GENESIS - THE BEGINNING. Book 1

CHAPTER 19 ... Plus 32 Hours and counting, Overlord

SIRE.

"Is it time?" she looked up into the darkened sky.

NOT FOR A SHORT WHILE YET SIRE. REPORTING CORRELATION OF INCONSISTENCY AMONGST THE INVADING FORCES. HAVE REPORTED SOME SORT OF ILLNESS.

"An illness?" she asked in alarm, "What sort of illness?"

UNCONFIRMED AS OF YET SIRE. SPECIAL FORCES HAS DETERMINED THAT IT IS BETTER TO WAIT FOR MORE INFORMATION BEFORE ATTAINING ONE OR MORE OF THE REMAINS FOR FURTHER LABORATORY ANALYSIS.

She thought this through for a moment, "Agreed. Though I notice you said remains. Are they dying?" she asked truly alarmed now.

SIRE.

"This could be an outbreak of some sort of ... of trauma they developed after traveling such vast distances. Or maybe it's an outbreak of some disease they brought with them. Have any similar reports been made throughout the Empire?" she worriedly got to her feet and dusted her skirt off.

NONE SIRE. IT SEEMS THAT THIS MALADY IS RESTRICTED TO THE INVADERS AT THE MOMENT. ALL REPORTED CAPTURED ENEMY ARE IN RELATIVE GOOD HEALTH EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. THERE ARE THE TYPICAL RESULTANT BROKEN APPENDAGES OR INTERNAL INJURIES ATTAINED WHILE QUESTIONING, BUT NONE SHOW SYMPTOMS OF THE ILLNESS.

"I do not like this new illness. It scares me. We have not had any break out of illnesses for ...When was the last time a disease of this magnitude was reported?'

NINE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN YEARS AGO SIRE. SEVEN CITIZENS PERISHED.

"Nine hundred ...? How many of the invaders have died so far?" She had not grasped the number previously mentioned.

OUR TOTAL IS UNCONFIRMED SIRE, THOUGH WHAT IS, COMES TO A TOTAL OF ONE THOUSAND AND NINETY-TWO MEMBERS .

"That many?" she gasped in surprise. "Well it sure cuts down on the overall count we have to kill." She breathed deeply as fear got a foothold on her imagination. "No." she shook her head determinedly. "Get me somebody suitable out here to attain one or more of the dead and if at all possible, a few sick prisoners. Have them start with investigations into this outbreak. Oh. And remind me about those prisoners when this war is over."

SIRE.

"How long before we attack."

"Twenty minutes Sire," a voice at her side made her jump as she peered into the darkness. "You are a quiet man Colonel." She said.

"Part of my makeup Sire. We are ready."

"Are you positive Colonel that we cannot bring our big guns into play? Our armed forces are twiddling their thumbs and screaming to be involved. There is quite a lot of the enemy spread about my world and I frankly cannot keep our forces underground for much longer."

"As I live and breathe Sire." He removed his head covering so she could see his face in the gloom. "I agree completely with Admiral Blair, the moment we show our tanks and mechanized units, they will be destroyed. We have to wait for him to give us the go ahead but I must add Sire, there is some good news. We are bringing some of our heavy guns forward in ones and twos. Nothing much and at a snail's pace I agree, but should we speed things up now, the enemy would lay waste to all our forces. We have not prepared ourselves for a ground-to-space war. It's either up there or down here where it gets dirty. In the future ..."

"In the near future Colonel," she abruptly cut in. "I guarantee military installations with missiles and what have you. In space and on the ground! I will not be caught out like this again. This war would be lost from day one were it not for the Polrobs and the Annular." She watched as he replaced his hood and his head vanished. "We have much to be grateful for Sire. But now, a short distance from us, our own war is about to begin without us. Shall we?"