The Human Insurgency by J. Kirsch Read Free Book Online Page B

mother
ships represent an intelligence we can work with, that's great. I'm
hopeful. But so many barriers persist.
    "I am, though, more than anything encouraged. And I
have a few last words to the hard-core skeptics out there. The ones
urging us to wipe out every alien we find, mercy be damned, ally or
foe.
    "The truth is, what has happened only goes to prove
that the aliens are like us in many of the ways that count. They
have factions just like we do. Who knows why they originally came
here? Maybe they didn't originally come to attack us. Maybe they
did. None of that should be the focus now. What matters, no matter
who was behind the coup on those mother ships, is that this means
that the aliens don't think as one. I'm betting that they have a
peace faction, a neutral faction, a pro-human faction, whatever you
want to call them. And I'm guessing that one of those factions
somehow gained power. We owe those aliens our very lives in a way,
much as it damages our pride to admit it."
     
    Q: "But John, wouldn't you say that we've
contributed just as much to our independence? The Battle of
Seattle? The Battles of Beijing and Shanghai?"
     
    A: "There's no question that you're right,
Tanya. We did our part. Perhaps if we hadn't fought so hard for so
long, then none of the aliens would have entertained second
thoughts about the destructive course their species had chosen.
We'll never know."
     

Chapter 11:
     
Skye, the Abducted
     
    Even after an alien invasion, some things never
change. Being newlyweds, Jobe and I did certain things that
newlyweds tend to do. I moaned Jobe's name as we reached ecstasy
together, and then I collapsed on him in a sweaty heap. Myla and
the others had a tent next door, and I could just imagine the looks
we were going to get in the morning.
    We were in a refugee camp in northwestern Turkey, and
the story of getting to this point was one I hoped to write. Even
if my tale wasn't earth-shattering, from a long-term view it was
startling. I'd survived one of the most momentous events in human
history. Don't count your chickens until they've hatched,
Skye . When I wasn't feeling giddy just having two feet on
planet Earth, I felt proud that we'd leaned on each other's
strength to survive.
    And you didn't do all the leaning, Skye . Don't forget that . I'd never forget standing on the bridge
of that ship before I had the boldness to approach the alien leader
who had rescued us. I knew that he could somehow, some way get us back home to Earth. I'd focused on one frame of thought.
Being home. Being in Dad's arms and feeling my cheek against Mom's
shoulder. The alien had probed my mind and I think part of him
understood.
    He had kept us on the ship for over a week while he
consolidated his control and fixed damage to the ship. We were put
in holding rooms with many other abducted victims, but that had
been a relief once we realized that the new aliens in charge didn't
mean us harm. Myla, Oliver, Kane, Jobe and I had grown very close,
but for so long we'd felt isolated and ashamed as a group. When the
five of us lab rats had become twenty, thirty, fifty, and more,
then we went from feeling ashamed to having solidarity. Among
others who'd experienced what we had, we could feel almost
normal.
    The friendly Glowing Ones on the mother ship couldn't
exactly beam us back to our home addresses. So we just took the
ride we were offered, not knowing where we'd end up. The aliens had
loaded us onto a transport ship and dropped us off on the Turkish
coast.
    We now lived in a refugee camp which often smelled of
unwashed bodies. The elements brutalized us through the measly
fabric of clothes, blankets, and tents, all of them made of poor,
mass-produced quality and even then, there weren't enough to go
around. The waiting was the worst part...sending out messages,
knowing that you were just one among millions trying to get word to
a loved one. Hoping you might hear something back, and wondering,
when you didn't, if your loved