Death From Above

A new day begins, though it was still very early. The sun rise was barely visible and peeking through the windows of Lieutenant Aaron Schwartz’s house. Amelia sat in his living room with a cup of coffee. She couldn’t remember how many cups she had drank to try and stay awake, but being this tired made her act a little goofy. She was talking loudly and laughing about Aaron’s miserable defeat at a game of chess, while he was in his room trying to get dressed in his uniform. After straightening himself up, Aaron walks out to the living room.

“At least you are a humble winner,” he stated sarcastically.

“I like to think so,” She replies back, with the smile from laughing still on her face. However, at the sight of Aaron being ready to go, her smile faded. She knew what came next.

“Let’s go,” he said simply and somberly. “You should head home, and I’ll let you know what happens.” He begins to head for the door, and Amelia gets up slowly to follow.

The walk to their cars was silent. What else could be said? There was no comfort that could be given, until they found out what the General would plan to do.

Amelia, was grabbing the handle of her car door, when she stopped and looked over at Aaron about to get into his own car. She walked over to him quickly, and he turned to face her. She would get really close to him, then quickly stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss.

“Good luck,” She said, looking into his eyes. She saw the surprise in his face. However, before she could react further, Aaron puts his arms around her and gives her a longer, deeper kiss.

When he pulls back, Amelia was the one looking stunned. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. However, they were both not sure of what to do next. Aaron then let out a soft chuckle and winked.

“I’m going to need all the luck I can get.” He said, breaking the silence. He then lets go of her, and gets in his car. Amelia lingers for just a moment, before getting into her own car. They both pull out going different directions.

Aaron found himself in General Jackson’s office. Many higher ranking men stood around the room to hear the story. Aaron had just told them about his adventure on the spaceship, only he left out Amelia’s part in it. He didn’t want her involved anymore than she had to be. The General listens to everything in detail, taking it very seriously.

“With our reports from the Pentagon, I have every reason to believe what you are saying,” General Jackson said, once Aaron was done. “I have been given direct orders that we should strike if we locate them, if we have reason to believe they are a threat.” He then leans back in his desk chair. “With what you describe, I say they are a threat. Is there anything else you’d like to add?”

“I…” Aaron hesitates a bit, trying to find the right words to say. “I believe it’s possible that they have human hostages.” He keeps his eyes on the General, to watch his reaction. “I would like for us to see if we can locate them and..”

“I’m afraid we can’t risk it,” General Jackson interrupted. “This is a global scale threat. As much as I don’t like it, we can’t sacrifice our soldiers, trying to infiltrate a ship we don’t even know if we can infiltrate.” The General stood from his chair and salutes Aaron. “You have done your country… no, the world, a great service. Thank you, Lieutenant.” He lowers his hand, and nods. “I’ll take it from here.”

Aaron didn’t like being called a hero in order to be dismissed. However, it was exactly that, a dismissal. Despite being on the ship himself, General Jackson wasn’t going to take any of his suggestions. That part was clear. His problem now was figuring out what to tell Amelia.

Amelia was halfway home. She wasn’t near the city yet, so all she could see as she drove was trees. Currently, she was the only one on the road. She was glad about that as well, because she was having some trouble staying awake. She knew she could make it, as long as the rest of the drive went smoothly.

She turned up the radio and rubbed her eyes. When she looked up she saw a flash of something pale dart into the road. She lets out a gasping scream as she swerves the car out of the way. However, she couldn’t regain control of the vehicle. When she tried to correct her course she spun around, and went off the road. She screamed during the whole experience, as she felt powerless. The last thing she sees is that she’s heading directly for a tree, and then there was nothing but black.

Amelia opened her eyes, her vision was blurred for a few seconds. When her eyesight cleared, she saw that she was in her bedroom. She tenses up and feels nothing but fear. She suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be in her car. Then from a dark corner in her room, came a figure. She knew in that instance what was happening. The aliens had her. She was about to panic, when she noticed the figure wasn’t the same one it had always been. It was her father.

He walks over to her bed and sits on the side. Her eyes began to water and she was breathing heavily. She didn’t know if it was really her father, or if they were playing a sick game with her.

“D.. Dad? Is it really you?” She asked with hope still in her voice. The figure of her father then gives her a regretful smile.

“I’m sorry, Amelia, I am not your father.” He takes a deep breath before giving an explanation. “I had to appear to you in a familiar form, and use your father’s voice to carry my words.”

Amelia was both scared and angry. She didn’t know what this thing was up to, but she didn’t like the idea of it using her father’s image as it’s puppet. She clenched her teeth and furrowed her brow in anger.

“What are you?” she finally asks.

“I am a messenger from my people, who are known as Xiza.” It replied. “The letters of our language you have seen, was our way of trying to implant understanding of our language into you.” The figure of her father then sighs. “Unfortunately, our voices are incapable of speaking your language, just as you cannot speak ours.”

“Where are my parents?” Amelia asks, still frustrated about this thing taking the form of her father.

“We took them in, when we first arrived here,” It begins to explain. “They were close to finding us, and we also needed to understand your human biology, if our experiments were to work.”

“Where are they?” Amelia asked, more angry now than anything.

“They did not survive the experiments,” It says, with regret in it’s voice. “We didn’t have the process perfected, but they cooperated willingly.”

At the sound of this, Amelia’s anger faded into sadness. She wished she could have talked to them one last time. However, what she needed to know was, why were they willing to cooperate?

“Why are you doing all of this?” Amelia asks. She hoped at least, that she would get some answers, before what she feared would be her inevitable demise.

“There is an infectious race of creatures, known as Vreksus, that wish to take over your planet.” The figure that looked like her father replied. “We wished to save humanity, and take them to our homeworld. Unfortunately, our homeworld, and space itself can be harsh. So we sought to use our technology to take away the imperfections some of you humans carry, to make you more suited for the experience.”

Amelia stared at the figure completely dumbfounded. If this thing was telling the truth, then she was wrong about them. Unfortunately, that would mean Aaron was too. She tried to compose herself before asking anything else.

“Why not just ask? Or tell us what was happening?” she was curious as to why they had to take people against their will.

“We had no way to communicate the message, and you know how your kind reacts to beings such as us.” The figure answers honestly. “We also wasn’t sure if it would work. We hoped to make you and the others into successful experiments and messengers. Then we could at least prove our work without provoking fear.”

“What went wrong with me and Aaron?” she cut in.

“Wrong? You both were our most successful attempts to splice our genetic makeup with yours. We used our DNA to help along the human improvement process.” The figure’s eyes lit up as it spoke. Even though it wasn’t a real body, the excitement of a successful experience was apparent. “However, we also have our starship set to react to our genetic code. This is how doors opened for you as you attempted your escape.”

“What about that monster that you held prisoner?” Amelia was basically interrogating the alien at this point. She had to know the truth. The whole truth.

“That was a Vreksus. The telepathic beasts that seek to dominate your world. He was a scout that we captured,” The figure answered. “His goal was to sabotage our plans. We fear the other human might be compromised.”

Amelia stared at him a moment. Aaron did say the thing was in his mind. He also said it told him coordinates, which would sabotage their plans. This was getting deep, and she was right in the middle of it.

“Why evacuate us? Why not fight them?” Amelia then asks, wanting to know if they were honest about this, before anything else.

“We can not fight what they plan to do,” The figure said, somberly. “They are not traveling by ship or invading with weapons. They are altering the course of an asteroid. It will destroy most, if not all, life on the planet.”

Amelia’s eyes widened, and her mouth gaped open. The asteroid she was monitoring was changing it’s trajectory every few days. The military had shifted everything to monitor for the aliens instead, so she lost track of where it was heading. Now, she knows where.

“What are we supposed to do?” She asked almost frantically. She was trying to remain calm, but this was all starting to be too much.

The figure that took the form of her father, took a deep breath. He then looked at her directly in her eyes. Amelia could tell, this wasn’t going to be anything good.

“You have to stop Aaron and your military from attacking us. If they do, both our peoples, will be doomed.”

Suddenly, Amelia jumped awake, and found herself back in her car. The difference was, her car wasn’t smashed into a tree. Instead she was back on the road, and the car was in perfect condition. She thought for a moment about what she should do. She knew she needed proof, if they were to stop a military strike. She started the car, and and began driving to her lab. She needed to track that asteroid.

To be continued…