Chapter Two: Return

In the early hours of the morning, Auger slipped out of a cab and entered Saint Michael's Church. All he had was a suitcase with some clothes and essentials and his suit. He was surprised to still find that his old code worked, but he entered and took the elevator underground. The lights were all out, so he tiptoed quietly inside. His station of computers had been updated which also surprised him. He made his way towards the screensaver, which was the only source of light in the room. Upon accessing the computer he opened a program that would turn on the lights. He was just seconds away when he felt a gun hit the back of his head.

"You have two seconds to tell me who you are and how in the hell you got in here," a youthful voice said sinisterly.

"How I got in here?" Augur asked. "I own this place, buddy."

"Yeah, and I'm Ma'el back from the dead. Put your hands on your head."

Auger complied. The figure in the dark activated the lighting.

Auger turned to see a young brown-haired boy with blue eyes pointing a gun directly in his face. "What the hell are you?"

The boy chuckled and pressed a button activating the alarm system. A red light began flashing and sirens went off. Twelve armed Taelons appeared in the background and aimed their guns at Auger.

"Guys…this is a mistake," Auger whimpered. "I…I got off. The FBI granted me amnesty."

"Wait!" a feminine voice cried.

A hauntingly familiar woman rushed down the stairs and stood in front of the boy.

"He's an intruder," the boy said.

"He's the owner," she shot back. "Stand down, all of you."

They all stared at the boy for approval.

"Tay'jay Amo'qui, I am giving you five seconds to order your troops to stand down immediately," she said firmly.

Tay'jay sighed and dropped the pistol. The other Taelons followed his lead. He glared at Auger. "You got lucky." He waved for the rest of the Taelons to return to their duties.

"What is going on here?" Auger asked.

"I am sorry, I—"

"Auger?" Street cried from afar. "Is that you?"

"Jay?" Auger cried back.

"Oh my God!" Street exclaimed rushing to give him a big hug. "I missed you so much! I can't believe you're finally back!"

"It's…uh…it's great to be home," Auger said. "Speaking of which…"

"Oh, sorry. That's my fault," Street said. "The Espelons and the Taelons got a new building, and we were about to move the Taelons tonight."

"Wait. Taelons?" Auger exclaimed. "And what the hell is an…Espe—Espel—"

"Espelon," Street pronounced for him. "Um, this is gonna be hard to explain, but…um…well…" She pointed to the female. "Here. This is an Espelon."

Auger pointed to her. "You…You're an Espelon?"

She grinned at him and inhaled deeply. "I am now," she answered in a voice Auger knew well.

Auger's heart jumped. "D-Da'an?"

Da'an tied her hair into a bun.

"Oh…my God!" Auger cried. "Wh-What the hell is…? You're…Oh my God!"

"Uh, he's not taking this too well," Da'an told Street with her voice returned to normal. "I'll leave you two to catch up."

"You brought aliens into this lair!" Auger cried to Street.

"They didn't have anywhere else to go," Street explained rapidly. "But it's okay. They're all fighting for the resistance, and they're really tidy. Seriously. I'm talking borderline obsessive-compulsive tidy."

"They're Taelons! Oh God. What did you do to my café?" Auger cried. "They're not in the café, are they?"

"No!" Street said. "The café's totally cool…except…"

"Except…"

"It's a nightclub now," Street said uneasily.

"A nightclub!"

"It couldn't be helped. Your day business was going south, and we saved more money installing a speaker system and hiring DJs than we did keeping the doors open from ten AM to twelve midnight. But it's okay. A lot of the customers still come, and everybody likes it. It's really shway."

"Shway! Oh, dear God!"

"If you say 'God' one more time, I'm throwing your ass into the confession booth upstairs!" Tay'jay cried from afar.

"Tay'jay! Show a little respect! He built this place!" Da'an exclaimed.

"Yeah, whatever. Mi'en, what's your status?" Tay'jay said speaking into a headset.

"Everything's packed and ready for transport," Mi'en's voice said. "Are we still leaving in groups of ten?"

"Every ten minutes," Tay'jay confirmed. "Sister and I are heading over there now."

"Sister?" Auger asked Street.

"Yeah, Tay'jay's Da'an's older brother," Street said. "Isn't that cool?"

"Older? He's just a kid!"

"That's just how he looks," Street said. "Come on. I'll fix us some drinks and I'll fill you in on everything that's happening. Liam and Renee are gonna be so excited to see you!"

"Da'an," Mi'en's voice said. "Mr. Urick is asking for you at central. He says it is an emergency."

"I knew it," Da'an said grimly. "I come here for just two minutes and I get talked into staying for hours. Tay'jay, can you watch Ariel for me? She is with Mi'en right now."

"I'll take care of her," Tay'jay said. "You can go with the first group."

"Ariel? What Da'an has a kid now, too?" Auger asked Street.

Street grew real quiet and her face was long. "Auger…we need to talk alone."

Auger followed her with a growing fear of how he would come out.