The second wave(Working title)

Prologue
In the Beginning


Ten Years Ago
24 January 0700 UIT, Planet Insolur

He walks slowly over a dead world, miles and miles of burning wasteland stretch before him. Smoke obscures the horizon, and the awful stench of burning death fills his nostrils. The crimson sky is filled with dozens of ships, their contrails making them look like they are ripping bloody holes in the atmosphere. He doesn't know who they are, and he has never seen these ship designs before, nor does he recognize any of the ship's markings. Slowly he looks down and sees the bodies, thousands of them, all bloated and rotting. Some of them still smoke and smolder and he occasionally thinks he hears a dying moan. He knows some of these men and women, he has met them somewhere, but he doesn't know where. He hears a faint click behind him and he begins to turn around. He knows what is going to happen next but, like every other time, it never happens. Everything just goes black.

Isacc jerked violently up out of my bed. Beside him, his wife grunted and rolled over. He was drenched in sweat, and his heart was slamming madly against the inside of his chest. He took a few deep breaths, and slowly sank back into his pillow. The dreams had been getting worse, the same dream every time and nothing was ever different. He had spent hours searching through the interstellar database looking for a planet like the one in the dream, but came up with nothing even close.

Isacc peered over Liz at the clock. 3:30, He didn't have to get up for work until 6. Slowly, he drifted back to sleep. It seemed like he had just shut my eyes when the alarm went off. He reached over and switched it off. He started to get out of bed when a groggy voice drifted up from behind him. "Where are you going?"

He looked over his shoulder at her. "I'm goin to work, what's the problem?"

She raised an eyebrow. "The problem is that it's Saturday, you don't work on the weekends. Why do you do this every weekend? Come back to bed."

Now Isacc just felt stupid. "Its those damn dreams again, I can't get one good nights sleep to save my life. Liz, you know me, I'm not like this, something is seriously wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you honey, you're just stressed out that's all. They've been working you guys really hard in these last few months, I think you just need a vacation."

He shrugged my shoulders. "I guess that sounds like a good idea, what did you have in mind?"
"Well I don't know, something with a beach maybe, I hear the beaches on Limus IV are beautiful this time of year" She laid back in her pillow. "Imagine, an emerald sea stretching for miles around, pure white sand between your toes, watching the triple sunset, I think that's what you need. Just take some time off to relax, trust me."

"Yeah, that sounds nice." He leaned over and kissed her softly.

"Let's do that, I'll call in tomorrow and tell Harry that I'm takin a months vacation."

Liz sidled up to his body, holding him close. "I love you."
"I love you too."

Isacc lay back in his pillow, thinking about the coming vacation. Some time off was just what he thought he needed.

Isacc woke up Monday morning, not to the stench of burning bodies and death like normal, he surprisingly woke up to the steady beeping of an alarm clock.
That was odd, but he didn't really think anything of it. Maybe he was just too excited about the beach.

He got up showered, dressed, and had breakfast. A normal morning, so far there was nothing extraordinary about it. Still thinking about their vacation, He tapped his ear and said, "Work."

The communication line pulsed a disconnect signal. Isacc thought that was odd, the comm lines always worked, even if the power grid was down. He tried it again, no luck. He walked over and gently shook Liz. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Not much, I think something's wrong with my comm implant, does yours work?

"It should." Liz tapped her ear and said, "Mom."

She wore a puzzled expression on her face. "That's weird, mine doesn't work either."

He just shrugged my shoulders. "I guess I'll just have to go over to the office and tell them in person."

"You know that they'll try to talk you out of it if you go there yourself." She said with a skeptical look on her face.

"Why don't you come with me then? You can try to persuade them." Isacc retorted.

Liz briefly flashed the oddest expression, a mixture of fear and apprehension. But it was quickly replaced with a warm smile. "You know I don't like goin into the city."

He raised my eyebrow, "Then how do you expect me to talk my way out of work? Like you said, they won't let me leave if I go there by myself."

Her eyes widened briefly. For some odd reason, it seemed like Liz was scared of something. "What's wrong Liz? You're acting really weird today."

Liz gave him a warm kiss. "Nothing is wrong honey, let's go."

As they got into their Sprite and sped off towards the city, Isacc couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. He just figured He was nervous about talking to his boss about taking time off, but it didn't make him feel any better. Insolur was a typical planet, Earth normal gravity, a tolerable air composition, and a slightly warmer than Earth temperature, but well within the acceptable range. The majority of the main continent was covered in a thick rainforest that harbored some of the universe's most exotic animals. There were three main cities, each with its own starport, and dozens of outlying towns. Isacc and Liz lived in a small town called Frott, and the closest city was Helport. It was about a 20 minuet trip by Sprite. The Sprite track went straight through the jungle, allowing them to see the stunning wildlife. Brightly colored birds flew everywhere, and the multicolored toads made living murals on gigantic the trees. Waterfalls cascaded off of high mountain peaks into deep caverns that stretched for miles underground. Insoluar was an absolutely beautiful planet, most people came here to see the beautiful wildlife. Isacc honestly didn't see what the big fuss was, all the bugs and the humidity made the jungle a nightmare to walk through. Best viewed through a window he supposed.

The Sprite zoomed over a hill and into view of Helport. But as they got closer, Isacc saw that something was very wrong. Thick black smoke and angry flames engulfed the city. His eyes went wide and Liz let out a whimper. Floating above them was some sort of massive ship. It stretched what looked like miles, eclipsing the sun over them. "Isacc, I'm scared." Liz said in a shaky voice.

Isacc himself was terrified, but he couldn't let Liz see that. "Its ok, I'm sure they can't see something as small as the Sprite from up there."

He desperately hoped that he was right. The Sprite glided smoothly along the track, then jerked to an abrupt halt where the track had been blasted away. Isacc popped the hatch and he climbed out, Liz in tow. Fortunately for them, the Sprite had stopped right above an access ladder. The scrambled down it and ran. Moments later from behind them they heard a sizzle and an explosion. Fire lit up the jungle where the Sprite had been. Isacc sat Liz down at the base of a tree. She wasn't speaking just crying and shaking silently. Isacc looked back up at the ship. It was slowly rotating, and purple energy was building up at what he figured was the prow of the ship. Suddenly the energy shot back, covering the ship. There was a blinding flash and Isacc was thrown to the ground. He tasted blood in his mouth, and then everything snapped to black.