AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (1) Shots And Sticks (Non-Fiction) A Diabetic's Journey. [1,279 words]
Consequences Sarah O'Farrell
Consequences
They were coming. Faster than anyone had imagined. The Mercurians-the absolute worst aliens in the solar system-were heading towards Earth. The president didn't know (the memo was buried under mounds of meaningless paper on his desk); the military didn't know (General Thompson liked to sleep late). But Jeremiah knew. Jeremiah, a seventeen year old genius from Alabama, knew. His basement was crammed with gadgets and computers to track extraterrestrial patterns and movement. He tried to warn them, but no one would listen.
The Mercurians were vicious, heartless aliens. They were the warrior planet, the outcasts. Everyone avoided them. On trips to the sun for energy, Neptuneans were known to detour thousands of miles to avoid flying too close. In fact, humans were the first to visit Mercury in eight hundred years. The Mercurians liked being the bully of the Solar System. It gave them satisfaction in their otherwise meaningless lives.
At 8:00 am, a radar picked up the UFO movement. A young, scared technician alerted his boss.
"It can't be!" he cried. "Get Thompson, and the President, and that crazy kid here now!"
Jeremiah refused to visit the lab, but he did confirm that the images were UFOs and yes, he knew about them and yes, he had sent out memos.
"Good luck," he said, his voice overrun with sarcasm. He hung up.
At 8:30 am, Thompson arrived at the lab. He stared, speechless, at the radar images. He made a phone call, putting the entire United States military on its highest alert. Then, the General plopped into a chair to devise his plan. They didn't have the technology (or the time) to evacuate the entire planet. They would have to meet the invaders above the Earth to battle, or try reasoning with them.
Jeremiah began to ready his spaceship. His family-the ones he liked, anyway-were on the way. As soon as the ship was ready, they would blast into space. Jeremiah had met an alien from Saturn several years ago, who had told him to stop by if he was ever around, so they were going to head there.
By 9:00 am, the story had leaked to the press and everyone was hysterical, shrieking and scuttling about. Earth had been caught with her pants down. Everyone swarmed the airports, hoping to get on a spaceship bound for anywhere. The General issued a ban—no aircraft could leave the planet. If he couldn't leave, no one else could either.
Jeremiah's ship was almost ready. His family formed a supply chain, hurriedly cramming food, water, and supplies into every corner of the craft. Of course, Jeremiah knew about the no-fly rule, but he didn't care. He had warned them. This was their punishment, their problem-not his.
At 9:45 am, Thompson received a message from the invading Mercurians. Their largely overweight leader, Ajayij, with rough blue skin and piercing red eyes, appeared on the video screen.
"Hello Earthlings," he said. "At exactly 10:00 am Earth time, we will annihilate your puny little planet. We warned you not to open a space gold mine on our home. Now you will pay with your lives." Laughing maniacally, the commander faded away.
The United States had opened their space gold mine three months previous, without the consent of the Mercurians. America argued that the mine gave much needed jobs to the extraterrestrials, but Ajayij and his followers said the gold belonged to them, no matter how much the Earthlings were willing to pay for it. The president wanted the valuable stone to boost the nation's economy, so he ordered the mine built anyway.
They were just above the United States now, waiting. They were taunting Earth, giving her people time to think, "Hey, maybe we can get out of this" before blowing them away. At Thompson's command, rockets were launched at the invaders. An almost transparent green bubble materialized around the fleet. When they got to it, the rockets clanged into it and exploded harmlessly.
At 9:50 am, ABC news broadcasted a message to Americans. Anchor Liz Bollie, a household name, calmly delivered the speech.
"We regret to inform you that Earth is going to be blown up in about ten minutes. Please, do not panic. If you have a basement, seek shelter there. Keep away from windows and doors, and do not go outside. Stay calm."
At 9:53 am, the United States military's best pilots, along with pilots from Germany, Russia, Britain, and Japan, reached the fleet. The countries momentarily united to attack. They threw everything they had at the invaders-bullets; missiles; bombs-nothing would penetrate the giant shield. Earth was depending on them, and they had nothing left. After three minutes of these desperate attempts, the Mercurians fired one shot and wiped out the entire group.
At 9:57 am, another message was received from the alien commander. "Fools! You cannot beat me!" he boomed.
"Please, please, don't do this!" cried Thompson. "We're sorry, we'll remove the mine! Please!"
Ajayij grunted and rolled his beady eyes. "I hate whiners. You brought this on yourself, you know."
At 9:59 am, Jeremiah and his family launched the spaceship. It soared into the atmosphere, climbing until it penetrated into space. They had made it. Suddenly, there was a deafening, horrifying boom. Jeremiah turned to look out the window in time to see Earth, where he had been only seconds before, shattering into zillions of pieces and floating into space. Behind him, his mother screamed. Jeremiah just stared at the mess, then adjusted the flight path and thought, "Hey, I warned them."
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