me do it, let me do it,” begged Justin, a fellow student, walking up.

  “This is not a game. You can’t just knock people out for no reason,” said Malcolm, hoping not to start a ruckus.

  “Okay,” said Justin. “Can I at least carry the extra paint can for you?”

  While the kids focused on painting the curb, news of their exploits spread across the block like wildfire. Gang members heard about the strange episodes and worried that their street cred might be damaged if they didn’t confront the kids. To regain control of the situation, the gangbangers decided to investigate in person.

  “You kids need to get up out of here, now!” shouted a gang member, as he drew near. “And if any of you point at me, trying to put me to sleep, you dead. You feel me?” He patted the gun in his waistband to make his point.

  Lauren and Malcolm stopped painting and looked at each other. “What do you think Malcolm?” asked Lauren. “I don’t want any of our friends to die because of what we are doing.”

  “They need to choose for themselves,” he replied. “I’m not backing down.”

  Turning to the bystanders, he shouted, “All of you need to go home. Lauren, Justin and I will finish this. If we don’t make it, hopefully our deaths will force the police to help the rest of you.”

  “We’re not leaving!” their friends declared, defiantly gathering around Lauren, Justin and Malcolm.

  “Then you’re all dead,” sneered the gang member. “Let’s blast them.”

  Two of his compatriots pulled guns from their pants, and Lauren and Malcolm pointed fingers at them. This prompted a third person to go for his gun.

  Just like in the movies, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The teens’ friends threw themselves on top of the three painters to try and block the barrage of bullets about to stream their way.

  Startled by their friends’ actions, Lauren and Malcolm covered their heads and looked away from the attackers. One of the gang members used his gun to fire at the pile of children in front of him. The mere squeezing of the trigger sent shockwaves through the crowd
before the bullet even left the gun’s chamber. Following the shot, a loud whoosh of a concussion from an unknown blast pushed the crowd back on its heels. Two gang members standing next to each other glowed a bright blue and vanished in a cloud of ash. The third gang member got off a shot, but then suffered the same fate.

  The crowd stood stunned by the apparent vaporization of the three men into thin air. They looked at the children, the target of the gun shots, and found they had come to no harm. Two mangled slugs lay motionless on the ground in front of the teens. Lauren picked one up with trembling fingers, realizing that this moment empowered her to confront the gang members.

  “We are not afraid of you,” she shouted, standing and pushing kids away from her as she emerged from the crowd. Dropping the slug, she continued her verbal assault on the miscreants who remained. “You now see that not only can we put you to sleep, but we can cause you to burn. I considered sharing the block with you, but no more. Leave now or be burned!” she warned, pointing at the remaining gang members.

  Silently, they retreated into the shadows as the crowd cheered. Malcolm suddenly had a lot of people wanting to help finish painting the curb.

  “Thanks, Adar,” he whispered, looking up at the sky. In his ear he heard the words, “You’re welcome.”

  ***

  Lauren and Malcolm finished painting the block with help from their fellow students and some neighbors. Nearby residents also brought cake and punch to celebrate the project’s completion.

  “Here they come!” someone shouted, pointing at a car slowly rolling toward them. The car steadily cruised closer to the festivities. Eyes peered at the crowd from the dark interior of the car as it passed. Fingers could be seen pointing their way from the open window. Malcolm rushed to the curb and waved his finger back at the car in defiance. The car sped off down the street and around the corner. As everyone feared, it returned from the other direction. Lauren took her place at Malcolm’s side.

  “Malcolm, I’m not sure how this is going to turn out, but I’m with you to the end,” said Lauren, grabbing his hand.

  The two kids pointed their fingers at the car as the occupants opened fire on the two youths with automatic weapons. The crowd moved away from the kids hoping to avoid getting shot.