Day of Reckoning, Part 3

by Richard Fowler

Continuing Richard Fowler's 6-part science fiction story based on the truth.  Please read Richard's personal story first. Enjoy...

About Richard Fowler
Born and raised in Virginia but no stranger to South Carolina with roots in the upstate going back to the 18th century, Richard has been homeless practically since he hit the streets of Charleston.  He is now hard at work getting some kind of an act together and hopes to take it on the road in the very near future.

Part III

“Not too big to sail,” giggled a drunk in the crowd.
 
As everyone watched and cameras recorded it, the entire 88 story Golden Sacks building then faded and disappeared.  The light beams shut off and the silvery craft, one after the other, rose and accelerated until they too were out of sight.

“They disintegrated it!” gasped the network anchorman, “clearly an act of war!  It’s a war between the worlds!”

Air Force jets arrived on the scene seconds later but the frustrated pilots could only report there was no target.  Any hostages within the building were beyond rescue.
 
World Reaction.  A sneak attack on sovereign American soil by an unknown party with highly advanced technology was a troubling thing, to be sure.  People were aroused somewhat in the manner of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, and yet there was, interwoven with the initial resentment, evidence of mixed feelings.  If this was an attack by aliens bent on destruction, conquest or some other unsavory hostility, why the focus on just one building in one city?

Another consideration: not everyone was grief-stricken by the apparent destruction of the most powerful corporation in a world increasingly dominated by corporations.  Those media outlets that were pleased to accommodate the rich and powerful did their cheerleading best to rouse the public to unite behind the remaining corporate entities.  The missing top executives of Golden Sacks were presented as martyred saints ---presumably for the holy cause of capitalism.  “The whole world must band together in the face of this terrifying threat,” said the Right-wing talking heads, “and lock down all the troublemakers who could well be in cahoots with the aliens in their master plan to take over.”  That kind of ominous talk leaning toward martial law and massive detention went on for about two weeks and then, strangely, dried right up.

Mostly there was just a lot of confusion because nobody knew anything about the attackers nor could anyone even say for sure what had happened.  Not everyone was content to think as they were told.  Most scientific experts investigating the former site of the building were of the opinion that it had not been disintegrated, as there would be some kind of discernible residue.  Other so-called experts questioned these findings, suggesting that maybe these guys were so advanced that they could disintegrate a skyscraper really a lot and leave nothing behind at all.  Anyway, if it wasn’t zapped then what did happen?  Hah?  C’mon, eggheads, where’d it go?  Nobody had an answer but more than one researcher pointed out that if they’d simply disintegrated Golden Sacks, then why go to all the trouble of separating it from the surface and raising it up in the air?

Alice Corwin, a reporter on the scene wrote her eyewitness article focused on the refugees from Golden Sacks, many of whom were to become noted celebrities making the rounds of talk shows.  According to Corwin, there were many accounts depicting the attackers as being anything but monsters.  The black-clad soldiers had gone about ushering the people toward the exits with an air of urgency, but they had not been brutal about it.  In fact, they had shown deference to the elderly who could not move as quickly as the others.  One 7-month pregnant woman spoke of displays of kindness as she was helped onto the elevator and out the exit.  The evacuees were encouraged not to dawdle, but the pace was at all times orderly and no one was hurt.  What to make of such incongruities?  Apparently, someone decided that the masses didn’t need to be burdened with the whole story. 
 
Stay tuned for the next episode!