Invaded

We were already running when the assault began. She had seen it, a brief vision, just a snapshot she said, of their ships in our world. Then they were there, hanging low on the horizon like locusts. Then the darkness came, rolling forward from their ships like an unnatural thunderhead, choking off the daylight, smothering the city. I was breathing and we were running and I was radioing to tactical our position, our direction, and listening to the terse orders in one ear and the sounds of panic in the other. Then the radio started to spit and crackle and pierce my ear with sharp spikes in volume. I tried communicating again. I got nothing from my direct line. We continued running, even after communications went out, for ten minutes, until I stopped us, accepting that there was no chance of getting to a safe point before the fighting reached us. I was thinking of options, racing through estimates of time and distance, and my mind was distracted by questions. We had known it was coming. Had prepared as much as was possible for a nation like ours. We were decades behind the Fyr with tech, still importing relics of ships and fighters from off-world. But we had improved. 

There had been discussion of evacuating the seers early, but they themselves voted it down. Jessica was the loudest voice opposing. She was one of the people, she said, and she would stay as long as there were citizens in the city. 

The timeline of the invasion had been accelerated, by months, apparently, since she had first seen the black sky over Panna, the death omen of the Fyr’s approach, blocking out our sun from their insectoid bodies. 

Here, I said to Jessica. We entered a clothing shop, took the stairs. We had been en route to 4th and Bronson, a false-store front bunker where there were ammunitions, back up radios, where we could wait for the tactical team to arrive and shepherd her to the airlift. The run had winded her and despite my effort, our progress was slow, stymied by the flood of civilians who rushed from their homes and offices in terror, trying to find loved ones before the infantry advanced into the city.

We were alone, the shop emptied when the shouts and then the droning and the mournful wail of the sirens began. We were waiting, Jessica breathing heavily, in a changing room amidst limp unwanted garments. I was scanning radio channels, desperately trying to make sense of the variations in the static. Then I heard words, real words. 

….sixteen infantry carriers, thirty freighters… eleven heavy artillery… advancing from west-north-west…

I dialed the channel, close to the frequency that had signal, in tiny increments until I caught another. -your way east to rendezvous seven - repeat gold team head east to rendezvous seven and await steel team - steel team proceed to rendezvous 7 -

Adrenaline was lightening my body. I pressed my ear piece and called tactical on my direct line. Gold team to tactical do you copy?

No response. 

Gold team proceeding to rendezvous seven, over, I said and shut off the radio. 

They’re saying to rendezvous with steel at point 7, I said, tucking my radio into my clothes. Ready? I turned back to Jessica. 

She was looking blankly forward and moving her head in slight repeating patterns. Ah, fuck. I gripped her body as the tremors grew violent, pinning her arms to her sides. Her head thrust backwards and I felt a shooting pain around my eye bone.

I lowered us both to the ground, my back sliding down the smooth wall. 

A minute passed and the tremors diminished, then ceased and I felt the muscles of her back and shoulders unclench. 

You all right? I asked. 

She breathed for a moment. Yes, she said. 

What did you see?

She didn’t answer right away. 

I saw… a tunnel. Metal.

Okay. 

And a… night sky beyond. With stars.

I waited, hoping for more. She didn’t speak again.

All right, we need to get going. We stood up and left the shop, emerging onto the street. The sky was black and close, like the lid of a pot had covered the city. It took in the light from the streetlamps and swallowed it. I had never seen the sky like that. The street was packed. Carts, cycles, motorcars were vying for space on the narrow street. The air was full of cries of people and car horns and the daylight was gone. The Council would be broadcasting evacuation orders, I thought. A weak measure. The few trains that weren’t destroyed by the shelling would carry those who were lucky to the mountains and the rest would be enslaved and taken back to Fyr. I had thought about it for so long that when it was actually happening around me, it didn’t stir up any emotion. Only duty, I thought. Only duty matters now. 

We continued to move eastward, through Carrow Grounds, around the City Plaza, down second street where motorcars were lined up and unmoving, horns blaring, some standing empty with doors open. I was panting and the air had a sharp scent, metallic, like ionized gas. I was thinking about Jessica’s vision of a tunnel, a nonspecific metal tunnel, and then my mind jumped to the seers and their visions and their importance to our people, how they were regarded almost as deities, all knowing and all powerful. And I thought of how their visions almost never helped change problems, only let us know what was to come. And then I wondered how much of it wasn’t real, how much was fantasy used to manipulate the public into doing what the council wanted. I knew Jessica was true. She fought for the citizenry and she saw things that applied to people she never met, things that would change their lives, and she would find them and tell them if she could. 

We were moving quickly, turning down winding alleys when we could, staying close to the sides of buildings. The streetlamps were lit up, though it was midday a half hour ago. 

We paused once we had crossed upper ridge avenue and pressed our backs to the brick. I clicked on my earpiece.  

Gold team approaching rendezvous point 7a, three blocks to target, awaiting steel team, over. 

There was no response. I held my earpiece and voiced the message again. There was static and muffled noises like someone had pressed the call button by accident. 

My skin felt cold. 

Then, Negative, negative gold team. The voice on the other end of the radio was breathless. Abort mission, mission compromised, repeat abort mission-

The sound cut off suddenly. 

Tactical this is gold team, I said quickly. Do you copy? Over.

Nothing, then static and my pulse jumped. Silence. Then, Gold team this is tactical-

the speaker was winded and his voice sounded close. -breach…suspect internal involvement… hold position until  further notice.

I left the radio on, static filling my ears. 

Jessica was looking at me, seeking answers.

Mission’s off, I said. Seems someone leaked information to the Fyrons. 

Jessica’s brow tensed and her nostrils flared quickly, then she resumed her calm expression. It was odd seeing her like this without her robes and jeweled headpiece. She looked like a citizen, like a woman instead of an almost-god.

I had drawn my kinetic torch. It was lightweight and precise, but its charge was small and ran out quickly. In a fire fight it would be almost useless. It wasn’t planned that someone would betray our last chance at a free world. 

I put Jessica behind me and peered around the edge of the brick, my torch against my leg. The street was busy, people rushing, shouting. I scanned a dozen faces, looking for Laora. Not there. I would have recognized her, her silver white hair was unmissable. 

I didn’t like the situation. The position was vulnerable, and amongst the scurrying and chaos two figures pressed into an alley looked suspicious. Then, we heard the drone. It was a flat, buzzing sound and the sound swept down to us as it flew over. It hovered over a building not far, its engine sounds vibrating my teeth. Was it landing? A few moments went by and my pulse felt hard and my throat started to squeeze.

I don’t like this, we need to get -

I was shouting to Jessica when the drone sounds suddenly lessened and receded.

There were sounds of bullets raining against metal above. Two of our fighters flew over, firing constant rounds of small artillery at the Fyron drone. Jessica was clutching her head at the intensity of the sound. Please, don’t have a vision, I thought. Not now. Not when we might have to run, or fight. 

When I saw the fighters route the drone, I thought okay, now’s our chance, let’s get to rendezvous point 8 and let tactical know we were regrouping. Then I saw the airlift, six vertical propellers spinning with unnatural silence, gliding low over buildings towards the sheltered roof of the empty office building we had rented since Jessica first saw the invasion. Relief spread over me.

There’s the bird, let’s go, I said. Jessica came behind me as we darted among the people fleeing their homes, dragging cases and boxes towards the train platform. Inside the building the noise of the panic dimmed and we could hear ourselves breathing big breaths.  

In here, I said. We ducked into a maintenance room. There was a vent, a boiler, mops, brooms. 

Tactical, come in, tactical. 

I spoke into my earpiece. Do you copy? Gold team has arrived at pick up point; awaiting all clear to advance to airlift.  

I stopped speaking as my radio simultaneously broke into static into my ear. The static grew and faded suddenly and unpredictably. 

Gold team this is lieutenant Stevens, come in gold team. 

A faint voice sounded among the static and I jammed my finger against my earpiece. 

Roger lieutenant Stevens, gold team copies.

Gold team, do not advance to pick up point. I repeat do not advance to pick up point. Steel team has been  (gasping, sounds of metals door slamming) - infiltrated. Gold team do you-

Then static. 

I got a prickling sensation all over my body and a loose feeling in my gut. 

Jessica sensed the change in me and copied my expression. 

So we were compromised. God damn it. Someone had given her up- maybe all of the Council- to the Fyron. If steel team had a double they would know this building. Yes. They were watching all exits, maybe on the roof had set an ambush. But they didn’t know it as well as me. No, I had them there. We had been smart enough to keep some things from each other. It seemed a waste at the time. 

We need to find a way out that won’t be watched, I said. I was thinking aloud. I went to the door and as I turned the knob I knew she hadn’t moved. 

I looked at her and her eyes were unseeing and she was jerking her chin to the left again, again. 

When she started shaking she made a noise in her throat like someone trapped in a dream and screaming. 

It lasted one, maybe two minutes. I had her on her side but her jaw was clenched so I didn’t think she would bite off her tongue. 

When she came out of it she was confused.

Come on, I said, we need to get somewhere safe.

I tried to pull her to her feet but she didn’t comprehend and started at my outstretched hands, confused.

Her slowness, confusion was making my fear accelerate into panic and I was thinking of every map I had studied of the building, trying to come up with a way out that wouldn’t end up fucking us. 

There was a basement. There were fire exits on all floors. The main office at the front. The loading dock. The pump room in the basement had a- oh shit, I thought. Oh shit. The metal tunnel. She was seeing the pump overflow drain. 

A shell smashed into our building. The sound was like fireworks blowing directly inside my head. They had brought heavy artillery this far. The airlift was useless now anyway, even if we hadn’t been betrayed. 

Jess, can you move? Come on, we need to go now.  

 She raised herself. She was shaking. I checked the open office. Nothing. No enemy combatants. Then, through the glass I saw it- silver white hair, black armor, rifle slung low. Laora. Jesus. She was the traitor. I hope it was worth it. 

I covered us as Jessica descended into the basement first. We found the pump, bent the pipes enough to squeeze into the well and dropped. there was a little water. We would have to crawl. I had hope. No, not yet. Not yet.

It was hours later that we emerged into the gully. It was rocky and there was a stream and the stars were in the sky above us. Our knees were bruised and bloodied. 

We would make for the mountains I guess. They would radio us. We would be okay. The city was on fire not far off. Its flames licked up into the black.