Governor's Residence, Late Afternoon
Planet Hydra, Strolla System
Terra Date: 10-12-2201
Victor did his best to keep the pressures of his job as Governor at the office. He chose to be married and have children, and he did not want to neglect them. Victor didn't want to fall into the trap of being absent—physically or mentally—from his family. If he wasn't careful and determined, he could easily spend all of his time dealing with the never-ending demands of work.
He had a routine. He would play with his children every day upon returning home, even if it were for just a short time. He knew his kids looked forward to that part of their day, and he wanted them to have happy childhood memories with their father. He did whatever he could to protect his family life. Yet, as Governor, he still tried his best to be accessible and available to the people of the various settlements in the System. That was part of the job, but he would leave it in a minute if his career were to ever infringe upon his family's happiness.
The Belter home was modern and appropriately sized for a family of five. Builders used local materials in its construction, including Hydran glass windows. Beatrice had wanted it painted an elegant and tasteful white. The interior had every modern convenience shipped straight from Terra, and there were communication screens in every room of the house. Victor was never out of touch with the outside world unless he went outside for a stroll, but even then, it was not for long.
When he got home, his family was relaxing in the back yard. He grabbed his portable computer and went out back to join them.
As he set up his computer on the table in the yard, a ball bounced down in front of him. Victor smiled.
"Dad! Here!" Jonathan shouted.
He tossed the ball back to his son, sending it flying high over little Amy's head, the 'monkey in the middle'. He enjoyed being able to see his children grow up but was only now getting used to playing with just the two younger ones. His oldest also enjoyed playing ball with his father, but he was away at his first year of Space Academy on Terra. Less than ten minutes into the game, however, a message from the computer beckoned Victor's attention.
"I have an urgent message for Governor Belter," a voice repeated several times before he managed to get over to it.
"Hold on, Jonny," he told his son, raising his hand and turning toward the device. He ran over and punched a button. A soldier's face appeared on the screen. He recognized the man as one of the military base's traffic controllers and acknowledged, "Governor Belter here."
"Sir, Colonel Hand's shuttle is on its way to pick you up," the controller said, a tone of urgency in his voice.
"Why?" Belter asked. "What's going on?"
"Sir, all I know is that there's been an accident at the lab."
Before he finished speaking, a roar filled the air. Victor turned to see a shuttle flying low over the trees behind his home. It flared up to a smooth landing on the grassy open space nearby. He frowned at the intrusion.
Lopez and Walters rushed down the shuttle's ramp to meet him with their guns drawn. Victor shook his head and sighed rather than voicing his objections.
"What's going on, Victor?" Beatrice asked as she stepped off the patio to stand beside her three family members.
"There's just a problem at the lab. I'll take care of it. Hopefully, it won't be long," Victor said to reassure her.
Beatrice nodded her understanding, but he could see that the kids were disappointed by his departure. He quickly grabbed his vest. Then he stooped down and whispered into his six-year-old daughter Amy's ear, "My baby."
"My daddy," she replied as always.
That exchange would always warm his heart and cheer her up. It was their ritual. Then he kissed his wife on the cheek and patted Jonny on the head. He winked at Amy as she brushed a lock of her light brown hair back from where the breeze had blown it. She tried to wink back.
Victor turned with a smile on his face and headed toward the shuttle with Lopez and Walters close behind. The Colonel was waiting for him inside. It lifted off again the moment he sat down, several seconds before its ramp had fully closed. Whatever had happened, it became a crisis.
"What's the emergency, Colonel?" he asked.
"Governor, there appear to be alien bugs loose outside the lab complex," Hand answered bluntly.
Victor closed his eyes in disappointment.
"I ordered their extermination, Colonel," he reminded the man, who chose to ignore the implication.
"They've had several hours to reproduce and are spreading," Hand informed. "Dr. Neal is on the screen."
Victor stood up, and the Colonel led him to his command center view screen. The Colonel turned it on, and Dr. Neal's worried face appeared on it a moment later.
"Dr. Neal, how could this have happened?" Victor wanted to know. "I thought we dealt with this."
"I don't know," she replied in a defensive tone. "There must have been more hiding in the shuttle." Her eyes were wide, showing signs of panic. As she glanced away and back to the screen, it appeared that she was also confused and disorientated. "And now we are being infested."
"Can they be contained?" Victor asked, restraining his worry in the hope that it would help calm the increasingly agitated doctor.
"They can't! There could be thousands now, even millions!" Her voice was elevated, laced with panic. She was able to calm herself enough to explain what steps they had taken.
"We've sealed off the lab, and we thought we would be safe..." She kept throwing glances over her shoulder. He couldn't see what she was looking at but was starting to hear a staccato of faint tapping sounds, then the panicked shouts in the background. "...but they're trying to get in! We're trying to board up the windows, but can't do it fast enough!"
The tapping grew louder and more insistent.
Victor turned to Hand. "How much time before we get there?" he asked.
"Less than a minute," the Colonel replied.
Victor looked away from the screen through the shuttle's windows. The forest was a blur. A loud crash suddenly erupted from the communications screen, followed by the sound of more shouts, screams, and automatic gunfire. They recognized Dr. Neal screaming.
He looked back at the screen.
"What's going on?" Hand shouted to Dr. Neal.
As they watched, the woman shrieked in terror and turned away from the screen, disappearing from view. A retreating soldier backed into their view, firing continuously as his body became covered in a black covering of devouring insects. More screams filled Victor's ears as researchers and soldiers were falling to the ground, visibly being eaten alive by the swarm.
Dr. Neal staggered back into view. What she said was incomprehensible. Victor had to look away from the screen as the creatures scrambled over the young, attractive scientist. They cut and sliced and ate while he and Hand were helpless to help her. He pushed away from the screen and headed to the shuttle's cockpit.
"Call for the immediate evacuation of the area!" he ordered. "Get everyone out of there and inform Hydra base of the crisis."
"Yes, sir," the co-pilot said, already punching buttons to issue the order.
A gut-wrenching wave of dread washed over him.
"Oh no. My family! We live only five kilometers from the lab," he said as panic started to take hold of him. Victor grabbed the co-pilot by the shoulder. "Please try to reach them! I need to warn them!"
As he waited for the connection, he glanced back to see that Hand did not react. His face was expressionless. He just sat there staring at the screen. He had no family to warn. Hopefully, Belter thought, he was thinking about a solution to this crisis.
"Sir, no one is responding," reported the pilot.
"Connect me anyway," he urged.
"Okay, sir, you're connected."
Victor leaned down to the camera to transmit the message, his image displayed on all the monitors in the house. "Darling, if you get this message, you have to evacuate immediately. Take the children and get as far from the area as possible. Get to Hydra base if you can, and try to reach Ray. I'm sorry, my darling..."
He let his voice trail off, not wanting a long message to delay their escape. Then he ordered the pilot to break the connection.
He could see ships already leaving the area and heading to a low orbit above the planet. He hoped that his family was safe on one of them. The evacuation was underway. He closed his eyes in prayer for his wife and children, while wrestling with doubts and panic that had started to cloud his thoughts. The best thing he could do for his family right now was to stay focused.
"Colonel, we are approaching the lab complex," the pilot reported.
When Victor opened his eyes again, the storm of emotion that had somewhat abated came raging back as he surveyed the site from the shuttle circling above the lab. Below them was a scene of complete and utter carnage.
What had been nicely manicured lawns were now nothing but bare dirt. All the trees surrounding the central lab had lost their leaves and branches. Even the trunks of the trees were in the process of being consumed. Those horrendous creatures littered the ground everywhere. Writhing masses of insects were visibly ripping flesh from the bones of bodies scattered near the facility's buildings. The distraught Governor counted at least fifteen bodies of soldiers and lab workers alike that had attempted to escape and failed. The bones of some of the corpses were visible.
Colonel Hand stepped up to stand at Victor's side, joining him in viewing the horrific destruction.
"We need to do something, sir!" the Colonel said insistently.
Victor continued to stare at the horrible sight below him with utter disbelief. "Yes, but what? They're spreading so fast. Before we know it, they'll overrun the entire continent, maybe even the planet. There is no way we can kill them all now."
Hand paused a moment before responding. "That might not be true, sir," he replied as if he had a plan. "I think there is a way we could stop them. But we must act quickly."
Victor immediately grasped Hand's suggestion. The same thought had also crossed his mind, but he had forcibly dismissed it. Doing such a thing would be insane. On top of that, there were many residential dwellings close to the lab.
"There are hundreds of people down there, people's families, my family!" He turned away from the man and returned to the Colonel's view screen at the rear of the shuttle. He wasn't going to discuss the issue any further until he knew his family was safe.
However, Hand did not relent but instead followed him, becoming even more insistent. "Sir, I hate to say it, but it might already be too late for anyone who is still down there."
Victor turned back to the co-pilot, who tried to contact his neighbors and everyone else with whom his wife might be in contact. No one answered, and no messages had been left his communication devices.
Why were there no messages? Could they have all received the evacuation order and left already? Maybe they were safe, but just not able to contact him.
"If we don't do anything, more lives will be lost," Hand pressed. "Those bugs will keep eating until they consume all life on the planet!"
Victor was stalling but knew he could not delay for long.
If only they had more time. Victor just wanted to make sure that his family was safe first. Frustrated by the lack of response from his home, he shouted out loud.
"I can't get through! I can't get through!" He pounded the console with his fist.
"Try to reach Ray Soliski!" he shouted back to the co-pilot.
Maybe he could fly by and check if all had evacuated. Maybe they got through to him and left a message. At the pilot's confirmation of the order, Victor then sat down to regain his composure. He rubbed his face again, knowing that he was running out of time.
"Sir," Hand's voice continued in a demanding tone, "if we don't do it right away, thousands more may die!"
Victor lowered his head in defeat. Despite his inability to contact his family, he could not let the bugs destroy the planet and kill all life on it. There was no knowing how the bugs would react underwater. He could not take a chance to find out. He knew what he had to do. Cornered and without any other option, he bowed his head.
"Give the order," he conceded.
Hand nodded and called the Hydra Base, giving the soldier on the other end the precise instructions and codes required to save the planet. He ordered all evacuees to leave the atmosphere to the safety of space. He repeated the order for any ships that had yet to evacuate. If they wanted to halt the spread of those creatures, they only had minutes to act.
Victor sat back and heard the confirmation of the launch. The shuttle pulled up sharply and vibrated around him as it headed up towards planetary orbit. Minutes later, the Colonel was informed of the deployment of a one-megaton atomic bomb, then moments after that, confirmation of the detonation. The weapon was small, but projections estimated that all living things within a ten-kilometer radius would die.
Then the radiation fallout could last for days.
Victor knew that, if he looked through the shuttle's rear viewport, he would see a gigantic mushroom cloud expanding high into the atmosphere below them and over what had been, until just minutes before, his home.
He could not bring himself to look. He hadn't heard from Beatrice or anyone else. She would have contacted him by then if she were on one of the other ships. But, now that he had taken the only steps he could have taken, he could not prevent thinking one recurring and horrifying thought.
If they didn't make it, his faithful wife, enthusiastic son, and his sweet, loving daughter would have all died by his order. He had killed his family!