give up their newborn children during a predetermined month, let’s say October. Across the whole country that should offer enough people to fill the quota. Are infants sufficient for your needs?” Admiral Carter sent a venomous glare at the statuesque visitor.
“We could allow that, providing the infants are healthy.” Fartook Gabletree said, “Because they are not quite what we need but are still acceptable, the ore offer would return to the original volume.”
Now General Wilson jumped to his feet, “Unacceptable! The irithium volume increases to one hundred thousand tons! No more negotiations on that.”
“Providing the supply of units meets my planet’s needs, your request is approved.”
“How many adults would you require for that volume?” SecDef Leavens asked nervously.
“Five hundred thousand.”
“Are you mad? We cannot send half of a million American souls to their deaths.” Carter said.
Fartook Gabletree became agitated. He steepled his fingers on the table and his face scrunched into a frown, “They will not be sent to their deaths.”
“What proof can you offer?” General Wilson asked.
“The only proof I can offer is a video upon my ship.”
“Scratch that! We step foot in there and we won’t come back out!”
“Then we are not in agreement?” Gabletree asked, showing little emotion, but clearly not surprised.
“NO!” Admiral Carter shouted.
“Your remaining option is to surrender your planet to the galactic starship fleet’s wrath. They will descend and claim whatever our planet wants, destroying all else. End of discussion.”
“Wait,” SecDef Leavens said tugging at his collar, “not so fast. Surely we can come to another outcome? We aren’t ready to give up yet.”
“My patience is thinning rapidly, Earthman.”
“Your patience?” Admiral Carter said, “How can you live with yourself forcing people from their homes to serve your kind? If the deal fails, what kind of monster can order the deaths of seven billion souls without flinching? You look human but certainly you are not.”
“Do not mistake my cavalier attitude for absent empathy. Perhaps cultural differences are causing confusion. I care for my own as much as you do yours. We are asking for help--a trade.” Fartook Gabletree said, “We are willing to adopt yours as our own, and it seems money is all you value.”
“Then why is it all ‘death and destruction’ if we refuse?” General Wilson asked.
The stern foreign visitor leaned forward in his seat and gently rested his hands on the table. “I realize you do not trust me, but allow me to say that at your current trajectory, annihilation would be better than suffering the fates you are bound.”
SecDef Leavens swallowed thickly. “We give you the people you require. We accept the hundred thousand tons, the five hundred thousand people: a deal is made.”
Admiral Carter said, “You cannot do that Leavens! You cannot make a deal like this. On behalf of American families, this deal will not be made! We cannot take this lying down!”
“We are out of options, Carter. We must take his offer or be responsible for the deaths of seven billion. Our planet’s defense, if we could even unite on a battle plan, is no match for intergalactic battle cruisers and soldiers with technology beyond our wildest dreams. We cannot afford to postpone this any longer either. The market is sinking like a squirming worm in quicksand and our country is crumbling all around us. It’s for the best that we ease the burden off the economy and subsequently boost it with the ore. We simply cannot afford to lose this deal.”
“All right,” Admiral Carter reluctantly agreed. “If that is your wish.”
“Fantastic! We’ve got a deal!” General Wilson said, pounding his fist on the table and spinning in his chair, searching the hangar for a guard. “How about some bubbly here? This is great! The planet doesn’t get blown to bits, our livelihood is boosted, and maybe we can get some kind of continuous trade.”
“That may be a requirement in the near future.” Gabletree said.
“Hallelujah! We’re going to be rich!” General Wilson said.
Admiral Carter shook his head and sighed. What more could he do? Arguing with Wilson and Leavens felt like a hamster on a spinning wheel, hours later and he’s gone nowhere. But he refused to let them win. He refused to see people forced from their homes, sent to foreign lands with nothing but promises, all in the name of money. ‘Money is all you value.’ Bah! Maybe for Wilson and his turkey of a lackey. Carter tilted his head up toward the rafters and found the single eyeball staring back through a sight. With a heavy heart and a nod, he stepped back from the table and slipped his hand into his pants, located the metal controller and depressed the lone button. With a single tick of his watch, Carter witnessed the alarming arch of Gabletree’s spine followed by a metallic slam of the foreigner’s chest armor and nose-crunching crash on the table. His wavy blond hair buried his face. Carter wondered what expression he was making. The two other men sprung to their feet with mouths gaped in horror.
“No!” General Wilson shouted. He turned to Admiral Carter immediately. “Carter! You... hy did you do that? We could’ve been rich!” Wilson paced around the open hangar, shouting echoing epithets: ‘It’s the end of the world!’ and such while shaking his fists in the air.
Admiral Carter sighed and muttered, “For every careless word you speak.” Less reluctantly than before, he slipped his hand back into his pocket. A sudden tingling of an angry gaze upon his pocket stayed Admiral Carter’s hand. He returned SecDef Leavens’s gaze, patiently waiting for a response.
SecDef Leavens turned his head away.
Admiral Carter closed his eyes and depressed that fateful button once more. From the rafters a tiny red beam landed on General Wilson’s temple, and a second later his body dropped to the floor as if the bones in his legs were vaporized.
Admiral Carter stepped up to the collapsed form on the floor and shook his head with a frown. He tossed the controller onto the table and walked to the open hangar door.
SecDef Leavens stepped up alongside him. Both men took in the faint glow of the mountainous horizon.
SecDef Leavens broke the peace, “You just killed an alien being in our hangar.”
“This isn’t the first time,” Carter said, “an alien corpse has landed in our midst.”
“Well, at least it’s finally over.”
Carter looked up at the star-studded night sky and blew out a breath. Daylight was fast approaching and his coffee cup, unfortunately, remained missing in action tonight. He removed his cap, ran his fingers through his hair twice and replaced it. “No,” He said, “It’s only the beginning. We must prepare for global war.”
“For what purpose? We will never survive, you said so yourself. With the push of your button you just executed seven billion people, you know that right? ” SecDef Leavens sighed. “I need a beer.”
Admiral Carter watched the twinkling stars in the night and smiled. “Never show all your cards, SecDef. It pays to have friends in high places.”
END
Personal Message from Stephanie Flynn:
I hope you enjoyed my short story. Come on back for the next installment in the series, Targeting Error. Please take a moment and leave a review at your favorite retailer. Much appreciated!
About Stephanie Flynn
Stephanie Flynn is the author of the young adult novel Taming the Iris as well as a slew of science fiction short stories and poetry slowly being added to tabs above. She lives in Michigan with her children and husband. When she’s not glued to her computer, she’s inhaling books about words, books about novels, books about publishing and a little bit of everything else: chick lit, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and the classics. She gravitates toward writing thrillers and romance novels; sometimes both inside one cover, and science fiction short stories.
On the odd day Michigan has warm weather, her family enjoys kayaking, biking, rollerblading, and walking
in the parks.
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The Final Stand (Intergalactic Pandemonium Part 1) Page 2