Wake-up Call: 2035

by Robert J. Traydon

  Most people had no idea how to deal with the unfathomable reality of the remediation. Bereavement was extensive, but the scale of the tragedy and loss was starkly contrasted by the picturesque beauty that had been left behind by the hemispheres. It was a multifaceted conflict of emotions for those who had survived. On the one hand people were devastated that a substantial part of their lives had been simply erased from existence, but on the other hand, they were consoled by the fact that the removal process had been quick and painless for all those who were lost and that everything had been replaced by nature – a fitting resting ground to commemorate the tragic loss.

  Many commented on how much they preferred the new landscapes to the old. Controversial figures went so far as to state that the world would be a much happier and more peaceful place without the extra four billion people who had disappeared. People who were aware of the environmental risk, understood that this event would radically improve the environment and also benefit humankind’s future prospects. But there was little comfort in this fact, for those who had lost family and friends.

  Governments were already deflecting responsibility for the remediation saying that they were the victims and not the perpetrators, even though they had misled their citizens to defy the Ultimatum. Some claimed that popular opinion had driven government decisions. It was too difficult for many to admit that what had happened could have been averted if humanity had taken the Principals’ warnings more seriously. But it was now evident that humanity’s defiance had placed it on a collision course with the extra-terrestrial Supreme Beings.

  No matter how unwarranted the remediation appeared to be to the general population, it had taken place, and was now irreversibly engraved in humanity’s turbulent history.

  4:57 p.m. Earth: Chinese National Military Command Centre

  President Zhuge watched the unfolding nuclear assault in the Chinese National Military Command Centre. The screens surrounding the Strategic Operations Coordination and Monitoring Theatre, were filled with displays of the Soviet nuclear assault on the spacecraft. The command centre personnel were highly impressed to see that the Soviets had also been able to establish the precise moving position of the Supreme Beings’ spacecraft within its orbit.

  The Chinese President was growing increasingly concerned as the seconds ticked by. The fact was that he did not support the nuclear strike in any way, and was deeply disappointed that the Soviets had disregarded his warnings and proceeded nonetheless. He feared major repercussions for not only the Soviet Union, but also potentially for the whole world, that would likely result from the assault. Although Zhuge recognised that his own standpoint was different to that of the Soviet President – since China had not suffered remediation like the Soviet Union had – it did not excuse the unilateral action that Rivensky had embarked on.

  Zhuge also felt a surprising degree of concern for the Supreme Beings’ safety, even though he was sure that their spacecraft would be more than capable of evading this relatively rudimentary assault. He was strangely fond of the Federal Alliance members and truly appreciated their genuine concern for the Earth’s future. What had happened during the remediation had been terrible, but he equally understood that it had been necessary.

  The world’s reaction to China during the hours that had followed the remediation, was not at all what President Zhuge had been expecting. Rather than revering the fact that it had avoided remediation, governments immediately criticised the Chinese for being ‘too successful’ in their compliance with the Ultimatum. They regarded China’s sterling efforts as having made other nation’s respective efforts look inadequate by comparison. They claimed that it would have been better for the world if every nation had failed dismally, so that humanity could more easily justify the impossibility of what was being asked of it in the Ultimatum. But China had proven to the Supreme Beings that what had been regarded as impossible, was in fact possible … and that their success had only exaggerated other nations’ failure.

  Western commentators speculated that if China had not achieved such extraordinary results, the Supreme Beings might have been more sympathetic towards humanity’s plight. They may even have admitted that the Ultimatum had been too severe and as such, offered humanity a temporary reprieve on the targets and compliance deadline.

  Former President Jameson and the former President of the European Union Council had been quick to come to China’s defence and address the media. They lambasted the speculation, calling it disgraceful, and assured the world that China’s compliance had not caused other nations to undergo remediation. They declared that all countries had been judged individually irrespective of each other’s compliance levels, and that the Supreme Beings had stated categorically that no reprieve could have be afforded under any circumstances.

  The two former Presidents condemned the animosity being shown towards the Chinese Government and stated that China should be outraged at the world’s lack of compliance – rather than the world being outraged at China’s compliance. The Chinese people were at least trying to save the planet’s environment, while people from other nations continued to compromise it. The two reiterated that it was the world’s failure alone that had led to the remediation and definitely not China’s success. But this flew in the face of popular opinion. People’s emotions were still too raw in the reality of the immediate aftermath, and they were looking for anything and anyone to blame … and at this early stage, China took the brunt of it.

  But in spite of Western media attacks, the Chinese Government retained the higher moral ground by withholding all retaliatory comment. It knew what the rest of the world had just suffered and appreciated that this was no time for retorts and justification.

  The Principals found it ironic that the prevailing attitude was that the world would have been better off had every nation failed. Politics had once again trampled over the environmental situation. The fact that China’s efforts had made a significant impact in slowing the world’s environmental degradation was either ignored or regarded as nonsense. Resentment had completely blinded common sense.

  The Chinese President was mature in his response directly after the remediation event. Rather than openly broadcasting their success across the globe, he had encouraged the Chinese people to moderate celebration and retain humility. He said that while they could hold their heads high, they should harbour no grudge against the nations that had criticised them, especially since those nations had already paid such a high price for their compliance shortcomings.

  He offered his nation’s genuine condolences to every other nation around the world and extended a helping hand to restore social order wherever needed. He had decided to temporarily postpone his gesture to share China’s extensive Ultimatum implementation knowledge that had been accumulated and streamlined over the previous three years. The world was not ready for this offer, certainly not now in light of the prevailing negative perception of China. He was certain though that it wouldn’t be long before the world’s leaders would voluntarily step forward and request it.

  The Chinese nation only wanted what was best for the planet and if their knowledge could help other nations to make the world a better place, then everyone would benefit … most especially, the planet. President Zhuge was ready to provide any assistance and knowledge that was asked for.

  But at this very moment, politics had taken a back seat – Zhuge’s thoughts were completely focused on the imminent Soviet strike on the spacecraft.

  4:59 p.m. Earth: Merrinov War Operations and Command Centre

  The instant the 500 Space Target Interception Missiles registered the course diversion, they deployed their deadly MIRV payloads into space. The independently targetable warheads which numbered 2 500 blasted directly ahead to their programmed coordinates. The now empty STIMs were accelerated away by the Threat Diverters towards the Moon.

  At the precise moment the nuclear assault countdown timer struck zero, the warheads reached their target coordinates and initiated their milli
second cascaded detonation.

  The colossal explosion of 2 500 independent two-megaton warheads was shown on the display screen in the Merrinov WOCC. There was silence as everyone watched the spectacular live feeds from the surveillance satellites and the BTA-6 ground based telescope.

  The blinding intensity of the flash was staggering. Moments later it started to dim as the blast expanded outwards dissipating its energy into space. The explosion was so bright that it was visible on the horizon of the day side of Earth. It lit up like a flare in the sky with the half-moon visible in the background. The Space Positioning System trackers on the MIRVs all registered a ‘direct hit’, and was indicated as such on the warhead status chart. Nothing within a radius of 100 kilometres could have withstood a blast of that magnitude.

  The only non-MIRV STIM had been the Soviet Tsar. It had been transported together with all the other empty STIMs over 380 000 kilometres to the Moon. The ultra-velocity trip had taken mere seconds. The Soviet Tsar and STIMs came to a standstill one kilometre above the Moon’s surface. The 100 megaton nuclear weapon then detonated.

  Just over a second after the first detonation, a second massive flash could be seen from Earth – this time on the Moon. It was fully visible in the night sky. The light slowly dwindled away and the sight that followed was truly spectacular. A huge, expanding dust plume in the shape of a sunflower leapt into space as the blast’s shockwave struck the Moon’s surface. It appeared as though it had been hit by a sizeable asteroid. The dust wave could be seen resonating around at least a third of the Moon’s entire circumference like a monstrous land-based tidal wave. The gigantic detonation was witnessed by millions around the world who had looked up to see the bright light of the previous detonation.

  Cheering and congratulations erupted in the Merrinov WOCC, as the weapons control system confirmed target destruction.

  General Drashenko reserved his celebrations. He had wisely learned never to assume early victory.

  President Rivensky, however, was quick to declare success in having destroyed the extra-terrestrial spacecraft. His Soviet Union would now be revered by all nations for being their saviour, and reclaim its rightful place as the world’s indomitable superpower.

  4:59 p.m. Earth: England – Oxford

  Edward Payton had decided to spend time with his wife after his return to Earth. She was still feeling emotional after her husband’s third disappearance. She feared for his life each time he was gone, even though he had assured her that there was no threat to his life while he was away on the spacecraft.

  Payton had taken the decision to divulge all the details of the second and third encounters to her, as he wanted to get her opinion on the many things that were troubling his thoughts. Of particular concern to him was the clear warning given by the Supreme Beings that if the human species failed to achieve 50% overall compliance with the Ultimatum by the next interim compliance review, then the Galactic Federation would be forced to completely remove the human threat from the planet.

  The full extent of this revelation had taken Payton some time to process. He was particularly concerned for nations like China, which had already dedicated so much energy into achieving comprehensive compliance and rolling out a sustainable lifestyle manifesto for its people. The appalling possibility now existed that should non-compliant behaviour continue after this remediation, then China’s future would also be at risk – even if they themselves were fully compliant.

  This raised the world’s stakes to a whole new level, since it wasn’t only about nations independently achieving their own set of Ultimatum targets. All nations would now have to work together with collective accountability to ensure broad-spectrum compliance, because even a few nations’ non-compliance could put all other compliant nations at risk. Thus, these ‘rogue’ nations would need to be dealt with swiftly and firmly at the first sign of deviation from their Ultimatum targets.

  Payton only hoped that the Global Compliance Monitoring Agency would now be granted unconditional license to carry out their mandate, with the resolute backing of the world’s heavyweight nations. The GCMA would have to ensure that non-compliant nations were pre-emptively identified and assisted. Where nations exhibited recurring non-compliance, they would need to be warned and then forced to comply in accordance with the Ultimatum Compliance Treaty. But, even if comprehensive sanctions and isolation failed, then more radical means, not specified in the treaty, would need to be considered as an absolute last resort … possibly government takeover or even war. Payton feared the worst.

  Humanity had to realise that if it were to continue placing the planet at risk they had everything to lose by doing so. The Supreme Beings regarded the human species as a dangerous threat and in spite of humanity’s intelligent status, the species would be sacrificed to ensure that the lives of every other species on Earth prevailed. Humanity had to shake off the arrogant notion that it was beyond judgement or reproach from a higher power. The scale of remediation just witnessed would hopefully serve as strong incentive for the surviving human population to do just that. There was only one option that every human being had to come to terms with … unconditional compliance with the Ultimatum.

  Payton knew that this wasn’t going to be simple, especially considering the democratic principles on which the majority of the world’s governments were founded. Democracy as a governance mechanism would be placed under intense scrutiny during the three years that were to follow. Tough and unpopular measures had to be put in place. Democracies would be forced to compromise their rigidly liberal ideals in order to accommodate the new Ultimatum. Many freedoms that people enjoyed and had grown accustomed to would soon come under pressure, but there was no other way. It would be a case of the potentially devastating end … justifying the inconvenient means.

  If citizens continued to defy the Ultimatum, their governments would be forced to declare national states of emergency, whereby they could use any level of force deemed necessary to ensure compliance. A core ingredient in avoiding this eventuality would be finding the right leaders who were both bold and persuasive enough to carry out the Ultimatum’s mandate while at the same time carefully maintaining order across their citizenries.

  It was almost 10:00 p.m. in the evening as Payton and his wife sat together on their veranda, both deep in thought. They were watching the night sky above them and the beautiful waning Moon rising over the Eastern horizon. They both knew that they might only have three years left to share special moments like this together. Their quiet moment was suddenly interrupted by a blindingly bright flash high above in the sky … and then a second flash a moment later on the surface of the Moon.

  5:00 p.m. Empress’s Silhouette Spacecraft: Contemplation

  Empress Aeryssia and her four Chancellors were discussing what to expect from the next three-year compliance interim review period. They had left the Observatory two hours earlier and were now cruising at near-light speed towards IGT Station 413. The Observatory would be staying in its position for at least another 24 hours. This was to allow time for the Research Department to capture a range of post-remediation data readings and complete various environmental studies for inclusion in the Titan’s Knowledge Catalogue.

  They cruised past a beautiful planet known as Neptune to the human species. It radiated a deep, liquid blue colour which indicated the presence of methane in its upper atmosphere.

  The Empress spoke, “There are so many challenges ahead for the Principals and the human population. I only hope that they will fully understand and accept the true scale of their deteriorating environmental situation, and if so, willingly comply with our new Ultimatum.”

  Yusoara responded, “When do you believe we should inform the Principal delegation of what really happened to the people we removed from their planet?”

  The Empress replied, “That is totally dependent on them. If they have fully complied with the Ultimatum by the time we next return, and we can see that their intentions in achieving environmental sustainab
ility are genuine, then we will inform them. But if they have not complied, then the knowledge will be withheld. It shall remain in our possession only for as long as the human species continues to defy the Ultimatum.”

  5:00 p.m. Earth: United States – NORAD and PEOC

  Scenes of triumph had erupted in the PEOC, NORAD, and the NMCC as everyone watched the Soviet missile detonation coincide exactly with NASA’s calculated orbital position of the spacecraft. They had three different telescopes and various surveillance satellites all watching the strike and all confirmed the direct hit on the spacecraft. Nothing, not even an extra-terrestrial spacecraft, could have withstood a blast of that magnitude. Preliminary estimates put the blast at 5 000 megatons.

  Defence Secretary Pentrow was as concerned as he was impressed by the Soviet strike. This attack had revealed that the Soviets were once again leading the arms race. He decided that he would personally contact his Soviet counterpart to congratulate him and begin the slow process of re-forging diplomatic relations between the two nations. A second cold war had to be avoided at all costs, especially considering America’s greatly weakened position.

  President West dialled the most recent number saved onto his phone and the call was answered almost immediately. He wanted to inform Sally Jameson personally of the Soviet Union’s unbelievable feat.

  “Hello,” said the familiar voice of the former President.

  “Sally, its Terry here. I just wanted to let you in on some incredible news: justice has been served!” said West.

  “In what way, Terry?” she asked, listening intently.

  “The Soviets have destroyed the Supreme Beings’ spacecraft with a large scale nuclear assault. Can you believe it … the Soviet Union!”