DIVERSION

Diversion (---a short story by L. E. Klint---)

The bright white dot blinking on the dark gray-green screen was drawing ominously close to Earth. Lola asked the Sergeant again:

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, General. Something is approaching Earth, and we must treat it as a potential threat."

"Could it be... extraterrestrials?" Lola asked.

"Most likely. The UFO has a polygonal shape and is moving at a dizzying speed. The radio waves it emits are bizarre—like the shrieks of hyenas on the hunt or the neighing of untamed horses."

"So we're under attack. The President must be informed," Lola said.

At that very moment her phone vibrated. She answered, and after a few bursts of interference a familiar figure appeared on the screen.

"Madam President... I'm glad you're calling."

"What exactly is going on, General? Do the extraterrestrials have to reach my backyard before I'm informed?"

"Madam President, I was just about to call you, but you beat me to it."

"That's precisely the problem. You know what you must do. Before it's too late."

Lola's heart tightened. It tightened further when she glanced at the wide screen and saw that the luminous dot—first detected near Saturn just a day earlier—was now close to the Moon.

The celestial surprise stabilized for a few seconds at its new position and shifted up and down a few pixels before something even more unexpected occurred. Dozens of smaller bright dots shot out from the larger one, forming an ominous phoenix that lit up the dark screen like fireworks bursting in the night.

"What should I do now, General?" the screen operator asked.

"Nothing, Sergeant. We arm ourselves with courage and keep morale high," Lola said, a stab in her chest. "We must prove to the citizens of the United States of Europe that they have not trusted their security to the military in vain all these years. The same applies across the Atlantic, where my counterparts must prove what they can do for the American Union."

Her phone rang again. The General answered, striving to conceal her anxiety.

"I'm listening."

"Good morning, General. The situation is serious. We have reports of at least fifty-five dangerous UFOs landing within the territory of the United States of Europe and another forty-five in the American Union. Some are heading toward international waters in the Atlantic."

"Very well. I'm activating the micro-nuclear shield," Lola said, pressing in succession a square red button, a circular button bearing the European flag, and pulling a red lever in the center of the operations room. Three moves—checkmate, she thought, seized by the sweet optimism born of a just battle. Sometimes wars are decided long before they begin, she reflected with a sardonic smile. Her country had acquired its first micro-nuclear arsenal decades ago.

Meanwhile, Civil Protection was sending personalized text messages to every citizen, urging them to barricade themselves inside their homes.

Lola exited the operations room and headed briskly toward the building's entrance.

"Please don't leave—where are you going?" the Sergeant shouted, following her.

"Home," she replied with a smile behind the translucent automatic doors, no longer able to hear what her subordinate was saying. She walked to her jeep, opened the trunk, and confirmed that the machine gun she had managed to steal from warehouse MG-145 was waiting there—serviceable and battle-ready.