WORLDS END

by Marshall Huffman

  “No you couldn’t. You will only get one chance at getting it right.”

  “I got the Invader going didn’t I?”

  Sarah patted him on the cheek.

  “It has to be me captain.”

  “You know I am driving the truck,” James said.

  “Of course Macho-man. You have to show me how tough you are even though it is so unnecessary. I know how brave you are James.”

  “I don’t have to, I want to. If you are out there, I want to be with you.”

  She went to James and they kissed.

  “Oh gag me,” Beal said walking off.

  “You’re just jealous,” James shouted.

  “Ha. I get the beer,” he said waving over his shoulder.

  **

  Sarah sat at the control panel and James started the truck.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “No, but let’s just do it,” she said.

  She reached over and squeezed his arm. He patted her hand and put the truck in gear. He inched toward the blast doors.

  They were almost there when James said, “Wait, I forgot something.”

  “What? James this is crazy. What did you forget?”

  “Just kidding,” he said smiling at her.

  “If we live through this I may just kill you James Flynn,” she said.

  The doors opened and the flatbed roared out onto the tarmac. They had only gone a few hundred yards when James saw one of the pods racing toward them.

  “Here they come.”

  “I see them. I’m set and charged. It's all ready. As soon as they fire, the P-SAM will take over,” she said.

  The pods were closing on the truck at a rapid speed. Suddenly one of them let out a bolt of energy, it started to streak towards them but suddenly it stopped and simply fell to the ground. The second one fired and half way to them the energy field stopped and the second one fell to the ground.

  “They both let out a loud scream.”

  “Did you see that?” James yelled.

  “Fantastic. I was pretty sure it would work,” Sarah said.

  “What?”

  “Just kidding James. Just kidding.”

  “You are so not funny Sarah Knott.”

  “That shoe on the other foot seems to apply here don’t you think?”

  “Mine was really funny.”

  “Sure it was, whatever you say James.”

  “Now that’s the way it should be.”

  “Looks like I need a calibration to zap you in the butt,” Sarah said.

  “Really, what happens now?”

  “We keep driving. I want one of the discs to come after us.”

  “Then keep driving it is,” he said racing on down the air strip.

  They had almost made it to the end when five discs dropped down out of the sky.

  “Okay, here we go,” Sarah said.

  “Sarah, when this is over...”

  “Yeah, I know. I feel the same way,” she said.

  “Hang on. They are getting ready to fire. I’ve seen this before.”

  “Let 'em”

  The first two let lose blinding flashes of plasma but it never reached the truck. Part way there it stopped and a second later they too fell to the ground. Simultaneously, the other three fired. None of the plasma fields made it to the truck. They simply fell to the ground and hung from their umbilical.

  “Unbelievable,” James said in awe.

  “We need to reserve that for the command ship. If we can do that we have accomplished all I can with this platform. I would like it to be a bit more powerful and just a little faster. Those charges got more than half way here.”

  “Maybe we should tackle the command ship later.”

  “James, we are here. If it comes I want to see what really happens.”

  “Damn woman. And you call me macho,” James said shaking his head.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  “Supreme Commander Nijjckol perhaps you would care to enlighten me as to how you lost so many weapons. I am most anxious to hear you explain,” the Expeditionary Force Supreme Commander said, leaning back in his command chair.

  Nijjckol stood in front of him, trying not to show the fear he was feeling.

  “Force Supreme Commander they have something that we have never encountered before. It caused our weapons to malfunction,” he said.

  “Malfunction?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Baajal looked down at Nijjckol with distaste.

  “So we roll across the planet with virtually no resistance, and now out of nowhere, they have a weapon that causes ours to malfunction.”

  “That must be what happened Supreme Commander.”

  “Ah. And this happened just at that one place.”

  “Sir, I have no understanding of what happened. We have retrieved the weapons and are trying to determine what happened.”

  “Nijjckol, I can already tell you what happened.”

  “Sir?”

  “I know what happened.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “What happened is I have a fool as the Supreme Commander on that ship. You are immediately relieved and you will be held to trial as a traitor to the mother world. Guards, get his fool out of my sight.”

  “Baajal, we must find out what happened. Sir we need to investigate further to determine the cause.”

  “I have already done that. Get him out of here he shouted and bring me Limmarha.”

  **

  “Sir. Assistant Supreme Commander Limmarha reporting as order Supreme Commander.”

  “You are no longer Assistant Supreme Commander. You are now the Supreme Commander. You will replace Nijjckol effective immediately.”

  “Yes sir. Thank for your confidence in me.”

  “I have no confidence in you. That you must earn it or you will join Nijjckol.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Here are your orders. You are to take the command ship to the area where these diversions took place. You will destroy everything in your path. You will use the command ship’s weapons. I want whatever is down there eliminated. Failure to do so will result in your joining any other commander who fails to perform at expected levels,” Baajal said.

  “I will not fail, Supreme Commander,” Limmarha replied.

  “It is best that you do not,” Baajal said.

  Limmarha immediately headed back to his new ship to take command. He had only three goals in mind. The first was to prove he was capable of being a Supreme Commander. Secondly, to complete the mission for the home word’s glory. Thirdly, to destroy whatever had caused the disruption in the table of events they had fallen so far behind on.

  He would find the problem and destroy it. He was confident in his ability. He had always thought that Nijjckol was an overrated fool. He should have been the Supreme Commander all along. He smiled to himself as he headed to his new position and glory.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  “How much longer do you want to do this? I've pretty much got this down now,” James said.

  “Oh for heaven sakes, why don’t you just start asking ‘are we there yet’?”

  “Are we there yet?”

  “Har-de-har-har. If you were a stand-up comic you must have been a very hungry one.”

  “Ouch. That’s harsh Sarah Knott.”

  “That’s Doctor Sarah Knott to you.”

  “Oooh. Does that mean we get to play doctor all the time?”

  “James Flynn you are a pervert.”

  “Yeah, and that’s just my good characteristic. I have others that are really bad.”

  “Just drive, okay?"

  “Hey, you drive and I’ll zap them,” James suggested.

  “That might be a very good idea. Do you see that over there?”

  “Whoa. That is one of the mother ships or whatever they call them. They cause that big glow in the sky,” James said.

  “I kind of figured that. This is what it’s all about James. If we can render this thin
g harmless, we can save what is left of our planet.”

  “Well it is definitely headed this way. Do you need me to do anything different?” James asked, now totally serious.

  “It would help if you could keep us in a straight line so I don’t have to worry about making sure everything is aligned.”

  “You've got it. I’m going to head straight down the middle of the main air strip.”

  “That would be good,” she said.

  James could hear the tension in her voice. The one thing he knew for sure was if they failed they would never know it. They wouldn’t feel a thing.”

  “Here it comes,” Sarah whispered.

  “I believe in you Sarah,” James said.

  **

  The command ship immediately picked up the movement 90,000 feet below. It turned to match the direction and charged up the main weapons.

  “Attention. That is the reason for the removal of our dear Supreme Commander Nijjckol. We must crush them into nothing but dust. I know you all seek revenge for Nijjckol. I know you will all do your duty.”

  He paused. He almost had to laugh. Dear leader Nijjckol. Disgraced was a better term.

  “On my command I want the main weapon to fire. I want it directed at the moving target. This is for our home world. This is for our Special Forces Supreme Commander and for Ex-Supreme Commander Nijjckol.”

  “Status report.”

  “Main weapon ready.”

  “Open outer door.”

  “Door open.”

  “On my mark.”

  “Standing by.”

  He watched as the beam locked in on the object.”

  “Fire,” he yelled.

  The ship shuddered slightly as the plasma bolt raced toward the object below.

  “On target.”

  Limmarha smiled. I will show the Expedition Supreme Commander that I am worthy of my new position.”

  **

  “They have fired,” Sarah whispered.

  “I know,” James said watching as the bolt raced towards their position.

  It was huge. The truck shook slightly as the P-SAM released its beam. Both James and Sarah watched as the ship's beam came closer.

  At no more than 20,000 feet from the ground the plasma stream seemed to change colors and come no further. It flickered on and off and them it was gone.

  Both James and Sarah were letting out a scream and trying to hug each other.

  “You did it. Sarah, you did it.”

  “Yeah, I knew it would work.”

  “Liar.”

  “Well only you and I need to know that.”

  “And if I tell someone else?”

  “No playing doctor for you.”

  “My lips are sealed.”

  “Good choice,” Sarah said.

  **

  “Supreme Commander, something is horrible wrong. Our weapon is malfunctioning.”

  “Yes you fool. I can see that. I want to know what happened.”

  “Sir, we are starting to fluctuate in altitude.”

  “Then stabilize us.”

  “We can’t. Whatever happened is affecting the entire system.”

  “Shut down and restart,” he screamed.

  “Sir, we will crash if we do that.”

  “Do as I say you fool or I will have you disposed of.”

  “But…”

  “Enough; do it NOW,” he screamed.

  “Sir.”

  “Have that man removed,” Limmarha yelled.

  “Shutting down and restarting,” one of the others told him.

  “Do it quickly,” Limmarha said more calmly.

  “All systems are down. Restarting.”

  Everyone aboard felt the giant ship start to drop and to roll over on its side as it slipped toward the planet below.

  “Hurry up,” Limmarha said.

  “The system is re-starting per your orders Supreme Commander,” came the reply.

  The huge ship was falling at an increasingly rapid rate. The gravitational pull had not been taken into account which would have required a greater height before attempting a restart.

  “Supreme Commander Limmarha.”

  “Yes?”

  “Your stupidity has killed us all,” was the last thing he heard other than the screams and cries of the crew and the twisting of metal.

  **

  James and Sarah watched in fascination as the ship suddenly appeared through the clouds. It was obviously in distress. It came plummeting down at an incredible speed as they watched.

  It slammed into the ground and a roar reverberated across the airport. The first shock wave caused the flatbed truck to almost tip over on its side. The secondary one was nearly as powerful.

  “Holy smokes. Do you believe what we just saw?”

  “Uh, I think so. I don’t know what happened exactly. I mean I designed it to stop their weapon, not bring them down like that.”

  “Could their other systems be tied into the weapon?”

  “Apparently it did something along those lines. I guess if their tracking device was attached to a main control panel with no separation devices in place to isolate the other support functions it could bring the whole thing crashing down. How far away do you think it is?” Sarah asked.

  “Maybe four or five miles. Geez, look at that thing. Even crashed you can still see some of it sticking up.”

  “What if there were aliens on board? What if they were hurt or dying?” Sarah said.

  “Sarah, please. Who knows how many they have killed around the world. Don’t expect me to have empathy for them and try to save them. Get information maybe but I will not render any type of help.”

  “I was just saying...”

  “Please don’t. I have no room in my heart for them,” James said.

  “Alright. We need to get back to the hanger. We are almost out of fuel and I have an idea about increasing the power a bit more. According to the readout, we didn’t render it harmless until it was within 20,190 feet of the truck. We need a greater safety margin,” she told him.

  “I’m all for that. This is enough excitement for one day even for a super hero.”

  “Are we there yet?” Sarah said.

  “You are in so much trouble young lady.”

  “Well at least you are smart enough to say ‘young lady'.”

  “Hey, my momma didn’t raise no fools.”

  “She apparently didn’t teach grammar either.”

  “Now that wasn’t very nice.”

  “I’ll make it up to you,” she replied.

  “In that case...”

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  When James and Sarah got back to the hanger everyone was cheering and clapping as they got out of the truck. People pressed in, slapping them on the back and shaking their hands.

  “I can’t believe it. You crazy nuts actually brought one of those things down,” Beal said excitedly.

  “How do you know?” James asked.

  “Well duh. You are Sarah are here. The damn floor shook so hard half of us fell on our butts and we all have dust and crap from the ceiling in our hair. Let’s see. Two and two still equals four, right? Damn right we knew you brought one of them down.”

  “It is unbelievably huge. I don’t know when or if they will send another one but we need to be ready in case.”

  “I thought we were ready.”

  “We can only handle one command ship at a time. Even then it was too close for comfort according to Sarah. She wants to boost the power for a safety zone.”

  “Can we build another one?”

  “Not with what we have on hand presently. Besides, we need to build a more of these things so we can go after them and bring them down. I want to destroy them all or at least get them off the planet. We need to get this technology in the hands of the other world leaders as well.”

  “What? You mean Russia, China, places like that?”

  “Exactly. They are undoubtedly fighting these things the same as we are. We
have the technology to bring them down. This isn’t about any one country. This is about the world.”

  “Buddy, haven’t you ever heard that ‘charity begins at home’?”

  “I’ve heard a lot of things but that doesn’t always mean they are right,” James said.

  “One thing I can tell you for sure. Neither you, Sarah nor I have that kind of authority. That is for the President to decide.”

  “I realize that. I know you have to do what you feel is right but we need to at least give him that option.”

  “I agree. Do you want to fly back to Washington or have me take Sarah along?”

  “Oh no you looser. You’re not about to steal my girl. I’ve heard about pilots like you.”

  “What? Me? I’m flattered.”

  “Just as I suspected,” James said.

  “So when do you want to go? Do you need a little celebration time with Sarah before we take off? I figure two or three minutes is all you will need.”

  “Captain Beal, this conversation will be discussed with the President of the United Steaks.”

  “Don’t you mean States?”

  “No. Steaks. You will certainly owe me one when this is all over, you lout.”

  “I will be more than happy to do so. Now, when do we really go?”

  “Give me a couple of...Captain Beal, don’t you dare start in. I just want time to tell Sarah that I am going and the reason.”

  “I’ll be the guy by the plane smiling,” Beal said and walked away.

  **

  The discussion with Sarah did not go as well has James had hoped.

  “I can’t believe you. It has to be you every single time doesn’t it?”

  “Sarah, this isn’t a technical thing. All I am doing is letting the President know the outcome and what we need to do. I want to offer him the opportunity to share this new technology with other countries as well. We need to drive them off for good, not just from our continent.”

  “And you don’t think I can present that argument?”

  “Sarah, that is pure crap and you darn well know it. I’m going because anyone can drive a damn truck. You and you alone are the only one in this world that can design and build one of these things. Frankly, I would rather stay here and spend more time with you but you know in your heart that that is really not an option. Beal can’t do it. The military above him would be on his case if he even mentioned sharing technology like this. The fact that we have the Invader is something that they don’t want anyone knowing about.”