Earth's Last Days: The Invasion

Keith paced his quarters in agitation, stopping briefly to sneer at the closed door and the two guards who were now standing outside his cabin. He didn't like to be guarded. It made him feel like a prisoner.

Niki, Jess's oldest sister, was the leader of the people; all the people. It didn't matter if they were humans or aliens; she was their leader. Council Leader Vorik was only a stand-in. Keith couldn't tell if Vorik or Niki had made all the decisions.

Thinking about it, Keith decided it was most likely both of them working together. Since there were primarily aliens, he was the one who needed to be seen as the leader. That was all Keith could come up with.

Continuing his pacing, Keith mumbled to himself. "I need to figure out how to challenge her and win. I can fight, but not like she can. Everyone said she's unbeatable," he mumbled. Keith suddenly chuckled to himself. "We'll see about that."

Running different scenarios in his mind, he worked on formulating a plan. As he crossed the cabin yet another time, his gaze went to the replicator.

Smiling, Keith walked to it, pressed the button for the menu, and then scanned the list of items he might need. He needed a weapon. As he scanned the list, he found the replicated version of the Niki's staff; he grinned, ordering it.

Red lights flashed. "UNAUTHORIZED" glowed on the screen in bright red letters.

Growling, Keith hit the screen with his fist.

Taking several deep breaths to calm himself, Keith scanned the menu again; he looked for something else he could use. Finding different weapons, from blasters to different sizes of knives, he tried them all. "UNAUTHORIZED" glowed on the screen in bright red letters for each one. Either they had blocked his replicator from ordering weapons, or it was a standard procedure to be authorized for one of them.

The only thing he could think of to do was to try to use a replicator that wasn't in his cabin.

*** *** ***

Guard Commander Drevick stood at the panel in the guard's control room. Red lights flashed. It was a warning that someone was trying to order weapons from the replicator.

Looking at the readout, he looked at who was ordering it and what was being ordered. It was one of Niki's staffs, and it was Keith who was attempting to order it. Pressing the "UNAUTHORIZED" button, he quickly blocked his ability to order it.

As he and the other guards watched, the panel lit up again. This time, Keith was trying to order a blaster. Drevick blocked that one, too. After the third attempt Keith made, Guard Commander Drevick used his clearance to block all weapons from being ordered through any of the replicators.

He didn't want Keith to attempt to use a replicator to order weapons that weren't in his quarters.

Continuing to watch the panel, he pulled his comm link out and called Council Leader Vorik. "Sir, there's something you need to see. Bring Niki. I believe this concerns her, too," he stated.

Vorik's voice came back through the comm link. "On my way," he stated. "I'll find Niki and bring her with me."

Guard Commander Drevick continued to watch Keith's attempts at ordering a weapon. It was obvious he was going through the list of weapons in the replicator system. He was thankful that all weapons and armor devices were flagged, warning him they were being ordered. He had to approve them manually. The personal cloaking device was a different matter. It was only he or Council Leader Vorik who could order them. They were blocked completely. They were too dangerous for anyone to get a hold of them.

The guards' control room door slid open, and Council Leader Vorik and Niki walked in.

Guard Commander Drevick gestured them over as he continued to stare at the panel.

"I've blocked all weapons from being ordered through the replicators. I also blocked all armor devices. Keith is going through the list, trying to order one of them. I was afraid he might try to order from another replicator or have someone else try, so I blocked the items from all replicators on the ship. They need authorization to obtain any of them," he explained, watching the panel and the continued attempts Keith was making. Pointing at the panel, "He's still trying."

"What was the first thing he ordered?" Niki asked. She was curious about what he was planning. Knowing what he wanted first could give her a clue.

Drevick turned to Niki. "It was one of the bladed staffs that you and your sister use."

Niki chuckled. "Sisters," she corrected him. "Jess can fight, too. She's really good with the bladed staff. Speaking of. I'd like her to have one on her at all times. I don't want someone to attack her because of what happened with Keith. Get her a pair of boots in her size so she can easily hide it."

Guard Commander Drevick nodded, going to the replicator; he ordered it, pressing in his code so it wouldn't be blocked from being replicated. "What size boots?" he asked.

Niki told him the size, and he quickly ordered that, too. When the items appeared on the small platform, he took them, handing them to Niki.

Niki thought for a second. "I can see that Keith is going to be a problem. I think you should warn his guards that he might try something. If he does, he needs to be put in the cells. Render him unconscious. Use the same stuff that you guys used on Travis's people to move them from outside the dome to the cells. I don't want him attacking anyone and doing any damage."

Council Leader Vorik nodded. "I agree. He seems bent on causing unrest. If he's trying to order weapons, then he is going to try something. Just because he hasn't been able to order any doesn't mean he won't find something in his quarters that he can use as one."

Niki nodded, starting to pace as she thought about the situation. She suddenly stopped and looked at Vorik, then Drevick. "I think you should have some human truth serum ready, too. Make sure it's not contaminated, though. I don't want anyone to die if they turn out to be innocent," Niki suddenly told them. "Even if he doesn't try anything, I think in a week or so, we should question him using the serum to make sure that he isn't planning anything. The week will give him time to recruit. If he does, he can give names by then."

*** *** ***

Jess stood in Aleigha's quarters. "So, you're mated to an alien," she said, smiling. She liked the idea of soulmates. The mate bond between the aliens seemed like a soulmate type of thing.

Aleigha smiled at her younger sister. "Yep."

"So, how do you know if you have a mate?" she asked Aleigha. Jess had been watching her sisters with their mates. She liked the bond between Aleigha and Drevick. She wanted to have a mate also but didn't know how to tell if she had one.

"Trust me, you can't miss it," Aleigha laughed. Then, going serious, "You can find a mate when you turn seventeen. If I added up the time correctly, which was hard without a calendar or a sense of real-time, I believe you have a few months to go. As soon as you hit the seventeen mark, you can find a mate. When you look at them, you'll know right away. I could be wrong. Hope found her mate, and she believes she was still sixteen. I guess it's possible you can find yours now."

The door to Aleigha's quarters slid smoothly open, halting Jess from being able to question her sister further. Guard Commander Drevick, Council Leader Vorik, and her sister, Niki, walked in. They looked serious, like something bad had happened.

Aleigha eyed them. "What happened?" Aleigha demanded.

Niki looked between Aleigha and Jess. "Keith is trying to order weapons from the replicator. We believe he's planning something, or he wants to attack one of us."

Guard Commander Drevick spoke up. "I blocked weapons and armor devices from being ordered through the replicator system. No one can order anything without a code from Council Leader Vorik, Fleet Commander Lerian, or me."

"Ahh, I wanted a staff," Jess complained. She began to pout like a child.

Niki smiled, handing her a pair of boots in her size, each one filled with a staff. "Don't let anyone know you have these. I don't want anyone that Keith recruits to find out you have weapons." Jess's face lit up when she saw what her sister had just given her.

Jess rushed to the chair and began to put them on immediately. She grinned with excitement as she pulled the zipper and snapped the staff's hidden pockets.

Guard Commander Drevick turned to his mate, Aleigha. "We also need to make sure all personal cloaking devices are accounted for. Did you bring any with you when we evacuated the planet?"

Aleigha frowned, suddenly becoming defensive. "I keep one on Finn and myself at all times," she stated. "I have to in order to keep my son safe."

"Do you have any more?" Drevick asked his mate. "Other than the one on you and Finn?"

She shook her head. "No, I thought we were going back to the surface, so I didn't bring any more."

Council Leader Vorik nodded. "Make sure you keep them on you. We don't know who he's going to attack. If one turns up missing, let us know right away."

Aleigha sighed with relief. She didn't want to give up her cloaking shields. They had saved her life far too many times to give them up.

"I need to make sure that Jada and Hope have theirs accounted for if they have them. I'll let them keep them, but they need to be accounted for at all times. I'm giving Niki one for herself and her son. They need to stay safe," Drevick added.

Jess looked at the guard commander. She looked like she had something on her mind. "What exactly is Keith doing?" she asked.

"He's been trying to order weapons from the replicator. The first one he ordered was one of the bladed staffs. When it was blocked, he tried for a blaster. He's been working his way down the list of weapons. We have all weapons and armor devices blocked. You now have to get authorization to order one. We're trying to avoid him or anyone else trying to attack any of us," Drevick explained to Jess.

Jess nodded. "Yeah, Keith can hold a grudge. He once killed someone because of a grudge. We all need to be careful. I'm not sure if he will go after any humans except maybe Niki or Aleigha. Maybe me to get to them, but I think everyone needs to be careful around him. He's like a Pitbull; once he gets his teeth into something, he won't let go." Jess thought for a second before she continued. "He can fight a lot better than he looks. Don't underestimate him."

"What's a Pitbull?" Drevick asked. He didn't know what Jess was talking about.

Aleigha answered for her. "It's a dog. A canine. When they attack, they bite down, locking their jaw so they don't let go."

Guard Commander Drevick nodded. "Then I need to warn his guards before Keith kills one of them."

Niki frowned. "If he does, he's going to be executed immediately." She turned to Vorik. "If you agree, of course."

Council Leader Vorik smiled. "I do agree. Knowing that he can fight and is definitely planning something, I think his attempts at ordering weapons give us a reason to put him in the cells now rather than waiting. I'll have an injector filled with the serum to render him unconscious so we can get him to the cells safely. I don't want anyone getting injured in dealing with him."

Niki nodded. "I totally agree." She suddenly smiled. "I'm going with the team to arrest him. I'm pretty sure my presence will distract him long enough for someone to inject him. I'll ask him why he's ordering weapons. When he doesn't tell us, or if he does and it's not a good answer, he can be injected before he has a chance to fight back. I'm pretty sure his entire focus will be on me. After all, I did hold a blade to his neck and threaten him."