© Evgeniy Shmigirilov, 2015

© Natalya Zavyalova, illustrations, 2015

Created with intellectual publishing system Ridero

Prologue

Suddenly, the window frames quivered, and she heard increasing howl, which seemed to reach the threshold of noise pain and then quickly died away. Super Queen-Mother heard her father’s voice:

«Come here, quick! Look, how beautiful it is!»

He was standing on the terrace, pointing with his hand to an object in the sky. A white trace of the flying bolide was quickly dissipating. Super Queen-Mother silently looked into the sky above the horizon.

Was it a call for a battle from the Galaxy civilizations?

Or, was it a phenomenon of nature?

The stars were silent, and only twinkled mysteriously in the sky…

Chapter 1

Suddenly, the second bolide rushed in from the left. It was flying over the sea, along the horizon, followed by hissing and an unpleasant crack.

The bolide was shining in different lights – now green, then red or yellow. It was giving off whirls of sparks, which soon disappeared, having left a white trace, which was gradually changing its shape and dispersing. The bolide’s speed was very high; it did not fall on the ground, but flew away into space.

Her father was watching the bolide with admiration and was already going to leave the terrace, when Super Queen-Mother detained him: «Don’t go away… The third one will come now.»

The third bolide did not make them wait for long. It was silently flying at high altitude, like a ghost. A bright fire tail was following it. Having flown to the middle part of the horizon, the bolide exploded with the bang of a nuclear bomb, illuminating the night sky. The sound that reached them reminded them of rumbles of thunder during a severe thunderstorm.

Her father was overwhelmed with emotions. He was pulling at her hand, repeating again and again:

«Do you see this? Do you see? Isn’t it great?»

«Yes, dad, it’s very beautiful», and, having kept silence for a while, Super Queen-Mother added:

«It’s the call for a battle.»

His shoulders sank at once, and he suddenly grew older. Super Queen-Mother embraced him:

«Please, don’t worry so much, I have to manage. And I will manage.»

She kissed her father, and they came into the house.

«When are you leaving?» – he asked.

«I have a day after the signal», – answered Super Queen-Mother. They sat in the armchairs in the living room, «for a good road», according to the tradition. In a minute, she lightly got up.

«Dad, invite the Chief Security Officer to me, please!»

«Connect me with all country leaders, please. It’s an urgent gathering», she ordered the man.

In a short time she was accompanied to the command center. A big screen was ready for the press conference. It was displaying her – in the middle of it – and the invitees – at the edges. They were staring at her, barely concealing their internal disturbance. Super Queen-Mother looked everybody over and announced:

«Today, at twenty-one sharp, a signal from the civilizations «Milky Way» was registered on Earth. It was in the form of the three bolides, flying to Earth one after another.

My battle for the right to preserve civilization on the Earth planet will start in twenty-four hours.

With reference to the foregoing, I order the following:

– To impose «military readiness number one» for all armies and fleets on the territory of Earth.

– My departure is the signal to transfer «military readiness number one» into the regime «combat alert» for all armies and fleets.

– Watch for an attack from the asteroid belts.

– All available nuclear delivery vehicles attack and destroy any offensive weaponry from space.

– All available carriers of conventional weaponry destroy offensive weaponry in the air area of the planet.

– All available airborne vehicles must be in the air at maximum allowed altitude. Conventional weaponry must be substituted with nuclear.

– I will address the population of Earth at seventeen sharp of local time.

– I impose martial law on Earth.

– In my absence, I impose the responsibility for everything that is going here on the Management Headquarters of Dual-Purpose Forces.

God save us all!»

After her address was over, the listeners began to act. They gave one and the same command in different languages. Ministers of defense were hurriedly leaving convention rooms.

Chapter 2

Here it comes.

Super Queen-Mother left the command position and took to her house. The surroundings sank into tangible silence. Even the grasshoppers’ chirp was not heard.

A sense of alarm was coming from the trees, filling the whole information field of the vegetable kingdom. She involuntarily noted that, besides weak electromagnetic pulses, trees were exchanging scents.

Dramatic change of chemical composition of excretory volatile components – scents – is their voice, only people don’t smell it, while all animals, birds and insects know this. That’s why they became silent.

Information transfer takes place at lightning speed; that’s why the wild nature knows about oncoming events. Super Queen-Mother sat on the bench, gave a glance around the house, the bay, buildings, mountains, and… disappeared.

The voice of the Earth Keepers met her in the hall:

«We know about the call. You did everything in a right way. The battle is not far off. Have a rest here. Tomorrow you will have a hard day.»

Sitting on the metal cube, Super Queen-Mother started reclining and stretching her feet. The metal gently enveloped her from all sides.

A thin sound of a pan-pipe came from afar, followed by small bells ringing. Some spinning spirals appeared on the ceiling, sputtering many-colored snowflakes; and Julia fell asleep.

This time she had no dreams.

When she got up she felt rested to the full. The morning was at its height.

The Earth Keepers transferred her to the training center to give her an opportunity to get used to a new place on another planet, and switched on the recordings of her trainings, so that she could analyze her mistakes.

Only her mistakes were shown. The picture changed every three seconds.

Super Queen-Mother was watching with surprise how many blunders she had made. She would never forget them after such «lessons».

All her way from an ordinary girl, like millions of girls all around, to a trained, experienced fighter came before her eyes. Everything was real for her, and all her feelings during those trainings were also true.

In the meantime, something grandiose was happening on Earth.

The work was humming on all spaceports – spaceships were being adjusted on launching pads.

As soon as the crew settled in the ship, the command «Key to start!» was given, and the rocket left Earth’s orbit.

All rockets ready to be launched into space, were launched without delay, one after another. The basement of the pad did not get cold.

All land and overwater spaceports were used.

Spaceships were launched to a maximum distance from Earth.

Ground control centers gasped at the surfeit of information. The main task was to withdraw launched spaceships from Earth as far as possible and transfer them into the regime of temporary information conservation, until all spaceships were launched.

Next in turn spaceships, ready to be launched, were standing compactly on railways leading to launch pads.

All plants operated on a three-shift basis. Rockets were not only being completed; all unnecessary equipment had been taken off, both civilian and military. Only oxygen cylinders, water and food were being loaded.

Only the equipment, necessary to land a spaceship on Earth, was left.

Separate modules were filled with seeds and genetic material, together with the equipment, necessary to reproduce Earth’s flora and fauna.

Crews were completed with men and women. In case of trouble, they would be able to spend five years in space, then land and try to continue living under the ground, in dugouts, which would remain after the destruction.

Each crew was provided with a code, marked on thin titanium plates, to open any well-fortified underground bunker and even towns, available on Earth. Their exact location was also pointed out on the plates.

The codes to open state depots, filled to the brim with food, water, oxygen, and scientific literature, were marked on the other side of the plates. It was a small chance, but still a chance.

Under special control, in each depot there were sealed laboratories, fitted up with extended, or to be more exact, Earth’s full flora and fauna gene pool. Scientists from all over the world had collected it.

Books also took a lot of space. Standard libraries contained descriptions of all knowledge and technologies of the sixth civilization of Earth people. They also included fiction and enormous photographic material on arts.

In addition to the above, huge basic depots contained working models of conserved machinery.

Reservoirs with fuel were not far from the dugouts. They were deep in the ground, only pipes with faucets were on the surface.

Powerful war ships were hurrying to designated points to launch a nuclear strike.

Submarines emerged to the surface of the seas and oceans and also took to jump-oft lines.

Their crews were urgently changing active point positions to empty ones, which were in standby mode, to be filled in with new data they would receive from the headquarters on nuclear and conventional weaponry control.

Heavy silo-based missiles were undergoing the last dispositions before the start. Heavy covers, shielding them, were ejected with a bang. Firing pins of warheads were looking into the sky, ready to scorch out the target by intense nuclear charge after the «Start» button would be pressed.

All special trains were driven off into dead-end tracks, carriage decks were moved off, and the missiles were directed up.

Radio detection stations, accompanied by working engine roar, were performing the dance of death, quickly spinning about their axis, looking for a target in space.

They started their round-the-clock work.

Large-tonnage quad carriers, with powerful nuclear missiles on them, scattered all over the planet. Like centipedes, they were slowly moving on their wheels to the strategic locations, known only to them.

Power-actuated missile launchers were racing along the roads to evenly protect the territory against air attack. They could get through everywhere, but the military tried to set them on treeless altitudes.

Missile carriers were slowly whirling high in the sky. From the ground they seemed to be small silver stars.

Flying around the part of the sky in charge, missile carriers sometimes changed their closed loops to figure eights. They made their maneuvers at one altitude – maximum permissible for the flight.

A fuel dispenser was flying not far from each group. It was flying very slowly, circling at one speed.

Every other minute was registered in its flight assignment – where and when it had to be, and when a plane had to be fueled from it.

Each piece of Earth was equally important – everybody would perish, wherever an asteroid would have fallen.

Military pointsmen and military vehicles were everywhere on the cross roads. The troops were controlling any displacement of vehicles or people. The main goal was to prevent panics and, in case of danger, to direct people to safe places on foot and by cars.

The rest was in God’s hands.

Soldiers were also at factories and plants. They were responsible for the order, safety, and product release. The enterprises worked around the clock. Everything was important, clothes and food in particular.

People had to lay in stock all things might need for a long duration. Supplies were immediately carried to army depots and underground bunkers.

All abandoned bomb shelters were being restored. Though people had little hope to survive, it was better than nothing. At least they dealt with the matter, and did not have time for gossips.

Children were carried away to the mountains, where shelters were being built in deep gorges. Warm clothes and food were also sent there.

All houses of God reminded one of overcrowded stadiums. People were coming there in an endless stream, filling the whole space in prayer rooms.

When the trouble came nobody tried to find out nationality or faith; it did not even cross anybody’s mind; the main thing was to survive, and it was not important at all whose shoulder would support you.

It appeared that the emphasis on seeing signs of difference between people had been the work of fanatics and rogues who lived on stirring hatred.

All appeared to be similar, only forms differed – different languages, different buildings, different praying gestures – but the essence of prayer was the same: people were asking to save their lives.

Super Queen-Mother’s portraits were in all public places. There were many small portraits in particular. People fixed them on their breasts or wore them as badges.

Super Queen-Mother felt a surge of energy at the background of people’s enthusiasm. Now she was waiting for a minute when she could prove their right to live on Earth.

Super Queen-Mother’s waiting for the approaching mortal battle increased her agitation.

The mortal battle was inevitable. Little was observable externally, but inwardly her feelings were burning.

She did not have a signal yet, which could make her muscles, brain and abilities a single whole, working as one harmonious mechanism, turning Super Queen-Mother into a beast.

All she had seen and felt was becoming important and vital.

The longer people prayed the more positive energy flew out of the rooms of prayer. People felt it faintly, but it was almost tangible for Super Queen-Mother.

The energy was slowly filling the whole Earth.

Streams, flowing out of each prayer room, joined into rivers, running into lakes. Energy filled everything to the brim, and overflowed, forming large bays.

The bays also ran over and joined, forming huge seas of energy.

The seas, covering the whole Earth, were forming a single ocean of energy, which people gave Super Queen-Mother for her victory.

For the continuation of life.

People were waiting for a meeting with her, and Super Queen-Mother could not refuse them this. With the last sound of the bells she appeared before the audience.

It was a short meeting, but it helped to them to understand the main thing.

People were silently looking into her eyes, trying to understand if she would be able to protect them and their kin. She also kept silence, looking keenly into their eyes. Did they believe in her and her victory? It was very important to Super Queen-Mother.

People understood what Super Queen-Mother was telling them. They lifted their heads up, and their eyes were telling her they believed in her victory. Super Queen-Mother slightly raised her arms with her palms turned to the people. They repeated her gesture.

They were transferring their firm belief in her victory and in their general strength to Super Queen-Mother as a gift. She was their LAST HOPE for their life.

Super Queen-Mother bowed to the people, and they bowed to her. The next moment, she disappeared. The squares resounded with alarm bells and drumbeats.