The Return (The Next Galaxy) Read online

  The president clapped her hands. “Yes, I think that would be in order. We will adopt this as a common decision. The United States will vote for Earth to send a team of emissaries to our unknown guests, while ensuring that our defense systems are on the highest alert. It would be the duty of the United Nations Security Council to select the members of the team from amongst the member states. Frankly, this should be a winner at the UN. For once, let us have a mindset of peace and not conflict.”

  After the council meeting had adjourned, the president walked out of the room into the courtyard. She was accompanied by her vice president, the secretary of state, and some security detail.

  They all boarded the helicopter that had been waiting. Before long, they were all flying into the sky. As the chopper flew above the iconic skyline of New York City, casting a shadow on the glass-and-chrome buildings below bathed in the soft, crimson glow of the setting sun, President Parker couldn’t help but gasp in admiration at the beauty of the vista spread out below them. Without even realizing it, she began to hum the immortal Frank Sinatra song, “New YorkNew York.”

  CHAPTER 4 A short while later, the helicopter landed on the helipad at the tall white-and-grey-colored headquarters of the United Nations.

  As President Parker walked into one of the meeting rooms of the UN, the doors were shut behind her by the security orderlies. Inside, she greeted the other four delegates who were in attendance.

  “What is this that we’re hearing?” one of them asked as President Parker sat down.

  “Hello, Russia. What did you hear?” President Parker asked, a little tentatively.

  The Russian president, Boris Ivanov, looked at the others seated at the table. Boris was a huge fellow with slight high cheek bones and deep-blue eyes and luxurious salt-and-pepper hair, which made him look quite striking. At a vigorous 56 years of age, he thoroughly enjoyed his presidency, especially foreign affairs, as it was his favorite game.

  He said gruffly, “I hope you are aware that in my country we have been closely monitoring the unfolding developments outside our atmosphere. I am very sure that you all have been doing so as well.”

  The other three delegates, two women and a man, nodded in unison.

  “We have, Mr. President. Before I left China for this meeting, we thought it would be necessary to adopt a stringent approach to handling the visitors,” one of the women said.

  “A stringent approach?” President Parker asked, more than a little irritated. The Russian and the Chinese leaders always did this to her. Russia had long been relegated to a distant third place behind China in the superpower sweepstakes, but hung onto past glory, no matter how tattered, with the rigidity of the Ural Mountains! What surprised her was the support that Boris got from his Chinese counterpart.

  “And what might that be?”

  “We need to activate our attack protocols, of course,” the Chinese president replied.

  The president of the United States thought exasperatedly, Why are the Chinese still playing second fiddle to the Russians, when they are the bigger power? They have this idiotic camaraderie that harks back to their common communist past. Where that association took them is known to the world. They both turned their backs to communism and eventually adopted American-style capitalism. Yet they persist in their outdated anti-American imperialism mind-set!

  “Is that so? And who else favors such an approach?” President Parker asked testily.

  As if on cue, the Russian and Chinese presidents raised their hands.

  President Parker nodded. “I can see that only two of you favor a more stringent approach. Well, it might interest you to know that the United States, India, and Brazil think otherwise. Our contention is that we would assume that these are visitors to our planet, and not invaders. Investing and believing in peace has always been our three nations’ policy in conducting our international affairs, and I daresay we can extend this to intergalactic affairs.”

  The Russian president shook his head. “That is a grave error, Madam. I know that the Indians and Brazilians toe your line these days, unlike in the past, but that doesn’t matter. Have you noticed how close they are to our planet, and for how long they have been there? That is more of a provocation to me, not a visitation.”

  The Indian Prime Minister, Chandra Prakash, a slender man of 45 with salt-and-pepper hair and a silken voice said, “I object to the Russian president’s suggestion that we toe anyone’s line. We have been non-aligned in the best of times, and our support for any nation is always based on merit.”

  “I agree,” said Bianca Garcia, the 40-year-old Brazilian president. “If we were always toeing the Americans’ lines, we wouldn’t have agreed to become part of the BRICS group of nations, which includes Russia.”

  “Well, okay, if you do not favor an aggressive response, what then do you have in mind?” the Chinese president asked.

  “My country is suggesting that we pay these beings a visit,” President Parker replied.

  “A visit?” the Chinese president repeated.

  “Yes,” President Parker replied. “But in order to not be taken unawares, we would keep all our defense systems on high alert, just in case any unforeseen or unexpected situations arise.”

  “Unforeseen or unexpected situations? Come on, Madam President. We already know what is going to happen. Those beings are hostile; they are going to strike us down at the very slightest opportunity they get,” the Russian president said. “And sending anyone up there to pay them a visit is simply out of the question. No, my country will not support such a reckless move.”

  The Chinese president raised her hand and nodded. “Yes, I agree with my Russian counterpart. President Parker, you should know better than to think of such a move. We should be preparing for an aggressive response, not thinking of organizing a welcome party.”

  “Well, that is the beauty of democracy, isn’t it?” President Parker said.

  “Yes, of course, you are right, Madam President. But democracies do make mistakes,” the Russian leader said wryly.

  “You stayed out of the Second World War till you were attacked by Japan. Much like you would have us do. Prime Minister Chamberlain of Great Britain visited Hitler to buy peace. Look how much bloodshed that caused,” Boris reminded her softly.

  “You seem to forget, Mr. President, that Russia had made a pact with Nazi Germany. It was only later that you two became enemies.”

  “Soviet Union, not Russia, Madam President. And it was the Red Army who dealt the Nazis a crushing defeat in the Second World War, not your hot-dogeating, happy-go-lucky American soldiers.”

  “May I remind you that the United States supplied the Red Army with provisions to keep going. Without us to help, you would have amounted to nothing!”

  “Lest you forget, Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army fought on all the important fronts of the Second World War,” added Chandra.

  “May I draw your attention to the fact that we are all on the same side now and it is mankind that faces its greatest test ever,” the Chinese president grimly reminded the sparring leaders.

  The Russian president immediately realized his folly and broke into a grin, while President Parker persisted with her haughty demeanor.

  What is President Li Na sermonizing to me about? I am advocating peace for mankind, while she and her warmongering commie cousin Boris are suggesting total annihilation of mankind. In any case, the Chinese have a far from pacifist record, threatening their neighbors and flexing their military muscle at the drop of a hat. As to the Russians, the less that one speaks about their record in brokering world peace, the better. Thank God that the Indians and Brazilians haven’t hopped onto the trigger-happy bandwagon, their greater economic clout notwithstanding, she thought to herself.

  Chandra and Bianca glanced at each other and shook their heads. But before any of them could make a response, they all felt a slight tremor. It was subtle, but noticeable enough for President Parker to frown and look around the room.
r />   Agents of the US Secret Service noticed it too, and quickly formed a protective ring around the world leaders while drawing their weapons. The Russian and Chinese secret agents who noticed their American counterparts moved in and formed their own protective ring around their respective leaders, drawing their weapons.

  CHAPTER 5 “Whoa, whoa, agents of all nationalities, back off. We are all heads of states here. We are no danger to each other,” President Parker gesticulated to the agents to move back a little, which they all did.

  “What was that tremor?” the Chinese president asked.

  “I was just about to ask the same thing,” the Russian president added, looking around the room. “President Parker, I thought New York City was not prone to such tremors and earthquakes.”

  “I would not doubt how accurate and in-depth your knowledge might be of the earthquakes and tremors in my country,” President Parker said. “But right now, you can see that I am as surprised as anyone else in this room. I will make an inquiry and see what is going on,” she said, reaching for her smartphone on the table.

  But before she could pick it up, the tremor occurred again. This time it was more severe in intensity, and it caused everyone to be jolted. Two of the delegates fell off their seats and hit the marble floor. President Parker almost fell off her chair but was quick enough to grab onto the side of the table, somehow stopping herself from toppling over.

  But her folder and smartphone slipped off the table and fell to the floor. Bewildered, President Parker bent over carefully to pick them up. As she did, she saw the other dignitaries in the room scrambling to pick up their belongings.

  When the other delegates had straightened up, they saw her staring at her phone.

  “President Parker?” the Chinese president called out. “Is everything all right?”

  President Parker looked up from her phone. “I don’t know. I don’t have a signal on my phone. Since when has this room been blocked from receiving signals?”

  “Blocked?” the Russian president repeated. He brought out his smartphone and looked at the screen. The expression on his face changed as he looked around. “She is right. I have no signal on mine either.”

  “Not on mine either,” said the Indian prime minister.

  “No signal on mine as well,” chimed the petite Brazilian president.

  “President Parker, this is a serious breach of UN protocols. Why would you want to block our signals?” the Chinese president asked.

  “Block your signals?” President Parker repeated. “For goodness’ sake, did you not hear what I just said? My phone is also blocked.”

  “Maybe there is another explanation to all of this,” the other woman said. “President Parker, can’t you find out the cause of the tremors? Perhaps they could have affected our cellular networks.”

  “I would if only—” President Parker began to say, and suddenly stopped.

  Every other delegate in the room saw her staring outside the huge reinforced windows. They followed her gaze and simultaneously they began to gasp.

  Outside the window, they could see some silvercolored spacecrafts floating right outside the UN Headquarters building. There were seven of them, and they looked exactly like archetypal flying saucers in design. They flew in a semi-circular formation in front of the window outside the floor on which President Parker and the delegates of other countries were present at that moment.

  From within the meeting room, President Parker and the other delegates were looking straight at the seven spacecrafts. They were hovering in mid-air and seemed to be watching and monitoring them intently. Every few minutes, colorful strobe light would emerge from the spacecrafts and flood the room. The sheer luminosity and brightness of the light was intense, yet the eyes of the people present in the room didn’t smart and burn the way it would if one looked at the sun. The spacecrafts themselves were throbbing with palpable energy, yet no sound came from them. Everyone looked at the spectacle unfolding in front of them with unbelieving eyes. In some sense the scene was reminiscent of sci-fi movies, yet actually being in a situation like that in real life was something that could only be experienced and not described.

  It was a bit like death. You could simulate it, but never experience it till the time it actually happened. Everybody was conscious that this long-anticipated contact with aliens about which many movies had been made and a large number of books were written would literally be a moment of life and death for everyone on earth.

  The Indian prime minister, who was quite an anglophile and extremely conscious of his position as the leader of an emerging world power like India, was somehow reminded about a passage about death by William Shakespeare.

  Cowards die many times before their deaths;

  The valiant never taste of death but once.

  Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

  It seems to me most strange that men should fear;

  Seeing that death, a necessary end,

  Will come when it will come.

  President Parker seemed to be lost in a world of her own. She was thinking that till this moment, she was the most powerful person on the planet. But with the arrival of the all-powerful aliens, she could not even receive a signal on her phone! She too was reminded of something she had read by Hemmingway in his classic, Farewell to Arms.

  If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.

  Boris’s insistent voice brought her back to reality. “Those are the same beings we were talking about,” the Russian president said.

  “When did they arrive here?” the Chinese president asked.

  President Parker shook her head. She glanced again at her smartphone. There was still no signal. She got up and walked briskly to the door. But when she turned the handle, the door refused to open. “What is going on here?” she asked as she tried to open the door again.

  The members of the secret services, who a moment before were competitively rushing in to protect their bosses, realized the gravity of the situation and one by one charged at the door with their shoulder, but to no avail. The bolt and the lock remained steadfast. The head of the Russian security detail took out his gun and took aim at the lock embedded in the door.

  “Please stop!” President Parker yelled. “The shot may ricochet and kill someone.”

  “Yes, Peter,” Boris too interjected. “Do as President Parker says.”

  “The door won’t open?” the Russian president asked. He was a burly person himself, bigger than any man in the room.

  “Wait. Let me give it a try,” he said. He tried to turn the handle but it refused to open. He charged into it with his shoulder, but still the door held firm. He tried again and again, but his efforts proved futile.

  Bewildered, he turned to look at the other delegates. “Well, if not that President Parker was here, I would have easily concluded that this must be another ploy by the Americans to provoke us. But then, they wouldn’t be so foolish as to embark on such a plot right here, inside the UN Headquarters building.”

  “I’m glad you know that we are not so foolish,” President Parker said. “No one would want to embark on anything stupid, not to talk of one who is capable of destroying all that the world has been working on for all these years.”

  “And what is that?” someone asked. “What have you all been working on for all these years?”

  All the delegates turned towards the direction of the voice that had just spoken. The voice, though heard loud and clear by everyone, seemed to reach out from the brain of the speaker to that of the one who was hearing it. Whoever heard—or rather felt—the voice, could somehow intuitively feel that the person communicating thus was someone of immense in
telligence. He felt a lot different from what was familiar to the people in the room as he spoke to everyone present like he was addressing them personally. Perhaps they imagined it, but every single person in the room felt that this person knew their names and who they were.

  Of course, the person who spoke was not one of them. Rather, there was another person in the room with them. He was standing by the wall. He was human in appearance but looked to be wearing a skintight suit that clung very tightly to his whole body. The color of the bodysuit was grey and it was completely plain, without any markings whatsoever. The bodysuit covered his entire body, from his neck down to his toes.

  Chandra, who liked to read philosophy, was reminded of something that Bertrand Russell had written about the origin of life.

  For countless ages the hot nebula whirled aimlessly through space. At length it began to take shape, the central mass threw off planets, the planets cooled, boiling seas and burning mountains heaved and tossed, from black masses of cloud hot sheets of rain deluged the barely solid crust. And now the first germ of life grew in the depths of the ocean, and developed rapidly in the fructifying warmth into vast forest trees, huge ferns springing from the damp mould, sea monsters breeding, fighting, devouring, and passing away. And from the monsters, as the play unfolded itself, Man was born.

  President Parker gasped when she saw the glowing person approach. “Who are you? This is supposed to be a secure meeting room. How did you get in here?”

  The man turned and began to move towards President Parker. But as he moved, it was obvious that he was not walking. Rather, he was floating, effortlessly hovering about a foot above the floor. The members of the Secret Service had by now quickly recovered from their initial shock and true to their training, they drew their weapons to fire at the intruder. But they could not. The very act of drawing their weapon caused them excruciating pain in their arms. When they turned to look at their weapons, they were shocked to see that they had turned into ash.