They came in a blink of an eye. There were no warnings, escape. No one knew who or what they were but the world fell to their knees as an armada of advanced power tore open the sky. Thick clouds brewed with thunder and lighting. A herd of alien spaceships echoed in the sky as they appeared out of thin air. Strange sounds boomed underneath their hovercraft, distorting all forms of communications. People panicked in masses. No one was prepared for the events that followed.
Menacing saucers departed from the motherboard and spread across the world, firing at will. A light show raved in the middle of the afternoon as an all out war for survivor broke loose. While government officials focused on the main attraction, spies flew all over the world; hunting for their game. Civilians ran for cover as military jets from every nation band together against the invaders. For the first time in history, the world united as one. There were no borders or nationalities, there only stood one race one nation.
Atomic bombs detonated in hopes of bringing down the alien invaders, decrease their numbers if anything. But, the invaders had a trick up their sleeve. By some miracle, their ships were immune to the destructive gunpowder Earth’s military arsenal had to offer. Atomic or nuclear, it just wasn’t enough. Mankind needed more to overcome their new supreme deities. The war carried out until nightfall with no sign of stopping. The invaders spread like wildfire on a mission to find the threat that will annihilate us all into extinction.
“What did they say?”
“Just like we practiced Mary.” Her husband replied, ignoring her concern. “You know the drill.” He gathered a stack of files and jammed them inside a briefcase. “I told you this day would come.” She blocked his way to his office. “The military is planning on a wide scale extermination. Everyone is being evacuated.” He paused as she let him through, “Whether anyone make it out alive or not that will be Gods doing.”
“What about our family? Friends?” Mary proclaimed as she watched helplessly while her husband prepared for their departure. “Tommy’s birthday, what are we to do?” She leaned for support and sobbed. “Tommy will never have a normal life now. How will he, we ever recover from this?”
“Mary,” her husband stood before her in comfort, “Tommy is not a normal child. He, like the rest of us, will adjust. We are a resilient species and I bet our not so friendly invaders are the same. They may look different but if I can just get my hands on a sample,” he trailed off into the gauntlet, “I bet I can decode their molecular properties.”
“Adam,” his wife gasped, “Why would you want to get near those things.” They packed their suitcase and bolted to the car. Their little son Tommy stood in the backyard, all the while, mesmerized by the battle up in heaven. Jets and spaceships maneuvered all throughout the sky. They flew in and out of clouds, in between skyscrapers; demolishing anything and everything in their paths. Tommy stared at the violence between good and evil when a flash of light caught his attention.
Beyond his wooden fence, a bright blue light followed by a receding swirling tune appeared. Tommy drew near. He gripped his stuffed bear as he investigated the sudden abnormality. Through the cracks of his wooden fence, Tommy noticed a tall blue monolith standing effortlessly in the field. Tommy jumped the fence and landed on his feet. With caution, he got closer to the strange pillar. He noticed the monolith was ancient but well preserved. Carvings in an ancient language named the thing that stood before Tommy but he could not decipher its meaning.
Tommy wandered around the pillar, examining its every curve and design. From the lining at its base to the tip of its point, Tommy questioned what the monolith could be. “Po-” he sounded out the words. “Po-” he struggled, “-lice.” He tilted his head and repeated the bold title stamped on one side of the monolith. With his finger he sounded out every letter until it formed a cohesive word he understood. While he thought of the meaning, another detail caught his interest. The monolith, it seemed, had a handle. Tommy turned on the handle thinking it would open like a door. He knocked and politely called to whoever resided inside.
Explosions echoed in the distance. The sky littered by debris from the present war above. Chaos ensued while panic ran rampant. The world was not ready for an invasion despite the government’s best effort. The national army were out numbered. Bombs blew in the sky in attempts for victory and still the invaders stormed every corner. No one had time to question what they want or where they came from. The world received no word from their leader, the invaders simply came to wreak havoc. A global extinction began sudden and unexpected.
A swarm of spaceships hovered around Tommy’s neighborhood. “Seek.” Metal men emerged from the spaceships. “Destroy!” They invaded Tommy’s home. Lasers beamed from their armor, attacking anyone in sight. As Tommy ran back to his parents, the monolith opened suddenly. A distant light inside begged Tommy to return. The light was far yet it reflected in Tommy’s eyes. Tommy’s parents cried for him but he was too entranced by the monolith. Tommy disappeared into the monolith, leaving behind a world he once knew.
The door closed behind him. Tommy found himself in a narrow hallway leading down to what he interpreted a cellar. Stars guided him down the hall until he rescued the end of the hallway. A glowing centerpiece breathing the energy around was the first thing Tommy noticed as he entered a laboratory. Futuristic computers talked as if they were alive. Buttons shined excitingly while screens reeled data and reports. Tommy thought he had entered the worlds first advance video arcade when in reality he had discovered so much more.
Tommy dared not touch a thing. His curiosity led him further into the monolith. Dozens of screens stored data he could not fathom let alone read. Tommy wondered around thinking he should head back home. He paused for a moment as his parents called to him in his memory. The last thing he remembered were their cries. He could only imagine what they are going through. Though the laboratory was everything he could ever dream of, the sacrifice of leaving his parents behind felt heavy.
Tommy decided to head back to his parents when suddenly the centerpiece began to vibrate. A bright white light began to emit from the centerpiece. An odd tune came and went as if it were running a procedure. The monolith rattled for a brief second while the computer operated in a symphony of codes. A screen near Tommy flashed a series of numbers in different fonts and languages. The screen flashed until Tommy understood what the message read. The numbers turned into letters that deciphered a set time. “Time of year?” Tommy read out loud, confused as ever. “That can’t be right.”
“Time is just an illusion.” A man appeared from across the room. He wore a long white coat with a strange bow tie and funny glasses. His hair was dark, long and disheveled. He was young and fair. A bulky pen and small tablet peaked out from his coat pocket. He smiled bravely at Tommy as if he were his long time childhood hero. “My God I have to say,” the young man continued, “Of all the prophets I’ve met you are by far the most inspiring.” Tommy felt uncomfortable not knowing what he meant, let alone who he was. Tommy smiled awkwardly.
“I’m sorry, where are my manners.” The man continued, “You don’t know who I am yet or why we are precisely here. I bet you have an infinite supply of questions,” he trailed off, “Like for starters who I am, that’s a given. Or how did I find you, that is to say if I had already premeditated plans to ergo find you.” The man stepped closer to Tommy. His bow tie, up close, had a whole Cosmo radiating in different colors and forming different patterns.
“Sorry,” Tommy interrupted, “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“Intrude?” The young man replied. “You’re a guest, boy. What ever gave you the impression you were unwelcome? Wait, before you answer, here’s another question. Do you know where you are?” He gestured to the room. He wondered around pointing at the screens, laughing at the scribbles scrolling endlessly. He then took his pen from his pocket and pointed at the centerpiece beside them. “Have you any idea what this magnificent beauty can do?” He paused as he waited for Tommy to guess. He waited while Tommy awkwardly shrugged.
“Who might you be?” Tommy asked instead.
“Me?” The young man answered, “That depends. What century are we in?”
“Why would that matter?” Tommy questioned.
“I go by many names,” the young man began, “Depending what year we find ourselves in. Some have referred to me as Professor. I have the degree for that. Close friends call me Doc, though they know very well I’ve never practiced. I mean what’s in a name, right.”
“And this place?” Tommy looked around. “Why did this say we’ve arrived in the year 9891?”
“I was hoping you would ask.” The young professor continued, “Let’s recall that tragic encounter with the space invaders and keep in mind that there are two sides to this story. What your people don’t realize is that those invaders are actually on a rescue mission. They are the good guys.” Tommy frowned. “It’s a really long story kid. There terrorist involved and unfortunately you are at the center of it all.” The young professor stood beside Tommy and began to pull out a file on his computer.
“Don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news,” there was more, “But your father becomes the universe’s most deadliest terrorist. Why, you ask. Your father develops a bomb so immense, beyond catastrophic, it can wipe out an entire galaxy. Your father creates a bomb that generates black holes. Worst of all, he succeeds in detonating one. That is why these invaders suddenly appeared. They came back in time to imprison your father in order to prevent him from creating said bomb.” The young professor showed Tommy the bomb his father would eventually create.
“We need to save my parents!” Tommy plead. “They are in danger.” Tommy ran back to the narrow hallway and exited the monolith. He nearly fell to the ground in shock as he stepped into a foreign place. Never had he imagine such a world of neon color could exist. Tommy knew he was no longer home, he just couldn’t accept it. He ran back inside the monolith and closed the door behind him. With caution, he opened the door once more hoping he was back in his backyard. The sky did not scream in war. No invaders stormed the neighborhood. This new alien world he found himself in was at peace, calm reigned with might.
“Where are we?” Tommy almost had forgotten the truth bomb the nameless professor dropped on him before. Tommy looked around, not leaving the monoliths sight. He compared the new Earth to his backyard. His child imagination answered whatever question that popped in his head and he accepted them as truths. Strange bird like creatures pranced in the air as they flew by. Bugs glowed in florescent colors shimmering with the sun’s golden hue. Distant animals communicated with one another as if they were civilized.
“We,” the young professor professed as he came into view, “Believe it or not, we are still on Earth only many many many years from then. Now.”
“This is Earth?” Tommy questioned. “All of this is Earth. The same Earth where I come from, this is that?” Tommy continued to look around, still not convinced. “How can this be Earth? Trees don’t do that.” He looked closer, “Is that even a tree? And that,” he trailed off, “Those things don’t exist. They’re some sort of alien, no way can this be Earth.”
“But in a few centuries or so it will.” The young professor proclaimed. “Its called evolution. It looks amazing when viewed through a generational lens but when experience it can be some what of a drag. Only because it takes forever to happen. I can demonstrate it if you’d like, it’s not that big of a deal really.” Tommy was beginning to understand, even though it was all still new to him. “Can you believe it, just seconds ago a whole colony of civilized people where packing their things and fleeing the country.” He paused, “Now there’s nothing but a nice beautiful sunset.”
“And what about the invaders? My parents?”
“I can assure you it was all taken care of,” he replied. “How could it have not? The Earth is still here. The invaders are gone.” He stretched his hands out into the wilderness, “Just look at this scenery! How does this not scream to you, ‘everything is okay.’” They laughed as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.
“So if that thing can travel through time, we can metaphorically speaking go anywhere; past or future.” The professor gave an obvious nod. “We can travel many distances and still be back home?” Tommy asked. “At the same time and place.”
“Like I told you, kid.” The young professor answered, “Time is an illusion.” He took his pen and gently brushed it on his nose then stared back at the rising moon. “I will take you back. And not back to that chaos we left behind. No, I’ll take you back to a timeline where the invaders never came. It’ll be just as before only better. That’s a promise.”
“Will my father still be a terrorist?”
The young professor held back from answering too sudden. They stared at each other for a moment. The professor smiled, “Of course not.” Tommy grew with excitement as he thought of the many places they could travel. Tommy got to his feet and stared at the sky. Endless possibilities were at his disposal. He wanted to know everything, go everywhere. The night drew present. Stars of different shapes twinkled throughout the atmosphere. Alien creatures roamed the green savanna, going about their day.
“Then,” Tommy wondered, “Did only the animals survive the invasion or are there a small number of weak survivors struggling to repopulate?”
“What?” The young professor seemed flabbergasted. “Struggling? No, there’s a whole civilization of humans thriving, might I add, just beyond those hills.” He turned to Tommy, “It just so happens that this terrain belongs to the animals. My God, you need to reevaluate your conclusions. It’s almost unsettling.”
“Then let’s go!” Tommy suggested. “Let’s see what this new breed of people are up to. Then we can maybe go elsewhere, beyond Earths solar system.”
“That’s the spirit kid!”
Together, they entered the monolith and disappeared from view.
