Chapter 10: The Secret is Out
The next morning, Garion was suddenly jolted awake by Purstan, telling him there is something he should see. Garion, fearful for another attack, immediately got up and walked towards the front of the mansion, being wide open since the door was burned down in the fire (along with the entire right side of the mansion).
Garion got up to the media and police surrounding the moat, and at least 600 pedestrians trying to get a good look at them. There were cars surrounding the entire perimeter of the moat; from police cars to news vans, they practically created a barrier so that it would be impossible for them to escape. Realizing the possibility, he quickly got up and surveyed the room, making sure he wasn’t surrounded by federal agents. Seeing none, he also noticed that the rest of the team was asleep, some slowly starting to get up, though.
Garion looked towards the right of the mansion, praying that it was all a dream. But he saw Greg and David’s bodies, and his worst fears were confirmed. Still smelling the burning smoke from the ashes of the mansion, a P.O. voice seemed to come from a police car on the other side of the moat.
“Listen, I don’t know if you are actual aliens, or if you are just some punk kids in a costume. But judging by what went down last night, we are going to assume the worst. Now I don’t know if you can speak English, but, if you can, please understand that we don’t wish to hurt your people. We come in peace.”
Right as the P.O. voice seemed to shut down, like a wave the entire crowd all at once stuck up their index and middle finger in the air, all of them silently symbolizing that Earth is not a hostile planet. The whole crowd fell silent while doing this, coming together in a mutual fear for their lives as they positioned their peacefulness. From men in business attire to homeless men on the streets, everyone had their fingers up.
“It’s amazing,” Garion thought, “we constantly fight each other in society every day. Over politics, religion, race, etc. But I guess when the safety of the entire planet is threatened, that’s when we learn to get together. I guess that’s all it takes.”
Right as the pedestrians put their peace signs down though, several black cars and limousines drove in from behind them, and immediately braked behind the entire crowd. Multiple men dressed in black suits quickly walked out of the car and were running around everywhere; each one seeming to have an individual task that needed to be achieved. From some agents opening the trunks of the cars and gathering equipment to others being bodyguard’s for a person that wasn’t in Garion’s line of sight, the people surrounding the moat now turned around to stare and question the man in the black suits. Most of the onlookers pulled out their phone ready to gain some viral footage, while others already began to talk about conspiracy theories.
Suddenly, about three agents walked side by side towards the front of the crowd, pushing through the curious onlookers. Once they reached the edge of the moat, they pulled out their guns and shot into the air. Garion shot up from his restful state as did the rest of the team, as panic immediately arose from the frightened pedestrians.
All of them were running, screaming, and pushing; all trying to get away from that area as fast as possible. The frightened pedestrians dispersed from the area faster then a scared rabbit. In just minutes they were all gone, and Garion and his team used this time to survey who these men in suits were anyway.
Two men then, pulled from the trunk of the car what appeared to be some sort of fold-out bridge. Garion knew that there was no possible way the bridge could reach all the way across the moat, being at least 30 feet long, so Garion mainly focused on how to get out of there. Then, Garion was suddenly proven wrong.
With what seemed to be from the push of a button on a remote control, the fold out bridge expanded, stretching the entire 30 ft, and latched onto both sides once the task was completed. Then, Garion saw the real reason of the men in the dark suits’ purpose.
With multiple agents surrounding all the limousines and other black cars for protection, four agents escorted the President Of The United States, President Tim Carter, across the bridge and towards Garion. Garion, immediately recognizing the figure and quickly alerting the other team members of his importance, stood straight up in his best posture.
Once they reached the end of the bridge, the four agents along with the President stopped dead in front of Garion, pausing for a moment, hoping for non-aggressive actions.
After what seemed like ages, the president finally spoke, “Do you speak English?”
“Mr. President,” Garion started, realizing there was no time to be shocked that the President of the Untied States was standing right in front of him, “this is not what it looks like....”
“How did you know I am the President?” Carter asked in shock. “How can you even speak English?”
“Listen,” Garion continued, “you have it all wrong. We’re not the ones you should be worried about. We are the good guys here.”
“Prove it,” Carter challenged them.
“If we weren’t, don’t you think we would have done something by now?” Garion asked in retaliation.
“Yes,” Carter agreed, “you would have. Seeing as though how you did not attempt to kill all of those pedestrians, we deemed you safe to meet with. Also, I wanted to get a chance to meet you face to face. Also, we have squad teams surrounding this mansion. Every inch of the perimeter, from head to toe, is covered with heavily trained agents. Alien or not, they would level you in an instant. You don’t have the courage to try anything with me.”
“Come,” Garion invited, a bit frightened, “sit in our conference room.”
The four men in suits, Garion assuming them to be secret service agents, went in first to survey the room. Once they deemed it clear, Carter went in second, and Garion along with his entire team followed, each person sitting down in a separate chair, Garion and Carter sitting across from each other.
“So,” Carter started, “how about you tell me your side of what happened here last night, assuming you didn’t come to Earth to have a party?”
Garion knew about his government, and the secrets they probably hid from the general public. He knew that whatever he didn’t tell them not only would they find out, but they would accuse him of harboring secrets, possibly giving him the appearance of a threat to the world. And that was the last thing Garion wanted, especially with an intergalactic super-villain he was already eternally set to battle based on a vague prophecy on his plate. Also, Garion was only 17, and he was scared. So he told the president everything.
He told him about the Prophecy, he told him about the TLS, about Draktos. He spilled out all of his secrets to the president, showing off his secrets like a published book made for anyone to read. Not leaving any details out for fear of karma catching up to him later, Garion told the tale of the high schooler who turned into a universal superhero overnight. Now a war was being fought over it. Also, throughout the story, he milked the fact about the kindness of the aliens he had met throughout his journey.
When Garion finished about 45 minutes later (which felt like an eternity to him, since he was going against everything Rebolto had told him not do) he pleaded, “Please don’t try to kill us, Mr. President. We are friendly aliens and we won’t hurt anybody. Honest.”
He almost sounded like the young, innocent boy he had once been not so long ago.
The president laughed. “Why would I try to kill you?”
“Because everybody thinks aliens are harmful,” Garion said matter-of-factly. “Many people think aliens are evil and want to take over the world. Just look at all the films made about intergalactic takeover.”
The president nodded. “Well, when I first heard about your little ‘battle’ that happened last night, that’s what I thought,” he admitted. “When I looked into it a bit more though, I discovered you were fighting the evil god, Draktos. I knew you were the good guys, but I just had to be sure. There is just one thing . . .” he said cautiously.
&nbs
p; “Oh? What’s that?” Garion asked.
“There is no way anyone in the world would accept what they had just witnessed. So I need you guys to keep your business on the down low. Don’t tell anyone about it.”
“What about the thousands of witnesses only an hour ago who’s videos probably went viral by now?”
“A cover story is already being worked out,” the president responded. “You shouldn’t be worried about it. You should, on the other hand, be worried about your training of your ‘powers’ since, judging by your battle yesterday, you need some work.”
“Could you help us out with that equipment-wise?” Garion asked. “I mean, if it isn’t too much of a burden.”
“Of course,” the president calmly answered. “In fact, I think we have the perfect training facility for you. It’s called ‘The Virtual Room.’ The room works through scanners and projections. One person, in the top right corner of the room, operates the different sets of machinery that creates the different training scenarios. The scenarios then project throughout the rest of the room, and the graphics and technology put into the room could convince someone that they are inside that physical scenario. So, for a cause this big, we would gladly let you use this room, obviously under close observation though.”
“That sounds great,” Garion excitedly responded.
“Perfect,” Carter responded, eccentric at the fact that he was now working with extraterrestrial beings. “The room will be set up in a secure test location by tomorrow morning. We will pick you up very early so you will have time to train. We will also have the mansion rebuilt shortly, but, for today, just take a breather and stay inside the mansion. It seems that your team needs it.”
Garion looked around at his entire team, each one of them sound asleep in their chairs. It seemed as though they probably stood guard all night after the attack.
The president then got up from his seat, as did Garion.
“Well,” the president said, “I have to go to a meeting to cover up this story. It was excellent meeting you, Garion.”
“The pleasure was all mine,” Garion responded. “I do want to apologize about my team though, we did just have a....”
“No problem,” Carter responded.
He then walked out of the conference room, and Garion saw as one of the most important men on Earth walked down the fold out bridge, how the bridge was taken away in a matter of seconds, and how the cars immediately drove off into the wind.
Garion then went back inside to the conference room and stared at his team.
“They stood guard,” Garion thought, “all night. Without any sort of orders whatsoever.”
Garion then scavenged what he could find from their burnt rooms, and managed to get enough blankets to fit the whole team. He went back to the conference room and made sure to put one on each of them, laying it softly as to not wake them, and then went outside to the back to think.
After about 5 minutes of Garion engaged in thought, he saw Rebolto landing the meteor on the back porch of the mansion, right in front of him. Garion didn’t move an inch, though; he already knew what was coming.
Rebolto slammed the back door behind him in fury.
“What have you done?!” Rebolto cried. “You are a fool!”
“It’s okay,” Garion tried to calm him down, now standing up and facing Rebolto, “The president knows we’re the good guys.”
“What if he double-crosses you?” Rebolto asked. “Then what are you going to do?”
“He‟s not going to do that,” Garion calmed him.
“What if he does, though? The next thing you know, the entire planet knows you exist, and mass pandemonium breaks out. Suicides, riots, robberies, all on you. What will you do if he double-crosses you then?”
“We can defend ourselves,” Garion replied, “we are already getting training from a complementary room the president provided for us tomorrow.”
“You’ve already sprung into another trap?!” Rebolto questioned in steamed anger. “How can you expect to be a prosperous team if you believe everything your told? Do you know how many aliens we have lost in Earth during exploration trips? They date all the way back to 1947!”
“Roswell?”
“Precisely. And since I don’t want you to become another victim of government experimentation, I’m taking you and your team to Mars immediately.”
“No! You can’t do that! We’ve worked too long and hard for this mansion here on Earth, and we aren’t just going to abandon it like that!”
“You will if it concerns the safety of you or your team. Now come on, start gathering your team up so we can leave.”
“No.”
Rebolto looked at Garion with a stern yet shocked face, to which Garion responded, “Do you know what happened here last night?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you know that last night, only an hour after you left, Draktos ambushed us?”
Rebolto’s expression completely changed into a shocked one as Garion continued, “Do you know that Greg and David are dead? Do you know that Draktos managed to get a small army of shadows in here? Do you know this army not only killed two of my teammates, but also burned down half of my mansion? Do you know that the explosion from the burning of my mansion was what led the president here to begin with? Do you know any of this, or did you just judge a book by its cover? Oh, and by the way, how’s that army that was going to get here doing?”
After a rigid face that Rebolto seemed to keep up for what felt like hours, he responded, with the same face, “The army refuses to go to Earth because there’s no place to hide them. Frankly, I don’t feel as bad anymore. Less then a month into such a high position and you are already back-talking me?! Have fun with your team, just don’t come crying to me when the S.W.A.T. team is knocking at your door.”
With that, Rebolto walked back to the meteor, too furious and disgusted at Garion to say anything else. Rebolto clicked the M button, and the meteor blasted back to Mars.
Suddenly a sinking feeling lingered in Garion's chest. Had he done the right thing? He had just destroyed the relationship he had with the one man who could possibly help him, and all for a half-burnt down base. He had practically destroyed his chances of ever defeating Draktos in that one spontaneous moment. Garion shook the negative thoughts out of his head. This was no time to second-guess himself.
...
But Rebolto was right, as he always was. The president had gone straight out the door and into the wind—coming back moments later through a secret tunnel leading to under Garion’s base.
Navigating his way through the well-memorized tunnels, before he knew it the president was at the center of the base. He then approached the podium set up to address all the shadows. As they gathered around the man, he had a big grin across his face.
“I did it!” he announced proudly to his audience. “Garion really thought I was the president!”
Everybody in the room laughed.
Then the impostor dug into his pocket and pulled out a remote control the size of car keys. Pushing the big red button on the remote control, the hologram of President Tim Carter disappeared into thin air, and Draktos’ hooded form reappeared in replacement as the shadows whispered in excitement.
“The playing field is all set now,” Draktos shouted to his shadows. “Tomorrow, Garion dies!”
With that, he took a nearby rubber band from the floor and flung it at a picture of Garion hanging onto the wall opposite of him, while all the shadows cheered in excitement.