The Joining: The Cycle of the Shards Book One

17: Daniel

      Critock could not believe how well that went. Other than the initial problem of being stuck in the wrong body in the first place, everything that looked like it could derail the mission was instead enhancing it. Friends didn't notice anything, the bully was defeated with only positive things coming from it, the girl of Kyle's dreams was more than eager to help with a plan that she knew nothing about, and Kyle himself wasn't fighting any more, seemingly satisfied that his life was on the upswing thanks to the unwelcome intruder. He moved down the hall quickly, happy that at last something was going well, even if Tom had not stopped complaining since they left Shanna's presence with a happy wave.

"What are you doing?" Tom was beside himself with worry. To him, everything they had done since they had arrived on Earth was just treading water. Sure, they had gotten a yearbook and was able to salvage some semblance of the original plan, but between taking out that large boy and linking up with the girl, it seemed that Critock had lost all interest in saving Marconia let alone this world, and instead was concentrating on reliving a youth he never had. He knew he had been sent to assist but he wasn't willing to keep helping a boy, he was here for the Empire's continued existence!

Critock shook his head, speaking softly and hoping no one would think he was talking to himself. He'd rather come clean as being an alien than having left this world with everyone thinking Kyle was crazy, if somehow he came out of this unscathed. "I'm trying to get the plan taken care of while not screwing up this kid's life. It's not his fault he tripped, it's that bully's friends."

Tom barrel rolled in annoyance. "Would you listen to yourself? Making excuses? You can't put one boy in front of the entire Empire, Critock. He might be a great kid, hell they're all good kids and apparently not galactic traitorous mass murderers, bully for them. But we can't worry about getting Kyle dates, when there are better ways we can go about this..."

Critock stopped, grabbed Tom out of the air, and pulled him around. There was an unlocked locker cracked half open, left vacant by a student that had switched to another school, and Critock took advantage of it. He opened the locker and shoved Tom inside and put his face in so no one would notice him talking, only another kid looking deep in his locker for something. He was not loud but he was firm. "Like what, Tom? What great ideas do you have? Waiting till tonight and hoping we can break into the school and somehow figure out their computer systems when I needed Shanna's help just to turn the damn thing on? Setting the place on fire and hoping it takes the Shards with it? Hell, lets go back to the original plan of just wiping out the school with a rocket and hope that the Qua'roti still exists to extract us!" He stopped, and glanced around, but no one seemed to take notice. He turned back to Tom. "Look, I don't know what I'm doing. This is uncharted territory for me, hell it probably would be for most of the Marconian military. Like it or not, we're locked in. So we're going to do this, and because you had to come drag me from one side of the universe to the other, you're going to have to trust me when I say this is the best way to make sure we find the Shards, stop Pt'ron, and get us off this rock so you can go back being nervous in the inner sanctum and I can finally go back to what I was always supposed to be doing, helping my planet!"

Tom was silent, letting Critock finish, before he finally got a chance to answer. "What if you're wrong?"

"Then when Pt'ron does reveal himself, we fight him. We distract him so he doesn't get a chance to stop the missiles, and we probably die. So please, please, come up with a better idea than what I've got so far, because I know this is a bad plan, but it's all I've got." Critock turned around and put his back to the lockers, laying his head back against the upper compartment. Tom floated out as he closed his eyes. "I'm not used to this, Tomk. Not like I used to be. Critock from a couple thousand cycles ago would have swept in here and made a spectacle, and we'd be done by now. What happened to me?"