Universe At War: First Contact - Ch. 4

Chapter 4: Welcome to Earth

"I do believe that if the Aliens are peaceful they would position themselves above as many capitals as they can and send down ambassadors at the same time, to ensure that no nation would think that others are getting preferential treatment from them." Claudia stated as she conducted the briefing she and Walter could assemble given the data and time they had to work with.

"What we have noticed so far is that the alien vessels are rotating around their x-axis at a speed of approximately 62 kilometres, or 37.7 miles per hour, the resulting centrifugal forces upon the outer areas of the ship would in effect produce an equivalent of 1.3 Gs of gravity, which is 30% stronger than Earth's gravitational pull." Walter continued.

"Based on this we can conclude that the alien species in question has evolved on a super earth-type planet with a higher gravity than our own." Claudia continued.

"We also estimate the vessels to be about 1.7 kilometres, or 1.04 miles in radius, which means they are approximately 3.2 miles in circumference."

"That is quite the big vessel." Taylor remarked.

"Indeed, by our estimates if it were to crash on our planet it would do so with a force the equivalent of somewhere between 0.5 and 1.3 megatons of TNT depending on its mass."

"Okay, where exactly are they right now?" Taylor asked.

"According to NASA's latest reports they are settling into a geostationary orbit around our planet's northern hemisphere." An aide reported.

"They're just standing there?" The president questioned.

"It would appear so sir..."

"Sir, NASA's on the line, it would appear that the aliens are moving again." Another aide on the phone suddenly spoke up. "Sir the director wishes to speak with you directly."

"Put him on speaker." Taylor ordered and the aide complied. "Richie, what's going on up there?"

"Mr. President, we've pointed every single telescope we've got at them including the James Webb, they all tell us the same thing, the four main vessels are launching smaller craft." NASA Director Richard Dougherty replied.

"How smaller are we talking here?" Taylor had to know.

"It's really hard to say Sir, they're moving too fast to get a clear image of them, even the James Webb is struggling."

"Isn't it the most powerful telescope we've ever developed?" Taylor was confused by NASA's failings. "Shouldn't it get a clear image regardless?"

"Sir the telescope wasn't designed to look for objects in the background of a celestial body like Earth, plus the Aliens are standing right between the Webb and the sun so pointing it directly at them risks frying the telescope."

"Understood. Do you have any idea where the smaller craft are heading?"

"Their movements are erratic but it is safe to say they are heading towards Earth."

"Sir, our early warning systems just detected several UFOs over the northern Atlantic." Another aide just reported.

"What? They couldn't have gotten to us so quickly!" Claudia exclaimed.

"Not unless they've accelerated towards us faster than their terminal velocity would allow." Walter corrected.

"But the resulting friction with Earth's atmosphere would produce extreme temperatures."

"Temperatures that they could have some sort of shield against." Walter speculated.

"Mr. Ling, Ms. Falconer." Taylor addressed the two scientists. "It would appear that one of these UFOs is heading right for DC." He stated grimly, as if he were hoping that for some reason the aliens would just pass the Earth by and postpone the first contact for the next century.

"What are we going to do sir?" Zachary the chief of staff spoke up.

"I've already consulted with the members of the UN security council, they will be sending representatives to New York and will discuss exactly how mankind will proceed with the first contact."

"Sir, we might need to talk to them as soon as they land." Claudia stated.

"When are they going to land?" Taylor exasperatedly shouted with the hope that somebody of provide an answer.

"They are slowing down sir." The aide responsible for the early warning monitors replied. "Looks like it's happening now sir."

At this response Taylor walked up to the window and opened it.

"Sir, please step away from the window." One of the secret service agents in the room insisted as Taylor looked outside to see a red saucer the size of a football field slowly descend through the cloudy sky and position itself mere metres above the Washington Monument.

Before he could react in any way he noticed strange yellow glows forming on the ground beneath it. Claudia moved closer to the window herself to take a look just in time to see the glows dissipating and in their place stood what to Taylor looked like giants in armour.

Taylor went back into the office and pulled a binoculars out of his desk's lowermost drawer.

"I don't suppose you've got another one of these sir?" Falconer asked but no reply came.

Through the binoculars the president observed the alien creatures as a person approached them. Compared to a man the alien looked twice as tall and wide and, instead of a head, a single green eye stood at what for a human would be the top of their ribcage.

That's when the screaming started, a faint hiss that grew in terrible intensity as the alien soldiers began to open fire on the assembled crowd with weapons that fired unnaturally green projectiles which spread like buckshot sometimes hitting more than one person.

"Sir I have to insist..." The same agent walked up to the president with the quite possible intention of forcing him away from the window only for Taylor and Claudia to be shot clean across the room by a shockwave from the saucer as its engines roared back to life and it lifted itself back above the clouds.

"I need a medical team in the oval office, Eagle and one civilian require medical attention." The agent shouted into his radio as Claudia blacked out, the last sensation she knew before the darkness being fear.

----

"This cannot be believed without being seen." A news reporter shouted. "An alien saucer has been sighted just over the Washington Monument."

Woolard, Carly and David were huddled together on David's couch in front of the TV as news broadcast of the alien arrival.

For the past seven hours Woolard had packed his, Carly's and David's luggage into a pack per person, as a soldier he knew which essentials to take and which to regrettably leave behind.

David, of course, was not happy with Woolard's insistence that any second now they might be asked to evacuate.

"We're 40 miles from Washington Dave." Woolard pointed out. "If E.T. decides to blow us up they'll start with DC and London and Paris and..." He paused, trying to think of more capital cities. "...Vancouver? Is Vancouver Canada's capital or Montreal?"

Whatever Canada's capital city might have been, according to Woolard it was going to be a prime target.

"Come on Tom, you're acting like one of those survival nuts that rant about how World War 3 will start any day now." David tried to talk some sense into Woolard but the soldier refused to budge.

"We have to be ready for the worst case scenario Dave." Woolard responded as he zipped up his pack.

Now the three were watching the broadcast with held breaths.

"Wait something appears to be happening on the ground." A reporter spoke as images of the aliens teleporting on the National mall appeared on the TV. "This is unbelievable, the aliens have landed, no scratch that, they have beamed themselves on the ground."

And that's when Woolard started kicking himself for being right as he watched on screen as the alien foot soldiers began the systematic massacres of every living thing on the Mall.

"They are attacking us!" The reporter shouted just before the feed cut off and in its place was the emergency broadcasting system, instructing all citizens to proceed to the nearest evacuation centre.

Woolard turned to Carly and David to see their faces frozen in shock. What they had just witnessed had terrified them on a level few had ever experienced. Woolard himself was not a shaken as them but is mind still required time to fully process the situation.

"Guys, we have to go." Woolard said meekly as he stood up and grabbed his back. "We have to go now!" He shouted as she fully recovered from his stupor, causing the two to snap out of theirs.

"Dave, Tom." Carly failed so say anything else as she found herself wiping tears from her eyes. "This can't be happening."

"We've got to go now." Woolard grabbed Carly by the forearm and gently stood her up.

"They just, they just..." Carly was still struggling with her ability to speak. "They killed them, they're gonna kill us all!" She said, horror infusing her voice as tears continued streaming down her eyes.

"I had a friend in DC, did he make it?" David asked.

"It's best not to think that Dave." Woolard said as he helped Carly get her pack on.

"Was he there? Will he live?" He continued to ask questions that nobody had any answers for.

"Hey, hey David." Woolard kneed in front of David. "We do not know what happened out there. Your friend could be dead, he could be still alive in the city or for all we know he could be in a different city." Woolard tried to reassure his boyfriend that everything was going to be fine, and it seemed to work as David stood up.

"You're right, let's just worry about getting ourselves to safety first." He said as he grabbed his pack and put on his shoes.

Woolard peaked out of the window blinds to see everyone getting out of their homes, some with as little as the clothes on their backs.

That's when the tremors started.

"What's happening?" Carly asked with dread in her voice.

"Something really bad." Woolard responded as he saw the commotion outside, people running as far away from something he couldn't see, then a ball of green energy sped along the street, hitting a young woman in the back, causing her to fall over on the ground. Woolard couldn't tell if she were alive or dead.

Worst retirement ever.

----

Darkness. There was nothing but darkness. Then, Claudia realized that her eyes were closed so she opened them, barely.

What is happening? She asked herself as she barely made out the rough shapes of soldiers running past her. Her vision to blurry to make out any details.

She stood up, her vision clearing somewhat. A man walked up to her and he spoke something but she heard no sound, only a piercing, monotonous ringing. She tried to move but the man held her tighter.

"Ms. Falkoner?!" A shout finally registered on her senses, albeit a very faint and muffled one.

"You can't leave!" the shout grew louder and clearer, as did her vision. She was in a room somewhere in the White House. She did not know which one but when she looked around she could tell that it had been transformed into a makeshift hospital.

"You're still concussed from the shockwave!" The man said, clearly this time. "Do you understand?" He asked. That's when Claudia began paying attention to him. A soldier.

"Yes." She whispered a reply. Then she realized that hear head hurt, a lot. Her balance faltered and she found herself on the ground again. The soldier ensuring that she connected gently with the ground.

"You were banged up pretty badly." The soldier said. "I'm Corporal Layton, by the way. Field medic." He introduced himself as he placed a pillow underneath her head. "Just try not to move for now. I'm gonna get you some water."

"How the president?" She asked, remembering him taking the brunt of the shockwave like her.

"He's in a lot worse shape than you ma'am." Layton grimly replied. "Unless we get him to a hospital soon he might not make it."

"Can we..." Claudia began but her voice disappeared after the second word.

"No, we can't leave." Layton answered. "E.T's got us pinned down in here. Reinforcements from Langley and Fort McNair are incoming we just need to hold on until they get here."

Another tremor cut of Layton's explanation.

"We are only so lucky they haven't yet decided to bomb us from orbit."