They all stopped.
“Find as many bottles of whiskey as you can. We’ll need it.”
“To sterilize wounds?” Jose asked.
“Sure,” Rick said.
Chapter 12
John remembered very little of the attack. Immediately after the motherships appeared above Mission Control, the building lit up like a Christmas Tree. There were red lights flashing, sirens, and people running in every direction. It was chaos.
The mothership that appeared in the sky seemed to know that Mission Control was a high value target. Within minutes of appearing over the base, the attack began. AOJs darted out of the giant spacecraft, bombing each building in their path. John learned about all this, hours after it happened. He learned that if it wasn’t for Oleksii, he’d be dead.
Oleksii told him that after the initial plasma bursts, the walls inside in the main building crumbled. Falling debris hit John on the head as he ran alongside Chris and Oleksii down one of the the main building’s long hallways. He was knocked unconscious. As the lights inside the hallway began to flicker on and off, Oleksii and Chris carried John out of the building.
Outside, they were greeted to a full out war. Groups of SpaceForce soldiers were crouched behind humvees, firing pistols, assault rifles, or whatever else they had in their hands at the invading ships. Other personnel that were fleeing the buildings were being ushered into military trucks. Once a truck was full, it would drive away from the destruction. Chris and Oleksii carried John’s limp body toward one of the trucks. It was thirty feet away. With any luck, they’d get out of here alive.
As they made their way toward the military truck, a plasma burst hit the ground close to where they were. Crumbled bits of flaming concrete shot in all directions. One of the pieces hit Chris in the face as he and Oleksii carried John to the military Truck. Oleksii felt the lack of support on the other side of John and had to quickly catch the MIT scientist’s limp frame before he hit the ground. Helping stabilize John’s body, Oleksii saw what had happened to Chris. The head of NASA was dead. His face mangled by the flying piece of concrete.
Oleksii didn’t have time to mourn the loss. Screams, explosions and gunfire could be heard in all directions, reminding him about the danger. He gathered himself and looked up at the sky, at the enormity of the mothership. It cast a long shadow over the entire SpaceForce Mission Control parking lot. Miles above him, a group of AirForce fighter jets joined the battle. Their small grey frames looked slow and clumsy next to the more dynamic and hostile AOJs. They were all shot down. Their flaming metal carcasses falling from the sky like meteors, long trails of black smoke behind them.
Oleksii stopped watching the battle. He needed to get the fuck out of here. He looked back to John, who was still unconscious on the ground. He picked up the scientist and carried him through the exploding parking lot. He couldn’t move, he didn’t have Chris to help with the weight. There was a military truck one hundred feet away. Inside the truck, SpaceForce personnel were waving, urging him on.
He didn’t realize how out of shape he was until he found himself having to carry John. Oleksii wasn’t fat. He was just thin. A healthy, muscular body was never something that crossed his mind. The only thing that concerned him was computer security. All he needed was energy drinks and corn chips. That and his glasses. He couldn’t have gone far without them. He could feel his heart beat a million miles a minute while he carried John. He promised himself that if he got out of this alive, he’d start to work out.
Gasping for air, he ran toward the military truck. When he was fifteen feet away, a plasma blast fell from the sky hitting the truck. The truck exploded. The vaporized flesh of the SpaceForce personnel on board and the exploding metal from the truck shot in all directions. The force of the explosion, knocked Oleksii to the ground, dropping John in the process.
As he lay on the ground, another group of soldier’s ran past him. They were dressed for action. Each soldier was wearing a bullet resistance armor and was carrying enough ammunition to take on a battalion. Not that any of that would help them now. Bullets didn’t seem to do to much damage to AOJs. One of the soldiers stopped when he noticed Oleksii on the ground. He ran over to the fallen computer hacker, still recovering from the plasma burst. “Are you okay?” he said.
Oleksii collected himself, took a deep breath and reset the glasses on his head, they’d been knocked askew by the impact of the explosion. “I’m alright,” he said. He looked at the soldier, he didn’t seem to fit the typical SpaceForce mould. The man was in good shape, but more stout and lean. His name tag said Ethan. He had the rank of Captain. He seemed young to hold such a high rank. “He needs help.” Oleksii pointed toward John.
Ethan ran to John and picked him up with ease, flopping the heavyset MIT scientist over each shoulder. “There’s an underground emergency passage under the parking lot. I’ll take you to the entrance,” he said. “Follow me.”
The three men ran through the parking lot, avoiding three more plasma bursts as they did so. They made their way to the entry point of the passage which wasn’t far from where the exploded military truck. Ethan opened the door to the passage, which looked more like a sewer lid, and Oleksii climbed inside. It was about a ten foot drop from the parking lot to the passage floor. Once he was inside, Ethan handed him John’s body and then motioned to close the lid to the passage.
“What are you doing?” Oleksii said.
“I’m going back to help,” Ethan said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. If you stay up there, it’ll be suicide.”
Ethan looked out back toward the parking lot. All he could see were dead bodies and explosions. One of the main Mission Control buildings was completely levelled. “Okay,” he said. “Make room.”
Oleksii got out of the way. Ethan jumped down into the passage. He then picked up John and the three men made their way. The underground passage was like a long hall. Red lights lit up the inside and every time a plasma burst hit, the tunnel would shake, knocking a plume of dust into the air. It was only a matter of time before it collapsed.
They weren’t the only ones who had the idea to use the passage either. Scientists and engineers ran frantically down the long corridor. The odd soldier was among their ranks. There was a white light at the end of the tunnel. That’s what they all ran toward.
It took them hours but they finally made it to the end of the tunnel. The exit led them out to the desert, miles from Mission Control and the destruction. They could still hear the feint sounds of explosions. No one looked back. They’d all lost someone close to them that day, whether it be a co-worker or a friend.
The sun was starting to dawn. They’d ran through the night. When Oleksii finally left the tunnel, he collapsed on the ground. He could hardly catch his breath. Ethan walked up to him, John was still on his back. “You okay, son?”
“I’m… I… I’m okay,” said Oleksii, still trying to regulate his breathing.
“We can’t stop now,” Ethan said. “We need to keep moving.” He extended his arm and lifted Oleksii up.
They walked for miles and made their way to an old refinery. It was empty, but it did have some supplies they found useful.
The group of Mission Control survivors now had time to assess the situation. In total, there were thirty-seven of them, plus one dog. Most of them were scientists and engineers. Aside from Ethan, there were only two other soldiers, both held the rank of Private. Since Ethan was the highest ranked official in the group, he assumed command.
There was a wheelbarrow at the refinery and Ethan placed John inside. He told Oleksii to take care of the injured scientist and also told him to watch the dog. Oleksii nodded. His breath was finally coming back to him. He was finally starting to realize what had just happened. He looked at John, he was looking better. His skin was starting to get its color back. He was still bleeding, but just a little. Oleksii wrapped John’s cut with a piece of cloth he ripped from the injured man’s shirt. He tied the dog up to the
wheelbarrow with some rope he found. The dog had a tag that read Domino. “Okay, Domino,” he said. “Let’s go.”
They left the refinery and made their way back out into the desert. John slowly started to wake up. Oleksii told him about the escape. John didn’t believe in miracles, but there was no other way to explain how they all got out of there. Oleksii also told him about Chris. John started to tear up hearing that his long rival was dead. It hit him hard. He didn’t expect it to. Chris, the man who married his ex-wife, was dead. John stayed silent for a long while after hearing about Chris’s death.
The group of Mission Control survivors walked for miles out in the desert. “Where are we going?” asked John.
“A trailer out toward the main highway?” Oleksii said.
“A trailer?”
“Yes. Ethan says there is a man there who sells supplies. Food, beverages, maybe even a vehicle.”
“How much farther?”
“I don’t know,” said Oleksii. “I asked Ethan a while ago, but I think he’s got a lot on his plate. He seemed stressed.”
“I see,” said John.
John looked around to see if he knew anyone else in the group. He didn’t. They were all SpaceForce personnel. He scratched Domino’s head. The dog was obediently walking beside the wheelbarrow. He felt bad for Oleksii, having to push him around like this, but if he was walking with the main group, he’d be slowing them down. He was still weak and felt nauseous. The heat was grueling. If they could find a vehicle that would be a lifesaver. He didn’t know how much longer he could last like this. He needed water. He needed rest. He couldn’t die now, not after hearing what the Russian hacker had gone through to get him out of there.
He closed his eyes and started to sleep, but he was awoke when Oleksii brought the wheelbarrow to an abrupt stop. “What is it?” John asked.
“Up there,” Oleksii said, pointing to something out in the distance.
It was a pile of smoking debris. It looked like a crashed ship. It didn’t look human.
“What is it?” John couldn’t see it from where he was in the wheelbarrow.
Oleksii didn’t speak.
“What is it?” John asked again.
“It’s an AOJ. It’s the remains of a shot down AOJ!”
Chapter 13
“Where’s the alien carcass?” Ethan shouted.
John was feeling better. He was back up and walking around. He had somehow managed to get his strength back. That said, he still had the bandage over his eye. With his vision impaired, he found it difficult to walk.
Oleksii seemed relieved that he no longer had to push John around in his wheelbarrow. He was winded. Despite the fact that he was one of the first humans ever to get the chance to see an up close look at alien technology, he sat hunched over. He was too tired. He’d take the other scientists words for it.
The shot down AOJ was on fire and was rested in the middle of a crater in the desert. Thick black smoke rose from the jagged exterior of what was once its frame. Long shards of triangular shaped metal made up its body and black fins rested on its upper shell. The fins were warped and bent out of shape. They must’ve been damaged when it crashed. The metal was unusual. It didn’t look to be made from any material found on Earth. The way it reflected the sunlight seemed strange. It glistened, the way water does when exposed to the sun at certain angles.
Inside the ship, beyond the shell, they were expecting to find some dead alien bodies, but there were none. Instead, they found what looked to be alien circuit boards and electrical equipment. Thick blue and red wires connected to large black boxes. Inside the boxes were tiny translucent cubes. A thick, yellow jelly ran from the broken wires. It coagulated into a thick plastic-like mass at the bottom of the crater were the ship lied, like blood over an open wound.
Ethan turned to the survivors. “Well,” he said. “You guys are the scientists. Where are the bodies? Where are the aliens?”
The other two SpaceForce soldiers chimed in with agreeable grunts. They were as confused as Ethan.
John looked from left to right. No one seemed to have an explanation. One thing was for sure, if there were aliens on this ship, they were no where to be seen. Which was strange considering the desert was flat. If there were bodies around, they should be able to see them. More over, there were no tracks, no trace that anything had crawled or walked away from the crash. It was as if nothing had been flying the AOJ, as if they had been flying themselves.
“Peculiar,” John said.
“Peculiar?” said Ethan. “You think this is something to study? Something to be curious about?” He pulled out his pistol. “I just want to shoot one of these things in their face!” He pointed the gun at the alien wreckage and fired.
“Dont!” John shouted. “Stop thinking like an enraged monkey who wants a banana and start thinking with reason. Start thinking with that damned brain evolution gave you. We can study this ship. Analyze it. Use what we find to our advantage. If we want to take on these things, we need to be smart. They have technology far more advanced than we do. The only chance we have is to study them.”
Despite his gruff exterior, Ethan knew John was right. He put his gun back in his holster.
“We should take as much as we can from this ship,” John said. “We can analyze it when we find the time.”
Oleksii looked up. He knew what that would mean. They’d be using his wheelbarrow again. He sighed.
“You heard the man,” Ethan said. “Let’s pack as much as we can in the wheelbarrow. And after that, carry as much as you can. This alien wreckage might be the thing that saves our sorry asses in the next battle.”
The group of survivors grabbed what they could. Parts of the metal were too hot to carry, others were too heavy. John didn’t mind that they left some pieces behind, he wanted a piece of every different part. As they packed up the pieces from the alien ship, he took pictures with his cellphone. While cell service was disabled, the phone’s camera still worked. Human technology still served some purpose. He’d look at these later. Once they got to Colorado. Once he got to a lab.
They huddled around the crashed alien ship for an hour, grabbing as much of it as they could. After that, they headed back toward the direction of where Ethan said the building was. The sun was starting to set. The desert cooled down. Oleksii welcomed the relief. He was once again pushing the wheelbarrow, although this time he wished John was still in it. John wasn’t as heavy as the alien material.
As they made their way to the building, John looked back to Mission Control. It was a tiny dot on the horizon now but you could still see the alien mother ships over it and over Las Vegas. Every now and then a plasma burst would go off, creating a small blue light on the crest of the horizon. At least they were moving away from danger. At least they were headed somewhere safe.
Chapter 14
The Mojave desert is full of red rock and dominated by heat. Every now and then, a shard of rock jutting up from the Earth interrupts the flat plain. At times, it looks like an alien world.
Oleksii felt like he was walking around an alien planet. He had been pushing the wheelbarrow full of alien ship components for three hours. The strange metal gleamed off the red light of the sun and reflected the strange landscape. Nothing seemed real. Was this really happening? He collapsed. He couldn’t go any farther. He needed water. He needed rest. Domino licked his face. He opened his eyes and pushed the dog aside.
“Get up!” Ethan shouted. “I didn’t save your sorry ass so you could die now!”
Oleksii pulled himself up. He looked at Ethan and, under his breath, cursed at him in Russian. Ever since he was a young boy, he hated authority figures. It’s what led him to chose the life of a hacker. He would break systems of control down, expose their weaknesses. The more intimidating the system, the more he wanted to bring it to its knees. That’s why he targeted SpaceForce satellites when he was living in his mother’s squalid apartment in Moscow. He didn’t know that his decision to hack into SpaceF
orce satellite tech would lead him where it did. He wasn’t trying to get noticed. He was trying to bring the most powerful military space agency down a notch. And he did bring them down a notch. Maybe a couple notches. After the catastrophe of the Olympus Mons mission, the last thing SpaceForce needed was a geeky Russian hacker comprising their security. But his act of aggression didn’t go unnoticed. SpaceForce tracked him down and once they found him, they grabbed him, and gave him no choice but to work for them. In the end, Oleksii found a system he couldn’t bring down. SpaceForce controlled everything he did and saw, made sure that he played nice and wasn’t sending anything back to Russia. If he didn’t play nice, he’d be tried as a traitor and given a life-sentence. He’d be thrown into a prison cell that never saw the light of day. But those threats wouldn’t matter much now, now that SpaceForce was just a crater in the Nevada desert. The only thing that mattered now was surviving. And the only way to survive was to keep going, keep following Ethan and the rest of the survivors.
When he stood back up, he stretched, and pushed the wheelbarrow across the harsh desert plain. Domino stayed at his side. At least, he had a companion. He’d always wanted a dog growing up.
John was feeling much better. He had been chatting with the other SpaceForce scientists and engineers who were in their caravan. They were talking about the metal they pulled from smoking remains of the shot down alien ship. The alien metal was strange. Was it made of some foreign alloy? It looked like a combination of steel and iron but there was something else. Some other element that no one seemed to know the origin of. But what John really wanted to discuss was the wiring and circuitry of the alien ship. The thick blue and red wires that ran through the inside of the crashed AOJ resembled the organs of a living creature. The liquid inside the wires resembled blood. It was thick and the way it coagulated at each opening, reminded him of the way blood coagulates in a wound. But what John was really interested in were the translucent cubes. They were the key. He knew it. Each cube that John pulled from the ship was broken in some way. He wondered if the cubes had not been broken, if the ship would still be working? He studied each cube carefully. It looked like something should be inside them, but he didn’t know what.
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