“I can help you,” Ko replied.
I wasn’t keen on letting the alien out of its bonds just yet, but it did highlight to me earlier that it could have snapped them whenever it wanted. All for one and one for all, I guess?
“All right. You promise not to eat me or the good doctor, right?” I smiled a little.
“My appetite is largely gone anyway.” Ko drew back its lips in an imitation of a smile, its teeth jutting from its jaws. I shuddered.
The three of us worked to gather debris from the other parts of the ship. We took as many large pieces of metal we could and made a kind of makeshift barrier blocking the doorway to the pilot area. It wasn’t flush and I could see points of light shining through, but it might help stop bullets, or whatever Ko’s people use for weapons. In any case, I thought it made the doc feel better. We needed her to be able to talk these things down in case they blew through that pile of metal.
Ko sat itself against the wall of the ship, panting a little. Its eyes looked dull. Were its injuries worse than it had let on?
“Can you drink water?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ko said.
“Good. Doc, could you attend to our friend here? I need to figure out what the hell is going on out there.”
“Sure,” she replied. “We’ll let you know if we need anything.”
I stood to peer out of the window. A battle raged outside, and it was a bloodbath. Our troops were crouched down behind pieces of debris, popping up to fire. The bullets ricocheted off the aliens’ armor, some deflecting into the trees surrounding us, some into other soldiers.
It took the humans time to figure out that the armor didn’t completely protect their torsos. But once they’d spotted that, aliens started going down. The rest of the firing line caught on and the battle looked more even.
Then I heard the noise.
The incoming alien soldiers opened their jaws wide, emitting a sound like the impossible offspring of a freight train and a massive lion. They charged, many of them without weapons—they didn’t need them, they had natural ones.
I covered my ears against the cacophony which was deafening, even within the enclosure of the ship. An alien jumped away from a knife-swinging soldier, pushed itself off a tree, and launched into the man, the claws on its feet extended. They sliced through his body armor, and the soldier’s abdomen ripped open, intestines spilling to the ground. His death scream was cut short as the alien tore out his throat.
Another alien propelled into a soldier, knocking him down. It crushed his head under its foot, sending the soldier’s helmet rolling across the ground. A third lobbed a shining blue orb behind one of the debris-barriers. The soldiers there dissolved in a cloud of blood and atomized organs. An alien grenade.
The color must’ve drained from my face as I watched U.S. soldiers get slaughtered. I wondered how all this was even real.
The aliens with guns only had to hit part of a soldier to take him out, their hand weapons fired beams like that of their ship. No bullets, just blasts of light that sent men crumpling, wounded and cauterized all in one step.
Blue and red blood splattered across the grass as the humans kept their firing lines level with the vulnerable spots on the aliens. I saw an infantryman employ a two-step solution. He popped up to fire, then used the time as the alien soldier fell to pivot and fast-burst another one. It took an excellent marksman to aim and shoot like that.
Other soldiers winged the aliens’ legs. One faltered mid-sprint as rounds impacted the lower part of its leg. It tried to get up but failed. A soldier dashed forward and put a bullet through its forehead. I bet that felt good. I know it would if I was out there.
It looked like there were limitations to the aliens’ movement. Their arms had less range of motion than ours. They launched themselves high and vaulted off surfaces, but they couldn’t climb trees. I heard the bangs of aliens using the ship as a springboard. They relied on their legs to kill the human forces, their hands only good for aiming their beam weapons and slashing at close quarters.
More aliens dashed through the forest to outflank the soldiers’ positions. They moved impossibly fast, bodies a blur as their powerful legs propelled them forward. Their tails bobbed in step, keeping them balanced as they accelerated. Even adjusting strategies, it seemed as though we were irrevocably fucked. I’ll give it to the men, not a single soldier ran. I clenched and unclenched my hands, my jaw tightening, feeling useless.
Alexandra jerked me out of it.
“Do you have any food?”
“What? No.” I turned, unholstered my gun again, and walked toward Ko.
“What are you doing?” Alexandra’s eyes went wide. She stepped in front of the alien.
“Lady, I don’t know about you, but I’m watching its kind slice us apart out there like deli meat. How do we know it won’t do the same to us, now that we’re trapped in here with it?”
Ko’s gaze met mine. It started to reach for something, and I pushed by the woman and pressed my pistol to its forehead.
Instead of pulling out a hidden weapon, the alien held up its large hands. “You may shoot me, Lt. Col. Jackson,” it said.
“Don’t.” Alexandra put a hand on my arm. “If you do, you’ll kill us both.”
“If I don’t, we’re dead anyway.” That much I knew. If I had to choose between getting sliced open now or later, I’d choose later. I might take a few out with me.
“You move, you die,” I said to Ko. It kept its eyes level with mine but remained still.
Another roar permeated the air, this time a familiar one.
I turned my head to look out and observed the beautiful sight of three of our gunships swooping into battle. The choppers that had landed alongside the troops were airborne, unleashing streaks of fire and launching missiles at the alien line. I whooped with joy as clusters of aliens were blown apart. A soldier at a machine gun inside one of the choppers sprayed the alien line and our ground forces pushed forward, some back to back, picking off stragglers as the gunships obliterated aliens rushing to reinforce their comrades.
Strobes of their beam weapons and our bullets turned the battlefield into a macabre opera. Death was a flash of light, and it was everywhere. But now at least we were winning.
“They will not stop,” Ko said. It kept its hands up. “They will not retreat, and they will never tire. They think you have the most valuable object to our race. They will slaughter every last human until they can break into this ship. Then I will not be your worst problem. They will capture you both and devise a hundred ways to make your deaths painful. You will be tortured for endangering our race, and for what your people have done to us.”
“So why is that a reason I shouldn’t I put you down?” I raised my gun again.
“It is a reason, Colonel.”
I heard annoyance in its voice and put my finger on my trigger.
“It is a reason…because the only hope you have of getting out of this alive is to walk me out of this ship unharmed. Walk me out. I promise you safe passage. Walk me out, and your race may live, but only if you return me to my people.”
I glanced at Alexandra. As much as I wanted to rack up one more kill for humanity, I figured she was the better one to make the call. This was a diplomatic decision.
She looked thoughtful, then nodded.
“Fine.” I put my gun in its holster, and we helped Ko to stand. “Let’s do this.”
“I’ll go out first,” Alexandra said.
I wasn’t arguing. If she wanted to get shot first, be my guest. We walked out of the ship in a line. Alexandra first, Ko behind. I stayed in the rear, my pistol aimed at the back of the alien’s head. Hesitantly, Alexandra stepped outside, hands held high.
We were greeted by a squadron of soldiers. They converged on her, guns drawn.
“Hold your fire!” I shouted from inside the ship.
The men stepped back but kept their guns at the ready.
I prodded Ko in the back. “Move.”
“Just get your ass out there.” I followed it through the opening.
In less than a second, the soldiers had their guns up again, eyes fixed on the enemy. I stepped in front of Ko. “I’m Lt. Col. Jackson, and this alien is my prisoner, so back up,” I ordered them.
“But sir—” a corporal started, but shut up as I raised my hand.
“Hey, Stephen,” Alexandra said, speaking to the leader of the earlier squad. He stood amid the soldiers facing us. “Remember the talk I gave back on base?”
He nodded, his rifle still aimed at Ko.
“I sounded like I knew what I was talking about, right?”
Another nod.
“All right, you think you can trust me now?”
A hesitant nod. This girl was good.
“Could you get your friends to put their guns down? We’re scaring our guest, and the Lt. Col. and I promised to get him out of here in one piece.” Stephen swallowed, then lowered his rifle. He motioned his hand down and every soldier followed suit.
The woman had something special about her. To be able to talk down a group of pissed-off soldiers with every reason to blow this alien away, having just watched their squadmates and friends ripped apart like tissue paper? No doubt they were harboring murderous feelings at this point. Whatever clout this Alexandra had, it sure was something.
When their muzzles faced the ground, I saw Ko relax a little.
A soldier came forward and handed me a set of manacles. I thanked him and ordered Ko to its knees, then fastened the chains around its feet and wrists. I hoped we’d get the chance to return Ko to its people, but we were surrounded. We were forced to break our promise…for now.
Once the alien stood, Alexandra took up a position behind it. We headed away from the fighting and she walked close enough to the alien I noticed her bag kept swinging against its tail. I spied the blue crystal as it slid from its hand into her bag.
She closed it with a soft snap. We made eye contact. She glanced uneasily at me, realizing I’d seen what happened, but I just kept walking, and we made our way to the helicopters.
18
Alexandra
The pilot was spinning up the rotors of the helicopter when I saw human soldiers dropping to the ground behind us. A wave of alien reinforcements had arrived. They’d dispensed with the battle cries and used the forest for cover. No ray guns or dinosaur claws either. They blazed away at the human forces with good old fashioned bullets. They must have scavenged the guns from the dead human soldiers.
“Down!” Jackson yelled. All three of us hit the ground, Ko’s shackles clanging as it fell face forward awkwardly.
The shots were muffled, like they had put some kind of silencer on the guns. By the time we realized that they were there, they’d already gunned down our rear guard. A huge number of the aliens stood facing the remaining human forces.
One of the aliens came forward, gun raised overhead in both its arms. “Do not fire! We wish to speak!”
The helicopter pilot looked at Jackson for direction. I realized with a start that he was probably the senior officer out there. I crossed my fingers, hoping he’d make the right decision.
The Lt. Colonel raised his hand, turned to the men around in inside the chopper, and said, “Hold your fire. For now.”
This alien was clearly a commander. It sported a large crest on its head, a mohawk of red spikes that looked like porcupine quills. It was also lightly armored, unlike the infantry. Less armor to mark that it was a more skilled warrior than the others, I assumed. The commander carried a single large gun that required two hands to use. I didn’t want to find out what it did.
“Return your prisoner,” the alien said.
“I’m afraid we’re not able to do that.” A. major stepped out from the group of humans. “I just watched a dozen and a half of my men ripped in half by you fuckers. You lost your chance to play nice when you decided to slaughter my people.”
“Get the alien on the helicopter. Now.” Jackson quietly ordered two men from the squad surrounding us. They hauled Ko from the ground and started to drag toward the chopper. Jackson turned around to face the alien forces, trying to hide the movement.
“Return your prisoner, humans. This is your final warning,” the commander replied.
“You alien scumbags don’t know when to quit.” The major raised his right hand, middle finger extended. “Fuck. You.”
The arrogant asshole! He was willing to kill us all just because of military pride.
“You can’t say I didn’t try,” the alien commander said. Its voice sounded more resigned than exultant. It made a trilling sound, then opened its mouth and let loose an ear-piercing cry. It raised its weapon as what remained of our infantry raised theirs. Shots fired, and the battle began again.
“Idiots,” I yelled, covering my ears and falling to the ground. “Jackson!” He wasn’t hearing me. He grabbed a machine gun from a fallen soldier and dashed away to find a firing position.
I hesitated. I had no weapon, no protection, and no escape. I considered getting in the helicopter, then Ko decided for me.
“Run, human,” it said. “You will not survive if you remain here. Run while you still can.”
I pushed to my feet, keeping my head low. The soldiers had outfitted me with a helmet and body armor, but I saw how little protection that was offering the soldiers around me. I ran to the Lt. Colonel and crouched behind him. He was on one knee behind a small embankment. Bullets and beams crisscrossed the air around us. He glanced over at me with a surprised look, then continued firing in brief spurts.
Pock pock-pock.
I put my back against the embankment and figured I could at least keep a lookout behind us. I watched the pair of soldiers push Ko onto the floor of the helicopter, and it started to lift off.
The alien forces were obliterating the humans, the pilots not having enough time to get the gunships in the air. Human soldiers retreated as best they could to form a loose perimeter after the one helicopter that mattered.
The alien commander led a charge, slicing through humans as it made its way toward the aircraft. I saw it pick up the arrogant major and bury its claws in his chest, lifting him off his feet. The man screamed as the alien sank its teeth into his throat. The alien then tossed him away and he landed near us, blood gushing from his chest and torn-out neck.
Jackson shouted over the fire, “You have to get out of here!” I opened my mouth to protest. “Now!” he yelled.
I jumped to my feet and ran away from the firefight toward the nearest patch of trees. As I ran, I cast one last look at the battle. Jackson was down to firing with his pistol as alien forces surrounded him. Out of ammunition, they stood over him and leveled their guns, yet the commander ordered them not to fire.
Amid the carnage, he was captured.
19
Alexandra
I sprinted, chest heaving, convinced that Ko’s people were running in the forest next to me waiting to cut me off like a deer running from a wolf pack. I managed to run a mile before my body forced me to slow down, reminding me that I wasn’t in high school anymore. I backed up against a tree trunk and crouched, waiting.
Waiting for what? It wasn’t like I had a weapon or martial arts training. Even if I did, these aliens were eating the guys with guns alive. Literally. The best I could do if they came for me was scream as I became their next meal.
I laid on my back, trying to slow my breathing. When I had my hyperventilation under control, the shaking went away and my vision gradually returned to normal. I was in pain, but it was the pain of getting thrown around and sprinting more than I had in a very, very long time.
The sun dipped beneath the horizon before I finally felt I had the strength to stand. I checked my satchel. The crystal, the last blueprints of Ko’s world, glowed safely at the bottom. I covered it with a scarf so it stayed hidden, then squinted up through the pine branches.
The
sun had set, but my path was illuminated by a full moon. I had no idea where I was, but for lack of better options I followed a westward trail. An hour later, I came across a small community—thank god—one of those off the beaten path New England villages you see when driving across state. A single main street ran the length of the town, dotted with the essentials residents would count on, gas stations, diner, a doctor’s office, even an off-brand computer repair shop. Cars on the side of the road sat empty, the signs and lights of the buildings pitch dark. I didn’t see people anywhere. Residential streets fed into the main thoroughfare, but I decided not to venture there just yet. Better to find an open business and hopefully use a phone. I wasn’t sure who to call, but I’d figure it out when I could.
I went to the diner, the most obvious place where humans would be. I smelled the scent of cheap diner food, so someone must be in there. I pushed the door open. A bell jangled, yet I saw absolutely nothing, not a single soul in the place.
“Hello?” I hoped someone might hear me. No one appeared, so I walked behind the counter toward the stove. On the griddle sat a few charred hamburger patties, smoke curling from the remains of the meat. Someone must have left them on the grill and gotten out of there in a hurry.
“Is anybody here?” I yelled.
I spied a landline phone underneath the cash register, picked it up, and dialed the only number I remembered by heart—my father’s. I clutched the receiver. No dial tone. No ringing. I hit the plunger on the phone a few times, trying to get a tone to come through. None came, so I checked the wire, finding it intact. I found another phone in the diner office, but same story. Nothing. I was stranded. Cold fear crept into my stomach, and every muscle hurt. It was too much.
I slid to the tiled floor, buried my face in my hands and let go. I sobbed. I’d seen too many things today. I watched a man fall to his death several thousand feet above the ground. I watched humans be eviscerated, the smell of it still clinging in my nose. I shuddered, remembering the horrific ways those men were killed. The aliens hadn’t been just defending themselves. Those were terrorist tactics. Brutally murder your enemy and they’ll think twice about trying to fight you again.
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