Alien Disaster by Rob May Page B

time that Highgate Cemetery had also been hit.
    ‘That’s where The Grand Hotel was,’ Brandon said. ‘So that’s where we’re going.’
     
    They walked cautiously through the quiet suburban estates. There was no sign of normal Sunday morning life; no kids playing in the streets; no adults out walking, jogging or washing cars in drives. All the houses looked empty. Brandon kept his eyes open for soldiers, aliens or any kind of aircraft.
    Kat seemed oblivious and chattered away.
    ‘So, these aliens. Where could they have come from? Another universe far, far away?’
    ‘There’s only one universe, Kat,’ Brandon said. ‘The universe is supposed to include everything, after all. But there are billions of planets in this galaxy, let alone the whole universe, so I reckon they must have come from somewhere nearby.’
    ‘Nearby? Like … Mars?’
    ‘Well, maybe not that near. It depends on how fast they can get around. Even a nuclear pulse-propelled rocket would take four-hundred or so years to get to Alpha Centauri—the nearest solar system—so either they’ve been travelling for a very long time, or they’ve developed some form of faster-than-light travel—’
    ‘Who cares where they’re from or how they got here,’ Jason interrupted. ‘What I want to know is where, and how hard, to hit them to make them go down.’
    ‘Between the legs?’ Kat giggled.
    ‘But what if they’re not male?’ Brandon wondered. ‘Or what if they keep their reproductive organs—I don’t know—under their tongues or something?’
    ‘Those super soldiers on the train had some pretty interesting weaponry,’ Jason went on, ignoring Brandon. ‘I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on one of those wicked-looking machine guns.’
    ‘Or one of those alien laser blasters!’ Kat said.
    ‘I think that you might have to wait a few years before you can sign up,’ Brandon reminded Jason.
    ‘Don’t be stupid,’ he said. ‘When we’re some of the last few humans to have survived the alien apocalypse, they’re not going to be fussy about who they hand the guns out to. Wait here; I need to pee.’
    Brandon and Kat stood about awkwardly while Jason watered the flowers down the side of one of the houses.
    ‘That’s better!’ he said as he returned. ‘I didn’t want to go while we were in the container!’
    ‘You didn’t wash your hands,’ Kat scolded him.
    ‘Look out!’ Brandon said.
    Two silver saucers were flying high overhead. Brandon led the others quickly under the cover of an empty garage that had been left open. They peered out cautiously. In the morning light they could see the saucers in greater detail; they were about twenty metres in diameter, almost flat at the edges but with a spherical centre where the cockpit must be. On the underneath, a ring of glowing blue circles suggested some form of propulsion.
    Both saucers slowed down and hovered above them.
    ‘They must have seen us,’ Brandon said. Jason swore.
    Then one of the saucers exploded in a massive orange fireball. The other immediately sped away, pursued by two sleek grey fighter jets.
    ‘Alright! The RAF have got our back!’ Jason said. ‘Now come on! Let’s get to that crater and find out what’s left of Brandon’s mum.’
    Brandon gritted his teeth and followed.
     
    Hiding behind the smashed windows of a deserted ice-cream shop, they looked across at the fenced-off crater that had once been Brighton’s Grand Hotel. There were still people on the streets here, running back and forth with stuff looted from the nearby shopping center. An army truck rolled by, evacuation orders issuing from its roof-mounted speakers.
    When it was clear, Brandon, Kat and Jason went up to the wooden fence and looked through a gap at the rubble-strewn crater beyond. Brandon just stared at the mess for five minutes. It was probable that his mother had died here, and all her secrets were lost forever; but what else could he do but come here and hope? He felt the primal