Twilight Earth

by Ben Winston

  When Marcy finally reappeared, the girls were sent for and the table was set. Marcy said she’d show everyone after dinner.

  Dinner proceeded and finally it was time for Marcy to share what she’d learned. With after dinner drinks, both families gathered in the living room. Marcy called Bob so she could fill him in as well, then she began.

  “Before I get too far into this, I think I should tell everyone that I’ve always been a major geek, I love science and math, especially math. More specifically, the area that’s called astrophysics. Well, I got to attend, via our terminal system, a lecture being given by the foremost Astrophysicist in the country, Dr. Harold Wilcox of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories.

  “As you all know, a few weeks ago, the ‘Wilcox-Locke meteor swarm’ was sighted by the Hubble Space Telescope. At that time, it was believed their course would have brought them through our solar system outside the orbit of Jupiter, in thirteen point six years. The probability of a near-Earth event was so low it didn’t even register on the scale.

  “The scientific community was very excited because it presented a once in a thousand lifetimes opportunity for study. However, most of the hype was held to a dull roar so as not to get the general population panicking.

  “Anyway, as I was listening to Dr. Wilcox today it was like he was talking about something completely different! He tried to tell me that the original sighting was actually a reflection of light off of a solar wind!

  “That’s complete and utter bullshit! Photons are either absorbed or negated by high-energy particles. Also the images he was using supposedly are from three days ago. However, if the initial trajectory plot was a mistake, why would the more current images have the same background?

  “I used our terminal’s special access to get into the real images and data; the original images were completely accurate and so was the original estimation of time. However, both were based on an erroneous assumption; that the objects in the image were naturally-occurring, planetary fragments.” She paused to let her audience’s minds catch up.

  “You’re saying they’re artificial? Spaceships?” Jon asked.

  “I’m afraid that’s exactly what I’m saying, Doctor."

  “Let’s see whatcha got, Marcy,” Ben asked kindly.

  Marcy nodded and began typing on the keyboard. “I used all the data that JPL still had and cross checked with the observatories at Arecibo and the VLA at Socorro, New Mexico. This animation is a compilation of all the data, from all three sources.”

  A graphic of the solar system quickly zoomed out to show a cluster of objects a great distance away. Marcy narrated. “This is where they were first detected, by accident, when the Hubble telescope was on a different mission. These objects simply crossed the field of vision. On the left is the actual video captured by the Hubble.”

  A bright, clear image of a nebula appeared on the screen. It took the watchers a moment, but they all saw something moving across the frame. It appeared as little more than an area of distortion moving across the image of the nebula.

  Suddenly, the nebula lost focus, and the areas of distortion slowly became clearer as the big telescope readjusted its focus. It revealed a huge cloud of what looked like small objects. Once again, Marcy picked up her narrative.

  “This is what was originally believed to be the remnants of a planet that was destroyed in some type of event millions of years ago. As you can see, they look exactly like what you would expect a meteor swarm to look like. Please let me draw your attention to this star; please remember its relationship to the objects.

  “NASA, JPL, and a good portion of the planet’s astrological community spent the next three days intently watching these objects and, based on distance and direction traveled, concluded that the objects would pass through the outer solar system in roughly thirteen and a half years. That may seem like a long time, but considering that at this point they are almost three light years away, it means they are really moving.

  “Three days ago the images of the ‘swarm’ were mostly obscured by an object appearing between the Hubble and the swarm. Once again the Hubble was adjusted, this time to almost its closest foci, what it found had to have given the astronomers a heart attack and almost panicked the governments.

  “Before we get there though, this is the first pucker-causing event. I asked you to remember the star and its relationship to the swarm? Take another look,” Marcy paused so everyone could see that the star was now on the other side of the swarm.

  “There are only two explanations for that star to appear to be on the other side. One – the HST is looking from a different angle. Two – The objects being observed have altered course. The first thing I checked when I noticed this was the Hubble’s position; there was only a four-degree orbital rotation difference between the first image and this one. That means that those ‘inanimate’ objects, somehow made a course correction that put Earth dead center in their flight path.

  “Now, just as a point of reference; a light-year is a unit of measure for how far light travels in one year. Therefore, the images we just looked at are really almost three years old. Is everyone still with me?” Marcy asked.

  The twins looked confused, but Jorga and Kaitlin were quietly explaining it. When they looked up they nodded, but still looked confused.

  “I’m getting there girls, just hang on. Three days ago, something else obscured the ‘swarm’. After refocusing the telescope, and a hell of a lot of computer analysis, it was found that the new, closer objects were in fact the same ones as the originally observed swarm.

  “Now, here is where Einstein has a stroke. How did those objects travel such distance in so short of an amount of time? Since we can still see them at their original location, they had to have traveled at an average of close-to-light-speed. Something we know can’t happen. The kicker is, the longer we can see them at the original position, the higher their speed of travel to get here.

  “This next image is of one of the larger objects that ‘appeared’ about the same distance from our planet as Saturn is." The image that came up was of an obviously artificial construction. It was a ship, albeit a very large one.

  “If that image isn’t enough to convince you; then consider that all of the roughly two-thousand, five-hundred objects in the... fleet, have been decelerating at well over a thousand gravities since their arrival here, late last night.” Marcy concluded.

  “A thousand gravities? That means we’re either being invaded by bacteria, or they have artificial gravity,” Jon added quietly.

  “I’ve heard of artificial gravity on some TV shows and books and stuff, but I never really understood what the big deal about it was,” one of the twins, Olivia, said from beside Kaitlin.

  “Think of it this way, Sweetheart; at one gravity, like we are now, you weigh one-hundred-twenty pounds. Those ships are decelerating so fast, that if you were on one, you would weigh one-hundred-twenty thousand pounds. Basically, your own body weight would shatter your bones and crush you into a reddish goo,” Jon replied.

  “Gross!” Persephone, the other twin replied. “Nice visual, Dad!”

  Marcy smiled at the girl. “He is, unfortunately, correct. The ‘big deal’ is that somehow, these aliens have figured out how to artificially create and regulate the forces of gravity on objects that have mass. Like faster-than-light travel, it’s supposed to be physically impossible. I should mention though that researchers in certain secret government facilities have supposedly made a break-through in artificial gravity. There is also a rumor that NASA and JPL had a working theory on faster than light travel too. However, there is no official proof of any of that."

  “I hate to point this out, but I don’t think they took physics,” Olivia said.

  “At least not at any of our schools.” Persephone added.

  “Are you still with us, Bob?” Ben asked since they couldn’t actually see him.

  “Yes I am, I just had my microphone muted. I’ve been acting on Marcy’s information and ma
de a few discoveries of my own. First of all, if Marcy is trying to get more images out of the Hubble, she should probably stop trying; it’s been destroyed along with most of the satellites in orbit. CNN is completely off the air. It looks like the attack started about an hour ago,” Bob said sadly. "Orbital bombardment started in Asia. All the major cities have been hit with high-yield nuclear weapons and some sort of beam weapon fired from orbit. Millions of people have already died."

  The quiet discussion was interrupted by the sustained irritating noise of the National Emergency Broadcast System or NEBS. “Ladies and Gentleman, this is not a test, I repeat this is not a test. By order of the President of the United States, The National Emergency Broadcast System has been activated. At this time, you are advised to proceed immediately to the nearest Civil Defense Bunker. Leave immediately, the nation is under attack. I say again, leave now. Get to the nearest Civil Defense Shelter and prepare for nuclear attack. Remember, if you see a detonation, immediately take cover and shield your eyes...”

  Ben muted the terminal. “Idiots, that detonation will be the last thing you’ll ever see.”

  “I guess that answers the question about their intentions,” Deirdre said. “Now what’re we going to do?”

  “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Carla and the kids are freaking out and calling for me. I’m gonna go try to calm them down. Remember, we’re as safe as we can be down here. Talk to ya later,” Bob said.

  Ben nodded and said ‘Take care’ as the call ended.

  A warning chime was heard, and the border of the terminal screen flashed yellow. The words ‘Condition Two’ scrolled across the bottom of the screen. The whole room lurched slightly and a hum could be heard from all around.

  “The pod is being lowered!” Jorga cried.

  Survival Pod 0001a

  Fulton's Prairie, Missouri

  United States

  Marcy sat down and started typing very quickly. “I’m asking why the pod is being lowered prior to Condition Three.”

  NBC Protocols now in effect.

  Nuke: zero-one.

  Bio: zero-one, alpha.

  Chem: zero-two.

  Status: Condition two NBC

  Marcy typed again; Define condition two NBC.

  Condition Two NBC; see Condition Three-Modified.

  Condition Three-modified;

  Pod descent: engaged

  Pod ascension: disabled

  Sealed biosphere: enabled

  Hyper-sleep: recommended (chambers activated)

  Define protocol series ‘bio’ and ‘chem’. Marcy typed.

  Ben felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stand-up when the answers were displayed.

  ‘Bio’ is used to denote the use of biological weapons. Numerical code designates percentage of lethality. Zero-zero is one hundred percent, zero-one is ninety percent, zero-two is eighty percent, and so on. Alphabetical code designates proximity to local surface marker. Alpha is less than a kilometer; beta is between one and two kilometers, etc. No alpha designator indicates detection at another installation.

  ‘Chem’ is used to denote the use of chemical weapons. Numerical code designates percentage of lethality. Zero-zero is one hundred percent, zero-one is ninety percent, zero-two is eighty percent, and so on. Alphabetical code designates proximity to local surface marker. Alpha is less than a kilometer; beta is between one and two kilometers, etc. No alpha designator indicates detection at another installation.

  “You should ask the fucking thing how we’re supposed to get back to the damn surface!” Jon said angrily.

  “Jon! Language! The girls can hear you!” Ellie said, scolding her husband.

  Jon tried to look sheepish. “Sorry Ell, I guess I’m just frustrated. Billions of people are dying up there and I can’t help them!"

  “I think that’s the point, Jon. I understand how you feel and I’m sorry for it. But I believe the job on the surface has fallen to your brethren and the care of us has fallen to you. I know it may not seem fair; but if the human race is to have a future, we’re going to need skilled professionals like you,” Ben replied, calming the doctor.

  Jon looked at Ben in confusion. “I think there is more of Tom in you than any of us knows. He would have told me exactly that sort of thing to put me at ease. Thank you, Ben.”

  “Well, now that we all know the bad news and we’re scared to death. I think we should get the girls home just in case they upgrade to condition three,” Ellie said. "It’s getting kinda late anyway.”

  Jon agreed and shortly the small family left for the short walk back to their apartment.

  After everyone had left, the small family sat back down in the living room. “What do you think is going on up there right now?” Kaitlin asked softly.

  Ben moved over to sit next to her and put his arm around her. “Try not to think about it,

  Sweetheart.”

  About then, the pod stopped moving. Shortly after that, a soft rumbling could be heard along with the shaking of the pod as the shaft above it collapsed, sealing them in.

  It was an uneasy night for the Bedouin family. They all shared one bed for comfort, making their family bond grow even deeper. By the next morning, tension was building quickly. Most news sources had stopped broadcasting, or were no longer able to keep people informed. Ben felt the need to try to comfort at least his fellow pod-mates. So he had the main terminal in his living room ask everyone to meet him in the park for a ‘town meeting’ and to bring a picnic lunch.

  Deirdre and the girls thought it was a grand idea and changed into sundresses while Ben got busy making up the lunch. Jorga felt weird wearing a sundress, so she put on a pair of denim shorts, and a tank top.

  Most of the people in the pod responded to Ben’s message and showed up in the park ready for a picnic. With a little help from Marcy, everyone heard his voice whether they had come or not.

  “Folks, I know news from the surface is getting, at best, spotty. I also know that all of us left someone we know or care about up there. It’s even harder to know that they are probably dying or at the very least fighting for their lives while we sit down here and do nothing. As hard as it is to accept, we have to.

  “The whole reason we’re down here to begin with is to insure that the human race survives what’s happening to it. Although it may seem cowardly, think of this as our part of the fight, or perhaps more accurately, as our lifeboat.

  “Now, I know it may sound like playing the fiddle while Rome burns, but I suggested we all have a picnic lunch so we can talk and get to know one another. In order for this to work, we are going to need to trust and respect each other. We need to start on that now." He paused and turned to the closest person and held out his hand. "Good afternoon, my name is Ben Bedouin."

  Jon’s wife, Ellie happened to be the person, and she immediately caught on to his ploy. She took his hand and introduced herself. “Good afternoon, Ben, I’m Ellie Lyam. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

  As he’d intended, the rest of the people also began introducing themselves, and relaxing. As the afternoon progressed, more people came to the park, and joined the picnic.

  Later that night, when the notification came for condition three, the residents of the pod were more accepting of what was about to happen to them. None of them wanted to go into the stasis chambers, but there were no problems getting them to go in either. So after a moment of silence for the massive loss of life that had brought them this situation, Ben verified that everyone had indeed entered the chambers before doing so himself.

  He found that it unnerved him to see all those people in the small glass coffins of the chambers. It especially bothered him to see Deirdre, Jorga, Kaitlin and Marcy in them. With a deep breath, he lay back in his own chamber and pulled the door closed.

  Waking up was a slow, disjointed process. The first thing he noticed was the cold. It was weird, he felt like he’d been outside in the winter, naked, and just came back inside. Ben noticed that he couldn’
t see through the door of his chamber anymore, so he had to assume he’d been out for some time.

  Checking the panel for a reading outside the chamber, he saw that it was safe for him to open the door. According to the instructions the pod doctor, in this case Jon, would also be waking up. It would be his job to make sure everyone was still okay while Ben checked on the outside world. They were the only two that would be waking up for now. If the world above was still in trouble, Jon and Ben would get back in the chambers for a thousand-year sleep. Something Ben wasn’t in a hurry to do.

  While he’d been sleeping, another experimental project went to work to teach him while in cryo-sleep. Ben thought it odd that they would even attempt such a thing, but they must have, because he now knew how to access the surface sensors from his terminal, as well as a bunch of other stuff he hadn't known before going into the chambers.

  He climbed out of his chamber and grabbed a jumpsuit before heading out to find the doctor. Jon and his family had been assigned the bay next to his, so Ben knocked politely before going in.

  “Come in, Ben. You know, I’m happy as a clam that these ‘coffins’ work, but waking up is a real mother,” Jon said. “Do you think we slept the full two-hundred-fifty years?”

  “That was the plan, no matter how strange that question sounds,” Ben chuckled. “You about ready to get started?”

  Jon nodded. “But before you run off, let me take a look at you. If these damn machines have any adverse side effects, I’d like to know.”

  The two men walked to the small medical area, which was just off of the chamber ‘hall’. Jon had Ben take his jumpsuit back off for the examination. While Ben stripped, Jon got them both coffees from the medical replicator.

  After a no-nonsense and very thorough physical, (including blood and urine samples) Jon pronounced him healthy and kicked him out of the small medical area so he could get busy checking the systems of all the hibernators. Ben headed for his office that was near his apartment to begin his checks.