Invasion Day: An Oral History of the Veech War by Micah Gurley (good books for high schoolers .TXT) 📕

You don't think the TSC can protect the Earth?

Hell no, I mean, come on, we're just starting in space. We're minnows swimming in an ocean. Not to mention that the new program they've got going will never work. Everyone sings kumbaya together and forgets thousands of years of fighting each other? (laughs) No, I don't think it will work. Too many idiots in the military, too many egos, especially in the United States.

Weren't you embedded with some of the troops during the war?

I was with that savage Jackson Thompson for six months. What a barbarian! You know he assaulted me? Put me in a hospital—not even a hospital, a freaking tent in the freezing mountains. That idiot should be locked away for his attack on me, but more importantly, his war crimes. He left millions to die on the East Coast, and when I wrote an article about it, he attacked me.

(Tyler is referring to an article titled "Another Jackson who refuses to fight.")

The people have a right to know who their so-called heroes are. How many people died when he refused to attack the Veech in those early months? A million? Two million? All because he didn't want to leave the safety of his mountains. He was a coward, and people have the right to know.

What will you do now?

I'll stay here on my farm until the Veech come again. I wish I could tell the morons and war hawks I told you so, but I'll be dead like every other human in the galaxy. Until then, I am currently writing my autobiography. Real journalism is dead, but I'll let them know what it was really like before the Neo-Cons took over and refused to bend the knee. People need to know.

Thomas Kincade and Jeremy Kincade

Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May, New Jersey is still the charming town it has ever been. Life is slow here. Small signs of construction exist in a few places, mostly carpenters restoring the historic town to its former, quiet glory.

In the center of town stands a monument of remembrance to the people who lived through the invasion and the war that followed. The memorial is bronze and stands fifteen feet high. The monument is of two older people, holding the hands of two small children between them. It's a somber sight and the atmosphere around the memorial is quiet. A small plaque at the bottom reads, "To our grandparents, you are not forgotten."

Thomas and Jeremy Kincade are brothers. They are very similar in appearance, astoundingly so, but are not twins. Thomas, the oldest, is twenty-one. He is shorter than average and seems shorter still due to his squat, powerful build. He has light brown hair with a pair of matching brown eyes. He is reserved and thoughtful, the polar opposite of his younger brother of a year, who radiates energy and enjoys talking. Jeremy is twenty and has the same height and body type as his brother.

Thomas: Yeah, I remember that day very clearly, even though I was nine. We got out of school early like all the other kids. Our grandma picked us up at lunch, but we weren't sure exactly why. Rumors were going around, but most of us didn't care; we were just happy to be out of school.

Our grandma was a little quiet, but nothing we took too much notice of. She could be like that. She took us home and fed us, then let us play a little while in our room. Jeremy got bored and decided he wanted to go to the beach. So, we asked her. She seemed reluctant at first but eventually agreed to take us. Grandpa was home, but he didn't go out much anymore and said he'd be there when we got back. Our grandma told us that our parents, who were at work, were coming home early too so we'd see them when we got home.

Jeremy: You wanted to go to the beech also, brother, don't act like you didn't.

Thomas: Anyway, we were at the beach, and as you can imagine, it was pretty empty because most people were at home, but our grandma got us some hot chocolate from somewhere, and we took off our shoes and walked on the beach.

Jeremy: I'm not sure how long we were there before we heard the noise, maybe thirty minutes, but it came suddenly. It was loud. Real loud! We dropped onto the sand and held our ears, but that didn't help at all. If I remember correctly, Thomas dropped his hot chocolate on his pants. (He smiles at his brother.)

The noise was like that hearing test you have at the doctor's office. You know the one. You have to put on these large headphones. Then they give you a long beeping sound that starts real high then gets lower and lower until you can't hear it anymore. That's what it was like, except the sound was sharp. I know that sounds weird, but it was sharp, like a spear of sound drilling right into your ear and into your brain. I couldn't do anything. Couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't even breathe. I don't know how long it lasted but...

Thomas: Two minutes.

Jeremy: Yeah, whatever, at the time, it felt like it lasted for hours or days, or maybe just seconds. It scrambled our brain, you know? So, it stopped, and we just stood there, trying to get our brains working again. I tried to stand and fell over backward. I couldn't get my body to work right. I still don't understand it... It felt like I had gotten off a ride at the county fair, the one that used to go around fast, then you get off and can't walk right for a second. Well, that times a thousand.

Thomas: We were extremely disoriented and incapacitated.

Jeremy: Yeah, incapacitated, that's the word. A five-year-old could have walked right up to us and beat