Wake-up Call: 2035

by Robert J. Traydon

  Moments later Walker’s phone rang. He looked down and the screen flashed, ‘Vice President McKenzie’. He prepared himself for another tirade that was sure to follow, swiped his phone’s screen and lifted it to his ear.

  “Yes, Mr Vice President.”

  To his surprise, the Vice President’s voice conveyed no hostility whatsoever, it was almost contemplative as he spoke, “Agent Walker, you’re not going to believe what I’ve just heard …”

  9:30 a.m. Observatory: Background

  Empress Aeryssia rose and walked towards the perimeter wall of the chamber. She gestured towards the galactic hologram, which unlocked its suspended structure. The billions of stars began to swirl around in a raging vortex, in what appeared to be an accelerated timeframe of the galaxy being drawn into its central, all-consuming black hole. All that was left was the spinning translucent sphere, which slowly decelerated to a standstill.

  The view of Earth emerged again as the dome above reassumed its transparent state.

  The Empress maintained a stern expression as she spoke, “I know that all of this is difficult to take in, especially in such a short timeframe, but I implore you to set aside any scepticism, fear or exhaustion that you may be feeling, and remain both patient and attentive while we continue.

  “We appreciate that it must be very unsettling for you to be suddenly faced with the reality that life is not unique to your planet, and that you share this galaxy with an array of other privileged species – some more advanced than your own. But we urge you to view this more as an opportunity than a threat. You should celebrate the fact that you are not alone in this great Universe of ours, and that many wonderful things still await discovery by you.”

  The Empress then locked her eyes back on the Principals. “With respect to life; its origin still remains a mystery to us and continues to evade our most sophisticated and advanced scientific research. Even with our extensive technological development and complex understanding of the Universe’s physics and chemistry, answers to the two key questions of ‘Who created this magnificent Universe?’ and ‘How did life originally come into being?’, still elude us. This incredible Universe and the fragile life that it supports, are both extraordinary and unexplainable events that should be cherished by all of us, every moment that we exist. Each unique life form inhabiting this Universe is very precious and has an equal right to exist.”

  The Principals looked at one another in contemplation of the statement. They all knew that this ideology was certainly not the case on Earth, since humans regarded their intellectual supremacy as a superior right to life above all other ‘intellectually inferior’ species.

  The Empress went on, “Now I want to give you a brief historical background explaining why we have all come together for this encounter. When the Galactic Federation discovered your planet 50 000 years ago, it was an utter sensation. Nothing else discovered before or since then – throughout our entire 124 000 year history of galactic exploration – has even remotely come close to it. Earth is a truly unique miracle in that it supports over 12 times the species diversity of any other known planet in the galaxy. In fact, your single planet is home to over 10% of the galaxy’s total number of species documented to date.”

  This fascinated the Principals. It brought a new perspective to the huge effort being made by humankind to find simple microbial life elsewhere in the solar system, when comparatively little effort was made to preserve the plethora of species living on Earth. The hundreds of species becoming extinct every day around the world, stood testament to this unintelligible paradox.

  She continued, “We studied your planet intricately during the limited time that we had available to us on our first visit, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we were not able to return until just a single day ago … an ill-fated absence of 50 millennia.”

  Her emotion was tangible and she lowered her tone to emphasize her next statement.

  “Now that we have finally returned, we are devastated to see that the very existence of this magnificent planet and the survival of all the precious life that it supports, are at calamitous risk from an unexpected and dangerous threat.”

  The Principals were taken aback by the statement. It sounded as if there was an impending asteroid strike, or something similar in magnitude. It couldn’t be possible that humankind was this single threat, as she had alluded to earlier. Only Edward Payton knew better.

  She continued, “Within the Exploration Division, there exists an entity known as the Planetary Research Department. One of its many roles is to research and monitor planetary wellbeing – more specifically, the environmental equilibriums of all known inhabited planets. Life is solely dependent on planetary environmental equilibrium, and if this fundamental parameter is kept in balance then life flourishes indefinitely.

  “Should the environmental equilibrium on any inhabited planet deviate from the norm or be placed at risk for any reason, then the Galacian Senate is immediately notified. It is then our duty to assess the risk and, if necessary, intervene to restore equilibrium. Similarly, should an inhabited planet and its respective cohabitating species be put at risk for any reason, then it is also our obligation to establish what the respective threats are. Once established we attempt to address the threats via a process known as ‘remedial intervention’ in order to ensure that the sustained wellbeing of the planet and all of its native species is perpetuated.

  “It is our belief that by deferring interference in any planet’s development for the longest time possible, we are effectively allowing for sustainability and equilibrium to be achieved through natural means. Thus remedial intervention is only considered as an option of last resort.”

  The Empress continued, “A planet’s environmental equilibrium is far more delicate than you think. It is an extremely rare phenomenon held in precarious balance by a multitude of parameters, all of which are equally critical to its sustained existence. Should any one of these parameters be tampered with in the slightest way, this equilibrium will fail. It is evident to us that your species grossly underestimates the fragility of the Earth’s environmental equilibrium, as your relentless development continues to erode its delicate foundations in multiple areas.

  “To put your planet’s unique existence into perspective, you should view it as a one in a trillion phenomenon. But judging by your behaviour you undervalue this fact, and you take for granted just how extraordinarily privileged you are to live on Earth.”

  She continued after a brief pause, “This brings me back to the core reason the 12 of you are here. We must inform you that your planet, Earth, is on the brink of environmental collapse and this will result in the mass extinction of every species that lives on it, including your own.”

  All the Principals were stunned by her statement. Even Edward Payton was surprised. They all knew that the environmental situation was a problem, but this sounded imminently catastrophic.

  She elaborated, “It was certainly not our original intention to engage with your species during this exploratory visit to your planet; as your species has not yet reached an intelligence or development level where we believe introducing ourselves to you is appropriate. However, since we have been alerted to your planet’s extreme risk of environmental collapse we have been forced to intervene.

  “Highly concerning to us is that this is not a ‘naturally induced’ calamity; this is a ‘human-induced’ calamity. Humankind is solely responsible for the Earth’s swiftly deteriorating environmental situation and as such, your species is regarded as the dangerous threat.”

  The Principals sat like statues with vacant stares as they contemplated the shocking implications of her assertion.

  She continued after a deliberate pause, “In light of this situation, we have had to ask ourselves … what can be done to save the Earth and all of its precious species from this human threat?”

  9:35 a.m. Observatory: Environmental Overview

  Empress Aeryssia then summarised the encounter agenda for t
he Principals. It comprised two main sections. The first section titled ‘Environmental Status’ would include: a review of the 50 000-year historical record of Earth’s evolution; an overview of the factors contributing to the environmental collapse; and a projection of the Earth’s environmental future. The second section titled ‘Environmental Restoration’ would include a description of the remedial action required to save the planet. This would be followed by a brief question session and then a planning session.

  The Empress handed over to Yusoara who was to present the Exploration Division’s recorded evolutionary history of the Earth.

  Yusoara knew that her presentation would make a lasting impression. She had infused the entire Planetary Surveillance Module’s library, including the dynamics of the human psyche, and knew precisely which emotions she would manipulate to maximise the impact of her content.

  She stood and addressed the Principals, “Since your planet resides in my spiral wing, I have a very personal interest in this situation. I will begin by showing you a visual demonstration of how the Earth’s natural environment has evolved since our last visit. I am aware that your species is already in possession of satellite images of your planet dating back almost 80 years, but what we are about to show you dates back 50 000 years.”

  She was well aware of how heavily dependent humans were on scientific fact and substantiated evidence, especially when it came to making informed decisions about environmental matters. In light of this, she proceeded to inform the Principals about the Planetary Surveillance Module that had been embedded into the Moon’s surface. She explained how it had meticulously recorded everything about the planet for the last 50 000 years, and confirmed that all the information they were about to be shown was true and accurate to within a millionth of a percent.

  Yusoara then waved her hand towards the translucent sphere, which immediately reactivated and darkened the dome above. Another hand gesture made it drop down to the eye level of those around the table. It then underwent a holographic transformation with the shards of light collating into a perfectly detailed representation of planet Earth.

  The lighting in the chamber was dimmed slightly to enhance the planet’s features. It was a new experience for the Principals to see the Earth and all of its amazing natural features rotating slowly in front of them. The visual definition was flawless and it looked so real that they felt like they could reach out and touch it.

  Edward Payton shook his head in wonder at the world he was seeing. It looked like Earth but it was not the Earth that he was familiar with. Immediately noticeable was the vast extent of ice cover over the planet’s North and South Poles, far more than current times. Sea levels were lower as a result, making the continents all look slightly bigger and misshapen.

  Yusoara snapped them all back to reality as she began speaking again, “This hologram shows you exactly what Earth looked like 50 000 years ago. You will notice that there are small black lines streaming across the globe’s continents and a colour coded key. The lines are what we refer to as ‘natural transition boundaries’, which are the outlines defining the various ecosystems that make up your world’s biosphere, such as forest, grassland, semi-desert, desert and others. You will notice that the lines typically follow the natural colouring of the planet’s surface.”

  It did not matter where the Principals sat around the circumference of the hologram, the display was the same for each of them. The globe then stopped rotating and opened out into a stretched ellipse showing the familiar two-dimensional Eurocentric map of the Earth’s surface.

  Yusoara continued, “The full 50 000-year historical period of Earth will be condensed into a two minute time sequence visual (TSV). This will show you the evolution of the Earth during this time. We will then look at each continent independently.”

  A year counter and respective Earth annotated date were then shown above the map, and began counting down from the time of the Exploration Division’s last visit to the planet; 50 142 years ago, in 48 107 BCE.

  There was little change as the counter approached 30 000 BCE but soon thereafter ice cover in the North and South Poles began to stretch out towards the equator, as the planet was plunged into the depths of an ice age. The ice encroachment peaked at around 20 000 BCE, causing sea levels to drop by 60 metres. At the ice age’s ‘Glacial Maximum’, the world looked very different*.

  [* The Sumatran, Indonesian and Philippine islands formed part of mainland South East Asia, in a huge Europe sized extension of the Asian continent; Australia was joined to East Timor and Papua New Guinea, increasing the modest continent’s size by a third; South America’s Argentinian coast stretched out for hundreds of kilometres into the Atlantic Ocean; and the continents of Asia and North America were united by the Bering Strait land bridge, which at that stage was about 1 000 kilometres wide.]

  Over the next 10 000 years, the ice began to recede at much the same speed that it had appeared, causing sea levels to rise respectively. At around 14 500 BCE, during the Late Glacial Maximum, it was possible for hardy, winter enduring land animals to migrate between the Asian and North American continents.

  Yusoara commented, “This was the period when humans migrated from Eurasia to the Americas.”

  When 10 000 BCE was reached, the ice cover had retreated to an area far less than its original extent, with the sea level stabilising at modern day levels. The continental outlines now matched those familiar to the Principals.

  From 10 000 BCE to 2000 BCE, the ice cover in the Polar Regions and sea level remained stable, stimulating vegetation growth across the once frozen areas.

  Over the next two millennia from 2000 BCE to 1 CE, small but noticeable shifts began to emerge in the natural transition points across North Africa, Europe and Asia.

  As the counter ran from 1 CE to 1500 CE, the transition point shifts increased in Europe and Asia, with small shifts beginning to emerge in Africa and the Americas. Over the next 300 years from 1500 CE to 1800 CE, the shifts continued to increase and were now apparent on all the continents except Antarctica.

  From 1800 CE to 2035 CE, the shifts began to accelerate worldwide. There was hardly a place on the planet, which was not either mountain, desert or ice that had not been impacted by humankind. The present-day 2035 CE scene was soul-destroying. It depicted just how widespread habitat fragmentation had been across the world.

  Yusoara gave an overview of what had just been shown, highlighting specifically the dramatic shifts shown during the last 250 years of the TSV. These included unrelenting urban and agricultural sprawl, retreating glaciers and collapsing ice shelves, accelerated reduction of ice cover in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, rising sea levels and persistent semi-desert and desert expansion. She emphasised that these were all key warning signs of impending environmental upheaval.

  She then ran through the 250-year TSVs for each of the world’s seven continents. Each was as startling as the next. There was no need for Yusoara to explain every detail since the Principals were all fairly well informed about what they were seeing. Of real benefit to them was seeing how the planet looked before humankind’s exponential rise in population.

  Yusoara then called up a number of graphs that were to be shown in tandem with the TSVs. The graphs had been divided into four main categories which included, ‘Life’, ‘Land’, ‘Ocean’ and ‘Atmosphere’.

  9:30 a.m. Earth: White House

  Agent Walker listened intently as Vice President McKenzie spoke. “I’ve just received a phone call from the Chinese Ambassador to the United States. He’s informed me that the President of China was mysteriously abducted about a half-hour ago, and wanted to know if we knew anything about it.”

  “Abducted!” Walker exclaimed, astounded by the revelation. “Mr Vice President, did you inform the Chinese Ambassador of our current situation?”

  “No, I deliberately chose not to until we have more information on our side. We cannot afford to fuel any speculation without proper verification. It is critical
that we keep this quiet – no communication to the outside. If the media gets wind of this, they will immediately broadcast it across the world for everyone to see. The situation could then easily run away from us, causing much embarrassment and unnecessary tension.”

  “Understood, Mr Vice President. Just to inform you; I’ve placed the National Guard on standby and will now officially request their assistance,” said Walker.

  The Vice President responded, “Good call, Agent Walker. If the President isn’t found within the next half-hour, then I will be forced to fly to the White House and declare a national emergency. Despatch the presidential helicopter to my location right away as a pre-emptive measure.

  “Yes, Mr Vice President,” confirmed Walker.

  McKenzie closed, “Now, get back to your primary objective and find our President!”

  The phone clicked off before Walker could respond. The Vice President’s frustration was obvious. Walker wasted no time in contacting General Flanker who confirmed that a garrison of National Guard soldiers was being mobilised and would be on site at the White House within 10 minutes. Flanker himself was already on his way from the Pentagon.

  9:45 a.m. Observatory: Earth’s Life – Human Population Growth

  Yusoara began with the life category and enlarged a graph titled ‘Human population growth’, with ‘Human population’ on the vertical axis and ‘Time’ on the horizontal axis. She reminded the Principals that everything they were seeing was actual and not estimated.

  “This graph demonstrates the widespread and uncontrolled growth of the human population. We refer to this phenomenon, which is generally rare for intelligent species, as ‘uninhibited population proliferation’.”