by Jay Morris
“I am not going anywhere Carl” I answered.
He shook his head no. “I mean my body, don’t leave my body for them” he explained.
Karen started to tell him that he was being silly and that he would be on his feet soon, but I cut her off, there was no reason, he knew as well as I did that his time was short. He mumbled something and his eyes were fluttering but he regained himself,
“Wha.. What is Tucker doing?” he asked.
“No idea” I answered. “Something mean I hope” he chuckled only a bit and he coughed up a lot more blood.
“He sure..is a...pain in....their…..asses.”
His last words came ever more slowly, the volume deceasing with each word.
Diane called his name “Carl? Carl?” then she checked his pulse, a moment later she reached up and closed his blue-gray eyes. I knew I was going to miss his rock solid presence, even his addiction to coffee. Carl didn’t say much, but when he did it was generally a good idea to listen. Karen was silently crying, the tears on her cheek like ice water on the outside of a glass, clear, pure and genuine. We rose and looked for the first time at what Tucker was doing; he was laying the bodies side by side in a rather strange way, if they had been wearing belts, then they would have formed a single unbroken line. The aliens were so light he could easily carry two adults even with his bad shoulder, so it didn’t take long. As I walked with Diane and Karen down the length of his bizarre “line up” I realized he was arranging them according to their heights from the tallest adults to infants. I counted them, there were 6 male and 4 female adults, 3 male and 4 female adolescents, and 8 children and babies. When they were small it was hard to tell gender. When I got to the end I asked him what he was doing. He answered
“Psychological warfare and making a point.”
He pointed to a bag that he used to carry ammo and a med kit and said
“There are a couple devices in there they used as weapons or at least tried to. Will you grab that and wait over there with the others?”
I nodded and he started moving the three largest vehicles down the hill, some distance away, until he had them side by side. I asked him how he knew how to drive them he said they were all the same, I asked to be shown so we went into the last and smallest vehicle. Indeed it was easy, easier than a lot of computer games. He showed me how just by approaching the wall the sphere topped lever practically jumped to you, he showed how the screens flickered into existence. Then it was just forward and back, twist for turning and lift up or push down for the elevating force beam.
He asked me if I wanted to get out and I said no. He nodded grimly then without saying a word he lined up the vehicle with the corpses, at least mostly. He carefully crept forward, adjusting the field until he began to crush the corpses. Well, mostly so, he actually did not go over them completely, he passed close enough to crush each and every one from the waist up. He parked the thing next to the others and we got out to see his handiwork. '
It was horrible, all that was left were legs and hips, nothing but blue stained dust was from the waist up, the bodies were still pumping the blood out onto the compressed dust path the vehicle had made. Suddenly the thought of a grape soda crossed my mind and I nearly got sick. I looked over to Karen, she had a fist in her mouth so she would not scream. Diane’s head was lowered and she was slowly shaking it while pinching the bridge of her nose. Tucker sent me over with the others and he walked back to the largest machine, he took a thermite grenade out and setting it on the rear of the thing he balanced the can shaped grenade. He pulled the pin and there was a pinging sound as the lever thingy flew into the air. Tucker walked over to us, handing Diane his rifle he picked up Deputy Weir, carrying him so that the body was across his shoulders, one arm between his legs and held in place by grasping the same side wrist as the leg. He said “Let’s get out of here.”
When the thermite grenade reached the engines, explosions shook the ground beneath us, a blast of hot air flashed over us and tore the leaves from the trees. Flames were reaching high into the sky. I could not get the image of those tiny alien babies, severed in half, just like the bible story of Solomon. Karen was on point, Diane on six, Tucker and me were in the middle, I was carrying the pack with the last rocket and the launch tube. I whispered to Tucker,
“Why didn’t you come to see Carl before he died?”
My voice was insistent but not angry, not yet, I wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Carl was my friend” he began. “Never shirked, never let us down.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
It was Tuckers turn to be shocked then he harrumphed, took a deep breath and said
“I knew he was dead or dying, I saw him hit the tree and what had happened to him. It may not have looked like it but I was going as fast as I could to get done, do what needed to be done and for us to get the Hell out of there.”
I nodded, I recalled his lumbering around the camp and shook my head and thought to myself ‘and this is Tucker going fast’. When we got back to the Humvee I got the little folding shovel out of the back and we buried St. Louis County Deputy Sheriff Carl Weir. A very good man, a coffee lover, and my friend.
Day 39, Continued, Command Area, Vehicle 1-3
Director 1s screen was awash in communications, they made a mosaic that was constantly changing and it gave him a head ache. He was trying to make heads or tails of everything. The effort to destroy all ground vehicles was racking up totals in the tens of thousands, now only 500,000,000 to go. The other Director 1s were behaving as if they were adolescents, no that would be an insult to adolescents. They were panicking, sending vehicles into what were major population centers with mixed and sometimes bizarre reports coming back. They were clearly killing Aggressives, but in many cases their attacks had stirred up trouble and resistance where none existed before. The worst case being on a large island East of his continent, the Director 1 had ordered eight type 1 vehicles to flatten a rather large city structure, an estimated 220 Aggressives had been killed but at the cost of three vehicles and their entire crews, plus four other technicians had been seriously hurt, and one of those was unlikely to survive. He was going through the numbers, given their losses and the number of estimated Aggressives planet wide this war would end with both species being eradicated. In eight hundred years, when the Da-Nah returned there would be nothing for them to see, this world would not be Da-Nah. It would be a Crypt.
That was when the video report came in from the attack on his Pod 8, after viewing it he had it put up for broadcast sharing. We was the number 5 ranking director 1 on the planet, so he required all lower ranking Director 1s to be silent and observe. The destruction was complete, all equipment lost and no survivors, but most bizarre was the manner in which the Da-Nah corpses (he hoped they were corpses) were mutilated, it un-nerved him greatly. He made them watch the recording twice. Even the four Director 1s above him were quiet. When it was done he asked them a few questions.
“Permissive-Statement Broadcast (Director 1-this, Global Directors 1) Composite
:{ Statement-Factual Observable-Ritual-Mutilation (Da-Nah),
Permissive-Query Indigenous-Life-Aggressive Ritual-Interpretation,
Statement-Factual Directors 1-Action-Independent Success-Estimation (0.37),
Permissive-Query Protocol-Original-Supreme-Director-Planetside-Establishment”};
He had given those two queries, the first because he really was trying to understand what the Aggressives were trying to say, he was sure it was a message, he just didn’t understand it. Secondly, now that he had stirred the pot, they were arguing the wisdom of creating a Supreme director on the planet itself instead of the one from on board the Da-Nah mother ship, he was long gone, probably decades away even if they could reach him. He knew they would not like it, but they were upset and frightened. They needed a Supreme Director, he knew it and he knew they knew it.
Day 39, Continued, Lobby, West Virginia Welcome Center
&nbs
p; “Permissive-Query Status-underling-we Subset-Pod 8”,
“Query-Acknowledged, Status-underling-we Quantity-eight Locative-Destination underling-you”
“Permissive-Query Subset-Pod 8 Chronal Displacement”
“Query-Acknowledged Factual-Estimation-Chronal-Displacement-(0.77)”
“Statement-Factual-Emotive-Elation”
“Permissive-Query, Status-Biotech-Modified-Quantity-delta”
“Factual-Statement-re-Designation (Biotech-Modified, Defender)”
“Statement-Factual-Emotive-Annoyance”
“Permissive-Query, Status-Defender-Quantity-delta”
“Factual-Statement-re-Designation (Defender, Defender-Modified)”
“Statement-Factual-Emotive-Annoyance-Enhanced”
“Permissive-Query, Status-Defender-Modified-Quantity-delta”
“Factual-Statement-Emotive-Humor”
“Insistive-Command Status-Communication-Cease Chronal Displacement (0.0)”
“Factual-Statement-‘Tuh-Ker’”
“Query-Acknowledged Status-Defender-Modified Quantity-Delta (+2 )”
“Permissive-Query Defender-Modified Locative”
“Query-Acknowledged Defender-Locative (Pod 1, Pod 10)”
“Factual-Statement-re-Designation (Defender, Defender-Modified)”
“Insistive-Command Status-Communication-Cease Chronal Displacement (0.0)”
“Factual-Statement-‘Tuh-Ker’”
The gray was standing in the lobby, hopping from one chubby three toed foot to the other in excitement. Soon he will no longer be lonely in his dreams, soon the underling-we shall arrive. They shall arrive and underling-we shall have Ta-Ang. Oh joy. Underling-this would probably have to make drawings again soon but that was not so bad, even the big Indigenous-Life-Aggressive seemed to like their illustrative conversations.
Day 39, Continued, West Virginia Welcome Center
Amy and the girls and Silent Bob were in a row, Amy was bent over but the others were kneeling on stools. Their chins rested in both palms, their elbows on the counter. They were watching the little alien as he at first stood still, then sort of rapidly hopped from one foot to the other, finally he grew so agitated he waddled in a tiny circle looking a lot like a gray penguin, only to resume the standing again when the circle was complete.
“What’s he doing?” Amy asked.
“Maybe he has to go to the potty?” Gina offered.
“Hmmm, Maybe” Amy said.
“Maybe that’s how they do a happy dance?” Lucy opined.
The girls looked at each other and before Amy could stop them Gina and Lucy were mimicking his every move: stand still, hop back and forth, and waddle in a circle, then repeat. Amy stood up and had to laugh as the three of them continued their antics. The girls giggling in that way that only little girls can do. You know like the way church bells ring or angels sing. Amy said to Silent Bob
“I guess it is a happy dance.”
She turned to where he had been seated but he was gone. She scanned the room and saw him by the front window, pointing down the highway.
Amy hurried to see what he was pointing at; from the direction of the old lodge she saw several people moving carefully, they were staying close to the tree line. Under her breath she muttered “Oh no”, whoever they were, it wasn’t her people. She turned and holding her arms out to either side she scooped Silent Bob and ushered the others towards the store room.
“Come on kids, someone’s coming, I want you to hide.”
Amy’s mind was racing but she was saddened that these three little children were so adapted to the possible presence of danger they were able to quickly shift from giggles to life and death in the blink of an eye.
She got all four of her charges in the back room then she grabbed an M4 and a bandoleer then knelt down and spoke to Gina and Lucy,
“Girls I want you to stay in here no matter what and keep everyone quiet and against the side wall over there, okay?”
“Yes mom” they said in unison.
She kissed all three children on the forehead but before she could leave the gray presented its head for a kiss as well.
“What the hell”
She muttered and kissed its head as well then it waddled over to the children and it squatted down, it’s back against the wall just like the kids.
She turned and rushed out into lobby, she checked the magazine and pulled the charging handle chambering a .308 round, she knelt behind the counter all the way to one side of the counter giving her the best flanking fire possible should push-come-to-shove.
Additionally, if she was careful she could keep an eye on their F-150 that was parked in the trees across from her. She prayed silently that she would do the right thing and that Tucker and the others would get back in time.
She watched them as they approached, there were five of them but one was clearly injured and two of the others were assisting him. They were wearing an assortment of military type clothing but that didn’t mean much anymore, heck she was wearing an assortment of military type clothing.
They circled over by the Ford truck and inspected it, they were talking about something. Amy found her mouth had gone dry and to her it sounded like she could hear her own blood roaring in her ears. She adjusted her feet and slipped the safety off. She felt cold swear drip down her spine, she was sweating and was cold at the same time. She had to close her eyes for a moment to gain control over her now trembling hands. She felt sick.
When she opened her eyes three of the men were heading right towards the front door, the injured one was laying in the shade next to the truck and the last one was kneeling next to him. When they were about 15 yards away, two of them split away, one to the left opposite of her, the other to the right more or less behind her. The last one was a large man, bald and he was moving in a slight crouch towards the doors. She couldn’t make out much since the glass front was filthy, it made him look rather like he was underwater or if he was being viewed through some of that wavy, antique glass.
The door creaked as the big man pushed it slowly open, she ducked down, and he looked in her direction, sighting over his rifle. He then slowly checked the rest of the room the rifle held in the firing position the whole time. She heard his footsteps as they headed towards the storage room and back office doors which were side by side in the back. She had to act and do so now.
“FREEZE”
She said, her voice really little more than conversational but it sounded like a yell in that big empty room. She cringed at the tremor in her voice. The man had indeed froze, she was over his left shoulder and it would have been hard for him to do anything but spray and pray but he was in the open with an unknown person with unknown weapons behind him. Therefore, he did as instructed.
“Okay lady, ya got me”
His voice was deep and booming and displayed a significant lack of fear.
“I have a gun and if you move, I swear to God I will fill you with holes of...”
She realized she didn’t know how to finish that sentence so she corrected
“...of holes.”
The man still didn’t move, frozen like a statue,
“Holes full of holes?” he asked.
“You know what I mean” Amy snapped.
There was an awkward pause,
“Well, what we are going to do? My knees are starting to hurt, so you can shoot me and my boys will shoot you or we can relax and talk this out.”
Amy shook her head
“NO, you want me to put down my gun so I can be beaten and raped? I don’t think so.”
He slowly shook his head,
“Lady, listen, it’s not like that, we were in a battle probably 15 miles down the road, we are all that is left and one of my guys is hurt.”
She paused,
“How do I know you are telling the truth?”
He sighed and slowly took his left hand from the forearm of the rifle, he raised it up slowly.
“EASY soldie
r boy” Amy warned.
Now with the rifle in one hand he said
“I am going to lay my rifle down on the ground okay?”
“Go ahead, slowly”
He complied then once he carefully placed the rifle on the ground then slowly stood up straight. He slowly turned to face her.
“My name is Pierce, Major Elwood Pierce, U. S. Army Special Forces out of Fort Bragg.”
She snapped “Well I really don’t care, why don’t you and your peeps just turn around and head on down the road.”
He sighed “Can’t do that, for two reasons.”
She nodded as if to say go on so he did
“First I got a man down out there that isn’t going to last long and second another one of my, ahem, as you say, peeps is looking for some people.”
She smirked and asked
“Oh yeah? Just who is he looking for?”
The Major didn’t hesitate he said “He is from around here someplace and is looking for his mom and dad and his girlfriend.
Amy swallowed hard and slowly stood up
“What’s your man’s name? Is it Livingston?” she asked.
The Major smiled and said “Since you are too young to be his mom, I assume you are Amy.”
She lowered the M4 and rested it on the counter top. She turned to look outside and saw that she had been in the sights of a soldier peeking around the edge of the building. The Major turned and gave a hand signal and the shooter lowered his weapon. She heard the door open and saw Darnel Livingston standing there staring at her, disbelief on his face “Amy?”
She didn’t remember walking around the counter or laying her rifle down. But she did remember his strong arms and tall slender frame. He was handsome by any standard and his kiss was passionate. “I thought I’d never see you again” she whispered, he hugged her close and his voice broke, “When we got to the lodge, or where it was, I thought you were dead.” He kissed her face and held it in both his hands, his rifle now slung over his right shoulder. The Major gave them a minute and went outside to retrieve his wounded soldier.
