The Return (The Next Galaxy) Page 4
The security services men bravely ran toward the alien to take him on with their bare hands, but they were stopped in mid-stride by the alien with a gentle wave of his hand. The men froze in their last assumed stance and remained like statues, or marvelous pieces of life-like sculpture. The people in the room gasped with horror at what they saw transpiring in front of their disbelieving eyes. After a minute the alien released the men, and they were now standing steady on their feet, but making no further effort to approach the alien.
As he floated towards her, the strange man continued to talk. “Tell me, President Parker, what is it that you claim to have been working on for all these years?”
President Parker glanced at the other delegates. They all looked shocked by the unfolding scenario. Bianca Garcia in fact fainted and fell down on the floor, prompting her panicked security detail to pull her aside and try to revive her.
“Look,” President Parker continued, “I don’t know who you are or what you want, but you should know that you are violating international peace protocols by being here at this moment.”
“Violating?” the man asked. “What am I violating?”
“This is a peaceful gathering of the most powerful nations of this planet. Who are you, and what are you doing here?” the Russian president demanded.
The man stopped in mid-air and turned to look at him. “You all seem confused as to the purpose of my being here. How interesting. Don’t you think it is a little stupid on your part to stand on ceremony like this and insist on protocol and all that when you are absolutely powerless to take us on? By us I mean, me and my friends waiting in the spacecrafts outside. Not too long ago, while my colleagues and I were on the fringes of your planet, we had deliberated on the possible outcome of my intrusion into your meeting today. It is funny, isn’t it? I mean, your reactions being just as we had anticipated they would be. They are, if I may say so, so predictable; and forgive my impertinence—moronic.”
President Parker stood up slowly from behind her desk. “You knew we were going to be having this meeting today?”
The Russian president glanced at his counterparts. “This is a serious breach of our protocols. How did you come across such highly classified information? No one in the entire world is supposed to know about this meeting.”
The mysterious being smiled.
“There you go again, Boris; you and your silly protocol. Coming back to your question—no one, except me and my entourage, knew about this meeting. And do you know why we know about this meeting? Do you know how we knew that Earth’s most powerful leaders would be in this particular room at this particular time?” he asked, turning around in midair to look at the five delegates in the room. No one uttered a response to his inquiry.
“It is because you are the same people who sent us here,” the being announced.
The Russian president stepped forward. “What is the meaning of this? How could we have sent you when we do not even know who you are?”
“That is what you think, but it is true. Very true, indeed. The leaders of the five most powerful nations of the world present in this room were the same people who passed the resolution to have me and my entourage come here, today, and right now, to meet with you,” the being continued.
“This is completely crazy,” the Chinese president said. “Are we going to remain stuck here, listening to this person tell us all this nonsense?”
The being pointed a finger at her. “What else do you want to do? Are you thinking of confronting me, Madam?”
President Parker waved at her fellow counterparts. “Ladies and gentlemen, I think this is not the time to raise issues with this person. There is virtually nothing we can do to get out of this situation. Why don’t we ask the necessary questions and see what we can learn from him?”
The Russian president nodded. “I am forced to agree with you, President Parker. I am sure that this is not some kind of a gimmick on the part of your people to hold us all hostages. Let us learn what we can from him.”
The other delegates in the room nodded as well.
The being smiled as he looked back at them. “That is an excellent decision. But, then again, why am I not surprised? After all, the world’s most powerful leaders are the ones here. And that means that, at any given moment, your actions or inactions could determine the fate of your planet. Just as it has done right now.”
“Please, could you just tell us what is going on?” President Parker asked. “Who are you, and why are you here?”
“My name is Davius, and I am a member of Deep Probe, an elite research and study group based in NASA,” the being said.
President Parker frowned. “Deep Probe? A study group in NASA? I have never heard of that group before.”
“No, you have not. And it is because as of today, you have not yet signed it into law. But very soon you will inaugurate and approve the founding of our unit,” Davius said.
“Very soon?” President Parker repeated.
Davius nodded. “Yes. In exactly three years from today.”
CHAPTER 6 President Parker took in what Davius had just told her. Either he was a very prescient person or from the future. With all the technological might that he had displayed, it had to be the latter. Strangely, the fact that Davius told her that she would not only be president for another three years but help pass a law caused her a sense of immense relief, in that she knew that she wasn’t going to die today. This made her more confident of herself and she found herself asking the man from the future confidently, “Three years?” She pointed at the seven floating crafts that were outside the window. “Are you saying that you and all those came from the future?”
Davius nodded. “Yes, Madam President. We are from thousands of years into your future.”
The Russian president shook his head. “What future?”
Davius pointed at all the five delegates. “Yours, Mr. President. Your collective future, several thousands of years from today.”
“But this does not make sense. How can you be from our collective future?” the Chinese president asked.
“It does make sense because three years from today, the five of you who are present in this room today will agree to send humans to a new planet. You sent a group of scientists with thousands of embryos to inhabit a new planet with a mission to come and take over Earth today. And you will all instruct that a recording be left on that planet, in which you ask humans of the future to return today to occupy Earth. This is the reason why my team and I have been sent here to carry out your very own instructions.”
“That is impossible,” President Parker said. “How can we be the ones to issue such an instruction? How could we ever decide amongst ourselves to permit that anyone should colonize Earth?”
“But that is what happened; all five of you agreed unanimously to issue such a resolution,” Davius said.
“And what would be the aim of such a resolution by this security council?” President Parker asked.
“Simple—that present-day Earth should be taken over from all of you today, in order to prevent you all from destroying it tomorrow,” Davius announced.
President Parker gasped. “Take over? You mean you are invading our planet?”
Davius shook his head. “No, I am not invading your planet. Let us just say that we are taking over the administration of this planet from you, the leaders of the world.”
“A coup?” the Russian president said. “Why am I not surprised, President Parker? Just like my Chinese counterpart and I had suggested, these beings did not come in peace. They had an agenda which we now know was to take over Earth. We should have initiated an attack protocol rather than waste that whole time deliberating on welcoming so-called guests.”
“But even if you had attacked us, what do you think you would have achieved?” Davius asked. “Complete failure. You cannot attack an enemy you know nothing about and who are so obviously superior to you in every way.”
“But how do you seem to know so much about
us?” another delegate asked.
“I know everything about all of you because as I said before I am from your future,” Davius replied.
“But how can you claim to be from our future? How can you say that we were the ones who sent you here when we don’t even know anything about you?” the delegate asked.
“The same question is being asked again,” Davius said. “All right, I will give you a brief summary. You see, three years from now, the world will not be as you know it today. What is the objective of your council?”
“Maintaining worldwide peace,” President Parker replied.
“Yes. It is a noble objective. But this is not going to last long, the peace that you are all working so hard to protect. It is not going to last as long as you expect. In fact, about three years from now, the world will degenerate into a serious crisis, and war will be imminent between several nations,” Davius said.
The Russian president glanced at his Chinese counterpart. “Why does this not sound unfamiliar? And I am guessing that China and Russia will be together?”
Davius shook his head. “You will not take sides with China in this crisis. Previous alliances will be broken down completely. It will happen so fast and so suddenly. And by the time you all realize it, there will be a full-blown crisis of epic proportions facing the world.”
“This does not sound too pleasant, Davius. What happens then?” the other delegate asked.
“That is when you all decide to send exploration and resettlement teams to another planet,” Davius replied.
“What is the reason for that? Aren’t we supposed to have been fighting?” the Russian president pressed.
“Yes, but then you all still have the sense—or shall we say, human decency, or even survival instinct—to agree to take counter-measures that will ensure the preservation and continual survival of the human race. You know that the fate of the planet is at stake. That war is surely going to annihilate the entire human race as you know it today. This is why in the very near future you all meet to resolve to send the exploration and resettlement teams to find and populate another planet, so that, in the event of the Earth getting destroyed, the new planet would serve as a replacement for Earth today.
That is where we humans—yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are human too—are such a special species. Even in the worst of times we have both the decency and the wherewithal to think of a way of redemption. You see us today as these technologically superior beings for whom nothing is impossible. But we are descended from you. We are your destiny.”
The Chinese president shook her head. “This story is fantastic. We all are about to fight a war and yet we can still agree to take such precautionary measures? Why don’t we agree not to fight in the first place?”
“That is an excellent question. But when greed and selfishness becloud the reasoning of leaders, what do you expect will happen? Your whole paradigm of competitive growth led to eventual large-scale destruction. The quest for growth led the nations of the world to compete to strip the earth of its resources, while you encouraged more and more consumption. It does not matter to you that there were people who fell by the wayside. The have-nots turned against the haves, and the haves against the morehaves, eventually resulting in a global conflagration that threatened the survival of life on earth,” Davius explained.
“A worldwide crisis?” the other male delegate asked. “When is that supposed to happen?”
“About three years from now,” Davius replied.
“And when it does, what else happens?” President Parker asked.
“Well, it turns out that your expectations are not misplaced and events unfold pretty much as you expected them to. Earth descends into a full-scale world war. The devastation and destruction are unimaginable. It is something that none of you would have expected, and none of you is prepared to experience or survive the devastation to come, in your wildest dreams,” Davius replied.
“And that is why you are here, right?” President Parker said. “To warn us of what the future is going to be like if we do not take drastic measures to ensure lasting peace?”
Davius shook his head sadly. “No.”
President Parker was surprised.
“No?”
“No, President Parker. We are not here to warn you about anything. I said earlier that we are here to take over planet Earth,” Davius replied.
“But what do you stand to gain by taking over our planet?” the Chinese president asked.
“We stand to gain everything; Earth will be safe, all of its people will be safe, and all your resources will be safe as well,” Davius replied.
“Our resources?” the Russian president asked. “Aren’t you from the future? What do you need our resources for?”
“What do people do with resources? For survival, of course,” Davius said.
President Parker shook her head. “I don’t want to believe any of this. I refuse to buy any of this explanation.”
Davius turned to her. “Refuse? But how can you refuse? You are the same people who had us come back to take over. Look at the Indian Prime Minister Chandra here, like him I am a great fan of Shakespeare. He might have lived a very long time ago, but he had a very perceptive mind. Here I am quoting Brutus from Julius Caesar to you: ‘Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer:
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition.
Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.’
“We take over for your own good. Though this may seem like a fate worse than death to some of you, believe me, this is for your ultimate good.”
“I don’t know about that. This is one occasion on which I agree with President Parker,” the Russian president said. “You could be anybody sent to cause confusion among the world’s ruling powers. Or like you yourself said, it is our resources that you desire. We Russians have an innate sense about these things. Since you have this thing about quoting people, let me quote from Lenin to you.
It is becoming more evident every day that this is a war between capitalists, between big robbers, who are quarrelling over the loot, each striving to obtain the largest share, the largest number of countries to plunder, and the largest number of nations to suppress and enslave. It may sound incredible, especially to Swiss comrades, but it is nevertheless true that in Russia, also, not only bloody tsarism, not only the capitalists, but also a section of the so-called or ex-Socialists say that Russia is fighting a “war of defence,” that Russia is only fighting against German invasion. The whole world knows, however, that for decades tsarism has been oppressing more than a hundred million people belonging to other nationalities in Russia; that for decades Russia has been pursuing a predatory policy towards China, Persia, Armenia and Galicia. Neither Russia, nor Germany, nor any other Great Power has the right to claim that it is waging a “war of defence”; all the Great Powers are waging an imperialist, capitalist war, a predatory war, a war for the oppression of small and foreign nations, a war for the sake of the profits of the capitalists, who are coining golden profits amounting to billions out of
the appalling sufferings of the masses, out of the blood of the proletariat.
“You, Davius, might just be an imperialist hell-bent on grabbing our wealth and resources for the nefarious purposes of your own people. Hell, you may even be a rogue and rebel against your own people!”
Davius blinked. “Am I? Are you people blind to the scope of our power? Can’t you see that we could annihilate you all in an instant? Why would we waste our time talking to you? We talk to you because we are the same. You are our ancestors, even though we have evolved to grow into a race of superhumans. We are what we are because of you. We cannot forget that. We are here to repay that debt, by saving you from mass annihilation. We want to usher you into a bright new era of peace, prosperity, and happiness. How do I convince you people that we mean well? By quoting poetry? Now here’s a poem by a twentieth century Nobel laureate, Tagore. Let me recite it for you. Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
“This is what the future holds for you with our intervention. The alternative is too horrific to consider, and I am glad to inform you that three years from now, you and I will be on the same page.”
President Parker took heart from the brave words of President Boris and turned to face Davius and made a last impassioned plea to him.
“Davius, I tend to agree with Boris. Nothing is above personal liberty. You claim to be from NASA. That would make you American, You know that we in the United States have a long history of slavery. It took the Civil Rights movement hundreds of years to fight the scourge. William Lloyd Garrison made an impassioned speech way back in 1854 against the barbaric practice of keeping slaves. I always carry a paper clipping given to me by my father in my purse. Here, I will read from it to you.