The End is Near

Chapter 35

20 July 2045 – Military Base, Houston

Commander Stephen Gray entered the room on the heels of the President. They had done what they could the day before. Every contingency had been initiated. Weapons on land and sea were ready to go. The acknowledged and unacknowledged weapons in space were all loaded on two ships and ready for launch. There was regret that there were only two ships to be loaded, since there was quite a cache out there. Military intelligence had underestimated how many each country had been sending into space.

Then they had all left for the day. Everyone was on call, of course, but there had not been anything else they could do. One day for loved ones and family, one day to just be.

Today would be the day, because tomorrow would be too late. Those things would be in striking distance and could destroy the Earth as they had destroyed so many other planets.

He took his seat and got the status report, listening with only half his attention because it was the same as the one from last evening, with the exception of the distance of the creatures' ship. He noted that Roger Correlli and Mitchell Peters were seated in the corner of the room where they had been brought each day so he could keep an eye on them. He didn't have time to split resources to keep eyes on them and they were each present at a pivotal time in the sequence of events. It was not possible to know when that might come in handy.

There was a glimmer of light as Kiera and Mickael appeared. Her hair was tied back in a long tail and she held a sceptre this time, with a glowing crystal at its top. Mickael looked the same as he had the last time in a fitted undershirt and pants, with armour and armguards. This time there was also a third figure, hooded and caped so that nothing of it was visible.

"Greetings," Kiera said bowing briefly to the President. The President nodded back and bid her good day. It was good to see that he had moved into crisis mode and was ready to deal with the problems in front of him.

"These are the crystals we promised, they will bring you into our link when the time is right," she gestured to the baskets in front of her and everyone craned their necks to see.

"But how do we get these to everyone in the short time we have left?" asked the President before Commander Gray could phrase the question.

"That's why we needed three today," she gestured to the cloaked figure. "Before we do our part, may we know whether your ship is ready to go and able to be in range?"

The President looked to Commander Gray and he responded, "Better. We have two ships in different quadrants. Each of them is in contact and tracking the ship while staying far enough out of range not to attract attention."

Her smile was breathtaking. "Great. Now please bring your world leaders into contact. Let us know when they are all ready."

Gray gave the order and the responses were almost instant from most. Kiera walked directly to Roger Correlli and Mickael joined her. They spoke to the two of them briefly and Commander Gray saw Roger gesturing and Mitchell shaking his head. What could she possible have to say to those two?

It took three minutes before Gray could say, "We are ready. They are all online."

Kiera said something that caused Mitchell and Roger to look a little shocked before grinning widely. Then she and Mickael returned to stand next to the hooded one. They each took a position around the baskets so that they were in a triangle around them. Then they held out their hands so that they really did almost form that triangle, with their hands just a fraction away from touching.

The hooded one began a chant in a language that was incomprehensible, then Mickael took it up. Their deep voices should not have caused the chill at the base of his spine, but somehow it did. Kiera stood with her eyes on the two of them and the sceptre in her hand started to glow. She looked at the President and Commander Gray could have sworn that her eyes were glowing. She had gone from frail female to something eerily inhuman and powerful.

"Put your right hand out and repeat after me, Ad astra per aspera.."she said.

The President's calm was admirable as he did as she asked. A crystal appeared in his outstretched hand and Commander Gray caught a spark in the basket from out of the corner of his eye.

"Now, everyone else," her voice was fiercely exultant.

"Uh, one at a time?" queried one of the voices on the screen.

"No," she shook her head, "that was just to prepare you for what happens next. Now!"

The phrase was spoken by everyone in contact. The baskets lit up like fireworks as the crystals disappeared and everyone had to shield their eyes. In the aftermath, there was much blinking and rubbing of eyes as they tried to see again.

Commander Gray had half expected to see that the trio was gone, but they still stood there. The chanting had stopped and their hands were lowered. As he looked on, they turned to face the table again, with Kiera standing in front.

"When the time comes, you will be brought into what you would call a telepathic link with us. We will direct the effort that will immobilize these things. We will strike at nightfall when our powers will be strongest so I advise you to get what rest you can between now and then."

"Whose nightfall?" Commander Gray asked.

"We will measure time using your Eastern Seaboard, so 19.00 EST," she responded, surprising Commander Gray yet again. They know time zones and military time?

"One more thing," she said, looking at the screens, "we are aware that there are those of you who would wish to escape this pact, hoping to hold back until others are locked in or even until after - when they are exhausted before making your own strikes. I have to warn you that this is not possible."

She took a moment to look from screen to screen and her gaze lingered a little longer on some rather than others. "Your words have locked you into a pact. Ad astra per aspera. 'To the stars through adversity'. It doesn't mean anything specific to this cause, except that we really are going to send our thoughts into the stars. The more important factor is that, to obtain the crystal, you spoke the words. You can hide it away, you can run from it however you wish, but when the time comes the power will reach through it and you and to all your people. I will also warn you, the further away you are from the crystal when that happens the more pain you and your people will experience."

"What have you done to us?!" A voice exclaimed from the screen. No surprise that it was North Korea.

A few other voices broke out, demanding an explanation and one screamed the word witch in a foreign tongue.

She looked directly at the President, "When this is over, the crystals will be useless and we will retain no power over you."

He nodded and smiled for the first time in days. "I thank you for taking care of that concern. We stand ready to do what must be done."

Commander Gray looked on as the three bowed briefly and disappeared, leaving him to deal with the ongoing babble of malcontents. He knew that keeping those two in the room would have had a positive impact. He had no doubt that it was something they had said that had prompted the implementation of a fail-safe. Those beings could not have been following world politics so closely.

So now he was smiling on the inside, feeling a sense of determination and resolve and a knowledge that success really was a possibility.

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Author's note: Hi guys, hope everyone is doing well in whatever version of lockdown mode you may be experiencing. Hope this additional chapter gives you some distraction. Let me know what you think.