They entered a wide city plaza, it’s far corner devoted to a huge modern-art fountain made of randomly linked square tubes that spat water. Thousands of pigeons littered the area, dodging around dozens of outdoor tables where people sipped coffee and ate breakfast before making their way to an office in the nearby financial section of town. Nearly everyone wore conservative business attire, accompanied by cell phones and briefcases.

  The glaring exception were the three colorful individuals gathered around a black iron table in front of a tiny freestanding bagel and pastry shop. Naturally, this was the table Charis walked up to with a cheerful smile.

  Dave hardly saw any of it, his attention riveted on the woman beside him. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  She ignored him to pull out a black iron chair and flopped down into it, tugging Dave down into the chair beside her. “Hi guys!”

  He finally surrendered his attention to the other three figures waiting there and did a double-take. All were young; they seemed to be little older than he was, two looked barely past twenty. The oldest was a strange tall, skinny man wearing a red top hat, yellow goggles, and a felted red woolen cloak with a dark gray fur collar. Despite his youthful features he had gray hair.

  Beside him slouched a short, maybe sixteen year old rumpled tanned skater dude wearing ripped jeans and Vans. Who had nearly albino white skin and a white waist-length mane of messy hair.

  The third was a twenty-something fashion victim in a red trench coat with frosted, elaborately spiked-up brown hair and three earrings in each ear plus one in his nose.

  All three of them had that same strange, golden symbol stuck on their foreheads. To Dave, it looked like a piece of plastic in the form of some archaic mason’s mark from the middle ages.

  Dave had to ask. Looking at the one with the top hat, “Are you a street performer?”

  “So who’s this guy?” Mr. Rad Hair asked. He had a definite Bostonian accent.

  “Dave, this is Scott Rothchild,” Charis gestured to Mr. Hair, “Dusty,” the white-haired skater kid, “and Miradon Ebenezer.” Tophat. “Guys, this is Dave, my friend.”

  The skater answered first. He had a lip piercing with a fine silver chain dangling from it that disappeared into his white tank top. Probably attached to a nipple ring. “Hey, nice to meet you, man.” He stuck out his hand.

  Dave shook. He liked this one so far, although he really didn’t care for the lip chain. Kids these days.

  Miradon, in the top hat, just grinned at him. Way too friendly looking. Dave eyed him suspiciously, wondering if he made side-money doing sidewalk ballet.

  Scott, the East Coaster with the hair, scowled and crossed his arms. “Uh, Charis, we aren’t collecting tourists here. This is a job.”

  She presented Scott her flat outstretched palm, stopping him. “I have my reasons. Just carry on like normal.”

  “Char. No.” Scott said it with finality like he was the boss of the gang, and glared at Dave.

  Dave glared back. He leaned over to whisper in Charis’s ear, “is he your boyfriend?”

  She giggled and squeezed his hand under the table. Dave grinned at her, which turned into a scowl which Scott burst out with, “Whoa! Boyfriend? When did you get a boyfriend!? We’re not doing boyfriends, Char, we’re on the job!” Then Scott addressed Dave sternly. “I’m sorry, sir, you’ll have to see Charis later.”

  Charis, totally unconcerned, opened her purse and pulled out pink glitter lip gloss, which she began to apply using a hand mirror. “Shut up, Scott. We’re keeping him around, I have my reasons. Do we have to get into a fight right now?”

  “Ever since she gave me a sponge bath, we’ve been inseparable,” Dave told Scott with a glower.

  Scott bristled and started to get out of his chair.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Dusty calmed his friend, “everyone just calm down. If Charis wants the guy around, no prob. You realize, Char, that we’re going to be doing some dock-crawls today and he might get his suit messed up though, right?”

  Charis shrugged.

  Dave leaned over to whisper in her ear again, “do these guys work with Harvey and Blue-Face also?”

  She whispered back in an identical tone, “Actually they have their own Harveys.”

  Dave redoubled the intensity of the glare he was giving Scott. “I don’t think you should be around these people.”

  “That’s it,” Scott slapped his hands down on the table, scowling at Dave. “Who the hell are you? How did you find us? Do you know who we are?”

  Charis began, “he’s with me…”

  “Human patsies working for the bodysnatching monsters?” Dave answered, pasting a fake innocent expression across his face.

  “Patsies? Excuse me? Charis, what the hell have you been telling this guy? And where did you pick him up, some yuppie bar?”

  Dave stood up abruptly, leaning across the table to glare at Scott more effectively. “I don’t know who the hell you people are or what you did to lure an innocent girl like Charis in, but get this straight: I know all about your little friends, and I’m not going anywhere until I can take her with me.”

  Scott leapt to his feet, his back ramrod straight. “Oh, really, so you know all about our little friends, huh?” he shifted his attention. “Charis, you realize this guy isn’t even Sealed, right? He’s going to be a dead weight we’ll be dragging along and he’ll probably attract the attention of every single…”

  She interrupted him cooly, still studying her makeup in her compact mirror. “Look more closely at his elogis.”

  Scott paused to look at Dave. So did Dusty and Miradon, leaning toward him as if fascinated.

  Dusty raised pure white eyebrows and let out a low whistle of amazement. “Wow. What the hell does he have on him?”

  Dave ignored their scrutiny and rounded the table to face Scott man to man. “You might think its great to work with the parasites, but get something straight, buddy. I know how to knock those bastards back into the afterlife, and I’m more than willing to do it.”

  “Dave,” Charis said in a bored tone, “sit down. Scott, sit down. Let’s have an adult conversation, alright?”

  Scott completely ignored her, waving his hand slowly in front of Dave’s face with fascination.

  “Actually, I think you and I should leave,” Dave turned away from the weirdos and took Charis’s arm, lifting her out of the chair.

  Scott followed Dave, pulling a few rocks out of his trench coat pocket and shaking them like dice near Dave’s back. Scott looked at the results then exclaimed, “Holy shit! Look at this, Dust!” He showed Dusty the rocks.

  Charis pulled Dave back to the table. “Look, Dave, these are my friends. I’ve known them since… well, a long time. They’re safe.”

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  “Come on,” Dave pulled her back toward the plaza and the sea of pigeons, “I thought we were going to talk. Not join your Harvey-humping friends.”

  She planted her feet and yelled, “WOULD YOU LISTEN TO ME?”

  He almost growled but stopped.

  “Where are the Things, huh? Where? Do you see any Things here??”

  He glanced in every direction but had to admit there weren’t any hanging around the plaza right now.

  “They aren’t here!” She went on hotly. “Why? Because no Thing in its right or even in its wrong mind would be insane enough to come within half a mile of four Sealed Nythian Graduates, alright??”

  “How should I know where the Things are?” He returned. “You have invisible men that even I can’t see! For all I know we’re surrounded by an army of talking plants and cat eyed rent-a-cops and blue bat-eared freaks!”

  Dusty frowned, “is he talking about Indigo? I wouldn’t call him a freak…”

  She gave an actual growl of frustration, grabbed his arm and pulled him to the center of the plaza, scattering pigeons everywhere.

  Suddenly a surge of heat came out of her hands into his body and the world brightened. He felt his mouth hang open as more and more things he’d never seen before suddenly became visible; he saw Indigo the blue ‘angel’ clearly and the surfer dude angel standing about twenty feet away, plus six or ten more possibly alien guys of various hues, not a one of them with wings but all invisible normally… plus layers of light in the sky, golden domes above the clouds, enormous 100 foot tall glowing white giants inside pillars of light walking in the ocean, dark smudges everywhere with demons inside them (all keeping a big distance from Charis), and in the sky seven layers like water sitting on top of oil. His eyes strayed upward. There was some kind of giant winged angel-looking guy made out of fire standing in the sun…

  …Then it all faded as the energy dissipated.

  Too late. He was staring straight up. He could only make a gurgling strangled sound in his throat, frozen in place.

  “Look, there are invisible things EVERYWHERE, okay? Everywhere. Some are good, some are bad. They make the world work. They make the fucking wind blow. And they’re NOT all from Rune. Most of what you just saw is native to Earth. So far you’ve only seen the bad ones, because they are obnoxious and they like to get in your face, and they don’t even try to hide. The good guys don’t push because they aren’t out of place, plus they aren’t bossy or rude, so you won’t see them first! Get it??”

  He still stared straight up, really hoping that he wasn’t seeing what he thought he saw. Layers. Voices like thunder. Realms above realms, and a lot of very, very freaky lights.

  Charis dragged him back to the table in a huff. He swayed, and after a moment got his feet back under him, but remained dazed. “I don’t think I understand the Universe,” he muttered weakly.

  Charis didn’t bother to answer that. She threw him back down into his chair, grabbed a bagel from Dusty’s plate and shoved it into his hand. Then she turned to the others. “Okay. Now let’s get down to business.”

  Dave ate the bagel without another word, still trying to sort out what he’d seen in the sky.

  “What the hell does he have on him?” Scott asked, still staring at the rocks in his hand in astonishment. “Look at these energy patterns… this is like nothing we’ve seen from the labs. Nothing. Hell, it’s like nothing we’ve seen from the Space Force shit. Whatever it is he’s got on him, it’s not from Rune.”

  “Some kind of mantle I think. Maybe something from the homeworld. Look, he’s just a university student on the run. He’s a danger to himself and others, and he needs to be looked at by the Academy. I’m keeping him safe and guarded until we can deal with him. He’s already started seeing the other side, he’s half out of his wits, and he has nowhere to go. Okay?”

  The three men looked at Dave glumly. After a moment Miradon smiled and finally spoke with a thick British accent. “Well. I think that’s lovely.”

  Dave almost took exception to being called half out of his wits, then thought better of it and devoured the rest of the bagel.

  “Don’t worry, friend,” Miradon told Dave consolingly, “we won’t let anything nasty get you. Would you like tea before we head out? It’s sure to be one hell of a day.”

  Dave shrugged and snatched another bagel, “Thanks.”

  Reluctantly Scott relented. “Alright fine, you can keep him until we get him sorted. But does he have to go with us right now?” Scott asked. “Can’t you leave him at the safe house?”

  “He freaked out at the safe house,” she said blandly. “He met Milo. Anyway, he’s my problem. I’ll deal with him. He’s fine. Lets go. Do you have a trail yet?”

  As if that was the signal to leave, everyone stood and finished tea and bagels in gulps, carrying trays toward the trash.

  “Um, yah,” Scott gave Dave one last suspicious glare. “Dusty thinks he’s picked up the scent.”

  Dave nodded toward Miridon’s fur-trimmed cloak, which was blowing in the stiff cool sea breeze coming off the bay. “That’s… different. Where’d you get it?”

  Miradon visibly preened. “Oh, this old thing? Picked it up years ago in an antiques shop down in Brighton. What d’you reckon—looks a bit flash, don’t it?”

  He pulled his amber-tinted goggles down off his hat and slipped them on, then hooked his thumbs into his brown corduroy trousers and struck up a swagger. The trousers were three inches too short, and his shoes had buckles.

  “It’s something. That’s for sure.” Dave eyed the odd man for a while. He couldn’t be sure, but now and then when the morning sun hit his dark eyes, they almost seemed to gleam not brown but dark red.

  The group headed toward the city, meandering through the crowd of pigeons who didn’t fly away this time but simply milled around and parted like a gray feathered sea. They walked toward the pier docks which lined the other side of the street. Some of the pigeons followed Miradon like obedient dogs, and one landed on his hat. He ignored it while it cooed happily and ruffled its feathers, settling down as if it was going to stay.

  Dave edged away from the odd fellow, giving Charis a worried look. “Who are these people, again?”

  “Shh,” she slapped his hand lightly as if he were a child. “So where did you smell him, Dust?”

  “Well,” the young skater-dude (he looked sixteen except that he had old-man wrinkles around his eyes, very fine) shuffled along for a few steps, then dropped his skateboard and stepped on, gliding at walking speed next to them effortlessly as if the board itself was motorized. “I caught him down by the docks first, which is why we are starting here. I don’t know how far he’s been able to move since then, we have no idea how fast he can travel.”

  Scott continued to glare sidelong at Dave, clearly not trusting him or wanting him there.

  Dave returned the glare and took Charis’ hand.

  She fluttered her lashes at him.

  Miradon, walking behind everyone, smiled at the couple as if they were adorable.

  Dave put his arm around her shoulders and shot Scott a triumphant look.

  Scott rolled his eyes and proceeded to ignore them.

  They made it across the busy street to the piers and headed toward the looming Bay Bridge and the more industrial piers on the other side of the freeway. Seagulls paced them evidently calling to Miradon. The pigeon remained on his hat for a long time. Birds seemed to really like him.

  It was a bit of a walk and Dave had plenty of time to bend down and mutter to Charis, “I thought we were going to sit down and you were going to explain the invisible people thing. And the Harvies.”

  “Oh. Right. Well, didn’t I?” She gestured toward the sky. “It’s pretty simple. Bad guys, good guys, lots of invisible things roaming around in the world that humans can’t see. No, they’re not from Rune. The aliens from Rune just gave a few of us the ability to see the stuff that was already here. And I’m not supposed to tell you that since it’s top secret. Yes, the Earth has always been full of invisible shit. I know, you’re not supposed to believe in something you can’t see, I know your mom taught you that the thing in the closet was just your imagination, but let me put it this way: everything you were taught to believe before Rune came is total bullshit. So just forget everything you thought you knew. It’s time to relearn everything.”

  “I got that there are different kinds of invisible monster. Good guys versus bad guys. But what are you doing with them? Who are these people?” Dave frowned at Scott.

  “These guys are my friends from school. My team members. We all went to a kind of um…” she glanced at the others, “a school to learn about paranormal investigation.”

  Scott snorted derisively.

  “We are all scientists.”

  Miradon laughed, a single short ‘ha!’

  Dave shot Miridon and Dusty dubious looks. “You mean they’re ghost busters?”

  Dusty started to giggle.

  “Yah. We’re all ghost busters. What we do is deal with unseen things, because we are like you; we all have gifts. We can see them, and we can deal with things on their level. Normal people cannot see them, and don’t realize the bad guys are the ones who have always been controlling everything, even before Rune came. What we are going to do now is find one of these invisible things…”

  “…or not so invisible,” Scott muttered darkly.

  “…that is causing trouble around the city, and stop it! We’re going to bust it, like the movie! Right?” She grinned winningly.

  “It it from Rune?” Dave asked flatly.

  The silence from the group, the glances they exchanged, were his answer.

  “Is this some kind of top secret alien Rune Space Force bullshit?” He demanded a bit too loudly for Charis’s comfort.

  “Shhh, people will hear you.”

  Scott burst out in disgust, “Yes, it’s top secret Space Force bullshit, now would you please stop trying to blow our cover?”

  Dave looked dubiously at Ebenezer’s long red wool cloak. “I don’t know if you need my help for that, buddy. And none of you look much like Space Force cadets. What are you going to do to stop this theoretical menace? You don’t even have guns.”

  Miradon laughed again as if that was a great joke, throwing back his head and dumping the poor pigeon off. It fluttered away somewhere.

  Dusty said very drowsily as if he were high on weed, “we don’t need guns, man.” He flashed Dave a huge white-tooth grin as he wove down the sidewalk on the skateboard.

  Space Force or not, the group didn’t seem worried about whatever danger they were heading straight toward. Everyone moved approached their target confidently, all of them staring straight ahead five abreast like an old western movie. Red cloak guy… skateboard guy… fashion victim guy… trench coat starlet… and Dave, wondering what he was doing with these people.