The Human Insurgency by J. Kirsch Read Free Book Online

of
their gunfight would change anything," I replied.
    Jobe interrupted me. "Wait, are you saying that you
knew that the rebellious Glowing Ones would be willing to use us as
human shields, and that the enemy uglies would let them?"
    "That was my gamble, yeah. I felt that our newfound
friends here would be desperate enough to risk us. I also thought
that the ones studying us wouldn't want to kill us after all
they've invested in us."
    "Even when it means they'll lose control of their
ship to the rebels?" Kane asked as the gunfire continued. Our
Glowing One allies were advancing, hundreds of them now on the
bridge, swarming forward. The battle was still raging, far from
over. Yet there was a subtle, dynamic shift. That one toehold among
the impervious, glass-thin data shards had made a real difference.
We, despite the odds and our own helplessness, had made a
difference.
    "It still doesn't seem real," Oliver said in
amazement as we watched the battle escalate and turn in our favor.
"Your insane ploy actually worked, Skye. You're crazier than a bat
with rabies."
    I scanned all their faces, almost as dear to me as my
own parents after all we'd been through. Why didn't they see it as
I did? Maybe I was that perfect mixture of weird and crazy, but I
also had extra justification for what I'd done:
    "Look, I felt one of the enemy Glowing Ones in my
head. He reached out with his thoughts and tried to urge me to run
away. When your enemy wants you to do something, often your best
bet is to do the exact opposite."
    Dad had taught me that long before I hit puberty.
    "Kitty-Kat, if a stranger tells you not to scream,
what do you do?"
    "Scream, Daddy."
    Yep, Dad's advice had been dead-on, at least this
time around. I almost smiled, wondering what he would say if I told
him that I'd applied his cardinal rule to strangers, except these
strangers were from another galaxy. But when my mind went down that
dangerous path of thought, it wasn't long before I was stifling hot
tears. Mom and Dad, I hope you're still alive. I miss you
guys. I needed to get my head cleared, so I shook out my hair
and swore. The others were looking at me for a clue as to what to
do next.
    Jobe gave me a gentle nudge.
    "What now, Commander Skye?" I looked at everyone,
totally confused.
    "You're letting me lead after what I just did?"
    Myla shrugged. "You haven't gotten us killed
yet."
    "Yet is right," Oliver mumbled, but even he looked at
me with grudging respect and waited for what I'd say.
    Eventually the Glowing Ones on our side seemed to be
mopping up. Only a few pockets of resistance held out, and most of
the enemy uglies were either throwing down their weapons or being
turned into Swiss cheese.
    "Just follow my lead." I focused my attention on the
Glowing One that had led the attack. He had played it smart,
standing in the back and directing his men. Now I approached
him.
    What in the world did you say to an alien from
another galaxy when all you could go by were vague mental images
and even more ambiguous emotion?
    I knew what I wanted to ask, in a perfect world:
    Please, Mr. Alien, can you give us a ride home back
to Earth? Oh, and while you're at it, can you get all your people
to stop killing us?
    Instead I did the next best thing. I focused my mind
on just the one memory I wanted him to see. I stepped in front of
him and waited for him to make contact, anxiously hoping for his
mind to probe mine.
     

Chapter 10:
     
News Flash
     
    An interview by Tanya Westenridge, live on the CNN
Underground Network:
     
    Q: "Mr. Kinkade - "
     
    A: "Please, call me John. We don't need
formalities here, Tanya."
     
    Q: "OK. John...tell us your theories. I know
our listeners are mystified by the events of the past year. We had
isolated reports of alien abductions, most of which were dismissed
as hoaxes. Then a few months later our planet was suddenly and
brutally attacked by an alien species."
     
    A: "Indeed, and we are still under imminent
threat. None of us should forget