The Blueshifters (Blueshifter Series Book 1) (5 page)

“
That's
the thing. I'm not exactly sure. I just know from what other people
have said that once you open it, some contract goes into effect.”

“
You
said someone was stalking you after you got the box.”

“
Yeah.
Like they expected me to open it immediately. And when I didn't
that's when I noticed the feeling of being watched.”

“
And
harassed,” finished Dan. She nodded.

“
You
said the box was supposed to fix problems. Can I ask what kind of
problems you were having? Or is that too personal?” Asked Dan.
Mary's face paled.

“
Alright,
don't tell us. That's fine.”

“
No,
no. It's okay. It's just that it's hard to talk about right now. I'll
go get the box.” She left, down the hall. Jack stretched out
and leaned against the wall.

“
A
box that fixes things. First time I've heard about that. I never had
anyone offer me anything like that.

“
I
think they approach each person differently,” Said Dan.

“
It
reminds me of those people that go to the crossroads and make a deal
with the devil for some power or success for a certain amount of
time.”

“
It
does sort of have that vibe. Like if you open it, it steals your soul
or something. Except we aren't dealing with devils and magic.
Something else is going on here.”

“
I
once heard someone say that technology that is sufficiently advanced
looks like magic.”

“
I
think that's true.” Mary came out with a deep red, small,
lacquered box and she set it on the table as if it were radioactive.

“
Did
you ever shake it?”

“
Yes.
There's nothing in there as far as I know without opening it.”
Dan took it up and turned it around in his hands. It felt slightly
too heavy for its size.

“
I
wonder what would happen if we burned it.”

“
Burn
it?” They both asked.

“
I'm
thinking if this isn't magic, and I don't believe in magic, it's a
device that allows them access to you personally somehow or allows
them to enter your mind, or. . .something.””But they
already have access to us. They're here,” she said.

“
Yes,
but there is something more they want. Or else why give you this
thing? What's the point? They need you to open it, Mary. It's like a
drug dealer on the street corner or even a cartel.” Dan's
thoughts were racing now.

“
If
no one took drugs they wouldn't have any business. They need people
willing to take them I order to get them hooked and to make money. A
steady supply. What if these aliens needed more from us than just our
planet? What if they needed something from us?”

”
Like
what?” They asked.

“
I
don't know. What if they needed our permission to control us? They
can watch us sure. They can send people to persecute us or kill us
but those of us who can see them, like we can, what if they needed
mental and emotional control over us in order to really do what they
want to do?”

”
And
by controlling those of us with special powers they can have easy
control over the entire population?” Asked Mary. Dan nodded.

“
That's
like when a nation colonizes another nation they use certain people
from the conquered nation and recruit them as allies either by giving
them some power or some other type of compensation, sometimes it's
something as lowly as trinkets. Finding some way to control and work
through them they can, in turn, have power over the rest of the
population. What if that is what they need? The last key? I'm not
saying that is the answer. But it could be.”

“
Good
thinking, Jack! I wonder what would happen if one of us came into the
bathroom with you, Mary. If this person would appear again while
we're with you.”

“
I
doubt it.”

“
Well,
we'll worry about that person later. I say we take this thing outside
and burn it. See what happens. What do you guys think?”

“
Let's
burn it,” said Jack.

“
Yeah.
Let's burn it,” said Mary. They all went outside after sundown
to the back parking lot of Mary's apartment building.

“
Are
you sure we won't get reported by somebody?” Asked Jack.

“
The
assistant manager is gone for the day. He doesn't live on the
premises. We shouldn't have too much trouble. The night monitor gets
here kind of late and he's kind of lazy. We shouldn't have too much
trouble.”

“
We
just need to work quickly. Besides I have a theory. . .” said
Dan.

“
What
theory?” Asked Mary.

“
Shh!”
He balled up the stack of newspapers they took from the stand out
front and some torn pieces of cloth Mary gave him. Jack took the
bottle of whisky and poured this over the pile. Dan lit the match and
after the pile of papers and cloth had brightened into a bloom of
fire, Mary put the box in the fire. She added a few pieces of twigs
to feed it. The wood from the box crackled and popped and they all
stood around watching it closely when they felt something like a
small quake shaking the street.

“
What
was that?” Said Jake. It caught them completely off guard. And
then there was a keening, blaring sound. An alarm was going off.

“
Fire
alarm?” Asked Dan.

“
That's
not the fire alarm,” said Mary. Then she pointed to the box in
horror. The thing had burned quite quickly into ash and a widening
crack was forming in the ground around it. The ashes of the burnt box
were seeping into this crack and the crack grew like a widening wound
in the earth.

“
I
think. . I think that box did this!”

“
You
think?” Said Jack. “Look at that?” He pointed. The
ashes were turning blacker than black, like some live substance
slinking away out of sight. As this substance disappeared into the
crack, smoke rose up from it along with an acrid, metallic smell. The
air took on the scent of noxious fumes.

“
Let's
get out of here!” Cried Dan. Neighbors and other apartment
dwellers were stirring from their rooms to see what the commotion
was. The alarm gradually became so loud that they thought their
eardrums would burst and then. . .it stopped, as suddenly as it had
come. The hole in the ground had engulfed the ashes of the box along
with the substance left behind.

“
So
this box turns into black goo when burned. That's like nothing I know
of on earth,” said Jack.

“
I
think the goo was in the box and it served  a specific purpose.
A directed virus, maybe?” Asked Dan.

'Or
some kind of biologic implant or device,” said Mary.

Mary
led them back inside as sirens began to call in the distance. Her
bathroom lights were flickering on and off. Dan could tell she was
nervous. They were all shaken. She started toward the bathroom door,
but Dan put a hand on her shoulder.

“
You
don't have to go in there alone.”

“
I'm
not,” she said. “We started something. Kicked off an
alarm.” She went to the bathroom and closed the door and then
sat on the couch.

“
So,
my theory was half way right. I was thinking that if we destroyed
that box especially within the circle of stations, that something
weird would happen. I didn't think it would happen so quickly. But
that box was mighty important if alarms were going off and the ground
is opening up to swallow it.”

“
I
think you might be on to something about a biological or living
device. I think it was designed to infiltrate the human body,”
said Jack. “Now I've got an idea.”

“
What
is it?” Asked Dan.

“
Before
we check out some of those “hotspots” you mentioned
earlier, I say we go find Mr. Fix-It, or whatever you call him, and
have a talk with him.”

“
And
why would we want to do that?” Mary asked.

“
We
need answers. I want to know who this guy really is. Maybe I'll go
alone. Case out his place for a while before I approach. You know?”

“
I
don't think it's good to confront The Others alone, Jack.”

“
We
can't all be together all of the time. Some of this work will have to
be done when we're by ourselves. I want to know who this guy is. What
he is. What if he's like us? An adept but for their side?”

“
Either
way, Fix-It guy is dangerous if he's giving out things like that red
box. He's giving The Others access to humans. This is still new to
us, warned Dan. Suddenly, there was a strange sound in the bathroom.
It sounded like live wires and electricity, untamed. Under the door,
they could see electrical lights flashing and blinking.

“
Oh
my God,” whispered Mary.

“
Mary,
I suspect your apartment building is connected to a power source of
theirs. Remember the map? That box might somehow be related to that
power source and when we destroyed it we alerted them to its
destruction and perhaps cut off a line of power or even communication
they had. Not only do they not have access to you but they don't have
access to this device any longer. If it can even be called that. I'm
thinking on the fly, so this may sound off the wall,” said Dan.

“
It
makes sense considering what we're up against,” said Mary.

“
Jack,
maybe you should check out this Mr. Fix-It guy who gave her the box.
From afar. Case out his haunts, if he has any. Perhaps Mary and I
will investigate the power source I suspect might around this area.
Let me know what you find.”

“
Will
do,” murmured Jack, more determined than ever now. They all
three stared at the blinking lights under the bathroom door. Jack
turned to Mary. “Give me his location. I'm convinced now that
he has some information we need.”

Episode 9 – Little
Old Shop

Jack looked over the card she'd given him once more. The directions
were scrawled haphazardly on the back. On the front was simply a
phone number and the letters S. C. T. He'd called the number several
times and got no answer. How Mary ever managed to find the place was
beyond him. She'd said that the directions were those she'd written
herself after finding it by accident. Or it seemed like an accident,
anyway. How she managed to get anyone else on the other line seemed
an impossibility. But at least he had an address.

Today he decided to ride his motorbike. Over the past weeks, he'd
found that his sixth sense, his ability to detect those who were
different was changing, becoming stronger. His body developed an odd
sensation of fire sparks exploding. At first it seemed simply like
stress but he was learning to understand when it came and went –
when he saw one of The Others – and he was learning how to keep
his responses under control from Trillion. He breathed deeply,
calmly. As he passed by streams of traffic he did not find or
encounter any of them on the ride there and for that he was thankful.
He was still trying to get a handle on his own responses to things.

Turning up S.W. Ankeny Street, he slowed to a leisurely pace, looking
for the address. He found it sandwiched between two business houses.
It was a tiny, rather old, shabby Victorian-style house. Very shabby
in fact. He rode his bike up the sidewalk and parked it at a smart
park meter, paid the meter and stood in front of the house. It was
early afternoon and the business crowd was out to lunch. It was quite
busy and noisy on the other blocks. This one was strangely quiet. He
felt outward with his sense to see if he could detect anything odd or
unusual. He could detect nothing out of the ordinary. He walked up
the small high steps and peeked in. It looked dark inside. Turning
the doorknob slowly he opened the door and stepped inside.

Inside the shop burnished scents of incense greeted him. And
something else that he couldn't place. An essence of some sort. He
slipped through the tiny foyer and onto a dingy looking shag carpet
that announced the main room of the shop. It looked dim and Jack
gazed at the containers, terrariums, gilded boxes and old cast iron
cages. He saw the oddest things in these containers. Plants of colors
he could not describe, old dolls that moved and danced to music after
being wound up and other, more mundane antiques. Jack, normally would
never have any interest in such things but found himself so caught up
he didn't hear the figure at the counter around the corner. Gazing at
a silver cube balanced on a point he watched in interest as it
shifted and rotated its links like a Rubik's Cube. So much so, that
when he slowly turned the corner the clearing of a throat made him
jump. And he wasn't used to people making him jump and he didn't like
it. There was a man standing at the front desk and counter. He was
average height and build, on the thin side with brown hair and brown
eyes. He smiled cheerily.