Monsters Win Wars: A Novella (2 page)

What the hell was it?

Footsteps intruded upon his thoughts. They
echoed in the hallway outside the infirmary, and traveled through
the open doorway that sat a few feet away from Henry’s bed. The
rebel leader tried to sit up in his bed, but felt a sharp pain as
the stitches on his stomach ripped a little. He felt weak, and
remembered all the blood he’d lost.

The footsteps ended as a figure entered the
doorway. She stood there in her olive green solider uniform. Her
stringy, dark red hair had been tied back in a ponytail. Bags hung
under her hard brown eyes. She was Major Emily Anderson, Henry’s
chief intelligence officer, and the second-highest ranking officer
in the People’s Rebellion. The sight of her sent a wave of relief
through Henry’s body.

“Henry.” She spoke breathlessly, as she ran
to him in the hospital bed. He opened his arms, and leaned forward
to hug her, but grunted when the pain came back.

“No no, sit back.” Emily said as she got to
his bedside. With her left hand, she gently pushed him back onto
the bed. He looked up, and watched as she checked the needles
attached to his arm.

“How long have I been out?”

“About a day and a half.” She’d finished
checking on the arm, and turned to the stitches on his stomach.

“We were set up.” he said flatly.

“I know.” She said. “It was Skinner.”

His eyes went wide. Skinner had been their
Chief communications officer. He was the one who’d said the
president was on Mars. “How did you find out?”

“Over the last few weeks, someone had been
erasing the radio logs.” Emily said. “I started monitoring the
transmissions more closely. About ten minutes after you’d touched
down on Mars, somebody in the base was sending a message to Earth.
I traced it, and found that worm Skinner hiding in his barracks
with a radio.”

“Where is Skinner?” he asked. The major was
silent. “Emily, where is Skinner?”

“He’s dead.” she said.

“You killed him before I could talk to
him?”

“No. They killed him.” she pointed to the
entranceway, and Henry saw the thing clad in black.

There were two of them, staring into the
infirmary. They still wore the helmets that covered their face, but
Henry could feel hard eyes staring out at him from behind those
black visors. One of them had pressed one of his long scaly hands
against his helmet, speaking in an alien tongue to some unknown
cohorts.

“What are they?” Henry asked, speaking
quietly now.

“I don’t know.” Emily said. “I think they
want to help.”

“When did they get here?” Henry asked, his
gaze never leaving them as he spoke to Emily.

“They landed on Titan a few hours after the
attack.” Emily explained, and pointed at his stomach. “They were
the ones who patched you up?”

The one with his hand on his helmet finished,
and put his hand down.

“How many are there?”

“I’ve only seen these two, and another who
doesn’t wear one of those black suits. I think he’s the leader.
They were the ones who brought you to the infirmary. I’m not sure
if there are anymore.”

“Where is the leader?” Henry asked.

“He is on his way.” said a hissing, accented
voice. It was a voice Henry had heard before. Both him and Emily
turned to the entrance, and saw that one of the black helmeted
creatures had stepped inside the infirmary. “We just called him on
the radio. He will be here soon.”

“What do you what?” Henry asked.

“All will be answered when my superior
arrives.” He said, and backed out of the room. Henry and Emily just
stayed silent, neither knowing exactly what to do, except wait.

The superior showed up about five minutes
later. Henry spotted him as he strode in through, past the other
two. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, and Henry could see his green
reptilian face. A pair of yellow eyes with vertical black pupils,
sat under a wide forehead. His nose was smooth bump, with two
vertical slits for nostrils; his nose and mouth jutted out from the
face in a small snout. The skin on the face was scaly, just like
those of the three-digit hands that hung at his side.

The new creature wore a light-red formal robe
that fit loosely over his skinny frame. The robe terminated just
above the bare lizard feet, which contained three clawed digits of
their own. Across the thin waist was a silver fabric rope that kept
the robe from opening.

Henry’s face didn’t reveal any kind of
emotional reaction. Even at his most frightened, he could always be
counted on to at least appear confident. But even then, he could
not stop his hands from shaking.

“Senator Patrick.” The red-robed creature
said, a grin spreading across his lizard face. He began to walk
toward the bed. “We meet at last.” A large clawed hand reached out
to Henry, and the injured rebel’s eyes widened. He stared at it in
silent horror for a few moments, before the creature spoke
again.

“You’ll have to forgive me.” It said looking
down at its outstretched hand. “Physical contact with our peers is
uncommon where I come from, and I’m not used to giving handshakes.”
On his lizard face sat an embarrassed, friendly smile. Henry
glanced at Emily, who gestured toward the robed creature with her
eyes. Slowly, Henry reached out, and gently grabbed onto the hand.
He felt hard, cold scales scrapping against his palm, and quietly
watched as the long clawed fingers wrapped around his hand. Their
hands moved up and down in a stiff, deliberate way, as though
something difficult and arcane were being performed. When the
creature removed his hands, Henry felt instantly relieved.

“How are you recovering Mr. Senator?” the
creature asked.

“Fine I guess.” Henry responded. “No one’s
called me senator in over five years.”

“Well that’s who you are.” The creature
said.

“Yeah, who I was.” Henry said. He had once
been a senator, but that was before the coup, before those thugs
had uprooted the democratic government, and tried to assassinate
him, and everyone who’d been loyal to the old government.

He shook his head, and looked back up at the
reptilian creature that stood by his bed.

“Who are you?” he asked quickly, as though
the question would be ineffective if spoken at normal speed. “Where
did you come from?”

“My name is Aric.” He said. “And I’ve come
here to help you.”

“From where?” Henry asked. “Where did you
come from?”

“About three-hundred million light-years
away. You call it the Alpha Draconis system. We call it home.”

“Three-hundred million?” Henry turned to
Emily, who stayed silent.

“We have been keeping an eye on the
developments of this little corner of the galaxy for some time, and
are deeply concerned.” Aric began to explain. “The government on
Earth is oppressive, unjust, and corrupt. They imprison all those
that disagree with them, and care nothing for the poor and needy.
They must be stopped.”

“Why do you want to help us?” Henry asked.
Maybe it was just the way this creature looked, but he felt he
couldn’t trust him. “Why do you care about our affairs?”

“You dare question the leader?” one of the
sentries by the door asked. He took two steps toward them, when
Aric turned back, and barked a command in his native tongue. The
sentry stopped, and retreated to the doorway.

“You’ll have to forgive them.” Aric said.
“Saurian commandos value loyalty above all else. And they can get a
bit carried away at times.”

Henry just nodded, keeping his eye on the
solider who’d spoken.

“It’s only natural to be skeptical of new
alliances after the betrayal you suffered.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Henry
said.

“Alright. I would be dishonest if I didn’t
confess to some selfish interests in the affairs of your race.” The
Saurian said. “Your people are growing more technologically
advanced at an alarming rate. Now we do not object to this; it is
your birthright as sentient beings to realize your full potential.
But over the last few decades, the primary areas in which
advancement has taken place have been in the space travel, and
military technology. It’s my understanding that your race finally
broke the light barrier about seven years ago. Correct?”

Henry nodded.

“It is not inconceivable to me, that your
race could reach the Saurian homeworld within a generation, maybe
less.” Aric continued. “If they reach us under the current
administration, or one similar, it could mean devastating things
for my people. I think we can agree that it would be in the best
interest for both our peoples, if the human solar system had a
saner, more rational government. And your rebellion represents just
that.

“That is why we want to help you.” Before
Henry could say anything, Aric turned to the two sentries by the
door, and motioned for them to come over. When they’d come to the
bedside, Aric gave another command in his native tongue, and the
sentries removed their helmets. The shorter of the two had a face
that looked more-or-less just like that of Aric’s. The taller one
had a deep scar that ran vertically down the left side of his face,
over his left eye. He stared at Henry with cold piercing eyes.

“Senator, I’d like you to meet the men who
saved your life.” The two soldiers nodded. Aric gestured to the
shorter one and said, “This is Finc, he was the pilot who drove the
ship that brought you back here.” He turned to the scared one and
said, “And this is my second-in-command, Rand. He was the one who
infiltrated the villa, and dispatched the government troops.”

Henry looked at Rand’s icy stare and soft
lizard grin, and felt a pinch of discomfort.

“Ah, thank you.” Henry said finally. “I
really appreciate it.”

“Yes sir.” Finc said curtly while gently
bowing his head.

“It was no problem.” Rand said. “Human flesh
is soft under a Saurian claw.” His soft lizard grin became a thin
smirk.

Henry didn’t know what to say. Aric snapped
his head, and gave Rand a hard, angry look, before turning back to
Henry.

“You’ll have to excuse Rand.” Aric said.
“Saurian commandoes are often fond of gallows humor.”

“I wasn’t joking.” Rand said. Aric quickly
said something in his lizard language, and the two soldiers turned
and left.

“Listen,” Aric said after his men had left.
He spoke quickly, hoping to get a word in before Henry could speak.
“I understand that this must be very strange, and maybe even
frightening. But I’m telling you the truth when I say that we are
here to help.” He pointed at the ceiling and said, “Up there, I
have a ship with over four-hundred of the best Saurian commandoes
ever trained. As I said before, loyalty is important to them. They
will listen to me, and do everything I tell them to do.

“And what I will tell them is that you are
our comrade. And that our mission is to do no less, than to get you
into power on Earth.” He stepped away from the bed, and again
gestured to the ceiling.

“I’ve ordered my men back to the ship, and
I’m leaving to join them. Your Major Anderson knows how to contact
us. We will not return until you allow us to. Rest well, Senator.”
With that, the red-robed figure left, leaving Henry and Emily
alone.

Henry didn’t want to say anything until he’d
gotten confirmation that Aric was on the ship that’d been docked on
the surface. He didn’t like the idea of talking while they were
within earshot.

So many thoughts ran through his head; not
only had he just made first contact, but they wanted to help him.
He thought about Rand, about the things he’d said, both in the
villa, and just then.

“Henry?” Emily asked. She sat at the edge of
his hospital bed.

“What do you think?” He asked her.

“I don’t know. But I think if they meant to
kill us, then they’d have done it already.”

Henry nodded. They had after all gone through
the trouble of saving him.

“Do you think there’s something they’re not
telling us?” He asked.

“Maybe, but…I don’t know…”

They were both silent for a long time, before
Emily spoke.

“I think we should let them help.” She
said.

“You think we can actually say no?” he asked.
They both smiled soft, half-smiles.

“It’s not like we have much to lose anyway.”
Emily added. “We lost most of our best people on Mars.” Henry
nodded. He’d almost forgotten about the screams as his friends were
shot, almost forgot the sight of their limp bodies hitting the
ground, before uncaring government troops. They’d put everything
they had into that Martian raid, and paid dearly for it.

They’d also been running low on the supplies.
The federals were closing in, and they needed to end this soon.

“Okay.” He said. “Tomorrow, contact the ship;
tell Aric I want to talk with him.”

“I will.” Emily nodded. She scanned the
immediate area around Henry’s bed. “Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m okay.” He said.

“You sure?” She asked, and the concern in her
voice made his chest feel warm.

“No, I’m just fine.” He said.

“Alright,” She got up from the bed, and
walked over to the entrance. Before she left, she turned back to
him and said, “There’s a radio next to your bed. Call me if you
need anything.”

“I will.” He said. She left. Henry spent the
rest of the night trying not to think about all that had happened,
and get some sleep.

Within only a few days, Aric, Emily, Rand,
and Henry had already begun to work together on a plan to take down
the government once and for all. They sat in the meeting room in
the underground rebel base. It was a small room, with a large round
aluminum table in the middle. On one wall was a blank white
board.

As they’d already figured out long ago, it
would be suicide to attack the capital head-on. With only a little
over four-hundred troops, they’d be greatly outnumbered. And
according to Aric, the other saurian troops, though highly-trained,
were nowhere near as skilled as Rand.