Invasion Earth Page 14

  He glanced around apprehensively, caught up in his own fear. He watched his family relaxing by the truck, laughing and talking with the soldiers, and he began to relax. The coyotes were sleeping; the big rig was still running. The mood of the family helped ease Trist’s fears. After all, the ability to make the General’s machines work again was beyond value.

  The Sergeant Major arrived and patted Trist down for weapons. “The General will see you now. Follow me.”

  They covered the two blocks to the General’s tent quickly. Trist struggled to keep up with his escort. If I slow down, will he just walk away and leave me? He wondered.

  The General was standing by his desk with several staff officers, looking at the maps spread out before them. He looked at Trist and held up one hand as if to say he would be with them shortly.

  “That’s all for right now,” the General said. “This will be a tense night, but we need to hold the line. I refuse to drop south of Fort Worth.”

  The General turned to Trist and held out his hand. “I hear you have a running machine and that you drove right through a herd of those green-skinners.”

  “I did and I do,” said Trist. “We have a lot of information about these aliens and I believe we can help you defeat them. I promise I can help you, but first I need some assurances.”

  “Call me Dan, while we’re in here talking. Sergeant Major, wait outside until I call for you.”

  Trist began talking as soon as the man left the room.

  “I’ve traveled from the state of Washington. The bad news for you is that the lights and power are out all along the western corridor. I saw Tonkians as far north as Washington and Oregon, two weeks ago. My family believes the power outage to be global. They’re usually right.

  “As to helping you fight the Tonkians, my first suggestion to you is that you bring up all the guard dogs you can find. If you can’t get trained guard dogs, even the tame dogs from people in Fort Worth will help. The aliens have the mental ability to cast images into your mind. They will appear to be anyone you trust. Dogs are not affected by them, perhaps because their brain is controlled by their nose. They can wander through your men and tell you if you have any aliens disguised as soldiers. Keep them on the line at night and they will warn you if the aliens get within 50 feet.”

  “So these Tonkians, is that what you called them?, can control us mentally?”

  “No, that’s not what I said. They do have a mental ability, but that ability is limited to casting a vision into you. So they can appear to be someone you trust, or fear. As an example, they could walk into your tent and let you see only the image of your Sergeant Major. A dog in the tent with you would let you know immediately.”

  “I think I understand. I had an outpost overrun by zombies. Could they have changed their appearance to appear as zombies?”

  “Certainly, they would have that ability. Dan, would you have the Sergeant Major bring one of my daughters here. Izzie is the one who developed the means to make machines run. I believe between the two of us, we can convince you that I’m not crazy.”

  “Sure.” He went to the door and spoke to the Sergeant Major.

  “General, my family has been divided. Four of my children have helped to form the North West Militia. They’re near Seattle, and are trying to raise enough members to march south and meet up with you. What I’m trying to tell you is that I’m invested in beating this enemy. They’re a predatory race and plan to eradicate all human life.”

  “I guess I probably figured that out for myself.”

  “Well, General, do you want to hear my demands, or do you plan on figuring everything out yourself?”

  “Trist, I value your help. I’m tired, it’s been a long couple of weeks, so if I’m not as polite as I should be, please forgive me. Tell me your demands.”

  “I want you to swear to me that after we defeat the Tonkians, you will facilitate a teleport for my family and me to an uninhabited planet.”

  “If your information is valuable to us, I swear I will help with that, although, Trist, I don’t know that such a thing is possible.”

  “I will take care of the teleport, I need you to guard us until we use it.”

  “Yes, you have my word.” The General looked at Trist as though he were a madman and seemed to believe that what he had sworn to was never going to happen.

  Izzie entered the room.

  “My daughter Izzie,” said Trist. “Cute, young, fifteen-or-sixteen year old, wouldn’t you say, General?”

  “She looks sweet.”

  “Izzie’s mother was from Tonk, I’m her father. She’s a citizen of earth because she was born here. Her loyalties lie with the humans, because she’s a mortal enemy of the King of Tonk. She has many of the Tonkians’ abilities, but mentally, she is the most superior intellect on earth. Do you believe me, General?”

  ”Whatever you say, Trist.”

  “Not an answer, General. Tell me the truth.”

  “I think you’re stuffed full of shit.”

  Trist turned to Izzie. “Please remove your image from Dan’s mind. General, don’t cry out or I will be forced to silence you.”

  Izzie’s metamorphosis left General Wyatt sitting stunned in his chair.

  “Does your assurance to me and my family still hold?”

  “Give me a minute here. This is a lot to take in. Still, my name is Dan Wyatt and I keep my word. I see problems ahead, but I personally will do all I can to help you.”

  “General, you’re fighting a traditional war against an enemy that is not traditional. You will lose with your current battle plan. Excuse me for being blunt, but you are needlessly losing men. We need to protect our soldiers and kill aliens.

  “I realize I’ve given you a blast of information that’s hard to process. So first, let’s get the dogs started while we discuss the next actions. This is a move that will help protect your men, and has no downside.”

  “You’re right, Trist.” He walked to the entrance spoke with the Sergeant Major and returned to his desk.

  “Okay, the dogs are on their way.

  “Trist,” he said, “What would you have done if I had not agreed to help you?”

  “I’m unsure. You didn’t force my hand. I desperately want to win this war, but just as desperately I want to protect my family. I sense that you are a strong man, as dedicated as I am. If I believed you were locked into a path of action that was guaranteed to fail, I would have taken over and directed us to victory.”

  “As easy as that?”

  “Absolutely.” Izzie was now an exact replica of General Wyatt. “I would direct the front lines to use whistles and aim only at the alien’s chest. We would begin driving them back early tomorrow morning. I would also use the running truck motor as a pump attached to a pipeline from Ray Roberts Lake. Water pumped onto that sandy soil would collapse their tunnels and trenches.”

  “My God,” said the General, “she looks and sounds just like me”

  “Change back, Izzie. Did you listen to what she said? She gave you the outline of your victory. Loud noises, like whistles, can stun the aliens. Their one vulnerable place is a nerve center in the middle of their chest. Also, removing the trenches close to our lines will provide more safety for your troops.” Trist held his hands over the vulnerable place on the chest of the Tonkians. “They can only be killed by shooting them here. Anything else, including headshots, is a waste of ammo. You also have flame throwers which can be very effective for close work. Shields would greatly protect your men, because this enemy uses only slings to throw rocks, or bow and arrows.

  “Dan, we can do this. Let’s flood that field, drive them back tomorrow morning, and begin working on getting your machines running again. Planes and tanks will decimate this enemy.

  “One more thing. Your troops must be instructed not to show mercy. These are alien invaders. They are here to destroy all human life. American’s are raised to be kind and merciful. That will not compute with this enemy. There can be no p
risoners taken. No surrender. Kill every one, wounded or not, kill them all.”

  “Trist, I think you’ve helped very much. How, if I may ask, did you, a human, meet up and mate with an alien. Damn, that has to be one whopper of a story.”

  “To make it short, my mate transported me to her planet to help with a threat to her planet. I was unable to help her, but in the attempt, I met with the King, and wove a wild story about an Interplanetary Force. He believed and backed us in our attempt to develop an immunization. When we failed, he blamed me. Now my family and I are considered traitors and he has sworn to exterminate us.”

  “I do want to discuss the running machine, but can we do that tomorrow? I need to prepare the troops for tonight.”

  “One more weapon. They have what they call a mobile sword. It’s about four inches high, has three rotating blades, and travels up to 50 MPH.”

  “Oh yeah,” said General Wyatt. “I wondered what that was.” He reached into his desk and pulled out a smashed piece of metal with three visible blades. “My fifty caliber gunner got it. One round and whatever you want to call it was scrap.”

  CEIDAS’S EASY WEEK

  King Ceidas had an easy week after his victory at the National Guard Outpost.

  The maps taken from the library showed a clear route through Texas into Mexico. Once his army was through Mexico, all of South America would be open for conquest. As far as Ceidas knew, his plans were all coming to fruition, and much faster than he’d believed possible.

  Of course, he had no contact with his Northern Army, but he had confidence in General Stats. Ceidas sent a runner north every day to get a report on the northern progress, but none of the runners had returned. Since they hadn’t returned, Ceidas believed Stats was moving north rapidly, leaving the messengers much farther to travel.

  Unfortunately, General Stats had been killed on the first day of hostilities. An .88 mortar shell had a pin point landing on his head. A strict chain of command had not been implemented in the Northern Tonkian Army and the battles among the troopers to establish leadership impeded their battle with the Canadian Army. By the third day of fighting, the Tonkian Army was in full rout with the Canadian Army trying hard to keep up with them. If any of his runners had returned and informed King Ceidas of the defeat, he would have been immediately killed. King Ceidas didn’t like bad news. After slaughtering the messenger, he would have appointed a new leader which could have perhaps stopped the blood bath in the north, but the messenger didn’t come, the leader wasn’t appointed, and the blood bath didn’t stop.

  Meanwhile, Ceidas was busy dealing with his own own military problems. The Texas National Guard was remarkably resistance to his advances. His troops would tunnel and dig trenches and while raining arrows and rocks on the American Army, his troops would overrun the lines. The National Guard would rapidly retreat, chased by the Tonkians, but in less than a mile, they would have established a new line and would repulse the Tonkians. The tunnels and trenches were again dug to get the Tonkians close, another charge against the well-defended National Guardsmen battle-line, another retreat, and again a new battle line.

  Forty days of fighting had gained Ceidas less than twenty miles. He knew Texas was too large to advance so slowly, but his limited knowledge of war limited his actions. If he had understood the limited mobility of the National Guard, Ceidas would have run his troops twenty miles to the east or west, bypassing the American’s. He would already have most of Mexico conquered.

  However, the battle plan he’d developed was the battle plan he was going to use. Ceidas had never been one to consider innovation a good thing and he had taught his followers not to suggest a better plan of attack.

  THE MILITIA

  By nine o’clock the next day, Jake was upset looking out his kitchen window at the small band of citizens that had come to join the Militia. Twenty-three people, less than one percent of the population. This was a fight for man’s place on earth. Why wasn’t was every citizen here?

  “I’m going to call them all together again,” he announced. “They must not have understood me. I wrote a crap speech.”

  “Speech was good, real good,” said George, who was sitting at the table enjoying a second cup of joe. “You said it straight and plain. The people just didn’t want to hear it, or couldn’t respond to it. The people here know their house, know their town. Being in the Militia and leaving Duval, they don’t know and don’t want. We think they’re choosing the wrong path and most will be dead in a week, but you really can’t help them. Everyone hates the death of the innocents that is coming, but psychologically many will not take a path into the unknown, even if that refusal will result in their death.

  “They’re Americans and have the right to choose their own path. You have to wish them well, and walk away. The path we’re taking may lead to death, but we chose it because it may lead to life and survival for all men on earth.”

  Jake watched Jinjer lead a run-down pony pulling an open cart into his yard. She tied it in the shade of his maple tree and fetched a bucket of water for it. She walked casually into the house and greeted Jake and George.

  “I got us a one-horse-power open-air vehicle. To help carry the extra stuff we’ll need.”

  ”Oh yeah,” said Jake. “That sway-backed spindle-legged grass muncher probably doesn’t have more than a half-a-horse power in him.” George and Jake obviously thought it was funnier than Jinjer, as they chuckled on.

  “Aw, bite me,” she said. “Brushy face.”

  Jake’s mood had tightened, accepting what must be. He had to make do with what he had, rather than rail against the fortune that had not given him more.

  The Militia recruits were looking at each other skeptically. Jake, Sam, and George walked through the men, shaking hands, throwing an arm over each man’s shoulders, thanking each for their commitment to freedom and mankind.

  Jake could be heard over all. “What a great start this is. We have a company of good men, and women,” he added looking at Jinjer and Susan. “You have filled me with hope. Them green-skinned lizards best watch out now. I plan on skinning out a couple to make myself a new canoe.“ He laughed loudly and was joined by most in the company. He knew light humor and cordiality dispelled fears.

  Sam untied the pony from the tree and led it through the men. “Store your extra ammo and food in the cart.” As he passed through the men, he kept right on leading the cart down the street. He was walking slowly, but steadily, and without much talking the men fell in behind him. The Militia was on its way to Preston.

  As they walked slowly along, Jake began to sort the men into two squads, with Sam and George as squad leaders. The men seemed happy with the choices made and spent much of the walk becoming acquainted with their squads.

  Jake kept the two girls, Ted, and Dave, with him in the headquarters unit.

  Early afternoon with the sun directly overhead, Jake stopped the men for a break and lunch. He began cooking with Jinjer’s help.

  “All meals are going to be communal,” he announced. “The food goes further, and will save time. Anyone wanting to volunteer to cook, please complain about the meal served and I will find an apron for you.”

  Twenty minutes later, the men stood in line to receive their first military meal. Boiled grits and chopped Spam.

  “Oh man,” said Ted. “Greasy Spam and half-cooked grits.” The rest of the men turned to look at him. “Just the way I like it,” he finished, to the roar of laughter from his fellows.

  In fact, none of the men complained about the repast. Jake was beginning to believe he was an okay cook, when George approached him.

  “The men must be getting tired. Probably thinking about the friends they left behind. They know they’ll never see them again. I would keep them moving at this slow walk and set up camp around five. Couple of days walking and they’ll all toughen up. And next time, Jake, give the grits a few more minutes of cooking. And Jake.”

  “Yes.”

  “You could think ab
out trimming the crap growing wild on your face.”

  “I’m keeping my beard.”

  The first day was hard with many of the older members struggling to keep up. Jake stopped at seven that evening, and while the meal was being prepared, he visited with the members of both squads. Watches were set. Jake had two men on each watch and limited it to two hours per watch. Most of the men slept were they sat, exhausted by the emotional and physical drain of the day.

  Sam and Jake took the first watch. They were pleased with the development of their force through the first day.

  “Could have a hard time waking everyone and getting them moving again in the morning,” said Sam. “There will be sore muscles and backs. Have you ever thought about taking a scissors to the wild mess growing on your face?”

  “It’s this magnificent beard that gives me the air of command,” said Jake. “I don’t plan on ever cutting it.”

  “Well, let’s hope the men will be ready to go in the morning.”

  They didn’t have to worry about the men waking up, because early before light had fully broken, they were attacked. A band of fourteen Tonkians hit them while they were still wrapped in their blankets. Whistles and gunfire filled the morning air. The militia drove them off, but not before losing three men.

  The four dead Tonkians seemed a little result compared with the loss of three members.

  Jake, with shoulders set firmly, walked among the survivors.

  “Fall in,” he ordered. He waited until the men had assembled with their squad, before speaking. “Stop the sorrow now. Sorrow for our fallen comrades demeans their sacrifice. Their lives were lost fighting for a cause they were committed to. This war will be a trial of your very soul. This is for survival. For you, for your children, and for all humans forever. Our honored dead gave their lives for us. This sacrifice was their choice.

  “We are here performing the most sacred of all actions mankind can perform. We will free this country from the grip of fear and death. But we can only accomplish that by dedication. Now, mount up and we will free Preston by nightfall.”