Earth's Last Days: The Invasion-Chapter 41: Arrival of the Council Leader

The small group descended the platform, exiting the shuttle. They were dressed in the same black body armor as all the other aliens. The man in the center of the group, who had an insignia attached to his armor, looked right at Fleet Commander Vorik. A sneer suddenly filled his features as he looked at Alice, then down to the hand she was holding.

Commander Vorik stepped one step closer to Alice as the group came closer, a gesture of protectiveness. He didn’t like the way the man was looking at his mate. He didn’t care that the man’s rank was above his own. He was determined to protect Alice. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The man in the middle looked behind the Fleet Commander, his disgust evident. Alice turned to see what he was looking at.

Shadick, Shelia, Zack, and Carrie were headed toward them. Each couple was hand in hand as they came closer. Alice noticed Shadick and Shelia pale as they saw who had arrived.

On the landing platform, the small group reached the bottom of the shuttle’s narrow ramp; Fleet Commander Vorik pressed his fist over his heart and bowed slightly. "Council Leader Tosh," he stated in greeting. The Leader had arrived.

Alice suddenly felt fear seep into her bones when she heard her mate speak the name. She knew this was bad. The Council Leader had arrived in secret, giving them no time to evacuate anyone. This could cost everyone human, or anyone mated to one, their lives.

"Are all the remaining humans here?" Council Leader Tosh asked evenly. He scanned the area, disgust in his features as he looked at all the mated couples.

"All the ones we have found so far, sir," Commander Vorik responded. "We are still searching for others." Vorik tried to remain calm, showing no emotions to their leader.

"How many of them have mates of our people?" Council Leader Tosh asked. Disgust in his tone. He didn’t like the idea of the two races mixing. This was obvious.

"There are many," Commander Vorik stated. "There are more than two hundred at the very least. I have not counted. Many of the females in the mated pairs are currently pregnant as well." He was hoping this information might detour Commander Tosh’s plans.

After saying this, Alice noticed the shocked look on some of Tosh’s guards. They suddenly, discreetly, scanned around them; perhaps hoping to get a glimpse of mated pairs and pregnant females.

Vorik hoped Council Leader Tosh would show something other than disgust if he knew that many females were already carrying fetuses. It didn’t. It only made him angry. Rage filled the Council Leader’s eyes as he looked around him.

Council Leader Tosh sneered. "That makes no difference to me." He eyed Alice as she stood grasping Commander Vorik’s hand, a disgusted look on his face. He looked her up and down like she was vermin. Then, looking back at Vorik. "You will bring all the remaining humans and all pairs to the center of the city. We will deal with them all, then."

Commander Vorik flinched. He knew right away what was supposed to happen. Council Leader Tosh was going to have them all executed in the town center.

Council Leader Tosh and his group of guards turned and re-entered the shuttle. Vorik watched, straight-faced and stiff, as he waited for the shuttle to ascend, exiting the dome and back into the sky and disappear. He refused to move until it was out of sight.

Once it was gone, he abruptly turned, looking at Shadick. "Get all mated pairs and humans out now. We all know what he plans to do. I can’t allow it. Do it quietly. I don’t know how many among us will notify Tosh that we are evacuating the humans and mated pairs. I know there are spies among us. I just haven’t been able to find them. If there weren’t, Council Leader Tosh would not have arrived in secret."

Shadick nodded. He and Zack turned and quickly walked away; Sheila and Carrie followed them to begin evacuating the city.

They went from residence to residence, pulling those out that needed to be evacuated. Knowing they needed to ensure that everyone got out safely, they collected names and formed a roster of all humans and mated pairs when they first began preparing for Council Leader Tosh’s arrival. Now they were using it.

They rushed from home to home and each building in the city, looking for those on their roster, trying to be as quick and discreet as possible. If they were seen by one of the spies, it would be all over.

Once they completed their first sweep of the city, they discovered that some individuals from the roster who had been previously recorded were missing, which couldn’t be helped.

They did one final sweep of the city before sounding the alarm in hopes that those unaccounted for would make their way to the tunnels and to safety. Another hour later, everyone from the roster had made it to the tunnels. They had found everyone.

Zack had previously prepared and sealed the bunker just before the dome home above it was placed. The dome home had been retrofitted to access the bunker if they needed it. The residence that hid it was now occupied by Keirn, who had agreed to live there to give Tosh’s men no reason to search for the hidden bunker. Not that they would find it. The home was retrofitted to hide the bunker’s presence even if they did search it.

They had all prepared everything that they could think of to keep the mated pairs and remaining humans safe. It was now time to find out if all their planning and preparation were worth it.

The only ones that didn’t go down into the safety of the tunnel’s hidden city were Fleet Commander Vorik and Alice.

"What if they give Commander Vorik truth serum?" Shelia asked. Her voice was shaking in fear. "And what about Alice? Council Leader Tosh will use her to get to Vorik."

Zack put his arm gently around his mate, pulling her close, "We told them that, but Vorik was unwilling to force Alice to separate from him, and Alice was unwilling to leave his side. They know that it’s a possibility that Tosh will use her to get to him. They know the risk. They chose to take the risk regardless."

Xant walked up to Zack, Shelia, Jamie, Lera, Shadick, and Carrie. Joe was sitting near the back wall, trying to comfort Nisa, who was fearful of what Council Leader Tosh would do to them if they were found out. The fact that truth serum could be used wasn’t helping their fear of being found. The fact that the females in the group didn’t help. It made their fears even worse.

"Everyone is getting settled. I already informed them of what to do. We need to ensure everyone stays quiet. If Tosh’s men find the tunnels, they’ll hear us. If we remain silent, they won’t be able to find the hidden door to us unless the truth serum is used and Vorik is forced to tell them where it is,’ Xant reported.

Jamie smiled. "That won’t be a problem. We knew that could happen, so the only entrance he knew of was a fake, hidden entrance that led to a large, empty room. We needed to cover all our bases in case they used the serum on him. It was part of the plan that even he didn’t know. Tosh’s men will have to walk past us to get to the decoy entrance. We will hear them pass, which will alert us to their presence."

"What if Vorik needs to get Alice out of there and come to us? Then what? If he doesn’t know where to really go, how is he going to get her safe and him too?" Lera asked from beside Jamie. She was worried for Commander Vorik and Alice.

"That’s where Keirn comes in. All they have to do is go to Keirn. He’s living in the home that is above the bunker. They can stay safe there. The map to the real location of us is inside the bunker, written in Spanish so that Alice can read it and Tosh and his guards can’t," Jaime continued. "Alice and Vorik think the bunker is sealed. If the truth serum is used on them, then that’s what they will say. Keirn is keeping watch so that if he sees they need help, then he will get them to the bunker."

"The bunker is sealed...I sealed it myself," Zack cut in.

"I unsealed it," Jamie stated. "I didn’t say anything because the fewer that knew, the better."

"Who else is helping us get Vorik and Alice to safety if they need it?" Joe asked his brother.

Jamie smiled. "That would be Van, Rask, and Merrick. They live in homes surrounding Keirn. They are also positioned in their duty to spy on Tosh, so we know what’s going on. That was also kept from Vorik and Alice."