THE JOINING: The Cycle of the Shards Book One

The bell had rung out its last call that class was over, and Shanna Ewing had finally drug herself out of the Study Hall where she had sat nervously for the past fifty-five minutes. It wasn’t bad enough that the world was coming to an end in a couple hours, or that it suddenly was her responsibility to get the alien that had caused all this onto the most secured computer in the building. No, first she had to almost fall off a second floor ledge! She had thought that in a near-death experience like that she would get some kind of adrenaline boost, but instead all she had was a horrible feeling in her gut, like the horror was just beginning. The fear was overtaking her as she walked towards the office to meet Ky..Critock, and it was like she was walking underwater. She had tried to cover it up with flirting with the alien, which was obviously making him uncomfortable. And it was hard not to, since regardless of who it was on the inside, it was still the body of the boy that she was interested in. So what was the harm if it helped distract her from the end of everything?

At this point even using her wiles, which was fairly easy considering the nigh-embarrassing outfit she was wearing, probably wouldn’t work to keep her mind off of things. Every minute that drew closer she felt the nervousness in her gut turn almost to pain. Suddenly she wanted to cry, and she hated that. It was such a girl cliché, and she had tried so hard to not be ‘that girl’! Soon she would see Critock, and the wisp, and that would reassure her that she wasn’t alone in this, and somehow they’d all get through it together. And she’d get Kyle back, and then they could do all the happy little dating stuff and actually get to know each other. She found it odd that after only one day she knew the man from another planet better than the guy she had fallen in ‘like’ with after years of knowing her. Once the soldier was gone though, she’d have all the time in the world. Though she still wished that there was a way to keep them both here. For the world’s protection, of course…and…

Okay, that’s quite enough of that! She thought to herself. For all she knew, Critock’s real look had horns and tentacles and was hideous. But, she did like their conversations, and hoped he would at the very least keep in touch, however you did that when your home was at the other end of the universe. She tried to gather herself, shaking off the influx of inappropriate thoughts that, while they did prove a slight distraction, were absolutely not welcome right now. She was successful in getting rid of them, but as soon as they were gone the fear of imminent death of herself and the rest of the world came flooding back, and every step got that much harder. She rounded a corner and hoped to see Critock and the floating white wisp there. Instead, she saw Claire.

Oh. Right. Her. The first thoughts were of snark. She had been such a bitch to her for so long for something that wasn’t her fault! How could she speak to her, why isn’t Claire coming to her to apologize? But of all things, it was the fear that convinced her. For all she knew, this could be the last chance. The world could be ending in a matter of hours. There wasn’t time for a real bucket list, but if there was a real chance that she and everyone else were to die, then she did not want the sadness and anger that she felt when she saw her former friend to be on the record. She wanted a friend at the end of the world. She started walking faster, the feeling of walking in concrete gone now.

Claire was waiting for Daniel, who after saying that he would be right back had disappeared again, as boys often do, she thought. She hated to be away from him, he was her whole world! She reassured herself that he probably just had to use the bathroom or something. Not everything he did was her business, just most of it, she thought and smiled. She turned her head, feeling something approaching, and suddenly had a blast of fear as Shanna Ewing was almost running right at her. Was this it? Was she going to start a fight with her right here? She tried to brace herself, ready for anything.

Of all the things that could happen, the one thing that did was the one she wasn’t ready for. Instead of a punch or a push, Shanna met Claire with an embrace, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Claire accepted the hug for a moment, flush with memories of their friendship, before suddenly coming to her senses, disentangling herself from the hug and stepping backwards.

“Whoa, whoa, what the hell, Shanna? You don’t talk to me for this long and suddenly it’s like nothing ever happened?”

Shanna looked at her for a moment, and put her head down slightly. “I’m sorry…I don’t know what happened to us but I’m tired of us not talking.”

Claire shook her head, taking an angry tone. “You do too know. You’ve been hanging around with those sluts for so long that you haven’t had time for your friends in a year!”

“They’re not sluts! Well…Not most of them, anyway. But I never wanted to hang out with them anyway! They’re not really my friends, I’m just stuck with them.”

Claire took a step closer. “We spent all of our time making fun of people like that, and now…Just look at yourself, Shanna! Look at how everyone looks at you! I can’t be around you when you’re one of…those.”

Shanna closed her eyes tightly. “I know exactly what I look like. You think I like looking like the fantasy of every straight boy in this school? You think I like wearing this crap?” She pulled at her skirt and top. “I hate everything about this. Most of all I hate losing you!”

Claire’s eyes teared up slightly. “Then why, Shanna? Why are you doing this?”

Shanna sighed. “Have you met my mother? You know what she’s like. You can’t argue with her. You can’t reason with her. She just keeps going and picking and… I’m sorry, Claire. I really really am. You started moving farther and farther away from me after I had to start trying out, and I thought you wanted to do this with me! And after I got on… I didn’t mean to lose you too. Just…My dignity.” Again she gestured at her uniform, causing Claire to giggle softly.

“Well, that’s certainly gone.” Claire stated, while walking around Shanna. She stopped once she had made a full rotation, looking her in the eyes and sighing. “I’m still here, Shanna. I just…I kinda hate everything about that uniform now. I was jealous, and that just kept getting in the way.” Her eyes teared up, and suddenly she leaped into a large hug, returning finally the embrace that Shanna had started a few minutes prior. “I miss you.” She whispered.

The two stayed in their hug. Shanna spoke quietly into Claire’s ear. “Promise me, whatever happens here on out, we’re still friends, right?”

Claire moved back, her hands still on Shanna’s shoulders, both girls’ eyes glistening. “Of course. No more fighting. Besides, I bet you have a lot of dirt on the other skirts. I could use some blackmail material.”

Shanna giggled, and the two hugged again. Claire smirked within the embrace. “So…you and Kyle, huh?”

“Yeah….Yeah!” Shanna was suddenly startled out of the moment with her reunited friend, and she pulled back. “Crap, I’m sorry, Claire!”

Claire narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“I have to go! I have to…” Shanna started to run off in the direction of the office, then stopped and turned back around to her friend. “I promise, once this is all over, we’ll hang out.”

Claire nodded, then waived her off smiling. “Go on! Go be with your boy. I’m still waiting on mine.” Shanna nodded, and kept going. Claire watched her run for a moment, then checked her phone for the time. Where was that boy?

Critock checked the time for the twelfth time as he stood outside the main office doors below the stairwell as Tom floated nearby. “Damn! Where is she?” He looked around as the warning bell rang. The hallways were becoming more and more deserted with every passing second, and it was only a matter of time before their presence there would be questioned. He glanced at the clock at the wall. “Damn!”

Tom moved near his ear. “Maybe she got held up?”

Critock turned quickly to the wisp. “I’m about five seconds from getting my sword and going in there, I don’t have time to be ‘held up’.” Almost on cue, Shanna came running around the corner of a hallway, slowing to a stop in front of the pair, breathing heavy from running directly from her encounter with Claire. Critock started to speak. “Where…”

She put her hands on her knees and bent slightly to try and regain her breath. “Sorry…Ran into….Claire.”

“Oof. How’d that go?” Tom flew over to Shanna as she straightened back up.

“It’s fine now.”

Critock smiled slightly, happy that at least something was resolved from his visit here. “Good. Great. Shall we?” He gestured towards the office doors, his movements almost frantic with his need.

Shanna nodded. “Yeah, let’s get this over with.” She took one more deep breath. “Follow my lead. Act sheepish.”

“Sheepish?” Critock questioned, but she was already at the office doors, opening them as quickly as she could to move in. Glancing at Tom, he shrugged, and followed her in.

They entered just in time to see Shanna resting her hands on the front desk and leaning over to talk with the secretary that sat there, an elderly lady that looked like she was well past retirement age. She was talking as quietly as she could, and Critock could detect a slightly sweeter tone to her voice that typically wasn’t present in his conversations with her.

“Pleeeease? We just need to go in there for a second. Mr. Tompkins said I could!” Shanna gave the secretary her best sad eyes.

“I’m fine with you going into the print room, Ms. Ewing. It’s him,” She paused, nodding towards Critock. “That I’m not sure about.” Critock effected a hurt expression as Shanna answered.

“Oh, he’ll be fine. I’ll take responsibility for him. We just need to check one thing. Please?” She smiled at the secretary. Shanna knew just how to convince her, as she had said once that Shanna reminded her of her granddaughter.

As predicted, the secretary folded. Sighing, she waived the pair off. Shanna smiled at Critock, and started heading down the hall. After a beat, both he and Tom followed.

Once they were fully in the narrow hall, Critock looked toward Shanna and whispered. “Print Room?”

“It’s right across from Tompkins. When are you going to trust me?” She smirked, then led him to the right. There was nobody in sight, and the print room was deserted as well. She grabbed Critock’s hand and pulled him into the alcove, pushing him to the side so the pair would be hidden from the wall.

Tom followed the pair, and noted that she had pushed Critock against a filing cabinet, and was staying close to him. “Uh, guys?”

“Keep an eye out, Tompkins should be leaving any minute.” Shanna said while staring down Critock. Tom emitted a sighing noise, and floated back towards the door. A moment passed, and then two, in which Critock was getting increasingly uncomfortable with Shanna’s proximity. Finally, they heard the creak of a door, and Tom rushing over to whisper that he was there. They listened intently for his footsteps moving out of the room, a pause, and then moving farther and farther away. Critock went to move, and Shanna placed a hand on his chest. “Wait.”

“Wait for what?” He hissed. “He’s gone!”

“I know.” Shanna smiled. “Just letting Kyle enjoy the moment.” She smiled, and then moved back and around the corner, glancing quickly to check for anyone there. There was none, so she moved right to the door and turned the knob, pushing it open as she spoke. “Luckily, Tompkins never locks his door.” She passed inside as Critock followed.

“Well, it’s not like anyone’s going to bust into his office and look at his pictures.” Tom spoke as he flew over their heads and to the computer, already sitting on a screen asking for a password. Critock waited for Shanna to move to the computer as well, and then closed the door behind them, locking it.

With the locking sound, Shanna looked up. “What are you doing?”

“In case someone wants to barge in on us. Not taking any chances. Get us in that thing.”

“Okay…Give me a minute.” She looked at the screen, and typed a few keys. “No…that’s not it.”

“What’s not it?”

“The password. I need to figure it out.” Shanna started looking around the room for anything that would give her an idea or hint to get in.

“What? Don’t you know it?”

“No, of course I don’t know the principal’s password. Hold on…” She tried another combination of letters and numbers, and was met with a red x and a quiet horn sound. “Damn it.”

Critock and Tom were both looking around the room, helping Shanna look for a clue. Tom happened upon a series of pictures of cars, and as he looked closer he realized they were all one specific car. “Try ‘Firebird.’”

Shanna shook her head. “Has to have a number involved, or special character I suppose…”

Critock rolled his eyes, and glanced at the pictures with Tom. “Try 72. 72firebird.” Shanna nodded, and she began to type. After she hit the enter key, she was met with another x, and again when she typed a slightly different way. Frustration overruling her fear, she attempted to put the 72 right in the middle of the word. As she hit the enter key one more time, she threw her hands up in triumph as the password screen disappeared and was replaced with the standard loading time.

“We get it?” Critock asked, coming around the monitor with Tom in tow.

“We’re getting in!” Shanna was beaming with pride that she had succeeded in her task, which would hopefully be the last thing that Critock required of her. The alien put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, which she found felt quite pleasant.

“Good work, Shanna, well done. Just get us to the pictures and you’re done with all this.” Shanna nodded as Critock finished, and even he was smiling now. The plan was working, albeit more extended and difficult than they had originally planned. The last pictures would come up, Pt’ron would be revealed, and he would be stopped. Nothing would stop them now.

It was impossible to make out the two figures huddled over the desk in the small room from a distance with the naked eye, but the pirate was not ill-equipped, even after his great fall and the destruction of his vessel. Even though he had not planned on ever leaving his ship during this mission, he had a pack strapped to his side that contained emergency supplies in case of a plan gone wrong, and between the previous evening and his efforts today to remain incognito despite his size, this plan had definitely gone wrong.

Being stranded on the planet that was doomed to possibly explode was not something he was counting on, and at this point, he knew his only chance was to turn his back on the original mission and gain the favor of Pt’ron, and claim the Shards for himself when his back was turned! It was not the greatest or most likely of plans, but it was all he had. He looked upon Critock, somehow still in the body of a child, and a less-covered feminine child next to him, and snarled. He lowered the card that served as binoculars from in front of his eyes, and stood, gauging the distance between himself, standing undisturbed on the flat land that separated the school from what the pirate considered a small village. He growled, and began to move, getting quicker as he went, aiming to surprise his adversary. After all, what better way to gain the favor of a Marconian who would be God than to present him with the head of his enemy?

By Critock’s estimation, the computer had taken far too long to boot up. After Shanna had vacated the computer chair, he had claimed it, anxious to get started on this last list. He knew this wasn’t the end of the mission, in fact finally finding out who Pt’ron was would throw a new wrinkle in the already disastrous proceedings. If it was someone who had been expelled, they had to be stashing the Shards somewhere on school grounds, and would be returning to get them. If it was someone that was still there, then it was imperative that they intercept him or her before the Shards became active, in case they had them upon their person. Fortunately, even with so little time left before the missiles were launched, there was time enough to take care of any eventuality.

“It’s up, are we good?” Tom asked nervously, flying from one side of Critock’s head to the other.

“Just a minute more…” Shanna said almost directly in Critock’s ear, the slight breath coming from her answer caused a brief flash of excitement from Kyle, who was in high spirits due to Critock’s imminent departure if nothing else were to go wrong.

But at this point, it was just waiting. The wheel stopped moving, but the arrow on the screen refused to respond. Critock glanced at Shanna, who just shrugged. “I’m sure your computers boot up instantly and are ready to go, but we’re making do with what we have here.”

Critock shook his head. “I don’t do anything with ‘my’ computers. We have specific departments for that.” He tried the mouse again, and was relieved when the arrow moved in accordance to the motions of his wrist. “Now?”

Shanna nodded. “Now. Scoot.” Critock moved a bit out of Shanna’s way as she leaned over and took control of the mouse. As quickly as she could, the nervousness in her stomach not making it any easier, she moved the arrow over a folder marked ‘Yearbook’. She had a hard time finding it at first, as Mr. Tompkins was someone who didn’t know much about computers or operating systems, but did want to save anything, so Shanna was met with a full screen of folders and files that were in no particular order. Fortunately, she was a fast reader, and eventually located it in the third row, halfway down. Clicking it brought up another full page of files, and a few folders, one of which was ‘Pending’. She clicked again, and yet again when confronted with a folder ‘Images’.

With each click Critock’s patience grew thinner and thinner. At last when the images folder opened and the same sort of list he had seen on Phelps’ computer opened, he could not wait any longer. He moved back in front of the screen, and grabbed the mouse from Shanna. “I assume these are the ones?”

Not offended that he had regained control of the system, she just pointed at the screen. “Click that one.” Following her directions, he was instantly met with a familiar face. Kyle’s.

There was a few sentences of writing underneath ‘his’ face, listing the offenses that had been committed, all of which from two days prior, he noted. He smirked, looking into what were currently his own eyes, and then clicked next. And then next again. Just as in Phelps’ classroom, he clicked through the pictures as fast as he could. He paused briefly on Brian’s two friends, but they were clean, and he clicked through. Only a few more pictures left, and he remarked to himself that he hadn’t seen most of the people that Kyle knew. Not Daniel, not Jim, not even Claire. Just as he thought that, he reached her picture. Her fair face and blonde hair, along with pretty green eyes, stared back at him, and Critock looked at her eyes, taking extra special care. He had to be sure…Could it be…?

It was a beautiful day outside, with nary a cloud in the sky, so the sun coming down through the window provided a slight distraction on the screen, along with making everything behind the screen reflect on it. So Critock and Shanna not only had a view of the pictures, but also directly outside. As it was the middle of a class and lunchtime, it was unusual to see someone out at this time. But as he focused his eyes on Claire’s, he also noted motion from behind, slightly to the left of him. His eyes widened as he recognized who was making the motions, just from the armor that he wore, and the tentacled visage. Realizing his target quickly, he grabbed Shanna and dove to the right, pulling her down to the floor with him, just as the pirate crashed through the principal’s window. The impact of the large being completely shattered the full pane of glass that went from ceiling from floor, sending pieces flying into the room, and Critock tried covering Shanna as best as he could. The pirate landed from his jump directly on top of the desk, his legs on either side of the monitor.

The pirate looked directly at Critock, snarling. Here was the boy that caused him so much trouble, who had stranded him here and embarrassed him! The soldier who had destroyed his vessel that he had worked so hard for! The girl with him was no mind, she undoubtedly was some sort of conquest of Critock, some sort of reward for his victories. Well, there wouldn’t be any more victories here, not on this world! He reached for his belt and recovered the small weapon, bringing it up and pointing it directly at Critock’s forehead.

“Sk’wrak.” Critock cursed, his throat burning from the difficult Marconian curse word as he and Shanna had risen to a kneeling position. He shoved her as she let out a sudden scream, just as the pirate fired the weapon. Mere inches separated them from the blast of the Disintegrator, which cleanly seared a hole through the carpet and the floor of the building itself. They both scrambled back as the pirate jumped off the desk, and faced them.

Critock and Shanna backed towards the wall, and found themselves against the door, staring at the monstrous space pirate, who stood waiting for his weapon to recharge. “YOU DESTROYED MY SHIP! YOU WILL DIE!” The yell was in rough Marconian, and Shanna couldn’t understand what was said. He lunged at the pair, and Critock pushed Shanna left, and jumped right. He was larger, but slower, and only succeeded in grabbing air.

“CRI-TOCK!” Shanna screamed, as Critock waved his arms in the air, desperate to keep the pirate’s attention on himself.

“C’mon, c’mon, look at me you ugly frak.” He spoke to the pirate, who growled, moving his body around, slowly stalking his prey.

The doorknob turned slightly then, still locked, and suddenly there was a pounding at the door, with the older secretary calling from outside. “Shanna! What’s going on! Let us in!” Shanna looked frantically at the door, then back to Critock.

“Don’t open that door, Shanna!” Critock called out. “Ugly will tear the rest of this place apart and Pt’ron will know we’re on to him.” There was a whirring and a click, and the pirate smiled, and raised his arm, leveling the disintegrator right at Critock’s chest.

Just as the pirate fired and Critock dove again out of the way, Tom suddenly rushed in from the ceiling and emitted a bright white flash, blinding everyone in the room. The shot from the pirate went wild from it’s intended route, and struck the computer directly. In an instant it disappeared in a blast of sparks and smoke, and the monitor shut off, its wires severed from the main unit.

Critock blinked as his eyesight recovered, looking on in disbelief at the blackened surface of the desk where the computer had been just a moment before. Any chance of finding out who Pt’ron was before the Shards activated was gone. He turned his head to the pirate, who was still feeling the effects of the flash, and looked at him with a horrified expression. “You can’t imagine what you’ve just done.”

The pirate blinked again, looked at the boy, and laughed a sharp, guttural laugh, his tendrils slightly quivering with each sound. Critock slowly rose to his feet.

“Critock! I can’t do that trick again for a while!” Tom floated nearby, a little woozy from the light attack.

Critock waved him off. “Take her out of here! Get her someplace safe!”

“NO!” Shanna yelled as Tom rushed to her. “I’m not leaving you!”

“Tom!” The wisp sighed, looked at Critock, then reached for Shanna, a white tendril moving out of the backend of the comet form, and wrapped it around her arm.

“C’mon, Shanna, there’s nothing we can do. It’s okay, this is what he does.” Then Tom pulled with surprising strength for something so small, and Shanna was yanked off of her feet. Critock watched warily as the two disappeared out of the recently completely smashed window, Shanna still struggling. As they disappeared from view around the corner, Critock and Shanna’s eyes met, and both were full of fear, for different reasons. Shanna was scared for Critock’s life. Critock was scared for her planet. As soon as they were completely gone, Critock turned, facing the pirate again.

“Okay, big guy, just you and me now. C’mon!” Critock pounded his chest once. The pirate roared, and beneath the noise of the roar and the increasingly loud pounding on the door came the distinctive whirring click of the disintegrator. Before the pirate could react to his weapon’s noise, Critock rushed him, again catching him off guard despite the difference in sizes. Their bodies met and the pirate was forced to the ground, Critock punching him with all of his might. Unfortunately, even the combined strengths of a Marconian and a human were not enough to cause much damage to the pirate’s bulk, who pushed Critock off of him. He flew through the air, landing roughly against a bookcase in the corner of the room. He bounced off of it, and down on the floor, flat on his back. The pirate advanced, and Critock rolled and sat up, back against the bookcase, looking up at his enemy, who had murder in his eyes.

Critock just smiled, one hand on the floor, the other gripping the disintegrator. He fired the weapon directly at the pirate, who hadn’t even realized that Critock had stolen the weapon. The blast hit him in his mid-section, and all the pirate could do was look at Critock with astonishment as his entire body disintegrated, evaporating into the air, from stomach outward. The last thing to exist of Oi’rramal before disappearing entirely was his trembling tentacles.

Critock sighed, breathing heavily, rubbing his side where he had been thrown into the bookcase. He looked down at the disintegrator, which sparked once and then was silent, having used up all of its charge. He tossed the weapon out the window, knowing that there wouldn’t be energy suitable for refueling that gun created on this planet for millennia. And now they didn’t have millennia, did they?

The door suddenly burst open as Mr. Tompkins had finally been located, and a spare key used. Tompkins, the secretary, and a couple of other unknown office workers all came into the room, looking around at the broken window, the burned computer, and the pile of ash that was formerly an alien invader to their world. Their eyes followed the disaster to Critock, who lay looking up at them. He looked at them with a tired look.

“You’re not going to believe this.”