Guest of the UFO

Chapter 7

When Austin left, I fished out Xavier and began listening to her as she reels out more Information she has gathered about Galsong-7. She does this till I fall asleep.

When I wake up the next morning, it is quite late and the spaces outside the medic tent have begun to bustle with activity.

I get up, wash my face and clean my mouth in a separate area of the tent dedicated for washing. When I step out, the glow of the sun is almost blinding. Aunty Petti and all others are dressed in training g uniforms, including Austin. The others who were with me at the medic tent also emerge, cleaned and dressed. It is as though everyone felt better and were all ready to begin the next stage of the journey. Everyone formed a semicircle and we ate a breakfast of cold roast pork, mashed potatoes and rich wheat bread, along with quince stock and coffee. We were all served on little plastic sealed plates and cups.

After breakfast, everyone looked to Major Santorez who had been pacing and organizing things all morning.

"What's the plan, Major?" Aunty Petti's fiancé, the copilot, asked. I later discovered that his name was Jeff.

Major Santorez ceased his pacing. "We are going to advance into the area. First of all, the drones will go ahead of us and scour the area, reporting back live feeds in real time. When we find an extraterrestrial settlement, we attack and inhabit it. We need time, we need resources, if we are to ever complete the mission and return back to earth. And we are going to get it."

I saw Jeff nod, but there were so many questions in his eyes. Austin and I look at each other. He was right about what he said last night. The whispers I heard were true. We were going to carry out what was akin to a war, an invasion.

Major Santorez began to address everyone. "I know a good number of you may be skeptical about this. You have questions, lots of questions that all seem valid and reasonable. You feel an ethical, moral obligation to leave intact what has not first harmed you. You also have no idea if the creatures on this planet are hostile or not. But the first rule of survival is to look out for yourself first. It is an instinct, and we are going to look out for this group first." He paused.

"We aren't doing this because we are terrible humans. We are doing this for the good of the entire world. And if you still feel it is wrong, please put your hands up and propose a better strategy. One that does not involve staying here, depleting our food supplies, getting scorched by the sun as our research materials deteriorate and waiting for the creatures to come upon us in the thick of the night and attack. Propose something where we will not be at the bottom of the power totem."

Everyone fell silent. I could almost hear crickets.

Major Santorez peered at everyone, locked eyed with every single one of us. "I thought so.

"Austin, Jason, Mikael, Jeff, Aiko. Go to the weaponry compartment and bring out what we have."

Aiko set up the drones, while the other three boys began sharing the weapons to people who were best suited for them.

"Sleep well?" Austin asked as he tossed me a shock gun.

"Yes," I reply flatly, recalling that I was slightly upset with him the night before.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

"For what?"

"For treating you like a child most of the time."

I stroked the gun and kept mute.

"Won't you say something?"

"Say what?"

"I don't know..."

"Should I thank you for apologizing?"

Austin shrugged, sighed. "Okay. Touché. But I'm also sorry because it won't be ending anytime soon and it's totally not my fault."