Chapter 1 – On the Day of the Aliens
Derrick Milianas left the heat of a warm, humid Wednesday afternoon as he entered the apartment building. The blast of air conditioning against his slightly sweaty face was a relief. Hefting his skateboard under his arm, he smiled to the security officer and the receptionist at the desk, and walked at a brisk pace to the elevators. Several stories up and a short walk down the hall brought him to his apartment.After letting himself in, he dropped his skateboard, kicked it to the corner of the entryway, and swung his backpack off his shoulder onto the sofa seat. The music of his video game abruptly ended as he switched off the portable console. Tossing that aside, he went to the TV and turned on his home console, picked up the controller, and plopped down onto the couch. He'd just finished loading up his last save point when the phone rang.
With a patient sigh, he picked up the phone on the second ring and, in an entirely mature, professional voice, greeted, "Hello, Milianas residence."
"Hey, D," said his father's familiar voice. His tone was edged with urgency and his words were quick and efficient. "Gotta make another surprise trip. Bring my overnight bag to the airport ASAP. Need it in fifteen minutes."
"Okay, dad," Derrick said, and heard the click of the phone. He left his game paused and bolted into Steven's bedroom to the walk-in closet. Years of military service and the amount of time spent away on travel showed in Steven's room. For one, it was immaculate; looking almost un-lived-in. Derrick knew that for most of the year it wasn't. Steven's clothes, mostly suits and military issue items, were neatly lined and organized in the closet. The overnight bag Steven had referred to sat on a shelf above a row of hanging uniforms, already packed and ready to be grabbed in a hurry - which Derrick was in now.
The young man grabbed his father's bag and dashed to his backpack for the house keys. Once he was ready to go, he snatched up his skateboard and locked the apartment.
Back out on the street, Derrick swung the bag over his shoulders, adjusting the straps across his chest and back. After he was certain it was secure, he hitched a ride on the bumper of a taxi into the urban center of Washington D.C. He only had to change taxis twice before he found one heading toward the airport. He made it in ten minutes and rushed into the busy multiplex, navigating his way to his father's ticket counter with the ease of someone who had already done this several times.
His father stood tall, smiling slightly at his approach. He was a handsome man with a powerful demeanor that spoke of his high place in the military. His clothes were neatly pressed, his dark, thick hair was clean-kept, and long hours of travel over the years barely showed on his face. His dark eyes gleamed with energy against suntanned skin. "Excellent, excellent," he said by way of greeting. "I take it the traffic wasn't too terrible?"
Derrick half-laughed, handing over the bag. "You know how taxi drivers are," he replied.
Steven nodded in acknowledgement, his amused smile fading. "I'll be gone for some time. Make sure you get groceries with this month's budget." He produced a wad of cash from his pocket. "I've added a little extra for some pizza, but don't go crazy with it. I won't be able to send more."
Derrick accepted the money, quickly pocketing it before anyone in the crowded area would notice just how much he was given. His father went on, "You know the drill. House keys, homework, contact info, all that."
When Derrick nodded his acknowledgement, Steven nodded back and glanced at his watch. "All right, take care, D."
With that, he disappeared into the crowd, his bag slung over his shoulder.
Derrick did not stand and watch. He turned and headed back toward the apartment, his thoughts already on the video game he'd left paused there.
As he navigated his way home, his mind drifted and became lost in memory. Three years ago, his parents had finally separated after years of cold tension, late-night arguments, and digging remarks between each other about possible infidelities that never came to light. Two years ago, the divorce was finalized. Custody was granted to his mother, Elise, while Steven was granted visiting rights. Since Steven traveled often, even then, the arrangement worked for a time.
Then, about a year and a half ago, something happened. Derrick was never sure what. It was his Christmas break from school. Though his older sister, Stephanie, normally accompanied him for these visits, she stayed home with a bad bout of flu. Derrick wondered now if that had been a blessing. It was only days before Christmas that Steven had burst into the condo and barked orders that Derrick was to pack up, and pack now. They left with most of the furniture still sitting there.
From that day forward, Derrick was not allowed to contact his mother and sister, even though he was moving around a lot and getting farther and farther away from them. Normally, a command like that wouldn't have stopped Derrick, but even he had picked up from his father that he had no room to disobey this one. Steven implied that it was for Stephanie and Elise's safety, as well as his own, to keep the connection severed.
Derrick knew not to ask questions. Questions rarely got answered in his house. When he was much younger, his parents, especially his father, had gotten angry after too many questions. Eventually, Derrick got the point and quit trying. He even quit caring. His parents could do whatever it was they did, as long as he could still meet his basic survival needs and not have too many interruptions from his video games.
Despite the situation, Steven always made himself available for contact in some way. For Derrick, it was a pager number that he was only supposed to use during an absolute emergency. For Derrick's teachers, it was some system that his father never let him in on. All he knew was that Steven knew when he skipped school, or even skipped his homework, or did something he wasn't supposed to do, and he would get a call. He hated those phone calls.
Back in the apartment, Derrick kicked his skateboard to its usual place and flopped back down on the couch. He stared at the screen, finding his desire to play replaced by a nagging guilt that he should really get his homework done. But first he was hungry.
He shut off the console and stood up to head into the kitchen. His eye caught something on the television screen as it switched to the cable news channel. He stopped dead and stared. Hard. Then, he snatched up the remote and turned up the volume to be sure he heard every word.
" - earlier today. Amateur footage was sent in from all over the city as viewers monitored this phenomenon, which as you can see is not a normal storm. But, what you will see next - yes, that's it. You are seeing actual footage of unidentified flying objects descending from the eye of the storm, at 12:12 this afternoon. This is not a hoax! Dozens of tapes have been sent in from both the local news stations and from citizens, confirming this footage. And, as you will see in a few minutes, they started firing on the city..."
Derrick was sitting down, listening and watching intently. The footage looked straight out of a sci-fi movie except for the shaky filming of the amateur cameraman on the scene. There were multiple ships of varying sizes that were triangular like an arrowhead, and the material of their hulls reflected the stormy sky perfectly. They drifted outward like silent sentinels, until one sped up toward the interstate highway. It began to fire, releasing a distinctly blue laser from the point of the arrow that blasted the earth below. The camera shook and moved as the person filming it dove for cover.
The footage switched to another camera crew from the city's local news station that had a better angle from the roof of the station. Two more ships followed behind the first one as it fired consistently around and on the highway. The firing seemed to go on forever, punctuated by flashes of lightning, until the ship in the lead suddenly blew up. It didn't just go up in smoke, but exploded violently in a way Derrick had never seen before, not even in the best action films. The entire sky flashed white from the blast, and then imploded into nothingness. An instant later, a ring of purple flames rocketed outward from the blast, riding the shockwave, leaving behind a trail of same-colored smoke.
Derrick's jaw went slack as the camera focused on the movement of the remaining vessels. Even the big one that had been sitting beneath the eye of the storm began to drift toward the highway. The smaller spaceships formed a circle over a spot on the highway for several seconds, but no more shots were fired. After that, they all moved back toward the eye and slowly ascended. Then, when they were gone, the storm itself began to dissipate.
The reporters and experts continued to narrate and comment on the event, including theories on how a ship of that technology could just blow up with no apparent cause. They went on to discuss the damage, the estimated casualties, total casualties so far, and the number of people reported missing by family, friends, and coworkers. When the list of the missing went up, Derrick's heart flip-flopped as he read and reread the names. His mother and sister were on the list. The anchorman punctuated this when he spoke up. "As you can see, Elise Milianas, the former senator's daughter, and his granddaughter, are among those missing."
They have to have it wrong, he thought. They have to.
Leaping up, he went to his room and dug up his mother's cell phone number. He called, sending a silent apology to his father. No answer.
He found Stephanie's cell phone number and called it, too.
No answer.
He called their apartment. Nothing.
With mounting panic, he called the local police station there. The receptionist who answered sounded harried, and there was a lot of noise in the background.
"Honey, we're swamped," she said hurriedly after hearing his request.
"C'mon, please," he begged. "I want to know if there are any reports in for my mother and sister."
The receptionist, a middle-aged woman with children of her own, softened at the tone of his voice. He was a kid. A scared, worried kid.
"All right," she sighed, turning to her computer monitor. "What are their names?"
"Elise and Stephanie Milianas."
"Elise Milianas, as in former senator Lanio's daughter?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's it."
She typed it in at lightning speed and waited for the search to come back. Dread filled her as she realized she'd have to be the bearer of bad news.
"Honey, I'm sorry. They've been reported missing since the attack."
It was confirmed. The world froze for Derrick, the moment of silence stretching out forever before him. He couldn't think, and he almost forgot to breathe.
"If you give me your number," the receptionist's voice sounded far away, "I can call you as soon as we have any news on them."
Every moment after that was as surreal and detached. With vague awareness, he hung up on her, dumped out his backpack, stuffed it with what he needed to travel, grabbed his skateboard, and had his hand on the knob of the door to leave before his brain caught up with him. He hesitated there as reality finally flooded back to him. Behind him, the news station continued with the report on the alien attack.
Derrick turned and watched the screen again, trying to grapple with the events that had just spun his world out of control. He knew his father worked for the military. Is this what the surprise trip was about? Could he page his father and ask him to find where his mother and sister were? Could he stand to wait until either Steven or the police got word on them?
The phone rang, jolting him back to life. Derrick picked it up, forgetting his usual greeting, and just said, "What?"
"Derrick," Steven's voice was firm, "I just got word that you tried to call your mother and sister."
"Dude, dad, their city got attacked by aliens!" The words came out of Derrick in a rush, his usual speech overriding the professionalism Steven had taught him. "Their city! Aliens! And I called 'em to see if they were okay, and I didn't get an answer, and then I called the police - "
"Derrick, do you remember what I told you about calling them?"
"Dad, aliens attacked their city. They've been - "
"Derrick Cory Milianas, shut up and listen," Steven barked. "You never call - "
"This is an emergency, man!"
"DON'T INTERRUPT!"
Derrick snapped his mouth shut, his lips forming a thin, angry line.
"You page me in emergencies, you don't call them," Steven said fiercely. "I'm sending some people over to keep an eye on things until I get back. Don't you ever, ever do that again, do you hear me Derrick Cory?"
Silence.
"Derrick?" Steven's tone was edged with fury.
And then, Derrick had an epiphany. A strange sensation of freedom filled him.
"You knew about the aliens," he heard himself say. "You knew mom and Steph were missing, too."
"Derrick..."
"Do you even plan on doing anything about it?"
"Yes." Though Steven's voice was quiet, it was filled with resolve. "But these things take time."
"I know that, dad, but I can't just sit around here and wait. I have to know what's going on, and I need you to understand that."
"I do understand," Steven assured him. "But, the city you're talking about going to has just been attacked, by surprise, by an enemy no one anticipated. Damage was done, and people were killed. What makes you think you're going to find any transportation to get there?"
"I don't know, but I'll think of something. I can't just sit here."
"You need to," Steven said firmly. "Everyone's in a panic right now. The best thing to do is to sit tight and give this some time. All right?"
Derrick sighed in defeat, beaten by logic. "All right," he mumbled.
"Good. I will call you as soon as I get any news about your mother or your sister."
Derrick mumbled his acknowledgement, waited until his dad said goodbye, and hung up. He put the phone back on the receiver and stood there, staring at it as he thought. Then, he turned to the television and the news that continued about the alien attack. He watched the bird's eye view of the damage left behind as a helicopter swept over the city. The state governor declared the city in a state of emergency. They were discussing evacuations, even though the first and only attack had already occurred a few hours ago. Then, they put up the list of the missing people again, and when Derrick saw Elise and Stephanie's names on the list once more, his insides twisted uncomfortably. How could he just sit there, doing nothing?
He couldn't. He shut off the television, checked to see his cell phone was charged and receiving a signal, adjusted his backpack to rest comfortably on his spine, swept up his skateboard, and left the apartment.