by Marcus Sloss
Three out of four gates activated in a flash of translucent blue light. That was fantastic. Unfortunately, we got one of the most aggressive aliens. The puroons were beast masters. The report theorized they could control their mounts with their minds. Seeing as their saddles had no reins, I tended to agree with that assessment. I pulled up the reports I had on them.
They had been seen twice so far. Once way across the country in upstate New York. They saddled the same creatures. There was a base up there I had never been to, Fort Drum. The puroons cleared a whole small town called Carthage. Hundreds of thousands of the creatures smashed through the homes as they swarmed the town. Gunships laced into the massive army that ignored its losses. After Carthage, the majority went to looting. A faction a few thousand strong charged the base and were wiped out. Last I heard, they were in a constant fight near that Xgate.
The report said the puroon weapons fired a plasma round with almost no drop in its flight. It was limited to a number of discharges, anywhere from four to nine times it could fire. The plasma itself tended to spread while consuming whatever it impacted. If enough puroons died, the wormipedes turned on their masters. So there was a limit to how many they could control and there was no loving relationship between the two.
The vile wormipedes were disgusting with no meat value. Even hungry pigs turned their noses at the meat. Massive fires had cremated the defeated foes in NY. They had zero value to humanity.
The puroons were different. They wore necklaces of varying designs. The guess was social status; the reward was they were crafted in titanium with gems inset. The puroon bodies were greedily eaten by dogs, pigs, and cats. While some may find it gross, I certainly did not.
‘Fighting the anal probing purple beast masters was not fun,’ as one army sergeant wrote in his report. The wormipedes required massive amounts of firepower to kill. They could take intense damage before succumbing to wounds. The puroon weapons could melt the hull of a tank if concentrated. Luckily, they could be defeated with tenacity, good aim, and enough soldiers.
I paused from my report to check out the latest Gpad footage of the active situation. The homes were being torn apart. The camera spun to show the Xgate. The purple dead bodies were being lined up by the puroons to be stripped of their valuables. A quick count had my tally of over eighty dead. Not bad for a first engagement. There were minor fights between the puroons, over who claimed what. Nothing fatal or drastic. The camera swung back to the raiding. The homes were being demolished by the wormipedes. I did notice four people still alive as their Gpads pinged at me. My guess was they were trapped in their basements below the rubble.
I watched a young man walking like a zombie out of the rubble. Uh…
“Cap, you seeing this?” Torrez muttered in disbelief.
Nancy gasped at the sight. “This is… A human being mind-controlled. Oh, Cap, there are three more.” The whimper she gave was heart wrenching.
“We have our own to protect. I am sorry team, there is nothing we can do. Trying to save them against ten times our numbers might work, but it would be a pyrrhic victory.”
Bonnet scoffed, rose from the table, and slung an arm around my shoulder. She stood there proudly at my side. Curious as to what she intended, I raised a brow.
“You are making the right call, Cap. For the crew,” Bonnet said with a grimace.
“If there is a god, may he or she forgive us,” Lt. Dedric said. The man fervently believed in his lord and savior Jesus Christ. “Every action has consequences. You can’t save them all during the Last Judgement. We protect those we can now, may they wisely listen to our warnings.”
“I was researching these beast masters… Hold on. No sense in saying this report ten times. Let me finish my findings. The rest of you see if that four-legged antler man has been reported out of other portals.” I paused with a sigh and pinched the top of my nose. My radio keyed and I waited to talk. “Five, this is six.”
“Go.”
“RV two has our S2. We are sifting through information. Since we have eyes on the hostiles I want to help move people before these puroons hit their next target. Check on the Biysk family in Marble Heights. See if they need any help, over,” I said.
“Roger. Puroons, huh? What an odd name for aliens that look like the little gray men, only purple. Five out.”
My fingers danced on the countertop while in thought. Harvard left his wife and twin girls to talk.
“I have been studying the footage of today only so far. Look at this,” Harvard said while sticking his Gpad near my eyes. I backed his arm up a tad.
The video generated. I was able to see what transpired as we fled. We had killed the majority of the puroons while only wounding a few wormipedes. I saw the convoy peel off before the enemy recovered to give chase. A larger wormipede stepped through the portal. The puroon on its back wore a double necklace with more gems than any of the others. It screamed at the remaining raiders still near the portal. A dozen left, bringing back the riderless mounts.
“This is the leader. He or she is clearly unhappy. The thing I noticed is there is about a six to eight limit to how many wormipedes a single beast master can control. Now, look at the live feed,” Harvard said while pointing at the image I already had my eyes glued to.
The boss was setting up a defensive position against where the antler man deer had exited. They were unhappy by the sight of the deer hybrid that had escaped. The slave humans were being evacuated while the army was hauling their loot back home. I looked at the time. The gate had been open for twelve minutes, meaning 39 minutes until the other aliens could arrive. Based on the fact that the puroon were already returning with the spoils of their raid led me to believe they would be leaving before that time hit zero. Good, that was an extra thirty nine minutes more than we had before to shove people into Stronghold Mansion.
Before I started to dig into the other files on the puroon, I did a quick send all to everyone tied to our tower. Which was now fifty less than before.
“Attached is a video of one of our threats from the local Xgate 232. If you were not concerned, then this should frighten you. Again if you do not join us and live by our rules, do not expect to survive when they crumble your house and enslave the survivors.” - Cap
“Harvard stick to the beast masters for now but check out what the others learn about the deermen,” I said and Harvard left for the comfy room.
I went down to the empty passenger bucket and plopped into it. The massaging option was turned off, mainly because the armor did not need it. I propped my boots onto the dash and pulled up the other report.
China had the most Xgates. Finally, the scientist had established some common sense patterns. Higher population areas with large landmasses received more Xgates. I was actually kind of surprised the Chinese were sharing intel. Maybe the end of the world as we know it could convince people to change. The video rendering caused me to gasp. An Xgate was in the middle of a small town.
The object tried to stick to roads to avoid buildings.The construct interacted with its environment in two ways. Items would either pass through, which was the more common occurrence. Or the Xgate would apply an invisible pressure capable of instantly crushing a car into a pancake of metal. The mix of destruction, and preservation left me baffled. The Xgates were so random you rarely knew what to expect at times. A man laid in the street in protest of the Xgate. The protestor was unharmed as they were passed over. Another man stood stoically. He was sucked into the portal. When he returned, the fall caused him to trip and hold his ankle. Well, he didn’t get cut in half.
This kept going until more Chinese residents created a game of playing with the Xgate. At one point, ten men stood in a single file line. A large gorilla leaped out of the shimmering blue portal. I was expecting the ten foot tall green animal to squish the men it landed near. Nope. It flung them back into the portal. Infinitely quicker than those attempting to flee; feet, arms, and torsos were grasped by the monster gorilla as it hurled those
caught into the blue. I noticed a puroon purple alien attached to a sack on the back of the gorilla. Their eyes were closed as they controlled the beast.
I sighed. Still not a chicken. I really wanted a giant egg layer. Well, not a snake. Or a massive spider. I shuddered, lost in my own silly thoughts. I received a message from wifey 1. Perci was so stubborn.
‘We are over capacity. Can I divert machines to build temp homes?’ - wifey 1
‘Not until line of sight is cleared in front of the wall. Set a hotbed rotation for now. We need a night crew no matter what. Send more people out to try to find caves if you are out of work,’
‘Eric, we desperately need additional housing. I know it's not your fault. The hotbed idea will remove any sense of home. Newcomers are adding a lot of tools with an eagerness to help. We should be able to chop trees and turn them into boards now. There is a construction site I sent RV 3 to with a trailer. It has some supplies we can use. We are backed up at the gate as we process people, so do not be upset if your convoy runs into a jam. Eddy is accepting people as quickly as he can. Incoming call for help. Got to go. Love you.’ - wifey 1
I keyed the radio and said, “XO, it looks like the puroon army is retreating in case the deermen assail them from a flank. After watching the video, I think they did not like taking the losses. Did you find some people to help?”
“Marble Heights had organized people in that neighborhood. Those sticking it out fled for Stronghold Mansion in a hurry after your video. We were going to loot the neighborhood instead. We need actual beds. Well, we need a lot that probably got left behind. An older couple is refusing to vacate with zero wavering by my pleading, but the rest of the community is ripe for the picking. The only issue is space. We have limited trailers right now. Over,” Jevon said.
“Okay, take us in. We can strap beds to roofs and stuff vehicles. Ready the rest for quick retrieval later. If either force comes out, we flee for home with a massive head start. Six out.”
The convoy turned right for the Marble Heights instead of left for Stronghold Mansion. I looked at my Gpad and saw three other strongholds being formed. One of them had twenty people inside the state trooper station that Eddy abandoned. The next was a double fire station for the county and city that was jammed packed with people. The final one was the local shopping center with a few hundred crammed into it. I wondered if they were running generators. At least they had a gas station at the shopping center. I doubted any building besides thick steel construction could withstand a long worm creature with the mass of an elephant slamming into it. I could only wish them success and feed them information. I would hope for the same from them.
I gazed at the road while we cruised at a fast rate. I glanced over to see we were doing a hundred. If that was the pace Lt. Dedric thought was safe, then so be it. The sun was starting to set, casting long shadows. A deer bolted from the side of the road, spooked as we raced by. I would need hunting teams. I was wondering if you could breed deer for sustainment when we arrived at the Marble Heights gate. The wrought iron sliding gate was in shambles. Tossed aside like the broken useless thing it was. We rolled into the quiet neighborhood. Garages were left open, cars abandoned, and even a few dogs loitered outside homes in confusion. I frowned at the sight of the pets. Of all the things that tugged at my tiny shriveled heart, seeing actual abandoned, well-groomed family members left behind… it hurt. The sergeants went to work picking stops in random driveways.
I keyed up the mic, “Hey, bring the dogs. You know, in case there are invisible aliens or something. Nothing to do with the fact it is horribly sad they were left behind.”
“Take me to that home, Dedric,” I said to the house Perci had bought us. Additional supplies were stacked up outside. “Harvard, your family up for looting? Or you want to rest?”
I knew they were still awake. I glanced over my shoulder. The twins equipped their bags while Harvard slung his weapons. I thumbed the door, knowing their answer. Torrez went to follow them when I halted him.
“Deermen, what did you learn?”
“There are some seriously fucked up aliens in this data, Cap. None of them have a human head, a deer torso, and antlers. Sorry, we looked at everyone,” Torrez said with a shrug. He gave me a thumbs up and said, “Bonus part is you get to name them. Want me to stay?”
I shook my head no and out the group went. Lt. Dedric went to pee. I noticed Nancy over my shoulder.
“What's up. Nancy?”
“As your medical officer, I need to tell you about the hazards of hot-swapping beds… Hey, don’t give me that dirty glance,” Nancy said with a pause. She stole Dedric's seat so we were on even eye level. “I can come up with some plans. Keeping everything dry will be an issue. Speaking of dry. You need to shut off water to the toilets and showers. Like right now. Before someone flushes a toilet they should not. There is only one way for the backflow to go, up the drains. No one wants sewage flooding our sinks and showers.”
I smashed my Gpad’s interface. The septic had hit capacity. Shit. Literally. There went our showers. I turned off all the water connectors through the home management operating system. While I waited for the inevitable complaints, I turned to Nancy.
“What do you recommend we call the deermen?” I asked.
“Huh, you don’t want my ideas on how to prevent sickness? Or random thoughts on how we improve our sleeping arrangements?”
“Tell me those too, but start with the-”
“Cap, can I go exploring?” Dedric asked, and he left without seeking actual approval.
“Yes!” I shouted as he wrapped around the front of the RV to explore the nearest home. Ha! It was empty.
“Buxen works. Yes… I think buxen works nicely as a mix between bucks and women,” Nancy placed a flirtatious hand on my arm and gazed intently at me until she had my full attention. “Hammocks. We can 550 cord some or use the infinite sheets we will pull out of these homes. Not perfect but it should help.”
I patted her hand, which retreated when she realized it was there. “Hey, we are human Nancy. It is okay to hurt. That is a great idea. Send it out to the household team. I am sure they will have anchors set into walls before we even get home. Do you want to explore?”
“I like sitting by you. You were never overly complicated or complex,” Nancy said with a smirk.
“Should I be offended or grateful…”
“Not offended. You were adored all the way home from Saudi. Hell, even super loyal Slister wanted you in our bed, but you knew that. Albeit she missed a strong man to snuggle into more than wanting to spoil your chivalry.”
I opened my mouth and closed it promptly. There was no good reply so I kept my mouth shut. We both went to typing on our Gpads. I decided to send out what information I had. While I was not perfect on transparency, the appearance of being transparent would not hurt.
‘Here is a compiled list of our local resident aliens. We have three of four portals working. I will keep everyone updated as information comes in. The deerpeople are being called buxen. We are monitoring the puroon (purple riders) and their mounts (wormipedes). So far all activity is near the gate that is still locked in place. At this time, we are closing Stronghold Mansion to those not in the queue to get in. Our septic is backed up and we have nowhere for you to sleep anyway. Stay safe and when we expand I will send a notification. If you notice something in the videos we missed, send your findings to our S2 folder in the dropdown menu.’ - Cap
“Want to talk about anything?” Nancy said, patting her legs in a drum pattern.
I reverted my display to the drone view of the Xgate. Nothing new was happening. There was a busy train of the puroons hauling loot home in wheeled containers dragged by the wormipedes. The scene looked like it needed some sniper fire; I frowned as it was too late to reverse our full retreat decision.
“We need to set up a hospital,” I replied.
Nancy snorted. Sure, she was beautiful, but she sure was human sometimes too. “I know. Imagine givi
ng birth in a shower with people sleeping in it that is back flowing sewage. Perci said thanks for telling you to shut the water off. We are already mysteriously out of toilet paper. At least the supply section is; the theory is people are hoarding it. Perci assured me our room had some.”
“Our room?”
“Yeah, and before you think it is some magical thing so I could lure you in with my naked amazingness, it was nothing so elaborate. I am single, your room is the largest, and you are getting more than just me to your harem.”
“Harem?”
“Please! You are a pirate king. All pirate kings have a rotation of hot babes,” Nancy said with a slight giggle that resulted in a fresh snort. “I love that I can be myself around you. Maybe down the road. For now, you make a good boyfriend to your throuple. Those girls are giggly with happiness. Back to our room. All the officers are occupying that master suite…” I pointed to Dedric, who was hauling towels. “Yup, and his family. See, not some conspiracy... Men!”
I patted Nancy’s shoulder, leaving the seat. “You have always been a sassy pain in my ass, Nancy.” Her blue eyes linked to mine. The hurt was evident, not from my comment though. My guess was the goodbye to Slister hurt the most. “Nancy, you’re family though. I mean that. We are here for you. Not sexually, and I think you need some friends you trust to lean on who are not there to exploit your vulnerability.”
“You mean like hitting on Derek to get him to dump Tina so I can tease him but never fuck him…”
“That would be revenge and in no way close to what I was alluding to. I meant... like if I was single, you sought refuge in my arms. We drank wine to ease the pain and then sex happens after you finish crying,” I said, shifting where I was standing to avoid Torrez hauling boxes of fancy canned cat food. “Why pet food?”
“We can eat it if we are desperate. Plus we now have dogs too. Or for the chickens, if we ever get any,” Torrez said with a large smirk, knowing I would get excited about chickens.
