TWO DAYS LATER - TRAFALGAR SQUARE - LONDON - MARENGLNAD

It was a cloudy day over Trafalgar square but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for the residents of London. It had rained earlier in the day so the street were still slick with water and the sky looked like it might rain again soon. This didn’t stop the tourists and families from walking about taking pictures, laughing and generally having a good time.

A simple family of three were standing next to Nelson’s column. The father was holding a video camera and shooting film of his smiling wife and his giggling son who were feeding the pigeons that swarmed the historic site.

As the father aimed the camera to follow a flock that had just took flight, the mother noticed her son was looking sad and confused.

“What’s the matter Pip?” She asked him getting his father’s attention as well. He looked at her then pointed to something a few yards away from them. His parents looked and say one of the pigeons on the ground dead. Pip’s father wrapped an arm around his son as he spoke.

“It’s okay, son.” He said in a consoling voice to his troubled child.

“These things happen all the time and…” He was interrupted but two pigeons smashing into the base of the column beside him. The father’s eyes widened as he looked around and watched more and more birds start to smash into things and people at random killing the birds instantly or injuring others when they struck.

In an instant every bird in Trafalgar Square took flight confused and panicked warbles and screeches. Pip’s mother quickly bundled him in her arms doing her best to shield him from the swarms of birds that flew dived all around them.

“Let’s go, Let’s go! Come on!” His father yelled as he pulled his wife and son along all the while scanning the sky for any feathery projectiles and looking for shelter. All around the densely packed square people ran screaming covering their heads and faces as the birds flew into them at full force.

People in the building didn’t fare much better than those outside as the birds struck and shattered the windows before flying inside the buildings like out of control missiles. The seemed to strike at random, more like they were blind and scared so they went in whatever direction they could go.

The streets were utter chaos cars brakes and tires squealed as they tried to avoid people running around. They drivers didn’t get far either as the birds smashed and cracked their windshields making it impossible to drive and sending many cars crashing into buildings people and other cars.

The worst was the double decker bus that was driving through that day. Birds crashed through the windows, clawing and flapping to escape and scaring the passengers. A few made it into the cab where the driver was and caused him to lose control of the wheel and flipping the buss onto its side and onto the people unlucky to be beside it.

Pip’s father pulled them along doing his best to cover his wife and son from the bird swarm, he noticed a shop open and rushed them all inside it to get out of the birds path. The trio huddled together as Pip cried into his mother’s shirt, frightened and she tried to comfort him as best she could.

Pips mother and father looked outside and watched in horror as the large flock of birds came at the windows of the shop they’d hidden in. Like a tidal wave of flesh bone and feathers the birds slammed into the windows shattering them to pieces and swarmed into the shop scratching and pecking at anything they touched.

Pip screamed in fear as the birds screeched and warbled around him. Then as suddenly as they’d come they left all the birds flying straight out and into the sky like it was another day leaving a traumatized PipSqueak and his fearful parents in their wake.

NEXT MORNING - SPIKE DRGNUS’S OFFICE - CHICAGO

Spike, maud and Tom were staring at his laptop monitor and watching a news feed about what happened in London the previous day. Spike had his arms crossed and his face was scrunched in thought as the reporter talked.

“The skies are empty over Nelson’s Column now, but a few hours ago it was a different story. Eye witnesses claimed that the frenzied swarm of birds were not in fact attacking people deliberately but seemed to be confused and flying blind. In the meantime however, eleven people are confirmed dead and dozens more are injured in the panic that followed the bizarre and terrifying incident in London’s historic Trafalgar square” The reporter finished and Spike’s attention was pulled to Tom when he gestured to the screen.

“And it’s not just this time. No, no, no, no, no, no, The Fortean Times reported violent bird swarms twice last month in Australia and Neighpan.” Tom said and brandished the magazine like it was a hidden relic.

“Hmm… Weird.” Spike agreed as he rubbed his chin and took a few steps away to think. Maud, in her strange sense of humor, said.

“Quite strange also.” With a completely blank face. Tom just smiled at her with a chuckle.

“Mm, strange indeed.” He said adopting a heavily stereotypical Indian accent. Spike just rolled his eyes and thought they should just kiss, get it over with then travel to a nearby hotel and… His brain screeched to a halt as something clicked.

“That might mean…” He thought as his mind worked out the problem and his eyes widened in alarm. He needed to confirm this first before he jumped to conclusions.

“How do birds navigate?” He asked his assistants as he started to pace slightly. They both looked at him in confusion.

“By sight?” Tom answered hesitantly and Spike shook his head.

“No, no, no the long range stuff.” He explained. Tom just blinked so Maud took over.

“The magnetic field. The little ions in their brain align with the magnetic field of Equis.” She said confidently.

“Yeah, what she said. Right?” It wasn’t Tom field of study so he wasn’t sure. Spike eyes just got bigger and bigger as pieces of a massive puzzle fell into place.

“Boulder!” He said forcefully, making Tom’s head snap around and focus on him. Spike never raise his voice unless he was serious.

“Hit the ‘net, do a search for… um, oh, two years ought to do it. Any and all, like, “weird news”, you know. Bizarre animal migrations, specifically birds. Whale and dolphin beachings.” Spike darted around the office like a hummingbird turning on computers booting up programs grabbing books out of stacks that then tumbled to the ground and were ignored.

“Unusual atmospheric phenomena, unexplained plane crashes, you know, just use your imagination.” Spike said as he rushed over to a black board and started erasing what was on it. Tom sputtered for a few seconds before getting his mind in order.

“That is a huge search Spike.” he complained Spike turned and gave him a dead pan looked that just screamed ‘are you serious’.

“You can use our T-1 Line to look up that Lunar Sailor's crap. You’re up to this.” He admonished before finishing erasing and leaving a completely embarrassed Tom who was getting a raised eyebrow from Maud. Tom just shrugged.

“I like the outfits.” He defended before rushing away to start the search and get away from the stare of his crush. Spike continued to rush around the room before he remembered maud was there too.

“Maud, Maud, get me the brightest kids from the field theory class and design a computer model of an electromagnetic field.” He said before going behind his desk and digging in his drawers for something.

“What are we doing?” She asked him his head poked up from behind his desk to answer.

“I need a 3D computer model of the planet Equis to lay the field over.” He said as he carried a few binder out from behind his desk. Tom jumped back into the conversation at that moment.

“Whoa-ho-ho, The Planet Equis?” He asked a bit shocked. Spike just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, the planet Equis, you know, the pretty blue one.” He snarked. A small snort found its way from Maud's nose and Tom pouted at her.

“Et tu Maud?” he sighed but Spike ignore him and continued talking to Maud.

“Map out the anomalies that Boulder finds and grunt out the equations. And uh, grab those smelly kids from the non-linear Diff class too.” He set down all the thing he'd gather at his computer station and start to frantically type away. Tom was starting to get worried about his mentor/friend.

“Listen, Spike, do we even have time for this?” He asked trying to make some sense about what Spike was doing but Spike just threw him for a loop once again.

“Do this and I’ll sign your doctorates blindfolded.” He said turning so he was looking directly at them and they could see how serious he was. This got him his own Maud eyebrow raise in response. Two in one day from Maud, a new record.

“Blindfolded?” She asked.

“Blindfolded. Do not pass GO. Go directly to PhD.” He said and turned back around and continued his frantic typing and clicking on his computer. Leaving both his assistants in shock till they both looked at each other and shrugged then went about their assigned tasks.

Spike finished his typing and waited for the computer to do its thing. He ran his hands threw his hair and found them to be trembling slightly. Clenching them into fists he took a deep breath and let it out.

“Be wrong. Be wrong.” He repeated to himself like a mantra as he continued to wrack his brain trying to solve this.

Author's Note

oooo, the plot thickens. where will this go next... you'll have to wait and see. Hope you enjoyed Chapter two and don't for get... Evil always finds a way.