Part 1

Tane slipped his timepiece out from the pouch at his side and frowned.  The silver second hand stood three seconds further than he expected, so he quickened his pace slightly, taking the path to the entrance of the TWiT Cottage in three long strides.  Timing, he reminded himself, was everything.  For the next ten minutes, his carefully formulated plan needed to barrel forward like a train hugging its tracks.  Any small deviation would set him down an unplanned route, after which anything could happen.  

His bright eyes scanned the flawless sky; it was a beautiful day by any common reckoning.  He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but the feeling of something extraordinary hung in the air, forming a palpable taste in his mouth.  Alone among billions, Tane knew exactly what lay above the opaque blue sky overhead, outside the brittle shell of satellites and debris orbiting the planet Earth.  Humanity, with all its inward facing technology and self-aggrandizing hubris, would soon be caught up like a leaf in a torrent of water.  Only the few eccentrics who greedily drank in radio signals from the sky would find anything amiss—but like the rush of an oncoming tsunami, by the time you see the wall of water on the horizon, it’s already far too late to save yourself.  

A gentle breeze blew crisp air across Tane’s cheeks, pulling him from his reverie and subtly reminding him why he was about to betray his people.  He stepped forward over the threshold and into the cottage.  Inside, Leo Laporte sat on his exercise ball, bouncing behind a solid mahogany desk piled high with gadgets.  A ring of monitors bathed him in a cool, blue glow while he he spoke exuberantly to a couple of visitors perched at perimeter of his tech bubble.  A middle aged woman stood with her arm around her graying husband as he nodded quickly at whatever Leo was saying.  Tane waited politely near the doorway until the conversation ran dry before he approached Leo’s desk.  The couple backed out of the door, the husband flushed with excitement and the wife gently rubbing his back. 

“Welcome to TWiT,” Leo said, smiling up at Tane.

“Thanks, Leo.  It’s really great to finally be here,” Tane’s calm, deep voice resonated across the desk.  

“Wow, you’ve got an amazing radio voice.  Are you in the industry?”  Leo sat back, seeming to take Tane in for the first time.  Tane’s dark, broad face suggested a mixed Asian and African descent, but his eyes were an Arian blue.  A strong neck covered by a neatly ironed collar led into his thick, bearlike torso.  Even his crisp suit could not hide the powerful muscles that lay underneath.  

“No, no.  I’ve never been brave enough for that.”

“Maybe the meditation CD industry?” Leo joked.  Tane allowed himself a tight, calculated smile.

“I work in the tech industry, actually.  I’m just passing through Petaluma, and I wanted to make sure I stopped by.  I think the potential of what you’re doing here is truly astonishing.”

“Well, thanks,” Leo nodded, seeming genuinely appreciative.  “You’ve been listening to TWiT for a while, then.”

“Yes.  For quite a while.  I’d like to think of myself as part of the TWiT Army.”

“There’s always an open enrollment, so I’d say you’re in.  We’re not too picky here in the army.  What’s your name, by the way?”

“I’m Tane,” he purred, extending his hand.  Leo took it and gave it a firm squeeze.

“That’s an unusual name.”

“It’s Maori.  Tane was the son of the Sky Father and the Earth Mother.”

“I thought I picked up a slight New Zealander accent.  Are you from around there?”

“No, not exactly.”  Then, seeing that Leo’s attention was drawn by something on one of his screens, Tane asked, “Do you mind if I stay and watch for a bit?”

“Feel free to take a seat over there,” Leo motioned to a chair in the corner.  “We’ll be doing Windows Weekly soon.”

“Great.  Thanks, Leo.”

Tane backed away into a corner of the room, and Leo quickly shifted his attention fully to one of the ten computers forming a ring around his desk.  Tane glanced to his right, and, seeing that Leo was fully occupied at his desk, snagged his foot out and caught the edge of a short wooden bookcase wedged into the corner.  Inch by inch, Tane pulled the bookcase until it rested in a once empty space two feet from the wall.  Just in time.  His timepiece showed only several seconds left.  Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

On cue, the light streaming in the window turned blood red, and a pale man materialized, screaming in pain, not two feet from where Tane stood.  The upper half of his torso protruded from the recently moved wooden bookcase.  His legs showed between shelves, and the whole unit shook as he tried to violently throw himself free.  Leo jumped back, kicking the blue exercise ball towards Tane.  In the second it took the ball to reach the wall, Tane stepped smoothly in front of the pale man and brought his leg up with inhuman speed into the man’s chest.  The bookcase tipped backwards from the force of the blow, and Tane stepped over the man, his foot firmly planted on the man’s right arm.  The ball bounced silently against the wall.

For a moment, the room was still.  Leo didn’t move a muscle, and Tane stared down at the prone half-man, whose bloodshot yes fluttered open.  

“You,” the man squeaked.

“Yes.  Me,” Tain growled, bending down quickly so his face was scant inches from the thin man’s nose.

“You’re the virus,” the man whispered as strength quickly left his broken body.

“It remains to be seen.”

Taking a shaky breath, the man whispered, “The others will erase you.”

“Probably.”

“Then, why?  Why did you do it?”  The man’s eyes dulled as he waited for an answer.  Tane said nothing, instead stepping back from the man and turning towards Leo.

“Come,” Tane said.  “We need to move.”  He held out his hand to Leo, but Leo’s whole body was trembling now that the adrenaline from the first few seconds had worn thin.  Tane could hear Leo’s heart racing from across the room.

“What…what…happened?”  Leo asked.  

“There’s no time to explain now.  Look out the window if you must, but do it quietly.”  The power in Tane’s voice provided enough strength for Leo to walk uncertainly over to the window and peer out.  It took a second for his brain to even register the drastic change in landscape.  The cloudless, morning sky was displaced by what Leo could only describe as the inside of a fleshy membrane.  A bright spot, like light shining through a closed eyelid, revealed the position of the sun behind the fleshy veil.  Purple veins laced through the sky, allowing only red light through.  Green grass appeared black in the fell light, and the air itself seemed to thicken.

“It looks like the inside of a living creature” Leo murmured, his voice revealing fascination mingled with horror.  

“Yes," Tane spoke solemnly. "That’s closer to the truth than you know.”

“The man who just appeared.  Is he…alien?”  A strange calm had descended over Leo.

“He's not from Earth, if that's what you mean.  I would say more, but we really must leave right this second before several more aliens walk through the door.”

“How do you know?"

"I'm also an alien."

"I thought as much," Leo laughed nervously, the surreal situation too strange for him to maintain his fear. "Look, I appreciate you saving me and everything, but right now I've got to get to my family—”

“Don’t worry about your family,” Tane interrupted.  “And I didn't save you, at least not yet.  You are in danger now only because of what I have done.  Your family will not be harmed, but if we do not leave, we will be killed right here in a matter of moments. We need to go now!”

“Go where?” Leo asked.  

“To assemble the TWiT army.”  Tane turned and strode out of the TWiT cottage.  Leo hesitated for a brief moment, then, shaking his head, followed behind.