He had told her that the Goddess which the Kindred all seemed to worship, had brought him back from the dead. That sounded crazy, but Torri had seen his lifeless eyes and the huge hole the metal spike had made in his chest and now he was alive and well again. So maybe there really had been a miracle.
But for now, she had to put these thoughts on the backburner. The Fathership was hovering above the Earth’s atmosphere and the Kindred were nowhere in sight.
“Where’s the Mother Ship?” she asked Vic, who was scanning the viewscreen anxiously.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’ve been trying to raise them on the com-link but I’m getting no response.”
“Oh no—do you think the Scourge are jamming your signal?” Torri asked.
“No—they have more important things to think about at the moment. Look—they’re going in! Hang on, sweetheart, I’m going to follow them. I’ll keep trying to send their coordinates to the Mother Ship, so they know where to go when they get here.”
At least he had said “when” and not “if,” Torri thought. But she still felt very uneasy. Where were the Kindred and the Mother Ship? What was going to happen to the Earth if they didn’t show up in time?
“What do you think the Scourge are going to do?” she asked as Vic steered his sleek Kindred shuttle to follow the huge black bulk of the Fathership.
“From what I heard them saying, they intend to raze major cities to the ground and kill world leaders in order to ensure human compliance with the Scourge domination,” Vic said grimly.
“Oh my God!” Torri looked at him, wide-eyed. “I mean, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but that’s awful!”
“Look—they’re zeroing in on a city now. I’m going to follow them.”
They were through Earth’s atmosphere now, darting along after the massive Fathership.
“Oh God—they’re headed straight for DC!” Torri gasped. “Look—there’s the Washington Monument!” She pointed at the tall marble monolith, which rose like a finger pointing towards the sky over the Capital’s landscape. The Fathership skimmed past it and then came to a stop.
“What’s that building they’re stopping over?” Vic asked, frowning at the viewscreen.
“The Capital Building.” Torri put a hand to her mouth. “Oh my God, I wonder if Congress is in session?”
Her stomach felt like a slick fist had gripped it as she watched the black bulk of the Fathership hovering menacingly over the familiar, dome-topped building. The alien ship was as large as the building was and it cast a dark shadow over the entire structure.
“What are they doing?” she asked Vic anxiously. “Why are they just hovering there?”
Vic was doing something with the com-link. At first, she thought he was trying to call the Mother Ship again. But then he flipped on the small viewscreen instead.
“They’re broadcasting a message on all channels to everyone on Earth—look!” he said.
The com-link viewscreen came to life, showing the horrible burning red eyes of the AllFather.
“People of Earth,” the alien overlord hissed. “We are the Ssscourge, your new mastersss. You will sssurrender at once. Do not attempt to use your puny weaponsss against usss. Any attemptsss at disobedience will be immediately punished.”
At that moment, Torri saw a couple of fighter jets fly up and launch what looked like rockets or missiles at the side of the Fathership. Unfortunately, they did absolutely no good. Torri watched as they exploded harmlessly against the thick, black hull and burned away to nothing.
On the viewscreen, the AllFather’s red eyes narrowed.
“We warned you that disssobedience would be punished, people of Earth!” he hissed.
Suddenly a thick beam of crimson light came from the bottom of the Fathership. It lit up the entire Capital Building, seeming to outline it for a moment in a brilliant red glow. Then, to Torri’s horror, the domed top of the building cracked like an egg before exploding completely, sending chunks of masonry flying everywhere.
“Oh my God!” Torri gasped. “Oh no—they blew it up! And look—they’re heading for the White House next!”
Indeed, the vast black bulk of the Fathership was leaving the ruins of the Capital Building behind and it was clear the White House was its next destination. Torri wondered if the President was currently in residence and felt like she might be sick. How many national icons and branches of government were the evil aliens going to blow up?
From the viewscreen, came the voice of the AllFather, answering her question.
“Your leadersss will be dessstroyed. Your cities will be razed to the ground if you resssit! Hear me, people of Earth—you cannot win. Sssurrender now and we might allow sssome of you to live,” he snarled on the com-link viewscreen.
But just as Torri was certain the Fathership was going to blow up the White House too—and probably the President into the bargain—a new shape appeared in the sky—one much larger and brighter than the Fathership. In fact, it dwarfed the other ship with its gleaming bulk.
“Thank the Goddess,” she heard Vic mutter hoarsely. “At last—it’s the Mother Ship!”
The new ship was blindingly white and it gleamed like a pearl, filling the entire sky to the horizon. Torri stared at it in awe. This was the Mother Ship of the Kindred? She had never imagined anything so huge or so beautiful. Its sides were sleek and shimmering as it hovered over the smaller, darker Fathership like a swan hovering over a fly.
The com-link viewscreen showed an instant of static and then a new face took the place of the AllFather. It was Commander Terex with a stern look on his chiseled features.
“This message is for the AllFather, leader of the Scourge,” he growled. “Leave at once and do not threaten the inhabitants of Earth again or we, the Kindred, will annihilate you. And to the people of Earth—the humans, as you call yourselves—we are the Kindred and we come in peace,” he went on, his face taking on a friendlier expression. “We are here to protect you from the Scourge.”
As though to make his point, a green beam of light shot out of the Mother Ship and blew a hole the size of a car in the side of the Scourge’s ship.
The Fathership lurched out from under the massive pearlescent shape and flew quickly away. A company of smaller ships—sleek and silver, like the one they were in—erupted from the Mother Ship and chased after it.
“Wow…” Torri watched it all happen in amazement.
The whole thing—from the AllFather’s first announcement, to the destruction of the Capital Building, to the appearance of the Mother Ship—had taken less than five minutes and she was still in shock. And if she was freaking out—she who had known about the Scourge for months and the Kindred for days—she could only imagine how other people who were watching on their TVs and computers and phones must be reacting right now.
The com-link viewscreen came to life once more, and once again it was Commander Terex. But this time he spoke directly to Vic.
“VIC Unit, I am glad to see that you are intact. I was concerned when I received no communication from you.”
“Commander, I was attempting to call you earlier, but I got no response,” Vic explained. “I was worried that the Mother Ship might have gotten lost in the void.”