Lift-Off

            We thought we had all we needed to keep our planet safe and secure from alien weapons. All of our advanced technology we thought we needed to protect ourselves were nothing but toys. No one cared to ask the right question because the people smart enough to ask them were not invited to those secret meetings our officials spend behind closed doors. All that education. All those medals and for what. Money doomed us entirely and all because the elitist wanted to play favorites.

They laughed in our faces then because we thought we could save the world. They black listed our potential simply because we did not fit their idea of what a member should be. They did everything but work as a species and for that our entire world is now extinct. Few people did their best to alert the public. They did what they could to bring awareness but because those in charge had other plans no one listened. Sure they incorporated their warnings in shows and movies, even in books. They brought biblical scriptures into the mix. Anything to awaken people from the dangers looming before us.

By then, we were all too late to make a difference. They are coming no matter what we do. All we could do now is see the warnings come to fruition. The elitist played their role as best they could. They blasted their rockets off into orbit thinking they had all the answers. They released their best actors to inform the people, “All is well.” They thought they could arm Earth with the best expensive shields and weapons to fend off intruders from outer space. They truly believed all their inheritance would be the key, would be enough, to save their home and everyone living in it.

Who knows. Maybe in some alternate reality or some other dimension they were right. Unfortunately, in this reality, things did not pan out as so. Their unlimited wealth and gadgets were not as advanced as we hope them to be. The rest of the world watched helplessly as our self-entitled rulers bravely put on a show of perseverance. What else were they to do? Cowardly run to their bunkers? Escape to some near Earth like planet in their private rockets? They are just as doomed as the rest of the world is. No one could escape the grasp of the intruders making their way to Earth. Not a single one.

It all began one simple day in a quiet observatory by some unknown astrologer. At the time, as unstable the world is, all seemed to be according to plan. That is until our unknown astrologer noticed an anomaly not too far from Pluto. As weeks progressed, they noticed the anomaly carried characteristics to that of a ship and that ship was growing in size. Not to mention the anomaly had companions surrounding its voyage to us. Naturally, bells were rung and just like that the world no longer had borders or nations. By some miracle mankind finally learned to worked together as a species.

Let’s not get carried away though. Even in events such as galactic invasions only certain personnel are entitled to give their opinion and orders. Only those with degrees and status are inclined to make heavy decisions for the masses. They figured a room full of educated minds is more than enough to solve unimaginable scenarios. Hard work and a creative team with experience is what saves humanity and all of Earths inhabitants. We thought, more so hoped.

We were told our brightest minds did all they could to prevent an all out war with these visitors. They told us they sent coded messages informing these visitors we are a peaceful race and wish to make peace with them once they make contact. Yet that never stopped these alien visitors from approaching Earth. In fact, these visitors never replied. They simply stayed on course to us. Our rockets lift-off into space carrying a few brave souls willing to face these quiet visitors. We watched for months praying these visitors were peaceful.

We stood on edge wondering what these visitors wanted. Once they neared Saturn, every secret society suddenly made themselves known. Week after week, revelations of these elite societies magically spilled all their secrets thinking the time was ripe to let all be known. All their illegal acts just went across everyone’s head for we were all too distracted by the invasion occurring above us. Their secrets kept pouring and though some arrests were made the untouchable stayed untouched. Every conspiracy theory held some truth, even if those too farfetched to be considered true.

We were told not to panic when we stopped receiving updates from the space shuttle we sent months ago. Their live feed, “Must be facing some technical shortage,” they said. “A minor glitch is all.” We were denied access to footage of the shuttle from our satellites in fear it may cause people to jump to conclusions. By then we no longer referred to them as visitors. They were on their way to invade and no one could tell us otherwise. People working on the matter swore those visitors mean trouble.

By the time these invaders reached Jupiter, our human defenders began to arm our planet with whatever weapon they could forge. Plans from all sorts of letters and numbers were in place for which ever outcome may occur. We as a species came together to do our best to keep ourselves alive. We thought and brainstorm any and all possible scenarios hoping they were enough. Our greatest disadvantage was our language barrier, not from each other, but from our invading visitors. We were more concerned about communicating with aliens than we were to each other. Would the irony be enough to spare us from annihilation?

We as a race did everything we could to perceive an image of unity and peace. We pretended to make nice with each other in hopes to give the impression that Earthlings are a race of progress and resilience. Our officials wrote laws mirroring Noah’s commandments thinking that was the key to change these invaders mind from launching an all out extinction of mankind. How poorly we forget we stored all our glorious history in data any alien with a pulse can interpret. We are at their mercy. We always were. We simply did not want to believe.

They were in our view now. We need no telescope for they were visible in the sky. Were we ready to face off in an all out war? Or were we making history by meeting our very first peaceful extraterrestrial encounter? We set our satellites in place thinking we had all we needed to keep our planet safe from alien weapons. We waited for the first strike. The world stood still as we all watched for the first time in human history the presence of alien life. They were near Mars now. Moving ever so closer to Earth.

The ship grew bigger than expected. A massive lumpy rock with needles protruding throughout its surface outlined its exterior. It’s smaller companions, it seemed, orbited like an atom’s protons and neutrons. They stopped miles away from our moon. The moment of truth arrived before our very eyes. They came without a warning. They gave no sign of a peaceful greeting. They simply hovered in space. Analyzing from afar.

Are they here to enlighten us with knowledge beyond our understanding? Were they here to open a new road for us to take for trade and travel? Or are they here to show mankind what an angry God can do. We remained glued to the sky anticipating a reaction from our foreign visitors. We hoped they were visitors and not invaders. We prayed. Crossed our fingers. We did every superstitious move in the book that brought the best outcome. Anything to convince our visitors not to aim their weapons at us.

In a split second, we got our answer. We did everything we thought needed possible to shield us from alien threats. We constructed advanced tools known to man in attempts to protect us from alien weapons. We thought we had all we needed to save our world. All our technology were mere toys in comparison to our invading visitors. All our satellites we sent into orbit we thought would be enough to spare our planet from total destruction. We neglected the idea that Earth may not be the only planet that needs protection.

The alien visitors we thought were coming for us were in fact coming for our very own star. The only source that gave us human life on Earth was taken in mere seconds. Total darkness engulfed our sky illuminating the boundless galaxies roaming beyond in the universe. Our moon dimmed bringing forth a winter unlike never imagined. Our sun, our warmth, was gone forever. Our seas froze eternally. Nature withered indefinitely. All life on Earth went into hibernation. Never to live again.