Nnedi Okorafor - Lagoon

“That guy says they’re tearing each other apart out there because everyone thinks everyone else is an alien and no one knows what the aliens really look like.”

“Superstitious bollocks. At least this place is safe.”

“For now.”

“How can they just shut down the airports?”

“Fucking aliens, my arse.”

Agu tucked his chin into his neck as he slipped past them. He didn’t want to answer any questions. He peeked into the computer center. Every single one was in use. “Shit,” he whispered.

He rubbed his forehead as he approached the reception desk. Focus, Agu , he thought. First things first. Get back to Adaora’s house .

“Obi,” he said, leaning on the reception desk. A smile touched his lips, his first in who knew how long. It felt good.

His little cousin Obinna’s back was to Agu, as he spoke with several of his colleagues. Further down the counter, one poor desk clerk was stuck arguing with a frazzled-looking group of white women.

“Please, just calm down,” the desk clerk begged, holding up her hands.

Two of the white women were leaning on each other and weeping as they glanced at the front doors. They were probably afraid that machete-wielding Area Boys were about to burst into the hotel. On any other night, Agu would have sneered at such women. Tonight, it seemed, their fears were more than justified.

Obinna turned around. “ Agu? ” He grinned. “Brother!” He leaned over the counter to give him a hug.

Agu held up his hands. “You don’t want to hug me,” he said. “I smell like hell and I’m dripping with sweat.”

“You came from out there?” Obi asked.

“It’s bad,” was all Agu said.

“What happened to you?”

Agu had always looked out for his little cousin. He’d been the one to get him this receptionist job. The son of his mother’s closest sister, Obi might as well have been his brother. But that didn’t change the fact that Agu had been aware of all his life: Obi lacked courage and imagination. When there was a fight, Obi fled. When challenged, he fled. When someone did wrong and it was time to stand, he fled. Best for him to stay at the Eko and know nothing about Ayodele or where Agu was headed.

“I just got caught up in it,” Agu said. He glanced over his shoulder and met the eyes of the flustered, red-faced British expat. The man was staring at him as if he were an alien. Not again , Agu thought. He turned back to his cousin.

“Obi,” he said. “You’ve got to help me.”

“ Na wao ,” Obi said, looking him up and down. “Seriously, bro, what has happened to you?”

“You will never believe me,” Agu said, lowering his voice. He hesitated, reconsidering his request. But what choice did he have? “Please, abeg , I need… internet. Let me use your laptop. I know you have it back there.”

“Why not use the public ones?” Obi asked, frowning.

“I need to send a text. But all your computers are being used,” he said.

“For?”

“I just need to contact someone.”

Obi paused, looking at him for a moment. Agu almost laughed at the ridiculousness of his little cousin looking him over as if he were some Area Boy. Obi was still the Obi he’d always known: a coward, and more loyal to his job than the cousin who got him the job.

“How do I know you’re not one of… one of them?” Obi blurted. He looked as if he regretted the question the moment it escaped from his lips, but he didn’t take his words back. Agu snorted with disgust and sucked his teeth loudly.

Two of Obi’s colleagues were walking toward them. One was a tall, intense-looking man and the other was a short woman. Toyin and Vanessa, going by their nametags.

“Who is this?” Toyin asked.

“ Abeg , fly,” Agu snapped at Toyin, growing impatient.

“Do you know him?” Vanessa asked Obi, ignoring Agu. “We can have him thrown out. Look at him.”

Obi, his own cousin, looked uncertainly between Agu and the newcomers. Images of all that had happened tried to flood Agu’s mind. Being underwater. The questions. Fighting Adaora’s crazed husband. And if he ever got his hands on Benson, that would be a dark day indeed. The speedboat and the men torn apart in the water by monsters. The sea cow that had brought him to shore. The dead whale. The riots. His power. He might have killed someone back there in the street.

Agu took another deep breath, feeling a bit steadier. He had to get to Ayodele. If he could get her to the President, all this might stop. Might.

“Look,” Agu said, raising his voice. “I know what’s going on. I am a soldier. You see my clothes? Ehe ,” he nodded. “I have been to hell and back tonight.” He paused. “I have… seen them. I know them. Please, abeg , Obinna, brother, let me just get online for a few minutes, o.”

Vanessa and Toyin stared at him, open-mouthed.

“So you have seen them?” Vanessa finally asked, her voice soft with awe.

“I have.”

“Are they dangerous?”

They could be , he thought. “No.”

Vanessa shook her head. “I have to disagree, after what that one did to the airwaves and networks.”

“And by the way you are looking,” Toyin added.

“ They didn’t do this to me,” he snapped. “Human beings did!”

“What the hell is going on out there?” Obi asked him, ducking down to get his laptop and setting it on the counter.

“Chaos,” Agu said, waking the computer and clicking open Obi’s Skype application. Thankfully Obi had some credit on it. “And if you let it touch you, you become part of it. Do things you’d never do.” He looked up at his cousin. “Obi, I know you have a mobile phone.” Obi looked away. Mumu! Idiot! Agu thought angrily. “Just call my parents, sha . Please. Make sure they are all right.” He typed in Anthony’s number – he hoped he remembered it correctly – and quickly tapped out a brief message.

Obi nodded, bringing the phone from his pocket and turning away.

After hitting send, Agu leaned back against the counter. He could see that a building across the street was on fire.

“They are OK,” Obi said, turning back and hanging up the phone. “They said there were some men – soldiers – but they stayed inside and they’re fine. Who—”

“The story is too long to tell,” Agu said. He felt faint with relief. So it seemed that Benson had made good on his threat against Agu’s family. Evil man.

“Do you think this is the end of days?” Obi asked, wide-eyed.

“No.”

Adaora read the text message from Agu three times: “Stay put. I’m coming. Agu.”

She handed the phone back to Anthony, put her elbows on the table and let her head fall into her hands. Hassam, the soldier who had tried to administer first aid to Adaora’s daughter, had left. He said he was going to try to restore peace to Victoria Island. Adaora was glad he was gone.

The windows were open to let in fresh air – hot, humid air. The house stank of smoke, regardless. She wasn’t sure if it was from the fire Chris had put out or the burning house a block away. With her eyes closed, the sounds of windows being smashed, a door being kicked in, screeching tires, and people running and shouting on the roads and lawns was louder.

She peeked through her fingers at the tiny monkey sitting on the kitchen table looking sullen, and her belly cramped from suppressed giggles. The monkey was fuzzy, soft, brown, had a pinched face like a sour elder and was so small it could comfortably sit in the palm of Adaora’s hand. It looked exactly like a smaller version of the stuffed animal Kola grasped in her arms every night.