Thayne felt a wave of discomfort and mild dizziness surge through him that had nothing to do with the stifling heat of the waning August sub still blazing overhead. A feeling of being watched thrummed through every inch of him. He looked around but the only one paying him any mind was Leta. She waived to him, standing as he was in line for tickets for the four of them. She turned back to Sue and Rich, their longtime friends and who had jumped at the opportunity for this double date.
He had volunteered to stand in line to get the tickets for the rides here at the fair. The midday heat was starting to make the sweat drip down the back of his neck. His nearly six feet of height was enough to let him see over most of the crowd as he neared the booth. He still could not shake the chill that had shivered down his spine.
He wasn't as tall as Rich who looked like an oversized scarecrow at 6'5". Rich was lean to the point of being wiry and it made him look awkward and gangly, which was why people often underestimated him when it came to athletics. With his dark brown hair and blue eyes it was only his own awkwardness that had kept him dateless until Sue came along. Thayne on the other hand had a bit more muscle on him but not so much as to make him look bulky, with cheek bones a little too high to be classically handsome Thayne was nevertheless a handsome man, enough so as to keep Leta on the defensive against any of the more aggressive women they found themselves crossing paths with.
Thayne thought Leta was gorgeous although she thought her looks were too delicate clashing starkly wither tomboyish nature. It annoyed her to be called petite but she was and that suited Thayne just fine, with her dark brown hair and liquid brown eyes she was so cute it made his heart ache to look at her. Sue was taller and slightly curvier with blonde hair and green eyes, but just as beautiful in her own way and it constantly amazed Rich that she chose him. Thayne thought they made a cute couple and was glad his friend found someone that could see the goofy slightly nerdy man as a catch worth keeping.
The din of the crowd and the clacking and clanging of the rides began to dim and fade as he centered himself. He tried to focus on the thing that was out of place, that tingling just at the edge of his awareness that said something was off. The tingle of someone or something concentrating on him as he was trying to focus on his surroundings.
Nothing stood out as he isolated the different sounds and sensations around him, nothing that is until a coolness washed over him and a shadow fell over the area around him. A shadow that blotted the sun out too quickly and completely to be a stray cloud obscuring the sun. An unnatural lull in the roar of the crowd began to settle in.
Thayne turned his gaze to the sky and stiffened in shock and disbelief like so many around him. He began to slide out of line, instinctively moving in the direction of Leta and their friends without removing his eyes from the sight that loomed impossibly above them. A massive form resembling the warships depicted in so many video games with a thickened cleaver blade body that stretched back to engines shaped like triple stacks of cylinders fanning out to the rear, the back ends glowing an ominous red that left blazing trails in the sky. A ship not of any Earthly nation, unless someone was hiding some seriously impressive technology hung in the sky. Massive, it cast a shadow over nearly a third of the city. The stylized symbol of a blazing phoenix in blue stood out against the paint on the ship.
Leta's Hands clamped down on his arm as he nearly ran in to her in his daze of shock. The ship above began dispersing smaller craft that looked like a swarm of insects from where they stood. They spread like a cloud across the sky blocking yet more of the late afternoon sun.
"What is that?" There was a tremor of fear in her voice.
"Something out of science fiction or maybe a mass hallucination, I am personally hoping for the second option. That can't be a starship, we don't have that kind of technology. No one has that kind of technology, right?" He wasn't really expecting an answer. No one caught the flicker in the sky as the small stealthed ship that had detached itself from the shadowy side of the moon flashed past and set down in a small clearing just off the fairgrounds.
"What do we do?"
Thayne opened his mouth to answer when a near deafening whine of feedback squealed from every electronic device with a speaker, including the cellphones in each of their pockets. Even the PA speakers for the fairgrounds kicked on.
A stern voice came on, "people of TerraSol, rejoice. Your liberation is at hand .The Glory of the Holy Phoenix has come to Lift you from the obscurity and isolation of your ignorance and bring you into the light of the galaxy. Behold the Glory of the light that the Phoenix brings. Raise up and join us to take your rightful place in the galaxy."
That was when the screaming began. Humans in crowds easily become mobs when given the proper stimulus. This was quickly turning into one of those situations. Herd mentality kicks in and people begin to act like animals, panicking and running with no thought or care for the others around them. Nothing terrible or threatening had happened yet but the panic could be felt rising in the air. As the smaller shapes began looming larger as they came closer the first wave started to ripple through the crowd.
"To answer your earlier question, I think getting out of the open would be a good start." Thayne said as he gently turned Leta and pushed her in the direction of the concessions booths in the center of the fairgrounds. "Getting out of the parking lot is a nightmare under regular circumstances so I think heading for the truck is out." He craned his neck to see over the crowds who were already beginning to jostle each other in their haste to reach the exit.
Catching sight of the building at the opposite side of the grounds from the street he had a thought. "The concessions kitchen at the back of the Expo building. Worst case scenario we can hide in the walk-in there, but we should be able to hide amongst the stainless steel counters."
He looked to Rich who nodded and began helping to steer the stunned girls in the direction of the building. They made their way through the hastily abandoned vendor's stalls towards the fountain in the center that divided the concessions stalls nearly in two. This was with the general flow of the herd as it picked up momentum, nearing the peak of stampeding.
They reached the fountains just as a group of A-10's from the nearby Air Force Reserve base roared overhead on an intercept course for the smaller vessels that had come from the central ship. They could now make out more details of those as they approached close enough to be seen clearly. Several of them were the size of the building they were headed towards, dwarfing the approaching A-10's. The earth fighter jets unloaded launching the hellfire missiles they carried and strafing the larger ships with their distinctive nose cannons. The invading ships remained untouched as the missiles and bullets met the invisible walls of shields that protected the advanced ships. The fighter jets were not given the opportunity for another strafing run. As they started to bank they froze in midair as if a giant hand had reached out to grab them and hold them in place. That unseen hand plucked each pilot from their craft and began to real them in as the jets were dropped to fall smashing to earth in distant balls of flame.
They had stopped to observe the spectacle hoping to see the earth fighters put up a resistance. The result left them looking at each other despondently. If that was all the best they could hope to resist, the world stood no chance.
They stood in an oddly quiet little oasis amidst the chaos as the crowd now starting to run parted around them. Or maybe it was around the strange sight that stood between them and the fountain. Standing on the edge of the fountain as if it had not a care in the world was a small reddish brown spotted feline. It watched the chaos with that cool detachment so characteristic of its kind. It cocked its head to the side as it spotted their group. Its luminous green eyes met Thayne's and he thought he saw a flash of something there, like recognition. A sense of otherness washed over him and for a moment the vision of a petite girl with auburn hair and that same unwavering gave superimposed itself over the cat in his mind, but he blinked and it was gone. The cats eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly before it leapt from the fountain and bounded for them jumping to hurl itself into Thayne's arms before scrabbling to his shoulders, settling in with a light purr.
"Not Really the time to be picking up strays, love, but at least she's cute," Leta teased slapping his arm.
Thayne rolled his eyes. "Alien ships have come to convert us into foot soldiers in some galactic holy war, a cat leaping into my arms out of the blue is kind of dull after that.'
"Yeah, par for the course."
"Get your own cute self to cover," he mockingly growled at her. The humor faded from their eyes as they made their way to the back of the convention center. They made their way past abandoned booths to the kitchen area for concessions. They quickly found space for themselves under the stainless steel counters This permanent addition to the building was meant to be rented out for various events or for events like this staffed by fair employees.
Thayne peeked out over the counter. He could see larger figures now amidst the terrified fairgoers. From the light hum and hiss and the distinct footfalls the figures were likely in powered armor. Enhanced exo-skeletal armor that enhanced strength and speed with servo motors and advanced electronics h could only guess at, and likely systems to support alien life forms in Earth conditions.
That theory was quickly put to rest when three of the armored individuals, presumably a fire-team, stepped into the expo building. Their armor had the distinct whir and hum of articulated joints that spoke of the enhanced strength and sealed systems. Powered armor, technology well in advance of current earth standards. Seeing the area empty they apparently decided to take a break. One of the figures took off its helmet with the characteristic hiss as the pressure equalized to the normal atmosphere. Thayne almost gasped giving their position away at the sight of a perfectly human young man with blonde hair and brown eyes turned to speak with a companion. The man wouldn't have stood out amongst the screaming fairgoers without his distinctive armor emblazoned across the chest with the distinctive blue phoenix.
He could hear the words they spoke but it wasn't in any language he could recognize. From the tone of the conversation he could tell they one with his helmet of was getting dressed down for breaking protocol as he quickly put his helmet back on.
Thayne slowly ducked his head back below the level of the counter holding a finger to his lips, he held up three fingers pointing back over the counter. He risked another look over the counter just as a blast of sound came over the armored figures coms. A voice reminiscent of every drill sergeant ever had the men scrambling back out of the building at a trot.