Fatal First Contact

If you told Simon Bradley the world was about to end, he’d most likely laugh in your face. He was a staunchly atheistic man talented in the physical sciences, the sort who’d never stoop to believe such superstitious nonsense.

But it didn’t mean he didn’t find humor in such assertions.

He walked down his long gravel driveway late one afternoon to retrieve his daily mail. Simon was tall and lanky, his brisk steps covering the distance quickly. He took in the sights around him…rows of young saplings planted the past spring lined the drive. Further in his yard set large thunderous oaks whose leaves were just beginning to turn red as autumn crept into the air. The front lawn was a finely manicured carpet of emerald: a skill he’d gained from working all those summers in his youth at a golf course helping the groundskeeper. A plot of undeveloped land set beside his own. The loose terra cotta soil spread freely in the light breeze casting a hazy glow in its direction. The scent of the neighbor’s barbeque filled the air with a delicious fragrance.

Reaching the obsidian mailbox at the edge of the roughly-paved street, he opened it and quickly sorted through the thick stack of envelopes and papers. Most were unsolicited junk mail offering to send him credit cards or declaring he was a winner to a contest he’d never entered. There was only one item in the mail that caught his attention. It was the latest issue of “The Global Star.”

Simon smiled as he stared at the black-and-white image on the front page of the newspaper and read the headline aloud. “Aliens Captured in Southern California! Interviews, photos, and more!” The figure of the alien was no more believable than a rubber-headed mask. The wind gusted for a moment, tossing his long sandy blond hair haphazardly about his head.

He folded the paper under his arm and trotted back to his house. After throwing most of the mail into his shredding bin, he took the paper into the living room and lounged comfortably on his garish burgundy couch. He glanced at the picture once more, chuckling at the obviously fake aliens depicted, and read a headline in the sidebar: “The End of the World: Could it be Coming Tomorrow?”

Rolling his hazel eyes, he picked up his black-rimmed spectacles from and end table and set them on his face before opening the paper, hoping to read more about these “aliens.” He was almost certain he’d discover they wanted to take over Earth and enslave the human race…it was what people thought aliens would do, for the most part. Regardless of what he thought he’d find, he looked over the words intently and contemplated their meanings.

***

First contact was always a subject of great concern. Reconnaissance probes could only say so much about a culture; a great deal of grey area always remained. The Zarrith had insufficient resources to devote to complete orbital surveillance of a planet, but their satellites often gathered enough useful information to understand a society.

Many worlds had been successfully integrated into their ever-expanding peaceful empire. Some planets had welcomed the arrival of the Zarrith with open arms because of the prosperity they knew the Zarrith left in their wake. The others had been more reluctant, wanting proof of their beneficial intentions before accepting incorporation into their kingdom. The Zarrith believed Earth would be one of the latter: that once they knew of their good-will, they’d take their rightful place among the leading races within the Empire.

Standard first contact procedure was to send a small shuttle with a crew of three highly-skilled diplomats to the place they felt would be the most amenable to the concept of alien life forms. Earth contained several advanced cultures, but no place seemed more agreeable to the existence of extraterrestrial beings than a location called California. In the year 2010, the Zarrith sent their finest ambassadors to negotiate peace with Earth.

The elegantly-curved, moss-colored ship sailed forty light-years through space to reach the planet Earth. Their vessel was intricately carved with geometric shapes and the symbol of the Empire. The engine manifold arced around both sides of the ship and lit the darkness with a smoldering turquoise hue.

The United States Military quickly took note of the bogey in the night sky, sending a pair of jet fighters to intercept it. Though the jets could never hope to destroy the shuttle, a missile gleaned the side of its engine, disrupting the fusion generator and forcing it to crash into the cool desert sand. The jolt of the landing stunned the three occupants inside, and they passed out promptly due to the impact.

When they came to, they were inside a large white room. Its sterile space portrayed an air of tranquility, but the emotions within the Zarrith diplomats were anything but calm. Bound to tables with large black straps and gagged, a growing fear welled within each of them.

A pair of shocked faces leaned over the youngest member of the first contact team. They gawked at his unsightly features. Though he appeared to be a biped, his appearance was anything but human. His thick skin was hard to the touch, gleaming in an opalescent shade of greenish-black with scaly patterns resembling that of a lizard. The emerald eyes were speckled with a glittery gold sheen, and the nose was nothing like a human nose. It was more like a flattened snout. Small spiky projections emanated from his forehead, and his hair was like a collection of long, slick, ebony cattails. The humans who brought the beings into the secret ward noted the aliens had jagged tails and weighed at least two hundred pounds each.

The three took in the words of the humans carefully, having been required to possess a working knowledge of their language before attempting first contact. The hushed tone of their voices made their conversation difficult to understand. Two humans in long white coats examined a set of tools with jagged, serrated edges and sharply pointed tips. The injected the eldest of the Zarrith diplomats with a chemical cocktail from a syringe. The other two watched in horror as they dissected the body, categorizing the organs into small Pyrex dishes.

Over the course of the next week, humans put the two remaining Zarrith through brutal trials like two rats in a cage. The human scientists soon realized their capacity to communicate, but instead of trying to establish peaceful relations, the humans grilled them about their science and technology. The Zarrith were ambassadors, not scientists, and therefore did not possess expertise in that area. The humans, however, thought with a bit more coercion, the aliens could be forced into revealing their secrets.

During one nightly torture session, the youngest diplomat made an impulsive effort to flee. As he was being transferred out of his cell, he lashed out at his captors with his long, agile tail and frantically scurried to the location of their ship. The guards were unable to stop the incredibly nimble creature from disarming them. The Zarrith quickly entered the small shuttle and secured the door. He nervously tapped out an emergency message to their homeworld. With shaky hands, he locked on to the other diplomat and transported him to the shuttle. They repaired the engines enough to safely guide them away from the enclosure and back into space.

Unfortunately, once their ship achieved orbit, they were unable to return home due to the engine damage. They sent another message to the homeworld describing their encounter with the humans. As a warship was dispatched to Earth, the leader of the Empire called an emergency session of the Ruling Council. The Council was not solely composed of Zarrith; many peoples from the Empire were represented in the Great Hall.

The behavior of the humans was deemed grossly appalling. Debate promptly ensued about what to do regarding these actions. It was unanimously decided that severe punishment was in order. Like any conquering civilization, the Empire destroyed those that did not join willingly. It happened rarely, but it did happen. En route to Earth, the warship was ordered to set off an explosion in their sun that would force the star to go supernova, killing everything on the planet it a matter of minutes.

***

Simon laughed at the images of the lizard-aliens, thinking about what a good Halloween costume it would make. Their ship looked like something pulled from the countless sci-fi shows on television. He found it interesting that the article said the creatures could speak English. Why would they speak English, of all the languages on the planet? And why would they come to California? He shook his head…anything to sell a newspaper.

He tossed the paper onto the couch and walked onto the patio in his backyard. It wasn’t much of a sight. Terra cotta from a freshly plowed field occupied the space beyond his manicured yard. Rocky outcroppings and large trees were the only objects breaking up the rolling horizon.

Simon shielded his eyes from the intense sunlight when he noticed the sun didn’t seem quite right. It was a slightly more orange hue, and he swore it seemed larger than before, but he attributed it to the coming sunset. Time passed as he took in the fresh scent of the air, and he was beginning to grow concerned as he gazed into the sky. Sol continued to darken in color and grow in size. Soon, the air temperature jumped as the burning rays of light coated the Earth.

The wild idea that his life was about to end ran through his mind. He tried to dismiss the thought but couldn’t. He took off running as fast as he could, trying to escape the inevitable as a sanguine blanket was pulled across the heavens. Simon’s fear began to escalate as he wondered how much time he had left.

***

From outside the Terran system, the warship watched triumphantly at the destruction of Earth. It was another victory for the Empire. In a few minutes the Zarrith soldiers aboard the ship would be drinking warnog to toast their success…

***

Three minutes remaining.

He ran through the barren landscape, his eyes glistening with tears. His feet pounded the ground of red clay as he looked upward and asked the crimson sky how this could be happening. He found the air itself to be red, thick, and suffocating.

Though he ran alone, he could not escape the feeling that eyes were everywhere, watching his every movement: cracks and fissures on hillsides seemed to form the outlines of giants; great boulders looked like the faces of ancient sentinels surveying the land; an oak tree seemed to stretch a greedy arm toward him as he passed by. His breaths became shorter, his body felt heavier, and he began to slow.

Two minutes.

The Earth’s gravity had doubled—lifting his legs became nearly impossible. As he raised a foot, the sole of his shoe stuck to the ground and pulled it away, stretching the soil like thick chewing gum. As he set it back down, the ground reached up to meet it. Every movement of his body was carried out as though submerged in quicksand. From above, motionless birds dropped from the skies. Before him, rabbits and squirrels staggered forward in the most awful manner—no longer hopping or scurrying, but instead lifting one tiny paw after another with labored effort.

At the same time he and the other creatures slowed to a standstill, everything else set into motion: large slabs of rock righted themselves on-end; the ground swelled and bubbled, becoming more like liquid than solid; small rocks and pebbles bounced and scattered like swarms of bees; trees made deliberate and graceful movements, looking like conductors of a surreal orchestra.

The final minute.

He came to a halt. Gravity tugged forcibly on his body and his face began to sag heavily like a melting wax figure. The ground rose up around his feet and he felt himself begin to sink into it. Now paralyzed, he could only stare in horror at the trees freeing themselves from the ground and taking their first steps across the Earth, lurching forward with eerie grace. Boulders with twisted faces grinned wicked smiles at the fall of the living. The wind howled with the sound of a thousand trumpets declaring victory. As he became blinded by the blowing sand and dust, the red clay poured up his chest, over his neck, across his face, and into his mouth and nose. He heard muffled cries and heinous laughter as he was wholly consumed by the Earth.