Charger the Soldier

by Lea Tassie

  When the four principal fighters reached high orbit, escaping Earth's gravitational pull, they would leave the space plane and, with the thruster packs, board the mother craft through openings discovered by Earth-based observers. At least, that was the plan.

  Once everybody was in place, General Harris gave the command to launch and, simultaneously, three Titan rockets bolted into orbit straight for a rendezvous with the alien mother ship. The blasts gave cover for the space plane to slip into the air and to plot its own course with destiny.

  The thunderous onslaught of the three rockets hurtling toward the mother ship caught the attention of the aliens, who swiftly prepared to repel these soldiers with deadly ferocity. A blistering cross fire of plasma projectiles hurtled through space as Earth ships, guided by ground-based crews, fought to distract the aliens, avoid destruction, and give the soldiers a fighting chance.

  Meanwhile, the four humans in the alien encounter suits got within range of the mother ship, avoiding the attention of the aliens, and quietly slipped out into dark space. Linked together with tethers, the four silently worked their way toward the mother ship. Once the space plane had been vacated, cunning old General Harris played the last card up his sleeve.

  He sat at a control console the project team had designed to his specifications and, with a drink in the holder at the side of his large leather chair, he donned leather gloves and took control of the space plane with a joystick. The front nose cone of the space plane split apart and was ejected into space, revealing four front-facing Gatling guns. Large shark-like teeth were painted on the sides of the plane.

  Realigning the space plane to face the alien ship head on, a filthy flood of invective exploded from General Harris's mouth as he squeezed the trigger and blasted the sides of the ship with bullets. Like a flea attacking a bull elephant, General Harris took great joy in behaving like a small kid with a new toy. But when the bullets had been exhausted, the half-mad general had one more ploy. He set a course straight at the mother ship and, as the space plane hit, he detonated an onboard nuclear weapon of awesome power. For a moment, this did catch the attention of the aliens. But, like a fly hitting the window of a speeding car, it was soon dismissed.

  Sadly, only one of the three rockets managed to penetrate the hull of the mother ship. Those five soldiers fought valiantly but briefly.

  Meanwhile, Dieter discovered a problem. From Earth, what looked like holes in the mother ship were not actually holes. With time growing short, the four humans were desperate to gain access. They crawled or drifted down the gigantic hull of the craft, searching in vain for an entrance. They had managed to get this far and they were determined not to fail now.

  "Here!" Thad snapped. "I got it! Here's a way in!" The four regrouped and entered the craft, finding their way, after much time, to the inner workings of the beast. They slinked along the corridors as passing aliens appeared not to notice them. Hanna's blinking red light was working. At least for now.

  They found their way to where the scientists had told them to place their ordinance for maximum results. "You know this is all just guesswork," Danny whispered. "Those eggheads back on Earth have no idea where we should be placing these things." He pointed to the bomb strapped to his side.

  "You may be right, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt," replied Dieter.

  Hanna piped up over the intercom in German. Danny looked at Thad, then they both looked at Dieter. "What did she say?" asked Thad.

  "She said, less talk, more killing," replied Dieter, with a smile.

  Their tasks done, they made their way back toward the opening where they had gained access. However, just short of escape, one of the passing aliens bumped into Thad. He was some distance behind the group, and it appeared that the red blinking light lost its effect in keeping humans safe unless they were close to it. The alien grew hostile and poked at him with an out-stretched arm.

  "Fuck this!" Thad snarled as he removed a long dagger from the holster on his leg and thrust it hard into the front of the alien. There were screams, then a fight, and alarms rang out everywhere. Danny grabbed Dieter and Hanna and forced them to leave Thad, who was now being attacked from all directions by enraged aliens.

  Struggling to move faster, the three worked their way to the exit and, out in the void of space, they ignited the thruster packs and rocketed away from the surface of the mother ship. As they did so, Dieter pressed a button on his wrist, sending the signal back to Earth to detonate the weapons. In the darkness of space, and unable to hear any sound on their headsets but breathing, the three saw the ship begin breaking apart. There was no dramatic light show, no thunderous explosion to lend effect, just the sight of the enormous space-borne vessel crumbling into pieces.

  There was, however, an impact. But, instead of blasting them in the chest like a shockwave on Earth, they found themselves being sucked in the direction of the destructing ship. The trio fought desperately to thrust themselves away from the mother ship and, after what felt like an eternity, they succeeded.

  "Well, let's hope Harris will do as he said, and get that shuttle up to us ASAP," gasped Danny, out of breath from the struggle to escape.

  Hanna again spoke and Dieter willingly translated for Danny. "She said he will, for she threatened to fall back to Earth and land on him if he didn't."

  The three drifted for some time before their helmets' heads-up displays detected a ship heading toward them.

  But it was not an Earth craft. The small alien ship came nearer and nearer, seemingly out of control and drifting. The three decided this was an opportunity to capture an alien space pod. Danny reached out and simply grabbed hold of the craft and all three, as they were tethered together, were pulled onto its trajectory.

  Hanna spoke in German and Dieter translated. "She said you caught it, so you get to go in first."

  The three snooped around the surface of the small craft for some time before Danny managed to find what he thought might be a way inside. With a bit of jimmying, they gained access to the small, cramped escape pod. Inside lay an injured alien, one very different from any they'd seen before, with many insignias pinned to what might have been a uniform. "Think we caught the alien boss?" Dieter asked Danny.

  "Shit, maybe," came his reply.

  Hanna could not contain her desire to cause trouble. In broken English, she shook the alien, back-handed it hard, and said, "You da boss?"

  Danny began laughing, and Dieter couldn't help joining in. Hanna looked so ridiculous slapping the alien. The alien surged to life and hit Hanna hard enough to knock her across the ship, where she collapsed, unconscious. Then it stunned Dieter with some type of shock weapon, and he blacked out, too.

  The alien rose from its chair, a hideous dark mass, staggering, but seeming to spread out in all directions in the small space. Its gold-colored multi-faceted eyes focused on Danny, who'd been tossed about in the melee because he was still tethered to the other two. The alien shuddered for a moment, then staggered toward Danny, creating from a front appendage a blazing hot phosphorescent plasma weapon like an axe, dripping glowing hot liquid metal on the floor.

  "Shit!" snarled Danny as he struggled to unclip himself from the tether. The alien seemed disorientated and swung wildly at Danny, who shifted enough to dodge the attack. The small confined space of the ship made it all but impossible to avoid getting hit, but Danny managed it. The alien struck hard but haphazardly into bulkheads and consoles, sending sparks flying everywhere, temporarily blinding itself long enough for Danny to slip behind the beast. Danny had no weapons now but his own ingenuity.

  Danny placed his back against the ship's wall and, with both feet, kicked the alien hard in the back, sending it into the opposing wall. It crashed, stumbled, and slumped down just long enough for Danny to thrust himself forward. He wrapped one arm hard around its neck and, with the other arm, grabbed the weapon. With all his strength, he pulled the weapon slowly toward the floundering alien, and began cutting into its black heavy body su
it, working his way inward toward the flesh.

  The thrashing slowed as the alien began losing the fight. The two opponents lay motionless on the floor, Danny breathing heavily, when the alien's head split open, revealing a human-like face beneath. What appeared to be a helmet, with goggles which looked like multi-faceted gold eyes, fell away, and the true occupant revealed itself. Its mouth, though disfigured, began moving!

  One word… "Why?"

  It sounded like a hiss, but Danny was sure it said, "Why?" Shocked, he sat upright, throwing the alien away from him as if it were a rotting corpse. He shivered at the thought, and instinctively tried to brush the touch of the alien's body off his arms. After a moment, he composed himself and bent down to the almost human face of the invader, and asked, "Did you just say why?"

  Nothing happened. Danny shook the body of his opponent and yelled, "Did you just fucking say WHY? You invaded us!"

  There was no reply. It was dead. Danny slumped back to the floor, exhausted.

  Beeping began, quietly at first, then Danny realized the sound came from his helmet. His heads-up display was signaling another approaching ship, the shuttle craft the air force used. Danny swore as he realized that he and his crew were inside an alien craft. The air force was now approaching, probably with guns aimed.

  Struggling to his feet, Danny looked about desperately, trying to think of some way to signal the air force to keep them from blowing his pod to bits. On the floor, poking out of one of the bomb packs they had carried to the mother ship, was a flag. Thad, in his American cowboy wisdom, had thought it smart to bring an American flag to the ship they planned to destroy. As he had put it, "Plant the mother fucker up those bastards' asses!"

  Fighting his way out of the craft and into the blackness of space, Danny threw himself off the craft in the direction of the approaching shuttle, frantically trying to wave the American flag so that the air force would not attack.

  Through his headphones came a voice, "Okay, okay. We can detect your suit's homing beacon and we know it's you, but the American flag is a nice touch." The air force pilot continued, "I think you might be a little low on oxygen, so climb aboard."

  Danny had already succumbed to oxygen deprivation and had passed out as he hit the window of the shuttle, though fortunately not very hard. The pilots laughed as they pulled him onboard to safety.

  Chapter 17 Celebrating the heroes

  Pam pinned the small microphone to her red silk blouse, wishing she could have something new to wear. But these days, people made do with what they had. Food was still hard to get and everything else was nearly impossible. The small, over-worked staff of the television studio was making sure that Danny, Hanna, and Pam's husband, Dieter, were seated so that the cameras could capture a good view.

  The people of Earth hungered for heroes after the brutal battering they had suffered during the war and this would be the first live televised interview with their greatest warriors. The long-awaited broadcast from the city center had thousands of fans lining the streets just to catch a glimpse, on makeshift monitors, of the three soldiers being celebrated. Pam was grateful to see Dean hovering in the background, ready to run errands for her on this very special day.

  The destruction of the alien mother ship in orbit had meant that salvation for humanity was finally possible. Because the aliens could no longer re-supply their ground forces, it had taken only a few months for Earth's military to achieve the final defeat of the invaders. Rather than push the aliens into pockets to control them, General Harris had decided it was easier just to bomb them, then send in the infantry to mop up the remainder. Not only was it easier but, whether they admitted it or not, most people thirsted for revenge.

  When the last of the aliens had been hunted down and killed, those human survivors sent to the far reaches of the north and south began returning to their homes and were grateful, for a while, just to be warm. People walked city streets again and slowly they began the massive cleanup.

  The cameras started rolling and Pam introduced the three guests. Turning to Dieter, she said, "So, General Dieter A'Ochay, let me start with you. I understand that you're also going to celebrate a private victory today."

  Dieter looked startled. What was she talking about? This was a complete departure from the outline she'd given him the previous night. He opened his mouth, searching for some kind of sensible answer.

  Before he could come up with anything, Pam beamed at him. "General, I have been informed that your wife is pregnant."

  The look on Dieter's face said it all. He'd had no idea that Pam was expecting.

  Danny was the first to break the stunned silence with a quick comment to Dieter, then all those gathered in the studio broke into cheers. New life was now an event to be celebrated as much as any hero. A population of seven billion souls whittled down to a few million worldwide meant that all life was once again considered precious.

  "So, you know boy or girl?" asked Sergeant Hanna Massey, struggling with her new language. As broken as it was, she was grateful to be able to communicate.

  "We are going to let it be a surprise," replied Pam, with another smile.

  She shifted into reporter mode and the interview continued well into the day. Those watching began to fully realize the enormous cost of what the three brave individuals and the millions who had died had done to save humanity.

  Near the end of the program, Pam said to Danny, "I understand you have been given a place in government. Any plans for the future? The elections are just months away now."

  Danny politely answered in the typical noncommittal language of a politician, and it was obvious to all that he must someday be the new world leader.

  Pam looked at Hanna and asked, "Are you planning to return to Germany?"

  The color came up in Hanna's face. "No, I stay here. I get married soon."

  Everyone cheered again and Pam was delighted. "Congratulations!" She looked into the nearest camera. "And to all of us. It will be wonderful to live a normal life again."

  >>>

  Dart speaks to Reader:

  Did Danny become world leader? Yes, Reader, he did. When the elections were held, he became the first native American Indian president of the world's remaining population.

  It was a heavy responsibility, but he kept his sense of humor. Because, no matter his high status, his friends never let him forget the stunt he had pulled after the destruction of the alien mother ship, when he was heading toward the space shuttle sent to rescue him, waving an American flag.

  A few months later, Pam gave birth to her son, Gerry. She took him with her nearly everywhere, though she and Dieter were very active in rebuilding the world's news headquarters. Being head of the media allowed Pam to achieve an old dream. She made it a point, every day, to broadcast good news as well as bad, to provide a balanced look at the world.

  No, for the first few years, humanity didn't spend much time on space travel. Because so much of the population had been destroyed by the war, the task of rebuilding society and mending the Earth took precedence. New life was greeted with much joy, so babies were a big thing.

  Why wasn't Charger interviewed?

  That's a good question, but think back to the beginning of this story, Reader. Humanity created him to kill, and he did such a good job of killing that people were both shocked and deeply disgusted. They didn't want to be reminded of what they had created or what he had done. And he's not pretty, you know.

  No, people probably wouldn't have wanted to see him on their TV screen.

  What happened to Charger? He went where all soldiers go in peacetime, to clear rubble, build roads, and do whatever else they're asked to do.

  The werewolves, too? Oh, you mean Mac and Jill, the Lycans. Yes, they went with Charger because the three were linked for life.

  Why do you want to know what happened to Henry's girlfriend?

  Oh, I see, Henry cared about her, and so you care about her. Well, I can't argue with that. You'll be happy to know she surviv
ed and in a way that may surprise you.

  >>>

  Beth said quietly to the young girl who seemed to be dying in her arms, "After the invasion began, so many good people perished that I felt guilty because I survived." The blood from Anna's wound was warm and flowing down Beth's arms. For a moment, Beth relished the heat from the girl's fading life force. Months had passed in this frozen wasteland without the heat of the sun warming her pale, tired face.

  "I tried to reach him before we were evacuated, I really did, but my parents were in such a panic that I had no chance." The pain of the loss of her love made her choke up and her voice break. "I was sixteen when we met. He was my first and only lover." Beth tried to continue, but the emotions welling up from deep inside made her sob aloud.

  "What was his name?" the dying girl asked in a faint voice.

  "Henry," Beth said, fighting down the sobs and trying to regain her composure. "His name was Henry, though most of his friends called him Charger. And that's what he called himself when he came home on leave that one time."

  Beth shivered, then went on. "I met him in tenth grade. He was in my English class, and he was beautiful. All my friends told me he was no good, that he was a loser and would never amount to anything, but I didn't care. To me, he was the kindest and funniest guy I'd ever known."

  "Did you…you know…ever do it?" Anna asked, as her breathing became more labored.

  "Not at first, no. We dated for almost six months before that happened," Beth said. "He spent most of his time working in his dad's gas station out on the highway, so our time together was limited. My father disapproved of him because he didn't like Henry's father, and they never got along. And he kept saying Henry was weird. I think my mom liked Henry's dad, though. I know for a fact she liked Henry."

  Refugees had been in the frozen reaches of the arctic ice fields for nearly four months, and more came all the time. Though the military tried desperately to ensure that these survivors were well taken care of, it was still difficult to endure the constant cold. Beth and Anna, like other young people, had volunteered to ride out on snowmobiles every day, scouting for invaders who might be trying to reach the survivors.