The Day of the Nefilim
by D. L. MAJOR
A little tiny bit of TDotN
Location: The UN observation base on the moon
Lieutenant Sider was approaching two points of completion.
The first was the end of his shift, which would be welcome enough, and the second would occur in one Earth week, when his tour of duty would end.
He would be going back on the next shuttle, to blue skies, real warmth, and real air, not out of a bottle, and fresh food. Of course he knew that, as always, after a few weeks he would get impatient with the people down there, with their trivial preoccupations and their circuses, and that would be the beginning of his yearning for the stark, unambiguous beauty of the empty lunar landscape. And then he would apply to return to where he felt most comfortable, to his friends in this sealed microcosm on the moon. To the United Nations forward observation base.
The center of a network of satellites and unmanned observation posts, they were the Earth’s eyes. They kept watch, waiting and observing. They kept their superiors on Earth informed about what they saw, and kept the data feeds operating.
They had seen only fleeting glimpses on their banks of monitors and scanners, but it was enough to tell them that there was something going on. Whatever was coming from the new planet was somehow shifting through frequencies as they came out of space and headed towards the Earth.
Sider had tried to think it through, but lacking any hard facts, he had only come up with conjecture. That was all that anyone on the station had done. It had begun about a year ago, when one of them had seen it coming, heading inwards, past the orbit of Pluto and heading their way. It was too big to be a comet, or an asteroid.
They contacted Earth, and were asked whether it was a planet. It probably is a planet, they said, and you’ll find it’s coming to life, unless we’re very much mistaken. Keep a careful eye on it, Earth said.
Of course they were going to keep a careful eye on it.
The new planet was about the size of Earth, and it had an atmosphere that was heating up as it approached the sun. They started picking up EM waves and what seemed to be communications or broadcasts. They made recordings, and sent them down to Earth, and never heard anything, except when they were told to keep sending information.
It was going to pass close to Earth. The authorities told the population that it was a comet, and most people never heard any suggestion that it was anything else. Someone leaked something into the newsgroups, but that leak was quickly found and stopped, and Aussie Bloke disappeared so quickly that no one missed him.
But the crew on the station knew that it was no comet. As it came as close to Earth as it was going to get, the EM activity became more intense, and then during one rest period, as Sider slept, dreaming of the plains and mountains that surrounded the base, whoever was on duty at the screens hit the alarm. Bleary-eyed, Sider went down to the control center and joined the others who were gathering there.
A fleet of objects had left the planet and was heading for Earth. During the next twenty four hours they watched as the objects drew closer. There were hundreds of them, arranged in an armada. Like a swarm of locusts, someone described them in a dispatch to Earth.
The authorities on Earth wanted to know everything, and kept a channel permanently open, taking all the images and data the base could send. In return, they told the base nothing.
In no time at all the fleet was upon them, and they could see in their telescopes the light glinting on the flanks of ships. Some of them where as big as the largest UN aircraft carriers that patrolled the seas on Earth. Some of them were bigger.
They tried to communicate with the ships, but there was no reply, or if there was, they didn’t know how to receive it.
It was almost a beautiful sight.
Sider and a few of the others were standing in one of the viewing domes, a small transparent hemisphere joined to the rest of the complex by a narrow passageway. They were looking at the fleet, wondering, when they saw three pinpricks of light leave one of the ships.
It was soon obvious that they were heading their way, and they kept coming and coming, and one of the others said we’re going to get some visitors, we’re going to make contact, and Sider said maybe, but they’re not slowing down, and they’re getting pretty close.
They stood and watched, spellbound, as the three points of light traced achingly beautiful arcs down towards them, unerringly targeting the complex.
When the missiles hit, they destroyed most of the domes and underground structures instantly and the air exploded out of the others almost as quickly. The side of the hemisphere in which Lieutenant Sider was standing was ruptured by a piece of flying metal, and the last thing that he thought, as the blood boiled from his eyes and the cells in his body began exploding and freezing and he turned into something that was hard and dry and inside out, was that it was a pity that he hadn’t met the aliens.
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Comments from readers
“I HAVE BEEN READING SF since about 1970, when I was ten years old, having inherited a bookshelf of the greats – Heinlein, Herbert, Azimov, Bradbury, Vonnegut, etc, when my family moved in to a new house. Since then I have devoured just about everything in most of the genres that have populated the print and electronic worlds as they have matured along with the realities of hard science. I have also been a fan of conspiracy lit, be it templar, illuminati, or of the X-Files sort. In the last year, as a result of having an iphone and discovering manybooks.net, I have started consuming more and more SF from the ‘unknowns’ and ‘unsigned’ which have been showing up with a greater frequency, and the fact of the matter is: The Day of The Nefilim is one of the best SF novels I have read since I began reading. Maybe that’s just because all of what I have read until now provided the knowledge and context to appreciate the depth of David’s work, which didn’t allow me to put it down until I finished it. Straight through, in one sitting. Yeah, that’s right, I did not put the book down until I finished reading it. Couldn’t. Well done David. Keep writing. Can’t wait to read your next book… You would make Robert Anton Wilson proud, and Douglas Adams smile.” — exiledsurfer on Manybooks.net
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“Scanning over the reviews of this book which you have already received, I see that all the good superlatives have already been ably employed; the richness of praise so opulent and resounding that even a great big word freak like myself is hard put to say anything that would glitter for an instant in the clamoring tide.So, all I can say is that I love this book as much as I love all of my favorite science fiction books, and that’s a quantity that defies quantifiers. Everything in this book is perfect. The ending is perfect; the villains are perfect; the characters and images and settings are perfect. I, too, could barely put it down.And I want to also say, thank you.” — P. Deering
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“I’ve read a lot of SF and conspiracy theories in my time, watched thousands of SF movies and documentaries, but I’ve never come across anything with the likes of your imagination. I was only able to understand it because of all I’ve read and watched in the last twenty years. I’ve never read any of your work before, but I believe you stand out.” — E.V.
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“This was an excellent read. Elements of Moorcock, Heinlein and Barker. Deserves serious consideration for the avid SF reader. Hopefully will spawn some more installments in the story line. Also feel it has the makings of a good screenplay. Thanks for the great writing David!” — Ron W.
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“And just as Pig ‘was going to have a crap in the grass, then a roll in the mud’, it finished. Great read, I hope to see more. Reminds me a lot of that Triffids book which sticks in my mind from about 40 years ago. Good read ” — be1952
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“Great story! One of the most original I’ve read in a long time! Brilliant use of characters and current events. I couldn’t put it down.” —MF, Palmgear.com
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“Well I just finished the first half of this fine story, what can I say other than I’m hooked!!!!!! Who’s the blue mutant woman, does Bark get with Reina?!?! Can the rebel mutants shut down the Nefilim grid and engage theirs before it’s too late?!?! Hmm, I guess I won’t find out until you release the second half. A big New York City thanks to you and some fine SF writing.” — LC, Palmgear.com
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“Thank you for publishing the The Day Of The Nefilim for the Palm. I have enjoyed the imagery that you have provided in the story and think that your style of writing is very captivating. Keep up the good work, and thank you again. I have enjoyed the reading MUCH so far!” — WP, Palmgear.com
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“…this is an excellent full-on fantasy sci fi that incorporates current parallels and a unique and engrossing universe. An interesting blend of 2D and 3D characters and an interesting ‘life in the interior’ scenario. When’s the movie coming?” —RS, PalmGear
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“Loved the book. It ranks, in my mind, with L. Ron Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth. Would be a great movie. Please continue.” — LG
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“Wow!!! Oh my. I almost quit work to finish the first part. I got lost in the awesome surrealism of this novel. When I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. Please (I beg), for humanity’s sake, make Part 2 available in the .lit version. I’ll pay for it. I’ll almost buy a Palm Pilot just to read the second part.” — lawalty, Handango.com
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“Okay, okay. That was cooooooooool.” — MP, Branch Manager, West Indianapolis Branch Library
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“It’s an odd book…” — DS
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About D. L. Major
Email: world@philobiblion.com.au
Website: philobiblion.com.au
Location: Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Phone: +61401570984
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidlmajor
Twitter: @pbiblion