Hope (Other World Protection Agency Book 1) (10 page)

Every planet waits for the
gateway and shield without knowing it. Once they are born, the planet breathes
a sigh of relief, only to give a cry of horror. These two are the start of
change. If something were to happen to them prematurely, the planet would no
longer be safe. Every alien that walks the world unseen would now be seen.

The boogey man a child sees under
her bed, which should be a half glimpse that couldn’t hurt, changes. It would
become a real specter of evil with the power to demolish her. This became a
reality when the two of you almost died. The gateway was opened and the shield
was thinned. The things that should not be seen became visible.”

“Let’s say we believe this.” Paul
was pacing back and forth in front of the couch. “Then it should stop because
we are well, right?”

“Theoretically yes.”

“What does that mean?” Thea said
pulling her hands away. “Mom we need straight answers.”

“It means that although no new
reports are coming in, the time schedule seems to have been moved up.”

“Time schedule?” Paul had stopped
pacing and instead tapped his foot.

“There is a time schedule that no
one understands for when a world will be ready to interact with the rest of the
galaxy. I am not even sure it’s a real time table. It may just be an educated
guess from the thinkers. Either way, the news is that something has sped ours
up and no one, not even you two, will be able to stop the revolution.”

“Revolution?” Thea looked at
Paul.

“Call it whatever you want.
Crises. The end of the world. Judgment day. It’s all the same. The world will
be over ran with beings who are out to change our world and form a new world
order. Either we stand and fight and survive or bye-bye human race. I have
gotten a glimpse of some planets that have not survived. They no longer have
sentient life on them.”

Now it was Thea’s turn to pace.
“You are definitely not a fount of good news. So what do we do next?”

“Save Amanda and live to fight
another day?” With those words Dora shrugged and left the room.

“She left out Armageddon.”

“How very nice of her.”

“What do we really do next?” She
looked up at Paul needing some stability in her world.

“I don’t know. We can’t leave
Amanda with Raimel even if the world is about to come to an end. I think the
real question is what else has to happen to make this revolution come true.”

“Good question. If it was just us,
then things would have gone back to normal. Well, as normal as life on this
planet usually is.”

They sat down on the couch,
instinctively leaning on each other.

“You’re hope. What goes with
hope? What are we missing?”

“Well there is this. Faith, Hope
and Charity. The greatest of these is Charity. Which we all know means love.”
Thea sais quoting a bible verse she learned in her youth.

“Do you think that we should be
looking for Faith and Charity?”

“No, if they are out there
hopefully they will find us. Looking for them would be like looking for a
needle in a haystack at this point. We should just find Amanda.”

Charon shimmered in the room.
With a look of smug satisfaction on his face. It was enough to immediately make
you want to flee. “Hi kiddies who’s up for a war?”

It was worse than Charon had
described. One of the academies had been taken over. Mostly by the Demos, by
the looks of it, although there were other unidentified aliens around also.
They seemed to be in one reality while everyone else was in a different reality.
Which meant that the teachers and the children could not see them yet, but the
students and several of the more sensitive teachers could feel them.

Everyone at the school was
walking on egg shells. One wrong word and everyone was flying off the handle,
including the school administrators.

“Tell me again what’s happening.”

“Tara, the Demos and their allies
are drawn to this city because you and Paul are here. While you were down, they
built up their energy enough to breach the thinning barrier. Now that you are
well the barrier is repairing itself, so they are trying to breach it another
way. They have roughly one day left to cross the barrier before their window of
opportunity disappears, at least for a while.”

She decided to ignore the last
part and concentrate on what was happening here.

“Can’t we open a portal and lure
them through it?”

“No. You would weaken Paul’s
shields and they would go for the students, not the open portal.”

“Right, portal out. Isn’t there
some way I can repair the shield? If it’s linked to me maybe I could heal it.”

“You are. Think of it like blood.
Your body makes it without even thinking about it. Without thinking about it
you’re healing the shield. Your presence is providing a much needed boost to
it. Other than that, there is nothing you can do.”

“We can’t open a portal. We can’t
heal the barrier faster. Exactly what can we do Charon? I am tired of being
behind the eight ball. I feel as if I either have to run or be hunted. Just
once, I want to be in charge of my destiny.”

“That’s the thing about life, Tara
sometimes you’re most in charge when you feel you’re the least in charge.
Tonight after the students are gone, you have to get the Demos out of there.
The question is how will you do it? Anything I plan, they will see coming. So
it’s up to the two of you.”

They sat on the couch in silence.
Charon had disappeared and they had materialized in the warehouse. They no
longer even blinked when they showed up in a different place. It was a part of
life.

“What do we do now?” Her voice
was weary.

“We save a bunch of students and
teachers.”

“Now were warriors?’

“Oh come on. Admit it. How many
times did you pretend you were the Pink Power Ranger?”

She had to smile and then laugh.
She had envisioned herself as the Pink Power Ranger more than once.

“Don’t forget Sabrina the teen
age witch.”

“Well, now you get to be a
combination of both of them. Kick ass ninja skills and powers that are cooler
than a witches.”

She jumped up and did her power
pose, then fell to the couch laughing. “Well after a speech like that I have
got to help save the world.”

They watched the morning slip
into the afternoon as they threw out plan after plan. ‘Maybe we can just take
an army to the school and fight them there.’ Tara had been desperately
searching for a solution. Anything was better than what they had. Simply put,
they had nothing. Paul immediately shot holes into her flimsy plan. He was
pacing back and forth as he tried to think of a plan. ‘We need to think like
military commanders.’ He followed that up with ‘let’s lay a siege on them.’
Frustrated, Tara came back with ‘exactly how do we get to their dimension, without
opening the barrier and teleporting?’

The afternoon was rapidly turning
into night and still they had no plan. Paul had said ‘why does it matter? What can
the four of us do anyway?’ That’s when Dora had come out of the kitchen
pretending she hadn’t been listening. ‘Charon says if you got the plan he has
the warriors.’ She quickly disappeared again. Paul had turned to look at Tara,
but she stopped him. ‘If you say we should think like barbarians, I will club
you over the head.’ That’s when they agreed to stop thinking like other people.

“Well what do we do now? We are
almost out of time?” Paul was pacing the weight of what they faced was visible
in his eyes.

“Why are you asking me?” Tara
wanted to run. How long had it been since she decided to play an active role in
the world?

“Because you’re the doorway. I am
just the stupid shield.” Yep, Tara thought, as she watched him run his hands
through his hair he was feeling over whelmed too.

 “Yeah stupid medical school graduate,
emergency room doctor and Trauma surgeon. Yep you’re the stupid one. Hmmm
doctor. Could it be that easy?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Hear me out before you think I’m
certifiable. As a doctor if somebody’s immune system was down what would you
do?”

“Build it up.”

“How? And remember your talking
to me not to your colleagues.”

He stopped to stare at her. “That
depends on the physician. Proper diet and exercise would be recommended.
Vitamins may be suggested. Of course, there are holistic doctors who may
recommend other treatments.”

“Well what if they lacked
something?”

“Depends, Tara. Blood work would
be done. Maybe they were low on vitamins, then they would be advised to
supplement their diet. If they had lost blood or found themselves with a blood
disease that was lowering their immune system, they would be given a blood
transfusion to…”

“Stop. Would giving more blood
help someone to heal faster?”

“Simply put yes, but it depends
on the situation.”

She walked over to him with a big
smile on her face. Going up on her toes she whispered a plan in his ear. After
she was done he looked at her like she really was certifiable. Paul laughed
himself onto the couch, falling with no grace.

“Yes Tara, I think that will
work.”

Night had finally come, bringing
its promise of darkness with it. She walked down the stairs wondering if her
choice of clothing was appropriate. Forget appropriate. She just wondered if he
would like it. She had managed to find a black pair of pants that were loose,
but still managed to show off her ample curves. She had a nice black tee over
it with a pair of combat boots. She had even managed to open a few doors and
get some kick ass weapons. She hoped, she was giving off the warrior/ninja vibe.
Although the pink power ranger would be so disappointed in her.

She stopped at the bottom of the
steps as she caught the look on Paul’s face. He looked like he was trying to
speak, but couldn’t get a word out.

“Well what do you think?”

“Beautiful in a deadly kick ass
way.”

She felt herself blush and loved
it. “Thank you kind sir.” She executed a bow and then walked over to them.

“Appreciation time is over
kiddies. What is our plan?”

“Step one – We find the weakest
point in the shield. In order to do that we have to see it. Can you make that
happen?”

Charon looked at Paul. “You can
make that happen. You can see it and even make it visible so we can see it.”

‘How?”

“Come with me.” Charon led him
out the door and they walked for a block.

“Close your eyes and visualize
the field around you. Keep thinking about it until it becomes clear in your
mind. Can you see it?” Taking Paul’s nodding head as a yes he continued. “Tell
me the color.”

“I see every color, but the ones
most prominent are gold and silver.”

“Good, now focus on the feel of
the shield. Feel how it moves through you. Notice how when the colors change, how
the feel of the shield changes. It has a subtle vibration frequency that is
resonating within you. Now search outwards. Let your mind and your talents move
from your body to search the surroundings. Do you feel a frequency like your
shield?” Again he took the nodding head as a sign of yes. “Focus on it until
you see it as plain as you see your shield. Now Paul show me the shield. Make
it visible.”

Paul stood there trying to get a
lock on the shield he could now feel encircling the warehouse. It felt like
quicksilver. Every time he thought he had it, it slipped away. Calming his
breathing he tried again. Their plan hinged on this. Although, to be honest,
this was supposed to be Charon’s part not his. He allowed himself to slip further
into his mind and less into reality or thoughts of fights. He could see Tara
looking beautiful in her black and the thought seemed to give him purpose and
clarity. He knew just what to do.

He ran his shield through every
frequency until it matched the frequency of the shield he was looking for. He
was now in sync with it, he could see it in his mind, but he could also see it
with his eyes.

“Good job, Paul. I can see the
field. Now watch it. See when it thickens and when it thins. The field is like
a living breathing being. Sort of like your heartbeat. It moves some and when
it does energy flows through it. When we get to the school you will see that
part of the shield there is weak and it will be obvious. After you are seen you
will not have long to put your plan in motion. I hope it’s a good plan.”

Paul smiled, Charon looked miffed
at not knowing what the plan was.

“Let’s get the women and leave.”

The getting there part was easy.
Charon had simply gathered them all together and then no fuss no muss they were
there. There, seemed to be filled with more Demos and other creatures than
earlier. It had to be their last big push before they lost the opportunity.

Charon turned to look at them and
simply waited. Tara did her best not to fidget although it was hard since
essentially this was her plan.

“Paul?”

“Working on it baby.”

He simply looked like he was
standing still with his eyes closed. Maybe she could do that part. It really
did seem easy. Next thing she knew he was taking off over a large grassy area.
She followed him, hoping everyone else was keeping up. He stopped by the tennis
courts. She was a little jealous her inner city schools didn’t have tennis
courts. Then she saw a spark. No more time for jealousy.

A bright ring of energy came into
view. It surrounded the academy and the land as far as the eye could see. It
sort of reminded her of riding the merry go round when you hang onto the pole instead
of sitting on a horse. As it goes faster you lean back and let your head drop
and it feels like you’re seeing a circle of color. That’s what she was seeing,
a bright circle of color. One that was keeping her world safe.

The color was thick and vibrant
everywhere, but where Paul stood. That part of the shield looked sick. It was
thinning out almost as if at any minute it would just disappear. Maybe it was a
bad plan, but it really was the only one they had. The Demos and friends had
noticed the barrier. They could see it and were heading towards it.

“It’s now or never Tara.” Paul
strode forward and stood in the weakening barrier.

The thought had been if he was
the one repairing the barrier then giving the ailing portion a direct shot of
him would help to shore it up faster. Now she only had to do her part. She took
off running to the thickest part of the barrier she could see. Stepping inside
she began to open a portal, hoping he could hold and heal the weakest part of
the barrier.

She not only had to open a portal,
hopefully to a barren world, she also had to throw a net that would catch them
all pulling them through. Really she thought, searching for a world, what
happened to doorway class 101? She would have settled for the doorway makes
things happen class. It could have been like a cooking… she found a world and
smiled. It was ugly, but it would do.

Now all she needed was a net.
Which brought her back to thinking a fishing class might have come in handy
right about now. How did one make a net? She thought of Wonder Woman. Who said
watching television ruined a child’s mind? She had carried a lasso on her hip.
Quickly she imagined a huge gold lasso. One that she could twirl with her mind.
She could do this. It wasn’t hard. She was drenched in sweat and her legs were
shaking and her knees were locked which was why she was still in place. Maybe
she couldn’t do it, but she had to try. She threw her lasso, watching it spread
over a large area, catching Demos and other aliens alike.

She tightened the rope and began
to pull them in. It took every bit of energy she had. Turns out, she knew about
energy, destructive energy. The type of energy didn’t matter she had to do this
by any means necessary. She pulled in her catch, shoring herself up with the
years she had tried to destroy herself. Now those emotions, feelings and sheer
energy were being put to proper use. She dragged them closer to the portal. She
could hear them cursing as they fought to get free. Just a little closer, until
finally she dragged them in. Tears of relief slipped out and then she prepared
to do it over again.