Veezee: The Invasion

by Clyde Key

  * * *

  The new alien camp was about the same size as the first, but this camp was guarded by globes that were stationed all around the periphery. These globes were larger than they had seen before, and they were not quite the same color, Ed thought. While the others had been silvery colored, these were light gray and had a very dull appearance. Also, Ed noticed, there was no gap larger than a couple of meters between globes.

  Marilee stared at the globes. “What? Those are not the same! How do we get in there?”

  “Don’t know,” said Ed. “Let’s see what Baines thinks.”

  Ed keyed the comphone and called the major, but all they got in return was a loud burst of static. Ed keyed the comphone again and said, “Please repeat, Major. We just got a bunch of noise that time.” But again the speaker erupted with a startling buzz.

  Then Baines’ floater moved around beside them. When Ed saw the other gullwing door come up, he opened his door. “Let’s back off somewhere to talk about this,” said Baines. “We’re never going to get through all this static.”

  They all followed the major back a couple of kilometers from the alien camp. When Baines called them again then, they still heard static, but they could understand Baines. “I can hear you now,” said Ed, “but it’s still noisy. Let’s get out and talk.”

  “Roger,” said Baines, over the static.

  Marilee and Taylor set their vehicles to hover and Ed and Major Baines stepped out onto the ground. “How do we get in there, Major?” asked Ed.

  “The only two ways are through or over,” said Baines. “I vote for going over the top.”

  “Do you think they’ll let us?”

  “I don’t know. They’re hard to figure. But I’ve got a plan.”

  “Good, because I don’t,” said Ed. “Let’s hear it.”

  “First off, we create a diversion. Three floaters—all the rest of the squad—they all go back there the way we just came. They had to know we were there so they’ll be watching right there. Now Lt. Taylor leads the squad right close to the aliens, making several passes. All the while, we’ll head up that deep gully—arroyo—on the other side of the camp. When we get there, we just pop up and go over at high speed.”

  “Yeah, that will probably get us in. Then what?”

  “Beats me. What we do in there is your business, Colonel.”

  “Um huh. I guess it is. I’ll figure out what to do when we get there, I hope. You’d better fill the troops in on the details.”

  Major Baines called the younger troops out and told them of the plan. Then he added the contingency, “If we aren’t out of there in fifteen minutes, go back to Kingman. Call headquarters, but not until you’re a few kilometers from here. Also, if you see any unusual action developing, same instructions: get away from here!”

  “Just in case, who are you leaving in charge if we don’t come out?” asked Ed.

  “That will be Lt. Taylor.”

  Richie Taylor perked up, but Marilee’s eyes flashed. Then she looked away quickly when she noticed Ed was watching her. She thinks she should be next in line, thought Ed, but she’ll get over it.

  When they got back in the floaters, Ed took Richie Taylor’s place with the major in the lead vehicle and Taylor got into the floater with Marilee. The three floaters with the younger troops started back toward the camp but Ed and the major took off in the opposite direction until they reached the gully.

  “You don’t have a laser gun, do you?” asked Baines.

  “Nah.” Ed nodded. “I don’t want one. No better than I can see, I’d probably be more dangerous to you than the enemy.”

  “But I’d feel more comfortable if you were armed,” said Baines. “There’s another pistol in the crate behind you.”

  “I suppose,” said Ed. He took a pistol from the box and looked at it. Except for being somewhat heavier, it didn’t seem much different from the plastic water pistols he’d played with as a child. “These things sure don’t look like much to be so dangerous.”

  “Yeah. That’s for sure. Do you know how to use a laser pistol?”

  “No. I’ve never even fired a gun.”

  “Hah! Some colonel!” chuckled Baines. “You’re the only troop in your whole army who doesn’t use a gun!”

  “Maybe I won’t have to.”

  “Well, I certainly hope not, too! But if you do, you turn the safety off first—that’s two little buttons, one on each side. You have to push them both up at the same time and there’s a timer that turns it off if you don’t use it in about three minutes. Then you just point it and pull the trigger. Don’t aim it; just point and shoot.”

  Ed stuck the pistol in his belt just as they reached the end of the gully. The major took the floater up and headed it toward the row of globes at the edge of the alien camp. Then, just before he was going to zoom up and over, the line of globes separated right in front of them, so Ed and Baines went right into the camp unobstructed. “My gosh! They were expecting us anyway!” said Baines. “They let us come in here.

  Baines slowed the floater to a crawl while they looked about them. Then three globes approached, small silvery ones this time instead of large gray globes like the ones that guarded the outer edge of the camp. One globe hovered briefly in front of their floater then moved away. The other globes moved behind them and moved in like they were herding cattle. “They want us to follow that one,” said Ed.

  “So I guess we will, said Baines.

  They followed to the approximate center of the camp, where they saw one large silver globe surrounded by the smaller ones. “That’ll be the oldest Veezee,” said Ed. “That’s the one we’ll have to talk to.” Then the tier of globes separated and Ed and Baines drove right up near the large one. “I presume this is the front side,” said Ed.

  Baines left the vehicle on autohover a few centimeters above the ground, and the two old soldiers climbed out and stood in front of the large globe. The globe opened in the same way they’d seen before, revealing one putrid alien who wore a silver disk on a belt.

  Ed spoke up loudly. “I am Colonel Halloran of the United States Army and I bring greetings from our president. Are you the Eldest Veezee?”

  Scratchy sound emanated from the disk. “I am Eldest.”

  “Very good,” said Ed. “I’m here today with a proposal from President Litton. She is willing to grant you some additional room if you are willing to concede to some minor conditions that happen to be very important to us.”

  “What are the conditions that your president wishes to impose?”

  “First, our president will allow you to expand your range to the north of this location, in the areas where the people have already been killed by your rocket fumes, but you must wait until our burial crews have tended to the bodies of all the victims. They must be properly buried.”

  “Since the humans are already dead, why would your president impose this condition?”

  Ed sputtered. “Because... because you aliens are known to be eating the corpses! That just is not acceptable!”

  “That is an unreasonable condition,” said Eldest. “Veezee know very well that many species on your planet eat lesser beings, and it is normally after the victims are dead. We know that humans eat the flesh of lesser beings regularly.”

  “What!! Listen to me, you stinking bag of crap! Humans are not lesser than anything but God. And we don’t intend to allow you filthy...!”

  Baines grabbed Ed’s arm. “Hold on, Ed. Don’t lose control!”

  Ed could feel his face getting warm and his heart thumping. “Okay, I’ll try. Now, there are other conditions. Aliens must send representatives to Washington to deal with our government on all issues, including when you may move into any new areas. There can be no more than three. They must be escorted by our army and they must not park their rocket globes anywhere except in designated areas.

  “And the last condition our president imposes is that all aliens except your representatives must go back inside our guard lines
. We know that some aliens are outside these boundaries now and they must return until it is permitted to expand your area.”

  “Are those all the conditions your president requests?”

  “Those are orders, not requests,” said Ed. “That is all for now but there will undoubtedly be new conditions imposed even as there will certainly be additional freedoms allowed when we learn more about you.”

  “Now there are conditions Veezee must impose,” said the Eldest.

  “No, no, no, no!” Ed’s voice rose as he responded. “Aliens—or Veezees or whatever you scum call yourselves—you are in no position to impose anything! This is our country and our planet and any resistance to our laws will be considered an act of war! You will suffer the consequences!”

  “Hold on there, Ed! Don’t lose it!” said Baines. “You’re supposed to just say your piece and let’s get out of here!” Baines was looking around at the aliens that had surrounded them during the exchange, including the aliens that had come between the humans and their floater.

  Then Ed saw what frightened Baines and his breath grew even shorter, to the point that Ed was becoming a bit dizzy. A large group of aliens surrounded them and was closing in around them. “Uh oh, Major! I’m not feeling too good. I’m way too old for this sort of thing!”

  Then the Eldest Veezee spoke again. “Veezee will send representatives to your Washington, but there will be more than three. It is required that Veezee be no more than 320 Earth kilometers apart so that all Veezee may think the thoughts of the Eldest. We will place three Veezee at each point and humans must not attack them.”

  “No, wait! That’s way too many,” said Ed. “We can’t allow that many aliens across the country.”

  “Come on, Colonel! Agree to it and let’s get out of here!” said Baines. “It’s going to be moot anyway if we can’t get back to the floater!”

  Ed looked around. “Very well. I will stipulate that and I think President Litton will agree to it. Now, we are going to leave so we can report back to her. Have your representatives report to our outpost station nearest here and wait for escorts. We will guarantee safety for them if they make no threatening moves or try to go without escort.”

  As they turned toward the floater, Ed saw Major Baines take his pistol from its holster and push the two safety buttons, so he did the same. As they moved toward the floater, the aliens moved back but left barely enough room for them to get through. “Wait a minute, Major,” said Ed. “Don’t get too close to them. They have stingers!” Ed turned back to face the Eldest Veezee. “Please tell them to move so we can get to our vehicle.”

  The aliens moved about half a meter. It was still not enough room to suit Ed and he held back, but Baines started on through. Ed’s heart jumped when he saw the thin alien arms unfurling and reaching for Baines. Ed pointed the pistol at the alien nearest Baines and pressed the trigger. There was a bright flash and that alien collapsed into a pile of quivering muck. Then Ed shot the next one and the slimy substance from that one ran completely across Ed’s path. Baines jumped away and reached the floater but Ed was stuck, trapped between converging aliens and the spreading, stinking puddle of alien goo. Just for an instant, he considered trying to jump over the puddle but he saw the floater rise over the aliens and come toward him. “Grab on!” yelled Baines, and Ed hooked an arm over a strut. The floater went slowly up about ten meters then started accelerating away from the center of the alien camp. Only when they had gone several hundred meters out of the camp, did Baines let the floater settle down so Ed could get off the strut and crawl clumsily into the floater. Ed sprawled back across the seat.

  “What now, Colonel?” asked Baines.

  “Get the rest of the troops and let’s get back to Kingman.” The world seemed like it was closing in on Ed, and he gasped for breath. “Hurry! I think I’m having a heart attack!”

  29

  Aug. 2, 2112

  President Litton was very unhappy with the reports. First, that Halloran and Baines had to shoot their way out of the alien compound, killing some aliens in the process, was bad enough. But even worse was the news of Ed Halloran’s heart attack. Arlene Sisk brought the disturbing news via the special comphone circuit from AABC. It also disturbed Litton greatly that it seemed—to the president, at least—that Sisk actually relished bearing the bad tidings.

  “What did I tell you before about Halloran’s dangerous macho mentality?” Sisk had asked. “And now his health is another problem! I’m telling you: you ought to make the army back away from this so AABC can do its job.”

  So Clarice Litton sat alone in the Oval Office, weary of bearing this unexpected and unwanted burden. It wasn’t supposed to have been like this, she thought. Like a majority of citizens and like almost every public servant, she had bought into the premise that aliens would bring only good things to our world. They were supposed to bring new ideas and new technologies. They were supposed to teach us how to care for each other. They would even teach humans how to copy their perfect civilization that had no trace of bigotry or prejudice.

  That last part was the problem. Humans all over the world were prone to prejudice, to bias against others who were different, and everybody knew it even if some people wouldn’t admit it. So naturally, upright and correct people feared that widespread prejudice about the aliens—The Visitors—would cause problems and that led to the formation of AABC, whose purpose was education. AABC would eliminate bias against The Visitors before it ever developed.

  There had always been a few nay-sayers. Mostly it was the crackpots and cranks who warned that aliens might not be all they claimed to be—or what AABC claimed, since aliens actually gave little real information about themselves. Of course, very few of those people were in the government because agencies naturally hired only people who were sympathetic to the cause for which the agencies were established. The few exceptions were people like Ed Halloran, hired because of connections. Most of the people in AABC who were wary of aliens kept quiet about it, because they all knew that expressing contrary thoughts would stifle a career.

  That’s the way the public’s ideas about aliens had been nurtured for about all the years Litton could remember. So it was natural to expect the public sympathy that was building for The Visitors, the hunger that people had to actually see and hear and talk with The Visitors. Even people who were apprehensive about the aliens had a profound curiosity about them.

  But if The Visitors brought even a small portion of the good that had been claimed, it would be wrong to deny it from the world. On the other hand, what if the aliens came to conquer, to pillage? Was it possible they would try to eliminate the human race from the Earth? And why did the aliens leave their own planet? Did they pollute and destroy it so it was no longer habitable? Or perhaps they were not peaceful after all, and these were forced away. Clarice Litton cried and sighed. Her frail shoulders bowed under the great weight. And yet she feared to relinquish any of the load, for she judged between those who were hostile to the aliens and those who favored complete accommodation. Hardly anybody wanted to walk the cautious path she followed.