Shadows

by Brian Whiting

  “Battleship has sustained critical damage.”

  “Missiles inbound!”

  The flash of the cruise missiles detonating faded, and in its place was a wall of the Gothan missiles inbound. Several had veered off course. Some were completely out of control. A majority were on a path toward the Enterprise.

  A red beam struck a missile and it detonated, causing the surrounding missiles to veer off course significantly.

  “Their pattern is too wide, I can’t evade them all,” Fena shouted.

  Another explosion as a red beam struck the explosive material in another missile.

  As the Enterprise continued to slow its progress toward the planet it came to a near stop, before reversing its direction of travel. Going backward while facing the same direction. Despite the pilot’s best attempts, several missiles made contact with the hull of the Enterprise.

  “It doesn’t sound like we are going to be fine,” Alex said through the speakers.

  “We are not faring too well ourselves,” Lanora responded.

  “Missiles are drilling into the hull!” Jack yelled.

  “Fena, get us enough speed away from the planet so that the fleet cannot catch up to us!” Lanora barked.

  “What about them?” Fena pointed to the unconscious tactical officer who had been sliding along the floor and now was floating around the bridge, since gravity had been turned off for maneuvering.

  “Do it before the missiles explode, damn it!” Lanora said, pounding her fist against her display screen, cracking it.

  Fena plugged in the commands to the computer. She felt the straps the moment she hit the execute button.

  Jack tried to grunt something but blacked out along with the rest of the crew.

  Explosions rippled along the hull of the Enterprise.

  Chapter 3

  Just a walk

  “What exactly am I looking at?” Grissom leaned against the nearby wall and looked at the ship’s designer.

  “It’s the new hull. What do you think?”

  Grissom shifted his eyes a few times between the sidecut of the hull and the designer. “I gotta be honest, it looks the same as the other one.”

  “What? No way, we included two new layers. This one has a nano-directional funneling layer, and this part here is infused with Thean supercapacitance.”

  “Uh-huh,” Grissom said. “Look, it sounds amazing. I approve it.” He turned to leave the fabrication room.

  “No, sir, you cannot leave yet.”

  “Excuse me?” Grissom’s expression turned deadly serious.

  “You don’t understand what this is. This layer will provide supplemental power to the vessel charged by cosmic radiation, and this layer will completely inhibit any and all known forms of radiation from penetrating the hull altogether.”

  Grissom’s expression didn’t change.

  “I—I just need your approval,” the designer said. He seemed unable to look Grissom in the eye any longer and focused on an odd crack in the flooring.

  “I have already given you approval.”

  “It will add time to the… build.” The designer made eye contact once more.

  Grissom had already turned away and began walking out of the room. “Next time just send a request like this via email.”

  A small contingent of United Earth Force personnel followed closely behind Grissom as he made his way through the halls of the UEF facility like an arrow. As he turned a corner, he observed a UEF worker standing on the top step of a ladder, reaching far above him in an attempt to change a light bulb.

  “Son, what the hell are you doing?”

  The man on the ladder panicked, and the ladder began to shake side to side. Grissom stepped down on the first step to stop the ladder’s wobbling. “I am just trying to change the light bulb, sir.”

  “That light bulb is not worth your neck, do it safely or don’t do it.”

  “Yes, sir,” the man said as he began to step down from the top step.

  Grissom stepped off the bottom step and continued down the hallway, which was busy with activity. Looking over the railing, he watched as the new custom-designed front glass doors to the complex were finally being installed.

  “Sir, you have a notification.”

  Grissom stopped and took a datapad from one of his followers. (Situation briefing ASAP, all members.)

  He handed the datapad back to the man and began walking back the way he had come. His followers were quick to step aside out of his way.

  Grissom passed a series of open doors on his way to the nearest elevator, stopping only when he heard the distinct sound of crying coming from one of the rooms. He looked into the doorway and saw a room that appeared to be a tiny lobby for an office space of some kind. He stepped through the door silently and made a beeline to the crying.

  He passed two doors before he arrived at a small break area, which was missing a fridge but contained a table with chairs and a large display screen that was turned off. Sitting in one of the chairs was a woman with long brown hair that completely covered her face. She was sobbing and not holding back while doing it.

  “What is the problem here?” he said with a matter of fact tone.

  The woman jolted into alertness, knocking over the chair and bumping the table hard as she got to her feet. She snapped her head around like a snake and stood in shock as she recognized who was standing in front of her.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Nonsense. If that were true you wouldn’t be crying.”

  She took a deep breath and, as if hoping that this meeting was by fate and deciding not to hold back, said, “It’s just, I lost my entire family in the Zorn invasion. I came here to find purpose with my life, you know. Get some meaning, maybe some revenge. I walked, bribed, and sold myself to get here from Washington state. When I finally did arrive, I am assigned to a position within…” She paused. “Family Services! Where I spend my entire day hearing other people’s sob stories about how hard life is, about people they lost. I spend countless hours switching people’s rooms, scrounging for materials to help ease their pain. What about my pain? I was a State Patrol officer, and now I am a tear catcher. My life has to be more than this, it’s got to be—”

  “More deserving.” Grissom had seen this attitude before with those under his command. “You survived, and now you feel you have to live in such a way that it makes your family’s death worth it, and tear-catching isn’t doing it for you.”

  The woman immediately shed more tears and nodded rapidly.

  Grissom held his hand back behind him expectantly. He only had to wait a moment before someone put a soft cloth in his hand. He reached forward with the cloth and wiped the tears away from her cheeks. Then he carefully cupped her face in both of his hands. He watched her eyes take a good look around his face, obviously taking in the scars pitting his skin, before coming to rest on his own eyes. As soon as she met his eyes he let go of her face and took a tiny step back, after leaving the cloth in her hand.

  “I’ll find your purpose,” he said. “Follow me.”

  Grissom turned away from her hastily and exited the office. Never looking back, he walked into the nearby elevator where he pushed the button for the top floor. He watched as the four members of his entourage entered the elevator behind him, followed by the woman. The tears were gone from her face; as Grissom and his team faced the elevator door, he sensed that she faced him directly with steel and determination. The moment the elevator doors slid open she spun on her bare feet and exited the elevator off to one side and took up a position directly behind Grissom as he walked toward the meeting room.

  All four members of his entourage veered off to a collection of couches situated just outside the door of the council meeting room while Grissom walked up to the door and placed his hand on a pad. The door opened, and he entered.

  As the woman tried to enter behind him, one of the others stopped her and said, “You can’t go in there.”

  Grissom was already
inside. The woman was about to turn away toward the couches outside the room when he said, “Come.”

  She quickly stepped through the door, and it shut behind her, leaving Grissom’s entourage in shock as they settled into the furniture.

  Grissom walked to the center of the room where there were two occupied chairs, as well as Alex’s chair, which was empty, and his own chair, all four equally spaced around a large circular table. “Stand directly behind me and say nothing,” he whispered into the woman’s ear before he approached his chair at the table.

  The room was dimly lit except for the table itself.

  “I take it you have a good reason for bringing someone not of the council in here,” Gloria asked.

  Looking to the woman he had just met, Grissom said, a little too loudly, “You will speak nothing of what is discussed in this room, do you understand?” Grissom sat down quietly in his chair and faced Gloria. “I’ll explain later, if that’s OK with everyone here.”

  Cindy looked as if she was going to object, but Grissom spoke up before she could. “What is the situation? I’m dealing with life and death matters that require my attention.” He looked at the table and confirmed that the fifth mystery member of the council was logged into the system and listening remotely.

  “Life and death indeed, a half hour ago we received a subspace message from the Enterprise. They reported being under attack. Haven’t heard from them since.”

  “The UEF Discovery is still a month from completion and another month of trials. We can offer no assistance.” Gloria said.

  “And I hear you extended the Discovery’s launch yet another month,” Cindy said calmly.

  A message from the mystery council member appeared on the circular table:

  (What for?)

  “Our guys have come up with a way to keep our shipmates one hundred percent safe from cosmic radiation.”

  “Really? That is good news!” Gloria commented, sitting up straight in her chair.

  “Indeed!” Cindy followed. “How?”

  “A material of sorts, they need to apply it to the sections already installed. Thankfully it’s just application to the outer hull, so it’s a simple matter of detaching and resetting hull sections.”

  (Alex needs us now. We can’t wait for upgrades, help him and come back, then get the upgrades once it’s over!)

  “Good point,” Cindy said.

  Grissom nodded. “Where are they located?”

  The table displayed a detailed chart of the star system, provided by the Enterprise. It was the initial scan into the system with the flight paths of all intersystem ships included.

  “They did it!” Cindy exclaimed.

  “Yeah and got attacked, again! Do we have any other intelligence about these beings?”

  “No. Alex did not provide us with any other updates, other than they were under attack.”

  (Can we cut any corners on launching the Discovery and speed that process up?)

  “I will not condone that. It’s far too dangerous. Plus, by the time we did arrive, whatever battle happened there will have been long over. However, we can tweak the load out on the Discovery, to give us an advantage for when we do arrive.” Grissom said and then continued.

  “I suggest we gut the ship of all the colonization equipment. Instead put on an APC and armed shuttles. We can even open the wall separating shuttle bays one and two and park the Destiny in there. Turn it into a little carrier of sorts. Expand the number of troops assigned to the ship!”

  “You mean turn it into a war vessel?” Gloria commented.

  “Who are you kidding?” Grissom said. “Every time we poke at a rock, it bloodies our nose. There has been a tremendous amount of harm done against humanity and very little gain since this all started. If we don’t do a better job of protecting ourselves, there won’t be humanity left to care about what kind of ships we build.” He said his voice slightly elevated.

  (Grissom is right, make it a carrier!)

  Grissom looked at the words on the table left by the mystery council member and said in agreement, “Carrier.”

  Cindy replied, “Carrier.”

  “For all the good it will do, I’m sticking to the original loadout,” Gloria said.

  Grissom stood and said, “Three out of four, I’ll oversee the refit immediately. But first there is another matter to discuss. The rumors have been confirmed, there are Zorn survivors on our planet.”

  The blank tabletop morphed into a satellite image of some South American terrain.

  “This is Bolivia,” Grissom said. “They went largely unscathed in the invasion. Their military was able to root out the drones within their territory without too much problem. Their population suffered greatly during the initial food shortages, but they have surpassed expectations and kept the country up and running. We last had direct contact with them two months ago. We tried checking on them three weeks ago and sent a shuttle yesterday to check on them. This is video they took of the area surrounding Palacio Quemado, the Palace of Government.”

  The video showed large poorly installed barbed-wire fence surrounding the building. Several armored personnel carriers were holed, some were burning. The ground dazzled and glittered with shell casings that reflected the sun. Several Zorn drones walked around the area. One was utterly tangled up in barbed wire and was trying to free itself from the chaotic bundle. The bodies of dead soldiers and citizens littered the scene.

  “So it’s true, more than one queen arrived and has survived the invasion.” Gloria leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily.

  “Queens!” the mystery woman standing behind Grissom whispered, unfortunately it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “Shut it,” Grissom mumbled. Then he added, “We need to root out the infestation before it spreads.”

  (Nuke the country. Do it now!) The suggestion of the mystery council member was plastered on the tabletop screen.

  “I think that’s an overreaction,” Cindy said as she eyed Grissom. “What about a queen kill team? Send them hunting. What do you think, Grissom?”

  “They survive because they hide in the dense jungle, where our sight advantage is useless. We will lose many men fighting a jungle war.”

  (Something must be done. We must stop them now.)

  “Agreed. Once we root out the queens the drones will perish once again. Since the government no longer exists, can we just add the territory to our own. There is some good farmland there.” Cindy raised an eyebrow.

  “Officially there are treaties in place that prevent the appropriation of other countries. Unofficially the countries that would probably care hardly exist and couldn’t do much to stop us.”

  “If a government doesn’t exist anymore, and Im not talking about defunct governments, I’m talking completely nonexistent. Then we have a duty to save as much as humanity as we can and If that means we must plant our flag then so be it. Grissom, you should see to it and make this your priority.” Gloria reached forward and finished her bottle of water.

  A quick silent vote occurred. Three to one in favor.

  “Anyone have anything else?” Cindy asked.

  “Meeting adjourned.” Grissom said standing up then exited the room. The woman was hot on his heels, and the moment they exited the room, the entourage jumped to their feet.

  “Sir!”

  “Let me be a part of the hunt team!” the woman said.

  Grissom stopped and turned to face her. “You want to hunt and kill drones!”

  “I want to kill queens, sir!”

  “See, that didn’t take long. Welcome to the team.” Grissom reached out and shook her hand. “Go report to Master Sergeant Biggs, tell him to put you through ‘the trial.’ You will find him by the annex building on the other side of the hangar bays. What’s your name?” Grissom asked as she turned to run off.

  “Dayanh Steepleton.”

  “Don’t go barefoot!” he shouted as she disappeared behind the corner of the nearest hallway.

>   While he watched her leave, Jackie appeared with a group of people following her, some of them children. Grissom stood and waited for them to approach while Gloria stood silently behind him.

  ***

  “Major Grissom, I have someone here who needs to speak with you.” Jackie watched as Grissom looked at his watch. For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to give her the time.

  “I can come back with cameras, if you want,” Jackie added.

  She watched as Grissom looked behind her at the skinny man loaded with tattoos and holding a small child. Troy and Payton.

  “What is it, son? I don’t have all day,” Grissom said.

  Jackie turned toward Troy and stepped out of the way. He looked Grissom in the face but couldn’t hold his gaze. He looked toward Jackie instead.

  “Start by confessing like you did with me,” she responded.

  “Well, sir, for the last few months I’ve had these kids staying in my residence.”

  Jackie watched the careless expression of a man who didn’t have time for this, cross Grissom’s face. “Sir, these kids are orphans, and Troy has taken it upon himself to house these kids to keep them out of the orphan camps.”

  The woman who had been standing behind Grissom approached Troy and the child he held. “I am a doctor. My name is Gloria. Can I take a look?” She was focused on the child’s face.

  Grissom took two steps closer to Jackie and attempted to whisper but not at all successfully. “Jackie, I couldn’t really care less if this man has decided to help a few extra people, are you really upset that he’s going out of his way helping people?”

  Without breaking eye contact with Grissom she responded, “Payton, why don’t you tell this man how you got that scar on your face?”

  While Gloria gave the child a brief look-over, the child told her story.

  “My family was killed by the aliens. Some people found me and took me to Atlanta Camp. I was there for a few days. It was scary. But they moved me to a Delaware safe zone. They said it was new, and I would be better there. It was bad. They would put food on a large table, and the big kids would eat until they were full and then let us eat whatever was left over. At first there was a lot of food, but more and more kids showed up and then I wasn’t getting anything to eat. The kids had to start tricking the older ones to get some food without them noticing. I was so hungry, I grabbed a melon and ran. But they caught me. They hit me a lot with a metal pipe. I asked them to stop but they wouldn’t listen. I had to wait for the next food delivery before more adults showed up and I asked for help and that my head hurt. A nice lady gave me a cookie and a bandage and told me to meet her at the fence for more cookies. She brought me bananas and bread but then she stopped showing up. Some of my friends decided to run away, and I went with them, but I lost them in a city. Umpay found me and brought me to Troy.”