“It’s not perfect,” Brewer interrupted. “There are also a hundred stories of our people taking revenge out on aliens. Cassy’s cavalry found about a dozen dead Hivvans refugees murdered and skinned just five miles from this mansion. But that’s not the point. Like you always said, we have to tough things out. In this case, we have to tough out the small things so that the big picture doesn’t get screwed up.”
Eva-wanting to move the discussion toward the important matter of food production-egged on Gordon with the question, “Aren’t you going away for vacation soon?”
Gordon-fully understanding her concern for what it was-tilted his head and offered a smirk that doubled for a popular phrase ending in ‘you’ as he answered, “Yes. We leave tomorrow. Thank you very much, Eva.”
The phone buzzed.
“I’ll grab that since there’s nothing going on down here other than a whole bunch of circles being run.”
Shep eschewed the tabletop phone and walked over to one mounted on the wall beneath the stairs. The others took up the issue of re-invigorating fields poisoned by Voggoth’s version of farms, which sucked the nutrients from the ground exchanging barren wasteland in place of fertile plain.
“Jon,” Shepherd called and held up the receiver. “It’s coastal security.”
Brewer left the table and accepted the phone.
“Yes? When-how soon-okay, we’re on our way.”
He hung the receiver harder than he realized; the result of a jolt of energy delivered by the message.
“We need a transport right away.”
“We’re we heading?” Shep asked.
“New York.”
Nina Forest drifted along the short hall in her apartment. Denise and Jake left just minutes before after having spent a belated Mother’s Day in Annapolis. Nina had been thinking about the class she was scheduled to teach later that summer at the academy when the television-left on in hopes of catching a weather forecast- grabbed her ear.
An excited anchorman reported, “We are getting some news from New York City right now-one of our reporters is in the city taping a story on the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty after hundreds of volunteers spent the last month repairing missile damage. Apparently there is a bigger story developing right now. Our reporter is describing it as the most amazing sight she’s seen in a decade. We’re trying to re-establish phone contact and hope to have an update here in a moment.”
Nina knew.
Her wait was over.
During the initial invasion, New York City became infested with alien pack animals gorging and vicious monsters from Voggoth’s realm inflicting horror and pain. Law enforcement as well as neighborhood street gangs battled to survive against an estimated 200,000 extraterrestrial creatures; most hungry and dangerous. The strict fire arms prohibitions in the city, however, made civilians easy targets.
Within 12 months after the invasion, New York City transformed into a new ecosystem including prey animals and predators with humanity belonging to the former category. Pockets of people existed in skyscrapers-turned- fortresses and the best-protected evacuation shelters while National Guard troops held out at LaGuardia until the military brass could no longer airlift in supplies.
Then things got really bad.
The forces of Trevor’s Empire attacked Manhattan island nearly six years later and fought in an atmosphere described by those who experienced it as a modern day Stalingrad. However, instead of alien soldiers, artillery, and armor, the human force of liberation fought giant beetles, hordes of Jaw-Wolves, flying Devilbats, and scores of other nightmares all hiding and pouncing from the ruins of the Big Apple.
Only a handful of survivors-many reduced to a primitive, barbaric existence-were found and much of the city suffered from blast and fire damage. The bulk of the five boroughs remained relatively uninhabited in the years since, waiting for the time and resources to invest in rebuilding.
The harbor area served as the exception. Many ships of The Empire’s small navy called the area home while supply vessels sailing from docks at Newark Bay, Jersey City, and Hoboken carried food, equipment, fuel, and passengers up and down the eastern seaboard.
Furthermore, the fishing industry found new life; between eight and twenty trawlers left the harbor every morning and returned to sell their catch to the highest bidders at the historic old South Street Seaport. Refrigerator trucks would then spirit the haul away, some sending the fish back out to sea on those supply ships headed to points south, others driving in-land to rail yards for distribution to the west.
An important link in the eastern security fence or ‘Tambourine Line” was established on Governor’s Island and the old financial district of Lower Manhattan came to life again a few years after Continental dollars replaced an economy of barter.
Ellis Island eventually earned new purpose as a survivor processing center while several amateur playwrights and wannabe starlets re-opened two Broadway theaters and played for small audiences. At the same time, Battery Park became a popular recreation spot.
On the afternoon of May 28, the 10,000 or so people and military personnel working in and around New York harbor enjoyed a spring day beneath a band of white clouds.
The buzz started at about two o’clock with radio chatter coming in from Rockaway Point. Word spread through Internal Security. A half hour later a reporter for the National Broadcast Network on Liberty Island overcame a myriad of technical challenges and cleared a phone line to NBN’s main office.
Within minutes the construction crews, the fishermen, and the businessmen, left their jobs and headed to the harbor. Traffic on the Brooklyn bridge came to a halt as truckers parked their rigs to watch. Dockworkers stopped loading ships and soldiers vacated their posts.
They lined the Jersey coast, the ferry launch at the tip of Manhattan, the piers on Staten Island.
A helicopter flew in from the west, swinging around and set down hurriedly on the park at the tip of Ellis Island. Jon Brewer and Jerry Shepherd bound out onto the lawn, hurrying to the water’s edge.
On liberty island a father hoisted his daughter onto his shoulders to afford a better view but the best view of all belonged to the volunteer construction workers atop Lady Liberty’s torch.
The armada sailed up New York bay in haphazard formation. Hundreds of ships of every conceivable ocean- going kind: small to medium-sized military vessels from a dozen countries, a powered catamaran that once served as a ferry, 20 sea-worthy yachts with sails hoisted, a cargo ship, and a pair of small cruise ships.
Trevor Stone stood on the deck of HMS Cornwall, a British frigate that survived the invasion and fought for the court at Camelot. He stepped forward on the deck as the mixed crew of English and American seamen guided the ship inland.
In a fit of spontaneity, Trevor pumped his fist in the air and let loose a shout of joy. He did not know if that joy came from the sight of his homeland, from the understanding of what he had accomplished, from the war’s end, or from relief at knowing his personal journey neared conclusion.
Whether they saw his joy or heard his shout or merely felt the energy radiating from the fleet, the crowds along the shore and on the bridges burst into a frenzy of celebration. A magnificent ovation of clapping hands, victory cries, and tears.
In their celebration, Trevor felt something greater. A sense of gratitude. Appreciation. For all their suffering, he had taken the responsibility upon his shoulders. He had done what needed to be done, no matter the personal cost. A decade-long act of sacrifice.
The fleet dispersed to the various docks around the harbor bringing the representatives from a thousand human settlements and enclaves; representatives elected not on the basis of political boundaries, ethnic backgrounds, or religious manifestos, but on their ability to speak for the ones left behind.
The Cornwall slid into port at Ellis Island. The crowd at the base of the gangplank roared with approval as Trevor led a procession to shore.
The crowd parted. Jon and Shep approached.
“Permission to come ashore, General.”
Shepherd tipped his Stetson to Trevor then shook Rick Hauser’s hand vigorously.
Jon stared at Trevor with no expression at all for several long seconds before admitting, “I can’t think of anything smart to say.”
“Well-why start now, right?”
