Tia Amadore opened her eyes, she had gotten into the habit of waking just before her alarm clock went off, and sure enough, 2 minutes later, the room filled with soothing music, that was designed to bring a person up from sleep, at a peaceful, measured pace. The discordant, horrible racket of early alarm clocks was a part of history.
In the bathroom, she took a quick shower, drying off, and getting herself ready. She had her 10-hour shift at the Calto dairy plant to get to.
Out on the street, the bus that picked her up was waiting for her, and she climbed aboard. She saw Colleen Hamner, and she smiled a greeting as Tia swung her body into the seat next to her. Colleen gave her a hug, Tia returned it, she liked Colleen, they'd become fast friends after the "event", and they liked being able to work together.
After a bit of small talk, they both lapsed into silence, thinking about how things had changed. It had been just 5 months ago when the starships of the Calto race had gone into Earth orbit and disgorged thousands of drone ships that had quickly filled the skies, pumping out gas and sending out electronic jamming signals. The electronic interference had locked out all of Earth's electronic devices, preventing a counter-attack, while the gas quickly rendered the human inhabitants of the planet unconscious. Tia had been at home, trying in vain to keep the gas from infiltrating her house, when she tumbled into a black void of unconsciousness.
She awoke in a large room filled with women, they all stared blankly at each other, wondering what the hell had happened. Tia had been next to Colleen, they had been strangers up to that point, but being in the midst of fear and uncertainty, they had quickly bonded, clinging to each other. Colleen had been trembling with fear, Tia had been holding the fear in, not wanting it to overwhelm her, but she was doing her own share of trembling also.
A large view screen set into the wall came to life, and they saw the new rulers of Earth. They looked normal enough, even human, as the being started to speak.
"Good afternoon. I am Kal-sek, leader of the Calto fleet. It is our fleet that has taken over your planet. From this time on, you will serve our race. Your petty squabbles, hatred, and wars are ended. We have ended it, and we are going to be staying here. You are unstable as a race, but, you do have things that we need. Get used to this way of life, your race has no choice. You have been unconscious for 30 days, we needed the time to study and learn about your race. The things you call computers and databanks were most useful in helping us acquire a more complete picture of the human population. We also collected all your weapons of killing and war-making. They have been collected and turned into what you call scrap metal. The metal that you used just for killing people can be cast into much better things. All explosive devices, bombs, shells, and warheads have been deactivated and destroyed. This was necessary to ensure your safety, as well as ours. Rebel armies have a bad habit of killing first and asking questions later. Civilian casualties to them would merely be the price of attaining liberty. Our ground forces are reviewing population records, and we will get to you as soon as possible, and assign you new work. I imagine that you must be hungry."
They saw him press a button, and a wall slid aside to reveal a table, loaded down with food. The women approached it warily, fearful of being forced to eat ungodly alien slop. The smells from the table sure didn't smell like slop. It was a buffet-style setup, with delicious smells of roast beef, fried chicken, potatoes, vegetables, crisp fresh salad, pitchers of ice-cold water and juices, and Tia realized how hungry she was.
A woman with short black hair cried out, "Wait, wait! How do we know it's not filled with poison? We eat and then die, maybe that's the plan!"
They found out that the view screen worked both ways, as Kal-sek replied, "Really, how quaint, how like some of your garish literature. My dear female, if we wanted you dead, you would not be alive right now. Do you think we would go to all this trouble, just to kill you? Our starships can locate and incinerate you in a few seconds. Now, stop with the foolishness. The food is prepared exactly as an Earth chef would eat and enjoy."
That was good enough for Colleen and Tia, they grabbed plates, and started to load up. That brought everyone else around, and soon, the room was filled with the sounds of hungry eating, and soft sighs of satisfaction as bellies were filled, and nutrients replenished.
"Wow, what a feast, I haven't eaten that good for a while," Tia remarked.
Colleen let out a loud burp, she turned red, grinned at Tia, and replied, "You said it, Tia! So we will be assigned new work, I wonder what that new work might be."
Another wall slid aside, and a large dormitory-style space with beds was revealed.
Kal-sek came back on the screen, "And now, it is late at night, and you must be tired. Please, take a bed and sleep comfortably, we will be around tomorrow to see what tasks you will be assigned. We will dim the lights in 15 minutes, and extinguish them 15 minutes after that." He paused for a minute, looking like he was puzzled by the expression he was about to make, and said, "Good night ladies, sleep tight."
Tia thought sleep might be a good idea. The bed felt soft and comfortable, and she quickly stripped naked and slid under the covers. She always slept naked, she hated the feel of any kind of clothing against her body while she slept. She noticed a few stares as she got naked, she glared at them, and growled, "What the fuck you looking at bitch? I got anything you don't have?"
