couldn't make out. O'Flannery was there now, straining to shout loud enough for the young man
to hear. Either the ringing in his ears was starting to vibrate the rest of his body, or whatever was
attacking the building was getting closer.
"Follow my finger," O'Flannery was barely audible. Ulysses obliged him by following
the path of the agent's index finger. It was hard work, and it made him tired. He really wanted to
take a nap, just for a little while. If he could just rest his eyes for a few minutes, maybe he'd even
be able to hear again. He closed his eyes.
*
*
*
"Ulysses! Wake up!" O'Flannery was getting hoarse from screaming. "I don't see any
injuries. Do you know if he was hurt?" The young man had exhibited signs of shock before
passing out.
Nera, crouched next to him in front of Ulysses, shaking her head.
O'Flannery quickly examined Ulysses's for signs of trauma but didn't find any. He
glanced around the hallway for something to elevate Ulysses's feet, but there was nothing. The
vibrations in the hall were getting intense. The klaxon of the fire alarm wasn't helping the
growing sense of urgency the agent felt. They needed to move; they needed to do something.
"You got anything?" O'Flannery said to his alien comrade.
"I think so, but it's faint."
"Can you do anything about it?"
Nera nodded solemnly.
"All right, well, you better go do whatever you can right now, or I'm pretty sure we're all
dead. I'll watch him."
That was all the encouragement Nera needed. She pecked Ulysses a kiss on his forehead,
and less than a second later, she was out the fire exit, displacing one of the door hinges in the
process. The door wouldn't close without assistance now. Nera moved so fast that it took
O'Flannery several seconds to figure out exactly what he'd seen.
Muted daylight shone on the agent's face. The building's shaking vibrations were getting
further away. He looked over at Ulysses and sighed. O'Flannery tried to revive him with light
slaps to the face and yelling, but it did no good. He didn't have any smelling salts on him either.
The agent stood up, then heaved Ulysses onto his shoulder. He pushed the broken door out of his
way and stepped outside.
Dust filled the air as a result of the attack. O'Flannery trudged forward with the
unconscious Ulysses on his shoulder until he was out of the dust cloud. In the distance he could
see a saucer like Nera's raining down something akin to lightning at a tiny figure moving very
quickly along the ground.
The agent knew it was Nera. Both the saucer and she were retreating out of sight. They
seemed to be playing a weird game of tag or keep away, and Nera was 'it'. Whatever the game
was, it wasn't balanced. The sheer insanity of what he was witnessing began to register for
O'Flannery. He stopped walking. He and his unconscious charge were out in the open, yet he set