The Galactic Bride
Chapter 3: The General

It was early afternoon when he heard his father come home downstairs. He normally was home later than that, but naturally the alien arrival in the city must have affected his work. He could hear his booming voice talking to his mother, but what exactly they were talking about he didn't know. Part of him wanted to go downstairs and see if his father learned anything new, but the other part of him didn't want to explain what happened to him.

An hour passed, and Akihiko found himself doodling in his math notebook, having nothing to do. He was sketching out crude little grey men. Normally his doodles were that of chibified versions of girls he liked. But not today. Groaning a both frustrated and bored groan, he tossed his pencil on the desk and leaned back in his chair. He just wished something would happen.

As if on cue, this TV switched on. Akihiko jumped. He looked down at his seat and his feet, wondering if he accidentally sat or stepped on his remote control. But the controller was sitting on his desk still. He stupidly thought that maybe his thrown pencil some how turned it on, but after regaining his common sense he dismissed it. On the screen it was just static. It wasn't on the station it had been on before, it was just static.

Picking up his controller, he pointed it at the TV and switched it off. It must have been some freak electrical surge or something, he reasoned. Though why it would just effect the TV he didn't know. But his set was only off for a moment. It switched back on again without any prompting. Now this was getting weird. He went to change the channel, but the next station was static as well.

Suddenly a logo appeared on the screen. It sort of looked like a wild flower, but nothing he'd ever seen before. The whole picture seemed as if it was some sort of flag, if he were looking at if objectively. There was a violet background with the flower logo shining bright in a gold color. Surrounding the logo was circle of text, though the characters looked more like Runes than anything else.

The flag image disappeared and the face of a woman replaced it. She definitely wasn't Japanese. If anything, she looked European, swedish or something. She had long blonde hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. Along with that she was wearing what looked to be a military uniform, thought it wasn't one he had ever seen before. But it wasn't her outfit or her western features that made her stand out. Protruding from the side of her head were two pointy ears.

"Creatures of this planet, I am General Anura of the Galactic Confederation of Worlds and Interstellar Kingdom of Nimba. For several rotations we have been on a search for one of our own, and we believe that we have located her. Take no action as our main vessel travels to this island city. We will be launching a small transport to collect her shortly. Any resistance will be dealt with by force. That is all."

The screen cut off back to the flag, then static, then to a regular program that was already in progress. Not for long. A news group interrupted and started discussing what just was seen a moment ago. Akihiko found that he could turn off his TV now. He did so, not wanting to let his mother it was on. As stupid of a thought that was, he was more scared of his mother than General Anura.

But he wasn't quick enough. As soon as the TV was off, his door opened and Mama was at the door. Akihiko stammered and tried to explain himself, but she just ran to him and embraced him. She was scared. He hugged her back, wondering if his father was downstairs watching the News repeat and overanalyze everything that was said.

"Come downstairs." Mama said. "I think for tonight we should be together."

Akihiko didn't argue with her. When he reached downstairs he saw his father leaning forward on the couch watching the TV. The News anchor was repeating the General's message again, while the image on the screen was the alien ship itself speeding across the sky. It was moving quick, so most of the footage was amateur cell-phone videos sent into various news stations across the world. Akihiko sat down on the couch, and his Mother sat down next to him, still clinging to him.

"We have confirmed that the Alien General was in fact speaking Japanese-" The broadcast was saying.

"Well of course she was speaking Japanese, we all heard her." His father shouted at the anchor. Akihiko couldn't blame him. Whenever these jokers were off script they seemed to say the most absurd things.

"-question is how did she learn our language?" The Anchor rambled on. "As you can tell from her announcement, she was using a few terms wrong. 'Rotation' instead of 'days', calling us 'creatures' instead of 'humans'-"

"How about you talk the freaking alien they're here to collect!" His father shouted at the TV again. "Don't you think that's more important?" He angrily switched the channel. His mother raised her hand to protest but kept her mouth shut.

"-The golden crest shown in the middle is close to an Egyptian lotus, one can say it's almost stylized-"

"What the hell is this crap?!" His father screamed at the TV again.

"Dear, shouting at the TV won't do much good." Mama told him. "Just calm down."

"That alien ship is going to an island nation, Noriko… and she was speaking in Japanese. That means she's coming here! And these idiots are talking about the stupid logo that appeared before her broadcast!"

"Getting upset won't help matters!" Mama repeated.

But he ignored her and changed the channel. "-it's possible they chose a female representative to alleviate any tensions we may be having to their arrival, Hayasaki-san. We may never-"

But Akihiko was beginning to get tired of the nonsensical broadcasts along with his father. He stood up and told them he was going to the kitchen. His father ignored him, shaking his head tat the TV again. His mother followed him, as if losing site of him would mean that he would disappear. It was clear she was rattled by the whole thing, and his father wasn't helping matters. She started a pot of tea.

"Mama, I need to tell you something." Akihiko thought it was about time he told her about the probe. It was starting to bother him now that the spaceship was coming to Japan. When she turned to him, he explained everything that happened to him after school. How the probe reacted to Hana and Hira, and the difference it took when scanning him. When he had finished, she looked concerned, but not overly so.

"The General person said she was looking for a woman, right?" Mama reminded him. "I don't know why it acted like that, but perhaps another probe found her while it was scanning you, then went to report back to the main ship."

He had thought of that, and hearing his mother say the same thing made him feel slightly better. Still it nagged at him. He wouldn't feel completely right until the aliens collected that girl and did whatever it was they were going to do.

"You don't think the person they are looking for is dangerous, do you?"

"I don't know. But these aliens… Nimba… they don't seemed to be interested in any interference from us. The message was basically telling us to 'Stay out of our way', if you think about it."

Akihiko had to agree with her on that. Before he could comment some more, her pot started to steam and she attended to that. He watched her, now wishing that this whole thing was over. There was something about the way the General casually told the planet that she'd use force. The way she said it made it sound like she wasn't concerned at whatever threat the humans might pose to her.

"Those idiots have finally gotten around to telling us that Alien Ship has been seen heading for Tokyo. They definitely are coming here." His father called from the other room.

"That quick?" His mother was looking at the clock on the stove. "It's only been about an hour since her broadcast."

Akihiko made his way back into the living room just in time to see the smaller craft that the General had mentioned be launched from the main one. It was flagged but what looked like two alien fighters jets. Trailing them was Japan's own aerial teams. Helicopters from the news, police and military, as well as fighter jets shooting by. It looked like a circus.

Even though the News Anchor was describing exactly what was happening on the screen, his father wasn't shouting anymore. His eyes were following the alien ships with much interest. Then Akihiko started to get a sense of dread in my mind. He was recognizing landmarks. This wasn't lost to the others in the room. They too gasped around the same time he had.

The transport was getting closer to their neighborhood… and closer… and closer. Very soon they might see their house. And they did. The transport stopped in midair and slowly lowered itself to the ground. There was no denying it was their home, the sound of their engines could be heard from outdoors now. Akihiko rushed to the window to see the transport land in the middle of the street near their house.

"Some park job." His father said, mainly out of panic. He tend to joke around when he was nervous.

"Why are they coming here?" His mother whimpered. "They're not coming for my son, are they?"

"Why would they?" His father didn't know the probe story. "There are other houses in the area…"

The doors to the transport opened and four people in military uniforms got out of the vehicle, holding what looked to be some type of alien rifle. They soon set a perimeter near the transport as General Anura herself stepped out. The news broadcast before was only a headshot so they couldn't see her full body before. Now that she was out of the vehicle, they could tell she was around six feet tall. Akihiko thought that her uniform looked similar to an old SS uniform from the second World War. Thought of those monsters associated with her made him fear her even more.

Another person came out of the vehicle as well. A smaller woman. She was wearing a uniform too, but she didn't look as scary as the general. Like those around her, she had blonde hair, but hers was short. She had a some sort of device in her hand that could have been a smart phone if she were human. She was spinning around slowly, with her arms pointing ahead of her, obviously scanning the area. Her scans must have been difficult as multiple police and military vehicles were screeching into the area, surrounding the transport. The smaller woman looked a bit unnerved by all that, but the General pushed the woman's head back down indicating to continue the scan.

The smaller woman did as she was told and started spinning around again. But in no time at all she stopped, facing their house. She pointed with her other hand. No doubt about it, they were coming to his house.

"No!" His mother stepped back from the window, clutching her chest.

Within moments there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked at each other. Akihiko had a fleeting thought of not answering the door. But since these were space aliens, who literally just traveled the world in less than an hour, and not at all fazed by the impressive force surrounding them now, they would have no qualms blasting open their door. So, swallowing hard, he went to the door himself and opened it.

Standing before him was the General and the small woman. The solders were now guarding the house's exit. The General lightly slapped the younger woman on the arm and gestured towards him. Squeaking, she pulled out her device and scanned him directly, then looked at the General and nodded. So it was him they were looking for.

"Come with me." The General spoke calmly, and offered her hand to him.

"W-Why?" Akihiko questioned. Was he insane?

"Because if you don't, I will have to force you too." The General told him, still in her calm voice.

He knew she wasn't bluffing. Her eyes were as cold as their grey color. Despite his fear, he stepped outside. His parents weren't far behind. They were running to the door, but the solders stopped them. Akihiko stopped and turned around watching his mother scream for him to come back. He wanted to obey her. The General stopped as well. She withdrew her alien-pistol. Akihiko quickly stood in front of her line of shot, shaking his head.

"I will not harm your care-giver. She had done a great service for the Nimbonian Kingdom." The General spoke after scanning his eyes for a second.

He believed her when she started to holster her pistol. But she never got the chance to completely disarm. Out of the crowd surrounding them, there was a commotion. It was chaotic for sure, but someone had broken through the police barricade and leaped into view. It was Hiro. He looked deranged.

"Leave him alone!" He was shouting.

Akihiko saw some of the soldiers raising their rifles towards Hiro. Once again, he got in the line of fire, shaking his head franticly. "Don't shoot him, he's my friend, he's just scared."

"Come on, Akihiko… lets run!" Hiro was shouting, grabbing his shoulder.

"And go where? Just let go and don't do anything stupid."

"What and blindly going with them is smart?" Hiro spun Akihiko around to they were more or less eye to eye.

"Terran filth, unhand her, immediately!" The General shouted about all the noise around them.

"I wouldn't let you take him!" Hiro shouted, pushed Akihiko to the ground and attempted to charge the General.

But that was a mistake. The next moment Hiro's eyes went blank, and he dropped to the ground. There was no blood, just a burn mark encircling his chest with a small bit of smoke rising from it. Akihiko couldn't believe it. Hiro was dead. Just like that. With no fanfare or anything. Akihiko looked up at disbelief at the General, who now was pointing her pistol at the police surrounding them. He was sure she had shot Hiro, though now she was focused on other targets. It was only now that he realized that all the guns were raised in a sort of stand-off.

"If you open fire on anyone else, we will open be forced to retaliate!" One of the police officers shouted from the crowd.

"Stay out of our way, animals." The General was sneering at them. "Princess, let's go."

At first it didn't dawn on him who she was talking about, but when after a second he realized she was talking about him. "You killed my best friend!"

"Please, do not make this difficult. I do not wish for further deaths, but I will fire on these creatures if you do not comply."

"You killed-"

General Anura walked over to him and pulled him to his feet and away from Hiro's body by the back of his school uniform's collar. He tried to resist but she seemed stronger than him. He looked into the crowd, beyond the police and saw Hana's face looking at her dead brother, tears in her eyes. She turned away, and looked at him. They connected for a brief moment until he was unceremoniously tossed into the transport.

The young woman that was with the General climbed in after him and took a seat meekly next to him. She put on a seatbelt, then pantomimed to him to do the same. His mind was is complete shock be barely understood what was happening. She leaned over and strapped him in herself. He could have sworn she had pity in her green eyes. The General was in next, and soon the soldiers. The transport doors slide shut and he felt it rise from the ground. If he hadn't just seen his friend gunned down in front of him this might have been an adventure.

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