Invasion of the Zernoplat

Chapter One; Vacuum and Vacuous. The flitter-bus was crowded and the air inside it hot. Everyone was trying to see the vid positioned in the bracket which was firmly attached to the roof of the ground vehicle. On a good day when he felt flush, Hakt would have taken a taxi, but today, like everyone else he was concentrating on the news and the newest flitters the rank used, did not even have mini-vid. Of course had he taken the smaller option, the sun would have stayed firmly behind dull grey, sullen cloud. Now though, it had come out and the sky was a lovely azure and the interior of the flitter-bus was like a hothouse. Not that the huge guy next to him needed any persuasion to sweat by the smell of him. Hakt could never understand a lack of hygiene, when a bar of soap only cost a couple of sestersius. He eyed the man mountain and wished he had merely stood, but if he rose and did so now, it would be telegraphing his intent. The noise of chatter made it difficult to hear the news announcer too and that only served to frustrate him even more. Just how obtuse was the average man on the street, when the thought of contact with an alien race was not something which filled their mind and became the topic of nearly all their conversation? Was he in a group that only contained him? He squinted at the vid and saw the celebrated professor Dato, being interviewed. He was almost glad he could not hear what he was saying. Hakt found Dato to be opinionated and something of a prig. He also suspected that the professor was a con-man, nothing more than an armchair expert who had managed to get the media to believe he was abundantly wise. Like the majority of the general public however, he was dependant upon such sensationalised reporting and conjecture, he thought back to the past few days and realised he knew very little real detail about the invasion! It had been his decision to get off his butt and do something about it, rather than lie in front of the tri-vid and worry when the mushrooms would start sprouting. That was the reason for his trip into the metropolis, he needed supplies and certain tools which circumstance would force him to use for the first time in his life. He would be a quick study though, for he had no greater motive to learn - than survival itself. Jumping off the crowded ground-auto with great relief he was suddenly acutely aware of the sun above, the sounds of distant traffic, the chatter of avian life and the smells of the urban scene. It was all threatened now, not everyone would act, but he would. He went down to the shed, took out the shovel and started digging at the far end of his half acre garden. When that got too taxing, he would break off and take another trip to the super-mart and buy a whole heap of tinned foods, that would be almost as sweat inducing as the digging. In a disappointingly short time, his muscles screamed in discomfort at the sudden unexpected rigours he had set them. He took a shower and ate a simple hypo-waved lunch before walking down to the mart; despite the distance. It was full of panic-buyers taking just about anything off the shelves. A heaving mass of panic-stricken flesh, at last the general public, ignorant as they were, had realised that there was potential disaster in man's encounter with a species that had the capability to traverse the enormity of space. The terrifying realm of hyper-space. In addition to the digging, he had ordered concrete ready-mix from a site on his pad. It was to be delivered soon and he rushed home just as the truck was about to pour it into his drive way in his absence. He supervised it's correct position and thus the thick walls of the sub-Terran bunker was constructed in one afternoon. The holo-vid was a marvellous source of information when it came to instruction for practicality. Thus within a couple of days he had the port-a-loo installed and even electric arcs. The generator was in, two days later and then he took his flitter down to the local garage and had a full service, then he was ready for the big hide out. The most disconcerting thing about the alien vessels had been that they never fought back! As soon as they had been detected just inside the orbit of Callisto, the military there had been on amber alert, or what ever it was they did when an armada's of ships from beyond the solar system were first spotted by electron-telescope. Then the sovereignties of Earth got themselves involved and found, not for the first time that they could argue long into the early hours. Finally unable to decide their correct strategy when dealing with the puzzle. Some nations wanted to attack the armada with space-nuclear weapons, others wished to greet the ships with friendly welcome. It took two days to decide who was right and the ships were getting nearer to Earth every minute they debated. The majority emerged deciding upon peaceful greeting. Mars, Venus and the Moon stayed clear of the meetings, remained silent, for the arc of the vessels were pointed at the solar systems home world. Messages were sent out in all languages known to man, almost all of them no longer in universal use since English had been adopted centuries in the past as the world wide accepted language. It had been called Standard. The ships; silently - continued on their merry way, straight toward Earth. It was at this stage that the media had started their coverage of wildly expected scenarios. Images of invasion were plastered across the world holo-vid stations. It was also the point in which the major panic started. While Hakt was busy preparing his bunker, the rest of mankind was going to Hades. Violent crime suddenly went increased at an alarming rate, rape, murder and robbery were the order of the day. It was as if mankind, thinking itself on the brink of extinction, wanted to get in all the perfidy it could before it all came to an abrupt end. The ships came on! The summit in London once again, was attended by every single one of the leaders of the major powers. No leaders dared to be absent. Messages were being constantly sent out to the armada and the result was a big fat zero. Nothing, silence! The ships came on! Reluctantly a difficult decision was reached. Those nations who had always urged the others to consider conflict swayed enough of the others to gain a majority. At least the world was united for once, united against a common enemy. They decided to draw a line in the sand; or in this case, in space and defy the aliens to cross it. After protracted debate as to the exact position of the line, it was finally hammered out in the small hours of Earth Standard Time [EST] and messages were once more sent to the ever tacit invaders. Travel within the orbit of the asteroid belt and nuclear warheads would be launched. Only Francosia, India, the German Empire and both factions of the English Empire (Saxonia and Anglond) admitted to having the necessary weaponry to realise the threat, but it would be enough. The ships came on! More urgent and stern messages were sent, an ultimatum couched in no uncertain terms. Stop the journey short of Earth, or the full might of the planet would be deployed against the invaders. Hakt had the concrete bunker finished by then, the port-a-loo was in and he was working on the wiring. He had taken to occasional sobbing uncontrollably, he knew what was going to happen with a certainty born of pessimistic desperation. Why would the aliens travel halfway across the galaxy, only to read a 'Keep Out' sign at the first star and then humbly turn tail and run? If they could create engines powerful enough to bridge the enormity of space; what would their weapons be like? The following day the armada of alien vessels crossed inside the asteroid belt.