by Phil Maxey
“Look,” said Sean. They all looked at the explosions and streaks of light which were lighting the early evening sky a few miles off.
Fiona clicked on her radio to address the commander on the ground. “Captain Fowler. We are just a few minutes out. What’s the sitrep? Over.”
The clatter of automatic gunfire and booms burst from her radio.
“We are currently engaging three Hulathen. We’re taking losses. Can’t hold out much longer. Over.”
“We’ll be there soon. Over.”
Fiona passed the radio to Sam sitting next to her. He went to speak but was drowned out by the sound of helicopters roaring past overhead.
“Looks like the general is going all in,” he said.
“If we can hold onto that craft, it might be a game changer,” said Fiona.
Her Humvee bumped onto a wider road, which led up to one of the hills which overlooked the dam. The sky above was full of kinetic light, a reflection of the crackles and explosions taking place on the ground. In her rear view mirror more headlights appeared.
“Looks like we are all arriving at the same time,” she said.
The road dipped downwards and the convoy descended quickly towards the parking lot at the back of the damn. The battle was neatly laid out in front of them. Each of the Hulathen was being engaged by a group of soldiers, using what cover they could nearby. Two of the choppers let go a volley of missiles, all converging on one of the aliens, which was lost within a wall of flame. Another of the Hulathen saw the danger and fired his weapon skywards, slicing the tail off the first helicopter which exploded, and then it pivoted and fired again, this time hitting the blades. Both aircraft spiraled to the ground.
Fiona Humvee’s skipped onto the flat concrete of the parking lot. “I’ll get us as close as possible! Get ready!”
Driving at speed she suddenly slammed on the breaks, and the Humvee skidded to a stop just fifty feet short of the closest alien. The soldier in the turret started firing with the .50 Cal and everyone jumped out, keeping the doors open and using them as cover to fire from.
The vehicles behind, including two lumbering light tanks, spread out bringing even more fire down upon the first Hulathen. Its armor, usually a bright purple started to flicker and dim.
“I think that one is on its way out!” Shouted Sam.
The alien directed its weapon at the source of the artillery shells that were exploding against it, and a burst of focused energy streamed across the parking lot, shearing the light tank in half, which promptly exploded. Everyone within a fifty-foot radius was knocked off their feet, and the windscreens of the nearby cars shattered.
The other alien on the opposite side of the lot, charged into one of the Humvee’s, toppling it onto its side. It then turned towards the other that was now taking most of the fire. It sprinted across the ground, moving past its friend and headed straight for Fiona and the others.
“We might have a problem!” She shouted, as she changed direction to target the oncoming alien. Sam unhooked a grenade, pulled the pin then threw it as hard as he could, it bounced a few times then exploded. The first alien was knocked onto its back, its armor now a dull gray-blue, but the other kept on coming. Just as it reached the Humvee, Fiona and the others scattered, and it grabbed under the front of the vehicle flipping it front over back, sending the soldier on the turret tumbling through the air.
Fiona looked back over her shoulder not being sure of where the huge being was, but heard screams as its particle beam weapon scythed through the air, killing indiscriminately.
The other light tank trundled forward, firing on the Hulathen, knocking it back, but as the vehicle was reloading the Hulathen sprang into the air, landing on top of the turret, pointed its weapon directly down and blasted a hole clean through the center of tank. The alien’s head then whipped around, targeting the closest soldier to it.
Fiona made it to a pickup whose front end was lying separate from it, and crouched down behind it. She then stood back up, her attention being drawn to the first Hulathen that was scrambling back to its feet.
This is not going well.
She scanned the scene in front of her, trying to make sense of what human forces were still alive and fighting, but the smoke and dust filling the air made it impossible to know what was happening.
She clicked on her radio. “Captain, what’s your status? Over.” She held the speaker close to her ear to be able to hear any response. There wasn’t any.
Fuck.
A noise made her turn quickly.
“Don’t shoot!” Said Sam jogging towards her. “I think it might be time to turn tail and run!” He shouted standing with her behind the pickup.
She looked to her left. The powerhouse building was about fifty yards away. “We need to get in there!”
The second alien, tore into the vehicles that were still being used as cover by countless soldiers, tearing them apart with its laser weapon.
She clicked on her radio. “If anyone can hear this, try and make it to the powerhouse. We’ll make a stand inside there! Over.”
Fiona and Sam set off across the concrete moving as fast as they could, glancing over their shoulders at the Hulathen. Out of the corner of her eye, other soldiers ran towards them, all trying to get to the haven of the concrete walled building.
As she got to the door, she pushed then held it open as other soldiers ran towards her, all running into the gloom of the narrow corridor. She went to follow Sam inside, but heard someone shouting in the distance.
She strained her eyes to see through the smoke. Sean was running towards her.
Come on Sean.
She then noticed one of the Hulathen at the end of the lot. Bullets and other projectiles had stopped raining down on it, and its head flicked towards the figure of the former coastguard lieutenant, sprinting towards salvation. It got up and surged forward, bounding over burning cars and the bodies of soldiers.
He's not going to make it...
Sam appeared from the doorway and started firing at the alien bearing down on Sean, but Fiona wasn't watching that, for her attention was drawn to a ring of pulsating lights that had suddenly appeared in the sky over the distant hills. It was coming towards them.
What is that?
She walked forward transfixed by the lights which had now taken on the form of a saucer.
Sam looked across to her and was shouting something, but as in a dream, his words were muffled. Distant.
The Hulathen sprang high into the air then landed in front of Sean, who skidded to a stop. Seeing he had nowhere else to run, Sean held his hand out in front of him, towards the towering alien and closed his eyes.
The sound of laughter drifted on the fumes, and the alien lunged forward, grabbing him across his chest and lifted into the air like a doll.
Fiona went to run forward but then stopped, and looked up. The circular saucer like craft was now hovering directly above them. A pulse of glowing orbs rained down from it hitting the Hulathen, sending energy surging through its armor and body. Sean and the alien fell to the ground, the former quickly regaining his balance.
Another volley of pulsing energy hit the other alien, who had managed to fire back at the craft before being hit, but the hovering ship remained unaffected and the alien fell lifeless to the ground.
The sound of gunfire and explosions were now gone and the only sound remaining was the whirring sound the strange object above them was making.
“It’s a friggin U.F.O,” said Sam.
The craft, which spanned sixty feet slowly descended, landing struts appearing from its base as it approached the ground.
Fiona walked towards it.
“What are you doing?” Said Sam anxiously but followed her regardless, as did Sean. Other soldiers started appearing from the corridor behind them.
A seamless door opened on the underside of the craft, the rim of which lights pulsed around.
A tall slim figure appeared in the doorway and started to wa
lk down a slope which slid out as it moved forward.
Fiona moved closer still until she was standing just a few feet away from this being that had just saved them. She tilted her head back to see into the almond shaped eyes she recognized. “Klept?”
*****
A few hours after the battle at the dam, a small crowd stood waiting in the parking lot of the Core. They were surrounded by heavy tanks, mobile rocket launches, turreted Humvees and a few platoons of soldiers, all were waiting.
A point of light appeared in the night sky to the north.
General Trow straightened her back.
Fiona smiled. “Here we go,” she said to the general next to her.
Sam, on Fiona's opposite side leaned in. “She knows about the weird two mouth thing right?” He whispered.
Fiona nodded.
In an instant the speck of light grew in size until it was a fully formed ring, pulsating around the edge of a saucer hovering above them. As before it silently floated to the ground, the landing legs extended and took the weight of the craft above them.
The tall slim door slid to the side, allowing the brightness of the interior to illuminate the concrete around it. Shadowy figures appeared and a ripple of excitement ran around the crowd.
The slope appeared as before, sliding towards the ground and the alien which Zach and Fiona had met in space, walked majestically down it and onto the ground. He walked forward as did general Trow and Fiona. When they became close enough the alien held out his hand. Trow smiled then briefly shook it.
“On behalf—” Before Trow could finish Klept raised his hand and more of his kind descended the ramp, and stood to his right.
Trow leaned towards Fiona. “What’s happening?”
"Prepare yourself.”
Sam walked forward and stood close to Fiona.
Klept plunged his long thin finger into the alien’s head that was next to him, as did that alien next to that one and so on until they were all connected.
“Err…they’re not having sex are they?” Said Sam.
Fiona giggled. “Not exactly.”
“Please excuse what must appear to be a strange sight to you, but this is how we must communicate for now. I am Klept, of the Ultor’s.”
Ignoring the peculiarity of what was in front of her the general smiled once again. “I am General Trow. I am second in command of this camp.”
“Second?”
“Yes. The first in command is in another part of the camp. We felt it unwise to have all of our top ranked officers in one place.”
“That is indeed wise. I am happy to meet you General Trow.”
Fiona noticed that unlike the last time Klept talked English to her, the link with the other alien seemed more stable.
“I want to thank you for saving our people, at the dam.”
Klept nodded. “Fiona saved me which allowed me to save many of my kind. I am sorry the Hulathen have come to your planet. They have done what they have done to many other worlds, although usually not with such devastating effect. Now it would seem they are trying to hide the mistake they made on this planet. The Ultor’s would like to offer you assistance in your resistance against them.”
Smiles broke out amongst the crowd and for the first time in months, Fiona felt an emotion she had come to forget. Hope.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Abbey watched through the window at the tiny blinking lights of the military cargo plane, fading into the night sky.
“I think this is a mistake,” said Brad behind her.
“He expects me to run.”
“Erin’s a madman…another one, and you being here, being where he’s heading to, makes no sense!”
“I’m tired of running. I’m always running. It feels as if from the moment I felt that desert wind on my face when we stepped out of the elevator to the surface back in New Mexico, all I’ve been doing is running. From the E.L.F’s, from crazy S.O.B’s. I’m done with it. If he wants a fight, he’s going to get one.”
“And what’s Zach going to think, when he knows you sent the toxin back to the camp, but you decided to stay here?”
“This is not about Zach, this is about me. I have to do this for me…” She paused. “He’ll understand. Maybe not today, but he will.” She turned, ran forward and hugged Brad.
“Not sure what this is for,” he said trying to breath.
She pulled back smiling. “We’re going to stop Erin. And the toxin is going to put an end to this war with the aliens.”
“I wish I had your optimism.”
A knock came at the door of the upstairs room in the main house.
“Come in,” said Brad.
The door opened and a soldier appeared. “Major Hoxted says she’s ready for the briefing to start.”
Brad nodded and the soldier left. He looked at Abbey. “Right. Let’s go figure out how we’re still going to be alive this time next week.”
Soon after they were sitting in the basement room, around the large conference table. Major Hoxted and three other officers were also seated. A large screen was behind her head, showing a plan view for miles in all directions. On top of it small icons and circles moved slowly across the screen.
“As you can see our radar system can pick up most E.L.F’s for up to a distance of twenty miles in all directions. That includes in the sky as well. We have full 360 degrees detection capability.”
“So we’ll know they’re coming,” said a dark haired man in combat fatigues.
Hoxted nodded then looked at Abbey. “I should introduce who we have here. To my left, is Captain Cruz and to my right are Lieutenants, Wallace and Shaw.”
Each nodded to Abbey as she looked at them.
“So what’s the plan?” Said Abbey.
Hoxted looked at a soldier at a nearby desk and the screen zoomed in to show the outpost plus a few miles of the surround areas. “We have a full company stationed here. So that means six platoons, with roughly twenty-five soldiers in each. We also have a twelve Humvees, seven of which have .50 Cal guns. Four APC’s fighting vehicles, two attack helicopters and a number of shoulder mounted missile launchers. We also have munitions and supplies to last at least two months if it comes to that.”
Wallace laughed. “I want to see the fool who thinks it’s a good idea to try to take us on.”
Abbey noticed the other two officers looked less confident. “How many Cascaders do we have?” She said looking at Hoxted.
“Who gives a crap about the Cascaders and their pets?” Said Wallace.
Abbey ignored the remark and continued looking at the Major.
“Including yourself fourteen.”
“Each Cascader needs to be guarded.”
They all looked at Abbey.
“You’re saying that because of what happened with Clovis?”
Abbey nodded. “I don’t know how Erin does it, maybe he needs to be in physical contact, but if we’re wrong about that, and he takes control of the Cascaders—”
“And that includes yourself?” Said Cruz.
“I’ve already been in close proximity with him and he wasn’t able to control me.”
“What made you so special?” Said Wallace.
Finally Abbey looked at the tall blonde haired woman. “He told me himself he wasn’t able to control me. I’m one of the Cascaders that you can trust.”
Hoxted nodded and looked down at Shaw. “Okay we’ll make sure the Cascaders have someone with them.”
Shaw nodded and wrote something down on a notepad.
“You can bet he’s going to be coming with a lot of Cascaders and even more E.L.F’s,” said Abbey.
“He will send them at us first,” said Cruz.
“Maybe, or maybe he will use Mitchell’s forces first. He doesn’t care much for humans.”
Wallace shook her head. “It’s a good thing Felton or Trow aren’t Cascaders, or we would have been fucked.”
Abbey shot her a look and Wallace softened her expression. “Before you ge
t your panties in a twist, I’m not saying all Cascaders are bad. You’re obviously one of the good ones.”
“Thanks,” said Abbey sarcastically. She then got up and walked to the screen and looked at the soldier nearby. “Can you zoom out a bit?” The soldier did as asked, and the map view enlarged. Abbey pointed to the nearby town. “What’s the plan for here?”
The officers looked at each other.
“We thought it best we concentrate our forces within the walls,” said Hoxted.
“And that’s what Erin will expect us to do. If we can spare some people to setup in the town, then if they pass that way we can ambush them.”
Most around the table nodded.
“It’s a good plan,” said Cruz.
“I agree. We’ll send out some people out to scout the area, see what the best defensive positions are,” said Hoxted. Shaw again wrote something. She then looked back at the soldier. “Take us all the way out, show us the map covering from here to Boston.” The screen zoomed quickly out to show the eastern half of the country. “If he’s coming by land he will probably be with us within a day or two. If it’s by air…well he would already be here. And as you saw from the radar coverage, he’s not. So he must be coming by land.” She paused then looked at the only person not to have spoken. “Brad? Do you have anything to say?”
Brad sighed then looked around the others in the room. “Let’s hope the Hulathen spot him before he gets here.”
“We can hope.” She looked back at Shaw. “Keep trying Mitchell on the radio. Maybe we can stop this madness before it gets started.”
*****
Zach was sat in his compact office looking at the video of when Trow and the others met the Ultor’s, when a message popped up on his screen. It was saying there was a communication for him from the outpost.
He picked up his headset and slid it onto his head. It was already linked to the internal comms of the bunker system.
“Sir, are you there?” Came a woman’s voice through the headphones.
“I am.”
“Patching you through to the outpost.”