The Invasion of Planet Earth

By Sipho Moloi

It was supposed to be just another business trip for John Wilder and his assistant Miskwaadesi "Connor" Inuvik, but their trip quickly turns into a deadly game of survival. When aliens invade Toronto and start blasting everything in sight, John and Connor are forced to ditch their business meetings and desperately run for cover. However, the aliens are not the only threat, but also crazed and homicidal humans who are taking advantage of this situation. With their chances of survival dwindling by the hour, will John and Connor survive this terrifying ordeal, or will they become the latest victims of the invasion?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sipho Moloi
• Release date: Nov 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781999513801

Sipho Moloi

Ever since he was a child, Sipho Moloi has been writing sci-fi and military stories. He wrote fan fiction for Resistance 2 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. There are three important factors in his writing: gripping plot, intense action, and compelling characters. His current work in these two genres are The Invasion of Planet Earth and Armored Piercing. 

Book preview

Chapter 1

John Wilder was one of the best salesmen of all time, at least he could convince people of so. He started as a salesperson at a local car dealership, back in his hometown of Vancouver. He got people to buy the most mundane cars in the city by making them believe those cars were just what they needed. He went to university to get a degree in both marketing and psychology, two subjects that go hand-in-hand in the sales business.

John was giving a presentation to the executives of Jean Clarke, a clothing business in Toronto. He was in his late thirties and was the vice president of marketing for a marketing firm based in Vancouver. He was the first black man to hold such a high position at the firm and he was yearning to go higher. This trip to Toronto was his chance to do just that.

Gentlemen, it is a cold hard fact that selling high-quality clothes at high price points to the masses is extremely difficult. The average consumer can hardly afford to rent the same tuxedo Leonardo DiCaprio regularly wears, nor do they want such style since casual clothing is what they prefer.

John switched slides on the projector to a graph. The younger generation doesn’t care about quality clothes as much as older generations did. These days they’re all about trends like ripped jeans and rainbow-coloured shirts with emojis. Your company has built a brand of style and class, and I know you don’t want to compromise that to appease these millennials with their sense of ‘style.’

The executives laughed. John was working up the crowd like clockwork.

As marketers, our job isn’t to convince consumers that your product is the best. It’s to convince them that all of your competitors’ products are inferior. John switched slides. Now, your sales go up whenever there’s a special occasion; business meeting, funeral, job interview, wedding, and so forth. When looking for clothes for this special occasion, consumers want the high quality, but at the lowest price. To get them to buy your products instead, you must make them believe your products aren’t only the best choice, but the only choice.

John switched slides. The type of advertisement that would prove effective is scenario-based. For example, a man has a job interview at a prestigious bank. What suit should he wear to land a successful interview? It’s easy, Jean Clarke. Or a couple of guys are at a party and they’re trying to have a dance with the most beautiful woman in the room. Who will she choose to dance with? The guy wearing Jean Clarke.

The executives eagerly nodded in agreement. John had got them right where he wanted.

According to market research, consumers are willing to spend more money on a quality product to fit into specific social groups or during the special occasions I talked about. To get more people to buy into your brand, you need to use this fact to manipulate consumers as much as possible. Through our marketing strategy, we will use this fact to compel consumers into believing not only buying Jean Clarke is the right choice, but the only choice to make. Thank you.

All the executives gave a standing ovation. John had won another crowd.

***

John and his assistant packed up and headed into the elevator.

Miskwaadesi Inuvik had been John’s assistant for two years. He was an aboriginal from Vancouver, in his early thirties, and since many people struggle to pronounce his name, he let people call him Connor. He was born in the reserves. When his family had enough money, they moved to Vancouver. Connor always wanted to get into business, but without a degree or any experience it was hard to. He only got his high school diploma two years ago. The assistant job was his chance to finally get into the field. He learned a lot from John and had come to look up to him. They had also become good friends, which allowed them to have an open dialogue with each other.

That was the first standing ovation in a while, said Connor.

That’s because they’re all greedy pricks and I promised them the key to more money, replied John.

Isn’t that what you always do?

John smirked. Well, this time I used the words ‘manipulate’ and ‘compel.’

Here’s one thing I didn’t get with your presentation: you criticized ripped jeans and colourful shirts, but you like wearing that stuff.

I was appealing to their nature. They’re old people and old people hold onto old ideas.

"Hey, some old people like those clothes