• • •
Jeff woke up. A headache had settled right behind his eyes, and he rubbed his forehead, trying to make it go away.
Faint moonlight bled through the tinted windows of the black SUV they’d found abandoned not far from the tunnels. The leather seat creaked as Jeff stirred. David was curled up next to him, his head resting on an NTC jacket someone had left behind.
Careful not to wake him, Jeff slowly scooted across the seat and checked the back window. On his side of the truck there was only desert. The dunes were brushed with moonlight, making them look like snowcapped mountains, and they stretched as far as his eyes could see.
Jeff climbed over the center divider into the front passenger seat. Buildings and towers protruded from the landscape beyond the windshield. Nothing moved.
Was everyone really gone?
He glanced back at the sleeping outline of his brother. He had a hard time believing that two kids were the only survivors on the entire base. Surely there were others out there. Maybe even their dad . . .
No. He couldn’t think like that anymore. They were on their own.
Jeff sank into the seat. His shoulders sagged as he pulled his knees up to his chest. Tears flowed down his face. He could remember so many times he’d been mean to his dad, so many times he’d ignored him or taken him for granted. He wished there was some sort of time machine so he could go back and fix everything.
David’s voice filled the silence. “Jeff, where are you?”
Brushing the tears from his eyes, Jeff turned. “Up here.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you crying?”
“I’m not.” Jeff spun back to face the windshield, his vision cloudy.
“Yes you are.”
Jeff watched David in the rearview mirror. The boy climbed over the center divider and said, “Scoot over.”
“No, stay put.” He ran his sleeve across his face and noticed movement inside the facility to the north.
David saw it at the same time. He extended a finger toward the windshield. “What’s that?”
“I . . .” Jeff wasn’t sure. He strained his eyes to see in the dim light. Several blue orbs floated over the concrete outside the main observation tower. The glow sent a chill through his body. Every time he saw one it reminded him of the woman inside the hovering ball back on the highway, days earlier. Maybe there were people inside all the orbs.
But there was something else there as well. Moving between the orbs, hidden by their glare. Could they be other survivors?
He reached over into the backseat and grabbed the hunting rifle.
“That’s mine,” David protested.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give it back. Just want to get a better look.” Jeff returned to the front seat, shouldered the weapon, and put his right eye against the scope. Squinting, he rested the rifle against the windshield and sucked in a breath, trying to keep the crosshairs steady.
“What do you see?” David urged.
“Give me a second,” Jeff said.
He sucked in another breath and steadied the gun. This time he saw the orb perfectly. Something flickered inside it, reminding him of a tadpole. Surrounding it were several Spiders. They clawed at the sides of the fragile ball, goo spilling out around them.
“Oh my god,” Jeff whispered.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He focused on the orb again. In the blink of an eye, the ball deflated, the sides collapsed, and the human contents discharged onto the concrete. One of the Spiders tore into her, its claws sinking into shriveled flesh. The others huddled around the glistening mess and slurped up the goo. A smaller Spider thrashed behind the group, trying to get in on the feeding.
Jeff looked away.
“What did you see?” David asked.
“Nothing. Lay back down, bud. We should try and get some more sleep. I want to move when the sun comes up.”
David retreated to the backseat but Jeff stayed put. He raised the rifle to his eye again and watched the Spiders. They had finished eating and were dispersing to the north, away from the SUV.
He leaned his head back on the leather headrest. He finally felt like he could breathe, but his heart was still racing. If it weren’t for the darkness David might have seen the goose bumps covering his arms, or the tears that were still cascading down his cheeks. Jeff wiped them away and then covered his arms with the sleeves of the NTC jacket he’d found in the backseat.
It took him an hour to relax, but he knew he would never fall back asleep. He couldn’t. He had to keep watch. Besides, Jeff knew his dreams would be filled with the nightmarish creatures and alien orbs.
A sliver of crimson peeked over the sand dunes on the horizon. The sun was finally rising. He closed his eyes, just for a moment, wishing more than anything that he could go home.
CHAPTER 3
THEY’D been lucky, maneuvering through the Organics’ fleet without being spotted. When I have the time I’ll have to thank the pilot personally, Dr. Hoffman thought as he strolled through Biome 1 with Amy Carlson close on his heels.
She stumbled across the dirt with her eyes glued to her tablet. “Sir, we’ve lost all contact with ground forces. The Organics have taken down all communication networks.”
Her words didn’t take Hoffman by surprise. Frankly, he was surprised it had taken the aliens this long.
He bent down, gritting his teeth in anticipation of the pain. His back creaked as his right knee touched the soil.
“Sir,” Amy said.
Hoffman ignored her, instead reaching for a handful of dirt and letting the fine grains run through his fingers. It was an amazing thing to hold soil from Earth on a spaceship that was on a journey to Mars. In a way, it was no different from how life probably started on Earth. He had always believed that asteroids brought the first microscopic organisms to the planet, a couple billion years ago. If he was right, that meant the Organics weren’t the first aliens to reach Earth. But, like Christopher Columbus, they would probably be given credit for the discovery, Hoffman mused.
“Sir,” Amy entreated.
He let the last specks of dirt fall back to the ground and then stood. “I heard you, Miss Carlson.”
Her face reddened, matching her strawberry-colored hair. She was a beautiful woman and probably one of the last in the solar system. There would be a lot of lasts in the coming days. He only hoped his biospheres would survive.
“Have we secured the connection to our satellite?” Hoffman asked.
Amy checked her tablet and flicked through several screens. “I . . .” She squinted, a strand of long hair falling across her face. She brushed it away and said, “Yes, sir. The connection has been secured with Lolo.”
“Excellent. Then we should have access to the biospheres.” The trip to Mars was a long one. Three years if everything worked properly. Monitoring the biospheres would at least give him something to do in any downtime the trip afforded, although he already had plans to keep himself busy. There was much to be done on the journey. People were counting on him.
“Where are you going, sir?” Amy called after him.
“To the CIC. I want to know how my biospheres are doing.”
Hoffman climbed up the ladder onto the platform in Biome 1 and made his way to the command center. The distant hum of the quantum propulsion engines was a sweet and beautiful sound. Everything was working seamlessly. Even the artificial gravity drive was functioning at near-perfect levels.
“All hands, this is chief pilot Burns. We have just received the first images from Lolo. Please report to your stations for a brief report.”
Hoffman grinned. Perfect. The first pictures of the biospheres were awaiting him in the CIC.
• • •
“Where will we go?”
Jeff stuffed the flashlight and the leftover food into his backpack, ignoring his brother’s question.
“Jeff ?”
“What?”
“Where are we going?”
Exhaling a nervous breath, Jeff turned to face his brother. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything. Don’t you see? I’m just as scared as you.”
David looked away. His short brown hair was matted. The oversized NTC jacket covered him from his chin to his knees. He looked so helpless.
“I’m . . .” Jeff shook his head. “I’m sorry. I just . . .”
David crawled away from the window and hugged Jeff. “It’s okay.”
The sun had risen, and it was time to move. He hadn’t seen any of the creatures for a few hours now, and the blue orbs that had been scattered throughout the base were eaten.
Jeff studied the buildings in the distance. He remembered the three hangars north of the observation tower, but he didn’t recognize any of the facilities to the east. Then he saw the small white building with the red roof. That’s where his dad had been posted. He brightened at the familiar sight and remembered the weapons he’d seen inside before the invasion. Hopefully some would still be there.
Maybe it was the thought of his dad or maybe it was because he didn’t know where else to go, but that’s where he would take David.
“Got your rifle?”
David grabbed the stock and propped it up against his shoulder. The muzzle extended far above his head, touching the top of the truck’s roof.
“Okay, time to go,” Jeff said. He checked for Spiders one more time and then grabbed the handle of the back door.
It creaked open and the cold morning breeze brushed against him. Jeff jumped out onto the concrete and kept low next to the side of the truck. When he saw that it was still safe, he helped David out.
Together the boys walked slowly to the front bumper where Jeff peeked around the corner. The observation tower was about half a mile away, maybe a bit more. If they ran they could make it in about five minutes.
Maybe.
It was a long distance to travel in the open and Jeff hung back. He suddenly wasn’t so certain it was a good idea. What if those things were watching?
“What’s wrong?” David asked, picking up on his apprehension.
“Nothing,” Jeff lied. There were several other vehicles and a few buildings separating them from the base. Maybe they could use them for cover as they snuck through the area.
Taking a deep breath, Jeff nodded, more to himself than anyone and locked eyes with his brother. “You ready?”
“No. I don’t want to leave. Can’t we stay here?”
Jeff closed his eyes, frustrated, again. “Let’s move.” He took off running for the first Humvee about three hundred yards away. A beat later, he heard David’s footsteps. Good, Jeff thought. He had started to worry he was going to have to drag his brother across the road.
They made it to the first vehicle without being seen. Jeff rested his back against the truck’s dusty surface and waited for David to catch up. He had no idea what he was doing. Even if they could reach the guard building, then what? They were stranded on a military base, far away from civilization. And there was no one left to help them.
Sucking in a breath, he turned and poked his head over the hood. The distance between them and the towers looked farther now.
Crap, crap, he thought. What had he done? He’d left the safety of the SUV only to get him and his brother marooned out in the open.
David joined him at the front of the Humvee. “Are we staying here?”
“No,” Jeff said firmly. He dropped to his stomach and squirmed under the truck. They were smack in the middle of the main road leading into the base. A car that looked like the one Paula had driven was parked about two hundred yards away. But after that there wasn’t much cover before the other buildings.
Jeff rested his chin on the warming concrete and paused to think. There were no signs of the monsters. Maybe they hibernate during the day, he thought. The possibility was reassuring, although unlikely.
“All right,” he said, scooting out from under the vehicle. David sat with his back to the wheel well. His hunting rifle shook in his hands. Jeff doubted he would be able to use it when the time came.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Jeff said. “There’s a car not far from here. We run there first. Then if it’s clear, we run as fast as we can to that building with the red roof.”
David strained his eyes. “Is that dad’s old guard post?” He brightened at the sight.
“Yeah. You ready?”
David nodded, but he didn’t really seem to be listening. The sight of their dad’s old building transfixed him.
Jeff grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him to his feet.
“We can do this.” He paused and waited for David to focus. “Okay?”
A short nod.
“Let’s go.” They ran side by side, their gear clunking on their backs and their oversized weapons bobbing in their arms.
The sunlight stung Jeff ’s eyes. He squinted and kept his gaze trained on the car ahead of them. Its tinted windows looked out over the desert.
David fell behind a few seconds into the run.
“Come on!” Jeff insisted. “Don’t stop!”
Jeff slid into the sand behind the car, coming to a stop next to the bumper.
Panting, David dropped to both knees beside him. Sweat streamed down his forehead and glistened in the morning sun. He reached for the zipper to his jacket. “This thing is hot.”
“Take it off, put it in your pack,” Jeff replied. He glanced around the bumper. There was still no sign of the Spiders, but he could see the remnants of the balls now. They reminded him of deflated balloons.
Ahead, he spied the white guard building. It was one of a dozen buildings in the center of the base.
When he turned back to David, the boy was stuffing his jacket inside his pack.
“This is it. One last run, and we’ll be safe,” Jeff whispered.
David looked unsure.
“You ready?”
“One sec,” David replied. He finished jamming the jacket into his bag and then flung it back over his shoulders. Then he pushed himself up and joined Jeff by the side of the car. He looked like he was going on a long camping trip. The bloated pack stuck up from his back like a turtle shell.
A week ago, Jeff would have laughed at the sight, but he didn’t feel much like laughing now. Instead, he focused on the journey ahead. It was the longest of the three runs, and they would be completely exposed when they left the road. Anything or anyone would be able to see them. They had to move fast.
“Remember that time you walked into that beehive?” Jeff asked.
David paused to think. “Yeah . . .”
“Remember how fast you ran?”
A nod.
“That’s what I need you to do now. Run like there are bees chasing you.”
Another small nod.
“You ready?”
David smiled. “I got it.”
Jeff patted him on the shoulder. A smile was a good thing. It meant they were still alive. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 4
THE images were crap. Complete and utter crap. “We spent fifty billion dollars on this stealth satellite, and it can’t take decent pictures?” Dr. Hoffman was furious. Sitting in the CIC, he scanned the faces of his staff, and one by one they looked away.
“No one can explain this to me?” He looked for Robert Bailey, the chief engineer. The bald man sat at the far end of the oval-shaped table, his beady eyes focused on the tablet he was obviously pretending to read.
“Robert. You’re my engineer. So give me a damn report,” Hoffman barked.
The man ran a hand over his shiny head, the skin gleaming
under a bank of LEDs overhead. Then he shrugged.
Hoffman attempted to maintain his self-control. He glared at the stocky engineer, wondering if his attitude would change if he threatened to shoot him out an air lock.
Hoffman continued. “I expected to have the ability to monitor the biospheres. I expected the engineers that designed Lolo to provide me with images I could actually make out.” He flicked the screen again to look at what was supposed to be the Cheyenne Mountain biosphere. He remembered Dr. Sophie Winston and her team, wondering if they’d figured out what had happened outside yet.
“I apologize, sir,” Robert said. “I will see if I can reprogram Lolo. Honestly, she should be capable of high-resolution photos.”
“I want to know what’s going on there. I need to know. If an alien ship lands on that tarmac or hovers over that mountain, I want it documented. Same goes for every biosphere. Got it?”
Robert nodded. “I’ll get right on that, sir.”
Repositioning his glasses, Hoffman squinted. He expected to see the blast door and the tarmac outside the tunnel leading into the mountain. But all he saw was the grainy image of a huge chunk of rock.
Hoffman sighed and turned to the chief pilot. The man looked like the typical NASA astronaut. He was chiseled, his body filling out every corner of his blue space suit. His hair was spiked into a crew cut, indicating he was ex-military.
“Good flying, Burns,” Hoffman said. “You made me nervous for a few minutes, but . . .” He paused, remembering the pilot that had almost killed Dr. Sophie Winston on her flight to Cheyenne Mountain. The poor bastard was probably dead by now. He’d given the man a hard time. A trace of regret surfaced and then vanished. He’d resolved not to dwell on the losses on Earth. The human race was destined for Mars. Their future was on the Red Planet.
“Thank you, sir,” Burns said. “Secundu Casu is one hell of a spaceship.”
Hoffman nodded, folded his arms across his chest, and turned to Amy. “Better tell everyone what you told me back in Biome 1.”
She stood and pushed in her chair. Hoffman studied her, interested to see how she would react under the pressure of such a grim report. To his satisfaction she spoke professionally and without reservation. It was the same Amy he’d hired years ago.
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