Battlefield

BATTLEFIELD

Copyright © 2012 J.F. JENKINS

ISBN 978-1-62135-015-6

Cover Art Designed by Elaina Lee

Edited by Saralee Etter

All of the usual suspects.

 

Alan stood straight like an arrow. Sir Oriol walked down the line of Junior officers and stopped directly in front of him.

“You've been chosen for this mission because someone thinks you are the best,” the man said, eyes locking on Alan as if trying to make him falter. Instead he stood straighter, and Sir Oriol continued down the line. “As you know, we are here to stop the war on Altura from spreading to this planet. The people here are much like us. They call their home Earth.

“The inhabitants of this planet do not need to suffer from our war. We are to move in, eliminate the threat, and move out before the Earth people realize the truth. They are not as educated in the universe as we are. They do not know there is other life beyond their own. We do not want to start a widespread panic.

“All of you have been chosen to take on a team of these Earth humans. You are to train them and use their knowledge to help us stop the Gelandrosimbol and Basatlavan from winning this battlefield. Each of you have been given the coordinates of your team. Our forces will be focusing in on an area referred to as the Midwestern United States of America. Do all of you understand your mission?”

“Yes, Sir Orioltogorthan,” all of the Juniors said in unison.

“Best of luck to you all then,” Sir Oriol said, saluted, and then left the launching bay. But not before giving Alan one last dark look. He leaned in and whispered, “And you can be sure your father will know about everything that happens.”

Alan shook it off. Whether Sir Oriol believed in him or not would not stop him from going on this mission. There was personal business for him to attend to on Earth. The woman Alan was betrothed to was on the planet somewhere. Ultimately, his mission was to find her and bring her back to their home world again. She'd gone missing, and his gut told him she was involved in the war. It was the reason he'd joined the military to begin with.

One step at a time of course. First he would find his chosen charges on Earth. Then he would find the woman he loved more than anything. No one knew for certain if she was on Earth. Having charges would give him an excuse to explore the planet in search of her. His assigned coordinates programmed into his travel guide, he checked to make sure his atmospheric shield was fully charged. These devices would make sure he got to his destination, and that he did so safely.

Stepping towards the launch director, he took in one last deep breath to calm any final nerves.

“Sir Alanmendiquixanimackle, are you ready?” the director asked.

He nodded. “Send me to Earth.”

 

Gym class, the bane of Orlando's existence. Not to say he wasn't an athletic kid. Despite his dark, Gothic style, he did work out and stayed in good shape. He simply liked to do it on his own terms, and away from the rest of his classmates. He loathed every second of socializing.

“All right class, let's clean up and get changed.” Coach Wilson said, and it was practically music to Orlando's ears.

He eagerly put the basketball away and hightailed it to the boys' locker room to hopefully get a head start on changing. The less time he had to interact with anyone else the better. He'd just finished pulling on his baggy black jeans and was in the process of buttoning his matching shirt when the jocks walked in.

“Good game, Holmes,” the leader of the pack said. Orlando knew better than to take it as a compliment though. “Make sure you try out for the girls' team this year. I think you have a real shot for starting forward.”

He rolled his eyes. “I'd hate to steal the spotlight from you, Jesse.”

“That's right. Your family is more into the red-light. How could I forget?” Jesse said as he began to change.

Orlando clasped on his black wristband, chained his wallet back to his pants, and tightened his belt.
Ignore the idiots.

“What happened to you, Holmes? You used to be cool.” Jesse wouldn't let himself be ignored, apparently.

“I grew a brain. Need me back on the football team? I thought you were having a great season, or is that the same line you feed all your female fans? A new pick-up line might be a good idea,” he said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

Jesse's right-hand man, Ryan, chimed in. “I don't know why you bother, Jess. He's converted to the freak side and not turning back.”

Freak side. How original.
With another eye roll, Orlando made his way for the door, but Jesse blocked him. “Yes?”

“Don't think I'm finished with you.” He gave Orlando a shove. “School doesn't get out for another three minutes.”

“I didn't realize you missed me so much. I hate to break it to you, Jess, but my boat doesn't float that way.” He made a move to push his way past Jesse, but was shoved again and much harder than before, falling backwards onto a locker.

Jesse laughed, and all of his groupies followed along. “Cute, Holmes. I'll be sure to share that one with your sister when I see her on the corner of Lake and Hennepin next. After I show her a great time because she's so easy. Don't worry, I'll give her a great tip.”

Orlando's hands balled into fists. “She's not like that.”

“You're right, she's hard until you give her the green, since everyone knows that's how your family gets all of its money. Did you guys know his parents are never around? Probably because they're finding new kids to sell their illegal drugs. When do you plan on joining in on the fun, Holmes? I'm sure a guy like you could—”

Jesse didn't get to finish because Orlando's fist made contact with his jaw. His eyes wide and surprised, the seventeen-year-old boy stumbled back, then charged forward, swinging his fists. Orlando dodged the counterattack and rammed into him, shoulder first, and knocked him out of the locker room and into the hallway.

A few girls nearby squealed and scattered as they watched Jesse throw another punch in retaliation. It hit Orlando's chest, and now Ryan was throwing himself into the mix as well by trying to trip him at the knees. He caught this just in time and body-slammed Ryan into the drinking fountain. The boy hit it hard with his upper back and head.

“Boys! What's going on here?” Coach Wilson grabbed Orlando just as he broke Jesse's nose.

He willingly stepped away, pleased and satisfied with his work. “Fighting, Coach.”

There was no point in denying it. Jesse had it coming. His whole crew did. It was only a matter of time before someone taught them a lesson. While he much preferred to keep to himself and lay low, Orlando didn't mind stepping up and taking on the role of the teacher in this scenario.

“I see that,” Coach Wilson said. He went to Ryan and Jesse to make sure they were both okay. Orlando felt the firm hand of another teacher on his arm and saw Mr. Daniels the music teacher.

“To the office, right?” Orlando said with a glance up at the man. Mr. Daniels nodded and released him as the teen pulled his arm away to head towards the Dean of Students' office.

“You're going to regret this, freak.” Jesse hollered after him.

Orlando snorted, “Doubt it.”

 

“Slow down and start over again,” JD said. “You just saw a what, in a where, with a who, now?”

Cadence brushed a few strands of her long, dark hair away from her face and panted heavily. Her dark skin was slightly flushed from all of the running she must have done to get to him.

“Big fight in the gymnasium hallway.” Then she mumbled, “Wow, I'm in bad shape.”

JD almost made a comment about how it would be nearly impossible for her to be in bad shape with her tight curves, but he held it back. She'd never believe him anyway.

“Between who?” he asked, his interest piqued. At Morningtide High School, fights happened once a lifetime. Most of the kids were too rich and stuck-up to attack each other. At least it wasn't him getting in trouble for a change.

“Orlando Holmes versus Jesse Jordan's crew. Old best friend rivalry. It. Was. Intense. I heard that after gym class someone said something low, and Orlando snapped and went ape all over them. I'm pretty sure I saw him bust the drinking fountain with someone's head.”

“I hope someone got it on their cell phone and will stick it on the Internet later,” JD said. He always missed all of the good stuff. “I think we should go home. That's what I think.”

“I think that was a redundant statement of you to make,” she teased before poking his side with her index finger.

“I think I'm surprised you even know what redundant means,” he teased back. JD put his backpack on and prepared for the long walk home. His family did not fall into the rich majority of the school.

Cadence rolled her eyes. “I'm not a complete idiot.”

“Just a partial one.” He gave her one of his best smiles to show her that he was only playing around. While initially her body had tensed up, it relaxed when her eyes met his, and then she returned the smile.

“We should probably get a little bit of studying done. How about going the extra couple of blocks and hanging at Main one more time before they implode it?”

“All right. I'm down with that.”

JD didn't like to be at home, let alone study there. Then again, living in a house with four younger brothers and sisters would do that to just about anyone. If the two were ever going to get anything accomplished, it would have to be elsewhere.

As they stepped out into the fall sunshine, his hazel eyes looked skyward for a moment. He narrowed them as something up there caught his attention. A bright red light in the middle of the otherwise clear blue sky.

“Do you—?” but then shook his head. His eyes were no doubt only playing tricks on him. “Never mind.”

Thirty minutes later they arrived at Main Street Plaza, which was a dump. Built in the late nineteen-sixties, it was scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a super store and an apartment complex by the beginning of the next school year. Good riddance. The only thing it was useful for now was senior citizen mall walking, a few rare collectible stores in their final stages of moving out, and a wandering white=cherry flavored shaved ice kiosk that was never in the same place twice.

JD and Cadence had their Friday tradition of taking all of their weekend homework there. They would hang out in what was left of the courtyard garden as they sucked up their drinks before heading to the comic book shop to drool over the remaining inventory. The walls were crumbling down around them, and asbestos and mold probably permeated the air. A wide selection of rodents made their home inside the abandoned stores. It was disgusting, but it was quiet and private. No one else their age wanted to be there, which made it ideal for them.

The two settled comfortably on their respective benches in the courtyard. Fake foliage shaded them from the sun coming through the skylights.

“So,” Cadence said in between loud slurps. “X plus two equals six, and we're supposed to solve for X.”

“Right, you got a question?” JD said with a slight glance towards her. He was in the middle of cramming for his history test on Monday. It would all be forgotten by then, but this would be the only day he could get anything productive done. At least he made an attempt.

“Yeah, why do we need to call it X? Wouldn't it be easier to say two plus four equals six and save us the trouble of having to solve for some kind of mystery digit? I mean, the answer is obvious. Math is so stupid.”

“It's apparently important. I mean, if you listen to anything NASA says.”

“No, it's not,” she closed her book with a loud huff. “Who is going to need to know what the quadratic equation is, or the F.O.I.L. method, or that the inside angles of a triangle equal three-hundred-and-sixty degrees?”

“One-hundred-and-eighty actually...”

“See? Obviously not important.”

“Cadence?”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe you should take a break for awhile. Might, you know, help your mind re-gel itself so it's not so mad anymore,” he said with a small smile.

She closed her eyes and stretched out on the bench in an effort to relax, gripping at her hair. The garden, as fake as it was, still provided a zen sort of environment. Maybe because it was the only place in the plaza still in decent shape, sans a non-functioning fountain. Before their lifetime it may have been luxurious.

“I'm thinking of dropping out of school.”

“Why would you do something dumb like that?” JD's book was now closed. “I know school is stressful for you and hard, but you need your high school diploma. They're kind of important to get jobs and into colleges.”

“Not all of them,” she said and hugged herself before opening her eyes to stare at the ceiling. “Like I'm going to get into a college? I'm not smart enough to go. The counselor told me that, you know. Remember when we were going through our career and life planning exercise at the end of last year? She said I should find a good vocation and hope I excel at it and make my living that way.”

“They're dumb.”

“I'm dumb.”

JD sat up on his bench and stared at her. His first instinct was to go over and give her a hug, to hold her, and to tell her it was all going to be okay. But she was not the type who enjoyed being coddled and touched. “You're not dumb, Cadence. You just don't do well when you're put under this kind of pressure.”

“No, I'm dumb, and I'm not supposed to go to school. My destiny is greater than this crap,” she sat up and faced him. “You ever feel that way?”

“What? Like there's greater things to life than high school? I sure hope so.”

“Never mind,” she said with a shake of the head. “Totally missing my point. I... Oh my gosh, look who's here.”

“What? Someone famous?” That would be the day.

“No, that Orlando kid,” she pointed to the opposite end of the courtyard. “For just getting out of a fight, he's not looking too bad. I think we know who won.”

JD couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. “Got a thing for emo white boys now?”

“What? Where'd that come from? I was just talking about the kid coming out of a massive battle against two bullies and living to tell about it.”

“Yeah, sure.” JD glanced over at Orlando who was lying on a bench with a book over his face. He looked like a homeless person trying to catch some sleep.

“I've always felt a little bad for him. You'd think in a school as large as ours, at least one of them would want to hang out with him. Can't be that bad of a guy can he?”

“Well, if you want to be his friend so badly go over there and talk to him. You're such a whiner.” JD rolled his eyes.

“I'm not whining.”

“Yeah, that's not my point anyway,” he mumbled to himself.

“I don't think you know your point.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn't matter either.”

“You've completely lost me now.”

“That doesn't take much to do.”

She shook her head and started to pack up her bag. “I have to get going. Mom wants me home for dinner soon.”

“If you hold up, I can walk you home,” JD said as he rushed through putting away all of his things to keep up.

“I'm fine, thanks.”

What did I do?
He couldn't help but wonder if she was mad at him. But why? He wasn't doing anything different from normal, was he? She walked away before he even had a chance to say a word. “I don't get it.”

“You're oblivious. It may have something to do with how you insulted her fragile girl mentality. Maybe you should go try apologizing,” Orlando said as he pulled his book off of his face. Cadence was right, he didn't look hurt after surviving a fight against the monsters of Morningtide. There wasn't a scratch on him.

“But I still don't get it,” JD mumbled. She never acted like she cared before. “And who asked you anyway?”

“You two talk loudly. If I can hear it, it involves me,” he grumbled and slowly sat up with a rather sore sounding grunt. Perhaps he wasn't superhuman after all. JD had to hide his inner spiteful glee. “Might want to try talking about someone when they aren't around to hear you say it next time. Don't want any help with your girlfriend though, that's fine, do what you want. I certainly don't care.”

“She's not my girlfriend,” he snapped. However, Orlando was right. He did need to apologize; otherwise it could be days before she talked to him again.
If I can catch up with her and tell her I didn't mean what I said to come out like that, then...What's that?
His train of thought stopped when he noticed something red and bright hurtling towards the skylight of the plaza at a rather alarming speed. Worried, he searched for her and found her directly in its path.

“C-Cadence?”

She stopped where she stood and faced him with a loud grunt. “What?”

JD pointed up. “Look out!”

Her eyes grew wide as she noticed it, too. Bolting across the mall and back to the courtyard, she landed in JD's arms right as the object shattered through the glass above them, causing it to spray down on the ground in glittering confetti.

Without thinking, his arms flew around her tighter to use his body to protect her. Her hands clung to his t-shirt as she screamed. The glass did not fall near them thankfully. Out of the corner of his eye, JD could see Orlando rising to his feet with a dropped jaw.

JD didn't quite understand why, but he found himself drawn to the fallen object. Logic screamed for him to turn and run, but his curiosity compelled him to find out more.

It looked like it was on fire. He couldn't make out what this object was made from. Large and oblong, it was similar in shape to the crash position of a person jumping into a pool with a cannonball, knees tucked in close to his chest. But where did the fire end, and where did it begin? It didn't look like anything on it burned, and yet the object was engulfed in powerful flames. After a moment, the shape began to resemble something human. But there was no way a person could have survived that kind of a fall, let alone be on fire.

Then it moved. A small twitch at first that turned into a larger, more sturdy motion, as a head and arms popped up out of its ball-like form. Cadence shrieked, and it took a moment for both of them to realize it was a person—more specifically, a man. Still on fire, he didn't react to this in the slightest, almost as though it meant nothing. He spread himself out to his full length and stretched grandly. Tall and muscular, he was an intimidating sight to behold. That was the most JD could make out about him though. Everything else was encased in blinding red flames.

“Is he dead?” Cadence whispered.

“He's moving, he can't be dead,” JD whispered back.

“He's gotta be an alien,” Orlando said from behind them. The glass crunched underneath his feet as he walked closer to Cadence and JD and the fallen man.

“He might be hurt,” JD said.

“Or maybe he wants to kill us and take over our planet. We should run before he decides to zap us or something with a death ray,” Cadence said with a shaking voice.

Orlando glanced at her and shook his head. “I think he would have killed us by now if he actually wanted to.” He paused and directed his attention to the strange man. “Do you speak English?”

JD snorted. “What kind of stupid question is that? What aliens do you know who speak English? It's not like they have some kind of—”

“Yes,” the man said. His voice was rich, deep and smooth. It was surprisingly pleasant to listen to. For some reason JD expected him to sound a lot less normal.

“I must be overwhelming you,” the man continued. Instantly the flames disappeared, but the red glow remained. “Is this less frightening?”

None of the three teens said a word. JD's voice was caught in his throat as five million different questions filled his head. Eventually, Orlando was able to nod as well as pick his jaw up off of the ground.

“Good, I must still be too bright. You are still squinting,” the man said. And then the glow disappeared as well.

“Wow, hot!” Cadence whispered, and JD watched as her eyes roamed over the man's muscular torso. Thankfully, he was clothed, wearing a simple pair of pants and an opened button-down that showed off a build that impressed even JD. The color of his body and his clothing were undecipherable, however, because he still only showed as various shades of red. The most JD could make out about his physical appearance was that he was only a few years older than them. He was barely a man.

The stranger frowned. “I wasn't aware that I was putting off any heat.”

“That's not what she meant,” JD mumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He could always count on Cadence to drop all of her logic over some guy. A firm tug on her arm kept her from starting to wander towards the man. “I wouldn't get too close.”

“What are you?” Orlando asked, getting straight to business.

“To explain accurately at this point in time would be difficult, but for simplification I'll stick with the term you used.” The man pointed towards Orlando and JD with each of his index fingers. “Alien. My name is Alanmendiquixanimackle.”