by Mark Tufo
“How could you?”
“Oh, do not worry, the poison is very fast in the breakdown process. We were able to inhabit the planet less than six months after the pods had done their work. Clean up after these attacks can be tedious but colonists seldom mind difficult work. The poison was specifically designed to kill only the Drenodiuns so food was still in abundance, even more so because the top predator of the food chain had been eliminated.”
“So you didn’t destroy the whole planet?”
Frertek snorted. “What would be the sense in that? Contrary to your popular beliefs on Earth there are not hundreds of thousands of habitable planets. They are very rare and precious. To destroy a perfectly good planet makes no sense whatsoever.” And he seemed a little peeved I would even think his species was capable of such a thing. Geez, what was I thinking?
“Frertek, what happens to me if I win this competition?” Would he answer?
“Well, as you know, Mike, I statistically doubt you will win, but because you asked I will answer. As we travel from galaxy to galaxy, you would be paraded around as the champion of the Earth games. More than likely you will face champions from other species. You will keep fighting to live or you will die.”
“So there is no happy ending to this fairy tale?”
“Being amongst a superior race should be enough reward on its own.” And there wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Well, I guess if you kick ass all across the galaxies, you have a right to be cocky. If I ever got a hold of a plasma weapon he was going to be the first to taste it. But as I had been for a long time about a lot of things, I was wrong again. Frertek babbled a little more and I nodded at the appropriate times like a good little lap dog and he eventually led me back to my house. Now I was actually relieved to be coming back. The women didn’t say anything but they also appeared relieved I hadn’t offended anybody and ended up on tonight’s menu. I was exhausted; Frertek’s ramblings had worn me out. Now I felt like I had the weight of my life, all the women’s lives, and the lives of everyone on my planet squarely resting on my shoulders. Even if I won, what would I have been going back to? Certainly not the planet I had left. Well, I reasoned, at least our internal Earthly disputes would cease to exist. But the alternative wasn’t any better, not by a long shot. One thing I took from Frertek was Earth still had time. This ship, as vast as it was, was not a true invasion/occupation force, it was a scout. The real battle cruisers were a good three to four years off even with their buckle drives, whatever that meant. The scout ships were just that, scouts. They were there to put the fear of God, or whatever deity the Progerians worshipped, into the doomed species and to occasionally chase off any other species that might be trying to move in on their intended territory. The universe was vast but not so vast that on occasion two competing species wouldn’t fight over a planet or a system. The battle cruisers were the true invaders, but a scout ship could still deliver considerable damage.
CHAPTER 38
Outside Vail
“Hey, sir, ah, Paul, I was wondering something?” Frank asked tentatively.
“What is it, Frank? You look a little perplexed, you alright?”
“No-no, that’s not it, but with the recruitment of so many personnel...”
“Speaking of which—oh I’m sorry to interrupt—but how many people are we up to now? I’ve been so busy with appropriating supplies, I haven’t got a chance lately to go out there and see what’s going on.”
“We just topped one hundred.”
“Damn, no wonder we need so much stuff.”
“They need more.”
“I’ve got just about everything I can think of on this list, what more do we need?”
“It’s not a physical thing, sir—I mean, Paul. It’s not something you can hold, but it is something you can hold onto.”
“Frank, you’re talking in circles, come out with it.”
“Sir—I mean, Paul; we need leadership.”
“Well, then make yourself a general and let’s be done with it.”
“Paul, that’s not how it works. These people here, they came because of you and your ideas. They merely see me as an instrument of yours.”
“So you’re saying I should just stop with all this requisitioning stuff and go play soldier.”
“Basically, in a nutshell, that’s exactly what I’m telling you to do. These people came here to learn how to defend their homeland and if necessary, die for it. Go get Dewey to do all this appropriating and paperwork. He’s very adept at it and it will give you a chance to get out there and be with your personnel.”
“You make this sound like an army.”
“What do you think this is? And speaking of which, any time you get a mob this big together under stressful situations you’re going to have problems. We need to instill some discipline—definitely into the newbies.”
“Frank, this is the kind of crap I avoided in college. I didn’t even fill out the form at the post office when I turned eighteen.”
“Well, like it or not, Paul, you are now in command of the first planetary defense army and as such I think you need to start acting the part whether you want to or not.”
“Well, Frank, you were in the Marines, what’s a good rank for me?”
“Well, to be honest, I always thought full bird colonels were the baddest asses in the Corps. They weren’t so high and mighty they couldn’t come out and do physical training with the troops. They mostly seemed like regular Joes with a little more responsibility. I knew colonels in the corps and every one of their troops would willingly follow him to the death. And that’s the feeling I get with our troops when they look at you. They’d follow you to hell and to be completely honest, I think they might just do that before this whole thing is over.”
“Well, then Frank, Colonel Ginson it is. And just exactly what rank would you like to garner?”
“I’ve always fancied myself a captain.”
“Congratulations, Captain Salazar. Now I just need to get us insignia and some uniforms and we’ll be all set.”
“Already done, sir.” Frank pulled out a set of camouflage fatigues with colonel wings on the lapels.
“Pretty sure of how this conversation was going to turn out, Frank?”
“Just a little bit, sir.”
“Captain.” Frank snapped to the position of attention. Paul thought this was going to take a little getting used to. “Captain, please send in Private Dewey Johnson.”
Frank smiled with the corner of his mouth and said, “Aye, sir.” He did an about face and left the command tent.
CHAPTER 39
NORAD
“Captain Moirane.”
“Yes, General.” The captain had been awakened by his lieutenant when the call from the general came in over the scrambled line. He had been in a deep sleep and found it relatively comforting he could awaken so fast when the need arose. His mother would have been so proud. As a youngster it had taken nothing short of soaking him with cold water to get him out of bed and on his way to school.
“Captain Moraine, are you there?” Apparently, he hadn’t woken up nearly as well as he first believed.
“Sorry, sir, the line faded out.”
“Captain, have you been keeping an eye on those zealots up by Vail?”
“Yes, sir. We have a satellite that primarily monitors their doings. Sir, may I speak freely?”
“Go ahead, Captain. I have never been one to stifle your opinions even if you would let me.”
“Sir, why are we wasting so much time and resources on this small band of militia?”
“Well, Captain, there are a couple of reasons. Number one, we don’t want them alarming the general population. So far they have kept their theories pretty close to the vest. Their recruitment is very limited and selective. We just want to make sure they don’t get the country’s panties in a bunch and secondly… well, secondly, we’re funding them.”
Now the captain was fairly certain he had not fully awakened from his
sleep. “Sir, say again?”
“We’re funding them. This is known only to myself, their leader, Paul, a supply sergeant in the Springs and now you.”
“But sir, why would you help out a fanatic militia?”
“Because they are at least preparing for the inevitable. The President is so busy trying to negotiate a peace with a species that won’t even acknowledge our existence except to scoop some of us up for God knows what purpose. He won’t bring any of our troops back from the Middle East or Europe and this is the time when we should be monitoring our own and he hasn’t even mobilized the National Guard. Not that I think those buffoons could win a war even if they were fully activated and on alert.”
“Sir, what could you possibly think this rag tag bunch could do?”
“Captain, I just don’t know, but that Paul’s got moxie and I like him. He actually approached me and convinced me of his intentions. He knew full well I could have thrown him in jail just for mentioning it, but yet he went full steam ahead anyway. And you know, Captain, sometimes the smallest cog in the machinery has the biggest role. And something deep down in my gut tells me this is the case here. So basically, Captain, I want you more to keep an eye on the activity around the mountainside as opposed to the activity in the camp. I don’t want any of the local police messing this up. You, my fine captain, are going to run interference for Colonel Ginson.”
“Sir, how am I possibly going to do?’
“Easy Captain, you are going to join the Earth Defense Militia. Over and out Captain. Any questions, you know where to reach me.”
All thoughts of sleep had completely left the captain. So there he was watching an infomercial for a juicer at three in the morning with an ice cold Budweiser. He didn’t know if it was the late hour or the cold beer, but the juicer really looked like a good buy.
CHAPTER 40 – Journal Entry 26
Orbiting Venus
I had less than a week and I had yet to find any viable strategy regarding my next opponent. He was as smart if not smarter, big if not bigger, and fast—yes, faster than myself. He displayed a wide range of excellence with almost every weapon. He had stood toe to toe and tricked opponents and won. He had even fallen into a trap and was deft enough to get out, get the upper hand, and still kill his opponent. This fight was going to take everything I had. And even that prospect didn’t seem very fruitful. I had no clue which weapon I even wanted to attempt with him. Luckily, the Progerians took care of that small detail. The remainder of the week flew by, I don’t know how because I sure wasn’t having any fun. But there it was on the screen, game time; only I didn’t get to sit back and watch the Giants with Wags and a cold beer. Everything I had planned hinged on this one man. The fate of the entire planet seemed to hinge on this battle. If I lost, we as a species would pretty much have our fates sealed. But if step one in my at least ten step plan went as planned, I would be the victor here and one step closer to warning my home. The problem, however, with plans is they rarely go as planned. Joe Pontiff had no desire to be my latest victim and the Progerians had made this round of the battles the toughest thus far. I was introduced first as seemed to be customary for me. I surveyed the arena to get the lay of the land and that was when I noticed the first thing that was amiss. There were no weapons on the walls at all.
One would reason the aliens quite possibly hid them within the arena tapestry. But that would also be a falsehood because the arena was merely a level dirt surface. There was nowhere to hide anything. Anxiety rose within me. Fighting was hard enough, but hand-to-hand combat to the death was almost a little more than I could bear. My legs began to wobble. I looked up at the big screen as soon as Joe was receiving his introduction. He surveyed the arena and he knew what was happening also. He did not seem in the least concerned and why should he? I had thus far not proven to anybody I was very adept at this style of fighting. Perhaps the powers that be realized this and were finally finding a way to get rid of me. The horn sounded and the bout began. I did not move for fear of falling over, I didn’t want to give Joe any more confidence than was absolutely necessary. He started heading toward me but he was cautious, making sure I had not set up some sort of elaborate plan. I don’t know what he was thinking, but I had nowhere to hide and nothing to use. But I guess when it’s your life on the line it’s better to err on the side of caution. I felt like a deer caught in the headlamps, I couldn’t move backward and I didn’t dare move forward. I was naked without a weapon. I felt small, I felt puny. I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. And yet he kept approaching. I knew he was coming, but I felt like I was stuck in a Twilight Zone episode. Every time I looked at him he never appeared to be getting any closer. But I was pretty sure it was wishful thinking on my part. If he never looked like he was getting here then just maybe he wouldn’t really get here. But my body knew what my mind failed to grasp, a little thing called reality. He was coming and if I didn’t get a groove on I’d be dead before the next minute ticked off.
Was he saying something? Why was he wasting his breath, unless he was telling me he surrendered, I really didn’t want to hear it.
“…thing personal.”
What? Did he just say ‘nothing personal?’ He was coming over to crack my neck in two. Not somebody else’s neck, my freaking neck. How was that not personal? I instantly flashed back to good old Tom Greenborough, only in this scenario I was Tom and I was begging for mercy. But there was no mercy here, only death. The place reeked of it. I swooned. Come on, I thought as I collapsed to my knees,
“I’m going to pass out.” And apparently Joe could tell by how my face had drained of all color that I wasn’t faking. This was no elaborate plot—my flight or fight mechanism had pretty much fried itself. I was a fish out of water. Joe wasn’t taking any chances, he moved in fast as my eyes began to roll up into my head. He was a no-nonsense type of guy, no sense in dragging out the inevitable. I couldn’t stop thinking of all those women back at the house. They must have been flipping out. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to see my numbers had finally come up and they were all snake eyes. So this is how it would end, so close to the finish line and I fell. What a bummer. And then Joe’s hands were on either side of my head, he was going to twist my neck like a bottle cap. I hope it doesn’t hurt, I thought. But his hands on my head and neck electrified me, the only way I could describe it was like he was the jumper cable and I was the dead battery. My fried flight or fight mechanism coughed, sputtered, and sprang to life. And there it was, Joe’s nether regions were directly in front of my face. I want to say I threw my closed fist up and punched him as hard as I could in the jewels but that wouldn’t have been the truth. I don’t know why I did it but I did it. I bit him. I bit him so hard I crushed his maleness in my mouth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not very proud of that fact. As I write this line I’m still debating whether or not to erase it. It was horrible, it had the same consistency as an unpeeled avocado. And then it burst. Joe immediately went rigid and attempted to scream. That part may have been the worst. The pain for him was so intense he couldn’t even vocalize it. I don’t know which of us was more in shock, him just stuttering in pain or me with his burst manhood in my mouth. Thank God for cotton shorts. I let go and Joe fell over. He didn’t even attempt to break his fall, straight backwards, still wordlessly mouthing his agony. The sensation of the whole event had turned my stomach, I had ruined this man with my mouth. It was by far the most vulgar thing I had done to date. Oh please, I thought, don’t let there be another event to compare to this. I turned and retched up everything I had eaten for the last two days and still I couldn’t get the sensation of him out of my mouth.
When I finally turned back to look at him he was still rigid as a board staring straight up at the ceiling. He hadn’t even moved his hands to cover his damaged goods. And for the second time in this whole hellish nightmare someone begged me to kill him. And I had to—you can’t do what I did to another man and not finish the job. I still had that much humanity in me. I
didn’t know if I had enough strength to snap his neck. I was afraid of botching that and I wasn’t sure if I could take any more of this inhumanity. So I brought the heel of my boot directly down on the bridge of his nose. I heard the splinter of bone and the splash of blood, but I didn’t stop to check if my first blow had done the trick. I wasn’t brave enough for that. I wouldn’t be able to look if I hadn’t finished him. I brought the heel of my boot down on his face again and again, to the point where there was no face left. I had crushed virtually every bone in his head and driven his eyes down into his brain cavity. Not only was there a massive amount of blood but also brain tissue had splattered all around. And yet I stomped on. I knew at that point I had finally lost it. Even the aliens had had enough. Two guards had to pull me off him, they raised me off the ground and still I kicked, strings of brain hung off my treads. I had crushed Joe’s head down to half of its former self. But it really wasn’t so bad. His face was so mangled it didn’t even look human and that was almost something I’d be able to live with. Almost. To this very day, it doesn’t take much effort for me to relive every moment of that. Even after so much time passed it’s still close to the surface. The guards had to carry me back to my quarters, I was so dysfunctional at the moment if they hadn’t carried me they would have had to drag me. When they got to my apartment they deposited me in the foyer and left. I was vaguely aware of my surroundings; the women were just staring, mouths hanging open, dumbfounded. And then the cavalry came to the rescue. Stephanie.
