Original Design

by William Latoria

  Tapping a few interface buttons on his display, Blackshade saw that not only was his squadron formed up, but all of his war machines were in the green, fully loaded, and ready to kick ass.

  “Ma’am, my squadron is ready to kick ass and chew gum… and they’re all out of gum.” he replied, equally as smug.

  His response received a chorus of nervous laughter from the assembled group. He didn’t realize just how much they all seemed to need that laughter until he heard the anxiety in some of their tones. He was glad to hear it though. It was reassuring to know that they all understood just how dire the situation was.

  After the laughter died down, the rest of the Squadron Commanders reported on their statuses. Ironically, the only squadron that wasn’t fully operational was based out of Minot. The Squadron Commander responsible made a few apologies and excuses before promising that he would personally see to his squadron being ready to go before the spacecraft arrived. This seemed to placate everyone.

  Chief General Beauford Smithson, base commander of Cold Lake Army Air Base in Alberta, was the one that finally addressed the elephant in the room.

  “So, what do we do if we have to fight them, eh? How do we combat an enemy that may be able to bomb us into oblivion from orbit?” he asked matter-of-factly.

  The room went dead quiet as each of the Commanders silently went through their options. Blackshade wasn’t sure exactly what options the other commanders had at their disposal, but his squadron’s primary function was to enforce the law when regular police action wasn’t enough. Typically, the citizens of Candaerica were content, polite, and followed all of the rules and regulations that the government imposed on them. Their society was generally very happy, with people’s feelings federally protected just as strongly as their possessions. Violent crime virtually didn’t exist, and jail time was usually reserved for citizens found guilty of being multiple offending bullies.

  Yet, not all of Candaerica’s citizens found this idealistic lifestyle as perfect as they should. Some people intentionally went out of their way to try and upset the system. Some did so by hacking into corporate systems and causing havoc for the company. Some used their skills with computers to put vulgar virtual graffiti in school programs and educational systems in order to further their own perverse agendas. The vilest of offenders however, were the ones that didn’t use the internet to spread their terrorism. The worst offenders brought violence into reality by intentionally being rude and/or causing grief in public places. Usually an offender went to a high traffic area and began spouting off vile rhetoric in an attempt to cause controversy. Then they would physically assault any citizen that contradicted them or refused to agree with their opinions. Not all offenders were so theatrical with their crimes though. Some simply abused family members, with the worst of the worst attacking the most vulnerable of society, children. Just the thought of someone physically assaulting a child got Blackshade’s pulse racing. It took a concentrated effort on his part to bring himself back under control.

  When these kind of offenders were identified, or when the Candaerican police called for back-up, Blackshade and his squadron responded anywhere in the country. He and his Air Soldiers were specially trained to use violence to stop violence, and they were exceptionally good at it. Once an undesirable citizen was detained, they were brought into one of their Mobile Detainment Conveyances, or MDC, and brought before a judge for immediate prosecution. A virtual lawyer would be activated if the accused citizen couldn’t afford to have a flesh and blood lawyer shuttled in, or if it would take too long to bring their lawyer to the MDC. Once the accused was found guilty, they were given two options for punishment, imprisonment or death. It was not uncommon for a judge to waive the convict’s right of choice if they were particularly disgusted with their actions. In which case, death was the prescribed punishment and was carried out immediately using a hand held Anti-life device. The fact that Candaerica had been able to miniaturize Anti-life technology to this level was classified above Top Secret, so every man and woman that served under him was handpicked. Only the most trustworthy and patriotic military members were selected to serve under his command.

  Serving their country in this capacity took a toll on the psyche of most of the Air Soldiers under his command. To help them cope with the job they had to do, Blackshade created a phrase that helped his troops get through the difficulties that came with violence. It was the same phrase he had mistakenly said to Rufus earlier that day, “Cruel so that others are kind.” The phrase itself didn’t actually help his people assuage their guilt, but it helped to remind them why they had to do what they do. It reminded them that in order for Candaerica to continue being the peaceful, utopian society that it was, undesirable citizens that refused to conform had to be eliminated. It wasn’t an easy job, but someone had to do it, and his squadron was one of the few capable of making it happen. Despite all of this, he took a lot of pride knowing that he and his squadron were directly responsible for the continued well-being of their country. Their work was very much classified, and they would never be allowed to tell anyone about what they did, but as long as the country was kind, their cruelty was a small price to pay. His Air Soldiers took to the phrase almost religiously, and in order to keep it sacred it was discouraged to speak the phrase anywhere non-squadron members could hear it. The sanctity of the phrase was protected, just as fervently as any military secret, or religious ritual, and that’s what gave it its potency.

  Dealing with deplorable citizens was one thing. Technology, numbers, and training were always on his side when dealing with them. Against the possibility of an alien attack however, he felt utterly unprepared. The other Commanders began throwing ideas around, seeing if anyone thought they were a good idea. Just has Blackshade had dreaded though, none of them were.

  “We could erect our shield emitters. If we can solve the power problem and stop the circuits from melting down, we might be able to protect small areas from orbital bombardment.” Senior Colonel Tumon suggested.

  Instantly, Colonel Weston Pith condemned the idea, “First of all, Senior Colonel, that technology is classified and should not be discussed in this forum. Second, the idea that we could solve all of the problems with our shield tech in less than ten hours is wishful thinking at its worst.” he spat maliciously. Colonel Pith’s dislike of Senior Colonel Tumon was well known. He had coveted the position of Test Commander, and felt that her promotion to the position over his was an egregious error. It wasn’t uncommon for the two of them to clash at these meetings.

  Before Senior Colonel Tumon could respond, Colonel Raine Duskbar, Squadron Commander out of Goosebay Army Air Base in Newfoundland interrupted. “We need to evacuate all the major cities and get people into shelters! We need safe spaces for everyone right now!”

  There was a handful of Commanders that heartily agreed with Colonel Duskbar’s idea, but Blackshade knew it was because those particular Commanders just wanted to save their own backsides. The minute a safe space opened up, he knew most of them would dive into it. It was a foolish idea in his opinion though. If the aliens could get here, they could probably find a safe space and break into it, or at least blow it up. He wasn’t surprised that it had been Colonel Duskbar to make the suggestion.

  Colonel Duskbar was in charge of supporting the police in the northern states, much in the same way as Blackshade did in the south. Either of them could respond to any request in the country, but they tended to stay in their section of the country out of an unspoken professional courtesy. Blackshade thought she was incredibly inept at the job, but her father was a senator, and because of that, there was nothing to be done for it. She was known to panic quickly, fall back into government provided space spaces where people went to avoid harm, both physical and mental, and generally be incredibly unreliable when it came to having to enforce Candaerican law. Many of the other Commanders indulged her in order to get in good with her father, and this was a fact he was sure she used to her advantage. Personally, she w
as one of the people he hated most in the military. Military service was about self-sacrifice, not self-indulgence. His temper began to rise.

  “We don’t have that luxury, and we don’t have any way to fight the aliens if they become hostile. We have to assume that the aliens are technologically superior to us and plan accordingly. If we get aggressive, if we adopt a posture that can be perceived as threatening to them, we may force their hand and end up being exterminated. It is our job as military commanders to ensure that does not happen if we can avoid it. But if it does happen, we need to do whatever it takes in order to diminish the casualties of our citizens as much as possible!” he said, aggravated.

  Again, his harsh tone made the other commanders look away as they absorbed his words. It was Chief General Snicket who finally broke the silence.

  “So what do you suggest, Colonel Blackshade?” he asked, defeated, “You’re not wrong. The aliens are obviously more advanced than we are. They are coming at us at one-sixth the speed of light, for God’s sake! Nothing we’ve got moves anywhere close to that! So what can we do, Colonel? What do we do when they arrive? What do we do if they land here? Or if they land in another country? What can we do?”

  Blackshade clenched his jaw. All of the Commanders were looking at him now, and he knew he had to respond, but he hated what he was going to tell them. “If they land in our country, we meet them with a strong military presence. We surround their ship the best we can and let them make the first move. We cannot be the aggressors, but we can’t be caught unprepared either. The Presidents and the senate should go to their shelters. I don’t think it’ll protect them for long, but it may buy them some time if a fight does break out. If the aliens land and want to talk, hopefully they’ll have some way to communicate with us, and then we see what they want. If they’re peaceful, then we have nothing to worry about. If they’re hostile, well… then we fight them with everything we’ve got until there’s no one left to fight.” he paused, letting his statement sink in, and to give him a chance to get the cold pit of fear in his stomach under control, “I don’t see any other options available to us.”

  Blackshade sat back down, unaware that he had been standing. His legs felt weak and the reality of having to fight such a superior foe was unnerving him. The fact that these could be his last few days on Earth unnerved him even more. He wanted to vomit out of fear, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. Better to be uncomfortable than to show weakness in front of his peers.

  Some of the other commanders muted their microphones and began talking with people outside of the holoprojector’s sensors. Others began talking in private side bars as they discussed what he said. The sideways glares from Colonel Duskbar did not go unnoticed, but he didn’t care. Her father couldn’t do anything to him if the aliens proved hostile. He would be too busy hunkering down in his bunker, probably pissing himself, to worry about the Squadron Commander that scared his daughter. It took the other Commanders a while to return to the meeting, but eventually the attention beacon flashed across the room, and Secretary of Defense Demarcus Panthony spoke.

  “Colonel Blackshade, I agree with your assessment of the situation. As the ranking individual at this meeting, I have decided to act on your suggestion. All squadrons are to maintain Crimson Red alert, and if the aliens enter our air space, they are to respond with their full military complement. Our response to their actions should be swift, and equal. If they come in peace, we will be peaceful. If they come as conquerors, we will resist them with every option at our disposal. Under no circumstances are we to act in an aggressive manner first! A violent response will only be authorized if the aliens strike first. Do you get me?” he asked assertively.

  Murmurs of approval came from the other Commanders, Blackshade being among them. He had a bad feeling more was coming from this. He didn’t like the predatory way the Secretary kept looking at him…like he was making sure he didn’t try to run away before he could finish. Almost as if reacting to a queue, Colonel Duskbar spoke.

  “Who is going to be appointed to lead the forces that will meet the aliens?” she asked, far too sweetly, considering the subject. The bad feeling in Blackshade’s stomach intensified. He saw where this was going and realized, too late, what was about to happen. The smile that formed on Duskbar’s face all but confirmed it.

  “Well, it won’t be any of the Generals or the Secretaries. If the aliens prove to be hostile, they are far too valuable to lose.” Secretary Panthony began. Blackshade’s mouth went dry as the Chief Generals nodded their agreement. “And it shouldn’t be a Senior Colonel, because they will be needed should a war break out between Russia and China…which will most likely happen once Russia discovers that China’s government has committed suicide.” he explained as though he was talking to a room full of children. “And it can’t be anyone from the enlisted corps because an officer must lead the troops! So, that only leaves one of the Colonels…”

  Everyone in the meeting shifted their attention towards him, most of them smirking as if the punchline to an inside joke was about to be revealed. He knew what was coming, and if he was honest with himself, the idea excited him just as much as it terrified him. Being the first human to make direct contact with aliens was an incredible opportunity, but to be so vulnerable, so exposed to them if they proved to be hostile, was gut-wrenching. He did not want to die.

  Secretary Panthony began pacing along his table now, like a panther stalking his prey. “So, I believe it should be you, Colonel Blackshade.” he said, pausing to look over his shoulder at him. As much as Blackshade hated what was happening right now, he had to admit that the secretary had a flare for the dramatic.

  “You seem to have gotten your mind around the situation much faster than the rest of us, and you have the most… well… background experience to survive if the situation becomes violent. I’m sure you would agree that most of us do not.” he said darkly, as he returned to his seat. Blackshade wasn’t sure exactly why the Secretary seemed to have such hatred towards him or why he seemed to be enjoying handing down this potential suicide mission to him. He knew there were some members of the military that did not approve of the country’s methods of disposing of undesirable people. That they believed rehabilitation and acceptance were the best way to deal with the criminal element. Yet if the late teens of the century were any indicator, acceptance of violent behavior only resulted in larger and more intense acts of violence. Killing or incarcerating the instigator before they could escalate the situation had proven to be the best way to keep the peace. It was amazing to him how quickly people like the Secretary forgot that. Although, judging by the way Colonel Duskbar was unabashedly smiling at the Secretary, it could be as simple as he was just caught up in a political web. He wouldn’t be the first person to receive a suicide mission, thanks to the corrupt desires of senators and their ilk.

  “Do you have any objections to this, Colonel Blackshade?” the Secretary asked. To Blackshade, it was almost as if he was daring him to object.

  “No, Sir.” Blackshade said, as evenly as he could, “I understand what’s happening completely.”

  The Secretary almost looked disappointed, “Good, then I transfer all rights and authority to you for this mission.” he said, losing all interest in the subject almost immediately as he turned away.

  The rest of the meeting was spent planning out the strategy for what they would do if the aliens landed in Candaerica. Blackshade would have command over a third of the country’s forces. Once it was determined where the aliens would land, his forces would mass deploy in unison to the location. There, they would set up a perimeter and wait to see what the aliens would do. An interpreter, a mathematics expert, a signal and encoding expert, as well as an other-than-Earth based researcher, were being shuttled to him right now to be present and assist with communication. If the aliens landed in a foreign country, Blackshade would oversee Candaerica’s border security and strengthen their defenses in case of an invasion. Finally, if the aliens didn’t land on
Earth and just stayed in orbit, Blackshade would help coordinate the mass exodus of their citizens into underground safe space shelters, as protection in case the aliens decided to bomb them from orbit. He was strictly ordered by the Secretary to not seek shelter himself until every last citizen was evacuated.

  The rest of the military would be used to quell panicked citizens once word got out that an alien craft was in orbit. They would also be used to safeguard safe spaces and shelters that were being used by government officials and to continue monitoring the situation between Russia and China. Once all the minute details were ironed out and everyone understood their roles, there were only six hours before the alien ship was due to arrive. Dismissed, Blackshade turned around in his chair to face Zahera. She met his gaze flatly, clearly angered by the meeting.

  “If I ever see Duskbar again, I’m going to punch that rotten bitch right in her crooked nose.” she growled, as the holographic projectors powered down. “She’s as corrupt and evil as her rotten father, and they both should be arrested for it.” she seethed.

  Blackshade smiled. Zahera’s hatred of Duskbar outmatched even his own. It was because of Duskbar’s deceit that Zahera wasn’t a full Colonel yet. As an Under Colonel herself, Duskbar had stolen credit for a particularly impressive mission where Zahera had personally taken down two undesirables that had managed to make improvised bombs. Duskbar had arrived on the scene hours after Zahera had detained, tried and executed the accused. She asked Zahera for a debrief, and then reported up the chain that she had been the one to diffuse the situation. Zahera and Blackshade had of course cried foul, but thanks to Duskbar’s connections, and her father’s status, Zahera had received a reprimand for making a false accusation, and Duskbar had been promoted. Since then, Colonel Duskbar avoided Zahera like the plague. The situation had been a dark time in his career, and Zahera’s faith in the system had never fully recovered.