They Came In The Night

By J.L. Melton

Michael Kenner's life is turned upside down when his small town is invaded by aliens from another world. Along with his loyal Yorkie-mix dog, Princess, Michael is taken to the planet Zarklin to help restore the balance of life and nature on the planet.

There he meets a special Zark female named Zookana and together with Princess, Octan, the creatures of Zarklin, and a half-Zark, half-human transplant named Bankaff, they must battle against the human transplants from Obelum.

As they fight to save the planet Zarklin, Michael and his companions face incredible challenges and dangers. Will they be able to save the planet and return home safely?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Next Chapter
• Release date: Apr 18, 2023

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

THE ARRIVAL

IT was in October 2150 that our lives on the planet Earth changed forever . I was home by myself. My wife and kids had gone to visit her parents for the weekend. Yeah—I guess I was batching, just me and Princess, our Yorkie-mix with whatever. She is eight years old, small with black-and-gray fur, and we love her very much. Princess was a rescue who came into our lives after we lost our other dog Mackie to cancer.

I mention our dog Princess in detail because she played a big part in the way our lives changed on Earth after the Zarks’ invasion on Saturday, October 18, 2150.

My name is Michael Kenner. I am forty-five years old, six feet tall, slender, with green eyes and brown hair, and married to a beautiful woman named Nancy. We have a son, James, and a daughter, Rita. They say that I am too tall for my breeches at work because I try to do more work and solve problems. We live in a small town called Timmons in the state of South Carolina.

I didn’t know why but for some unknown reason the Zarks’ invasion of Earth took place in our small town first. And they were specifically looking for my dog, Princess, and me.

I worked at the local mill here in Timmons. I had been working here for twenty-two years. So, I guess you could say that I was one of the senior engineers here. The mill here went by the name TIMMONS ENGINEERING PARTS, LLC. The mill made parts for hovercrafts and space vehicles that traveled to the moon bases and back. I was one of the primary design engineers for the parts and accessories used in these crafts.

I was feeling sick on this particular Saturday in October and I left work early that evening. When I arrived home, which is not far from the mill, my dog Princess was going ballistic. She was snarling, growling, and barking so loud that you could hear her all over the house. She ran into the kitchen, panting and pacing all over with a sense of uneasiness. I, the not-knowing human, assumed she needed to go outside in a hurry. I figured she needed to do the pee-pee and the poopy. But that wasn’t the case. She wanted to go outside for another reason that I didn’t expect.

When we got outside, she just looked at me nervously and then she looked up and started growling and barking continuously. I was extremely perplexed. I had no idea what the matter was with her. And then it happened. The sun was setting in the west … and I saw what was causing Princess to be so upset.

They were flying just above the trees. Golden spacecraft with an elliptical shape. The spacecraft were glowing vividly. There were a least a dozen of them. I could not believe what I was seeing in the sky. But my dog Princess believed what she was seeing. She somehow knew ahead of time that they were coming … tonight.

I knelt and picked up Princess and she finally settled down. Almost immediately, she ceased her barking, snarling, and growling.

The golden spacecraft circled all around our little community here in Timmons, as if they were looking for something or someone. I ran back inside the house as quickly as I could. Antsy, Princess began to whimper and whine loudly when I put her down on the kitchen floor. She kept looking up at me with anxious eyes as I attempted to reach my wife and kids on my mobile phone. I was shocked to see that the four bars I usually had at home were showing NO SIGNAL on the home screen. We don’t have a landline anymore, so my cell phone was the only way I could contact my family.

I sighed and exhaled heavily because I was getting concerned about what was happening around here, and I needed to make sure my family was safe. I looked down at Princess and she turned her head and looked at me with concern in her eyes. I patted her and told her to follow me to the living room. I turned on the TV to see if any news bulletins were being given. But the same problem I had with my mobile was the same problem with the TV: NO SIGNAL was bouncing across the big screen on every channel I tried to get.

Come on, Princess … we are going to town to see if anyone there is having the same problems we are having here at home. I attached her leash to her collar and we left the kitchen and went outside to get into my old pickup truck.

When I turned the ignition key, the damn truck did not do anything—like, it was completely dead. Nothing worked. The horn, the lights, the radio, the signal lights. Not a damn thing worked. I was getting frantic, and Princess could sense this as she started whimpering and looking at me with loving and gentle eyes. The only reason I could come up with was that the spacecraft must have something to do with it.

But why are they … here? I said to myself and Princess. I was getting frightened and worried about what was happening, and concerned about my wife’s and kid’s well-being.

I was wondering if the spacecraft were from our military. Are they Russian, Chinese, North Korean? Or are they aliens from another planet? I knew—to the best of my knowledge—we didn’t have anything like these crafts in the sky.

Could this be some kind of secret weapon? That they are testing or deploying in an actual invasion? I asked myself and Princess.

Princess just looked at me with a puzzled expression, like she was bemused about all the things I was saying.

I took my old bicycle out of the garage and oiled the rusted chain before we rode it into town. I figured I would stop by my best friend Bobby Brook’s house first before Princess and I rode on into town. Bobby works at the mill, too. He is a design engineer and is quite talented.

He recently got his master’s in engineering from our college here in Timmons. Bobby was divorced and had two daughters. Bobby’s mother is Black and his father is white, and they were both retired schoolteachers; he was an only child and they used to spoil him all the time. Now, they tended to spoil the granddaughters. Bobby was fifty years old, tall and slender, with brown eyes, bald, and a goatee. He loved wearing his blue jeans and short-sleeved shirts.

Bobby and I had been friends ever since we were toddlers, and if anyone would have an idea what the hell was going on, he would.

I put Princess in the baby carrier and attached it to my shoulders. We then headed to Bobby’s house. Little Princess’s black-and-gray fur was blowing in the wind, and she was squinting her eyes to keep from getting dust in them.

We were the only thing on the road going into Timmons; there were no other vehicles on the road.

When Princess and I got to Bobby’s, he was on his front porch steps, crying intensely. His hands were covering his eyes and face and as we got closer, I could see that he was shuddering. Quickly, I got off the bicycle and ran over to Bobby while Princess whimpered and whined in the baby carrier.

"Bobby, you all right … man?" I asked, concerned and worried about my friend.

Slowly, Bobby removed his hands from his face and wiped his eyes with a handkerchief he pulled out of his pants pocket. He looked at Princess and me, and said something I thought I would never hear him say. "I … had … to … shoot Buster. He went mad for some reason. He bit little Ralphy, the neighbor’s son, and as soon as I got him away from Ralphy, he was growling, snarling, and trying to bite me. I don’t know what happened to him!" Bobby exclaimed loudly.

Buster was a good dog, a ten-year-old German Shepherd with the most beautiful brown-and-black fur. He was a big dog but a gentle and friendly dog to anyone who came in contact with him … before he went mad.

I believe there is a reason that only the domestic animals are going mad and attacking their owners and other people. He scratched his head. I believe they are trying to eliminate us. I believe they are doing something to the domestic animals to make them vicious. They must have a method of mind-control that affects the animals. I don’t know why the wild animals aren’t being affected … that is bewildering me at the moment, Bobby said as he stepped off his porch steps and looked down the road toward town.

"I thought … I heard screams a while ago, coming from town, but I wasn’t really sure I did." Bobby sighed and put his hand on his forehead, and closed his eyes for a moment.

I wonder why the Air Force or the Army planes didn’t intercept those golden elliptical-shaped spacecraft … or whatever they are, I said nervously to Bobby.

Then I figured that the aliens’ technology affected planes, cars, trucks, and mobile phones, too.

I don’t … know … that either. I don’t understand why communication systems, computers, vehicles, and domestic animals are the only things being affected by the arrival of the spacecraft. I do know that I still believe it is an alien invasion of some sort and not that of another country, Bobby told me while walking around to the back of his house, and heading toward his garage.

He stopped before the door and said with tear-filled eyes, I got to … bury my dog, now.

"Can … I, uh, help you, Bobby?" I asked softly, knowing that Bobby was grieving over having to shoot his dog.

"Thanks … but I want to do this myself. Why don’t you and Princess ride into town to see what’s going on? Then come back here and tell me, please," Bobby said while digging a hole in the flower garden to bury Buster.

Okay. You sure you don’t need me to help … you, Bobby? I asked as I saw Bobby tearing up with every shovel full of dirt he removed from the flower garden.

No, I got this! Bobby said, whimpering, and then crying.

Princess and I got on the bicycle and headed toward town, not knowing what to expect when we arrived there. One thing bothered me, though. Why didn’t Princess go mad like the other domestic animals around here?

After a ten-minute ride, Princess and I arrived on the main street in Timmons. To our surprise, there was no one out and about. Along the edge of the streets, animals were lying and staring at one another. They weren’t making a sound of any kind; they all appeared to be in some kind of trance.

I assumed they were the pets of some people living in Timmons. These animals didn’t act mad, like what had happened to Buster. I thought that the animals’ state now might be followed by madness. I was afraid for Princess, so I kept her in the baby carrier as a precaution—for her safety and mine.

We kept moving along. I still didn’t have a clue as to why she didn’t go mad like Buster; I could only come up with an educated guess and that was that it had something to do with the golden elliptical-shaped spacecraft. Maybe they were aliens and not spacecraft being tested by the US … or an enemy invading us from another country.

The power in town was still on and the traffic lights were working, but there wasn’t any traffic on any of the roads. There were cars and trucks parked in the parking lot in the middle of town, but there wasn’t anyone stirring there. There was only Princess and me.

I walked down the main street with Princess still in the baby carrier and me pushing the bicycle. I was looking and listening to see if I could hear anyone calling, crying, or screaming. But I heard not a sound, nor did I see anyone. The town appeared to be deserted.

I looked everywhere—inside the department stores, the antique shop, and Carter’s Barber Shop (mainly, because I needed a haircut desperately).

"Hello! Hello? Mr. Carter, you … in here?" I asked curiously, hoping Mr. Carter or someone would answer me. But no one did.

Princess and I continued our walk along the sidewalk, looking for any signs of life or anything else of note. Princess kept looking around and at me, and she was becoming antsy. She began to whine and whimper nervously. I was beginning to worry about her. I was afraid that she might be turning into something demonic—like a crazed animal—but she was still my Princess and nothing was truly changing about her. She didn’t turn into a monster. She was still Princess, and I was glad.

I couldn’t help thinking about Bobby and poor Buster—he loved that dog so much.

When we reached the far end of town, I stopped by the public water fountain and filled my water bottle. I drank my fill of water and gave Princess her share. As I refilled the bottle, I heard an ominous sound coming from the back of Walter’s Hardware Store. I put the stand down on the bicycle and parked it near the side of the store. Then Princess and I slowly and carefully walked behind the store.

Several seconds later, I saw what was causing the ominous sound: a small golden-shaped elliptical spacecraft, giving off a bright blue glow from the bottom section, and what looked like a ramp extending from that same area.

I put my right hand over Princess’s mouth because she was whimpering and whining more loudly than before. She was beginning to shiver and shudder so badly, I thought she was going to fall out of the baby carrier. Then I saw one of them … and it scared the hell out of me.

These aliens, or whatever they are, and wherever they came from, weren’t like humans at all. Their faces were golden in color and their skin appeared to be scaly, like fish. They were very tall, not what you would expect aliens to be. From where I was standing, I could tell that their heads and foreheads had many ridges on them. Their eyes were a brilliant blue and their ears were square-shaped with some kind of silver ring on them.

"Where the hell did they come from, and who were they?" I asked myself as I rubbed Princess’s head. She had finally settled down and was calm, more like her old self.

Suddenly, I got the hell scared out of me again as I started to move in closer for a better look while staying behind some old boxes that were at the rear of the hardware store. Something grabbed my right shoulder and grunted.

I stood very still because I thought one of the aliens had me.

Hey, Michael! It’s me … Bobby! He chuckled softly while I almost peed in my pants.

"Damn you … Bobby! You shouldn’t do things like that!" I