The crew members looked around at Kristen. They knew that as the leader of the mission and their highest-ranking officer, she was the one entitled to officially speak on their behalf.
Kristen took a deep breath and exhaled. She cleared her throat. “Your Royal Highnesses, king and queen of Planet Tiangrit—sorry, Planet Milda—we are honoured to be in your presence,” she began. “My name is Kristen. I am an engineer and an astronaut. I am also the captain of the Atlantis Mission Explorer, a space shuttle designed by and assigned on a mission by NASA from Planet Earth, or Planet Nivrus, as your people made us to understand. These are my fellow crew members and we are here in peace to seek your assistance.”
The king nodded. “Thank you, Kristen,” the king stated. “You are most welcome to our dear Planet Milda. Although I must confess that your arrival was unexpected, and I am sure a bit embarrassing to you and your crew members. My protocol personnel had to check and recheck my schedule but we were not able to find any listing of either appointments or visas issued to you or anyone from your planet recently. I am sure you will understand our need to be a bit inquisitive as to the motive of your sudden visit.”
Kristen thought about the coordinates that had been issued to them by NASA. “I am sorry, Your Royal Highness,” she began. “We were under the impression that our planet must have gotten some sort of visa or invitation from you. You see, we would not have come here on our own if it were not for the coordinates that had been assigned to our mission. We were simply obeying them when your ships accosted us.”
“All of this is sounding very strange and alien to me,” King Zeropta replied. “Captain Kristen, can you be a bit more elaborate and explain the reason for your mission?”
“Your Highness, our planet, Earth, is dying,” Kristen replied. “It is beyond rescue and everything, all the resources, are depleting. Our race, the human race, has no other option than to go seeking for another planet where we can relocate and start a new life altogether.”
“And maybe plunder and destroy it as well,” King Zeropta added. Kristen was taken aback. “I am sorry, Your Highness,” she said, not too sure if she had understood him.
“Yes, Captain,” the king continued. “I am sure you heard me clearly the first time. If and when you get to the next planet, your kind will simply plunder it and destroy it, and then they will send out more scouts like yourself to look for another planet to repeat the whole cycle all over again.”
“Your Highness,” Kristen began to protest, but she felt a hand on her arm. It was Lynda. The look in her eyes and the firm hold on her arm were enough to tell her to remain quiet. Kristen did not say anything further. Kristen remained standing. They all watched as the king stood up and walked to the extreme edge of the platform. It was as if he was thinking and got lost in thought.
While he was silent, Kristen’s mind went over what he had just stated.
Plunder and destroy. Repeat the whole cycle all over again. The king turned around and looked at the crew members. “It is rather unfortunate that things have gotten to this state of affairs; for you, and your planet, Nivrus, or what is it that you call it? Earth? Well, of course you will call it whatever it is that suits you. Indeed, you will all be scampering about, looking throughout the whole universe for an alternative. Why wouldn’t you when your kind has been so wicked and ungrateful? Or have you not?” the king asked.
“I do not follow you, Your Highness,” Kristen replied. “We only came as we had been instructed to.” “I see.” King Zeropta nodded. “The typical feudal society still holds sway. The rulers do the plundering while the minions like yourselves are sent to search for more resources. I actually do not blame you, Captain. I really do not. I only blame your rulers and leaders on Earth, which by the way, is supposed to be called Nivrus, and not Earth, as you say. Or do you not know the correct name of your own home planet?”
Kristen shook her head. Her mind raced through all the education she had received right from kindergarten to her numerous doctoral studies. “It has always been known to us as Earth.”
“Is that so? And what about my own Planet Milda? What have you been calling us?”
“Tiangrit,” Kristen replied. King Zeropta shook his head. “Can you see what I am saying? Your kind has been known to just turn things upside down without any sign of either remorse or consideration. How can you not know the appropriate names of your neighbours in other galaxies? It is crazy, wicked, and unheard of,” he stated. Then he looked around at his queen and guards. “Or is it? Is it really unheard of? When last did their kind come for the Union of Planetary Bodies’ Meeting? In all of our existence and the existence of our forefathers, when did they ever come to the Union Meeting?”
His queen and subjects were shaking their heads. King Zeropta nodded. “You are right,” he stated. “I thought so myself.” He turned to the Atlantis crew members. “When last did your kind attend the Union Meeting? Come on. Even though you are subjects and minions you should know of such things. Go ahead, make a guess.”
“I do not understand, Your Royal Highness,” Kristen confessed. “What? Is it that hard for you to understand? You do not know how to make a guess and you claim to be engineers?”
“I am confused, Your Highness,” Kristen continued. “What do you mean by Union? And which meeting are you referring to?”
King Zeropta watched them all for a while before shaking his long, cylindrical head in disdain. “This situation is completely hopeless,” he said. “Where do we start from to salvage your predicament? How do you begin to look for solutions when you do not know what your problem is and you do not even have a historical background on why you are in this mess in the first place?!”
The king sighed. “Okay, I will tell you. The Union is the highest forum for association and meeting among members of all inhabited planets in the Twelve Galaxies. It comprises the highest representatives of these planets.”
Kristen’s eyes were widening. “The Twelve Galaxies? Inhabited planets in the Twelve Galaxies?” she repeated.
“Are you confused again?” King Zeropta asked. “Of course, I said the Twelve Galaxies.”
“I am sorry, Your Highness,” Kristen stated. “But did you say inhabited planets in the Twelve Galaxies?” “Of course I did. It is obvious that you do not know that Nivrus is a representative member of your solar system.
“The Union is the highest body that oversees affairs within the Twelve Galaxies and your galaxy is one of them. A forum where representatives come together to discuss issues of mutual interest, and so on. So tell me, just a guess, how many times did your kind attend the Union meeting?”
Kristen tried to think, but her mind could not come up with anything. Mahmud was shaking his head, as though not believing that his captain was trying to make an attempt. She saw the look on her crew members’ faces. They were all trying to tell her not to bother guessing.
Kristen looked up at the king. “I do not have any idea,” she replied. “How would you?” King Zeropta asked. “It is obvious that rulers of your kind have been lying to their people and hiding information as well. If you must know, your kind never—I repeat, never— attended any of the Union Meetings. Not even once. And this is in spite of the several attempts we made to get in touch with you.”
“You did?” Kristen repeated. “You did get in touch with us?” “Of course we did,” King Zeropta replied. “On several occasions. But on each one of them we were rebuffed, chased away, attacked…” the king’s voice trailed away. He sat down and held his head in his hands. “Your kind is simply hopeless. They are wicked and hopeless. Even when the odds are against them, they do not give up and accept the fact of the situation. After making attempts to contact you, some of the other planets decided to ostracize your planet completely. And who would blame them? After all, your kind kept on turning down our hand of friendship. And by refusing to come for the meetings, how do you expect to know the proper names of the other planets who are your neighbours? How do you expect to know
that the proper name of your planet is Nivrus, and that mine is Milda? You could never have known. But beyond simple things like nomenclature and associations, there were actually those in the meeting who were concerned that your race was going to corrupt other members of the Union.”
“Corrupt the other members, Your Highness?” Kristen asked. “Of course, yes,” King Zeropta replied. “Did your kind think that the Union was not aware of how they were plundering their world? We knew and we could not believe it. How can a race that was placed on their planet to serve as its keepers turn around to revolt against it and plunder it to a state of nothingness? Because that is what your kind did to your planet. You did not just plunder; you delighted in destroying your world. Or do you think it was your kind that created their world and placed themselves on it? I am sure you know that we all were not the ones that created our planets. They were all created, and then we were also created and placed on them to serve as caretakers, keepers, or guardians.”
“But that is not what we know,” Kristen stated. “What do you think you know?” King Zeropta asked. “Based on scientific evidence, we know that the entire universe was created billions of years ago through what we know as the big bang theory.”
“Really?” King Zeropta asked. “And you say that you are a what: an engineer? And you do not know how you came to be on your planet?”
“There is evidence to show—” Kristen continued. “What evidence?” the king interrupted. “As far as I am concerned, your kind does not know anything. Your greed, pride, and wickedness completely blinded you from the truth. All you people were interested in doing was plundering your world without a thought of the future. You did not even think of the consequences of not nurturing your planet. It was just callous and wicked of your kind. All through several generations, the same greed seemed to multiply over and over again, getting worse and more pronounced with each successive generation. It was as if it was a competition; the succeeding generation was always out to outdo the previous one in terms of scales of plundering and destruction. In almost all of the meetings that I can recall, we were always deliberating on your fate. Some members of the Union will not even hear of it, that I am presently accommodating you at this very moment.”
“Your Royal Highness, please help us in any way you can,” Kristen begged. “We need help.” “But what do you expect me to do?” King Zeropta asked. “You are not thinking that I am going to accommodate you here forever? Neither do you think I am going to allow your kind to come to my world. Not after we have all seen the scale of damage that you did to your very own planet with your own hands. I am sorry, Captain Kristen, I cannot be of any help to you.”
Kristen felt defeated and deflated. Her other crew members were now bothered. They were pleading along with Kristen. “Please, Your Royal Highnesses, help us,” Kristen was saying.
“How do you expect me to help you? By offering you succor on my own planet? By allowing you to go back and bring all the inhabitants of your doomed planet here?”
“Please, Your Highness. What do you want us to do?” Kristen was asking. “We were given these coordinates to come here for a reason. You cannot just leave us out in the cold. Help us.”
“If you were in my shoes, what would you do?” the king asked. “Your kind destroyed the best planet in the Twelve Galaxies. You people were abundantly blessed with everything. Resources that other planets envy; I can remember on many occasions when other planets were contemplating annexing yours just on the basis of what was abundantly available. Or did you not know that many members of the Union have been plotting and scheming on taking over your planet?”
“I never knew about this, Your Highness,” Kristen confessed. She pointed at her fellow crew members. “None of us are aware of many of the things that you are telling us. We are only hearing about them for the first time.”
“Really?” King Zeropta shook his head in disappointment. “I am really baffled that your rulers never carried you all along. But it is the truth. Many planets wanted to annex your planet. I guess what discouraged them was the shock of the fact that your kind are so impulsive, greedy, wicked, and everything bad rolled into one. I think the fear then was that even if they annexed Planet Nivrus, what were they going to do with you, the human race? Some felt that they could easily convert your kind into slaves and send you all to work for them for all of eternity. But the wise ones knew that the corruption and wickedness of the human race to even its own kind was bound to affect their own indigenous people, who had not yet been contaminated by any external influence. And they were right. I am pretty sure that by the time any of them would have succeeded in annexing Nivrus, it would only be a matter of time before mankind would start to pollute the minds and consciousness of their adversaries. And who knows; perhaps it would be that planet and not Nivrus that would now be on the verge of destruction.”
“Your Highness, please, do not abandon us like this!” Kristen pleaded. “But can you not see it, Captain? Your kind has already abandoned you and all of the people of Nivrus to its fate. They created the atmosphere through which all of the planet is now being destroyed. Senseless wars, dangerous experiments, continuous indulgence in harmful practices to their bodies, environmental degradation in the name of commerce and industry; what have your kind not done to destroy Nivrus?
“Still, there might be a way. But it might not really work. In fact, I really doubt it if it will be worth trying at all.”
“Your Highness, please, what is the way?” “You need to go and search for the makers of the universe,” he replied.
“The makers of the universe?” Kristen repeated.
“Of course. When a device or a machine is damaged beyond repair, what next needs to be done? You take it back to the person who manufactured it, is that not true?”
Kristen nodded. “But how do we...” she began but her voice faded away because she was not sure of what she wanted to say.
“You don’t believe that the universe was created?” “I do, Your Highness. We all do.”
“So, why do you look confused? I assure you, that is the only way your kind can get out of the mess that their wickedness has driven them into. But even that is not a guarantee. Because if a machine gets sent back to its manufacturer and they feel that it is a complete write-off, they might decide to discard it permanently and perhaps change it entirely by making a replacement. In the case of Nivrus, perhaps the creators of the universe might just decide to discard it and replace it altogether. Or maybe they might decide to discard and not replace Nivrus at all.”
“But how can the makers discard Nivrus? Is it not their creation?” “Of course it is. But when the creation has caused them so much pain and havoc, and almost altering the courses of the other planets in the process, what do you think they would do? I don’t know, but if I was the one, I would simply shut down the whole thing and forget about it all, like some bad experiment. But that is just me, and I am sure that I speak the feelings of a lot of other inhabitants of not just my world but those of other planets as well.”
“Where can we meet the makers?” Kristen asked. “That, Captain, is going to be up to you.” “I don’t understand.”
“What is there to not understand? I am sure that you all still have belief systems. Or has your wickedness made you forget about your various religions and religious beliefs?”
Kristen looked around at her crew members. “We all have different faiths, Your Highness. We all believe in different religions,” she announced.
“Religions, faiths, denominations, whatever you want to call it. Those are just for branding purposes. The way you have, for instance, vehicles. You need to move from one location to another, so you require a vehicle. The type, brand, capacity, speed, and so on will depend on the design that you want to patronize. It is the same thing even here on my own planet. So, no matter the quantity and diversity of your various religions, the fact is that they are all packages of the same thing. Religion is simply a vehicle through which any rac
e can identify with the makers, other powerful beings and God. In most cases, that diversity can even be a source of additional strength. But in your case, I am not too sure.”
“But we do believe, Your Highness.”
“It is easy for you to say so, but I really doubt if it will work for you. All through time, the Union members have watched in horror as your kind went to war and committed some of the worst atrocities on your own selves in the name of religion. Or am I wrong?”
Kristen did not argue about this. King Zeropta was right. She shook her head. “You are right, Your Highness,” she replied.
“So, how do you think you will be able to meet the makers when you have not even acknowledged them in any way?”
“We can try, Your Highness. We are going to try at least, not just give up on our situation.” “I do not know whether I should call your persistence courage or simply desperation. But whatever it is, I hope that it will help to see you through. You see, in order to meet the makers, you will need to travel through galaxies upon galaxies until you arrive at the ends of all the galaxies. It is when you get there that you can see the makers. It is only then and then alone that you will be able to table your request and know if there will be any hope for Nivrus.”
“We are willing to take our chances, Your Highness. Just show us how to get there.” “No problem. I will give you the coordinates to that region. I just hope that your rulers will appreciate what you all are doing, and also have a change of heart from their wicked ways. Because none of this would have been necessary had they been a bit more loving and caring for their planet. They should have just loved their planet in the first place and not continued to destroy it the way they were doing.”
“When we get back we will make sure we relay these messages to them,” Kristen assured. “Will they listen? Will they heed your words of advice and do what is necessary to preserve their world? Will they even start attending the Union meetings so that we can all get to join minds and associate together as neighbours? Will they be willing to make all these changes? I know why I am asking because I still doubt that they will. The problem with Nivrus has always been their leaders. I just do not understand how a leader could be so wicked to his own kind and invariably to himself as well. It beats my mind and defies all logic and explanation. Where do they get the motivation to commit the atrocities they so much enjoy to commit? I just don’t understand it. But still, I will wish you the best in your quest.”
The End Of The World Page 4