Battle- Earth

by Mark Harrison

  As Sharon and the rest of the people in the bunker fired bullets at the tank, Felix jumped inside one of the trucks and started it up. He smiled when he saw the BlueStar insignia on the truck’s dashboard. It was using one of his companies eco-neg IV batteries. They kept their charge for years. He won a Nobel prize for its design. Environmental scientists credited him with reducing the carbon emissions in the atmosphere by a significant margin. Felix didn’t even design it. He just bankrolled it and made a lot of money off the investment. He felt bad accepting the Nobel prize. Privately, he handed it over to the man who’d actually designed it and oversaw its creation. He wanted to make the man’s name public, but the BlueStar board didn’t let him. Shareholder politics, as usual.

  He pulled the truck out of the hangar and drove straight toward the tank. He honked at everyone by the blasted open bunker door. He couldn’t let his foot off the gas. He wouldn’t have time to break if this stunt was going to work.

  The reason behind his sudden desire to drive the trunk was simple: he wanted to take away the tank’s biggest threat, which was also its greatest weakness. The tank’s greatest strength and biggest weaknesses was its canon. The canon on a tank is a slow moving, extremely powerful weapon. If Felix could disable the canon before it fired, then they’d just be fighting a big piece of metal. Still a formidable enemy, but one much more easier to take on.

  He busted through what remained of the bunker’s door and steered the truck directly toward the canon.

  The people driving the tank understood what Felix was trying to do. The canon of the tank turned toward the approaching truck and readied itself to fire. Felix slammed his foot on the gas and then took it off. He’d have to jump out of the truck if he was going to survive. He checked that the truck was on the right path and then opened the door. He timed it perfectly.

  As he jumped from the truck, the tank’s canon fired. Felix tumbled onto the ground outside the bunker. The truck was driving fast, but not fast enough that Felix would suffer any significant injury by hitting the ground.

  The tank’s shot did damage the truck, but it didn’t redirect the approaching vehicle. The truck, now in flames, rolled toward the tank and engorged itself on the tanks canon. It didn’t destroy the weapon, as Felix had intended, but it did disable it for the time being.

  Felix finally stopped rolling and watched as the drivers of the tank tried to shake the corpse of the truck free. The only way they’d be able to get it off would be to blow it away with another blast from the canon, and even in that case, it might take a few shots. He watched the tank struggle for a few moments. He didn’t get up until he started to hear the bullets of the attackers in the forest hit the ground around him. The same attackers that had been attacking the bunker earlier were back. The tank had reinvigorated their confidence.

  Felix ran back toward the bunker door to join up with every one else. He’d done what he set out to do. He’d disabled the tank. Now it was up to everyone else to finish the job. Tuck and the every one else inside recognized that the tank’s canon was taken out of commission. It was time to help Felix out. Dirk grabbed two sticks of dynamite off his chest and ran toward the tank with both sticks in either hand just as Rick had to protect the camp. He screamed like a crazy man as he ran toward the tank.

  Tuck, Felix, Sharon and the rest of the people inside the bunker provided cover fire for Dirk. Because of the cover fire, the attackers stayed within the woods. It was all up to Dirk now. If he didn’t take the tank out, this would be over and the attackers would be able to storm the bunker.

  But the crazy bastard somehow managed to do it. The occupants in the tank had tried to blow the military truck off with its canon, but it didn’t budge. Felix had stuck the thing on there pretty good. Dirk threw the two sticks in his hands under the tank and then dove to the ground. Both sticks of dynamite exploded, ripping apart the underbelly of the giant machine. He then got up from the ground and lit two more sticks. He was thorough with his explosions. He stuck the two new sticks into each tank tread. As they exploded, tiny pieces of tank tread flew off in all directions.

  Felix, Tuck and the rest of the SpaceForce bunker fighters let out a big cheer.

  The battle was over. The tank was destroyed. The gunfire from the forest stopped. The attackers, recognizing that their tank had been destroyed, retreated into the woods.

  Chapter 48

  When Rick woke up he found himself tied up to a giant tree trunk in an open area of the metal fort. He’d been knocked out and was just getting his senses back. As he opened his eyes he saw stars and a bright yellow moon above. He’d been unconscious the whole day. He looked around, trying to get an idea as to what he was up against, if anyone else was around him. All he could see was the metal walls of the fort. The walls weren’t hiding some simple camp with an open courtyard, like the one he’d built in Colorado. No, this camp was bigger, much bigger. He was surrounded by small metal buildings. They were built out of the same material as the camp’s walls, but were much thinner. He couldn’t figure out how many buildings there were. There were a lot of them. He was in a small section of the fort. Far away from any open area.

  “Anybody there?” he yelled out.

  “I’m here.”

  “Bobby!” Rick said, shocked to hear the boys voice. He turned around to see if he could see Bobby, but he couldn’t. He was tied up to the other side of the tree trunk. The boy seemed tired, beat up. What did those fuckers do to him?

  “Are you okay?” the boy asked.

  “I’m fine,” said Rick. “Just a little groggy still. I was knocked out. How are you? Have you seen your mother?”

  “I’m fine. A little bruised, but I’ll live. I saw mom this morning,” he said. “She’s not well, Rick. They’re going to kill tomorrow morning. A sacrifice or something in honor of the alien invaders.”

  “Who the fuck are these creeps?”

  “They’re the same group of survivors we met up with right after the invasion,” said Bobby. “Their leader, Quinton, is one of the most twisted men I’ve ever met. Every one who lives in this camp thinks he is some kind of prophet. They think he will be the one to lead the human race to salvation from the aliens.”

  “God damnit,” said Rick.

  “Where are the other SpaceForce soldiers and the scientist?”

  “The two SpaceForce soldiers are dead,” said Rick. “I don’t know where John is. You haven’t heard or seen anything.”

  “No,” said Bobby. “I didn’t even know you were on the other side of this trunk until you woke up.”

  “Fuck,” said Rick. “How long have you been here?”

  “We got here last night,” said Bobby. “I’ve been tied up ever since. Quinton came up to talk to me briefly, but he didn’t say much. He just said he was going to kill my mother tomorrow morning and he thought I should know.”

  “How nice of him,” said Rick. “We need to get out of here.”

  “We’re tied down pretty good,” said Bobby. “I’ve tried everything. And every fifteen minutes a guard comes around and checks on me. He should be here soon.”

  Rick understood that there wasn’t much they were going to be able to do. They were trapped. Just as Bobby had said there would be, a guard appeared. Rick thought it’d be worth pissing the guard off. When peoples emotions ran high, they were more vulnerable. “Hey, shit head,” said Rick. “Mind untying me?”

  The guard scowled, then disappeared. Bobby laughed. “That’s why I like you,” he said.

  “I call it the way I see it,” said Rick. He didn’t like the way the guard quickly disappeared. He was hoping he could’ve got more out of him. Their chances of getting out of here alive were slim. He didn’t want to tell the boy.

  “Will we get out of here?” asked Bobby.

  Rick didn’t answer.

  “I see,” said Bobby.

  “Hey, kid,” said Rick. “Don’t sound so down. There’s still a chance that we get out of here. I just haven’t seen it yet. I’v
e been through a helluva lot worse than this. We just gotta wait for the opportunity to present itself.”

  “I know,” said Bobby, he’d heard all about Rick’s exploits from other camp members. He knew that if anyone was capable of getting out of this mess, it was him. But he’d also heard who Rick was from his mother. He’d heard all about what his father, Keith, thought of Rick.

  “Did you punch my father?” asked Bobby.

  “That’s a long story, kid,” said Rick.

  “But did you.”

  “Yes,” said Rick. “I did. And to tell you the truth, I wish I hadn’t. That punch ruined my life.”

  “My mother said my father punched you because you were reckless and didn’t care about the Olympus Mons mission.”

  “That’s true,” said Rick. Fuck, he was admitting the truth to this kid. But what did it matter, they’d both be dead soon and he hadn’t had a drink in weeks. This was as sober as he’d been in a long time. It felt good to finally tell the truth and let things go. “Listen,” he said. “I punched your dad because your dad said my dad was fool.”

  “What?” said Bobby.

  “I’m not going to lie to you, kid,” Rick said. “You’re dad didn’t think my dad was fit to command the Olympus Mon mission. I overheard him and I reacted poorly. I should’ve had better judgement. But I didn’t. I punched your dad in the face.”

  “And that’s why you were kicked off the mission?”

  “Yes,” said Rick.

  “But if you hadn’t punched my dad, you’d be dead, too.”

  “Yes, and most days I wish that was the case,” said Rick.

  Bobby stayed silent.

  Rick was about to say something else, but he saw someone approach. It was a tall man, he had a long beard and his hair was slicked back.

  “Why hello,” said the man. “My name is Quinton. Please to make your acquaintance.” He extended his hand out to Rick, who couldn’t shake it, his hands were still tied behind his back. Quinton retreated his hand. “Oh, so sorry,” he said. “I forgot you were our prisoner.”

  “Are you Quinton?” asked Rick.

  The man’s eyes narrowed. “You know my name,” he said. “Yes, I am Quinton.”

  “Well, fuck you.”

  Quinton looked at Rick and frowned. He snapped his fingers. There were two other men on either side of him. They weren’t dressed nearly as nicely as Quinton. One of the men walked up to Rick and punched him in the gut.

  “Fuck,” Rick said, as the air escaped his body.

  “I don’t take kindly to impolite guests,” said Quinton. “I’d appreciate it if you maintained a level of civility while you are guests in our home.”

  “You call this a home?” Rick said, still trying to catch his breath. “This looks like a prison.”

  “Cute,” said Quinton. “This is our home. It’s the most technologically advanced place on the Earth. And we have the aliens to thank for that. We’ve developed a way to harness their power. Your friend, your compatriot, he seems mighty interested in our work.”

  “John!?”

  “Is that his name? I don’t care. He seems smart. We could use him.”

  “Piece of shit,” said Rick.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” said Quinton. “He didn’t give up easily. He took some convincing. Let’s just say the man doesn’t have a high pain tolerance. A few fingers always do the trick.”

  Rick was glad to hear John was alive, even if he was minus a few fingers. If John was playing along with them to stay alive, then he’d take it. He wouldn’t hold it against him.

  “But that brings me to you,” said Quinton.

  “What about me?”

  “I want to know if your useful.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Cute,” said Quinton. He snapped his fingers once more. This time both guards approached Rick. The guards looked back at Quinton, who gave them a nod. They then unlocked Rick’s chains.

  Rick was confused. The first thing he did was stretch his stiff limbs. It felt good. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t leave Bobby. He stayed low. Whatever came next, wouldn’t be good.

  “Now,” said Quinton.

  Rick looked up. One of the guards swung at him. Rick ducked under it and extended his leg, tripping the guard. He didn’t wait for the next guard to move. He swung his fist and planted it firmly in the oncoming guards face. The guard flew back a couple feet and landed on his back. Meanwhile, the guard who he had tripped got up.

  “You’re gonna pay for that,” said the tripped guard.

  “Come at me,” Rick said.

  The guard rushed Rick like an enraged bull. But before he reached Rick, Rick dodged his charge. Missing Rick, the guard lost his balance and stumbled downward. Rick walked up to him and was about to punch him in the face when he felt a sudden jolt of electricity rush through his body. He fell on the ground wincing in pain.

  The two guards got up from the ground and took a couple of cheap shots at the suffering Rick. Rick couldn’t respond, he was in agony.

  Quinton took his finger off a small trigger. The electric pulses running through Rick’s body stopped.

  “You… you… son… of a bitch,” Rick said.

  “That’s not nice,” said Quinton. He hit the trigger again, sending Rick’s body contorting impulsively in all directions.

  “Stop!” cried Bobby. “You’re killing him!”

  “Oh, now,” said Quinton. “I’m not killing him. I’m trying to tame him. He’s a wild animal, Bobby. Men like Rick are a rare find this day and age.”

  Rick lay on the ground, he was breathing heavily. He had never experienced pain like that. The metal chains around his wrists and ankles were glowing red.

  “You’re chains have been augmented with the alien tech,” said Quinton. “It’s rather simple. The energy cubes that the alien harvesters create are incredibly powerful. Your chains are made from the harnessed technology.”

  Rick was getting his breath back. “So, you’ve made some electrical chains with this alien tech,” he said. “That’s it?”

  Quinton glared at him. “That’s it?”

  “All you’ve done is use them as electrical batteries,” said Rick. “You haven’t used the alien tech at all. You don’t know shit!”

  Quinton snapped his fingers. The two guards walked up to Rick once more. This time they kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him once more.

  “You could be a useful asset here,” said Quinton. “We could use men like you in our fight.”

  Rick tossed back and forth wheezing. He managed to push out,”Fight? Against who?”

  “The human resistance, of course,” said Quinton. “We fight on the behalf of our alien invaders. They are the gods of the Earth now. Not us. We pay them our respects. Its us human’s who are the problem.”

  “Sandra was right about you,” said Rick.

  “Sandra was a lot like you,” said Quinton. “She had a ton of potential. But that potential will all be wasted as of tomorrow morning.”

  “You’re going to kill her,” said Rick. “Why?”

  “As a sacrifice to the aliens. When I sacrificed my own wife in the name of the alien invaders, they repaid me by taking me to a place of immense energy. They were the ones who brought me here. They brought me to this place of energy and then left me. They left me because they heard my cries. They heard my pleas for salvation and they repaid me with just a touch of their power. Imagine what they will do when I kill a ‘real’ sinner.”

  “You’re crazy,” said Rick.

  One of the guards kicked Rick once again. “Don’t you say that to our great leader,” said the guard. “He walked willingly into the belly of one of the harvesters and walked back to the camp. We all saw it. Our great leader is closer to the gods than you will ever be.”

  “Quiet,” said Quinton.

  “So you want me to fight for you,” said Rick. “You want me to give up my belief in America and freedom and humanity.”

  Qu
inton looked at Rick and didn’t respond, he just looked up at the moon above. He then took a deep breath and sighed. “I was once like you,” he said. “But I learned the truth about humanity.” He pointed to the moon. “You see the moon?”

  Rick looked up at the moon. “Yes,” said Rick.

  “We went there,” Quinton said. “America. We made our way there in 1969 and claimed it our own. We planted a flag on its soil and said it was on behalf of all humanity. You know the words: ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “Oh, Mr. Armstrong couldn’t have been more wrong. The flag he planted on the moon. It was arrogance. Humanity was arrogant. We should have known better. We can’t even take care of our own dying planet, but we spent tax payers dollars to send a man to the moon. Don’t make me laugh. Part of me doesn’t even believe it ever happened.”

  “People like you make me sick,” said Rick.

  “It doesn’t matter you think,” said Quinton. “You’re under my control now.” He hit the trigger in his hand once more, Rick impulsively contorted again in pain.

  Quinton released the trigger. A light smoke emanated from Rick’s body. He couldn’t take much more of this torture. “You know what I find hilarious about the whole thing,” said Quinton. He looked Rick, who wasn’t in any state to respond. “It’s the flag that Armstrong planted up there. The American flag. In a couple million years the radiation from the sun’s light will bleach all the colors from the flag white. It’s going to look like a flag of surrender. That’s really what Armstrong should have planted up there in the first place. We should have recognized our place is not amongst the stars, but down here. We humans aren’t fit to leave this planet. We don’t even deserve it. The aliens that invaded our planet reminded us of that. They came here to remind us of that fact.”