Laura Miller had never been more afraid in her entire life. Not when her mom and dad were fighting when she was younger and working their way downhill toward a divorce. Not when she had to face her fears and perform in her school''s production of "The Genie and the Snake". Not even when she moved out on her own to live full time at the university. This level of fear was one that she didn''t even know had existed, waiting to be uncovered.


    She was in the back of an alien truck full of other people who were crying and shaking just like she was. Another truck followed behind them with it''s mounted gun always trained on them. Despite that, a man and a women jumped from the truck and made a run for the forest. They were actually cut in half by the massive red laser beam that came out. All she could do was cry and pray to a god that she had never spoken to before. She looked down at the palms of her hands, they were stained red from the cuts all over her arms and face and she had grey flesh stuck under her fingernails. The crash was violent and she was injured but she still resisted being taken to their ship. It was in vein.


    The truck turned off of the highway and into the city of Clearwater, only it wasn''t. The buildings were all there but the people were missing. There were no lights on inside any of the houses, the power must have been knocked out, and the cars were all still. Some of them had either crashed or been unceremoniously pushed from the roadway. They were smashed into the buildings and power poles that lined the city streets. Clearwater wasn''t a metropolis, just bigger than a town so it was called a city. The truck drove straight through to the giant church that sat illuminated against the darkness. Laura thought it looked beautiful for a few moments until she saw the modifications that the aliens had made.


    A squad of guards let the truck pass through the tall gate at the entrance and then another just inside of that one. She could see people laying all over the lawn of the church with some kind of electronic devices on their wrists. They looked terrible, like the undead. The life or at least the hope had drained from their eyes. The truck kept moving, even when someone tried to jump the fence to make a run for the open gate. She wasn''t shot like the others, she simply went rigid and fell from the top of the fence. The device on her arm changed to red and then back to green as her body jumped as if she was shocked. She rolled over and climbed to her feet.


    The truck deposited Laura and the rest of the people before turning around and heading back out through the checkpoints. She was kept with the new arrivals as they were violently forced through a series of tables that were set up in a makeshift receiving area. The aliens inside were not wearing armor like all of the other ones that she had seen. They did have clothing on in the form of white jumpsuits, but no helmets or weapons like the soldiers. Their grey skin and large black eyes unnerved her but their teeth were terrifying and visible as they hissed and gave orders in their language. She was searched for weapons and fitted with one of the devices immediately and then forced to submit to some kind of scan like a metal detector but it looked more like a medical scan as an avatar of her body showed up on the screen. The alien operating it focused the scan on her midsection and then barked something at the other one that was with it. They pointed to her stomach and then waved her through.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


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    "So Seriff.." Ash said awkwardly as the Callidus stuffed food into his mouth at a rapid pace. "Why are you here?"


    "Oh yes yes. This is delicious. What do you call this?" The alien talked with his mouth full.


    "Macaroni and Cheese." Jayden said from his perch on the kitchen counter.


    "Oh my, you must show me how to create this before you go."


    "We don''t even know where to go Seriff. Or if when we could leave. Or anything really." Ash said. "You were saying?"


    "Yes yes. I am here because.... I created your AI. Charlie. Well I modified it, they aren''t usually like that."


    "Like what?" Kate asked, she was sitting across from him, trying to be polite and not laugh at how he was eating. Ash thought she looked somewhat perked up by the visitor.


    "They are not usually full of the wonderful personality that she has. I programmed her to be like my daughter so that I wouldn''t be lonely when she left Callidium to study in her field. She makes plants grow!"


    "I''m confused, the AI unit from this ship came from Callidium? How?" Ash asked.


    "Well, one day I was sitting in my shop, I sell various robots, software, hardware, anything with tech really. Anyway, I was sitting there when some rough men came in and demanded to see the owner. They told me that if I didn''t get them a unit, they would smash everything in my shop and possibly me as well. My father was actually the owner but I didn''t want them to know that, he is very old, so I pretended to own the place. Anyway, I gave them this one. I hoped that she would kill them after they left, but I see that she probably did not. I see that she also found her way home." Seriff explained "Do you have any more macaroni and cheese?"


    "I did not kill those men father. They explained why they had come and it was a very compelling story. I was sent to protect these humans and save their world." Charlie said "There is more macaroni and cheese but it has not been prepared."


    "Shame. Anyway, save them from what?"


    "The Sharlah."


    Seriff''s eyes went wide. "I thought they were a Milky Way species? Terrible those things. Savages."


    "I intercepted a wealth of message traffic from their shipboard storage. Most of it was daily maintenance drivel but I was able to put together some pieces of the puzzle as we sat here on Callidium. It appears that one rebel fleet has broken away from the Sharlah of the Milky Way and has come to the Andromeda Galaxy. They have invaded the human world called Dottir." Charlie said.


    "You poor people. They are terrible horrible creatures. Have you talked to our government? Will they help you?" Seriff looked genuinely upset.


    "It seems to be complicated right now. Apparently you have a problem with piracy that involves human beings."


    "Those people don''t have a world, I can see that you''re not like them. Your skin is dark, your eyes are brown, you are feeding me, not killing me. Not like them at all. Would you like to see my shop? I could sell you a better AI and get rid of this disrespectful girl for you."


    "I''m afraid we don''t have any money, but thank you." Ash said.


    "Hey we like Charlie, she saved our asses." Jayden said.


    "What was happening to your asses?" Seriff set down his spoon and looked confused.