Pit Bulls vs Aliens (15 page)

Major Strafford laughed very loud, which didn’t set well with the colonel. “Permission to speak freely, sir.”

“Speak your piece, Major.”

The major still spoke as if choosing his words carefully. “I just want to be sure I understand. You’re saying that if fifty-caliber shells from the battleships, Tomahawks from the fast-movers, and Sidewinders from the choppers don’t stop them, then we are supposed to do it with tanks, rocket launchers, grenades, and M16s?”

The colonel smiled. When he put it that way, it didn’t make much sense. He could see the worry in the other commander’s eyes. “We’re hoping they’ll get the picture and rethink using Earth as a settlement,” the colonel added. “But if some do get through, then yes, that’s what we hit them with.”

“Colonel?”

The colonel looked over to General Echevarria. He was a tall dark figure whose face, like Major Strafford’s, advertised his experience, and his eyes were as dark as his thick mustache. “Yes, sir?” Even though it was agreed that Colonel Jamison would be in charge, he still respected the higher rank.

The general spoke calmly, using perfect English, his body so rigid it looked as if his neck muscles didn’t work. “The major has a point. It’s great to hope that the initial assault is successful, but what if it fails completely and we are advanced upon by the full force of the alien garrison?”

The colonel looked around the room. Major Strafford was expressionless. Captain Owens, however, was a ball of uneasiness; his eyes conveyed the disquietude of the others clearly for all to see. Yet, unlike the others in the command center, Captain Owens looked like he could have just as easily been coaching a Little League baseball team.

The colonel thought about it. He knew they were right. “Okay, I want every jeep and truck parked behind the line of tanks, pointed in the opposite direction. If the retreat order is given, everyone heads north and regroups past the spike line.” He looked around the tent. “Is that clear?”

The general and captain nodded, but the major was silent.

“Is that clear?” the colonel repeated.

Running away was not in the major’s blood, but he obeyed the order. “Yes, sir, crystal clear.”

The colonel looked over to Darren. “This is Dr. Mitchell with SETI. He discovered the signal the aliens were trying to hide. These other people are all experts in their respective fields and are here to provide any intel or advice that might help us complete our objective. Dr. Mitchell, tell us everything we know so far.”

Darren nodded. “Well, everyone, we believe this colonization has been in the planning works for several years. The signal we discovered has been live for at least that amount of time, although we just discovered it recently. These aliens are very intelligent; that much we know. They were training the mammals of the oceans to build a giant wall of rock that diverted the Gulf Stream farther south to the equator, which has been causing the acceleration of the melting of the ice caps and causing the global temperatures to rise.”

All eyes were glued on Darren as he spoke.

“Anyway,” Darren continued, “we know they prefer warmer weather than humans. That’s probably why they chose Central America. Plus, the narrow land possibly gives them a tactical advantage.

“But as you can see from the pictures, they appear to be humanoid. We believe that makes them susceptible to the same extremes. The body armor suggests they are also vulnerable to injuries or death if their bodies aren’t protected.”

“Have any of them been killed so far?” Major Strafford asked.

Darren shook his head. “None that we’ve witnessed.”

“Okay,” Captain Owens said. “We know they’re here to set up a settlement. But we don’t know how much area they need or want. Right? I mean, what if they only want a small section to occupy? Would that be so bad? Maybe they’ll keep to themselves. Maybe we can learn a lot from them.”

Darren wasn’t sure what to say, so he looked to Thomas. “Uh, Mr. Freeman here is the authority on this, so I’ll turn it over to him.”

This caught Thomas off guard, but he cleared his throat and thought about how to word his statements. “If you look at the history of our own world, you’ll see a pattern that is pretty universal. When a more advanced civilization settles in an area already occupied by a less advanced culture, it inevitably leads to the eradication or exodus of the less advanced culture and people. Even if these aliens were to stop with the area they’ve accumulated so far, we would not be safe. What happens when they start to multiply, or begin to run short of resources? It might take years or even decades, but at some point the human race will just be in their way and the easiest thing would be for us to disappear. They see Earth as their colony now, and nothing is going to change that. And again, this is assuming they stop spreading right now. We have to consider the distinct possibility that they have their eyes set on a much larger area to begin this colonization.”

The entire room was silent. Sally was impressed and patted Thomas on the arm.

“That makes sense to me,” Major Strafford said. “Either we deal with them now or later. My vote is for now.”

Colonel Jamison nodded and rose from his chair, and the others followed. “It’s settled, then. We make a stand now. Let’s go to work, everyone.”

The sun was getting low in the sky like a giant, dull flashlight casting the remaining efforts of light from a set of drained batteries. The jeep bounced along the rugged terrain. Lieutenant Williamson drove without looking over at the colonel, his own thoughts no doubt reliving the events of this dreadful day.

Colonel Jamison took out his wallet and flipped open the pictures and began tracing his thumb along the contours of Victoria’s face. A drop of blood fell from his forehead and landed on his thumb. A shadow from above crossed his lap and he looked skyward to see an eagle, or perhaps a hawk, soaring freely low in the western sky. He put away his wallet and took out his pack of chewing tobacco. It was half empty. He put a stash in his jaw and savored the flavor, not seeming to mind that it was mixed with sweat, dirt, and blood. He looked in the side mirror of the jeep at the scene behind him—the battlefield. The view was black as hundreds of trails of smoke lifted upward to feed the huge cloud hovering overhead. It looked like a storm full of tornadoes.

“The command center has moved a little farther north, sir.”

The colonel looked over at the lieutenant. His shirt was covered in blood, most likely not his own. The colonel had watched as the lieutenant pulled at least seven wounded soldiers to the jeeps. He would surely recommend him for a medal. He had witnessed many acts of bravery this day, but the battle was decidedly one-sided. No, not one-sided—a massacre.

As the jeep stopped, the colonel got out and walked toward the command center, blood now steadily dripping from his head. He moved slowly, every muscle and joint hurting.

“I’ll get a medic,” the lieutenant said, motioning to his own head but referring to the colonel’s.

Colonel Jamison smiled but didn’t say anything. As he entered the command center, Angel rushed to greet him. Her wagging tail made the colonel feel better. “Hey, girl. Did you miss me?”

Major Strafford and Captain Owens were both as beat up and bloody as the colonel. They both quickly stood at attention and saluted. The colonel returned the salute. “At ease.”

“She’s been whining for you all day,” Sally said, pointing to Angel.

“Thanks for looking after her.”

Sally smiled.

Thomas brought the colonel a bottle of cold water. Colonel Jamison responded with a nod. Everyone found a seat.

“Where’s General Echevarria?” the colonel asked. “Did he make it?”

Darren nodded. “He’s with his men. Trying to convince them not to run away.”

The colonel pulled out the bottle of scotch and laughed. “He might need to convince me too.”

This broke the tension as they all laughed hard at their own situation.

The lieutenant entered the command center with a medic and pointed to the colonel. The colonel didn’t resist as the medic began to clean the wound on his head.

“What happened to the initial attack?” the captain asked. “How did they survive that?”

The lieutenant shook his head. “According to reports, they were able to deflect the shells and missiles, everything we sent at them from the air.”

“It was part of their main shield,” Darren said. “Like an umbrella.”

“What are the losses, Lieutenant?” the colonel asked.

The lieutenant looked at the floor before answering. “We lost over thirty percent of the men, sir. They took out every single tank and half the helicopters. The aliens are already clearing the new area, dozing trees and bodies alike to each coast.”

That news hit the commanders hard.

“So,” the colonel said, “they couldn’t take out the fast-movers. Maybe we can use that.”

“I don’t see how,” the major said. “They are well protected from any attack from the air.”

 “Sir,” the lieutenant said, “General Nickerson wants an update.”

The colonel didn’t move. He waited until the medic finished wrapping his head, then slowly rose out of his seat, with effort, and hobbled over to the SATCOM. He nodded to the lieutenant, who walked over and operated the device until they had General Nickerson on the line.

“What’s going on down there, Benjamin?” the general asked.

“We got our butts kicked, General. That’s what’s happening.”

The open line buzzed and cracked for a few seconds before the general spoke. “It’s your call, Colonel. If there’s nothing more you can do, you make the call to come home.”

The colonel looked around the room. Captain Owens was shaking his head. Major Strafford’s jaws were clenched in defiance. General Echevarria entered the tent and seemed to sense what was happening. He nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

The colonel cleared his throat. “We’re not ready to tuck tail just yet, General. I want napalm.”

“You got it, Colonel,” the general said with enthusiasm. “How much do you need?”

The colonel clutched the transmitter tightly. “All of it. And we need replacements. Every soldier you can send.”

“Well, all right,” the major said as Colonel Jamison and General Echevarria took their seats and the lieutenant and medic left the tent. “What’s the plan, sir?”

The colonel looked them all in the eye, one at a time, and continued. “They were able to deflect the attacks from the ships and planes, but once they get away from the shield, they can be hurt. I saw one take a direct hit from a tank and he went down. He was still kicking, but I never saw him get up again. What did you guys witness?”

“We took out several with rocket launchers,” the general said.

Captain Owens concurred. “Same here. We had a little luck slowing them down with grenades, but the M16s had little or no effect. The frontal armor is just too strong.”

“We did pretty well with claymores,” the major added.

“Okay,” the colonel said, “we know we can hurt them. The problem is that we’re no match for them with conventional ground combat or weapon-to-weapon. They’re too strong, too fast, and their weapons are much more advanced.” He slid a map to the center of the table and pointed. “Here’s the shield now. It runs from the lower point of Belize right through Guatemala City. We’re here, approximately twenty miles away. We’ll let them get within a few miles of us, far away from their shield, and drop a thousand tons of napalm on them. It should hurt them or at least disorient them. Then we hit them with everything.”

All of the commanders nodded and went to spread the word.

Over the next two weeks, as the aliens cleared the new area and built their new structures, troops and equipment came pouring in.

“Do you want us on the front line, sir?” a newly arrived captain asked.

The colonel smiled. “Son, that’s all we have. We have security and medical personnel behind us, but every soldier is on the front line.”

The captain nodded and began positioning his men.

“Walk with me, Dr. Mitchell,” the colonel said.

Darren left Dr. McNair, Sally, and Thomas and walked with the colonel.

“You guys are here to lend advice,” the colonel said. “So, I’m all ears.”

“We’ve got nothing, colonel. These creatures are totally unprecedented. I wish I could tell you their weakness, but they don’t appear to have one. I think your plan of attack sounds like the best bet.”

Lieutenant Williamson walked up. “Sir, we have a situation.” He motioned toward the back about a hundred feet away where the security forces were.

The colonel saw the commotion and walked directly toward it. Darren followed. As they walked up, they saw a standoff between the security guys and what appeared to be a Mexican gang. They were a hundred strong, all wearing gang paraphernalia, and all carrying Uzis and other such weapons. The colonel walked right up to them. “What’s going on, Sergeant?”

“These guys are trying to get through, sir.”

The colonel looked at the one who appeared to be the leader. He was barely out of his teens. A faint mustache and goatee accentuated his taut face. He was short and thin, with dark eyes and olive skin. He wore a sleeveless shirt, and his arms displayed several tattoos of demons. The colonel rubbed his own shirt and could feel his cross necklace just below his dog tags. “What’s your name, son?”

“Francisco.”

Darren’s eyes lit up. “Colonel, I know him.”

Colonel Jamison walked up close to Darren. “What do you know about him?”

Darren smiled. “He saved my life and my dog’s life. He loves pit bulls.”

“That’s all I need to hear.” The colonel walked to Francisco and held out his hand. “I’m Colonel Benjamin Jamison.”

Francisco seemed surprised at the civility and shook the colonel’s hand.

“What can we do for you, Francisco?”

“We came to fight, sir.”

The colonel looked out at the other faces. All were nodding. He thought about how best to handle the situation. “Do you know what we’re up against, Francisco?”

Francisco nodded. “Yes, sir. And I know if we don’t stop them, our homes and families will be next. Not everyone in Mexico can afford to fly to another country.”