by Hatchett
“There are simply too many humans,” Kinaejah explained. “About seven and a half billion…which is about seven and a quarter billion too many. They’re like parasites on this planet and there’s far more than we need and more than we can easily control. Most will be hiding in their homes if they’ve got any sense, so this should just take out the troublemakers and law breakers in the first instance. Then we can round up those hiding, get rid of the old, infirm and unfit and just leave ourselves with those young enough and fit enough to do the work we require. Perfect.”
“But that’s genocide,” Thaejah argued.
“No. That is winning. I told you it would be easy,” Kinaejah gloated.
“You did indeed,” Thaejah responded, wondering how he’d managed to put himself in this predicament. He looked around the room at the other Elders, but their countenances were blank, and he couldn’t determine what they were thinking. Just one, Torjah, looked a little uneasy.
“You do realise that all you’ll have to rule over will be a ruin,” Thaejah replied sarcastically.
“Only temporarily, Thaejah, only temporarily.”
31
In the basement of The Manor, Harry entered the communications room.
“How’s it going?” Harry asked.
“Good,” Hannah replied.
“Yeah,” Kate agreed. “We’ve now heard from eight separate groups around the UK, one from France, one from Germany and we’ve also had word from the US. Not bad for a few hours.”
“That is good news. Keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
Harry returned to the main lounge area where most of the group were sitting around chatting and wondering what was going on above ground.
“Guys,” Harry said, and everyone looked in his direction. “We need to start preparing our fightback. You all know what we have to do, so please start your work.”
There were nods all around and people started moving in different directions, trying to find the crates and equipment they were looking for.
“WAIT!” Jess said, and everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to look at her, a couple of them holding their breath in anticipation.
Jess closed her eyes and tilted her head to one side as if she was straining to listen to something.
“WE MUST STAY HERE FOR NOW,” Jess ordered.
“What’s happening?” Harry asked the question which was on everybody’s lips.
“SOMETHING’S CHANGED. I DON’T KNOW WHAT YET.” She turned to Harry. “MAKE SURE EVERYONE STAYS INDOORS AND DOES NOT COME OUT UNTIL I SAY.”
Harry ran into the communications room and asked Hannah and Kate to spread the message urgently. He tasked Jason, Andy and Joshua to relay the message to the PM using the Laakuu communicator. He then guided Jess into one of the conference rooms and took a seat. They were immediately joined by Harriet, Di, Damian, John, Paula, Matt and Karen, all of whom looked concerned.
Once everyone had settled, Harry turned to Jess and asked her what she had picked up.
“You know the craft I managed to pick up?” Jess reminded Harry, which drew a few stares from the rest of the group.
“Yes,” Harry confirmed.
“What a minute,” Damian broke in, “What craft did you manage to pick up?”
Jess looked at her father.
“WHEN I WAS OUTSIDE LAST NIGHT, SOME SORT OF CRAFT OR SPACESHIP FLEW CLOSE TO THE ESTATE. IT WAS UNMANNED, BUT I SENSED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CONTROLLING IT.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Damian asked.
“That was my fault,” Harry interjected. “I asked her to keep it to herself for the time being while we tried to figure out what was happening and how Jess was able to pick it up.”
“Right,” Damian replied, not looking best pleased. “So, what’s going on now?”
“I don’t know,” Harry said. “Jess?”
“SOMETHING IS HAPPENING. I’VE MANAGED TO PINPOINT HALF A DOZEN SMALLISH CRAFT NOT TOO FAR AWAY WHICH HAVEN’T MOVED AN INCH SINCE THEY ARRIVED, AND A FEW LARGER ONES WHICH HAVE GONE PAST US FROM TIME TO TIME.”
“So?” Harry asked.
“THE SMALLER ONES ARE NOW MOVING.”
“Moving where?”
“TOWARDS THE GROUND.”
There was silence around the table as everyone took in what Jess had said.
32
The drones dropped from the sky and joined the Battlecruisers in and around the streets of towns and cities around the World.
The drones commenced vaporising any human found out in the open while the Battlecruisers targeted larger and more populated dwellings like prisons, high rise apartment blocks and hotels.
People who had been out looting or robbing were spotted by the drones and hit with their blue bolts of energy, vaporising the targets immediately and causing the items being carried to drop to the floor where they shattered or scattered. Of course, this indiscriminate purge also took out many desperate but law-abiding citizens who had ventured out of their homes to try and gather provisions or just to see what was going on.
Kinaejah watched on his screens with the usual smile on his face. He didn’t care who got taken out at this stage, it was all about the numbers. The population needed to be reduced significantly, and this was the fastest way.
33
Hannah barged into the meeting room, slightly out of breath.
“Hannah. Are you OK?” Harry asked, from the head of the table.
“We’re getting radio updates from all over the place, but mainly overseas,” Hannah started. “Smaller craft have come down to the ground and are wiping out anyone in sight.”
“What are the larger craft doing?” Harriet asked.
“I don’t know,” Hannah replied.
“WE NEED TO STAY HIDDEN,” Jess warned.
“Yes,” Hannah agreed, “but there’s also some good news.”
“Go on,” Harry encouraged.
“Some groups, not ours, have fought back. They’ve shot at the smaller craft, but everything just bounces off.”
“So, how is this good news and how does it help us?” Harriet asked.
“One group is claiming they’ve managed to take one out.”
“How?” Harry asked, getting excited.
“Well, they shot at the craft and when nothing happened, they quickly went back inside their building. The craft followed, smashing through a window in its attempt to track the shooters down. It was an ambush, with others waiting inside. As the draft smashed through the window, they blasted it with electricity and shot at it again. The electricity obviously did something to the shields because the shots hit home and the craft was disabled. They shot it some more and the blue lights went out, so they quickly dragged it into their basement. Not a moment too soon, by all accounts, because the next thing they knew, the house was being blown away above their heads.”
“Do they still have it?” Harry asked, eagerly.
“Yes,” Hannah confirmed. “They’re tearing it apart to find out how it works as we speak.”
Harry and Harriet were already out of their seats and heading towards the communication room.
“We need to get this message out to everyone else. There is a chink in their armour and it’s the same as before. Electricity.”
34
“We’ve lost a drone,” Kasaejah said.
“What?!” Kinaejah screamed. “It’s not possible. Where did this happen?”
“Chicago.”
“Sent a Battlecruiser to destroy the building,” Kinaejah ordered. He was seething. How dare these puny humans try to fight back.
“On its way,” Kasaejah confirmed, moving his hand across a screen.
Kinaejah conjured up his own screen and watched from the front of the Battlecruiser as it shot above the rooftops of buildings in a straight line to its destination, passing through flames and smoke on its way.
“How far?” Kinaejah asked.
“Ten seconds,” Kasaejah replied.
The Batt
lecruiser entered a street and stopped, scanning the apartments.
“What’s the problem?” Kinaejah almost screamed.
Kasaejah was reading his screens, desperate for an answer, and he nearly sighed with relief when he realised what was going on.
“The Battlecruiser can’t find the drone.”
“What do you mean?” Kinaejah shouted. “Why can’t it find it?”
“The drone is dead,” Kasaejah elaborated. “The A.I. is dead and the tracking device must be broken.”
Kinaejah wanted to smash something in frustration. This couldn’t be happening.
“Destroy all the buildings in this road,” he ordered. “Now!”
Kasaejah played with his screen and seconds later the Battlecruiser opened fire on the first building and then moved along the street taking out each building in turn.
Once it was over, Kinaejah calmed down but was clearly still not happy.
He didn’t see the small smirk on Thaejah’s face.
35
“This is Jared,” came a voice through the speaker. “Who am I talking to?”
“My name is Harry, Jared. I am part of the Underground. Thanks for speaking to me.”
“No problem, man,” Jared replied, “That lady I was talking to a few minutes ago explained that you were the Underground. That’s the only reason I’m talking to you now. I’ve heard all about you, man, just wasn’t sure your organisation really existed. What do you want to know?”
“Tell me everything from the start. But make it quick. We don’t know if they’ll be able to trace the signals.”
For the next few minutes Jared quickly told Harry what had happened from start to finish.
“Our guys in the house opposite filmed the whole thing on an old videocam, including the arrival of a much bigger spaceship which blew the shit out of our side of the street.”
“Are you OK?” Harry asked with concern.
“Yeah man,” Jared confirmed. “The building’s a write off but we used a rear exit into the garden, so we’re cool.”
“I suggest you move when you can in case they come back. We need to spread the message, but don’t overdo it and let them get a bead on you,” Harry suggested.
“Don’t worry, as soon as we finish here, we’re moving.”
“Welcome to the Underground, and thanks for your help,” Harry said. “Keep in touch.”
“Will do Harry,” Jared confirmed and clicked off.
The people in communications room could imagine Jared and his friends making their way to their next location.
“Well, you all heard what Jared had to say,” Harry observed. “Any thoughts or comments.”
“We need to update the rest of the Underground and spread the message.”
“Yes, I’ll leave that to you, Hannah, if you don’t mind?”
“Will do,” Hannah confirmed.
“The rest of us are going to the conference room,” Harry said, and headed for the door.
The others followed and Harry called for Joshua to join them and asked Hilda to prepare some drinks. He thought that they could be discussing the developments and next steps for quite some time.
Once they were all settled, Harry reiterated what Jared had told them, with Joshua listening intently.
“Any ideas, Joshua?”
Joshua smiled, loving the fact that he was the centre of attention once again. He was going to milk it for all it was worth, as usual. He started looking around the table, pausing unnecessarily at each person for a second or two just to make sure they were all paying attention.
“GET ON WITH IT! WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR GAMES!” exploded inside his head and he quickly looked across the table to see Jess with a furious look on her face. He immediately looked away and started talking, his body trembling a little.
“They captured a drone. It’s the right measurements, about a metre long and quarter of a metre wide. They were lucky.”
“Why?” Harriet asked.
“Because if I had been giving the orders, the drone would never have entered the house until it was safe to do so. I would have got it to release orbs to smash their way in and vaporise any human inside. Or at the very least I would have sent in a stellated cube to see what was going on first.”
Harry and the others remembered the different devices that Joshua had shown them how to use back in Robert Stephenson’s basement, and which now sat on the shelves around the room.
“So, the drones carry other equipment as well as their own weapons?” Harry asked.
“Yes.” Joshua replied. “So do the Battlecruisers.”
“What are they?”
“Battlecruisers,” Joshua replied, and after a little prompting went on to describe what they were and what they could do.
“How did they know the drone was down and where to send the Battlecruiser?” Matt interrupted.
“Everything is linked,” Joshua replied, as if it was obvious.
“IT WAS A BATTLECRUISER WHICH FLEW OVER THE HOUSE YESTERDAY,” Jess’s voice box said. “AND I’D PICKED UP A FEW DRONES NEARBY, STATIONERY A FEW KILOMETERS UP.”
“Interesting,” Harry mused.
“They were acting as sentinels,” Joshua said. “Watching, spying, sending back information and helping the Battlecruisers onto their targets. Not that they need much help.”
“So, how does all this help us?” Karen asked. “With the reports coming in, there must be hundreds of these craft.”
“Thousands,” Joshua interjected.
“Great!” Karen seethed. “And the Yanks have managed to take out a grand total of one.”
“Well, that’s one more than anyone else,” Damian pointed out.
“Let’s calm down,” Harry suggested. “We now know we have a way of fighting back. We just have to figure out how to do it.”
“But they only used stun guns and cattle prods,” Karen pointed out.
“And your point is?” Harry asked.
“Well, unless we’ve got something better, we’ll have to be within touching distance of the craft and hope we get the shot off first before it kills us. Plus, it will take forever to kill off hundreds, never mind thousands.
“True,” Harry said smiling.
“What’s so funny?” Matt asked, thinking that the situation was anything but funny.
“Well, we have our personal stun guns, but don’t forget that we have a number of Laakuu weapons, and we happen to have some similar items from other species which we’ve tested in the past. And, last but not least, we have some hand-held Electro-Magnetic Pulse weapons, or EMPs as they’re known. In reality, they are DEWs, directed-energy weapons, or electrolasers which shoot an EMP along a laser beam. The only downside is that our EMP technology isn’t that advanced. The weapons take a minute or so to charge and can only shoot up to around fifty metres. After that, the blooming is so bad that the power just dissipates.
“What is ‘blooming’?” Di asked.
“Blooming,” Harry said again, “is when the laser beam breaks up and loses focus and the EMP is dispersed, making it ineffective. In perfect conditions the range is around fifty metres.”
“And in non-perfect conditions?” Matt asked.
“A lot less,” Harry admitted, “but look on the bright side, at least you won’t have to be in touching distance of the craft.”
“Near enough!” Karen muttered. “What exactly are non-perfect conditions?”
“Generally poor weather such as fog, smoke, dust…”
“Well, with all the damage being caused and the amount of smoke and dust about, we’re well and truly fucked,” Karen suggested.
“It could be worse,” Harry suggested.
“How’s that?”
“We could already be dead.”
36
“Another drone has disappeared,” Kasaejah noted, as he continued working his screen.
“Where?” Kinaejah demanded, getting seriously annoyed.
“This one’s in a place called
Wichita. In Kansas.”
“Where the hell is that?” Kinaejah demanded.
“Roughly the middle of the United States…and another one’s just gone in Phoenix, Arizona.”
“Send in the Battlecruisers and wipe out everything in the vicinity,” Kinaejah ordered.
“There are more disappearing,” Kasaejah reported, now getting a bit worried that Kinaejah might shoot the messenger.
“Where?”
“It seems to be spreading,” Kasaejah noted. “Another two have gone in the United States, now one has gone in Japan, two in Russia, one in Brazil, one in South Africa. More are coming up on the screen.”
“Recall the drones to five kilometres,” Kinaejah ordered, annoyed but at the same time wondering how the puny humans were doing it.
“Maybe we should discuss the options,” Thaejah ventured, earning himself a death stare from Kinaejah.
“What do you suggest?” Kinaejah asked, still staring.
Thaejah started sweating under Kinaejah’s unrelenting gaze.
“Well…,” Thaejah started cautiously. “The humans must be communicating. Sharing information.”
“How? We’ve taken out all their satellites, communication hubs and buildings.”
“I don’t know,” Thaejah admitted, “but I seem to recall them using very primitive methods in the past. Maybe they have reverted to that.”
“What primitive methods?” Kinaejah demanded.
“I don’t know,” Thaejah admitted.
Kinaejah turned to his screen and moving his claws conjured up a link to their research facility, where another Laakuu stared back at him from the screen.
“Sir,” the Laakuu acknowledged once she realised who was staring at her. “What can I do for you?”
“I want to know about primitive human communications,” Kinaejah ordered. “Not too primitive.”
“Yes Sir,” the female responded, and the screen went blank as she disconnected.
Kinaejah looked around his Elders, thinking about the turn of events. He expected the odd blip in his plans but didn’t think the humans would be able to touch their technology.
“How did they do it?” Kinaejah asked.