Chris Randolph - Stars Rain Down

“The pictures show colonization all along the equator in South America and Africa. The enemy vessels have planted themselves in the jungle, and seem to have transformed into makeshift cities. They have also established numerous observation posts and forts, forming a several hundred kilometer wide defense zone.”

Jack’s hand was in the air again.

“Yes?”

“My team has experience doing search and rescue in the Congo, as well as ops in Uganda and Kenya. I’d like to volunteer to investigate the intelligence, sir.”

Galili stroked his chin for a moment. “Stay and have a word with me, Hernandez. The rest of you are dismissed. We’ll have another announcement when we know more.”

“Oooooh,” Nikitin said. “Jack’s gotta stay after class.”

“Not the first time,” Jack said.

The crowd filed out, already inventing new rumors to supplant the old ones. Nikitin and Albright opted to wait outside, while Jack went to have a chat with the teacher.

Once the room was empty, Jack approached the Colonel. “What can I do for you, sir?”

Galili was busy digging something out of his pack. He produced a large roll of paper a moment later, unrolled it and laid it out on a large wooden table. “Have a look at this, Mr. Hernandez.”

It was a map of Africa with enemy emplacements marked in red. The Sub-Saharan region was dotted with small checks, and four large circles staggered across the Congo, west of Lake Victoria.

“This is the intel, sir?”

“More or less. Tell me… how could I move, let’s say, forty troops into theater.”

“Alright. We know the Suez is a no-go, and the rest of Egypt is pretty hot from the looks of this. A better bet would be to cross at the Bab-El-Mandeb bridge, and make your entrance through Djibouti.”

“You think the bridge still stands?”

“Probably. The aliens struck population centers, but they ignored roadways and bridges. If it’s down, you cross by boat. It shouldn’t be too hard to find something sea-worthy in the area.”

“Interesting. And then?”

“Follow the rift valley all the way to Kenya, then cross Uganda along the southern edge. That seems to be where outposts and patrols are the thinnest.” His scarred fingers traced a trail from Djibouti and stopped near Lake Victoria.

“Good. Very good. What would you say, Mr. Hernandez, if I asked you to establish a forward base in Africa?”

“Wait. What?” That caught Jack off guard. He thought he was just giving advice.

“Few of us have experience south of Egypt. We need someone who knows the land. Someone who knows how to survive there. You lead a force along the route you just drew and investigate. If the intel is good, then you establish a base of operations and start hitting the enemy where it hurts.”

“I… Can I have a little time to think about this?”

“Take a day if you like, but I already know what your answer will be. You’re the man for the job, and you know it. You were the one who told us to be bold, were you not?”

“I suppose so, sir.”

“And your trip-lines are still racking up enemy casualties. More walkers fall every week. You want to hurt these bastards, and I’d like to help you.”

“A day?”

“One day. Sleep on it.”

Jack wandered back outside, where Nikitin and Albright were waiting for him. “What was that all about, hero?” Albright asked.

“You get chewed out?”

“No. Ummm… The Colonel wants me to establish a base in Africa.”

Albright said, “Wow.”

Nikitin laughed. “Hot damn. You gonna do it?”

“I dunno,” Jack said, “but yeah, I think so.”

“About time,” Nikitin said. “I’m getting sick of this dried up hell hole. Be nice to see some greenery again.”

“Yeah.” Jack was still weighing the decision in his head. “It’s a lot, though. Isn’t it?”

Nikitin laughed. “Maybe. I’m just glad it’s not me.”

“You’re not alone in that,” Albright said.

“Smart mouth you got, little woman.” Nikitin was smiling. “Anyway… I’m gonna go scrounge up another dinner. Anyone care to join me?”

“Nah. I got some thinking to do,” Jack said.

Albright waved. “You’re on your own, pal. That last feeding frenzy of yours turned my stomach.”

“Fine. More for me.” With that, the lighthouse headed off toward the mess.

Jack started walking in no particular direction, and Albright pinned herself to his hip. “So tell me, why wouldn’t you do this?” she asked.

“I dunno,” Jack said. “It doesn’t seem real. I don’t even know how I got this far.”

“That’s easy. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve had a talent for just two things, Jack — surviving, and getting people to follow you.”

“That’s crap. Only reason I ended up in charge of the Bravos was that no one else wanted the job.”

“Bullshit. Two months in the corps, and you were already telling the brigade leader what to do. And he did it. When the position opened up, no one else would touch it because they knew it was yours.”

He laughed. That cut closer to the truth than he was willing to admit.

“Face facts, Jack. If you march into hell, me, Leo and the others will follow you right on in. And you’ll bring us out alive. It’s what you do.”

He heard something in her voice that he hadn’t noticed before, and he turned to look at her. The months of hardship had taken their toll, and she’d become cold and calculating in a way Jack never could have expected. But beneath that, stars were glimmering distantly in her eyes.

The realization didn’t prepare him for what came next. Lisa Albright grabbed Jack’s collar, tugged his face down to hers, and she kissed him.

Her lips were warm and soft and sweet. Her mouth was tender, and for an instant, Jack was lost. For an instant, he was kissing Jess back on a rainy day in San Jose.

He pulled away but stayed close, with his eyes closed and her hot breath breaking on his lip. His own breaths were heavy, and his heart was beating against his chest. “I can’t,” he whispered.

“I know,” she said. One of her hands was on his chest, and he was sure she could feel the thumping beneath. “You’re still mending that broken heart of yours, but someday it’s gonna heal. I’ll be here when it does.”

He was speechless. She knew him a little too well.

Lisa Albright left another gentle kiss on his lips, then turned and walked away. “I’ll see you in the morning, hero.”

Jack vaguely recalled that he had to make some kind of decision, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what it was.

”…and that was the third time I got crabs. I haven’t returned to Maui since, and now chances for a future visit look bleak, for obvious reasons.”

Nils Jansen took a moment to scratch his thick beard. His razor still worked just fine, but he’d lost the will to shave three months before, around the time he and the other two men aboard Copernicus Observatory were supposed to run out of supplies and starve to death. They didn’t starve, partly because of intelligent rationing, and partly because they ate everything even remotely edible, including their shaving cream. Besides, he thought the shaggy beard was appropriate to the predicament.

He clicked the mouth piece on again. “That blackened mess currently on screen is Korea, as seen at night from a great altitude. Our viewers at home might have noticed it basically looks like a… well, a shapeless blob of land. Most peninsulas in fact look similar from great altitudes at night, and one could easily mistake Korea for Italy, Florida or the Yucatan. This blob is however notable, because… because my software says it’s Korea. Now, I’ve never been there myself, but I hear it’s just peachy. Or was, at some point in the not terribly distant past.”