“Most likely some sort of ionized material. Some sort of matter that isn’t of this Earth. Plasma doesn’t explode like that.”
John looked back at the report Chris handed him. Since the global satellite meltdown, information was sparse. If it wasn’t for the help of the Russian hacker Oleksii Borachev, the US government wouldn’t have any eyes in the sky. It was Oleksii who managed to break into the only functioning satellites left orbiting the Earth and get them to monitor the the invasion as it happened. Without his efforts, they’d have no chance against the alien invaders. The satellites Oleksii hacked into were special BlueStar prototypes. Next generation spy nano-satellites, about the size of baseballs. They had an ability to shield their frequency. That’s most likely why the alien invaders missed them during their initial attack on the Earth’s satellite network. Hacking into them was no small feat. But hacking into satellites was why SpaceForce procured Oleksii from Russia. He was the best of the best. He understood space communications better than anyone else. The report in John’s hand detailed as much of the invasion as the satellites could see.
It detailed everything that they knew up to this point. It detailed that the alien ships were first spotted in the Oort Cloud. Then, they were spotted in the Kuiper Belt. John was the first to suggest that the alien ships would be heading toward Earth. He was at NASA when he made the prediction. He didn’t believe it at first. But, as John always reminded himself, the data doesn’t lie.
The reason John, an MIT professor and astrophysicist, was called to NASA was simple. He helped design the satellites that monitored the Oort Cloud. If anyone knew how to track, monitor and classify Oort Cloud data it was him. NASA needed him to confirm the readings. They also wanted him to look at some new data that they had procured from a satellite monitoring the Kuiper Belt, the area of our Solar System beyond the planet Neptune. John flew to NASA the night of the global satellite meltdown. It was there he determined that the objects spotted in the Oort Cloud and the objects in the Kuiper Belt were the same thing. Somehow, the objects had been able to “jump” across space and time. The way they travelled so quickly defied all laws of physics. At that point, John knew they were dealing with something not of this world. It was then that he knew they would be heading toward Earth.
When the alien ships did arrive, John and Chris were called to SpaceForce Mission Control. They would be needed to help further analyze the data from Oleksii’s hacked BlueStar satellites. When they got to Mission Control, the attacks had already begun. And the satellite data from Oleksii was horrifying. The satellites spotted thousands of alien ships in Earth’s orbit.
John put the report down. He was reading what he already knew.
“Does this thing say anything I don’t already know,” he said.
“No,” said Chris. “We wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss anything.”
“For fucks sake, Chris. Could you find another way to waste my time. This isn’t the time for your bureaucratic nonsense. If you haven’t noticed, the entire planet is underattack. We don’t need to document every god damn thing. You want to hear something new! Those things have probably been watching us for a long time,” he said. “They’ve probably been studying us for years out there. They know our weaknesses. They know our strengths. This is as coordinated an attack as I’ve ever seen. We should pull our troops back. We should retreat and consider our options. Add that to your fucking report!”
“Back up a bit,” Chris said. “What makes you think the aliens have been watching us for years?”
“We spotted them at the Oort Cloud. That’s about two light years away. We spotted them where they were two years ago. They were there, at the edge of our solar system for two years. They had to be watching us. Studying us. Learning everything they could about us. And you know what, when we spotted them at the Kuiper Belt, that is only eight and half light minutes away. Who knows how long they’d been there. I imagine they know a lot about us.”
“That explains the Olympus Mons mission then, doesn’t it?” Chris said. “Those things made sure we never set foot on another planet. They wanted us stuck here on Earth. You might be right about them watching us. That’s most likely how they knew how to disrupt our satellite network so effectively. ”
John nodded. He was annoyed. But Chris was right. These things made sure that the Olympus never happened. They made sure that the human race never set foot on another planet. A hostile alien race would have seen that moment as a threat. He looked around Mission Control. Every one looked like chickens with their heads cut off. They were all scrambling , trying to make sense of the impossible. They needed to get out of here. John noticed Chris’s phone ring. Was it Sharon? Chris answered it and walked away. John couldn’t watch the main monitor in the control room. Even though the attack was about to begin, he couldn’t watch. He just wanted to know that Sharon was okay.
“Sir, the AirForce is on standby. They are waiting for your word,” said Walt.
“Tell them to give those alien sons-a-bitches hell,” the general responded.
Everyone in the control room cheered.
John frowned. How the fuck were they supposed to take on advanced alien technology like this? They were fighting steel ships with bows and arrows. It wasn’t a fair fight.
Chris put his phone down and walked back over to John.
“She’s fine,” said Chris.
“Where is she?”
“She’s outside of Houston now. She got out before it got bad. She’s headed our way.”
For the first time since the invasion began, John felt a moment of relief. “Any word on any motherships coming our way?”
“No,” said Chris. “From the data we’ve collected from the BlueStar satellites, there is no ship headed our way. But there are still alien motherships in orbit. From our latest estimate, there are about 24,000 ships still up there, waiting to come down.”
“24,000!” John was shocked. “That’s a goddamn armada.”
“And with the communications we’ve received from other countries, we can estimate that there are probably about 80,000 of those things in total.”
“So what are you saying?”
“It’s only a matter of time until they’re here,” Chris said.
John looked at the general. He was still pacing back and forth, barking orders into his headset, doing his best to coordinate the attack.
“We should be evacuating,” he said.
“I know,” said Chris. “We will. If this attack is a failure. We will evacuate.”
John couldn’t believe it. Did Chris think they had a fighting chance? He couldn’t. He wasn’t that stupid.
The alien ships had already proven themselves too powerful. It would be wise to retreat now, to reorganize and reassess.
Chapter 3
You could hear the X-91s in the distance. The battle was on.
Rick was on the roof of the observatory with Sam. He was scanning the battlefield with his binoculars. The motherships and AOJs continued to lay waste to the core of the city. On the outskirts, things were much more peaceful. Sure, every now and then a group of AOJs would venture out to the citylimits. But it was rare. Looking at the Hollywood Hills, you’d hardly believe an alien invasion was taking place. The Hollywood sign was still standing. The mansions that darted the hills were still intact and pristine.. Only twenty-four hours ago, this was a land of luxury. Populated by directors and producers trying to make the next big blockbuster. Maybe they were even planning to make an alien invasion movie? Rick smirked thinking about all the alien invasion movies he’d seen in his youth. For the most part, those movies got a lot of it right. He put his binoculars down. The X-91s would be here any second.
“Spot anything interesting?” Sam asked.
“No AOJs close by,” Rick said. “All I spotted were some looters breaking into mansions and some groups of survivors walking up the mountains.”
“As long as they stay off the roads, those survivors should be fine.”
As Sam and Rick talked, the group of X-91s from the AirForce flew overhead. The engines rattled the communication equipment Sam was using to talk to SpaceForce Mission Control.
Sam picked up his radio.
“Mission Control, the X-91s are in. We will keep you posted on the status of the battle.”
Rick watched the next-generation fighter jets fly toward the motherships. Their smoke contrails dissipated in the twilight of the day. The lights of some of the still standing office towers began to turn on. Survivors still inside? Rick knew they’d be dead. Poor bastards. The sun was setting below the horizon and the purple and red of the sky made it look like the whole horizon was on fire. In a way, it was.
“Mission Control do you read me? Mission Control? Mission Control?” Sam banged the radio on the table. “Fuck!”
“What is it?”
“I’ve lost connection.”
“Is it on our end or theirs?”
“I think it’s ours, but I can’t be sure.”
“How can you be sure?”
“If we use another radio tower. If you can communicate with Mission Control from another tower, then we will know it’s our equipment.”
Rick picked up his binoculars and walked to the edge of the observatory’s roof. He scanned the hills. He stopped. “There,” he said.
Sam walked up to him and looked. “What?”
“That’s a radio tower, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Sam said. “What luck!”
“Great,” said Rick. “Problem solved. I’ll take a group of soldiers down to the radio tower. It’s about two miles away. It shouldn’t take us long.”
Sam nodded. “We could try connecting our walkie-talkies to the tower. You’ll need to take this rerouting node.” He handed Rick the node. “Connect it to the radio tower’s antenna. That should transfer the signal back to our walkie-talkie equipment here. It’ll have to do.”
Rick took the node. “If we don’t make it to the radio tower,” Rick said. “I’ll fire the flare gun. You should evacuate. There’s no use you hanging around here if we can’t do our job.”
“Agreed,” said Sam.
Both men nodded at each other as the first missiles from the X-91s hit the motherships. Rick would have to be quick. It was essential that SpaceForce Mission Control knew how the battle was going. Both the US Army and AirForce were relying on SpaceForce for all data relating to the battle. If the battle turned south, the orders to evacuate would come from SpaceForce. Without any communications, they’d have to order a retreat soon. The battle could be over before it even began.
“I should get going,” ” Rick said. “We will get radio communications back up soon.”
Both men shook hands and Rick walked off to talk to the group of SpaceForce soldiers waiting below the observatory roof. He needed some volunteers.
The soldiers were hanging out in the lower level of the observatory. They watched the fighter jets attack the AOJs like kids watched a science-fiction movie. Their mouths were agape. The only thing missing was the popcorn.
“Listen up,” Rick said.
The soldiers turned around.
“I need two men to come down with me toward a radio tower three miles away. We’ve lost communications with Mission Control and this is the only way we can get them back up and running.”
No one raised a hand. Rick knew this would happen. He knew his past would catch up to him. He had a certain reputation within SpaceForce ranks. On top of that, he was a civilian in their eyes. Why should they listen to him?
One of the soldiers, Private Elijah McDouglas, came forward, “Listen, we know who you are. You’re the son of Blake Frost. You’re the lucky bastard that got himself kicked off the Olympus Mons mission days before launch. Why don’t you let the soldiers do their thing and you stay back here with your friend, the commander. You’re a civilian in our eyes.”
“Listen up, shit head,” he looked straight at Private McDouglas. “I don’t give a shit what you think about me. I’m here to help. We need to communicate with Mission Control or this whole things is over. You hear me?”
Private McDouglas scoffed at Rick’s reply. Other soldiers in the group seemed convinced. Rick asked the group once again, “Who wants to come with me?”
A few hands raised. Rick pointed to Private Davis and Private McCluskey.
The two soldiers got up and followed Rick from the observatory. They’d reach the radio tower in a couple hours.
Chapter 4
“I’ve got some bad news,” Oleksii said.
John didn’t want to hear it. He had left mission control when the battle for Los Angeles began. He was getting anxious. He needed to work. He didn’t want to watch. The best thing he could do was to throw himself into some numbers, into some data, into something he could sink his teeth into. He walked to the small room Oleksii had called home since arriving at Mission Control and asked the Russian hacker if he could help. Helping analyze the data from the BlueStar satellites was better than watching the command centre main screen and hearing reports about the battle that was unfolding.
Oleksii had been using the only known operating satellites orbiting Earth to spy on the alien ships. There were six energy drinks next to his work station. They were all empty. The man was a machine. The closest thing to an android that John had scene since he’d helped out at the MIT robotics lab a few years ago.
Something strange appeared on Oleksii’s monitor. Oleksii clicked at his keyboard. John knew it wasn’t good. “What is it?” John asked.
“There’s a mothership. She’s headed our way. Look.”
The low resolution image from the satellite was clear enough. Motherships were descending into Earth’s atmosphere. A dozen of them headed toward the Nevada desert.
“How did we not notice this?” John asked. “I thought you were watching what was going on up there?”
“I don’t know,” Oleksii said. “They just… they just kind of appeared.”
“Fuck,” John said. “How long do we have?”
“Maybe thirty minutes. Maybe less.”
Seeing the alien ships descend into the atmosphere confirmed John’s fear. He was right. They should have evacuated hours ago. “Come with me,” he said.
John pulled the Russian hacker up from his chair. Both he and Oleksii made their way to the command center.
The halls of Mission Control were chaotic. SpaceForce personnel ran back and forth. If the command centre was a mess, this was worse. John shook his head. He knew that they’d never be able to organize a successful attack against these alien invaders in this kind of environment. No one seemed to know what they were doing. SpaceForce wasn’t prepared for this.
They made their way to the command center and made their way up to Chris and General Tarkin, who were going over details relating to the battle. It wasn’t going well. As the battle began, they’d lost a comm link with the recon group. They were now relying on second hand accounts from other branches of the military. Information was hard to come by, but what little they gathered painted a grim picture. The Army reported thousands of deaths. The AirForce reported that their X-91s were dropping like flies. The only thing left to do now was retreat. The battle was over.
“What do you mean the squadron is lost?” the general screamed into his headset. He’d been chatting with AirForce commanders for a few minutes. The look on his face said it all. He was a man coming to grips with defeat. John watched the general’s expression turn from one of anger to one of sadness.
Chris turned to John and Oleksii with the same hopeless look. He looked like a man who had been screaming at the general to order a retreat for the last thirty minutes. He hadn’t been listened to.
“We need to talk,” John said as he approached Chris.
“Can’t you see
were in the middle of something here?”
“There’s a mothership headed our way.”
Chris froze. He didn’t respond. He looked at John.
“Did you hear me,” John repeated. “There’s a mothership headed our way. We need to evacuate. We need to evacuate now.”
Chris sat down. The frozen look on his face didn’t melt away. John didn’t have time for this. He turned to the general, who was still screaming into his headset.
“General,” he said.
The general ignored him.
“General,” he said, this time louder.
General Tarkin turned around. “What?”
“General, sir, we need to evacuate now!”
“The battle isn’t lost yet. We can’t give up now.”
“General, sir,” John said. “If we don’t leave now, we will all die.”
The general knew what John was talking about immediately. He looked toward Oleksii, who met the generals gaze with a simple nod, confirming everything. SpaceForce Mission Control was about to be attacked.
“Fuck,” the general said.
He put down his headset, walked to the middle of the command center. Specialists were running back and forth, sending information to each branch of the military as they requested it. It was madness. The general’s awkward motions to the middle of the room made all the personnel stop what they doing. “Give the orders to evacuate,” he said.
Communication Specialist Walt acknowledged the general’s orders. His face turned white. He hit the emergency button. Red lights flashed throughout the facility. He dropped his headset and ran to his locker. There was no time to lose.
The general walked to John. “How long do we have?”
John looked to Oleksii.
“Twenty-five minutes,” Oleksii said.
Chris’s face had relaxed a bit. He’d gotten over the initial shock. John walked up to him and put his hand on his rival’s shoulder. “We have to leave,” he said.
Battle- Earth Page 3