The Human Insurgency Read online

  The Human Insurgency

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8:

  Chapter 9:

  Chapter 10:

  Chapter 11:

  About the Author of Human Insurgency

  The Human Insurgency

  By J. Kirsch

  Copyright 2014 J. Kirsch

  Smashwords Edition

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  Human Insurgency

  July 16, 2089

  Chapter 1

  The Resistance

  Video-feed streamed into the bunker as Hu Jin watched. Beijing was wreathed in flames. Three large aircraft hovered overhead like waterless carriers. They spat out sleek fighter-craft like demonic cockroaches, and those cockroaches were slinging slugs powerful enough to level whole buildings with a single hit.

  "Dragon Unleashes the Wind. I repeat, Dragon Unleashes the Wind." General Chao's words came in harsh and clear. The Chinese code words changed every hour. Though it didn't seem that the Enemy had tapped into the military's communications, they used precautions all the same.

  Jin's aide sat across the table, her hands folded tensely in her lap.

  "Meiyu, go catch an hour's rest. Just because I am needed here, sleep be damned, there's no need for you to exhaust yourself. Call in Ling to assist me. Get some rest."

  She shook her head adamantly as the ground shook beneath them. One of Jin's monitors showed that another skyscraper was on fire. People were jumping, many of them transformed into flailing torches. Jin turned away.

  That's when he saw it, if only for the second time, on the left-hand monitor. The new weapon in action still made his heart pound. Those missiles arched, breath-taking in their grace. He watched as they streaked for the nearest carrier-ship.

  The ship resembled an aircraft carrier, but its contours were far more rounded. It looked like a giant, floating oblong egg. Panels in the ship's flanks seemed to open on all sides to release their deadly fighter craft. These seamless bays were in the process of releasing at least a dozen more squads of the cockroach ships when the missiles struck. Most exploded harmlessly against whatever shields the Enemy used. But one of the missile's propulsion systems suddenly tanked, holding clear of the fiery if impotent deaths of its many siblings. It was designed to blend in until just before that all-important moment of impact.

  And suddenly a projectile that should have been harmless from all of the Enemy's past experience became an embrace of the most lethal persuasion.

  The last missile held aloft in the sky, a hiccup in time. Then the blast exploded like an opening flower, a blue nova blooming in all directions, swamping the port side of the carrier-ship.

  A gaping void, like half of a sandwich suddenly eaten, appeared in the side of the invading carrier. The rest of it began to break up and fall away. Even though this newly made junk from space would probably crush hundreds of innocent people below, Jin heard cries of jubilance over his com link. Heady slogans filled his ears from other members of the Chinese Communist Party's Secretariat. He heard Wen Shan's excited voice through the static.

  "Our red blood shall flow with the revolutionary fervor of our soldiers until every last Invader is wiped away clean!" shouted Shan euphorically.

  Damn him for an idiot! Jin swore. As the General Secretary of the CCP's most powerful and still functioning governing body, Jin wanted to have that man shot. But Shan was the descendant of the old elite because his great-grandfather had been a Red Guard in the Cultural Revolution. Shan had been taught that to struggle was glorious and wonderful. To that half-crazed lunatic blood was something to be welcomed. If he could sacrifice 20 million lives to destroy 2 more of those ships, he would call such a thing victory and crack his face with a hearty smile. He was the type of man that would do things the costly way before ever wondering, 'Is a better way within my reach?'

  God damn such men. God damn them all, Jin grumbled inwardly. But he needed every man he could get. He couldn't afford to be political. Not now. Not with the plight of the world at stake. In the midst of the excitement, watching the video-feed of the Battle for Beijing unfolding, Meiyu had slipped out. She returned with a cup of tea and modest plate of steaming baozi.

  Jin ate without even tasting, typing in furious commands to other party leaders across the Asian continent. Meiyu passed him a drive with the latest high-security downloads from the network. It wasn't that he couldn't have downloaded them directly to his system, but security precautions trumped efficiency. Not everything was networked, and some sensitive data was spoon-fed to one system and then passed along via drives by hand. It wasn't an elegant arrangement. It was damn clumsy, to be honest.

  But those who knew more about these Invaders than he did had assured him that this would somehow throw off the Enemy's infiltration. As a leader, sometimes you had to trust those below you. Even when the sky was falling, no, especially then, you had to trust someone.

  Chapter 2

  Skye, the Abducted

  We had our 'brainwashing' session after we were done listening to the maddening broadcasts from Earth, frantic voices which talked of cities ripped apart. Compared to the propaganda-like broadcasts, our brainwashing session was a subtler form of torment. These things came at us, and they were maybe the size of a nightstand yet with legs like the tentacles of an octopus. From each thing's 'head' came purplish stalks, a twin set which inserted itself into our ears. Asking you to imagine these disgusting creatures with their antennae-like limbs implanted in our heads, you might wonder if it's all too absurd to be real. But the nightmare was real, and we sat helpless to do anything except view image after image projected into our heads as if a monster were shoving flash cards before our eyes.

  We concentrated on what had originally seemed to be gibberish. Now and then the symbols combined into glimpses of meaning. It was as if they were teaching us some kind of code by repetitive exposure. In just a matter of months the symbolic gibberish had even begun to invade our dreams.

  The five of us focused on the language tutorials for the better part of three hours, until at last the morning routine ran its course. The hideous arms withdrew from us, and the assault of symbols eased up on my tattered thoughts. At last I felt just sweet, sweet blankness. I had my mind to myself.

  I could sense though, that it was about time to go up. Routines did that to you after long enough, encouraging you to develop your our own inner clock.

  I grasped the nearest length of rope-like tissue, made out of what, I could only shudder to guess. Myla, Oliver, Jobe, and Kane did likewise. Soon we were sprawled on Level 2. This had been the appalling level, then the awkward level, and finally the cautiously pleasant and tolerable level - a gradual development during our captivity the past few months.

  Level 2 was the 'courtship' level. Yes, you heard right. After our first few days the Enemy had made it clear to us that this was the Level's purpose. When it all started, Myla and I were expected to pair off with two of the men. I chose Jobe and Myla chose Kane. I hated the way this isolated Oliver, but we didn't have a choice.

  The aliens seemed content to let us go at our own speed, which meant that although we were required to spend time in a tight, confined space with our chosen 'partner,' we weren't forced into any physical act we didn't want to do. What h
ad begun as an awkward 'blind date' had gradually evolved into something we looked forward to.

  You might think that five people being trapped in various communal spaces would eventually adjust to always being together. But there's a persistent need to have some privacy, and this was the only time I had anything close to privacy…so yes, the once-awkward blind dates with Jobe had become something more to me.

  "Hey," Jobe said, caressing my cheek. "You doing OK? Who would you like me to do today?"

  Each day he would attempt impersonations for me. Actors, T.V. personalities, celebrities. It was a good way to wring some laughter out of me.

  I clasped his hands, looking down at him as he blushed.

  "Surprise me."

  Full confession here: I had begun to fall for Jobe, and we both knew it. BUT, and I have put this with slam-dunk firmness, that didn't mean we were going to be having sex any time soon (or ever) under the microscope of aliens who seemed to view us as their own private freak show.

  It was despite the situation that Jobe and I had formed a relationship. It was nice to have some inside jokes just between the two of us. When it was just him and me I could be less self-conscious. I could be myself in ways that I couldn't be with our bigger group. My time with Jobe was probably even more important because I could be free of my sister for once!

  I know that sounds horrible, but sometimes I didn't want to put on a brave front and tell my little sister 'Everything's going to be OK!'. Sometimes I wanted to cry, to let out the pent-up frustration of despair and grief that I felt. Jobe would let me release all that crap, leaning on him as I just let it go.

  Sometimes though, it was the other way around. As a macho-looking African-American, he more than anyone else in our group played the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' card. But what human doesn't have doubts? No, let me rephrase: what human captured by aliens and kept in indefinite captivity doesn't have doubts, deep and serious? So every time we sat in this tiny room together we were like each other's personal lifelines, maintaining each other's sanity in ways we couldn't in the larger group.

  Jobe now decided to do his best version of Sean Connery and then one politician after the next. I giggled as he hit his stride, his voice playful as a cat's purr one moment, then changing key the next, booming indignantly like Winston Churchill.

  When he'd exhausted his comic relief skills for the day I leaned forward tentatively. We kissed. He always let me initiate. I think the creepiness of our situation made him want to be the perfect gentleman. His hands pressed firmly against my lower back, but they never strayed from there, and I knew that they wouldn't either, not without a very explicit green light from me.

  My hands felt warm resting against his biceps. The muscles were distracting, and not in a bad way.

  After more than 12 weeks I wanted to force out of my mind this urge to wonder why the aliens were making us do this courtship ritual, but part of my brain refused to abandon one speculation after another. It kept me from thinking how guilty I felt for liking Jobe. How liking him made me feel like I was somehow consenting to the demeaning experiment the aliens were conducting on us. What were we to them but lab rats?

  But did that mean we couldn't at least hold onto our humanity in subtle ways? I was beyond shame. I think tribulation and grief had a way of getting me to that point. I was like someone who'd been given impossible choices. What was I going to do? Make my body shut down? Turn away from Jobe and refuse to even speak to him? Sit and wait to die? Was it right for me to ignore the shame of what Jobe and I were now doing in order to survive? To do things I would never do in a totally sane or perfect world?

  Right now I didn't care, and whatever Jobe and I shared, it still had meaning regardless of what had thrown us together. This courtship was making us care about each other in new dimensions, and that had meaning which I was betting none of the Glowing Ones, no matter how brilliant as scientists, could fully comprehend.

  Chapter 3

  The Resistance

  Jin stared at the bedside photo of his wife and family. He didn't see any anger in her captured-in-time face, no rage at being stolen from the world too early. It was as if she watched over him. The picture of her gave him that intangible feeling of relief to keep. It kept him going another day. Another hour.

  Half-clothed in the light, Jin rubbed his eyes as Meiyu stirred under the bed sheets. Her arm flailed at the faded warmth where only a body's imprint remained.

  "Hmm? News? You have to go?" She was used to his sudden disappearances in the night. Meetings, his presence summoned to see exactly how the Enemy was systematically destroying humanity's world.

  "I couldn't sleep, Meiyu. I had to see my children." Tears formed under Jin's sleep-deprived eyes. Meiyu tried to wipe them away, but suddenly there was no need. The tears stopped like a shut-off valve when the red alert flashed on Jin's main monitor. He rushed to the swivel chair.

  He opened the com and turned on the video-feed. "General Secretary Jin! Sir, are you there?"

  "Wei. This is he." Goddamn the formalities. When will they do as I ask and call me Jin? Humanity was funny that way. As the American saying went, the world was going 'To hell in a hand basket.' And yet somehow many of the communist cadres still alive were obsessed with the shape, color, and weaving of that hand basket.

  "Most esteemed Secretary, it is my privilege to report -"

  "Spit it out, man!"

  "General Chao's forces have routed the carrier group in Beijing. The city is free of threat, and the Enemy is in full retreat."

  Jin's fists clenched in triumph, but his heart sank at the following news.

  "A second carrier cluster has begun its assault on Shanghai. General Meng is engaging the Enemy, but we haven't had time to deploy the new weapon there yet. We may lose the city."

  The slight, wiry and bespectacled leader of a nation that had once boasted nearly two billion people could do nothing but feel his heart drilling a pit through his stomach. "Very well. Keep me informed as news becomes available. Is that all? "Jin asked.

  "Yes, General Secretary."

  Jin found it nearly impossible to get back to sleep. He pored over the latest worldwide reports. The situation grew grimmer and grimmer globally. He looked at the latest report from the northern front.

  General Secretary, father and hope of the Chinese People,

  May your resolve be strengthened knowing that the Party and the People are behind you!

  Our intelligence reports show that the battlefront is intensifying. The forces in Russia are fighting the Enemy from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Vladivostok has fallen to the Enemy. Our sources there have shown that the Enemy is landing troops en masse, the first of this kind and scale that we can recognize. But the Russian partisans are putting up a spirited defense, using the city itself as a battlefield of carnage from which the Enemy will surely find a quagmire.

  Jin grimaced. The language of the report, probably written by some low-level aide, was almost as appalling as the sugar-coated optimism that made him want to choke. Despite Jin's best efforts, most of his subordinates still told him what he wanted to hear. It was the traditional Chinese way - save face at any cost. It was also a damn good way to lose a war, but Jin was fortunate to have reports coming from enough sources that his skeptical brain could piece together what wasn't being said.

  "What is it?" Meiyu asked. Her nakedness temporarily distracted him as her gentle hands massaged his neck. "You know what I always say?" she urged.

  "Yes, yes. That it will help me if I talk about it."

  "And?" she needled, smiling despite his frown.

  "And dragon's guts, is what! I've just been informed that the Enemy has gained a rock-hard foothold in Vladivostok, Russia and put down all resistance. For all we know they could be swarming inland or preparing to use it as a port. My generals are too busy fighting or dying to even give me a proper analysis, so I have to filter truth from teenage boys while every able-bodied man does his share. That's what I have to say to your 'And,' Mei
yu."

  Jin's eyes softened though, and Meiyu recognized that the dog was all bark and no bite.

  "Come here," Jin sighed. Meiyu sat on his lap, her arms draped around his neck. Her eyes searched his before she spoke softly.

  "I do love you. Whatever happens, consider what China has accomplished this day."

  "Accomplished?" Jin gestured disgustedly at the heap of reports on his desk. "We've saved one city among dozens. Hardly an accomplishment."

  "I've snuck my share of peeks at what you've been reading, Jin. I know about these carrier groups. That there are at least 12 of them, 8 ships each, flying over nations across the world. But now half of one has been destroyed. China has done what all the rest of the world has been unable to do until now."

  "Meiyu, that doesn't even begin to take into account the larger vessels in orbit around the Earth." There were four of these so-called 'mother ships' that had been so unoriginally labeled by the worldwide media. Each one was the size of a large island.

  Jin's first aide and confidant stroked his cheek. "That doesn't diminish what's been done. Focus for now on the problem at hand. What will the Enemy do if we eliminate an entire carrier group? For once they will have to react to us." He knew what she meant. She wasn't telling him that he had to ignore the bigger picture. But she was trying to knock it into his thick skull that he couldn't try to divide all his anxieties across the globe. Do what you could do something about before you lost sleep over something ten thousand miles away.

  He nodded. "You're right." And just then an idea struck him.