Kitu's Unconventional Journey

It was a beautiful day for scoffing on the job.

"So, what's the latest?" I asked Cikka.

The big man leaned against the wall next to my cubicle. He smiled mischievously, "Nothing much. We had a visit from the mayor yesterday."

I snorted, "That's it? How is that news?"

"What do you mean? It's a major event! Don't you remember how we used to get excited when the governor came to town?"

I shrugged and kept my eyes on my work. I knew that he wouldn't get it, but I didn't want to be rude.

He let out a sigh, "Where were you born and raised, again?" He sounded genuinely curious. I didn't want to reveal too much either and just grunted, "Here," in response.

Cikka frowned, confused by my answer, but changed his mind not to pursue further.

He continued, "Anyway, he was here for some kind of meeting with the mayor about the war. Apparently the enemy is capturing more cities than we are."

I looked up from my computer screen, now interested in the conversation. The war had been going on for decades and there wasn't really much information regarding it – at least any information I could trust or understand. Most of us didn't really care about it anyway.

"The enemy?" I asked.

"The Xeinians." Cikka answered knowingly, as if everybody knew who they were and why we were fighting them or each other (it was hard to tell).

I nodded slowly as if I knew what he was talking about then resumed with the work on my screen again. Maybe this would be another good opportunity to take a sick day... no wait – vacation day! I had so many unused vacation days and I couldn't possibly use them all before they expired because it would look bad on my resume if I got fired (which wasn't very likely; after all, who in their right mind would fire me?).

"How long has this been going on?" I asked while looking at my calendar app pretending to be occupied with something important.

[url=] [url]https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&text=Out+of+office&dates=20180218%2F20180220&details=&location=Home[/url] [/url]

[url=] [url]https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&text=Out+of+office&dates=20180218%2F20180220&details=&location=Home[/url] [/url]

[url=] [url]https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&text=Out+of+office&dates=20180218%2F20180220&details=&location=Home[/url] [/url]

[url=] [url]https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&text=Out+of+office&dates=20180218%2F20180220&details=&location=Home[/url] [/url]

[url=] [url]https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&text=Out+of+office&dates=20180218%2F20180220&details=&location=Home[/url] [/url]

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[size="5"] Now that Cikka mentioned it, it did seem like there was more bombing than usual lately and those drones doing surveillance over our city made me feel uneasy... However, that didn’t stop me from taking advantage of free time when it presented itself! My supervisor will understand... he will probably even be annoyed that no one bothered to cover for me!

[size="5"] The sound of loud voices outside interrupted my thoughts; apparently some people had arrived at our office building just in time for lunch break! More than a dozen people entered through our office door on the second floor all at once: most of them were wearing uniforms of some sort - public officials perhaps - while some others wore suits and ties similar to mine (but not as crisp). They looked around quickly as soon as they walked in then headed straight towards the stairway leading up to higher floors where presumably our supervisor's office was located (he always ate lunch alone upstairs). My eyes stopped wandering once they landed on one person among them who stood out among the rest: she wore an unusual outfit consisting of a black coat over loose-fitting pants and a tie - her attire was definitely not appropriate for this era (last time someone wore such clothes was when my grandparents were still alive!). She also seemed somehow familiar... but where did I see her before...? Her eyes met mine briefly and she smiled at me which made her look even prettier than before (if that was even possible!) - she must have recognized me too since she waved her hand slightly as if saying 'hi'. Then she turned around and followed everyone else up towards our supervisor's office without even giving me a chance to say hello back! That girl sure has guts... everybody knows that showing up late for work is unacceptable! As soon as the noise died down again Cikka started talking again, "It seems like there is going to be some changes around here..." he said almost in awe while staring through the window overlooking our office floor outside into space beyond it (looking directly into sunlight made him squint his eyes dramatically). I approached him cautiously making sure not to make sudden moves so as not disturb him too much – he might choose to continue his sentence otherwise (which would mean wasting another half hour or so). But unfortunately his eyes suddenly opened wide with shock making me jump back hurriedly: "Look!" he shouted pointing outside.. Our vision followed his finger towards where he was pointing: two enormous silver ships flew past our building with ease! Both of them looked exactly alike only different sizes – one of them flew high above us making its wingspan wider than visible building windows while another one flew lower beneath us making its fuselage wider than visible building walls! If these weren’t airplanes but spaceships then…!? And what happened with those enormous wings!? Did those things actually fly sideways!? Where did these ships come from!? And why haven’t we noticed their arrival earlier?! Helllooooo Earth calling ground control!? You better answer because... “Earth is under attack!” Cikka shouted interrupting my thoughts with terror in his voice… “And by whom!?” I asked nervously trying not sound too panicked myself (after all this could've been just another one of his practical jokes). “THE XEINIANS!!” he answered forcefully making himself sound more dramatic than necessary (as always)… “But we are at war against them already! What do you mean ‘under attack’?!” He turned around towards me still looking into space making it clear that he doesn’t want to talk anymore until after he finishes watching those flying saucers pass by us… What an idiot! How can anybody act like this during war time?! “Let’s go check things out first…” I tried calming him down using reasonable arguments hoping that it would help calm myself down too.. “No point in panicking unless we know for sure what is going on!" He finally turned away from window bothering me less with his face than his body language (arms folded across chest waiting impatiently for those ships to pass by)... In fact he looked quite ridiculous so maybe now would be a good time for me to take advantage of a sick day after all... no wait – call this a vacation day instead!" After all there wasn't much point in hiding behind curtains pretending not noticing anything when there clearly were some big events happening outside right now..." Unfortunately before I could make up my mind about whether or not wanting to take advantage of this opportunity any further someone barged inside interrupting my thoughts yet again… It was Big Trezze himself – our supervisor! "This better be important... no – urgent!" He yelled furiously with irritation written all over his face while looking around angrily expecting somebody else besides us two ("We need your help downstairs immediately!")… “Why are those Xeinians attacking us now?! Why couldn’t they just leave us alone?! After all we did nothing wrong!?" His voice echoed through office rooms disturbing people's lunch breaks everywhere and drawing attention from everyone present… People stopped eating their lunches abruptly and stared at him confused wondering why he was yelling about aliens attacking today of all days… “Dammit let’s go already! They don’t have time for your theat