by Dave Lemel
“Shut the doors!” Jerry shouted as they ran deeper inside the barn. “Out of the way,” he yelled as he climbed into a pickup. He turned the truck on and drove it straight at the sunlight seeping through the gap between the two doors. He nudged the front bumper firmly up against it, then jumped out.
“Mom,” Kyle called into his walkie talkie. “Mom! You need to get underground now. Head for the house and use the basement tunnel entrance. We’re securing the barn best we can, then heading down too.”
“We’re not gonna make it, kiddo,” crackled back through the speaker.
A series of thuds pounded the barn doors. Kyle sprinted for a window at the side of the barn facing the house. He threw himself up against the glass and tried to locate the others. All breath left his lungs as he watched in horror.
Glinting red saucer drones rained down on the big white farmhouse. Window glass ejecting out from between black shutters dotting the face of the structure. Explosions immediately followed, blasting debris out of the windows and blowing the few people that had made it to the wraparound porch clean off and into the yard.
Three cat droids pounced on the writhing, scattered bodies. Flames ripped out from every visible hole in the house as it quickly became engulfed in raging fire. “No!” Kyle yelled out. “No, please no!” A horrible screeching noise burst into the barn from back near the doors.
The screeching raised in pitch and was quickly drowned out by the unmistakable sound of wood being torn apart by a rapidly rotating blade. “Kid, come on. ” Jerry pulled Kyle toward the hatch. “There’s nothing we can do for them, and that’s a cat droid cutting through the front wall of the barn.”
Kyle violently shook Jerry off. “No way. No way I’m leaving them. Let go of me!”
“Kid, that droid is going to be inside here in a few seconds. Anyone still in here at that point is dead. Don’t make me drag you. My leg is holding on by a thread right now, but I’ll do it.”
Kyle aggressively gestured at the hatch. “Go! I don’t care. I’m not abandoning them.”
Jerry stared at the young man and then out the window. He turned and ran for the hatch. He slammed it shut and covered it up with hay. “That droid is coming through any second, kid. We gotta be ready.”
Kyle’s eyes darted around the interior of the barn. “Should we go up in the loft?”
“No way. They can climb extraordinarily well, and they have insane leaping ability. In fact,” Jerry looked straight up, “do you hear that?”
Kyle mimicked Jerry’s eye angle, and the cutting sound stopped. “Something’s on the roof.”
“In the truck.” Jerry limped for the driver’s side door of the pickup he had nudged up against the barn doors. Kyle ran for the passenger side. As soon as both doors shut, Jerry slammed the truck in reverse and backed it up as far as it could go. The cat droid that had cut itself an entrance pushed its way in. Jerry floored the accelerator, the front of the truck pointed right at it.
The cat droid leaped in the air and landed on the hood. The truck violently slammed into the new hole in the door. As it crashed, the planks of weathered wood splintered, and the droid was knocked clean off the vehicle.
Jerry slammed the truck in reverse and backed up as far as possible once again. He put the truck back in drive and mashed the accelerator. Just as the truck tore through the now larger opening, two more cat droids fell through the ceiling, landing behind them. One gave chase as the truck gained speed, kicking up gravel toward its pursuer.
“The house.” Kyle pointed at the two-story home now burning aggressively. “We have to try and help them.”
Jerry adjusted course, and the truck bounced and skipped into the long grass of the yard in front of the house. “Watch out, kid,” Jerry said with an eye on the rearview mirror. THUD. The truck rocked. “Cat in the bed.”
Jerry stomped on the brakes, and the droid slid through the bed of the pickup before crashing into the back of the cab. Jerry quickly rolled his foot from the brake to the accelerator, and the cat droid slid through the bed and into the tailgate. It jumped up, kicking off the tailgate, and landed on the roof of the cab. Kyle looked up as four sets of metal claws punctured the ceiling.
“Ummm, I don’t think he’s going anywhere next time you slam on the brakes.”
Jerry tried anyway. The truck skidded and stopped suddenly. The large droid on the roof remained firmly planted on its perch. The metal groaned as it tore open in the powerful paw of the mechanical beast. The men seated in the cab of the truck stared up into the glowing set of lime green “eyes.”
The cat droid vanished from its perch in a bright golden flash. A giant gunmetal gray ship roared past in the sky above the hole.
“What was that?” Kyle shouted as two more large gray ships flew over, followed by what looked like a flying blue and white classic Camaro. All of them were firing a constant stream of golden pulses.
“That’s a star marshal cruiser,” said Jerry, relief washing over his face. “Not sure ’bout those big gray ones, but I’d venture a guess whoever they are, they’re on our side.”
Glinting cherry-red drones plummeted from the sky, bouncing off the surfaces they struck as they sprinkled all over the yard, fields, and structures. The few still-functioning cat droids attempted a retreat and were pursued. After finishing off their prey, all three gray ships as well as the star marshal cruiser returned to the sky above the yard before softly descending and landing.
Jerry threw the truck in park, and Kyle jumped out. Kyle raced all over the yard, checking the bodies strewn across the tall green grass. Jerry carefully stepped down and out of the truck cab and quickly selected the star marshal cruiser as his destination. As he neared it from the rear, a short man, then a tall man exited one side, followed by a slender Bopecan from the other.
“You star marshals?” Jerry asked the two humans, his hand outstretched.
Li received the hand and shook it. “That guy is,” he replied as he pointed at Foggen. He then jerked his thumb at Jack, followed by himself. “This ugly guy and me are just a couple of hitchhikers.”
Jerry grinned and shook Jack’s hand, then Foggen’s, as he made his way around the front. “Thank you,” he said, still clutching Foggen’s hand. “We’d be toast if you hadn’t shown up.”
“I am sorry we did not arrive sooner,” Foggen replied. “It appears there have been quite a few casualties.”
“Still,” Jerry glanced around at the destruction, “could have been much worse.”
He spotted Kyle walking in their direction with his mother by his side. She appeared to have survived the attack unscathed. People emerged from the barn through the hole Jerry had driven through. Jasper was among them, and once he spotted the group by the cruiser, he ran towards them. He arrived first and forced a deep breath into his lungs before spitting out, “What the heck happened?”
“Drones and droids,” replied Jerry. “Tons of ’em. Lucky to be alive. Wouldn’t be if these guys hadn’t shown up when they did.”
Kyle and Lydia arrived, Lydia shaking her head as she approached. “My word, do you folks have impeccable timing.”
“I apologize for our arrival coming after so many casualties,” Foggen replied as he reached a hand out to her.
Lydia accepted the hand and shook it firmly. “No apologies necessary. This was cruising towards total loss of life. You folks saved our skins.”
“Your house,” said Jasper, staring at the now roaring blaze as it devoured what was left of the structure.
“Meh.” Lydia glanced over her shoulder. “It was a good home.” She turned back toward the assembled group. “I’m more concerned about the people we got here than a house. We got our bunker. Barn looks like it came out of the battle okay too.”
Foggen looked Jasper up and down. “Are you related to Star Marshal Simon Cain?”
“He’s my brother. You know him?”
Foggen grinned. “I serve aboard the Henrietta with him and am honored to call him my fri
end.” He offered Jasper his hand. “You look very much like him.”
“Yeah,” Jasper said, shaking his hand, “people sometimes used to ask if we’re twins. Ridiculous. I have way better hair, and my smile blows his out of the water.”
Jack chuckled as he extended his hand. “I’m Jack, and that’s Li.” Li waved from behind him. “Your bro is a cool dude.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you? Supposedly we’re helping him somehow, but we haven’t heard from him in a while, and the trip to Star Marshal Base has been slow goin’, to say the least.”
“Your brother and the small team he is with are arriving at the base now,” replied Foggen. “They should be in a tunnel that leads to the headquarters building as we speak.”
“Well then, no chance we’re getting there in time to help. We are days if not weeks away still.”
“Not anymore,” said Li.
“What do you mean?”
“These ships can cover that distance in minutes,” Foggen replied. “Anyone who is willing is welcome. We can use all the help we can get. Numbers are not on our side.”
“Well, I’m in,” said Jasper.
“I’m certain what’s left of our crew is all in at this point. All our vehicles too,” added Jerry.
“I wanna go,” tumbled out of Kyle’s mouth. He spun to face his mother. “Please. Please can I go, Mom?”
Lydia inhaled deeply before turning away and slowly looking around the farm.
Chapter 31
“Tell the hover droid to halt there,” Lombargnor stated as he observed the feed from Shelly on the cruiser dash screen. “Stop the cruiser here,” Lombargnor directed Todd as Simon gave Shelly her new instructions. “We will continue from here on foot.”
Todd obliged and set the black and chrome vehicle down on the damp tunnel floor. The scissor doors swung up, and Todd and Lombargnor stepped out. Todd inhaled deeply through his nose. “It is seriously dank down here. You sure ventilation is working properly?”
Lombargnor checked his link. “Oxygen levels are in the acceptable range,” he answered as Simon and Sasha exited the cruiser behind him.
“How far we gotta hoof it?” Todd inquired.
“Approximately one and a half kilometers.”
“Call coming in from Foggen,” Simon announced as the four gathered at the front of the cruiser. “Jass!” Simon shouted as he answered the transmission and his brother’s face appeared on his forearm beside Foggen’s. “Where are you guys?”
“Heading towards you as soon as we load up. Your buddy here just miraculously fell out of the sky and saved a lot of people’s lives.”
“Is Robin okay?”
“He should be. Haven’t seen him in a couple days though.”
“What do you mean? Where is he?”
“He and more than half our crew headed back for the mountains. It’s been a rough go, man. We’re not even halfway there.”
“They were in the western half of the state of Nebraska when we found them,” said Foggen. “We spotted the attack on our approach to the surface and adjusted course to help whoever the target was. It was a lucky coincidence that your brother was among them.”
“Lucky for us,” said Jasper.
“As well as us,” said Foggen. “We had selected the western approach to focus our largest landing contingent since we hadn’t heard from your group in so long. The hope was that we could locate the group you were traveling with on our descent. Now we will have an even more significant attacking force when we arrive.”
“This is welcome news indeed,” said Lombargnor. “How long do you anticipate your transit to Star Marshal Base to take from your current location?”
“Once we have loaded everyone as well as all the vehicles, the flight time to Star Marshal Base will be less than five minutes. We have nearly completed loading.”
“Then complete it as quickly as possible. We are in the tunnel and will be under the headquarters building in a matter of minutes. The southern and northern teams should be nearing the outskirts of the base now. They will draw significant interest from the Vikard defenses. Your arrival timed slightly after the Vikards are forced to engage those two attacking forces should create an amount of confusion sufficient to cover our entry into headquarters and, hopefully, even afford us enough time to locate and dispatch Dow himself.”
Jerry leaned in between Jasper and Foggen’s faces. “You really believe taking out this one Vikard will end all this? They committed all these resources to an occupation they’re that easily persuaded to give up on?”
“I believe the vast majority of Vikard command and leadership feel this vendetta launched by Dow to be foolish and counterproductive to their ultimate goal of galactic domination. Devoting this level of focus and resources on an insignificant threat to their overall goal in a strategically insignificant solar system will be seen as a mistake to be rectified as quickly as possible if Dow is no longer in charge. If Dow is removed from power, I fully anticipate full retreat from Earth. The Vikard tend to be singularly focused on inserting themselves as galactic overlords. They will come to the conclusion that dealing with a pesky resistance such as this is a task better to be addressed after achieving that goal.”
“But wouldn’t they want to make us pay for our insubordination? Squash us before we became stronger and a greater threat?”
“The Vikard do not think that way,” Lombargnor replied. “Think of it as you might if you had a rodent or insect infestation in a building. Would you be concerned that if you abandoned that building the pests would one day gain the ability to rise up and overthrow you? Now imagine that building was one of thousands that you possessed. And this particular building was of little or no significance to you or your overall operation. Dow is somewhat unique for his species in that he has developed such an acute need to avenge absolutely every slight on such a personal level.”
“Hope you’re right,” replied Jerry as he stepped back from between Foggen and Jasper.
“Foggen,” Lombargnor continued, “as they finish loading, please inform Captain Stormin of my current location. Also, I have an assignment for you. The three of you traveling in the cruiser will swing around Star Marshal Base on final approach. Amid all the chaos there will be an assault launching out of the lake as well. A fleet of attack vessels are on approach under the surface of the lake as we speak. As they exit the water and begin their attack, you will land your cruiser on the bluff. The three of you will approach on foot from there. Once you have infiltrated the base, you are to add to the chaos by helping Jack detonate explosives inside the grounds.”
“Understood,” Foggen replied.
“I wanna go with them,” said Jasper. “That sounds important. Can I go with them?”
“I will leave that decision in your capable hands, Foggen. We must get moving, and so must you. Good luck.”
“Love you, Jass,” Simon shouted as the transmission ended.
Chapter 32
“You gotta let me come,” Jasper pleaded with Foggen. “I promise I’ll do whatever you ask.”
Foggen nodded. “We have an empty seat in the cruiser. You may join us if you truly wish. This is going to be exceedingly dangerous though.”
“Hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk gettin’ here,” Jasper replied. “Made it this far; I want to see it through to the finish.”
“I want in too,” Kyle stated firmly. “Don’t care if I don’t fit in that nifty cruiser.” He swung his arm in the direction of the blue vehicle with white striping. “I’ll go with Jerry.”
“Son, I think that’s a request you need to discuss with your mother.” Jerry glanced around. “And make your pitch quick, ’cause it looks like departure is any minute.”
“I’m going,” Kyle said matter-of-factly as he turned to face his mother. “You did. When you heard the call you answered. Now I need to answer.”
Lydia smirked. “Nice pitch.” She sighed and rubbed the hair at the top of his head. “You’l
l keep an eye on him?” she asked Jerry.
“Won’t let him out of my sight.” He stepped closer and stared into Kyle’s dark eyes. “I mean it, kid. Glued to my hip. We are nothing but covering fire in this operation. Still extremely dangerous, but do not amplify that danger trying to be some kind of hero.”
“I promise, sir.” Kyle stood rail straight. “I will follow your every command.”
Jerry nodded towards Lydia. “Give your mom a hug.” He turned and grasped Jasper by the arm. “You watch yourself too.” He embraced him. “Good luck, kid.”
“You too,” Jasper replied as they separated. “You guys better load up over there. Looks like they’re ’bout to close that door.”
Kyle started to follow Jerry and stopped. “Mom, why don’t you come too?” he shouted over his shoulder as engines began cranking back up. “You’d be a major asset.”
“I’m needed here, kiddo. Go!” She smiled thinly. “Before I change my mind.”
Kyle turned and raced after Jerry up the ramp and into the nearest Bopecan ship. The ramp raised up and shut flush to the ship. The Earth began to shake as the immense vessels powered up their engines further and prepared for takeoff.
“Think that’s our cue,” Jack said, pointing into the back seat of the cruiser. Li climbed in and Jasper followed as Foggen shut the driver’s side door. Jack slid in and pulled his door down while Foggen fired up the cruiser and lifted it off the ground. He carefully piloted the small vehicle towards the nearest Bopecan ship. As he neared the top of the rear portion of the ship, he rotated the cruiser to face front and gently lowered it onto the outer surface of the ship. He latched the cruiser in place.
“We are affixed and ready to go,” announced Foggen. “Hang tight, everyone. The initial acceleration may be a bit of a jolt.”
“Jack?” Li began from the backseat, the landscape behind him blurring into a brownish green stripe as the ship they were attached to accelerated rapidly towards its destination.
