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Chapter One; Vacuum and Vacuous.
Hakt thought back to the past few days and realised he knew very little about the invasion. After all he had been informed by none other than the media, just like all the other common folks and the media only told him what they wanted him to know. It had been his decision to get off his butt and do something about it, rather than lie in front of the tube and worry when the mushrooms would start sprouting. He went down to the shed, took out the shovel and started digging at the far end of his half acre. When that got too taxing, he went to the super mart and bought a whole heap of tinned foods, that had been almost as sweat inducing as the digging. The mart was full of panic buyers taking just about anything off the shelves.
In addition to the digging he got the concrete ready mix delivered and being particularly handy had the port-a-loo installed and even electric arcs. The generator was in the next day and then he took the station wagon down to the pumps and got several Jerry cans of fuel ready for the big hide out.
The most disconcerting thing about the alien vessels had been that they never fought back! As soon as they had been detected just inside the orbit of Uranus, the military had been on amber alert, or what ever it was they did when an armada's of ships from beyond the solar system were first spotted by Hubble. Messages were sent out in all languages known to man and the ships; silently; just continued on their merry way, straight toward Earth. It was at this stage that the media had started their coverage, it was also at this point that the panic started.
While Hakt was busy digging and preparing, the rest of mankind was going to hell. Violent crime suddenly went through the roof, rape, murder and robbery were the order of the day. It was as if mankind, thinking itself on the brink of extinction, wanted to get in all the bad doings before it all came to an abrupt end.
The ships came on!
The summit in Washington was held with all the world leaders, messages were being constantly sent out to the armada and the result was a big fat zero. Nothing, silence.
The ships came on!
The decision was made. Draw a line in the sand; or in this case in space and defy the aliens to cross it. After protracted debate as to the exact position of the line, it was finally hammered out in the small hours of eastern standard time and messages were once more sent to the ever tacit invaders. Travel within the orbit of the asteroid belt and nuclear warheads would be launched. Only France, India, Iran and America had the necessary weaponry to follow up with the threat, but it would be enough.
The ships came on!
More urgent and stern messages were sent, an ultimatum couched in no uncertain terms. Stop the journey short of Earth, or the full might of the planet would be deployed against the invaders. Hakt had the concrete bunker finished by then, the port-a-loo was in and he was working on the wiring. The following day the armada of alien vessels
1.
crossed inside the asteroid belt.
The French backed down, but Iran launched at precisely the time agreed and India and America hurried to support them. For those that were enjoying night when the explosions went off, there was a sudden bright cascade of unknown stars in the sky, so intense as to make the moon look waxy by comparison. It had taken the missiles fourteen days to reach their target, but their success rate had been one hundred percent. the fleet of unknown vessels was totally annihilated. It was all so anticlimactic, for a while. everyone was given time off work, time to celebrate the saving of mankind. Three weeks later the news hit the globe once again!
A second fleet of vessels almost exactly the same as the first were just entering the solar system, inside the orbit of Uranus. At first it was thought it was some cosmic joke, albeit one of blacker than black humour. The laughter soon died down however and the world's leaders convened this time in New Delhi. It seemed after exhaustive talks, that some world powers had secretly been hoarding nuclear missiles with the capability to be deployed at any conceivable target. Now they were needed for the quadruple of nations that had destroyed the first armada had exhausted their arsenal.
Scotland agreed to launch if the other nations paid the bill, while South Africa, New Zealand and China offered their nuclear might gratis, for the honour of saving mankind. once again the line was drawn. Once again it was the belt of asteroids roughly half way between the planets Mars and Jupiter.
Once again the ships came on!
Silently; never acknowledging a single message, never sending the most rudimentary of signals in response.
Scotland launched once the line was reached, careful to have secured the appropriate cheque's before hand. In quick response New Zealand and South Africa followed suit. China did not launch their missiles. Their reason was simple; maybe, just maybe, enough warheads had been sent to destroy the current fleet and maybe, just maybe there would be a third armada!
Fourteen days later the southern hemisphere was treat to a pyrotechnic display of unrivalled proportions and the second armada of alien vessels was completely destroyed. Could the Earth now breath a sigh of relief? Had Johnny Alien finally learned his (or her) lesson? World leaders were uncharacteristically silent. Except for the enraged Scots, who having deposited their cheque's into the bank of Zurich, discovered that the one from the government of Ireland, was more rubber than Michelin.
Hakt was now emulsioning the interior of his shelter in a tasteful and calming pink. He continued to refine the basement stronghold and after five days, the world was rocked for the third time. An armada of alien vessels was on it's way to Earth and had been detected just inside the orbit of Persephone! By that time the Hubble was getting better at finding the invasion!
To say that the Chinease were not confident of total and permanent victory was something of an understatement, but they did indeed launch.
2.
Hakt thought back to the past few days and realised he knew very little about the invasion. After all he had been informed by none other than the media, just like all the other common folks and the media only told him what they wanted him to know. It had been his decision to get off his butt and do something about it, rather than lie in front of the tube and worry when the mushrooms would start sprouting. He went down to the shed, took out the shovel and started digging at the far end of his half acre. When that got too taxing, he went to the super mart and bought a whole heap of tinned foods, that had been almost as sweat inducing as the digging. The mart was full of panic buyers taking just about anything off the shelves.
In addition to the digging he got the concrete ready mix delivered and being particularly handy had the port-a-loo installed and even electric arcs. The generator was in the next day and then he took the station wagon down to the pumps and got several Jerry cans of fuel ready for the big hide out.
The most disconcerting thing about the alien vessels had been that they never fought back! As soon as they had been detected just inside the orbit of Uranus, the military had been on amber alert, or what ever it was they did when an armada's of ships from beyond the solar system were first spotted by Hubble. Messages were sent out in all languages known to man and the ships; silently; just continued on their merry way, straight toward Earth. It was at this stage that the media had started their coverage, it was also at this point that the panic started.
While Hakt was busy digging and preparing, the rest of mankind was going to hell. Violent crime suddenly went through the roof, rape, murder and robbery were the order of the day. It was as if mankind, thinking itself on the brink of extinction, wanted to get in all the bad doings before it all came to an abrupt end.
The ships came on!
The summit in Washington was held with all the world leaders, messages were being constantly sent out to the armada and the result was a big fat zero. Nothing, silence.
The ships came on!
The decision was made. Draw a line in the sand; or in this case in space and defy the aliens to cross it. After protracted debate as to the exact position of the line, it was finally hammered out in the small hours of eastern standard time and messages were once more sent to the ever tacit invaders. Travel within the orbit of the asteroid belt and nuclear warheads would be launched. Only France, India, Iran and America had the necessary weaponry to follow up with the threat, but it would be enough.
The ships came on!
More urgent and stern messages were sent, an ultimatum couched in no uncertain terms. Stop the journey short of Earth, or the full might of the planet would be deployed against the invaders. Hakt had the concrete bunker finished by then, the port-a-loo was in and he was working on the wiring. The following day the armada of alien vessels
1.
crossed inside the asteroid belt.
The French backed down, but Iran launched at precisely the time agreed and India and America hurried to support them. For those that were enjoying night when the explosions went off, there was a sudden bright cascade of unknown stars in the sky, so intense as to make the moon look waxy by comparison. It had taken the missiles fourteen days to reach their target, but their success rate had been one hundred percent. the fleet of unknown vessels was totally annihilated. It was all so anticlimactic, for a while. everyone was given time off work, time to celebrate the saving of mankind. Three weeks later the news hit the globe once again!
A second fleet of vessels almost exactly the same as the first were just entering the solar system, inside the orbit of Uranus. At first it was thought it was some cosmic joke, albeit one of blacker than black humour. The laughter soon died down however and the world's leaders convened this time in New Delhi. It seemed after exhaustive talks, that some world powers had secretly been hoarding nuclear missiles with the capability to be deployed at any conceivable target. Now they were needed for the quadruple of nations that had destroyed the first armada had exhausted their arsenal.
Scotland agreed to launch if the other nations paid the bill, while South Africa, New Zealand and China offered their nuclear might gratis, for the honour of saving mankind. once again the line was drawn. Once again it was the belt of asteroids roughly half way between the planets Mars and Jupiter.
Once again the ships came on!
Silently; never acknowledging a single message, never sending the most rudimentary of signals in response.
Scotland launched once the line was reached, careful to have secured the appropriate cheque's before hand. In quick response New Zealand and South Africa followed suit. China did not launch their missiles. Their reason was simple; maybe, just maybe, enough warheads had been sent to destroy the current fleet and maybe, just maybe there would be a third armada!
Fourteen days later the southern hemisphere was treat to a pyrotechnic display of unrivalled proportions and the second armada of alien vessels was completely destroyed. Could the Earth now breath a sigh of relief? Had Johnny Alien finally learned his (or her) lesson? World leaders were uncharacteristically silent. Except for the enraged Scots, who having deposited their cheque's into the bank of Zurich, discovered that the one from the government of Ireland, was more rubber than Michelin.
Hakt was now emulsioning the interior of his shelter in a tasteful and calming pink. He continued to refine the basement stronghold and after five days, the world was rocked for the third time. An armada of alien vessels was on it's way to Earth and had been detected just inside the orbit of Persephone! By that time the Hubble was getting better at finding the invasion!
To say that the Chinease were not confident of total and permanent victory was something of an understatement, but they did indeed launch.
2.
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