The End of the World

Chapter 3

Section Three

Minnesota

1340 Hours

October 2nd, 2168

Captain Avery Fletcher emerged from the shuttle-pod and was greeted by a breath of cool air. He closed his eyes and inhaled.

It's been far too long since I've done this.

Fletcher looked around. All he could see in every direction was lush green grass, looking like waves as the wind played with it.

He grabbed a small pack from the shuttle-pod and set off on his journey. It was amazing that so few people actually took the time to stop and wonder at the beauty of Earth. Sure other planets had beauty as well, but nothing could compare to this.

Fletcher looked up at the clear blue sky. It was hard to imagine there being life up there.

He trekked on, his mind wandering from subject to subject. He seemed to think about Alyssa more than anything wishing she had been able to come along, as this would be the only free weekend Fletcher would have for the next few months. But alas, the director had refused to allow any of the researchers to leave the station.

Slavedriver, Fletcher thought.

After walking for just over an hour, he reached his destination. Of course he could have just landed the shuttle-pod here, but he needed to stretch his legs. Every once in a while, he liked to escape the narrow confines of life in space. The enclosed hallways and windowless rooms got to a person after a while.

Fletcher saw a large, moss-covered rock that sloped off into a lake. The water was blue with the reflection of the clear sky and it rippled as the wind blew across it, creating a mesmerizing effect.

He dropped his pack on the rock and kicked off his shoes, placing his feet in the water. He watched as the water lapped across his feet and tiny fish darted back and forth, nipping at his toes.

After a few minutes, he pulled off his shirt and stood at the edge of the water. Seeing his pale reflection he thought, I really need to get more sunlight.

He waded into the cool water, moss tickling the pads of his feet.

I definitely need to do this more often.

* * *

Irina couldn't believe what she was being told.

"Sir, you can't be serious? I know that the Terrans discovered that there is, or rather was, life on Mars, but this is just to much to believe."

The man sitting behind the desk smiled. "I know it seems farfetched, but..."

She cut him off. "Sir, you're asking me to believe that it is not Russian ingenuity behind our technology, but alien influence; that there are aliens living in the Greyson comet and that these aliens are masquerading as human beings. Do you realize how utterly absurd that sounds?" She had a fervor in her voice that she had never known she possessed.

"I knew you would have doubts," he said looking her in the eye, "so I arranged to have one of them meet you."

She looked taken aback.

The man pressed a button on his desk and the door behind Irina slid open.

She turned around, and gasped.

In the doorway, wearing a Russian military uniform with the markings of a general, was something Irina would never have even imagined.

He was shaped just like a human male, perhaps a tad bit taller, but his face was the color of fire. His smile showed sharp, yellow teeth. His forehead had several ridges and his eyes were blood red and pupil-less. His bald head seemed to shimmer as he walked towards her.

"I would like you to meet the savior of Russia." The man stood and saluted the alien.

My god, thought Irina, what have we done?

* * *

Alyssa sat at her desk, typing rapidly, trying to put her thoughts in to words as fast as the came to her.

Her theory for the quantum doorway was all she seemed to think about now.

She typed the final paragraph of the paper and saved her work. She then addressed the computer, "Run a spelling and grammar analysis of this document and correct all mistakes."

A few moments later, the computer signaled that it had completed it's task. Alyssa read through the paper as quickly as she could and then transferred the finished copy to her comm-band.

She was just about to contact the director, when she changed her mind and decided to just go directly to him.

Heading down the hall, she noticed that the main lighting was dimmed and the yellow emergency indicators were flashing.

"Computer, explain yellow alert." She stated.

Yellow alert was initiated by Gamma Station security staff at the recommendation of the United Earth Defense League.

"Why was the alert not announced?"

In the event of an emergency, the computer was programmed to alert all base occupants of the situation.

That information is unavailable at this time.

She pressed a button on her comm-band to call Kyle, but he walked around the corner before she could.

"What's going on here? The station is on yellow alert and I wasn't notified."

"The security staff don't want to get anyone into a panic, but I was just told that earth discovered some kind of Russian super weapon. The entire planet is under yellow alert; all of the counsel representatives have been taken to safety bunkers."

"What kind of weapon could scare the entire government into hiding?" Alyssa looked extremely worried. Fletcher, she thought, Avery is on the planet.

"I need to make a call to someone on the surface."

"The comm systems are reserved for emergency use only."

"This is an emergency, my husband is down there."

Kyle looked at her, "Come with me, I'll see if I can talk to the director."

The two of them walked, or rather jogged, down the corridors, taking several turns and going down several floors. They arrived at the directors office less than five minutes later.

The tiny display next to the door displayed a "do not disturb" notice. Alyssa pressed the button but the door did not open.

Kyle gestured Alyssa out of the way and tried a series of commands on the touchpad.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, Kyle got the right combination and the doors slid open.

The two of them quickly entered the room looking around for the director. There were pieces of gutted out machinery covering all of the surfaces in the room. On one side of the room was a large rectangular frame, wires and circuits jutting out from it. It stood about ten meters tall and six meters wide.

Directly across from this was a tinted glass tube that was filled with some mind of gas. The tube was just large enough for a man to fit inside.

Alyssa walked over to the tube and peered inside, cupping her hands around her eyes to get a better view.

"He's in here!" Alyssa said, waving Kyle over to where she was standing. "The director is in this thing. He looks dead."

Kyle appeared at Alyssa's side. "Look at this," he said, pointing to a medical readout. "I think it's some kind of cryo-stasis chamber."

The readout displayed information about the occupant's brian wave activity, heart rate, blood pressure and other related things. At the bottom of the screen, there was a group of readings that Alyssa had never heard of before.

"Do you recognize any of these readings?" She tapped the screen, but Kyle was not paying attention. He had a solemn look on his face. "What's the matter?"

"You need to get to the hanger bay immediately."

"Why, what is it?"

"This is not the director. This is not even a human."