Chapter 34

“Joe, I don’t want to risk people. This place smells like a trap. I’m even inclined to move a bit north tonight. We don’t know what their resources are and I don’t want to find out the hard way that they have plenty of resources and are looking for a chance to use them.”

I thought a few minutes and said, “Let’s get away from here and off the Interstate tonight. Then we can take two squads and take out their little base and be ready to run.” I thought a moment. “We know they don’t go out at night but a missile going to a predetermined place doesn’t care about day or night.”

Sheila said, “You are paranoid! Do you think they’re that smart?”

“Well, they go from star to star and took us out pretty handily at first. Also, we haven’t changed our attack methods. Sooner or later, I think someone would figure it out.”

We moved north and away from I-75 in the evening with the exception of two squads who were equipped with our longest range weapons. Their instructions were to “carpet” that area from a distance and flee west until just before dawn. They would hide and then rejoin us tomorrow night.

They struck and moved west in accordance with their instructions. Just under a half hour later, we heard a large explosion just south of us. It was quiet for the rest of the night.

Sheila asked, “Riley, should we send a crew to check the alien base?”

“I don’t know. It will only be for confirmation. I don’t know if it’s worth the risk or effort. I would rather send an evening trip if I send one.”

“You’re still suspicious?”

“We’ve had a great run and I don’t want to spoil it by being greedy.”

“I understand but we should know whether they hit our old location or the little base they set up. It will make a difference about the aliens’ thinking and our reaction to their thinking as best we can determine it.”

“Okay, send a squad, of foot, to check out both spots. Maintain radio silence unless there’s an emergency.”

Sheila talked to Joe and they sent Jack’s squad and Mary’s squad together to check out what was done by the alien blast. They returned later and reported. Mary said, “What appears to be the epicenter of the blast was between the two locations. It was a big blast and might have been to catch both locations. It caught corners of both areas. The other possibility is that they were aiming for one or the other and missed. It’s my opinion that they were shooting for their old base and missed.”

Jack said, “I agree with Mary. I think they tried and missed. It was too small a blast to try to hit both but big enough to clear their base. From everything I’ve heard and seen, they aren’t good on maintenance and that could relate to their targeting ability.”

I had gathered the other platoon leaders and Company Commander Margaret to join in for this meeting. I said, “I guess our next point is to move out. Alex has some thoughts about that. We will also need to talk about our long-term future as well.” I pointed, “First, Alex will give us his thoughts.”

“We have heard a very little bit of chittering but nothing like we’ve heard before. Quite honestly, I think there are few aliens left. That’s not scientific but is my opinion based upon what we had seen in the past on the radio. We had noticed that after each alien base’s destruction, the radio traffic diminished slightly each time. It makes me wonder.”

“What do you mean, Alex?” asked Leon.

“Based upon my hearing from the aliens, I have to guess that they are gone. Where to? Why? How can they give up and are they off our planet or just our continent?”

I said, “What do we know of their being on other continents?”

“Not enough. Not busy like in our country was. It diminished rapidly and even faster than it did in our country ... It makes me wonder if they’re gone now. We need to listen some more but that’s my preliminary impression. I also wonder what might have been left, too. They had a method of tracking people in groups by heat signature. We’re still watching and listening trying get some better idea rather just not hearing anything.”

I asked, “Alex, will it help to get more eyes and ears?”

Alex nodded. “It would though it does take some time to train people. Watching the sky takes more effort but it’s worth it because that’s the most reliable way to find them.”

“I’ll volunteer my efforts and anyone who would like a try to be it radio listener or by watching the sky. Each of you let your people know of this possibility. Volunteers must have permission from their squad leader and their primary responsibility will still be with their squad. I’m putting off any travel plans for now as we hope to get a better knowledge of our alien enemy.”

With that, we dismissed the meeting and went our separate ways. Sheila and I went to Alex to talk. Alex grimaced, “I guess you’re here to volunteer and find out what to do.”

Sheila grinned. “Of course, we’re coming to the expert.”

Alex said, “Very good. I want you to meet Robin, who was an astronomer before the aliens and knows the skies. He wants a group to watch the nighttime sky for anything we can’t identify.”

He pointed a man in his thirties who was wiry with a pale complexion. He looked at us in awe. Alex grinned, “I have two volunteers to sky watching. This is Robin. He will teach you what to do.”

Sheila grinned. “Good to meet you, Robin. I’m Sheila and he’s Riley.”

He stammered, “Hi, I’m Robin. You’re our leaders! How can I teach you?”

I smiled. “Robin, we’re like everyone else. We can always learn something new. We’re just the people who started this craziness.”

Sheila said, “How can we help?”

He said, “Alex and I are still figuring out the details but we plan to assign parts of the night sky to watchers. I know what should show up and we’ll be searching for anything that’s new from the aliens. I know that they took out some of our satellites and we will want to see what may still exist and then figure out how to get into them and, hopefully, control them.”

“You don’t plan small.”

He replied, “You didn’t when you started either and it’s working well.”

Sheila smiled, “Actually, Riley started things and it just kept getting bigger.”

“I just hope I can have as much success with the sky.

“I have charts and information on the sky before the aliens came. What I want to do is watch the sky for changes. Our next step will be to determine what to do with them. However, we can learn their orbits and know when we can escape any views from satellites. There are also satellites, if we can access them, that will give us views of the world. I think having that information would help at some point in the future.”