by Marcus Sloss
“You are our QRF again. Go ahead and stage behind Alpha Team. If they need the help, cover while they retreat or advance to support,” I said.
“Wilco, Bravo out.”
I watched the video for a full minute. Alpha Team was having their target practice. A lot of the bugs were in a daze upon landing. A few died from the fall. The crack of .308 hell being unleashed echoed through the valley. I saw families rushing kids into the barn. The parent-slash-worker militia named Kilo Team was setting a perimeter around the kids as our community collapsed into a defensive footing. RV3 jerked forward with Dedric laying on the horn to get through those uncertain of where to go.
Jevon started organizing the minimal chaos by either directing people to the barn or the mansion. I craned my neck to see not one drone but a half dozen small white blimps. Hmm… I would need to figure out what our new drones could do. My boots slammed into the river rocks as I jogged for RV3. Mary screamed at her mommy on the way out of the RV when she saw me.
I got my cheek kissed goodbye by the little girl who was hauled away for the barn. I shot into the RV to see Peterson, Douglas, and a third new drone operator at the table. Willow, Nancy, and Perci shot into the interior behind me. I kicked Felix out of my spot so I could plop into the bucket seat. I tapped the dash I normally kicked my feet onto. A video screen generated with multiple feeds. XLroaches were swarming Marble Heights while a few dozen were scouring the abandoned homes. The threat from them was minimal. So much for Denver being a loot piñata.
The large insects storming the eastern valley wall were relentless in their suicide. They were literally falling to their deaths. Mclain’s team requested resupply. Slister requested to join the fight. I approved while ordering she coordinate with Mclain taking the lead. Torrez was hauling ammunition to the eastern firing line with Felix dragging a second truckload. The base was efficiently responding to the threat. Our motions were fluid without panic. The video showed even the chaotic civilians establishing order. There would be lessons learned, certainly. I was still proud of how our community was responding.
Willow slunk into the spot between Dedric and me.
“Thoughts?” Willow asked with a curious eyebrow raised. She huffed at the complexity of the situation. “Why are the roaches so desperate?”
“They may not be braindead. Maybe they know the Xgates will flare blue soon and want a place to securely rest. Maybe they were simply hungry and willing to risk higher altitudes. It is almost five degrees warmer this morning than the other mornings recently. That’s probably the reason. Denver is out of food and the cold has retreated somewhat,” I said as I checked my Gpad. “The sniper teams watching the Xgate are monitoring the situation. What are you thinking?”
“Denver holdouts either pushed these out, or I agree they are seeking new food sources and the morning is really lovely out with the warm air. I wish we had footage from the Battle of Colorado Springs. It would be nice to know if they do retreat,” Willow said with a scoff. She watched my dash screen with me. “They are dumb as shit. Not the best analogy, but the point remains. One in three are splattering from the fall. Those that survive are wounded so horrendously they are struggling to close the gap to our defenders. Honestly, I think they are expecting the piling bodies to cushion the fall eventually.”
“Sure, add a few million of them doing this and the inevitable would happen. They would stop getting hurt on their descent and we would not be able to hold them back. Our only saving grace is their limited numbers with a confined entry point. You are right, though, I see no hive mind here. I bet there is one somewhere. That could be the other suicidal reason. Someone nabbed the big maggot, or whatever controls these,” I said over the sound of constant gunfire.
The timer on the gate hit zero with no activation. Well, that was odd. Not completely unexpected. The timer on the Gpad was based on the translator results derived from what Goldie said. I watched the backside of the mountain start to reach a tail end. Alpha Team requested a swap with Charlie.
Slister’s Bravo Team kept the fire up as Mclain’s team rotated to the supply point. Eddy’s team worked into the rotation. The roar of additional rifles snapping out death echoed across the valley. Seeing that the gates were not going to activate during the XLroach assault, I scurried into the loft. I found Nancy on the roof watching the slaughter unfold.
I planted my feet beside her and activated my long rifle. The barrel raised to target the roaches still high on the mountainside a few miles out. The scope would ping red for dead. I mentally fired. One. A small blue orb of death lanced forward.
I fired a second round. Two. The scope pinged red. Three. I rapidly shifted the sighting. Every highlight of red there was a round sent flying across the landscape. Forty-three shots before I needed to recharge. The added backpack was a whole lot of firepower. I saw the majority of my targets tumble off the mountainside in death. Five minutes later there was a ceasefire call when the last of the alien bugs were defeated.
“Damn fine shooting, Cap,” Nancy said from my side.
“I always was a great shot, with this, though, it’s cheating. Not that I care. All is fair in war,” I said with a soft cackle. I meant it—winning was more important than morals. I happened to be lucky with my decisions so far. I had not been forced to compromise doing the right thing versus survival. “Wonder why the gates aren’t firing up?”
I left the roof to let the barn know they were okay. I guess I wasn’t needed—parents and kids were already flooding out for the park. Dump trucks, the backhoes, and the bulldozer jolted for the dead roaches. I was fairly certain we had purchased plenty of extra food to avoid eating insects to avoid starvation. I saw pallets of fruit entering the mansion basement all evening last night. I tapped my foot, waiting for someone to ask for clarity. Sure enough, the call came in from Eddy.
“Hey, Cap, what is the plan with the bodies?” Eddy said. I picked my jaw off the ground at seeing him looking so young.
“You are looking great, sheriff. I suggest we bury the bugs where they died. Deep preferred, to the bedrock,” I said, thinking about it. The bodies were useless. The last thing I wanted was a problem dealing with them. “Let the machines handle the bodies, in case they have some nasty blood or something. Since they can handle the work, go ahead and re-form your convoy for gate activation.”
I returned to RV3. Willow was buried in my comfy seat with her power plant off. I set mine beside her. She gave an oof sound when I plopped my two-hundred-plus-pound butt into her lap.
“Fine, you win the rights to this seat, let me up, you slug,” Willow whimpered.
She vacated my spot with a goofy grin on her face. She curtsied before seating herself in my lap. The video was broken into four similar frames. Gray, quiet Xgate. The base buzzing with activity in a different frame. The eastern valley busy with working equipment, and then finally the video of Marble Heights. The roaches inside the community turned around to head back to Denver. I was not sure why, but those that made the trek up the road were flowing back down it.
“Peterson, tell me about the blimps,” I said, seeking knowledge since the situation was diffusing.
“They link with the Gpads. Any heat signature not tied to a Gpad signals a warning. They will provide around-the-clock coverage. The dealer warned there were stealth species that could mask sight and heat. He said we would need smelling sensors. I mentioned our dogs and he became interested in buying some. Apparently a sniffing animal is amazing to have for defense against the ghosts, as he termed them,” Peterson said while removing her goggles. She flashed a bright smile when Willow waved. “They will weather storms with ease and solar charge even on a cloudy day. Unless we get thick cloud cover for a month, they should stay airborne. The downside is that they are big, easy targets. A single round will bring them down. I bought a few hundred tiny drones to supplement our supplies. This is Bonnie, by the way. She was a real estate drone operator for some realty company in the area. Bonnie, this is Cap.”
&
nbsp; Bonnie had fire-red hair. She kept her faceplate with goggles on while waving at us. Peterson rolled her eyes at Bonnie staying hidden. Even Peterson looked like a new woman with her virum infusion.
Seeing everyone appearing so youthful made me miss my mom. She would have been so happy seeing this. I could always hope our gate would connect to somewhere else on Earth. With millions of options, I doubted it.
Peterson went back to her drone feeds while I went back to watching the Xgate. A knock on the RV door revealed Jevon wanting to chat.
“Cap, the night crew is feeling like a nap. Any objections to standing down until we see activation? Same with the work crews—they are asking to continue work,” Jevon said. I pushed Willow off my lap. I started to unstrap my gear to go help. Into the loft my weapons went. “What are you thinking?”
“That the timer compression might be off is the first thought, but I don’t think that is the issue. Goldie—my mind image—said something that has resonated with me. Everything has a cost,” I said while biting my inner cheek. I let out a long hmm. “What else did he say…?” I paused, mulling it over. “Ah, we were watched by the nonviolent races. That could be a factor. What happens when there is not enough money, power, juice, magic, or whatever to light the Xgates?”
“Sleep?” Jevon asked when I never answered his question.
“Yes, yes. Night crews bed down. I will set… Done. You will only be bothered by me directly. I am guessing you sleep only a few hours. Drone operators, keep me apprised,” I ordered. I set my Gpad to the community. “Drivers remain in vehicles besides minor breaks. Everyone else, we are waiting for the Xgate to come alive or another round of XLroaches to come. Get some rest if you need it. If not, keep building, pick up brass, or get some grub. Cap out.”
I left the RV to find my right leg wrapped in a hug. Mary started gibbering rapidly about how scared she was for me. I scuffled her hair before lifting her up and onto my shoulders. We walked over to a stack of plywood. I set her down to pull the top sheet off. The little girl helped me carry the board with two fingers. Mary beamed happily at being my little helper. I even saw Felix rise from his slumbering bulldog ways to trail us. We walked the boards over to building crews. We set the plywood down for the auto-nailers to have quick access to.
Families were moving gear out of the mansion to longhouses in an effort to spread out again. I shifted my view to see our first construction building was complete. That meant we could build wall frames or whatever was needed under cover. We could also toss out the supplies to convert the space into housing if desperate. The next project in our tasks folder was a large-scale kitchen. The foundation was being traced out between the barn and the mansion. It would need a lot of power so we would sacrifice pathing between buildings for the kitchen. Right now we had our basement filled with fridges drowning the space with their humming noise. I had never been near so many random electrical cords in my life. I know Braxton, our electrician, must be having a headache as we kept adding devices to our breakers. He was with Gary tracing out the design.
Torrez approached to help move plywood with me. “Hey, boss, I feel we are going backwards on the building thing,” Torrez said, and I must have given a confused look. “Hear me out. We build in wood to replace with stone later to replace with steel eventually. We trade steel in for wood tools. Whereas if we just converted the steel…”
“I see the logic. I would rather have three hundred homes made of wood than one of steel, though. Not to mention we have oodles of trees around,” I said, gesturing to the trees with an open hand. Mary grunted in approval. I knew she had no idea what I was saying. “Plus, if those shields— Oh, speaking of which, activate the shields, please. And yes, I know they won’t stop the roaches from entering.”
Torrez nodded before racing off. Mary continued to help me shift boards to the expanding buildings. I checked my Gpad frequently. The Xgate was quiet, the dead roaches were being shoved into burial pits, and the community had returned to working hard.
I must have been at it for two hours. Mary had quit long ago to return to her smiling mom, who winked at me. My tempo was slow and steady. The goal was to be productive while we waited and I felt that had been achieved. I was taking a piece of plywood to the eighteenth longhouse when the alert came.
Xgate 232 was active again. I felt my stomach tighten while bolting for RV3. Please be a D20!
CHAPTER 7
I had this issue of wanting the opposite of what life provided sometimes. The hunger for “the grass is greener on the other side.” In Saudi Arabia, I wanted peace and quiet. I received my wish in the DU dorm, and it felt like torture. Within a few days, I wanted action with adventure again. In this case, I undoubtedly wanted the Xgate to stay offline. I was not hankering for new aliens. Well, there were some hot monster girls at the trade fair I would like to see more of, but I was a-okay in the sex department.
When I rushed into the RV, I found Perci in my comfy chair. I kneeled beside her to watch the drone cameras as the event unfolded. Above the dashboard, soldiers returned in a hurry to their vehicles. Building crews scampered off roofs to ready as a quick reaction force. The community was adapting exactly as I wanted. I would have to establish our economy so I could start handing out bonuses.
The gray frames flared blue slightly when Xgate 232 lifted into a hover. The unknown force slowly moved the construct. The portals, while brightening in their blue, stayed void of images. I saw our recon teams adjusting to move with the Xgate.
“It probably moves to prevent gate camp defenses. I bet some species are waiting in fortifications eager to defend or charge,” Perci said barely loud enough for me to hear. I grabbed her hand to give her the affection she always craved. Her eyes sparkled at the sudden interaction. She gave up the chair for me. “I am sorry, my love. I do like the sight of you on your knees, though.”
I chuckled while accepting my seat. The table was filled with the drone operators, Nancy, Willow, Torrez, Felix, Jacky, Jill, and Mrs. Moore. I coughed while nudging my head in the direction of the table to Perci.
“Come, Mother Hens, we do not need to be in this chariot if it bounds off to war,” Perci said with a refined tone. The others followed her out. “Bye, Eric. Keep us safe, my love.”
I heard the words fade as the door snapped shut.
The Xgate moved for at least another five minutes before the portals shimmered vibrantly. The darker blue transitioned into a light, see-through teal. The first revelation was that there were four portals active; not three like last time. The image on my view screen was divided into six squares. The right side of the screen had our base displayed and a roving drone of the surrounding area. The left four were the new portals.
The north gate interior contained a savannah-type biome with a much whiter sunshine than Earth. Dozens of miles away, a white ocean rolled with mighty waves. Of course, the most interesting aspect of this planet was the army occupying the screen. A fully armored being postured stoically from a black saddle. Underneath the knight, a skeleton creature with eight legs shifted with excitement. The lead animal slithered, with the pack following as they kept pace with the gate. The rider was tall, bulky, and so… rigid. The skeleton they rode on reminded me of a salamander or skeleton lizard, but ten feet long and three feet high.
The east gate showed a landscape of trees with stone roads. Behind the trees, off in the far distance, a mighty city with massive walls dominated the horizon. I saw no scouts or defending army. The city gleamed in the bright blue sunlight of the foreign planet. I could not make out much from the video, but everything seemed serene and peaceful.
The south gate was a tropical island chain with sunshine exactly like Earth. The little islands were dotted across the portal vision. Beautiful clear blue water lapped onto the numerous shores. An amphibian frog-slash-fish-slash-man waited with a glowing trident. It looked into our portal, cautious in its movements. The creature turned its head for a full look around the gate and shifted out of view.
The western gate was a dense jungle. Again the magic of the portals defied logic. The trees the Xgate hovered past were as massive as they were dense. The foliage was green, vines hung in large swaths, and the canopy extended taller than the Xgate. A variation of a monkey that looked like a cute koala hopped through and onto Earth. Behind it hopped out a gorgeous woman.
Except she wasn’t human. Her peachy skin was minimally covered by green strips of cloth. Bushy brown fur wrapped across her exposed hip bones and ran down to her crotch. She spun looking under the Xgate, and relaxed when there were no signs of aggressors exiting. I noticed she had a swaying brown tail with a green tip, a double set of ears, and was over six feet tall. She carried a long empowered spear with serrated edges. The tiny drone flew close, testing her. I had a single thought when I looked at this woman. Her busty tits were fantastic.
“Greeting, residents of this planet. I am here to trade. My name is Busty Tits of tribe Were Fantastic.” The drone picked up her voice clearly. I smacked my forehead while chuckling erupted from behind me. I quickly notated the little pet animal as Rico the mozala creature. “This is my pet—”
The screen showed the skeleton riders in the north gate moving. A salamander slithered out of the portal. The skeleton creature handled the drop-off with precision. The forest woman was fast as she tucked into a roll with her shield out. I watched the feed intently. The mozala turned to the sound of the arriving alien. The armored rider ducked under the gate while aiming a turret. The crixxi woman—I renamed her species—winced, anticipating a blow. The turret bypassed her shield for the pet.
Rico paused, which was enough for the alien turret to earn a direct hit. The body tumbled while the midsection exploded a spray of blue insides. Her metallic shield guarded her body. She scooped up the mozala remains. A round cracked against her shield. There was no hesitation from the female crixxi. She dove back into the shimmering teal portal.