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“Men, I know what I am asking you to do. It is more than just dangerous, what I am asking is outright criminal but we need the diversion if we have any hopes of getting to the command ship,” General Erickson told the pilots.

  He was standing in the hanger bay where seven F-22s were being loaded with the latest Meteor long range missiles. The Meteor is capable of exceeding Mach 3 and accurate from a range of over 460+ kilometers. Once launched, it can receive corrections in flight path from several different platforms.

  The plan was to have the F-22s obtain the maximum 50,000 foot ceiling range. The General had considered using the F-35 because it was more nimble but the ceiling limits along with its slower speed made it a less desirable choice.

  The plan was for the F-22s to take off, level out at 50,000 feet and at the edge of the maximum range of the missiles, release them. The hope was that the command ship would be drawn to the incoming missiles giving the SAMS on the ground a chance to sneak through.

  “I want you to haul your butts out of there the second you release. The AWACs and Erieyes will take over and guide them to the target. Even if they shoot them all down, we still stand a chance of getting the SAMs through their defenses.”

  He paused and looked at them for a second before going on. He knew what he was asking of them.

  “Men, make no mistake about it, we have no way of knowing what you are really up against. This is a volunteer operation. Anyone who doesn’t feel up to it can bow out and with no repercussions. I give you my word on that,” he told them.

  No one moved.

  “We go in five minutes. That gives you some time to think it over. Those going, get strapped in and ready for takeoff. May God be with each and every one of you,” he told them and saluted.

  They all returned the salute. It was somewhat unusual for the commanding officer to initiate the salute but Erickson was showing them how highly he regarded them.

  **

  The General watched as the seven F-22s lined up and wound up their engines. Within seconds they were airborne and a minute later they were nothing more than specs in the sky.

  What a mess, he thought as the planes finally disappeared into the clouds. He could be doing nothing more than sending those pilots to their deaths while accomplishing nothing. He just didn’t see any alternative at this point.

  So far they had been lucky. Since they had shot down the disks they had not advanced any further towards the base. He could still thousands of flashes of lightning strikes off in the distance but for now they seemed safe.

  At this point they had done all that could be done. The SAMs were in the tubes, the F-22 was streaking toward their target. The only thing he had done was order the non-essential soldiers to the deep bunkers. He knew he should be in one as well but he needed to let his men know that he was standing with them. Hiding in a bunker would not be very inspiring. So he sat in the seat of the SAM's control vehicle, talking to the operator.

  “We got some licks in last time. Maybe we can get a few more in,” he told the soldier.

  “Sir, do you have any idea where they came from or why they are doing this?”

  “I sure don’t. What I would like to know is how they appeared so fast. One minute everything is normal and the next all hell is breaking loose. I wonder what type of technology they have. Is it some kind of stealth capability or can they cloak their presence until they are ready to strike?”

  “Maybe it’s the way they travel from wherever they came from. It may allow them to just drop out of whatever drives the things.”

  “Your guess is just as good as mine. The one thing I do know is that if we don’t find a way to combat them and make them realize we are not going to roll over and play dead, they will continue to kill and destroy.”

  “Do you think we have any chance at all?” the soldier asked.

  “Son, I don’t have a clue. Right now all we can do is wait and see what happens and how effective our plans are.”

  “I sure don’t envy those pilots,” he told the General.

  “They are no braver than you are. Here you are sitting in this little tin can hoping to bring down the command ship with our puny little missiles. That takes a lot of guts and yet here you are. I'm proud to be sitting beside you.”

  “Gee sir. I never thought I would hear a General say something like that.”

  “We are human too. We make good decisions at times but we screw up a lot too. Today we are going to fight a battle. Whether we win or lose isn’t as important in the larger scheme. It is the war that is important. Maybe what we do here today will help in the long run. I seriously doubt we will stop the invasion with this one offensive,” the General told him.

  “I sure hope it is worth it.”

  “It is, believe me.”

  “We are in position,” came the voice over the speaker.

  It was the F-22s reporting in.

  “Then let’s get this show on the road. All stations report when ready.”

  Within a few seconds the General’s plan was ready to initiate.

  “All stations commence attack,” he said and put his head back on the seat.

  It was out of his hands now.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  When Alice woke, she saw James sitting on the stairs beside Jeb. From the look on his face she knew it was bad.

  “I’m sorry Alice,” he said quietly.

  She sat looking at the lifeless body of Jeb. They had been married for twenty years and she had never been alone until today. Now what was she going to do? Jeb had been a pain in the butt but she loved him and he had been a good provider and good husband.

  “I guess I had better bury him,” she said after a few minutes.

  “I’ll get him up the ladder and dig the grave if you want,” James offered.

  “It’s not your problem.”

  “Alice, we are all in this together. Every problem is everyone else’s. No problem is just one person’s any longer if we are going to survive as a race,” he told her.

  “You don’t mind doing that for me?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Alright then,” Alice said.

  He bent down and lifted Jeb’s body over his shoulder. The smell and body fluids alone told them that he was dead. James never said a thing as he started up the stairs. Once he got him outside he laid him near where a tree must have once stood.

  Alice appeared a few minutes later with a hand full of rags and disposed of them. She had cleaned up the bunker.

  “I need to find a shovel,” James said.

  “I forgot. We have a small one in the bunker. I’ll go get it.”

  While she was gone, James closed Jeb’s eyes and laid him out straight. Alice handed him the shovel and he began to dig. After almost an hour of nonstop digging the grave was only three feet deep. The soil was hard and the small shovel didn’t move much dirt.

  “That will do,” Alice said.

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

  “It won’t matter. Jeb is no longer in there. That is just the vessel that carried his soul. Jeb is in another place now. I hope it is a better one,” Alice said.

  “Do you have anything we can wrap him in?”

  “It’s okay. Really. Just lay him in and give me a minute before you cover him up,” she said.

  James laid Jeb as gently as he could in the shallow grave and walked off a ways. Alice looked down at her husband.

  Jeb, why now? You promised you would always be here to take care of me and when I need you the most you are gone, she thought. I hope I was a good wife to you. You were a handful at times Jeb but I never gave up on you and never strayed, even when you had a fling with that hussy. I forgave you. I still forgive you but you have abandoned me when I need you the most. May God rest your soul and take you into his arms.

  She said the Lord’s Prayer and picked up a handful of dirt and threw it into the grave.

  “I’m ready,” was all she said as she walked away and sat down on a pile of rubble.

&
nbsp; James shoveled the dirt back into the grave, bowed his head and said something that Alice couldn’t hear. When he was finished he walked back over and handed her the shovel.

  “So do we stay here or try to find others?” Alice asked.

  “I don’t know, what do you think?”

  “I guess I don’t much care one way or the other. It’s late now. Maybe we should sleep on it and talk about it more in the morning.”

  “Sure. I think that is a good idea. No use jumping into something on the spur of the moment. It isn’t like we have to make a decision immediately. There is still plenty of food and water. The generator has gas so let’s make a good decision rather than forcing one,” James replied.

  “Are you ready for breakfast,” Alice suddenly asked.

  “You bet. Can’t wait to get my hands on one of those delicious MRE’s,” he joked.

  “A true delicacy,” Alice quipped back.

  **

  Alice didn’t say much the rest of the day. James knew she was struggling so he just stayed out of her way. After diner she was a little more like her old self.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” James finally said.

  She just nodded.

  “How long were you married if you don’t mind me asking?

  “Twenty years.”

  It was silent again for a few seconds. Finally Alice said, “Not all of it was good. Like all couples we had our ups and downs. Especially the last three years. They were a real struggle.”

  James just waited.

  “What makes a man, or women for that matter, go from being a good spouse to one that just throws it all away?”

  “Is that what happened?” James asked.

  “You know, I used to think there was a lot of truth when they say the spouse is the last to know. That isn’t so much it. I think they are the last to want to know. I should have admitted something was wrong much earlier. The way he changed. Different style clothes, more concern for personal hygiene and a hundred small details that was so much different. I simply chose to turn a blind eye. He suddenly had more places to be and spent more time ‘at work’. Like a jerk, I just let it happen.”

  “You’re blaming what happened on you? You didn’t make that happen.”

  They sat there, not saying a thing.

  “It was kind of strange how I found out about it. We both worked. I had a good paying job, better than Jeb’s. I think he resented that and it hurt his male ego. Anyway, a friend of mine asked me to lunch. She had heard about this new restaurant and was dying to try it. When we got there the place was packed. The wait was forty minutes or so. We decided to try someplace else but I went to the bathroom before we left. As I was walking through the dining room I saw Jeb sitting with some woman. Not just sitting but she was practically on his lap. One look and I knew what was going on. I turned around and left before he ever saw me,” Alice told him.

  “Did you confront him when he came home?”

  “No. I didn’t say a word.”

  “I don’t think I could have done that.”

  “I waited until he left for work and followed him. He was in such a hurry he never even saw me. He went to a park, got out of the car and walked over to a red Corvette. The same woman was driving. He got in and off they went.”

  “Did you follow them?”

  “Why? Just to be humiliated further? No I wrote the license plate number down. I made a cardboard duplicate and sat it on the dining room table. When Jeb came home, he looked at it and turned ghostly white. ‘What is this?’ he finally asked. I said 'Oh, Sally 1? She is the woman you are screwing around with’.”

  “Did he deny it?” James asked.

  “He had all kinds of excuses at first but I told him he needed to just man up and tell me what the hell was going on. He had a thousand reasons why it happened but by then I wasn’t listening.”

  “Why did you stay with him?”

  “He cried, promised never to do it again. He loved me and on and on. Honestly, I don’t know why I just didn’t walk out the door. Things were never the same and I don’t truly know if they ever would have been. I gave the bastard my heart and he just crushed it like an empty coke can,” she told James.

  “You’re a lot better person than I would have been. I would have walked out and never looked back.”

  “That’s easy to say but harder to do.”

  “I shouldn’t have said that. I wasn’t in your shoes. You did what you felt was right and I have no right to judge what you did,” James replied.

  “So, how about those Cubs?” she said changing the subject.

  James laughed and said, “Looks like another losing year.”

  “Isn’t it always?”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The mood in the DUSEL was somber. Sarah had just finished telling them about what Lemmings had seen when he went up to investigate the power outage.

  She had spent almost an hour trying to answer questions but she knew that what she was telling them was mostly speculation and that wasn’t the best thing for a group of highly intelligent scientists.

  Immediately others wanted to go and see for themselves if what they were being told was accurate. That was pretty much to be expected.

  “What do you think?” Lemmings asked Sarah.

  “We should let them go. If we try to keep them here we will have a rebellion on our hands. It would be better for them to see it with their own eyes.”

  “What if they don’t come back?”

  “Does it really matter? Who are we doing work for now? If the destruction is as widespread as it seems, we are essentially on our own.”

  “But if they go off, they may end up like the others.”

  “Paul, it is their choice. We have no right to try to make them stay. We should let anyone that wants to go, go.”

  “Including the engineers that keep this place running?” the director asked.

  “Yes. They can show us what to do but trying to keep them here is unethical.”

  “I guess we should tell them that we will send the ERTS up to the surface for those that want to go. Anyone who wants to return once they look around can take it back down.”

  “I totally agree. Some of them just need to see for themselves.”

  “What about you?” Paul asked her.

  “From what you said, I wouldn’t see much other than piles of rubble and some scorched earth. I can do without seeing it,” she told him.

  “Would you make the announcement?” the director asked.

  “Of course. Don’t I always?” she replied.

  **

  The director watched as forty-three engineers and scientists filed into the ERTS bullets to go to the surface. That left only twelve people including Sarah and himself still down here. It was hard to not think of them like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

  He waited until the doors closed and the timer that counted down the time to the top was set to 000. There was a rush of warm air and the bullets started up the long tunnel to the surface.

  “Do you feel confident about the generators and compressors?” he asked Sarah.

  “Willy did a good job of explaining but mostly he told me to just keep my hands to myself and everything would be okay.”

  The director chuckled. That sounded like Willy. He considered everything mechanical as being his baby and he didn’t want anyone fooling around his kids. He had even given some of them names.

  “How many do you think will come back?” Lemmings asked.

  “All but one or two. Most of them will realize there is nothing to be gained by going off on their own. A couple of dreamers will not want to accept what they are seeing and think that their loved ones somehow escaped the death and destruction,” she replied.

  “What about Willy?”

  “He will be back. He is a realist. Once he sees what went on, he will be right back at his post,” she predicted.

  “I sure hope so. Of all the people down here, he is probably the most important, at least
to our survival and safety.”

  “I know. It wouldn’t hurt you to tell him. You’re pretty hard on him at times.”

  “You’re right. I own him an apology.”

  **

  Sarah’s prediction had been amazingly accurate. Willy was one of the first off the returning ERTS. All but three had returned after looking around. They were all subdued as they filed out of the bullets.

  “All but three,” Sarah said.

  “You were right. I have to say, I was damn glad to see Willy get out.”

  “Talk to him.”

  “I will,” the director assured her.

  Sarah went down from the upper railing and talked to a few of the scientists. Most had questions about what happens now. Should they keep working on their projects?

  “I guess I just don’t see the need,” one of them said.

  “Look, all I know is that sitting around fretting and worrying won’t do one bit of good. It would be much better to occupy your mind with your work.

  That seemed to settle it for most of them as they drifted off to their labs.

  “What are you going to do?” Willy asked her.

  “The same as everyone else. Go back to work on my projects. It is the only way to stay sane in a world that has been turned upside down.”

  “What about other countries? Is there any way to contact them to see if they are going through the same thing?” Willy asked.

  “Willy. What a great idea. I should have thought of that. We would have to do some work, some of it on the surface but I think it could be done. We certainly have some pretty smart people down here. That’s a great suggestion, not only the world, but our own government as well. Maybe we can find someone who knows what the heck is going on and what can be done about it,” she said patting him on the back.

  He walked off smiling.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Master Sergeant ‘Gunny’ Baker sat across from the President. Present besides the Sergeant was the Chief of Staff, Ronald Sheffer, the Secretary of Defense, Tony Spears, and Attorney General, Bobby Houser.

  “Master Sergeant Baker has offered a unique insight. Would you mind sharing it with these men?” the President asked.