The Unlikely Defenders

by Scott Haworth

  Jeffery whipped his rifle around and jabbed the butt into the nearest Kessiam’s face. He heard the sound of bone crunching as the alien staggered backwards. He put a hand on either end of his rifle and swung around towards the second alien. With his height superiority he was able to knock the creature down to the ground. He brought his right foot up and smashed it into the alien’s face. He whipped around and found the first alien leaning against the wall and aiming its directed energy weapon at him. Blood was trickling down the creature’s face. Disoriented, the creature was able to get off two shots that both missed the target. Jeffery took two steps forward and cracked the butt of his rifle into the alien’s head. He repeated the action twice more until he was sure it was dead.

  “Hey there,” Jeffery said, looking down at the small boy. “Can you tell me what your name is?”

  “Billy,” the boy replied sheepishly. He looked uneasily at the four bodies on the ground.

  “Where are your parents, Billy?”

  “In the gym, I think.”

  Jeffery’s heart sank at the poor boy’s response. He extended his hand to help the boy to his feet. He brushed off some of the dirt from the boy’s back before putting his arm around him. Jeffery felt no wave of excitement. No dirty thoughts ran through his mind. He was no longer capable of those feelings.

  “Let’s get you out of here,” Jeffery said. He directed the boy back towards the intersection of the hallway.

  A devilish smile appeared on Fadi’s face as he observed the enemy position. He had spent his life fighting against one of the most well-trained armies in the world. Even with all their superior technology the aliens were nothing compared to the Israelis. This fact was apparent given their defensive position.

  The aliens had set up a makeshift airbase in a clearing on the outskirts of Ramallah. Twelve of their small fighter ships were scattered around the field in no particular pattern. About fifty of the aliens were milling about seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were in a war zone. Fadi was confident he could have engaged the enemy position with only a handful of men. As luck would have it though, he had helped to assemble a much larger force than that. The assault was going to be a walk in the park.

  “The trees to the far left will provide excellent cover. We should send a small detachment there. However, I still believe that our current position is best for the main assault,” Fadi whispered to the commander of the Palestinian police.

  The commander looked around at the areas that Fadi had indicated. He turned back to look at several of his young policemen and armed civilians who had assembled in the area. He desperately wanted to be in charge of the operation, but he pushed his pride aside. “I have to admit,” he began reluctantly. “I am, perhaps, not the best suited for this kind of thing. I trust you to take command.”

  Fadi was taken aback by the commander’s statement. He had not believed that the man would be so rational about the situation. He nodded his appreciation at the policeman before explaining his plan to the assembled force. He kept the plan as simple as possible. These were policemen and civilians after all, not trained freedom fighters.

  The assault began ten minutes later as the Palestinians opened up with a barrage of rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire. Even given their lack of experience with the heavier weapons, the Palestinians managed to destroy half of the Kessiam ships in the opening volley. Two more volleys were necessary to finish off the aircraft. During that time none of the alien ships even attempted to take off.

  The alien soldiers suffered a similar fate. Caught in the open, they fell en masse to the human fire. A handful managed to duck behind the charred remains of several ships. This put them out of the line of sight of either of the human positions.

  Fadi ordered some of his men forward from the position. They ran at a good speed until they were close to the destroyed alien ships. Fadi split the men up to clear the area. He approached one of the ships with an alien pistol in either hand. Fadi turned and nodded his head at the three men who had joined him. They nodded back reassuringly. He jumped the last foot and aimed his weapons at the rear of the ship. A single, unarmed Kessiam shot its head up at the terrifyingly large primate. Its clothes were stained with mud and some blood of one of its comrades. It cringed and crossed its forearms in an X.

  Fadi unceremoniously shot the creature in the head. “Clear!” he shouted calmly.

  There was a brief flurry of small arms fire followed by several similar calls of accomplishment. Fadi lowered his weapons and walked back towards the original human position. He only walked a few feet before running into the commander of the Palestinian police.

  “Any casualties?” the commander asked.

  “None,” Fadi responded happily. “This war will be over in no time.”

  “I wish I shared your optimism,” the commander responded.

  Fadi smiled at the commander’s pessimism. The man could not understand as he had no experience in such matters. Fadi turned back towards the alien ships. The Palestinians were rummaging through the area, picking up weapons and kicking at charred alien corpses. Fadi’s heart filled with joy. He was finally leading men again.

  A policewoman barreled through the door coughing uncontrollably and holding her arm. Jennifer and another cop shut the door behind her and stuffed more t-shirts under it. John McLeary stepped forward to aid the wounded policewoman.

  “They’re still down there,” the policewoman said after her coughing fit ended. She winced as John moved her hand to look at the energy burn on her arm. “I used the last of the grenades.”

  “It looks superficial,” John said as he reached for a bandage out of one of the first aid kits. “I’m going to wrap it up to cut down the risk of infection though. You might want to bite down on something.”

  Jennifer walked over and took the hand of the woman’s uninjured arm.

  The woman groaned and clenched her teeth as John wrapped the wound. “I don’t think infection is really going to matter in a few minutes.”

  No one in the room tried to disagree with her. They were eight cops against a swarm of aliens so large that they could not all fit in the lobby downstairs. The officers sat in silence as the minutes ticked down.

  “Stairwell should be starting to clear up,” John said solemnly. He moved behind one of the desks and aimed his shotgun at the door. The other officers spread out around the room and took similar positions. Jennifer took position behind the desk closest to John.

  “I feel like I should say something meaningful right now,” she said to John. Her eyes started to tear up. “Like… it’s been a pleasure serving with you. Or… I’ll see you on the other side.”

  John smiled half-heartedly. “Maybe we should confess our sins to each other,” he joked. “I swiped my neighbor’s newspaper last week.”

  “Then I guess she won’t be seeing you on the other side,” the wounded policewoman said. “You’re going to hell!” she shouted before forcing a laugh.

  Jennifer did not laugh at the woman’s joke. Instead her face became very serious. “Then we’ll still meet,” she sobbed. She picked her head up and stared over at John through red eyes. “I have no sins to confess. Everyone already knows my sins. They gave me medals for them.”

  “Don’t say that,” John responded sadly. “The most important thing—”

  John’s attempt at consolation was cut short by a wave of gunshots. The police officers looked around frantically as if that would give them a better view of what was going on below them. Jennifer was the first to identify where the sounds were coming from. She ran to the nearest window as shouting started to join with the gunfire.

  “Jesus!” she yelled, wiping the tears from her eyes and sniffling. She let out an exhausted sigh of relief as she lowered her pistol to her side. “Come see this!”

  The other officers abandoned their positions and crowded around the windows. On the street below them hundreds of humans were starting to make their way towards the lobby of the police sta
tion. Most were armed with traditional firearms although some had acquired directed energy weapons. The sound of gunshots and energy blasts increased as the swarm of Kessiams started to return fire.

  “That’s one hell of a militia,” John said.

  “Should we go down and help out?” Jennifer asked. The prospect was not particularly appealing, but she felt that it was the right thing to do.

  “No,” John replied, shaking his head. “The stairwell is still filled with gas. Besides, we don’t want to start a crossfire. We’ll let the civilians help us for a change.”

  Jennifer suddenly felt weak. She pulled a nearby chair over and collapsed into it. The ordeal was finally over.

  “Ms. Kemmer, can you hear me all right?” Bill Shephard said into the telephone on the desk in front of him.

  “Yes, I can hear you fine,” replied a tired Australian voice.

  “Good. The Kessiams have replied to the greeting you recommended. In a moment we’re going to start direct talks with their leader. You’ll have to translate what the alien says into English and then what President Dyer says into Kessiam.”

  “Monibar.”

  “I’m sorry?” Bill responded.

  “That’s what their language is called. Monibar. It’s not like we speak Human,” Julie answered irritably.

  “No, I suppose we don’t. Stand by please,” Bill responded. He reached forward and muted the telephone.

  “She sounds tired,” President Dyer said with a smirk.

  “Can hardly blame her. An alien invasion and then ten hours of straight work translating a completely new language will do that to a person.”

  “Any last minute suggestions before I get into this?” Dyer asked everyone who was assembled in the Situation Room.

  “Their asses are on the burner,” the Marine Corps chief of staff said immediately. “We’re the ones in the position of power.”

  “They still have their fleet. We need to be very careful—” the Air Force chief of staff started.

  “Bullshit!” the Marine general interrupted. “We destroyed a good number of their ships with our nuclear strike. If they could do anything from up there they already would have!”

  Dyer did not try to settle the generals down. As it turned out he did not need to anyway. Within a minute an aide informed him that the leader of the Kessiams was ready. Dyer leaned forward and pressed the mute button on the telephone.

  “This is President William P. Dyer of the United States of America. To whom am I speaking?”

  Julie’s tired voice translated the message into Monibar. There was a pause as the same language was heard from another voice. “This is Anarcmy, leader of the Kessiams,” Julie translated.

  Dyer was eager to ask the Kessiam an array of questions: Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you attack Earth? It had been decided earlier that these questions would have to wait. This first discussion had only one goal. “Are you willing to discuss the terms of a ceasefire?”

  “I hereby announce the… um… unconditional surrender of all Kessiam forces,” Julie translated after a moment.

  “Ms. Kemmer, are you sure you have that translation right?” Dyer asked skeptically.

  “Yes, Mr. President.”

  “Anarcmy, if I understand your offer correctly you are willing to surrender both your forces on Earth and the fleet in orbit?”

  “That is correct,” Julie said, translating the Kessiam leader’s response.

  Dyer leaned forward and pressed the mute button on the telephone again. He turned towards Bill Shephard. “Um… that was easy?”

  “I don’t like it,” Bill started. “Their ground forces I can understand, but why would they surrender their fleet? Why not just fly away?”

  “Maybe they can’t,” the Marine general suggested. “Maybe they only brought enough fuel for a one way trip. They clearly aren’t a very well-prepared group. The fact that we’re still sitting here is a testament to that.”

  “Never look a gift horse in the mouth,” the Secretary of Defense agreed.

  “There’s also that old saying about Greeks bearing gifts,” the Air Force general added.

  “Sir, you don’t have the authority to negotiate this deal for the entire planet. We can get the rest of the West to go along but what about the Chinese?” Bill asked.

  “The Chinese will have to accept it. They’ll be too terrified that we’ll have exclusive access to all the Kessiam technology. We’ll get to dictate terms to them for once,” Dyer said. He pressed the mute button once again. “Anarcmy, we accept your unconditional surrender.”

  He was exhausted, but Dyer’s job was not done. He stayed on the line for hours and hammered out the details of the end of the war.

  Daniel Nelson’s trip through France had been remarkably uneventful. He had helped himself to an abandoned car just outside of Dieppe’s small airfield. He had passed very close by to a group of the aliens while leaving the French town. They had looked at his car dispassionately and made no attempt to fire at it.

  The six hundred mile car ride to Marseilles had gone smoothly. The biggest obstacle he had faced was a number of abandoned cars in his path. Traffic was very light. Evidently the people of France understood that there was nowhere to flee. The aliens were staying off of the highways too. They had more important things to worry about. Fatigue became his biggest foe towards the end of the trip.

  As he approached the outskirts of the city he was surprised to see a French military checkpoint. One of the soldiers casually motioned for him to stop his car.

  “Parlez vous—” Daniel began.

  “Yes, I speak English,” the soldier said irritably. “Where are you heading?”

  “The naval base,” Daniel responded. He tapped a finger against his rank insignia in the hopes of getting a more polite response from the soldier. “Is there much alien activity between here and there?”

  “Of course not!” the soldier scoffed. He was not in the least bit intimidated by the English naval officer. “Just because you Englishmen mock our courage does not mean we do not have any. Most of Marseilles was cleared out well before the surrender.”

  “Surrender?” Daniel asked skeptically. “I have been driving for quite some time and this car’s radio is broken. Please tell me what has happened.”

  “The Australians deciphered the alien language and the Americans negotiated a deal. Not that we needed them to of course. We were in the process of mopping up the last of the creatures when the deal was struck.”

  Daniel flopped back against his chair’s headrest. He muttered his thanks to the unpleasant soldier and continued on his way to the French naval base. What started as shock quickly changed into anger. He was one of the few people in the entire world who was saddened to learn that the war was over. Daniel knew that it meant the end of his combat career.

  The guards in front of the naval station were the first to incur his wrath. They made the mistake of questioning what business he had inside the base. After a number of choice words, the guards were cleared by superior officers to allow the Englishman entrance. They directed him towards the area where the H.M.S. Illustrious was moored.

  Daniel slammed the door of the car and approached a group of English sailors who were standing on the pier. One of the men not-so-subtly hid a bottle behind his back as he saw the officer approaching. The man nodded his head in the direction of Daniel. The other two sailors, whose backs were turned to Daniel, turned around and quieted down. The sailors saluted rigidly.

  “What the hell are you men doing?” Daniel growled. “Why aren’t you on the ship?”

  “The war is over, sir,” one of the men said. “The ship is no longer on alert.”

  “And you’re already on shore leave?” Daniel questioned.

  “No, sir. Lieutenant Hudson said we could come down to stretch our legs for a bit. We’ve been servicing planes for almost—”

  Daniel pushed towards the sailor in the center and snatched the bottle from behind the man’s bac
k. “Did Lieutenant Hudson also give you permission to drink?” he shouted. He threw the bottle against the pier. It shattered loudly. He gave the men a moment to respond. Wisely, none of them did. “I’ll be speaking with Hudson soon enough. I’m sure he’ll want to put you all on report. For now though, I have more pressing issues. I assume Captain Rossling is still in command?”

  “Yes, sir,” responded one of the sailors. He continued reluctantly as Daniel started to make his way aboard. “But you won’t find him aboard, sir. He stepped off to have a conference with one of the frog admirals.”

  Daniel turned sharply and stared at the man with contempt. “He’s left the ship in the middle of this crisis?” he asked.

  Daniel had phrased it as a question, but the three sailors correctly decided not to answer. They were saved by the sudden appearance of two Kessiams who emerged from the darkness into the light around the pier. Daniel pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the creatures. The other three men were unarmed.

  “Sir!” one of the sailors shouted. “They’re probably surrendering. They’re unarmed.”

  The Kessiams approached cautiously with their forearms crossed. When they were within a few feet of the group of humans they crouched down and lowered their heads.

  “How do you suppose they got inside the naval base?” one of the sailors asked.

  “Would have been bloody hard. The French did a good job of securing the base from the start. Maybe they landed inside and they’ve just been hiding…” the sailor trailed off as Daniel started to move.

  Daniel took two steps forward and leveled his pistol. He shot both the aliens twice in the head. As he turned back towards the ship he noticed the appalled looks on the faces of the sailors. “Had they been armed you three would be dead right now. Consider it a reminder to stay vigilant.”