Annihilation Series-Searching for a Hero (2 page)

Mios looked over at the most beautiful girl in his class and stammered, “Wha..what?”

“Where did he get the name Ping?”

Mios looked over at his best friend and smiled, “When he was born, the doctor took one look at him and said Ping.”

“Why?”

“His doctor was a Cainth and, in his native language, Ping means eyes.”

Jodie looked over at Ping and after a moment looked back at Mios, “I understand.” She turned back to her desk and Mios knew that Ping was now an object of Jodie’s attention. He couldn’t wait to tell him. He had the prettiest girl in school interested in him. He was really lucky.

• • • • •

Ping arrived at school and was troubled. He hadn’t slept well the night before and he couldn’t get a grip on what was bothering him. He was in the sixth level and he knew he looked forward to class every day. The majority of the studies this year were about the history of the Realm and he loved it; so what was making him nervous? As the day wore on, his sense of dread increased. He went out to the playground for recess and shook his head when Mios and Jodie invited him to join them on the spinner. He watched as Jodie and Stacey Miller climbed on and put their legs inside the metal frame. Mios grabbed one of the metal arms and started the spinner turning. He jumped on with them and forced his legs around a support to avoid being thrown off the quickly turning device.

Ping stood thirty yards away from them and closed his eyes. He forced all thought from his mind and suddenly he raised his right arm and pointed it toward Sally Johnson, his sixth level teacher who was leaning against the huge oak tree next to the playground. He moved his hand toward her with a hard push and she flew away from the tree and rolled several times in the grass. At the same moment he moved his left arm toward the spinner and it came to an abrupt halt, flinging Mios off. He was suddenly standing beside the spinner pulling Mios and Jodie to their feet. He gave them a push and they ran across the playground trying to catch their balance. Ping picked up Stacey and instantly they were in the path of Jodie and Mios who stumbled into them, knocking all of them to the ground; that’s when a booming sound exploded over the playground.

• • • • •

High overhead, the driver of a huge commercial hauler heard a loud explosion and felt the rear floating unit rip apart. The giant three bladed propeller was turning at high speed in the housing and it hit the main support beam, shearing off two blades when the main power unit blew up. The two blades shot out of the housing toward the ground below.

• • • • •

Just as Sally Johnson rolled away, one of the giant blades hit the trunk of the giant oak and penetrated all the way through it into the earth on the opposite side. Ten feet of the giant blade still protruded from where it hit the tree. Sally Johnson had been standing at the exact spot of penetration.

Less than a second later, the second blade hit the spinner dead center and the noise of metal on metal was deafening. Everyone on the playground stared at the fifteen foot tall metal blade sticking out of the ground vibrating back and forth in the concrete as the spinner fell apart in two pieces. Suddenly, a dark shadow covered the playground as the huge hauler fell toward the ground. Everyone screamed and ran.

Ping saw the driver of the hauler was doing all he could to miss the playground and bring it down at the row of trees that lined the four lane street next to the school. However, the rear of the long vehicle was dead weight and it was falling almost straight down. Jodie saw there was no escape from the crashing vehicle and she closed her eyes and grabbed Ping. Ping lifted his right arm and pushed it at the rear of the hauler, and it suddenly shifted rightwards for a moment, and then moved toward the trees. It plowed into the trees just outside the fence that enclosed the playground and snapped four of them off at the ground. The hauler came to a stop straddling the four lane street.

Jodie opened her eyes and looked around. Ping said, “The driver managed to move it away.”

Jodie wrapped her arms around Ping’s neck and started crying from the shock of almost being killed. Ping held her until the school nurse arrived to take the more traumatized students inside. Stacey went with Jodie, leaving Mios and Ping on the playground staring at the emergency vehicles arriving at the crash site. Mios said without looking at Ping, “Nice job moving that hauler.” Ping held his breath and Mios turned to him, “I’ve always known you’re special and you don’t have to worry; no one would believe me anyway.”

The corner of Ping’s mouth went up and he gave Mios a small punch on the arm.

R
ider looked at the young cat, “The one we’re searching for is alive.”

“I thought he was alive when the order went out to find him a hundred years ago?”

“No, it was determined that it was the proper time for him to appear. However, it was not known when it would happen. We now know he’s alive.”

“So where is he?”

“No one knows.”

“What species is he?”

“That is also unknown.”

The young Cat stared at the elder cat and after a moment thought, “Then how do you know he’s alive?”

The elder Cat looked up at the night sky above El Prado and said, “Look at the pressures.”

The young Cat looked up and focused on the forces that held creation together. The forces that held everything in balance were slightly vibrating. The young Cat tore his vision away, “How long has this been happening!”

“We don’t know?”

The young cat was losing his patience, “Do you know anything?”

The elder looked back up at the sky, filled from horizon to horizon with a breathtaking panorama of stars, “We don’t know how long the forces have been vibrating. One of the Elders took a look at them and made the discovery yesterday. They could have been doing it for hundreds of years or they could have started a moment before he looked. We have no way of knowing.” Rider smiled, “Someone is in harmony with those forces, causing them to vibrate. The one we’ve been charged to find must be the one doing it. We now have proof that he is alive.”

“How do you know it’s a he?”

“We don’t.”

The young Cat snarled in frustration, “Then how do we find this being?” Rider moved his vision from the sky to the young Cat as he said, “I know, I know; you don’t know.”

“Actually, we have an idea on where to start looking.” The young Cat’s ears went up and Rider continued, “We know the Three were the only ones with a connection; we start with those three species.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“No.”

“Well, at lease you’re consistent in your lack of knowledge; since there’s nothing else to do, we might as well take a look at them.”

Rider looked back up at the stars and sighed, “Those three species are scattered throughout Creation. They led the migration from the early Realm and have continued to expand. It won’t be easy to find him.”

The cat sat down on his haunches, “You’re nothing but a huge pot of good news.”

Rider smiled, “Aren’t I though.”

• • • • •

Ping sat in his room and thought about what to do. All of the fifteen year old students attending his school were scheduled to visit the King of the Stars Realm. Hundreds of thousands of students would arrive at the stadium on Ross to be addressed by the most powerful man in the Realm. He had watched a video that reported on the visit made to Ross by students from Glod two days earlier and the reporter was amazed at the size of the spectacle and the number of enormous cats that were present. The giant cats were about two hundred feet long and stood twenty feet tall at their shoulder. Ping watched the video closely as the giant cats moved through the massive crowds of students. He focused on them and saw they were searching for something…or someone.

He was worried. He sighed and decided it was time. He went downstairs and found his mother in the kitchen. “Mom, do you have a moment?”

Coryn looked up from her oven and smiled, “Let me start baking these treats and I’ll join you in the living room. Do you want to lick the bowl?”

Ping smiled, picked it up and took it with him. Mom was the best baker on the planet…well, at least in his opinion. Licking the bowl only confirmed it. Coryn entered the living room and Ping put the bowl down, “What’s going on, Ping?”

“Mom, I need your help.”

“Sure, what do you need?”

“I need you to help me avoid going to see the King this Friday.”

Coryn stared at Ping for a long moment and then sat down, “Why do you want to avoid seeing the King? It’s part of your duty as a citizen of the Realm to attend that gathering.”

Ping blew out a breath and picked up the remote control for the family monitor. He moved the channel to the story about the Glod students visiting the King and rewound it. He sat down beside his mother and he slowed it down when the video showed the giant cats moving through the massive crowd. “Mom, what are those cats doing?”

Coryn stared at the video and after a moment she said, “It looks like they’re looking for someone or something.”

She turned to Ping and he said, “I believe they’re looking for me, Mom.”

Coryn moved her head back in disbelief and furrowed her brow, “What on Earth would make you think that?”

“Give me a moment.” Ping went upstairs and returned a few minutes later with a small info drive he plugged into the monitor. He activated it and turned to his mother, “I’ve been collecting this for the last nine months.”

Coryn watched as video after video showed the giant cats visiting various schools and cities. She saw them walking up major streets and they appeared to be listening for something. They would be seen in front of schools with their ears up and staring at the buildings. Coryn turned to Ping, “What are they doing?”

“I believe they are looking for me.”

Coryn looked in her son’s eyes and saw something, “Surely you’re not that paranoid? Why would they be doing that?”

Ping took a deep breath, blew it out, and shook his head, “I believe they have somehow sensed me. I don’t know how, but I do know they are attempting to find me.” Ping saw the doubt in Coryn’s expression and he took her hands in his, “Mom, I’ve been sensing changes taking place in me for more than ten years. I determined in the first level that if anyone possessed talents different from those around them that they should hide them from the powers that be.”

Coryn scoffed, “How did you make that determination?”

“Thomas Gardner had to do it as a young boy. I have no desire to have the government looking over my shoulder at everything I do for the rest of my life. I want to be free to live my life unencumbered and not be restricted in what I choose to do.”

“Ping, I honestly find this hard to believe. You’re no different than anyone else. What is it about you that has caused this imagined search?”

Ping tilted his head, “I have some talents I’ve been deliberately hiding.”

Coryn crossed her arms, “Such as?”

Ping saw his mother staring into his eyes and he looked across the room at the bowl sitting on the table. He raised his hand and the bowl lifted, floated over to him and hung in the air in front of them. Coryn’s eyes went wide and Ping said, “I can sense things before they happen and I’m able to see things that are impossible.”

Coryn forced her attention away from the bowl, “Such as?”

“I can see the settlements on Mars. As I age, I think that vision will increase in distance. The point is; I sense they’re looking for me and I’m worried that if I go to that gathering on Ross, the cats might sense me. I don’t want to be forced to leave my home, Mom.”

Coryn’s eyes narrowed, “Do you think that will happen?”

“Mom, you know there have been numerous ads on the monitor asking anyone that possesses psychic talents to go to the government and discuss how to help the Realm. If the government discovers I possess mental abilities, what do you think they’ll do? I don’t think staying at home will be an option. Besides, that part of me that sees the future says I will lose my freedom if I’m discovered. I don’t want to take the risk of that happening by going to the gathering.”

Coryn looked at the bowl hanging in midair, “I find it hard to believe they would take you away just because of some telekinetic ability.” Suddenly the bowl vanished. Coryn jumped and looked at Ping.

“It’s in the kitchen on the table.”

Coryn looked frightened, “Why haven’t you told me before now?”

“I love you too much to cause you to worry. However, I know you should know what I can do and now is as good a time as any to tell you; especially when I need you to help me avoid this trip.”

“Aren’t you worried about someone reading my mind and seeing what you’ve told me?”

“Not really; there aren’t many telepaths in the Realm and I believe the Cats are searching for some kind of reading that I would give off. The chance of someone that has telepathic ability questioning you is remote. At least that’s what I sense.”

“Are you telepathic?”

“Not yet.” Coryn gave a start. “Mom, my talents are constantly changing. I don’t know what I’ll be capable of doing as time passes.”

“Do you trust this sense of yours?”

“I do; it’s never been wrong.”

Coryn sighed, “Let’s see what we can come up with that won’t cause suspicion.”

“Thanks, Mom; I really appreciate it.”

“I love you, Ping. I’m going to need some time to get a grip on what you’ve told me but I guess it’s not so outrageous; look at the former rulers of the Realm. I still don’t want to believe the Cats are searching for you.”

Ping smiled and was glad he didn’t tell her about his reflexes and the full extent of his teleportation talent. He felt uneasy about the coming trip and knew he had to avoid going.

• • • • •

Mios looked up at the King of the Stars Realm and felt awe. He wished Ping was there to see the pageant. Jodie sat next to him and cheered with the thousands sitting around them in the stadium. Mios looked up and saw a giant Northern Mountain Cat walk down the aisle next to their row. The cheering stopped as the crowd was shocked silent by the mammoth size of the giant Cat. The cat looked to the left and right as it passed and Mios knew it was looking for something.