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around the wound, what was left of it at least, was burned a dark black. There was no use staring at it. When Jeff brought him the pack, he tore into the contents, retrieving the morphine. Gritting his teeth, he took the shot and then wrapped his leg the best he could. Then he had the boys check his back. Just as he suspected, he had suffered a severe burn over half his body. He had the boys help him apply a burn gel.
    Wincing, Michael stood on his mechanical leg. Fortunately the wiring wasn’t too damaged. He could walk. It just hurt like hell to do so.
    Michael looked down the road, wondering how long his body wouldhold out. They had miles to cover. The morphine would certainly help with the pain, but Michael was going to need more than some Band-Aids and painkillers to make it through the desert. They were going to need luck.
    “Ready?” he asked, faking a smile and exchanging looks with his boys.
    They nodded simultaneously.
    Michael pulled the handkerchief around his mouth and began trekking away from the truck. Smoldering debris covered the path everywhere he looked. Billions in taxpayer money sprinkled across the desert.
    Michael saw what he thought was a helmet tucked under a piece of metal a few feet ahead of him and pushed his boys to his side, shielding them from the view.
    They had walked about half a mile before Jeff stopped in the middle of the road.
    “Let’s go, buddy. We’re almost there. We can rest in a bit. Paula’s going to be worried sick about us,” Michael said.
    “Dad. What is that?” Jeff asked.
    Michael followed the boys’ stares to the skyline. Descending from the cloud cover was the most incredible thing Michael had ever witnessed.
    Dozens.
    No.
    Hundreds of black ships, their sleek bodies reflecting the near-blinding glimmer of the sun. Within seconds, the entire sky was filled with ships. Michael reached for his boys as a series of thunderous blasts broke through the sky. The sound was paralyzing, bringing all three of them to the ground with their hands gripping their ears.
    The shockwave hit a few seconds later, bringing with it a fierce wind full of sand, dirt, and pebbles. Michael pulled his kids toward him and draped himself over them again, wincing as the tornado of debris stung his body.
    Several minutes of agonizing pain and it was all over.
    Michael cracked his eyes open and watched the two remainingships. At first glance, they seemed to be hovering in place. But how was that possible? The ships had no propellers, no propulsion engines. In fact, he saw no sign of any engines at all. No country had that type of technology.
    As the ships hovered closer he realized these were not of human design. These were . . .
    Alien.

CHAPTER 7
    T IM studied the holographic interface in front of him before reporting his analysis. “Based upon earlier trajectories, the Organics have likely made landfall, sir.”
    Dr. Hoffman took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He’d done all he could: placing biospheres throughout the planet, procuring the Secundu Casu , the Sun Spot , the Van Allen , and creating a small base on Mars that would sustain a colony. Was it enough?
    While he knew much about the Organics, there were still things he simply didn’t understand. Most important, he still didn’t know exactly what they would do to the human population. He knew they had come for water, this was certain. Dr. Tsui had briefed him on the images his telescopes had captured of the alien ships collecting the icy residue from comets and beneath the ice caps on Europa. There was no doubt they were continuing their quest to gather water throughout the galaxy. But would they leave any on Earth? Or would they simply suck it dry?
    Dr. Hoffman shook the questions from his mind. He had deployed other “measures” to observe the invasion. In time he would have all the answers. And in time he would be restoring humanity’s greatness on Mars.
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    A series of sand dunes separated Michael from the civilian