Earth's Last Days: The Invasion-Chapter 201: Preparing for a Long Wait

All those watching the blast near a window were able to see the display perfectly. They watched as the planet exploded into bits of rock and space debris. The pressure of the blast had forced the rock out in all directions, creating an asteroid field. Tears welled up on many of their faces. Not just humans but Kreq and Ramesian alike.

The planet that had become their home was no more.

Silence washed through the ship as they stared at what once was their home. Tears falling. Sobs echoing through the ship. They were now homeless. They were a people without a planet.

Council Leader Vorik rushed off the bridge. He needed to find Alice and the twins. He knew they would be fearful that he didn’t make it off the planet before it exploded. He needed them to see him to reassure them that he had escaped the blast and was on the ship and safe.

Fleet Commander Lerian rushed behind him. "The first shuttle went to Hangar Bay 3," he told Vorik, knowing he was heading toward his mate and infants. "We are lucky we didn’t build any more domes. We used all the passenger shuttles we had to evacuate everyone off the planet. We barely had time to get everyone off the planet before it exploded," he told Council Leader Vorik. "We’ve had too much going on; we didn’t have time to build more domes. It appears that even with all the problems we’ve had, those problems turned out to be a good thing."

Council Leader Vorik nodded in agreement, still rushing toward the hangar bay. He knew they would not have all made off the planet if there had been more domes that had been finished. When he finally reached Hangar Bay 3, the doors slid open. He scanned the crowd, who were all waiting for what to do next. They only had to evacuate, nothing more. They didn’t know what to do or where to go. Vorik’s eyes stopped on Alice. Tears were streaming down her face. She rushed up to him, letting him wrap his arms around her. A blanket of relief surrounded them.

"It’s gone. It’s all gone," she sobbed, unable to stop. Vorik knew that Alice was speaking of Earth.

Fleet Commander Lerian waited in silence, letting them have their moment. They needed it.

The hangar bay door slid open, and Guard Commander Drevick stepped in. His eyes scanned for Aleigha. She rushed up to him as quickly as she could with Finn in her arms. Relief washed through her features as she looked at him. There were tears in her eyes. Something that wasn’t in character with her.

"The planet is gone. We no longer have a home," he told her quietly, hugging her close.

Aleigha pulled away to look up at him, tears streaming down her face; she smiled. "Home is where you are."

Fleet Commander Lerian sighed before stepping forward. "I’m sorry, but there is no time to rest. We are trying to get quarters for everyone ready. As always, families and mated pairs are first. We need to go through the roster and see how many we lost. We don’t believe anyone was left behind, but we need to make sure everyone is accounted for so we know where to put them." He turned to Vorik. "Your quarters are still assigned to you," he reminded him. Lerian knew he would want to get his family settled before he did anything else.

Council Leader Vorik nodded, picking up the two infant carriers and gesturing to Alice. "I will return as soon as I get Alice and the twins settled," he told the fleet commander.

Fleet Commander Lerian nodded, then stepped forward with his roster, ready to get to work getting everyone placed in their own quarters.

*** *** ***

Iris Tillerman stood near the back of the hangar bay. She and the rest of the people from the hidden mountain city were nervous, staring at the remains of the planet they had just been taken from.

When the shuttle came to their hidden city in the mountains, they were all huddled, trying to stay calm as the ground shook and trees fell around them.

The shuttle had landed, and the wide door opened. They had all watched as a tall green alien with black horns and silver caps affixed to the tips stepped out. The aliens had told them the planet was being evacuated. It was tearing itself apart. He had said that if we wanted to go to safety, then they all needed to get in the shuttle. He had told them that they would all die when the planet ruptured and split apart.

The city’s small population had turned to their leader, who stared at the alien in fear. This was the first time they had seen one of them. Keith, the leader, had scanned his people, seeing the fear on their faces, before nodding to the alien. That’s when they were all herded onto the shuttle. They were filled with fear and uncertainty as they stepped inside the shuttle.

Before they even left into space, a ball of fire smashed into one of the engines. The shuttle was pulled to the side as the pilots fought to keep it in the air. As they righted the craft, the darkness of space began to show through the windows of the shuttle. They had entered space.

As the shuttle rushed toward the large ship in space, Iris looked out the window and watched as a large crack began to form on Earth. It was clearly visible from above the planet. She knew then that the tall green alien didn’t lie. The planet was about to be destroyed. After they had entered the wide door of the ship, they watched through the rippling barrier as the massive ship they entered raced away from the planet. As they did, the planet exploded, replaced by an asteroid field.

Now she looked around her as the tall alien in front of the group introduced himself.

"I am Fleet Commander Lerian. We noticed too late that the planet was destroying itself. As soon as we realized it, we scanned the surface for life. We found you," he told them. "We have increased the population of this ship by hundreds. It will take some time to find everyone their own quarters. We will first start with mated pairs and families. We may have no choice but to put people in dorms. We won’t know until we find all available quarters on the ship."

Iris looked up at the fleet commander. He had used the term ’mated pairs.’ She didn’t understand what he had meant by that. She wanted to ask, but didn’t out of fear.

Pulling out his roster, the fleet commander began calling pairs away from the crowd. Iris noted that the pairs were one human and one alien. Some of them carried infants with them who looked like they were a mix of the two.

Iris watched and waited as the fleet commander went through his long list of names.

*** *** ***

Verion stood amongst the crowd, his eyes scanning around him. He didn’t like being on the ship. He had no memories of it that were pleasant. Ver and her mate, Miles, had already been given their own quarters. Mikiel stood beside him as they waited to find out if they had to go to a dorm or if there were enough quarters to house everyone who had just arrived.

Fleet Commander Lerian walked up to them. "Everyone is exhausted. I need the two of you to help set up beds here in the hangar bay so everyone can rest as we make our way through the addition of the population. It’s taking too long to get everyone settled into their own quarters."

"Yes, sir," Mikiel stated, giving the gesture of respect.

Verion only nodded nervously, then, as an afterthought, gave the gesture of respect. Fleet Commander Lerian ignored Verion’s nervousness. "Use the replicators to produce mats and blankets. Everyone only needs minimal bedding until we find them a home. Once the beds are set up, get those still in the hangar bay something to eat."

Mikiel headed to the replicator and started producing the bedding, then handed them to Verion. "Start distributing these. These people need to rest."

Verion looked uncomfortable. He’d much rather replicate bedding than converse with people he was meeting for the first time. If he distributed the bedding, he would have to speak to the people, and it frightened him. Fear made his stutter worse, making his treatment worse.

Mikiel, seeing his hesitation, placed his hand on his shoulder. "Speak slowly. If you have problems, come to me."

Verion nodded slowly, grateful for Mikiel’s reassurance and understanding. He then took the stack of bedding and headed toward the mountain city humans. Walking up to an elderly man, he offered the bedding. "It is taking too long to find quarters for everyone," he said slowly. "We are giving bedding for everyone waiting for their own quarters to be able to rest as they wait."

"You’re not getting much help distributing that," the elderly man noted, pointing to the stack of bedding. Then, he turned to a young girl in her late teens or early twenties. "Iris!" he called, then gestured for her to come to him.

Verion could tell that this elderly man must be the leader of this mountain city group. He watched as she quickly rushed up to him. "Yes, sir?" she asked, then looked at Verion. Her face flushed. Verion was sure his face flushed, too.

"Help him," the elderly man told her, pointing to Verion. "He’s handing out bedding so we can all rest while we wait for a place to stay."

Verion swallowed hard, still watching the girl. "We will be distributing food as soon as the bedding is given out," he said nervously, doing his best not to stutter.

The man nodded. "Help him with that too," he ordered her, then took the bundle of bedding from Verion and took it to a small group that was part of his people.

Verion headed toward Mikiel to get more. "That is Mikiel. He is replicating the bedding. My name is Verion," he said slowly, trying not to stutter. He wasn’t used to speaking to anyone he didn’t know. He could tell that the girl was nervous. He was sure she hadn’t seen his kind before.

Mikiel turned to hand Verion a stack of bedding. He smiled widely at the girl. Her face flushed further. He handed Verion the stack and then stuck his arm out in greeting. A human gesture he learned. It was to shake hands. "I’m Mikiel," he told the girl, still smiling.

The girl nervously took it, shaking his hand. "My name is Iris," she said quietly. Her face turned bright pink.

Mikiel chuckled. "I don’t know if he introduced himself, but that’s Verion. He’s a little shy, but you’ll like him if you get to know him."

Verion sighed. "I did introduce myself," he said slowly. His stutter threatened to show itself.

Mikiel smiled widely, then handed her a bundle. "When the bedding is handed out, we’ll distribute food. Pizza sounds good. Do you and your people like pizza?" he asked her.

The girl’s head snapped up. "You have pizza?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah. Our Leader’s mate is human. She had him program it into the replicators. It is one of the most popular items programmed. Well, that and cream of mushroom soup. That’s pretty good, too."

Iris smiled widely. She looked partially shocked yet surprised. "You can program anything in the replicators?" she asked excitedly.

"Find me later, and I’ll help replicate something if we don’t already have it. Between our leader’s mate and the guard commander’s mate, Aleigha and her sister Niki, we have a lot of human items programmed in it."

Iris nodded, still smiling as she and Verion turned to hand out the bedding. The aliens were nothing like she had expected.