Read Online The Harvest by N.W. Harris - Free Book Online

thought
they would win. His own fears and concerns must be suppressed, and
he had to help them overcome theirs.
    “So what are we gonna do, boss?” Steve asked,
wiping his mouth with his hand and then rubbing it down his
shirt.
    “We’re gonna train,” he replied firmly.
“We’re going to practice and learn everything these rebels can
teach us. We’ve got to bust our asses every day until the Anunnaki
arrive.”
    “We should act like a military special forces
unit if we are going to have a chance,” Tracy interjected. “We
should wake up early and run. We need to get in the best shape we
can.”
    “Agreed, and we should do some calisthenics
too,” Shane added. “At least some push-ups and sit-ups.” He’d
played sports long enough to know being in good shape would only
help them. And the less time they spent thinking about how
impossible their mission was, or about lost loved ones, the
better.
    “Who are we kidding?” Laura said, hysteria
pitching her voice. She was sitting on the other side of Steve,
hidden behind his massive frame. “I don’t mean to be a downer, but
how can a bunch of teenagers defeat space soldiers who have been
traveling around the universe for thousands of years, kicking the
crap out of entire worlds for fun? I mean, has it occurred to you
guys that it sounds like no one has ever beaten them?”
    “Yes, Laura, that has occurred to me,” Shane
replied quickly. He could see Tracy was about to snap at her, and
he knew it wouldn’t help. “But we are different. The Anunnaki have
never fought humans, so we don’t know what our chances are.” He
gave each of his friends a stern look. “No one ever wins a fight
going into it thinking they’re gonna lose. We have to believe in
ourselves, or we definitely don’t have a chance.”
    Laura didn’t respond, but her comment put a
damper on the mood of the kids around the table. After a moment,
Shane stood and lifted his tray, taking it to the window on the
right side of the cafeteria and dumping the remains of his meal
into a trash can. Sliding the tray through the window into the
kitchen, he could see some of the kids from his and Maurice’s
groups washing dishes and helping prepare food.
    When he turned around, Kelly, Steve, Laura,
Maurice, Tracy, and Jules were behind him. They all dropped their
trays in the window and gave him a what’s next look.
    As if on cue, a man in a black jumpsuit
entered the cafeteria and glanced around. When his eyes found
Shane’s, he walked briskly toward them.
    “I’m Jones,” he growled, glaring at them like
they weren’t worthy of his attention. “I’ll be in charge of your
training.”
    Other than a large scar running from his
temple to chin, the alien resembled the other male clones. But his
facial features were where the similarities ended. Jones’ broad,
muscled shoulders threatened to burst the stitches of his black
shirt. He wore his dark hair in a crew cut like Tracy, and he stood
tall, with his big chest thrust forward.
    “Is it just the seven teams who’ll be
attacking the Anunnaki?” Tracy asked, unmoved by the alien’s drill
sergeant demeanor. “Won’t we be getting more troops?”
    “We’re recruiting as many kids as possible
for the fight against the Anunnaki. On hidden bases around the
world, teams will be trained to attack different parts of the
Anunnaki ship. This base is being used to prepare the special
attack squads that have the most important role in the
mission—destroying the reactor. Here, your group will compete with
the other six teams to determine which is the best and, therefore,
which will attack the Anunnaki flagship,” Jones rumbled.
    After barely taking a breath, he continued,
“Each human opposing the enemy must be given an earbud to suppress
the slave gene. We have a limited supply of the earbuds, but we’ll
give them to as many kids as possible to build several small forces
for an exterior attack on the remaining Anunnaki after you and the
other