THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL FIRST CONTACT

It looked like a post-apocalyptic country after a holocaust, all back gardens had been secured with barbed wire and high fencing, and intruder alarms were fitted on everyone’s back garden walls. Everyone had the same idea, at least those who chose not to leave the safety of their homes, but most of them fell to the lizards. they clamoured up walls, and fencing, and smashed their way into flimsy covered windows and doors, just

by ripping off the wood with their bare clawed hands, screams echoed into the night as the lizards were able to get to the people inside.

Hospitals were the only places open, protected by armed soldiers forming a ring of firepower around the building.

Cornwall was now a ghost town.

But in Todd’s house in Truro, it was silent. Television had been blacked out, so the lizards would not get a signal of where they could attack. Kevin, Todd, and Brian had finished boarding up the last of the windows at the back of the house, they were all quiet, even Lasko did not have much to say. They sat at the breakfast table having toast and cornflakes but mostly pushing them around the bowl instead of in their mouths. Lasko’s bowl was a quarter full, he hardly touched his food, he usually had a full bowl for breakfast, followed by peanut butter sandwiches.

Little Pixie sat at the table eating her cornflakes, propped up by two pillows so she could reach the bowl: flicking cornflakes off the spoon into the air and laughing.

“Pix, stop throwing your breakfast about! Look at the mess.” But she just giggled, there was now a soggy mess of milk and cornflakes on the table.

Todd laughed, grabbed a cloth from the sink, and cleaned up the mess.

Kevin shoved the last piece of toast into his mouth, wiped his hands on a napkin and said. “Wonder what will happen today? We’re bound to have some drama or other.”

Brian raised his eyebrows. Valadon said it would take a few days before their ships arrive, so nothing exclusive is going to happen today, that’s for sure, we just have to sit it out.”

Ellen picked up the dishes and took them to the sink. “Well, at least everything is in place, I am glad we followed Valadon’s advice and told the government. A lot of lives are at risk here.”

“Yes, you’re right, forewarned is forearmed so they say. But we will be ok, I’ll never let anything happen to you or the kids.” He draped his arm around her drawing her close. Although Brian didn’t feel confident in his words, they were talking about a massive invasion of creatures from another world. How many people will die? And what will the planet look like when or if it’s ever over. He hadn’t told Ellen what these creatures looked like, that they were seven feet tall with extremely dangerous attributes, or their soulless green eyes, or their scaly green mottled skin, or their talons that could rip you apart in seconds, or the fact they could fly, either the abnormal strength they possessed; it would frighten her to death, he just hoped she would never get the chance to meet them.

***

In Truro, Daryl Thompson was working steadily in his office on the lower ground floor, putting orders together to be shipped out later today. He manufactured a stationary business from flyers to notebooks, to celebratory cards, business cards and all kinds of stationary to most schools in Cornwall, Devon, Falmouth, and surrounding areas. His business was phenomenally successful. Daryl worked long hours, and he had told Lilly, to keep the kids upstairs so he could catch up after things being disrupted by him boarding up the house ready for an alien invasion. He could hardly believe it, as so many other people; and thought it was exaggerated, but he wasn’t going to ignore the warnings.

The door opened behind him, and he was about to reprimand one of the kids to knock before they entered, it was polite to knock before entering. They had brought up ten-year-old Christian and four-year-old Carina to respect good manners, and they knew not to just barge into the office when their father was working.

But as he swivelled around in his office chair his pulse jumped up a notch or two forcing him to leap from his chair sending it spinning across the room, he knocked over a glass of water and pens went flying. He backed against the wall, his face becoming pasty grey at the sight of the Lizard. The Lizard studied him, its blue tongue flicking out of its mouth.

Flashes of Lasers streaked across the sky, turning the blackness into an array of terrestrial fireworks. An explosion shook the house as an aircraft crashed from the sky.

“Todd screamed, “They’re here!” He raced along the landing to his parent’s room followed by Lasko. His parents were already up along with Kevin, Ellen held Pixie tightly in her arms.

“Ok,” Lasko said, here’s what we do. Ellen, you go down to the basement with the baby, you’ll be safe there, lock the door and don’t open it unless it’s one of us, Todd you go down with her and help her settle in. The rest of us wait for Valadon, Zyrian, and Shirak. Don’t Attempt to go outside.” For once Todd didn’t argue, he helped his mother into the basement.

They sat in the living room, Brian nervously wringing his hands and making small talk, Kevin could not stop his legs from shaking, but they knew they had to summon up enough courage to see them through the long and endless night. Brian looked at the clock it was two a.m. Lasko paced up and down the living room anxiously. Brian watched him and realised how bad this situation was if Lasko was nervous.

Suddenly they arrived, Valadon’s expression was grim.

They were dressed in white suits with black plastic gloves.

“I have unwelcome news and good news, although the former is bad. Thirty of their ships have been shot from the sky, unfortunately, most of them escaped our interception, and people have gone missing from their homes. We know they were not sent to a safe army base, so we assume they were taken by the lizards, which means we have to find them and their captives before they can take them back to their planet.”

“OH. God.” Kevin moaned. “What will happen to them?”

Valadon looked at him. “They will be harvested, but the good news is we will be able to find them, and hopefully save them. As we speak there are our people waiting for them, they will intercept them, kill them, and save the people on board.”

Kevin asked the question everyone was afraid to ask. “Harvested? You mean for food?”

Valadon just nodded his head.

“This all seems to be too easy mate.”

“Brian, these creatures are not that intelligent, they make mistakes, they are large and clumsy, and our people are fast and agile enough to cope with them, they have no idea our people are there they wouldn’t think for a second that the master’s will stop them, they think they are home free. Our people are not going to be seen until the ships land and the humans are taken off. Then they will attack them ferociously, they won’t even have a chance to know what’s hit them.” Valadon wore a determined look on his face. “I promise you.”

“Oh my god Valadon, I just hope you are right,” Brian replied.

“We are grateful for your army of pilots; they have shot a lot of them down and taken captives to be handed over to us.”

***

Claws dug into Daryl’s shoulder as he struggled to free himself, he shouted for Lilly and the kids to run, but they didn’t answer. He could feel blood seep through his thick jumper as he was dragged out of the house. He saw Lilly; they were dragging her like a sack of potatoes, she was screaming and kicking, and his heart almost broke as he saw how small she was, fragile and easily broken. He saw a lizard carrying Christian and Carina over its huge shoulders, the kids were quiet, and for one terrible moment he thought they were both dead he knew they were doomed. “Please don’t hurt them!” he begged, but his cries were ignored, the wickedness and cruelty of these creatures were unbelievable. As they got near the ship, Lilly had stopped screaming, she was quiet, too quiet and Daryl’s heart almost stopped; he caught a glimpse of her, her grey eyes were glazed and she was staring vaguely into thin air, but he could see her chest rise and fall beneath her nightdress, she had gone into shock.

He was dragged up the ramp into the spaceship that was glowing with bright coloured lights that were fixed into the wall of the craft. Strange symbols like hieroglyphics were evenly spaced around the ceiling, and a landing dock was ahead of him, where a small vessel was waiting to take off, he wondered if this was the transport to take them back to their planet, and he froze for a moment.

The creature threw him through the door, he could almost smell the hatred omitting from it. He scrambled onto his back and looked up into the eyes of the lizard. “What do you want with us? Please don’t hurt my family, I’ll do anything you ask, just don’t hurt them! Please!”

They ignored him and turned to Lilly, still silent with no expression in her eyes except for the blank look that meant she had shut down completely. “Lilly!” he screamed. Another creature emerged through a large door, its feet thumping across the floor. It looked at the new arrivals as if they were insignificant, unimportant pieces of cargo. It thudded towards Lilly, grabbed her by the hair and studied her beautiful face, his only inches from hers and a shudder went through Daryl.

Letting her hair go she thumped to the floor. “This one for breeding, the male for harvesting, and their young for service.”

Daryl looked from one to the other, his expression full of horror. “What! What do you mean by ’Breeding?”

Fear had now gripped him in a fierce furnace of fire, he went hot inside, and bile rose in his throat as his brain worked furiously to understand the ramifications of what the creature was saying. It turned its head and looked Daryl in the eyes.

“We are conducting experiments on a hybrid generation of humans and Lizards; your brains are needed to create a new type of hybrid to teach us how to expand our faculties. We will be the superior race once all these experiments are concluded. Some humans are extremely clever, and we want that knowledge…Your planet is rich with animals, humans, and vegetation. We have plenty of sustenance to keep us alive, we can breathe here, and the climate suits us. We are taking you’re Planet as our own.”

“NO, NO PLEASE! My wife can’t have any more children, she’s no use to you!” He would say anything to save Lilly right now.

“We will determine that, and if she is no good for breeding, she will go to the food chain.”

Daryl stiffened, was he dreaming this? SURE, OF COURSE HE WAS! He’d wake up soon with Lilly beside him in bed, the warm cosy bedroom, with the white wardrobes and the dressing table where Lilly did her make-up in front of the big mirror. The deep beige shaggy pile carpet wall to wall and the sheep skin rugs at each side of the bed. ‘This is just a dream! that’s all, a wild stupid dream!’ But he knew this was no dream…It was real.

One of the lizards lifted Lilly’s lifeless body, and the children were taken through the huge door and disappeared.

“Where are you taking them?”

“To be transported to our planet!”

“To do what?” Daryl felt such a rage build inside he thought he would explode any minute.

“We shall decide that; once we have accumulated enough humans to harvest.”

Daryl didn’t need a graphic description to know what ‘Harvest’ meant the images were right before his eyes in the most horrific details.

He struggled to break free, they held his arms so tightly it was impossible to move without them ripping off his arms. “LET GO YOU UGLY FUCK OF A BITCH, GET YOU’RE STINKING CLAWS OUT OF ME!” He kicked out with his feet and then felt a blow to his head, and then everything went black.

***

When he woke his head was buzzing, and blood seeped from a gash in the side of his head that was sticky with blood, as he took his hands away, he felt wetness on his fingers. His hands met the floor, and he felt his way around, carefully patting his way until he felt his fingers curl around steel bars, he realised he was in a metal cage. Daryl got to his feet, banging his head on the top of the cage. The space was no larger than seven feet wide and five feet high and Daryl was five foot seven, he slumped in the corner clutching his head.