Invasion

The LAW lit up the night as it was fired directly into the IFV. The alien vehicle, caught by surprise, exploded into a billowing fireball, while the trucks skidded to a halt, knowing that it was useless to run. Some of the truckers would probably be wishing that they’d been allowed to keep their weapons, just to save their vehicles from the insurgents and their families from the aliens, but others would almost welcome the attack. The aliens dismounted rapidly from the outriders, firing into the darkness, only to be picked off quickly and efficiently by the snipers. So far, at least, the attack had been textbook perfect.

Brent winced. Now came the real challenge. “Follow me,” he snapped, and ran towards the lead truck. The driver was already opening the doors, although it wasn't clear if he wanted to fight or beg for mercy. “You, what are you carrying?”

“Nothing,” the driver said. Brent looked into his eyes and read his story; his family hostages, his truck used against his country…and the relief that came with knowing that there was no longer any need to make the terrible choice. “They’re all empty.”

“Just get back into the driving seat,” Brent snapped. They ran through the remaining seven trucks, checking that they were empty – the aliens had ambushed them before with ‘empty’ vehicles – and then returned to the original cab. “You need to drive on to the spaceport, understand?”

The driver didn’t. “But…”

“But nothing,” Brent snapped. He drew his knife and held it to the driver’s throat. It would have been much easier if one or all of the drivers had been insurgent sources, but there had been no way to make sure of that. “They’re going to think you’re in with us, so do as I tell you and your family will have a chance to live, understand?”

“…Yes,” the driver said, finally.

“Good,” Brent said. He looked across at Luke. “Do your stuff.”

Luke put the alien radio, recovered from one of the outriders, to his mouth and started to talk. Brent had never heard the alien language before, apart from a handful of shouts from dying aliens, and merely listening to it made him shiver. No wonder the aliens were so confident of their security; human mouths simply couldn’t make the same sounds, no matter how hard they tried. The die was cast now, whatever else happened; the aliens would know that at least one of them had been taken prisoner and had gone over to the human side.

The driver blinked as Luke finished speaking. “What did he say?”

Luke’s voice was softer than normal. “I told them that we’d been attacked, but that we’d beaten the attackers off and the survivors got into the trucks,” he said. The driver gave the alien a sidelong look as he put the truck into gear and moved back onto the road. “They should buy it long enough to reach the spaceport.”

“All the bullet holes will be very convincing,” Brent agreed. It was a shame they couldn’t risk a radio transmission – he wanted to check in with the rest of his team – but he was prepared to move. If the assault on the spaceport went in as planned – and, all of a sudden, it seemed like the stupidest idea he'd ever had – they would have their chance. “I’m sorry about the danger, but…”

“Man, if you can do something about my family, I’d help you blow the spaceport up myself,” the driver said. “How much explosives have you put in the trucks?”

Brent smiled, but said nothing. A pair of alien helicopters flew past, probably examining them, but much to his relief, they didn’t insist on the convoy pausing for inspection. He would have done that, if he’d been in command, but that wouldn’t have been safe. The priority would be to get the trucks back to a properly secured location and then search them, just in case. The spaceport was the closest secured location…and, although the aliens didn’t know, it was about to become a great deal less safe.

“There,” the driver said. “That's their spaceport.”

Brent wasn't sure what he had expected, but images taken by insurgents had revealed that the spaceport had once been a private airfield, one that had been used by several large corporations and their personnel for some reason. The aliens had overrun it during the first landings, repaired it – after having bombed it from orbit with a KEW during their arrival – and turned it into a spaceport. Even now, in the darkness, Brent could see several alien shuttles climbing up into space.

“They must trust their pilots,” he remarked to Luke, as he slipped into a hiding place. The aliens had two fences surrounding the spaceport and, unless he missed his guess, they would be shown into the first, but held there until they were checked out. “Has there ever been a collision?”

“Not as far as I know,” Luke said. He made a complex signal with his fingers and the alien guards waved them through. “We’re committed now, boss.”