the planet. And by doing so, it created a magnetic force-field around the planet that protected us from something. Something from space.”
The President let out a deep breath. “Did you verify any of these results?”
“Yes, sir, in several ways.”
“So what do we do? We can’t just sit around and hope for some type of miracle.”
“I don’t think there is anything we can do, except to plant a seed.”
“Plant a seed? You tell me we’re dying, that our world is dying, and you want to plant a seed? What good would that do, when anything we plant here is just going to die anyway.”
“Not here, sir. We’ve been experimenting with rockets. We think we might be able to send microbes or even small animal life to the third planet, Ocean. If we evolved from this life, perhaps we will again.”
Jot Russell: An engineer is a designer of work to fill a purpose. Whether that be to build a tower that stretches into the sky, to create a soft parade of logic to command artificial life, or to find a way to arrange random words into the dramatic, those who seek design fulfill their own purpose. I'm an engineer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3 1.
Arrival
Karl J. Morgan
It turned out that the skeptics were right to question the motives of the alien fleet that appeared in orbit that late October day. I was sitting in my San Diego backyard, sipping a cold beer, when one of the ships blocked out the sun. Sirens sounded and the military went on alert, but what could a single man or all of us together do against their superior technology? I am one of the lucky ones, surviving in this cave far from the city and the invasion forces, watching the perpetual fires in relative safety. I am not a prepper, but I have friends who are and was lucky enough to join them when they bugged out.
At first, we were terrified the aliens would find us, but after two weeks, it seemed they had enough slave labor to carry out their mission to extract all natural resources for shipment to their home world. The media had gone silent, the Internet was permanently offline, and the cities not burned to the ground were dark, saving energy for the mines and factories.
I was certain Kyle had lost it when he said we needed to strike back. Somehow, he managed to form alliances with others groups and planned a series of assaults on the invaders. I knew it was a suicide mission, but could not allow them to destroy our planet while I cowered in the caves. It was no honor to inherit a dead planet. Better to die now and give those bastards something to remember.
Early on that fateful day, we began receiving encouraging reports from other groups. Casualties were high, but several alien installations had been overrun. It was just before dawn when we encountered the first alien patrols. The odds were heavily in our favor and the aliens were dispatched almost instantly. Now we had their weapons too. Kyle turned out to be a military genius and as lethal as a team of Navy Seals. By 10:00 a.m., we were at the gates of the alien compound, having left a trail of dead aliens and pools of green blood behind us. A thirty-minute mortar barrage and a hail of machine-gun fire later, we captured the compound. The surviving aliens were chained together and Kyle looked them over. I knew our victory would be short-lived, but these aliens would think twice before invading another planet.
“What is your name, Commandant?” Kyle asked.
“Balook Nizfaz,” the tall, green alien spat, his black eyes blinking in the bright sunlight. “You know that reinforcements will come soon and you will all die, right?”
“Let me kill that bastard,” I shouted.
“Calm down, Sid,” Kyle laughed. “You’re done killing for today.” He glared at the alien commander and stated, “And there will be no reinforcements, Balook! Watch your friends abandon you.” Kyle pointed skyward just as the massive alien starship shot upward and disappeared.
“What did you do?”
The President let out a deep breath. “Did you verify any of these results?”
“Yes, sir, in several ways.”
“So what do we do? We can’t just sit around and hope for some type of miracle.”
“I don’t think there is anything we can do, except to plant a seed.”
“Plant a seed? You tell me we’re dying, that our world is dying, and you want to plant a seed? What good would that do, when anything we plant here is just going to die anyway.”
“Not here, sir. We’ve been experimenting with rockets. We think we might be able to send microbes or even small animal life to the third planet, Ocean. If we evolved from this life, perhaps we will again.”
Jot Russell: An engineer is a designer of work to fill a purpose. Whether that be to build a tower that stretches into the sky, to create a soft parade of logic to command artificial life, or to find a way to arrange random words into the dramatic, those who seek design fulfill their own purpose. I'm an engineer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3 1.
Arrival
Karl J. Morgan
It turned out that the skeptics were right to question the motives of the alien fleet that appeared in orbit that late October day. I was sitting in my San Diego backyard, sipping a cold beer, when one of the ships blocked out the sun. Sirens sounded and the military went on alert, but what could a single man or all of us together do against their superior technology? I am one of the lucky ones, surviving in this cave far from the city and the invasion forces, watching the perpetual fires in relative safety. I am not a prepper, but I have friends who are and was lucky enough to join them when they bugged out.
At first, we were terrified the aliens would find us, but after two weeks, it seemed they had enough slave labor to carry out their mission to extract all natural resources for shipment to their home world. The media had gone silent, the Internet was permanently offline, and the cities not burned to the ground were dark, saving energy for the mines and factories.
I was certain Kyle had lost it when he said we needed to strike back. Somehow, he managed to form alliances with others groups and planned a series of assaults on the invaders. I knew it was a suicide mission, but could not allow them to destroy our planet while I cowered in the caves. It was no honor to inherit a dead planet. Better to die now and give those bastards something to remember.
Early on that fateful day, we began receiving encouraging reports from other groups. Casualties were high, but several alien installations had been overrun. It was just before dawn when we encountered the first alien patrols. The odds were heavily in our favor and the aliens were dispatched almost instantly. Now we had their weapons too. Kyle turned out to be a military genius and as lethal as a team of Navy Seals. By 10:00 a.m., we were at the gates of the alien compound, having left a trail of dead aliens and pools of green blood behind us. A thirty-minute mortar barrage and a hail of machine-gun fire later, we captured the compound. The surviving aliens were chained together and Kyle looked them over. I knew our victory would be short-lived, but these aliens would think twice before invading another planet.
“What is your name, Commandant?” Kyle asked.
“Balook Nizfaz,” the tall, green alien spat, his black eyes blinking in the bright sunlight. “You know that reinforcements will come soon and you will all die, right?”
“Let me kill that bastard,” I shouted.
“Calm down, Sid,” Kyle laughed. “You’re done killing for today.” He glared at the alien commander and stated, “And there will be no reinforcements, Balook! Watch your friends abandon you.” Kyle pointed skyward just as the massive alien starship shot upward and disappeared.
“What did you do?”
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