Chapter 28

When Grace was very young, she went through a phase of trying to impress Hal's group of friends at the time. They seemed much older and cooler than her, even though she was a similar age to them, but in her memory they seemed bigger. She couldn't remember why she wanted to hang out with them, but at the time it felt important.

Hal whined at the idea. He complained to their mother, who didn't see the harm in letting Grace play with his friends too. So off they went on their bikes one day to meet them, Grace excitedly pedalling along while Hal trailed behind. Having brothers, she expected to get along with the other boys just fine.

But when they pulled up to the park a couple blocks away, an eruption of sniggering and jeering greeted them. The boys she was so excited to meet were snorting and teasing Hal for bringing his sister along. They called Grace names and told her she couldn't be part of the group. Hal turned a bright shade of red. He was only young, and it wasn't until later that he would develop a habit of defending Grace's 'honour', so he stayed quiet, avoiding the sight of his friends' mocking his older sibling.

Grace cycled home in tears, humiliated. How could she be so stupid? Why did she think those boys would accept her? What made her think she could be part of the group? She obviously thought she was something she wasn't.

She felt a bit like that now. Every time someone accused her of wrongdoing, every time someone rejected her, it brought her back to that feeling. What was she doing? Acting brave, trying to be heroic all the time, trying to fit in? No wonder people didn't trust her. She was trying to be something deep down she knew she wasn't, and maybe all these people saw it.

That's what Lourdes was seeing now. If Grace was a hero, she would have saved Jamil. She would have saved Jimmy. She would have stopped her brother from being taken and turned into an alien slave. She didn't know if she was being controlled, but even if she wasn't, she was starting to think she didn't belong in the Second Mass.

The pounding on the blood lab door was getting worse, the little buggers were poking through, denting the metal. Grace pointed her rifle at the door whilst Anne fashioned an oxygen canister into a weapon they could use to get out of there. Grace practically felt Lourdes staring daggers into the back of her head as they waited to enact Anne's plan.

"How's it coming?" Grace called over to Anne, who was fiddling with the tubes on the oxygen tank.

"Almost finished!"

"We're out of time!" Lourdes shouted as the craters in the door grew bigger.

"Alright!" Anne ran to Grace's side with their new makeshift weapon and signalled for Lourdes to get the handle. "Go!"

Lourdes swung the door open and Anne pointed the hose she had fashioned towards the dozens of crawlies. Within seconds, fire shot through the hose and Anne was drenching each bug in hot flames. Grace swore she heard them squeal as she fired off her rounds through the fireball and watched them drop from the walls, burning to a crisp.

But they weren't the only ones fighting them off. Grace heard other gunshots a short distance away, and then glimpsed two silhouettes running towards them as a bright electric spark illuminated their entrance. It was her dad and Pope: a duo she hadn't expected to see working together to come to her rescue, but she would have welcomed anyone at that moment.

"Let's go!" Pope yelled at them, after he and Tom had pulverised as many bugs as they could.

Anne threw down the home-made flame-thrower and grabbed Lourdes. They made a run for it down the corridor as Pope led the way and Tom covered them from behind. There was a thick, rancid smell of burning and flashes like lightning, but Grace tried hard to concentrate on following Pope up the stairs and to safety.

Ben and Weaver were waiting for them at the top, the captain screaming at them: "Move, move move!" Sweat beaded Grace's forehead as she panted heavily, making it up the steps and grabbing Ben's hand. He pulled her up through the door, followed by Anne and Lourdes, then Pope, Tom and Weaver.

"Seal that door!" the captain ordered as a slew of people began building a barricade as soon as the door slammed shut behind them.

Grace's lungs were sore as she gasped for air, exhaustedly slumping against the wall and hardly noticing as Tom touched her face to see if she was okay.

"I'm good," she coughed, blinking her eyes hard as she wiped the ash from them. "But it's only a matter of time until those things eat through that door."

Her dad turned back towards Weaver. "What about Boon's patrol?"

Weaver looked at Tom. Even under the shadow of his cap, Grace could see the regret in his expression. "They didn't make it."

There was a small pause of silence as Tom let the back of his head fall against the wall. Dejected. Grace frowned. The boy was only a couple of years older than her. Only a few days ago he was joking around with her little brother and making up stupid raps.

"Where's Jamil?" Weaver questioned as he glanced around the group, noticing the engineer's absence.

Anne and Lourdes were still catching their breaths, but they gave Weaver a similar look of dismay.

"He didn't make it either," Grace answered numbly, her heart thumping inside her chest. The admission reminded her it was real. She watched him get torn apart, right in front of the girl he loved.

Weaver's expression immediately softened, rocked by the news. Then he looked towards the heartbroken girl in front of him. "Lourdes. I'm sorry."

Lourdes stared at him a moment, her lips parting, and then she pushed past Grace and ran down the darkened corridor. Grace's heart ached. She couldn't help but feel responsible for Lourdes' pain. Anne immediately ran after her, which gave Grace some relief. She shouldn't be alone after what just happened.

At the same time, Tom spun on his heel and headed in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" Weaver demanded, as Tom steamed past Ben, Hal and Maggie.

"To pay a visit to our honoured guest."

"Dad!" Ben called, following after him before Weaver could even intervene.

"I'll go with them," Grace told her captain, to which he gave her a quick nod before firing instructions at Hal, Maggie and Tector.

Tom walked speedily down the hall towards the psych ward. Ben easily caught up with him. They'd already made it to the cell when Grace joined them.

"Open it!" Tom barked.

The soldier fumbled with the lock, pushing the door open for him. Tom burst through it, cocking his gun. "This siege ends now or you do!"

Grace's breath caught in her throat as she watched her father point the gun at the imprisoned Overlord. It was kneeling, chained to the floor, but upon seeing Tom he gradually climbed to his feet, effortlessly snapping off his bonds and showing off his impressive height as he towered above them, head almost touching the ceiling. Suddenly, it became clear why these creatures were the Overlords of the invading species. Grace had never seen anything so intimidating. She instinctively took a step back, glancing at her dad who's rifle was now pointed almost vertically towards the Overlords' smooth, oval head.

"At last we have the chance to speak again. I've been looking forward to it, Professor Mason."

"Ben?"

It was Ben's voice, but not his words. Grace looked over at her brother to see his spikes glowing blue on the back of his neck.

"I'm afraid he can't hear you," 'Ben' replied.

"Leave him alone!" Grace cried, sick of seeing her brother used as a puppet for these creatures. "What do you want from us?"

"Peace," said the Overlord.

"I didn't think your kind had a sense of humour," Tom replied bitterly. "How does genocide equal peace?"

"Tom, if we'd come here to commit genocide, every one of you would be dead," the alien's mouthpiece continued. Ben's eyes were unfocused and his head was slanting dreamily to the left."We have no interest in annihilating your people. Think of it as a correction."

Tom raised his brows. "A correction?"

"Yes. Your planet, like so many we've been to, is, to put it bluntly, spiralling out of control. You fight to the death over dwindling resources while your population continues to –"

"We don't need your help solving our problems," snapped Tom, baring his teeth furiously.

"Regardless, once our task is completed, we will move on from your-"

"What task?" Tom interrupted. "Why are you here?"

"That is none of your concern. But disrupting our operations and continuing to obstruct the inevitable can only result in more pain and suffering."

"Except we aren't alone anymore in resisting your occupation," Tom snapped back, staring at the Overlord as if eager to see his response.

The creature stepped forward, an expression akin to disgust on his flat features.

"Are you referring to the so-called rebellion?"

"I am. And they scare the hell out of you, don't they?"

Ben's expression remained wooden: "We will defeat them."

"Perhaps, but you haven't even managed to defeat us yet, and we will continue to bleed you every single day that you're here."

"You don't have the strength, the fanatical will to prevail against us."

"We're stronger than you think!" snapped Grace, taking a brave step forwards.

Ben's vacant gaze turned to her.

"Grace Mason. I remember you from my ship. You are strong-willed for a juvenile human female."

Grace raised an eyebrow at the alien, her neck aching from having to crane her head up to look at him. His face was dark with grey patches, and somehow he managed to look smug and angry at the same time.

"You…impressed me," Ben's voice continued monotonously. "What you said about love, in particular, was intriguing. That love is humanity's strength rather than its weakness. I decided to test this theory using the human female you call Karen. The result was conclusive."

"Meaning?"

"Using your personal feelings for this human, I was able to manipulate you to my will. Therefore, love is very much a weakness. It is irrefutable."

"Well, I refute it!" argued Grace, feeling her fingernails dig into her palms. "Our strength comes from our willingness to seek partnership and connections rather than enemies! Ever heard of strength in numbers?"

The Overlord blinked, revealing its slimy-looking eyelids. "That is simply good logic. The fact remains, humans are misguided, their emotions cloud their judgement. That is why you won't win. You are weak. Crippled by sentiment. Case in point…"

The lights on Ben's spine extinguished and his knees buckled beneath him. He hit the floor, shaking violently.

"Ben!"

Grace immediately dropped to his side. Ben's eyes were wide with panic, his nose bleeding as his limbs shook uncontrollably. She looked back up at the Overlord who was staring at them with beady eyes.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!"

Tom looked back between Ben and the Overlord, torn between holding the enemy at gunpoint and aiding his son. He demanded for the Overlord to stop, and when it refused, Tom begged, dropping his weapon and kneeling beside his son.

"Please!"

Exhaling sharply, the Overlord released Ben from his torture. Grace squeezed Ben's arm, sighing with relief as the boy stopped convulsing and his features softened.

"Sentiment," Ben said in that expressionless tone that wasn't his. "Weakness." He slowly looked up at Tom. "You are in over your head, Tom Mason. Now release me before it's too late."

Grace watched anxiously as her father's jaw went rigid. His adrenaline was high. He was furious. "Okay. Alright," he said quietly, slowly rising to his feet. "I understand now."

The Overlord didn't realise he had a pistol in his leg holster, which he promptly whipped out and used to shoot the alien in the neck.

It was one of the worst noises Grace had ever heard: a shrieking, roaring sound erupted from the giant alien as he grabbed at his wound and slid to the floor. Grace watched in horror as blue liquid spilled from the Overlord's neck.

"Dad," she said in disbelief. "What have you done?"