“Oh, he’s got a few broken bones. Two ribs and he has a cast on his left arm. His wrist I think. Also has a concussion. Other than that, he’ll live. Already making a fuss about getting back to work.” Looking concerned, Momma asked, “Any word about my boys?”
Jackie shook her head. “No. Sorry.”
The two of them had arrived at the Maxima. Momma used a key fob to unlock the passenger door. She opened it and held it wide for her father to lower himself into.
Jackie felt guilty. She should be the one driving him home. The car behind her honked—then the one behind that and the one behind that one all honked their horns. She held her left hand out the driver-side window and flipped the lot of them the bird.
Momma was making her way around her car.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you back at Dad’s farm.”
“Okay, dear… we’ll see you there.”
She spun the dial determining only two local radio stations were still broadcasting—both so filled with static, it was nearly impossible to hear what was being said. She glanced in her rearview mirror and saw the Maxima was there, three cars back. She spun the dial again and hit pay dirt. She recognized the announcer’s voice as that from the local CBS affiliate all-news station.
“…the amount of damage… the devastation along the eastern seaboard is nothing short of catastrophic. Death tolls are estimated into the millions. With that said, there are population pockets… even within Manhattan itself… that were, miraculously, bypassed. Moving on to Washington D.C.… there too has sustained much damage. But I’m reporting that the White House still stands… I repeat… the White House still stands. As does the Capitol Building. The President of the United States is said to be safe and conducting business from an undisclosed safe bunker location. The Naval Station at Norfolk, in nearby Virginia, has been completely destroyed. As were the bases at Newport, Annapolis, Charleston, Kings Bay, and Jacksonville. It is apparent that the alien attackers’ primary targets were… and still are… primary U.S. and worldwide military installations. Let’s quickly turn our attention to the events going on over Europe and Russia. We go now to Peter Colten… our on-the-ground correspondent in St. Petersburg, Russia. Peter… what can you tell us?”
“Yeah, Simon, what we’re getting, and this is from multiple eye witness accounts… is that two alien crafts had entered the Russian airspace. The Russians were ready for them… deploying a substantial number of their MiG29k jet fighters. All of which were quickly destroyed. Then came what seemed to be an almost endless rampage of Russian surface to air and sea to air missiles… unfortunately, these too had zero effect on the alien crafts. The aliens began strafing the ground with their energy weapons… just as they had done along the eastern seaboard in the U.S. and then to other countries in Europe and China. As the attack ensued, much of Moscow has been turned to rubble. But here’s the really bizarre part, Simon… reportedly a third spaceship engaged the enemy, identical looking to the other two alien crafts… From which point an aerial battle ensued. Eventually, the battle continued up in space.”
“So how do things stand now, Peter?”
“Simon… one alien spacecraft has definitely been destroyed. That has been verified. The other one was either destroyed or at the very least incapacitated in high orbit over Earth.”
“And what has happened to the other spacecraft… our apparent savior… or was that the craft which was destroyed?”
“There’s no way to know, at this point, there’s still much more to come, Simon…”
Jackie had reached her father’s farm. She turned off the engine and continued to stare at the car radio. There was a good chance, Cuddy and Kyle… as well as Tony Bone were dead. Killed by the alien craft. She didn’t want to think about it. She couldn’t think about it.
She watched as Mrs. Perkins and her father extricated themselves from the Maxima. Momma helped her father walk toward the house. It should be me helping him, she thought—but, surprisingly, she was fine with Mrs. Perkins taking on that responsibility.
Jackie got out of her car and slowly followed behind them. Then, snapping out of her funk, she hurried forward and opened the front door for them. It was unlocked—always unlocked—she didn’t remember, even as a child, the door ever being locked.
Momma gently guided her father toward the back of the house where the master bedroom was located. Jackie felt numb. So much had happened—all starting days before, with the frantic call informing her that her father had had a massive heart attack. Hell… in a normal world, that would have been terrifying enough. But it had only been the beginning of a string of implausible events that were… well… beyond incredible. But was all of it a nightmare? Certainly not Cuddy’s mental transformation. Now that presented its own unique set of problems for her.
She noticed a red light was blinking on her dad’s old fashioned answering machine on the kitchen counter. She pressed play and listened to a series of well-wishers for her father’s quick recovery. There was a message from the pharmacist about new prescriptions being ready for pickup, and then there was a message for her. It was Brian. He was worried sick about her. Couldn’t understand why she wasn’t picking up on her cell phone. She tried to remember where she’d left it—then remembered she’d last had it in her pocket when she’d been taken aboard the Howsh ship. She brought her attention back to Brian’s voice
“Babe… if you get this message, please call… day or night… Jackie, let me know you’re all right.”
She listened to the phone machine say, “End of messages.”
She looked up to see Momma was coming down the hallway.
“He okay?”
“Yes… wants to rest for a while.”
“I can’t thank you enough for helping with Dad… It should have been me—”
Momma waved her words away. “It’s a welcome distraction with everything going on. The attacks around the world… Cuddy and Kyle gone.” Momma gestured toward something undefined above.
Jackie said, “I found a radio station… while in the car. Reports about the attacks on the other side of the world.”
Momma’s attention was piqued, “Well? Anything about… the boys… what they were trying to do?”
Jackie nodded. “There was a third ship… it must have been them… the report said it attacked the other two ships… up in space. One was definitely destroyed… not sure about the other one… it may have reentered the atmosphere.”
Momma stared back at her, waiting for Jackie to continue.
“I don’t know, Mrs. Perkins… there’s no way to know. I guess all we can do is wait.”
Chapter 35
Cuddy awoke to the loud, grating voice of Tony Bone. Clearly upset, he was complaining about his nose.
“…of all the places on my body I could have been smacked… an arm… an ear… hell, my nuts, but no… I get hit again, right in the nose!”
Cuddy slowly sat up, realizing Kyle was crouched down next to him.
“Easy there, little brother, you hit your head pretty hard.”
Cuddy thought back to the last thing he’d seen—the Howsh spacecraft coming right at them, from out the observation window. “We’re… still alive!”
“Thanks to you. You and the orb. How you did what you did, making that ship disintegrate, like that…”
Cuddy’s vision was only now clearing—capable of focusing on his surroundings. The AI orb still hovered in front of the forward console and Cuddy noted they were again up in space. He glanced over at Tony, now seated with his back up against the opposite bulkhead. Dried blood covered much of his lower face along with practically all his T-shirt.