Unjovial Jovians by Lizzy Marquez
It was about 4 o’clock in the morning and I really didn’t want to get up. If I didn’t, however, the administration surely would have killed me, especially on such an important day like this. So I got out of bed, put on my suit, and drove to camp. By the time I got there, the sun was barely rising.
“James.” The commander stood at the door like he always does, greeting the soldiers with a bland and professional head nod. I began marching and saluted, “Commander.” I stood still while the door scanned my face to take my attendance; this is how the administration knows not to kill me. The mechanical voice spoke, “Welcome Mr. James Anderson. Thank you for helping save humanity.” This was how I was greeted every single morning. The doors swung open and I joined the line of soldiers already formed inside. We stood there silently until the commander finally came in.
“Good morning, soldiers,” another repetitive greeting I heard every morning. “Congratulations gentlemen, you’ve completed all your training and today will be your first day on the actual battlefield. We hope all the tactics we’ve taught you will show in your fighting and that your efforts will make what was once ours, ours again. I wish you all luck!”
About 2 years before this, in 2986, Jovian aliens from Jupiter came down to earth to use our water to feed their young. The baby Jovians feed off of water much like human babies feed off of milk. Once Jupiter ran out of water, Jovians came down to earth to take some of ours. Unfortunately by then, the humans on earth were already suffering from a water shortage. All of the earth's water was polluted and not drinkable. Sewage workers were doing as much as they could to treat water in treatment plants, but even then they struggled to give water to the world; It was not enough. So when the aliens came to earth and began to take the little water we had, a lot of people began to die of thirst. Ever since then, there's been a war between the Jovians and humans fighting over water. Anyways, when the war had just began, a new government sprouted up called the Administration; it ruled the whole planet Earth. There was one representative for each region that enforced the rule of law; it was tyranny. Every male, once they hit age 5, would start combat training to join the war at the age of 20. If this law was broken it called for instant death by the Administration. Instant death meant gun-shot to the head, fast and simple. To not go to combat training would be suicide. As for the women, they would stay home and make sure they kept providing boys to feed into the war. Their sole purpose was to keep reproducing: boys for the war and girls who could reproduce more boys. It’s a filthy system and a sad life; I sometimes wished the Administration would’ve kill me. I’ve read history books about the 1900’s and early 2000’s. All people had to fight over was land and power; now we fight over necessities. An individual's life doesn’t matter anymore. It's not about what you want, it's about the survival of the human race.
Once the commander finished his motivational speech that told us about how honored we should be and how we're saving the human race, we started getting ready for battle. The sergeants gave us our laser 3000’s and we began to put on all our battle gear which consisted of a smart helmet and vest. We then were loaded into helicopters and taken to a big bank of water in region 5. It was 0700 hours and the sun had completely risen. The water was so peaceful and still as I looked at it from above, ironic considering the havoc it’s created. The helicopter dropped down - it was battle time. We got in our designated 3 person pods, found hiding positions and waited. We knew the Jovians would come soon. While we were waiting, it came to my mind that I had never actually seen a Jovian in person. In combat training they showed us photographs of them, but they were mostly vague diagrams indicating weak spots and focal points for shooting. The forehead and chest - instant death. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted and I saw the most peculiar looking thing walking towards the water. It was blue and had the shape of a human only it had four arms on each side of its torso; it looked slimy and shiny. It had to be at least 6 or 7 feet tall. Its face was shaped like an almond and it had two large, completely brown eyes. It had holes on each side of its head and another two holes in the middle of its face. It had no lips, but when it opened its mouth, it had a double row of sharp black fangs that lined its top and bottom jaw. The Jovian walked without fear towards the bank of water, knelt down and began to gather water in its top row of hands. After it took its first sip, it yelled a loud, bizarre sound and about 30 more Jovians came out of the woods and began walking toward the water. Once they were all settled down, and kneeling by the water, we knew it was go time. One by one, all the pods started shooting up out of their hiding spots and began shooting at the Jovians. The noises the Jovians were making were so eerie and peculiar, like the sound of tires screeching on asphalt or nails on a chalkboard. My pod was next. We ran towards the water and a Jovian approached us. The soldier next to me, Jimmy, was the first one to shoot the giant Jovian standing only 6 feet away from us- it was unsuccessful. In one graceful movement, the sticky blue alien picked Jimmy up. He looked like a fish out of water, squirming and shouting in the blue hands that now held his fragile tiny body. All of a sudden, long razor sharp claws shot out of the Jovians fingers and began to cut open Jimmy's body, starting with the torso and ending with his face. His guts dangled from his body and hung until they dropped to the floor. The Jovian was almost taunting Jimmy, listening to him shout and cry while not quite killing him. The Jovian let him dangle and fidget hopelessly in his arms. Finally, the Jovian got bored of his torture and sawed Jimmy’s face with his claw, leaving it cut in two perfect halves. And just like that, the Jovian dropped his mangled body to the floor and proceeded. To this day, I can still hear Jimmy screaming, “No, please! Someone help!” in my nightmares.
I made my way toward the right side of the water bank parallel to me. There were more soldiers over there and I knew, to stay alive, I could not fight alone. I began shooting Jovians and watched them drop to the floor. Once a Jovian was dead, their whole body would turn red and blue ooze would leak out of their bullet wound. After about 30 minutes of fighting, my smart helmet began to alert me that the helicopter was on its way to come get what was left of our crew. Moments later, ropes descended from above. Each soldier had their own rope; we held on and it pulled us up. That was my first battle.
. . . . .
The old man sat still absorbed in his memories of the past. He wiped silent tears that slid down his cheek. I handed him a tissue.
“Do you have any more questions for your school paper?” He said, still wiping away his tears.
“Oh yeah..” I suddenly forgot I was here for a “school paper.” I came here to figure out one thing, but I was so hesitant to ask. I needed to know.
“Umm.. How do you think your past has affected your view on the aliens?” I said it very slowly because I was so nervous. He looked very deep in thought, like he didn’t want to say the wrong thing; there was a long pause.
I went on to break the silence. “I know you told me earlier your daughter married an alien and this is a very common thing in today's day and age. But knowing your past-” He interrupted me with a quick and loud scoff.
“You want to know how I feel about my human daughter marrying and having children with an alien?” He took a short pause, waiting for an answer from me. When I said nothing he told me anyways. “I think it’s disgusting and a disgrace. I’ve never met my grandchildren and I don’t plan to. Half human half Jovian? For goodness sake! What kind of child is that!? A species that once tried to kill me and ruin our world for us! It’s disrespectful and not right.”
His blunt answer took me by surprise and I was unable to say anything. I knew I had to leave before I began to cry. I gathered all my stuff very quickly, shook his hand, and said my thank you’s. He asked me if I would like to join his family for dinner and I respectfully declined. If only he knew.
When I got in my hovercar the first thing I did was sob. I was so angry and overwhelmingly sad. So many tears were streaming down my face. I took off all my makeup, tore off my clothes and unbandaged my second set of arms. I looked at myself in the reflection of the glass window. My Grandpa just told me I was a disgrace and I was disgusting. Interspecies marriage was a very commonly known and respected form of life now. Once the humans created a more efficient way to purify water, they let us live here. Humans and aliens are now cohesively living, but, for some reason, hearing my mother's father say that just tore something inside of me.
It was about 4 o’clock in the morning and I really didn’t want to get up. If I didn’t, however, the administration surely would have killed me, especially on such an important day like this. So I got out of bed, put on my suit, and drove to camp. By the time I got there, the sun was barely rising.
“James.” The commander stood at the door like he always does, greeting the soldiers with a bland and professional head nod. I began marching and saluted, “Commander.” I stood still while the door scanned my face to take my attendance; this is how the administration knows not to kill me. The mechanical voice spoke, “Welcome Mr. James Anderson. Thank you for helping save humanity.” This was how I was greeted every single morning. The doors swung open and I joined the line of soldiers already formed inside. We stood there silently until the commander finally came in.
“Good morning, soldiers,” another repetitive greeting I heard every morning. “Congratulations gentlemen, you’ve completed all your training and today will be your first day on the actual battlefield. We hope all the tactics we’ve taught you will show in your fighting and that your efforts will make what was once ours, ours again. I wish you all luck!”
About 2 years before this, in 2986, Jovian aliens from Jupiter came down to earth to use our water to feed their young. The baby Jovians feed off of water much like human babies feed off of milk. Once Jupiter ran out of water, Jovians came down to earth to take some of ours. Unfortunately by then, the humans on earth were already suffering from a water shortage. All of the earth's water was polluted and not drinkable. Sewage workers were doing as much as they could to treat water in treatment plants, but even then they struggled to give water to the world; It was not enough. So when the aliens came to earth and began to take the little water we had, a lot of people began to die of thirst. Ever since then, there's been a war between the Jovians and humans fighting over water. Anyways, when the war had just began, a new government sprouted up called the Administration; it ruled the whole planet Earth. There was one representative for each region that enforced the rule of law; it was tyranny. Every male, once they hit age 5, would start combat training to join the war at the age of 20. If this law was broken it called for instant death by the Administration. Instant death meant gun-shot to the head, fast and simple. To not go to combat training would be suicide. As for the women, they would stay home and make sure they kept providing boys to feed into the war. Their sole purpose was to keep reproducing: boys for the war and girls who could reproduce more boys. It’s a filthy system and a sad life; I sometimes wished the Administration would’ve kill me. I’ve read history books about the 1900’s and early 2000’s. All people had to fight over was land and power; now we fight over necessities. An individual's life doesn’t matter anymore. It's not about what you want, it's about the survival of the human race.
Once the commander finished his motivational speech that told us about how honored we should be and how we're saving the human race, we started getting ready for battle. The sergeants gave us our laser 3000’s and we began to put on all our battle gear which consisted of a smart helmet and vest. We then were loaded into helicopters and taken to a big bank of water in region 5. It was 0700 hours and the sun had completely risen. The water was so peaceful and still as I looked at it from above, ironic considering the havoc it’s created. The helicopter dropped down - it was battle time. We got in our designated 3 person pods, found hiding positions and waited. We knew the Jovians would come soon. While we were waiting, it came to my mind that I had never actually seen a Jovian in person. In combat training they showed us photographs of them, but they were mostly vague diagrams indicating weak spots and focal points for shooting. The forehead and chest - instant death. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted and I saw the most peculiar looking thing walking towards the water. It was blue and had the shape of a human only it had four arms on each side of its torso; it looked slimy and shiny. It had to be at least 6 or 7 feet tall. Its face was shaped like an almond and it had two large, completely brown eyes. It had holes on each side of its head and another two holes in the middle of its face. It had no lips, but when it opened its mouth, it had a double row of sharp black fangs that lined its top and bottom jaw. The Jovian walked without fear towards the bank of water, knelt down and began to gather water in its top row of hands. After it took its first sip, it yelled a loud, bizarre sound and about 30 more Jovians came out of the woods and began walking toward the water. Once they were all settled down, and kneeling by the water, we knew it was go time. One by one, all the pods started shooting up out of their hiding spots and began shooting at the Jovians. The noises the Jovians were making were so eerie and peculiar, like the sound of tires screeching on asphalt or nails on a chalkboard. My pod was next. We ran towards the water and a Jovian approached us. The soldier next to me, Jimmy, was the first one to shoot the giant Jovian standing only 6 feet away from us- it was unsuccessful. In one graceful movement, the sticky blue alien picked Jimmy up. He looked like a fish out of water, squirming and shouting in the blue hands that now held his fragile tiny body. All of a sudden, long razor sharp claws shot out of the Jovians fingers and began to cut open Jimmy's body, starting with the torso and ending with his face. His guts dangled from his body and hung until they dropped to the floor. The Jovian was almost taunting Jimmy, listening to him shout and cry while not quite killing him. The Jovian let him dangle and fidget hopelessly in his arms. Finally, the Jovian got bored of his torture and sawed Jimmy’s face with his claw, leaving it cut in two perfect halves. And just like that, the Jovian dropped his mangled body to the floor and proceeded. To this day, I can still hear Jimmy screaming, “No, please! Someone help!” in my nightmares.
I made my way toward the right side of the water bank parallel to me. There were more soldiers over there and I knew, to stay alive, I could not fight alone. I began shooting Jovians and watched them drop to the floor. Once a Jovian was dead, their whole body would turn red and blue ooze would leak out of their bullet wound. After about 30 minutes of fighting, my smart helmet began to alert me that the helicopter was on its way to come get what was left of our crew. Moments later, ropes descended from above. Each soldier had their own rope; we held on and it pulled us up. That was my first battle.
. . . . .
The old man sat still absorbed in his memories of the past. He wiped silent tears that slid down his cheek. I handed him a tissue.
“Do you have any more questions for your school paper?” He said, still wiping away his tears.
“Oh yeah..” I suddenly forgot I was here for a “school paper.” I came here to figure out one thing, but I was so hesitant to ask. I needed to know.
“Umm.. How do you think your past has affected your view on the aliens?” I said it very slowly because I was so nervous. He looked very deep in thought, like he didn’t want to say the wrong thing; there was a long pause.
I went on to break the silence. “I know you told me earlier your daughter married an alien and this is a very common thing in today's day and age. But knowing your past-” He interrupted me with a quick and loud scoff.
“You want to know how I feel about my human daughter marrying and having children with an alien?” He took a short pause, waiting for an answer from me. When I said nothing he told me anyways. “I think it’s disgusting and a disgrace. I’ve never met my grandchildren and I don’t plan to. Half human half Jovian? For goodness sake! What kind of child is that!? A species that once tried to kill me and ruin our world for us! It’s disrespectful and not right.”
His blunt answer took me by surprise and I was unable to say anything. I knew I had to leave before I began to cry. I gathered all my stuff very quickly, shook his hand, and said my thank you’s. He asked me if I would like to join his family for dinner and I respectfully declined. If only he knew.
When I got in my hovercar the first thing I did was sob. I was so angry and overwhelmingly sad. So many tears were streaming down my face. I took off all my makeup, tore off my clothes and unbandaged my second set of arms. I looked at myself in the reflection of the glass window. My Grandpa just told me I was a disgrace and I was disgusting. Interspecies marriage was a very commonly known and respected form of life now. Once the humans created a more efficient way to purify water, they let us live here. Humans and aliens are now cohesively living, but, for some reason, hearing my mother's father say that just tore something inside of me.