Thank you for reading my story, I hope that you enjoy it. A short story with a more official perspective on the Alien invasion. Mica. Xx Yorkshire England.
Dad is a Professor, something to do with Astronomical Physics, sometimes he meets up with Brian Cox, and sometimes that American, Neil Tysson, both have been to our house for dinner, and both are immensely entertaining. I studied Astrophysics at University, so I could at least keep up with their conversations, but it just never appealed as a career. Currently I work for the Home Office, in the Science department and often have to translate scientific papers for use in the Cabinet Office. I have attended several COBR meetings and let me tell you, they are dull. Mum passed away two years ago, late diagnosed uncurable Breast Cancer. She leaves a void in our lives that I doubt can ever be filled.
I was at my desk in the office when things all got a bit tense. A quiet went through the room and as I was trying to work out what or why my phone went, it was the Home Secretary.
"Madeline, Briefing room A, now please."
I confirmed, grabbed my notebook and biro, we were not allowed tablets, only paper and pens, and headed off along the corridors and tunnels that ended up at COBRA, The Cabinet office briefing room A. there was also a meeting room B. The room had an array of screens on the end wall, a double table down the centre and chairs around the edge. There were telephones, all muted, around the table and some wall mounted around the room's perimeter.
Meetings in the room were usually hosted by the PM or one of the senior cabinet, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary etc, it depended on the nature of the meeting. Today it was the PM.
"Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you, please be quiet and listen. I have something to say."
A silence fell over the room, perhaps some knew what was going to be said, I certainly didn't.
"At 04:25 this morning an alien spacecraft was detected approaching." The PM paused, we all looked around the room, I have no idea why, but I did it too.
"The spacecraft is circular and in the order of ten kilometres in diameter, and, we think, around 100 metres in width at the edge. We cannot determine what propulsion system it is using, we cannot detect any radiations from it, and so we do not know if it is attempting to communicate with us. We do not know its intent, if it is hostile or friendly. That is all we know. We have not released this information to the public, although we have no doubt that amateur astronomers will be posting it across the internet any time soon."
He paused and took a drink from his glass of water before continuing.
"We are going to need to prepare for what ever happens. All emergency bunkers are to be recommissioned and bought into full readiness. Everyone in this room is now sequestered and will stay in PINDAR until further notice, accommodation will be arranged, families, where possible will be in the same accommodation, singles may be required to bunk. You are here in this room because your country needs you and is calling on you at this uncertain time."
He took another pause and drink of his water.
"You should know that we are working closely with the American, Russian, Chinese, Australian, and French governments. Each of them is undertaking a similar exercise. We are sharing, without hindrance, all technical data. The Secretaries of defence are cooperating with contingencies should events prove to be sub-optimal. That is all I have to say, I cannot take questions because you now all know what we know."
He stopped, took a drink from his water and stepped away from the desk. A hubbub grew around the room as everyone started talking to those next to them, and I did the same and I had just as little to talk about as everyone else, eventually the chatter died down and a silence once more spread throughout the room.
"Madeline?"
"Crikey, dad, yes, I supposed that you would be here."
"Yes, and you are assigned to me as an aide."
"Great, whoopie doo." Being a gofer for my dad wasn't my idea of being involved.
"That is why you are here sweetheart. You have signed the Official Secrets Act and can see all the data anyone else can see, you understand Astrophysics and bring insight, you here on merit, no other reason."
"Okay dad, sorry, yes of course."
We moved from Cobra and went along the maze of tunnels that took is to MOD Main and then down the myriad of steps to Pindar where a Situation Room had been established. It was large and had a number of desks and chairs arranged in the core of the room, around the edge were a number of large screen displays. One of them was showing images of what I assumed was the spacecraft. The resolution was good, considering it was millions of miles away, but still not enough for the experts to make out the purposes of any of the features that we could see.
We were handed a folder, it contained the names of everyone in the COBR room, and a number next to them. Dad explained that was their phone number, you could sit at any desk, log onto the phone, and then anyone could contact you. There was a second folder that had the names and numbers of other specialists and aides in other countries. I wondered how long ago this contingency had been planned and set up, it didn't look as if it were hastily cobbled together.
Dad and I grabbed a desk and each of us logged onto a phone. The phone menu showed that they were in fact video phones, so we could join video conferences from our desks. Definitely not just cobbled together.
Dad got a message on his phone and he dialled in, I could see it was a video conference, he wrote something on his pad and passed it over, it was the conference number and the words 'listen in'. I dialled in and put my microphone on mute and just listened. The discussion was all around possible counter measures should the visitors prove to be less than friendly. The conversations lasted around an hour. The best I could make out is that the Americans and the Russians hade nukes in orbit that could be tactically used, but the fear was, the size of the nukes was significantly larger than anyone had ever used, continent killers, and the fear was that the detonation could cause devastation on Earth.
I was only listening and couldn't offer any opinions; I would talk with dad about it later when we were on our own. Dad made a few other calls, to colleagues I presumed, I used the credentials provided to logon to the computer and look through all the technical data so far available. The spaceship was six point four miles in diameter, a tad over ten kilometres, and three hundred and fifty feet top to bottom. At the centre it was something in the order of four hundred feet form top to bottom. The pictures, though remarkable, did not give us a clue as to what anything on the ship actually did. The ship moved, changed speed and direction, but there were no emissions that we could see to give us a clue on their means of propulsion.
We had been there for about twelve hours when dad pulled me away.
"We need to get some food and rest Madeline, otherwise we will be worthless when we are needed."
We headed to the canteen and grabbed some food, a bolognese sauce and some pasta, and a jug of water, and sat in a relatively quiet corner.
"Dad, this mad."
"I know, but this scenario is something my colleagues and I have looked at over many years."
"How did you envision it ending?"
"Badly, mostly. We concluded that Earth would simply be a mineral resource, and that we humans would be surplus to requirements and would, at best, be ignored as we don't have technology to trouble them, or exterminated to remove an irritant."