CONQUERED
Sorry i made a mistake and managed to skip from Chapter 32 to 34. I have replaced that chapter with the correct chapter so posting Chapter 34 again. Sorry. Go back and read chapter 33 again.
O~O~O
Chapter 34
Lanie had gotten the whole story about her mother's case and both she and Toby were shocked to learn that Rick's dad had been CIA and that was how he knew all that. Still, even he didn't know for a fact that it was Bracken and neither did Kate or Rick. At any rate, Kate didn't seem to be stressing over not really knowing, so that was good.
Three months later:
Kate was up out of bed and hadn't yet stepped into the shower. She had to get to school. Rick had the privilege of taking Libby to school. She had a train to catch. But rather than getting dressed, she was just standing there looking at herself in the mirror. She had already run her fingers over where the scar from getting shot had been. She had also run her fingers over all her other scars she had gotten while be a homicide detective. Getting shot in the chest wasn't her first time and she had been stabbed as well. Not to mention that time she had stumbled and crashed her way down all those steps.
All of that was gone. She was perfectly smooth. Just what Rick deserved and not the broken and scarred woman she used to be. Now, though, she was running her hands over her bump. There was no hiding that she had twins inside her body.
Her pants already didn't fit, so she'd had to go shopping on the ground floor. They had both learned that the ground floor wasn't completely occupied. There was plenty of room for more shops. At least they had several and they all had new names. Costco was gone, so was Walmart, and a lot of those big box stores. So were the people that ran them, or so it seemed. Now it felt like what was open was family-owned.
That and what they sold was chiefly old. For some of the shops, like where she had gotten some new pants that fit, she had learned that behind the shop was a small sewing room. Two or three machines and everything was being handmade in there. That might change one day in the future, but for now it seemed everything was left over from before, or newly handmade.
"Admiring your body again?" Rick was up too. He slipped in behind her and ran his hands around her and rested them on her baby bump.
"I know I'm pregnant and yet, until I saw it it wasn't real. Now it's real and we need to decide on baby boy names soon. Knowing us it will take us weeks to agree on names." Kate grinned at his reflection in the mirror.
"Probably." Rick could agree to that. "And smooth." He rubbed his hands all over her belly. "I don't know what that doc did, but maybe you should go back and let him do it again," Rick teased.
"Okay, mister, enough stroking the babies. I have to get ready for school and you need to get busy cooking. You aren't sending our daughter to school hungry." Kate swatted at his hands to get him to stop. And if they got any lower she might end up really late for school.
"As you wish. How's the morning sickness?" She usually only threw up at breakfast or at lunch while at school.
"That last time was a few days ago, thank god." Kate was finally keeping all of her meals down, and yes, she had gotten into the habit of eating 5 little meals per day, so she was still doing that.
Kate came out dressed and ready for school and her breakfast and lunch were all wrapped up for her and waiting with Rick at the door.
"Thanks, babe. I love you." Kate slipped her arms around his neck, and kissed him soundly. "You can start thinking about baby names while you write. When is your book going to be finished anyway?" The sooner he was done the more money they had and the better off they'd be.
"I might manage to finish today and then start at the beginning and begin proofing it, looking for errors I made along the way. It's at this point where I kind of miss Black Pawn. That was their job." They were gone along with nearly every other company.
"You mean Gina." Kate didn't know why she hated her so much. Perhaps because he had gone off to the Hamptons with Gina instead of her. Or maybe it was because Gina turned him into something he shouldn't have been in the first place. A Playboy.
Rick defended her. "Say what you want, she was good at her job."
"If by job you mean making you look like some, some…" She didn't want to start a fight, so she stopped. Kate let her hands slide down and pressed her head into his chest. "I'm sorry." She was different now, and she didn't want to go back to the way she had been. "I have to get going, or I'll miss my train." Kate gave him a quick kiss, picked up her breakfast and lunch packs, tapped the door to get it to open, and left.
That left Rick to get Libby up and into the tub, dried off, hair braided, dressed, fed, and off to school. "Bye, Daddy." Libby waved and walked into school.
It was yet another arrow straight to his heart. He was daddy again. It sort of felt like Alexis all over again. Thinking about his children left him wondering what it was going to be like when they added twins to the mix. He couldn't wait to find out.
O~O~O
It is now two months later
Kate was walking as fast as she could from the elevator to their front door. She had been told to go home along with everyone else, and the train home had been packed. It didn't help that she was taking up a little more space now. She was five, almost six months into her pregnancy, and her baby bump was a lot more than just a simple bump now.
Touching the door and getting green, the door slid away. "Babe!" She wanted to know if he knew what was going on that she was forced to leave school and go home.
Except the second she walked inside she could see Rick sitting on the sofa with Libby. "Hi, Mommy!" Libby escaped Rick's arms and headed right for her. Libby didn't crash into her, but she did get hugged.
"Why is she out of school?" Kate wondered if the two were related.
"I got called to come pick her up. All the kids were taken out of school and told to go home. Something's going on, but I don't know what." Rick got up to join those two. "And you're home early."
"We were all told to go home. Something is going on, Rick, and I don't like it."
A little later they were all sitting around the living room and drinking what passed as a soda while Kate was working on one of her little meals that she was supposed to eat. Though even at this stage of her pregnancy she was told she could stop. It was just this way Kate was thinking she would put on less weight and have less to get rid of later.
O~O~O
They were sitting down to dinner when suddenly there was a Kree being broadcast into their living room. He looked just like all the previous ones, but just as then, this one wasn't live and in person, either. Seeing it still left them with the question of how many Kree there really were and if they existed at all, or were they all droids?
"We apologize for the inconvenience. It is now safe to move around again. You may continue your lives uninterrupted. Again we apologize for the inconvenience. Information may be obtained through the Computer Interface." And then he was gone again.
"Who is that and where'd he go, Mommy!?" He had gotten in, talked about something she didn't understand, and then vanished. It was the vanishing that was getting to her. This had happened to her before and she was scared.
"It's alright, Libby, it was just a Kree talking to us. I promise there's nothing to worry about." Kate got up and wanted to take her into her arms and hold her. But her belly was just too big for that. Still, she did move her from the table to the sofa, sat with her, and watched Rick get up and go over to the Computer Interface.
Kate gave him almost a minute. "What does it say?" Only to see him wave a hand at her.
"I'm still reading." It wasn't talking, it was all text this time.
"Well, read faster." Kate wanted to know what the hell was going on now.
Eventually Rick was back and sat next to Libby so that the seven-year-old was now sandwiched between both of them. Both of them had an arm around her so Libby sat there and soaked it all up.
"And?" Kate wanted answers.
"There was an uprising of sorts," Rick summarized.
"A what?" That didn't make a whole lot of sense.
Rick tried again. "If I understand it correctly there was an uprising. A display of unrest. Dissatisfaction with their place in life."
"Okay, dumb it down for me." Kate wasn't understanding it any better now than she had then.
"Think of it this way. People in power, people that used to be in power. People that were worth lots of money, far more than I ever had, and had power. They led a privileged life. Servants who did all the menial little things that were beneath them.
"They didn't have that any longer. They were now equal to the rest of us. Earning pennies like we do. Forced to actually work for a living. There's no real government any longer, just the Kree and their laws. No president, no cabinet members, no senators, no CEOs of companies that no longer exist.
"Apparently they planned it, and they rose up, and complained."
"Well, that was stupid. All that would get them is…" Kate stopped talking as she finished that in her head. "They didn't?"
Rick sighed and nodded. "They did. It was a hostile act." He shrugged just as their door told them there was someone at it.
Rick got up to answer it. "That was beyond stupid!" Kate called after him and turned to see who it was. Rick only just barely got the door open when in walked a pregnant Alexis followed by Michael. Rick could see Dean and Laura headed his way, so he waited for them as well and kept the door open since he was betting Chris and Martha couldn't be that far behind.
O~O~O
Libby was in her room watching The Little Mermaid on her tablet, so they could talk as long as she stayed there.
Now they were all in Rick and Kate's apartment, and were almost all trying to talk at the same time trying to figure this out.
"They've lost their minds, Dad. How stupid are these people?" Alexis had read what her dad had read and had read it out loud to Michael as she did.
"Apparently, very," Dean said dryly.
"Keep in mind these are the same people that fled to bunkers the second the aliens started broadcasting their message. Flew out to their missile silos turned Doomsday bunkers. They might all still be there if the aliens hadn't just up and transported them to these places. Then they learn that being a CEO wasn't a job. Being a US Senator wasn't a job. Being President of a country wasn't a job. If they wanted money, because their money was gone, they needed jobs. Real honest to goodness jobs," Chris said.
Martha simply latched onto Chris, leaned into him, and said nothing.
Alexis shook her head, "I was right the first time. The idiots have lost their minds."
"I get it, I do. But I didn't have that kind of money, or that kind of power. Now my dad, who didn't make it this far, or at least I can't find him, would have been one of them.
"The privileged go where they want, when they want, buy whatever they want, and expect everyone beneath them to do as asked, or told to do. But it's still stupid," Dean said and felt his wife latch onto his arm and rest against him. He kissed her head. He wasn't going anywhere. He had a family and he was keeping it.
"I have a thought, but it's a dark one," Chris offered.
"I need a drink," Martha announced and headed to the kitchen. She listened to her son explain where the wine was located.
"Anyone else?" Martha asked.
"I'll help, Martha. I can't have one, but I'll help." Kate scooted off the sofa so she could stand. It was just easier that way and good practice for when she was bigger.
Soon Martha and the men had wine while their pregnant wives had ice water.
"Okay, think about it for a moment. You're filthy rich. You used to live in what to us is a mansion. Seven or more bedrooms with just as many bathrooms, servants quarters, five car garage with a helicopter pad out back. A pool with gardens. Or, you were were someone used to giving orders. You were a US Senator used to making laws and ignoring the laws that you force everyone else to follow because you have exempted yourself from them. Written it into the law.
"Now all of a sudden you're a nobody. You managed to survive the purge. I'm not really sure how they managed to do that, but they did. You've decided that it was all or nothing. So you talk and plan. Whatever that plan was.
"Just for a moment they know it's doomed to failure, but they need to make a stand. If it works they get what they want. If it doesn't, well…" Chris trailed off.
"Good god, Gramps!" Alexis knew where he was going with this. "What did you do for a living again?"
"Stuff that would give you nightmares if you knew, Alexis. However, I never had that kind of power. I did my job, and I did it well. I did what I thought was right. Got my country out of trouble. Honestly, though, I'm very happy to be retired. Married and retired and I want to stay that way." That earned Chris a kiss from Martha who was back to sitting next to him and sipping her wine.
"So is there going to be another one of these?" Michael asked.
Chris shook his head. "Doubtful, very doubtful. Say they did talk, but chickened out at the last minute. They're still alive while the others up and vanished. They might be privileged, but they're not stupid. Unless they finally can't take it and see suicide by alien as the only way out like the others did.
"For some, being in power is like a drug. Take away that drug and they can no longer attempt to reach that high again."
"A junkie." Kate could see it. Then their Computer Interface chimed that they had a call. That had Rick up to answer it since Kate was better off right where they were.
"Hey, Jim. What's up?" He had 9 kids to take care of still. Now that everyone was accounted for he had lost a few to surviving family members like actual parents.
"I could use some help. I've been notified that two of the kids who had found parents just lost them. I have to go pick them up and bring them back. The youngest are a little scared, but not so bad," Jim explained.
"We're coming." Kate scooted off the sofa and stood up and watched everyone else get up as well. Kate was learning fast just what it meant to have really good friends that felt like family, while some of them were family.
"One train trip away, Jim." Rick stabbed the panel to end the call. "I'll get Libby." He was betting she would be well behaved as usual during the entire trip.
O~O~O
Jim had thanked each of them and kissed his daughter and watched as friends he hadn't had but suddenly did, split up and each took one or two and stayed with them while he left to go get two of them back. More than likely those two would be crying all the way back.
They got sent away by their parents in an attempt to save their lives only to possibly up and vanish because the aliens killed them. Their parents were gone for good this time. Jim, the other kids, and now his friends and family were all any of them had. Yeah, he was betting the next few weeks were not going to be fun. But eventually it would all fade, but would never be forgotten.
Jim refused to curse them. They were just being stupid. He had been stupid once himself; he could understand it.
O~O~O
Rick didn't want to use up Jim's food, and he had plans to stay to help. While Dean, Laura, Chris, and Martha left, Alexis, Michael, Kate, and Libby stayed, he had gone downstairs to get more food to feed himself and the others.
Jim and the others were helping with the kids who were taking the news poorly. Kate was helping her husband cook. "You're a good man, babe." Kate kissed him for all of this. He hadn't batted an eye about helping and was willing to buy their own food and not burden her dad.
"I still can't believe he has 9 out of the original 18, well, 11 out of 18." He couldn't understand how parents could do something so foolish, and then end up not being found. Or worse, these two had their parents effectively kill themselves, and for what?
"I know." Kate turned to look at one of the bedrooms which was where her dad was presently. "I'm still amazed he's doing so well and these kids." The ones she could see looked sad, but weren't crying, and they each had someone. Be it Alexis or Michael, they each had someone.
"Kids are resilient. Ever seen those pictures of kids playing with what they could find in the trash? Running through streets that were all mud and living in makeshift houses made out of junk? They were still happy. A little hungry but happy.
"Now think of where all those kids are today. Not hungry, not living in run-down shacks that leak. Bugs or rats don't crawl all over them at night, maybe biting them. This is so much better," Rick said.
Kate had seen those images on TV and in pictures. Living in third world ghettos. Little if any power, no running water, no showers, little food. "Yeah, but think of the cost."
"There was no cost, Kate. Those people got themselves killed. The aliens made sure everyone knew what the laws were and what the cost was if they broke them. If the human race was better, we would still be at 7 point whatever billion. Think of it as what's left of us is the good and the bad are gone," Rick offered.
Kate was spared saying anything when Alexis showed up. "Dinner soon? I think they're hungry."
"Fifteen minutes. You try cooking for this many," Rick retorted.
"No thanks. Two and eventually three are more than enough. Except for the occasions that I help Jim." Except Alexis didn't leave after getting her answer.
Kate put her hand on her arm. "Something on your mind, Alexis?"
"I was just wondering about those people in that uprising and how right Chis might be. So what happened to all those ICBMs that we have," Alexis questioned. "We had hundreds of those things. I can just imagine someone sitting in his bunker and thinking Use them or lose them."
"That's probably a better question for my dad. Still, I would think that if the aliens can do what they've done and don't even need super lasers from space, they could make every nuke everywhere just up and vanish worldwide in mere minutes or less," Rick suggested.
"I suppose. You think we'll ever get to see that ship of theirs? And I don't mean on the inside." Alexis was kind of curious as to what it looked like.
"Go ask the Computer Interface. We can't do anything to them, so why not show you," Rick offered.
Now why hadn't she thought of that? So Alexis walked over to Jim's Computer Interface and stabbed the panel to get it to wake up.
"HOLY SHIT! DAD! YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS!" It had actually shown her a picture of what it looked like from the outside.