government and black helicopters? Aliens among us? Aliens on this base?” the researcher screamed, his voice fading as the door slammed shut behind him.
“That was unfortunate. I know this is one hell of a situation we’re in. However, as crazy as it is, it’s real, people, and I need all of you to focus. If you feel you can’t and you need some time, then you know where the door is.” General Sampson paused, his eyes skittering over the gathered crowd. No one made a move towards the door; no one said anything. A minute later, he nodded, pleased. “Good, let’s…”
Behind him, the image changed back to the ship hovering over Washington, D.C. For a moment, there was no sign of movement, and then the ship suddenly rocketed back up towards the atmosphere.
“Sir,” the lance corporal interrupted urgently.
The image of the mothership had been provided by a camera mounted on the roof of a building. With a few taps of the keyboard, the feed was swapped to a satellite view. The view of the mothership was now not good, but it didn’t have to be, as death started to rain from the sky.
Beams of light shot out of the alien spaceship, again and again. There were a few gasps of horror, and several people began to pray. At first, the targets seemed random; it felt like they were witnessing the end of the world. That meant that, at any moment, that random target could fall on Area 51 and wipe them all out.
Julian frowned as he saw the explosions on the satellite feed. It only took a few hits before he leaned back. They would soon confirm what he had already worked out: the targets weren’t random. The explosions were familiar and devastating.
The attack was over just minutes after it had begun. The mothership descended once more, but this time it moved to hover over New York, which made a great deal more sense. Washington, D.C. might have been the capital, but the population of New York was twelve times as large. All the other cities on the list had populations that numbered in the millions. Rio was the next smallest city, and their population was ten times that of Washington, D.C.
The message was loud and clear. They had hovered over one city to say hello, then that ship had attacked targets the world over, before moving its position to another city. It was clearly meant to be intimidating; the aliens wanted the world to know that they could get to them anywhere.
“My god,” General Sampson muttered before turning back to the room. “We have confirmation. That attack wiped out the entire world’s nuclear arsenal. They even hit sites we only suspected, or ones we didn’t even know about. In one strike, they took out our most destructive weapon.”
“They also showed they meant what they said,” Julian pointed out. Everyone turned to look at him, and he rolled his eyes. He knew people were in shock, but really, had everyone switched their brains off? “With their firepower, they could turn this planet to ash. Instead, they accurately target only what they want to take out. They don’t want the world destroyed.”
What Julian didn’t point out was that the aliens obviously had sensors far beyond Earth’s capabilities. That was the most logical explanation of how they’d found all the nuclear sites; they were able to detect the radiation. However, what else might the sensors be capable of picking up? How long had these aliens been studying Earth?
This first attack was an ominous harbinger of what was to come. It didn’t take much imagination to know that soon beams of destructive death would fire from the other ships. The aliens had demanded their surrender. They could have targeted the nuclear arsenal for a number of reasons. Maybe those weapons would have been a threat to them. However, it was also likely that the nukes had been removed from the equation to stop Earth from self-destructing.
The aliens likewise could have targeted their communications network. They hadn’t done so—yet. Perhaps that was
“That was unfortunate. I know this is one hell of a situation we’re in. However, as crazy as it is, it’s real, people, and I need all of you to focus. If you feel you can’t and you need some time, then you know where the door is.” General Sampson paused, his eyes skittering over the gathered crowd. No one made a move towards the door; no one said anything. A minute later, he nodded, pleased. “Good, let’s…”
Behind him, the image changed back to the ship hovering over Washington, D.C. For a moment, there was no sign of movement, and then the ship suddenly rocketed back up towards the atmosphere.
“Sir,” the lance corporal interrupted urgently.
The image of the mothership had been provided by a camera mounted on the roof of a building. With a few taps of the keyboard, the feed was swapped to a satellite view. The view of the mothership was now not good, but it didn’t have to be, as death started to rain from the sky.
Beams of light shot out of the alien spaceship, again and again. There were a few gasps of horror, and several people began to pray. At first, the targets seemed random; it felt like they were witnessing the end of the world. That meant that, at any moment, that random target could fall on Area 51 and wipe them all out.
Julian frowned as he saw the explosions on the satellite feed. It only took a few hits before he leaned back. They would soon confirm what he had already worked out: the targets weren’t random. The explosions were familiar and devastating.
The attack was over just minutes after it had begun. The mothership descended once more, but this time it moved to hover over New York, which made a great deal more sense. Washington, D.C. might have been the capital, but the population of New York was twelve times as large. All the other cities on the list had populations that numbered in the millions. Rio was the next smallest city, and their population was ten times that of Washington, D.C.
The message was loud and clear. They had hovered over one city to say hello, then that ship had attacked targets the world over, before moving its position to another city. It was clearly meant to be intimidating; the aliens wanted the world to know that they could get to them anywhere.
“My god,” General Sampson muttered before turning back to the room. “We have confirmation. That attack wiped out the entire world’s nuclear arsenal. They even hit sites we only suspected, or ones we didn’t even know about. In one strike, they took out our most destructive weapon.”
“They also showed they meant what they said,” Julian pointed out. Everyone turned to look at him, and he rolled his eyes. He knew people were in shock, but really, had everyone switched their brains off? “With their firepower, they could turn this planet to ash. Instead, they accurately target only what they want to take out. They don’t want the world destroyed.”
What Julian didn’t point out was that the aliens obviously had sensors far beyond Earth’s capabilities. That was the most logical explanation of how they’d found all the nuclear sites; they were able to detect the radiation. However, what else might the sensors be capable of picking up? How long had these aliens been studying Earth?
This first attack was an ominous harbinger of what was to come. It didn’t take much imagination to know that soon beams of destructive death would fire from the other ships. The aliens had demanded their surrender. They could have targeted the nuclear arsenal for a number of reasons. Maybe those weapons would have been a threat to them. However, it was also likely that the nukes had been removed from the equation to stop Earth from self-destructing.
The aliens likewise could have targeted their communications network. They hadn’t done so—yet. Perhaps that was
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