by Muga, D. M.
“Shut the front door! This guy’s 74 years old? I call bullshit.” Eileen blurts out.
“Eileen… Please hold off until he’s done. We need to listen to his words closely.” Steven replies.
“Right. Sorry, Steven.” She replies.
“Not a problem, Eileen.” He says as he looks over at her. “I just don’t want us to miss anything.”
Shen nods in agreement and before she can apologize again, Captain Abraham Jackson continues with his speech.
“Yes, I know. I know. It must sound unfathomable to your kind. But that’s only a small portion of what we have to offer to your kind. I understand that all of you must have so many questions... We will be leaving two of our crew members behind with your kind while we go to spread our message to the other surviving settlements here on Earth One. My two crew members will be somewhat of ambassadors of sorts, providing aid, care, and beginning to provide you with our past since your time.”
He’s leaving two people here? Interesting… I thought it would have been more, considering that he said they are here to help. She thinks as she watches the man’s face on the overly large projection/hologram.
There’s that sly smile again. Like he’s thinking about something funny… or at least funny to him.
Captain Abraham Jackson continues, “We look forward to rebuilding Earth One, side by side with your kind. Together, we can usher in a new era of strength and abundance for the human species. The Leviathan will return in several days, once we have contacted all surviving settlements from the Blue Hole Radius. Your time and attention are greatly appreciated. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon.”
Our kind? Aren’t we the same kind? Eileen questions.
Was that the end of his speech? I didn’t seem very informative…
She thinks she can see one of the men at the Captain's side raise his arm. In an instant, the massive projection/hologram is gone, and she watches as the platform descends back into the spaceship, which had landed in the dried-up lakebed.
“Wow. Well that was kind of a letdown. I thought that meeting the people from Earth Two would be much more exciting than that.” Eileen says, as she sees the platform is completely out of view now.
“We should consider ourselves lucky, Eileen.” Steven replies, with his eyes still on the colossal spaceship.
Eileen looks over to Steven, who’s standing next to her and leaning up against the hood of his Blazer. “Lucky? Why’s that Steven?”
“I have a very strong gut feeling that this could have gone sideways very quickly. I also have a good idea of what happened to Desert Eagle and Edwards Airforce Base yesterday morning.” Steven explains.
“You really think so? And Desert Eagle… that guy that Alexander was talking to on the radio, up in the desert?” Eileen questions.
“Yes, ma’am. Alexander asked me to check in with him at 0800 this morning, when they were supposed to check back in with each other. There was no response.” Steven says, with his focus still on the colossal spaceship.
“Now… I think I know why.” Steven adds.
Eileen looks back at the Leviathan and back to Steven.
He isn't wrong often. In fact, over the short time that I’ve known him, he hasn’t been wrong yet. She thinks as she stares at Ben’s Uncle.
“Do you think that the people at Edwards reacted differently and it got them killed?” Eileen asks directly.
“Maybe…” Steven says and pauses.
“I think it may have been a two-way street.” Steven adds
“How so?” Eileen asks.
“Edwards is a military installation and a huge spaceship landing there is kind of a big deal, and can be perceived as a threat. Couple that with how Captain Jackson spoke at us… I think that the interaction was very different from what we just had here.” Steven explains.
Spoke at us? Did he get a weird vibe from his sly smile too?
“What do you mean, spoke at us?” Eileen asks.
“Not sure if you caught it, but he had a way about him. He’s certainly the military type, but he had a certain way with words that sent up red flags. Plus, there was that unintentional smile of his. He mentioned your kind. Like we were different. He also acted like we could never understand that people from the future would have better technology and medicine than we do... If you ask me, that’s super condescending and it tells me that he looks down on us.” Steven explains.
Hmmm. Makes sense why he shushed me earlier. Eileen thinks to herself. He was really listening to what the Captain said and how he said it.
“So, you believe he’s actually 74 years old? He looks to be close to my age.” Eileen asks.
“It’s believable, considering they are from the future.” Steven replies. “But I’m going to need Alexander’s opinion on the matter. He’s the nerd of the group and he’s great with these sorts of questions.”
“Maybe… but I’d have to see it to believe it.” Eileen replies.
“Makes sense.” Steven responds.
Steven looks away from the spaceship and looks over at her. “Did you notice anything else about Captain Jackson's very short and direct speech?”
“Let’s see…” She replies. “He said that they are going to other settlements. They are here to help and that they are leaving two people behind to help us. But that’s strange to only leave two people with us… He also said that they’d be back in a few days.”
She pauses and looks back at Steven. “Did I miss something?”
“No, the message is all there. But it was more of how he said it and his approach to us. It seemed rehearsed and very much like a political campaign speech. It didn't sound heartfelt and genuine, but he did say all the right things.” Steven replies.
“It did sound rather robotic, didn’t it?” Eileen says as she thinks back to his sly smile. “And what about that sly grin he kept having?”
“My thoughts exactly, Eileen. Something’s off, and I think there’s more to them than they are telling. To be honest, he reminds me of a fox.” Steven explains.
“Well… how do we find out if they are leaving anything out and trying to hide stuff from us?” Eileen asks.
At that moment, they both look up and squint their eyes as the Leviathan lifts off the ground, high into the sky.
She watches as the colossal spaceship flies over them, with little to no sound at all, and heads away front the mountains, heading south.
“We ask the two people that they left behind.” Steven answers her previous question.
She looks back to Steven, who’s pointing down toward the dried-up lakebed where a small ship is with two people walking out of the side of it, a man and a woman.
The smaller ship that came from the much larger Leviathan looked to be the size of a railroad car, but slightly larger. It was rectangular in most of its shape, with cone-like ends on the front and back side of the ship. Or at least what Eileen assumed to be the front and back, since the two people were walking out of the center of the rectangle portion that faced their side of the dried-up lakebed.
On the side of the rectangular portion of the ship were two cylinders, which Eileen guessed to be thruster-like devices. She also assumed that there were two more of the same, on the opposite side of the ship, but that part of the ship was out of her view.
The man and woman walk a good ways away from their ship and stop, still in the dried-up lakebed. They then look at each other and say a few words before the woman puts her hands on her hips and the man crosses his arms against his torso. The woman then raises her hand and waves to the people on the shoreline of the dried up lakebed.
Eileen could have sworn to have seen the woman nudge the man, before he raised his own hand to wave at them and everyone else along the shoreline.
Eileen looks across the shoreline on her side, and then to what she can see across to the other side of the lakebed.
No one is moving toward them. Are they afraid? She thinks to herself.
&nb
sp; Well… I guess, technically, they are aliens. Since they have never been to our planet before now. So, I guess, it’s sort of scary.
“So, what do we do now?” Eileen asks.
“Well, we go ask them our questions, of course.” Steven says, as he strides off into the dried-up lakebed.
He would… she thinks as she rushes off to catch up with Steven, who appears to be the only person actually walking up to the people from another Earth.
Catching up and striding alongside of him, she asks, “So what are you going to ask them?”
“I’m going to ask them why exactly they are here. Where’s that Commander Yang guy from the first transmission? And just what the hell happened up in the desert, up at Edwards?” Steven replies in a huff, as he’s walking briskly toward the people from Earth Two.
“Steven, I don’t think it’s smart to pick a fight with these guys. Maybe we should tone it down a couple notches.” Eileen replies.
She then notices that the man and woman have taken notice of them walking toward them, turning in their direction, who are close to a hundred feet out now.
“Oh, Eileen… I don’t plan on being rude about it. And I doubt that they will tell us the truth. At least not the whole truth.” Steven replies.
“Well then, what's the point if you think they are going to lie to us?” Eileen asks.
“Because, my dear… It matters how they react to being questioned, and it matters in how they react to us in general.” Steven answers.
“I still don’t get it.” Eileen says, getting frustrated slightly.
Approaching speaking distance with the man and woman, Steven glances over at her. “Just follow my lead and try not to act like you don’t trust them.”
Like I don’t trust them? You’re the one alluding to the idea that they killed everyone up at that base in the desert.
“Like I don’t trust them?” She asks, sarcastically.
He doesn’t reply to her but instead announces, “Good afternoon! My name’s Sheriff Steven Reilly, and this is one of my Deputies, Eileen Rivera.”
Oh boy… here we go. She thinks to herself as she’s now a few feet away from them.
Steven steps in, extending his hand out toward the man.
The man does not instantly extend his hand, but simply stares at Steven.
“My apologies. Do people from Earth Two not shake hands anymore? My fault.” Steven asks jokingly and smiles.
Eileen notices that the woman shoots the man a glance, and then looks at her and then to Steven.
“No, we still do.” She smiles and steps forward, extending her hand to Steven and shakes his hand.
“I'm Sergeant Burke, and this is Staff Sergeant Mahoney, who must be a little star-stuck. It’s not every day you get to meet people from the past.” She says, introducing the two of them.
“Very nice to meet you Sergeant Burke.” Steven replies, and releases her hand. “Nice firm handshake you have there, Sergeant.”
She smiles and then steps in front of Eileen, extending her hand. “Nice to meet you as well Deputy Rivera.”
“Likewise, Sergeant Burke.” She says as she takes her hand and shakes it.
Holy hell! That’s a firm handshake! She thinks as she feels pain in her hand from the pressure of the handshake.
As Sergeant Burke releases, she pulls her hand back and holds it in her left hand.
Was she trying to break my hand?!
“Yes, good afternoon Sheriff and Deputy. We do in fact still shake hands, but I was concerned with how that would affect your kind… here on Earth One.” Staff Sergeant Mahoney says.
Eileen can see Sergeant Burke looking down at her hand, puzzled. She then looks back to Staff Sergeant Mahoney and then back to Eileen. “Oh, that’s right! I must apologize. I neglected to recall the divergence in physical strength between your kind and ours. My sincerest apologies Deputy Rivera and Sheriff Reilly.”
What?! Are they superhuman or something? What the hell? Eileen shouts in her head.
“I’m sure my Deputy will survive, Sergeant. But that was quite a firm handshake.” Steven replies.
Steven then looks to the Staff Sergeant. “Nice to meet you as well Staff Sergeant Mahoney and thank you for your consideration. But might I ask… what’s the difference between your kind and mine?”
The Staff Sergeant doesn’t smile or flinch, but simply tilts his head, seeming to analyze his question.
“There are a great number of differences that differentiate our kinds of humans. However, if you are referring to the physical strength properties, we should acclimate in some time. I'm unsure as to how much time, since this is our first landing on Earth One. Nonetheless, I'm certain that our bodies will adjust to this Earth’s gravity.” Staff Sergeant Mahoney explains.
Eileen doesn't respond, but instead takes a closer look at this Staff Sergeant Mahoney and Sergeant Burke.
They are both of the same size, close to her size, but a little bit shorter. If she had to guess, they were around 5’6”... maybe 5’7”. Both of them were lean looking and didn't look like they could crush hands with their handshakes. They did look like the athletic and military type, but not super-soldier type. Burke has blue eyes, brown hair, and light complexion with fair looking skin. Mahoney was clean-cut, with brown eyes, brown hair, and slightly darker complexion, closer to her own.
Their uniforms were not what she would expect to be from people of the future. They both wore black utility pants, with military style boots. They both had short sleeve shirts on, which were a navy-blue color. She did notice that they both had vests on, with varying compartments on them and what appeared to be their ranks in the middle of their vests. Eileen then notices their name patches on their left breast plates of their vests, with hers reading Burke and his reading Mahoney.
They don’t look all futuristic to me. Where are their weapons? Wait, what’s that?
She’s now looking down to their arms, noticing a long bracelet-gauntlet looking device on their right arms.
After a brief moment of silence between the four of them, Steven opens his mouth before she can. “Staff Sergeant, you said there are a great number of differences. Would you be so kind as to elaborate?”
Staff Sergeant Mahoney does not reply right away, but does tilt his head again, obviously thinking.
Sergeant Burke chimes. “Excuse Staff Sergeant Mahoney with his dry tone. He can sound rather like a drone at times.” She says and she smiles at them.
“As Captain Jackson had said and implied, we have a great deal to offer your kind, the people of Earth One. We are merely here to provide aid and support, in what must be an incredibly difficult ordeal that your kind has been forced to adapt to.” Sergeant Burke stated.
Steven nods in agreement. “Well, we sure appreciate you guys showing up to provide us with aid and support. I'm sure there are a great amount of people that do need your help in the Radius.”
“I'm sure that you are right, Sheriff. And it’s unfortunate that we were not able to arrive sooner.” Sergeant Burke replies.
“Yes, I suppose it is, Sergeant. We may even have whole settlements that have been wiped out before you all showed up. In fact, we had a settlement up in the desert, northwest of us, that we haven’t been able to contact in the last couple days.” Steven replies.
Eileen notices that Burke and Mahoney exchange a brief glance. Mahoney opens his mouth, but Burke’s the one to reply the quickest. “That’s incredibly unfortunate, I could not imagine what your kind has suffered in the last couple of months. But rest assured, we are here to provide aid and support for the survival of the human race.”
“Ah, so you have said. That’s very kind of your kind from Earth Two.” Steven says with a smile.
This gets a strange look from Sergeant Burke.
Before she can reply, he goes on, “So I take it that you all are here with Commander Yang to help us catch up with the rest of the human race?”
Eileen then notices that Staff Sergeant Maho
ney seems to sigh with frustration, which elicits a quick glance from Sergeant Burke in his direction. She then turns back to Steven and herself.
“Unfortunately, there were unforeseen circumstances… back on Earth Two, as to why Commander Yang was not able to join us here on Earth One. But again, Sheriff… I assure you, we are here to provide aid and support to ensure the self-preservation of the human species, your and my kind, alike.” Sergeant Burke replies.
“Yes, ma’am… I mean, Sergeant Burke. I do believe your words sound true. And it’s quite amazing to meet people from another planet. More amazing that you all are here to help. I'm sure that there are many people in need of your aid and support.” Steven responds.
Unable to keep her silence any longer, “Excuse me, Sergeant Burke… what are those things on your arms?”
This receives a pause from Steven and another glance from the Staff Sergeant.
Sergeant Burke simply smiles and responds, “Very observant of you, Deputy Rivera. These are our individually issued MECCUs, which stands for Mobile Extremity Communications and Control Unit.”
“Ah, I see…” Eileen replies. “What do they do?”
Sergeant Burke smiles again, politely. Eileen’s unsure if she likes this woman or not. She seems kind and sincere and is answering all of their questions... sort of.
“Ah, yes. It is primarily used for communications and to perform our individual duties, in accordance with our occupations within the Federalist Legion. For instance, it assists me with my Logistics and Supply designation and assists Staff Sergeant Mahoney with his Intelligence and Reconnaissance designation. They also have certain survival capabilities.”
“Very interesting.” Steven replies. “So, you are Logistics and Supply and you are Intelligence and Reconnaissance?”
“Yes, Sheriff Reilly. That is an accurate assessment.” Staff Sergeant Mahoney replies.
“Are there any other questions you two might have, or any aid you may be in need of?” Sergeant Burke asks.
Steven smiles at her. “No, Sergeant Burke. That about sums it all up for now. I'm sure that there are a great deal more questions, but we should be on our way home to check in on our people.”
