Chapter 5: Incoming

"Now What?" Captain Scott asked.

"Now we wait and hope they don't find us. Did someone manage to leave the observatory on remote?" John asked.

"Of course I did," Replied Donna.

"Computer can you give me information on the enemy ships, or tell me where they are?" John asked.

"There are two types of ships, four smaller vessels and many larger ones. The smaller ones are in front of and behind the larger ones."

"Well here goes nothing. Computer I want to open as large a portal as possible right in front of the ships. Keep it open as long as possible, if the ships try to evade; re-focus the portal and re-active ate it."

They all watched the screen as a giant black 'hole' formed in front of the ships. The two smaller ships in the front didn't have a chance they probably didn't even see it. I don't know if any of them were looking where they were going, but they all seemed to follow the rest right inside. That is except for the last two ships, they both started to bank in opposite directions before the portal entrance. The first one caught the rear edge of the ship on the portal; it started rolling slowly and slid away. The second ship exploded as the edge of the portal sliced the ship in half. This explosion in turn sent out a wave of destruction towards the damaged ship and flung it towards the planet.

"We need to catch that ship!" John yelled.

The computer responded, "The reactors were overloaded, the portal generator is offline."

"Shit, where's it going to hit?" the Captain asked.

"Calculations say it will hit near Bermuda, the east coast of the United States," the computer said.

Everyone found places to sit, on the couch, chairs or on the floor, they just sat in silence and waited.

"So how long do we wait?" Jason asked.

"Until the computer says it's safe," John said.

John talked to everyone over the next few days; he now had one hundred and thirteen people in the cave. Some of the people he trusted but some he didn't even know.

He motioned the twins to follow him and they walked into the office and closed the door. Then John said, "What are we going to do with these people they all know our secrets and I'm not sure we can trust all of them?"

"Easy. The computer can use security measures to knock them out, and then we can implant a chip in each of them. There is no way we can afford to take a chance on this," Jennifer said.

"Well I'm glad you said it not me, but I think you're right."

They all spent the next few days in the cave waiting for something to happen. On the second day, the computer knocked everyone out, except those that happened to be sleeping in the sealed office. The chips were all implanted that night; nobody was concerned about their stiff neck the next morning.

"Computer," John said. "Try to figure out how hard we were hit; we need a damage report, especially on the east coast."

Four hours later, the computer responded. "It would appear the east coast of the United States has been devastated. The tsunami that the ship caused was stopped at the Appalachian Mountains. Most damage was east of the mountain range. The islands south of Florida have been wiped out, as well as coastal cities in Africa, Spain, France, Ireland, England, and the east coast of South America. The crashed ship also caused the evaporation of an unbelievable amount of ocean water. Clouds are forming over most of the planet; it will be raining (or snowing) for some time to come. All this information comes from other sources and news casts. Radiation from the crash site is also spreading in all directions, readings are off the scale."

"Captain, please try to find out who is left and who is going to claim to be in charge. Please don't give out any of the information on what happened," John said.

The captain took off to the office to make some calls while John asked for suggestions.

"This planet is going to die isn't it?" Jennifer said.

"Everything could be solved except for the radiation, its going to kill everything." John said.

"I did some experimenting when we were first working on the portal," Trish said. "Do you realize that whatever is passed through the portal is momentarily stored in the crystal, until it exits the other side? Since that is the case, and we didn't create an exit when we captured the ships. The ships would still be stored in the crystal of that specific portal generator. We could read the crystal and study the ships and learn from the technology."

"Damn, if that's possible it would be outstanding. Maybe we can retrieve an entire ship and get the hell out of here." John said.

"Ya I figure we need all the help we can get, if we plan on surviving," Trish said.

Trish and Jennifer worked on the crystal from the portal generator; the Captain was still making calls. John went into the office with the Captain and waited.

After hanging up the phone the Captain said, "Well the President and all of congress are missing. We have received word that, so far, all other countries are the same way. Is it possible that they started taking people before they even reached orbit?"

"I guess it's possible, maybe we will find out after examining the ships in the crystal. So who is in charge then?"

"Well all the politicians are gone; most of the higher ranking military officials are gone. I think it's going to be the strongest of the last of the military to take control, and if my guess is correct they will fight it out. The country will be under a cloud of radiation soon, there will be no reason to fight."

"Computer, would you list all of the property assets that we have?"

The computer replied, "We have this house and lab, Breckenridge Labs Inc. Then we have offices and a manufacturing facility in Colorado Springs, New Jersey, California, and Ohio. We also have a retreat and lab on Santa Catalina Island."

"Santa Catalina is off the coast of California I believe, what assets are there?" John asked.

"The main house is similar to this one but much bigger, the same with the lab. The cave at that location is about half the size of this one. There is also an observatory but it is concealed as part of the house. I just checked with the computer system at the house and it reports the power is out, and there have been several small earthquakes."

The Captain was watching John trying to figure out what he was thinking. Then it struck him, "you figure we would be safer on the island?"

"I think so, at least that would make sense wouldn't it? Trying to get the island organized would be much easier than doing the same to the entire US. It's also further away from the crash site."

"Wouldn't that be leaving everyone on the mainland to fend for themselves?"

"What is it you feel we can do for everyone if we stay? We can do much better on the island. We will still do what we can to protect everyone, but we will be safe from roaming gangs and thieves."