False Invasion

by George Willson

  “I don’t care what you’re doing,” a guard barked. “You will stand up and place all your freaky arms in the air.”

  “We are no danger to you,” the being said.

  “Tell that to my grandfather,” the guard said. “He died at the hands of you monsters.”

  “Tell that to all of our dead,” someone in the crowd said which roused others to do the same.

  “That was many years ago,” one of the other beings who was apparently a leader insisted. “Please, let us contact our people so we can help clean up this mess, and go back home.”

  “Oh sure, call more of your friends now that you’ve seen where our development is so you can invade once more,” the guard insisted.

  “”That’s not what’s going on here,” the leader being said.

  “Then what is?” Harold Andersoppen said in a tone that said he would not believe anything they said as he walked out of a vehicle that had just arrived. “Why are you here?”

  “We were hit while traveling to another of our worlds,” the leader said.

  “A world you subjugated,” one of the crowd yelled out causing another ripple of anger. Harold put his hand up to sate the crowd.

  “How, if you were traveling so innocently, did you end up in the space around our planet?” Harold asked. “Your people agreed to let us be.”

  “It was an accident,” the leader said.

  “Convenient accident,” Harold said. “That you should accidentally be in our space, and accidentally crash and survive, and accidentally land so close to one of our most sacred places. Do you realize you could have killed us all had you landed only a few yards in this direction?” Harold indicated the direction of the shrine.

  “I apologize most deeply,” the leader said. “We were too close to your planet when we were hit. It was true neglect on the part of our pilot. He paid the ultimate price for his mistake already. Once we lost control, we passed into your space, and into your atmosphere. It was all we could do to use our thrusters to prevent a most uncontrolled landing. We did the best we could, but we are the only survivors.”

  “We will be the judge of that,” Harold said. He turned to other guards who were arriving in a group transport. “Search the ship.”

  “That would be unwise,” the leader said. “It is a wreck and unsafe for anyone.”

  “Trying to keep your secrets hidden, are you?” Harold said. “You cannot hide from us. We will find your hidden platoon.”

  “Hidden platoon?” Blake whispered skeptically. He pulled his scanner covertly out of his pocket and scanned the crashed ship for life. It was empty, and the being on the ground was beyond hope as well. Four guards entered the open door of the ship.

  “I told you to stand up,” the guard told the one on the ground once more.

  “You have to permit me the chance to save his life,” the one on the ground said. The guard fired his energy weapon at the one who was dying who did not even twitch on impact. It would not matter if the weapon stunned or killed, the one on the ground was certainly dead now.

  “Now,” the guard said coldly. “Stand up.” The being on the ground grimaced and stood angrily before them. He lifted his arms over his head.

  “All we need to do is communicate with our people, and we will leave you,” the leader said.

  “We can’t allow that,” Harold said. “We have ourselves to look after, and we cannot trust that you aren’t leading a new invasion.”

  “Our people have not had dealings with each other for over seventy years,” the leader said. “How can you-”

  “We know how long it has been, but for many of us, the pain still feels fresh,” Harold said. “We feel it every time we see a chair that should have been filled in our childhoods or remember a story of a loved one who was raised alone because of you.”

  “Surely, you know how it ended,” the leader said. “It was before my time, and I know the details. We all do.”

  “As do we,” Harold said. “There is nothing you can-”

  At that moment, there was an explosion from inside the ship. The people gasped as smoke billowed out the door. Harold looked worried and looked to a guard behind him. He spoke into a small communication device in his hand.

  “Search team, come in please,” the guard said. No answer. Silence. “Search team, do you read?” Still silence.

  “Take them away,” Harold said. “They will be dealt with as enemies of our people for their crimes against us.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t follow me,” Blake said softly to Perry and Michelle. Blake stepped forward away from the crowd.

  “Have you heard nothing this person has said?” Blake called out as he walked toward Harold. Harold looked upon him with scorn and condescension. “He has explained what happened and even though you blatantly killed one of his crew, he has not raised a weapon or hand against you. His ship is empty and unstable, and yet you chose to send people in there. His actions have not been that of a criminal or invader. He had an accident in space and wants to go home. Whatever bad blood there was, surely it cannot be with his generation.”

  Harold walked slowly to Blake, his eyes blazing with anger.

  “Whatever bad blood?” Harold said incredulously. “How dare you even speak to me? How dare you suggest that this is innocent?”

  “He has spoken plainly,” Blake said. “He just wants to-” Blake was suddenly hit in the back by a guard who had made his way behind him. Blake dropped to his knees..

  “You dare to tell me how to run my site?” Harold asked. “You are no one, peasant. You are a Voraster sympathizer who deserves their fate. Did you call them here? Did you give them the coordinates of our sacred source of life? You realize that you could have destroyed us all? There is only one sentence for a sympathizer who consorts with our enemies to destroy us, and that is death. Your trial, only a formality in your case, will be quick. Both you and your conspirators will die once the celebration ends. I will not give any Voraster or their insiders the pleasure of being called a martyr or sharing the day of their death with anything we hold dear. Take them away!”

  Guards dragged Blake away along with the four living creatures who were apparently called Vorasters. Michelle looked at Perry as their leader left their presence.

  “Was he upset that we weren’t arrested this time?” Michelle asked.

  “Maybe,” Perry said. “He thinks that if he gets caught doing something, he can learn more about it. I’m pretty sure he knew that would happen.”

  “So we get to figure out what we can from out here,” Michelle said.

  “That’s what I’m going with,” Perry said. “I would say almost everyone out here knows all about these creatures and their history with this planet. I would hesitate to talk to just anyone, though, cause all of us locked up together won’t help.”

  They looked around at the crowd. Most of them were cheering and congratulating Andersoppen on his quick decision-making and desire to protect his people, but others they noticed were as saddened and concerned as Blake had been. One of the concerned was a woman in her twenties who turned her gaze to the two of them, and Michelle realized that she and her two companions were dressed similarly which did not resemble the garb of anyone on the planet.

  The woman whose gaze she met gestured with a curling finger to follow her. Michelle elbowed Perry and nodded towards the woman. He shrugged, and while Blake was going with the contingency of guards, Michelle and Perry hoped that they were going toward someone that might be able to help them rather than walking into their own danger.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Perry and Michelle followed the woman through the crowds as they dispersed. An announcement from an official indicated that there would be activities related to the celebration occurring back in town, and they encouraged everyone to join in to meet others and find out more about their history. The woman was not heading toward the center of town, however. She led them to the edge of the crowd without a word and then away from the square entirely o
nce they reached the city limits.

  When they got far enough from the crowds, she stopped and turned to them. “That man was with you, wasn’t he?”

  “He was,” Michelle said. “Why do you ask?”

  “Why did he do that?” she asked.

  “He mostly has a penchant for trouble,” Perry said. “But he also has a soft spot for fighting injustice.”

  “But injustice against a Voraster?” she asked. “Why would he care? No one here cares.”

  “This is because of some kind of war?” Michelle asked.

  “And how do you not know that?” the woman asked. “Your clothes are strange as well. Where did you come from?”

  “Well, we’re not from around here,” Perry said.

  “I’m not sure how those in charge will feel about visitors,” the woman said. “I mean, you look human, but we’ve been alone out here for some time. The only visitors we’ve ever had wanted to kill us.”

  “I gathered that was some time ago, though,” Michelle said. “We’d really like to know what you can tell us about it.”

  “So you came here from somewhere,” the woman said, “you know nothing about, our culture, or our history, and you think you can just hit us with a battery of questions to catch up.”

  “That is our usual way of it, yes,” Perry said. The woman stared at them for long enough to make them uncomfortable. Michelle finally had to break the silence.

  “What do you want with us?” Michelle asked. “You called me out.”

  “I saw that you were not with the crowd on the treatment of the Vorasters,” the woman said. “You were like many of us in that we know what happened, but we do not share the hatred of their species.”

  “If they attacked you, why would you not dislike them?” Michelle asked. “Are they your enemies?”

  “In reality, they never were,” the woman explained. “The Vorasters that attacked us about seventy-five years ago did so only over a very short period of time. It hurt us significantly because we had no defenses against them. We still don’t. We learned, however, that the ones who attacked us were members of a single family, and their own people punished them for attacking a defenseless world. We haven’t seen them since, but that short period awakened us to how weak we were, and as a people, we’ve lived in fear ever since. We came from Earth, but unlike other colonies, we have no support because we got lost along the way. So we’re alone out here. Everyone knows it. What’s worse: everyone knows that if they wanted to, the Vorasters could obliterate us.”

  “That is certainly a frightening place to be,” Perry said. “But you said there are some that don’t share this internal fear or hatred.”

  “The Vorasters promised to leave us alone,” the woman said. “They made good on that promise. We think they might even be able to help us get back in touch with Earth if we’d be willing to work with them, but those in power hold to the fear the people have. The Vorasters have made no attempt to engage us in communication at all. It almost feels like they can’t or shouldn’t.”

  “The non-interference directive,” Perry said.

  “The what?” the woman asked.

  “I don’t know much about it,” Perry said. “Our friend, who was captured, knows more, but I know there was a Galactic Federation that held to a non-interference directive that prohibited any kind of influence over lesser developed planets or cultures. They may see your world as being beneath their level of technological development and feel obligated to keep their distance.”

  “But we aren’t,” the woman insisted. “I don’t know about a Galactic Federation, but Earth was a part of the Unified Galaxies as a founding member. If their criteria is the capability of interstellar travel, we have that. We even have nicer looking ships.”

  “I think their problem is that they don’t know that,” Michelle said.

  “How did you get their home planet’s attention?” Perry asked.

  “The way the story went is that there was enough power left in the Mirificus to send a distress call to anyone listening,” the woman explained. “They heard it and assisted.”

  “So their only interaction with you is a distress call,” Perry said, “and they see a ragtag group of settlers.”

  “I guess so,” the woman said.

  “They might have felt like it wasn’t their place to assist further,” Michelle said.

  “I also suspect no one asked for any more help than they gave,” Perry said. “Anger can run deep. Some people would die before accepting help from someone they distrust or dislike.”

  “And that’s where we were with them,” the woman said. “We still are.”

  She shook her head in dismay. “Come with me,” she said and immediately walked through town away from the festival. She moved at a quick pace, but they easily kept up with her.

  “I don’t suppose we got her name at any point,” Perry said. Michelle shook her head.

  “We got straight down to business,” Michelle said. “It never came up.”

  “I’m Janecia,” the woman said having overheard them. “Janecia Long. My great-great-grandfather was a lieutenant on the Mirificus, and one of the few command crew that survived. My great-great-grandmother was one of the colonists who lost her husband in the crash. I know everything they could possibly talk about at the festival. My great-great-grandfather practically wrote the book on the crash from the logs and such.”

  “Oh, I remember that,” Perry said. “What was his name? I can see that page in my head.”

  “What page?” Michelle asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “That was when you were trapped in Carburast,” Perry said. “We had gone to this guy’s house at one point, and he had this handwritten manuscript of the ship’s log that he published. Long was the guy who wrote the info on the first page. Jim? Jake? I know it began with a J.”

  “Jack,” Janecia said, stopping and turning to him. “You saw my grandfather’s manuscript?”

  “Uh,” Perry said, uncertain as to how to respond.

  “Where did you see it?” Janecia insisted. “It went missing several years ago.”

  “Well, if it helps, it goes unmissing several years from now,” Perry said.

  “Is that some kind of a joke?” Janecia said. “That manuscript was his legacy. My grandmother had put it in a sealed box to protect it, and somewhere along the line, it got misplaced. She says she lost it, but my mother thinks she hid it somewhere to make sure it stays safe. If you found it-”

  “I assure I did not find it,” Perry said.

  “You told her you'd seen it,” Janecia said.

  “Well, yes,” Perry said. He looked very uncomfortable, and it appeared he did not want to discuss this. He was also unsure of how to change the subject successfully now that this bombshell had dropped. Janecia continued to stare at him intently as if trying to drill a hole through him with her eyes.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “Ok,” Perry said, “you probably won’t believe us on this point, but it’s all we have. I can tell you this colony survives for quite some time completely without Earth’s involvement. Apparently, no one invades you ever again. In about 1400 years or so, a man will discover this box in a cave while treasure hunting, and he will find the manuscript of your great-great-grandfather. He will recopy the entire thing stroke for stroke and publish it into a book to share it with the whole world.”

  Perry chose to leave out the part about no one in the world believing a word of it since no one by that time thought they were from anywhere other than Keersh.

  “I’m not an idiot,” Janecia said.

  “Ok, you know what the manuscript talks about?” Perry asked.

  “It tells about the final days of our voyage from Earth, why we ended up here, and how we survived the crash,” Janecia said. “I hear the story every year. It has been passed down from generation to generation in my family.”

  “And do your stories include three travelers who dropped in out of nowhere to help
?” Perry asked. “Three people who didn’t fit in but were able to help beyond measure?”

  “Yes,” Janecia said. “But everyone knows that part.”

  “I’m Perry.”

  “I’m Michelle.”

  “Blake has been detained,” Perry said.

  Janecia started at them for a long moment, her face unmoved. Little by little, it changed into one of shock. Her mouth dropped open, and she stumbled backward, falling to the ground. Michelle reached out to help her.

  “Are you all right?” Michelle asked.

  “Don’t touch me,” Janecia said. She climbed to her feet and stepped away from them. “That happened a hundred years ago. It’s not possible.”

  “A lot of things aren’t possible that I’ve witnessed in my time,” Perry said. “What will flip your lid, little lady, is that those events haven’t happened to us yet. We don’t know what we’ll do, and we’ll thank you not to tell us.”

  “Why not?” Janecia asked in confusion.

  “I don’t know,” Perry said. “Blake says it's a bad idea.”

  “I am not saying I believe you,” Janecia said. “I know how to confirm it though.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Perry asked.

  “I can verify you are who you say you are,” Janecia said. “There are people who masquerade as those three travelers all the time. Every year, in fact. I think what messed with my head was how convincing you are. You act just like how the stories say. Most cosplayers are pompous about it. According to the stories, they were anything but.”

  “See?” Perry said to Michelle, “it’s the humility that really pays off.”

  Janecia looked at them suspiciously, and while she still overtly doubted them, part of her believed what they said. She led them down a different path than they were following previously, presumably to wherever it was they were going to prove their identities. They passed out of the congested inner city into an area with some modest brick houses lined up along a road. They approached one of them and paused for Janecia to turn to them.