17 hours left

many didn't believe the giantess aliens
some of them tried to communicate what was going to happen
a micro black hole was heading to our solar system
it will come close enough to our sun to shatter it
it's moving so fast it will exit the solar system on a new trajectory before we even see it
the planets will be vaporized by the pseudo supernova soon after
their scientists discovered it entering the galaxy and mapped out its course for their own purposes
only to discover our "primitive" civilization was right in its path
the sheer luck of the timing prompted a hasty humanitarian response
our initial military response was thankfully ineffective
many scientists tried to confirm the black holes existence using our own means of detection
it was the kind of cosmic threat that could never have been noticed unless one knew to look right at it
soon they did and as the news spread fear of invasion shifted to panic of evacuation

13 hours left

some cities became war zones as overpopulated areas attempted to swarm the life boats
these places soon found themselves abandoned instead
unable to save everyone the aliens were treating the scenario like triage
anywhere that became too disorderly or confrontational was abandoned
anywhere they could detect willing and cooperative evacuees were prioritized
they had nothing designed for our use so there were no ships we could easily board
individual soldiers had to coral humans into containers or carry them by hand
evacuees were limited to taking only what items they could carry on their backs
even with humans packed tightly into their shuttles only a few thousand could fit at a time
with military discipline the shuttles moved continuously
dropping off soldiers and containers at one site
then moving to another that was ready to be loaded
rocketing back to the larger ships in orbit
evacuating the rescues as quickly as possible
and getting ready to take off the second they were empty to do it all again
everyone was intensely aware that delays of minutes meant fewer lives saved

9 hours left

more aliens ships were continuously joining the initial fleet
the rescue accelerated and the earth was a buzzing hive of ships
even still the logistical impossibility of the task loomed
it was clear that only a fraction of humanity would be saved
smaller communities had found themselves better able to organize than big cities
many towns could fit entirely into a single shuttle and desperately signaled to be saved
for perhaps the first time in human history the whole species seemed to be awake at the same time
each praying or pleading in their own way to be saved next
save for those remote places without technology who could only notice the strange and busy lights in the sky
then some nations launched nukes
not at the aliens but at other cities
whether it was desperation, madness, or lone actors would never be found out
perhaps someone thought destroying other places would prioritize the salvation of their own
the aliens shot down what they could
but many more fell on remote locations
strategic targets that had been made worthless by the ticking clock
some of the cities already triaged were struck too, trading in their annihilation early
government agents in bunkers issued orders of retaliation
some were ignored, some were followed, it mattered little
the fallout only served to doom some communities and prioritize others instead
a final cruelty as the power grids began to go down
with no more messages to send all remaining survivors could simply wait

5 hours left

thousands were steadily being saved but the millions waiting had their hope diminish
the shuttles were simply taking the shortest possible flight times now
even well organized cities were getting gaps in shuttle service
just because some remote location could be landed at a minute or two quicker from orbit
it was obvious the majority of every city were doomed from the beginning
as this realization dawned on them some of the cities undergoing orderly evacuation began to turn
every minute wasted arguing or organizing by the aliens was costing lives
there was now a 6 minute deadline for loading a shuttle
if any city took longer than that it was triaged
the rural people who had been waiting for hours with little hope loaded up much quicker

1 hour left

the fleet admiral ordered all incoming ships to earths solar system to reverse course
at this point there would be no way to integrate them into the rescue effort before they needed to leave
so many humans were still waiting in darkness and silence
many soldiers were now out of position due to confusion and miscommunication that came with the long hours
some were able to get to evacuation points and meet back up with the rescue efforts
others volunteered to forgo their own rescue so the evacuation could continue
they took solace in the lives already saved being worth their sacrifice as soldiers
one such soldier found herself in rural America
a small town was slightly bigger than they expected and all the humans and soldiers wouldn't fit
the humans had taken up every available container and surface of the floor
in violation of transportation protocol the soldiers were standing on seats just to create more floor space
Lieutenent Dresselle Amietty had ordered her crew and shuttle to depart without her
it would take too much time to reorganize the containers with the shuttle already being so full
and they had been told they were close to needing to have the fleet warp out
she sent in a request to command to not be rescued, knowing how little time was left
if there had been more humans here then it would be worth the trip but they had gotten almost everyone
it was late morning now, this part of earth having experienced most of the rescue overnight
she undid the ties on her hair for the first time in more than a day
her cat like ears fluttered as she let her long red locks fall freely
beyond the town was a rising column of smoke
she had been told by some of the townspeople that someone lived there alone
that he had decided not to join them in the evacuation
she walked along the narrow roads towards the smoke

48 minutes left

the captain of the shuttle was furious when she found out the lieutenant wasn't on board
she had assumed the take off command had come from inside the shuttle
the other soldiers were too busy keeping their balance to correct the mistake
they had just landed in the carrier and she was already plotting a return course
a voice comes over her comm "no more rescue trips we have to prep for warp in approximately 30 minutes"
the captain shot back "I'm not going back for another load of humans"
the voice continued "you don't have enough time to unload and make the trip"
"we're approaching my orbital window in 112 seconds"
"we'll unload as much as we can then I am going back and we'll have room for the lieutenant"
another voice came on "Shuttle2841, you are not authorized..."
"you can court-martial me after but I'm not leaving the lieutenant if we have options"
she yelled back at the soldiers who had unloaded a quarter of the containers
"get a move on and lock the doors on my countdown, any humans left on board are coming with"
there was silence from the radio as the orbital clock ticked by
45 seconds left to go and that second voice came back
"we've prepped a fully unloaded shuttle at the gate next to yours"
the captain ripped out of her seat and made her way through the shuttle
she found the cockpit of the unoccupied shuttle with her course already programed in
the voice informed her she would have a two minute window to pick up the lieutenant
after that the shuttle wouldn't get back in time to find a warp capable vessel left in the system

On Earth

the lieutenant had reached the source of smoke
in a small clearing sat a cabin and behind it a large fire
a human male was sitting next to it holding something she didn't recognize
as she approached a few notes of music drifted up to her and she realized it was an instrument
he had not turned to greet her though he surely must have felt her steps by now
"hello" she said down to him
he looked up at her but kept playing "come to talk me into leaving?"
"no" she said "I don't think there are going to be any more ships, it's almost over"
given his laid back attitude she felt like asking "do you know whats going on?"
"yeah" he said "watched it all on my phone last night"
"woke up and decided not to join everyone in town waiting for a rescue that won't come"
he stopped playing "do you mean there's no ship for you too?"
shocked that anyone could manage to sleep last night Amietty nodded "mind if i sit?"
he nodded in return and watched as she sat on the clearing next to the cabin
she was surprisingly delicate for someone a hundred feet tall
he resumed strumming his banjo as she leaned back to the edge of the woods
"what has you left down here?" he asked
"there was only enough room for myself or several families, I did what was necessary"
"what's your name?" he asked
"Lieutenent Dresselle Amietty" she said "and you?"
"Edgar Mason, folks call me Ed"
"and for what it's worth, thank you for doing what you did for the people in town"
she smiled weakly "you have no reservations about missing the rescue ship?"
"I made peace with the idea of dying on my land when I bought it"
he shrugged "didn't expect that to happen for another 40 years but here we are"
"also, no offense, but I doubted you guys were going to make it out our way"
"so not much longer then?" he asked not feeling like playing anymore
"no, I don't think so" she said as they listened to the morning breeze

35 minutes left

Amietty had been enjoying the sun and fresh air as much as she could
having worked for so long this brief rest had allowed her exhaustion to catch up to her
she was grateful that she wouldn't be facing this alone
there was something about the humans acceptance of his fate that helped her do the same
then her radio came back to life
"lieutenant are you still at the pick up?"
she sat up right, suddenly overwhelmed at hearing the captains voice again
quickly answering back she said "no I walked out of the town, but not far"
"I should be able to spot you on the way in" the captain asserted
"be prepared to board quickly, we only have enough time to touch down and take off"
"confirmed" she said
she looked down to Ed "grab whatever you can carry, we're leaving soon"
Ed didn't need to be told twice
he ran into his cabin and was back out again almost as quickly with a large rucksack
"did you have that ready to go?" she asked
"I packed it yesterday for a camping trip before you guys arrived" he said picking up the banjo
she reached down to him "give me your bag I'll put it in my pocket"
in the distance the engines of the shuttle could be heard
Ed had his banjo slung over his back when her gloved hand returned to scoop him up
she unbuttoned the tight high collar of her jacket
"stand on my shoulder and hold on, I may need both hands to get on the ship"
even loose, the collar pressed Ed against her warm pale skin
the shuttle was now overhead and descending quickly
the jet from it's engines were oddly mild for it's size
but it was still enough to cause Amietty's hair to billow around as it grew closer
Ed couldn't see anything through the angry whips of hair as the ship got lower and lower
the open bay came close enough for Amietty to step inside and grab the handholds above
"I'M IN! GO! GO! GO!" she yelled to the captain
they accelerated away as the rear door closed and sealed
Amietty found a seat and secured herself in
she quickly checked for Ed and breathed a sigh of relief
the last human evacuated from earth was safely tangled up in her hair

20 minutes left

only one shuttle remained in atmosphere
a few more were maneuvering in orbit
the largest vessels had already warped out
the remaining vessels were destroyer classes
they had the fastest charge time to warp and so could stay the longest
as the captain made some near reckless acceleration out of atmo she received clearance for docking
all the other shuttles had been secured and the destroyers were powering up
the massive engines at the back giving off a purple glow until fully charged
like magic they blinked out of existence, en route to the rendezvous system some 12 light years away
as the captain approached their docking path the last destroyer was charging up

10 minutes left

they were safely docked and already out of their restraints
the captain came back to the shuttle bay as Amietty was standing up
"you idiot!" the captain yelled wrapping her into a huge hug
"careful!" Amietty said loudly, remembering Ed
"careful?! how can you be so reckless with your life and say that now!" the captain demanded
Amietty pulled back her hair to reveal a slightly dazed but otherwise safe Ed
the captains eyes went wide but she didn't waste time apologizing
they all needed to exit the shuttle and get inside the Destroyer before the warp fully charged
purple lights ringed the loading bay indicating that it was still charging
warping was generally safe but even military ships experienced turbulence when doing so
humans were hastily secured in containers everywhere
the crew moved to find seats to secure themselves

5 minutes left before the black hole would arrive

the purple lights began to pulse
the last warning before warp engaged
with seconds to spare Amietty, the captain, and Ed were secured into seats
and then they were gone, the last rescue ship warped away from Earth
few of the people left on the surface knew what was coming
in the blink of the eye the source of their destruction came and was gone
the sun ripped open as if caught by some cosmic blade
radiation and plasma spewed out of it in all directions
it took eight minutes for the light to reach earth
those on the day side of the planet saw the cataclysm
then a worldwide aurora as the radiation ripped through the magnetic field
that alone would have been lethal for everything above ground
but they would not suffer the slow death of radiation poisoning
in a few hours an arm of solar plasma would sweep across the earth
everything down to the mantle would be instantly incinerated in seconds
17 hours after our first contact, Earth and the bulk of humanity was gone
thousands of shuttle trips had worked to save about 50 million humans
all of which were now refugees aboard the ships of our unknown saviors