Aliens Among Us- invasion short story

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Earlier that morning in an underground research bunker just outside of San Diego.

James leaned back in his office chair, staring blankly at his computer screen, its cool glow illuminating his face. He kept the overhead lights off, relying on small desk lamps strategically placed for maximum light as the fluorescent lights of the decrepit old facility gave him splitting migraines. His hands were interlocked behind his head as he reclined; to anyone watching he must have appeared to be half awake, yet his mind was busy processing the results of the tests they had just run.

"Have they really spread that far?" he said aloud.

In the next laboratory another scientist sat at a counter, firmly locked onto the microscope in front of her as she watched the ballet of cellular activity before her, ever so slightly distracted by the orbital shaker on the counter behind her. She pulled herself from her microscope for a moment, perking her head up.

"Did you say something James?"

There was a long pause before he replied, "um.. yes, Laura, I think there might be a problem with these results."

With a gloved hand she pulled her glasses back down from their position on her forehead. She turned off the light on her microscope and carefully slid the specimen out, placing it back in its assigned tray location. Walking into the adjacent room she turned to James.

"What do you mean, I ran them myself" she said, with the slightest hint of indignation as she folded her arms.

"Well according to this, the numbers are in the millions."

She frowned, "Jesus, that can't be right. You must be reading them them wrong, let me take a look."

James reached forward and turned his monitor so she could have a better view of it. Laura leaned forward, her gaze transfixed on the data before her, her features softened by the eerie glow cast on her by the display. James couldn't help but find himself drawn to her and he had good reason to be; Laura was a beautiful woman, she had a very shapely body and striking features, it certainly didn't hurt matters that she was also one of the most brilliant minds in her field. It wasn't easy to work with someone as attractive as she was and not try to catch a subtle glimpse from time to time. In spite of all that research for the greater good, man still has his primal urges, he thought to himself; James stifled a laugh.

Laura, looked at him out of the corner of her eye. There was an underlying attraction between the two of them, there always had been, but Laura was married and they worked together so things were kept at a professional level, in spite of the occasional sideways glance. Laura returned her focus to the monitor, a wry smile creeping up on her. She stopped leaning forward and stood up straight.

"Well I don't know what to tell you, these figures are right, do you think they have spread that fast?"

"The numbers don't lie, if this is right, we've got a serious problem. I've got to call General Hawkins right now."

James started to reach across his desk for his phone when suddenly they were engulfed in darkness.
 
unrealtrip: I require a new piece of the story at a minimum of every twelve hours. If you do not oblige, I will be forced to hunt you down and tie you up in a basement somewhere in front of a computer. Thank you.

;)

Like the new twist... more please!

Farmer
 
I'm soooo very glad this ain't another one of those "Zombie" stories. :barf:
But you're doing a good job with a non zombie theme! Great! :D
 
First off, sorry about starting off with a story then disappearing for so long leaving you readers hanging. I don't know what possessed me to start a writing project right in the middle of relocating to another city but hey... what can I say. Anyway, I'm mostly settled in now so I can try to revive the story if anyone is still interested I'll keep it going. Anyways, sorry again fellas I ought to be able to get more frequent updates going now.

-----

Camp Pendleton, CA

Col Dawson stood in his office with his hands clasped at his lower back, his gaze locked on the cloud formations outside, though his mind was elsewhere. He closed his eyes for a moment and felt the warm sun on his face, his many years of combat etched in the wrinkles of his weathered skin, memories of distant battles fighting their way to the surface of his subconcious thoughts.

His spartan office was extremely tidy, the few items in it all appeared located in their proper place, even the pen and pencil on his desk were carefully placed side by side next to his notepad with a near obsessive exactness; while a phone, small desk lamp and a single picture of his wife holding his daughter took up a small portion of the ample remaining space. Aside from two chairs, the only other furniture in his office was a bookcase on the wall across from his desk; one which was stocked full of carefully sorted texts that although well cared for, upon closer inspection had clearly been read many times each. A firm knock on his door broke his concentration. Dawson turned from the window, straightened his uniform and sat at his desk.

"Enter", Dawson stated in a commanding voice.

An exasperated looking soldier entered his office and started to salute when Dawson cut him off.

"Let's dispense with the pleasantries right now son, what have you got for me Lieutenant?"

"Sir, General Pederosa of Mexico's Army has arrived and has expressed a strong interest in seeing a demonstration of the AIP system before he is briefed on the medical details of the takeover."

"I didn't think he would be here for a few hours, where is he now?"

"Sir, Brigadier General Jacobson has escorted him to the medical facility at C-9. He asked me to come request your presence to..."

Dawson stood up from his chair and raised his hand, "That's enough, I suspected this was coming. Thank you Lieutenant, advise Brigadier General Jacobson that I am on my way. You are dismissed."

"Sir, yes sir."

The soldier stood at attention, saluted and exited his office.

Dawson sat down and pulled open the lower drawer on the right side of his desk. From the outside it looked like any other desk drawer, but once opened a solid glass panel was revealed that covered the length of the steel drawer, its thickness evident now that it was open. A soft white light inside illuminated the singular contents of the safe, a small plastic red card with a black biohazard symbol, a barcode and a magnetic strip. Dawson placed his hand on the glass in a square that was etched into the surface, the dim light inside intensified, then turned green and a clicking sound was heard. He removed his hand and the glass slowly slid back, opening the safe. Dawson reached in and removed the card, placed it in his lapel pocket and closed the drawer.
 
I won't leave ya hanging for that long :)

Maybe I could be a scab lol

---

The room had just gone dark, but after only a few seconds the lab was illuminated by dim emergency lighting. Some of the instruments that weren't plugged into emergency power had stopped running and a few of the computers appeared to be off as well. There was a soft buzzing sound coming from the backup lights, they had such a harsh glare to them. James had a look of mild annoyance that his carefully arranged desk lamps had failed to come back on. They could hear voices of people in other labs as they rushed about checking on their experiments and machines.

"Now that was odd timing", James halfway mumbled to himself as he resumed reaching for the phone.

"I better go get my samples back on ice, let me know what the general says."

Laura spun on her heels and headed back to her lab as James started dialing the telephone, watching her from behind out of the corner of his eye as she walked away. He redirected his attention as the phone was quickly answered by a woman.

"General Hawkins office, may I help you?"

"Hi this is Dr. James Kanda I have a code orange message for General Hawkins concerning project 51."

"I'm sorry sir, he is in a Jeep on his way to Camp Pendleton, can take a message."

"Is there any way to reach him at all, does he have a cell phone?"

"I'm sorry he does not, but he will be seeing Col Dawson when he arrives. I could put you through to him if you'd like."

"Yes thank you, that will be fine."

"Please hold."

Dr. Kanda leaned back in his chair as he waited on the phone listening to silence, staring off into the dark corner of his lab. Just as he thought he could hear a faint clicking sound in the background, the phone began to ring.

"Did you get through?", Laura yelled from around the corner in her lab.

"No, the phone is just ringing. I couldn't reach the General anyway, I'm calling over to Camp Pendleton, he's on his way there now."

Laura came out of her lab with one hand on her hip. "Well do you think we should just try to meet him there? I mean, we're not that far away."

James listened to the phone ring one more time before reaching over his desk and setting the phone back on the receiver.

"Well this is urgent enough that maybe we should just go. Without knowing how far this has spread, they aren't going to quarantine a large enough area and it will spread faster than they think."

"We better take my car", Laura said with half a smile.

"What are you trying to say about mine?", James replied with a hint of indignation.

"Well, I like your Jeep and all, but it isn't exactly fast... or comfortable", she winced a little as she finished her reply.
 
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