by Hatchett
With the humans lost in their own thoughts and playing around with various items, Joshua spotted a main communicator in amongst all the portable communication devices, which he must have missed during the initial search. It was exactly the same as the one Mason had used in his study to contact the Mothership.
“Um, everybody?” Joshua interrupted what they were doing.”
“What?” Harry asked as he consciously lowered one of the discs onto the top of a cabinet and shut it down. He turned to Joshua in expectation.
“I’ve just found a main communicator,” Joshua said.
“So?” Harry asked, clearly underwhelmed.
“Well, it means we can contact the Mothership, possibly the Council themselves.”
That got Harry’s interest. “Get it,” he ordered, glancing towards Jess to make sure Joshua wasn’t trying something on. Hannah was withdrawing her pistol as Jess nodded that everything was OK, and Hannah returned the gun to her pocket.
Joshua picked up the circular device.
“Let’s take it upstairs,” Harry suggested, and they all left the bunker, taking various goodies with them.
Once back in the sitting room, Sam showed Pete and Jimmy some of the toys they had found while the rest caught up on the news. It seemed that Mason and his guards had eluded capture and the authorities had no idea where they were, although the general consensus was that they were heading for London.
Joshua had placed the main communicator on the coffee table and had taken a seat on a nearby sofa, waiting for the humans to finish what they were doing before the device could be activated.
After a few minutes, they all gathered around the device and Joshua went through the procedure of turning it on and contacting the Mothership. The group continued to be amazed by the alien technology and the large holographic image of a Laakuu in its original state was enough to sober them all up. They all took in the physiology of the alien and realised that they were dealing with a very strong and powerful race.
Joshua took the lead, speaking in his own tongue until Harry ordered him to speak in the Queen’s English. Joshua apologised and touched one of the panels on the device and explained that it would act as an interpreter. As it happened, it was far better than any normal interpreter; the group didn’t hear any Laakuu language at all and even the shape of the mouth on the hologram moved in line with the English spoken. Joshua pointed out that all Laakuu were forced into learning English and other key languages from a young age and that they would speak English going forwards. The translator would just step in if the Laakuu inadvertently slipped back into their own natural tongue.
“Is this a member of the Council?” Harry asked.
“No, this is what you would call the receptionist,” Joshua replied. “She is seeing if we can talk to the Council.”
The group looked at the ‘female’.
“She doesn’t look much different to Mason,” Kate commented.
“Why do you think I like Earth girls so much,” Joshua leered. “Far more variety in looks…and tastes,” he said, licking his lips.
“Are the males or females the larger of your species?” Sam asked, while they were waiting.
“The males,” Joshua replied. “The females average about six and a half feet; the males average a foot more. My own body stands at eight and a half feet.”
“And where is your body?” Sam asked.
“In a cryogenic chamber like the one downstairs, but back on the Mothership.”
As he finished speaking the ‘receptionist’ confirmed that the Council would speak to them. The light and dust particles swirled, and the receptionist disappeared to gradually be replaced by twelve smaller figures who appeared to be sitting in a circle.
“Greetings Joshua,” came a deep voice. “We congratulate you on finding humans who are willing to talk and understand that we come in peace.”
“Hardly,” Harry snorted. “Taking over human bodies is your idea of peace?”
“Needs must,” came a different voice. “Your various Governments are well aware of our existence, yet they chose to hide that fact from the people.”
“So why didn’t you just take over our communications and talk to us through our televisions or something?” Jimmy blurted out.
“Jimmy! You’ve been watching too many sci-fi films,” Pete admonished him.
“Perhaps,” Harry acknowledged. “But what do you intend to do now? You must realise that thousands of your kind have been, shall we say, sought out and removed over the past few hours and that the human population is now well aware that you exist and threaten our own existence?”
“Indeed. The circumstances of our unveiling are unfortunate. We do not mean you harm but we do not have many alternatives. We need to speak to the leaders of your nations.”
“I can see if that can be arranged,” Harry replied, “but at the moment you have a small group of renegades looking to cause as much anarchy and destruction as possible.”
“We are aware of Mason and what he is doing but we are unable to intervene at the present time. Sending our shuttles or military down now will just make matters worse. You will need to deal with Mason, and in the meantime, we will leave Joshua with you to help you and act as a go between. Joshua, you will help these people, do you understand?”
“I understand,” Joshua said, as he lent forwards, “and don’t forget that I warned you repeatedly about Mason over the past few years, but you didn’t listen.”
“Your views were noted at the time and are noted again now. You will be recognised by the Council once this is over. Once Mason has been neutralised, communicate with us again.” With that the light and dust motes started swirling again, the figures washed away, and the cone decreased in size. Once the cone had disappeared, the device closed its panels, the running lights switched off and it became inert once again.
“So, we’re on our own,” Sam noted.
“For now,” Harry replied. He turned to Jess. “Did you manage to pick anything up?”
“NOTHING. I SAW AND HEARD WHAT YOU DID.”
“Ok. I need to make some more calls and I’m going to need Robert to help me get through to the people I need. I don’t think there is anything we can do about Mason that the police and armed forces can’t, so I suggest we stay here, watch the news and see what happens.”
41
The Range Rover and Audi came off the A3 at New Malden without any further incidents. Mason realised that they would need to keep a low profile for the time being if they were to reach their ultimate target.
However, the number of helicopters sweeping the area was increasing and he knew that details of the two cars must be known by now, so they needed to dump them and find alternative transport.
They drove along the B283 into the centre of New Malden, looking for a suitable spot to switch cars. Mason didn’t know the area and there was no way his colleagues did, so he had to hope for the best.
After a couple of miles, he came across a sign advertising a Waitrose supermarket and parking. He followed the signs around a couple of back roads and eased the Range Rover into a large car park with hundreds of cars of all shapes and sizes. He drove as far away from the store as possible and eventually spotted some spaces. He pulled into a space next to a blue Renault ‘Trafic’ van and indicated that the Audi driver should pull in the other side of it. He pressed his communicator and explained to his stormtroopers in the Audi what he wanted to do, then they all settled down to wait. Mason knew that pictures of them would be everywhere by now, and even if they weren’t, a group of seven seriously large figures was going to be noticed by someone.
They waited for around twenty minutes until a fat guy pushing a large trolley loaded with purchases came towards the van, clicking the unlock button on his key fob as he walked along. He opened the rear doors of the van and proceeded to unload his shopping into the back.
Mason looked around to see if there was anyone else around and was pleased to see that this end of the car p
ark was deserted. He gave the order and the doors of the two cars opened simultaneously and the Laakuu got out.
The three from the Audi walked to the back of the van and in one smooth motion picked up the man, his trolley and remaining goods and threw them all into the back of the van before climbing in themselves. Mason and the three stormtroopers from his car also jumped in and closed the back doors behind them.
The man had smashed into the front seats and then been hit in the back by the flying trolley. He was a bit dazed and in pain, but thankfully the seats had some padding and had prevented him from sustaining a serious injury. He turned over with a groan and saw seven huge figures in black riot gear and helmets and wondered what the fuck was going on. He wasn’t sure if he was about to be robbed, raped, mugged or just killed.
With the Laakuu all staring down at him, the man cautiously looked to his left and right but there was no obvious escape route. He considered shouting for help but knew from experience that if anyone did hear his shouts they would just be ignored.
“Wh-what can I do for your fellas?” he asked cautiously, making a conscious effort to remain still and not antagonise these man-mountains.
“We want you to drive for us,” Mason replied.
“No problem man, I can do that,” the man replied in a jolly tone, pleased that he wasn’t about to be killed, but still not daring to move.
“Don’t you have to be in the driver’s seat to do that?” Mason asked sarcastically.
“O’ course, o’ course,” the man replied struggling to get up, the size and weight of his gut meaning that he needed to roll over onto his front first.
As he used the front seats to pull himself up to his knees then his feet, Mason lent forwards and whispered in his ear, “Try to run away or call for help, you die. Understand?”
“Yeah man, I understand. No problem, just chill bro.” He rolled over the front seats and climbed into the driver’s seat, wincing a few times as he bumped his new bruises. He started the van and reversed out of the parking spot. “Where we heading, bro?” the man asked.
“London.”
“Cool, I’ve heard of it. Mind if I smoke?”
“Help yourself.”
The man lent over to the glove compartment, opened it and pulled out a spliff which he quickly lit and dragged on four or five times. He let out a long, contented sigh, put the van in gear and pulled away.
42
Back at Foxton Hall, it was late afternoon and the group were still mulling around the house, watching the news, talking, drinking, eating and trying to learn more about the alien technology in the bunker.
There was nothing new on the news and the channels were just repeating the footage from the events earlier in the day. There was still no new signs of Mason and his stormtroopers; they seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Harry, Robert and John had shut themselves away in Robert’s study. Robert was slowly beginning to regain his composure and wits, and with his help they had finally managed to get through to the switchboard at Number Ten, Downing Street, the home of the Prime Minister, Mrs Samantha Jane Crowley.
With everything going on, the PM had been hard to track down, and even then, it was almost impossible to actually get hold of her. However, with Robert being one of her key allies in the cabinet, she had found some time to speak to him.
“Robert, what can I do for you? Things are a bit hectic as I’m sure you can imagine, and I haven’t got much time so please keep it brief.”
“I’ve got someone with me who knows exactly what is going on,” Robert said. “Please listen to him.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Who is this person?”
“My name is Harry Wainwright, Prime Minister,” Harry said.
There was another pause. “I know that name. Is that Mr Wainwright of ‘Wainwright Group Plc’?”
“That’s correct, Prime Minister, but it’s not a Plc and please call me Harry.”
“So, Harry, Robert says you know exactly what is going on. Would you like to explain?”
“Certainly, Prime Minister, although I caution you that what I’m about to tell you is going to sound incredibly far-fetched.”
“After what has happened today, I beg to differ.”
“Ok, well, I trust you’ve seen the news, so you will be aware that we’ve got aliens running around the countryside causing some disruption?”
“Yes, I have seen the footage.”
“Well, there are just seven renegades who have taken it upon themselves to fight back.”
“Only seven you say? And why would they want to fight back?”
“Because we took out thousands of their kind all around the world the previous night.”
“You mean all the stun gun attacks and the like? You organised all of that? How?”
“It’s a long story, but for many years I, and other likeminded people, were convinced that there were aliens amongst us. It was purely by chance we came across a truly amazing young lady who was able to confirm our suspicions. The aliens found out about her and were trying to kill her, but she managed to find us first and she helped us identify and capture a couple of them.”
“Go on.”
“Well, from the ones we captured, we managed to find out how to recognise them and how to remove them.”
“I see. So, let me guess. The way to ‘remove them’ as you put it, was to hit these people with an electrical charge?”
“Yes.”
“And how did you manage to coordinate such a worldwide attack?”
“It would take too long to explain,” Harry replied, “and there are much more pressing matters to discuss.”
“Such as?”
“We believe the renegade group of Laakuu – that’s what they’re called, Laakuu – are either coming for you or the Royal Family, so you all need to get out of London.”
“Is that right? And, why should I believe any of this?”
“Well, Robert here can vouch for some of it, and the basement of his house is full of alien technology if you’d care to come and take a look. We’ve also spoken to the Laakuu leadership and they want to talk, but not until the renegades have been neutralised.”
“Why don’t they deal with their own problem?”
“Exactly what I suggested, but they’re reluctant to send down ships and stormtroopers because they don’t want it to look like an invasion. They say they come in peace.”
“Robert? You there?”
“Here Sam. I don’t know about the first part of the story, but they’re definitely here and I was taken over by one of them. As Harry said, the Laakuu who took me over went by my middle name Mason, and he always had his own agenda and was working against his own leadership. He stockpiled loads of alien technology in my basement and is intent on causing all-out war between us.”
“OK gentlemen, thanks for your call. I’ll take it under advisement and get back to you. I’ll send someone down to corroborate some of your story. Goodbye.”
“Don’t forget to move to a safe place,” Harry began, but the line had already gone dead. He turned to Robert and asked, “Do you think she believed us?”
“Who knows?” Robert responded, “At any other time I’d say no, but based on today’s events it’s possible. We’ve done all we can and now it’s up to her.”
“I just hope she’s not one of them,” Harry mused as he headed towards the study door, “or we’re all in trouble.”
43
The Renault van carrying Mason and his team stayed on the A3 past Wimbledon Common, through Wandsworth, Battersea, Clapham Common then Stockwell and on to Kennington, Elephant and Castle before heading through Lambeth to Waterloo. Traffic had been a nightmare, but they were in no rush and by late afternoon, Mason was able to direct the van to the Waterloo Car Park on York Road, where they parked up and waited.
“Can I go now?” the fat man asked once the engine had been turned off and was ticking away as it cooled down. He left the igni
tion on so they could all keep up to date with the news reports on the radio.
“No, we haven’t finished with you yet,” Mason replied.
“But you will let me go…unharmed?”
“Of course. Just another short journey when it gets dark, then you can go.”
The Laakuu in the van rummaged around in the back, checking out what the fat man had bought from the supermarket; there were plenty of drinks, both fizzy and alcoholic, crisps, chocolate, sausage roles and piles of other junk food. No wonder he was the size he was.
The Laakuu removed their helmets so they could eat and drink more easily, and the fat man wet himself in fear when he saw their true nature. He wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was real or just some very bad shit he’d been smoking.
The smell of urine wafted around the claustrophobic confines of the van until Mason ordered the windows to be opened. This was not enough to dispel the smell and one of the Laakuu used one of the orbs to punch a few holes in the van’s panels to give them some fresher air.
“Y-you’re those aliens the news is talking about,” the fat man stammered, finally putting two and two together.
“Give the man a medal,” Mason replied sarcastically, turning to stare at the fat man and causing him to turn away quickly.
After calming down a bit and plucking up his courage, the fat man asked for a drink and some chocolate without looking back at the aliens. One of the Laakuu threw an assortment of food and drinks over the seat and the fat man scrambled around in the footwell to find what he wanted. He settled on a six pack of beers and piled into them as if they would be his last ever drinks. At the same time, he found some chocolate and crisps and began stuffing his mouth with them.