Shane was just about to win a free game on the pinball machine when the alarm sounded. Checking the monitor, he knew that he needed to get home as quickly as possible. His father would need his help. Shane's father worked as a supervisor in damage control. After the last attack he had helped his father for many hours. Even at the young age of sixteen, he had already developed many skills. His father had come to rely on him quite a bit and fancied, like many fathers, his son taking his place upon retirement.

With his wiry frame carrying him at top speed, Shane made his way quickly down corridor after corridor. He dodged other running people with ease. And there were a lot of them. The sound of the wailing alarm turned everybody's adrenalin up a notch or three. He was just about to round the last corner before reaching his family's quarters when a huge explosion knocked him back. The rapidly expanding cloud of dust and debris hit him headlong and slapped him up against the wall. He collapsed into a crumpled heap on the floor. The Talon soldiers took him for dead and passed swiftly by.

Many levels above where Shane lay unconscious, Paulik and Joel manned the command center. Officers all around the room were screaming. Joel looked down at his command console in disbelief. It was blank, like someone had pulled the power cord. Every console in the room was blank. Joel looked up at his partner of sixteen years.

"We've got a major problem." Paulik was almost in a panic. He took a moment, regained his composure, and then looked back at Joel.

"I think I have a plan of action." Joel nodded for him to continue. "Let's use mobile communicators and contact all guards and security personnel. Have them converge on the engineering section. The command center is just a remote point of operation. The real point of operation is in engineering. We have to move fast before the Talons get there. Once its secured, we can run everything from there."

"Good plan Paulik," Joel said in agreement. "I'll take care of the communications. You get our command people together, but I don't think it would be a good idea to move them there until we have engineering secured."

"Good point," said Paulik. Joel started toward the mobile communicators, then paused.

"Paulik, what about Jevic and Cameron, and their human friends?"

"They'll just have to fend for themselves. Between Jevic's and Cameron's powers, I know they'll be fine." Joel smiled, then hurriedly turned to communicate with his forces.

Shane slowly regained consciousness. He blinked his eyes open, pushed his long black hair out of his eyes and looked around. All he could see was rubble. He eased up into a sitting position. He felt no pain, so he assumed that he wasn't seriously hurt. Struggling, he stood up. Looking left and then right, he saw no one. Then Shane saw where the entrance to his family's home had been. The explosion had apparently been right at his front door. Shane stood looking at the destruction for a moment and then a realization hit him with more force than the explosion had.

"MOM! DAD!" he screamed and ran toward the entrance. Shane pushed his way through. The scene unfolding before him didn't look good. The living room was in a shambles. Debris was everywhere. He ran toward his parent's study, but the entrance was blocked. 'MOM! DAD!" he screamed, but still no answer. He frantically turned toward the hall and the bedrooms. Turning the corner, he stopped cold in his tracks. There at his feet were his parents. They were obviously dead. Shane dropped to his knees, his emotion building up inside him. 'NOOOO!" he screamed.

"Shit, what are we gonna do?" I yelled over the sound of the alarm. Jevic looked at me, then at Scott and Brandon, and then back at me. I could see his indecision. Scott and Brandon were scared to death. They clung to each other tightly, the fright clearly showing in their eyes.

"You take care of them and let me think," he finally blurted out.

"Why don't I just mind travel them back?"

"NO! Its entirely too dangerous. With all the weapons fire, you could easily be hit. Just because you're traveling by mind, does not protect you from things in your path. It's just too dangerous." I thought about what he had said. That consideration had never crossed my mind, but somehow, it made sense. I walked over to the couch where my friends were sitting and knelt down.

"I know this is a lot to take in," I started looking back and forth between them. "Listen carefully and try to keep up. You are in an underwater complex, deep below the Atlantic Ocean. Good people live here that watch out over planet earth. They came from space millions of years ago." Scott's mouth dropped open and Brandon still had a blank look.

"What was it we saw that night in the parking lot?" asked Scott.

"Your question should be who, and the answer is Jevic. He had just dropped me off. I didn't know then what I know now, but he healed my wounds from that night. Scott, I almost died in that parking lot. Jevic saved me and I owe him my life."

"That explains a lot," he said.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg Scott. Turns out that I'm half Watcher. My parents adopted me, but they had no idea about my birth parents. But the fact of the matter is that my birth father was human and my birth mother was a Watcher. My ancestors come from outer space." With that comment and all that was going on around us, Brandon fainted. He just fell right over into Scott's lap. Scott was so sweet. I could sense, visually and telepathically, that Scott really cared for Brandon. I wasn't absolutely sure, but the feeling that I was sensing was almost strong enough to be love. Scott held Brandon in his arms, obviously concerned. "I'm sorry Scott. I'm putting a lot on you both in a very short period of time, but you need to know what's going on." Scott was wide eyed, but nodded all the same, acknowledging the information that I had shared with him.

"The Watchers were left here to keep a check on the planet. They are only to intervene if something really bad happens that threatens the long term evolution of the planet itself. The people that are attacking us are Watchers too, but they call themselves Talons. They are a different faction from main stream Watchers. They believe that the humans are out of control and are bringing the planet to the brink of destruction. They want to eliminate the human race." Scott openly gasped.

"They want to kill us?"

"Exactly. The Watchers believe in the human race and are trying to stop the Talons. Apparently, the Talons have attacked. That's what's going on. Can you understand any of what I have told you?" Scott slowly nodded.

"I think so, but what do we do now?" He had me there. I turned to Jevic for the answer. Jevic was pacing back and forth. Without notice, I suddenly was assaulted with a scream in my head. "NOOOO," came the scream. I fell back on to the floor clutching my head. Jevic rushed to my side.

"What is it Cameron?"

"Someone just screamed in my head."

"Who was it?" he asked, obviously thinking of his father or Joel.

"I-I don't know. Let me try to make contact." I concentrated on the voice and the 'emotion' to see if I could communicate with whoever it was that screamed. At first, there was nothing, but suddenly my mind was flooded with sadness. Scenes came to my mind like a slide show. I saw destruction. Then I saw two bodies. Then I was like sucked back into his head ... it was ... "Shane!" I cried out. Jevic grabbed my arm.

"What's wrong?"

"H-his parents. They've been killed," I stammered.

"No!" cried Jevic. I was literally shaking from the emotions that I had felt from Shane. My heart went out to him. He was so alone.

"I've got to go to him," I told Jevic.

"No, you can't. The Talons!"

"I've got to."

"Cameron!"

"I'll be OK. His hurt has touched me. I can feel it. I'll be back Jevic."

"No, please don't," he protested. But it was too late. I had already made up my mind.

"It'll be OK. I'll just be a moment," I said as I put my hand on Jevic's shoulder. "I'll be fine." And with that, I closed my eyes. The cloak of darkness greeted me. The usually blackness was filled with screams and bright flashes of light. For just a moment, I thought that maybe I had made the wrong decision. Then I felt Shane's sadness pulling me toward him. I pushed through the muck and appeared next to him. He was on his knees with his parent's bodies laid out before him. I gently put my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me. Tears were streaming down his face. Anger was coursing through his veins. I could feel it. I could literally smell the anger that was welling up within him.

"Shane," I said as gently as possible. "Come with me." He looked back at his parents and then back up at me. "Please come with me Shane." He looked back at his parents and then ever so slowly raised his hand to meet mine. I met it with a gentle grasp, but then tightened my grip. Our quiet moment was suddenly interrupted by a sound to my left. I glanced up and looked directly into the face of a Talon solider.

"Now you die," he said hatefully. I watched as he raised his weapon and pointed it at us. My tingling quickly rose on its own. I looked the soldier directly in the eyes while my tingling rose even further. I narrowed my eyes. The anger inside me boiled over and before the soldier had time to even think about firing his weapon, he vaporized into thin air. Had I done that? I mean, had my tingling done that? Jeez! I pulled Shane to his feet and embraced him tightly. He continued to sob on my shoulder as we entered the cloak of darkness. A bright flash accompanied by a crackling sound just missed us, apparently a Quantum Laser Pulse. I quickly decided that it was too dangerous to mind travel with all the weapons fire, so we came back out of the darkness. I held Shane by his shoulders and looked directly into his usually beautiful hazel eyes, now reddened and filled with tears.

"Shane, we've got to get out of here, but we can't mind travel. We'll have to walk. Do you understand?" He looked at me and his grief flooded my very soul. "Shane, please try to pull yourself together. We have to get out of here." He turned and looked down at his parents. I could feel his anger still rising, slowly overtaking his grief. He looked back at me.

"I'm ready to go now," he said softly.

"Good, let me contact Jevic and tell him what we're doing." He nodded and I called out to Jevic telepathically.

"Cameron! Are you OK?" asked Jevic.

"Yes, I'm fine, but we're going to have to walk back. I can't travel through all the weapons fire."

"Cameron, you're on just about the lowest level of the complex. You'll have to climb almost to the top. You're going to run into a lot of Talon soldiers on the way. Why don't you just stay there?"

"I can't stay here Jevic. A Talon solider just tried to kill us."

"What?"

"It's OK. I took care of him, but we can't stay here."

"Then go down to engineering. You should be safe there. It's heavily guarded."

"OK, we'll go there. I'll contact you later."

"Please be careful Cameron. I love you!"

"I love you too Jevic. I'll contact you when we get there."

"OK." I turned to Shane and put my arm around his shoulder.

"Jevic suggests that we go to engineering."

"He's right. It should be safe there and I know a short cut," said Shane.

"OK, let's go." He took one last look at his parents and then we turned to go. Once we were out in the corridor, Shane took the lead. I followed him around the corner where he pulled open an access panel.

"In here," he directed. We climbed in and closed the panel behind us. "This is a service access passageway that leads directly to engineering," he explained. I nodded and we moved on. The passageway was small and twisted and turned along the way. We moved along at a pretty good pace, passing other passageways leading off to the left and to the right and soon we came to the end. Shane started to open the hatch, but I sensed something and stopped him.

"Wait," I said quietly. He turned and looked at me. "I sense something's not right. Just ease the hatch open and look around first. Be real quiet too." Shane nodded and unlocked the hatch. Light poured in as he eased it gently open.

Suddenly the hatch was jerked open. Arms reached inside and grabbing us, they pulled us roughly into the room. We were indeed in the engineering section, but we were also surrounded by at least a dozen Talon soldiers. They pushed us up against the wall and held us still. There were way too many to start a fight with, but my tingling was at full force.

"Kill 'em," the Talon officer said. Weapons were immediately drawn and aimed at our heads. My tingling quickly took on a new feel. It expanded from my head and quickly got larger and larger. The soldiers that were holding us started screaming out in pain and let us go. I reached over and grabbed Shane's hand. He was looking at me in bewilderment. Then the soldiers opened fire at point blank range. The Pulsar blasts bounced off what appeared to be some type of shield that had surrounded us. The blasts ricocheted and some of them bounced back and killed several of the soldiers.

"Cease fire!" screamed the Talon officer. "Cease fire!" The firing stopped. "What the hell's going on here?" he asked as he walked over toward us.

"Me, that's what's going on," I said hatefully. "Deal with me Talon."

"You little shit. I'll kill you with my bare hands," he said with a sneer, and then started toward me. My tingling made a slight adjustment and then seemed to grab him by his outstretched hands. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at his hands, not knowing what was going on. I narrowed my eyes and my tingling started to squeeze down, crushing the officer's hands. He screamed out in agony and fell to his knees. The other soldiers just stood and watched as my tingling squeezed down so hard on the officer's hands that they become nothing more than flaccid masses of flesh, blood and crushed bone. I narrowed my eyes even more and the officer was vaporized. Nothing but dust and charred cinders remained where he once was. The soldiers immediately moved back and started firing again. The ricochets bounced around the room and in seconds flat, they were all dead, by their own hands. My tingling relaxed and I felt tired. Not exhausted, but tired. That had taken quite a bit of energy.

"C-Cameron?" asked Shane. "I've never seen anything like that before," he said looking at me inquisitively.

"Neither have I," I told him truthfully. "Sometimes my tingling amazes me."

"Your tingling?"

"Yeah, my powers."

"Thank God you were here. If I had been alone, I'd be dead now." He gently squeezed my hand. I smiled at him and nodded.

"Where exactly are we?" I asked.

"We're in the engineering section, but this is the damage control section. The main engineering section is through that door," he said pointing to a door across the room.

"Shane, I'm tired. Using my powers like that really took a lot out of me. I don't know if I'm ready for another confrontation. Is there some way we can look into the main section without opening that door?" Shane thought for a second, then his faced brightened.

"There's an observation deck up above. It's not used very much and the service access is through another passageway that we passed just before we got here."

"Good, let's go back and make our way up there so we can see just what the hell's going on. There shouldn't be any Talons in engineering."

"You're right. There's controls here for the whole complex including command, and Cameron," he paused for a second. "There's access to the planet harmonizer too." The gravity of the situation just took on new significance.

Joel finished directing the majority of the Watcher forces toward engineering, which had now become the most important strategic piece of the battle's puzzle. He, Paulik and the rest of the command center staff started to make their way down toward the engineering level. Most of the Watcher citizens had moved quickly and were locked away in either their quarters or in heavily protected shelters located throughout the complex. Joel led the group with a half dozen security personnel; weapons drawn in anticipation.

"I'm going to try and contact Jevic," Paulik told Joel. Joel nodded. Paulik concentrated and called out to his son.

"Dad! Are you OK?"

"Yes son, I'm fine. We're making our way down to engineering."

"Good, Cameron is down there now."

"What?"

"He went to help Shane. Dad, the Talons killed Shane's parents."

"Oh no," said Paulik. Shane's father had been a good man and a good friend. "Jevic, when did you last talk with Cameron?"

"It's been some time ago dad, and I'm starting to get worried."

"OK, where are the human boys?"

"They're here with me in the suite. What do you want us to do?"

"Stay put. We'll be in engineering soon and I'll find out what's going on."

"OK dad, please be careful."

"I will son." Paulik turned to Joel after finishing his telepathic conversation. "Joel, Cameron is in engineering." Joel was shocked.

"What's Cameron doing there?"

"He went to help Shane. I'm afraid the Talons have killed Peter and Jolie."

"Argh! I want this to end!" cried out a frustrated Joel.

"Joel, Peter's quarters are just above the engineering level. That means the Talons could already be in engineering." Joel shot a quick look of panic at Paulik.

"If they are, we're all walking into a trap." Joel quickly grabbed a portable communicator and notified all the field commands of the possibility. They all acknowledged him and said they were just about in position. Joel directed them to hold fast until he and Paulik arrived. Paulik's mind was in overdrive and suddenly he remembered his conversation with Jevic. Paulik concentrated hard and tried to make contact.

"Paulik?"

"Yes Cameron, it's me. Where are you?"

"Shane and I are in the service access passageway from damage control to the observation deck. We had quite a run in with a Talon squad. We're going up to check out the main engineering section."

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, we're fine. My tingling protected us."

"Good, now listen to me carefully. Most of our forces are converging on engineering. What you see there will be vitally important to our plan. Be very careful Cameron."

"OK, we're being careful. Shane really knows his way around here. We're taking all kinds of secret passageways."

"Good, just be very careful. Once you've seen what's going on in the main engineering section, contact me. OK?"

"No problem Paulik. You be careful too." Paulik turned to Joel and nudged him in the arm. Joel turned to listen. "Cameron is headed toward the observation deck to check out the main engineering section. He's going to let us know what he sees."

"That's great!"

"Joel," Paulik started. Joel looked at him intently. "Cameron said they had a run in with a Talon squad in damage control."

"That means ..."

"I know. This could get ugly." The men hurried down he passageway toward engineering.

Jevic continued to pace back and forth across the living room floor. Scott and Brandon sat on the couch and watched him. A huge explosion rocked the complex. It came from deep down and rumbled throughout. The complex shook so violently that Jevic had to grab onto the couch to keep from falling.

"That's it!" he yelled. "I can't take it anymore. Scott! Brandon! Come on. We're going to see what the hell's going on." He started for the door, but Scott and Brandon stayed on the couch, huddled together. "Listen guys, I just can't stay here and I can't leave you here either. Come with me and at least we can find out what's going on." Scott and Brandon looked at each other and slowly stood up.

"OK Jevic, but promise we'll be real careful. We don't want to be Talon prisoners again," said Scott.

"Neither do I. We'll be careful. Now come on. Let's find out what's going on," Jevic said and started back for the door, this time with Scott and Brandon following. The boys carefully worked their way down the corridor. Looking out into the main area of the complex, Jevic saw no people. No one. It was deserted. He motioned for Scott and Cameron to follow. Jevic cautiously led the boys down through several corridors until they reached the main level. They walked out into the large open space. Scott and Brandon looked around in amazement. Through the clear domed ceiling, they could see beautifully colored fish swimming. It was quite a sight for the human boys and they gazed upward.

"Hold it right there," came the unexpected voice. All three boys turned to face a squad of Talon soldiers.

Shane and I finally reached the hatch that opens to the observation deck. We both looked at each other for a moment. I could see the fear in his eyes, as I'm sure that he could see it in mine. My strength had renewed and I felt full and complete again. I knew that I would need to be at my absolute best for what was on the other side of the door. This was the showdown ... the decisive battle of this war. The fate of the human race was riding on the outcome. Of course, humans had no idea such a battle was raging, but in the next few moments, victory for one side would go unnoticed by the world's population; however, victory for the other side would spell extinction for the human race. The human half of me fought to save my people. The Watcher half fought to protect my people. Together, with my tingling, I intended to do everything possible to ensure the longevity of the humans.

Ever so carefully, Shane and I eased the hatch door open just a crack. We could see no one on the deck. The hatch was opened little by little and finally, we crawled out onto a deserted observation deck strategically located high above the main engineering section. I motioned for Shane to follow and we quietly moved over to the edge to look down. I don't think any Watcher could have been prepared for the scene below us. Hundreds of Talon soldiers had taken up posts at all the entrances. Dozens more were working diligently in the center of the room. I watched intently, studying their work. When I realized what they were doing, my heart started pounding in my chest. The planet harmonizer control panel had been opened and they were trying to crack the security code. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Paulik.

"Paulik!" I cried out.

"Cameron?" he answered.

"There's hundreds of Talon soldiers in main engineering and they've accessed the planet harmonizer control panel. They're trying to crack the code!"

"We're right outside the door Cameron. Can you give us a distraction so we can surprise them?" The wheels were turning in my mind and a plan came to the surface.

"OK, get ready!"

"Let us know when to attack!"

"You'll know," I said. Shane pulled at my arm and pointed down below. I eased back to the edge and looked. Garen was standing in the middle of it all, hands on his hips, smiling, and looking directly at us. Without hesitation, my tingling heated up and I threw a powerful burst directly at the exterior bulkhead. I made sure that it was a pointed burst and not a broad burst. I wanted damage, but not a lot. The force hit and shook the room. Water burst through the two-foot hole in a strong stream that fell onto the Talon soldiers, knocking them to the floor. Garen grabbed a couple of men, pointed in our direction and they prepared to fire. Suddenly one of the entrances to the main section exploded, then another and another. Watcher forces streamed through the blasted openings and Pulsar blasts filled the air.

This is it! The battle has begun. I charged up my tingling and started hurling down balls of force at the Talons that were working on the planet harmonizer control panel. They scattered, but Garen ordered them back. As soon as they started getting close, I pounded them with another round from my tingling. I hit two or three with direct hits and they fell to the floor writhing in agony. Looking over the entire area, Pulsar fire was everywhere. I watched as Talons and Watchers fell to the ground. It was horrid. Dozens of men were being brutally killed in front of my eyes. Joel and Paulik were in the middle of it all trying to make their way toward the harmonizer control. I tried to help by sending out blasts with my tingling to clear their path. Shane lay beside me on the floor of the observation deck in total awe.

"Shane, keep a sharp eye on the harmonizer and let me know if any Talons get close. I'm trying to concentrate on helping Joel and Paulik," I told him. He nodded and turned his attention in that direction. Then I saw Garen again. I concentrated on Joel. "Joel, Garen is about fifteen feet directly in front of you!"

"Thanks Cameron!" he called back. I saw him turn to Paulik and then to the small squad of men that was with him. They renewed their efforts to get toward the harmonizer. Garen and his squad of elite soldiers lay directly in their path. Shane and I kept ducking from Pulsar blasts directed our way. The railing above us had been blown to bits, but the platform itself was too thick to be damaged by small arms fire. I spotted Garen again and directed a tingling blast straight toward him, but one of his men suddenly jumped in the way and went down hard from the blast. Garen looked up at me with a hateful look. I fired another round at him, but he must have been expecting it. He quickly grabbed one of his men and put him in the line of fire. He too went down in agony. Garen sneered up at me and then disappeared into a sea of Talon soldiers. I wanted to send a huge blast directly into the mob below me, but there were too many Watcher forces intermingled. It was more effective for me to direct smaller blasts directly at Talon soldiers. The smaller blasts required much less energy and I felt I could keep it up for some time.

"Cameron, they're back at the harmonizer!" called out Shane. I looked and saw a dozen Talon men around the control panel. Immediately I started pelting them with blasts. Half of their dozen fell to the floor dead. The other half ran for their lives.

With a huge blast, the hatch behind us blew open. Shane and I quickly ran to the far side of the deck and crouched down waiting for the smoke the clear. Two Talon soldiers emerged and I hit them with tingling blasts. They immediately fell to the floor. Then I saw two more figures come through the smoke. My tingling was charged up and ready.

"Cameron!" came a voice. "I'd think long and hard before you do anything." The smoke continued to clear and there in front of me stood Kibbeth. He was holding a Pulsar pistol. He had it pointed at the head of the person he was holding, but the person had a black sack over their head.

"Why should I listen to you Kibbeth?" I shouted back in anger.

"Because of this," he said calmly and he pulled the black sack off. It was Jevic!

The Watchers is © 2003 by The Tarheel Writer.
    This work may not be duplicated in any form (physical, electronic, audio, or otherwise) without the author's written permission. All applicable copyright laws apply. All individuals depicted are fictional with any resemblance to real persons being purely coincidental.

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