Tomas pushed through the crowd tentatively but firmly working with his elbows.
"Police, step aside, police"
He managed to get directly to the encirclement consisting of imposing lads wearing armor, with their submachine guns in a battle-ready position. One of them cast a glance back, scrutinizing him from under the shield of his helmet.
"Everything is under control, lieutenant. We'll manage without you,"
A girl splayed in the center of the area surrounded by the special-ops police and bystanders. Very young, she was hardly eighteen. She slightly twitched, with an expression of fright in her wide-open lifeless eyes.
Nearby, several meters away a creo-absorber from the Rar planet paced to and fro, tapping cobblestones with all his four limbs.
He cast nervous glances around looking beleaguered, his wide nostrils flaring.
These people had to sign a waiver regarding their tribal laws when they arrived on earth but it was impossible to know what was going on in their heads.
Once in a while, one or the other has lost it. There were several such incidents.
The special-ops moved closer, tightening the circle, keeping the alien in the sights of their rifles. They were ready to charge.
Tomas wondered what munitions they had. Electric paralyzing devices? The capsules with powerful sedatives.
In any case, they were instructed to be gentle. The humane take, according to the laws of Earth.
Tomas groped his holster. He didn't have a paralyzing gun or a pneumatic injector. Only his government-issue handgun.
Besides, he wasn't a special op, just a policeman on patrol.
Probably, better they sorted it out without him.
Creo-absorber lunged sideways, to the consternation of gawkers... (notwithstanding the distance) Like a feral cat, in two tremendous leaps (hurtling over the policemen heads and latching onto an advertisement billboard,) the alien landed on the domed roof of the marketplace gallery poking out of the maze of the old town.
Somebody screamed, a clipped machine-gun rattle rolled over the crowd. It was a warning, the bullets whizzed high in the air.
A split second later the creature vanished.
Special ops dashed after it, dogged by a buzzing flock of drones.
"Drones are cool," Tomas thought, "they won't let it go, at least."
Tomas imagined dispatchers dissing their donuts and coffee in the bustle at the HQ. Skimming manically through guidelines, trying to figure out the limits of their authority.
Tomas bolted, drawing his gun. Threading through the crowd he sneaked under a dimly lit stone archway and farther to the maze of tiny alleys.
He knew this place. It was a calm neighborhood, not a single notable incident in seven years.
He skidded to the side street, darted up narrow stairs, along the culvert. He pictured it filled with gurgling water in spring, the snow melting on the roofs. Everything looked so mundane, it was hard to think of anything dangerous.
Tomas wondered why they were permitted to come to Earth. "Those alien beings are not comprehending our laws and customs."
He recalled the expression in the eyes of that girl, victim, and clenched his teeth in anger. These bastards from a distant planet didn't kill people physically. Instead, they incinerated their minds in a bout of uncontrollable excitement. They were pulled by the shining aura of the actively working brain. At home on Rar, it was just a custom. After all, creo absorbers couldn't harm each other. Here on Earth though they had to comply with human laws, which most of them did although there were such individuals as that creature at the square.
Tomas wasn't sure whether he would be able to catch up with the alien or not. Maybe, indeed, everything had been sorted out without him, and he was just making a fool of himself, playing an overzealous cop.
He hopped into a well of a cramped courtyard jutting into a blind alley. Something lurked in the dark corner like a murky shadow.
Tomas spotted a brisk movement and, before he could make out the details, he knew that he got it. He just knew its likely route of escape
"It's not my fault," the creo absorber growled, "she was shining, she was shining brightly."
Tomas raised his gun, not a paralyzer or a sedative injector, a real gun, a lethal weapon.
He knew that he had no time to waste, the alien could attempt another leap at any moment.
There was nobody around, even the drones hadn't appeared yet. Nobody could see them. Tomas thought that he could later explain it as self-defense, plus this being certainly deserved it. But still. He was a cop and he vowed to serve the law.
Tomas's finger pressed on the trigger. The hell with that. Here was his law, clutched in his hand, a 9mm semi-automatic. To be ruthless, to teach others a lesson.
Tomas breathed out slowly. No, it wouldn't be right. He pulled out a gravity paralyzer, activated it, and did what the special ops guys failed to do at the square, flung it under the alien's feet.
"You have the right to remain silent"
