Chapter 6

Using the old Green Corporation codes for the motion sensors and laser detectors, Maurice turned off the alarm signals. His unit, in their black super outfits, jumped over the barrier. They slowly worked their way down the hill, heading for the facility, hiding among bushes and boulders. Their suits couldn't go invisible like the red suits. They reached the inner perimeter fence and leaped into the Hero compound and community.

The black-suited troops hid behind a group of gardening sheds. A regiment of Heroes was forming in the courtyard. Maurice whispered in the alien language over the coms, "Hold your positions and wait to see what the Heroes do. Do not engage unless they head straight for our position." The team crouched and waited.

The Hero security supervisor assembled the contingent of guards and shouted, "Everyone spread out and head up the hill toward the outer perimeter fence. Search for anything unusual. Activate your molecular olfactory detection function and your binocular vision. Report anything you find immediately."

The guards flew low and slow up the incline, but found, no Large Green Other odors. This Large Green Other special force unit was equipped with the new molecular anti-shedding devices attached to their black suits. No odors would be found from them.

While the Hero security team moved up the hill, the alien lizard military force moved out and ran, crouching for the buildings. A group of five veered off toward the schoolyard, and the rest headed for the Administration building. A Hero came around the corner of the Administration building, and Maurice hit the suit deactivation button, enveloping the Hero in a purple beam. He dropped to the ground unconscious. Another green soldier grabbed the body and tossed it behind the trash container.

Maurice communicated to the troops to activate the black suit camouflage function. They each tapped their belt buckles, their suits changed to red, and the symbol on the chest and buckle reconfigured to the hero insignia. At first glance, you would think they were Heroes. But looking more closely, you could discern the suit's slight differences. The group casually walked into the building and headed for the basement, where the prisoner incarceration cells were located. Two soldiers took the stairs two at a time and ascended to the fifth floor for access to the roof.

The now red-suited, Large Green Others heading for the school passed a few other Heroes, nodded, and smiled as if they were there daily. They entered the Hero School main office, smiled, and one asked, "I'm wondering if you could help me?" and pulled out the suit deactivation rod from behind the cape. He pressed the button to deactivate the suits of the two front-office Heroes.

After he was released from the security office, Herman returned to work as the assistant teacher. It was quiet rest time for the 5-6-year-olds at the Hero school.

When he walked in the door, Chandler, the Hero teacher for the class, said, "Good, your back. I'm going to take a short break," and left the assistant teacher in charge of the children. The students all sat with their heads down on their desks, taking a short nap.

Herman sat at the teacher's desk next to the classroom entry door when the sound of thumps came from the front office as the Heroes fell unconscious and landed on the floor. He got up and glanced through the small window in the door; five rather big Heroes stood in the office with Mary and Alice on the floor in the adjoining room. Confused, he didn't understand what he was seeing.

Chandler walked into the office, and one of the big guys pointed a strange rod at him. Enveloped in a purple beam, Chandler dropped to the floor like Mary and Alice. Then he realized that the five huge Hero's suits appeared different from the standard red super outfits. The piping was wider and an unusual shade of silver, more of a gray. They must be Large Green Others! They actually breached the compound barriers.

He turned and looked at the children with concern, wanting to protect them. He went around to the young students and told them in a whisper to go to the recreation closet and be quiet. It's a game. Each child glanced up, smiled, and thought, 'Oh, a good new game,' and quietly walked to the closet. They all huddled together in the back of the small room.

He whispered, "We are playing that Large Green Others have invaded the Hero compound, and we must hide here. Be very quiet. We don't want them to hear us." A few of the students giggled, but everyone remained silent. Herman picked up a baseball bat and stood off to the side of the door, listening for anyone coming into the classroom.

One red-suited Large Green Other entered each classroom and pointed the suit deactivation rod at the teacher. The Heroes fell to the floor, with their suits deactivated. Knowing their teachers were Heroes and nothing should harm them, the children shrieked in shock at seeing their teachers unconscious.

The children's screams echoed from the other classrooms, startling Herman, and he knew he had to do something to protect the students. He stood ready with his muscles taught, and his heart rate increased for whatever might come through the door.

Herman waited, hearing footsteps in the room. The doorknob turned, and the door opened. Some of the children screamed. Herman swung the bat with all his strength and smashed the Large Green Other in the face. The alien plummeted backward, unconscious. He ran forward and pulled the deactivation rod from the green other's hand, not knowing what the device was, only that it could take down a Hero.

The invader's suit returned to black, its actual color, and his human disguise went down, revealing the alien's lizard-like face with chin and crest horns. He learned from his Hero League training that the aliens weren't actually lizards but only happened to appear similar to Earth lizards. Some of the children continued to scream.

Moving fast, he removed the dark suit from the alien, understanding it was their power source. He pulled jump ropes from the storage hooks, tied the alien's hands and ankles, and covered his mouth with a towel. Behind the cape, he found the alien's energy beam weapon. He remembered this from his training and knew this could kill the Large Green Others and non-suited humans. He dragged the green alien into the closet.

He gently told the children, "Stay in the closet and be quiet. I am going to see what happened in the other classrooms." With fear in their eyes, now knowing that this was not a game and it was real, the students all nodded, some crying from what they had witnessed.

Herman ran over to the door and peered out the window. No green others were in the office area, so he surmised they were each in a classroom. He went out the door and hid behind the front office desk. He yelled, "Hey, guys, come check this out?"

Each classroom door opened, and an alien emerged, holding the energy beam weapon. He jumped up and began shooting them with the gun. A few aimed the suit deactivation rods at him, but the purple beam did nothing to him. The human assistant teacher continued to shoot the green others. One removed his energy beam weapon behind his cape and shot at Herman. The teacher ducked, rolled, and returned fire, hitting the green other square in the chest. The alien went down.

Still in a crouch when the outer door opened, Herman pointed the gun in that direction and, with an automatic reflex, fired the energy beam at the person coming in the door. It was Ralph Hinkley entering the office. The energy beam blasted the First in the chest and pushed him across the hall, crashing against the wall. The First slid down the wall, landing on his butt with his legs splayed out and an astonished expression on his face.

Herman ran to Ralph, "Oh, I'm sorry. I shot automatically. Are you okay?"

The Hero blinked and said, "I wasn't expecting that. It's been a long time since I have been hit by one of those. I'm all right; hurting us takes a few shots." The assistant teacher helped him up to the school front office.

Ralph glared at the four black-suited green others; their lizard faces exposed with a questioning furrow on his brow.

Herman said, "I told your security they were getting ready to cross the fence. They made it. There is another one in my classroom."

The First was dismayed to find Heroes lying unconscious on the floor. He ordered, "Pick up all those suit deactivation rods and collect all the energy beam weapons off these guys."

Herman went around and collected all the weapons. Ralph took one of the deactivation rods, pushed the switch on the rod in the opposite direction, and hit the button to reactivate the Hero suits. He did this for all the Heroes in the room. He went to the other classrooms and did the same for all the other Hero teachers.

He told the students, "Stay in your rooms and be quiet until someone comes to get you. Your teachers will wake up soon. Herman and I will go out and ensure everything is okay."

The children all nodded with fear in their eyes. Ralph could see they were afraid and said, "You are all brave Heroes and will make it through this fine." Making them feel better.

Ralph went to Herman's classroom and found him standing in front of the open door to the recreation closet, with all his students crowded around him in a group hug. Some continued to cry, and he was trying to console them. As the First entered the room, a few children ran to him, hugging him, but most stayed with Herman, having seen how he protected them.

Herman said, "Another green one is tied up in the closet. I hit him with a baseball bat."

"And you took out all the others on your own?"

"Yeah, that's from my many years of playing paintball. The same strategies. And I was pretty good at it."

The teacher bent down and told the children, "We will take you to the 6th-grade group, and you can stay with the older students. The First and I have to go and ensure everything is okay. We will be back once it is safe to come out. You must be quiet and wait. Okay?" Ralph and he shuffled the huddled children over to the 6th-grade room.

The First informed the 6th graders, "You are all the oldest, and I know you can take responsibility for assuring that the little ones are taken care of while Herman and I make sure it is safe. Can I count on you?" They all nodded, "I knew you were my Heroes." This made them feel good.