by Mark Tufo
“Sir, the signal is still emanating; we would just cook those too.”
“What about an air strike?”
“Sir?”
“An air strike, Major. I’m sure you’ve heard of those.”
“Sir, our planes would be flying blind too.”
“Major, get me Camp Pendleton and Twenty Nine Palms on the horn as quick as you can.”
“Right away, sir.”
The general turned back around to look through the two-way glass at their new prisoner, the commander, who was peering straight at the general with what appeared to be a huge, man-eating grin. The general turned away; things were already bad enough without having to wonder what that beast was thinking. The general barely had time to collect his thoughts when the phone on the wall rang again.
“Sir, this is Major Hadley. I have General Weston from Camp Pendleton and General Trent from Twenty Nine Palms on conference call.”
“Thank you, Major. Generals, I don’t have time for niceties. How fast can you mobilize a division and have them up in Vail?”
“General, this is General Trent; I don’t have anywhere near a division here. Most of my troops are located at the DMZ in North Korea. But I could have twenty-five hundred men, one hundred tanks and ten Apache helicopters there by seventeen hundred hours tomorrow.”
“General, this is General Weston; I can have four thousand men, fifty tanks and five Harriers there by the same time.” God, I love the Marines, the general thought to himself. You never get the usual bullshit when you deal with them. They cut right to the chase and they don’t ask useless questions.
“General, what can we expect upon arrival? And what kind of force are we returning?” asked General Weston.
“Gentlemen, you will be facing an enemy about half your number, they are however, highly trained and supplied. They are motivated.”
“Sir, is this some sort of breakaway unit from the Army? It sounds too big to be some sort of militia,” said General Trent.
“It’s more of a rogue force, General. I’m not sure if they are ready to trade bullets with you just yet, but they are hostile. I’m hoping that just the mere show of force will end this little standoff. Gentlemen, let me know when you are a few hours away from the rendezvous site. I will tell you how to proceed from there.”
“Very well, General.” General Trent hung up.
“Very well, sir.” General Weston did the same.
Chapter 10
Beth drove up the long drive to Deb’s house or rather, Deb’s parents’ house. Deb had grown somewhat phobic of venturing outdoors and, although she was in counseling, she had foregone going back to school just yet. She found some comfort, not much, but some, by going home. Her parents had been more than happy to oblige, especially after her long absence and feared death. Beth took a deep breath and was about to push the doorbell, when the door swung open.
“Hello Beth, come on in.”
“Mrs. Carody?”
“Yes dear,” a tired looking woman answered. She appeared to be an older version of Deb with one noticeable difference: her eyes appeared hollow. Beth didn’t need to ponder the reason for that now. Mrs. Carody's daughter had been missing for a year and a half; and, now that she was back, she had withdrawn into a near cocoon state, she had a lot on her mind. “Deb will be down in a minute, she’s getting ready. She doesn’t get many guests these days. Do you know Deb from school?” Beth became silent, lapsing into her own thoughts for a moment. “Don’t worry dear, I’d recognize that stare anywhere. Would you like some tea?”
“That would be great, Mrs. Carody,” Beth answered. She found herself taking to the woman immediately. Perhaps, she felt that with the love and support that this woman could offer, Deb would be on her feet in a relatively short time. “Maybe I should stay here too.”
“Did you say something, dear?” Mrs. Carody shouted from the kitchen.
Did I say that out loud? Beth thought. “Nothing, just thinking out loud, apparently,” she answered.
“Sugar?”
“Huh? Oh, sure, one spoonful.” Mrs. Carody returned with two steaming cups of tea, when Deb started down the stairs.
Beth thought, Deb was, for lack of a better word, gaunt. She looked like she had lost fifteen pounds from her already petite frame. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. It didn’t look like she had slept a wink since she’d been back. Well, it’s not like I’ve slept well either, Beth thought. As she rose to greet her… What? Certainly not friend, but more than an acquaintance. Comrade? Naw, that sounded too Russian. Fellow survivor, she guessed, would have to do. Beth didn’t know if she should help Deb down the stairs or not. God, she looked rough.
“Hi Beth, how have you been?” The first thing that came to Beth’s mind was, better than you, but luckily, this time, she didn’t think it out loud.
“I’ve been better,” she answered more diplomatically.
“Well, as you can see, so have I,” Deb answered sardonically.
“I’ll leave you girls alone,” Mrs. Carody said with concern laced throughout her voice. A very quick glance towards Beth hinted that if she, in any way, upset her daughter, she would have to deal with her.
Beth did the first thing that came to her mind: she hugged Deb. It was more instinctual than anything else. At first, Deb resisted, but eventually, the stiffening lessened and she embraced her back.
“Oh God, Beth,” Deb sobbed into Beth’s shoulder. “I haven’t slept or eaten in weeks. The nightmares are the worst. When I was on the ship, everything was so clear. Do what you have to do, just survive. Yes, I was scared, for my very life. But I wasn’t panicked. Now I feel like I’m fighting to save my soul. I feel like I’ve worn it thin. I don’t feel like I have anything left in me. And the man that could take me out of this stupor is nowhere to be found.” Deb sat down on the sofa with her face cupped in her hands. Beth sat down next to her and put her arm around Deb’s back. “I haven’t been out of the house since our escape. The news media was camped on our lawn for a week before they realized I wasn’t coming out to give them a story.”
“I know. They followed me around for a while too. I’ve been trying so hard to pretend that none of this happened, to go back to a normal life, if there is such a thing. I haven’t given myself a free moment to dwell on it, I’m so afraid of what might happen.”
“Look at me, Beth; this is what would happen.”
“Oh, Deb. I’m so sorry.” And she again embraced her.
“So you haven’t heard from Mike either?” Beth noticed a hint of a weary happiness in Deb's question.
“No, I had at least hoped that you had.” But that wasn’t true and they both knew it. “I just want to know that he’s safe.” And whom he’s with. “I treated him so badly, after all he did for all of us, I just want to let him know how I feel,” Beth said with remorse.
“He loves you. Still.”
“I don’t know, Deb.” Beth replied but in her heart, hope surged. Do you really think so? She wanted to scream to the world. “He loves you too.”
“Not in the soul mate way he feels about you. We shared something, something terrible. And in that terribleness we comforted each other. Everything he did though, he did for you. If not for you, I think he would have just laid down and died, instead of taking all those lives.”
Could that be true? Please don’t let it be. Beth didn’t think that she could bear the thought of all those people dying on her behalf.
“Beth, don’t blame yourself. Those people would have died either way and so would have the rest of us, either at the hands of that mad man or suffering a slow death as prisoners on an alien ship.” They both shuddered. “Mike saved you, he saved me, a dozen other girls and possibly our very planet; and he did it for you. His love for you was so strong, he overcame insurmountable odds.”
“Girls, can I get you anything?” Mrs. Carody stepped into the room to see how things were going, and was relieved to see her daughter crying; at least it was an emotion. It was fa
r better than the slack jawed expression she had transfixed on her face for the past few weeks.
Chapter 11
“General Burkhalter, we are exactly two hours from our rendezvous point with ‘Little Rock’.” This was the code name assigned to the mission. “We are awaiting your instructions before we proceed.”
“General Weston, you’re three hours ahead of schedule,” a weary Burkhalter noted. “But not unexpected from you and your troops. I want you to proceed with caution, General. I want this matter dealt with as quietly as possible, if you are fired upon, I want you to return fire in kind. But let me be clear, General, I do not want an escalation. If you are fired upon by small arms I want you to return small arms fire. Don’t bring the A-1 Abrams into the fray just yet. Let them see them and maybe they’ll decide to back down. I want this over as quickly as possible and I want two of our own returned as well.”
“Sir, I’m not following you. We have personnel in there?”
“Yes, one undercover... A Captain Moirane, and a Captain Talbot whose whereabouts has not been known for over twenty-four hours. General Weston, I want them alive.”
“Sir, understood. Over and out.”
“General Burkhalter?”
“What is it, Lieutenant? Can’t you see that I’m a little busy here.”
“Sir, I think you’re about to become a lot busier.”
“What is it, Lieutenant?” The general was in no mood for verbal jousting with a boot lieutenant.
“Sir, the mother ship is lit up like a Christmas tree on the infrared.”
That grabbed the general’s attention like jumping into a cold mountain stream on a hot summer day. He nearly ran across the control room, temporarily incognizant of all military decorum. But it went completely unnoticed. Everyone’s gaze was transfixed on the computer screen that was monitoring the mother ship’s orbit.
“Lieutenant, switch to visual mode.”
“Yes, sir.” The lieutenant no sooner switched to visual mode when a complete and utter, uneasy silence filled the room. Thousands of small craft were exiting the ship. It looked more like a mass exodus of bees from a hive. Unfortunately, however, it appeared to be a swarm of killer bees, all headed for planet Earth. They stretched for hundreds of miles. The lieutenant felt that the sheer weight of this offensive would push the Earth out of its orbit to go veering off into some equally unlucky mass. A radar operator wept openly; most though, were either too stunned or too lodged in disbelief to show much of any emotion.
“So this is how it ends,” the general said, more to himself than to any one in particular. “ I always figured it’d be the Chinese. Lieutenant! Get the president on the phone. Lieutenant!” The lieutenant snapped around.
“Sir?!” The glaze that had begun to form around his eyes like that of a condemned man being led to the electric chair briefly vanished.
“Get the president on the line, and then go to DefCon 5.”
“Sir, only the president can give the order for DefCon 5,” the lieutenant sputtered.
“I really don’t think the president is going to mind this one time, Lieutenant; and I don’t want to waste another five minutes waiting for the answer I already know is coming.” And somehow, Lieutenant, I don’t think that any mistake I make tonight will be noticed at all tomorrow. But the general merely thought the latter; he had no desire to send his entire staff into a panic, no matter how he felt.
Chapter 12
General Weston felt a certain unease from the depths of his soul. What it was, he couldn’t identify. He knew he outmanned this new enemy two to one, but they had superior position, and possibly equal fire power. But that still wasn’t it. Sure, anytime you faced an adversary, some apprehension was guaranteed. But not like this; this was downright dread. For only the second time in his life, the general felt that he was being led into a trap.
The first time was when he was in Vietnam. His platoon had been cut to ribbons by an enemy laying in wait, who knew he was coming. To this day, he occasionally still had nightmares of the screaming men who fell around him. Men who depended on his leadership to get them out of any situation. He felt that same itching on the back of his neck that he had on that night, so many years before. But he was, and always would be, a Marine. At the very least, he would do whatever it took, no matter what the cost, to take control of that mountain with as few casualties as possible.
“Sir, our recon Marines are only spotting minimal movement on the ridge,” Major Bernhard said. The general didn’t really like the man, but he was efficient at his job and that was all the general required. “Recon believes they are all hunkered down for the night.”
“Or lying in wait.”
“Excuse me, sir?” the major asked.
“I’m saying, Major, that they just might be waiting for us.”
“Sir, what exactly are we up against? I was under the impression we were just going up there on a reconnaissance mission, and that they were just some rabble with gun licenses.”
“That’s part of it, Major, but these are well-armed militia that have better defensive position.”
“Sir, to be frank, I wouldn’t care if they had ten to one odds. These Marines are the finest fighting soldiers on the planet. They’ll take one look and probably run home, screaming for mama.”
“You might be right, Major. And I hope that you are because I have no desire to ever write another letter to some young Marine’s parents again.” The major turned away as if to issue orders, but actually because he didn’t like the look of concern that obscured the general’s face.
“This is no time for self-doubt,” the major muttered as he headed towards his junior officers.
The general knew he wasn’t supposed to hear that last comment, he felt no hostility toward the major; in fact, he agreed.
Chapter 13
“Hey Becky! Come and look at this,” a slight, red-haired, freckle-faced boy said with excitement lilting his voice.
“Oh come on, Bobby Ray, you’ve been looking through that thing all night. Wouldn’t you rather look at this heavenly body?” a sprawled-out, bored blond replied.
Chapter 14
“Hey Dad! I think that one of the planets is exploding.”
“No, son. Venus is just particularly bright at this time of the evening.”
“Dad, I’m serious. Take a look through the scope.” The father stopped to appease his son with a cursory glance. He then dropped his full can of beer, wondering how he was going to get the number for NASA.
Chapter 15
General Weston’s troops crested the mountain and were greeted by sparse and erratic gunfire, which turned out to be decoys, firing blanks.
“Major, what the hell is going on up there?”
“Sir, you might want to come up here.”
“Is the area secure, Major?”
“Sir, this area was secured way before we got here. There is nobody up here.”
“Then what the hell was all that small arms fire?”
“Sir, they had trip wires rigged to fire some weapons. Sir, one more thing.”
“What is it, Major?”
“Sir, they were using blanks. I don’t understand it, sir. It seems they knew we were coming and vacated post haste; but they wanted to slow our ascent. It makes no sense; if you’re going to leave, why bother with the props?”
The general removed his cap to wipe his now perspiring brow. “I’ll tell you why, Major, they’re playing with us.”
“Sir?”
“Major, they knew we were coming. How? I’m not sure yet, but I’ll figure it out. They set up the booby traps just for fun.”
“I don’t see the humor, General. I’ve got two wounded Marines, one with a broken collar bone and one a broken wrist. They were diving for cover and hit bad patches of land.”
“Well, let’s be thankful it wasn’t anything more serious than that. I’ll be up momentarily.” The general turned to his Humvee driver, “Corporal, get me up that mountain, post haste.�
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“Sir, yes, sir,” the corporal said before literally putting the pedal to the metal. It was a Humvee though so that wasn't much of statement with punch. The Hummer came up over the ridgeline to an anthill of activity. The majority of the invading Marines had already taken the mountaintop and were checking all the tents. The major flagged down the general.
“Sir, it appears that they left in an awfully big hurry.”
“Why do you say that, Major?”
“Sir, all of their tents and camo netting are here.”
“Is any of their gear here, Major? Any weapons?”
“Well, none that we’ve found sir, except, of course, for the dummies.”
“Well, Major, I’m not so sure we scared them out of here. I think they left all the tents and camo netting as a decoy. They didn’t want us to know they were leaving.”
“Isn’t this good news, sir? We took the objective with zero casualties?”
“Not at all, Major. We now have a large, cohesive, armed militia on the move and no idea where they are. At least before, we knew their exact location. We also failed to regain two of our troops, who were reported missing. Major, get on the horn to General Burkhalter and let him know what has happened here. And then tell him to get all the satellite images of this area for the last twenty-four hours. Maybe we’ll be able to tell in which direction our ‘friends’ have evacuated. Major? I’m talking to you. Have you heard a word I’ve said?” The general followed the major’s line of sight. If he hadn’t been sitting, he was sure that he would have fallen over. As it was, he had to grab onto the roll bar to keep himself from falling out of the Hummer.
The corporal, who was not paying much attention to the officer’s conversation, finally noticed when he realized they weren’t talking anymore. He followed their line of sight also.
“What the fuck is that?!” the corporal exclaimed as his cigarette went flying. The noise broke the stunned silence of the general.
