Earth's Last Days: The Invasion

Council Leader Vorik stood outside the large cargo shuttle. It had massive replicators aboard to produce the dome panels. They were currently replicating and then placing each panel as quickly as they could. Their priority was getting the dome in place before setting up the dwellings.

Aleigha stood with Niki on the bridge of the mothership. Bridge Officer Remmy was scanning the surrounding area. They were watching for intruders from the small community living near the lake. So far, they hadn't even appeared to have noticed that a dome was being built on the planet.

Niki looked at the Fleet Commander. "Is there a way to tap into their communications to listen in on conversations on their ship?" she asked. "I don't normally feel comfortable with that sort of thing, but I think it may help us determine if they are hostile or not. It might help us stay informed or even discover why and how they arrived on the planet."

Before Fleet Commander Lerian could say anything, she quickly continued.

"Is there also a way to know if they are listening in on us?" Niki asked.

"Yes, on both accounts. It will take time, though," Fleet Commander Lerian explained.

Niki nodded. "Do it."

** ** **

Drell scanned his people before looking at the ship they had arrived on. They had crashed after an asteroid hit their main engine.

"Papa!" the small child called, running toward him.

Drell looked down at his daughter as the small child rushed up to him. She threw her small arms around his leg. Picking her up, he placed her on his shoulders and headed toward the lake they had found.

"Can I swim, papa?" the child begged, laughing.

"No, Wix. We don't know how safe it is. Large creatures may be in the water," he told her for the hundredth time. His daughter loved to swim, but they hadn't determined if the lake was safe to swim in.

Wix was only four. They had been on the planet for only one moon cycle. He had been working on the engines in his ship, trying to get them back into space. Nothing was working, and they didn't have the parts to fix them. His ship's scanners weren't working either, so he didn't even know if there was anyone living on the planet they had crashed into.

Wix suddenly giggled, pointing into the sky. "Ship!" she called excitedly.

Drell stiffened, looking up toward where his young daughter was pointing. A large cargo ship was flying smoothly to the surface. His face paled. He didn't want to be caught if it were bounty hunters looking for them. They had run from their planet, trying to get away from their Leader, who had used them all as slaves. They wanted freedom. They had no choice but to steal a ship and run.

Setting his child down, he pushed her toward his mate. "Go to Mama," he told her, pushing her gently.

Wix giggled again and then ran to her mother.

Drell headed quickly for his brother Gaf, finding him working on the damaged engine. "We're not alone. A cargo shuttle just landed. If they sent a cargo shuttle, then they came to take us back." He breathed out in panic.

Gaf turned from his work and looked at his older brother. "Are you sure it's one from our home? Maybe it's one from the people of this planet."

"I don't know. I didn't recognize the technology. It could be either. I just don't want to take chances at having us captured and taken back," Drell told him worriedly.

They heard a giggle behind them. Wix was running toward them with Neve. "Wix saw a ship," Neve told her mate, Drell. Her face was pale. Fear in her black eyes. She rubbed the nub of her small horn absently. It was reflex, something to calm her.

Drell pulled his mate to him, hugging her closely. "I know. It's a cargo ship. I've never seen that design before. It could be from the people of this planet. We don't know, though."

Neve nodded, hugging her mate tightly. "We're running out of rations. We haven't been close enough to the water to know if we can eat what swims in it. The creatures in the trees don't come close enough. We're going to starve if we don't get out of here soon," she said worriedly. The thought of starving made her tremble. "We can't find food without the scanners, and they were damaged too badly, so they can't even be fixed."

Drell looked at his mate, unable to help her fears. He had the same fears.

Gaf turned to his brother. "How long can we last with the rations we have?" he asked. Worry seeped into his tone. Fear was in his black eyes.

Drell sighed. "We can stay for two more months if we're careful with what we have left," he told Gaf. "Has our communications been repaired?"

Gaf shook his head. "I didn't want them tracking us. They could listen in and figure out where we are, and then they would come for us."

** *** **

Jada paced the bridge. Orik was sitting at one of the stations, staring at the control panel. "They don't have any communications, or they know how to block it," Orik told the fleet commander absently, still looking at the panel in front of him.

"I could go in cloaked. Listen in that way?" Jada offered. "Aleigha can come with me. She's really good at fighting, so if we get in a bind, we can handle it."

Niki looked at Jada. "I think that's a good idea. I'm coming with you, though. We can land a cloaked shuttle nearby and walk. If we use the personal cloaking shields, we won't be seen." Niki turned to the fleet commander. "I need a shuttle. A small one for us to go to the surface."

Fleet Commander Lerian didn't like what he was hearing, but he also remembered that Council Leader Vorik had said that she had the same power as he did. He nodded reluctantly.

Orik stood up. "I'm going to."

Niki nodded, understanding that he didn't want Jada to go without him. They headed out to the shuttle bay so they could get on a shuttle, stopping at their own quarters to dress in battle armor. They made sure they had a pair of bladed staffs as well as blasters. Each of them had a palm shield as well as a personal cloaking shield.

They were fully prepared. Orik got in the co-pilot's seat. The pilot who ignored them started the flying sequence and flew the shuttle out of the mother ship. As soon as they were out, the shuttle's cloaking shield was activated so they wouldn't be seen landing on the surface near the group of unknown aliens.

The pilot landed the small shuttle as close to the group as they could without giving themselves away. The pilot smiled. "If this ship remains cloaked, you won't be able to find it again. Since you'll be cloaked, I won't see you coming either."

Niki turned to the pilot and smiled at him, trying not to say something she would later regret. "I'm going to put a marker by that tree." She said, pointing to a tree that looked different than those around it. "Once we return to it, we will deactivate our personal cloaking shields. You can open the shuttle door and let us in when we do," she told him. "I've seen ships when they are cloaked. When the door is open, you can see inside the ship."

Sighing, the pilot nodded. He knew she was correct.

Once Niki, Aleigha, Jada, and Orik were all geared up, the pilot opened the door, and they walked as a group out of the shuttle. As soon as they stepped on the ground, Aleigha bent down and drew a line in the dirt with a marker arrow attached to it.

Orik looked at her in question.

"It tells us where the door will open," Aleigha told him, shrugging. "I don't want to accidentally stand too close and get crushed when it opens for us to reenter the shuttle."

Orik grinned. "Smart."

Clicking on their cloaking shields, they connected themselves by holding hands or elbows as they made their way to the camp. When they were almost there, they heard the sound of a child laughing.

"Don't go too far, Wix. It's not safe," a man told her, rushing after her. They watched when he picked the child up and placed her on his shoulders, taking her back to the camp.

Moving closer, Aleigha, Niki, Jada, and Orik listened to them speak. They needed to listen to their conversations to know if this group was safe or hostile to their people.

"I can't fix the engines. We don't have the parts. We're running out of rations. If that cargo shuttle is here for us, I would rather die than be enslaved again," one man said. He looked like he was younger than the man with the child. His features suggested that he was blood-related. He looked agitated. Worry radiated off of him.

"We need to venture out and hunt for food. We have no choice, or we'll all starve. We don't even know if there are predators in the water. We need to get out of here before those in the cargo shuttle find us," the man who had chased the child said. "I won't be found and sent back to be a slave. I don't want my daughter to be subjected to that either."

Aleigha, understanding the situation, took it upon herself to intervene. She didn't let Niki or anyone else stop her. "We can help you," Aleigha called out.

The group tensed, looking around them but not seeing anything. Aleigha knew that not seeing who spoke made their fear rise. She couldn't help it. She needed to make sure they wouldn't attack if she or anyone else with her showed themselves.

The small group in front of her was two men, the child, and what appeared to be the child's mother.

Niki squeezed her hand in warning, but Aleigha didn't listen. She continued to speak to the small group. "You seemed to have crashed on this planet. We can help you if you let us," Aleigha called out again. "Children should stay safe if someone was trying to enslave me. I would want help."

The older of the two men peered around them frantically. "Show yourself," he ordered.

Aleigha laughed. "How do I know you're not going to attack me? I'm offering you help because I can see you need it. I have an infant son myself. I would not want to run from bounty hunters to save him. I'm thinking you don't want that for the child beside you."

"No," the man said evenly. "If you can help us, then we accept your offer to help," he added cautiously.

Aleigha let go of Niki's and Jada's hands and then clicked off her cloaking device. The small group stared at her. Fear in their eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt anyone," Aleigha told them, seeing their fear. "We have food, and if you truly need to leave this planet, we can probably help you fix your ship."

"We?" The oldest man asked, peering around her.

Aleigha smiled. "I'm not alone." Then Aleigha called. "Orik? Is the water safe to swim in or fish for food?"

Orik's voice answered Aleigha. "Yes, it's safe to swim in. There are no predators in the lake, but eating the life from the lake, there is no need if we give them a replicator." Orik told her.

"The cargo ship we saw. Was that yours?" the older of the two men asked. He was still being cautious, not trusting they were being offered help.

"Yes," Orik stated. "We are bringing supplies down to the planet. Our domes have been altered. There are explosives at the entry points, so we are forced to build new ones."

"This is your planet?" the other man asked them. There was still fear in his voice, but curiosity could also be heard.

"Yes. This planet is Ramesia," Orik told them. "My people have been here for thousands of years."

The child suddenly broke away from her mother and ran toward Aleigha. Everyone was tense: the aliens, not knowing if Aleigha was going to harm the child; Aleigha's friends and sister, not knowing if she was going to be attacked.

Aleigha bent down to the child, smiling. "Hello," she told the child. "My name is Aleigha. What do they call you?"

The child giggled. "Wix," she laughed.

"Hello, Wix," Aleigha told her, smiling at the happy child in front of her. She looked up at the three adults, who looked tense. Fear in their eyes. "Go back to your Mama," Aleigha told her. "She's worried about you because they don't know me."

The child giggled, not listening to Aleigha's advice. She started running circles around Aleigha, her arms outstretched like she was flying, not going back to her mother.

Aleigha sighed. "We'll come back with a replicator so you don't have to hurt any of the life on the planet. We don't want any of you to starve. You might be able to get parts from it also so you can fix your ship."

As the child passed by her mother, she grabbed the child's arm and held on so she couldn't go back to Aleigha.

Aleigha smiled. "There are three races on this planet besides you. Only one other race is with me at the moment. The third is helping build the new dome."

"Are they slaves!" The oldest man suddenly asked evenly.

Aleigha laughed. "No. They are helping to build their home. My race is helping, and so is my mate's race. We all work together. We don't enslave anyone. We use replicators for items we need and for our food to eat."

The man relaxed, but it was obvious he didn't really believe what he was being told. Aleigha knew it was one of those times when the situation seemed too good to be true. The man wasn't trusting it as truth.

Orik suddenly materialized, allowing the small group to see him. "We didn't know what we were walking into. We want to help you." Orik smiled, looking at the child. "We will come back with a replicator so you don't have to hunt. The water is safe for her to swim in. I swam in the lake as a child."

The older man nodded curtly.

Niki and Jada suddenly materialized. Jada shrugged, taking Orik's hand. "I'm Jada. This is my mate Orik. You've been speaking with Aleigha, and the other is Niki, her older sister. It will be us that come back. We won't bring anyone else. If you don't already know how to use the replicator, we can teach you how. If you want to stay on this planet, you can come with us to the new dome after it's finished. You can stay where you are if you want, but it's probably safer in the dome. We'll let you know when it's finished so you can look at it and discuss it with your people so you can decide what you want to do."

The small group listened to Jada's words before the oldest male nodded. His gaze showed them he was still being cautious. He didn't trust the offer they were being given.

Aleigha, Niki, Jada, and Orik left the group quickly after that, leaving uncloaked.