Apex

142 Pages·2013·0.66 MB·English

by  Moon Adam

APEX
(Super Earthlings vs. Alien Invaders, Book #1)
ADAM MOON
Apex Copyright © Adam Moon 2013
All rights reserved
The Good Aliens

Admiral Liktar yelled, “Get the cloud-burst ready. We’re nearly there.”
His first mate respectfully said, “We haven’t had the time to properly
calibrate this one. Are you sure we should even drop it?”
“This is the last planet the Greys will attack before they get to ours. This
is our last hope. We need to give these Earthlings a chance to fight back.”
His first mate shrugged. “It didn’t work with the last planet, or the one
before that one. It doesn’t matter how much we alter the inhabitants’ DNA, the
Greys always find a way to persevere and eradicate the species.”
The Admiral said sarcastically, “You’re right. We should just give in to
our fate.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that maybe we should modify
our approach.”
“It’s too late to experiment. We have little time to get away before the
Greys realize we’ve been beating them to their destinations and assisting their
prey.”
The first mate shook his head sadly. “Ensign, get me a status report on
the cloud-burst.” Then he said, “You know what: Belay that order. I’ll go and
check it out for myself.” With that, he left the command hub and walked below
deck to the launch bay.
Modification

The chief engineer jogged over to the first mate and said, “It’s almost
ready sir. It’s programmed to target all the key areas of their DNA. Just give me
a little more time to make sure it disburses properly upon deployment.”
The first mate smiled and said, “Don’t worry about that. I want to
concentrate the burst this time.”
“But why?”
“I think they’ll have a better chance with a few very powerful individuals
instead of an entire population of semi-powerful folks.”
“But those concentrations could be deadly.”
“Just do it. Those poor suckers are all about to die anyway so it hardly
matters.”
“Does the admiral know about this?”
“Just do it, damn it.”
“Yes sir.”
Deployment

Admiral Liktar ordered, “Deploy the cloud-burst contaminant.”
With that done, he turned to his first mate and said, “I know you’re up to
something. I knew it when you went below deck.”
The first mate confessed. “I had the chief engineer alter the disbursement
method of the cloud-burst.”
“How dare you act on your own like that? I could throw you off of my
ship for insubordination.”
“It’s easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I accept
whatever punishment you deem fit.”
“Oh, shut up. Get us out of here. We have to get ready to defend our
planet.”
“Yes sir.”
As an aside, the admiral asked, “Do you think it’ll work?”
“What?”
“Whatever it was that you did to the cloud-burst.”
“Probably not, but we know that what we’ve been doing has only served
to slow the Greys down. I had to try something new.”
“I suppose I can understand that.” He pointed his thin finger at the blue
planet on the holographic monitor and said sadly, “Those poor, pathetic
creatures have no idea what’s coming for them.”
“That’s probably for the best, you know? They won’t see their own doom
until it’s too late.”
“I just wish we had that luxury. Now hurry up and get us home.”
“Yes sir.”
Highland High School,
Ault, Colorado

Mr. Mayweather looked his biology class over. Most of them were
permanently disinterested in any kind of education, but a few bright sparks were
paying attention.
He said, “The problem with evolution is that it gets far too much credit.
It’s given as proof that there’s no need for a God in order to create intelligent
life. It has been proposed that the evolutionary process is such an obvious
byproduct of nature that it’s bound to be at work throughout the universe, on
alien planets and moons. We look back over the course of millions of years and
we have to marvel at how far evolution has taken us. It’s a truly magical and
mysterious process.
“But there’s a caveat that no one considers: Evolution fails more often
than it succeeds. You don’t think about its disastrous shortcomings because
evolution has the perfect way to destroy almost all evidence of its failings.
Where evolution fails, the species dies off. And since we know that ninety nine
percent of all creatures that ever called the Earth home are extinct, evolution
doesn’t have a very good track record. You wouldn’t bet on evolution in Vegas.
“But evolution’s blind experimentation gives scientists hope today. If
evolution alone was able to blindly stumble its way to creating human beings,
imagine what it could do if it was guided properly. By pure genetic chance,
we’ve become the apex species on the planet, but genetic modification might be
able to create apex humans who could rise head and shoulders above the rest of
us in ways we can’t even fathom yet.”
Mr. Mayweather took in a deep breath and gathered his thoughts before
continuing, “We’re manipulating the human genome every day; unlocking its
secrets and uncovering all the ways evolution has led us astray. Sure, it’s
responsible for our very existence, but it’s also responsible for holding us back.
Did you know that the last thing evolution did for us happened ten thousand
years ago? And all we got out of it were blue eyes. Evolution is lazy and
apparently it thinks its work is now done. But scientists think differently. We
think we can achieve a new age of enlightenment through our studies. Where
evolution has failed us, we shall prosper. Just imagine the possibilities.”
Jim Calder, sitting in the back said, “You mean like creating a girl with
three tits?”
Mr. Mayweather sighed and said, “Class dismissed.”
Ault, Colorado

Jack Peterson laughed heartily. He was hanging out in an empty beetroot
silo with his friends Scott and Melanie. They were smoking a joint and sharing a
bottle.
Ault was a town so small that anyone who wanted their habits to remain
private had to go the extra mile to keep them hidden. Jack had no intention of
letting the town gossips find out that he enjoyed the occasional joint with his
friends, and that was why they had to find creative places to hide. He’d
mistakenly let his defenses down in the past and he’d been burned for it. The
people of Ault could not be trusted to keep secrets.
The silos were perfect because no one would ever expect they were
hanging out inside of them…because hanging out in a silo was stupid.
Melanie passed Scott the bottle of tequila and sat between both young
men.
They were all in their last year of high school which meant that Ault
could not contain them any longer. They’d make their separate ways out into the
world.
Jack’s mom hated that he was going off to college but she was smart
enough and selfless enough to keep her opinions to herself. But he knew. She
was protective and he was her only child so it was no big surprise that his
leaving home would break her heart.
But Ault broke Jack’s spirit. It was a dead town in the middle of dust
country. There was little available for a restless soul in this neck of the woods.
Scott said, “Hey Jack, would you mind giving us a minute?”
That was Jack’s cue to go outside and stare up at the stars for awhile.
He kept his jealousy stuffed down. He wasn’t exactly jealous that Scott
was with Melanie, what he was jealous about was that Scott had someone and he
didn’t. In fact, he’d never been with anyone.
He wasn’t ugly or nerdy or stupid but when he liked a girl, he got so
nervous that he appeared demented. He’d shake and stammer worse than Jerry
Lewis. He’d sweat and get so uncomfortable that he’d have to remove himself
from the situation just to save face.
He closed the little silo door and found a clear patch of ground to plunk
his butt on. He leaned his back against the silo and stared into the starry night
sky.
Impact

Jack saw the streak of light overhead before the deafening roar reached
his ears. Whatever it was, had come from behind him. He jumped to his feet in
time to see it contact the ground about a mile ahead.
He was about to get his friends but they came out before he had a chance.
Scott said, “What the hell was that noise?”
“I think it was a meteorite.”
Melanie fiddled with the cap of the bottle and inhaled a deep lungful of
cool night air to try and clear her head.
Scott gave Jack a steely look. “Do you know how much you can get for
meteorite fragments? They’re worth their weight in gold. Did you see which way
it went?”
Jack pointed across the field and said, “It’s about a mile that way.”
“That’s close. Let’s go see if we can find any of it.”
Jack was just glad to be with his friends again rather than skulking
awkwardly out of sight while they had private fun so he said, “Sounds like a
plan.”
Jack led the way since he was the only one of the group to see it touch
down.
Melanie was staggering, precariously tipping back the now half empty
bottle of tequila. She was going to be no help at all when they found the impact
site.
They passed an abandoned railway car that had been dumped in the
middle of a field long before any of them were born. They’d gone inside once
last year but nature had reclaimed it so they were not welcome there. The place
was disgusting anyway, with girlie mags and ancient empty beer cans littering
the floor. It had obviously been bought as a hideout for a man, probably a
married man, a very long time ago. He’d probably died and the wife had no
desire to investigate what he had done inside the railcar. Or else she had, and
abandoned it in disgust.
His private behavior was being wiped clean as each year passed, inch by
inch, with the encroaching weeds and bugs, water damage and bat guano. Soon
his misdeeds would be nothing but indistinguishable sludge, with perhaps a
single rusty beer can as the last remnant of his secret life inside the railcar.
It was that way in Ault. Jack had often wondered if the creepy little town
had molded a serial killer or two. It was the perfect environment for secrets and
deception to take root. A person that was different had to learn to sneak around.
You had to be an urban ninja just to smoke a joint.