Incursion

by Kevin McLaughlin

  A pair of soldiers in the rear of the group suddenly barked and hefted their beam rifles as something emerged from the woods and ran towards us.

  “Hold your fire,” I shouted.

  To my surprise, Alexandra rushed to me and threw her arms around me. I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t certain she was even alive. She was shaking, on the verge of tears and I let her stay in my arms until she calmed.

  “You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” she said. She drew away from me, looking a little embarrassed, then said, “They have the crystal, the computer.”

  “The egg.”

  “Yes, that’s what they call it.”

  “We figured. Are you all right?” I asked.

  She nodded. She looked awful, covered in dirt, scratches, and bruises. I saw bloodstains on her coat.

  “Are you sure?” I put my hand on her shoulder. She flinched and I pulled it away.

  “You’re injured.”

  “I’ll make it. I’m just happy to be alive.”

  I nodded. “Me too. I mean, I’m happy you’re alive, that is. Now, we need to get back to the mothership.”

  “I think my truck will still run. It’s a little beat up from the firefight.”

  “That was your truck?”

  “Yeah. I was there. I saw you. I’m happy you’re alive, too. I thought they’d killed you back at the crash site when we lost Ko.”

  “I’ve been with these guys. This is Ka’thak. He’s actually the captain of the mothership.”

  She widened her eyes at the captain. “Oh, wow. And he’s letting you live?”

  She leaned toward me and whispered, “He does know what you did, right?”

  I suppressed a laugh. It wasn’t funny, but her demeanor struck me. I turned to the captain, who nodded.

  “I know what he did, yes, and he is atoning for it,” Ka’thak said. “It is good to meet you, Alexandra.”

  “Call me Alex.”

  “Very well.”

  I looked back and forth between them. “Well, truck it is, then.”

  29

  Alexandra

  The truck flew down the road, jumping and landing as we ran over rocks and tree branches. Turuk’s soldiers had done a number on the thing. The passenger door had been torn clean off and the canvas covering the rear of the truck was in shreds. There were a few dents in the cab of the truck where their soldiers had kicked it and the roof had been torn off, but miraculously the vehicle still ran.

  Since the cab was sized for humans, the aliens had to ride in the back. It was a scene straight out of a cowboy movie, the soldiers crammed in the cargo area, holding on for dear life.

  I looked in the review mirror and burst into laughter at the sight of five aliens trying not to fall off the back of the truck. I drove like a bat out of hell, and we burst through a checkpoint that the opposition faction had set up, the wood gate exploding into a thousand splinters. My teeth almost chattered out of my skull.

  One of the aliens in the back made a sound that brought back memories of the family cat puking hairballs on the carpet. No sooner did I think this than the alien vomited foul yellow goo all over Jackson. He swore and tried to wipe the gunk out of his hair and off his face. It definitely smelled like cat barf. After everything we’d been through, I welcomed the comedic relief. I almost wrecked the truck because I was laughing so hard. Jackson scowled at me and flung a gob of alien puke on my shoulder.

  Disgusting! I laughed anyway. I deserved it.

  We skidded to a stop near the ship. Ka’thak and his soldiers jumped from the cargo and set up a perimeter around the truck. Jackson and I got out just as a group of six soldiers from the camp ran up, guns drawn. We put our hands up and stepped back. The captain stepped forward and raised his hand. They exchanged words, then the soldiers lowered their weapons.

  After they spoke some more, Ka’thak turned to us. “They tell me we are too late. Turuk returned and called a meeting. The session has concluded. The council has instilled Turuk as prime minister. They have been ordered to arrest us on sight.”

  “Why haven’t they?” Jackson asked.

  The soldiers looked around cautiously as Ka’thak continued, “Turuk has sworn to kill every sympathizer, but I know these warriors. They are good and loyal.”

  The soldiers bowed their heads, and the other three joined them, patting one another on the shoulders in a warrior’s greeting. “Not everyone supports this insurrection,” Ka’thak said. “Many only wish to flee the approaching supernova wave and be on our way.”

  The captain turned to the soldiers and pointed at us. “Lt. Col. Jackson and Alexandra can help us end the revolt, but only if we are able to contact and cooperate with their human forces. If we contact their military, we will have the power to defeat Turuk.”

  The group of soldiers looked at each other skeptically.

  Jackson stepped close and discreetly nudged me. I glanced at him and realized he wanted me to come forward and convince them.

  “Ka’thak, may I speak?”

  The captain nodded. “Let us hear the human’s words.”

  “I understand why that seems strange to all of you, and I know why you don’t feel like you can trust us,” I said, looking at all ten aliens in turn. “After all, your only involvement with us has led to hundreds of your people wounded or killed, and your entire race stranded here. Humanity has committed a great atrocity against you. They came to me before you left the shadow of our moon. They wanted me to act as a liaison to speak to your leaders. I cannot promise everything will work out, but what I can promise is that the Lt. Col. and I are committed to helping you. We will lay down our lives, if necessary, to atone for what humanity has done.”

  Jackson shot me a look. He pressed his lips together but didn’t say anything more.

  “The Lt. Col. has already put his life on the line when he joined the battle against Turuk,” I said. “And I was Turuk’s captive. I resisted him as best I could, even though he threatened to…” I swallowed. “He was going to eat me, I think.”

  Ka’thak put a gentle hand on my shoulder and peered at the warriors. “We need them. They need us. I am your captain. I have fought alongside you, bled with you, mourned with you. My allegiance to our people has never wavered. I tell you, Turuk is mad with power. He would see the deaths of thousands more of us and the destruction of an entire species. Join me and I promise should we not see this day’s end, we will be remembered. You will be remembered—as those who chose to help our people rather than rule them.”

  The soldiers spoke amongst themselves for only a second or two, then one stepped forward. “We will help you, Captain. What do you need from us?”

  “Lead us to the ex-prime minister.”

  All ten soldiers clustered around us to shield us from view, and I wondered how much the aliens could track us by smell. I was dressed in bloodstained clothing; aside from my coat, it was the same outfit I’d been wearing for days, ever since I was taken from the university. I knew I stank. If I didn’t die alongside these people, I’d be charging the military for one hell of a spa week—maybe two.

  Our group made it to a smaller side entrance to the ship and we spaced out into a smaller, tighter line. One of the soldiers led the group toward the cell where the prime minister was being held.

  It turned back and said softly, “We have reached the detention area where the former prime minister is held. There are a pair of guards. I know them. Rather than fight, they may be talked into joining us, Captain.”

  “It’s risky,” Jackson said. “What if they sound an alarm or alert others?”

  “Captain,” the one said, “I ask you to permit me to try.”

  Ka’thak hesitated, then nodded. “Let us avoid more killing if we can. Go. We will wait.”

  Sooner than expected, the alien returned with a pleased expression.

  “Come,” it said.

  We rounded the corner and approached the two guards. They inclined their heads, and one puffed its chest
out. “Captain Ka’thak, when our homeworld was lost, it was you that helped many of us board this ship. I owe you my life and the lives of my broodlings. I am your warrior.”

  “As am I,” said the other.

  Ka’thak clapped them both on the shoulders and said something in his own tongue that made both guards trill. He stepped back, and one of the soldiers put its palm on the security panel to access the cells. The doors slid open, and they took position around the opening.

  Jackson and I accompanied Ka’thak and two other soldiers inside. All along the row of cells the prime minister’s sympathizers stood and greeted us with gasps and smiles. In the last cell, we found the former prime minister chained to the wall.

  “You came for me,” the minister rasped.

  “You will join us and stay in the middle,” the captain addressed him. “Do not speak. Do what the humans say.” The two soldiers broke the door open and unlocked the chains.

  The minister opened his mouth to say something, but Ka’thak cut him off.

  “We speak later. Now is time to act.”

  He complied, and then the captain told the other sympathizers, “We go now to resist Turuk and his rebels. You are safest here. We will return to free you if we are not dead.”

  Several didn’t want to be left behind, but they were diplomats and politicians, not warriors, and most saw the sense in it, wishing us good luck or whatever was equivalent in their native tongue. We followed Ka’thak outside the detention area, and our group of thirteen aliens and two humans headed toward the command center.

  30

  David

  Turuk sat in the prime minister’s chair surrounded by an honor guard who leveled their guns at us the minute we burst into the room. Our group skidded to a stop. The soldiers who had accompanied us jostled to shove the prime minister to the back of the group. He opened his mouth to protest but one of the soldiers motioned for him to stay quiet.

  Turuk said something in the alien tongue. Ka’thak replied in the same language, but then Turuk glanced past him and saw Alexandra and I. “I’ll use the meat sack tongue, since they’re present. They might as well understand their doom.”

  “Ka’thak. You took your time getting here,” Turuk went on. “I’ve been watching your activities on the monitors. Very impressive, using the human’s vehicle to make it back after we shot you down. There are more of us of than there are you. Lay down your weapons or die.”

  The captain hissed at Turuk, but we were outnumbered two to one. He turned and nodded to the group of soldiers. We dropped our weapons to the floor with a clattering sound. I did the same; what else was there to do? The enemy had the upper hand, at least for the moment.

  “That might be the first time I’ve seen you exercise good judgment, Ka’thak. Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing my way of things soon enough.”

  “Never,” the captain spat.

  “No matter. If you’ll turn your attention to my drone feed,” Turuk gestured to a set of monitors mounted on the wall. “You’ll see a vast human force on their way. This convoy of soldiers and war vehicles has been on their way for the past few hours.”

  The video showed tanks and troop transports moving through a nearby town. The force was massive. There had to be soldiers from at least three or four states on their way. This was no small attack. This was humanity striking back. Bringing in such a large force meant they planned to blow the alien vessel to pieces. Unless we got off this ship, we would all be killed.

  I heard Alexandra gasp. She glanced at me and motioned to herself, then the monitors. That was the town where she’d been taking shelter? Maybe she should have stayed there. Her odds of living much longer here seemed slim.

  “You see?” Turuk gestured at the monitors. “The humans will destroy our entire race unless we act. My first act as prime minister will be to burn the might of our people into the minds of the humans forever.” He turned back to Ka’thak. “While you were away playing rescuer to the humans and this old fool, we got one of the cannons back online. It’s currently locked on to the human settlement the humans are moving through. In a moment, we will fire, wiping this threat to our people away.”

  “No!” Alexandra shouted. I motioned to her to be quiet, but it was too late.

  “What was that human? Too afraid that if I wipe out your soldiers that I’ll go through with flaying you like I promised? Don’t worry. You’re going to die soon as well,” Turuk said.

  “There are non-combatants there,” she blurted. “Humans who don’t even have the slightest idea who you are or that you’re even here. Children. They have nothing to do with this! You cannot punish an entire species for the actions of the few!”

  “Your wrong. I will make every human pay for what you’ve done to us. Bring her here.”

  One of the honor guard came forward to wrest Alexandra from the group and dragged her in front of the monitors. There was little any of the rest of us could do to stop them or to help her. If only she’d kept her mouth shut! The alien’s arms twitched as she put up a fight trying to get free. The soldier was finally able to hook an arm around the front of her, forcing her to stay still.

  Turuk reached down and did something with one of the control panels. Immediately the monitors filled with blinding light. I lifted my hands to shield my eyes. The light was as bright as an atomic bomb blast as the cannon ripped through the town, obliterating roads, buildings, houses, and humans. For minutes, we could see nothing. When the light faded, there was a massive blackened crater where the town used to be. Rage whipped through me and I shut my eyes as the deaths of thousands of people became a reality.

  I heard an unearthly strangled howl and there was a scuffle as Alexandra fought against the soldier holding her. The soldier looked to his leader, who nodded. He let her go and she raced toward Turuk, feral, teeth flashing, eyes wide. Before she could get close to the alien the rest of his guard raised their weapons again and she skidded to a stop.

  “I’ll kill you!” she roared. “You will die for this. I will cut you open myself!”

  Someone needed to do something before that asshole killed her. I pushed past the soldiers in front of me and ran to her. I grabbed her by the arms and held on.

  “Let me go, Jackson,” she snarled, “Let me kill the fucker. It deserves to die.”

  “Yes, he does,” I murmured to her. “But you don’t do anyone good by dying too. We’ll get our chance.”

  Turuk’s eyes flashed, but he said nothing. He motioned for the soldiers to advance. and we were forced back to the waiting group of supporting forces. “That was just a taste of things to come, Ka’thak. As we speak, we are re-targeting the cannon at another human settlement. Of course, this one is much bigger. What do you say? Would the deaths of a few million humans make a lasting impression? Truthfully, I don’t really care. We will kill each and every human if that is what’s required to end the threat to our people.”

  I laughed. Turuk tilted his head toward me. “You think that’s going to stop the humans, moron? If you keep blowing up cities the only thing that the humans will do is bring more warriors. They will never stop, never cease until you are a smear on the surface of the planet. The more people you kill, the worse things will get for you,” I taunted.

  He contemplated this for a moment, resting his chin on a claw. “I’m willing to take that chance.”

  “Turuk, stop this,” the prime minister spoke up from the back of the group and came forward. Ka’thak opened his mouth and tried to stop the prime minister’s advance, but he shook them off.

  “Please,” he continued, “This has gone far enough. Obliterating the humans will not save our people. All you will do is cause mass death for no cause. Worse, you delay our departure from this planet, putting us all at risk. Please, call off your war and I promise you that we can work together to save our people. Call off the war and I will pardon every single one of you who has risen against us. We can still survive this.”

  The prime minister continued forward
until he was almost to the chair where Turuk sat. The honor guard shifted nervously and a few of them fingered their guns. Turuk rose from his chair and stepped forward to meet the older alien. When they were eye to eye, Turuk spoke.

  “No.”

  Turuk whipped his arm in front of the prime minister’s face, almost too fast to see. For a moment it appeared as if nothing had happened. The older alien stood confused as he tried to figure out what had happened. A thin line of blue blood appeared on the prime minister’s throat, growing from a trickle to a gush. The prime minister coughed, and blue foam spattered from his mouth. The alien fell to his knees and then crashed to the floor as blood flowed from his throat, eyes fixed in a permanent expression of surprise. Turuk shook droplets of blood from his claws.

  “No!” Alexandra and the captain shouted in unison.

  “Let that be a lesson to you,” Turuk said. “I am our leader now. Follow me and you will be rewarded. Defy me and you’ll be gutted and left to be eaten by scavenging animals on this puny planet.”

  With a roar, Ka’thak rushed toward Turuk. The new prime minister grinned like he welcomed the challenge, and the two aliens closed with each other, kicking, punching, and slashing. Ka’thak’s soldiers used the distraction to regain their weapons and opened fire on Turuk’s guard. In moments the soldiers on both sides were blazing away at each other.

  I grabbed Alexandra and pulled us both behind an outcropping of metal to avoid being shot.

  “Stay here!” I told her. Then I darted out from behind the shelter to grab a weapon from one of the soldiers who had gone down. It was heavy as hell, but I could just manage to aim and fire the thing. I burned down one of Turuk’s guards.

  As the battle raged, Alexandra and I pressed ourselves against the wall of the command center. The large room lit up with the flashes of beam weapons and rang with the screams of alien warriors as they paired off in hand to hand combat. I couldn’t fire again without risking friendly fire. Maybe the best thing I could do would be to get Alexandra out of there.