The Legend of Earth

Chapter 32



“Contacts, Admiral! In orbit!” The tech sergeant’s voice was pure panic; he was fully aware of the consequences of his statement.

Keller literally ran up to the station. There were nine very bright and blatant contacts on the screen – gravity signatures – and they appeared to be tracing a leisurely path toward the Earth. They had appeared out of nowhere and well within the planet’s defensive perimeter.

A phone squawked next to him; it was President Sean McLaren, the immediate successor to Danny Ryan, one of Keller’s closest friends. Ryan had been a great president, unfortunately in office during the time of the Juirean attack on the planet. But McLaren was running a very close second to Ryan. He was strong and decisive and incredibly intelligent, and also headed up the Planetary Governing Council that had been put in place right after the Juirean attack. Keller felt sorry for him, as he heard his worried voice on the phone. It looked as though Sean McLaren was destined to be America’s last President.

“Yes, sir,” Keller said, answering McLaren’s questions. “They are alien in origin, and we have nothing to stop them with. It looks like they know it, too, because they’re being pretty damn nonchalant with their approach.”

“It would be foolish to ask at this point how they did it,” McLaren said. “What people do survive – and there will be many to rebuild the race – we’ll let them answer that question. I’m just glad there are Humans off the planet and in spaceships who will be safe.”

“We can probably still get you aboard a ship and out of harm’s way, Mr. President.”

“Let’s not even go there, Bill. Let’s instead concentrate on sending everything we have up at these bastards.”

“Already underway, sir. But I really recommend we get you to a safe place. Your leadership will—”

Keller jerked the phone away from his ear as he heard a horrible screech blast from it. Then all the lights in the situation room went out briefly, before emergency backups kicked on. All the screens on the walls were filled with static. Admiral Keller was a high-ranking military officer in the nuclear age; he knew exactly what had happened.

EMP! Electronic Magnetic Pulse. The aliens had detonated a nuclear device, more-than-likely a high altitude detonation. Although a fair amount of the Pentagon’s deeper communications and electronics had been hardened against such attacks, Keller also knew that the rest of the country’s infrastructure was not, and that went for most of the world. As the EMP’s from the various explosions spread around the globe, the planet Earth would be cast into a new and literal dark ages. Computers, lights, generators, relays, cellphones and so much more would now be useless. And depending on the number of HEMPs, or High-Altitude Electronic Pulse devices the aliens had detonated, that would determine the extent and severity of the damage. And that was just from the EMP.

So it begins,

Keller thought. The beginning of the end….