Robert Wilson and the Invasion from Within

by Scott Ruesterholz

  “Come in.”

  The aide who several weeks ago told Robert that he was sure of victory walks in. “You should come over, Commander. Tiberius has hijacked the airwaves.”

  Robert quickly walks into the command center, where Tiberius’s reptilian face is on the screens, interrupted only by footage from the battle showing SF-01s getting blown to smithereens. The Admiral is standing in his conn with the giant window to his back. Outside the window, the moon and the patrolling transport destroyer are visible.

  “Turn the volume up,” Robert says to the front row.

  “Supreme General Frozos and I warned you that resistance would be futile; that your planet was centuries behind us in technology. But you followed the empty promises of a man who had a mere three years of formal education. Yes, that’s right. Your Robert Wilson was merely a mineworker; he has no military experience. Now your sons and daughters are dying because of his incompetence and personal, irrational hostility. His are the only hands with blood on them.

  “Just now out in the distance,” Tiberius continues as he turns and points out the window to four fast approaching white dots, “you can see four more spacecrafts arriving. Two are the supertanker transporters escorted by two additional transport destroyers. We now have seven destroyer groups outside your force field. Your military is not the only one who has been using recent weeks to gain strength. This is the most potent fighting force we have ever dedicated to one planet.

  “Your best choice is to surrender now. The two supertankers are carrying more sunsheet fiber. Within three weeks, nearly thirty percent of your planet will be covered, creating catastrophic and irreversible loss of plant life as global temperatures plummet into a new ice age. Surrender now or freeze and starve to death. It’s really that simple.”

  As Robert turns around to tell the staff to reduce the volume, he’s surprised to see Mark Morrison and Chris Bailey proceeding down the stairs at the back of the room.

  “I know, I know,” Chris says loudly to the gawking room of staff, “We’re breaking the rules. But honestly, who really cares? I say, the heck with it, it’s time we just win this damn thing!” Quite the about-face from Chris’s usual reserved style, Robert thinks to himself.

  From the corner of his eye, Robert sees Jake Thornhill smile to himself and nod along before saying, “Commander Wilson, we are going to be very busy over here. I suspect you take our landlords into your office.”

  “You read my mind, General,” Robert parries back, smiling. He leads Mark and Chris into his office. He pulls two folding chairs to his and the three friends sit.

  “Sorry about the sparse setup—not as nice as my office upstairs, I know.”

  “So, tell us, Robert, really, how are you doing,” Mark asks.

  “Well I screwed up royally. This one is all on me.”

  “Actually, congratulations are in order,” Mark says.

  “I’m sorry, I’m confused.”

  “You can now be a great military hero. General Douglas MacArthur got his ass kicked out of the Philippines in World War II before turning the tide in the Pacific. He didn’t respond by rolling up into a ball. No, he promised, ‘I shall return,’ and he did.”

  “And don’t forget Winston Churchill,” Chris adds. “In World War I, he attempted a disastrous landing in the Dardanelles, destroying his reputation for a time. Yet, he was the man who rallied the British people and the world to ‘never surrender’ to tyranny.”

  “You see,” Mark says, “the true measure of a man is realized in life’s valleys, not at its pinnacles. And if we didn’t believe in you, well, there’s no way Chris would’ve signed on to this insane plan seven months ago. I of course still would have,” he jokes, desperately trying to add some levity to the grim setting.

  Robert smiles. “I appreciate that. A wonderful man once told me something very similar, but I’m grateful to be reminded of it.”

  “Let me ask you something,” Chris says. “You failed, by all accounts, spectacularly. I mean a disaster that will be infamous. It was an ill-conceived plan from the get-go. When the failure became evident, how did the pilots respond?”

  “Heroically. True heroism. The commanding officer saved the planet, frankly,” Robert says.

  “And the officer was an Arbor Ridge intern, right? Anna Small, I heard?”

  “Yep, that’s right.”

  “Just a plain-old, ordinary civilian,” Chris says. “Tell me, has there been a time this entire battle, from when you told Mark and myself, brought aboard workers here, had their families come, challenged Neverian, or with these pilots, when you’ve overestimated us, us being ordinary civilians?”

  Robert leans back in his chair, pondering. “Nope. Can’t think of one.”

  “So then,” Mark interjects, “why in God’s name are you going along with these government leaders desperately trying to keep us out of the fight? I mean, for heaven’s sake, it’s our planet. And I’ll be damned if we don’t want to protect it as much as anyone. Stop telling us to be calm and ignore the threat!”

  “That’s right,” Chris adds on, “so buck up and don’t take this beating lying down.”

  Robert nods his head strongly in agreement. “I’ve missed talking to you guys so much the last two months. I needed this advice. If we win this thing, it really is due to you—I mean it. But don’t worry, I’ll take all the credit.” Robert cracks a much-needed smile.

  “Hey, what else is new?” Mark jokes.

  It is now 6:00 PM in Jersey City. Robert, wearing the same suit but a different red tie, is standing behind a metal lectern in the lobby of the Arbor Ridge tower, its great oak tree behind him. He didn’t want to let cameras into the top secret facility and was no longer as worried about showing a separation between PEACE and Arbor Ridge; there are more important matters. Several feet in front of him are half a dozen television cameras with the crews of the major networks. Robert hasn’t even called world leaders, not even President Victoria Larom, since the battle. He is going directly to the people.

  “Good evening. I have promised never to lie to you, and so I will offer nothing but the unsparing truth tonight. As the Commander of PEACE, I am solely responsible for today’s defeat and the loss of 900 lives. We lost not because we lack the technology or skill to win battles in space, but because I made a strategic blunder, not considering the potential of a decoy ship, and approved a fundamentally flawed battle plan. I will carry the burden of the unnecessary loss of human life due to my error for the rest of my life.

  “I agree with Admiral Tiberius that today represents a turning point in this, our first space war. We will rise from this defeat stronger with greater resolve and smarter strategy. This planet can’t be knocked out with one punch, and because you can’t be, I won’t be. While I will carry with me deep grief, particularly for Group Commander Anna Small who was only twenty-two years old, I will also take inspiration from what they did today. Commander Small ordered me to close the force field, sentencing herself and her group to death because she saw a laser cannon set to fire through the opening. Her sacrifice literally saved this planet.

  “Remember, this was the action not of a twenty-year veteran of our military but of a civilian just old enough to graduate college. If we can’t each strive to be as mature and committed as she was, then maybe this planet isn’t worth saving. But I believe we can and will be.

  “Yes, as I told you on April fourth, I worked alongside my father as a slave on a mine. He worked every night to give me an education, so that I could leave the mine. I did. Thanks actually to the support of then Vice Admiral Tiberius, unaware of my true motives, I got into a spy training program and am here today as a result. What I love about this planet is that humans aren’t judged by their parents’ accomplishments or what degrees you have. You are judged based on what you accomplish in your life. It doesn’t matter if I had three or thirty years of ‘formal’ educ
ation, I am happy to be judged by what I have done here on Earth.

  “That’s why I am speaking to you from the Arbor Ridge lobby because this is where I’ve accomplished things in my life, and I was reminded today by two dear friends of what that is. I’m proud of what this company is, but I’ve accomplished so much because I’ve relied so heavily on the work-ethic, ingenuity, and honesty of humanity. Arbor Ridge received twenty-five percent of America’s patents last year; I was responsible for fewer than one percent of those. You, the people of this planet, power the drive and innovation of our daily life.

  “Sadly, in my effort to keep calm among you, the public, I’ve been selling you short and leaving our greatest weapon off the battlefield, losing sight of why I was so confident we’d win in the first place. I believe we should be calm, and that no one should be panicked, but we should be fighting calmly together not calm because we are detached from the fight.

  “This war is to protect Earth, and we need to marshal all of Earth’s resources if we are going to be successful. Relying on fifty thousand pilots and one supply chain simply isn’t going to get the job done. Here is the reality: this war, or at least this phase of it, will be won or lost in the next two weeks. I am not going to turn the force field off and hand over the keys to Frozos. So, you have a choice. Panic, give up, and enjoy the last two weeks before we face an extinction-level ice age. Or, you, the public, can remind your governments that in a crisis you are the source of our strength, not a weakness.

  “We have thirty-nine thousand SF-01s. I need more than sixty thousand, but can only build nine thousand in the next two weeks. That means I need manufacturing companies globally to retool and reroute supply chains. When the Battle for Earth is fought, a harsh reality is that some of Frozos’s ships will be let inside the force field as we open periodically to let our jets in and out and as a way to manage the flow of fighting. That means we need to mobilize all of our traditional military resources, fighter jets, aircraft carrier groups, and anti-aircraft weaponry to protect cities and population centers from these enemy planes.

  “This rapid mobilization will require coordination of our governments with each other, with the private sector, and temporary enlistment from some citizens. I believe that true character comes out in times of crisis, not in times of calm. Humanity has never faced a crisis this grave before. As we discover the character of man, I think we will find it to be our greatest triumph. Thank you and God bless you.”

  Robert walks off camera, his address to the world complete. Mark, Chris, and Thornhill who were watching from behind the camera meet up with Robert, each offering the heartiest and most sincere congratulations on a job well done. As they are chatting, Chris notices a crowd is beginning to assemble outside of the mini-force field boundary around Arbor Ridge’s Jersey City building. It’s only been about ten minutes since Robert finished, but there must be at least 500 people outside, with the sum growing by the dozen.

  One of the cameramen who is breaking down his equipment says to them, “We’re interviewing them now if you want to watch the feed.”

  Like children on Christmas day, the four men rush over and scrunch around a small TV.

  “Why are you here?” the reporter asks the crowd.

  “I want to sign up to help. I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “I want to show my support.”

  “I have a small trucking business and wanted to know if my trucks could be of use.”

  “I just want to show I’m ready to fight for my home.”

  The shouts from the crowd make it quite clear. The crowd is calm, clear, motivated, and growing.

  “You know,” the cameraman says, looking up from his phone, “this is going on everywhere. Outside the White House. Your other buildings. In Beijing, Paris, Moscow.”

  “Thank you,” Robert smiles. “Let’s head downstairs.”

  As the four men walk out of the elevator and onto the SF-01 assembly one, the briskness of the pace is immediately apparent. The crew is motivated to get production as high as safely possible without sacrificing quality. Everyone is working just a bit harder. They walk into the command center where screens show images of peaceful crowds assembling everywhere around the world.

  Members of the command center are fielding a flurry of calls from manufacturing companies offering their plants, commercial airliners offering to use their planes to haul cargo, and more. Across the U.S. in the past hour, news networks are reporting that over forty million people have joined these “volunteer crowds,” as they’ve been dubbed.

  Robert’s phone rings.

  “Hello, Madam President…. Yes, I apologize for the lack of heads-up…. Yes, I am certain. Likely closer to one than two, but we need to keep some flexibility…. I look forward to it.”

  Robert hangs up, grinning to himself.

  On the screen, an anchor says, “And we have breaking news. President Larom is about to address the American people from the Oval Office. To the White House.”

  The screen flips to Larom sitting behind her desk in the Oval Office, wearing a navy-blue suit.

  “Good evening, my fellow Americans. Our nation is great because it is governed by we, the American people. Our system presupposes the innate heroism and cool-headedness of a determined, morally just citizenry. As Commander Robert Wilson outlined it, I see no sentiment more American than his that you the public are our greatest asset.

  “Tonight, you are making yourself heard, and your government is very pleased that you have. I am also glad to report that governments across the world, democracies and dictatorship alike, are responding to the same righteous indignation of their citizenry. We are coordinating with allies and NATO forces to ensure none or our allies are left particularly vulnerable. No nation will be deploying any of its nuclear arsenal; I do wish to be clear on that.

  “I have spoken with Commander Wilson who has confirmed the battle for Earth will commence inside of two weeks, and so all of Earth is going on a wartime footing like never before in our history. For the next fourteen days, everyone’s job is to help prepare the planet. Global financial markets have been closed through June sixteenth to drive home the point that we are focusing on the one task at hand.

  “What does this mean? We expect every manufacturing firm, and will order those who are noncompliant, to either produce material for SF-01s or to supplement our military’s arsenal. Military shipments will get priority for trucking, rail, and cargo air companies. We are deploying the entire U.S. Navy to guard major port cities. I am federalizing the National Guard, calling up the Army Reserve, and we will be deploying them to key localities likely to face the gravest risk.

  “I know you want to help. There are several ways you can. If you work in an industry that will be building out our war machine, directly or indirectly, go to work and work hard. If you don’t, your town or city may be enlisting supplemental forces to help prepare key infrastructure for battle. If you are caring for children or the elderly, you may want to consider temporarily visiting family or friends in less urban settings.

  “I agree with Commander Wilson. We should not panic nor be complacent. Rather, let’s calmly work together to bolster our defense and end this war. Thank you and God bless America.”

  Robert, in PEACE’s command center, is relieved to see such a strong, unequivocal statement from the President. Staff monitoring other nations’ responses are reporting similar comments from other world leaders.

  Up in space, Frozos and Tiberius are each looking out from their respective conns down at Earth. Both men are surprised at the response to today’s developments. Frozos is disgusted at what he sees as the foolishness of the public, whereas Tiberius has a grudging respect and admiration for their perseverance through this ordeal. He hadn’t seen a planet hold out this well since a single planet held out for over twelve months. That siege over twenty-five years ago catapulted Tiberius to Vice Admiral, as h
e finally conquered it after his predecessors had failed for over six months. His tactics had been brutal and there were no known survivors. He wondered if a similar outcome here was proving inevitable.

  Chapter 26

  Jersey City

  June 13, 2029

  The past eleven days have truly seen the best of humanity as the planet mounted a genuinely global response with an intensity the like of which has never been seen before. The speed at which manufacturing companies retooled factories and assembly lines to at least partially assist in the production of military goods globally has been extraordinary. Over these eleven days, 25,000 SF-01s have been produced for a global fleet of 64,000. With 68,000 trained pilots, Robert Wilson will be able to launch every plane. He can even change out some pilots if needed depending on the duration of the battle. Pilots have been training constantly on simulations based on the current military situation to determine the optimal group of 64,000 to send.

  Carrier groups have assembled along the coast of the Americas, East Asia, the Middle East, Western Africa, the Mediterranean, the Arctic, and the North Atlantic. Cities that house Arbor Ridge towers are anticipated to face the heaviest assaults, both because that will be the entry point of enemy ships and because they will want to try to take the towers down to permanently impair the force field. Given the mini force field structure around the towers—which can remain on even if the global force field is turned off—Robert is comfortable they will withstand a heavy assault but Admiral Tiberius doesn’t know this. So, for the past seven days, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has been parked just outside New York harbor. Its presence has been a daily reminder to Robert that he is not fighting this war alone. All of mankind is as deeply invested in this war as he is.