SODIUM Trilogy Part One

by Stephen Arseneault

  There were still a few dozen helper robots spraying the upside-down water ship, so David and I decided to send them a message. David would fire the larger gun at the transports offshore while I tried to mop up the robots. A few short bursts later, half of the shoreline robots were destroyed. David took careful aim at one of the transports and pulled the trigger. The transport instantly exploded and dropped into the sea.

  The remaining transport circled the area below it, snatching up robots as it went. It sprayed a fog over the entire area and then turned away toward the mother ship in the distance. It only took me a few more bursts before there was no activity left around the upside-down water ship. The fighters turned away with the transport and soon disappeared into the darkness. I could not make out anything left from the far water ship, and the one at the shores edge continued to melt away.

  It seemed the robots had accomplished their work and there would be little left to fall into enemy hands that day. We returned to Two Mile camp to check on the other half of our battered but heroic family. The following morning, we made our way back to the colony at first light.

  Chapter 21

  * * *

  For the next two days, Janie lay silent with Rachel by her side. I tried to persuade Rachel to rest, but she would not budge. Only after fatigue had taken its toll did she fall asleep in the chair next to her sister.

  I gently lifted Rachel and laid her on her own mattress. David and I then took turns tending to chores and watching over our fearless young fighter. She had risked her own life in order to save David and Rachel. It was something each of us would have done for any of the others a thousand times over.

  While I had attended church regularly with my parents as a child, religion had not been an active part of my life as an adult. I had gone to the occasional holiday service, but my faith was something I had not paid much attention to. As I sat beside Janie in the middle of the third day, I was startled by a whimpering noise outside the bunker door, and at that moment, I realized I had been praying for her for hours, begging for the recovery of a treasured member of my family even as I felt guilty for not having been better with my faith. I don’t know if it was from my prayers or because it was in God’s plan all along, but that afternoon, Heinz returned. He was much leaner than before and sported a few battle scars, but he was otherwise in good shape.

  I got up and let him in, and he immediately went past me to Janie’s side. He began to lick her hand. Moments later, she opened her eyes. I was leaning over her when she came to, and the slight smile she could manage sent my heart soaring into the clouds.

  I awakened Rachel and called David in from outside. We all welcomed Janie and Heinz back. She was only awake for five minutes before she dozed off again for several more hours. We were all beside ourselves with excitement at our good fortune that day.

  When Janie next awoke, we got a glass of juice into her and had her nibble on a bit of chicken. I could tell she was in severe pain from the damage to her arm, but she was a trooper as always and didn’t complain. The stitching I had done was ugly and crude, but it had held. And so far, there were somehow no signs of an infection. With luck, we would have Janie back in our ranks in a few days.

  We never found out where Heinz had run off to, but we were happy with his return. Since his departure, we had not had any sightings of wild dogs near the bunker, so we guessed he was either leading them or keeping them at bay. Either way, we were happy to see him.

  Since our return, I had spent a lot of time outdoors, always watching the skies for the invaders. There had been no sign of the intruders since bringing Janie home.

  Were they regrouping? Were they bringing reinforcements from elsewhere? Would they soon be scouring the countryside in pursuit of us? I had no way of knowing, and my old tried-and-true technique of not stressing over things you can’t control... was not working. There was too much on the line, and I couldn’t stop running scenario after scenario of outcomes through my head.

  After several weeks, the stress and idleness began to take their toll. I knew we needed to get back to Daytona soon if we wanted to continue our fight, if only for my own sanity. Janie was now in good enough shape to travel. She needed to rest, but I knew I was going to have a hard time forcing her to do so. Even with her pain and injuries, she was ready to get back into the fight. We spent most of an afternoon putting supplies together and getting the farm in order for another extended stay away from home.

  David’s automatic feeders had worked perfectly for the chickens. I continued to be impressed by his abilities, especially when those abilities were so needed for our continued survival. And to think I had questioned whether or not he would be a contributor to our group.

  With our farm in good shape, we made our way back to Two Mile camp. Heinz remained at the compound as our lookout; we dared not have him running about and attracting unnecessary attention in battle. Besides, he had just come back to us and none of us wanted to risk losing him again.

  Upon arrival, David and Rachel raced up the tree to our stand. Using the binoculars and spotter scope, they swept the beachside for signs of the aliens. I had to restrain Janie to prevent her from climbing up with them. She was not stable enough yet for that level of activity, so she stayed with me on the ground.

  David’s first report was that he could not see the giant ship. Rachel peered toward the beach with the binoculars and alerted David of an area that looked suspicious. David soon called down that there was indeed activity just off the beach at the site of the first downed water ship.

  It appeared they were again trying to finish the clean up or recover from our attack. David and Rachel swept the skies and only after a full minute of doing so reported back that some type of smaller black craft was landing on the beach near where the downed ship had been before the sprayers had fogged the debris.

  It was too far to tell if it was a fighter or one of the transports. There was no sign of the mother ship, which made me even more nervous. We would have to venture down toward the beach to get a better look.

  We made our way to the Daytona camp with the hopes of reconnecting the power lines between the howitzer and the big gun that had been severed by the crashed fighter. We would have to disconnect the power at the substation before attempting repairs. As I approached the howitzer station, I was encouraged to see that everything there looked to be as we had left it. Upon close inspection, I was thrilled to find the howitzer still charged and ready to fire. I posted David at the howitzer while Rachel, Janie, and I continued to the substation to cut the main gun power.

  The substation still seemed to be in perfect working order. With a little time, we would have all our weaponry up and ready to use. With David manning the howitzer and Rachel manning Bubba’s machine gun, I would be free to reconnoiter the beach and the activity around the downed ship.

  After disconnecting the fuse and effecting our repairs on the power cable, I flipped the fuse back into place. The arc told me we were now powering up the big gun. While we were there, I also took the time to plant another smoke decoy by the vertical gun. We had been lucky and had taken out a fighter with it once, so maybe our luck would hold a second time.

  When we returned to Bubba, I helped Rachel into the bed of the pickup and checked the machine gun to make sure it was fully functional. I had Janie come with me as I began to head toward the beach. We hadn’t made it fifty yards when I spotted a black craft heading toward us. Janie and I both turned and ran toward Bubba. Time slowed to a crawl as we ran. I could only see one craft approaching, but one alone had the power to kill us all.

  As I ran my mind raced with the thought of me not being ready to go without a fight. Immediately when I returned, I set about aiming the big gun. I know Janie wished she could contribute more, but nonetheless she had a single .38 out and cocked. If she was going to go, it would be while fighting.

  I wanted to call David and warn him, but our communications line was still down. I had not had the time to splice the coax cable.
All we could each do now was to hope the other was ready.

  As before, the craft came predictably straight toward us. I could not believe our luck. I instructed Rachel to wait until it was almost upon us before she fired the machine gun. I would have one good shot with the big gun, so I didn’t want the distraction from her firing. I watched patiently as the craft slowly moved right into my line of fire.

  I only needed a few more seconds...

  Suddenly, soldiers came out of the shadows, screaming at us to freeze. It took me several seconds to realize they were speaking English... and they were ours!

  When I turned around, it was American soldiers with their weapons trained on us. I glanced back at the craft just in time to notice it was a Blackhawk and not one of the fighters. It was one of our own! Had some of our military survived? Were they here to help? What of the rest of the world? The aliens?

  I had a thousand questions I wanted to ask all at once. My thoughts then turned to David and the howitzer. Was he about to blast our own people from the sky? Without our communications link, I had no way of stopping him. Luckily, our soldiers had coordinated their raid and taken David at the same time.

  Several minutes later, we were confronted by an army Colonel who demanded to know why we were in a militarized zone. I began to tell him our story, and after a few minutes, he was on the comm to his commander.

  Twenty minutes later, another Blackhawk landed and a four-star General stepped out and greeted us. By this time, the other patrol had brought David over. Another five minutes with the General and he was ready to fly us off for a debriefing.

  It only took me seconds to convince him it might be to our advantage to give his troops a quick training session on the coil guns. I was informed there had been no further sign of the aliens, and the General’s intelligence indicated the remaining large craft had left the atmosphere. The fighting was over.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if our little ragtag army had defeated this gigantic enemy by ourselves. At that moment, I know I was looking around at David and the girls with my jaw dropped, and I began to cry. Was it over? Had we really won? And what of these troops? Were there others still alive out there?

  With another five minutes taken, the soldiers were given the how-to on the coil guns in case the aliens returned. The final lesson was to let one of them cut loose with a burst from the machine gun on Bubba. All the soldiers, including their officers, were in awe, and I could tell they each wanted a go at it; the destruction coming from the small weapon was impressive.

  Within half an hour, the soldiers had a tent set up with tables, chairs, and refreshments. It seemed the General was able to travel with some comforts. With our capture we had requested that Heinz be picked up. I gave the General my address, and they had a chopper ready to go get him in ten minutes. David and Rachel volunteered to ride to pick him up. The chopper was quickly away, returning a short while later.

  We talked with the General for several hours. I told him of our compound inland and our creation of the coil guns. I told him of our battles and the aftermath with the aliens cleaning up their losses before leaving. That's when he informed me there was still one fighter lying on the beach. I guessed they must have wanted to recover it, so it had not been fogged. Had David and I not gone back that last night and driven them off, they would have left no evidence of their existence behind; that is, except for the immense death and destruction they had wreaked on mankind.

  Before we were to leave, I turned to the General and asked if he could do me a favor. I asked him if we could have a close look at the downed fighter that was still intact on the beach. He of course approved, and our group made its way to the alien fighter. The craft sat nose first on the beach; it had come skipping in on the waves after being knocked from the sky.

  It was eighty feet long and shaped like an arrowhead. There was no windshield or any other indication it could be piloted by anyone or anything. The exterior was much like that of the larger ships and was covered with piping and boxes. An examination under one side revealed two rails that had the same appearance of the propulsion discs on the larger ships; we speculated it was how they moved about.

  On one side was what looked to be one of the helper robots, now only partially attached. It was eerie looking even though it was lifeless. As I looked it over, I imagined that David would probably love to dissect it. The helper robots were like a slice out of a sphere, domed on the bottom and largely flat across the top, with three spindly legs.

  On the fighter ship, there was a carved-out space, presumably where the dome of the robot resided during transport. I imagined the bottom of their transport ships were covered with the dome-shaped depressions, and when the last transport made its run to gather robots, they had popped right in place on the bottom of the craft as it moved over them. This one on the fighter may have attempted to free itself, but one of its legs had been trapped underneath.

  The robot had what looked like two tiny eyes set just under the rim of the dome. Each of its three legs had several joints. At the lowest joint, there appeared to be a claw mechanism that could be used for grabbing or cutting when the end section of the leg was folded up. The other joints appeared to hold other tools.

  As I looked closely at the claw, I was suddenly aware that the solenoid mechanism that powered the claw looked exactly like the object the crazy old man had given me so many years before! The aliens had visited us before and had left this tiny piece of evidence behind! Better yet, that tiny piece of evidence had just been used to defeat them! My head swirled as I tried to put all the pieces of the past years together.

  I had a million questions I wanted to ask the old man. How had he come by the solenoid? Had he seen them? Had he fought with them himself? It had easily been forty years since I had encountered the mysterious old man. I didn't hold out much hope at that moment that he was still alive.

  I continued listening to the General about the world as we continued to walk around the ship. As it turned out, the aliens had come in over Tampa and begun the systematic destruction of Central Florida. The governments of the world were then all notified of the terms of Earth's surrender.

  After the slaughter of 4.5 million souls in just a few days, coupled with the total ineffectiveness of our weapons, the US government along with the UN Security Council and the world body of the UN unanimously agreed to the surrender terms set forth.

  The aliens’ terms were for the peninsula of Florida to be completely evacuated. That included South Florida, whose inhabitants had to all be loaded onto cargo and cruise ships and taken to other US gulf ports. It also called for complete radio silence.

  Any violation of this would mean the swift and total destruction of the closest populace, which would have been Savannah, Atlanta, or Charleston. I finally knew why we had not heard a peep over our radio after the first few weeks.

  They had knocked out all orbiting satellites just before entering the atmosphere, so the ground stations were all that had to be shut down. I shuddered at the thought of the entire populace being without TV and radio of any kind. The cell phone companies were completely shut down as well. Those were daily rituals we were all addicted to and would be majorly inconvenienced without.

  As it turned out, the cable/Internet infrastructure, along with the still completely intact telephone landlines, in places other than Florida, had allowed the government and military to continue communicating with the majority of our citizens.

  There were quite a few less TV channels to choose from without the satellites, but the local channels had all stayed running over the cable, as no over-the-air broadcasts of any type were allowed, and according to the General, "Thank goodness for the Internet."

  Also disallowed were flights of any kind, and all ships on the Atlantic Seaboard or in the gulf after those first several weeks. Not a single aircraft of any type was allowed to fly anywhere. In the ensuing panic, some cities had taken this literally and had also ordered all kites destroyed.

  The paranoi
a and misinformation had run rampant in some towns, and there was also the customary looting by those vile individuals who would try to capitalize on the situation. Several major cities had police battles where hundreds of armed looters and thugs had decided to try to take control for themselves. More than five thousand had died in these fights in the United States alone. The military itself had to rely on couriers for much of their communications, until landlines had been sufficiently put to use.

  The General stated these same scenarios had played out in many cities around the globe. One small nation being run by a dictator had decided to defy the terms of surrender. A single fighter was dispatched, and within a few hours, another six hundred thousand unfortunate souls were lost to the concussion weapon. Compliance was 100 percent after that, and there was no bickering by any nation’s representative at the UN.

  The aliens had come to our planet in search of natural resources. From what we could tell, they were looking for sodium, which we had in abundance in our oceans. I had wondered why they didn’t just mine the salt from elsewhere where it was much more concentrated, and the General filled me in with the military’s speculation that the mining equipment aboard the ships was specifically geared toward ocean mining, so that’s what they did.

  As it turned out, they could have loaded their ships with sodium and not made a difference to us. If all the salt was removed from the oceans and stacked on land, it would cover all the continents with a five-hundred-foot-thick layer. It was one resource we had plenty of. It was also a substance that was abundant in the universe, but I guessed again they needed the water to mine it effectively, and water was a tougher commodity to come by.

  The General also revealed that not a single alien had been seen. He believed all the ships were autonomous and had been programmed to come in, establish order, and take what they wanted. The mother ship had either moved to a safe distance where it could effect repairs on itself or just left and would make its repairs on its journey home, wherever that may be.