Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences Read Free

unattractively hilly, and the buildings too tall; even the furniture is ridiculously large and cumbersome. But the most troubling aspect of this world is the clutter of machines. It is uncomfortable to be in proximity to so many of them, though they are primitive and harmless to us. The product even used them to travel down paved paths on the surface — big hunks of metal hurtling down narrow concrete paths. Absurd and an abomination to the natural green of the world. They have destroyed so much with their brutal and misguided attempts to civilize. Naturally, one can see how a species such as this, destructive and self-destructive by nature, would eventually have been conquered by their machines as so many other civilizations in the universe have. Our arrival is fortuitous.
    The scouts’ assessments of the species is accurate, but surprisingly, a few of them can hear if we create a link. This will add to overall product value. We have lost more of them than anticipated in the process of learning how to avoid harming them. Those who cannot hear are quite fragile in the way of some primitives, and we’ve often killed when we meant only to punish. However, due to their size, I believe they will make excellent slaves on planets in need of physical labor. I should prepare you and the girls for that. They are extremely ugly. Not only are they grossly large, but they have no green or blue in their skin. Also they have tiny, beady eyes, strangely shaped small heads, and, I’m sorry to say, hair. Nevertheless, the world itself is quite beautiful. Green everywhere. The sky is often astonishingly blue.
    I am eagerly anticipating your arrival and the arrival of the girls and, of course, the colonists. I have a house. Although I’m sure you will find much lacking, it will, I think, suffice until materials to build a real home arrive.

In the morning the aliens wake us with an obnoxious
Wake, product
followed by a faint shock. I actually miss being woken by my mom. She had a morning person’s enthusiasm that was as irritating as a pep squad, but I miss it now.
    They order us to gather by the big pool. I get there early, and only one other person is there; a pretty girl. She has pale skin and long, curly black hair and wears glasses that don’t hide her dark eyes or the fact that tears are coming out of them.
    “Are you okay?” I realize it’s a dumb question right after I ask it. Who’s okay?
    “No,” she says.
    I try to be more specific. “What’s wrong?”
    “I just saw them kill a girl. She lost it — started screaming. One of them told her to stop, and when she didn’t, the alien turned her off. That’s what it was like. It was like the alien flipped a switch, and the girl dropped to the floor dead.”
    She’s looking at me like she hopes I can say something that will make things less terrible. I’ve got nothing.
    “I’m sorry,” I say finally, just to break the silence because it feels like it’s trying to break us.
    She shivers. “We aren’t anything. They’re right, in a way. They can do whatever they want to us, kill us even, and we can’t do a thing about it.”
    “Don’t say we aren’t anything.”
    I know how she feels. They’re so strong and we’re so weak. Sometimes I’ve felt so weak I think I’ll solve the problem of my weakness by not existing at all. Three people used that solution during the short time I worked on the crew downtown.
    I look into those pretty dark eyes. I feel her sadness and my own like something trying to pull us under, and I get mad. They’ve taken everything, but they won’t take this. I won’t let them. “We matter.”
    “Why? Why do we matter?”
    “We’re the last people,” I say.
    Then she does something surprising. She leans over and kisses me on the cheek. Her lips are soft. Her hair brushes against the side of my face. The kiss itself lasts about a second, but I feel it long after.
    Others are around us by then. A few stragglers are still coming out of