Inside the Control Room for the Hadron Collider, the French and other scientists worked frantically to keep the beam functioning.
“We’ve lost the linear particle accelerator and two of the looped accelerators as well,” called out Adrien Blanchet. “They overloaded.”
“Power is dropping,” reported one of the technicians in front of a bank of computer screens. “We can’t hold the beam!”
In the distance an explosion rattled the Control Room.
“We’re losing it!” shouted Adrien as a number of his screens revealed warning signals and fluctuating power levels. “The whole damn thing’s going to explode!”
“Shut it down,” ordered General Chastain. “It’s time to evacuate.” The general had hoped to shoot down all four Trellixian battlecruisers, giving France some breathing room to evacuate and hide more people in the Alps and the Pyrenees. Shelters there were still not filled to capacity. It had been a daring plan the scientists had come up with to modify the collider and to turn it into a makeshift weapon. It had taken weeks of hard work just to get it to fire off the two beams.
More explosions rattled the Control Center. “Part of the tunnel ring has collapsed,” reported Adrien. “The collider’s finished.” Adrien had worked there for years and could not believe the collider was now a piece of very expensive wreckage.
“It served its purpose,” General Chastain replied. “Now let’s get out of here. Those two remaining Trellixian battlecruisers will start to bombard us with their energy weapons at any moment.”
Adrien shut down his control panel. His work was done.
-
“Two of them!” General Briggs said, his face lighting up with glee. “The French managed to take down two of those big bastards.”
On the screen, the two remaining battlecruisers were now using their energy beams to strike the area where the large open hatch was. It continued for several minutes. Then suddenly the energy beams stopped and the two battlecruisers rose toward space.
“What’s going on?” asked Briggs, confused. “Why did the aliens stop the bombardment?”
“All of their battlecruisers have stopped their attacks and are moving into a higher orbit,” Colonel Fields reported.
“They’re afraid we’ve developed a weapon that can take down their battlecruisers,” Mitchell said in sudden understanding. “That’s what the French were up to, trying to buy time.”
“Looks like they did it,” Fields replied. “Even the small attack craft have returned to their battlecruisers.”
“Is it over?” asked General Briggs hopefully.
“No,” answered Mitchell, shaking his head. “The French have bought us some time. I’m sure the Trellixians will sit in orbit until they decide if any more of those beam weapons are available to us. It won’t take them long to figure out what happened. When they do they’ll be back. In the meantime we still have thousands of their troops and hundreds of those hover tanks killing our people. Let’s see what we can do to save more civilians and military units while the battlecruisers are away.”
Mitchell leaned back in his chair, staring at a viewscreen showing the smoking remains of the Hadron Collider. He knew most of it was far enough underground that it was probably still intact. However, the damage was obviously severe enough that it could not be used as a weapon again.
-
In orbit, Battle Commander Balforr stared at a viewscreen focused on the burning remains of two of his battlecruisers. “How did this happen?” he demanded, turning toward Second Officer Jaltor. “Was that a Jelnoid energy weapon?” Balforr was concerned the Humans might have finally pieced together that dangerous technology.
“No,” Jaltor reported. “It was some type of particle beam weapon. Something the Humans should not have. I already have a group of our scientists looking into it.”
“Two more battlecruisers,” Balforr said, gripping the three fingers on his right hand. “This is just one world and a rather primitive one at that. We’ve lost fourteen battlecruisers and six troop transports since coming to this system.”
“The third invasion fleet will be here in another few days,” replied Jaltor. “Surely with their additional battlecruisers and troop transports we can finish cleansing this planet of the Humans.”
“We’d better or the High Command will be very disappointed and angry over this invasion.” Balforr’s other big concern were the colony ships coming with the third invasion fleet. Efforts were being made to clear the Human state of Florida for colonization. Looking at a viewscreen which showed the planet Balforr wondered what other surprises these Humans might have for him. Nothing about this invasion was going as planned.
Chapter Ten
Sergeant William Tucker let out a long breath of relief as they arrived at the isolated cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains. They had been delayed by nearly a week due to Trellixian shuttles flying overhead and had to take refuge in a small town just short of their destination. He gazed at the small cabin that was tucked beneath some tall trees, which pretty well hid it from view. Tucker and his people had used some old fire roads and a game trail to get their trucks within six miles of the cabin. Once they could go no farther they threw camouflage netting over the trucks to hide them from Trellixian shuttles. They left three guards to ensure the trucks and their valuable supplies were left alone until they could be unloaded and taken to the cabin.
The hike from the trucks to the cabin had been difficult as they had to cross a small river and numerous streams. Fortunately Sergeant Tucker had been up here camping in the past and knew the easiest way to get to their destination. Even so, it had taken them nearly a full day with the civilians, including women and children.
“We’re here,” Sergeant Tucker announced as they stepped into the small clearing in front of the cabin.
“About time,” mumbled one of the women behind him. “I’m not moving for days. Every muscle in by body aches.”
“Is that the cabin?” asked another. “It sure is small. We all won’t fit in there.”
“It’s not a lodge,” Corporal Owens explained. “The park rangers use it when they’re traveling between fire towers or when they’re out checking some of the isolated campsites deep in the mountains. We’ll be sleeping in tents once we get them set up.”
“It’s going to be awful cold sleeping in tents,” replied the same woman.
Everyone took off their packs and sat down beneath the thick grove of trees that sheltered the cabin. Many were worn out from the long walk and several of the children were complaining. One wanted to know where the TV was so she could watch her cartoons.
Next to the cabin was a small locked shed as well as a small barn for horses. Upon breaking the lock to the shed they found two ATVs parked inside. Tucker knew the park rangers used these to travel to several fire-watch towers even deeper in the mountains. Also two fifty-gallon barrels full of gasoline were found which was a huge relief as the ATVs ran on gasoline whereas the six Army trucks ran on diesel. At least they would have fuel for them for a while. The ATVs also solved the problem as to how to get the supplies from the trucks to the cabin. They were like a small pickup with a cargo bed supplies could be loaded into. Inside the horse barn were a dozen bales of grass hay but no horses.
Sergeant Tucker finished his inspection and turned to look at the people sitting beneath the tree canopy. They now had nearly one hundred people in their group. On the way to the cabin they had stumbled across twelve other National Guardsmen with their families hiking deep into the woods. The two groups had decided to join together for their mutual protection.
“Get those two ATVs gassed up and let’s begin shuttling our supplies from the trucks to here,” ordered Sergeant Tucker, addressing Corporal Owens. “There are probably a lot of people out in these woods fleeing the aliens. We don’t want them stumbling across the trucks and taking our supplies.” Tucker had wanted to be here four or five days back but the Trellixian shuttles flying overhead had made that impossible.<
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“They shouldn’t,” Owens replied. “We left Privates Jenkins, Stockton, and Marsh to guard them.”
Tucker nodded. “I know, but a lot of desperate people are in these mountains. Some will be well-supplied and others will have little or nothing. Those are the ones I’m concerned about.”
“I’ll get the ATVs gassed up and on their way.”
“I don’t want them traveling after dark,” added Tucker. “Their lights will be visible for miles, particularly from the air.” He didn’t want to risk drawing attention to them from the Trellixians.
“I’ll remind them. I’ll send Privates Lance and Stark. They’re pretty dependable. We should be able to get one trip in before dark.”
Twenty minutes later Sergeant Tucker watched as the two ATVs left, taking a small game trail. “Corporal Strong, place some guards around our perimeter. I don’t want anyone stumbling across our camp without us knowing they’re coming. Probably a few others know about this cabin. I also want to know if any of those damn aliens are around.” Corporal Strong was with the second group of National Guardsmen.
Strong nodded his agreement. “I’ll put out three groups of two. One each on our flanks and the other between us and where we would expect other survivors to come from. What do you want to do if we encounter more people?”
“Bring them in and we’ll evaluate them. If they can be useful they can stay. If not we have no choice but to send them farther into the woods.”
This was a survival situation. People who might be a burden would have to find a way to survive on their own or die. It was a harsh reality but that was what the aliens had brought about. Only the fittest and best prepared would survive in this new world order.
“I’ll set up the guard posts,” Corporal Strong said as he turned to talk to some of the guardsmen waiting around for orders.
Satisfied he had done everything he could for now Sergeant Tucker turned to where their families waited. They needed to erect tents and a few other essentials. There would be no fires tonight as they could be easily detected. Everyone had brought a backpack with the bare necessities as well as a sleeping bag. A few had small tents. For the most part everyone would be sleeping under the stars tonight. Tomorrow they would get the big tents set up. They had cots for everyone so at least they would have a comfortable place to sleep.
-
Sergeant Tucker surveyed the interior of the small cabin. It had two bedrooms with a pair of bunk beds in each, a small kitchen with a dining room table and a sitting area with a couple couches and even a recliner. The stove ran on propane and after checking outside, he found four large cylindrical tanks. All were full. Electricity came from a small wind generator hooked to a number of batteries and an inverter. A small emergency generator was also in the shed. At least when the wind wasn’t blowing they would still have lights in the cabin.
“Will we ever be able to go home?” his wife asked.
Tucker turned to look at Lacy. They had been married for six years and had a young son named Matt.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “We’re forty miles back in the mountains. The aliens may never come this far.”
Lacy held their son’s hand as he looked around in confusion. “William, we can’t live in tents during the winter. It gets too cold here and there’s definitely not enough room in this cabin for all of us. It’ll be cold tonight with everyone sleeping outside. A few are already complaining.”
“We can build an addition onto the back of the cabin,” suggested Tucker. “We’ll make sure the children all stay warm. We have several big military tents in the trucks. They’re designed for this type of environment. There won’t be a lot of privacy but they’ll get us through the winter. Maybe, given enough time, we can build a few more cabins.” Tucker had already decided the cabin would be used for anyone who might fall ill. “For tonight we can bring the youngest children and their mothers inside the cabin. It’ll be crowded but they won’t be outside.”
Lacy sat down on one of the couches, putting Matt beside her. “Just how safe are we?”
Tucker sat next to his wife, taking her hand. “As safe as we can be. It will be months before the aliens even think about searching these mountains. By then it will be winter and with the snow they shouldn’t be able to get to us. That gives us six or eight months to decide what to do, to prepare.”
Lacy nodded, her expression concerned. “This will be hard on all of us. I think some of the women and children are still in shock.”
“We all are,” Tucker replied. “Why don’t you and Matt stay in here for now while I get everything better organized outside? Would you inventory what’s in the cabinets in this cabin? I saw some cans of food and even a few medical supplies. We’ve need to know what we have to work with here.”
Lacy nodded as Tucker got up and went to the door. Stepping outside on the large porch he looked around. The cabin was completely hidden by the tall towering trees though he wasn’t certain how that would be in the winter when some of the trees lost their leaves. A small clearing was in front of the cabin. The wind generator was on the edge of the clearing where it would catch the wind coming down the small valley. There was an area about two miles distant where the valley narrowed to a few hundred yards. On both sides were steep granite cliffs. Tucker planned on setting up a choke point there. They had a few claymores and other explosives in the trucks. The captain back at the National Guard building had insisted he take them when Tucker had told him of his plans. Tucker was glad now he had.
Several M240L belt-fed machine guns were in the trucks as well. Both of those could be set up in the choke point as well as the claymores. If the Trellixians attempted to come through Sergeant Tucker felt certain they could be stopped. At least the first time. After that Tucker and his people could always fall back to the other end of the valley. It opened up a bit as far as tree cover but the ground was higher and the terrain much rougher. It would not be a good place to go with the women and children.
With a deep sigh, he stepped off the porch and proceeded toward where everyone waited. He hoped Privates Lance and Stark made it back before dark with the supplies. The first load would be primarily food and medical supplies. He wanted to get everyone fed really well before they turned in for the night. There would be less complaining if everyone had full stomach.
-
Vice President Katelyn Hathaway, Major Cunningham, Professor Wilkens, and Professor Pierre Fournier were holding an emergency meeting. They were all still shaken up at the loss of the president and how brutal the Trellixians were. They had watched video feeds of the aliens wiping out civilians, destroying military units, and methodically combing the cities and the countryside for any survivors. This was genocide and the object of that genocide was the human race.
“We need those pulse rifles,” said Major Cunningham with a strained look on his face. “They’re the only weapons we have which will put us on an even par with the Trellixian ground troops. The beam from a pulse rifle should go right through their armor. Just having those rifles would buy us a lot of extra time. It would give our troops a fighting chance.”
Pierre sighed and shook his head. “We’re running behind. The problem is manufacturing the power cells for the rifles. We thought they would be easier to produce but we’re running into a lot of difficulties. Only one in ten cells are holding a sufficient charge. Even then they will only be good for ten shots by the rifle.”
“Do we have any idea what the problem is?” asked Professor Wilkens with a frown. He was in charge of the research in the facility and had only been told earlier today about the problem with the pulse rifles. He had thought they were ready for production. General Mitchell was going to be highly upset when he heard of the delay.
“Possibly,” Pierre replied. “We use a crystal in the power cells to store energy. We believe it’s just too small. We’re in the process of designing a larger one.”
“How much larger?” asked Major Cunningham. “I’m concern
ed about increasing the size of the rifle or the weight the soldiers might have to carry. Plus each soldier assigned a pulse rifle will have to carry extra charge cartridges.”
“Not much. Probably 20 to 30 percent larger. The good news is the new crystal will allow at least twenty firings of the rifle before it has to be changed out.”
“How much longer?” asked Vice President Hathaway. She knew how important these rifles and the new technology were to successfully fighting the Trellixians. Every day tens of millions of people were dying. They had to have viable weapons to bring the death and destruction to a stop.
“Two more weeks and we can start full production of the crystals. Another week after that and the first pulse rifle should come off the assembly line. We can build about 120 per day.”
“Three weeks!” exclaimed Vice President Hathaway. “We’ll lose millions more people in that time.”
“It can’t be helped,” replied Pierre in a shaken voice. “We’re doing everything we can.”
“With this new crystal can we build a larger cannon? Something that could destroy a hover tank or shoot down one of their attack craft?” asked Cunningham.
Pierre shook his head. “We just can’t store that type of power in the crystals, even if we make them larger.”
Cunningham nodded, disappointed.
“Do what you can,” ordered Vice President Hathaway, feeling let down by the delay in the pulse rifles. She knew General Mitchell had been counting on them. “If there’s anything you need to speed up the process let Major Cunningham know.”
A worried look crossed Major Cunningham’s face. “I spoke to General Mitchell earlier. They detected a third Trellixian fleet in the solar system. This one contains additional troop transports as well as five very large vessels. He believes the five ships may be colonization transports.”
“We’re not even dead yet and they want to start colonization?” muttered Katelyn. “Tell General Mitchell to keep an eye on those five ships. If they put colonists anywhere on the planet make them a priority target. This is still our planet, not theirs. Also suggest he hold military operations to a minimum until the pulse rifles are ready. No point in sacrificing troops needlessly.” Katelyn meant this as only a recommendation. She would not tell General Mitchell how to fight this war, that was his area of expertise.
Earth Fall: Invasion : (Book One) Page 14