Extraterrestrial Invasion: Annihilation

Chapter 9: The Floor Is Lava

General Howard was at the Johnson Space Center in Texas. He sat in the control room, along with hundreds of NASA scientists. The room was bustling with activities, and no one seemed to have time to be relaxed.

"How long until the launch?" General Howard asked Dr. Khan.

"About ten minutes," Dr. Khan said. "The engineers are checking for any flaws on the spacecraft."

"What if it didn't work?" General Howard said.

"I'm sorry?"

"What if the probe exploded in midair?"

"Don't wish for something like that," Dr. Khan said. "After the president's death, the stock markets in New York have been in shambles. The country will go bankrupt in order for us to build a new probe."

On the screens were images of the spacecraft. Smoke was bellowing from its openings. When the engineers assured them that nothing was out of place, Dr. Khan gave permission to launch the probe.

"Since everything is fine, the schedule is sped up," Dr. Khan told the general. "In one minute, it's going to space."

They waited for the engines to be activated and a scientist started the countdown.

Ten.

Nine.

Fire blazed from the bottom of the rocket.

Eight.

Seven.

The fire was getting larger.

Six.

More smoke was exhaled.

Five.

Four.

The engines roared louder.

Three.

Two.

The engines were about to bring the probe to space.

One.

The spacecraft was released from the platform.

Zero.

The probe blasted into the sky.

The people in the control room were filled with anxiety. They hoped nothing went wrong. The spacecraft zoomed higher than the sky. There were several cameras attached to the probe, and from there they could see the sky turning into pitch black.

The probe detached itself from the additional engines and let them fall back into the Earth to be used again.

The people cheered. It was, perhaps, the first time they felt this excited since the aliens' first attack.

"Well, now what will the probe do?" General Howard asked.

"The probe will spy on the aliens," Dr. Khan said. "It will send us pictures of the aliens or their spaceship.  We shall learn about them and hope the new revelations will give us a way on how to defeat them."

***

President Peter Gerald stared out of an office in his parents' house. The estate was guarded by dozens of marines, plus another squad of military officers. The former vice president's parents were shocked to see soldiers marching into their property, but when they saw their son they were instantly eased.

Although he could have stayed in other presidential houses, he did not. If he was at a registered place or landmark, he would be easily targeted. His parents' house, however, was ordinarily inconspicuous.

The president could not sleep that night. His parents had transformed the office into a makeshift bedroom, and it was quite comfortable, but not enough to calm him down. He had more urgent matters right now.

It was four in the morning.

The president dialed the prime minister of Japan. Prime Minister Takahashi Nakamura answered in Japanese.

"Takahashi? This is Peter Gerald. I'm the new president."

"Oh, hey, Peter," the prime minister said. "Why did you call me?"

"Listen, I know this might sound weird, but we suspect the aliens have killed the president and taken the lives of the Congress," President Peter said. "My country is at war with them, and we are looking for allies."

"I'm sorry, Peter, but I can't mobilize the army unless I have solid proof," Prime Minister Takahashi said. "And I've heard about the sailors of Neptune. I assume all of those incidents were just a tragic coincidence, and I don't believe in alien—"

BOOM!

"What was that?!" President Peter shouted, alarming a few guards in the house.

"Oh, oh, God!" the prime minister gasped. Peter heard him say something in Japanese, possibly a curse word.

"Hello? Are you okay?" President Peter asked, assuring the guards that he was fine.

"Sorry, Peter, but I have to deal with an emergency!" Prime Minister Takahashi said. "You can see it on TV!" And he hung up.

"Turn on the TV, please," the president asked a guard.

"It seems that Mount Fuji has been struck by an unknown object, and now, the citizens are running away from their homes," the reporter said. "The eastern side of the mountain is in flames, and, oh! Lava is pouring out from the ground—AAAAAAHHH!!!"

The reporter sank into the lava, and the cameraman obviously drowned too, because the camera stopped functioning the second it sank. Mount Fuji had turned into a lava quicksand.

"Did you guys see that?" President Peter asked the guards, who were left dumbfounded.

He changed the channel and another reporter was speaking from a helicopter. Thousands of people were screaming as the ground swallowed them. Buildings submerged into the molten surface and melted away.

The game 'the floor is lava' had leveled up.