They're Coming

by Seven


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Note from Author:      This one had been rattling around inside my skull for so long, I just had to write it!



**********



Out in southern Canada, several children were playing under the setting sun, which bathed them in a golden glow. "Look!" shouted one of them. "A shooting star!"

A small golden orb was falling from the sky, but it bore no resemblance to a meteor. It was a simple geometric shape, a dark olive-green in color. The children were too far away to see it as it crashed, in a pasture. A large dairy cow approached it and mooed nervously.

****

"I don't see why I need a word association test," Liam griped, sitting down next to Lili in the conference room.

Lili smiled a little. "Play along, Sandoval will kill me if I don't get the required answers from you."

"So what are they?"

"I'm NOT going to tell, Liam!" Lili laughed, pulling out the first card. "You have ten seconds to respond." As Liam sighed and slumped back in his chair, she read the first word, "*Jaridian.*"

"Replicant."

"*Global.*"

"Network."

"*Taelon.*"

"Mothership."

"*Companion.*"

"Agent."

"*Embassy.*"

"Defenses."

"*Newspaper.*"

"Reporter."

"*Cotton.*"

"T-shirt."

Lili sighed and pulled a rubber band around the cards. "I can tell you this much, Liam; your answers were right out in space."

"Why?" Liam asked, confused. "I didn't get them right?"

"In this case, it's not a matter of wrong or right, it's what your personality is like," Lili said, throwing up your hands. "Some of the answers made sense, but... shirts?"

"That wasn't the answer?"

"The answer was supposed to be Annette. Annette Cotton, that lady from Doors International?"

Liam sighed and shrugged. "I've heard of her, but she never really stuck in my mind." His global chirped. He pulled it out and opened it. It was Da'an. "Liam, the mothership is detecting Jaridian energy signatures in southern Canada."

"You want me to find it?"

"Yes. I would also like to accompany you."

Liam froze. "If it's Jaridian, perhaps that's not such a great idea."

Da'an smiled a little. "I will remain in the shuttle whenever possible, but I have greater expertise than you in this matter, Liam. I will be ready in five minutes." He cut the link.

Liam groaned and put away his global. "When he gets stubborn..." He made a chopping motion with his hand.

****

"No," Lili said adamently as the shuttle whizzed through interdimensional. "Jabba the Hut in my living room? Never!"

"Lili, it's life-size," Liam wheedled. "Augur can't get it down into his place for another week, and you love Star Wars..."

"No!" Lili repeated. "I am not going to have a life-size beanbag in my house, LEERING at me until next week! I don't love it that much!" The shuttle came to a stop and slowly lowered itself to the ground. "Tell Augur that he can rent a small office building to put it in, I will not cooperate."

Liam shrugged as he and Lili disembarked. Da'an remained behind in the shuttle, watching his friends walking off.

Lili pointed at a couple of trees with huge burn marks. "Looks like the probe was red-hot when it landed."

Liam squinted into the distance. "I think it's over in that cow pasture. Watch your step."

The two hiked off into the pasture. A herd of Holstein cows were grazing. Some of them paused and looked mellowly at Liam and Lili. And in the center of the herd was a huge rounded green object.

"Pay dirt!" Lili yelled ecstatically. A cow nudged at her shoulder. "Off, Bossie," she said mock-angrily.

Liam began to examine the probe. "It's not heavily damaged. We better stay away, there could be replicants nearby."

"Like the butterflies?" Lili asked, trying to extract her sleeve from Bossie's mouth.

"Pardon?"

"Sorry, it's a case Boone and I worked on about a year ago. The first Jaridian probe on Earth began spewing replicant butterflies," Lili replied, hearing ominous ripping noises from her shirt as she tried to tug away from the cow. "Let go, $^? you!"

"Liam?" a soft voice asked. Liam turned around to find Da'an standing behind him. "Is the probe deactivated?"

"Partially." Liam knelt down, just out of the probe's range, and began to peer at the underside of the probe. "Ooh, we've got some atmospheric charring under there!"

Lili gave up trying to free her sleeve from Bossie and glanced around. Something chilling hit her. "Liam," she quavered.

"And it looks like about seven branches jammed into the armor... yes, Lili?" Liam said, interrupting himself.

"Liam, do you see all those cows?"

Liam looked at the herd. Some of them were coming closer, staring at Da'an in particular. "Yes, what about them?"

"They're all identical."

"Well, with that kind of cow, it's hard to tell them apart."

"Word association, Liam," Lili said desperately. "*Jaridian.*"

As Bossie released Lili's sleeve and approached Da'an, Liam caught on. He grabbed Da'an by the shoulders. "Get back to the shuttle! Those cows are replicants!" Da'an began to jog back to the shuttle, with Liam and Lili running just behind.

Lili fired her pistol at Bossie, but there was a shimmer of Jaridian shielding. The cow opened its mouth and uttered a low metallic roar.

"I think we just heard the death moo," Lili whispered as she clambered into the pilot's chair. "I can probably destroy all the replicants if I just vaporize the pasture!"

"With the probe," Da'an pointed out.

"It's either that, or cow replicants running amuck," Liam said tensely. "Fire!"

The shuttle's weapons slashed across the green pasture. The cows disintegrated in showers of green-gray smoke, and soon the area was lifeless, a pocket of deadness in the middle of the lush landscape.

Lili exhaled. "I'm running scans of the area to see if any of Bossie's friends escaped." She exhaled. "That was so weird."

"Weirder than butterfly replicants?" Liam asked.