Trent stepped forward, and it seemed like we’d forgotten the engineer was present. “I’m going to bed now, but I’m sure I’ll see you in the morning. Choose whatever rooms you like. They’re unlocked, and the keys are inside the desk drawers.”
We said goodnight, and before we knew it, the gang was back together.
“Welcome to the Earth Defense Unit,” Trent said before walking away.
The words were meant to be friendly, but they carried a weight with them: a sense of finality.
“Well?” Magnus prompted.
“Yes. It went well. Almost too well,” Mae said. “Do you think we could freshen up and get something to eat? Maybe we can tell you our tale with Dalhousie there to save the redundancy.”
Magnus looked a little taken aback, but he let it slide. “Sure thing. You guys have had a stressful couple of days. Take a unit. Nat has eleven, and I took twelve.” He smiled at me. “What? We like to be close. It’s safer that way.”
Mae was already walking to the complex, and soon she was inside the bottom left unit, Number One.
“Is she okay?” Nat asked Mary in hushed tones.
“I think so. The hybrids are in a tough spot, and those two crazy bastards aren’t helping things. I’m just glad we caught them before they could do any more damage.” Mary walked on, taking Unit Five. “Dean, you coming?” she asked, and for some reason, I wasn’t sure if she was going to take her own room or not. I guess that answered that.
“We’ll just be a few minutes. Then you guys can call us a cab, and we’ll go for dinner and drinks, maybe some dancing,” I joked, and Magnus guffawed for my benefit.
“Sounds like a plan, I’ll bring the Hummer around,” Magnus said, and Nat gave us a small wave. Carey looked confused for a second, but soon he plopped along, following us inside the room. I shrugged at Magnus and shut the door.
The room was bigger inside than I would have guessed. To the right was a living room, with a door at the end of it, leading to a bedroom. The kitchen was on the left, and a bathroom straight ahead. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with the effective setup.
We found food on the kitchen shelves, mostly stuff with long shelf life, and the bathroom was stocked with toiletries. It was like our own little hotel in a dome in the desert.
Ten minutes and a hot shower later, I was snacking on some crackers, while Mary was drying her hair. A knock clanged on the door, and Carey ran to it, giving it a bark for good order. Mae was there, in a uniform like the ones the guards were wearing.
“Did they not bring your luggage to your room?” I asked, since ours had made it there five minutes ago.
“They did. I just wanted to be in the part. If I’m Earth Defense, then I’m Earth Defense.” Her back straightened as she said it, and I thought there was a sense of pride emanating from her.
“It looks damn nice on you,” Mary said as she stepped into the room. “Mae, are you okay?”
Mae stepped in, grabbing a couple of crackers and leaning down to pass one to the begging cocker spaniel. He graciously accepted. “I will be. I feel responsible for what Leslie and Terrance have done, killing those people, working with humans to attack. We have to find out how deep the web goes.”
“Maybe it was just the one in Washington. It seemed like they just wanted to distract the country with some random shooting. Or give people the impression they had more power than they actually do,” Mary said.
“I hope you’re right. Either way, I do feel better now that we’re here, and they’re locked up.” She smiled and set her hand on my arm. “And thanks for saying it looks good on me.” She spun around, and we laughed.
A horn honked once, and I looked at my watch, worried it was a little late to be honking a horn.
“Don’t worry, Dean. There’s no one sleeping nearby right now. It’s only ten thirty. Let’s get some food and see what Dalhousie has for us,” Mary said, and with that, we left our newly-discovered temporary home.
TEN
The lights were dim in the sterile room, and crumbs were all that was left of my late-night sandwich. I sipped the bottom part of my coffee as Dalhousie and General Heart listened to us tell our tale from the start of the mission to getting to their base. She wrote some notes as we spoke, and I could see her write with fervor as we told her about the erratic behavior Skip had displayed.
“Good thing you had that CIA IT guy,” Mary said. “We would have been searching for a needle in a haystack otherwise.”
The president nodded slowly, a frown crossing her forehead. “It was just too easy. Don’t you think murderers would have gone with a fight? Especially since it was you three who went to get them.”
“Did you want them to fight? Dispose of us?” Mae asked, taking the comments a different way than I had.
Dalhousie shook her head. “Mae! I’m just saying it seemed a little too simple. Did they say anything at all about other contacts outside? Any big threats they’re planning to set off with some human help?”
“We didn’t really have time for a big conversation out there. We just wanted to get them into custody and brought to you. Where are they now?” I asked.
Tapping her finger on the desk, the president looked deep in thought, as if calculating something important. “Sorry? Oh, they’re in some makeshift brig. We’ve added some to the ships and vessels. If we ever make contact out there, we want to be able to lock an enemy up if needed. On the ships, we’ve made prison sections. For the same reason, or for our own people if needed.”
This reminded me of all the atrocities humans had done against themselves while in space the first time.
“Why would we need the vessel ships any longer?” Magnus asked quietly.
“Because if the Bhlat do find us, we don’t have enough protection. We’re sending a colony ship out to Proxima b,” Dalhousie said with finality.
All my life, I’d thought about exploring the stars, since I was a kid wishing I was on the bridge of the Enterprise, and we were going to do it. My eyes shifted to Mary, and she was looking back at me, as if we had some unspoken agreement.
“Who’s going on this trip?” Mary asked for us.
Dalhousie paused, looking over at General Heart. With a gesture meaning go ahead, Heart took over. “Proxima Centauri b is liveable.”
“How do we know that?” Magnus asked gruffly.
“Because I’ve been there.” Heart sat up straight, looking us in the eyes one by one, as if to gauge a reaction. “I went with Slate and Jeff Dinkle, along with Allana and Clare.” He referred to the burly guard we’d met on our approach, and the TV host obsessed with aliens. The other two had been at our meeting in Washington: physics and engineering.
We all sat on the edge of our seats, blown away that there was a whole planet that we could access at our fingertips.
“Well?” Mary blurted, and cut the tension in the room.
“It was everything we hoped for. Lush green land, water, and breathable air.” Heart, normally a stoic man, smiled widely.
“Were there… other life-forms there?” I asked, curiosity burning my veins.
“Yes. No intelligent life, and by that, I mean we saw no signs of humanoid or bipedal life. They do have a wide assortment of insects and wildlife, like any planet with a healthy ecosystem would,” Heart explained. It was a lot to take in.
“I’m not sure why everyone is so surprised. We were invaded, had half our world killed by an alien race who in turn had hybrid human-aliens, and they were being chased out by an even bigger, badder race. God knows how many worlds are out there, but one thing we do know is we have faster than light travel now, and this opens the universe to us. To all its wonders and dangers.” Dalhousie looked like she was going to start standing in her speech but stayed sitting at the last line.
“So those ships had FTL?” Mary asked. I knew what FTL stood for from the mass of science fiction I’d devoured as a young single man. Accountants have all read the classics, no matter what they tell you.
“Yes, it turns out the input Teelon supplied you and Natalia didn’t explain everything about the ships. Whether this was a glitch, an issue of compatibility with the human brain, or a conscious decision by the creature hell-bent on killing two races, remains to be seen. But we know we can travel around four light years in a month of our time.” The president looked for a reaction, and she got it. We couldn’t hold back our surprise.
“You’re telling me we can get to this planet and back in just over two months?” Magnus asked.
“Not in the vessel ships. Their tech is a little more dated, but they can do it in twice that. I don’t understand it all, but the team tells me it harnesses singularity: the power of a black hole. If they had this technology, and were afraid of someone, we should be afraid too. I take that back… we have to be cautious,” Dalhousie said.
“Damn right we have to be afraid. Let’s not beat around the bush here, Madame President, some bad mamas are out there, and they want to kill us and take our world. Probably for resources, or maybe they want us as slaves, like the Kraski did for the Deltras. Either way, we’re hooped unless we figure it out before they end up on our doorstep.” Magnus reached for his cup, finding it empty.
“You didn’t answer my question. Who’s going to Proxima?” Mary asked for the second time.
Heart looked at the president and pulled at his collar in a nervous gesture. “Magnus and Natalia will be going with Dinkle,” he said, and I leaned forward as he continued, “as well as other key parties who will specialize in setting up Earth’s first-ever colony. Mae will also be going with them.” He said the last part as if it was of second importance. I thought he was trying to just slip it in there at the end.
“What about us?” I finally found my voice.
“We need you and Mary here. You’re the face of the resistance against anything alien to our people. We’re putting you two in charge of the Earth Defense Unit, and you’ll work side by side with General Heart here. What you don’t know about training pilots and intelligence officers, he and his team will help you with.” Dalhousie took all the wind out of my sails as she spoke. I’d been relegated to becoming a pencil pusher even after saving the world. That was a full three-sixty.
Carey was at my feet, and his chin moved and set down on my shoe. I’d missed him too. Finding a small piece of leftovers on the table, I brought it to him, and he happily took it without complaint. At least I could stay with him through this training.
“We’re also working on expanding the fleet. So far, we’ve been able to duplicate the ships with success and are designing them with humans in mind. I think you’ll enjoy the tour in the morning.” Dalhousie was ending the meeting with her comments, and though I wanted nothing more than to see what was inside that massive warehouse, I also wanted to close my eyes and sleep like a baby for twelve hours.
We headed back to the sleeping complex in carts and were quiet the whole time. There was a lot to take in, and the idea of staying behind while our friends left for a new world was something that would take getting used to.
After saying good night, and a quick pre-sleep routine, Mary and I were in bed, two single beds pushed together with a queen-sized sheet overtop. Her hand rested on my face, and we looked at each other as Carey snored at our feet. “If I have to train an Earth Defense unit with anyone, I’m glad it’s you,” she said.
I didn’t reply, just kissed her softly and closed my eyes. I saw ships in the skies, strange planets, and the burning sun as I dozed off to slumber.
__________
The morning air was dense and warm, instantly making my new uniform cling to my skin as we made our way toward the ship hangar. Beside it sat the transport vessel, just like the one I’d floated in space to affix the tether to, saving a large chunk of lives. It seemed such an insanely immense task now, but then it had just been the end goal of a long journey. The outside of the vessel was the same matte black I remembered, and I was curious to see the adjustments they’d made to the interior. They had been functional before, but they would need better plumbing and other systems to make them work for a large group going for an extended trip. We learned that the Kraski had been planning on moving their whole population in them, but where I thought of interstellar travel using cryogenics to put the travelers out, they were going to just gas their people with a drug that would keep them in a sort of stasis that wouldn’t need food or water for extended periods of time. They’d tried to use them on the humans so they wouldn’t know what hit them as they ran into the sun, but almost all of them had failed.
I supposed the Kraski would have been upset if they got their people on board, only to find out many would die before arriving because of a lack of supplies. Turned out they didn’t need them, because the mystery race called the Bhlat ended the need when they invaded and killed the whole planet’s worth of Kraski. They’d already left in anticipation, since the vessels were being stored deep in their system.
Could I blame them for being an ornery bunch, wanting a new world? No. But I also wouldn’t let myself feel bad for killing the ones that had come to Earth. Karma and all that. I just hoped it didn’t come back to bite me, but if it did, that was the universe.
“I can’t believe you guys are going to another planet,” I said to Magnus and Natalia as we approached General Heart and Clare, the other main engineer alongside Trent. She smiled widely at us, and it was nice to have a friendly face around. Heart seemed to have a perpetual scowl that wouldn’t lift.
“Yes, my friend. I wish you three were coming with us. Maybe we can talk them into it. Won’t be the same without you all there.” Magnus smiled as he spoke.
Heart looked extra perturbed and he motioned me aside.
“Why don’t you all go ahead? I just have to speak with Mr. Parker for a moment,” Heart said, taking my arm in a light grip and walking me twenty feet past the door. When he spoke again, it was in hushed tones. “Dean, something is off about our guests you brought in. They claim they did have a part in the shooting, but it was intentionally not deadly. They wanted to escape and create chaos among us while doing so, but they also said they really just want to get their people, the hybrids, off-planet. There’s somewhere else they know out there that will take them in, and they don’t want to be a burden to us any longer. They feel like sitting in a prisoner of war camp, though we aren’t calling it that, but let’s call a spade a spade here, is a horrible fate. They understand now that they were brainwashed their whole lives, and they’re acting remorseful.”
I held up my hand. “Wait now. General, if you saw the bloody corpses they left in their wake back in Long Island, you wouldn’t believe a damned word those psychos said.”
“That’s the other thing. They say they had nothing to do with those deaths. When we brought them up, they genuinely looked shocked and upset at Clendening being dead. Leslie cried, saying they’d been lovers. I don’t trust them, but something doesn’t add up here.” Heart wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
The images of the dead guard on his bed and the other hanging in the loading dock office hit me, and I felt sick to my stomach. If they hadn’t done it, then who had? Could Skip have been off his rocker enough to do it, so he could blame the hybrids he hated so much?
“We’ll keep it up, but I wanted to let you know. They asked me to tell you specifically that they’re innocent and just want to leave Earth. According to them, most of the hybrids from Long Island would leave willingly. They also don’t trust Mae.”
I thought about this and didn’t blame them. She was the first one to help us, and without her, they would have succeeded in killing off the human race.
“They just see her as one of us now,” I said, and Heart and I made our way to the hangar doors.
“Maybe you can talk to them later? They asked for you,” he said, looking desperate for answers. I got the feeling that Heart was happy to have someone else there to divert the hybrid or alien business to. While I was sure he made a hell of a general pre-invas
ion, he looked older now than even the few days earlier when I’d met him, and much older than the interviews I’d seen with him on television months after we were returned.
“I’m not sure what I can do, but I’m here to help,” was all I could think of to say.
He looked relieved and together we walked into the building. Its ceilings must have been one hundred and fifty feet high, and inside were half a dozen of the Kraski ships. There was a charge of energy inside the room, causing the hairs on my arms to lift a little bit.
Heart passed me a green pin, and I placed it on my uniform lapel. I was looking forward to someone explaining the technology behind these devices that allowed us to pass through a solid wall.
The ship closest to us was black, not the silver-gray of the other Kraski ships.
“What’s this?” Mary asked, running her hand over the smooth surface of the ship. Where the original Kraski ships were about eighty yards long, this one was almost twice that.
Heart smiled wide but waved his hand over to Clare to take over the answering period. “This is our newest design. We took everything you know and love about the original Kraski ships, and we’ve integrated some great features for humans: toilets, Bluetooth speakers for music, and just the right amount of mix in the air.”
“Why does the outside look different?” I asked, seeing not only a color difference, but a texture variance.
“You know the technology we use to stay hidden out here in the dome? This ship has the same thing. It isn’t as effective in a closed building, but out in the sky or space, you have to literally run into the thing to know it’s there. We also found a way to block it from the Kraski and Deltra radars, and we’re hoping that means it will stay hidden from other potential threats out there.” Heart didn’t have to say that he meant the Bhlat, because it was obvious.
Carey pulled against his leash and barked at a Kraski ship near us. It looked a lot less ominous on the concrete floor of a hangar than searching for us on our journey, ready to blast us into oblivion… if that had even been their plan. In the end, they were only trying to herd us to Machu Picchu to turn off the Shield. I wondered where the Shield was, guessing it was probably safely tucked away somewhere nearby.
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