Original Design

by William Latoria

  His usual fifteen-minute trip to work took only five with his conveyance breaking the sound barrier to expedite his journey. He tapped the payment screen as he climbed out of the vehicle. The smile that had been plastered on his face the moment the conveyance began to speed up disappeared immediately as he came face-to-face with his second-in-command, Under Colonel Zahera Vuloom. Blackshade took a moment to assess his deputy to determine if she had also received a call from the Chief General. Judging by the concern in her eyes, he guessed she had. Zahera was not only his second-in-command but also his most trusted friend. They had met back in flight school when they were both fresh recruits. Zahera had been his wingman during his years as a B-52 pilot and was his first choice to watch his back if he ever had to go into battle. He trusted her completely, so when he received his command, she was the first person he thought of when asked to appoint a Deputy Commander. She was very grateful for the position, and over the years her performance had caught the attention of Senior Command at headquarters. He knew it was just a matter of time before she was promoted and moved on. He dreaded that day, knowing he would miss her greatly, but also looked forward to it because he knew how much she deserved it.

  Under Colonel Vuloom was a proud and meticulous woman with a strong sense of self. Blackshade had never met anyone more comfortable in their own skin than Zahera was in hers. Her parents had emigrated from India before she was born and had raised her in an old fashioned, but disciplined way. The result was an amazing Air Soldier and a reliable friend. She was also a beautiful woman that had turned quite a few heads during her career. Just like himself, she had dabbled in a few relationships, but in the end, Candaerica was her one true love and that didn’t leave any room for a spouse. They had both always kept their relationship professional, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been tempted to try for more over the years. In the end though, he had decided losing her as a friend wasn’t worth the risk.

  “Good Morning, Zahera.” Blackshade said pleasantly, pretending not to notice her apprehension.

  “Good morning, Colonel Blackshade. Please follow me” she said stiffly in response. Blackshade knew that tone, Zahera was worried and had fallen back on her military discipline to get through whatever was concerning her. Few things got under her skin in his experience, so whatever she knew, it wasn’t good. The fact that his friend of twenty-two years was talking to him so formally promised even worse.

  He followed her into their squadron and walked the short distance to the elevator. After a quick sensor scan, the doors opened and they stepped in. As the doors closed, Zahera let out a breath and turned to face him.

  “Oh God, Bill, this is bad. This is really, really bad!” she said desperately. The concern he had seen on her face when he had first arrived had now evolved into full-fledged fear. “Headquarters is scrambling everyone. A recall order was issued twenty minutes ago, and the squadron is already forming up.”

  Blackshade was completely at a loss. The only thing he could think of that would call for something like this was that Russia or China had finally launched nuclear weapons at each other and World War III was about to start. “Is it the Russians? The Chinese? Have they finally attacked each other?” he asked, beginning to share in her fear.

  Zahera shook her head as she regained her composure. “No, Sir.” she said disappointedly, “I wish it was just that. This is so much worse…” she said, trailing off.

  Anger rose up inside of him. He needed answers! If it was worse than the Russians and the Chinese starting a third world war, then he needed her focused! He reached out a hand, grasped Zahera’s shoulder and squeezed, “Damn it, Zahera! Tell me what’s going on!” he demanded.

  Coming out of her daze, she looked at him as if she forgot he was there. Then, with an effort, she spoke, “Aliens, Bill! God damn aliens are coming right for us, and no one knows what to do!”

  Chapter 2

  Blackshade sat in his situation room watching the holographic forms of other military commanders that surrounded his conference table. Zahera sat behind him, off screen, which was a common occurrence during these meetings. After bringing him up to speed with the situation, he had given her the task of organizing the squadron thru her interlink pad. Through it, she could issue orders down the chain of command, see the status of all their aircraft, monitor the support equipment, and answer questions or make decisions on his behalf that were posed by lower ranking officers. As updates became available, she would feed that information to him through the display on his conference table. Currently, he had around twenty displays open in front of him, with everything from personnel readiness reports, to fuel levels, to low resolution pictures of the alien ship.

  Three other squadron commanders from Barksdale were present, as was the base commander himself, Chief General Snicket. Four other Chief Generals were holographically present, as were two of the three Secretaries of Defense. Each of them were projected around the table, which was just large enough to accommodate all of them. The holographic projectors had to shrink a few of the attendees down to ensure it, but in the end the reactive program had everyone represented in the room. They were all talking to their staff members or other people in the room with them, wherever they really were. Blackshade had them all on mute while he sorted through all of the information that had been given to him by Zahera. Given the gravity of the situation, he was grateful for the silence.

  According to the reports being fed to him, NASA had spotted a massive object that was over thirty-five miles long and twenty-two miles wide, on a collision course with Earth. It was rectangular in shape and moving at approximately one-sixth the speed of light. None of Candaerica’s satellites or celestial object scanners detected it, even after it was accidentally spotted. According to a report, a NASA scientist was showing his family Mars through one of their telescopes in the hopes of spotting some of the shuttles that had been left there after the space program was abandoned. The Hubble MK2 telescope was commonly used for such star gazing since there was very little interest in space travel anymore. While trying to focus on Mars, the scientist noticed the silhouette of the ship against the red planet. After many tests and conferring with his colleagues, NASA’s team thought the object was a massive asteroid heading in Earth’s direction. The discovery alarmed the scientists, who immediately set to the task of plotting the trajectory of the asteroid and learned it was less than forty-eight hours from a direct impact with Earth. The size of the asteroid, as well as the speed it was traveling, would obliterate all life on Earth if it so much as grazed its atmosphere. If it hit directly, it would obliterate the planet as well. No weapon known to man could do anything, and there was no way to evacuate the planet in the short amount of time left. It was decided by the Candaerican Presidents that no word would be leaked about the asteroid and that they would make all government facilities and entertainment completely free for the next week. It was hoped that by the time the people of the world realized their fate, there would be so little time left that it wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t until this morning, exactly ten hours before the asteroid was to make impact, that NASA’s scientists made another discovery. The object they had thought was an asteroid, was slowing down, drastically.

  Now Blackshade sat in his chair, going over the limited Intel they had on the space craft that was still making its way toward the planet. He was frustrated by the lack of information he had at his disposal. All his life, information had always been the one thing he’d had in abundance. Now that he needed it the most, he was woefully short in supply. What little information he had on the space craft did not reassure him. None of their technology could detect the alien craft. Laser, radar, sonar, wave-tech, mermer waves, and even radiation scans came up, not only negative, but all of their interstellar instruments told them that nothing was out there. If it wasn’t for the ability to visually see the object through a telescope, no one would believe that the ship existed.

  The few pictures of the craft he had in front of him showed a
very unconventional design that confused him. The space craft was loosely rectangular in shape with large, round ball shaped sections making up the corners of the vessel, and a fifth ball shaped section was located in the exact center of the alien craft. Connecting the corners were long, rectangular shafts that ran between the balls, making up the perimeter of the spacecraft. Four more rectangular shafts ran from the ball shaped corners that connected to the ball shaped structure in the middle of the craft. To Blackshade, it looked like the outline of a rectangle with an “X” in the middle of it. It was impossible to tell the color of the craft, but according to the reports, it was assumed to be black or a very dark grey. It looked as if the craft was heavily damaged, although there was no trail of debris or fumes that could confirm that theory. All attempts to communicate with the ship had either failed or gone unanswered. Every language, every form of communication, and every combination of communication type was attempted, to no avail.

  So now, on the ragged edge of panic, Candaerica’s military minds were gathered in order to determine what, if any military response would be required once the ship arrived. A question formed in his mind that wasn’t answered by any of the reports he read. Reaching forward, he disabled the mute function. The moment he did, the room was flooded with the combined noise of the other members’ conversations. Apparently, he was the only one that had thought to put his microphone on silent.

  “Does anyone know if any of the other world powers have been able to make contact with the ship? Do we know if any of them have even taken notice of it yet?” Blackshade asked.

  There was no answer. Blackshade watched silently for a few moments as the holographic displays showed his fellow commanders, at various levels of panic, discuss the situation. If there was one thing that got under Blackshade’s skin fast, it was being ignored.

  “HEY!” he bellowed at the room. Years of military experience had taught him how to project his voice, and the effect was instant. Everyone in the meeting was now silent and looking at him; a few of them looked close to tears. Prudently, Blackshade chose to pretend he didn’t notice.

  “I ask again. Do we know if any of the other world powers are aware of the alien spacecraft?” he asked calmly. The regular ineptitude of his fellow commanders never sat well with him, but in a situation like this, it was completely unacceptable.

  The other men, women, and non-binaries holographically represented in his conference room didn’t answer. They just stared blankly at him before looking around their respective rooms hoping someone else had an answer. It shouldn’t have surprised him that no one else thought about the foreign powers. Most of the other Commanders were so worried about their own careers that the only subject they had any real Intel on was their superior’s favorite golf club or what kind of brandy they enjoyed the most. That was an unfortunate side effect of a generation of peace, with no one to fight, the nation’s military had become lethargic and political. After a few moments, Chief General Snicket’s display split in two, and a young enlisted woman appeared in the middle of his table.

  “Sergeant Level One Sana Green reporting.” the young woman said, giving a crisp salute. Blackshade returned the salute before replying.

  “Report, Sergeant.” he told the woman.

  Nodding professionally, she began, “As far as our intelligence can ascertain, only China has spotted the incoming space craft.” she answered professionally, sending information panels to his table display. Blackshade saw half a dozen pop ups of aerial views over strategic sections of China. None of their long ranged weaponry looked active, nor did their military assets look mobilized. It was as if China’s military might had taken the day off.

  “How are they responding to the…uh… anomaly?” he asked. He didn’t want to call the spacecraft a threat, because he wasn’t ready to accept that the aliens would come all this way just to attack them. He knew that if the aliens did decide to attack, that there was most likely nothing the military could do about it. A species this advanced would have technology so far beyond their own that any resistance they could muster would be embarrassing in comparison.

  The projection of S-1 Green seemed to blanch for a moment before she responded, “Colonel, they’ve… um... the Chinese government isn’t telling their citizens about the approaching craft. They have taken our stance on the information and kept it hidden to avoid a panic.” she explained. Blackshade knew there was more so he waited for the woman to continue. She seemed to have to dig deep inside of herself in order to continue.

  “Our intel suggests that the Chinese government has issued S-14 capsules to all members of the government. They have also issued a statement to their citizens ordering them to stay indoors and not to travel.” she explained somberly.

  Blackshade was confused, “What are S-14 capsules, Sergeant Green?”

  He watched as he woman’s face undeniably paled at his question, “Colonel, they’re incredibly powerful… suicide pills.” Some of the assembled Commanders gasped at this, and one began to openly weep. Sergeant Green paused at the interruption only for a moment before continuing, “The pills are designed to be ingested orally, and once they come into contact with stomach acid, a dispersion mechanism releases enough Cyanide into the person’s body to kill them fourteen times over. A potent comatose agent is delivered the moment the pill is swallowed so the user feels nothing. It is one-hundred percent lethal, according to our Intel. They were issued with orders for government employees, and their families, to ingest the pills at zero-nine hundred this morning.”

  Blackshade blurted out his response before he could control himself, “That was almost two hours ago!”

  Sergeant Green nodded her agreement and took a deep breath before continuing, “Correct, Sir. We’ve received no word from our government sources in China for well over two hours now. We are receiving Intel only from our civilian informants. They’re asking us what’s happening. We are under orders not to tell them. Instead we’re feeding them misinformation. It was determined that by the time they figured out we were lying to them, the alien craft would be here, and keeping them in the dark wouldn’t be necessary any longer.” she said sadly.

  Blackshade was silent for a while as he digested this new information. The other commanders began asking their own questions after it became apparent he wasn’t going to ask any more himself, but he didn’t care. If her Intel was correct, and China’s entire government was now dead, aliens or not, Russia wouldn’t hesitate to invade. That invasion would cause China’s allies to respond in kind, and on top of an alien spaceship arriving over Earth, the eastern hemisphere would be awash in the blood and flames of a third World War.

  The situation was quickly spiraling out of control, and he wasn’t sure what he should, or could, do about it. The military might of Candaerica could put down an attack by a few of the foreign powers without too much risk, but to do so with an alien spacecraft looming overhead with obvious superior technology, and an unknown motive, were factors that he didn’t know how to compensate for. Also, what if the aliens decided to intervene on the side of one of the other countries? What would they do then? How would they proceed? Would sending Candaerican forces overseas even be worth doing with the imminent threat of the aliens directly overhead? The situation was too big for him at the moment and for the incredible lack of information he currently had. For the first time in his life, he felt overwhelmed.

  “Colonel Blackshade! Can you hear me!?” a squeaky voice demanded.

  Blackshade shook his head to clear it. He hadn’t realized how deep in thought he had been. “Uh… Yes. I apologize. I was preoccupied with my own thoughts, as I’m sure you understand. Please repeat your question.” he said, not positive who had spoken.

  It turned out to be Senior Colonel Susan Tumon. She was the test and technology Squadron Commander of Minot Army Air Base in North Dakota. Minot was once Barksdale’s brother base with the same mission and war machines stationed at his base. Now it was home to the most technologically advanced bom
ber Candaerica had ever created. The Advanced Bomber 2000 or, AB-2000, had the capacity to carry over one hundred, five-hundred pound bombs, thirty air-to-air missiles, and enough counter measures to engage an entire enemy squadron single-handedly, and to leave that engagement the victor. The AB-2000s were so large that only six were built, but that was more than enough according to every military simulation they had ever run. Currently, Senior Colonel Tumon was in charge of testing a new addition to the airframe that would allow damaged aircraft to magnetically dock to the AB-2000 and then land safely on base. If they could make the idea work, Candaerica would essentially have aerial aircraft carriers. It was well known that Senior Colonel Tumon hoped that once the design was completed and successful it would earn her a promotion to General. Blackshade had met her a few times at meetings like this; the woman was a superb networker and social media guru. She reminded him of a virtual spider, spinning social webs everywhere she went so that in the future she could pull on the individual strands in order to get what she wanted. He considered her a very dangerous woman and mentally kicked himself for forgetting to keep his guard up around her.

  With a smug look, Senior Colonel Tumon repeated her question, “I said, is your Squadron ready to respond should the spacecraft enter our air space?”