Science Fiction

A/N Starting this Exercise in Genre by Science Fiction. There are so many subgenre to it that it could go any direction.

This piece is dedicated to @AngusEcrivain. He is a prolific author of SciFi and has a particular turn of mind. I like probably more his short stories than the longer ones, as they give a whole range of impression and feelings… You will find him also at the wheel in the @ForbiddenPlanet, planning the next TK or manning a contest…

Anyway… here we go… Johnny is about to come back home…

 It was finally time. Time to come back. Time to let behind him the despair and atrocities of War. Johnny had signed with the Terran Forces. He wanted to go and fight the bugs, out there in the immensity of Space. He was but a teenager at the time. It was almost twenty years ago he left home, spring in his step as he was about to become a great Liberator.

Nothing had him prepared to the reality of the conflict in Space. He learned the hard way how to fight the bugs. He lost a number of comrades to these insect like aliens, but he survived. He survived his mentors and became one. Helping younger men and women to know their enemies, the obvious ones and the more insidious type. In twenty years, he learned to recognize and to protect against a type of men preying on their own kind, in the depths of the Federation battle ships...

In those twenty years of service, he had come back home only a half dozen of times. He had been usually stationed too far away from Earth to be able to come home then back to camp in the short time allotted for his permissions. This time, however, it was not just a few weeks off, he had. This time he was back for good. Finished with the bugs. Finished with the crappy humans aboard ships. He was back to his family. He craved for his mom's cooking, for his father's flowery garden, for his little sister's happy and free chatter.

Johnny’s family lived in Southern Europe, where the Mountains meet the Sea. The place was rich in History, having seen many civilization since the old ages, when people believed in multiple deities and warred against elephants. Their place smelt like sun and honey, olives and lavender. It was a Haven, truly, a home for the soul. He wanted so badly to be home, nothing else mattered. He had waited twenty years to go back home, to find hope, hope of warmth and comfort, hope for peace.

There had been a truce of sort in the war against the bugs. They had retreated from all the fronts the Terran forces were engaged in. the Intelligence Department had concluded to the end of the hostilities. No signature of any treaty however. The insects were not coming with the white flag. They just disappeared. Even on their home World there was no trace of them. Some troops remained in orbit around the main planets they were known to inhabit, and equally around the planets of their allies. But so far, no movement were sighted. It was already six months that all conflict ceased. Johnny was among the firsts to be demobilized. And he was going home.

When he arrived in his home country, he was welcomed by all his family. They cheered, cried, smiled… His mom even fainted, unable to contain the joy and succumbing to the accumulated stress she was getting from the expectation of his return. His father was driving him back to the family house in the old car, the one and indestructible he already had twenty years ago, the same car he drove him to the space port when he enrolled…

In the village, everyone was expecting Johnny’s return. It was a day to rejoice when one of them was back and alive, arriving in his feet and not in a bag as so many others did. The bells of the old monastery were also acclaiming his return with their clear and pure singing. His sister had explained that the whole village wanted to organise a joyful reunion so they would also party to the end of the war.

That night, after Johnny settled back in his old room, he drank and cheered with his neighbours. They asked him about his time in the forces, but he alluded this kind of questions. He wanted to forget. He wanted to remember only what he left here twenty years ago. There was Irene, the little girl who was just entering her teenage years when he left. She became a beautiful and sweet woman while he was killing bugs. He learned she was betrothed, but lost her promised in the war. She stayed celibate since then, as she had to take care of her mother and little brother. He remembered her in her tresses and long skirts, the uniform of all little girls. What he saw now was a stunning woman.

Few of his old friends were there however. Many of them were among those who returned in a bag. He didn’t want to think too much about it however. For the moment, he was selfish enough to bask in the warm feeling he just found back.

 As Johnny was enjoying his third beer on the night, his wristcom went alive, flashing an order to regroup to the nearest Space Port. The bugs were back on the War field, and they were closing to Earth. It was with sadness and despair he had to leave his newfound peace and go back to a duty he didn’t feel was anymore his. As the car was driving away from the village, he saw a large fireball like light descending from the starry night sky. The light was growing, as approaching Earth with increased speed. He was tetanised, realising the fireball was aiming for his haven, for his family home, for his village and all who were dear to him.

The bugs had not retreated, they had regrouped to attack their enemy’s home World, to attack Earth. They were fighting for their survival, and in the act, they were about to destroy Johnny’s last hope of warmth and comfort, of peace and quiet.