The Wraith scrutinized the young, nervous human.
The teenager fearfully stood just inside the doorway, ready to bolt at a moments notice. He lived with his mom and siblings in a rundown apartment building nearby and had seen this tall, weird lookin' white guy breaking in earlier. He would have been curious about the albino stranger anyway, but his drug dealer said to keep an eye out for a weird looking dude with this guy's description.
What he didn't bargain for was the dealer telling him to go get him.
Because now he was getting weirded out by the stranger's freakish yellow eyes and abnormally pale skin, both of which stood out in the dimly lit decrepit room.
The stranger wasn't budging, so he motioned to the door behind him, "Uh...these guys you don't wanna mess around with."
"Atlantians?" the Wraith purr-growled.
The teen looked puzzled, "No man, my capo Darius."
The Wraith just looked at him.
The teen shifted his weight, knowing that he would be in as much trouble as the stranger if he couldn't get him to go before the muscle outside got tired of waiting. "Please, we'll both be in a lotta trouble if you don't go."
The Wraith pondered for a moment. He had zero care for the young human outside of him being food, but he did notice the sloppy clothes weren't typical human military uniforms. But this "capo Darius" apparently has other humans working for him, so he must be a local warlord.
Just then, they heard the sound of several bootsteps walking down the hall.
The teen turned back to the stranger and whispered urgently, "Please! They'll yank your ass outta here with guns and grips if you don't go!"
The Wraith stepped forward. He decided to go because these humans might have a way to contact others of his kind or at least know where the Stargate is since he lost his bearings after feeding on the tainted humans.
The teen smiled and carefully stepped into the hall, hands raised. "We're comin' out! He's goin' with you!"
One of the 4 gunmen paid the teen as the rest escorted the Wraith to the limo. They all awkwardly squeezed inside. When the last door slammed shut, there was a collective scrunching of noses. "Dude, you need a fuckin' shower" one of them said.
*****
A large man in a suit hung up his smartphone, "They have him. No resistance. They're on their way."
Mr. Franks silently acknowledged the report and took a sip of brandy while gazing out his 15th floor penthouse window at the nearby skyscrapers and bustling city activity on the streets below.
Another aide walked in the room. "Sir, we have reports of an increased Space Force presence in the city, and some homeless bodies have been found that look shriveled up like Red's."
Mr. Franks glanced at the man who delivered that report, then turned back to the window. He wondered that maybe an alien really *did* come through the Stargate.
"Containment is ready?" he said without turning around.
"Yes sir."
*****
Rodney's voice broke the intercom silence, "Shepard, the police report about that altercation says a mob stooge was killed by a tall, white-haired guy, probably in a costume from ComicCon. I'm looking to see if there are any security cam feeds."
Shepard and Teyla looked at each other, "That's gotta be him," Shepard said. "Give us the address and we'll ask around."
*****
The limo parked at the loading dock of the hi-rise, and the gunmen escorted the Wraith inside, leading him to a windowless room with a single chair and a large TV embedded in the wall. The escorts left and locked the door behind them.
The Wraith stood and looked around, surprised it wasn't a typical human holding cell with bars.
The TV blipped to life and a middle aged white man appeared on the screen.
"My name is Mr. Franks. Rumor has it that you have an unique method for killing people. How do you do it?"
The Wraith just looked at him. His kind were never ones for chit chat. But it was now apparent this human didn't know about the Wraith.
Mr. Franks noticed his captive's strange yellow eyes, pale skin, and extra-long fingernails. "That's quite a outfit you're wearing. What the hell are you supposed to be?"
Again, the Wraith just stared back at him.
Franks squinted, "Did you come through the Stargate?"
The Wraith smiled, which showed his yellowish rows of pointed teeth. They know of the Stargate which means they could lead him there.
"I'll take that as a yes." Mr. Franks said. "I'll ask again, how do you kill people that leaves them shriveled up?"
Silence.
"Ok. I have ways of making people talk. This is your last chance for telling me what I want to know."
The Wraith said nothing. They'll find out how he kills soon enough.
"Fine." The screen blipped off.
About a minute later, the Wraith whirled around at the sound of the door opening. In walked a large, muscular white man, looking a bit nervous, but aggressive, as the door shut behind him. He was wearing jeans, boots, and a black t-shirt. He had a short black mohawk and a crisply cut beard and moustache. The tats on his beefy arms made it obvious (to earthers, anyway) that this was your typical tough guy.
The Wraith figured this large human was there to make him talk by beating him. He smiled and readied himself to make him look like a fool before feeding on him.
The big guy was told to force the pale guy to tell him how he kills people, and if he did, they would wipe out his debt. But he was surprised the thin pale guy wasn't tied up to make it easier. And to make matters worse, he'd also heard about the shriveled up dead people and no one knew what killed them. Mr. Franks must think the pale guy is the killer and wants pale guy to kill HIM instead. Well fuck that! He didn't want to be the next victim! But there was no refusing Mr. Franks or you would definitely end up dead. So, killing this freak was his only way out. He clenched his fists and stepped forward to fight for his life!
The pale guy stood there as the big guy didn't break stride and punched him in the face. Hard. But his head whipped back to face him with a grin. The big guy's eyes were as big as saucers! How could a thin guy like that take that punch without at least staggering??
He punched him two more times in the face, with the same effect! He then tried punching him once in the gut. The only effect was a bigger grin from the prisoner!
The Wraith figured his point was made and he whipped his left had out and grabbed the big man's neck and lifted him off the ground!
Mr. Franks and his aids, watching the video feed, were stunned! This was definitely no ComicCon goer!
The big guy grabbed the Wraith's arm to ease the bodyweight pulling on his neck, and he kicked his legs to try to get free!
Satisfied that the big guy was sufficiently panicked and fighting for his life, in one move he quickly set him down and slammed his right feeding hand against the center of the big man's chest, causing him to scream as he felt his life force being pulled away!
Mr. Franks and his aides were speechless as they watched the Wraith growl aggressively as the big guy struggled and aged right before their eyes! After a few more seconds, the big man fell silent, shriveled into mummified-looking human as the Wraith victory growled!
With no more life force to drain, the Wraith let him drop to the floor, then turned, teeth bared in a panting grin, to face the camera!
Franks' eyes were locked on the screen, "What the hell did I just watch??" The two aides behind him looked at each other.
*****
Shepard and Teyla stood in the office with the Chinese restaurant owner looking at the security cam footage of the Wraith killing the mob guy in the alley.
Shepard asked, "Who do they work for?"
"Mista Franks."
"Where can we find him?"
"I don' know."
"Come on," Shepard said, "Is there someone else who knows?"
"I know nothing." He was obviously afraid. He didn't even want to show them the footage, but finally agreed when they threatened to deport him and his staff.
Just then, Ronin, Techno, Recon and Lafe walked in.
The restaurant owner did a double-take at seeing the two clones. And they were pale. Pale like the killer in the alley! Now, fear of being killed like the man in the alley took over, "Uh...talk to James Meeka. He know. He know."
Shepard and Teyla raised their eyebrows. "Well where do I find *him*?" Shepard asked.
"He own Davis Limo. Now go. Go!" He shoo-motioned for them to leave.
They left.
"Rodney, get us an address for Davis Limo." Shepard asked.
"I'm on it."
*****
After the initial shock of watching the Wraith's kill wore off and they collected the no-longer-big guy's body, Mr. Franks ordered his minions to find out anything they could on what the hell was in their containment room, including asking any sources they have in the government.
*****
Shepard, Teyla, Ronin, and a couple of local SFPD walked into Davis Limo with their sidearms but not their assault rifles.
Shepard asked the receptionist, "We'd like to speak to Mr. Meeka."
She said, "Mr. *Meeker* is in a meeting right now. Can I tell him who's asking?"
The African American SPFD detective displayed his badge, "Detective Johnson. We need to speak to him. Now. It's urgent."
She glared at them, "I'll let him know," then stood and left through a door behind the reception desk.
Shepard looked at Teyla and quietly said, "It's Meek-ERRR, apparently." She grinned.
The receptionist walked in his office, "Mr. Meeker, there's a group of SFPD here wanting to speak to you. They said it's urgent."
He nodded, "Bring them back."
She was surprised, but nodded and left.
Mr. Meeker hoped this had to do with the man in Mr. Frank's custody so he could get some information.
A few moments later, the group arrived to his office.
"How can I help you?" Meeker asked while sitting behind his desk.
Shepard held up a generic photo of a Wraith. It wasn't one from the security feed to protect the restaurant owner's identity. "Have you seen this guy?"
Meeker shook his head, "No. Did he rent one of my limos?"
"You tell us. We've heard you're a man who knows a lot of things."
"Well, I'd definitely remember someone who looked like that. But I don't personally see everyone who rides in my limos." He noticed their annoyance. "But I can let you know if I do. What agency are you with?"
Shepard didn't answer, "We'd also like to talk with Mr. Franks. Where can we find him?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, I think you do."
"Do I look like his secretary?"
"No, you look like his driver, and drivers know where they drop people off. Where is he?"
"I don't know. I don't divulge client information."
"With a warrant you will." Detective Johnson said.
Meeker tilted his head, "Do you have one?"
"Not yet. But we'll be back when we do."
Meeker looked at Shepard, "What agency are *you* with?"
"SFPD." Shepard replied.
"Hm. I don't recognize your uniforms."
The detective stepped forward and handed him a business card, "We'll be back with a warrant, but let me know if you hear anything."
The group turned and left. After they were out of the building, Meeker picked up the phone, "This is Meeker. Let Mr. Franks know the SFPD and some people from another agency were here looking for your guy. I'll send my security cam feed over."
*****
"We appreciate the assist in there, detective." Shepard said as they met up with Techno, Recon and Lafe outside.
"No problem. We want this killer out of here as much as you do. Meeker definitely knows something, and we've suspected him for a while of being close to Mr. Franks."
"Rodney, anything new?"
"Nothing. I've started searching for other security cam footage farther out."
"Well," Shepard said to the team, "we're in a holding pattern. Let's get something to eat."
*****
A few hours later, one of Mr. Franks aides walked in, "We have new information. Mr. Meeker said the SFPD and some other personnel stopped by his shop asking about the... "man" we have in custody. We don't know who the other personnel are yet, but we suspect they're Space Force. We're analyzing his security cam feed. Also, our Space Force contact sent us this." He put a flash drive in the wall mounted screen. A moment later, several windows popped open showing images of a Wraith, their feeding hand, and their fighter aircraft. There were also text boxes with descriptions of the images as well as what the Wraith are and where they're from.
"Holy shit," Franks said. "He *is* a freakin' alien."
He read that the Wraith are not only capable of killing by draining life force, they're also capable of stopping and even *reversing* the damage. He grinned. He may have found the perfect torture device, and a way to make an INSANE amount of money renting his life giving abilities, AND a way for he himself to stay alive indefinitely!
"This is the fuckin' jackpot!"
Just then, another aide walked in with a file folder, "Sir, we have new information on the people who visited Mr. Meeker earlier." He set the folder down on the desk in front of Mr. Franks, who opened it.
The first document was an image of the team in the parking lot.
The aid pointed, "These two are SFPD. These two are Space Force. This one-"
"Looks like Jason Momoa?" Franks interrupted.
"He does. The other two-"
"Look like the Thompson Twins?"
The millennial aide quizzically glanced at the other millennial aide who also didn't know who those twins were. "Um, actually," he pulled couple more pages from the folder, "they look to be part of a commune of clones and non-clones a few hours from here in .""A *commune* of *clones*?" Frank asked astonishingly as he held up photos in each hand. In one hand was an image of some Kai clones at a party. The clones were smiling or talking and in various poses with their loved ones. The other page had a few different views of The Castle. "And they *live* in a *castle*??" Franks asked, just as astonished.
"Yes sir."
"And this isn't some A.I. shit?"
"No sir."
Franks parted the papers and looked down at the file folder, "What else do we know about 'em?"
"Not a lot. We do know that this one isn't in the Castle very much. His name is ReconKai. And these folks who saw Mr. Meeker," he pointed at the non-SFPD people, "were seen exiting ComicCon. But we have no footage of them *entering* ComicCon. So they're most likely Space Force personnel who came through the ComicCon's Stargate."
Franks squinted, "Even these two?" he pointed to MyKai and Dgre.
"Yes sir."
"They don't look military."
"This one doesn't either." the aide pointed at Ronin.
"Think he's a Jason Momoa clone?"
"It's possible."
"Hm." Franks thought for a moment. "Ok. Get more intel on these clones. They're pale like our freaky alien guy, but they look more human. See if they're also aliens and if they have any 'unique skills'. Other than looking alike."
*****
Mr. Frank's spy squad parked their two vans off the road a couple of miles from The Castle, and the eight of them gathered their bags of laptops, cameras, drones, scopes, and sound recording devices and headed into the forest to setup their hidden positions.
In The Castle, VisionAri, Dgre, MyKai, Doffy and CowboyKai (CK) were outside in the courtyard enjoying the day.
Tyrathca walked up, "I heard that MyKai was attacked."
Dgre: "Yes! It was awful! Whatever it was mangled his chest and I had to give him protoblood to revive him!"
MyKai added, "Yes. The Space Force team Lafe, Techno and Recon are working with said it was a Wraith. An alien that feeds on life force."
Ty looked puzzled.
MyKai continued, "It obviously couldn't take any life force from me, but I passed out after the damage to my chest caused too much protoblood loss."
"Did they capture it?" Ty asked, flexing the fingers on his metal arm.
"Not that we know of. They think it escaped the base and is in San Francisco. They've been looking for it."
Ty asked, "What did it look like?"
MyKai: "It was our height. Pale skin..."
**
Out in the woods, one spy with headphones held a parabolic mic while his buddy, also with headphones, monitored the recording they were getting of MyKai's description of the Wraith.
Several yards away, a couple of other spies had launched a drone and were hovering it out of hearing range. Well, *human* hearing range...
**
Up on The Castle's battlements, KillerKai was alone on his watch, taking in the view of the surrounding woodland and enjoying the solitude. After a few minutes, he heard a faint buzzing sound. He initially didn't think much of it. It was probably an insect of some sort.
But the frequency seemed off. As he focused on the sound, it whined more than he thought an insect should. And it's frequency wobbled, occasionally sounding like yeeeer-yeeeer instead of a lower frequency steady insect's buzz.
He listened closer. It sounded like it was somewhere above him. He looked up...
**
One of the spies saw KillerKai look up, "Davis. I think that one on the battlement can hear your drone. Move it."
"Copy that." He was surprised, but did as he was told. He had been keeping his drone at least 50 yards above the castle, which should be well out of hearing range.
**
The whining sound trailed off as KillerKai squinted into the clouds. He searched the sky a few more seconds, then returning to scanning the forest. Then he heard Kai21's voice over his commlink, "KK, I was hearing a whining noise a few moments ago. Did you hear it?" Kai21 was on the battlements on the opposite side of The Castle.
"I did. But it seems to be gone now."
"Same here. I don't hear it any more either. Kinda sounded like a drone."
"Stay sharp." KK said with steely eyes. "Tyrathca, we think we heard a drone overhead a few moments ago. But it seems to be done now."
"Understood." Tyrathca replied.
The group of clones and ladies looked at Tyrathca as he said, "KK and Kai21 thought they heard a drone a few minutes ago. I'm going to have a look around."
As he walked off, Dgre said, "First a crazed alien, and now drones overhead?"
MyKai and CK shared a concerned glance. VA said, "Well let me know if we need to move The Castle."
CK said, "I don't think we're at that point yet." Teleporting The Castle is a big deal. It means putting friendships made in town on hold and finding new friends and places to go. On the one hand, it can be exciting, but it can also be stressful.
**
Logan was in the ground floor rec room rummaging through some stuff she pulled out of a closet when something at a nearby window caught the corner of her eye. She darted her eyes to the window. She could have sworn she saw someone's head just outside, so she walked over, like anyone in a horror movie would, and looked around through the glass. She saw nothing. After a few more glances at the outside surroundings, she said, "Hm. Maybe it was a bird." Satisfied there was nothing to worry about, she walked back and sat down at the pile of stuff she created.
The spy hiding just below the window heard their team leader over his comlink, "Ok Jones, she's gone." He relaxed a little. But on the flip side, he did enjoy the adrenaline rush of these kinds of missions - getting right up to the target without them knowing. He had 10 more micro-cams to install at various windows around the castle, and the castle wasn't exactly small, so there was a lot more time to sneak around...
**
A half hour later, Jones had 3 more cameras to place, but the one he placed earlier at the castle's weapons training area was starting to bear fruit.
The team lead saw on that camera's feed 3 clones walk in the training area. He listened to their conversation. One of the clones set up wooden A-frame bullseye targets, and another setup several bottles and cans along a couple of railings. The third clone hung 3 humanoid dummies from sturdy rings protruding from the top of their heads, like punching bags, under a rack nearby. They swung slightly in the breeze.
They chatted during the setup:
Clone 1: "Do you think they'll vote to teleport The Castle after what happened to MyKai?"
Clone 2: "Maybe. This is a nice area, though."
Clone 3: "Well *I'd* like to see the wraith thing in person first."
The other two clones looked at him. Clone 2: "Really? Why?"
Clone 3: "It's an *alien*. I mean, I know our Original saw aliens, but *we* haven't."
Clone 2: "True."
After that, the targets were all setup and they walked several yards away.
Clone 1: "I'll take the dummies."
Clone 2: "I'll take bullseyes."
Clone 3: "Heart breaker, I mean, *glass* breaker for me then."
**
The spy leader and his buddy focused on the video feed...
**
Clone 1 clicked open his wrist brace, then whipped his arm up and fired it. It zipped forward, untethered, at the targeted dummy. It struck the dummy in the neck with a "thwack" and effortlessly decapitated it, sending the body section falling to the ground as it boomeranged back to his wrist.
Clone 3 nodded, "Nice. Your accuracy has improved."
Clone 2 adjusted his stance briefly, then whipped his arm up and fired his tethered brace at the target. It firmly embedded in the wood and the tether cable instantly started to reel itself in. When it tightented a second later, he took a step back and yanked it hard, sending the target flying towards them about 15 feet. It flopped in front of them, kicking up some dust in defeat. He flexed a muscle in his arm that caused the brace to release the target and reel back in to his wrist.
The other two nodded in approval.
"Allrighty then." Clone 3 looked at the row of 5 bottles and readied his stance. He also whipped his arm up, as all Kais typically do when firing their brace, and sent it untethered towards the bottles and cans. His brace, though, opened after it was fired, and then opened a *second* embedded set of claws, making it twice as wide as it flew. With the extra weight spread out like wings and causing additional wind resistance, it rotated counter-clockwise slightly, plowing through 4 of the 5 bottles on the top row, but missing the 5th bottle, and embedded itself in the wooden backstop.
He scowled, "Damn. I thought I had the aerodynamics worked out."
Clone 2: "It was a lot closer this time, though."
Clone 1: "Maybe it needs rear stabilizers."
"I think you're right."
Clone 2 added with a smile, "Hey, put a couple of motors on it and it could be a drone."
Clone 3's wheels turned, "Hm, that's a thought."
Clone 1 spoke, "Ok. Switching targets." He aimed for a wooden target this time...
**
