. 02

Fear took over Alex. "What do you want me to do? Just press the wires together and see what happens? I could die."

"My patience wears thin, earthling. Make a stream of electricity to bond the two cords.

"I don't know how!" he frantically said.

Shyra placed her hand over her mouth; her body language suggested she was concerned with his lack of kinetic comprehension. "Perhaps my father was right about the potential of this planet." She moved in closer until she was face-to-face with Alex. "Visualize an electrical connection between the two cords," Shyra instructed.

Confused, Alex held the wires and tried to see some sort of electrical bond between them in his mind. Nothing at first, but then he felt some sort of warm sensation flow through his arms to his hands but kept his eyes shut, as he was focused on imagining. The computer turned on and began rebooting.

"Good, very good indeed," she remarked. "What do they call you?"

"Alexander Carter, but everyone just calls me Alex."

"Very well, Alexander, I have come as a guardian to save your planet from invasion. Now gather your things. We are leaving."

"I keep telling you, I can't just pick up and leave. I have a life here. And how do I know you aren't just trying to abduct me to perform gross experiments on me? I've heard how this kind of stuff usually goes."

"Trust me, human. If I wanted to abduct you, I would have done it by now."

"Fair enough," he responded. Alex stared in disbelief. He always hoped he was meant for something greater in this world—that he wasn't just another kid out of Houston, Texas—but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine this. "What about my grandfather?" Alex asked. Shyra replied, "No one can know where we go. Our training must be in seclusion. I will give you one last chance to say good-bye."

"What kind of training?" Alex asked. Shyra reminded him, "You have ten minutes; better make it quick."

"I can't just leave him. I'm all he's got," Alex said.

"Then your grandfather is already dead. Odd, though, I thought you a hero, but I was mistaken. I pray the Zenakuu at least slaughter you and your family quickly and without torture. Good day, Alexander Carter." With that, she turned and headed for the window.

"Wait," Alex called after her. She grinned upon his stopping her but wiped the smile from her face before turning around.

"Swear to me that if I go with you, he'll live," he said.

"I will guard his life myself if need be," she promised him. Alex stared at her. Doing nothing was a risk he could not take. Putting family first was something he learned from an early age. Though petrified, he finally gave in. "I'll go with you," he finally said.

"Of course you will. Now go make your preparations so we can depart." Alex walked out and headed toward his grandfather's bedroom. Quietly and carefully, he entered the room. "Can I talk to you, Grandpa?" Alex asked.

"Of course, Alex, come in," said Grandpa Henry with a smile.

Alex walked through the doorway and looked in awe at the wall of plaques and awards his grandfather and late father had earned through the years like he always did before finally confessing what was on his mind. "You have always told me I was destined for great things," Alex said.

"Because you are, Alex," his grandfather proudly told him.

"Well, there is something that I must do. It's the reason I was born, I think, but I promise that I will come back."

"What are you talking about, son? I'm confused."

"Please, Grandpa, you gotta trust me on this," Alex continued. "I have to go now, but I love you."

"Absolutely not," his grandfather said. "I lost your father. I'm not losing you too; you're all I have left of him."

The last thing Alex wanted to do was abandon his grandfather, but he knew his grandfather was strong and still had a lot of life left in him. He would be fine, but the thought of leaving broke his heart nonetheless.

"Granddad, I promise I'll be back, and I'll make you proud of me. Just watch."

"Alex, I'm already proud of you. Whatever you're thinking about doing, you don't have to do. I don't wanna hear another word about this now. We can discuss it more in the morning." Alex looked straight at him. "Yes, sir. Goodnight, Grandpa." Alex walked back to his room with his decision already made. "This time, Grandpa, I do." Alex came back to his bedroom to pack his stuff, while Shyra stood at the edge of the windowsill, drawing her fingers along the frame. Mildly bemused by the dust, she murmured, "Dirty creatures."

"Ahem." Alex cleared his throat to make her aware of his presence.

She turned to him and asked how it had gone. Alex didn't respond to her intrusive question. Instead, he just glared at her and went to grab an empty duffle bag as he wiped any trace of tears from his cheeks.

"Very well," she said, "grab your things and let us be off."

Alex packed for a trip that he knew he may never come back from. If he was going to die, he wanted to be surrounded by the things that meant the most to him. Even though Shyra instructed him to pack light, he brought along clothes, a few medals, wall posters, his laptop, and framed photos of his grandfather and late parents. He followed Shyra out the window, and Shyra shot up in the sky with Alex on her back. If Alex had any doubts to her story, they were gone now. Shyra traveled under the blanket of night to a spot in the woods. When they landed, Alex rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"What are we doing here?" he asked. Shyra replied, "I need to gauge the current level of your power so I know where to start training you. It is something that every esper goes through."

"I don't know what you're talking about. What's an esper?" Alex asked.

"An esper is someone with extrasensory perception. Now show me your power." Once again, Alex wasn't budging any. The alien expected too much from him. She attacked Alex with a telekinetic push that flung him into a nearby tree. He slammed into its bark with an echoing thud and then crashed to the ground on his stomach. With the little breath he had remaining from the blow, he screamed, "What the hell was that for?" "Motivation, Alexander. Do you require more of it?" Shyra jumped into a fighting position. She lunged after Alex, ready to throw another telekinetic push. Alex ran away, though, through the trees, over logs, and picked up speed. He recklessly closed his eyes and began concentrating; a spark flashed, and he vanished in the night. Alex looped around and tackled Shyra to the ground. They both rolled on the ground for several feet before stopping.

"Electrokinesis—like I thought. It would appear that it only manifests when your life is in danger, though. Interesting," Shyra said. "Get some rest. We train in the morning."

"What? Here?" Alex asked. Shyra grinned, and with a few pushed buttons on her wrist gadget, she revealed her once-cloaked spaceship. "No, in there," she corrected. The spaceship looked deceivingly meek at first glance, like a metallic stingray. Alex peered inside and was left speechless at its vastness. There were long hallways that lead to plenty of bedrooms for a crew of people. Shyra's ship had many features. To Alex, the technology looked like it was straight out of a Hollywood movie. The craft's most important attribute was its ability to cloak by either becoming invisible to the human eye or changing into the shape of any proportional object that Shyra could download through a connection to Earth's Internet. The ship was docked in a treeless patch she'd found in the forest closest to Alex's high school. When uncloaked, it looked like a very high-tech alien spacecraft.

The ship was round but not perfectly round, it had its own shape. The bottom of the ship was flat and around the edge shifted up and down like a ripple effect. The thrusters were all around the edge and one thruster on the bottom for lift off and landing. The tail of the ship was long and it acted as a stabilizer. Turret guns were located to the front, and the dimmed lights on it glowed and seemed to hum in the darkness. "Hurry, Alexander. We are moving the ship to the mountains of Call-o-rah-dou," Shyra said.

"You mean Colorado? Why there?" Alex asked.

"That is where the first guide crashed."

"You mean there are actually more of you here?"

"All your questions will be answered in due time, Alexander, but now we must leave." They entered the craft, and Shyra had Alex sit down while she prepped the ship and activated its cloaking device. They soared through the sky under the veil of the nightfall and within a half hour were nestled away in a remote location half way up Mount Elbert in Colorado. Alex was assigned a room that was completely bare and stripped of everything besides the essentials—a bed, a metal chair and dresser, and a lamp. He resided there for the rest of the night, though he got no sleep for hours.

He spent the entire night staring out the window into the endless forests of Colorado. He must have questioned himself hundreds of times, wondering if it was all real or if he was going to wake up any minute and find himself back at home with his Grandfather Henry, but it never happened. Alex was going to get the chance to be the hero he dreamed of being whether he liked it or not. The woods were the perfect training spot—plenty of ground, cover, and privacy. Hunting season was over, so there wasn't another human in sight. The brisk mountain air was much colder than Alex had anticipated, and the wild animals howled, making sounds that shook his very core. Shyra woke Alex at the crack of dawn, and while his eyes were barely open, she flung him outside and began training. He landed face first on the ground motionless, still unable to shake the headache he suffered from the night before.

"Rise, Alexander; you can sleep when you are dead." He glared at her for the unnecessary comment. "Not cool, Shyra. I'll sleep when I'm tired."

"You will sleep when I say you can sleep," she firmly said, but Alex just rolled his eyes at her, completely uninterested in what she had to teach.

"This is dumb. I can shoot electricity from my hands. I don't need to train, why don't you just show me where to point and I'll shoot," he said.

"You insolent little...Is your entire species this abrasive or is it a pubescent thing? Listen here Alexander, you having these abilities is like tossing an X-57 plasma cannon to a new recruit and sending him into battle without any training. He is going to get a lot of people killed. By itself, having kinetic powers does not make you any more qualified to be a superhero than having a gun makes you qualified to be a soldier. Now stop wasting my time and prepare yourself." Shyra moved in closer and slowly closed her eyes. "First off, Alexander, take a deep breath and channel the power that has always been within you. Meditation is the beginning of mastering your ability. Once you grasp that, you can utilize your power, and the headaches I know you have been feeling will go away," Shyra explained.

"What's the deal with that anyway? Ever since you showed up, it's felt like bombs continuously going off in my head."

"You are not used to kinetic pressure. Beings with a high signature naturally emit a kinetically charged, pressurized aurora. What you are feeling right now is mine. With time, you will grow accustomed to them and even learn to mask your own," she explained.

"The sooner, the better. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Focus. Feel the energy surging through your body; visualize the spark that flickers, begging to be released." Even though Alex was listening intently, he couldn't help but laugh. "You sound like Mr. Miyagi."

"I do not know who this person of whom you speak is, but I will advise you not to interrupt me again. Now bring your hands inches apart and concentrate that energy between them."

"Alright, whatever," he said to her.

"Depending on the person or species, there can be several different kinds of kinesis. To this day, we are still discovering different types."

"Understood," he said. Alex began sparking electric current surges from one hand to the other. It was pathetic at first, but for the next hour, he focused on holding it.

"The more you use your kinesis, the stronger and more in control you will be," Shyra explained. Alex smiled with enthusiasm at the possibilities.

"Do you always have to talk so cryptically? Look, you ripped me away from my family because of some alien war, so stop beating around the bush," he demanded.

"Listen here human, I 'ripped' you away from your insignificant life as you so elegantly put because the Zenakuu will be here someday, and you are nowhere near ready for them," she retorted. Clearly frustrated, Alex finally snapped.

"Okay, new plan, you deal with them when they get here! I'm going back home," he said as he started walking in the other direction.

"I will have no choice but to Alexander Carter, they will undoubtedly pick up on my Lygokinetic signature and track me down," Shyra explained.

"Good, problem solved. Now beam me back home or whatever it is you do," Alex said.

"Though faint, they will find yours as well. Along with anyone else who emits kinetic energy, and they will most likely hunt you down one by one, and then kill your loved ones. I am the only chance you have to prevent that," she confidently said.

"Ugh, enough of this crap. I want to know exactly what I'm up against. Who are these Zenakuu?"

"I could try to explain them to you, but I do not think you are ready for it," she responded.

"How about you let me be the judge of that? Tell me what happened."

"To appreciate the horrors of war, it is something that I must show you."

"Okay," he responded in confusion.

"I am going to telepathically link with you now. Just relax your mind and clear your thoughts." Alex did as instructed, and Shyra's eyes began to emit a white glow. In a flash, Alex was seeing the collective memories of the citizens and soldiers of Kalryn, but what was truly shocking was the landscape.

He looked around and marveled at its sheer beauty. All the trees gleamed with luster and were covered with pristine white bark and shimmering golden leaves. The lake next to them was crystal clear and shined like the glint of light on broken glass. In the distance, he saw deep blue mountains that scaled the land. Towering skyscrapers shrouded the city; the beautifully crafted architecture was on a level he'd never seen before. Everything was peaceful until he finally reached a horrifying reality. He was stuck on an alien world with no way to get back.