Chapter 20

Siege

The magnetic pole switch began on schedule, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. Tessa smiled and admired her work as it fended off the brutal Nemesis attack. Liz was carefully monitoring the switch. All was going without a hitch, but then, disaster struck.

Several new Hyperspace portals opened, and small highly energetic probes flew out. They surrounded the planet in an even fashion. A look of terror flashed over Liz's face.

"This is bad. We didn't anticipate this." She quickly tapped into the planet wide intercom. "Attention all citizens! Get to your designated city ships. We must evacuate the planet."

Just as she finished, the probes began to fire on the shield; they targeted the weak spot as it moved across the shield. Liz furiously pressed buttons and glanced at screens. A moment later, the building began to shudder.

"Prepare for liftoff!" Liz shouted through the intercom. Tessa lost her balance momentarily as the city left the ground. She watched the probes expertly take down the shield. There were a total of 24 city ships that all took off, but the second the shield dropped, the probes and Nemesis ships began attacking the surface and city ships. Tessa thought they were doomed; the knot in her stomach tightened.

Miraculously, the city ship she was inside made it to orbit, but that was just the beginning of the troubles. There were enough Nemesis ships to create a blockade. Liz knew the probes would be able to follow the city anywhere it went. It opened a Hyperspace portal and left the system.

"Where are we going?" Tessa asked.

"Back to your home galaxy. It is the closest and the safest. Is there any sentient life in it?" Liz asked.

"Maybe if a few humans survived, but we never found any indications of alien life."

Tessa gave Liz the spatial coordinates of Earth, and then she got some rest. When she woke, she saw a familiar sight out of her window. Earth.

The surface of the planet was dry and desiccated. "You lived here?" Liz asked.

Tessa nodded. "We kinda screwed it up with all the pollution and the wastefulness.

"We had similar problems when our species was evolving. It never got this bad though."

"Is it safe to go out?"

"We think so," Liz said. Since we landed, the city has been running extensive scans; they are not yet finished. We must wait…"