THE JOINING: The Cycle of the Shards Book One
Chapter 18

Shanna knocked at the door a total of three times, both excited and a little nervous at the prospect of spending time with Kyle. Truth be told, she never thought she would replace herself standing here outside his door. But she figured if she waited for him to make the first move she would be waiting a much longer time than she wanted to, and besides, she much preferred to make that move herself. Waiting and wasting time was not her style. She knocked again, a tad impatiently. It was his house, he obviously wanted her there, he should be answering as quickly as possible!

Almost as if on cue, the door opened slowly, and there he stood. He had dressed up almost as if they were going out on an actual date instead of merely hanging out at his house, albeit unsupervised. With his freshly combed hair and his smart clothes, she could not deny that she liked the look of him this way, although a little bit of unkemptness wouldn’t be unwelcome either. He paused as he took her in as much as she was taking him in, and stuttered slightly as he welcomed her.

“H..Hi! Welcome.” She thought it was sweet of him, and a little bit of a confidence booster for her. Like him, she had taken a little bit of extra time to freshen up before she arrived at his place. She had looked in her closet and her room itself for a better outfit than just a t-shirt and jeans, and settled on a jacket and shirt combo with a long skirt that she thought accentuated her nicely. It seemed from Kyle’s reaction that she was right.

“Hi!” She responded brightly. “You look nice!” Kyle smiled slightly.

“Thanks, uh, so do you.” He said, and then stood at the door awkwardly. Neither of them were sure how to move forward, until suddenly it looked like Kyle was pushed forward slightly from an unseen force, and he caught himself before he fell onto Shanna. “Would…Would you like to come inside?”

Shanna smiled, mentally having had been timing how long it would take for him to get to the obvious invitation, even though it was implicit from the original talk. “I’d love to, thank you!” Kyle quickly stood aside, as though afraid to touch her, as she walked inside. He grimaced at the air, and then closed the door.

For Critock, all his speeches and best laid plans went completely out the window once Shanna knocked on the door. What was he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to start a courtship ritual? How long was he going to have to waste time before they could get down to the important business of discussing how she was going to get him access to the files he needed? When he finally got his mind back enough to open the door, he was struck dumb yet again, whether by Kyle quietly reasserting himself or from his own stupidity by the look of the beautiful young girl. He realized that at that point he was in real trouble and yet again Tom was right, and he half expected to hear a ‘told-you-so’ coming from the wisp, but there was none coming. There didn’t have to be, if a soul could look smug it would be exactly how Tom was now, floating confidently. Critock had gulped as he took her in, glad that he had taken the time to dress at least a tenth of how she looked, and couldn’t think of a thing to say for a moment before suddenly remembering his limited manners. They made their awkward pleasantries and it took Tom pushing him slightly to get him to do the thing she was invited here to do, and then he backed out of the way quickly, wishing to avoid any kind of physical contact if at all possible. He didn’t need that excuse for Kyle to go into overload and make another run at regaining control.

As Shanna entered Kyle’s home, she stopped to take everything in, glancing around the connected rooms. He came in from behind her, closing the door and moving around her, leaving enough space for an entire other person. Tom, for his part, was keeping his distance, almost overseeing the interaction between the pair, but knowing that he could not now interfere less he give away his presence to Shanna and blow the entire operation. Critock assessed her but was silent as she walked through the kitchen to the dining table. “Nice place.”

“Thanks.” Critock answered quickly, not wanting an awkward silence to hang in the air and create space for more questions. It would have been helpful if he knew how Kyle would react in this situation, but all of that seemed to be blocked to him, whether it was from the nervousness of the situation or from Kyle actively working against him he couldn’t be sure. Despite his wish, after his reply she was silent as she passed into the living room, such as it was, with a small two person couch, chair, and television. He tried again. “It’s, um, small.”

“Yeah, that can be nice though. You just live with your dad, right?” He nodded. “Don’t need that much space with just two of you. You should get a dog or cat or something.”

Critock sighed, and Tom could see what was coming but was unable to intervene in their present state. “I don’t know if that’d be a good idea.”

Shanna looked at him. “Oh? How so?”

Critock shook his head. “Just the idea of it really. It’s lonely here, let’s get a sentient being in the house to make us feel better and less alone! Did anyone ask the animal what they wanted? I mean, it’s hard enough to figure out what they’re saying, true, but they are intelligent creatures and they have firm ideas of where they want to go. Most of this planet, the portions that don’t eat them, anyway, has it completely backwards. Just handing out animals to anyone with a free space in their house leads to a lot of neglect and hatred building up from the creatures and the owners.” He put his hands up before Shanna could intercede. “Don’t get me wrong, a lot of time it’s perfectly fine. Cats don’t care much where they are as long as they’ve got a place to eat and use the bathroom, Dogs are easy going. Pigs! Pigs are good people. Honestly get a goldfish. They’re quiet, they’re appreciative, and they’re disposable.” He finally stopped talking as Shanna stood, stunned, before she found her voice.

“What happened to you?” She exclaimed, her face showing full confusion, but continuing before Critock had a chance to answer. “I mean, before today you were all right, pretty cool and all, but just quiet. Today you’re going back and forth between getting rid of jackasses that everyone in the school wanting gone and then talking about how evil the act of getting a pet is.”

“I didn’t say it was evi..”

“So who are you today? What happened to you that changed you all of a sudden?” Shanna came up to him and stared him straight in the face, and almost instantly Critock’s forehead broke out in a light sheen of sweat. What the hell was happening to him? He had fought battles with a million enemies! This was a little girl! Kyle. He thought with slight anger. The kid is trying another tack just like Tom said. Well, he’d show him who was in control.

“I’m Kyle. I haven’t changed, but maybe I should. Maybe I’m just a bit tired of the way things have been going and waiting for the world to change to suit how I want it isn’t going to accomplish anything. I need to push back at how the world is treating me, and maybe that’ll help some other people too. Brian pushing me around for years, stealing from me? Not any more, kid is going away and he’ll stay away if he knows what’s good for him. Just sitting in class learning from osmosis? Not working, need to be proactive. I’m Kyle but I’m going to be a better Kyle from now on, not just some little twit who wants the whole world to do him a favor. Having to sit next to a girl I like without saying anything? That’s not going to happen any more either.” Critock stopped suddenly. Where did that last sentence come from? He felt a sudden strike of fear as Shanna stared at him. Even as he had asserted himself he had lost control. He hated Tom being right.

Shanna crossed to the couch, sitting down. If the last sentence affected her, she didn’t show it. “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. I would’ve been lucky to get a full sentence out of you anytime before now, and today you’re practically giving me manifestos. I know boys get nervous about talking to me sometimes, but you’re taking it way beyond anything I’ve seen before. Is it really just Brian that got to you, or is there something else you’re not telling me?”

Critock sighed. “Does it matter?” He crossed and sat on the couch, a full cushion separating the pair. “I’m just wanting to move forward with my life, you know? Not just leaving things hanging.”

Shanna smirked slightly. “Like dates and relationships and things?”

“Like everything, but specifically this project.” Critock took a deep breath, satisfied he was able to segue way into the reason that she was here in the first place. “It’s been too long waiting. The yearbook pictures aren’t cutting it, I need higher resolution pictures to get a proper look at the faces and eyes.” He realized he was saying too much, and he didn’t need any follow-up questions from her to complicate the day any further. “For the collage I’m making. That’s all.”

Tom, for his part, was still silent, floating around behind them, keeping an eye on Shanna. While he didn’t trust Kyle as he could still tell he was making small end runs around Critock’s control of his mind, he didn’t know anything about the girl, and something about her just made his nerves stand on edge. It was probably just that, because she had no idea that Kyle wasn’t actually Kyle right now, she was making slight overtures to him, and if Critock lost control at the wrong time, this was going to get real messy real quick. Even now she started edging closer to him, moving onto the center cushion between them. Unable to intercede, Tom moved behind Shanna, and started flashing a low red light for danger.

Critock had noticed Shanna encroaching on his space, but he couldn’t move back any farther, as his back was already against the armrest. She continued to talk as she slowly moved.

“That’s all? C’mon, Kyle. We both know you don’t invite a girl over to your house when your parents aren’t home to talk about school projects. Or do you?” Shanna was still smiling, but was a little worried about his lack of response. Did she misjudge him, or misread the situation entirely?

“Uh…” Critock’s uncomfortableness was rising by the second. How was he more worried now than when they were flying in the great storm only a few hours ago? He tried to reassert himself. “This is…really important.”

“I’m sure it is.” Shanna had fully taken over the center cushion now but was continuing to slowly advance. “Kyle, for a minute, just forget about the project. What do you think about me?”

Critock was fumbling for words but suddenly without his allowing them, Kyle’s voice flowed from his lips. “I’ve been hoping for you to be here for a long time.”

Shanna stopped, her face not far at all from Critock’s, who by now was sweating profusely. “Oh? Why is that?”

Critock focused all his mental ability on not allowing Kyle to gain control. As Tom nervously shook behind Shanna, he stared into Shanna’s eyes, again being able to confirm that Pt’ron was not inhabiting her. “Just to get to know you better, that’s all.” He quickly found an exit, standing up and walking towards the middle of the room to escape her obvious interest.

Shanna was not to be deterred, as she stood up and followed him, believing him to just be nervous and not actively avoiding any contact with her. “Oh yeah? Why is that?” He was silent, and she was starting to get frustrated. “Come on, Kyle! I’m here now! Get to know me! Ask me out! Something!”

“Ask you out?” Critock raised an eyebrow.

“Yes! That’s what I’m doing here, isn’t it? Do I have to do everything myself?”

Critock shook his head, and walked slowly away from her. “Shanna, you’re the same age as me, right? Fifteen?” She nodded. “So what, we hang out, go out when we’re allowed to? Get chaperoned, sneak away alone? Fall in love? Get married, have a bunch of kids? We’re still trying to survive school, and then we put all that extra stuff on top of it? It’s too much!” He waved his arms around, and Shanna folded her own arms, bemused at yet another rant. “It’s no wonder so few people amount to anything, and why this whole planet is so far behind the universe. You pivot between trusted and untrusted, school and home, it’s enough to make your brain explode! It’s no wonder…” Critock stopped, suddenly realizing he was saying too much at the wrong time.

Shanna just stepped up to him, seizing the silence. She wasn’t sure what he was talking about but she figured she knew one way to shut him up. “It’s no wonder we have to grab moments when we can, and forget everything else.” She laced her arms around his back, and he froze stiffly.

Critock could feel Kyle’s part of his mind overloading at the touch, and he was slightly panicking himself. Tom was now strobing frantically and zooming around the room, all but yelling to abort. He tried one last time to reason with the teenager. “Shanna, have you listened to anything I’ve been saying?”

“Sure, now pay attention to this.” With that, she pressed her lips against his. The war began anew within Critock’s brain as Kyle woke up, using the adrenaline that the body was automatically producing as power to try to take control and respond to the kiss, meanwhile Critock was doing everything he could do to get away from Shanna, but Kyle’s body simply would not move at all. The result was that Shanna was doing her best, but there was no response.

Before Shanna could even notice that something was off, though, there was a giant roar from above the house. Critock used the distraction to duck away from Shanna, who instinctively went down to the ground herself. He moved back up and ran to the window, where Tom joined him, looking up in the sky. He could hear whatever it was moving back towards them, assuming it was just doing a flyby.

“What the hell was that?” Tom blurted out loudly, forgetting himself. Critock shook his head, forgetting as well his surroundings and slipping back into military mode.

“Not sure. Maybe it was just some kind of military drill. But that engine isn’t anything from this planet.” Critock looked up as the roar got closer, and the source came into view.

He recognized the ship immediately. Two wings, long, black, and at this point offensive that it was still around. It was the pirate’s ship, still here even after destroying Critock’s hopper. After the pirate didn’t reappear, Critock had thought that the pirate’s mission was just to kill Tom and himself and then he would return to whatever dark hole he crawled from, but apparently there was more to it. Or this pirate was smarter than he gave him credit for.

Tom recognized it as well as it moved away from them. “It’s that bastard! Why is he still here? He blew us up!”

“We’re not his mission. Or there’s something else going on…” He turned and suddenly realized their major mistake. Shanna was standing stock still, staring at Critock wide eyed, shaking, her earlier bravery forgotten in the face of something she couldn’t quite figure out. “Crap.” He uttered.

“What…What’s going on? Who are you talking to? What was that voice? What was that thing!” She ran to the window, pointing. “That’s not an airplane. Are we under attack?” She continued to throw out questions as Critock stood there. Tom, of course, could not be seen, but as Critock had been directly addressing him and he had been audible, it was difficult to explain away.

“I’m…not sure?” Please just take that. He thought, looking back at the window and noting that the ship had started to move in circles around a spot several blocks away.

“No, you weren’t talking to me, you said ‘We weren’t his mission.’, and talked about another planet.” Shanna wasn’t fooled, she thought something funny was going on with Kyle, and her confusion and fear was fueling excitement and anger. “What the hell was that?”

Critock sighed. He knew there was nothing else he could do but come clean, as bad of an idea as that was. “All right Tom, we’re blown.”

Tom, still invisible to Critock, flew in front of his face as Shanna stood still, a confused look on her face. “Are you insane?”

“She’s seen the ship, she heard what we said. If the plan has any chance, we’ve got to bring her in. It’s only fair considering what’s at stake.”

“Who the hell are you talking to? There’s no one else here?” Shanna went up to Critock, right next to Tom, who was still talking as well.

“She’s a teenager, Critock! How many damn people on this planet would take you seriously without going insane, and you expect a kid to do it?”

“Tom. I’m in charge here, remember? Time to show yourself.” Critock’s voice was commanding and deep, and much closer to his voice than Kyle’s. Figures, once things start happening, the kid disappeared.

Shanna stopped, silently freaking out. “Who’s Tom?”

Tom swooped around in a circle annoyingly. “Oh, fine, fine. You’re in charge. Ignore the soul. Everyone else does.” He strained for a second, and shimmered slightly as he aligned with the girl’s vision. Shanna screamed and backed up, tripping over her feet.

“What…What…”

Critock grimaced, moving quickly, and grabbed Shanna’s arms, holding her up and looking her straight in her face. “Look at me, Shanna.” Her face was panicked and she was looking wide eyed at Tom. “He’s fine. He’s with me. Look at me.” Her eyes flicked back to his. “See the line of color in my eyes?” She nodded. “That means I’m not Kyle. I’m just taking a ride in his body. There’s something really bad going on, I came here to stop it and accidentally hitched on. I’ll be gone soon enough, but we need your help. There’s a bad guy here, and I need to stop him. That’s why I need those pictures.”

“But…But…” Shanna was struggling to understand. “The ship! Is that the bad guy? Is that who you’re after?”

“Well…He’s A bad guy, not the bad guy. So I’ve got to go stop him before…” He was interrupted by the ship firing shots down at it’s target on the ground, whatever it was. Shanna shook Critock off, and went to the window, a hand over her mouth.

“It’s Mr. Phelps! He lives over there! It’s shooting at his house!”

Shanna didn’t understand, and almost couldn’t understand. How could she be expected to, with so many unbelievable things happening all at once? So she focused on the parts of the quick explanation that she could hold on to. The ship was bad, and was attacking one of their teachers. What the glowing comet thing was, what Kyle was talking about, all of this would be processed in due time. Right now her focus had become very thin. “We have to stop him!”

“Whoa, whoa kid, settle down.” Tom floated over to the scared girl. “You aren’t going anywhere. This is a job for professionals…And when they get here…”

“I’m not a kid.” Shanna asserted to the wisp, who floated back, not expecting to have struck a nerve or for her to immediately communicate with him. Critock put himself in between the two, not knowing nor particularly caring right now about any disagreements.

“Sorry, Tom’s a bit…He’s not wrong. You have to stay here. It’s too dangerous out there and…”

“But that things trying to kill him! You know what it is! Kyle, we have to do something!”

Critock sighed, as Tom flew back to the window, nervously watching the ship send another series of shots down at it’s target. He couldn’t quite make out where they were going due to the distance and the line of sight being blocked by trees and houses, but knew that after all the experience they had had with the pirate, he wasn’t likely to miss a stationary target. Critock walked over to his bag, and pulled out the metal cylinder.

“What’s that?” Shanna exclaimed, with everything that was happening half-expecting it to be a bomb.

Critock smirked. “My advantage. Tom, come on.” He turned to the door, Tom joining him, and Shanna started to follow. “NO.” He turned as Shanna halted immediately. “Look, I appreciate it, really I do, you want to help your friend or teacher or whatever he is. I don’t have time to play babysitter right now. We need your help and that means we need you alive, and unless you’ve got some kind of military experience or something else that you can offer then you’re no good to us. Please, just stay here.” Critock started to turn when Shanna put a hand on his arm.

“Kyle, please!”

He pulled his arm free and continued to walk out the door. “I’m not Kyle.” Together, Critock and Tom left the house, leaving Shanna alone to attempt to process everything that had happened.