“Why are you telling me this?”
“I understand now that you considered my words at our last meeting to be intentionally inaccurate. If I give you information you consider important, you will be appeased.”
“You want to appease me?”
“I did not desire the destruction that has occurred. If you are appeased, I can add that information to my report, and the mission will be considered a successful effort.”
“A successful effort!” A single burst of laughter erupts from my throat. All of this is nothing more that some paper-pushing alien trying to make their quota and get their bonus.
I consider firing the rest of my anno into it, but I know it will do no good.
“You want to appease me?” I yell at it. “Go have your military flatten those fuckers over at Georgia Tech. Destroy the bastards who fucked over Hannah. Maybe then I’ll be appeased, and you can add it to your fucking documentation!”
“Do you have the precise coordinates?”
What?
My body chills despite the warm night air.
Is it…is it offering to…?
“Yeah,” I say. My voice is barely a whisper, and I have to clear my throat to continue. “Yeah, I do.”
I fish the city map out of my pocket as my heart begins to beat faster. I double check to make sure I’ve got it exactly right and then read the numbers off to Vole.
“I’ll dispatch the message immediately.”
“You’re serious.”
There’s a pause before it answers.
“I don’t understand. Why would I interject humor at this point?”
“Never mind.” I shake my head. “I’m just surprised you’re willing to do something for me.”
“As I stated, Falk Eckhart, I find it necessary to make amends. I was not in favor of our actions, and you impressed me at our initial encounter.”
“So, you’re going to blow them up?”
“The vessels have already been dispatched.” The creature behind the image shifts, and I hear the hum of hydraulics again as it turns its head skyward. “I must return now.”
All I can do is nod. My brain is on overload.
The image returns the nod and then shimmers and blinks before disappearing. The creature that stood behind turns and heads back to its craft, and I head back into the trees. I return to the spot where I had been smoking earlier and have another one while I try to compose myself.
I replay the conversation in my head as the orange glow rises into the sky and quickly disappears over the horizon until there is nothing left but stars.
I stare into the darkness for several minutes before I see another orange glow descending from the heavens. At first, I see one light, but as it approaches, I realize there are three of them. They come down low, circling the city once in perfect formation.
There’s a deep hum that seems to shake the air around me, and the three crafts separate, move around to form a tight circle, and then pause in the air to the west. The flash of light is so bright, I have to look away. There is an incredible explosion, and a ball of fire rises into the air.
“Holy shit!” I stare open-mouthed to the west as the ships rise back into the night sky and disappear. There is a pillar of smoke rising into the sky but nothing else.
“Falk!”
“Over here!”
I stomp out my cigarette and take off toward the shelter at a slow jog.