Fear and Aggression (41 page)

The cameras continued to pan back, and she
could be seen getting to her feet and dropping her book. She stood
there momentarily, and then began walking backwards towards the
substation. As the view continued to pan out, the ship, that would
be doing the firing, appeared out of nowhere behind the girl and
the substation. For a few moments the screen showed the ship, but
it had not fired. Then, the fire came from the missile just
launched. It approached rapidly, but she backed up against the
substation just before impact. The view was panned up close again,
the girl was horrified, and then the screen was bright; as the view
panned out, the substation was gone, as was the girl.

“
Ohhhh,” screamed Tess as
she ran out of the room, looking like she was going to lose her
lunch. Mark hardly noticed. He was shaking his head, and feeling
anger build up inside of him.

“
We got her,” shouted
Johnny as he continued to dance around.

Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore looked at each other
with eyes wide open, neither one knowing what to do, or say.

“
What‘re we doin’,” said
Gramps in disgust. “Oh, Steve, how’d ya get caught up in
this?”

***

“
Mack, that was pretty
gruesome. Did you need the close up shots of that girl?”

“
Just giving the people
what they want. They want us to take out the aliens. If they don’t
like it, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.”

“
Are they really that
bloodthirsty back home?”

“
Yeah, a lot are.
Hopefully we can quench their thirst without causing too many
problems. Scene three, let’s go.”

***

Bellerie was just about
ready to brave the walk back down to her house, when instantly in
the sky were two large black ships heading towards her. She stared
at them in amazement. She had heard that Aspiria was on something
like this, and that they may be returning with her. But why would
they be heading directly towards
her
? The idea of it was one thing,
but to see it directly, that was another. She began to feel very
scared inside.

***

“
Oh yeah, we got the cute
one, now were going to take out the fat ugly one.” Johnny was
almost drunk with exhilaration.

“
Honey, I’m going to check
on Tess. Are you sure that Johnny should be watching
this?”

Mark didn’t feel any particular connection
to this alien— the one currently in the line of fire—but, his
disgust was so pronounced that he could no longer bear anymore. He
was frozen though, and watched mechanically. Within seconds the
ship that would deliver the deadly missile snapped into view, and
the missile was launched. The fat alien looked around and turned,
but could not get out of the way; she and her substation were
gone.

“
I’ve had enough of this,”
said Gramps. He got up, and Mark looked towards him. “Do you want
to go?” asked Gramps. Mark nodded, and looked like he might get
sick also. “They look jus’ like us. We’re jus’ takin’ out innocent
people on another world. I can’t stomach anymore o’
this.”

Mark was in pain, as he
walked out of the room with gramps. But his physical pain was not
bothering him. His internal pain was what hurt him now.
We’re the Martians
, he
thought.
We are those disgusting Martians,
and we are going to get what we deserve—just like they
did
. He walked into the other room with
Gramps, and sat down; neither of them spoke.

***

“
Mack, everything is
running perfectly. We are on the mark on every shot, and the timing
is spot on!”

“
Captain Carryman, your
men have been perfect. The feed is going great. This may be my
greatest work ever! It’s getting dark now, time to pan out and show
the city. They’ve seen enough blood and guts. Let’s let them watch
the electrical system go out.”

“
Great work, Mack. Let’s
finish this show and get back home.”

“
Right on, scene 17:
go!”

Boom
!!!

Caryell ran out of his room, and met Roloff
as he was rising from the couch. They looked at each other, and
without speaking, both raced out the door. The boom, and the lights
going out, seemed to coincide; as they left the door, they could
see a trail of black smoke rising from the direction of the
Lodophins’—the location of the substation. They both ran with all
of their might.

They weren’t the first on the scene, but
there were not many there yet. Everyone was standing in awe at the
destroyed substation. One woman had fainted, and a few were
attending to her. Roloff ran closer to the substation. He could see
something that concerned him. As he approached, he saw the charred
remains of a body, and some shoes.

“
Bellerie!”

The heat and the smell kept him from coming
up any closer. He looked on in dismay. More people were approaching
the area. Roloff was dumbfounded. It did not instantly occur to him
that this could have anything to do with the visitors. Still, he
had been prepped on the risks associated with the substation, and
he did not see how something of this nature was possible.

The woman, who had fainted, had revived, and
her witness sent chills down the spines of all present. “It was a
craft. It instantly appeared in the air, along with two others. It
sent fire out, and the fire destroyed it. Then it disappeared. The
other two disappeared shortly thereafter. Why did they do
this?”

She was delirious, but her witness was true
none the less. She was being fanned by a woman and her daughter, as
she sat up and rubbed her head where she had fallen and injured
it.

Thoughts raced into
Roloff’s head.
What have they done with
Aspiria? Where are the Lodophin boys? Is this all my fault? We
should not have signaled them. Are they coming back?

A man’s voice could be heard above the
crowd. He was making his way toward Roloff. Roloff turned, and
could see that Bastian was making his way toward him. He had a look
of surprise and anger on his face. As he approached, his gaze went
from Roloff to the remains behind him. Roloff could see the
expression on his face change instantly. He whitened, and then his
countenance fell. Visible, and then audible sniffles were apparent.
Roloff’s heart melted. Bastian was the younger brother of Bellerie.
They fought like wildcats, but loved each other deeply. Roloff
embraced the broken man, and Bastian took the needed embrace. His
sniffles turned to sobs, but only briefly. The men separated
slightly, but Roloff kept his hand on Bastian’s shoulder, and
continued to look at him. Bastian reached up and whipped his tears
with his thumb, and then his nose with his index finger.

“
The boys…where are the
boys?”

Roloff did not know, and did not know what
to say. He scanned the growing crowd. Bastian looked up and tried
to make eye contact. “They aren’t…”

“
No, I don’t think so,”
said Roloff with some assurance.

“
What are we to do with
them? They have no father, and now…” he covered his mouth with his
hand. “I…” Bastian’s wife began to make her way up to them. She was
short, but otherwise a nicely-figured woman with a particularly
unhandsome face. It always gave the impression of a scowl, even
when she was pleasant and trying to smile. Bastian turned to her,
“She’s dead.”

“
The boys are by the
brook, they are coming up. Should we stop them? I don’t want them
to see this,” said his wife in a serious tone.

Bastian closed his eyes, wanting, that by so
doing, to close out this tragedy and make it go away. The crowd was
growing, and Roloff began to be concerned that the danger was not
past. The idea that there were three crafts, and they instantly
appeared and disappeared, had struck him. Why the aggression? Why
attack his people? His heart was still full as he looked on at
Bastian and his wife; they had embraced and were speaking softly
with each other. Really, she was talking, and he was nodding, with
the look of a child.

Seryen and Prianna were now seen by Roloff
together and holding hands. They finished making an inquiry, and
were now walking toward Roloff and Bastian. Roloff was momentarily
concerned about this. Neither Seryen, nor Prianna, had any concept
of tact, and there was already considerable tension between Seryen
and Bastian.

“
They’ve attacked us,”
said Seryen branding himself onto the scene. He seemed to think
that now was the time for a town council: here with Roloff, the
current Mayor, and with Bastian and Seryen, those running for the
office. He did not notice the remains behind the men, but Prianna
did. She broke the grip from Seryen and walked to where she would
have an unobstructed view.

“
Ahh!” she inhaled and
placed her hand over her mouth. She looked over at Roloff in
horror. “Is it…”

“
It is Bellerie,” Roloff
said slowly and with decorum.

Seryen, just now catching on, walked up to
Prianna and took a look for himself.

“
Mayor Palador,” said
Bastian’s wife, Jencor. “The boys—what are we to do with them? They
will be here soon and…”

Bastian interrupted, “We are their family,
but…”

“
We have three little ones
ourselves, and how…” Jencor shook her head.

“
I love those boys, and I
would do anything…” interrupted Bastian.

“
We can’t take them in;
not all of them; not all of the time,” Jencor finished.

Roloff began to talk with Bastian and
Jencor. He put one arm on each of their shoulders. He spoke softly,
and Seryen and Prianna looked on wonderingly. They could not hear
the conversation, but they could see Bastian nodding like a child
again. Jencor, as always, wore a scowl, but it looked a little
softened as she gazed attentively up at the much taller Roloff.
Seryen had never observed this demeanor in his opponent, Bastian.
It softened him towards Bastian, and made him feel ashamed of his
recent feelings towards him.

Prianna noticed the Lodophin boys coming
into the area, and squeezed Seryen’s hand; she, then, whispered
into his ear. The two walked down towards the boys.

“
This is all too sudden.
We do not need to worry about anything, except where the boys will
stay tonight. We need to take care of Bellerie, and so, it may be
best to have the boys with someone else, until this has been taken
care of. Your family has had enough of a shock, and business to
attend to. After a few days, all will be much clearer,” Roloff
counseled.

Down below, Prianna took Alleff into her
arms, and hugged him tightly. He struggled and wriggled from the
affection, having no idea what was going on, and certainly not
wanting a big hug. Prianna was determined, however. It was
heartfelt, and Alleff gradually relaxed. Seryen was speaking with
the other boys, and touching the next youngest two on the top of
their heads: in part to keep them from moving, and in part, in
attempt at affection. Prianna knelt down on the grass, still
holding Alleff, and Seryen crouched down to be closer to eye level
with the boys. Within a few moments, the boys were clearly
pacified, and were gathered around, almost in a circle, with the
Olefftens.

It was starting to get dark now, and Roloff
was concerned about how next to proceed. They could not leave
Bellerie like this, and there was no artificial light to help them
due to the power being out. He had many concerns, but thought it
best to get the Lodophin children looked after for the night, and
then to get Bellerie cleaned up. He expressed this to Bastian and
Jencor and turned to go, almost running into Seryen who was
returning back up.

“
Bastian, Jencor, Prianna
and I have been speaking with the boys. We would like to take
them.”

“
That will be wonderful,
Seryen,” interjected Roloff. “We have just been speaking of that,
and they do need someone to watch them, especially this evening,
but perhaps even for a few days. It will help so much with all of
the arrangement. You are so good, my friend.”

“
Are you to adopt them,
Bastian, after the funeral?” asked Seryen in a serious but
compassionate tone.

Jencor looked up at Bastian with her natural
scowl, and her eyes widened. She had felt comforted, after talking
with Roloff, in waiting for a few days to let everything settle
before making such life changing decisions. But now Seryen had
thrust the final decision upon them with a direct question.

“
I…we…uh…” stammered
Bastian.

“
Prianna and I would love
to, if it is alright with you. We love those boys, and they will
need the utmost of care. They are orphans; we could—we would give
them everything. We would devote our lives to them.”

Bastian looked at Jencor, who was scowling
much more pleasantly now. This would have been welcome news from
anyone else in town, except perhaps from Seryen. He was, after all,
his opponent, and the object of Bastian’s animosity. Would his
nephews live in the home of his adversary?

The silence was but momentary, and Seryen
broke it again. “Bastian, I would not continue to run for Mayor. It
would be your job. I would be busy enough with the boys. I believe
that I could fulfill a much higher duty now. This would be an honor
to Prianna and me, if we could have it.”