The Angel of Earth

by

Rodford Edmiston

Part Twelve

Melody kept her word. She did not try to get back into the headquarters of The Protectorate. However, there were other places associated with them which were - hopefully - not nearly as well protected.

The specific facility which drew the reporter's attention was an unfinished new branch of the company which provided the security devices for The Protectorate's facility. So far this particular installation was low-key and had largely escaped notice among The Protectorate's critics. Melody had discovered this installation while researching the machine which had nearly ended her life. The company behind the machine was also a major supporter of - and funding source for - The Protectorate. That company had spent a huge amount of money on a new facility supposedly intended to develop and test advanced security measures. The idea was to prove the advancements by using them at Protectorate facilities, then earn a profit through selling them commercially.

Melody had figured that, still being under construction, it would not be nearly as well protected as The Protectorate's property or - presumably - the company's main facility.

She had made sure that Blackpool knew where she was going. He hadn't liked it - especially after her recent close call - but had no serious grounds for objection. Especially given the occasional perils of his own chosen profession. He protested, but when she persisted he relented, though he urged her to be careful.

She was. Even though she considered the site to be low-key, Melody still took multiple precautions.

In fact, the construction site turned out to be so low-key that it was disappointing. There was a profound lack of security on the property. Even the heavy construction equipment had been left unlocked. There were security guards, but only two at night and they only patrolled every forty-eight minutes.

The building Melody currently explored was part of an apparently ordinary research business, only it was still under construction. Not only did Melody find nothing of interest in the layout, but as it was incomplete, she pretty much found nothing, period. The place was still just a shell. So why had she previously found cryptic notes that it was already being used to test newly developed security tech?

With a sigh, she headed back out the opening in the wall by which she had entered. However, she had to suddenly pull back and wait for the guards to pass.

Melody wondered why they always made their rounds together. As well as why they were both in a hurry to get back to their shack.

"We're late," hissed one of them to the other, barely loud enough for Melody to hear.

"They won't attack us," said the other, dismissively. Though he didn't slow.

"That's what they say, but have you seen those things?! I don't want to be outside when they're loose!"

They kept talking, but the also kept walking, quickly. Melody was now officially worried. Were those "things" they mentioned more automated security machines? Perhaps improved models of those was the next generation technology being tested!

She hurried out of the building and off the property. She could see the lights of Chicago in the distance, reflecting off low clouds. That didn't really offer enough illumination for her trip back to her rental car, even for her full-dark adapted eyes. However, she was not about to use her flash this close to the site. Despite her sense of urgency, once through the gap she had found in the construction fence Melody had to make her way slowly and carefully over the rough ground.

Finally, from the top of a low berm which had been built for a new interchange near the construction site, she could see her car. At first she felt a surge of joy, but Melody quickly tamped down on it. She could already see there was something wrong with the rental vehicle.

She half slid, half climbed back down to the rented vehicle, glad she was wearing slacks. Feeling safe - or at least safer - now, she pulled her flashlight from her right front pocket. With it set to low and tight-beam, she aimed it at her rental car from a distance.

She stared for a moment at the thoroughly wrecked car. Then quickly shone the light on the bare ground just past the gravel shoulder. Melody was a city gal, but even she was disturbed by the size of the tracks she saw near the ruined car.

She quickly doused the light and turned right. She was well out in the country - well, as she thought of this rural area - but there was a gas station with a phone booth just down the county road she had parked on. She set out, walking as quickly as the two guards she had seen.

* * *

The service station was closed, but as was the usual practice some of the outside lights had been left on. Melody hurried to the phone booth on the far edge of the paved area. The booth was also lit, revealing that it was operational. She left the door open to keep the main light off, and quickly dropped the necessary change into the slot. She dialed from memory, and got the switchboard at the chemical repository.

"This is Melody Gundersen and I'm in trouble." She gave her location, made the operator repeat it back to her, and made him promise to quickly pass the message on. "Something destroyed my car, I'm at the nearby gas station, but it's clo..."

Something moved in the darkness. In fact, through the glass wall of the booth the reporter saw several large, feral shapes coming slowly through the darkness, moving almost casually towards the pool of light around the front of the service station. They were coming from further down the road, in the direction of the main gate to the construction site. They were not in any sort of hurry, which was even more frightening than if they had been running towards her. Ignoring the voice on the other end of the line, Melody slowly lowered the handset, and left it swinging at the end of its cable.

The monsters paused for a moment. Then, suddenly, one of them leapt. Melody threw herself from from the booth. There was a huge crash as the thing slammed into the phone booth, shattering glass and bending metal. Fortunately, the noise and spray and collapse of the booth confused the creature which had leapt, and all that fuss seemed to unnerve those still in the dark. Melody carefully climbed to her feet backed slowly for the building. Then she remembered there was no-one inside. Instead, she diverted to the closest pump island, still backing slowly away. She reached it, about the time the other creatures came into the light and began to track her scent in a very unhurried fashion. The one which had jumped - which seemed unharmed despite landing on broken glass and jagged metal - joined them. They seemed momentarily confused by her change of direction, but quickly figured it out. In desperation, Melody grabbed the air hose connected to the pipe coming up through the concrete. The fuel pumps were off, of course, but there should still be compressed air.

Melody didn't know much about animals, but she could see that these half-dozen creatures were not natural. As well, they either weren't too bright, or they were overconfident. Perhaps they were merely inexperienced. Having finally found her current location by sight, they formed an arc and calmly advanced across the pavement towards her. Melody made herself wait until they were nice and close. Then she used the compressed air from the hose to blow dust and grit from the pavement into their eyes, sweeping the nozzle around.

This worked far better than she expected; the creatures backed away, making odd mewling sounds and wiping at their eyes with their paws. In fact, the tactic worked so well that Melody was able to use it several more times. After each use, the creatures took precious moments to recover, and hesitated to resume their advance. However, they did not give up, or retreat far.

Worse, the compressed air was running out. Apparently, when the employees closed the station for the the night and turned off the inside lights they also turned off the compressor, leaving only what was in the tank.

The hose gave one last, fading burst. Before the creatures could regroup, Melody threw the hose at them, turned and ran towards the road. She headed back the way she had come, heading for the overpass. Maybe they would focus on the hose long enough for her to reach the traffic on the main route. She hated to leave the light at the gas station, but the creatures had already demonstrated that the illumination was no deterrent to them.

Melody did't get far. Something slammed into her back, stunning her and driving her face-down onto the filthy pavement of the road. At first she thought she had been tackled by one of the creatures, but she quickly realized the impact was from an explosion. Because there were more in quick succession. She managed to roll over, and saw one of the strange animals destroyed by another explosion. The reporter winced as she realized how close some of those fiery blasts were coming to the pumps. Off for the night or not, they still contained flammable hydrogen gas and were connected to underground tanks of hydrated metal. The last two creatures, at the rear of the pack, suddenly turned and ran into the darkness. A winged figure landed between Melody and the closest set of smoking remains. Melody realized now that the particular beast the figure was examining had been destroyed first, and that the explosion which did that was what had knocked her down.

Though her ears were still ringing, Melody sat up and stared at her rescuer. Such a disregard for living things - even obviously manufactured living things, obviously designed to kill people - and basic safety rules was very unlike Malak. Yet when the figure turned towards her, that was who she saw. Only...

Melody already had a suspicion that the winged figure was one of Malak's duplicates, rather than Malak himself. As she got to her feet and dusted herself off, the winged man came closer. She had her suspicion confirmed when she saw the figure's face from up close. Though it looked like Malak, it lacked his, well, force of personality. The "angel" smiled and nodded at her, and turned away, spreading its wings. She realized he was going after the two animals which had run off.

"Wait! What do I do if more of them come here after you leave?"

The figure paused, turned back to her, manifested a spear and offered it to Melody, butt first. She reflexively took it. He smiled and nodded and turned away again, resuming course. He took to the air, dodging easily around the metal canopies over the pump islands, and disappeared into the darkness.

The spear felt strangely light. Ethereal. Not quite real. The burning tip even provided good illumination, as long as Melody held it high. She just hoped it would last until Malak - or, rather, his double - returned.

Melody backed into a corner formed by the wall of the main building and the section with the repair bays. She held the spear almost horizontally, the glowing point between her and anything which might approach.

* * *

Fortunately for Melody's peace of mind, Malak - the real one, apparently - arrived soon after that. With a sigh of relief, Melody put the spear down. The burning tip sputtered and went out, and the rest of the spear quickly faded. The reporter realized that she felt more tired than she was expecting, and wondered if she had been powering the spear. Keeping it manifested well after it would have otherwise faded, with her own energies. Or she could just be going into shock.

Such questions were pushed to the back of her mind, as Malak quickly checked Melody over and healed her relatively minor scrapes and contusions. Fortunately, due to the rapidity of the sequence events with the beast attack she was just starting to feel the pain of her injuries when he got there.

"Your duplicates have no judgement," she said, after thanking him for saving her, yet again. "They are also, well, rather more ruthless than they need to be."

"I'm sorry," said Malak, with a grimace. He sighed, having already noted how near the pumps some of the explosions had been. "I am only dimly aware of what they do. They are of necessity limited. A stop-gap."

"Did that one at least get all the guard animals?"

"Oh, yes."

"Okay. I assumed so, from the explosions in the distance. Though I'm wondering what the guards at the construction site think of all this."

"Which brings me to ask, what led up to all this?"

Melody sighed, and explained.

"Well, you seem to have been careful," said Malak, with a hint of amusement. "Mostly. Just unlucky."

"Hmph," said Melody, crossing her arms over her chest in irritation. Not only at the unexpected danger she had just been through, but at once again needing help to get out of it. "Oh, by the way, where's Blackpool? I was actually expecting him, coming out of the shadows somewhere."

"I presume back at your apartment, waiting impatiently for you to call, since it's well past quitting time at the Repository."

"Oops," said Melody, blushing. "I called the wrong number. Or something. I guess I just thought he'd be in his office. Forgot how late it was."

"From what I understand of the situation, you were rather rushed," said Malak, wryly. "Fortunately, I was working late at the Repository, and got your message immediately. I sent my duplicate, then got here myself as quickly as I could. Anyway, I'll take you home. If you're ready."

"Argh!! I just remembered; those things totaled my rental car!"

"A minor problem, all things considered."

* * *

"You're going to have to be very careful if you write this up," said Gadding, in his office at the newspaper first thing the next morning. "Unless you want to admit to trespassing."

"I'm going to make some notes about the company and the animals and pass them along," said Melody, tiredly. "Same as I did about my misadventure at the headquarters of The Protectorate. I figure some other investigative person can confirm those beasts and do an article on them. Anyway, something I need to do before that is call the car rental agency."

"Well, hopefully you took out insurance on the vehicle," said Gadding, with a slight smile.

"Oh, yes," said Melody, rolling her eyes. "Given the way my life is going lately that's standard. I will be as vague as I can get by with telling them what happened. Hopefully, just that I came back to the car and found it vandalized. Not lying, just... being careful about the details. Which are both embarrassing and could lead to awkward questions."

"Well, I'm glad you survived that misadventure. As well as that you have friends who can help you out when you get in over your head. Just to be clear, I want my reporters to risk the deep water. That's how we get some of our best stories. I just don't see this particular sequence of events leading to a story in the immediate future. We've already agreed to keep the information about Malak's duplicates confidential for now."

"He says the negotiations are in recess for the next few days. Which was fortunate for me. Aaron also told me I can mention the duplicates as soon as the talks are actually completed. He's too worried about the delicate state of the negotiations just now to want anything even remotely controversial about him coming into the news."

"That's probably the real reason he backed off from confronting The Protectorate," said Gadding, nodding.

"Could be. Or maybe, having learned just how ruthless they are, he wants the confrontation to be on ground he chooses."

* * *

The knock on the balcony's sliding door was not unexpected. Both Melody and John had a good idea of who was there before they looked, of course. Neither actually knew that many people who could fly, or climb walls unusually well, and only a handful of those people knew where the couple currently lived.

"Greetings, Malak," said John, as he unlocked the door (of course it was locked; after all, they did know a few people who could climb or fly, not all of whom were trusted) and invited the angelic figure in.

Malak changed back to Aaron rather than trying to squeeze his wings through the low doorway. He was warmly welcomed by both of the occupants of the apartment.

"I'm sorry to say that, as usual, I can't stay long," he said, after taking a seat on the couch and asking after the welfare of both Melody and John. "I'm supposed to be an expert witness at a school board meeting, here in town, later this afternoon."

"You're welcome to stop by our place again after you finish with that," said Melody, her husband nodding agreement. "John and I enjoy your company and from what I know of such events you'll probably need a break before you head back to Haven."

"I believe I will do just that," said Aaron, with a tired smile. "As much as I hate physical conflict, I actually prefer it to social conflict. Especially in situations where I really shouldn't influence people with my personality enhancements."

* * *

"Thank you for the prior invitation," said Aaron, as he once again sank into the apartment's couch, this time with a grateful sigh, later that evening. "It is proving prescient. Those people..."

"I hope you were at least allowed to make your point," said John.

"I made several of them," said Aaron. "Whether the people I made them to take them seriously is another matter."

He sighed again and shook his head.

"It was very difficult refraining from using my enhanced charisma to try and make an impression. They - nearly the entire board - were so certain they were right. It was like making a presentation for a pre-recorded response. An unfavorable one."

"Was it hard?" said Melody.

"Like pulling a thirty-two bottom plow," said Aaron.

"Sometimes I wonder which side God is on," said John, with a tired sigh of his own.

"God doesn't take human sides," said Aaron, firmly. "If we're not on God's side, that's our fault."

"Can you give us any details?" said Melody. "About the school board meeting, I mean."

"There was this one woman... She was supposedly just another board member, but even the president of the board yielded to her. Perhaps because of some external influence she possesses. Perhaps simply because she was loud and insistent."

"Yow," said Melody, a bit alarmed.

"I honestly didn't mean to provoke her," said Aaron, a bit embarrassed. "It's just that... she was so opinionated and so very, very wrong! She kept making claims about children's education which have been long disproven. When I cited hard data to disprove her claims, she simply declared that I was the one who was behind the times. She never bothered citing any studies or references; she just seemed to believe that because she said something it had to be true. The things she said! The woman actually claimed that play was bad for children! That it was too unstructured!"

"I'm familiar with the type," said Melody, dryly. "They're control freaks, and think that anything not strictly planned out ahead of time is wrong. Especially when someone else is doing it. Not simply a waste of time, but actively harmful."

"That was essentially her position," said Aaron, nodding. He sighed again. "I even pointed out that I was old enough to have seen what works and what doesn't. That held no sway with her, either. Anyway, I managed to stay through the meeting, satisfying my honor and at least partially satisfying the woman who asked me for the help. However, I left immediately after, instead of attending the buffet they had set up for the board members and guests. It was free food, but I just... couldn't deal with her any longer. Of course, from what I saw many of the other participants were also leaving early. Including some of the other board members."

"How did you get roped into that, anyway?" said John.

"One of the people objecting to the school board's proposed measures asked me to appear as an expert witness," said Aaron. "I don't think she had much hope I would be able to change things, though. She told me going in that the board usually made up its collective mind ahead of time then held these meetings to formalize the decisions they have already made. That any contrary comments by people they are supposed to be listening to are simply treated as, at best, based on ignorance."

"Well, that's over," said Melody, tone consoling. "You relax for a while. Would you like a snack or something to drink?"

She grinned.

"To make up for skipping the buffet."

"That would be wonderful, thank you."