A Medal For Mary by Rob Astor (best books to read for self improvement TXT) 📕

charger, Leon grinned as the meter slowly fell to a drain. He reconnected the wires. This time when he touched the activation button in the cockpit, the craft jarred slightly, humming to life. Every single light and panel flickered on. “Praise be to Uxlt!” he rejoiced. “Looks like we have optimum power.” The New Zimlliaan flipped the anti-gravity drives on.
The craft lurched up from the dirt, leveling itself about a meter above the ground. Sand blew away in clouds from under the vehicle. Leon drove forward, the hovercar kicking up dirt in its wake, and set a course for the agricultural base.
* * *
Bright sunlight gleamed off the skyscrapers. There were seemingly thousands of cars and millions of people headed somewhere. The largest of the three New Zimlliaan ships stationed over New York City floated above Manhattan Island, casting a shadow over the cityscape. Mary stared at it as she and Jeanclair made their way along the edge Central Park. What were they doing up there in that city sized ship? What conquest plans were they making to tighten their grip over the entire planet and further control humanity?
Mary broke her concentration when Jeanclair stopped at a hot dog cart. “Do you want anything?” he asked her.
“Diet soda, please.” Mary’s eyes reverted to the ship overhead. She saw a number of open hatches. There’s never been that many opened before.
Jeanclair paid the man and handed Mary a can. He followed her gaze. “What is so interesting, Marie?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Something’s just not right.”
He bit into his hot dog with. “Can you tell me what?”
“It’s really hard to describe. I have this feeling like we shouldn’t be here.”
“Marie! Jeanclair!” They tore themselves away from the New Zimlliaan ship as Alexis walked up to them, her arms spread wide. “This is a surprise, non?”
“Alexis! Oh, it’s so good to see you,” Mary embraced Alexis. “You should have called. We would have met you.”
Alexis smiled warmly. “I thought I was doing the two of you a favor by giving you time to yourselves to discuss Jeanclair’s going underground.”
“We’re both going.”
“You should come, too,” Jeanclair added. “I doubt you will be able to return to Paris any time soon.”
“I don't know,” Alexis said, peering up past the trees at the New Zimlliaan ship. “I am an old lady. What use could I be to such a cause?”
“You’re not old,” Mary said. Alexis smiled, her face flushed.
“When you reach my age, child, you will not always feel young. What would I be able to do? I was born into a wealthy family. I’ve never had a career. I have no skills.”
“They can train you to do anything you think useful, Alexis,” Jeanclair said.
Alexis smiled. “I guess there would be no harm. At least I would be with the two of you and not here alone in the city.”
Whining sounds in the air high above the city caught the trio’s attention. They saw several dozen saucer-like objects leaving the mothership. They streaked across the city and dove between buildings, spitting purple beams of laser fire outlined in green.
“Get down!” Jeanclair yelled. He pulled both women to the ground and tried to shield them with his body. Laser beams thunderously exploded, vibrating the ground and rattling windows People screamed and ran. Cars swerved wildly, crashing into each other, plowing over fire plugs, and slammed into building fronts. Glass shattered. Miniature plumes of red and black belched from ugly gouges left by laser fire. A tanker truck swelled into a huge ball of orange, setting fire to nearby buildings and vehicles. Clothing on fire, several people ran wildly.
Jeanclair looked over his shoulder. He helped Mary and Alexis to their feet. The elder brushed dirt from leather jacket. Mary pulled her red beret off. “Dear God,” she said.
“Mother of Mercy, what is happening?” Alexis asked.
Descending from the mothership was a slower squadron of saucer-shaped craft. Even before the sound reached Jeanclair, Mary, and Alexis, the second wave of ships swooped low, firing. Actinic bursts of raw laser fire exploded from twin guns. Multiple thuds pounded the ground. Blinding flashes, showers of sparks, and deafening discharges drowned panicked screams. All three fell down from the repeated concussive force of the impacts. “They're attacking!” Mary shouted. “We have to get out of here!”
“This way,” Jeanclair pulled their arms. He sprinted across an open street, ducking into an alley. Laser fire slammed into a building on the corner behind them. Like being struck with a wrecking ball, brick blew. The entire front split apart and lazily crashed down into the street.
Some of the attacking ships landed. Ramps extended, releasing hoards of black uniformed New Zimlliaan soldiers. Their heads were covered elongated helmets with a single slit wrapping half way around its circumference. Some bolted into the open, dropping to their knees, firing at fleeing people. Others carried rifle-like weapons and turned loose purple-green orbs on buildings and cars. Another group landed further away. Out sprang red uniformed soldiers, the New Zimlliaan Scarlet Elites.
Jeanclair motioned for Mary and Alexis to follow him as he bolted across the next street and into another alley. He slid for cover behind a trash dumpster. “Where are we going to go?” Mary panted. Alexis tried to catch her breath as well.
“Maybe we can get help from our rebel friends,” he said. He kept a sharp eye out for any of the attacking aliens.
“I hope they are an army,” Alexis said.
Jeanclair saw several more ships in landing patterns. He crouched behind the dumpster, looking in the opposite direction. It was clear.
Black uniformed New Zimlliaans systematically grabbed people, roughly pulling them toward the waiting bays their ships. Men and women alike twisted around, fighting for freedom. Some were tossed up onto the ramp where another would pull them inside. Others were bluntly struck with guns. Those who managed to break free were shot. Other people seemed frozen in place, standing perfectly still in the heat of the attack.
Further down, a series of ships made a low pass and opened fire. Cars lifted off the ground under orange balls of liquid flame. Building fronts shattered mercilessly outward. Cannon fire tore into the pavement, contacting gas lines which ruptured, exploding like scaled down atom bombs. Lines of expanding fire quickly shot along parallel gas mains. Pavement, sidewalks and buildings were neatly bisected, roaring flames engulfing everything. Vehicles were over turned, rolling like discarded toys. Smaller buildings collapsed. Debris rained from the smokey skies. Dead and injured people lay on the pavement like bloody broken dolls.
“Let’s go,” Jeanclair yelled, starting down the alley. At the far end, the scene was much the same. He glanced in both directions and pulled Mary and Alexis across the street and into the next alley. Mary cried, jumping at every sound. Alexis quietly shivered, sinking into shock.
“Jeanclair, where are we going?” Mary asked. One of her heels broke. She stumbled, pulling Jeanclair back. She kicked her pumps off and resumed running.
“We’ll see if we can get out of the attack area and get a ride off the island.” Traffic blocked the next street. People were shouting and fighting with each other over a symphony of blaring horns. They picked a path between cars and ran into the next alley. Two, three; Mary lost track of how many passed. At the fringes of her mind, she heard the air raid siren.
New Zimlliaan ships reached this area and opened fire. The ground trembled under their feet. “Maybe we won’t be able to get out,” Jeanclair mumbled.
“What do we do then?” Alexis asked, short of breath.
“We find a place to hide.”
* * *
Too close for comfort, the façade exploded in an orange ball of flame. Alexis backed against the side of the adjoining building, trembling. Seconds later, she chased after Jeanclair and Mary. They were getting farther away.
Mary looked back. “Jeanclair, we have to wait for Alexis.” He turned around. Alexis stumbled over wreckage. Jeanclair took her hand as one of the ships fired on a car not five meters away. The force of the explosion knocked them off of their feet.
Two blocks away, a gas main swelled into a mushroom cloud of red and orange between damaged skyscrapers. The alien attackers shot out the top floors of nearby buildings. Wood, bricks, metal, and glass fragments rained down onto crowds hundreds of feet below.
Shaken, Jeanclair regained his feet and pulled Alexis up. She cried, face tear streaked and stained with soot. “I am exhausted. I will never make it out of this alive,” she sobbed. Jeanclair took her hand, helping her cross a pile of bricks.
“Do not talk that way,” Jeanclair said. “I will do everything I can to get us away from this insanity.”
Mary saw a ship touch down a block away. Black uniformed New Zimlliaans poured into the street, opening fire. “Oh no,” Mary whispered. Jeanclair pulled her hand and they ran. A loud sizzling in the air caught Mary’s attention. Above the skyscrapers, the New Zimlliaan mothership hovering over rising black smoke, occasionally releasing twin blasts of purple energy encased in green into Manhattan’s skyline. Tops of buildings were neatly and explosively sheared away. Some were left like gigantic burning match stubs. Others fell, collapsing in on themselves like grotesque lotus blossoms. Enormous clouds of dust wafted down streets, covering everything with a powdery gray substance.
Jeanclair, Mary and Alexis reached a section of the island unaffected by the attack. He darted to one of the nearest buildings with a fallout shelter symbol on its face.
“Freeze!” a deep voice bellowed at them. Jeanclair charged through the door as blasts of actinic laser fire shattered windows beside him.
Alexis yelped, sprawling face forward. An ugly black burn covered her lower back. She was motionless. Mary screamed, beating her fists against Jeanclair’s shoulders. “I have to go help her.”
“It’s too late,” Jeanclair said forcefully. He took her wrists. “We have to keep moving or we’ll end up dead, too.”
Gun shots echoed. Mary glanced at her fallen friend and then ran with Jeanclair. He found a stair well and started down.
The New Zimlliaans stopped shooting, gazing cautiously around the darkened corridors in the building. The leader wore red shoulder pads, holding his gun close to his chest. “Split up. Cover all exits. They might double back.”
“Yes, sir.” The broke into smaller groups.
“Activate scanners.” Infrared sensors inside their visors switched on. Mary’s footsteps left a trail for them to follow.
* * *
Jeanclair braced a chair under the door knob, ducking into the shadows. He and Mary huddled in a far corner. She cried, shivering. Jeanclair pulled his arms around her shoulders. “Come, Marie, you must pull yourself together.”
“This shouldn't be happening. Alexis was the sweetest person in the world. Why did she have to die again?” Mary cried a moment and then stopped. Her