Age of Power 1: Legacy (9 page)

He said, “Well, we should’ve expected it. A couple dozen people
were outside when Alex lifted off the ground. It was bound to occur to someone
to take videos. These days it’s almost a reflex for those with smart phones.”

Brand laughed and said, “Oh, man, I thought it was hilarious
when I saw people taking videos of the cookout. Seriously, old habits die
hard and all that, but the freaking world was coming to an end!”

We all chuckled at the image. Then Hector said, “Yeah well, even
if they hadn’t taken videos, something else made him even more popular than a
few videos on YouTube.”

I ignored the comment on Alex being popular for the moment. That
was fine; it was bound to happen. Since he 
is known
,
then we should celebrate his sacrifice. I said, “So, despite the side effects
of the energy field he generated, he’s still seen as a hero?”

Brand said, “Dude, that shouldn’t be a problem. If the doc’s
therapy worked on us it should help other victims, right?”

Kirksten nodded slowly and smiled. “I’m happy to say that
we’ve disseminated the information about the M-L therapy to everyone we could
reach. As of this morning, I received a number of emails saying that it may
prove successful on a larger scale. I’m hopeful.”

Hector gave a snort and said, “I had friends affected by that
light burst Doc. I hope they got it in time. But, like it or not, Shaw caused
deaths.”

Turning to look at me, he went on. “Vaughn, I’m sorry to say
that Shaw’s stunt wasn’t the save it seemed like.”

Looking annoyed, Brand waved a hand to get Hector’s attention
and said, “Uh, hello! He stopped a giant asteroid! No one else did it. I’ll
take the miracle he pulled off anytime over certain death, thank you very
much.”

Silence fell in the room for a moment, as that hit home in
everyone’s mind. Sinclair shook his head and then turned to Brand. He said,
“You’re right. Alex did save the world. If there are consequences, we'll deal
with them one way or another. It’s not like we have much of a choice, after
all.”

Hector said, “Brand, right now, people consider him a hero. And
unfortunately, that means people will come after anyone who called him a
friend. Including you two…”

Brand growled, and then said, “So not his friend! The guy was
too weird! Vaughn was his bud, not me!”

I shook my head and said, “You two were always on edge with each
other; I never figured out why.”

Brand shifted in his bed, sitting up a bit straighter. He
said, “I don't know, man. Maybe it was because he was into comic books and science,
and not car engines and racing 
like
 I am.
And to be honest, I like girls, and how they move, and smell, and he liked guys
and how they…oh, you get the idea!”

I joked, “Oh, that’s why you always took a shower twice before
he came around…”

He flipped me off.

Dr. Kirksten looked at Brand and said, “Shaw was gay?
That never came up in any of the stories I’d heard.”

Brand said, “Don’t know why you wouldn’t have heard. Shaw was
always open about being gay. Hell, the guy had the hots for half the football
team! And they knew it! Gym class with him was not a fun time!”

I gave him a slight shrug as I said, “It’s who he was,
Brand. Alex was never ashamed of it." 

I also didn't mention that I knew that a couple of the guys in
gym class returned the feelings, though I wasn't sure if anything ever
happened. It wasn't my business, after all.

I looked at Sinclair as I said, “I guess his entire life is
going to be stripped down for public viewing now. They're going to bury us with
questions, aren't they? What do we have to look forward to?”

He answered. “You two are going to have to tell people what you
know.”

I sighed, “Oh, well…the glowy, fly up into the sky thing is
going to be sort of hard to talk about. We don’t exactly know how he did that.”

Hector gave me a speculative look. He asked, “He never showed
off, ever?”

I laughed and said, “We were comic fans! That’s it! If he had
told me anything of the sort, I would’ve thought he was joking or talking about
a comic story! Alex never told me he could fly! Or do anything else for that
matter!”

Brand said, “Well, if you want, you could always ask your
daughter, Chief.”

I winced. Brand got a hard look from Sinclair for that comment,
but Brand went on anyway. He said, “What? I’d heard he was always hanging with
Dana at the library. He was seen going into her house a few times with some
red-headed guy.”

I had to give Brand kudos for that. He ignored Sinclair’s hard
stare and just looked back at him with an equal challenge in his eyes. 

After a moment, Chief Sinclair said, “That would be my son, Mr.
Houseman. His name is Robert James, but everyone calls him BJ and has since he
was two. And he was in California when Yama came. He’s all right, but
that’s all I know. And as for my daughter, she didn’t have a clue about Shaw’s
powers. Now, do you want to know anything else?”

The tone of the policeman's voice was a warning shot. I began to
tell Brand to cool it down, but a cold feeling of dread started in my stomach
as I realized that we were about to have worse problems. I looked at Brand. I
knew he was going to hate this.

I said, “Uh, we don’t have to talk to reporters, do
we? We only have to talk to the government—
am
 I
right? I mean, how pervasive is this whole Avatar thing? If it’s local, maybe
Alex’s stunt was something that the government can cover up. I’m sure they
don’t like having to explain the idea of a superhuman being existing. It
doesn’t fit into their daily schedule. Maybe they can get YouTube
 
to
remove the videos, get a campaign to call it all CGI bullshit?”

Looking at Brand, I saw my mention of reporters had soured his
expression considerably. Hector and Chief Sinclair laughed for a moment. Then,
looking at me, Hector said, “Vaughn, I know you’re kidding, but seriously, it’s
too late for anything like that. Even if we had kept our mouths shut, he 
was seen
 by what you could call an unimpeachable
witness. And that went public five minutes after Shaw blew apart Yama!”

Sinclair sighed, “The International Space Station. The thing was
in orbit above us, and the astronauts saw Alex.”

I dropped my head back to my pillow. I said, “Crap. I remember
,
 they were recording where Yama would hit. They got it
all didn’t they?”

Chief Sinclair said, “It’s a beautiful shot. In fact, you
couldn’t write a better scene for a movie. You can even hear the astronauts
tell each other it couldn’t be happening. But, glowing even brighter than
what 
we
 saw when he took off, Alex flew up
from Earth and went directly past the ISS. They followed him as he headed
straight into Yama’s flight path. 
Boom.
 There’s
a bright flash of light that split that damn rock into two pieces, and now we
have Yama and Yami, with no sign of Alex.”

I didn’t say anything, but from the way he talked about Alex’s
final act, I got the feeling that Chief Sinclair liked the guy. The tone of
voice he had left me feeling tense. I didn’t want to deal with Alex’s loss
right now.

To distract myself, I said, “Yama, that’s the Hindu God of
death. Yami is the name of the Hindu Goddess of Death. And Alex is the Avatar
who brings them into full being. Wow, talk about something being aptly named…”

The other three people in the room looked at me. Brand rolled
his eyes at me and said, “Geek.”

I gave him a wry look and made a sarcastic comment, “Well it
can’t be that he’s big, blue and a hybrid of a human and an alien, or that he’s
some kid with an arrow tattoo running down his forehead.”

“Super Geek!”
 Brand
retorted.

Hector laughed. Then, he said, “Vaughn’s right, though. That’s why
they gave him the name. Even his father calls him that. Well, after he says how
much he’s 
been devastated
, by his son’s death.

Dr. Kirksten coughed. I looked at him, and he nodded towards my
monitors. I glanced over and saw that my heart rate had sped up by more than a
few beats at the mention of Alex’s father. I couldn’t help what I knew, or how
it made me feel. Alex didn’t have a good family life. His mother, Claire, had
divorced Brian Shaw some years ago, and then she had died. Alex 
had been placed
 with his father. Unfortunately, Brian
Shaw remarried. And his second wife hated Alex. And Brian was cold towards Alex
because he didn’t want to 
be reminded
 of his
life with Claire.

Funny, I knew something as personal as that, but I had never had
a clue about him being able to fly. Then again, maybe that was why he was so
into comics about super heroes. 
Hmn…something to think
about later.
 Right now, though, I said, “Okay. 
The government, yes.
 
The news media,
um, no.
 I really don’t want to deal with them anymore than Brand
does!”

Dr. Kirksten said, “Indeed! And as long as you two are
under my care, I’ll be damned if those vultures will get in! Friends of the
Avatar or not, both of you are my patients; not next week’s cable news guests!”

I winced. Brand was just starting to calm down. If Alex’s flight
were that big of an event, the news media would run with this as much as they
possibly could. And that was going to be a serious problem. Brand really
did 
not
 like the news media thanks to how they treated his
brother and his family.

When Kyle died in Baghdad, the press treated his death very
badly. The reporters embedded in his platoon started off by reporting that
Kyle’s fellow soldiers had shot him for trying to desert the platoon in a time
of war. That wasn’t even close to reality, but for what seemed like an
eternity, it was what his family heard on the news.

Eventually, the truth did come out. The truth was he’d gone into
a neighborhood to save a couple kids he’d seen about to be killed. Kyle died to
save them, but the news crew hadn’t seen that. They thought he had run away
from his Humvee convoy. And when his friends had fired at whoever had killed
him, the crews reported it as his platoon shooting him for abandoning his post
in a wartime situation.

But not one person in the media had apologized for the heartache
they’d caused. It ultimately left the Housemans with a strong hate for anything
having to do with reporters.

It didn’t surprise me, then, when Brand said, “Hey, keep ‘em
away from me, no problem. 
But if they get too close to
me—no safety for ‘em!
 I promise you that!”

Hector winced. Then, he walked over to the window next to
Brand’s bed and looked out. After a moment he said, “Yeah, no sniper rifle for
you young man.”

What he said didn’t connect in my mind until I heard van doors
closing from outside. Then I heard people talking, giving orders about where to
set up cameras. I started to get out of bed, and with a look for help,
Dr. Kirksten came and supported me to the window.

Funny thing, though. Once I was on my feet, I began to feel
stronger. But as I reached the window, I felt this flash of fire run through my
nerves. It passed quickly, though, and I put it aside as I heard someone
outside say something about interviews.

Hector helped Brand to the window and we looked out to see news
vans parked in a snow-filled parking lot. I said, “Oh, fun. We’re the new
story.”

Brand looked at me. “I’m gonna hate the word, Avatar.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Avatar.

Brand was right about hating the word. The meaning itself didn’t
bother me. Since the asteroid 
was named
 Yama,
it followed that the word ‘Avatar’ would come up. In the Hindu religion, the
Avatar is the manifestation of a given deity in the form of a human being,
capable of controlling great power. I didn’t have a problem with the concept,
though; 
it was just the word itself that bothered me
.
Everyone was using it.

However, as annoying as it was, we had to focus on our recovery.
Physical therapy helped our muscles, a diet helped us regain our weight, and
Dr. Kirksten had us constantly tested to make sure that we didn’t get sick
again. As time passed, he became confident that we would remain healthy. Brand
seemed fine. I just wasn’t too sure I really was.

I didn’t know what it was, but while I did start to feel better,
I also felt the ‘buzz’ in my nerves. I felt as though there were wires
vibrating beneath my skin. Eventually, I got used to it. But just to be safe, I
told Dr. Kirksten. Unfortunately, he couldn’t come up with any explanation. The
MRI and CAT scan showed nothing beyond some nerve hyperactivity. From that, he
conjectured that it was a likely side effect of the therapy. To my relief, he
said that it would eventually go away.

It never went away, but since it didn’t seem to affect anything
else, I decided to let it go. I started getting used to it as a background
thing in the same way that sufferers of tinnitus have done. I once read
that for some sufferers of tinnitus, the high pitch squeal and hiss became a
constant background noise, which 
could be ignored
 unless
the sound changed.

Besides, as much as I tried to focus on getting better, the
insanity about the Avatar distracted me. My fault, really—mom kept bringing
newspapers. It might have been easier if we could’ve watched a television or
used a laptop. We could have kept ourselves entertained with movies or shows we
liked. But Dr. Kirksten was a truly evil, maniacal man who believed in
torturing kids who’d grown up in the Internet age. He denied us any chance to
get to it! Bah! 
Evil doctor!

Okay, that was a bit over the top. But because of the
possibility that we could have seizures, anything that flashed in various
bright colors could potentially set it off. And it was a rule reinforced by the
new doctor who showed up soon after the incident with the Jessup family. And
she always made sure that people didn’t sneak in with a laptop or tablet. The
lady made sure that the entire floor was clear of them, whether it
belonged to a volunteer or a patient.

This very determined doctor was Rao Kular, and she was a stiff
acting woman of around forty who had come here from India. Possessing an
average height with dark olive skin, she always had her raven-black hair pulled
up in a tight bun. When we met her, she told us that others in her country
had the same kind of symptoms as we did but that was about all she said about
her country. The woman
was always focused
too much on
her work for any real small talk.

But Kular did say that she’d been almost overwhelmed by the
number of sick people until she’d found out about our recovery. Once Kular had
seen that the therapy had worked, she had come here to consult with Kirksten
further about the remedy to see if they could refine it for the worst cases.
The doctor had stayed when she found that the place had so few doctors.

Unfortunately, Kular was one of those people who regularly used
the word ‘Avatar’ for Alex. And more and more, she would ask us about Alex. It
was bad enough that the doctors were doing it, but then people from the federal
government came in repeatedly to interrogate—oh sorry, ‘interview’—us about
him.

It didn’t help that one up-and-coming hotshot FBI agent, Dane
Eisenhawk, kept pushing at me about Alex’s abilities. I suppose he wanted to
prove how good he was to the older agents accompanying him. But I got more than
a bit tired of his questioning by the time he was done. Of course, outside
every entrance, there stood the worst of all, reporters.

It was bad enough that reporters were yelling out questions
every time they saw someone even remotely connected to us. But it became
ridiculous when a couple reporters ambushed Brand in the patient’s shower room.
When he went in, they were already in the room.

Brand went ballistic. They followed him out into the hallway,
yelling questions. Trying to escape, Brand went into the nearest restroom and
they followed him. Even after a police officer showed up, Brand still got
into pushing fight with one reporter ended up with one foot in a toilet.
It 
hadn’t been flushed
 after its last use.

Unfortunately, as funny as it seemed then, the fight had its
consequences. A fever confined Brand to his bed the next day. Later on, his
parents showed up talking about the possibility of the reporter suing them for
Brand’s actions. But that threat ended when Kirksten went on television to talk
about the ‘horrible’ attack by the media on his patients. After that
announcement, Brand’s dad said he hadn’t seen that reporter since.

But because of that, Kirksten warned us that we both had a ways to
go. He had found that aside from the nerve issues, we had continuing problems
with maintaining normal levels of magnesium in our bodies. We were burning
it up faster than normal, and he couldn’t figure out why. To compensate
for the magnesium deficiency, he could only prescribe an increased dosage of
the magnesium solution until things settled down enough to have in-depth
testing done.

Dr. Kular backed his notion and added that we would have to
maintain regular dietary intake of the mineral after we left the hospital. They
had been sending blood samples out to Ryan Tech because they had a 
better equipped
 lab. From the results of the tests,
they knew enough to be able to deal with it. Oh well, it would be just one more
thing to add to my diet of potato chips and soda.

Unfortunately, while we were getting better, we still had to get
through even more antics by reporters. Brand had had his ‘reporter from hell’
encounter, and I soon had my own. It happened one night when I was
relaxing and reading a newspaper.

I looked up from the paper as a female orderly came in and
started to change the bedding. She caught her breath when she saw me in the
chair near the window next to my bed. She said, “Oh, sorry! I thought the room
was empty.”

I found myself unable to say anything. She was petite, and the
way her wavy blond hair framed her face caught my eye. She had a gentle chin
and a pert nose. And I could see twinkling in her bright blue eyes.

After looking long enough to make her blush, I finally managed
to say, “Um, sure, that’s fine. Go ahead and do what you need to do.”

I went back to reading—really, I did. I didn’t pay any attention
to the curves of her medical smock, or the way her light-blue
pants followed the curve of her waist. And what page was I reading? Oh, never
mind, I forgot the paper in my hand when she looked over at me with a slight
smile on her lips.

She asked, “Was there something you needed?”

“Um, no.
 Sorry,” I
said quickly. I opened the paper to a random page and began ‘reading.’

She smiled and said, “That’s okay. I’ve wanted to meet you
anyway. I’m Angela.”

“I’m Vaughn. Are you new here?” I asked. Since we had come out
of our comas, the place had finally started getting busier. People were
returning. Patients were in the other rooms, and Kirksten wasn’t the only
doctor around. In fact, we had the federal government helping us out speeding
up their efforts to get back home.

Angela nodded and said, “Yes. But Riverlite isn’t home for me. I
ran out of money trying to get back to Toronto. Since the hospital was hiring,
here I am. At least until get the cash built up to head home, and once things
calm down.”

I gave her a look of sympathy. “I take it things were bad up
there?”

Her curly hair shook slightly on her shoulders as she said, “Oh
yes! But it hasn’t been easy for any one!”

I nodded. From what I’d been reading, people around the
world were displaced and finding it hard to get back home in almost
every country in the northern hemisphere. Gas had run out, shelters
were rare, and, as Kirksten had said, there was a medical crisis. In
the U.S., things were just beginning to reach what could loosely be considered
‘normal,’ and I had a feeling it was more hope than fact. I did learn that the
federal government had moved to a deep bunker. That way, when the effects
from Yama’s impact calmed, they could assess the damage and start up again.

At least they had started to get the country back to the
business of being a civilization instead of a crazy bunch of people running for
their lives. And it wasn’t easy going. But, just the same, organizations like
the Red Cross were working hard to get people back home. Gas supply lines were
set up to keep vehicles going.

And, as the public returned home, businesses nationwide were starting
up again. That was especially important where grocery stores and banks
were concerned. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going fast. And there were so many who
hadn’t come back.

Now, Angela told me more about how Toronto was going. Canada was
apparently in the same situation. People were going home, but it was as slow
going as it was here. From talking with her parents, she had found out that
much of Toronto was still getting back together as well. Basic services were up
yes, but other things, such as colleges were still not open.

I asked, “Oh? Why’s that?”

With a troubled look, she said, “There is so much chaos. So many
people are trying to get back to their homes that they’re practically getting
in each other’s way. So I thought it would be smart to find a place and wait
until the craziness settles down.”

She gestured towards me. “You’ve been lucky. You’re safe from
what’s going on. The nurses said you don’t even have an Internet 
connection?
 This means you don’t have to worry much
about hearing about it either.”

“We’re in a sort of quarantine from it, but I do have this.” I
said, holding up the newspaper.

She said, “Oh good, just avoid the Avatar rage going on. People
are acting a little bit, uh…”

I said, “Oh, I 
know
 how they’re acting!”

I held up the newspaper. The headline read, IS AVATAR 
ALIVE?
 WITNESSES DEMAND ANSWERS!

I said, “At a
guess?
Insane?
Crazy?
Bonkers?
Nuts?”

The story was
about someone in Wisconsin claiming to have seen Alex buying a soda at a local
gas station. She knew it was the Avatar because the person buying the drink had
a glowing aura surrounding him. I might have shrugged that off, but there were
more stories attributed to the Avatar. Then the article went on to suggest that
Alex 
be made
 into a saint. When I first read
that part of the article, I groaned aloud at the thought. Alex was anything but
religious.

Angela laughed at my joke. But her expression grew serious and
she said, “You know, it’s too bad someone hasn’t told them about the real Alex
Shaw. I mean, there are so many people who’ve put the poor guy up on a
pedestal!”

I sighed with relief. I’d finally found someone who understood
my feelings about all the craziness. Eagerly, I leaned forward and said, “I’ve
heard so much crap that I’m sick of it. 
Seriously?
 Do
they really think he’s the second coming of Christ? Whoever’s writing all this
needs to get a 
grip!
”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her wince and grab her
forehead. I was about to ask what was wrong when the door opened and Dr. Kular
came striding in with a cold look on her face. She said, “That will be quite
enough!”

“Whoa, wait, what?” I asked as Kular stood looking down her nose
at Angela. Then, before Angela could react, Kular reached into the front pocket
of Angela’s smock and pulled out a small object.

Holding it up for me to look at it, I saw that it was a thin
white disk, with a silvery mesh-like top. It took me a second to realize that
it was some sort of microphone. I said, “Oh, man. You’re a reporter?”

Angela continued to stare at Kular in anger, and then, with a
shrug, she looked at me and said, “Sorry, Vaughn. It’s part of the job. If it’s
any consolation, you’re very photogenic. That’ll make the rest of that pack
outside happy once you begin doing interviews.”

Then Angela’s eyes narrowed as she met Kular's cool gaze and
said to her, “And you’re being watched.”

“Yes, we know. Now, leave.” Kular retorted.

With a final nod to me, Angela walked out of the room. Kular
stood there a moment longer, and then, she finally let out a palpable sigh of
relief. I said, “Okay. I’m guessing you two know each other?”

Dr. Kular sighed and shook her head. Then, moving around the
room, she picked out hidden microphones. The doctor found an amazing number of
the things. Amazing, because I hadn’t even seen Angela make any moves to hide
them during the entire time I had been watching her…okay, maybe she had plenty
of time, since I was so distracted. Humph.