THE SON OF ELI

CHAPTER 3: NUKING THE THING

They agreed to nuke it.

Fifty-seven presidents agreed to send a measured and specific nuclear bomb into the Sinaki region of the Kingdom of Eden to obliterate this diabolic alien, and the king of Eden reluctantly agreed.

It had not been an easy decision from the beginning but, ten minutes to the end of a two-hour intensive meeting, the decision had been fast and unanimous although the presidents of the African countries had expressed misgivings – bordering on fear – at the prospect of a nuclear bomb in Africa.

With the aid of advanced technology, the presidents were briefed about the threat of the alien in a close online meeting by Mr Sho Kawasaki of the Kawasaki Astrobiology Centre.

Mr Kawasaki was a sixty-five-year-old Japanese millionaire who had inherited his wealth from his grandfather. The Kawasakis had one thing in common: they had always believed that human beings were not alone and out there in the mysterious outer space, other life forms existed.

They had propagated beliefs and published their research findings widely but with little to show in physical and tangible evidence that humans were not the only life forms with intellect and advancement.

They had not been taken seriously, until now.

Sho Kawasaki was needed; he had become prominent, an authority in the madness that was now running the affairs of the world, and they all wanted to listen to him. Over the years, he and his family had developed equipment, materials, communications modes and a plethora of experience that was needed direly now.

He and four assistants were dispatched from Japan via a special UN plane to the United States and taken to the crisis centre meeting chaired by the president and connected to other world leaders. Sho Kawasaki was taken to the data room and given pictures and videos garnered so far from the site for analysis and possible direction.

The elderly, wiry man set up his machines and began feeding data into them. It took about an hour before he spoke, and his words were damning to the ears of the world leaders waiting for him.

"The alien assimilated the humans for energy," he said unsteadily, and his face was covered with a sheen of sweat despite the air-conditioned room. There was a beat of silence from the many people who had heard Mr Sho Kawasaki. The tension was slowly mounting in the control centre, and it took the president of the United States to break the ice by asking a simple question.

"Mr Kawasaki, what exactly do you mean by assimilation?"

The old man pointed at the sharp images on the screen. They showed a collection of debris, weapons, and hard, white human bones, and then he spoke quietly in near-flawless English.

"I'm being very careful here and basing my assumptions on the images and videos I have seen, and my observation of the purple visitor, as you call the alien. I studied its prolonged descent through the Purple Threat and saw it falling. The first thing I want us to remember is that it might have been falling for a long time before crashing on the Sinaki Plateau. I assume that it is very hurt and weak, and that is why it remains inside the crater."

"It makes sense," the Russsian president said in the brief silence that reigned. "Please continue."

"I was looking at the way the soldiers lost their lives," the expert said sombrely. "Their fleshes were torn off their skeletons before their internal organs. We see their bones littering the field with no flesh on them or marrow inside. My first impression was that the fleshy parts were burnt by the amazing energy the alien released. However, closer inspection showed that in the purple blast, a faint line of white was detected travelling towards the alien. After the first strike, it was able to generate enough energy to cover the crater and attack the soldiers above the crater. Gentlemen, I wish it is not so, but I strongly suspect the entity assimilated the soldiers."

"You mean he ate them?" the Nigerian president asked in an unsteady voice.

"Not exactly, sir," Mr Kawasaki said. "I mean he used a technology – a superior technology – to convert flesh, tissues and organs to energy, to make itself stronger, but not enough to make it get out of the crater."

"Jesus," the king of Eden said with horror. "Are you saying this alien – the entity, as you put it – has developed a taste for humans, and could decide to kill more?"

Mr Sho Kawasaki's face looked haunted as he sighed and passed an unsteady hand across his face.

"I'm saying this thing is still weak but can make itself stronger by assimilating more flesh, yes."

"And what happens when it gets stronger?" the Chinese president asked.

Kawasaki shrugged.

"That I do not know," he said gravely. "It can decide to go back to where it came from, which poses a greater threat and danger to us. If it goes, will it remain gone? What if they lack energy or fuel wherever it came from? Would it use earth as a replenishing source of energy? Would it bring more of its kind to energize? The real question is, how many of us would he need to replenish his energy and gain his strength?"

"Can you communicate with it?" the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom asked in a voice that evidenced his anxiety. "That is what you do, right? That is your field, isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is," Mr Kawasaki said calmly. "I was very excited at first, but after I saw how it attacked the men and killed them, I'm convinced of its destructive nature and how lethal it can be. Any alien that sees humans as fuel is not the kind of entity we need to play diplomatic games with. I'm sorry, but that thing must not be allowed to leave, and certainly, it should not be allowed to stay alive here! Now that it is still weak – my assumption - we must deal with it. Later, we can study its parts!"

"I beg to differ!" the Ghanaian president said quickly. "How do we know this appearance of the foreign entity is not planned or coordinated? What if it was a failed expedition to earth, a sort of mission from wherever it is coming from?"

"My sentiments exactly," said the German chancellor. "The alien represents a clear and present danger, I understand, but if we can capture it and communicate with it, interrogate it, get more information, it might stand us in good stead. Killing this one might not prepare us for an invasion if it was on their platter!"

"I want to have that interaction with that entity more than any of you!" Sho Kawasaki shouted, his abrasive voice shocking most of them. "My family has been in this business for decades, dedicating our very lives for a day like this! But this thing should not be toyed with! It has shown its resistance to our weapons and how it can kill ruthlessly. By all means, capture it if you can, but I don't think that will work! The threat this alien presents to earth should be eliminated by destroying it."

His voice trailed off, and he looked at the faces of the powerful people in the world on the screens around him. His expression was wild, defiant and brimming with anger. However, beneath it all, his fear was apparent.

"I still insist we try to understand our enemy and the true danger its presence here on earth symbolizes," the German chancellor said calmly. "True, we might take a bit of a beating, but eventually a greater understanding of our enemy would stand us in good stead if the need arises to engage its kin and ilk in a future battle."

Opinions were divided along these two possible actions for a while. Either catch it and understand it or simply blast it to oblivion. As the exchanges went on, it appeared the German chancellor's option was gaining supremacy.

Then the king of the kingdom of Eden spoke in his usual deep voice, and people listened.

"This thing landed on my land," he said gently. "For a week it tore a hole in the sky that filled us with horror. When it fell down that hole, aircraft crashed, satellites fell, ships sank, and mayhem ruled. The force of its landing opened up a giant yawning crater and completely eradicated the Sinaki tribe. Now, we learn that thing – whatever it is – fed on human beings, trained soldiers, that is, and gained enough power to kill all those around. Now, I understand you people trying to rationalize this and think of possibilities of capturing it. It is different if it is cowering in fear or learning to speak, or is as fragile as the alien we saw in ET. No, this thing has killed hundreds of people even in its weakened state. As you wait to make up your mind, it can turn the people – my nearest people, my continent where it chose to land – into fodder! By the time you decide to do something about it, it might have used my people as fuel! No, gentlemen, ladies, no. We must get rid of it!"

There was silence for a while as the world's powerful people pondered this.

"I take it the Sinaki region is comparatively remote?" the Indian president asked.

"It is," King Eli Kem of the kingdom of Eden said with a nod. "A wide area reserved for its rich trees, a natural forest that was inhabited by the shepherds who have refused to leave."

"A nuclear bomb," the French president said presently. "Well-targeted. It will eliminate the entity, but you could lose that forest."

"If it will make my people live and not turned into fuel for some alien, so be it," King Eli Kem said gently. "If the aftermath of toxic pollution can be reduced to the minimal and contained, it could be our only shot since it is evident TPV is impervious to our guns."

The idea of a nuclear bomb on African soil did not please the other African presidents, but it did not take long to convince them that it was the only avenue open. Furthermore, since it would be a tactical nuclear weapon targeting a single geographical formation, destruction would be limited.

And that was how the world leaders decided to nuke the thing.

The Russian warship, the Chernaya Ptitsa, was carrying three strategic nuclear bombs and the decision was to deliver one directly into the crater.

The jet plane left the deck of the warship with the nuclear bomb. Its progress was watched by apprehensive world leaders and by many state agencies involved in the controlling of the situation.

The fear was in the possibility of the alien entity attacking the aircrew before the nuke could be released. As it turned out, the purple cloud inside the crater had reduced again, thankfully, and the jet plane had one pass and released the nuclear missile.

It left the plane in a low arc, zooming directly into the crater on guided coordinates.

As the jet fighter spun away safely into the distance, the nuclear weapon hissed its way directly into the crater.

A minute later, the crater exploded in a horrible visual mushroom of fire, heat and smoke, the sheer powerful effect shaking the cameras of the satellite filming it!

The Sinaki Plateau disintegrated in an explosive wave, the power of it shocking the earth into breaking, the aftershock spreading through the forest trees and breaking them in a wide, circular arc!

The explosion was met by loud cheers and shouts from many control rooms and presidential halls!

It was an achievement, a collaboration of the world, a unity of ranks to come together to defeat a terrible enemy! This meant the initial threat had been sorted out and countries could now go back and plan for the future aware that there was something out there that could threaten the safety and peace of the world.

There was relieved laughter, the patting of backs, congratulatory messages and great sighs as the tension wound down and the dust began to settle.

Seemingly, it was a job well done.

Seemingly, yes, because when the dust settled and the satellite camera took its first picture of the former Sinaki Plateau, it revealed something that made the smiles disappear and made voices choke in mid sentences.

The pictures showed the plateau had been levelled, yes, and the top edge of the crater had been blown away, yes.

But the rest of the crater was still standing!

Stripped of the surrounding earth around it, it now looked like an earth bowl sitting on the forest bed! The satellite was angled above the bowl and a direct downward image was taken. It showed the thing still sitting comfortably inside the crater and emitting that maddening purple cloud again!

Slowly, the purple cloud thickened and filled the crater!

It did not stop there, though. The purple cloud seemed to spill over the sides of the pot-like structure until it completely covered it. Finally, a strange shape appeared in four locations on the crater.

It was three red concentric circles.

"Oh, s**t!" Sho Kasawaki said with horror, his voice trembling badly. "It has cocooned itself and showed us a type of introduction! Those concentric circles… it wants us to know what it is! That purple cloud is impervious to any attack, and that is why it survived the nuclear bomb! It is digging in, no doubt, to make itself stronger."

"What are you talking about?" the American president asked with disgust. "What do you mean by that?"

"That thing is digging in, Mr President," Sho Kawasaki said, his voice still horrified. "I still believe it is hurt and weak, but it plans to stay here and make itself stronger, get its nutrients to heal itself."

"Nutrients?"

"Human flesh and organs are broken down into whatever components it uses to assimilate them!"

"Damn!" the German chancellor said, horrified. "For how long? In what quantities? And what happens when it gets stronger?"

"If f***s us up, Mr President," Sho Kawasaki whispered.

Suddenly, the earlier atmosphere of achievement and happiness disappeared, and in their places were despair, fear and the beginning of panic!