Bea Cannon - A Small Gray Dot

Duncan, Lem, and Percy had finished their drinks.

“Doc, if you don’t mind, I could use another one,” said Duncan lifting his glass. “Y’all can go look at that thing but my nerves need some more calming.” Lem and Percy obviously felt the same.

Dr. Bennett nodded. “Help yourselves. If you want anything else to eat, feel free to get it. You have been very helpful and I am grateful.”

In the lab, the doctor pulled up the files he’d hacked. He brought up a page and clicked on the translator.

“This is the information on the force field and the shield.” He pointed it out. “Now, here is the image of the device you found at Bedlow’s house.” He clicked and a picture sprang up on the screen.

That was it all right. Except for one thing. “It says here it has three switches, Doctor. I’ve only seen two. Where’s the third?”

He perused the screen, then held up the device, studying it closely. Then he said, “Ah. See the one on each end? Well, look carefully at the middle. There is another, less prominent one.”

I took the thing and stared. It took a minute but I finally saw a slight dip. I nodded. “Okay. I see it. But what does any of them do?”

The doctor went over to another page. “Hmm… here it is. The term for it translates as “canceler” – or that’s as close as it can come in English. Let’s see… hmm… ‘To disable the energy weapon, press switch number two, once. For disabling the force field, press switch number three, twice’. You must be within six hundred feet, though.” He frowned and flipped to another page. “There doesn’t appear to be anything about the third switch, yet. I’ll try another page.” He clicked over and read for a minute. “Well, this passage indicates that if the anomaly is shut down on this side too abruptly, there will be a rebound that will destroy the base from which it operates on the other side.” He looked up at me. “In that case, it cannot be reopened and would be closed forever.”

“That’s good. We want it closed forever. Does it say how to do that?”

He frowned again as he turned back to the page. “There is something untranslatable here for switch number one, which is the one in the middle of the canceler. It refers to the thing that holds the anomaly open, the thing I’ve called a wedge, and here’s an image of the machine I saw, but I don’t understand what the switch does. Whatever it is, you have to be within five feet.”

I stared at the picture of the “wedge”. It was made of what appeared to be some type of shiny metal. It was probably about the size of an office printer or copier though it looked wider and obviously was not a printer because its curvy bulk was egg-shaped with no discernable openings.

I studied the canceler. So, it wasn’t a weapon. Still, it was something that could be used to our advantage. My hopes rose and I began to formulate a plan. “We can shut them down, Doctor! This thing disables their weapon and their shield. Surely if the anomaly is even mentioned, it must be saying this is how to close it off.” And closing it would prevent any more Binqua from coming to Earth. Getting within six hundred feet to shut down their weapon – and their shield if they put it up – would be easy. I could accomplish that without going on the grounds. After that, I would damned sure find a way to get to the wedge.

He was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t know, Tennessee. You could be right but whatever association it has with the wedge doesn’t translate into English. We can’t be sure.”

“Those Binqua we took down were awfully anxious to get it when they saw it, Doctor. It fell from my pocket and they immediately went for it. That indicates it must be important.”

“Well, it could simply be because they knew it would disable their lasers and their defensive shields. It’s also possible there is some other reason they fought so hard to get it back, but that may not mean what you think it does because the Binqua don’t necessarily think the way we do. They are highly intelligent, but they are also highly arrogant. I believe that factor causes them to underestimate us as a species. They believe themselves to be the pinnacle of evolution. They don’t always erase people from a planet – simply ones they deem to be especially inferior, which is, unfortunately, their opinion of our species. That attitude I think, has caused them to become mentally lazy.”

I gazed at him thinking that the Binqua weren’t the only ones who sometimes had that “pinnacle of evolution” attitude. That meant that there were some ways in which they thought the same as humans, but at the moment that was neither here nor there so I merely said, “Then I guess that might explain why they seem to make a lot of stupid mistakes.”

He nodded. “Yes, it could but you shouldn’t underestimate them, either. They can get more fighters here if given enough time. I believe the only reason they didn’t already have better ones here is because their original plan wasn’t to wipe us out. It’s also possible they don’t run into many species as aggressive ours, but now that they know, they’re likely to bring—”

The phone rang, startling me. It had to be Madison. I grabbed it.

She sounded dazed. “Tennessee, the fight’s over. Your guys are the best! But, what the fuck were those… those… things… from Semptor? They can’t be human! What the hell is going on?”

I could hear voices in the background and gathered there were others in there with her wondering the same thing.

“Yeah, about that…” I began to give her a quick rundown but she stopped me and put the phone on speaker so the others in the room with her could hear it, too. I started over, giving them everything I knew. I included the fact that the Binqua could’ve given us a heads up well in advance of the Event.

When I finished, everyone in the room was silent. Then after a long moment, Madison said, “Damn.”

I knew what they were thinking, the same thing everyone did when they heard how the Binqua had shafted us.

“That’s why Morgan was upset, Madison. I think she wanted to be with you at that moment and simply didn’t think. She just wanted to leave. Look, I’ve got a plan. Who’s in the room with you?”

“I’m here, Tenn,” said Lowell.

“Me, too, son.” That was Simon.

“And me,” said Buster. “There’re several others here, including some local cops. What do you have in mind?”

“I have a way to take out their main weapon and the thing that’s holding open the anomaly, but I’m going to need help. Are you game?”

“You damned right , I am!” said Buster.

I wasn’t surprised to hear a loud “count me in” from everyone in there.

“Okay. How many of them came after Madison?” I asked.

“About fifty. They had assault style rifles and hand guns.”

“The doctor says there’re around five hundred living on the company grounds so I guess that leaves around four hundred and fifty. Wait, Madison, have you heard from your headquarters in Wilmington?”

“Yes. They’ve not seen any type of activity. I’m thinking Semptor didn’t send anybody there because they thought if they could get Morgan they’d have me and then they’d have the company.”

“Then that means Henderson decided to keep the bulk of his fighters at Semptor to protect their operation. By this time, he’s aware that we know about them, and the doctor says he can get more fighters. We don’t have time to sit around waiting on the government to get soldiers here – that will take too long. Even if they could get them here in a few days – and I don’t believe they can – it would likely be too late. We’re going to have to do this now, today, and we’re going to need everybody we can get. So, Lowell, round up some more fighters – show them one of the bodies if anybody needs convincing – and get here as fast as you can. I’m going to see who we might be able to get here in the neighborhood to help.”