by Jay Morris
Amy and I followed the underling and Tucker back to the med-lab, as we watched them get Tucker to lay back down on the 10 foot long hospital bed Amy pinched me hard.
“Owe!” I said.
“Serves you right for not helping back there.”
“Hey, I need the cash and besides they got cable.” I answered.
“Owe!” she pinched me again.
Day 53, Pelican Island, Texas
The U.S.S. Stewart was a venerable old destroyer, it was permanently on display (and actually set in concrete) on the far western tip of Pelican Island, and next to it was the U.S.S. Cavalla a W.W.II submarine. They were being turned into steel shelters for the civilians and defensive block houses for ten volunteers from both Barnes’ people and Velaquez’s. Unfortunately the Stewart’s main guns had long been silent but they had put two of their precious 50 cals on the Stewart. The first plan was to lay low, keep silent and pray. Failing that they had used a back hoe to dig a 15’ deep trench on the sea side of the Stewart, It was below the water table and it quickly was filling with sea water, but not until they buried sharpened landscape timbers in the bottom in case a Defender tried to wade across. Last ditch was six sticks of dynamite along the Stewart side of the trench. But if things went south the survivors hoped that the Da-Nah would take the bait and try to board the ship from the landward side. With over lapping fields of fire from the 50s, combined with 8 of their 13 remaining M-67 grenades they had hope that the Da-Nah wouldn’t stick around to see if there was a round two.
The bulk of their forces however were on Galveston proper, they hoped the Da-Nah would deploy their ground forces against them. If so they had one 50, and three M-249 light machine guns as well as the last five grenades. The only problem was ammo, they had about a thousand belted 5.56 mm rounds for each SAW, about 90 seconds worth. The 50 was even worse off, they had a grand total of exactly 239 of the BMG rounds, about thirty seconds worth. It was the only thing they had that they knew had a chance to stop one of the Da-Nah vehicles.
Once that was gone, plan B went into effect. Small arms fire would be concentrated on the catwalks too keep them clear of Da-Nah. Six volunteers would use grappling hooks to attempt to board the vehicles. Once on board they would make their way along the catwalk to the rear deck that covered the engine compartments and blow themselves up. It sucked, but it was all they had.
Day 53, Colonization Ship 8, Pod 7, Vehicle 3
The Da-Nah Director studied the topological display with Indigenous Life Aggressive movements over the top of it. The new satellite had optics so sophisticated that if an Aggressive looked in to the sky he could tell what color its eyes were. He watched the efforts of the Aggressives, he was always surprised by their inventiveness where death was concerned. But he knew where every explosive device was buried, where every large tripod mounted projectile weapon was deployed, and where the large concentration of Aggressives were located. He turned over in his mind his plan, his forces, mentally going over every detail, these Indigenous Life Aggressives were tenacious and merciless. These creatures were the least deserving of all creatures of the right of life. They only deserved to be eradicated, they only deserved to be forgotten.
He made a few last notations on his data pad and checked it over twice before he convinced himself of its veracity and precision. He gently touch the sphere that would transmit his words to all Da-Nah in the pods.
“Statement-Factual Broadcast (Director 1-this, Da-Nah-All)
Composite :{
Statement-Factual-Assault-Details-Broadcast-Imminent,
Statement-Factual-Assault-Priority (Urgent-Exceptional,
Statement-Factual Quantity-Relative-Estimate Failure (0.027
Statement-Factual Protocol-Aggressives
Aggressives -Conjunctive (Termination, Prejudice-Extreme).
He closed the audio transmitter and sent out to all of his Da-Nah details on their upcoming slaughter of the vilest creature to ever exist, mankind.
Day 53, continued, Fort Bragg
Sargent Major Crook, Commandant of the Marine Corps, resisted the urge to pace. For him it was a personal challenge, to force himself to be patient. He watched a half dozen military personnel as they tried to return a Bradley Fighting Vehicle to readiness. His adjutant had told him that the drive train was ready and right now there were working on tracing a short in the little 1 horse power D.C. motor that the 25mm chain-fed auto-cannon used to feed, load, fire, extract and eject rounds. It was one of the most reliable weapons in the world with an effective range of almost two miles.
Crook was very fond of the Bradley, they had accounted for more Iraqi armored vehicles than the Abrams Main Battle Tanks during the first Gulf War. He sighed and allowed his hands to move and clasp each other behind his back. He couldn’t help it, he rocked forward just a little. And then, at last, he arrived,
“Ahh Crook, glad you are here, glad you are here. Damn glad you are here.”
“Yes Sir”
President Burwell flopped down into a cheap office chair. The new oval office was a former Junior Supply officer’s, at least until the rehab of Bragg’s former C.O.s office was complete.
“So Crook, what do you have for me? I am very busy you know, busy, busy, busy.”
“Yes Sir, but we have some rather perplexing images that I think you should see.”
He laid a red folder on the desk and waited. The President picked it up and slid the 8x10 high resolution images from it, he studied them for a minute then said
“What am I looking at?”
Crook stepped to the President’s side so he could look at them as well.
“That Sir is a high altitude photo taken by one of the COPS, the “Civilian Observation Program Satellites. And it shows two alien vehicles crossing the Mississippi River.”
“Amazing. Amazing, absolutely amazing! How big are they?”
“We estimate them at 396 feet long and 55 feet wide, it appears they are two stories tall.”
“Unbelievable Crook, unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.”
“We thought so too, if you would look at the next photo Sir?”
Burwell was silent so Crook continued.
“You would please look to the port side view. It appears there is an American flag mounted on the side, in addition there is a name painted in letters about two feet high, it says “The Diane West”
“Who in God’s green Earth is Diane West?”
“Unknown Sir, the Piranha data bases at the Robert Byrd Coast Guard Facility in West Virginia have been destroyed so right now our information on the American public is unavailable.”
“Ahh I see, I see, I see. Aren’t there backups?”
“No Sir, the program was covert and they may have maintained warrantless electronic communication records as well as Com-Sat Photo records of civilian movements and activities. It was felt that the records should not be removed from the facility because to do so would put the program at risk.”
“Well Crook what is your best guess on what is going on here.”
“Sir the last photo shows a young girl carrying a child and she is walking around the vehicle on a raised walkway or gantry, and Sir I would bring your attention to the small gray thing behind her?”
“What is it?”
“An alien, Sir.”
“An alien? You mean like E.T.?”
“Yes Mr. President like E.T.”
Crook waited and then continued,
“We believe the photo shows aliens and humans working together on those ships.”
“Oh my God Crook. Traitors! Traitors! Traitors to the human race!”
“Perhaps Mr. President.”
“They damn well are Crook! The pictures don’t lie! They are traitors, the worst since Eddy Arnold!”
“Mr. President, I think you mean Benedict Arnold.”
“Whatever Crook, whatever, I want those alien vehicles and I want those disgusting people brought to justice. I want them hanged and shot! Do we have a guilloti
ne? Never mind. This is the highest priority mission. Mission one! Get General Schmidt involved, I want them. I want them! I want them!”
“Yes Sir.”
Crook saluted and left the room, General Schmidt was actually Captain Everett Schmidt, now in Command of the U.S. Army’s First Combined Forces Division. One hundred seventeen troops in a mix of jeeps, Humvees, one Abrams M1-A1 and the Bradley being repaired outside. On his way out, he passed one of the squints going in (Air Force researchers they had picked up from Oak Ridge before the fall). Crook sighed. He didn’t know what was going on but he didn’t believe Burwell’s assessment that the little girl in the photo was a collaborator. An Army term came to mind, one perfectly apropos for the current situation: S.N.A.F.U. – Situation Normal All Fucked Up.
Day 53, Continued, Lake Pontchartrain
We had stopped to camp, let the underling and Da-Nah graze on the plants, they seemed to be happy to try new plants. The newest taste sensation turned out to be something Mary called a Saltbush while cypress bark seemed to be held in disdain by all. Karen and I found a quiet moment after escaping Amy and Karen introduced me to the concept of a “quickie” something I am now a complete fan of. We were still catching our breath when Lucy burst in,
“There you are! We have been looking for you two, and here you are like a couple of Wirrrth*zzz*brrrth*click*click!”
“What?” I said and Karen giggled.
She whispered that both Lucy and Gina were substituting Da-Nah vocabulary on a fairly regular basis now, and that they didn’t even seem to know they were doing it.
She led us back to The Diane West and to the med-bay. Amy, Mary, were both there, Mary was using the controls to examine Tuckers insides.
“What’s up?” Karen asked.
Mary was leaning forward and starting at the displays, Tucker was awake but not moving, just staring at the ceiling. I though Amy looked like she was going to cry.
“Something’s wrong” Mary said.
“The underling have done something to him.” Amy added.
We both moved forward, hand and hand.
“What do you mean Doc?” I asked.
“Look.” She said freezing the display she pointed at a couple of organs on the display.
“What are we looking at?” Karen asked.
“No idea. Mary said, “That’s the problem, they shouldn’t be here at all. I mean what are these supposed to be?”
She pointed to a pair of long organs, they looked like long sausages, one on either side of the spine, and they ran from his shoulders to his hips.
“And this?”
She zoomed to the base of the neck, just behind each ear.
“They look like glands but for the life of me I have no clue as to what they do.”
Amy leaned forward to get a better look.
“It’s not cancer is it?”
“I don’t think so, and there’s more.”
She zoomed into the skeleton view.
“There are two types of fibers woven into the bone, every bone. These look metallic but these black ones? What the hell are they? And this is the kicker.”
She adjusted the view to show the spider web of nerves that made up the old man.
“Is there something wrong with his nervous system?”
Karen asked, I realized she was squeezing my hand so hard it was going numb. I smiled and whispered to her to relax, she took a deep breath and so did I.
“Oh no, nothing wrong with them, it’s just they are all in duplicate, that or there is some new structure lying next to each of them.”
Mary’s voice was sarcastic and I could hear the frustration in every word.
“I asked Lucy and Gina to ask a couple of underling who know what this is all about to come and explain it. They should be here and second.”
“He’s awake though, that’s a good thing right?” Amy offered.
“Yeah, he’s awake and he will respond to stimulus, his eyes track and his reactions are normal but he hasn’t said a single word, nor does he exhibit any sort of recognition.”
Mary used her professional Doctor voice, the one that she used when she had to detach from the people involved, it allowed her to sleep at night, at least some nights.
“John? John? Can you hear me?” Amy pleaded, she rested her hand on his chest. He turned his face to look at her but said nothing and it was just like Mary said, his eyes seemed blank, empty. I had loved the old man and hated him. Begged him to live another day and wished him dead. Why did this seem, I don’t know, somehow more horrific than just being dead.
Lucy and Gina entered the room followed by two underling.
“I found them!” Gina exclaimed.
“I found them too!” Lucy added.
“That’s good girls, now would you please ask them what they did to Mr. Tucker.” Mary asked.
The girls laughed, “Silly, Mrs. You can ask them yourself, they understand us.”
“Oh right. Fine. Please um… Mr. or Mrs. Underling, what have you done to Mr. Tucker?”
The underling looked at one another, one moved his fingers on a com-pad for a few moments then he handed it to Lucy who handed it to Doc Mary. It read:
“Tucker Damaged”
She handed it back and said,
“Yes, we know he was damaged what did the underling do?”
The pad came back:
“Tucker repaired and enhanced.”
“Enhanced? What do you mean enhanced?” again she gave the pad back. This time for several minutes the underling entered information or requested information from their device. When it was passed back to her there was an itemized list:
1. “Skeletal system modification:
Fibers of element containing 6 protons, diameter less than 0.9 x 10-9 used to reinforce joints and flexibility.
Fibers of woven alloy containing elements with 22 and 23 protons used to reinforce strength, ductility, and fracture resistance. Nodules of this alloy provided numerous additional fastening locations for the additional biologically enhanced muscle tissue.
2. Genetic mitochondrial patterns were adopted from samples of an Afrotropical forest dwelling hominid, referred to in human documentation asPan troglodytes
3. Nervous system repaired and modified where ever possible to utilize superior nerve tissue fromTrochilus violajugulum.
4. Secondary nervous system placed in parallel specifically for the delivery of β,3,4-trihydroxy-N-methylphenethylamine.
5. Optical systems modified increasing number of photo receptors to six hundred million, addition of reflective back layer increases low level acuity by 840 percent and minimum electromagnetic wavelengths detectable are reduced to 10x-9 meters. Strix nebulosa was used as the basis for this modification. ”
Doctor Mary Young Deer read the message twice and then again, it just didn’t make sense.
“What?” Amy asked.
“Not sure really, some of it I get, they put carbon nanotubes in his bones and joints, they put some metallic alloy, part titanium and I don’t remember what the other element is. They have changed his muscles, his nervous system, and his eyes by adding DNA from other species, but I have no idea what ones.”
“No way” I said.
Doc Mary looked at me and said,
“Way.”
I guess the underling understood that Doc didn’t know what species they had used, it gently took the pad and tapping once or twice brought up three images side by side. The first one was a bird, a humming bird to be exact. The second a chimpanzee and the third a large owl.
Doc lowered the pad, “crap.”
“Tucker is Tarzan?” I asked.
“Don’t be silly” Karen said.
“I think just like Tarzan, except Tarzan was raised by apes, Tucker is actually part ape. And part hummingbird and part owl for that matter.” She said.
“Why?” the Doc asked as she handed the pad back.
The message came back,
“Tucker damaged.”
“I know that, why the changes? Why doesn’t he speak?”
“Tucker damaged. Tucker repaired and improved. Genetic samples offer greater flexibility in human hybridization.”
She shook her head and shoved it back just a little harder than necessary.
“But why doesn’t he speak?”
The last message: “Tucker damaged.”
Day 54, 100 Miles to Galveston
We didn’t know it but we were walking into a trap, one set by our own government, luckily they wanted our vehicles or things would have gone far worse for us. As it was the adage that freedom isn’t free made itself very, very clear.
We tried to move people around a bit, Amy still wanted to keep Karen and me apart, she also wanted to keep Jodi from Tucker but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. She certainly couldn’t make things any worse. Jodi for her part refused to be parted from her “Jim” or “Jim Junior.” Doc Mary felt she should stay close to Krista and Maverick. So to tell the truth we really didn’t have many options until we figured out that there was no real reason for humans to be in both machines. The underling could drive the second one just as well, or better than any of us so in the end we all moved into The Diane West and The Carl Weir was crewed by underling.
I had just checked the Rand McNally Highway Map we had found in a still standing gas station but the underling piloting The Diane West brought us to a complete halt and turned to me as if awaiting instructions. Displayed on the forward screen was a road block. Two pickup trucks were end to end across the highway. At least twenty soldiers were arranged behind them. I could see that one of them had a bull horn and appeared to be saying something but of course in the sound proof vehicle we couldn’t hear anything.“Wait here.” I said.
I grabbed my rifle and ran into Doc Mary and Ethan heading towards the control room.
“Soldiers! I said, they are across the road!”