by Jay Morris
I thought that Tucker might actually cry.
Day 43, Command Area, Vehicle 1-3. “Permissive-Statement (Chronal-Delta (0.0) ) Direct-(Da-Nah-this, Supreme Director 1),”
“Statement-Amenable”
“Supreme-Director 1- Statement-Factual-Composite :{
Enumerated-List [Pod 8, Pod 11, Pod 13],
Negation (Data-Transmission-Direct-Reflexive (Pod 1, Enumerated-List)),
Locative-Enumerated List-Modification –Unauthorized
Locative-Final-List-Estimated (Locative-Precise-Pod 1-this),
};
Permissive-Query-Protocols-Applicable”
The Supreme Director considered his options, this action was not totally unsuspected but the involvement of Director 8 was a sad turn of events. She was by far the most intelligent and capable Director he had, her betrayal hurt him deeply. Well, nothing for it now, he could not allow the Da-Nah Aggressives to approach the housing vehicles. Nor could he allow un-Da-Nah treachery to go unpunished. He would deal with them, then his Bio-Tech-Micros will finish their virus and everything will be as it should be on this accursed world. He turned to his subordinate and gave his orders.
“Insistive-Command-Broadcast (Supreme Director 1, Da-Nah-Local) –Protocols-Composite :{
Conjunctive-Enumerated-List [
Vehicles-Type 1,
Defenders,
Defender-Modified,
Technicians-Designation-Laser Cutters-Modified,
Technicians-Designation-Binding Guns-Modified ]
Locative-Modify-Variable,
Chronal-Delta (0.0),
Protocol-Original-Pod 8-Conjunctive (Intercept, Destroy)};”
The technician paled in disbelief but flashed obedience, surely the Supreme Director understood the situation and was only doing what was necessary for the success of the colonization. However, his feet felt like the final atomic structure of an exceptionally heavy isotope with an exceptionally short period of 50% radioactive decay. In a momentary and surprising act of kindness the Supreme Director flashed understanding, gave the scent of compassion and then putting a hand gently on the technicians shoulder said in a soft, almost parental voice:
“Protocols-Broadcast (Supreme Director, Enumerated List) Chronal-Delta (0.0).”
The Supreme Director smiled and the technician hurried to comply.
Day 43, Richmond Benedictine Preparatory School, 3:10 P.M.
We had been at the school cathedral for hours: sitting, watching and waiting. There wasn’t much to see, the broken windows and shattered doors of the classroom wing and the dormitories. I suppose we could have searched the buildings but we all knew what we would probably find so we didn’t bother. The parking lot was empty save for a couple of mini-buses. Leaves tumbled across the asphalt, sometimes twirling in pirouettes as they danced with dust devils. There was a covered carport that curved along the front of the chapel to protect V.I.P.s from snow and rain. We used it to hide from view from above.
Tucker had behaved like a mother hen when we each went our separate ways. I think he wished he could go with us but even he could not be in three places at once. He did not like that we were all going to have to travel in daylight but there was nothing to be done about that. He did take time to speak to me separately, telling me that he would do everything he could to make sure Karen gets back to me safely. I thanked him but to be honest I already knew that. He was a psycho for sure, but our group? He would willingly, joyfully, die for any of us. Like I said he was a psycho, but he was loyal and he was OUR psycho.
I had been watching the kids trying to teach two of the underling a card game of Gina’s and Lucy’s invention when suddenly a couple of underling grew excited and in moments they were milling about crazily. They reminded me of a school of fish, swirling up and down and around each other. Suddenly they formed a crescent shape, more or less, and from around the corner of the building appeared two new underling, each was carrying a gun-like device. Our laser weapons.
There was a flip up display that could zoom in on exceptionally tiny components, it also seemed to work just as well as a scope. It also displayed a tiny red dot where the laser would strike. We practiced a couple times each, I hit a dime at over three hundred yards but Doc. Mary did me one better by using the laser to pierce a pencil in such a way as to enter the center of the eraser and exit the other end, vaporizing the graphite on its way, all without damaging the wood.
So, convinced we could hit a bright white alien motor home no problem, we three went on our mission to start a war. A lady Doctor, a twelve year old kid. And an alien named George. We followed a country road that Tucker had highlighted for us, our destination was easy to pick out, a long series of bluffs along the James, from that vantage we could see for miles. Doc Mary took out the binoculars to watch for the alien convoy Tucker said would soon be there. George sat Indian-style, closed his eyes to take a mental stroll I suppose. I laid on my back on the grass, closed my eyes and wished this damn day was over.
Day 43, Habitat Area, Vehicle 12-3.
The female was the youngest of the siblings and was indulged in almost every way by nearly every Da-Nah. Her name was So-Na, it meant something akin to “Clear-Gem” or “Diamond”, and to the Da-Nah she was that and more. So when the adult Da-Nah started running about and then the Defenders left the base, she wanted to play a game with the siblings. She was So-Na, so when she suggested the game, they all agreed, after all she was a precious, treasured sibling and anyway conjunctive (conceal, locate) was a lot of fun.
Day 43, Henderson’s Farm Equipment and Supply, 3:55 PM
Karen was putting the ring on the last of the 55 gallon drums. She and Tucker had worked like Trojans to load bag after bag of fertilizer into the drums on the back of the huge military vehicle. They mixed in the fuel oil as they went, careful to keep the proportions correct. Henderson’s had a complete tool section and there were long paint mixers that you used with a drill to mix paint. They used them to make a bomb. Tucker was wrapping barbed wire around the drums using it to tie them down, it would also make nice shrapnel.
Karen watched him as he then went over to the three center drums, the ones with holes drilled in the lids so the wires connected to the two sticks of dynamite in each one could be detonated electrically. The other twenty eight 2” by 8” sticks in four bundles of 7, were wired in parallel and wedged between the drums. Thirty four sticks, a full case, all armed with high energy blasting caps; that would do the trick and set the drums off. The drums had a diameter of 23” so the 8 foot by 12 foot cargo area held a total of twenty four 55 gallon drums. Each came in over 400 pounds that gave them a total of more than 10,000 pounds of fuel based explosives. Tucker stopped and spoke to Karen,
“You aren’t old enough to remember but have you heard of the Oklahoma City bombing?” She looked at him like he was an idiot and said “Of course.”
“Well as far as I can tell, we got about ten to twelve times as much as those terrorists used.”
She stared at him in disbelief “You are kidding me.”
“Nope. Of course they were in a confined space, but I’m pretty sure this will get the job done.”
Tucker had a system in place for detonation. A wireless remote that looked like one of those airplane controllers that people used to use to fly model airplanes at the park. Wires ran into the cab from the dynamite charges in the back, there a small magnetic switch powered by a 12 volt battery sitting on the floorboards on the passenger side. Karen watched him test the connection twenty times before he was satisfied. He showed her how to connect the wires from the explosives to the switch when the time comes, “Just in case” he said.
He looked at Karen and said “We’re ready.” She nodded and rubbed her sore arms, “Thank God” she muttered. They never couldn’t have done it if the farm supply place didn’t have a raised loading dock so they were able to back right up to it. Just as lucky there was a hand operated hydraulic pallet move, so they were able to move full pallets of the
40 pound bags of fertilizer right up to the barrels. As it was Tucker was nearly crippled by the effort, he was pretty sure he had dislocated his shoulder again, the one Darnell had shattered weeks ago. His back felt like the muscles had turned into braided wire rope and he thought if he laid down he would not be able to move again.
He climbed slowly into the cab and Karen got in the passenger side, she took two bottled waters from a back pack and gave one to Tucker. “Thanks” he said then added “Karen, you did a great job, it would have been impossible without you.”
She looked at him, a small smile on her face then she held the little plastic bottle up to him, he didn’t leave her hanging, he tapped it with his bottle, like they were clinking champagne glasses. They toasted each other in silence, then he started the truck and it shuddered into a complaint filled approximation of motion.
Day 43, Habitat Area, Vehicle 12-3, 4:45 P.M.
So-Na was having a great time, all of the siblings were. They had taken a break from their game when an underling fetched them for nourishment. They decided to play just one more round before going in, So-Na gently touched her favorite sibling, another female named Ah-Ge-Ra, and whispered to her that she had thought of the perfect hiding place, however Ah-Ge-Ra’s younger male sibling. E-Tsa, had insisted he be allowed to join them. So-Na just flashed humor and took him by the hand and the three young Da-Nah went to the very best place of concealment ever.
Day 43, James River Bluffs, 4:45 P.M
I was dreaming, I knew I was dreaming but I kept pushing reality away. I wanted to stay in the dream forever. We were on a long narrow beach along a wide, crystal clear stream or river. The water was shallow and Lucy was chasing minnows and crayfish. I laughed when she slipped and sat on her butt in the cold water. I heard another laugh and turned to see Elaine with her friend Krista, the nice one, who always said hi to me. They were heading to the water, they were wearing bikinis, and actually Krista was wearing a thong. I had to blink twice, I had never known just how, well, curvy Krista was. She saw me watching her and she winked at me and laughed as she followed Elaine into the water.
Suddenly someone pushed me from behind I spun around and saw Karen, she says
“Bikinis?” I shrugged.
All I could say was “Well, it’s my dream.”
A grin crossed her face
“That’s fine then but when it’s my dream don’t get jealous of Justin.”
Then someone called my name, I turned and there was Billy Driscoll, Amy’s son and the best friend I ever had.
“Come on Johnny! Don’t be a ball hog!”
I looked down and found that I was holding a football. It felt strange, it’s been a long time since I held anything that wasn’t either something to eat or a weapon. I threw the ball over his right shoulder, he took three steps and pulled it in looking just like a pro. It had been a perfect spiral, the best one I had ever thrown. Billy cried out “Touch down!”
I felt Karen snake her arm into my and she kissed me on the cheek,
“Come on football hero, your dad has the dogs ready” she said.
“Dad? Dad?”
I turn with her and there he is, he is standing by the barbecue grill. He was wearing his favorite, “I Can’t Stand the Heat So I Got Out of the Kitchen” apron. I ran to him when Karen gently pushed me towards him. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face into his chest. All this time I had been as grown up as I could be. I had seen death, killed monsters both human and not. But now with my Dad’s arms around me I was twelve again. I couldn’t help it, I was crying, and telling him how much I missed him and needed him. I tried to confess the horrible things I had done but he knelt in front of me, took my shoulders in his hands
“Son, I am so proud of you.”
I looked into his eyes and saw the same gentle, honest man I always admired.
“Johnny, I’m sorry you had to go through all of this without me, but I didn’t have a choice.”
I nodded, I knew that if he could have come home nothing would have stopped him. Then he said
“Of course you really aren’t alone, are you?” he said .
With a grin he looked over my shoulder.
I turned around and saw Karen, she was laughing and talking to Diane West and my Mom! I ran to my Mom and hugged her just as hard as I had Dad. She kissed me over and over, she touched my face and ran her fingers through my hair. She smiled at me and said
“You need a haircut.”
“Aww Mom.” I said in a sing song voice.
Mom smiled that ‘I know what you thought was a secret’ smile and said
“So, married huh?”
I blushed and didn’t know what to say. She laughed
“It’s okay son, I understand. I wish you didn’t have to grow up so fast, but life is what it is.”
I hugged her again,
“Can I stay with you here?” I asked.
She smiled softly and shakes her head no,
“Not this time Johnny, but don’t worry, we’ll watch over you and we will be together again someday.”
She kissed me again and then said
“Johnny, I want you to keep being a good boy, err. man, just like you have been, okay? But for now you have to wake up, you have work to do.”
I tried to hang on to her but it was impossible, the sun was in my eyes and Mary was shaking me,
“Johnny, wake up. They’re here.”
George was staring at me, the same blank but pleasant expression they usually wore. I rolled over and got to my knees. Mary handed me the binoculars and pointed them out to me. It wasn’t like I could have missed them, three channels etched, no, carved into the Earth. Trees, rocks, anything in their path was pulverized into multicolored dust. Their course was arrow straight, and running more or less parallel to the James River between them and us.
Each procession was identical, the smallest vehicle first, followed by the second smallest that I recognized as the machine shop or lab vehicle, then the largest one, the family unit and then lastly their target, the one that contained technician quarters, supplies and according to Tucker, the Defenders. We watched them grow ever closer until George tapped me on the shoulder and spurred me into action. Mary and I lifted the lasers to our shoulders almost simultaneously. The visual enhancement flickered to life, I tapped the trigger and the image zoomed in. The vehicle filling the screen and then I could actually see the access panel or seam that covered the engine compartment.
“Ready” I said.
Mary answered me in a calm, almost whisper-like voice,
“Fire.”
The twin crimson beams were nearly invisible in the air but they traced black lines across the engine compartment. Then, nothing.
“What the Hell?” Mary snapped.
The vehicle continued on its merry way.
“Target the one in the middle.” She said, her voice no longer calm.
So we did, our lasers converged on the last vehicle in the center convoy. This time smoke began to appear almost instantly, a second or two later the vehicle tilted to the left and descended to the ground.
“Got it!” I said.
Mary and I lowered our weapons and grinned at each other.
Several Da-Nah and underling exited the stalled vehicle and began to circle back to see what was wrong. Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion, the first vehicle we had fired at apparently had sustained damage of another sort, damage that resulted in a catastrophic reaction. The aliens from the disabled vehicle were thrown to the ground, the closest ones did not rise again. There was a second deafening roar as the first target spun on end and exploded a second time. Bits and pieces of it were thrown hundreds of feet into the air, smoke and flames lifting them up like ashes in a campfire. The other alien vehicles had turned and circled back to check on their destroyed and damaged vehicles.
“Let’s get out of here” Mary whispered.
She ran to the Humvee, George and I followed her as quickly as our little legs would all
ow.
Day 43, 4:55 P.M