Authors: Brett Battles
Tags: #end of the world, #first contact, #thriller, #suspense, #mind control, #alien, #mystery
Mine: The Arrival (11 page)
[
An irritated groan
]
Kozakov: After several weeks of aborted attempts, Dr. Chambers was finally able to get his Internal Imager machine working. It showed real promise, and we were all thinking we were finally going to be able to see inside Titan. Dr. Durant gave his approval to try it out this morning. As Dr. Chambers and one of the technicians set everything up, he described to those who had gathered how his machine worked. But he had not even switched it on before all hell broke loose.
[
A nervous laugh
]
Kozakov: You see what happened, do you not? If the Titan has indeed been active since its arrival, it has had almost a decade to learn and understand English. That is what it must have done. So when Chambers explained what he was going to do, it knew its existence was about to be threatened.
[
A nearby crash
]
Kozakov: They are coming back. I will share the rest of my thoughts when I feel it is safe.
A voice, sex indeterminate: Mine!
[
Clunk of the recorder shutting off.
Remaining tape is blank
]
S
EVENTEEN
T
HE RECLAIMER SENSED
eighteen beings still breathing. Three, it could tell, would not last long, and would soon join their companions whose life-giving organs had already failed. Unfortunately the others were all damaged and would not suit the Reclaimer’s needs.
Data was accessed and conclusions drawn.
The Reclaimer’s intrusions had been too intense, but that was to be expected. Finding the correct values meant experimentation. Adjustments were made, and new sets of parameters were fed into the appropriate control functions.
To test them, the Reclaimer took control of the remaining creatures and instructed them to remove the dead and all signs of the chaos that had finally ended. A furnace on the lowest level of the facility was used to burn the carcasses.
The adjustments were still not perfect, however, and several of the creatures were further damaged in the process.
More study was needed.
That was acceptable.
The important thing was to do the job correctly.
Time did not matter.
Thank you for reading
Mine: The Arrival
.
This is a companion piece for the novel
Mine
, which takes place more than fifty years after the events you have just read about. If you have not read
Mine
, please check it out!
Reviews at your point of purchase are always appreciated.
Learn more about my novels at my website:
brettbattles.com
.
And sign up for my newsletter here:
brettbattles.com/contact.php
A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR
Brett Battles is a Barry Award-winning author of over twenty-five novels, including the Jonathan Quinn series, the Logan Harper series, and the time-hopping Rewinder series. He’s also the coauthor, with Robert Gregory Browne, of the Alexandra Poe series. You can learn more at his website:
brettbattles.com
A
LSO BY
B
RETT
B
ATTLES
T
HE
J
ONATHAN
Q
UINN
T
HRILLERS
Novels
SHADOW OF BETRAYAL (U.S.)
/
THE UNWANTED (U.K.)
Novellas
Short Stories
“
Just Another Job”—A Jonathan Quinn Story
“
Off the Clock”—A Jonathan Quinn Story
“The Assignment”—An Orlando Story
“Lesson Plan”—A Jonathan Quinn Story
“Quick Study”—An Orlando Story
T
HE
R
EWINDER
T
HRILLERS
T
HE
L
OGAN
H
ARPER
T
HRILLERS
T
HE
P
ROJECT
E
DEN
T
HRILLERS
T
HE
A
LEXANDRA
P
OE
T
HRILLERS
C
O
W
RITTEN
W
ITH
R
OBERT
G
REGORY
B
ROWNE
S
TANDALONES
Novels
Novellas
MINE: THE ARRIVAL
Short Stories
For Younger Readers
T
HE
T
ROUBLE
F
AMILY
C
HRONICLES
COPYRIGHT
MINE: THE ARRIVAL Copyright © 2016 by Brett Battles
Cover Design by James T. Egan, www.bookflydesign.com
All rights reserved.
MINE ORIGINS is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For more information about the author, please visit
www.brettbattles.com
.
Table of Contents
This is a companion piece to the novel Mine.