It is 3 AM. and Corey Byrnes speeds across the Arizona desert in his car headed home to California. He has spent the last two days in Arizona secretly investigating the mysterious Antonio Cifredo. There are many secrets in his life now, almost too many to handle. He has used sick leave to do his legwork the old fashion way, by himself. The hardest part has been keeping his new wife Eileen in the dark about this trip. The couple are still keeping their marriage a secret which has meant keeping up the appearance of living apart. Even with that charade this is the first time in months that they have spent two nights in a row alone. On Monday he insisted to her that he didn’t want her to catch his illness so she should keep her distance until he was ready to return to work. He has made sure to check in with her several times a day to enforce the deception and he believes he has been successful. Just as successful as his investigation has been.
Corey has learned much about his blackmailer during these two short days in Arizona. Some of the information he is unsure what it means, most of it he is not sure how he to use it to get out from under the Cifredo’s thumb. As surprising as what Corey has learned none of it is as damaging as what Cifredo hangs over him. The cop feels as though he now has some leverage but not enough to end the blackmail. It is time he made some sacrifices in the way he lives his life if he and Eileen can truly be happy together.
Byrnes has been on the road for hours, hoping to make it back to San Diego in time for his shift at 7 AM. Staying up all night is not a struggle for Corey, he does it often because he is unable to sleep most nights. It is much harder pretending to sleep on those nights he spends with Eileen. Corey Byrnes is an addict, he is addicted to Methamphetamine. That is what Antonio Cifredo hangs over his head just out of reach.
It all began nearly six years ago when Corey first became a cop and his partner was Greg Messina. Messina was a seasoned veteran of the San Diego police department and knew all of the tricks. Tricks that he used to be a bad cop and to fly under the radar. Messina was stealing drugs from the police impound to sell them on the street. As insurance, Messina took Byrnes to a house party one night and brought him into the fold. Corey had tried some drugs in High School but never anything like Methe. From that first night at that house party Corey was hooked. Messina used drugs to keep his partner quiet as he built his thriving drug empire right under everyone’s noses at the SDPD.
By the time Officer Messina got busted it was too late for Corey to stop using. He denied all knowledge of Messina’s drug dealing and remained on the force. With Messina in jail Corey needed a new source to feed his addiction. It was then that Antonio Cifredo came alone. Cifredo would supply Corey with the means to get his Methe to feed his habit, in return Corey would report back to him about his new partner Eileen McCoy. It seemed like the perfect arrangement at first, no harm, no foul.
Until Corey began to feel a connection with his pretty young partner. Corey began asking questions about Cifredo’s motives. It was then that Mr. Cifredo began to use his leverage over Officer Byrnes. If anyone learned of his drug habit or his knowledge of Messina’s illegal activities, Corey could lose his job, maybe even go to prison right along side Messina. Corey was terrified of that eventuality. There was something else now as well, Eileen had become more than just a target. The thought of her finding out his darkest secret was more than he could bare to think about. Now driving home with what he has learned in Arizona Corey Byrnes may not know how to solve his problem but he does have a better understanding of what is happening. He needs to find a way to end Cifredo’s hold on him even if it means getting clean, that would be the hard part.
San Diego, Ca
Southeastern Police Division Headquarters
It is 6AM and Eileen McCoy is eager to get to work for the first time in several days. Her partner Corey called her about thirty minutes ago to let her know he was feeling better and would be back to work today. The past two days have been the most she has ever missed anyone in her life. She suspects that there is more wrong than just illness. Her fear is the problem is the state of their secret relationship that is causing both of them pain. Eileen has other secrets that weigh on her too. She has had two days to think while she rode in a car with Joel White, one of the most annoying cops on the force. Eileen suspects it is time for full disclosure if their marriage is going to work.
When she gets into the squad room there is an unusual commotion. “What’s going on?” Eileen asks Bob McCabe, another patrol officer standing at the side of the room.
“Apparently there has been a management shake up from above,” McCabe tells her. “Police Commissioner threw out Lt. Miller, said he was involved in some criminal behavior a few years back with a cop, Messina.” Eileen recognized the name instantly and it must have shown on her face. “You know him?”
“Not personal,” Eileen tells McCabe, “Messina was Byrnes’ training partner before I got here.”
A third officer joins the two standing at the side of the room, it is John Pitts, McCabe’s partner. “So I hear the new Lt. is a transfer from Philadelphia,” Pitts tells them.
Eileen is intrigued by the mention of the Pennsylvania city. “I met a couple of cops from there on my trip to Boston,” she tells them. “I might know this new guy.”
“Okay everybody take your seats for roll call,” Sgt Hopkins says walking to the podium. Eileen looks around the room, Corey isn’t here yet. She takes her seat next to his empty one. Hopkins will have his head on today of all days. “Arnos,” Sgt. Hopkins calls as he begins the roll. Corey better hurry up, Byrnes is only a fell names down the list, Eileen thinks. “Armstrong,” the Sgt. announces to a reply from the patrolman. “Byrnes,” here it comes Eileen thinks.
“Here!” Corey calls out taking his seat next to Eileen. She gives him a close call look even though she would much rather give him a kiss. He quickly touches her leg under the table to give her an “I know,” sign.
Many more names are called until roll call is finished and Sgt. Hopkins begins his speech, “I know you grunts have heard the rumors by now, about what is going on with Lt. Miller.”
“What is he talking about?” Corey whispers to Eileen.
“I’ll tell you later,” she says leaning closer to him to take a sniff of the cologne on his neck that she loves so much. It feels like years since she has been near him.
“Let me now turn this over to our new Lt. Janet Redmayne,” Sgt Hopkins says stepping aside to allow the strawberry blonde woman to take the podium.
“Thank you Sgt. Hopkins,” she says as she eyes up the room of patrol officers. Eileen does recognize her by name, she was one of the officers that Bower spoke with in Philadelphia while she was helping in Boston. She looks much older than Bower described her to be at the time. “I join your team with the knowledge that there have been errors made here in procedure in the recent past and I intend to correct those missteps.” Corey sits listening to the new Lt’s speech still confused at what she is talking about until she says, “Miller’s association with Messina will not reflect on this squad unless the investigate brings forth new allegations.”
Oh no, Corey thinks, Miller was involved with Messina too. He had no idea how wide Messina’s reach was and he didn’t care at the time. What if Miller knew about him and is willing to give him up? This new development has changed Corey’s timeframe dramatically. He doesn’t even listen to the rest of Redmayne’s speech as he is lost in his own paranoia.
“Corey, are you still feeling sick?” Eileen asks as everyone else around them begins to applaud Redmayne’s speech. Corey simply shakes his head “No” at his partner.
“Officers McCoy and Byrnes might I have a word before you hit the street,” Lt. Redmayne requests as the other Patrolmen leave the room for the parking garage. Corey is nearly terrified by the request but he remains in character as he and Eileen follow the new Lt. to her office. Eileen is on edge as well not wanting to start the first day with a new boss on the wrong foot. Redmayne takes a seat behind her empty desk as the two uniformed patrolmen stand in front of it. “Officer McCoy, I understand we have some co-workers in common,” Lt. Redmayne begins.
“I would say that is true, Steve Roberts and Ed Bower that I meet in Boston,” Eileen replies more than a little surprised that the Lt. has any idea who she is. Corey, on the other hand is relieved to hear the reason the have been called in the office.
“You learned some things about the world that you hadn’t known before, Didn’t you?” Redmayne asks with an eyebrow raised. “Have you shared any of that information with your partner?”
Corey turns to Eileen confused by this conversation. He believed that all Eileen did in Boston was help find her father’s killer. Whatever it is she learned must have been what changed her when she came home.
“Yes, my eyes were opened you might say,” Eileen replies. “But I have kept that information to myself.”
“Very good,” Redmayne says. “But perhaps it is time you shared with your partner because I would like the two of you to be my Special-ops team.”
“Excuse me, ma’am, but I have no idea what the two of you are talking about,” Corey interjects.
“All in good time Patrolman Byrnes,” Redmayne says lifting her briefcase onto the desk. “You see I didn’t just get this promotion by chance, I was brought out to the west coast to prove to local authorities that what we have been doing on the east coast has merit.”
“You mean a Zeni-human Squads?” Eileen says almost eager. With everything that has happened since she returned from Boston she has been giving a lot of thought to such things. Participation on a Zeni-human squad might help her find Pam now that she has fallen off the face of the Earth again after what happened in Las Vegas.
“Not quite that organized, I’m afraid,” Redmayne tells the eager cop. “I am not authorized to start such a squad, but if you agree I could funnel such cases to the two of you, secretly of course.”
“What kind of cases?” Corey asks more confused than ever.
“Are you saying there have been Zeni-human sightings in San Diego?” Eileen asks ignoring her partner’s confusion. “Why haven’t I heard of them before?”
“Simply, Federal Government cover ups,” Is the bomb Redmayne drops. “I have a means to get around those authorities and provide us with the information before any cover up.” “But these activities must be kept top secret, even from your co-workers on the force.”
Eileen thinks about what Lt. Redmayne has said to her, the one thing that stands out is the secretary. “How is any of this legal?” she asks. “Won’t the Feds be upset if we get to their cases first?”
“Let me worry about that,” Redmayne tells them. “Take the day to discuss it, fill your partner in on the details of what I have offered the two of you.” “Give me your answer tomorrow morning.”
Byrnes and McCoy leave the station on patrol in silence. Eileen thinks over the offer that has been made to them. “So are you going to explain anything that just happened to me?” Corey says annoyed at his partner’s silence.
“I don’t know where to begin,” Eileen says as Corey drives the patrol car to their route.
“Why not start with what happened to Lt. Miller?” Corey suggests.
“I don’t know much more than you, he is under investigation for his association with Messina,” Eileen explains. “I don’t have anything to worry about with you do I?” “You were his partner after all,” she asks looking to her husband for his tell.
“I had nothing to do with what Messina did,” Corey tells her, not completely lying only bending the truth. He passes her test. “He was up to no good long before I was his partner.” “Now what is this talk of Zeni-humans?” he asks quickly trying to change the subject.
Eileen explains all that happened, what she learned, the people she met, and the weird things she saw while she was in Boston. She explains to him for the first time that her father’s killer was triplets that could become one man or was it one man who could split into triplets, she still wasn’t sure. The part of the story that Corey finds the most believable is about the three witches that run the bed and breakfast at which she stayed. Most of the things about them sounded like minor exaggerations. The hardest part to believe was the man who aged before her eyes and then vanished. In truth the thing Corey had most on his mind is the further investigation of Messina leading to uncovering his past connection.
“I just wish there was a way I could contact Roberts or Bower on the down low to find out more about Redmayne,” Eileen confesses. “What she is asking sounds pretty shady to me.” Eileen can tell that Corey is finding all of this hard to believe. “I have to admit the things that happened in Boston changed the way I look at life,” she says reaching out to put her hand on his thigh as he drives. “It made me see how important things in life can be if you just open yourself up to them.”
“Getting close to the new boss might be a good thing,” Corey suggests for his own reasons. Miller’s investigation had added a new layer to his problem with Cifredo. He can’t help but think a nice high would make it much easier to think this through. Up until now he has managed to keep his drug use on the job hidden, this is not the time to screw that up because he is feeling the pressure. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, ya know?”
Eileen thinks for a minute. “You know you might have a point there.” “What if she is thinking the same thing?” “What if she is only offering us this because she is setting us up?” That is not what he meant but the idea sends chills up his spine.
San Diego, Ca
Southeastern Police Division Headquarters
Newly arrived and promoted Lt. Janet Redmayne has spent the morning organizing her office. It has been several hours since the patrolmen have left for the streets, it is time for the next step. From her pocket she retrieves a small communication device, Pressing a few buttons she then holds it to her face. It will be decades before the majority of Earth people have such a compact device. “Phase one complete, begin phase two,” she says into the device.
The voice on the other end asks, “Then she knows?”
“If she does she is a good actress, but I am sure she is the one,” Redmayne replies taking the device from her ear to press another button and returning it to her pocket. Janet Redmayne sits back in her chair, she can’t help but grin a her good fortune. She knew there was at least two on Earth but she never expected to find the right one first so easily. She needs only to prevent the final joining to eliminate the threat.
Newton Motors Auto Body Shop
Southeastern, San Diego, Ca
The Southeast side of San Diego has some very unsavory elements, some of whom Officers McCoy and Byrnes come into contact with on a daily basis. There is a body shop owned by one of those unsavory elements named Newton Motors. Most places like this are named after the owner and founder, this one is not. Nikolai Romanoff is a Russian immigrant who uses the name in hopes of keeping his ties to the Russian mob under wraps. Nick Newton as he calls himself has even perfected a perfect American accent. The police suspect his connections but can not prove anything on paper or in court. McCoy and Byrnes have visited the shop on many occasions to deal with minor infractions in the law, today will be different.
One of Nick’s less than legal operations has been the smuggling of illegal drugs in the cars he has come through the garage. Nick has become a connoisseur of some of those drugs, trying them to insure the quality before distribution. Over the years his body became addicted to many of them and his usage became extreme. Soon his profits began to sag and he stopped using cold turkey. For the amount of drugs he was using he should have surely gone through extreme withdrawal in the first weeks of the month, but he did not. His ego refused to let him question his lack of detox and he continued on with his business unhindered.
A majority of Nick’s business is done face to face to leave not trail of phone conversations to be eavesdropped on. Today he has only one meeting planned that is with one of his biggest suppliers from South America. It is ten after eight in the morning and he drinks from a large glass of wine, his only remaining vice. His client is late, in his business that is never a good sign. He fills his glass again and gets up to look out the glass paned window that overlooks the shop. At this time in the morning all of his mechanics should be at work maintaining the shop’s cover image. He can see none of them from his vantage point a floor above which is wrong.
Leaving his glass on the desk he throws open the door and begins to descend the metal stair calling out, “Chuy!” There is no response from his foreman. “Chuy, what the hell is going on here?” Nick proceeds to the lunch room where the time clock hangs on the wall. There is no sign that any of his staff has even arrived yet for work. Nick goes to the employee entrance door that is still locked from the inside. He opens the door expecting to find his workers locked out. “Okay, you dead weight get in here to work?” he bellows.
Dead weight was the right word to use because when he steps out into the alley he finds just that. Chuy and the rest of his staff are strewn around the alley. Their bodies cut and bleeding out on the oily pavement. “SHIT!” he shouts rushing back inside, slamming and locking it behind him. He fears the South Americans were not happy with the new deal he was offering. He runs back through the building to make sure the rest of the garage is locked up tight.
At the front of the garage he makes another discovery. The three South Americans that he was meeting with have been gutted as well, the three men are strung up on the car lifts their entrails hanging out. “What the Fuck!” Nick shouts. He takes the gun from the shoulder holster inside his jacket. “Who the fuck is here?” he yells holding up his gun.
“Who the fuck indeed,” an unseen man’s voice calls back. “You are a hard man to change.”
“Who is it?” Nick says pointing his gun around the open garage. “Who’s there, Cifredo? Galliano? Wong?”
“Impressive underworld connections, I’m sure but I am not here for your business, I am here for you,” the man says stepping from the shadows. He holds up a large sharp orange spear that is covered in blood. The blood of his employees and business associates drips onto the floor from the lance.
“Mother Fucker!” Nick shouts firing his gun at the man. The man holds up his left hand and an orange shield appears from nothingness to absorbs the bullets. “Who the hell are you?” Nick questions his Russian accent surfacing.
The stranger only grins, he was born Jayson Roberts but of late he has been going by a different name. “You can call me the Badger,” He smiles as a chunk of still soft polymer flies from his hand to coat the gun Newton holds in a solid mass. “From what I understand you have fully assimilated it but you have not emerged yet.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Nick questions as he backs away trying to pull the orange polymer from his gun hand soon finding his free hand stuck in the polymer too.
“Did you really think you went cold turkey with no withdrawals alone?” the Badger asks. “Is your ego really that big?” Nick points his orange coated hands at the stranger who is making him feel very threatened. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the mercenary instructs. “By now my ‘lob’ is as hard as steel.”
Nick is not one to listen to an opponent’s warnings. He manages to squeeze the trigger just enough to fire the gun inside the orange “lob” as the Badger called it. The result is instantaneous, the orange “lob” explodes taking the gun and most of Nick’s right hand with it. The Russian is thrown back to the floor of the garage screaming in pain as he grabs for what is left of his hand. He can’t even form words as the Badger stepped up to stand over him.
“I guess your ego is that big,” the Badger says pointing his orange spear at Nick’s chest. “That ego will come in handy with what you need to do next.” “You are like me, you need to die to make the final transformation.” There is a look of terror in Nick’s eyes as the man standing over him thrusts the shaft of orange down into his heart.
Newton Motors Auto Body Shop
Southeastern San Diego, Ca
Several hours later Officers McCoy and Byrnes are the first to arrive on the scene at the alley that leads behind Newton Motors. A hysterical woman greets them as they pull up. Through her tears she manages to say, “I was just going to call 911.”
“Calm down ma’am,” Officer McCoy says taking the woman by the arm helping her to sit down on a bench at the end of the alley way. “You mean you aren’t the one who called this in?” the officer asks.
“No, no, I was just here to pick up my car on my lunch break,” the woman tells the cops. “But the shop was locked up so, I walked around the back.” “There is blood everywhere!” she sobs.
“What is going on, is everything alright?” a neighboring shopkeeper says as he approaches the scene.
“That is what we are here to find out sir,” Officer Byrnes tells the man. “Could you wait here with Miss…”
“Vincent, Alice Vincent,” the woman tells them.
“Miss Vincent, while my partner and I have a look around,” Officer Byrnes finishes.
“I’ll take her back to my cafe, it is right across the street,” the man says.
“That would be good,” Officer McCoy said helping the woman up from the bench.
The cops watch as the man leads Alice Vincent across the street to the Diamond cafe. Officer Byrnes draws his gun. “Going’ in hot, Byrnes?” Officer McCoy questions with a smile.
“Going’ in hot, McCoy,” he replies with a knowing grin. The two cops walk slowly down the alley with guns drawn and safeties off.
“Rather odd how we got the call before she called 911,” Eileen comments.
“Not really, someone else could have called it in, like the guy from the cafe,” Corey rationalizes. As they walk all seems clear until they turn the corner to see the massacre. Eileen is nearly sickened by the sight of the many bloody bodies. She has seen a lot in her years on the force but never anything this extreme.
She turns and walks back around the corner to compose herself. “I’ll call it in,” she says reaching for the radio on her shoulder.
Out of sight of his partner Corey takes several pills from his pocket and slipped them in his mouth, swallowing them dry and hard. He has seen something like this before, it is a drug hit, someone has been cleaning house. He walks forward to the back door of the garage. There is something strange though, these men weren’t killed by gunfire. Reaching the door he gives it a try, “San Diego Police Department,” he calls out knocking on the door and then turning the knob. The door is locked. “San Diego Police Department is anyone in there?” he calls again peering in the small window on the door. The lights are on but Corey can’t see anyone inside, nor can he see anymore signs of mayhem.
Then he hears the sound. He looks down to the deadbolt lock watching as the lock turns. Stretching to look inside to the back of the door he can’t see anyone turning it from the other side. Then the lock on the door knob does the same. The pills have kicked in and his heart races as he tries the knob again and it opens. “Ei, the door is open!” he calls to his partner.
“Corey, wait for backup!” she calls back from the end of the alley.
Officer Byrne’s judgment is slightly clouded by his addiction, it makes his both a good cop and a bad cop at times. As well as a cop that is too eager and impatient at times. This is one such time. “I’m going in!” he says almost so his partner can’t hear him.
“No wait!” Officer McCoy shouts as she turns to see her partner slip inside the door to the garage. Eileen is used to this kind of foolish behavior from her partner, it is one of the reasons she resisted his charms for so long. But now there is more at stake than their working relationship. Trying to ignore the carnage in the alley she follows after him.
Inside Byrnes is on the offensive as his adrenaline pumps the slightest noise or movement could make him fire his gun. He stays close to the wall trying to get a layout of the garage interior. Moving quickly to the front of the building he finds the South Americans strung up on the car lifts. “Ei, I’ve got three more victims in the front garage,” he says into the radio on his shoulder. “They are well dressed I think one is Pedro Dominica.” Officer Byrnes inspects the rest of the area. He finds several bullet holes in some of the steel drums but no other sign of guns. The South Americans were killed with some kind of large blade.
“Corey what are you thinking!” Eileen chastised as she enters the garage to see the other dead men hanging. “The killer could still be in here!”
“I don’t think so, these guys were killed hours ago,” Corey replies. “The blood puddles are drying up along the edges.
Eileen believes her partner, not wanting to look at the bodies any closer than she has already. Looking around she spotted something moving in the shadows. Pointing her gun she calls, “SDPD, come out of there slowly, let me see your hands!” Corey turns to aim his gun to the dark corner. A man stumbles forward from the shadow, a single tear can be seen in his otherwise clean shirt.
“Nick, Nick Newton is that you?” Officer Byrnes asks. “It’s alright, Ei, it’s Nick he owns the place.” Corey lowers his gun, but Eileen does not so easily give the garage owner a pass.
“Corey stay back there is something not right about him,” Officer McCoy calls to her partner.
Officer Byrnes does not heed his partner’s advice as he walks closer to the confused looking man. “He’s just in shock.” “Nick what happened here?”
Nick Newton does not answer at first and then when his mouth does open he lets out a sonic cry that hits Byrnes with physical force, throwing him to the floor. Instinctively Eileen dodges for cover behind a car. When the scream ends she peeks out from her hiding place to survey the garage.
Corey lays unconscious on the floor not far away. Nick Newton is nowhere to be seen. She rushes to her husband and partner’s side. As she approaches she can see that his nose and ears are bleeding. Eileen fears the worst as she kneels down beside him. She checks for a pulse that relieves her fears, then she spots a plastic baggie laying on the floor next to his pant’s pocket. There are several different colored pills. Corey groans as he regains consciousness. “Just lay still, I’m calling an ambulance,” she tells him putting one hand to his chest and using the other to scoop up the baggie of pills she slips into her pocket just as several other officers enter the garage. “You’re looking for the garage owner, Nick Newton!” Eileen shouts to the other cops. “Consider him armed and dangerous!” The men fan out in separate directions as Eileen uses her radio to call for an ambulance.
When the ambulance arrives she rides with Corey to the hospital, altering the story of what happened to him slightly to cover up the Zeni-human angle. At the hospital she is forced to pretend to be only his police partner rather than his wife as he is taken into the emergency room. Trying to hold in her emotions she catches a ride to returns to the garage to pick up their squad car.
At the garage another cop, still on the seen, tells her they couldn’t find Newton anywhere, which is probably for the best because they had no idea what they were up against. She hangs around for a half hour or so to get more information about the crime scene. No one seems to know who made the 911 call or even if there was one. The cops that arrived first after McCoy and Byrne told her that they didn’t get called to the scene until she called them.
As she drives back to the precinct Eileen thinks over the coincidence of this attack only hours after Lt. Redmayne offered them a chance to be on a secret Zeni-human task force of sorts. Not to mention that there is no evidence of a 911 call. Returning to the station Officer McCoy reports directly to Lt. Redmayne’s office to get some answers.
San Diego, Ca
Southeastern Police Division Headquarters
When Officer McCoy walks into Lt. Redmayne’s office, she sits behind her desk a smug look on her face. “What happened today?” Eileen asks impatiently.
“Whatever do you mean, Officer McCoy?” Redmayne replies.
“How did we get a call to that garage before anyone else reported it?” she asks.
“I would guess that there was something of a clerical error made by the 911 hotline,” the Lt. smirks. Eileen glares at her new boss on the verge of insubordination. “When we spoke this morning you were surprised to hear that there were Zeni-humans in San Diego,” Lt. Redmayne says. “I would assume that is no longer the case.”
“You are up to something, I just can’t be sure what,” Officer McCoy tells her new boss. “Corey and I discussed your offer but hadn’t give you an answer so you figured you would push us in the deep end.” “My partner could have been killed!”
“Perhaps this will be a learning lesson for the both of you,” Lt. Redmayne says almost seeming as if she is trying to anger Officer McCoy. Although she doesn’t come out and say it Eileen feels as though Lt. Redmayne knew exactly what they were going up against at that garage. Like she was testing them, wanting to see what they would do.
Eileen stands there staring the Lt. down when a knock comes on the door. It is Officer Desai, “Byrnes needs a ride home from the hospital,” he says slipping his head in the door.
“Looks like your partner still needs you,” Redmayne says gesturing for Officer McCoy to leave. Eileen doesn’t say another word as she turns to leave. Once Officer McCoy is gone Lt. Redmayne opens her desk drawer to glance down at a meter that has been taking readings while they talked. It shows the lowest of readings. Next to the meter device, the communication device she used earlier rests. Picking up the communicator she speaks into it, “The readings show that she is definitely the one but she has only the smallest of connections with the device.” “As long as she is not fully bonded with it we can still use her to our advantage.”
There is a soft voice that replies, “Should I try to find the device before she can fully bond with it as you say?”
“No that would not be wise, disturbing it or taking it from her possession could quicken the process,” Redmayne tells the voice on the other end of the communicator. “We need to take this slow, sway her before she can bond with it fully.” “Make her see our side of things.”
“Very well, mistress,” the voice replies in a subservient manner.
“Drop the mistress, You must start calling me Janet!” she demands. “Continue as planned, out.” Lt. Redmayne returns the communicator to the drawer and closes it.
54th Street
Southeastern San Diego, Ca
An exhausted nearly incoherent man stumbles into a dim alley hidden from the sun by tall buildings all around. He staggers to brace himself against a dumpster and then slides down to the garbage strewn pavement. His heart pounds in his chest and he finds it hard to focus on anything. Fifty feet away from him on the street cars sail by not even taking notice of the alley. People walking on the sidewalk don’t even take a moment to glance in his direction. Then a figure does stop at the mouth of the alley. It is almost as if the figure is looking for something, someone.
As the figure on the sidewalk steps forward into the alley it is clearly male. The second man to enter the alley brings with him an aura of light. The confused man on the pavement thinks he is imagining this angel that has come to claim his dark soul. He looks up at the glowing figure over him in utter amazement.
Then the angel speaks, “My name is Ben, I have come to help you.”
From the base of the dumpster Nick Newton replies, “No, Angel I am not ready to go yet.”
“I am not of this world, but I am no Angel,” Ben tells the confused man. “You have been changed by unnatural means and I wish only to help reverse what has been done to you.”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Newton retorts releasing a sonic blast that sends Benue of Srann back out into the traffic on the street. Tires squeal and horns beep as cars collide on the street when the helpless man’s body crashing into the windshield of an unexpected motorist. Nick Newton flees from the alley paying no mind to what he has done. He knows only fear now as he runs down the chaotic street.
Coastal Medical Center
San Diego, Ca
Before returning to the hospital Eileen McCoy made a few stops to do some quick research on the baggie of pills. All of them are either amphetamines or narcotics. In the right combination they can be both a powerful stimulant as well as give a significant high.
There is a commotion in the emergency room as she enters. She stops at the nurses desk for a moment to ask what has happened. “Care pile up over on 54th Street, guy fell in traffic or something,” the nurse tells the officer.
54th street isn’t far from Newton Motors, she wonders if there is a connection before getting the information she needs on her partner. This time her badge seems to be enough for the nurse to explain about Corey’s treatment or lack thereof. She does not like what she is told as she is shown to where her partner waits to be released.
Eileen’s anger is building as she storms through the area to throw open the dividing curtains stall 14 announcing, “What are you thinking refusing treatment?” “You can’t go back to work without being cleared by a doctor!”
Corey stands facing the wall straightening his tie as he tells Eileen, “Stop making such a big deal.” When he turns toward her she looks at his face, he looks awful, like he hasn’t slept in a week. His shirt it drenched in sweat as he sits down in the air conditioned hospital to put on his shoes. “It was just a little bump on the head,” he insists. Corey appears out of sorts to Eileen, not his usual peppy self as he gets down from the exam table.
She hates to think it but she really has no other option. “It was more than a bump on her head,” Eileen tells him. “I was there!” “It was a Zeni-human attack and even if you still don’t believe in zeni-humans, this could be more than what you think.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, we’ve known Nick Newton for years, he is not one of these zeni-humans you keep talking about, now let’s go,” Corey says as he finishes buckling his gun belt. Eileen is noticeably still angry but she stop arguing with her husband in this public place. She know that what comes next must be kept quiet between them.
Walking out of the hospital, Corey doesn’t see their patrol car in the parking lot. “Where is the car?” he asks.
“Over here,” she replied walking toward the red Honda Civic that she owns.
“We need to get back on patrol, where is the squad car,” Corey insists hoping he can make a quick score to make up for his lost stash.
“We don’t need to do anything but talk privately, we are done work for the day,” Eileen says with a scowl on her face.
“Fine then take me home!” Corey tells her as he gets into her car. The ride to Corey’s apartment up town is very quiet, something that is unusual for the couple. On the ride Eileen begins to think about the part of town Corey lives in for the first time. La Jolla seems out of his price range, for a beat cop. Maybe he is just dealing drugs she thinks to herself in silence. Would that really be better she wonders. Eileen glances over at Corey who lays his head against the glass of the window as he rides. She knows he is doing more than just dealing. That would be too easy of a solution. She has been through this before with her brother Michael. When he was in his teens he began to change, become more introverted. At first she thought he was just mourning the loss of his friend, Randy. It wasn’t until she saw what drug addiction looked like as a cop that she finally realize what Michael had become. How could she have been so blind again? The only answer that comes to mind is, she didn’t want to see it.
When she was first partnered with Corey she was dazzled by his good looks and bravery. She fought with herself for so long not to fall in love with him, that was all that was on her mind. She wanted to keep their relationship strictly professional but before she knew it, she was in love with him and then in his bed.
Arriving at the condo complex, Eileen finds a parking space and they get out of the car. “I’ll be fine, you don’t have to come up,” he tells her.
“You must be joking if you think I’m not coming up,” she replies coldly showing him she is still angry. As they climb the stairs it would seems the bloom is already off the rose for the secret newlyweds.
Once inside Corey’s apartment Eileen heads to the living room as Corey casually looks through his kitchen cabinets. Not finding what he is looking for he peers into the other room to see what Eileen is doing. “You don’t have to stay if you are just going to be angry, I’m not going back to the hospital,” he tells her.
“No, that is not why I am here!” Eileen says pulling the curtain on the balcony doors closed. “We need to talk.” “There is clearly something wrong with you and if it isn’t the attack, is it these?” she asks holding out the baggie of pills she found next to him on the floor at the garage.
What little color that was left in Corey’s face drains at the sight of his stash in his wife’s hand. “I don’t know what those are,” he denies. “Where did you get them.”
“They were on the floor next to you at the garage, I thought the bag fell out of your pocket when you were hit,” she explains stretching the story.
“My pocket, no, that isn’t right,” Corey lies again. “You know that Nick deals in drugs, those pills could have come from anywhere at that scene.”
Eileen grabs him by the arm to pull him to a small mirror on the wall. “Look at yourself and tell me these are not your pills!” Corey looks at his sweaty face with dark circles under his eyes. He has never gone this long without a fix before, he is surprised at how quick the withdrawals have set in. He pulls from her grip and stomps to his bedroom slamming the door. She can feel the tears building in her eyes, there is no question now her suspicions are true. Wiping her eyes with the hand she manages to hold back her tears as she follows after him.
In the bedroom she finds the man she loves with all her heart going through all of the his dresser drawers. She can’t believe what a fool she as been that she hadn’t seen it before now. She had spent so much time denying her feelings for him that maybe she didn’t want to see it. “Looking for these?” she asks tossing a larger bag of pill bottles on the bed, that she found hidden around the apartment before she came to pick him up. “You gave me the keys to your place, I never thought I would use them for this.” Corey is speechless as he looks at the bag and then back to her angry face. “I went through this before with my brother, I am no stranger to drug addiction,” Eileen tells him point blank. “I love you but I will not believe any more of your lies.” “You can tell me the truth now so we can go through this together or I can just leave and we are done!”
Corey still can’t speak, one of the things he feared most has happened. He looks in her eyes and knows she is not messing around, she means what she says. He had thought about cleaning up to give Mr. Cifredo one less thing to hold over him but he never wanted Eileen to ever know. Now she does and it is time he is forced to face the truth. “I’ve been hooked for years,” he confesses staring at the bag of pills. “I’ve wanted to quit, but I never had a reason to.”
“And now?” Eileen asks her features softening.
“Now I have the most wonderful wife in the world, who says she loves me and wants me to stop,” Corey tells her as tears began to run from his red rimmed eyes. “But I’m afraid it is too late, I don’t know if I can.”
“You can, we can do this together,” she said beginning to cry herself. “I didn’t finally give into marrying you to run at the first sign of trouble.” “But you have to say it first.”
He steps closer to her, wiping his tears on his sleeve, “I love you first and foremost,” he sobs. “I am an addict and I need to get better!” She puts her arms around him and they embrace for a long time crying in each other’s arms. The couple climb into bed and she holds him until he cries himself to sleep in her arms.
Once Corey is sound asleep Eileen slips free of his grasp. She sits on the edge of the bed to look over at the bag of pill bottles. Wiping her tear stained face she grabs the bag and storms to the bathroom where she begins dumping bottle after bottle into the toilet. Eileen remembers all those times she was treating her like a Queen when she stayed at this apartment. Corey never let her lift a finger to do anything for herself, it was so she wouldn’t find the bottles he had stashed in the kitchen and bedroom! She flushes the toilet and turns to the mirror over the sink. She doesn’t wear a lot of makeup but the eyeliner she does wear has ran on her cheek like a skinny Tammy Faye Baker. She wipes her face with a tissue knowing, this is only the beginning of many long nights to come.
Returning to the bedroom she looks at her man passed out on the bed fully clothed, only his gun belt on the floor. The diligent officer retrieves her partner’s gun and places it in the gun safe mounted in his closet. Coming down off of those pills Corey could sleep for days, just like Michael did. Eileen’s experience comes in handy because she knows how soundly he now sleeps. She removes his shoes, pants and shirt then rolls him under the blankets. The chills will begin in a day or so followed by the sweats.
Eileen knows she can’t do this alone she will need help, someone who knows the importance of keeping this a secret.
Somewhere else
Southeastern San Diego, Ca
It has been hours since Nick Newton was mutated by the alien parasite. It has been only a few hours less since Benue of Srann intervened to try and help him. His mind is beginning to clear about the events of the day as his urge to flee eases. He is at the edge of the city now, in a gas station lot. He realizes for the first time that he did that to those two men. One of them a cop he knows, Corey Byrnes, one of his best customers. Then he thinks back further to the man who attacked him in the garage. He said I needed to be reborn, he remembers. This power, the power my voice now has is destructive, he grins in the light of the setting sun.
Spying a soda machine he walks over to it. Standing in front of it he screams, but nothing happens only the turning of heads from people pumping gas into their cars. He isn’t doing it right, he is forgetting something. It takes him a moment to remember what the man in the alley said. He wanted to help. Help was something Nick never needed and it angered him. Anger is the key. He looks to the people glaring at him as if he is crazy and he feels the simmer of that anger again. “FUCK YOU ALL!” he shouts. Instantly the sonic storm ignites. The huge wave of sound blasts across the lot with enough force to throw people and cars alike. It is an incredible scene of destruction as the windows of the storefront are shattered, even the gas pumps are partially uprooted.
Nick is no longer frightened by what he can do, he is impressed by it. The question remains what should he do with his new power and who was the guy who gave it to him? The sound of syringes makes it clear to Nick that it is time to go, he is not ready for his big reveal yet. He knows returning to the garage is not an option. But now that his head has cleared he knows of another place that he can go and not be bothered by the police.
Corey Byrnes Apartment
La Jolla, San Diego, Ca
It is 11:45 pm when Michael McCoy arrives at Corey Byrnes apartment. “Thanks for coming,” Eileen says giving her brother a hug and inviting him in.
“Where is he?” Michael asks.
“In bed, he passed out,” Eileen tells him. They walk to the bedroom door and she opens it so they can look in. Corey has curled into the fetal position as he has begun to shiver. “He is in pretty bad shape,” she said beginning to cry again. Even though she calls him her little brother he is a good four inches taller than her as he puts his arm around her shoulders. “I can’t believe this is happening,” Eileen sobs putting her face on Michael’s chest.
“I’m just glad it happened early,” Michael replies.
“What do you mean?” Eileen questions.
“I’ve been doing this for years now, I know the signs when I see them,” Michael explains.
“You knew?” Eileen exclaims pulling away from her brother.
“I wanted to tell you but I was afraid you would just get mad at me,” Michael justifies. “You were so in love with him.” “I knew you weren’t ready to see it.” “As long as he wasn’t hurting you I didn’t see the need to take that risk.”
Eileen doesn’t really know what to say to Michael. He was in the program he now works as a counselor for a year getting clean. She really can’t argue with his logic, he is right, she wasn’t ready to see it. “Do you think we can get him clean?” she asks.
“That all depends on him,” Michael answers. Eileen backs up closing the door to return to the Living room and Michael follows. “He is going to need your love and support now more than ever,” Michael tells his sister as they sit down on the furniture in the living room.
“I know that but I have to protect him too,” she tells her brother. “That is why I need your help with this, I can’t let anyone at work know what he is going through.”
“If you think that is best I won’t question you,” Michael says going to pick up his bag that he left on the floor by the door. “I’ve got some reading for you about dealing with this stuff.” He digs in his bag pulling out a few pamphlets.
“Michael, I’ve been through this before with you,” Eileen protest as he holds out the brochures.
“That was different, I am your brother not your husband” he tells her. “Dealing with the emotions is much different, these will help.”
Reluctantly she takes the pamphlets. “I need to get home and get some sleep before I go to work and start dealing with all of this mess.” “Do you have everything you need to spend the night here?”
“I’ve got the rest of my stuff in the car,” Michael reassures his sister.
“I can’t thank you enough,” Eileen says leaning in to give him a hug and kiss on the cheek before she leaves.
In the next room unseen by the McCoys, Corey reaches out from his bed for the phone on the night table. In the dark he dials a number he has long since put to memory. As usually it is an answering machine at the other end. “It’s over Mr. Cifredo,” he whispers. “Eileen knows I’m an addict.” “I know who you are too, Grandpa.” “Don’t make me tell her,” Corey finishes softly hanging up the phone again.
Ocean Crest Condos
Point Loma, San Diego, Ca
Nick Newton arrives at his safe house just before midnight. It is a small apartment on the edge of the city far from his garage. He digs into the fresh stockpile of food. Clicking on the television, he begins to investigate the events of the day. He is not surprised about the reports of what happened at his garage and that the police are still looking for him to question.
His power is fueled by anger and that is where he will begin. He will seek out all of those who have crossed him in the past. Nick begins his vendetta with a list of names. This first list has only three names on it but he is sure there will be more. But first he must rest to be prepared for the long days ahead as he becomes the Lord of San Diego.
Eileen McCoy’s Apartment
Southeastern, San Diego, Ca
It is after 3 am when Eileen gets home to her apartment across town. Almost as if in a trance Eileen walks through her home to her bedroom. She drops the pamphlets her brother gave he on the floor before she gets down on the floor next to her bed as if to pray. Then she reaches under the bed to retrieve the metal briefcase. Sitting on the floor with her back to the bed she holds the metal box on her lap. On the top of the box is the insignia that was drawn on a piece of paper she found in Steve Roberts’ room in Boston. Below that insignia she reads the alien words engraved on it out loud for perhaps the hundredth time in her life, “A gift of power and strength.” This strange box and these words have given her the security she has needed over the years to get her through many hard times.
Eileen was twelve when her paternal grandfather died. She found the box hidden in his basement. She has never been able to open it but being able to read the engraving when no one else could give her a bond to it. The insignia on the box is a hexagon around a flaming torch over a double “T”. She traces the symbol on the box with her finger. Over the years she has had many ideas about what it meant. The one she likes best is that the torch is like the one in the Olympics. It makes her feel like she is the bearer of that torch.
Eileen knows that if anyone was to see her now they would think her crazy. She doesn’t care. She looks to the pamphlets on the floor thinking about what Michael said, how she and Corey were starting their marriage with lies. Maybe he was right, they both had secrets but now only Corey’s was out. After all of this she will have to tell her secret too if their marriage is to have a chance. Eileen falls asleep on the floor next to her bed holding the metal box in her arms like a beloved teddy bear.
San Diego, Ca
Southeastern Police Division Headquarters
Getting to the station early the next morning, Eileen files paperwork to get Corey Byrnes time off due to his injury. It is a risky move without a doctor to back it up but Eileen figures it the best way. Eileen tries to put Corey out of her mind as she has returned to work appearing to have no emotional ties to the situation.
After roll call Eileen is called Lt. Redmayne’s office. She is sure she will be chained to a desk until Corey’s return to work. “Take a seat Officer McCoy,” Lt. Redmayne tells her. “Have you given any thought to my offer after yesterday’s events?”
“I just assume the offer was off the table now that I am without a partner,” Eileen tells her boss.
“Don’t be ridiculous my offer still stands, in fact I am even more eager for you to accept it,” Redmayne says to both Eileen’s surprise and suspicion. “In fact now that you have stumbled onto your first Zeni-human case I was hoping you could close it on your own.”
“I am not a detective, Lt.,” Eileen states. “I am just a beat cop, I don’t think the detectives on the case would appreciate me snooping around.”
“That has never stopped you before, look at your trip to Boston,” Redmayne retorts. “As for the detectives on the case, they don’t have the connection to Nick Newton that you and your partner do.” Redmayne’s statement makes Eileen question just how much the woman knows about her partner’s current problem. “I would guess that you investigation will not even cross paths with theirs.”
“What are my other options?” Eileen asks hoping to find out what exactly Redmayne is playing at.
“I was thinking I would like a full inventory of the evidence locked up,” Lt. Redmayne replies with a raised eyebrow. It is clear to now to Eileen that Redmayne is up to something. For some reason this new Lt. wants her to be working Zeni-human cases if she wants to or not.
“I really don’t have the experience to go after a Zeni-human,” Eileen suggests.
“None of us did dear, but you’re a quick study, aren’t you?” Redmayne replied. “Now get to work finding Newton!” Eileen leaves the office returning to the desk she and Corey share to fill out reports.
Why does Redmayne think I know so much about Newton? She wonders as she sits staring at the stapler on the desk. It has always been suspected that Newton was a drug dealer but no one could ever get enough on him to take him to court. It was like he had an inside man at the SDPD. “Oh no, Corey you didn’t,” she whispers under her breath as she starts searching through the desk drawers. She finds nothing in plain sight, but it wouldn’t be would it? She runs her fingers along under the desktop inside the center drawer to find a notebook taped there. Freeing the notebook she recognizes Corey’s handwriting instantly. The small book is filled with dates and locations all over the city.
Watching from the window of her office Janet Redmayne smiles as Eileen fingers through the notebook. She knows the young Officer has found what she needs to find Nick Newton before the detectives on the case. Janet turns away from the glass as Eileen gets up from the desk to leave the squad room. Her plan is moving along nicely, it will not be long until she has Officer McCoy’s full trust or fear, either one should work nicely.
Officer McCoy leaves the station in her squad car. One of the addresses is repeated on a monthly basis. Newton’s involvement suggests to Eileen that location is where Corey has been picking up his stash. The address is across town for Newton Motors garage, in Point Loma. It would only make sense to keep their relationship quiet. It is going to be harder than she thought to keep her personal feelings in check, she gets the feeling that Redmayne knows that too.
As she drives several calls come over the radio, Something about a dangerous escaped patient at the Hospital. It doesn’t seem to be connected to the case Eileen has been given so she pays no mind to it. She is intent on finding Newton and get home to Corey in one piece, she has no idea how she will accomplish that, but she is determined.
Bromberg warehouse
The Port of San Diego.
For the most part it is thought to be abandoned, not in use by any large legal business. That of course may be true but is does find a use for illegal enterprise. Jin Wong uses the location as a base for his own importing from China. Few outside of his circle know of his business location in the warehouse. One in that circle has envied his enterprise for years. Nick Newton arrived at the Bromberg warehouse bright and early in search of one of the men he believes could have cause to murder the South Americans with whom he was trying to strike up a deal. From outside the large chained shut steal doors of the warehouse he shouted, “WONG YOU BASTARD!” The sonic shout blasts the doors inward taking down everything in their path, including several armed guards. Newton has no precision control of his power so when more armed men arrive he shouts again, “WHERE IS THE BADGER?” This blast sends the men back through the air embedding them in the metal sheeting of the walls. Blood runs down the walls from their crushed bodies that hang lifeless on the wall. “COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!” he shouts taking down two of the support posts that hold up the second floor of the warehouse.
The ceiling overhead trembles as if an earthquake has struck the building. Newton marvels at Wong’s bravery for a minute before deciding to take down more of the old building’s support structure. “Wait, wait, Nicolai,” Jin Wong yells as he and his men approach from a stairwell at the back of the warehouse. “What the hell are you doing here?” the Chinese cartel leader demands.
Newton smiles at the men with their automatic weapons pointed at him. He knows they have no chance of stopping him. “I’ve come for revenge,” he simply says. “But I will let you explain why you did it first.”
“Are you insane?” Wong yells. “Revenge for what?” “I have not wronged you!”
“For the men the Badger killed and,” Newton answers, “THE DEAL YOU RUINED!” He directs his shout to take out the last of the support beams in the large open space causing the warehouse to creak and tremble.
“You Moron, I don’t know any Badger or what you are talking about!” Wong yells as the beams overhead begin to buckle. “Everyone out!” “This idiot has brought the roof down!” Wong and his men disregard Newton and flee for their lives from the building.
Newton is left standing alone in the warehouse as the second floor and roof begin to crash down on him. “COME BACK HERE YOU COWARDS!” he shouts directing his power upward toward the steel and wood that crashes down.
Corey Byrnes Apartment
La Jolla, San Diego, Ca
It is afternoon when Corey Byrnes pulls himself to the edge of his bed. He spies a five gallon bucket that sits not far away. He reaches out to grab the plastic container in the nick-of-time to vomit the contents of his stomach into it. He wretches there on the edge of his bed for several minutes before gaining enough strength to call out, “Eileen?” “Eileen were are you?” To his surprise it is not his new wife that comes into the room to tend him but her brother, Michael.
“Eileen went to work to try and cover up your mess and save your career,” Michael tells the man sick with drug withdrawal. “Here, drink this,” Michael says handing Corey a glass.
“What is it?” Corey asks eyeing the liquid.
“Just water with some herbs to ease your nausea and pain,” Michael tells his new brother-in-law.
“Just herbs?” Corey questions sipping from the glass.
“If you truly want to get clean that is all you can have from now on,” Michael tells him. Michael turns away from the bed to look through the closed blinds. “You really don’t deserve her, at least as the mess that you are now,” he says coldly. “I know first hand how hard it is to go through what you are now.” “You need to fight your way through this to prove to me that my sister is right about you.” “Prove to her that you really are the man she thought you were when she married you!”
Corey stares at the floor for several minutes before trying to stand up. “Whow, he gasps as he falls back to the bed.
“The detox is going to take a lot out of you,” Michael says. “What is it you need?”
“I need to take a piss!” Corey says angrily.
“I’m here to help, let me help you,” Michael says going to the side of the bed next to Corey. Michael puts his arm around the man to lift him up. The two men make their way to the bathroom. Corey sways unsteady as they stand in front of the toilet.
“What are you going to stand here and watch me the whole time?” Corey grumbles.
“Can you stand on your own?” Michael asks starting to let go of the man who almost instantly begins to fall. “Brace yourself on the back of the tank.” Michael lowers the toilet seat and then steps behind Corey. Grabbing the man’s boxers he yanked them down in one smooth movement. “Now sit down backwards on the seat,” he instructs as he steps back away.
Corey does as he is told laying his head on his arms on the back of the tank. Suddenly he feels the urge to vomit again. Corey slides back, falling off of the toilet seat to the floor, his jaw nearly hits the seat as he begins to vomit again into the bowl.
Phoenix, Arizona
Antonio Cifredo sits at his desk, his fingers bridged over his chest, listening to the short phone message playback. He has a look of frustration on his down turned brow as he looks over the desk. “Officer Byrnes has lost his usefulness,” he says to the large man sitting across the desk.
James Santoro has worked for Cifredo since the day he graduated High School as something of an enforcer. Mr. Cifredo has given him a life he could never have had otherwise growing up in a poor part of the city. James follows Mr. Cifredo’s instructions without question.
“It is time Officer Byrnes was removed from the playing board and another pawn was moved in,” Cifredo tells Santoro. “James could you please make that happen.”
“Yes, sir, at once!” James Santoro replies getting up from his chair to leave the office.
Ocean Crest Condos
Point Loma, San Diego, Ca
Officer McCoy arrives at the first stop on her investigation. It is a rather unassuming apartment, meaning it isn’t any different from the others in this part of the city. She would have never thought to look for Nick Newton in such a place which is probably why he chose it. Eileen knows that the Detectives on the case have already raided Newton’s house in the suburbs, finding no sign of him. She hopes she has better luck at this place where Corey used to meet Newton, probably to pick up drugs. The thought continues to haunt her mind. Climbing the three flights of stairs Officer McCoy knocks on the door. “SDPD!” she announces. “Nick, it’s me, Officer McCoy, let me in, I just want to talk.” She hopes the less aggressive stance will win his favor. Eileen spots a hidden security camera at the end of the hall, definitely not out of place at this condo. Holding out her empty hands she says again, “I just want to talk.”
Then the doorknob turns and the apartment door opens. To Eileen’s surprise it is not Nick Newton that opens the door. A tall golden man with shaggy blonde hair stands in the doorway. “I would like to talk to you as well Officer McCoy,” he says inviting her inside the apartment.
“Excuse me, but who are you exactly?” Officer McCoy says stepping past the handsome man. She quickly looks around the apartment leaving the stranger standing at the door. Nick Newton is nowhere to be found. Eileen returns to the living room her gun still in its holster. “I didn’t catch that name, Blondie,” she says coarsely.
“You can call me Ben, Ben Srann, if you would like,” he says sitting down on the couch to pick up a notepad from the coffee table. “As you can see Nick Newton is not here.” “I believe he has already begun his vendetta,” he tells her handing her the note pad that he has scribbled on to reveal what was written on the top sheet.
“What is your connection to Nick Newton?” Eileen asks taking the notepad from him.
“I have no connection to him at all, unless you count him blasting me in an alley yesterday,” Ben tells the cop. “I believe he knows the man I am looking for, calls himself the Badger now, but his real name is Jayson Roberts.”
The name Roberts rings a bell with Eileen but she does not connect Jayson to Steve. “Who is this Badger person to Nick, I’ve never heard of him,” Eileen confesses making note of the names and addresses on the list. Oddly the last name on the list is Antonio Cifredo. Antonio Cifredo was her grandfather but he has been dead for decades, it must just be a coincidence.
“From your holstered gun and mild attitude, I would assume that you know that Nick Newton is now a very dangerous man you do not want to provoke,” Ben answers. “I believe the Badger is the one who created him.”
“Created him?” Eileen quizzes with an eyebrow raised.
“Does triggered his power, sound clearer to you,” Ben says giving Eileen a strange glare. Ben could easily use his telepathy to scan her mind to see how much she knows about the less common thing, but he prefers to not do that to normal Earth people. Scanning humans tends to leave shadow in their minds that can be disturbing for those who don’t understand Zeni-humans. “I believe the Badger is working for someone else, a bigger fish you might say.” “The one causing Earth people to be infected.
“Earth People?” Eileen repeats still analyzing his every word. “Who are you exactly?”
“Just someone who wants to help prevent more people from being hurt,” Ben tells the cop fearing he has said too much. One thing he has learned normal Earth people are not ready to accept the existence of extraterrestrials.
Eileen glares into Ben’s golden eyes for a moment, not sure what to make of him. “Look this is a police matter that needs to be handled carefully without risking innocents,” Officer McCoy tells him. “I am fully aware of Nick Newton’s Zeni-human powers.”
The use of the term gives Ben a sigh of relief. “Then you are prepared to deal with him should he attack you?”
“I don’t intend to give him a reason to attack me,” Eileen replied coolly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Zeni-human to find.” Eileen leaves the apartment carrying the notepad with her.
Naughty Girls Bar
Ocean Beach San Diego, Ca
Nick Newton arrives at the second location on his list. His anger has grown since his encounter with Wong. Wong and his men escaped Newton’s attack leaving him no choice but to move on with his vendetta. Walter Joseph Giuliani is an Italian mobster who deals in protection. He is the owner of an illegal casino. This time of day the casino is closed but Giuliani owns a legal strip club and that is where Nick goes to confront his foe. It is lunch time and the club is packed. Girls dance on poles and laps. Men live out their fantasies in an hour. Those fantasies come to a quick end when the front wall of the club tumbles down, causing the patrons and working girls alike to scatter.
Nick Newton steps into the club through the smoke and dirt that billows into the room. Every time he has used his power it has grown. One word now causes more destruction than a wrecking ball. Nick’s anger has grown to a near blind rage as he shouts out, “GIULIANO!” Near nude girls scream and run from the back dressing room as a hole is blasted out the back of the building. “GULIANO!” he shouts again turning the bar to a pile of wood. “GULIANO!” Most of the strip club has been turned to rubble but Nick continues to shout. “GULIANO!” Brings down the lighting that still dangles from the torn open ceiling. One final yell of the man’s name, “GIULIANO!” causes the roof to crumble down. Giuliani was never even at the club or in the city.
Bromberg warehouse
The Port of San Diego.
Officer McCoy arrives at Bromberg warehouse at the Port of San Diego. Police and Fire rescue surround what is left of the old building. Eileen gets out of her patrol car to simply stare at the chaotic scene. It is clear to her that she is too late, Nick has already been here and left. Spotting another cop she knows Eileen goes over to him as if she is meant to be on the scene. “Hey Gallagher, what’s the story here?” she asks.
The cops turned to her with a smile, “No one knows, looks like a bomb hit thought,” Gallagher replies. “Fire Chief says there is no blast sight or accelerant residue.” “Some of the other firemen have been talking about metal stress.”
Eileen can imagine that Nick’s sonic power could cause a lot of metal stress if it has grown in strength. “What about injured?”
“Several men were embedded in sheet metal, the guys are saying it happened before the blast,” Gallagher explains. “Lot of military grade weapons in the debris.” “Probably gun or drug runners using the place.”
“You are wasting time here,” a voice says from behind Eileen. She turns and the golden man walks toward her. “Newton is several steps ahead of you and getting farther away every minute.”
“I’ll see you later Gallagher,” Eileen says turning to walk away past the new arrival. “I told you sir this is a police matter.”
“And I asked for your help and told you I could help you in return,” Ben says following after Officer McCoy. “The clock is ticking Officer McCoy.”
Eileen stands at the side of her patrol car glaring at the man. How could he have possibly gotten here so fast? “Just get in the car and shut up!” she instructs the grinning man. Eileen gets in her car as this strange man fumbles with the door handle. Once he is in the passenger seat she asks, “What was that about?”
“I’ve never ridden in one of these before,” he replies as he reaches out to touch the dashboard.
“A Police car?” she quizzes.
“No, any kind of vehicle like this,” Ben tells her examining the rifle that is mounted between them.
“Don’t touch that!” she warns as she starts the car. Eileen wonders if she should have put this weird guy in the back seat for safe keeping.
“I would suggest we go to the last place on the list, the one you said had the same name as your grandfather,” Ben says smiling showing his incredibly white teeth. Ben is impressed by this woman. She is very determined and secure in who she is, much more like the women of his planet than the other Earth women he has met. The fact that she isn’t a Zeni-human is impressive as well. He wonders how she would react if she knew the truth about him?
“Already on our way there now,” she replies. This guy is quite the charmer, Eileen thinks, but she will have none of it. He is more of a person of interest in this case than a partner if he knows it or not. The ride is a tense but quiet one. Then Eileen begins to smell toasted marshmallow and chocolate. It seems to be coming from her passenger. “No eating in the car please,” she says if only to assert her control of the situation.
“I’m not eating anything,” Ben says raising his hands.
“Then why do I smell S’mores?” she questions.
“I’m sorry that is me,” Ben smiles. “I’ve been told that I smell like chocolate and marshmallow before, I really do need to try these S’mores things.”
His answer confuses Eileen but when she leans closer to him, she can smell that he is right. This guy is too weird, she thinks questioning her decision to let him come along again.
Cosgrove Corporate Center
the Golden Triangle, San Diego, Ca
Officer McCoy and her passenger arrive at Cosgrove Corporate Center. Seeing that the eight story building is still standing when they arrive is a good sign. “Wait here,” she instructs her companion. “I need to get the all clear first.”
“Very well,” Ben replies with what is becoming his trademark smile to Eileen.
Stepping out of the car Officer McCoy puts on her hat to walk to the building. Inside Cosgrove Corporate Center she approaches the desk where two rent-a-cops sit. “I’m here to see Antonio Cifredo,” she tells them.
“Is there a problem Officer?” the one guard asks.
“Just a few questions,” Officer McCoy replies.
“Cifredo is in suite 412,” the other guard instructs. “You can take that elevator to the fourth floor,” he tells her pointing to his left.
“Thank You,” she says with a smile. “By the way you boys should keep on your toes.”
“Is there something we should know?” the first guard asks.
“It is possible that a dangerous man is coming here so question anyone who looks out of place,” she tells them as she walks for the elevator. In the elevator Eileen second guesses herself, maybe she should have had them evacuate the building now. Even if she gets this namesake of her Grandfather out, Newton could still attack. The office building is much like she would expect, nothing out of the norm.
While back at the desk the first guard makes a phone call. “There is a pretty brunette cop headed up there,” he says over the phone.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” the other guard tells him, “What if this is serious?”
“If it was serious she wouldn’t be alone,” the guard tells his partner.
Arriving on the fourth floor Officer McCoy follows the directory to suite 412. The plaque in the door reads simply; Cifredo and Son Inc. She enters the office reception area to approach the young woman at the desk. Showing her badge she says, “I would like to speak to Antonio Cifredo, please.” Saying the name out loud gives her a kind of chill. What if this is here Grandfather?
“This way please, Officer,” the receptionist says getting up from her chair. Eileen is led down a narrow hallway to a corner office.
“Please come in Officer,” the young man says standing up from behind his desk. “I am Antonio Cifredo the third, how may I help you?” He asks as he reaches out his hand to her.
“The third?” Eileen repeats surprised. There was no rank in Corey’s notebook giving her idea if this is the right man. “I guess I expected someone much older.” As she shakes his hand she notices a silver bracelet on his wrist. It looks like any other trinket except for the insignia on it. It matches the one on the box she keeps under her bed. She instantly tries to push the thought out of her mind. Clearing her throat, she says, “There is reason to believe you are in danger, that an unhinged man may be coming here to cause you harm.”
“I find that hard to believe, Officer McCoy is it?” the young man replies. “We are a simple Logistic business.” Eileen stares at him blankly, her mind distracted by the thought of him being the third in his line named Antonio Cifredo. “Officer?”
“I’m sorry Mr. Cifredo, it is just that my Grandfather’s name was Antonio Cifredo too,” Eileen tells the man.
“Your name is McCoy?” he asks again. “You must be one of Carmen’s granddaughters.”
“How is it you know my Grandmother’s name?” Eileen asks.
“It would seem that we have the same Grandfather,” he tells her. “Please call me Tony, after all we are cousins.”
“Now I am really confused,” Eileen says sitting down in a chair. “That isn’t possible my Grandfather died long before I was born.”
“That is just something Carmen said to deny the shame of her husband leaving her,” Tony explains. “Grandpa moved back to Roswell where he married Sarah, my grandmother and had a son, my father.”
“How is it that you know this when no one on my side knows anything?” Eileen asks not sure to believe his story.
“When Grandpa passed years ago, my father learned about Carmen and his half sisters,” Tony reveals. “He went looking for them and approached Carmen.” “Carmen refused to accept what he told her and told him to leave and never come back.” “I guess she kept that a secret too, took it to her grave?”
“It would seem so,” Eileen agrees. The suspicious cop in Eileen gets the thought, “But how can you be sure your, our grandfather is really dead and not run off again?”
“Believe me he is dead,” Tony says without any more explanation. “Now who is this that you think might be coming after me?”
Meanwhile down in the lobby
The two guards at the front desk sit chatting when one of them notices something odd on a camera that views the back parking garage. “Hey Bill, take a look at this,” one says to the other.
“What is that?” Bill asks when he looks to the video screen.
“I think it is a man,” the other replies.
“Looks more like a zombie if you ask me, he must be on one of those fad diet plans from the infomercials,” Bill suggests. “See Joses, I told you there was going to be trouble today.” “That is exactly why I called up stairs!”
Then there is a flash of light through the lobby that pulls both men’s attention from the video screen making them see spots. “What was that?” the Bill says rubbing his eyes.
“Whatever it was I think we need to have a fire drill,” Joses says pulling the fire alarm.
The alarm sounds all through the building and the elevator comes to a stop between the second and third floors. Eileen and Tony, who she was going to take into protective custody are clearly trapped in the elevator. Using her police radio might not be wise if Redmayne decides to disavow her investigation, so she grabs the phone in the call box. It too is dead, that seems like one too many things to go wrong at once.
Just then the door on the ceiling of the metal box slides open. “Do you need some help Officer McCoy?” Ben asks peering down at her.
“What are you doing up there?” she asks without thinking.
“I could go back to the car if you prefer,” he grins.
“Just shut up and give us a hand!” Eileen orders knowing she has no other choice but to take this weird guy’s help.
Reaching down he pulls her up into the shaft first and then reaches back for Tony noticing the metal band on his wrist. “That bracelet, where did you get it?” Ben asks. Eileen can’t help but to think she would like to know that answer too.
“Oh this,” Tony replies holding the metal band. “It was my Grandpa’s, something he gave me years ago, it is all I have left of him.”
“Do you have any idea what that is?” Ben asks. “What the symbol means?” Now Eileen’s interest is really peaked as the stand in the elevator shaft.
Tony looks at Ben confused, “Why do you?” he asks.
“It is the crest of the Argoians and it does not belong here on Earth,” Ben tells the young man.
“Belong here on Earth?” Eileen questions. The thought that Tony had gotten a gift from their maternal Grandfather just as she did from her paternal one seals the deal that he is who he says he is. Eileen’s mother told her that her Grandfathers were once close friends before they had a falling out over something. “Are you trying to say that symbol is from another planet?” she asks sarcastically.
“More than that it is a weapon, a shield bracelet that could only be here if the Argoians themselves had been here,” Ben tells them.
“You seem to know a lot about space aliens,” Tony chuckles.
“Don’t pay any attention to him, he is not right in the head,” Officer McCoy tells Tony. “Right now we need to get you out of here!” Working together the three of them managed to pry open the doors on the third floor. Climbing out of the elevator shaft they are met by people hurry down the corridor toward the fire stairs pushing past the three new arrivals. Officer McCoy runs down the corridor to a window that overlooks the front of the building. “Something is definitely not right here,” she says looking out the window to the street below. “I don’t see any sign of fire or Newton.” “Someone has pulled a false alarm.”
“That might not be a bad thing if Newton does show up,” Ben suggests. “Clearing the building before he can bring it down would be much safer for everyone.”
“Problem is that he is the last name on the list, if we don’t catch Newton here, we have no idea where he will go next!” Eileen explains. “Come on, we have to get to the first floor before everyone leaves!” Officer McCoy takes Tony by the arm and together with Ben they push their way through the flow of people in the stairwell. She catches a glimpse of an older man in the stairwell that looks oddly familiar to her, but before she can react he is gone, lost in the crowd.
“What is it what is wrong?” Ben asks sensing Officer McCoy’s distraction.
“I thought I saw someone I knew,” Eileen replies as they reach the second floor door.
“Was it Newton?” Ben asks.
“No,” she tells him.
“Then he doesn’t matter,” Ben replies. She doesn’t like is attitude but she knows he is right. The problem at hand is a man who can scream buildings down.
Suddenly the whole building begins to tremble with a quake as they hear the scream, “CIFREDO!” It echoes up through the stairwell.
“He is here!” Ben exclaims. “He has gotten much more powerful!”
“We can’t go down, going up would just be stupid,” Officer McCoy tells the men. “We need a place to make a stand.”
“I can’t say that I understand what is going on,” Tony says, “But there is a Gym on the second floor that has sound proofing.”
“That might work!” Eileen says yanking open the fire door to the second floor. The trio follow the directory to the Olympian Gym, hurrying inside.
Corey Byrnes apartment
La Jolla, San Diego, Ca
“Mike, Michael,” Corey Byrnes calls out from his bed. Michael McCoy sits in the living room reading his bible when he hears the faint call from the next room. Placing a handmade bookmark in his well worn book he goes to see what Corey needs.
Michael enters the room whose fragrance has changed to find Corey sitting up in bed sobbing, “I don’t know what happened.” “I couldn’t control it!”
Michael can see that the bed is wet, soaked with urine and something much worse. “Calm down it is alright, just part of the detox.” “Bowel and bladder control are usually lost while sleeping like this.
Still sobbing Corey says, “I was so mean to you, I am so sorry,”
“I know you are, it is all part of the process,” Michael replies understandingly. “Now let’s get you cleaned up,” he tells the emotional man as he pulls back the blanket. “Wow you sure did make a mess of things.” “Why don’t we leave your soiled clothes here and clean you up as best we can before we get you to the shower.” Michael removes Corey’s soiled boxers as the distraught man lays sobbing bed, then uses the sheet to clean what he can.
“I can’t get up!” Corey sobs lost in his own hysteria. Corey is dead weight, his muscles not responding to his brain’s commands due to the detox. It is not the first time Michael has lifted another who couldn’t help himself. In his free time when not reading the bible Michael sends his time training in the gym for just such occasions.
Cosgrove Corporate Center
the Golden Triangle, San Diego, Ca
Officer McCoy has formulated a plan to lewer Newton to the gym where they believe the sound proofing might offer some resistance to his power. Ben has volunteered to be the bait returning to the stairwell to call out, “I have him, I have Cifredo!” Such a cry would be much less convincing if Ben hadn’t also used his telepathy to force the words into Newton’s mind and many other people along the way. Ben runs back to the gym sure that his plan will work much better that Officer McCoy’s.
Inside the gym he finds Officer McCoy waiting. “Where is Tony?” Ben asks.
“Never mind him, he is safe, do you really think that is going to work?” Eileen asks drawing her gun hoping to catch Newton off guard the moment he enters the door.
“I am sure it will, as sure as I am that your gun will be useless,” Ben replies. “We need to use that bracelet that Tony is wearing.”
“What is some trinket of his grandfather’s going to do against a sonic blast,” Eileen asks holding her cards close to her chest no willing to divulge what she learned about her relationship to Tony.
“That shield bracelet is a powerful weapon built by the Argoians,” Ben tells her with strong emotion. “Only the Argoians can use their weapons or descendants of other people exposed to Argoian spores.” “If that weapon is on Earth that means the Argoians have been here in the past.” “Most like bringing spores with them.”
“Argoian spores?” Eileen repeats. “What are you talking about?” She remembers Ben reaction when he saw the emblem on the bracelet, something she was also surprised by.”
“We don’t have time for me to explain all of that, if Tony’s grandfather gave him that weapon he was most likely exposed to the Argoian spores.” “He can make the shield work and it will be strong enough to stop Newton.
“CIFREDO!” comes the booming voice blasting down the front doors of the gym into the lobby.
“We are out of time,” Ben says. “I’ll find him myself.” He falls silent as he stands in the center of the room, a blank look on his face as he scans the area. Eileen turns her attention from her weird companion and to the threat that approaches.
Eileen’s plan was that Newton would open the door, that is not what happens. “CIFREDO!” sounds again and the door is blasted away taking much of the wall with it. Officer McCoy is thrown to the floor, her gun flying from her hand. She recoups rather quickly to see that Nick Newton is not man she remembers. His skin is chalky and white, his features drawn and boney. Whatever this power he has gained it is killing him.
Before Eileen can retrieve her gun Ben returns with Tony. “This is your chance,” Ben instructs. “Raise the shield how I told you.”
“I don’t know if …” Tony says unsure of his ability.
“You can and you will!” Ben demands reaching into the young man’s mind. “Raise the shield, NOW!” Tony holds up his trembling forearm as Newton shouts again.
“CIFREDO!” Newton can barely process his thoughts at this point completely drowning in his own rage. The sonic blast radiates out at the speed of sound. A mere half a second before it hits the trio surely killing them all a disc of scarlet force erupts from the Argoian bracelet Tony wears. The curved disc is the size of a trash can lid but it is enough to deflect the sonic blast around them.
“His mind it too erratic to understand, but I can tell he isn’t done yet,” Ben exclaims at the sonic vibrations on the shield settle. “You need to make the shield bigger, force the next blast back toward him.” In the moment of calm Officer McCoy is able to scramble across the floor to retrieve her gun.
“Where is CIFREDO!” the continuing to wither Newton shouts causing another sonic blast stronger than the last.
Concentrating harder than he has in life, slowly at first Tony begins to manipulate the shield, curving it outward toward his attacker. The shield then begins to expand easier as he steps forward into the sonic onslaught.
Newton no longer uses words he is reduced to a continuous scream. Every step turns the sonic scream back onto Newton. Tony smiles through gritted teeth as the shield becomes a half dome that pins Newton to the soundproofed wall. Nick Newton refused to admit defeat as he continues to scream in the airtight, soundproof dome.
Officer McCoy steps forward slowly her gun toting hand hanging at her side. He jaw slack in amazement of what she witnesses. Argoian weapons she thinks. That is what is in the case under her bed. If one Grandfather had such a device, what must be in that box? It makes sense to her now, the falling out her grandfathers had years ago must have been over such weapons. She knows now that she has one hidden away too. If Tony can make this one work what is stopping her from doing the same?
The trio watch as Nick Newton continues to wither and age inside the dome until he at last collapses falling unconscious. “Quick let him out!” Officer McCoy says pulling on Tony’s shoulder. The moment that Eileen touches Tony the shield begins to spark and collapse into nothingness. She rushes forward to check Newton’s throat for a pulse. She turns back to Tony saying, “He’s dead.”
“Oh my God, I didn’t mean to kill him,” Tony says panicked to the Officer.
“I know you didn’t,” Eileen tell her new found cousin as she stands back up from the shriveled body on the floor. “It was that power, it drained the life from him.” She then looks to Ben who stands silently staring at her with a big smile on his face showing almost all of his perfect white teeth. “What are you smiling about?” Eileen demands. “A man you said had information you wanted died here!”
Ben had refrained from reading Officer McCoy’s mind out of respect to the fact that she was an ordinary human. But when she touched Tony and overloaded the shield bracelet he realized something else. She is an even stronger Argoian hybrid offspring than he is. When Ben tried to read Eileen’s mind just now he found he could not see into it at all. One of the things the Argoians wanted when they created their hybrid offspring was for them to be shielded from other alien telepathy. “You are one of the chosen,” Ben tells her bluntly.
She has heard those words before in a dream and coming from this weird man now does not make them sound any more comforting. “You need to go, your crazy talk is not going to help any of us here,” she tells him.
“You are right,” Ben replies. “But we will meet again when you are a true Sentry.” Ben turns to walk away. He smiles to himself, for the first time he feels that he is in the right place to reach his goals all he need do is wait. Exiting the gym through the broken doors Ben casts an illusion around himself that hides his identity from the arriving fire rescue.