Gin-us was sitting at their base, waiting for the return of Patrick, Flupotia, and Frize. He had made his way back to camp where he learned of the passing of Bruish from Ecoglite. He had been infuriated when he first found out but had given himself time to calm down. Eclogite led Gin-us back to where they had buried the body, which he made them dig back up for a proper send-off. With that done and nothing else to do, he sat around and waited.
On the third day of waiting, Patrick and the others finally returned. Gin-us was pleased to find them dragging several wagons full of supplies for the journey ahead. While Dionaea could only spare a handful of soldiers, she had insisted on overloading them with any other supplies she could offer. When all was said and done, the army was leaving Venus in far better shape than they had arrived. They had lost a few soldiers but gained many more.
There was now also plenty of food, the leftover meat from the brithog more than enough to sustain the army for months. There were enough weapons now, both primitive from the Venusians and advanced from the Plutonians that everyone was able to carry a set and have two backups. With all the prisoners safely handed off to Queen Dionaea, Patrick and his army were ready for Mercury.
◆◆◆
“How do you think he’s doing up there?” Bonnie was lying down in a hammock in the backyard, watching the stars.
Gerald stood next to his wife with a worried look on his face. Bonnie had been deteriorating since Patrick had left, spending all night awake watching the stars. The bags beneath her eyes had grown considerably and she’d lost far too much weight.
“I’m sure he’s doing fine darling.” He sat down on the edge of the hammock and placed a hand on her knee. “Come inside, I made dinner.”
“Hmm.” She barely acknowledged him as she scanned the stars with her binoculars.
“Darling, please. It’s cold out here.” He rubbed his hand across her outstretched leg, her skin cool to the touch and covered in goosebumps.
“Look!” She jumped up suddenly and pointed to the sky, binoculars still glued to her face.
Gerald looked up to the sky and saw only darkness. “He’s not due back for a while still. I’m sure it was just a shooting star.”
“No, look!” She thrust the binoculars at him and pointed to the sky. “It’s him!”
Gerald hesitantly took the binoculars knowing this wasn’t the first time they’d gone through this.
“Where am I looking?”
“Right up there.” She tilted his head until he was facing the direction she wanted him to be.
“Honey, I’m not seeing any…” His words were caught in his throat as he finally saw what she was seeing.
“You see him, don’t you!” She squeezed his arm tightly. “He’s finally coming home!”
“I think,” he strained his eyes wanting to make sure he believed what he was seeing, “I think you’re right.”
Bonnie jumped out of the hammock and ran for the back door. “Our boy is home!”
◆◆◆
“We’ve reached Earth.”
“Perfect. You have the coordinates for the old base.” Krick gave the order and the soldier returned to his station.
“Honing in on the coordinates. Slowing descent speeds. Arrival in ten minutes.”
“Let’s give them hell boys.” Punx grinned.
◆◆◆
“Ma’am, we’ve noticed some unidentified crafts entering our airspace.”
An analyst sitting at one of thirty computer screens pulled up the feeds from one of their satellites. There were three blips on the radar.
“Where are they heading?”
Major Elizabeth Parker stood from the shadows where she had been observing. She walked to the front of the room with a strong, steady gait. The light of the computer screens danced across her angular face. Her long blond hair was tied back in a tight bun and her uniform looked freshly pressed. She stopped behind the analyst, her hands clasped on the small of her back.
“Based on the current trajectory, it looks like it may be Patrick returning home.”
“Keep an eye on their descent.”
She walked to the other end of the room where a red phone hung from the wall. She picked it up and held it to her ear, listening to the ring tone. A click on the other end indicated the line had connected.
“Protocol Lima initiated. This is Major Parker, clearance code Alpha Delta Sierra.”
“Destination?”
“Looks like our target is heading home.”
“Resistance expected?”
“Likely. Send out Troops Alpha through Foxtrot. Hopefully, he surrenders without fighting back. Let’s avoid bloodshed if we can avoid it.”
“Message will be passed along.”
The line clicked dead and Elizabeth hung up the phone.
“Alright everyone, this is what we’ve been training for. Let’s bring Patrick in.
◆◆◆
“They’re coming this way, I told you it was him!” Bonnie was standing in the front yard now with a much clearer view of the sky above.
Gerald stood next to her, his body tingling with excitement. Our boy actually did it. A tear rolled down his cheek.
“Oh, darling!” Bonnie wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and planted a kiss on his wet cheek. “You can act all strong and mighty, but I know there’s a soft man under there somewhere.” She chuckled and poked his stomach.
He laughed in return as his body involuntarily jerked away. “Knock it off.” He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed gently. “Our boy is coming home.”
◆◆◆
“His town is just ahead.”
“Spool up the cannons.” Punx left his post and walked to the front of the ship. “Best seat in the house for the firework show.” He smiled back at Krick.
“Make sure we leave his house standing.” Krick twirled the knives in his hands, the light bouncing off the steel and glinting in his eyes.
◆◆◆
“He’s coming in kind of fast isn’t he?” Gerald was standing in the street with Bonnie and about half the neighborhood, the sound of the engines stirring everyone. “What is he doing?”
Gerald pushed free from Bonnie and took a few steps towards the incoming ships. He raised the binoculars and looked at the ships. No!
“Everyone,” he dropped the binoculars and grabbed Bonnie’s arm, “get back inside! It’s not him!”
He took off running towards his house, dragging his wife behind him.
“What are you talking about!” Bonnie tripped up the stairs as she pulled free from his grasp. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know! Get down to the basement, now!”
“How do you know it isn’t him!”
Gerald didn’t get a chance to answer as the sound of the first round of fire made contact with the ground. The entire neighborhood shook as the Plutonian ships flew overhead, relentlessly hammering down on the people below.
People were scattering as homes exploded. Bonnie fell backward from the porch as their neighbor's house was hit.
“Come on!” Gerald jumped down and grabbed his wife, dragging her from the ground and back inside.
“We can’t just hide away!” She pulled free as he struggled to open the door. “We have to do something!”
“What can we do?!” He looked at her with pleading eyes. “We have no way of fighting back against something like this!”
She tried to refute him but had nothing. Instead, she dropped her hands at her side and waved him into the house.
◆◆◆
“First wave complete.” One of the soldiers looked to Punx who was still standing at the window.
“Let’s go again!” His eyes were manic.
“Getting a little carried away Punx?” Krick raised an eyebrow.
“There’s just so much left to destroy! Look at them all running around. Like they’re safe in their homes! You know the plan, destroy the area and leave only his home standing!” Punx was waving his hands
wildly in the air.
“No, you’re right. Spin us around for another pass.” Krick nodded his approval to the pilots.
The ships turned and began to fly back across the neighborhood. By now, everyone had fled to the supposed safety of their home. A few garage doors had opened and people were backing down their driveways, hoping to outrun the destruction.
◆◆◆
“No.” Bonnie clasped a hand over her mouth as the Johnsons were halfway down the driveway when a missile tore into their car.
“Get to the basement, now!” Gerald ran to the basement door, his wife close behind.
The two hid in the corner, listening to wave after wave of attack reign down on their neighbors and friends.
◆◆◆
“Ma’am. The ships, they’ve begun attacking.”
“Attacking?” Elizabeth hurried to the computer screen the soldier was watching. “That can’t be right.”
The image on the screen was an aerial shot from a small drone that had been sent out ahead of the teams. The entire block was near destroyed. Fires were burning in almost every home while attacks continued from above.
“We need to send more troops over there.”
She made her way back across the room to the red phone, plowing through anyone who stood in her way.
“Protocol Lima suspended. Protocol Romeo initiated. This is Major Parker, clearance code Alpha Delta Sierra. The situation has escalated. Immediate support needed from all teams.”
“Understood.” The line went dead.
I hope we’re not too late. Elizabeth watched the screen from across the room, terrified to think this was their new enemy.
◆◆◆
The flight to Mercury was uneventful, and everyone was okay with that. After the adventures on Venus, the peace was a welcomed change. The army made it to the jump point without further incident. The jump was quick and smooth, the army relieved to come out the other side and find the area unoccupied. The mood on the ships was carefree and light, the small army ready to take on whatever Mercury had to throw at them. But, with no Plutonian sightings, there was less urgency in their current path. The group shared stories of their separate adventures as they went, everyone wanting to know what they had missed out on.
The feel on the ships quickly changed when they approached Mercury and the radar systems alerted them to a formidable fleet in orbit around the planet. There were four ships showing on the radar, each appearing around ten times the size of the ships Patrick and his army commanded. I’m glad I fixed their radars, Flupotia thought as Patrick called for a silent descent to the planet below. It was clear they could not win this fight in the skies.
Entry into the atmosphere was much smoother than that of Venus and they were soon hovering just above the surface of the planet. Patrick walked the perimeter of the command center, looking out the windows for any sign of life. In every direction all he saw was desert. Even Gin-us with his advanced eyesight was unable to detect anything. The planet appeared to be barren, void of life. Intelligent or otherwise.
“Patrick,” Jane grabbed his attention, “I’m not picking up on any signs of life here. All the sensors, they’re flat-lined.”
The radio crackled to life before he could reply. “Flupotia here, we’re not picking up anything, but this is new ground and the sensors may not be calibrated to pick up life here. I suggest landing and taking the smaller crafts out. See if we stumble on anything in the local area before moving to a new area. They didn’t send those warships here for no reason.”
“Gin-us,” Patrick clicked his radio on as Flupotia ended, “any idea what’s going on down there?”
“Suddenly I’m an expert on Mercury?”
John couldn’t hold back his laughter and Patrick shot him a look.
“None of us are.” Patrick was still treading on delicate ground with Gin-us. “Just getting your input.”
“I agree with Flupotia. Let’s get out there and explore some.”
The army continued to fly around until they found a safe place to hide the ships. There were dozens of craters and mountains that spread the surface of the planet giving them plenty of spots to choose from. Gin-us and Flupotia landed their ships in one of the valleys, maneuvering it so that they were hidden from the surface by an overhanging cliff. Patrick opted to move his ship into a large cave, effectively hiding it unless someone was to approach the cave directly from the front.
The Firemen and Icemen were all given reprieve and released from duty as Patrick made his way down to the hatch with Jane. The others piled out of their ships as well.
“Still not seeing anything out there. Even with the sensors right on the ground.” Flupotia spoke first.
“It’s strange, to think every planet has life except for the last one to be invaded. How much time are we willing to waste here?”
“Not much.” Gin-us’ mind was now focused on returning to Mars.
“I think we need to spend a few days. Scout the surface.” Flupotia looked out the open hatch at the barren land. “I’ve never been on the front lines of an attack before. I’m only speculating those ships we noticed are just the first of the invasion. I know the usual play is quiet infiltration, but we’ve forced the King's hand. The Council may be trying something new here.”
“You don’t think he’s already been here and wiped life out?” Patrick’s mouth went dry.
“Doubtful. His goal has never been to annihilate life, just control through force and fear.”
“So,” Patrick scrunched his forehead, “what you’re saying is Mercury may actually be a dead planet?”
“From what we’ve seen, it would seem that way.”
“Should we split into teams again?”
“We’ll be able to cover more ground that way for sure.”
“I’m going with Patrick!” Chelydra quickly chimed in and then shrunk back into the crowd around them.
In the ship's garage bay, there were dozens of single and double rider ships. It was decided that the double rider ships were best and that the teams would go out in groups of four. Patrick, Jane, Chelydra, and Zinta were to head North. Gin-us, Roger, Xavo, and Gneiss were going to head South. Flupotia, Tabina, Yuzar, and Eclogite planned to head East.
“If I could get everyone’s attention!” Flupotia hollered above the commotion around her. “These ships operate on a different level than many here are used to. Each of you has been given a helmet that is synced up to the ship you’ve been assigned.” She held up the helmet in her own hand. “As you may have noticed, there are no controls on the ships. They’re actually controlled via brain waves. The helmet picks up on what you want and converts that into commands the ship can understand, and off you go. I won’t lie, it’s a dangerous method of travel but it is also incredibly responsive. The computer is able to interpret what you want and enact it before your own body can send a signal off to your limbs.”
“What about defenses?” Tabina chimed in.
“Same concept. One helmet is for the pilot, the second helmet is for the gunner. By the time your body will have registered you need to pull a trigger, the enemy will already be incapacitated. Everyone understand?”
With silent agreement, everyone began boarding their ships. The pilots were to be Patrick, Chelydra, Gin-us, Xavo, Flupotia, and Yuzar. There were low grunts of pain as everyone placed their helmets on and the system came online, mentally probing their minds. A small price to pay for such an advanced craft. Patrick thought as the pain subsided and his jaw unclenched.
“Flupotia, how do I start…” The engine roared to life, startling Patrick who instinctively jumped back in his seat.
Reading his thoughts, the ship interpreted his actions and shot into reverse as well. STOP! The ship screeched as it came to halt just inches from the wall.
“Patrick!” Flupotia was yelling. “Be careful!”
“I’m sorry, I just wasn’t ready for that.”
“Don’t let it happen again. Everyone else, take it
easy as you startup.”
The ships around Patrick slowly came to life, filling the air around them with exhaust fumes. Once everyone was ready to go and had a few minutes of practice, they headed off in their respective directions, hoping to prove they had not found a dead planet.
◆◆◆
“Another day, another planet.”
Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic Page 16
