UFO 1: Invasion!

AUTHOR'S SPECIAL NOTE: I created Kelly McAllister several years ago - and he has nothing whatsoever to do with either the actress of the same name or with the protagonist of E.M. Forer's Union Station novels! I only got those via Amazon in January '18 and was astonished by the coincidence, but that's all it is, honest!

Thanks to Deborah Rorabaugh for creating Kathryn and Esther Komack - though I've borrowed a little here and there from her excellent Harvest Of The Planters, in this fic Kate and Ed haven't had a son as of the start of this story...nor will he be named after Alec and Paul. Thanks also to Kyle Overdorf for Hunches, the basic premise of which I just up and ran with. He's not responsible for my wild extrapolations thereof. :)

For the reference to Phoebe Klein and what the Aliens did to the poor girl, see Diamonds And Gold: The Origin Of SHADO.

Ever wondered why the UFO flew so erratically in E.S.P.? Or why the Aliens tried to virtually annihilate Mankind in Destruction on the one hand, after asking "Why do you attack us?" on the other? Here's a possible answer to both questions, though I am well aware this may be considered a case of severe fanwanking. (shrug) Kaiidth, as a Vulcan might say. It makes sense to me.

Ditto for the Constructs; there was no explanation for the presence of replicas in Reflections In The Water, so I came up with one which also explains how the Aliens apparently knew about SHADO before it was even chartered.

And why (other than the obvious if not facile answer that at least a few UFOs had to get through or we'd have no series!) did the Interceptors only carry a single (albeit humongous) missile apiece? Surely there could be a reason for this which was consistent with the laws of physics and with UFO canon?

So I came up with an answer for that, too. I think it works.

Also: Covid-19 caused a lot of problems with my fics, because social distancing would mess up several plot points - after all, I started writing these fics years before that damn virus even evolved. After initially altering some parts to accommodate this particular real-world event, I decided instead to bypass the entire issue...by setting the fics two years further into the future!

This fic isn't actually finished yet, but I thought I should post what I have so far to clarify a few things in other fics.

Finally, this is of course not the universe of Space:1999 - the Moon is still very much there.

The Komack-Straker residence, near the coast of Cornwall

August 9th, 2014, around 2 p.m. GMT

Eight years ago

The man gazing contentedly out of the living room window of the modest country house didn't look anywhere near his true age. He'd once joked with reporters about it being due to "clean living and the love of my family". Those were contributing factors, to be sure, but the full truth would've been rather more shocking, to say the least. Had the press known that the secret of extended vitality and longevity had been appropriated (well, stolen) from a hostile alien species, there'd likely have been a riot.

Ed Straker wasn't sure how much longer the effects of the treatments would last, and it didn't matter anyway. They'd done their job - they'd enabled him to have a real life at long last, free of all pressures; he'd made the most of it, and was still doing so. Even before he retired from SHADO, he'd gradually - and with their approval, as they felt he richly deserved the break - delegated more and more of his duties to his Exec, Alec Freeman, and his third in command, Paul Foster.

As a result he'd had much more of a hand in Esther's upbringing than he ever had in John's, and he and his wife had had another daughter since. Victoria had inherited her father's platinum blond hair and blue eyes, though he'd often said "Thank God she doesn't look like me". In fact she did; though Kathryn would never tell him so, all of Ed's features were present in Vicky's face, but softened. She didn't look masculine in the least - just every bit her father's daughter.

Kathryn, too, had benefited from the treatments, as had most senior SHADO operatives. She'd been talking lately about trying for a boy; Ed hadn't given her an answer yet, but if he was honest with himself he was thrilled at the notion. A boy with Kate would never, could never, replace Johnny...but of course that wasn't the idea. He would fill the gap in Ed's life - and Ed would do everything, absolutely everything he could to ensure his new son had everything Johnny should have had.

Two loving parents who loved each other, for a start.

He had, at long last, buried his past when Mary was diagnosed with terminal cancer (her husband had been killed in an accident some years ago); her oncologist called and told him Mary had asked for him, much to his surprise. At her deathbed he finally told her the truth, told her everything, and asked for her forgiveness. She did indeed forgive him.

More than that, to his profound distress...she took the blame.

Mary's home

"Mary -" Ed protested as she said it.

"Ed, why did Johnny run out into the road at all? I mean, the number of times we'd told him to mind that corner...but he completely forgot. Why? Because you were leaving without giving him a chance to show you his model boat. But why were you doing that?" Tears started down her ashen cheeks. "Because I'd asked - told - you to go. If I hadn't been so petty, if I'd just let it go that you were a little late, he wouldn't have needed to run after you! If I'd just let you stay two minutes longer, that would've made him happy, and...he...he'd be here now...maybe with a family of his own..."

Ed stared at her, stricken. Only once in all the years, in a dark moment of contemplation after the Mindbender Incident, had he thought along the same lines...but he'd dismissed the very thought as unworthy and unfair to Mary, maybe the tail-end of the Alien diamond's pernicious influence corrupting his thinking. Perhaps he'd assumed the burden of John's death as his hairshirt, but over the years he'd convinced himself that the whole tragedy was no-one's fault...certainly not that of the driver who'd run into John.

The police had of course investigated, but he'd cooperated fully with them (indicating a clear conscience) and it was quickly determined that although he hadn't even been close to the speed limit, there'd been absolutely no chance of stopping in time, not with no warning. In any case, the accident wasn't the cause of death so much as the infection John had contracted. The coroner's report exonerated the driver completely; he was not to blame.

The corner in question later received attention from the Ministry of Transport to rework the road and eliminate the blind spot - after Ed had exerted strong pressure in the right places - so if Mary had other children by Steven Rutland, they would be safer. He could do that much for her, at least, even though she'd never know it.

But now she was dying. It wouldn't be right for her to go while still believing she was at fault; however eager he was to show his father the boat, John knew better than to run into the road like that, and Ed gently did his best to convince her. "It was everyone's fault and no-one's, Mary," he told her, "you can't single out one person and blame them. You can't."

In the end she accepted it, and wished him well with his new family. Kate, in late pregnancy at the time, cried at that. With her last breath Mary asked him to name their first son John, to honour the child they'd made, loved and lost; he told her softly, "Actually, I never thought of any other name, Mary."

Even after all the years of bitterness he still loved her, and always had. He'd never blamed her for any of it. As Kate discreetly looked away, Mary died peacefully in his arms, and his pain died with her. She was buried next to John, as seemed fitting.

At the wake, a woman with the bearing of a doctor approached him and asked, "Mr. Straker? Ed Straker?"

"Yes?" he answered.

"I'm Dr. Marjorie Stevens; I attended Mrs. Rutland in her last few months as her oncologist. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Ed replied courteously. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Doctor."

"But that's not why I approached you; this is..." With a degree of solemnity, she handed him a small, plain box. "She knew she was going to die that day. Sometimes people just know it, whatever medical science might say; I've seen it happen too many times to doubt it. After I called you at her request, she insisted I give this to you - after she was gone."

Curious, Ed opened it.

After all these years, the model boat's colours were as bright and cheerful as ever. The irony was that until now, Ed had never actually seen it.

She'd sealed it in a Ziploc bag, in vacuum, to preserve it, and as a result it looked as if it'd only been finished a few minutes ago - and what a beautiful job his son had made of it, he marvelled, admiring the clean paintwork; not a single smudge or stray paintbrush strand.

At the reading of her will he learned she'd done the same with several of John's toys and one or two of his favourite books once her terminal diagnosis was confirmed, willing them to Ed and Kate. But she'd singled out the boat so it could be handed to him first, at her wake and not days or weeks later.

Ed knew what she'd intended; it was a gesture of peace and forgiveness from beyond the grave, across the graveyard of all the hopes and dreams they'd wanted for John.

He couldn't stop the tears; Kate hugged him. The boat, which he christened HMS John Straker, took pride of place on their mantelpiece in an airtight presentation case...sealed on the surface of the Moon by Alec, as a personal favour to his oldest, closest friend (and had Henderson said one word about misuse of SHADO resources, Alec swore, "I'd have decked the bastard, demotion or dismissal be damned!").

Before that, though, on what would have been John's birthday, in a fit of sentiment and whimsy Ed took the boat to the lake that had been his and John's favourite fishing spot, dripped three drops of champagne onto her to christen her, solemnly named her and proudly launched her, with Kate torn between tears and laughter. A gust of wind caught her, and to Ed's almost childish delight she sailed all the way across the lake, a most successful maiden voyage.

Their daughter was born a few months later; Vicky's full name was Victoria Mary Komack-Straker. He'd given her Mary's name on the spur of the moment at Vicky's christening, but Kate never even considered arguing with him; she knew how much he'd loved Mary. It was a fitting tribute.

It had been decided by unanimous agreement in the UN that the longevity process would not immediately be released to the general public, at least not until FTL travel had been perfected and the human-Alien conflict had been resolved one way or the other; Mankind would need room to spread out if everyone was given extended life...plus they had to be sure the Aliens would not interfere with any such endeavours. But SHADO wasn't playing dog-in-the-manger; the treatment, developed by the Aliens to slow their ageing process to a crawl and finally isolated from a young Alien by SHADO medical researchers, would be granted to everyone...eventually. A lot of existing social problems would have to be resolved first, though.

It worked slightly differently in every person, and there were too many contributing factors to predict the results; some benefited only minimally, while others received a major boost. For Ed, it was enough that he'd had the energy to play with each daughter as she was growing up, sharing their lives, enjoying their childhood with them, and still pursue the odd hobby and a loving (and physical) marriage. Oh, he still got the occasional ache here and there, but so what? He was entitled, dammit - he'd earned every last twinge. He was an old man.

An old man who should sit down, he thought ruefully as his knee protested, so he did just that as his wife came downstairs.

"Did you say we were having a visitor?" Kathryn murmured, snuggling up to her husband, still handsome after all these years. She'd glanced into the girls' bedrooms just now, but Esther, who was visiting for the weekend, was still sleeping after a night's hard partying with her friends. Been there, done that, girl, she merrily reflected. Vicky was fast asleep too, bless her; for all her youth, she'd turned out to be a night owl. It was playing merry hell with her schooling, but Kate was sure they'd find a way around that in time.

Virtual online classes were a viable option these days, or perhaps a tutor, or both. The UK Government had recently passed a law to the effect that children didn't have to attend school full-time provided they were still receiving an education conforming to defined standards; this was part of the effort to bring the law of the land up to date and to acknowledge the ever-increasing part the Internet played in modern society (and, cynics said, to reduce teachers' workload).

"Yeah, the new guy, a friend of mine - kind of a protegé," Ed nodded, kissing her. "I imagine he wants advice. Well, it can't hurt."

"The best advice you could give him," Kate pointed out sourly, "is to get the hell out while he still can."

"True," Ed admitted, not without some bitterness. "But if he were the sort to take that advice, I'd never have picked him."

"Why did you? I've always wondered. I thought you'd have chosen Alec, or maybe Paul." She smiled. "Or, in these days of equality, maybe even Virginia."

"I thought about it, but...I'm a firm believer in the Peter Principle. Alec is okay as a relief Commander, but full-time...no. Acting as SHADO's Exec is his limit. Virginia was asked, and I'm sure she'd make a really good Commander, but she simply wasn't interested - too busy with her research. And Paul Foster, well, as competent as he is, he's a little too headstrong...especially after those damn treatments," he chuckled ironically.

Paul had benefited enormously; he'd always been fit and vigorous, of course, but now he took great pleasure in showing up new twenty-something recruits in training, running them ragged while barely being out of breath himself. Alec, too, had found a new lease of life; he was rumoured to have a live-in girlfriend, but Ed didn't believe it and had never even considered abusing SHADO resources - or Alec's trust - to find out.

"As for Kelly, the main reason was...he's like me."

"Stubborn, opinionated, fanatically dedicated?" Kate teased. But Ed didn't rise to it.

"No...I mean, like me."

"Oh," Kate murmured, seeing it now. "Oh, crap."

"Are you two going to be talking shop?" Kate scolded five hours later as Kelly McAllister, the new Commander of SHADO, got out of the gull-wing SHADO executive car and the two warmly shook hands.

Ed looked hurt. "Kathryn, you know me."

"Yes, Ed, I do," she retorted, but kissed him on the nose anyway. "I'll make supper. Don't be late, you two. It'll be dark soon."

"So," Kelly observed, as they took a walk along the otherwise empty beach (though a protection detail was, they both knew, nearby but out of sight), "retirement really seems to suit you, Ed - you look younger, the treatments notwithstanding." And he did; the shadows in his eyes, which his closest colleagues, in an attempt at bleak humour, had always called 'the SHADOs', were gone. They had been replaced by the light of fatherhood, and the change was good to see.

"And you look older," Ed returned. "Maybe you should start with 'em."

"Your fault," Kelly jokingly accused. "I was happy in the STAND."

"Oh, come on," the older man smiled, "you were looking for a challenge."

"I wasn't looking for a bloody headache!" But he was laughing now. He knew Ed was right; command suited him, and it wasn't as if he didn't get to exercise his analytical skills - far from it.

"So, other than seeing a broken-down old man, what brings you here?"

"A feeling," Kelly replied soberly. "They're up to something, I know it. I just...I don't know how I know."

"I do," Ed murmured, "the same way I always did. Remember Croxley?" Kelly nodded grimly. "He wasn't the only one of his kind, just the most powerful...the only one the Aliens ever made direct contact with. But afterwards I got curious, and started a little investigation. You'll find the results in the Lunar Archives, filed under 'Nostradamus'." He explained; Kelly listened, fascinated...and not a little worried.

"So I'm right?" he wondered.

"Well, we could deduce it just from the pattern," Ed noted. "A gradual tapering-off of UFO attacks. Given that we know theirs is a dying world, desperately short on resources..." he shrugged, "they have to be taking austerity measures."

"But austerity won't save them," Kelly observed. "There's only one thing that will...Earth."

"Which means?"

"Which means that I'm right," Kelly nodded grimly, "they're coming. They have to."

"And SHADO has to be ready," Ed agreed. "Will it be?"

"As things stand...I doubt it," Kelly admitted soberly. "The latest analyses don't look good. However, we did get a lucky break recently. I can't discuss it with you, as you don't have your full security clearance any more, but..." he trailed off.

"Oh, I know about that," Ed dismissed it easily, "that 'mysterious crash' in the Dead Sea...near Skydiver Three's deployment zone?" he added astutely. "I think I can guess what that 'break' was - something I never managed in over thirty years, though hardly for want of trying, believe me. Well done, Kelly."

"Note to self," Kelly said wryly, "do not, ever, try to keep secrets from Ed Straker, the shrewdest son of a bitch to be born in centuries."

"What's your general plan?" Ed inquired later, as they made their way back towards the house after a brisk walk that would placate his doctor. Kate would, he knew, be applying the finishing touches about now. He loved her cooking; even something as simple as toast tasted better somehow when she prepared it.

"Expand, invest, use the, uh, 'break' to develop new tech."

"It'll take time - probably years," Ed cautioned, "and it'll cost."

"I know. But I have an idea about that." He grinned. "I'll take a leaf out of your book."

"I wouldn't play any kind of shell game if I were you," Ed warned seriously. "I'm afraid Henderson got wise to that the third or fourth time I tried it. He'd eat you alive." He looked disgusted, as he always had, at the notion that the very survival of Mankind could come down to whether or not it could be paid for.

Had it been up to him, various billionaires and corporations would've been taxed almost to bankruptcy to pay for a real defensive organisation, one that could resist anything the Aliens could throw at them. SHADO would have received top priority on UN funding, second only to humanitarian, environmental and conservation concerns. Hell, he'd have saturated the entire inner solar system with defensive stations, all the way out to Jupiter if need be.

If only, he thought tiredly. But it wasn't his problem any more.

"I was thinking more along the lines of misdirection, Ed," Kelly informed him. Now it was his turn to explain; when he was done, Ed nodded slowly.

"That's neat. It'll work." He paused and gave Kelly a sideways look. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Kelly didn't bother dissembling. There was no point; Ed Straker was too shrewd. "I think we've got a...well, not a spy per se." He shook his head in bafflement, running a hand through his thinning hair. "To be honest, I'm not sure what the hell he is. For one thing they've barely touched him, and for another he's in the wrong place." Again, he explained.

"Mmm," Ed reflected. "How much of a security risk is he?"

"Well, that's just it...he isn't, not where he is. I don't get it."

Ed didn't reply for a while. He was too preoccupied remembering Croxley, and his final moments:

John Croxley's ruined house

34 years ago

The literally unearthly voice protested: "Our planet is dying. Our natural resources are exhausted, we must come to Earth. We must come to Earth to survive!"

That had only confirmed their speculative theories as to why the Aliens came.

But then the voice cried out, through Croxley:

"We mean no harm to peoples of Earth. Why do you attack us? We're fighting for existence! You must understand!"

He'd struggled with the meaning of that for years.

"Why do you attack us?" It made no sense for them to ask such a question. Surely it was obvious.

Or was it?

Three years before retiring he'd finally arrived at a tentative explanation, based on everything the Aliens were known to have done and various incidents suspected to be Alien-related. He had no real evidence whatsoever for his theory, and no possible way of gathering any. But he'd concluded it was worth pursuing because if he was right...then there was a chance they could end it, in the way he'd always hoped was possible: not by destroying the Aliens, or keeping them at bay until they died out, but by negotiation.

But he knew, with the brutal self-honesty he'd always found to be so necessary, that he was not the man for that job. He was and always had been a soldier, and this needed a diplomat, albeit one who'd sat in the Responsibility Seat. More, it needed someone who was...attuned, as he'd privately come to think of it. One of the earliest observations he'd made while researching Nostradamus was a clinical assessment of his own performance, to ascertain the reason he was so successful at discerning and thwarting the Aliens' strategies. He'd come to understand why it was so, and resolved to find another like himself.

It wasn't long before he did.

Kelly McAllister - single, mature although relatively young, no attachments (at least, not since the tragic death of his lover while they were both still cadets in training), elevated to Section Chief of SHADO's Strategic & Tactical Analysis Division, known colloquially as 'the STAND'. He'd quickly proven himself to be far and away the best strategic and tactical analyst SHADO had ever recruited. Ed's research showed why.

And it was time Kelly knew, too. So Ed told him everything.

"So that's it," Kelly breathed. "No wonder you picked me." His voice rose. "You scheming bastard! Of all the -"

"I did what I had to do, Kelly," Ed snapped, "and I would again! You're the only man in SHADO who can do this, if it can be done at all! All I have is a theory! It'll be up to you to prove it!"

Kelly didn't bother asking 'And what if you're wrong?' That one was all too obvious. Instead he said only, "Jesus, Ed...that's a hell of a note."

"It's our best chance," Ed told him quietly, "ours...and theirs."

As one, they looked up at the night sky, and the stars which held such promise...

...and such threat.