If you think you know somebody who resembles any of the characters here, congratulations, but you're wrong - any similarity between the characters in this story and any real person is purely coincidental, since all of these characters are figments of my imagination.

This is my story, not yours. Don't sell it or put it on a pay site. You can keep it and/or give it away with all of this information intact, but if you make money off of it without my permission, you're breaking the law and pissing me off.

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"Alpha flight, this is Bravo One. I read two groups, five each, can you confirm?"

"Bravo Leader this is Alpha One. That's a roger on the spooks! Distance sweeps show no other bogeys."

"Roger Alpha. Ten targets. We'll jump 'em going in. They'll have to work back past us to get home. Pickets One-Four through One-Seven and Three-Four through Three-Seven, you get the leftovers going in. Charlie leader, keep an eye on our six. Don't want any surprises. If any get past us going out, you can have 'em!"

"Will do, Bravo. Any more come sniffing around we'll give 'em something else to think about."

"They're closer to me, Alpha, so I've got the lead. We'll push 'em your way and pinch 'em in the cone. Good hunting!"

"Roger, Bravo Leader. Meet you in the middle!"

"Bravo flight, this is Bravo One, we've done this a million times in the sims, now we get to do it for real. Wait for my signal to form the cone, and don't show 'em what we've got until you have to. Here we go, single squadron attack formation, Go!"

The aliens saw them as almost as soon as they emerged from behind the asteroid and changed course to avoid them, their course and speed calculated to outrun the reaction drives that were standard for Earth forces. The deception couldn't last long without the tails of fire and condensation from the rockets, so Bravo One got back on the horn.

"Okay, they're committed. Let's close the gap and give 'em something to think about. Hopefully they won't notice Alpha closing in."

With drives maxed out, they were almost on top of the alien ships before their pilots could react, and just as they had practiced in the sims, Alpha and Bravo flights joined forces, merging into a single cone that covered most of the possible escape vectors while allowing them to fire at the enemy at will without danger of hitting each other. The aliens hit the gas but the Earth ships were already on top of them, and carnage ensued. Three, four, six then seven of the alien ships went up in balls of fire. The picket boats, lying in wait, got another before the final two swept into an upper atmosphere orbit and slung themselves around the planet, heading outward at a different vector than that on which they approached. Fearing a trap, the UE commanders recalled their flights. Only two of the Earth ships did not make it back to their base on the Moon.

"Yes!" Caprio's fist pumped in an uncharacteristic gesture as he watched the video feed from the Earth Defense fleet. For the first time in memory, the alien fighters were in retreat! "Take that, you alien assholes!"

The President's cabinet watched in amusement - those who weren't engaging in their own celebrations - as the normally reserved President enjoyed a brief release from his usual restraint.

"Not bad for a lame duck, eh?!" He asked of no one in particular.

The election results, of course, weighed heavily on his mind these days. So much left to do! His successor was a good man, no doubt, but it was so hard to let go with so much remaining to be done.

"This is what I wanted to see!" Caprio told his aide as they left the situation room. "I will go back to private life a happy man knowing I have accomplished this!"

"I think there is much more that you can be proud of, Sir." The aide said quietly, for once not consulting his ubiquitous PDT.

"And what would that be?" The President, still euphoric after the victory, asked absent-mindedly.

"Have you forgotten what you have had to accomplish to get this victory, in just a few short years?" The aide replied. "You have almost eliminated poverty, not just in a few countries, but throughout the world. You have made nations and peoples who have traditionally been at each other's throats work together to accomplish near impossible tasks. The economy and subsequently the prosperity of most of the people of Earth is soaring, and the gap between rich and poor has dwindled. Most of the Earth's population now boasts membership in a new, international middle class, and ignorance and illiteracy are at an all-time low. History may remember you as the First President of United Earth, or as the President who achieved victory over the alien invaders, but some of us will remember you as the President who saved Earth from itself."

"You are too kind, Eric." Caprio studied his aide. "We must, you know, give these invaders some credit for those accomplishments. If they had not attacked, not even I would have been able to accomplish those things."

"Be that as it may, sir," Eric replied, "Earth was lucky to have chosen you as its first President."

"Humph!" Caprio grunted turning to study one of the paintings on the wall of the presidential palace so his aide wouldn't notice the moisture rimming his eyes.

"We're United Earth Space Corps!" The drill sergeant's voice rang out from beside the weary column of men and women as they jogged through the desert.

As one, the voices of the platoon members returned the chant in the time-honored cadence as thudding boots kept the rhythm on the hard-packed sand. "WE'RE UNITED EARTH SPACE CORPS!"

"We show spooks what war is for!"

"WE SHOW SPOOKS WHAT WAR IS FOR!"

"They came to Earth to have some fun!"

"THEY CAME TO EARTH TO HAVE SOME FUN!"

"Now we've got them on the run!"

"NOW WE'VE GOT THEM ON THE RUN!"

"Sound off!"

"ONE, TWO!"

"Sound off!"'

"THREE, FOUR!"

"Sound off, one, two..."

"THREEFOUR!"

Another voice picked up the chant: "I don't know but I deduce!"

"I DON'T KNOW BUT I DEDUCE!"

"Ain't no way spooks reproduce!"

"AIN'T NO WAY SPOOKS REPRODUCE!"

"They get together for a poke!"

"THEY GET TOGETHER FOR A POKE!"

"And disappear like clouds of smoke!"

"AND DISAPPEAR LIKE CLOUDS OF SMOKE!"

"Sound off!"

"ONE, TWO!"

"Sound off!"

"THREE, FOUR!"

"Sound off, one, two..."

"THREEFOUR!"

The chant faded as the jogging men rounded a sand dune and headed off into the distance.

"Looks like a pretty good group, Colonel." Former President Caprio complemented the commander of the UE Southwest Receiving Station, the official handle of this one of eight bootcamps now in operation.

"Yes, sir." Colonel Jansen smiled, the Australian twang barely audible in his voice. "The quality of recruits we're getting has improved considerably since we started kicking alien arse. Morale among the existing forces has improved, too. They're still a little leery about those disappearances, but are willing to take the risk. The education level too, is phenomenal, compared with what we started with. We're getting kids in now who actually understand the physics behind the grav-drives, and that's not just from one or two countries. I taught the drives class last week myself, just to keep my hand in, and there were Muslims, Jews, Indians, and Africans all keeping pace with the Europeans and Chinese. Even the American kids are getting back up to where they were in the last century. The quality of the force is improving by leaps and bounds, and none too soon. I can't tell you how many boots I've almost lost in the last few years because they didn't understand the basics of vector physics as they apply to zero gee conditions."

"Well, I appreciate you affording me this opportunity to observe, Colonel, even though I no longer have any official standing with the UE Government."

"Sir, as far as I'm concerned, your standing, official or not, will always be good enough to get you on this base." The Colonel stepped from the Hummvee as they pulled up in front of base headquarters.

As the former President emerged, the base commander came stiffly to attention and snapped a parade-ground salute. Caprio, almost overwhelmed, drew himself up and returned the salute. "Thank you, Colonel Jansen."

"No sir. Thank YOU!"