by Jay Cannon
Li Xiao’s eyes were glued to her device as she tracked Uan and Calvin as they went to Tajikistan to retrieve some plutonium from some terrorists. She added another waypoint to the ship so she could track it as needed. She was surprised that her tracking device could follow Uan even after he had been beamed back and forth to the ship.
I wonder why the American or foreign military can’t spot their spaceship? I guess taking plutonium from terrorists is a good thing, but I just don’t trust these aliens. I better get some sleep. I can check on them in the morning.
Chapter 14
The Mining of Earth Begins
“Captain, we are in position above the third planet,” shouted the navigation officer.
“Logistics, give me your status,” stated Captain Shisal.
“All satellites have been disabled. The aviation intercept fleet have been deployed to intercept all aircraft. Ready to engage EMP,” replied the logistics officer.
“Engage,” ordered Captain Shisal.
“Their aircraft have been shut down and transferred to our ship. They are being defueled and processed. All passengers are being placed in holding cells. The logistics team is busy transferring nuclear material to our special holding cells and we have engaged the safety measures to prevent leakage and explosion based on previously gathered intelligence. We are ninety percent complete with the transport of their biochemical material into their sun. We are now 100% complete with the transportation of the nuclear material, the chemical-biological weapons and all airborne aircraft have been processed. All waste material has been transported to their sun.”
“Moving to military targets captain. All aircraft carriers have been transported, stripped of personnel and placed in holds for processing. We are 60% complete with processing of submarines and all other military ships. 80% now captain. Processing of military ships has been completed. We have moved to land-based military personnel and equipment. Personal weapons and ammunitions are all being sent to their sun as they are not worth processing. Tanks and small armored vehicles have been processed for their metal. Ten percent have been kept intact for sale to collectors. The rest have been stripped of fuel and non-metallic waste. The waste is being sent to their sun while the rest has been compressed and stored.”
“Good work so far logistics. Now give me an update on the collection of the civilian population,” commanded the captain.
“Captain,” stated the logistics officer assigned to civilian personnel collection, “we are making a pass across the planet now. There are four columns of our flying vessels making a sweep from east to west across their planet along their longitudinal axis. We have many of our crewmembers using dimensional beacons to transport personnel from stadiums, malls, schools, high rises, highways, city centers and resorts.”
The crewmembers transporting civilians to the Andrea sat in front of large screens going looking for people to beam to holding cells. They slipped seamlessly through walls, resisting the temptation to be voyeurs. This is a new planet with a completely different species of people and cultures. Their inclination would be to see how this new species lived and built their civilization. But while they are on duty their job was to transport as many people as possible as quickly as possible.
Most families were trying to understand what happened to their power. Some were eating dinner, taking showers, having sex, sitting on the toilet, playing sports or just trying to get high. But it didn’t matter. They were all swooped up in mass just as they were. They were all placed into similar holding cells, naked or not, finished peeing or not. This was very embarrassing for some, but it was of no interest to the logistics officers. When one cell filled up the system automatically switched the collection to another holding cell.
The operators skipped hospitals and nursing homes. Likewise, the old, sick, crippled and extremely overweight were not taken. Those who were in basements, caves, underwater or just plain lucky were pretty much safe. The goal was not to get everyone, just a majority of the people on the planet. When the Euclidian ships and logistics operators had finished their sweep of the planet, more than ninety percent of the Earth’s population had been taken.
John was a maintenance person at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. He was sitting in the basement watching the Texas, OU game when the power went off. He went up to the stadium stands to see what happened. As he stepped into the stadium his jaw dropped as he looked around the stadium to see that there were no people in the stands, on the field or in the booth. How could so many people have disappeared so quickly? He went outside and noticed that all the cars were still in the parking lot. He eventually decided to go home, and began walking after he couldn’t get his car to start. On the way home he noticed that the streets were full of abandoned cars, but there was no one in them or on the street. It was as if someone had scooped them all up.
“Logistics,” requested Captain Shisal, “what luck are we having with the businesses that sell or store the minerals we are looking for?”
“We are having tremendous luck sir. There are literally thousands of places that have gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals. They also have precious stones. Banks have a treasure trove of minerals as well. Governments have special warehouses full of gold and silver. Mints have coins made of various metals.”
“That really makes our job easy. Keep the jewelry intact. It might be more valuable as jewelry. We will need to let marketers back on Euclidia make that call.”
“Captain, many of the individual residents have jewelry, coins and other types of metal that could valuable to us. The only problem is that it is more tedious to find. We could spend ten minutes looking through a house and find nothing, or we might find a large collection of items. It’s really hard to tell.”
“As long as we are here doing the mining, have our people focusing on the larger homes. I don’t want anyone sitting around doing nothing because the hit rate is so low on houses.”
“Aye, aye captain.”
“Speaking of the mining, let’s concentrate our efforts on areas where they already have mining operations setup. No use in us mining areas that might have a low percentage of useful minerals. Once we’ve retrieved the atmosphere, water, animals and processed minerals let’s plan our exit strategy. We are going to be putting a base here so I don’t want the planet to be left uninhabitable.”
“Understood captain.”
“Once we get near the end of mining operations I plan to have a ball on the planet that I want as many people as possible to participate in. We will have to have some people visit in waves to make sure we have coverage for important posts. It’s okay to stop mining operations during the ball. I don’t want people to think I’m a complete hard ass.”
“No one would think that of you sir.”
“Plenty of the crewmembers are probably thinking that, they just better not say it out loud,” Captain Shisal laughed stridently.
“Of course not captain.”
“Getting back to the mission, have all of our mining vehicles been deployed?”
“Aye captain. Once the transportation of the civilian population has been completed, what should we do if we run across additional people that were not captured during the initial sweep captain?”
“Unless they are getting in the way of operations just ignore them. We need to keep enough people on this planet to perform manual labor and answer questions as needed.”
“Aye, aye captain.”
“While you’re at it, find us a warm place to setup camp. Someplace on the water near one of their resorts. Make an extra effort to ensure that there are no inhabitants in that area and setup a security patrol to protect the place. Once the patrol is in place have the area setup for shore leave.”
“Right away captain. I’m sure the crew will look forward to it.”
“And so they should.”
Chapter 15
Saving Morgan
The next morning Li Xiao checked in on Uan and saw him sitting in the passenger
side of a black SUV next to Calvin. They seem to be watching a hospital room waiting for someone to show up. Thought Li Xiao. It has to be the kid and small alien that Uan was tracking. Somehow these two little guys are a danger to the aliens’ attack of the Earth. How could one human and a small alien be of so much interest to a supposedly large attack force? She decided to listen in on Uan and Calvin’s conversation.
“The invasion must have started. I can’t believe it is happening already. We have to get that alien right away,” stated Uan.
“What invasion? Who is starting what invasion?” Asked Calvin.
Uan ignored him and checked his UCD to see what alerts he missed. He noticed that Morgan had entered the room and Denise later left with Pico, leaving Morgan inside, next to his mother’s bed.
“They are back,” snarled Uan. “This time they will not get away.”
***
What the hell is going on? Thought Li Xiao. Are the aliens invading now? What was that? Suddenly the television shutdown turning off CNN. Li Xiao looked around the living room and noticed that the clock, DVR and stereo system had lost power. Li Xiao thought maybe it was just that the building lost power. She looked out the window to see if anything was impacted. She noticed that not only was the power shutdown on the street, but the cars weren’t moving either. She also saw a helicopter fall from the sky and crash into a tree.
Li Xiao looked back at her transport device and saw that it was still working and Uan had disappeared from the SUV. She panicked and switched her device to the hospital room with Morgan and Pico. There was a kid in the room now talking to the patient who was there. It appeared to be the boy’s mother.
Is the alien inside the hospital? She switched her transport device to Uan and could see that he was going into the hospital after Morgan and decided to act. She put on her mask and robe and beamed to the hospital room next to Morgan.
***
Uan reached for his pulse rifle and pointed it at Morgan to snuff out his life. At that moment a masked Earth woman in an outfit appeared out of nowhere and hugged Morgan and his mother as if to protect them. No matter, thought Uan, I’ll just kill all three of them. Before he could pull the trigger they all disappeared.
What the hell just happened? Uan thought. Uan looked around the hospital room, but it was empty. He had to find Morgan and that alien. He knew Pico was still in the hospital somewhere because he saw him leave with the doctor. He followed her scent down the hallway and lost it at the elevator. He hit the stairway and ran onto each floor until he picked up the scent again.
He followed the scent into the rehabilitation center and there was Pico sitting on the bed next to Jerome with Dr. Turner standing next to them. Then she appeared again. That strange Earthling. She grabbed Pico and Pico knew instantly what was happening. Take those two as well! A voice screamed in Li Xiao’s head. She wasn’t sure where the request came from, but obeyed the strange command, putting her arms around Dr. Turner. Unfortunately they vanished before she could reach Jerome. Uan sent a blast their way just after they disappeared killing Jerome.
Uan let out a scream and shook his fist in the air. That damn alien has way too much luck. He turned from the room and went to rejoin Calvin at the SUV.
“Calvin, let’s get back to our place. I need to get everyone in the basement before the ships appear and start gathering people up.”
“What do you mean?” Asked Calvin.
“The invasion of your planet has started, which means that our ships will be collecting the people off of this planet for storage and later sale. Going below ground can save you because we don’t bother with looking for people below ground.”
“Oh that’s generous of you. I guess the one thousand people left can get together and repopulate the planet in maybe a million years!” Calvin said sarcastically.
“Just drive!”
***
Morgan stared in amazement as Li Xiao returned with Pico and Denise in her arms. Denise screamed when she appeared in Li Xiao’s living room. “Where the hell am I and how did I get here?!”
“I’m Li Xiao. I used my transportation device to get you out of the hospital and bring you to my apartment. There was an alien there about to kill you so I didn’t have time to explain anything,” explained Li Xiao.
“You need to go back and get my brother,” Denise said hysterically.
“I can’t go back there with that assassin in the room. Let me take a look real quick. Oh my goodness,” said Li Xiao covering her mouth and shaking her head. “It looks like the assassin killed him.”
Denise’s eyes welled with tears. “No, no, no,” said Denise shaking her head and falling to her knees. “I was supposed to take care of him. He was going to get better. Let me see him,” said Denise reaching her hand out to Li Xiao.
Li Xiao showed Denise the image of Jerome on her transport device. Denise collapsed on the floor in tears. Norma hugged her and took her to the couch.
“Are you an alien?” Asked Morgan.
“No,” replied Li Xiao. “I’m Chinese. I’m just someone who wants to help. I followed that alien to the hospital and saw he was about to kill you so I brought you here. My name is Li Xiao. I’ve been going by the name Guan-Yin to protect my real identity.”
“Wo hen gao xing kan jian ni,” replied Morgan bowing.
“That’s pretty good. Did you learn Mandarin in school?”
“Yes, I did.”
“When did you have time to learn Mandarin?” Asked Morgan’s mother surprised.
“Pico modified my brain so I could concentrate better and I used the new ability to learn Mandarin in one night.”
“That’s pretty impressive Morgan,” said Li Xiao.
“I think I heard of you,” continued Morgan. “Aren’t you the one that has been freeing the Chinese dissidents?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Li Xiao, could you get me some clothes to wear so I don’t have to walk around in this hospital gown?” Asked Norma.
“Certainly. I’m sure I have something in my closet that might fit you,” responded Li Xiao going into her bedroom. As she entered her transport device chirped to indicate that she was getting a message.
“Xiao, this is Cobalt. You should be able to hear me though you won’t be able to speak to me. The invasion of your planet has started. You must get below ground level as soon as possible. You should be safe after twenty-four hours. I will come for you after they have finished sweeping your planet. Go quickly Xiao. I hope to see you soon.”
Li Xiao softly touched the screen of her transport device with her fingertips as Cobalt’s image faded from view.
Li Xiao returned to her living room with clothes for Norma. “Everyone listen up. Let’s grab some food and water from the kitchen. We need to move to the parking garage as soon as possible. The power is out so we will need to take the stairs. Morgan, will your mother be able to make it okay?”
“Yes, I’ll help her,” replied Morgan.
“I can help too,” stated Denise.
“Pico, what’s going on?” Asked Morgan.
“The Euclidian invasion has started. Soon they will be going through and beaming people off of your planet. Being below ground is the safest place to be until they have finished.”
“Mom, do you think you can make it down the stairs okay?”
“Sure, thanks to Pico I feel like a teenager again. The way I feel right now I bet I could take you in a game of tennis.”
“Sure mom. For now let’s just see if you can beat me to the garage.”
Li Xiao led the four of them to the bottom level of the building’s underground garage. She attempted to convince her neighbors to join her on the way down, but they just thought she was crazy.
“Everyone, please stay here for at least twenty-four hours,” asked Li Xiao. “I know it may be uncomfortable, but it will be the only way to stay safe from the alien ships. You should have enough food and water to sustain yourselves. These buckets will have to suffice as fac
ilities. There are a couple of flashlights in the bag in case the emergency lights give out. I’m going to try to save my family if I can. If I’m not back in an hour I may not be back at all. Morgan has the keys to my place, so feel free to make yourselves at home there.”
Li Xiao selected the coordinates to her parent’s house and pushed the transport button on her device. The four watched Li Xiao as she disappeared and wondered what their lives would be like after the alien’s attacked Earth.
***
“There have been many movies about alien invasions,” started Denise, “but we always found a way to defeat them. In retrospect it is a bit unrealistic to believe that a civilization could be advanced enough to travel millions of light years to Earth and then be beaten by a civilization that can’t even travel to Mars.”
“Do you think they will destroy our planet?” Asked Morgan.
“I don’t know,” replied Denise.
“When they came to my planet, their intent was not to destroy it” said Pico. “They only decided to do so after they were attacked by my people. I believe that Earth will be left intact, but life won’t be the same for the people who are left here.”
“I am hoping that the people who are left can come together to build a better world,” Morgan’s mother stated. “I would hate to see us turn on each other like we have seen in so many post-apocalyptic movies I’ve seen.”
“Pico, can you see what’s going on above ground?” Asked Morgan.
“No, I don’t sense anything.” Replied Pico. Since Pico had made a mental connection with all of them, they were all able to hear his thoughts.
“Why don’t we all get to know each other to pass the time? We can give a brief history of ourselves and how we got here. I can start. My name is Morgan Stewart. That’s my mother Norma Stewart. I never knew my father. I lived with her until she got sick and had to move in with a foster family. I went to private school until my move and then I started going to public school. I really disliked my new family and school and was considering running away until I met Pico.”