"I can't!" Sam shouted. He wasn't smart enough, he didn't have the experience, and the pressure of everyone he cared about dying wasn't helping.
"Sam!" Six yelled back over her shoulder, sending another fireball flying which filled the air with smoke and ash once again. Sam coughed, his eyes watering, struggling to make out the characters on the screen. "Ella's about to pass out again, she's not going to be able to hold up this shield much longer. And once that's gone, Daniel's going to murder us, and there'll be more Mogs than even I can keep back. This is all the time we have, and it's almost up. I don't care if you can, you have to."
Sam rubbed his hands over his face, pressing his palms into his eyes, willing them to see something he'd missed before. This was his dad's life's work contained in these files, if anyone would be able to figure them out, he should be able to.
Everyone else was out there dying so he could get this damn shield up. At least he hoped it was a shield. If he'd misunderstood the schematics . . .
No. This was no time for second guessing himself. It was a shield, he'd understood exactly what it meant. The only thing left to do was put his father's plans into action.
He didn't know guns, he didn't know weird elemental powers, he hadn't known karate since the third grade if at all. But what he did know were aliens and conspiracy theories, numbers and complex theorems, and, for however short a time, his dad. He'd known Malcolm Spellman. He was half Malcolm Spellman. This was his legacy.
He pulled the keyboard back towards him and began typing again. There were letters and numbers scrolling past the screen, numbers, letters, formulas, these were all what he was good at, he had these numbers, but that wasn't all there was. It all fell together, it fit in with what he knew of aliens, what he'd learned from his dad's insane stories, what he'd found from hour after hour of paging through conspiracy theory websites, what he'd seen from living with John and Six. Slowly the pieces started to form a whole, and then it all seemed natural and obvious. One part led into another and the only thing stopping him was how fast his fingers could move.
Until they didn't have to. He'd pressed enter. The screens stilled.
Sam took a step back slowly. He stared steadily at the screen, incredibly aware of his hands and how still they were now after typing so furiously.
"Sam?" Six demanded, pacing quickly towards him. "Sam? What's going on? What was all that light?"
"I did it." He answered faintly. "I think I did it."
"Did what? Was it a weapon? Did it kill them?"
"Well – maybe, indirectly –"
"No?" Six's hands blazed up again. "Where'd they go?"
"It wasn't a weapon, it was a shield. My dad must've figured it out before he died. I just put it up. All around Earth. Mogs can't enter through the shield – no one non-human – well, maybe even human – can enter through the shield without permission." Sam finally looked away from the screens and over at Six. "They didn't have permission."
"So," The fires died in a whisper in Six's hands. "They're gone?"
"They would have gotten forced out as the shield went up. They're stuck outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Unless they can survive in those conditions, they're probably dead."
"Then it's over."
"Yeah." Sam said. "Yeah, it is."
Suddenly Six crossed the room in two strides and her lips collided with Sam's. His eyes widened and he simply stared at her as she pulled away.
"What –" His hand jerked unconsciously towards his face. "What was that?"
"I'm happy." She answered simply. Then her gaze hardened as she looked at him critically. "What? Didn't you like it?"
"Yeah!" Sam blurted out, and he took a tentative step toward her. "Can we do it again?"
Six shrugged, smiling, and their lips crashed into each others once more.
"Sam!" John cried, impulsively embracing him and breaking away just as quickly. There was a trickle of blood and a sheepish smile on his face as he took a step back, looking at Sam. "You did it."
"Yeah," Sam rubbed the back of his head. "We did it."
"John." Six clapped him on the shoulder. "Glad you're still alive."
"Back at ya." John shot back, grinning.
"Leo!" Netoya shouted, bursting into the room. "Leo! Where's Leo!"
"I'm over here!" Leo replied, instantly jumping up.
Netyoa was at his side in an instant, clutching him to her. "You're alright?" She demanded.
"I'm fine, I'm great." He assured her, hugging her back. "You too?"
"Of course."
John looked at them apprehensively, almost unable to look away despite the privacy the moment seemed to demand. He thought it was the first time he'd ever seen Netoya happy.
He crouched down to scratch Bernie on the head. "And you made it too, didn't you boy?" he cooed, rubbing his ears as Bernie eagerly licked his face, a beagle once again.
He scanned the room. Teresa was over in a corner, handing some water to Ella, who looked paler than usual but fine. Daniel was hovering over them too, also apparently unscathed.
"Tyler and Patrick should be here soon." He told Sam. "We did it. We actually did it. We're all here. The Mogs aren't. I can't believe it."
"I feel like all of my life has been leading up to this," Sam said, his eyes far away. "Are you sure this isn't all just a dream?"
John had no idea himself. "If it is, let's agree to just never wake up."
That made Sam smile. He laughed a little, his eyes coming back to Earth and focusing on John. "Who'dve thought we'd actually turn out alright?"
"It was all in my dad's plans," Sam was explaining. "He must've been captured by the Mogs when he came looking for this spaceship all those years ago."
Teresa wasn't sure exactly what had happened. But then again, she never really was, never had been since the first time she'd realized she could change her face and no one else could. But she was still alive. So was everyone else. The monsters were gone.
"He'd ben working on a shield. I put it into place."
She had no clue what had happened when they'd been captured, but Ella had been half dead when they'd brought them back. Teresa didn't even want to think about how close she herself had come to dying today.
"It encompasses all of Earth and its immediate atmosphere. No Mog can penetrate it. The Mogs that were already on Earth were pushed out with the shield as it went up."
"Are you sure?" Netoya asked. Six shot a glare at her. "You did figure all of this out in the midst of a battle."
"Well, I honestly don't understand a lot of my dad's calculations." Sam admitted. "Even though it's all worked out, I haven't been able to figure out the mechanics behind it yet. But that's what he wrote it was supposed to do. And that's what it seems to have done."
Teresa had already shrunk herself down from the monster she'd turned herself into to fight the monsters, back to the form she'd been using the most around this group. She couldn't actually heal all the scratches and bruises, but she could cover them up, make it look as though her skin were flawless. Not seeing them made them not hurt as much.
"Can you bring up the schematics? We should go over them thoroughly."
"Guys," Teresa spoke up. All heads swiveled towards her. She stared back at their hardened faces. "We just won. Can't we take a break before jumping into the next problem? We won! Why don't we go celebrate?"
Sam's face instantly broke into a smile. "That's the best idea I've heard all day."