Enemy Read online

  Patra studied the aliens circling her group. They looked... vaguely familiar. They were humanoid, two arms and two legs, but they had no facial features, only a blank... faceplate? Of course. Aliens wouldn’t be able to breathe our air, so they’d wear a space suit. These were only shells. Who knew what kind of creature existed below the armor?

  The people were getting restless. There were many whispers, hushed. Patra saw many looks of terror, shock, incomprehension, resignation, hatred, suspicion.

  A large group of men was having a clandestine conversation. She could sense that they were plotting something... Patra unconsciously began to back away from the band of conspirators.

  Their group was the next in line at the base of the monolith. Whatever was going to happen, it wouldn’t be much longer... The aliens began to close in.

  “NOW!!”

  About fifty men charged from the crowd at one of the creatures. The response was immediate.

  Until now, the aliens had used some kind of mental force, some hideous extension of the subconscious Voice that permeated everything, as a weapon. No one had seen the shields.

  The progress of the conspirators was halted by a suddenly visible spherical shield that emanated from the Black. It glowed a dark, clouded violet.

  The men who ran into it were blackened and charred as they were set on fire. Cries of agony as their flaming bodies were quickly consumed by the same silver mesh that had engulfed the people killed outside of the transport vessel.

  The rest of the conspirators faltered, halted.

  This whole occurrence was not overlooked by the other aliens, but they made no attempt to interfere or assist their comrade, who stood calmly within the purple bubble. There were several piercing flashes of light and several more aliens materialized right in front of Patra. A silvery endostructure emerged from the flashes of light, and a hard black shell solidified around it. These new arrivals made no movements, but simply watched the events around them unfold.

  The shielded black demon nonchalantly turned back to the crowd, its somehow non-eyes sweeping across the human expanse.

  Gasps from the crowd. No time to run.

  Light danced.

  Silvervioletthought tore from the alien and smashed into and through the remaining conspirators. Many bystanders too close to the attempted coup were also torn apart in the rampage. The liquid metal again encompassed the victims of the alien warrior’s mind weapon.

  The crowd was silent. Shocked.

  Wails of agony from those on the ground.

  The aliens moved in once more, crushing the remains.

  Patra finally broke. She began to weep.

  The group began to move toward the monolith.

  Patra stumbled over a dead man’s hand and screamed.

  black

  darkness parts.

  THE PURPOSE WILL BE COMPLETED.

  COMPLETION IS THE PURPOSE.

  unease.

  ANOTHER DISTURBANCE((?))

  SEVERAL.

  suspicion.

  MANY. PERHAPS WE LACK THE POWER TO BREAK THEIR WILL.

  BLASPHEMY((!)) YOU MOCK OUR STRENGTH.

  NO, I—

  WE ((WERE ARE WILL BE)) GODS TO THEM.

  THEIR SOCIETIES BECOME INCREASINGLY INTRACTABLE.

  WE WILL NOT FAIL. PROCEED WITH HARVEST OF NATIVE POPULACE REMNANTS. ANY FURTHER RESISTANCE SHOULD BE MET WITH FIERCE RETALIATION.

  WE WILL BE BRUTAL. REINFORCEMENTS HAVE BEEN DOWNLOADED AND SYNTHESIZED.

  REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE NOTHING BUT CODE. TREAT THEM AS SUCH, AND WE WILL PREVAIL. THEY ARE NOTHING BUT THE LOST CODES OF OUR GOD OMEGA.

  THE WORD IS TRUE; THE SALVATION SHALL BE OURS.

  GO THEN. PURPOSE BE.

  PURPOSE BE.

  the swirling of blackest fog, like a curtain closing.

  the black fades...

  they walked into the vessel, and time stopped

  walk walk walk into the black

  walk

  they walked

  eternal monotony

  she had been here

  forever walking

  something grasped her

  MIND

  stifling waves of heat cold

  CLAUSTROPHOBIA

  choking struggle walk

  into a haze

  darkness encompassed them...

  memories…

  ...the day Daddy brought her a new teddy bear “Brand new, Patty! Better than your ratty old bear!” and Honeybear Brown, tattered, loved, cherished, was thrown into the waste unit. “NO, Daddy. NO! I LOVE Honeybear!”

  “You’ll love your NEW bear, too.” tears. the new bear sat for days on the chair by the closet until she

  KILLED KILLED KILLED HIM

  flung him out the window down down he fell thirty stories...

  ...years later. television. “Look, Patty, I’m on TV!! Daddy’s on TV!” TODAY, COLUMBIA STATE SENATOR DAVID JENNINGS, RENOWNED WAR HERO, ANNOUNCED HIS PRESIDENTIAL BID. THIS SPLITS THE POPULACE PARTY TICKET THREE WAYS. RUMORS OF UNREST AND DISSENT IN WASHINGTON HAVE SURFACED. INCREASED SECURITY HAS BEEN ORDERED FOR TOMORROW’S STATE OF THE FEDERATION ADDRESS. IN OTHER NEWS, TENSIONS IN QUEBEC—the television was snapped off. Mommy with a champagne bottle, hugging Daddy. “Now it’s time for bed, Patty. Big day tomorrow.” yes. big day…

  ...“Patra Jennings?” a matronly old woman asked as she stepped off the maglev. “Welcome to the Rodham Girl’s School. Let’s go to your dormitory, shall we?” the smell of old schools, darkened hallways, pre-Three tech. a small room, an uncomfortable bed, no weblink. “I’m sure you’ll be happy here. Many Congresspeople send their children here. You’ll meet others tomorrow at Plenary.”…

  ...UNDERDOG DAVID JENNINGS HAS WON THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE. WE GO LIVE TO THE CAPITOL…

  ...“Yes, Patty. I promise I’ll send for you soon, but things are kind of heating up around here, with the war in Quebec and all. You understand, don’t you, Sweetie? We’ll spend next Christmas together for sure.”…

  ...WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WE’RE—OH, UM… NETNEWS SPECIAL REPORT, LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE MUST WARN YOU OF THE GRAPHIC NATURE OF THIS SPECIAL BULLETIN. CONTACT WITH OUR WASHINGTON BUREAU HAS BEEN SEVERED, SO OUR CHIEF SOURCE OF INFORMATION HAS BEEN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS. THE IMAGES YOU SEE BEFORE YOU ARE AMATEUR VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF WHAT WAS WASHINGTON, D.C. AT THIS POINT, ALL WE KNOW IS A SMALL-SCALE THERMONUCLEAR WEAPON HAS DESTROYED MUCH OF THE NATION’S CAPITOL. THE PRESIDENT IS RETURNING FROM THE G-15 SUMMIT MEETING IN MEXICO CITY AS WE SPEAK. HE IS EXPECTED TO—THIS JUST IN. SOURCES IN NEW ENGLAND SAY FRENCH INSURGENCE FORCES HAVE STORMED THE QUEBEC/U.S. BORDER. MILITARY UNITS HAVE BEEN MOBILIZED...

  ...her mother had been in Washington. she wept...

  ...AND A FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED IN A COMPLEX IN THE ROCKIES. TODAY, AMERICAN FORCES LIBERATED NEW YORK CITY FROM THE QUEBECOIS...

  ...her mother’s funeral. ashes to ashes, dust to dust...

  …SOURCES ON THE FRONT LINE TELL US THAT THE SEVENTH ASSAULT GROUP PUNCHED THROUGH THE FRENCH DEFENSES AFTER A THREE-WEEK STANDOFF AT THE CITY WALLS. THE EIGHTH ASSAULT GROUP HAS BEEN SENT IN TO TAKE THE CITY. WE HAVE WORD THAT THE SEVENTH SUFFERED NINETY-EIGHT PERCENT LOSSES. THEIR EFFORTS WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN…

  ...“Patra, your father simply cannot speak to you at the moment. After we take Canada, I’m sure he’ll call you. You have to realize that it is your duty as an American to believe in your government, your father, and not question his actions.”...

  alone. utterly alone.

  hatred flourished.

  ...SPECIAL REPORT. VICTORY IN CANADA! THE PROVISIONAL FRENCH GOVERNMENT STEPPED DOWN, SURRENDERING FROM THEIR MONTREAL BUNKER. AMERICAN FORCES HAVE TAKEN THE CITY AND FREED THE BESIEGED NEW ENGLAND AREA. NOW, THE LONG PROCESS OF REBUILDING WASHINGTON AND OUR WOUNDED COUNTRY MUST BEGIN...

  …“Daddy? Please, can I come home?”....

  …“Let Washington remain a monument for future generations. Let it be a testament to
the courage and the perseverance of the American people. Let this empty plain be the quiet reminder of our painful past, and let us build again. Let us build again for the countless dead. The Wind River region of Wyoming will be officially designated as the new District of Columbia. The capitol will be relocated to Wind River, a much more secure area. The Federal Government will never be destroyed again. The sixty-four Allied States of America will live forever.”…

  …an image burned into the minds of the nation, the weeping president laying flowers at the grave of his wife, Abrah Kennedy Jennings. He fell forward, embraced the stone monument, shook with the force of his sobbing. The nation mourned…

  ...deep depression. her mother dead, her father consumed in the process of rebuilding the fractured nation. so distant. she escaped the Rodham School by simply climbing out her window and walking out the main gate. the security guard within the gatehouse slept. she walked into the cool, moonlit night with tears on her cheeks and blackness in her soul....

  ...SEARCHERS SCOURED THE SURROUNDING AREA MANY MONTHS, FINDING ONLY BLOOD-SOAKED CLOTHING WHICH HAS BEEN POSITIVELY SEQUENCED AS THE BLOOD OF PATRA JENNINGS. THE SEARCH GOES ON FOR THE ABDUCTORS, BUT NO ONE HAS CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY. FEDNET HAS SEVERAL SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY, AND IS INVESTIGATING SEVERAL LEADS. A MEMORIAL SERVICE WAS HELD TODAY IN COLUMBIA PARK. THE PRESIDENT WILL REMAIN IN WIND RIVER IN PREPARATION FOR THE PEACE ACCORDS...

  ....she had taken a shirt from her pack and used it to bind the gash on her palm she had suffered while sliding down a gravel embankment. she discarded the shirt on the roadside several miles from the school after the blood had stopped flowing. she walked on. three weeks later, sitting in a greasy spoon in rural Virginia, her hair cut short, dyed, dressed in jeans and T-shirt, she was shocked to learn from the weblink news that she had apparently been brutally kidnapped and murdered. the nation mourned for the tragic Jennings family drama. Patra smiled and ordered some cheesecake to celebrate her new life…

  ....MASSIVE CITIZEN RIOTS IN CHICAGO TODAY AFTER THE NATION OF ISLAM COMMUNITY CENTER WAS BOMBED ON THE SOUTH SIDE, KILLING THREE HUNDRED, WITH MORE DEATHS EXPECTED. THE NEW WHITE PARTY ACKNOWLEDGES ITS INVOLVEMENT IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PREDOMINANTLY-AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHURCH. THIS IS THE SEVENTH SUCH ATTACK THIS YEAR. FORTY THOUSAND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE CURRENTLY TRYING TO PUT DOWN THE RIOTS...

  ...she tried to create a sense of normalcy in her life. with the last of the money she had taken with her from the Rodham School, she bribed a hacker to establish a fake IDCOM number and file for her. with the IDCOM file, she was able to get a job in Roanoke. she was now a waitress. she knew someday she’d get a better job, but this was good enough. she rented an apartment, made friends, earned money and respect. the pain of the past faded gradually. by the time-

  -DAVID JENNINGS REELECTED-

  -she was eighteen.

  the affairs of her father did not interest her. the nation looked upon the man with respect for his actions in the Quebec War and his New America program, but also with pity. he was the first American president with no family at all. some said his pained smile won him the election. she let her hair grow and let it go back to its original brunette color. it was a gamble, but in the end, no one made the connection between the president’s dead daughter and the new girl in town....

  ....THE WHITE HOUSE DENIES REPORTS THAT A COVERT MILITARY TEAM IS TO BLAME FOR THE AS-YET-UNEXPLAINED CHICAGO MASSACRE. PRESIDENT JENNINGS HIMSELF VEHEMENTLY DENIES THAT HIS GOVERNMENT HAS DEVELOPED A FORCE OF GENETICALLY-ALTERED “SUPERSOLDIERS” USING THE NOW-BANNED SCHRADER-KANE TECHNOLOGY THAT THE PACT USED IN WAR THREE...

  ...she was happy. she had a home, a small business on the side (she was a sculptor), a dog named Gromit, a boyfriend named Mark...

  ...NETNEWS EXCLUSIVE. A WHITE HOUSE SOURCE, SPEAKING ON STRICT CONDITIONS OF ANONYMITY, REVEALED TO NETNEWS REPORTERS THAT THE JENNINGS GOVERMENT DID IN FACT DEVELOP A COVERT OPERATIONS TEAM THAT ALMOST SINGLE-HANDEDLY TOOK MONTREAL DURING THE QUEBEC WAR. COULD THIS BE THE INFAMOUS EIGHTH ASSAULT GROUP, SO REKNOWNED FOR QUICKLY FINISHING OFF THE FRENCH FORCES AFTER THE SEVENTH WAS MASSACRED? OUR SOURCE ALSO REVEALED THAT THE TEAM WAS SENT TO CHICAGO DURING THE RIOTS, BUT WAS PULLED OUT AFTER SEVERAL RENEGADE MEMBERS BEGAN FIRING ON CIVILIANS. THE GROUP WAS APPARENTLY DISBANDED AFTER THE MASSACRE AND EXILED TO THE PACIFIC ATOLL OF SANTA FOSCA. FROM THE WIND RIVER COMPLEX, WHITE HOUSE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ANTONIA CERVERA DISMISSED THE CHARGES AS “COMPLETELY FABRICATED COVERUP-HUNGRY MEDIA LIES.” THAT MAY BE SO, SECRETARY CERVERA, BUT WHERE ARE THE SEVENTY-FIVE MEMBERS OF THE EIGHTH ASSAULT GROUP TODAY? NETNEWS COULD NOT FIND MILITARY OR CIVILIAN RECORDS FOR ANY OF THE MEN AND WOMEN ENLISTED UNDER ASSAULT EIGHT IN ANY OF THE SIXTY-SEVEN ALLIED STATES. WE HERE AT NETNEWS CHALLENGE THE JENNINGS GOVERNMENT TO ANSWER TO THESE CHARGES. WAS THE GOVERNMENT TO BLAME FOR THE MASSACRE OF THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS?...

  ....Mark asked her to marry him. she said yes. two weeks later he was called back to Wind River for an urgent meeting of the Populace Council....

  ....CHAOS IN WIND RIVER: PRESIDENT ORDERS NUCLEAR STRIKES IN MICHIGAN, PACIFIC TRENCH...

  reality shattered.

  the shit hit the fan.

  ....Mark called. he couldn’t come home yet. something big was going down in Wind River. something huge. it might be a coup, no one was sure yet, but Jennings had disappeared...

  ....she stared in abject terror and disbelief at the weblink as it showed the massive black THINGS falling to earth all over the globe. then the power went out...

  ....the fighting had been centered around the major cities. Roanoke was safe, for now. but to the east in the night sky she could see the glow over Richmond...

  ....Wind River. Mark. she mourned...

  ....she went to the church when the black ships began to swarm over Roanoke. she prayed for forgiveness. she prayed that it was all a dream. then the doors blew open and soldiers stormed in, human soldiers, shouting “GET DOWN! IT’S COMING! Everybody GET DOWN!!”…

  ....memories.

  The tunnel that led into the vessel opened into an impossible expanse of austere white light. Patra spun around, sure she would see a pinpoint of light where they had entered, sure she had been walking forever. The entrance doors cycled shut only a few yards behind her. She shielded her eyes from the glare.

  The light came from the center of the huge room, where a white form floated. A sphere. An orb.

  There were stars in the orb.

  Patra was so mesmerized by the impossible sight that she did not feel the webs of metal as they leapt forward and implanted themselves into the temples of her skull or the tendrils of blackness steal her soul.

  The orb of stars reached out for her, and she fell.

  Patra Jennings was no more.

  There was no pain.

  Hayes knew that they were too late.

  The others had scattered down the tunnel when the aliens found them. Flynn dealt with those troops, but a crash down the tunnel signaled the arrival of a second wave.

  He ran with the Styx down the tunnel and barely missed being hit by a shimmering silver field of light as they rounded a bend in the sewer.

  This time, the aliens were not out for prisoners.

  The black creatures stood within a mass of what had been the refugees Flynn and Hayes had been with. No one had been spared.

  Hayes faltered, stopped in shock.

  Flynn charged past him.

  Her form flickered as she ran through one of the aliens. Her arms, outstretched, cleanly sheared off the upper torsos of the other two.

  Their bodies joined the bodies of the humans.

  Ember Flynn flickered back into existence, unscathed.

  She noted with some dismay the look of utter anguish on Hayes’ face as he knelt and picked up a small form from the grisly scene of carnage. It was a baby, gasping its last breaths, eyes blinking in confusion and pain from the massive head trauma it had suffered when his father had been cut down by the aliens.

  A disgusting tendril of si
lver wound its way around the baby’s neck, replacing flesh with metal. Hayes struggled to pull the liquid mesh off of the infant’s face, but it slipped through his fingers and embedded itself into the baby’s eyes.

  Hayes held the child close, helpless. There was nothing he could do to save the infant. The tiny body shuddered with agony, and then fell still, dead. Hayes placed the baby on the floor, in the arms of his dead father, and watched with disgusted amazement as both bodies were consumed by the liquid metal until nothing remained but a silvery husk.

  When he looked back up at Flynn, she saw for an instant the chaos of emotion within the man who was Hayes. A terrifying mix of fury, despair, and something deeper, some emotion she did not want to acknowledge, for the fear that any human could possess it and remain human. Then he blinked his eyes and it was gone.

  “Come on. There’ll be more.”

  They ran.

  Walking, walking, walking.

  West traveled by night. During the day, he usually slept in the all-too-numerous abandoned buildings. He encountered no living people, although he did find a building, a bingo hall to be exact, where over two hundred people had committed mass suicide. Cyanide. The sign posted outside the building had proclaimed that they had gone to Heaven with their Reverend and Savior Billy Denver and the rest of the congregation of the Church of the Joyous Apocalypse. West shuddered.

  He could see the black shadows circling the planet all day now, even at night. The sun was colder still, and at night there were less stars in the gauzy sky, he thought.

  Who were they, the invaders? Who were they?

  The alien vessels flew overhead constantly. They landed where Chicago had been, waited, took off again in billowing clouds of dust and violet light.

  What were they doing?

  Sometimes he stood in plain sight just to see if the vessels would notice him. One human must not have mattered enough to land for, but still...

  West thought he could handle the aliens if they landed for him. When they landed for him.

  He had to find others. There had to be others.

  He walked on.