Indian Hill (43 page)
“When we powered up, the ship’s shield defense system was automatically engaged. Had we not been we
may
have been vaporized like everybody else that was in the launch bay.”
“Damn shame, damn shame,” I said again. The commander looked at me funny, he was debating in his mind whether I was being honest or not. I wasn’t. I felt for the crew of the space shuttle, but they knew their mission, and their mission had succeeded beyond their wildest wishes. It would be months or possibly years before this launch bay was operational, and that was going to put a huge crimp in the Progerians’ plans.
“Ground control to USS Liberation. Ground Control to USS Liberation. Sir, I’ve been trying to reach the shuttle for over half an hour. Their comm must be down.”
“Major, you saw the spike on the charts, their comm isn’t down. It’s non-existent,” the general said with deep regret in his voice.
“That can’t be it. That can’t be the end of them. Can it?” The major could not believe he had just lost his best friend. How could he go to the colonel’s wife and tell her she was a widow and that her sons were now going to grow up without a father? He didn’t believe that he could do it. He began to cry right at the console. “Ground control to USS Liberation,” he sobbed in desperation.
“Major, pull yourself together!” the general said, but with concern interlaced through the stern words. “I’ve got to believe that we did little more than stir them up and we are going to need all the experience we can right here, right now. I know
it's
difficult son, but there will be plenty of time to mourn after all this is over.”
“Yes sir, I understand sir, it’s just that we went through the academy together and I’m his kids’ godfather. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to face his wife, my sister, again.”
“Son, we are going to lose a lot more fine men before this campaign is over. We have to focus on the task at hand. If we lose our grip now, we’ll never be able to regain it.”
“Sir, yes sir. Would you mind if I took a break to go compose myself?”
“Not at all Major. As a matter of fact, why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Be back here first thing in the morning. We are going to have to go over all the data we are receiving to see if we put a dent in that ship.”
“First thing tomorrow. Aye sir.” The major turned to head out of the control room when static began to pour through the overhead speakers. Hope surged through his chest like a tidal wave.
“Hello Earth. Hello Earth.” It came through tinny and was not couched at all in proper military jargon.
T
he major reasoned that in a stressful situation military procedure can and usually is ignored.
“Colonel, Colonel, is that you?”
“Earth, please respond. Can you hear us?” The tinny voice came through again, the signal was starting to pick up some strength.
“Colonel, this is Ground Control, do you copy?” The major actually had his fingers crossed; it had to be them, who else could be broadcasting from near Venus.
"
I’m sorry, this is not the colonel, my name is Mike Talbot, I am aboard the alien shuttle vessel ‘Star Hopper.’ I have with us one highly ranked hostage and a bunch of very happy civilians slash jail breakers.”
The general motioned for the microphone. “I’m sorry son, my name is General Burkhalter, could you please repeat your name again.”
“Sure thing General, my name is Mike Talbot.”
“Were you at Red Rocks son?”
“That would be affirmative sir.”
“How did you come to be flying back home with a hostage on an alien ship?”
“Sir that’s going to be a long story, and I’m not one hundred percent sure we won’t be hunted down and killed.” The general couldn’t believe the calmness in this youth’s voice for the words he had just presented. “So I want to make sure that I get out a few things before that possibility happens. I can also guarantee, General, that this call home is being monitored.”
The major covered up the mike and spoke softly to the general. “Sir, how can we be sure this isn’t some sort of elaborate trap.”
“Major, it just might be, but since we’re not talking to anyone else at the moment we might as well hear out what he has to say.”
“Sir, General, you still there?”
“Yes son, I’m still here.”
“Our systems took a pretty good jolt from the explosion. And occasionally things will flare out for a while.” This ship had witnessed the explosion first hand
, the general thought to himself.
“Sir, first off. These aliens are not friendly. I repeat not friendly. They are extremely hostile.”
“Well Major, if this is a trap it is sure is a darned crazy way to start one,” the general said softly out of range of the mike pick-up.
“Go on son.”
“Well sir, from what I’ve gathered in my extensive stay aboard the ship, they are highly evolved species resembling crocodiles or possibly alligators or both. Their evolutionary path closely mimicked our own with one glaringly different fact.”
“What is it?” The general was on the edge of his seat.
“They didn’t have a planet crippling meteor hit. They had all those extra years to evolve and become the assholes that they are. They didn’t have to start from scratch like our planet did. Sir, they are coming to Earth with the full intention of taking it over and enslaving us. Sir, we are to become their new food source. They like the way we taste. I hope the months that that ship has been parked out there have given you enough time to get it together down there.”
The general was upset, he had let the President talk him down on the defense buildup and now it was going to bite him in the ass big time. He made a mental note to himself to throw what was ever necessary to Paul’s growing troops.
“Sir, the explosion is going to throw a huge wrench in their plans but this species is very industrious and clever, it won’t hamper them forever.”
“Son, what can you tell me about the explosion?”
“Sir, to be honest with you, we felt it more than saw it. I
did
witness firsthand the damage it did, and it was incredible. It had to have vaporized at least three hundred to three hundred and fifty of the Genogerian guards.”
“Genogerians?”
“Yes sir, that is a sort of sub-species. There are the Progerians who are the ruling class, and the lesser-evolved Genogerians who do their dirty work. The Genogerians would be roughly equal to Cro-Magnon man on Earth had they survived. The Progerians realized early on that they could use this species for their own benefit, so you see the notion of enslavement runs deep in them. The Progerians are big on war as long as they don’t have to physically be involved. I have some theories about this sir, but I don’t wish to express them over the party line. With the way this ship flies we should be in your air space tomorrow. Could you please send up landing coordinates? I will make sure that my distinguished guest follows them to a tee. Sir, I am pretty exhausted and I plan to get some shut-eye here soon. But before I do that, I just wanted to express my deepest gratitude for th
ose
men that sacrificed their lives so that we could have this chance at freedom.”
“You said us son. How many of you are on board there?”
“Roughly thirty sir, I can’t get a straight count because I can’t even see straight. It’s been a long and difficult day.”
“For us too son, for us too. You get some rest. We’ll send the coordinates up to your ‘pilot.’”
“Thank you sir, I’ll see you tomorrow. Over and out.”
“Over and out.”
“Sir, you can’t let them land here.”
“Don’t worry Major, I have no intention of leading a potential enemy straight to our command center. I want you to get every National Guard on the Eastern seaboard awake and ready. I’m going to have that ship land at that old landing strip in upstate
Maine
. Go pack a bag Major, we’re going to Vacationland.”
* * *
“Deb, could you please get two girls to keep their rifles trained on him at all times. Have them rotate out every hour. I have got to go get some sleep or I am going to fall over.” I headed down the aisle and my breathing almost stopped, Beth was in the middle of the aisle waiting for me. And to be honest it didn’t look like concern and love on her face. I wasn’t in the mood.
“We need to talk,” she said in an urgent voice.
“It’s going to have to wait.”
“I don’t want it to wait.”
I did
n’t remember her having a spoiled streak in her. Maybe all that ‘Queen of the Games’ crap went to her head.
“Beth, I’ve killed over a dozen other living beings today, I’m a little bushed. So unless this ship is on fire it’s going to have to wait.” She shut up but she didn’t look pleased about it. Screw her, I thought. I risked my very being for her, and she was itching to tell me to get lost. Well another eight hours wouldn’t change anything.
Either this ship was a lot faster than I had anticipated or I had slept a lot longer than eight hours. I wiped crusties away from my eyes and tried my best to orient myself. The women looked downright giddy, I can’t say that I blame them. Earth was huge in the window.
“How much longer Commander?”
“Five, possibly six of your Earth hours.” His face wore the complete opposite expression than that of his passengers. He seemed almost sullen. Wow, the High and Mighty Supreme Commander beaten that easily. I didn’t think so. I would double the guards until the military took him off of my hands.
“Have you slept at all, Commander?”
“Progerians, unlike most of the lower species, only require three to four hours of sleep per night and can go for up to five days without sleeping at all. With no visible signs of fatigue. Unlike you lesser species.”
“Ah there’s the Supreme Commander I’ve come to know and love.” He didn’t find it in the least amusing. As far as I knew, the Progerians didn’t even have an equivalent word for love. Why would they, they
only had sex to reproduce not nurture
.
“Commander, how old are you?” Th
at
struck me as a question that I wanted answered. If he would comply or not, I wasn’t sure, and I wasn’t going to threaten him for that little nugget of knowledge. I’d let the military decide upon that. I wanted to be as far away from this insanity as was humanly possible. The commander just sat and stared out the window, I guess staring at the ever-growing inevitability looming in front of him. Just when I thought that he wasn’t going to answer, or quite possibly hadn’t heard me, he spoke.
“One hundred and twelve of your human years.”
“Holy shit!” I said as I spit out the water I had been drinking. That was not a number I had been expecting. “Is that old for your species?”
“It is old, I would be considered in the autumn of my years. But a reasonably healthy Progerian lives to an average of one hundred forty-five to one hundred fifty years. Unless, of course, an unnatural event occurs,” as he once again returned his gaze to my looming planet.
I thought to myself, in another lifetime I might have been able to muster up some pity for him. But I searched deep within my soul and there was none. He was a monster worse than any ever dredged up in the nursery rhymes of my youth. I hoped that the military pried every possible piece of information out of him by whatever means necessary and then threw his dried up husk on the nearest trash heap. He had been responsible for at least nine thousand or so human deaths that I knew of. And needless to say all the other poor civilizations they had bumped into. No, the world, scratch that, the universe would be a much better place without him in it.
“Deb, have you gotten any sleep?”
“I got a few hours but I wanted to make sure that all the girls were rested and that he was covered by at least two people at all times.”
“Why don’t you go get some shut eye? I’ll take care of the guard duty from here on out.”
“Thank you,” she said wearily. “We need to talk later.”
“I know, I know. I’ve been getting a lot of that lately.”
She raised one eyebrow, then turned to head towards the back of the ship.
“Tanya, could you please make sure there is always one lady up here with a weapon trained straight on his back? I want the shifts rotated on the half hour. I don’t want any one getting itchy fingers, and I don’t want anyone getting lax. I’m getting worried that the closer we get to home the more desperate he’s going to become.”