A Light Snow

            “The snows started again,” said Lars. 
            “I can see that,” said Meg.
            “Do you think it will affect the mission,” asked Lars.
            “Negative. We move forward as planned,” said Meg.

             Lars adjusted the weapon against his chest and tightened his gloves. He looked up at the gray sky and watched the heavy snowflakes falling from above. They flittered down along the light breeze that had started to blow.

             “Move to position seven D grid 2,” said Meg.

            “Yes Ma’am,” said Lars.

             Lars and Meg crouched up from their drop point position and moved toward the field where the alien signal had been detected. Two days earlier something had crashed from the sky in a deserted Nebraskan field. Original reports suggested a meteor, but when it started sending out some sort of beacon or pulse, Lars and Captain Meg’s team from Control were notified and mobilized. Now they were closing in on the object through a thickening snow fall.

             Lars’ boots crunched on the frozen field as he and Captain Meg took up secure positions around the object. It was burned black from its entry into our atmosphere yet there was an audible pulse coming from it. Lars looked over at Captain Meg. She motioned him to move in closer to the object. Lars took a deep breath and started a slow tactical move forward. His weapon was aim squarely at the object as he moved. The snow falling continued to increase, limiting Lars vision. He had left his goggles in the Jeep thinking he wouldn’t need them. Even though it had snowed heavily for the last few days.

             “Captain, I’m in position,” said Lars into his radio.

            “Affirmative,” said Meg.

             She started her move forward toward the object to Lars’ left. As she began to move the snow started swirling in thick torrid clouds, it was milky but still just snow. A beeping, hydraulic sound came from the object and Lars turned his head toward it. He saw a thin slit of bright white light split the charred surface of the object. He was about to radio Captain Meg to halt her forward progress. Before he could get the words out a beam of electric blue shot from the object and hit Captain Meg directly in the head. She froze for a moment before imploding. All of her was sucked into that blue beam in an instant. The moment she was gone the snow died down, returned to something more normal.

            Lars swallowed hard and looked back at the object. The noise had stopped and the slit of white light had gone. The low beeping sound had resumed. Lars started backing away from the object. He was breathing heavy and he could taste something metal in his mouth. The snow swirled and Lars could hear it lightly pelting the ground as it fell. He continued to back away from the object. He was unable to speak. All he could do was keep his eyes on the object and slowly back up. He ignored the visions of Captain Meg getting vaporized  and focused on getting away, getting back to the Jeep.

            The object hummed louder and Lars held his position. The snows started swirling again all around him. He could feel static in the air. He had goose bumps up and down his body. He squinted at the object through the swirling, pelting snow. He heard a drilling noise and some sort of clacking. The object was spinning slowly in the snowy ground, and gaining speed. Lars armed his weapon and took aim at the device through his scope. The scope magnified the object and showed red lights moving across its surface as it spun in place.

             Lars moved his finger from the safety position and to the weapon’s trigger. He tried to calm his breathing. Heavy snowflakes hit Lars’ eyelashes and he had to keep blinking to clear his vision. His radio started to crackle in his ear.

             “Alpha 1-6, Come in, over,” said Control.

            “Alpha 1-6…,” said Lars.
            “Status Alpha 1-6, we have a spike in activity on the main, over,” said Control.
            “Affirmative, activity increased, Captain is…is…is…gone. I repeat, Captain is gone, over,” said Lars.
            “Re-confirm, what is Captain Meg O’Sullivan’s status, over,” asked Control.
            “Deceased. The Captain appears deceased. Request authorization for lethal response, over,” said Lars.
            “Hold your position, over,” said Control.
            “Negative Control, Position no longer manageable, over,” said Lars.

             Lars continued to move back as the object continued to spin and the snow increased.

             “We’re having difficulty centering on your position, weather appears to be interfering, over,” said Control.

            “No crap, Control. It’s snowing like crazy. I think the object is producing the weather, over,” said Lars.

             Lars was met with static in his headset. He attempted continued contact but was unable to get through to Control. He looked back through his scope at the object through the now blinding snow. The object was glowing red and hovering above the ground. Lars decided he’d had enough. He took aim and fired several rounds at the object. The object stopped spinning as each round ricocheted off. The object zoomed forward into Lars’ face. He felt heat spread over his body. He started the scream and fired point blank at the object. The white slit appeared on the objects surface and Lars felt pain in his head, the worst headache he’d ever had didn’t compare. He smelled his own urine and pickled feet. He remembered his mother.

 
            The object’s slit closed and it resumed spinning. The conquest had started.