by RWK Clark
“Good,” replied Mason. “We are all counting on you. Now, how much time are these steps going to take to complete in their entirety?”
Kamryn was using her mental calculator, ticking off minutes in her mind. Finally she responded with a simple, “Four to five hours, tops, and I’m overestimating for safety’s sake.”
“Wonderful. They will try to herd our armed forces first, I am almost sure. At least, they will if they are operating with any intelligent kind of strategy, anyway. Therefore, I am confident we will have time for you to complete your portion of our plan.” Mason paused, then continued, “I should add that our armed forces have been instructed to emerge from their places of hiding at a specific time, even if they have not received the order. That way, if we are all captured, yet have managed to complete the technological phase, they can come out and do their stuff in sufficient time. If we have not, they will still be able to choose their own course of action conducive to personal survival. I have instructed them to emerge at 1200 hours. Do you think you will be done by then for sure?”
Kamryn nodded vigorously and glanced at Wells’ office clock. “I anticipate I will be done by ten o’clock at the very latest, sir, but I will know for sure around eight. I will give you a heads-up then in case you want to tweak the time frame a bit for military personnel.”
All the men nodded, pleased. “Perfect,” stated Mason. “Kamryn, we all want you to know how appreciative we are for the service you are doing for your country and for the world. It is invaluable, and we recognize that. Should this end the way we all hope, you will be handsomely compensated.”
“Sir, let’s just all get out of this mess alive, okay?” She sounded confident, but she really wanted to cry. It was not the execution of her plan which made her doubt; it was wondering whether any of them would live or not.
Mason nodded yet again. “Well, then, we will let you get to work. I assume you will need your sidekick, Mr. Nichols. The rest of us are going to head down and pow-wow in the cafeteria for a bite. Have you two eaten? Because if not, we will have something brought up for you.”
“Thank you, sir. That would be good,” said Josh, smiling. He turned to Kamryn. “Ready, Tiger?”
She nodded and grabbed her manila folder from the table next to her. It contained every piece of paperwork she had collected during the course of the job, but she was certain she could complete the task without it. She had a mind like a steel trap.
They all rose and Kamryn walked over to the station at which her computer sat: a desk and chair, and a desktop horizontal file box with new tablets of paper. A pencil holder with new pencils had been placed there as well, and next to that sat an automatic pencil sharpener. She looked it all over, took a deep breath, and sat down. As she booted up the system the men left the room; Josh sat back down in his chair near Wells’ desk, and we’re off, she thought to herself as she typed her password into the computer.
∞
Superior stood regally before his armies, all of whom had been summoned to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool area. They stood at rapt attention by the hundreds, not one flinching or shifting in any way. They were a highly-disciplined group indeed. He began to pace back and forth in silence before them.
Secondary stood behind him and off to the side. The only thing moving on him were his snake-like eyes as he watched their leader intimidate their army with his very presence. Superior had come into his role upon the death of his father, back home on planet Kwan, more than ten Earth years ago. His name had been Senior, and he had been a good ruler. Never during his reign had the people been required to conduct a planetary extermination, although they were common in the history of the Kwanite people. By nature the Kwanites used more than they should when it came to needed resources, as did all conscious species, or so it seemed. Regardless of this fact, Senior had enacted a variety of methods which maintained the planet’s resources wonderfully, and the peoples had lived a happy existence for more than fifty Earth years.
When Senior had taken ill his son Superior had come into power, and he was nothing like the ruler his father was. His heart was black, and he hungered for power. Secondary was much older than Superior, though age did not show on the Kwanite people as it did on Earthlings. The fact was, Secondary had been the right hand man of Senior for the last five Earth years of his reign. He had dreaded seeing Superior come to power. He knew how the man enjoyed harming others, and how much he enjoyed seeing even the smallest bit of fear in their eyes.
It was the mark of a true tyrant.
But come to power Superior did, and now here they stood on a foreign planet, overtaking it with force and instilling dread and fear into the hearts and minds of its people. His father would roll over in his universal burial capsule if he knew. The horrid part was Superior would enjoy it if his father did know.
Superior stopped his pacing and faced the masses before him. He began to speak with a stern voice full of terrible purpose. “We will begin the final phase of herding today. We know that the remaining peoples are the ones in power, they are the top of the heap.” He paused for effect, looking his men over to see their reactions before continuing. “Because this is the fact, we must focus first on this planet’s fighting men. The captains of the other ships are filling their men in on the same. You are all quite blessed and fortunate to receive your orders directly from me!” He rose his arms in the air, pride beaming from his face, in a gesture which demanded that he be glorified.
“HEAR, HEAR SUPERIOR!” They all shouted in unison in their native tongue. This did not appease the ruler, though. He jerked his arms upward more violently, a sneer now on his face.
Louder now, “HEAR, HEAR SUPERIOR!!”
This seemed to placate the evil in the leader’s heart, and he put his arms down and continued. “When I dismiss you your focus will be on military personnel. You have received a briefing regarding where they can be found, in accordance with the information I have. If I learn of any hidden troops, you will be immediately given that information. Proceed, Kwanite Army!”
The footmen raised both arms in the air, pointing all fingers together toward the sky in salute. They then began to disperse in a very orderly and uniform manner.
The final phase of the herding had begun.
Chapter 20
Kamryn sat at her computer station vigorously working, concentrating hard on uploading the first video feed. She wanted to upload the first one to the ship in Washington. While this seemed like an insane move due to the great risk involved, she knew it was the only way she would be able to find out if it worked right or not. If nothing seemed to change regarding the Oppressors behavior, she would know that it had been a successful hack. If their behavior did change, well…
She had not shared this intent with the men. She believed they would not comprehend her thinking. They would want her to send the first feed to a different ship, but that could result in a delay of discovery, and as she continued with the upload process all of the Oppressors would know her intent and come unglued. In her mind, this was the only way.
It was nearing five-thirty, and the first video feed was ready to be sent to the ship above. She was nervous, terribly so, and had to force herself to tap the enter key. Her hand hovered over it for several seconds, finally tapping down hard. The upload began.
Within thirty seconds it was complete. She clicked her mouse on another tab which allowed her to view the ship’s video feed, which she had already pulled up first and foremost. Sure enough, her feed was running successfully.
“The first video is up and running, Josh. On to the next.” She didn’t even look away from her screen. She simply went to work on the next.
Josh came over and watched over her shoulder as she feverishly worked. She was amazing. “How will we know if they identify it or not?”
She stopped then, but only long enough to answer him. “Because I sent the first feed to the ship over Washington. If we get word of chaos on the part of the Oppressors, well, then they will be o
nto us.” She turned back to the system.
At twenty minutes to six the phone on Wells’ desk chirped loudly, making Josh jump. Kamryn seemed to not even here it. With trepidation Josh picked up the receiver and spoke. “Peter Wells office.”
“Josh, this is Peter. The final phase of the herding has already begun, and as we suspected they have begun with military personnel. They are herding administrative workers first.” Josh could hear a tremor in his voice.
He replied, “It’s going to be fine. Kamryn successfully uploaded the first feed to the ship over Washington. She is partially through with the next. Please keep us posted on any change in the Oppressors’ behavior that would signify that they recognize the video as being different, please.”
“Will do. We are currently on the top floor. Have her keep pounding away. If you need us we are at extension 742.” Then Peter Wells was gone.
Five minutes later Kamryn stated, “Done with number two. It’s good.” She continued to work.
Josh began pacing at this point. His armpits were beginning to sweat, as was his forehead. They were playing a very dangerous game, but when the stakes were human lives, what choice did any of them have?
Not even fifteen minutes passed before Kamryn announced the completion of the third upload, and within the next ninety minutes, all of the video feeds were replaced in every ship around the globe. She stood and stretched. Her eyes were lit with an excited fire.
“I can’t believe how smoothly this is going so far. It worked perfectly, just the way I would want it to. I need a five minute break.” She began to pace in an effort to get her blood flowing. “Next, I will send the signal block to the mother ship, and at the precise moment I do, I will send up my false signal.” She stopped pacing. She was looking at the window as though she had never seen one before.
“Josh, I never realized we were on the main floor here in Wells’ office.” She walked to the window and peeked out around the shade at its edge.
He nodded. “Yeah, we’ve been in this building for so long you probably just lost your bearings. But we are on the main floor. Why?”
“How safe are we really if we are on the main floor?” She turned to him with a stricken look in her eyes. “I need to get back to work. We may have no time to lose.
She sat back at her desk, and Josh watched over her shoulder as she pulled up a split screen and began to work off both, back and forth, one after the other. He watched her for a moment, then began to pace himself. She was right. If the Oppressors were going to clear out administrative personnel, wouldn’t they consider government employees working at the Pentagon to be in that category?
After forty-five minutes Kamryn stopped tapping and spoke. “Josh, it’s time,” she said.
He had been at the window peeking out as she had. The Oppressors were dragging people, kicking and screaming, from some place. Some of them were in government-issue uniform. Many of them wore traditional professional dress.
This was not good.
He turned to her. “Good, because I think these bastards are coming our way, Kam.”
Her eyes widened, and he walked over to her. “Are you ready? If so, do it, babe.”
She turned back to the computer, and with a shaking hand she took hold of her mouse. “I have to click on one screen with the mouse to issue one command, and then at the same time I have to manually press enter for the other. I’m going to count backward from three; they must be done at the exact same time. Any error will glitch their system and give us away.” Her voice trembled with her hands. “Count with me, Josh.”
They began, “Three…”
There was a crash from somewhere in the building.
“Two…”
“One.”
Kamryn clicked the mouse and the enter button together. It was done.
“We did it, Josh. I have control of their ships.”
Josh ran over and locked the door to the office. He began stacking office furniture against it while Kam tapped away like crazy. Now she was working on shutting down their guns.
“Hurry, Kam. They’re in the building, I know it!”
As he worked to barricade them in the office phone chirped. He ran to it and picked it up. “Yeah?”
“Josh, they have gained entrance into the Pentagon. Where are you two at with the plan?” Wells voice was tinged with panic.
“It’s done. She is working on shutting down their weapons and communications. Tell forces to advance sooner. They can’t wait until noon! I’m barricading the door, but I can hear commotion. What do you want us to do?” He was breathing hard and keeping a close watch on the door.
Wells replied, “Keep moving. When you are finished find a place to hide. I will tell Carson Wood to contact all branches of the armed forces. We will advance within the hour.”
Josh hung up the phone and resumed building the barricade. “They are going to advance within the hour.”
“Good,” Kamryn replied. She turned from her computer. “I have crippled their ability to communicate remotely, and I have shut down each ship’s main weapon. I cannot control their personal arms though, Josh. It appears that those are independent. We will have to make do.”
She rose and began helping him. They took everything off of Wells’ desk and began to move it to the door as well. It was very heavy, and they had to use their full weight to get it across the room. They piled his mini-refrigerator, filing cabinet, and the small tables on that. Finally, they pushed the last chairs and a bookcase in front of all that. It was all they could do.
The sounds coming from outside the office were distant, but they were definitely the sounds of the Oppressors herding fighting people. “Kamryn, we need to get into the closet.”
Without delay she spun around and headed for it, stopping only to shut off the power to the computer screen and grab her manila envelope filled with notes. She didn’t want them to have any access to information regarding what she had done. With that in hand, she headed into the closet, Josh right behind her. He closed the door, and in the darkness he pushed her toward the very back of the closet.
He lit the screen on his smartphone so they would have light to look around. At the rear of the closet there were three boxes stacked up. He moved around her and pushed them a short distance closer to the front. He then grabbed her arm. “We will crouch here, behind the boxes.”
They got down, making themselves as small as possible. He made sure his cell was face down on the floor in case it lit up for any reason. They didn’t speak. They just listened to the crashes, bangs, and screams coming from the distance outside of Wells’ office.
But they were getting closer all the time. It was impossible to tell how close they really were. The only thing that could be discerned was the fact that the Oppressors were nearing them in their cramped little hiding place.
The hiding place with no way out.
∞
General Richard Fabriz addressed the hundreds of troops in the underground bunker in which he, too, was housed.
“Men! We will advance! Technological steps of the strategy have been completed, and in fifteen minutes we will take the Oppressors. We know no fear; we fight for our lives and for the lives of those we love. We will take no prisoners, and not one of us will surrender to their herding efforts. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
He continued, “Stand at attention until I give the order.”
The same thing was taking place in underground bunkers strategically placed all over the world. They were some of the best kept secrets in existence, and now each and every member of the military was eternally grateful for them.
∞
Men and women were led to the transport vehicles which would take them to the facilities where they would test. At the same time, men and women were being led out the back door of each facility. Some were put on small ships which would take them to their new home. Others were led to a building located behind the main facility. There they would be eliminated. Some appea
red calm. Women sobbed. Others fought.
There was not one child among the masses.
Chapter 21
Superior sat in his chair calmly. He was speaking to Secondary, and though his demeanor was calm, his voice was harsh, even panicked.
“Something indeed is wrong! I have not heard from one man in our army. When I attempt to communicate with them I receive no response!”
Secondary was afraid to even speak. His mind continued to flash back to Subordinate’s body as it crumpled to the floor, chest and stomach all but gone.
“Leader, have you had your system team look into it?”
Superior growled loudly, and it seemed to come from the very depths of his being, making Secondary shudder with dread. “Yes! They are attempting to pinpoint any issues now. I fear these beings have truly had something up their sleeves all along!” He rose from his seat and began to pace about his sanctum. Just then another of his minions entered his quarters.
“Leader, we were in the midst of checking on communications when we discovered that our visuals have been… tampered with.” The man was almost cowering with fear.
Calmly, with a still voice, Superior asked, “Tampered with?”
“Ye-ye-yes, Leader. They show the same visual as normal, but we can see none of our army or follow any of the herding whatsoever. It appears it is not the true visual.” The minion took a step back, anticipating the reaction to come.
“AAARRRGGHHH!!!” Superior raised his fists into the air and shook them violently. He took two long strides, and reaching the trembling minion, took him by the throat and squeezed.
The petty servant began to struggle against the leader’s attack, but he was no match for the one before him. Superior had been trained in battle his entire existence, and this species was as weak naturally, if not weaker in body, than the humans themselves. Superior had the upper hand.