Chapter Six
Destruction
Kay tuned out the noise of reality. He tried to keep Ember tethered to the world, a job he wasn't doing so well. Her lungs must have been filling with blood by now. Griffin the Arcanian's words rang in his ears.
Where there is death, there must always be death...
The seer's breath came in ragged gasps.
"Ember? Ember, can you hear me?" he shouted.
Ember didn't answer, her eyes closed, and she blacked out. Kay didn't want to think about what could come after that. Soon, MIB response teams were arriving. Medical personnel started trying to get Kay away from Ember.
"Agent K, we need you to move, quickly!" demanded an agent.
Kay ignored him. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked. He followed the people that were carrying her away on a stretcher.
"Kay, you can't come with the medical unit," a nurse told him.
"No!" Kay objected.
But the ambulance was already loading up and heading away.
An MIB doctor walked out into the waiting room and greeted Kay. There was a foreboding silence that followed, and the doctor looked at the young agent sympathetically.
"Is she...?" Kay's voice broke.
"No, no, she's alive. You can see her now." The doctor led him to a room, then held open the door. Kay walked in cautiously.
Ember was lying in a bed with her eyes scanning the area. She seemed to relax when she saw Kay.
"Hey, Slick," he tried to say casually.
The seer smiled. "Hi."
The door clicked shut as the doctor left.
"How're you feeling?"
"You mean, aside from being shot by some crazy alien guy? Good, I guess," she replied softly. She tried to move and winced with pain.
Kay sat in the seat next to her bed and whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Why?" Ember asked. She frowned.
"I should have done something."
"It's not your fault."
They were quiet for a moment.
"Did they say when you were gonna be out of here?" Kay asked.
"In a few days."
One of the nurses poked her head in. "Agent K! You're needed."
"Fill me in, Miss O," Kay said to O, as they walked hurriedly toward the center of MIB headquarters.
"Well, the Sarlokians are advancing and a warning shot has been fired. Agents are scrambling to calm things down. As you can imagine, Chief X is terribly upset," she explained.
Headquarters was in chaos. People were running to different stations, sending messages, and speaking to alien representatives.
"That girl, they say she's Sarlokian? Is she dangerous?" O asked.
"No. She's half human. Nice girl."
"Kay!" X rushed up to them. "The damn Sarlokians are trying to destroy the galaxy! This is the last thing we need! I want to send you for diplomacy...or, if things go bad, destruction. You know how they are. Go get 'em."
"Where to?" Kay asked.
"The place where the girl was shot. You can't miss it."
And so Kay went back to that horrible place. X was right; it was unmistakable. The street was blocked off and crowded with MIB response vans. Three agents guarded two men with dark hair and dark eyes. One of the men smiled mischievously.
"Agent...My name is Geon. This is my fellow representative, Nathaniel," the man said slowly.
"I'll take it from here." Kay nodded to three other Men in Black, then addressed the representatives. "I don't think two Sarlokians would come down to Earth just to make peace. What do you want?"
"Oh, Agent K, always jumping to conclusions," Nathaniel said. He did something that looked halfway between a frown and a grin.
"But, yes, we are not here to exactly make peace. We do desperately wish to destroy your world," added Geon.
"So what exactly are you here for?"
The two Sarlokians exchanged a glance.
"We are here for the girl."