Xen Episode One (2 page)

Using my abilities, I collected information.
Gathering together any news of any disputes I could find. From the
most petty disturbances, to the largest of wars. From political
assassinations, to evidence of corruption in far-flung countries. I
logged every single detail. I squirreled the facts away in my mind.
If I could not go out there and clean them up, if I could not go
out there and keep the peace, then the least I could do was keep
myself informed.

A storm was starting up outside,
intermittent thunder rattling the windows as a sharp wind whistled
under the gap beneath the door.

I rested back in my chair and closed my
eyes.

…

Miguel Rodriguez

Christ it was cold. And Christ this wasn’t
fair. It was summer, right? So what was with all the goddamn
lightning and torrential rain?

I huddled further into my collar as I got
out of my car.

My partner snorted at me. “You should stop
being such a good guy.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“No other cop on the beat insists on
checking up on all the geriatrics on the street.”

“Aren’t we meant to serve and protect?” I
asked as I jabbed a thumb at my badge. “Well this is me serving and
protecting.”

Jackson snorted. “Whatever.”

“Jackson, some day you’re going to be old,
and you’re going to want to know there are people out there looking
out for you.” I slammed the door and walked away from the car.

Jackson snickered at me, but I ignored
him.

I had a routine. And it worked. Policing
wasn’t just about stopping crimes as they happened – it was about
preventing them from happening in the first place. You did that by
having a presence. By getting out there and showing your uniform
and your face.

I walked up to the front porch, tsking at
the state of the lawn. Smoothing a smile onto my face, I jumped up
the front step and knocked gingerly on the door.

A few seconds later, she answered.

“Jenny,” I said with a wide smile. “How you
goin’ this week?”

Jenny nodded her head. I had no idea how old
she was – maybe mid-seventies – but she held herself like a statue.
An imperial one.

“Thank you for your weekly round, Officer
Rodriguez. I am satisfied to report that I have witnessed no crimes
in the past seven days.”

I stifled a grin. Jenny had the weirdest
turn of phrase. It had taken me a while to get used to her. “Well
that’s great, ma’am. Is there anything you need?”

“No,” she said blankly.

“Alright then.” I grabbed the hat from my
head and ran my thumbs around the brim. “You know to call any time
you need to.”

She nodded her head again. It was such a
stiff, clipped move, it looked as if she’d practiced it her whole
life. You could have mistaken her for a recruit or a seasoned
soldier. Well, apart from the fact she was a 70-year-old lady.

“I commend your work,
Officer. Good luck
in your continued efforts of protection.” With that, she closed the
door.

I let out a subdued stuttering laugh, then
ended with a cough as I turned away.

Jenny was a weird one. Most of the other
elderly home owners in this part of town tried to invite me in for
tea and biscuits. Jenny would just bow like a general and send me
on my way.

I kept laughing to myself as I walked back
to the car. Just at the end of the path, I passed someone.

I paused, and so did the guy.

An old man, probably the same age as Jenny,
the guy was still built like a shed. With massive broad shoulders
and a 6’5 frame, he looked like an aged wrestler.

I frowned at him, and he frowned at me.

“Officer,” he snapped, “why are you here? Is
there something wrong?”

“No, sir. Just doing my weekly rounds.”

The man appeared satisfied, and brushed past
me without another word.

I stood at the front gate, one hand on the
chipped metal as I turned to stare back at him.

Nice guy.

He walked up to the door and opened it
without knocking.

I strained my neck.

He closed the door loudly.

“What the hell?” I said under my breath.

“Hey, Miguel, get your ass in here. We’ve
got a call.”

I hesitated just long enough to hear quiet,
calm voices, then I turned away.

…

Xen

I turned to see Adam walk into my house.
Truth be told, I’d heard him approach earlier. Like me, he wasn’t
human. Unlike me, his body was studded with devices. Devices that
gave out specific energy readings that I could easily detect.

So I was prepared for his presence as he
shoved his way into my house. I stood in front of the door, head
tilted to one side as I glanced down his form. “What are you doing
here?” I asked blankly.

Adam closed the door behind him and stood
there looking at me for a few seconds. He had an odd expression. I
had known Adam for countless years. He was not a man who was easily
frightened, and yet I could see something flickering in his
gaze.

“You have something to tell me? Something
you’re scared to tell me,” I concluded.

He nodded. “After all these years, you
haven’t lost any of your skills, have you?” There was a flicker of
what looked like jealousy in his gaze.

I narrowed my eyes. “You know the answer to
that. I don’t age.”

“Lucky for you.” He brought a hand up and
twisted it to the side as he considered it intently. “The years
haven’t been as kind to me. A few of my autonomic devices have
failed, and Earth doesn’t have anywhere near the level of
technology to repair them.”

“You came here to tell me this? You want me
to do something? You want my help?”

He snorted. “You really haven’t changed,
have you? Always looking for orders. But no, I’m not here to order
you. I’m here to...” he trailed off.

“What are you trying to tell me?”

He looked at his hands for a
few more morose seconds, then he tipped his head back and locked
his gaze on me. Though I was tall, he
still towered over me, and yet he was
nowhere near my match in combat.

“…
How have you been these
past years? Have you decided what you’ll do when your current
appearance becomes too decrepit?” He asked conversationally,
clearly dodging my question.

“You know exactly how I’ve been
these past few years. I know you use your position in the army to
monitor my actions. If you are checking that I have not interfered
in human history, I can confirm that I have not. I live a
normal
life,” I said,
voice strained on the word
normal.
“I am fulfilling the mission Chandler gave me upon
becoming stranded on Earth. I am fitting in,” I said, stressing the
words with a terse tone. “And as for my appearance – when this body
becomes too old, I will simply alter it and begin a new life. I
have the requisite skills to ensure nobody will be able to track
me.”

Adam snorted, then a far-off look grew in
his gaze. “Nothing ever scares you, does it, Xen?”

I frowned. “Why would anything scare
me?”

He shook his head.

“I suggest you stop dodging my question. You
have not come here to check up on me. You have barely seen me in
the past 30 years, ever since Chandler decided we should not be
seen together.”

“He’s dead,” he said suddenly.

Though I had registered the words, I had not
understood them. “So tell me why you’re here,” I began.

I stopped.

I opened my eyes wide and focused my senses
– every single one of them. “… What?”

“Captain X'hanthol is dead,” Adam said in a
low tone that could barely carry.

I stood there and stared at him.

I didn’t understand. X'hanthol could not be
dead.

“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re
wrong. He’s dead. I’ve seen his body. Died in a car crash.”

“Impossible,” I said blankly.

“Jenny… Xen, he’s dead.” Adam dropped his
gaze, locking it on the carpet between us.

“Why are you telling me this?”
My voice rose with defensiveness. There were few things that could
rile me. Injustice was one, and the other was a threat to my
command
er.
All Peacekeepers were fearlessly loyal creatures. We maintained a
strict chain of command. We respected our superiors, and we did
everything to protect them.

“I know this is going to be hard for you to
accept, but I’m telling the truth. Captain X'hanthol died
yesterday.”

“In a car crash?” I said, voice falsely
calm.

Adam nodded.

“He could not have died in a car crash,” I
began.

“Xen, you can’t fight this. You can’t argue
your way out of the truth. X'hanthol is dead – I saw him with my
own eyes and touched his dead body with my own hands,” his voice
rose high, pitching into a shout.

I stood there and stared at
him. I opened my mouth. “I
t’s not possible.”

He brought up a stiff hand. “Please... just
listen.” There was such a clear and obvious desperation shifting
through his tone that I had no option but to do as he said.

He took a step back, locked two
stiff fingers over his nose, closed his eyes, and breathed. As he
did, I heard it – the damage to the de
vices in his body. He was right; he
was aging. If we were not stuck on Earth in the past, the damage to
his devices would be easily repairable. Here, it was a death
sentence.

I blinked quickly.

“You knew this would happen sometime. We're
not like you, Xen, we won’t live forever.”

“I’m not immortal,” I said softly, “I can be
killed.”

“Sure, but not by anything on Earth. You
knew you were going to outlive us both.”

“But he could not have died in a car crash,”
I said, incapable of keeping my voice even. In fact, I was
surprised by just how much emotion tore through it. I was a
Peacekeeper, I should be stronger than this, and yet, I had just
lost my commander.

I had just lost my commander.

I took a jerky step away from Adam.

His eyes drew wide as he looked at me. “You
knew this would happen eventually,” he said softly.

“Not like this, and not so soon.”

We stood there, both our gazes locked on the
carpet.

Eventually he shifted back. He turned as if
he was going to walk away.

“When is the funeral?” I asked directly.
“Have you made... adequate precautions?”

He nodded. “No one will ever know John
Chandler’s true alien identity. I’ve stripped all the genetic
markers from his body. He's... just a dead human now.”

My face twisted at the description. But I
pushed past my bitter emotion. “I will come to the funeral.”

He shook his head. “No, you
won’t.
X'hanthol... Chandler, didn’t want us seen together,
remember? He wanted us to cut ties. No more connections. No reason
for people to become suspicious. Remember?”

Of course I remembered. I did not react
though, I just held his gaze coldly.

“I know this will be hard for you,
especially considering how loyal you Peacekeepers are. Just know
that I’ll be looking after everything. Okay? I will see to every
detail. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Apart from the fact one of the most capable
men I know died in a car crash,” I said flatly. “How did it
happen?”

“He aged, Xen. I know you don’t understand
it, but for ordinary people, it takes away their abilities, saps
away the person they used to be,” Adam said bitterly as he brought
his hands up and stared at his knuckles.

“I realize
he aged, but he is not human,
and he would not have aged so far and so quickly that a mere car
crash would kill him.”

“What do you want me to say? I know what I
saw, I know what happened... and that’s all there is to say. I came
to tell you in person, because I didn’t want you reading it in a
letter.”

“You’re lying. You came to warn me,” I said
as I looked at him impassively.

His jaw stiffened. I heard every bone and
joint shifting into place. “Fine, you’re right. I came here to tell
you in person, because I figured I owed that to you. But I also
came to warn you. Xen, there will be no revenge here. You don’t
need to investigate anything. There’s no injustice. He died, and
it’s goddamn unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do about it,
and there's nothing we should do about it. I’ll look after his
affairs and his family. All you have to do is...” his gaze cast
around my simple house, “go back to your ordinary life.”

I hated the way he said ordinary.

I hated the way he implied there was nothing
I could do.

I was a Peacekeeper. I possessed exceptional
power, a secondary energetic body that could be used as a shield or
a weapon, and a mind that would never age.

There was nothing I could not do. And yet
for the past 60 years I had been cooped up like a caged animal.

Chandler had always reinforced that we could
not get involved with Earth’s history. And yet both he and Adam had
joined this sovereign nation’s army. I had not been allowed to. I
understood why – it was harder for me to hide who I truly was, both
in terms of my capability and my physical body.

More than that, however, Chandler would
never have allowed me to join another command structure.
Peacekeepers followed their orders, and their commanders had to be
carefully vetted before they were chosen. Some worked ceaselessly
their entire lives before they were given the privilege of
commanding a Peacekeeper.

If I had joined an Earth army, I would have
been subsumed under their command structure, and my rigid tradition
would have forced me to accept my orders and carry them out despite
the consequences.